Colombo (AsiaNews) - No longer defenders of the law, but sadistic torturers of innocent people: so much so, that several human rights groups have denounced a part of the Sri Lankan police, accused of using "unorthodox" methods to interrogate their suspects. Right to Life, an NGO in the country, organized a meeting yesterday, in which some victims spoke of their experience. Their stories were heard by local religious leaders, members of the opposition and civil society representatives.
Torture is a regular practice in many police stations, since the time of the Civil War (which endedin 2009, ed.) Recently, however, many innocent victims have had the courage to report the abuse. The latest case was that of Nilupul Aruna Indika, 39, an interior decorator originally from Mahagedara (Kalutara district). The man was arrested on May 27 following accusations of stealing from a recently restored house he had been working on.
Once at the police station, the police knocked Nilupul down, forced him to keep his eyes open and poured chili juice into them. The man tried to pull away, but officers captured him with a chair by sitting on him. Despite the pain, the victim continued to deny having committed the crime, because he was innocent. According to the testimony of man, one of the police then said "This is not working", and together with colleagues stripped him and poured the chili juice on his genitals. Only the arrival of a providential acquaintance - an Irish national - who was looking for him, meant that the police let him go.
The story of Nilupul is not an isolated case, and the use of chili is becoming more common as an instrument of torture.
In the face of more than 1500 cases of torture reported by human rights organizations over the last 18 years there have been only five convictions. According to the U.S. State Department's Sri Lanka Country Report on Human Rights Practices 2012, police torture is commonplace and must be considered a major violation of human rights.
