In light of cases that have now been filed in regards to police brutalities and other officials who have used force and taken advantage of powers vested in them, Executive Director at the Centre for Police Alternatives (CPA) Dr Paikiasothy Saranavamuttu said that many brutalities have happened in the name of law. He made this statement via a media brief video call yesterday (31). "Sri Lanka has a National Police Commission, a national Human Rights commission, both of which are institutions of the state and not the Government. They must be allowed to work freely without fear or favour. We know of people who have been killed in detention, and all sorts of brutality has happened in the name of law and order, which is just unacceptable," said Dr Saranavamuttu. Dr Saravanamuttu went on to refer to State Minister Lohan Ratwatte's incident, where he was alleged to illegally enter the Welikada and Anuradhapura prisons complex and threaten prisoners at gunpoint. "We have the most egregious violation in terms of the incident regarding Minister Lohan Ratwatte and him threatening prisoners at gunpoint. This is totally unacceptable and we must clean up the mess, and stop accusing other people of trying to threaten, bully or intimidate us and get our record clean. This is not a matter of new laws for a new legislation, and more of a question of political commitment and the willingness to act. We have a government that says that there is one country and one law, whereas the country has no law," Dr Saranavamuttu opined. Additionally, Dr Saranavamuttu states that it is important for a country to abide by the 'one country, one law' aspect, whereas Sri Lanka seems to be a country of "lawlessness", which needs to be reversed and what should be reversed is the respect for the rule of law and equality before the law. "In order for the law to be respected and equality to be established in a civil society, political parties need to get together and ensure the law is implemented without fear or favour," Dr Saranavamuttu concluded.