Right to remedy

ශ්‍රී ලංකා: තත්කාලීන ලාංකීය සමාජය තුල වදහිසා විරෝධී පනත හා ජීවිතයට ඇති අයිතිය ස්ථානගත කිරීම

1994 දී ලංකාවේනීතිපොතට ඇතුලු වූ වදහිංසා පනත මේවසරේදී අවුරුදු 30ක කාලයක් සනිටුහන් කරයි. මෙතරම් දීර්ඝ කාලයක් ඔස්සේ මේ පනත තුලින් ලාංකීය සමාජය අත්පත් කරගත් ජයග්‍රහණයක් හෝ සාධාරණ භාවයක් දැක ගත හැකිද? වහිංසාව වැලැක්වීම නැමති ජාත්‍යන්තර එකගතාවයේ පදනම වූයේ යුක්තිය හා නීතිය ක්‍රියාත්මක කර වීමේදීමුලුමනින්ම බුද්ධිය හා ප්‍රඥාගෝචරත්වය පදනම් කරගත් අපරාධ පරීක්ෂණ ක්‍රමයක් ඇති කර ගැනීම ස්ථාවර සමාජයක් ඇති කිරීම සදහා අතීෂයින්ම වැදගත් වන්නා වූ සාධකයක් වන බවය. වධහිංසා පනත සාර්ථකද නැද්ද යන්න සලකා බැලිය යුතු වන්නේ එවනි ස්ථාවර සමාජයක් ලංකාව තුල පවතීද යන්න ගැන සලකා බැලීම තුලිනි.  අද ලංකාවේපොදුවේපවතින මතය නම් මෙතරම් අස්ථාවර කාලයක් කොයි කලකදීවත් පැවතී නැති බවය. මේපිළිබදව ප්‍රධානම සාධකය නම් රට පුරාම පැතිර පවතින නිතරම අසන්නට ලැබෙන මිනී මැරුම් හා ඝාතන තර්ජන තුලින් ඇතිකර ඇති භීතියයි.  මිනී මැරුම් පිළිබදව දිනපතාම ඇසෙන්නට ලැබෙනවා පමණක් නොව විවිධාකර වූ ආකාර වලින් ඝාතන සිදුවීමට ඉඩ දෙන වාතාවරණයක්ද දැකගත හැකිය. උදාහරණයක් වශයෙන් බෙහෙත් යැයි පෙන්නුම් කරමින් පාටකල වතුර බරපතල ලෙඩ රෝග ඇති රෝගීන්ට එන්තනත් කිරීම දක්වා මෙම ඝාතන සංස්කෘතිය පළල් වී ඇත.ඉමියුනොග්ලොබින් ෂපපමබදටකදඉමකසබ නැමති ඉතා බලවත් ඖෂධය වෙනුවට පාට කල වතුර එන්ත් කිරීම සම්බන්දයෙන් හෙලිදව් වී ඇති කරුනු දැන් ප්‍රසිද්ධ නඩුවකට පවා හේතු ගත වී ඇත.  මේහැර දේශපාලන කරුනු මත වූවත් ව්‍යාපාරික කරුණක් ගැන වූවත් දෂණ හෙළිදරව් කිරීමක් ගැන වූවත් මත්ද්‍රව්‍යය ජාවාරම පිළිබදව විරෝධය පෑමක් වූවත් හුදෙක්ම ආගමික මතවාදයකට ඇතිවන ගැටීමක් වූවත් බොහෝ විට තුඩු දෙන්නේ ඝාතන තර්ජන වලටය.  මෙවනි වාතාවරයක් තුල වදහිංසා පනත අර්ථකථනය කල යුතු වන්නේ සුවිශේෂ සමාජයක පවතින ප්‍රචන්ඩත්වය හා හිංසාකාරී බව පිළිබදව ඇති දැනුවත් කම හා අවබෝධය ඔස්සේය. වධහිංසා පණත දියුණු සමාජයන් තුල යොදා ගනු ලබන්නේ විනයානුකූලව කටයුතු කරන පොලීසියක්, නීත්‍යානුකූලව අපරාධ පරීක්ෂණ පවත්වන අපරාධ පරීක්ෂණ පද්ධතියක්, අපක්ෂපාතී වූ නිතිපති ක්‍රමයක් මෙන්ම ස්වාධීනව කටයුතු කිරීමට ඉඩ ඇති අධිකරණ ක්‍රමයක් පවතිනතාක් දුරටය. එහෙත් මේකිසිදු කොන්දේසියක් පසුගිය කාලය තුල ලාංකීය සමාජය තුල පවතින්නේ නැත.  වදහිංසා ඇතිවීම මෙන්ම ඝාතන සංස්කෘතියේ පසුබිමද ඉහත කී ආයතන වල පවතින බරපතල කඩා වැටීම් හා බද්ද වී ඇත.  මෙම බද්දවීම පිළිබද අවබෝධයෙන් තොරව කොපමණ පැමිණි කලත්, නඩු තීන්දු ලබා ගත්තත් ඒ මගින් සැබෑ සාධාරණයක්වත්, සමාජ ස්ථාවරත්වයක් ගොඩනගා ගැනීමක්වත් කල නොහැකිය.  මේනිසා වදහිංසා පනත පිළිබද 30 සංවත්සරය සනිටුහන් කිරීමේදී අවශ්‍ය වන්නේ ලාංකීය සමාජය තුල වධහිංසාව නොකඩවා පැවැත්මටත්, ඝාතන සංස්කෘතිය පළල් වීමටත් යුක්තිය පසදලවා ගැනීම වඩ වඩා අමාරු කාලයක් වීමටත් හේතු වී ඇති රාජ්‍ය ආයතනික ගැටලුව තෝරා බේරාගෙන, හදුනාගෙන ඊට පිළියම් සදහා යෝජනා ඉදිරිපත් කිරීමය.  මේනිසා නීති වෘතිය මෙන්ම යුක්තිය පසදලීමේයෙදෙන සියලුම කාර්යංශ තුලත් සිවිල් සමාජය තුලත් විශේෂයෙන්ම මාධ්‍ය තුලත් පැන නැගිය යුතු වාතාවරණය වන්නේ මෙම අතිෂයින් වැදගත් සමාජ සාකච්ඡාව ඉස්මතු කොට ගෙන ඉදිරියට ගෙය යෑමය.  ඉදිරියේදී එනවාය කියන මැතිවරණ කාලය තුල මෙම වදහිංසා හා ඝාතන සංස්කෘතිය පිළිබද ගැටලු වඩ වඩාත් උග්‍ර වනු ඇත. එවනි තත්වයක් යටතේ මෙම සාකච්ඡාව ඉස්මතු කර ගැනීම වඩ වඩාත් කාලෝචිත වන්නේය. 

SRI LANKA: Contempt of court law should not be used to create a chilling effect on lawyers and litigants

By Basil Fernando A month or so earlier, it was a lawyer practicing mainly in a High Court closer to Colombo, that contacted me and told me about his concerns about a draft Bill which has been discussed amongst his colleagues which was about the introduction a draft of a Contempt of Court Bill. He […]

INDONESIA: Ensuring effective remedy for Mr. Muhamad Fikry, a victim of torture and an unfair trial

An Open Letter from the Asian Human Rights Commission (AHRC) to the Chairperson of the Indonesian Supreme Court (Mahkamah Agung RI) Professor. Dr. Muhammad Syarifuddin, SH., MH. The Chairperson of the Indonesian Supreme Court (Mahkamah Agung RI) Jalan Medan Merdeka Utara No 9-13 Tel: +62 21 3843348, +62 21 3810350, +62 21 3457661 Fax: + 62 […]

Indonesia: The Government must seriously consider that the enactment of the RKUHP leaves serious problems

An Open Letter from the Asian Human Rights Commission (AHRC) to the President of the Republic of Indonesia Mr. Joko Widodo President of the Republic of Indonesia Jalan Veteran No. 16 Jakarta Pusat Indonesia Tel: +62 21 3458 595 Fax: +62 21 3484 4759 Dear Mr. President: Indonesia: The Government must seriously consider that the […]

INDONESIA: A university student in North Halmahera allegedly tortured after express his opinion on WhatsApp status

ASIAN HUMAN RIGHTS COMMISSION – URGENT APPEALS PROGRAMME Urgent Appeal Case: AHRC-UAC-003-2022 October 12, 2022 ——————————————————————— INDONESIA: A university student in North Halmahera allegedly tortured after express his opinion on WhatsApp status ISSUES: Torture, fair trial, impunity, remedy, access to justice, freedom of expression ——————————————————————— Dear Friends, The Asian Human Rights Commission (AHRC) has received […]

INDONESIA : The non-judicial settlement team for past human rights abuses and its membership’s composition contrary to the international human rights standard

A few weeks ago, President Joko Widodo issued Presidential Decree Number 17 of 2022 concerning the establishment of a non-judicial settlement team for serious past human rights violations. We agree with the statement of the victims of past human rights abuses and their families, namely that the Presidential Decree 17 of 2022 is a means […]

BANGLADESH: Dissidents and Human Rights Defenders Survive Defenselessly

Human rights defenders, dissidents, and political opposition survive in a profoundly dangerous condition of civic space in Bangladesh. The country’s government keeps weaponising draconian laws with impunity to curb civic freedoms of the people. The freedom of peaceful assembly and association and the freedom of expression and opinion are dealt with incarceration by the police, […]

SRI LANKA: People’s Uprising for System Change

By Basil Fernando April and May 2022 will be remembered as the most important months in the post-independence era. During this short period the much hoped for people’s awakening expressed itself powerfully. People who wielded authority failed to see the writing on the wall although the wall was just next to the Presidential Secretariat and […]

INDONESIA: Police officers in Northlubuklinggau Torture a Supect to Death

ASIAN HUMAN RIGHTS COMMISSION – URGENT APPEALS PROGRAMME Urgent Appeal Case: AHRC-UAC-001-2022  March 14, 2022 ——————————————————————— INDONESIA: Police officers in Northlubuklinggau Torture a Supect to Death ISSUES: Torture, remedy, access to justice, impunity ——————————————————————— Dear Friends, The Asian Human Rights Commission (AHRC) has received updated information regarding an alleged case of torture that resulted in […]

INDONESIA: 33 Years of Talangsari 1989: Changing Policies That Remain Unfavorable to Victims and Justice

According to various data and information, in the Talangsari massacre, 130 people died, 77 people were forcibly evicted, 53 people experienced the deprivation of liberty and 46 people experienced torture. “The process of resolving the Talangsari massacre has dragged on and the victims have waited too long for legal certainty. On the 33 years of […]

INDONESIA: Withdraw police officers and stop the seizure of people’s living space in the Wadas village

An Open Letter from the Asian Legal Resource Centre to the Chief of National Police General of Police LISTYO SIGIT PRABOWO Chief of National Police (KAPOLRI) Jl. Trunojoyo Number 3 Kebayoran Baru, Jakarta Selatan 12110 INDONESIA Telephone: +62 21 384 8537, 726 0306 Fax: +62 21 7220 669 Electronic mail: info@polri.go.id Dear General: INDONESIA: Withdraw police […]

INDONESIA: Urging inquiry and investigation related to the death of Mede Nurlatu at the mining area of the Botak Mountain

February 09, 2022 An Open Letter from the Asian Legal Resource Centre to the Chief of National Police General of Police LISTYO SIGIT PRABOWO Chief of National Police (KAPOLRI) Jl. Trunojoyo Number 3 Kebayoran Baru, Jakarta Selatan 12110 INDONESIA Tel: +62 21 384 8537, 726 0306 Fax: +62 21 7220 669 E-mail: info@polri.go.id Dear General: INDONESIA: […]

INDONESIA: Questioning the Ministry of Health for the maladministration of imposing Covid-19 treatment costs to patients

Five victims in relation to the cost of Covid-19 treatment together with the Community Coalition for Access to Health Justice made a direct complaint to the Ombudsman of the Republic of Indonesia. The complaint was made on suspicion of the maladministration carried out by several Covid-19 referral hospitals that charged patients with Covid-19 care and […]

INDONESIA: Appointing the Parliament and the Military to Resolve Human Rights Violations Proves that the Chief Security Minister Failed to Understand Justice

The Asian Human Rights Commission (AHRC) supports survivors and the families of victims of serious human rights violations and strongly condemns the two erroneous statements made during a meeting between the Chief Security Minister, Mr. Mahfud MD and the Indonesian National Army (TNI) Commander General Andika Perkasa on November 25, 2021. The statement that we […]

INDONESIA: Men who allegedly stole a mobile phone brutally attacked and prosecuted by the Police

ASIAN HUMAN RIGHTS COMMISSION – URGENT APPEALS PROGRAMME Urgent Appeal Case: AHRC-UAC-013-2021  October 27, 2021 ——————————————————————— INDONESIA: Men who allegedly stole a mobile phone brutally attacked and prosecuted by the Police ISSUES: Torture, Legal Aid, Fair Trial, Remedy, Access to Justice ——————————————————————— Dear Friends, The Asian Human Rights Commission (AHRC) has received information from the […]

INDONESIA: State barely able to handle COVID 19 International support is needed to save people from COVID 19

ASIAN HUMAN RIGHTS COMMISSION – URGENT APPEALS PROGRAMME Urgent Appeal Case: AHRC-UAC-007-2021  July 21, 2021 ——————————————————————— INDONESIA: State barely able to handle COVID 19 International support is needed to save people from COVID 19 ISSUES: Right to health, access to justice, access to information, remedy, international aid, poverty, pandemic COVID 19 ——————————————————————— Dear Friends, The […]

SRI LANKA: The Complaint by a young mother of sexual harassment suffered at the Padukka Police Station

An Open Letter from the Asian Human Rights Commission to Inspector General of Police, Mr. C. D. Wickramaratne Inspector-General of Police, Mr. C. D. Wickramaratne New Secretariat, Colombo 01. SRI LANKA Fax: + 94 11 2 440440 / 327877 Email: igp@police.lk Dear Mr. C. D. Wickramaratne SRI LANKA: The Complaint by a young mother of […]

SRI LANKA: A Cruel Government Supports Torture by Opposing Preventive Law

An amendment to the Code of Criminal Procedure allowing the Magistrates to visit places of detention has been turned into a political issue by a section of the government and by some extreme nationalist elements. What this means is that the opposition to the amendment is supporting the continuous practice of torture in Sri Lanka. […]

INDIA: Anatomy of a Pandemic!

Article | India | 21-04-2021

By Avinash Pandey With over 2 lakh (two hundred thousand) new daily cases for almost a week, India is reeling under a second and far more lethal wave of COVID19 pandemic. India reported a record 2.94 lakh cases, second largest daily jump anywhere in the world on Tuesday, April 20, 2021 with a record 2,000 […]

SRI LANKA: Why do Sri Lankan Police officers torture suspects? Part II

By Basil Fernando “Police officer” refers mostly to persons working for the Sri Lanka Police Service. But in the context of custodial torture, it also includes others who at times are called upon to do Police-related duties such as conduct interrogations, similar to the military and other agencies. Another aspect, relevant to this discourse, generally […]