Tag: human rights

Colombo Court Issues Notice to Dematagoda Police OIC Over Alleged Torture Incident

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The Colombo Additional Magistrate’s Court has issued a notice to the Officer-in-Charge (OIC) of the Dematagoda Police following allegations of detaining, stripping, and brutally assaulting an individual. The complaint, brought to the court’s attention by the victim’s legal counsel, alleges that a three-wheeler driver was detained for seven days without being produced in court. During his detention, he was reportedly stripped naked and subjected to severe physical abuse by police officers. According to the victim’s lawyer, the incident began on January 2 when the driver was summoned to Dematagoda for…

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The Wattala police, who tortured a person in custody on a false charge, also ignored the court’s order to hospitalise him.

Editor

On August 16th, 31-year-old Udesh Madhushanka, a resident of the Ja-Ela Tudella area, was falsely arrested by the Ja-Ela Police. The arrest was made in connection with an incident that occurred on August 14th, when Udesh was taken to a house that had allegedly been broken into by thieves, based on false information provided by an individual. He was later handed over to the Ja-Ela Police. When Udesh’s mother visited the Ja-Ela Police Station on August 19th, Udesh informed her that he had been tortured. He claimed that the police…

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Bringing Justice and Relief to Torture Victims

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Today is the International Day in Support of Victims of Torture That Sri Lanka is a country where torture is rife has been well documented by several international organisations including Amnesty International, Human Rights Watch, the International Truth and Justice Project (ITJP) and Freedom From Torture. According to Freedom from Torture, despite being a top holiday destination, Sri Lanka has consistently been the country from where it receives the most clients. Although the civil war ended in 2009, that has not ended human rights violations. Most at risk of torture…

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SRI LANKA: Two big lies told about the 1978 Constitution

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By Basil Fernando Two great lies have been propagated about the 1978 Constitution. When a lie is repeated many times by many persons, often such a lie begins to be treated as a conventional truth. The first of these lies is that the 1978 Constitution was created on the model of the French Constitution and the American Constitutional tradition. This was first propagated by Professor A.J. Wilson who called it a Gaullist Constitution. At the time, he was the advisor to President J.R. Jayewardene, a role which he publicly lamented…

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Permission to hear the Fundamental Rights Petition against the Baduraliya Police

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The Supreme Court yesterday(16) granted leave to hear a fundamental rights petition filed by Suranjith Wickremanayake alleging that he was brutally beaten and arbitrarily arrested by officers of the Baduraliya Police Station. The Supreme Court has allowed the petition to be heard in violation of the Constitution’s right to refrain from torture and cruel, inhuman and degrading treatment and punishment, as well as the right to arbitrary arrest and impunity. Attorney-at-Law Shelomi Daniel appeared before the Supreme Court on behalf of the petitioner along with Attorney-at-Law Armisa Tigel on the…

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Are you abusing children in a modern way?

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Date – 2021 / February Location – Anuradhapura Teaching Hospital Ward 63 Baby Name: XX Age of child: 10 years Disease – Chronic abdominal pain Date – 2021 / March Location – Anuradhapura Teaching Hospital Ward 63 Baby Name: YY Age of child: 9 years 7 months Disease: Sudden knee pain The two patients I wrote about above are two very nice, wonderful kids. The first girl comes to us with her mother. Complaining of a chronic stomach ache… After months of testing, she was unable to diagnose any urinary…

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protect the right to report, protest and speak.

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STATEMENT ON ARRESTS, DETENTION AND TORTURE OF PERSONS AT THE MIRIHINA PUBLIC PROTEST ON 31st  MARCH 2022 The Sri Lanka Collective Against Torture (SLCAT) condemns the arrests, detention and torture of protestors and by-standers at the public protest at Mirihana, Nugegoda on the night of 31st March 2022. These persons had gathered to exercise their basic civic right to highlight the devastating impact of the economic crisis which has led to island wide power outages and a fuel shortage which has impacted essential services and the supplies of food and…

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contempt of court and legal framework

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The Asian Human Rights Commission (AHRC) is a regional human rights organization. The organization seriously monitored and studied the law on contempt of court and its application in Sri Lanka. The AHRC is deeply concerned about the violation of Sri Lankan Constitution, which is in line with international law, by depriving the accused of the protection of the law. The AHRC pays special attention to the interpretation of international law as well as the Constitution of Sri Lanka by Article 105 (3) of the Constitution of Sri Lanka. The logic…

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