Appoint the Constitutional Council in terms of the recommendations already made! The continuing failure to do so will result in the erosion of trust.!

The Rule of Law and the Police
Notebook of A Nobody

by Shanie


K C Kamalasabayson, was one of the most respected of Attorney Generals of recent times. His life and work is being celebrated next week by a Memorial Lecture on the second anniversary of his death. In 2003, Kamalasabayson himself delivered the Kanchana Abhayapala Memorial Lecture, instituted in memory of a young lawyer who was gunned down in his own home by an ‘unidentified gunman’ in August 1989 during the second southern insurgency. Abhayapala worked for the legal services arm of Sarvodaya and took up cases where people had been detained illegally or who had ‘disappeared’, despite death threats. As Kamalasabayson stated in his preface to the lecture: Abhayapala was ‘a young lawyer who had the courage to accuse the State agencies of abuse of power and violence. He represented the underprivileged and the poorer segments of the society who were victims of such abuse and violence and sought justice on their behalf in our Courts. It was an era when many lawyers were reluctant, through fear, to undertake such tasks.’

In his thoughtful lecture, Kamalasabayson lamented the fact there were so many unsolved crimes. While stating that there many reasons for this, he acknowledged that the ordinary layman felt that many of them could have been solved and it was not done because of the ineffectiveness of the investigators or for reasons best known to them. The result was that the public began to lose confidence in the system. And he stated, "What I wish to emphasize is that unless the object of our criminal justice system is properly translated into reality, viz. in that the actual offender is expeditiously tried and punished, there could never be a just society in which law and order would prevail…. I will only pose a simple question. Is it more important in a civilized society to build roads to match with international standards, spending literally millions of dollars, rather than have a peaceful and a law-abiding society where rule of law prevails?" That rhetorical question posed by the then Attorney General becomes very relevant to us today when we witness a spurt in extra-judicial violence and abuse of power by those in authority.


Building a National Conscience

Two weeks ago, this column warned against condoning any kind of extra-judicial killings. In dealing with people, even hardcore criminals or terrorists, the law enforcement authorities cannot act as judge, jury and executioner. It is dangerous and, as history has shown, leads to abuse. When impunity is given to the Police and security forces to cover their actions, the temptation to use the powers given to them can be misused to decide personal feuds and settle private vendettas, even minor ones. The Embilipitiya case in 1989 was a horrific example where the security forces personnel, armed with emergency powers to crush the southern insurgency, had caused the ‘disappearance’ of 24 students at the instigation of the school Principal over a minor school incident involving the Principal’s son, totally unconnected with the insurgency. It required a change of government and the pursuit of the case by a Human Rights Task Force to bring the perpetrators to book – a saga that ended 13 years after the event, amidst an emotional moment for the families of the students killed. The present Malabe SLIIT incident evokes memories of the Embilipitiya case, although public outrage backed by media (chiefly the Island) support has forced the authorities to remand some people. But the minions in the Police who carried out the cowardly attack on the helpless student would not have done so except on the orders of a superior officer, who still remains free. We can only hope the perpetrators will not escape charges for ‘lack of evidence’.

The incident at Angulana has resulted in the death of two young men. Stories are now emerging of a complete breakdown of discipline and morality at the Angulana station. It is understood that the Police hierarchy as well as the local parliamentarians and other politicians were aware of this. But the personnel at the Police Station seem to have enjoyed impunity, until public outrage forced the authorities to take action.

When this column commented two weeks ago on the extra-judicial violence and killings, we saw the need for a national conscience that will be outraged at this complete disregard for the rule of law. The Malabe and Angulana incidents have begun to see the stirrings of a national conscience. That momentum must be maintained. Religious and Civil Society leaders, the Media and conscientious politicians, across the party divide, must join hands in building a National Conscience.


Emergency Regulations

There is, no doubt, that the public perception of a professional and competent Police Service has taken a severe beating. The IGP and the police hierarchy must accept responsibility for this state of affairs. They have no right to continue in office unless they take meaningful steps to restore that image. It is not only the extra-legal violence; there is also a noticeable increase in general crime and lawlessness. Criminal elements tend to take advantage of the politicisation of law-enforcement institutions. It is only yesterday that it was reported that Dr. Pakiasothy Saravanamuttu had received death threats. We know from past history, from Kanthana Abhayapala to Lasantha Wickrematunga, that death threats can be real. The Police have a duty to safeguard the life and liberty of every citizen, irrespective of whether or not their views are palatable to the politicians temporarily in power.

Part of the problem is the continuance of Emergency Regulations. Now, that the war against the LTTE is over, there is no valid reason for the continuation of special powers to the Police over the arrest and detention of persons. We are now fed with news releases of LTTE activists being still around, in the IDP camps and outside, planning suicide bombings and other bombs. One of these has been exposed as a fake by another arm of the Police themselves. Even if the suspicions are correct, are not the ordinary laws of the country adequate to deal with these remnants of the LTTE, if they still exist. When extra-ordinary powers are continued for longer than necessary, a power-complex begins to develop and the special powers are abused to decide personal feuds, as has happened at Malabe and Angulana. Our parliamentarians, and the defence establishment, must seriously re-consider whether it is really necessary to continue with the emergency regulations.

It may be appropriate for us, the parliamentarians in particular, to ponder the words of Bishop Lakshman Wickremesinghe which this column has quoted before. After, pleading for the repeal of emergency regulation after the first southern insurgency had been crushed, he stated: "Where there is no vision among the leaders, the people remain apathetic and stagnant. Where there is no self-sacrifice by those in power, the people grow cynical and rebellious under the burden of corruption. Where there is no mutual confidence, a People’s Government steadily degenerates into a People’s Dictatorship. It is of advantage to those in power, to remind themselves for whose benefit the people entrusted them with power."


The Independent Commissions

The politicisation of the Police has taken hold partly because there has been no independent National Police Commission. There was admirable political consensus when the JVP proposed the establishment of a Constitutional Council and, through it, a number of independent Commissions to give strength to the concept of an impartial Police, an independent public service and judiciary and safeguarding the basic rights of the people. The 17th amendment was the result. It is a pity that the President continues to ignore this constitutional duty cast on him. He must put the national interest before any party or parochial interest. If the 17th amendment has weaknesses, the process of making a further amendment can take its due course. But fulfilling his constitutional duty does not have to await that. Even at the tail end of his Government, it is not too late to appoint the Constitutional Council in terms of the recommendations already made. The continuing failure to do so will result in the erosion of much of the confidence and euphoria resulting from the crushing of the LTTE. It will prevent, as Bishop Wickremesinghe stated, from a popular people’s government degenerating into a dictatorship.


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