The island nation of Sri Lanka, in throes of civil war since the past decade and half with its security forces fighting rebel armies of the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Ealam (LTTE), has been charged with torturing prisoners and civilians in their quest for victory over the rebels.
According to UN investigator Manfred Nowak, Sri Lankan government has not been able to curtail widespread torture practised by security forces in their battle with Tamil Tiger rebels. The island’s security forces have been battling armed LTTE rebels since the past several years and are employing all methods to get information about the rebels hideouts and activities.
Though there has been international pressure on both the LTTE and Sri Lankan governments to stop fighting, peace seems to elude some regions of the island nation.
Nowak’s accusation was promptly and vehemently denied by the government, with several ministers issuing statements to the effect.
Manfred Nowak, special rapporteur on torture for the UN Human Rights Council said that the torture of innocent civilians by security forces has been widespread in Sri Lanka and the government is unable to do anything about it. Speaking to the media he said,
The large number of indictments for torture filed by the Attorney General’s Office, the number of successful fundamental rights cases decided by the Supreme Court of Sri Lanka, as well as the high number of complaints that the National Human Rights Commission continues to receive on an almost daily basis indicates that torture is widely practiced in Sri Lanka.
This conclusive observation was made by Nowak after a week-long visit to Sri Lanka earlier this month. This observation includes an exhaustive list of recommendations after carefully studying the ground reality of the island. The UN official urged the international community to assist Colombo follow up on the recommendations.
Typical of any politician, Sri Lanka’s Human Rights and Disaster Management Minister Mahinda Samarasinghe refuted the allegations of Nowak and said that these observations were totally baseless and false. Reacting to the report Samarasinghe said,
The Ministry of Human Rights strongly refutes any such conclusions which did not find any place in Nowak’s preliminary findings.
Nowak’s usage of the terms “widely practiced” was in reference to instances of alleged torture that he witnessed in diverse locations in the country and that such instances did not relate exclusively or predominantly to the conflict or conflict affected areas, Samarasinghe said in a statement.
Nowak told the UN General Assembly committee dealing with social, humanitarian and cultural issues, known as the Third Committee, that the high indictments for torture filed indicates it was “widely practised” in Sri Lanka.
It is hightime that neighbouring countries of Sri Lanka, i.e. India and the international community, especially the developed countries in Europe and America played a proactive role in resolving the conflict. Since the conflict involves Tamil ethnic groups, India should talk to LTTE supremo Pirabhakaran and convince him to lay down arms and come to the negotiating table.
It is impossible to resolve any conflict through arms. Only patient and peaceful negotiations with an open heart to give and take will resolve troublesome issues such as these.
