A boon to the Police

The Government's decision to allow the Police to obtain the assistance of the Citizens' Committees to record public complaints in the North-East is a step in the right direction.

The scheme is to be initially implemented in Mannar and subsequently extended to other districts. Moves are also underway to promote the recruitment of minorities to the Police service.

Now that the East has been cleared of the LTTE presence no stone should be left unturned to speed up the restoration of the civil adminstration in these areas. A main ingredient for a stable civil adminstration no doubt is an effective law and order system.

This is where the establishment of the Citizens Committee can play a significant role. It goes without saying that public confidence in the police in the conflict areas is at zero level.

This is not necessary due to any antagonism with the police per se but the tendency of the people to view it as a repressive institution built on the distrust and resentment engendered by the three decades old conflict where these people were made to feel that they were a community apart.

Therefore the first task of the Government should be to dispel this attitude, erase all doubts and restore this lost trust among the people.

The proposed Citizens Committee should be an ideal medium to build bridges between the police and public and herald a new beginning in police-public relations which had taken a heavy battering with the escalation of the conflict.

It is also hoped that the Citizens Committees will be enlisted to strengthen other administrative structures too so that the people would be gradually drawn to become partners of the development process envisaged by the Government and make them feel equal citizens.

The decision to promote minority recruitment to the Police too should be viewed from a positive light in the Government's effort to create a climate of equality and oneness among its population.

Time was when the Police were adorned by the presence of significant numbers from the minority communities who not only did proud by the service and earned laurels and plaudits for their exploits but also exemplified the unity, togetherness and cohesiveness of Sri Lankans as one nation.

Another laudable feature in the confidence building exercise is IGP Victor Perera's admonition to his charges to strictly follow established procedures on questioning detained persons.

His insistence that such questioning and detention should be done only after producing the Police ID or a warrant from a court of law should banish the image of the Police Department as the villain of the piece among the Tamils.

The Police Chief's other edict that the IGP's office in Colombo be immediately informed in case of any detection we are sure would be welcomed by many.

However, the Government should embark on a vigorous campaign to educate the people in the newly liberated areas, of the safeguards put in place to protect human rights.

The proposed Citizens Committees could be engaged in this exercise. There should be no lacuna that could be exploited by the LTTE to win the support of the Tamil people.