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| Thursday, 22 November 2001 |
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Editorial | |
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THE OBSERVER The Oldest English Newspaper in
South Asia Controlling the Police The deaths of three people in an incident of firing by the Police to quell a civil disturbance yesterday in Wattala draws attention once again to the parameters given to the country's civilian law and order force, that is, the Sri Lanka Police in the use of lethal force. Our society has only just emerged from a dark era when not only did 'lethal force' become the first choice of action but, there were thousands of deaths due to the actions of yet un-identified agents of the State in many instances, the perpetrators being accused being police or military personnel. The abuse of police powers was the norm in that era and one boast of the People's Alliance regime has been that this era has been brought to a close. This year, however, there have now been two incidents of deaths due to police firing, one during the violent UNP-led demonstration in Colombo and earlier this year and now in Wattala. The sudden ease with which the Police seem to be resorting to the gun to quell civil unrest is ominous in this age when even the Emergency has been allowed to lapse. Is there a conspiracy to besmirch the record of the Police during the regime of the PA and consequently the human rights record of the PA Government itself? The Government will do well to quickly investigate the incident and verify as to whether the officers involved in the incident were indeed justified in using lethal force. If not, justice be done and seen to be done quickly. At the same time swift action must be taken to resolve the larger issue of the negative impact of the highway construction work on the lives of the local fisher-people. |
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