With nearly three weeks having lapsed since the commencement of the ‘Yukthiya’ operation by the Police, concerns and allegations about irregularities in law enforcement processes continue to boil to the surface.
Yukthiya was initiated in December, spearheaded by newly-appointed Acting Inspector General of Police (IGP) Deshabandu Tennakoon, following a directive from Minister of Public Security Tiran Alles. According to the Public Security Ministry, over 20,797 suspects have been arrested during the first 14 days of the operation, between 17-31 December 2023.
Intimidation of lawyers
Speaking to The Sunday Morning, a lawyer who wished to remain anonymous alleged that he had experienced intimidation by the Police when he had gone to represent clients who had been arrested as part of the Yukthiya operation.
Echoing similar concerns, former Commissioner of the Human Rights Commission of Sri Lanka (HRCSL) Ambika Satkunananthan said: “During Yukthiya, they are also targeting lawyers in different ways, which is an attempt to intimidate them.”
Bar Association of Sri Lanka (BASL) President Kaushalya Nawaratne also acknowledged that the intimidation of lawyers was a “serious concern,” adding that the entire nation was being intimidated by the manner in which people were being taken into custody and in the number of arrests.
“We are not against the curbing of the circulation of drugs or narcotics in Sri Lankan society. However, we feel that the expected results cannot be achieved by the operation that has now been launched by the Police. Taking small-time drug addicts into custody in their hundreds will not curb the circulation of narcotics in Sri Lanka, unless the root of the issue is addressed, with the drug cartels and kingpins taken into custody and brought before court. Thus far, we have not seen any of those things happening. We feel that the operation is not result-oriented, perhaps with some other motive,” said Nawaratne.
He explained that intimidation by the Police was a serious concern, not just of lawyers, but also given that no reports were being submitted to court, no search warrants were being obtained, and with the media following the Police.
“We are not saying the public should not be made aware of what is happening, but the law states that a person is entitled to the presumption of innocence until they are proven guilty. We feel that they are trying to convert this society into a police state. Due process must always be followed – what is set out and recognised by democratic society. Otherwise, there is a serious threat to the rule of law. Lawyers are being threatened and various allegations are being made. The right and entitlement of lawyers to represent clients, whether that is a murderer or a drug addict, is a fundamental, basic right of a person,” stressed Nawaratne.
Nawaratne revealed that the Public Law Committee had submitted a report on the issue. “We hope to raise these concerns with everyone soon. They have given recommendations in order to address this alarming situation. We will not hesitate to go before court and seek appropriate action. We are not against the curbing of drug cartels, but everything must be done as provided for in law and due process must be followed. Otherwise, our country will be recognised as a lawless country and that will not be tolerated at any cost.”
Responding to allegations regarding intimidation of lawyers, Police Spokesperson SSP Nihal Thalduwa said that he was unable to comment without details of specific incidents.
Increasing costs of prisons
Meanwhile, speaking to The Sunday Morning, Department of Prisons Spokesperson and Prisons Commissioner (Rehabilitation) Gamini B. Dissanayake said that the daily food cost of a prisoner was expected to increase to around Rs. 700 this year.
“We haven’t confirmed the estimates for this year yet. The last recorded numbers for 2022 show the total daily cost per prisoner as Rs. 1,227 and Rs. 453 for food only. We believe this will increase somewhat, with food costing at least Rs. 700,” said Dissanayake.
Concerns have been raised about overcrowding in prisons, with a total of 30,860 individuals incarcerated as of 4 January. A National Audit Office report shows that the total capacity as at 31 December 2022 is 11,291 inmates.
A lawyer who spoke to The Sunday Morning raised concerns about the potential of another riot taking place inside the prisons due to the severe overcrowding that was occurring as a result of the Yukthiya operation: “The prison authorities have informed the magistrate that Negombo prisons are overcrowded – only 1,300 can be accommodated but 2,800 people are currently in remand in the district. Very soon, there will be another riot in the prisons. It is absolutely inevitable.”
However, Prisons Spokesperson Dissanayake said that their intelligence reports did not indicate such a concern: “There are no such indications in intelligence reports but previously, when the number of prisoners was at 32,000, such incidents occurred.”
As a measure to address the issue of overcrowding, the Prisons Department is transferring convicted prisoners to open-air prisons and making internal changes to accommodate remand prisoners.
“High numbers being taken into custody will not solve this problem; this will cause another social issue. The prisons were already overcrowded prior to this operation,” said BASL President Nawaratne.
Arrests
One lawyer The Sunday Morning spoke to said that he had received approximately 20 clients in the past week alone – those arrested under the Yukthiya operation. He alleged that the Police had been tasked with fulfilling a quota of arrests and was using lists of previous arrests in order to complete this task.
“We have heard of an incident where a man who was recovering from drug addiction had been arrested. He had been sober for four years and has a child now. There was another incident where a woman and her sister-in-law had been taken into custody, and they are on detention orders. The woman had had a small charge before. Their husbands have left them and between the two of them, they have four small children.
“I received about 20 cases over the last few days. They were all the same; there had been nothing in their possession and they had been arrested just to fill the numbers required by the Police. When they are taken to give a statement, heroin is introduced and they are remanded. Every Police station has been given a number – they have to arrest a certain number of people. They just arrest everyone who has had any kind of previous charge; 98% of the people being arrested are drug addicts and users, they are not dealers. They have nothing to do with this,” alleged the lawyer.
“The Police are arresting people who have had previous charges or who are out on bail. We filed a complaint recently with the Police Headquarters regarding a painter in Ahungalla. He had a previous court case, and because of this, the Police were now consistently coming to his house and questioning him,” said Committee for Protecting the Rights of Prisoners (CPRP) Executive Director Senaka Perera.
Perera further questioned whether the Police were recording all the arrests they were making daily, as the sheer number of arrests required a significant amount of time for recording them down.
Explaining how arrests were made under the Yukthiya operation, SSP Thalduwa said that it depended on several things, including intelligence reports on those who had been arrested previously. “A reasonable suspicion arises about these individuals; they lead good lives but don’t appear to be doing any work. Therefore, we have a background for suspecting them. We either have strong evidence or they have a previous record. When we are suspicious, we check on them.”
Furthermore, Thalduwa said that legally, a search warrant was not required to investigate drugs. “If the public wants narcotics to be eliminated from society, it is better to not focus on the small mistakes. Shortcomings can occur even with good intentions. If mistakes are made by individual officers intentionally taking advantage of this situation, we will definitely take action against them.”
He added that the Yukthiya operation was expected to continue for at least another six months.
Commenting on the legal remedies for violations taking place during the Yukthiya operation, former Commissioner of the HRCSL Satkunanathan said: “Most people don’t want to seek legal remedies for violations taking place during Yukthiya because they are scared of reprisals or they don’t know there are remedies they can seek and/or don’t have the financial means to do so.
“The Government will justify the operation on the basis that they are countering drug trafficking, but persons can seek remedies for individual violations like arbitrary arrest and detention and use of violence during and after the arrests. Although many actions of the Police are legal, the laws that allow these acts violate human rights standards such as the law on compulsory drug treatment.”
She noted that the lack of post enactment judicial review in Sri Lanka meant that the law itself could not be challenged. However, she added that it was possible to challenge the violation of a fundamental right during the implementation of the law when the law itself violated human rights standards, such as when a person was assaulted during rehabilitation.
“The issue is also that many of those who are arrested or are sent to compulsory drug treatment come from the most marginalised and poor sections of society and cannot access legal representation. Legal aid is extremely limited in Sri Lanka. Ultimately, many don’t want to spend time, money, and energy navigating a protracted and cumbersome legal process, at the end of which they may not obtain a remedy.
“Hence, what we need is more political intervention. We need the Opposition to raise questions about the operation and we need the media to highlight more stories about violations that are taking place – for example, arbitrary arrests, use of violence and abusive language, no search warrants, and destruction of property. The key persons driving the initiative are people who themselves have broken the law, who have had judgments against them – the entire thing is farcical and the Opposition keeps silent.”
HRCSL writes to AG
In a letter to the Attorney General (AG) last month, the Human Rights Commission of Sri Lanka (HRCSL) has observed that its Head Office in Colombo had received over 200 complaints regarding torture in 2023. Complaints relating to six custodial deaths and two encounter deaths had also been received in the first six months of 2023.
“Additionally, we note that the Supreme Court of Sri Lanka has recently delivered two landmark judgments on torture and custodial death respectively. In ‘Weheragedara Ranjith Sumangala v. Bandara, Police Officer, Police Station, Mirihana and Others, SC (FR) Application No. 107/2011,’ the Supreme Court found that several Police officers attached to the Mirihana Police Station had committed torture and ordered that the said Police officers pay the victim compensation. Moreover, in ‘Fathima Sharmila v. Officer in Charge, Police Station, Slave Island and Others, SC (FR) Application No. 398/2008,’ the Supreme Court found that several Police officers attached to the Slave Island Police Station were responsible for the death of the petitioner’s spouse and ordered these officers to pay compensation to the petitioner,” the HRCSL had stated in the letter.
The HRCSL has therefore encouraged the Attorney General to consider the prosecution of Police officers found by the Supreme Court to be responsible for acts of torture, under the provisions of the Torture Act. The HRCSL has also requested the Attorney General to consider the prosecution of Police officers found by the Supreme Court to be directly responsible for the deaths of persons held in Police custody, particularly where there is evidence that the deaths of such persons were caused by acts of torture.