A Brief Colonial History Of Ceylon(SriLanka)
Sri Lanka: One Island Two Nations
A Brief Colonial History Of Ceylon(SriLanka)
Sri Lanka: One Island Two Nations
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Thiranjala Weerasinghe sj.- One Island Two Nations
?????????????????????????????????????????????????Saturday, July 15, 2017
More on 'clash' between Justice Minister and UN official
Justice Minister Dr. Wijeyadasa Rajapakse, PC, had a heated argument
with Ben Emmerson, QC, Special Rapporteur at the onset of a meeting over
latter leveling unsubstantiated allegations at law enforcement
authorities and the judiciary.
Emmerson had a series of meetings over the past few days after his
unexpected encounter with the Justice Minister early this week.
At his meeting with the Justice Minister Emmerson accused the Sri Lanka
police of torturing most of the suspects; he placed the number of
terrorist suspects in custody at 200. Government sources told The Island
that Minister Rajapakse had inquired from Emmerson who had provided
such inaccurate information. The UN official attributed his information
to reliable sources, prompting Minister Rajapakse to remind the visiting
official that he was the Justice Minister and he spoke with
responsibility.
Minister Rajapakse stressed that 71 persons held under the Prevention of
terrorism Act (PTA) in respect of 46 cases were hardcore terrorists
responsible for mass murder.
In response to Emmerson's criticism of law enforcement authorities
obtaining convictions through confessions, Minister Rajapakse pointed
out that British Premier Theresa May's recent vow to protect officers
and men fighting terrorism at the expense of human rights laws. The
minister said that it was absurd for British UN official to condemn Sri
Lanka for obtaining convictions by confessions when the UK followed the
same policy.
Recently human rights chief Zeid Hussein referred to accusations made by
retired navy Chief of Staff Sarath Weerasekera as regards the UN
turning a blind eye to Theresa May's declaration while purusing Sri
Lanka.
Addressing the media at the conclusion of his visit yesterday at the UN
compound, Emmerson appreciated assurances given by Army Commander Lt.
Gen. Mahesh Senanayake and Attorney General Jayantha Jayasuriya. Many an
eyebrow was raised when he referred to the recent arrest of Commodore
D. K. P. Dassanayake regarding alleged war time disappearances. Emmerson
said that in the wake of Lt. Gen. Senanayake's assurance that members
of armed forces who had committed crimes would be brought to justice,
senior naval Commander was arrested for his alleged involvement in the
disappearance of 11 persons during the closing stages of the conflict.
Emmerson on the basis of data provided by the government said that out
of 81 persons currently in the judicial phase of the pre-trial
detention, 70 had been in detention sans trial for over five years and
12 without trial for over 10 years.
Alleging that in spite of change of government in January 2015, the PTA
was remained operational Emmerson demanded that all of them should be
granted bail immediately or prosecuted within weeks or months.
Emmerson called for immediate remedial measures by way of reviewing the
legality of the detention of those still held by the government and
grant them fair trials. The UN official insisted that tangible measures
should be taken to inquire into all accusations against the police
through the appointment of an effective mechanism.