Last week, Minister of Justice, President’s Counsel Dr. Wijeyadasa Rajapakshe made an explosive statement that certain Police stations are violating laws pertaining to the possession of narcotics, citing forensic reports by the Government Analyst's (GA) Department, which, according to him, indicate that certain drug-related cases are being falsely reported to courts by certain Police stations. This statement attracted critical, yet mixed responses from the public that discussed the matter, especially on social media. While many questioned as to why it took the authorities this long to acknowledge something that the public knew, some questioned as to what the Government (referring to Dr. Rajapakshe) is planning to do to rectify this issue.
This is the second time that the Minister of Justice spoke about misconduct on the part of the Police regarding seized drugs. Last (2022) December, he said in the Parliament that there was an increasing trend of seized drugs such as heroin returning to the streets and going back into the hands of the people.
Although the Justice Minister’s statements – especially the acknowledgement that these false cases have resulted in suspects having to be in remand prison for months and that it is an unfair situation – could easily give the public confidence that the Government is ready to at least admit the existence of such serious irregularities on the part of the Police, as per the National Police Commission (NPC) – the main regulatory body that is in charge of the Police – the NPC has received only a handful of complaints with regard to such cases. At the same time, the fact that neither Public Security Minister Tiran Alles nor the Inspector General of Police (IGP) Chandana D.Wickramaratne have issued any statements in this regard, is concerning.
To rectify these irregularities within the Police, regarding which a plethora of individuals have levelled allegations for a long time, prompt, concrete, and effective actions need to be taken. On the one hand, such actions would be an integral part of the much-needed efforts by the authorities to rebuild the trust that the public has lost in the Police, while on the other hand, such actions would prevent guiltless individuals from being remanded on false charges.
As a first step, the evidence chain of custody with regard to seized drugs should be further streamlined and scrutinised, in order to limit and properly monitor those who have access to seized drugs. There should be proper records of every Police officer or other types of officers who have access to seized drugs from the point of collection and identification, to analysis, storage, and the eventual destruction of drugs. It is also crucial that seized drugs receive secure and strictly-monitored storage and transportation facilities at all levels of this process, and that those processes should be engaged in only by those who are specifically appointed for that purpose.
In addition, a monitoring mechanism, preferably one that is overseen by officials outside the Police Department, needs to be in place in order to ensure the proper implementation of this system. Another important step that needs to be taken is introducing a vetting process to evaluate as much as possible how reliable and competent Police officers who are to be entrusted with handling seized drugs are. While Police officers’ track record should be taken into account when selecting them for these duties, those who have had serious allegations levelled against them, or have been disciplined or convicted over irregularities and misconduct should not be given such tasks. Another ideal step in addressing complaints and grievances with regard to seized drugs and drug-related charges would be to appoint an ombudsman to oversee the Police force, preferably one outside the Police force.
As has been noted, this is not just a matter of Police misconduct. This is equally a matter of preventing injustices against innocent individuals and preventing seized drugs from entering the society. Therefore, these reforms should be considered a priority.