Govt. refutes Nowak's 'torture' statement

The Government yesterday refuted UN Special Rapporteur on Torture Manfred Nowak's statement to Untied Nations General Assembly's Third Committee that the practice of torture in Sri Lanka is "widespread", saying that he acknowledged torture is not systematic in the country during his tour here.

The release issued by the Disaster Management and Human Rights Ministry yesterday said: "The UN Special Rapporteur on Torture, Manfred Nowak was invited by the Government to visit Sri Lanka from October 1 to 8. Consequent to his mission, Nowak made a presentation to the Social, Humanitarian and Cultural Committee (commonly known as the Third Committee) of the Untied Nations General Assembly on Monday in which he has stated that torture is "widely practised in Sri Lanka".

Nowak reportedly acknowledges the Government's disagreement with this position which was communicated to the Special Rapporteur upon consideration of his preliminary findings.

The Government's view was based on statistics comparing allegations of torture received with the number of total arrests over several years. Alleged instances of torture over a five-year period was consistently less than 0.02 per cent per year of arrests made.

The UN News Service, purporting to site Nowak, states that the practice of torture is "widespread". The Ministry of Disaster Management and Human Rights strongly refutes any such conclusion which did not find any place in Nowak's preliminary findings.

Nowak, during his final briefing with the Disaster Management and Human Rights Minister Mahinda Samarasinghe and senior government officials on October 8 was asked to clarify his position with regard to the prevalence of torture.

At the meeting Nowak made it clear that his usage of the term "widely practised" was in reference to instances of alleged torture that he witnessed in diverse locations in the country and that such alleged instances did not relate exclusively or predominantly to the conflict or conflict affected areas. During the meeting Nowak also stated that, in his view, the use of torture was not "systematic" in Sri Lanka.

The Government in a spirit of openness, transparency and active engagement with UN Human Rights bodies and mechanisms, facilitated free access to places of detention (police stations and prisons of Nowak's choice) in keeping with the requirements and mandate of the Special Rapporteur.

Nowak in his letter of October 12 to Minister Samarasinghe in which he communicated his preliminary findings, was appreciative of this "full cooperation" on the part of the Government. Nowak also thanked the Police and Prison's Departments for "opening up the prisons and police detention facilities without restrictions, including carrying out unannounced visits, and enabling (him) to conduct private interviews with detainees".

Appreciating the difficult local context and challenges, he further stated: "I should state that I have full appreciation for the challenges the Government faces from the violent and long-lasting conflict with the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE).

Notwithstanding the difficult security situation the Government is faced with, Sri Lanka in principle is still able to uphold its democratic principles, ensure activities of civil society organisations and media, and maintain an independent judiciary."

In accordance with consistently applied policy in relation to high profile international visitors, he was not facilitated access to uncleared areas.

The Government took serious note of observations made by the Special Rapporteur relating to the allegation of corporal punishment at Bogambara Prison and allegations of torture by the Police's Terrorist Investigation Division - supposedly in retaliation for communication by the detainees with Nowak. In the former case, disciplinary proceedings have commenced against the prison official concerned and, in the latter, detainees have been examined by the JMO.

The Government has adopted a "zero-tolerance" policy on torture and is closely studying Nowak's preliminary recommendations to strengthening local institutional and legal frameworks to ensure strict adherence with that policy.

Nowak's positive comments on the range of measures already taken to combat torture in Sri Lanka are appreciated and the Ministry of Disaster Management and Human Rights will take steps to seek assistance from UN and other international partners to strengthen local capacities in ensuring that effective action is taken to prevent torture and against perpetrators of torture.

Thus Nowak's prediction that torture is "prone to become routine in the context of counter-terrorism operations" may be preempted by timely action."