A/67/44
The State party should ensure that, when suspects are produced before the courts by
the police, magistrates always inquire whether the suspect was tortured or mistreated
by the police while in custody. The State party should ensure that public officials, in
particular judicial medical officers (JMO), prison doctors, prison officials and
magistrates who have reasons to suspect an act of torture or ill-treatment, record and
report any such suspected or claimed act to the relevant authorities.
Secret detention centres
(8)
Notwithstanding the statement of the Sri Lankan delegation categorically denying all
allegations about the existence of unacknowledged detention facilities in its territory, the
Committee is seriously concerned about reports received from non-governmental sources
regarding secret detention centres run by the Sri Lankan military intelligence and
paramilitary groups where enforced disappearances, torture and extrajudicial killings have
allegedly been perpetrated (arts. 2 and 11).
The State party should ensure that no one is detained in any secret detention centres,
as these facilities are per se a breach of the Convention. The State party should
investigate and disclose the existence of any such facilities and the authority under
which any of them has been established. The State party should also ensure that the
results of the investigation are made public. It should abolish any such facilities and
any perpetrators found responsible should be held accountable.
Enforced disappearances
(9)
While welcoming the State party’s Supreme Court judgement in Kanapathipillai
Machchavallavan v Officer in Charge Army Camp Plaintain Point, Trincomalee and Three
Others (2005), according to which enforced disappearance could constitute a violation of
article 13(4) of the Constitution, the Committee notes with concern that this reasoning has
not been reflected in more recent decisions. It also notes that that enforced disappearance is
not a separate offence under Sri Lankan criminal law and that such acts are charged under
other crimes in the Penal Code, including kidnapping, abduction and wrongful
confinement. The Committee expresses its concern that 475 new cases of enforced
disappearance were transmitted by the Working Group on Enforced or Involuntary
Disappearances to the State party under its urgent procedure during the period 2006–2010,
and the claims that military, police, the Criminal Investigation Department (CID) and
paramilitary groups are the alleged perpetrators. It is also concerned at reports suggesting
that the sweeping powers granted under anti-terrorist legislation contributed to the large
number of new disappearances (arts. 2, 11, 12, 13 and 16).
The State party should:
(a)
Take all the necessary measures to ensure that enforced disappearance is
established as an offence in its domestic law;
(b)
Ensure that the cases of enforced disappearances are thoroughly and
effectively investigated, that suspects are prosecuted and those found guilty punished
with sanctions proportionate to the gravity of their crimes;
(c)
Ensure that the any individual who has suffered harm as the direct
result of an enforced disappearance has access to information about the fate of the
disappeared person, as well as to fair and adequate compensation;
(d)
Adopt measures to clarify the outstanding cases of enforced
disappearances and comply with the request to visit by the Working Group on
Enforced or Involuntary Disappearances (A/HRC/16/48, para. 450).
86
GE.12-44492
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