Agence France-Presse reported on 7 November 2003:
GENEVA, Nov 7 (AFP) - A UN panel on Friday denounced persistent
reports of torture in Sri Lanka and criticised the impunity enjoyed
by security forces for crimes committed in the conflict with the
Tamil Tiger rebels.
"The
committee remains concerned at persistent reports of torture and
cruel, inhuman, or degrading treatment or punishment of detainees by
law enforcement officials and members of the armed forces," the
UN Human Rights Committee said in its report
on Sri Lanka.
It found that "very few" police or army officers had been
punished on charges of abduction or torture since the ceasefire last
year and urged authorities to promptly investigate allegations of
crime against the army or police.
Prosecutions often fell
through due to lack of evidence, while victims of abuse felt
intimidated or were subjected to threats and must be protected, the
committee said after its regular examination of Sri Lanka.
"The problem there is the culture of impunity," Nigel Rodley, one of
the members of the 18-strong committee, told journalists.
The UN panel, which probes the country's application of the
International Covenant on Civil and Political rights, did not
examine the current turmoil in Sri Lanka, but members indicated they
were watching the situation closely.
President Chandrika
Kumaratunga on Friday withdrew the state of emergency decree
announced after she sacked the ministers of defence, interior and
information and suspended parliament for two weeks.
"We have
been very concerned about the security forces engaging in torture
and disappearances and extrajudicial executions, especially during
the armed conflict which was the occasion of the previous state of
emergency," Rodley commented.
"Obviously antennae have to go
up when we hear of a state of emergency in the case of Sri Lanka,"
he added.
