Category: News

By Dulan Dasanayaka, Attorney at Law  “The term ‘torture’ means any act by which severe pain or suffering, whether physical or mental, is intentionally inflicted on a person for such purposes as obtaining from him or a third person information or a confession, punishing him for an act he or a third person has committed or is suspected of having committed, or intimidating or coercing him or a third person, or for any reason based on discrimination of any kind, when such pain or suffering is inflicted by or at…

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We are standing on a ground filled with skeletal remains and a country the UN rated second in the world for unsolved enforced disappearances, an HR activist opined yesterday at the release of report based on a lengthy probe on mass graves in Sri Lanka. “We are a race that respect the dead and dispose remains in a respectful way. But we are standing and stepping on a ground, which is filled with tens and thousands of human skeletal remains found from countrywide mass graves,” said Human Rights Activist Brito…

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An individual was injured in a shooting by Akmeemana traffic police on Saturday (10). The police say that the incident had occurred following a routine inspection where a motorcycle with two individuals was told to halt on a side road on the Walahanduwa to Nugaduwa road last night. Following the Police Officers attempting to approach the suspects one of the individuals fled on a motorcycle. The other suspect had attempted to throw a grenade at the police officers when the Police constable discharged his weapon. The 21-year-old suspect who was…

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  A petition has been filed with the Supreme Court of Sri Lanka, highlighting the alleged violation of fundamental rights in the shooting of a fifteen-year-old minor by police officers in Thihagoda. The petitioner, Dhammika Malkanthi, seeks justice for her son, who sustained severe injuries during the incident. According to the petitioner, the incident occurred on October 28, 2022, when her son and several companions were traveling in a three-wheeler on Kandepola Road. They encountered a minor obstruction, leading four police officers, including Sub Inspector Sunil Rajagalagoda Gamage, to halt…

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In a significant development regarding the Rambukkana shooting incident, multiple Fundamental Rights (FR) applications have been filed on behalf of the victims. The cases were brought before the Supreme Court of Sri Lanka, seeking justice and accountability for the tragic events that unfolded. The FR applications, numbered SC FR 73/2023, SC FR 74/2023, SC FR 75/2023, SC FR 120/2023, and SC FR 121/2023, were filed on behalf of Lalith Devapriya, Sahan Hasitha, Ashen Samaranayaka, Chaminda Rajapaksa & Thilakaratne Bandara, and Buddhika Edirisinghe & Milanga Wickremasuriya, respectively. On May 24, 2023,…

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  According to the sources of the National Police Commission, a complaint has been received that a 31-year-old resident of Rajawella, Kandy, was arrested and taken to the house of a Teldeniya police officer, beaten and sprayed with hot peppers on his genitals. To investigate the complaint, Teldaniya Senior Superintendent of Police PMDUB. The sources also mention that it has been forwarded to Mr. Palihavadana. However, five months have passed since this incident, yet no action has been taken against the police officers. The leg of the person who was…

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Phillip Dissanayake The citizens of Sri Lanka have mixed views about Non-Governmental Organizations (NGOs) because of the way they are portrayed by the government, politicians, and media. In broader terms, NGOs can be defined as independent organizations that are not directly affiliated with the government. They run without the aim of generating profits, and operate in the fields of humanitarian and social work. However, there is a specific political definition for the term NGOs. Accordingly, NGOs are a part of the civil society. NGOs are a category of civil society…

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Police have commenced an investigation into the death of a female domestic aide of Sudharma Nettikumara, former wife of proprietor of the Salaka Senkada group of companies, and a producer of films and teledramas. Investigators said that the death of the domestic help occurred while she was under the custody of the Welikada police over a complaint lodged by Sudharma that one of her gold rings with some other jewellery had gone missing and that she suspected the servant had stolen it. The deceased has been identified as R. Raja…

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On November 29, 2020, 11 inmates died in an incident at Mahara Prison. More than 100 people including two prison officers were injured. The inhumanity aspect here is that nine out of the 11 dead have been confirmed to be Covid-19 patients. That means, a group of patients have been killed.  It was our observation that the cause of their killing was the result of a struggle for patient rights. As Jagath Weerasinghe, its superintendent, said about Mahara Prison, Mahara Prison is a special prison that holds people who have…

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The Gampaha Human Rights Center reports that a prisoner in the Pallansena rehabilitation camp has fallen from a coconut tree and died. The officers of the rehabilitation center said that this man climbed the coconut tree out of anger with his wife and after he fell from the coconut tree and had an accident, he was admitted to the intensive care unit of the Negombo Hospital. The police officers did not inform his wife about this incident and the police officers told the wife about this when she visited her…

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