Where cases have been filed, courts often postpone cases for long periods. Among the reasons for postponement is the absence of witnesses. Where cases are before courts in the north-east, detainees are sometimes not taken for court hearings for alleged security reasons. According to the MPs, there are also a number of detainees who have no access to legal assistance. The lack of Tamil police officers and translators is another reason for the delay.
Sixty year-old Batticaloa resident V Loganathan is in detention from February 1996. Jaffna resident and father of six children, Kandiah Karunakaran was arrested in February 1998. His case is before the court in Anuradhapura, 125 miles north-east of Kalutara, and has been postponed eight times because of the absence of witnesses. Kilinochchi resident Sellathamby Thatchanamurthy, 58, is held since March 1996. Trincomalee resident Muthusamy Dharmalingam, 57, was arrested in February 1998, but is still in detention, despite an order by the AGD for his release in September 2001.
The Hindu priest of Modera Kaliamman temple in Colombo, Ragupathy Sarma, was arrested in February 2000 and is currently in Kalutara. His wife is detained at Welikada prison in Colombo. Kandy Selva Vinayagar temple priest Kothandathas says he suffered severe torture after his arrest in August 1999. A number of Tamils from the Hill Country are also in detention in Kalutara. Thandan Rasalingam of Passara in Badulla District is in detention since his arrest in September 1999. Three youths from Ramboda in Nuwara Eliya District, including Balakrishnan Suresh are in prison from March 2000.
Lawyers blame the AGD for the prolonged detention. The Sri Lankan Human Rights Commission (HRC) has no authority to give directions to the AGD. A separate unit in the AGD was set-up to handle cases under the Emergency regulations and the PTA. But this unit has been neglected, lacks proper personnel and has failed to address the problems faced by detainees.
Cases are often delayed because police officers fail to attend, sometimes for several hearings. According to observers, the courts are not strict and tend to grant postponement rather than reprimanding the police officers for contempt of court. Critics say that in the case of arrests, many of which are illegal, the AGD accepts the statements of police officers without any evidence. In December, the AGD apologised to the Supreme Court for the harassment of Colombo Tamil computer businessman Moses Krishanthan. He was arrested by police, accused of spying for the LTTE, without any evidence, and forced to sign a confession in the Sinhalese language under threat of torture.
Observers also point out that the requirement of travel passes and the order to civilians in the north-east to obtain Army identity cards have no legal basis. They say that the AGD has not taken any action in this regard but is more interested in representing police officers accused of violating the rights of the people. The AGD claims that charges have been brought against human rights offenders among security forces. But the fact remains that no one has been convicted for the crime of torture since the Torture Act was enacted in 1994.
In a fundamental rights application to the Supreme Court, Jaffna resident Thangarasa Krishanthan, 19, says he suffered torture at the hands of the security forces. The police arrested him at Kirillapone suburb in Colombo on 8 August 2000. He was not given any reason for the arrest and his relatives were not provided an arrest receipt. His eyes were covered and he was hung by the toes. He was beaten with batons and wires and burned with cigarettes. His head was smashed against a table. He was accused of LTTE links.
Gopalapillai Jegatheeswaran from the Vanni was arrested in July 2001 by the police Counter Subversive Unit (CSU) in Vavuniya District, while waiting for a bus. He was not informed of the reasons. His head was repeatedly immersed in water. He was beaten and his head was covered with a plastic bag dipped in petrol. He was forced to sign a confession in Sinhalese, under torture.
Justice minister Lokubandara has indicated that the Committee of Inquiry into Undue Arrest and Harassment (CIUAH) would not be re-appointed. CIUAH was appointed by President Chandrika in July 1998 after complaints of security force harassment of the Tamil community in southern Sri Lanka. The CIUAH was headed by the Justice minister. The position of the members of the HRC has also become uncertain. Under the 17th Amendment to the Constitution, approved by Parliament in September, members of the HRC must be appointed by the Constitutional Council. This body is yet to be constituted.