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[headlines] Sri Lanka: Bindunuwewa massacre proves defective justice system 2005-05-30 10:54:03 FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
May 30, 2005
A Statement by the Asian Human Rights CommissionThe Bindunuwewa
Massacre and Sri Lanka’s defective justice system On 25 October 2000, more than 25 young Tamils at a rehabilitation
centre in Bindunuwewa near Bandarawela in the south-central part of
the island were attacked and killed by a Sinhalese group. Who were
the actual culprits? Who were their masterminds? To these questions
Sri Lanka’s justice system has no answers. Likewise, after nearly five years the survivors of this massacre and
the relatives of the dead are still left with these questions
unanswered. This most horrendous act of killing young people, who
were in a rehabilitation centre, which was under the protection of
the Sri Lankan government, has proved only one thing; that the Sri
Lankan system of justice is guilty of ensuring immunity for
offenders. Forty-one persons were charged with participating in the massacre.
However, the Sri Lankan courts have gradually acquitted all of these
persons on the basis that there was no evidence to convict them. The
last of these acquittals came on 27 May 2005 when the Supreme Court
acquitted the remaining accused on the basis that the evidence
against them lacked merit. That the massacre took place killing 27 detainees and injuring 14
others is not in doubt. That the modes of killing were so ugly and
cruel is also not in doubt. That the Sri Lankan government was
responsible for the protection of these detainees is also well
established. However, just who the actual perpetrators of this
heinous crime were, the Sri Lankan justice system has been unable to
resolve. Was this deliberate, or was it merely a case of negligence
and incompetence on the part of investigating officers? Perhaps this
will also never be known. However, that the Sri Lankan state is
responsible for the failure to provide justice in this instance is
blatantly clear. The primary responsibility for this failure lies with the Sri Lankan
police who had the legal responsibility to investigate into this
matter and to provide all evidence that was necessary to secure a
successful conviction. Obviously the investigators failed in their
task. Will there be an investigation into the failure to conduct
proper investigations by the police? Given the magnitude of the
crime, such an investigation is imperative. Who will initiate such an
investigation? The obligation lies with the Inspector General of
Police and with the government itself. The failure to properly
investigate such a massacre is a serious breach of trust by the
police service in Sri Lanka. If the Inspector General of Police and
the government do not conduct a thorough investigation into the
issue, significant credibility will be lost in regards to the
policing system as well as the Sri Lankan government’s claims to
ensure justice and respect for human rights. There is clearly also a failure on the part of the prosecutors in Sri
Lanka; a failure that lies with the Attorney General’s department
itself. The department should not have filed indictments against
persons if they did not have sufficient evidence to prove a case
successfully before a court. To the accused, it is a great injustice
to bring them before a court without sufficient evidence. To the
survivors of the massacre and the relatives of the dead such
prosecutions amount to deception. Also for the public, who would have
sought justice, this is also a betrayal of their trust. When viewing this case, it is not surprising to learn that there is
only a four per cent success rate for prosecutions in the country.
The judges, the prosecutors and the government have deliberated over
and over on this fact. However, how can there be successful
prosecution without a criminal investigation system that is able to
conduct professional and thorough inquiries before proceeding to
court? Further, how can there be successful prosecution without a
prosecuting system that thoroughly measures the evidence before
prosecutions are filed? The reason for the low rate of success for
convictions is thus the defective police investigation system and the
prosecution system themselves. There is a lobby in Sri Lanka that protests continuously for victim's
rights. Leading judges, prosecutors and also high-ranking policemen
are constantly talking about victim's rights. Yet, where are the
victim's rights in the case of the Bindunuwewa massacre? Are not
these victims the same as victims of any other crime? Is it not
hypocritical on the part of this lobby if they do not question the
denial of victim's rights to the victims of this massacre? Some Tamils might say that the massacre, as well as the failure to
conduct a proper investigation, is part of a scheme to deny justice
to them. However, the truth is that in present day Sri Lanka, justice
is denied to everyone. This massacre was not the first of its kind,
and will certainly not be the last. Where, when and for what purpose
other massacres will happen remains unknown? But they will happen and
there is nothing in the Sri Lankan legal system to suggest that they
will be dealt with any more competently than Bindunuwewa was. At
present Sri Lanka has neither the capacity to properly investigate
such crimes, or to prevent them. Indeed, justice in Sri Lanka is in
deep peril. If there is hope in these circumstances it lies with the people. It
is time to condemn and to revolt against a system of
misadministration of justice that is destroying the capacity of Sri
Lanka to survive as a decent society. It is the people who can bring
to trial the criminal investigation and prosecution system in the
country. If the people fail to intervene to save their system of
justice, Sri Lankan society is destined to join those other nations,
who have already lost their capacity to survive. # # # About AHRC The Asian Human Rights Commission is a regional
non-governmental organisation monitoring and lobbying human rights
issues in Asia. The Hong Kong-based group was founded in 1984.
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