The Breakdown Of Law And Order Within Sri Lanka Needs Immediate Resolution!

The paradox which has existed in Sri Lanka relative to the need to quell armed terrorists on one hand while dealing with an insurmountable increase in national crime and the priorities of dispensation towards the greater need seem to have been neglected despite its complex nature and made manifest through the horrendous killing of High Court Judge Sarath Ambanpitiya as he was wantonly gunned down together with his bodyguard on November 19th in Colombo.While the outpourings of grief, anger and horror continue, to which LankaWeb also joins in, many viable sources entitled to ask relevant questions including the Asian Human Rights Commission have consequently assessed the relative strengths and credibilities of the Sri Lankan authorities while making recommendations towards implementing law and order with stringent actions and an effective response with immediate preventive measures towards a complete breakdown of law and order where otherwise the law of the gun and consequently that of the jungle could easily take over in the uneasy environment of Sri Lanka Today! Needless to say there are many discerning Sri Lankans who believe it has already, perhaps to a degree of circumspect paranoia albeit the unmistakable signs overall, existing in a general perspective considering the alarming increase in crime within Sri Lanka today!

While the President of Sri Lanka has ordered the complete restoration of the death penalty for specified high crimes against society which has been on tenterhooks for many years now, in that it has not been completely implemented, while its deterrent effect is bound to be imposing on the criminal element, there will undoubtedly be a greater need towards fortifying internal security where high profile personalities with Administrative and Judicial responsibilities, citing the assasinated member of the High Judiciary as an example would need greater protection and an increased surveillance by the law enforcement agencies on criminal activity and the complete destruction of the means of accessibility of criminals towards commiting high crimes and misdemeanors unabated!

Shockingly there is much evidence to point towards neglect on the part of the authorities and that the needless killing of Judge Ambepitiya might have been prevented while it was almost predictable considering the turn of events which led to the dastardly crime. There have been warnings and recommendations made by many Human Rights and Legal Watchdogs to the Government subsequent to a despicable attempted rape of a High Court judge in her house in the not too distant past, the brazen killings of prosecution witnesses in all important cases and the spate of recent Islandwide crimes by bold armed gangas and individuals with free access to weapons which seem to have gone to neglect or shelved in lieu of greater priorities as the cliche goes despite assuarances made by the authorities towards greater protection for judges and persons of High Office and somewhat of an apathy through indifference as the failures to execute are indicative and bear sad testament.

In the case of slain Justice Ambepitya who had allegedly recieved death threats due to the iron fisted nature of many of his judgements and his relentless pursuit of the criminal element, curiously the security around him had been very lax and allegations rife that extra officers assigned for his protection were either mysteriously relieved of their duties or unavailable at the time of the assassination to afford greater protection which is now somewhat academic yet somewhat puzzling!.

A very accurate and appropriate observation has been made recently by the Asian Human Rights Commission and highlighted by the Asian Tribune that, quote" Assassinations and threats of assassinations have been going on in Sri Lanka for decades. There has been no serious effort to stem the practice. Like all other problems, it has been met with rhetoric and promises, devoid of strategies and action.There has been no attempt to break the culture of murder that has slowly strangled the country since the mass disappearances of the 1980s. Everybody goes about his own business expecting that somebody else will be the target, as did Reverend Martin Niemoeller, who was arrested by the German Gestapo in 1938. Reverend Niemoeller later famously wrote that, "In Germany, the Nazis first came for the communists, and I didn’t speak up because I wasn’t a communist. Then they came for Jews, and I didn’t speak up because I wasn’t a Jew. Then they came for the trade unionists, and I didn’t speak up because I wasn’t a trade unionist. Then they came for Catholics, but I didn’t speak up because I was a protestant. Then they came for me, and by that time there was no one left to speak for me." end quote which speaks volumes towards its relevance applicable to the recent murder to which one might add in sad hypothesis in speaking for the fallen Judge "And When They Came For Me There Was No One To Protect Me "and in greater perspective the hopeless cry of a defenceless Nation helplessly battered by crime and the rank incapacity by the status quo towards restitution and dire consequences in case there is further neglect towards maintaining law and order within Sri Lanka and could easily initiate anarchy instigated by its criminal element while also remembering the terrorists in hiding who would undoubtedly convert this to their criminal advantage given the slightest opportunity

As an alternative, it seems now upto all Sri Lankas citizens to bear collective responsibilities towards a greater awareness against crime prevention, a banding together of neighbourhood watch groups in close liason with the law enforcement agencies, the foremost responsibility resting with the authorities towards an unravelling and re- structuring of the laws of the land which have lent many platforms for criminals to ply their despicable trade, some of them even in high office and powerful Administrative disposition! as the very inrastructure of Sri Lanka's Judicial and Law Enforcement system now feels the tremors of what might be the initial stages of impending disaster and the need for immediate resolution imperative!


		CLASSIFIED \| POLITICS \| TERRORISM \| OPINION \| VIEWS
		The Lankaweb Weekly Editorial
FRONT PAGE NEWS . CLASSIFIED . DHAMMAWEB . SANDUN UYANA . ANTENNA . EVENTS DIARY . LONDON DIARY . FEATURES . LETTERS.		The Breakdown Of Law And Order Within Sri Lanka Needs Immediate Resolution! The paradox which has existed in Sri Lanka relative to the need to quell armed terrorists on one hand while dealing with an insurmountable increase in national crime and the priorities of dispensation towards the greater need seem to have been neglected despite its complex nature and made manifest through the horrendous killing of High Court Judge Sarath Ambanpitiya as he was wantonly gunned down together with his bodyguard on November 19th in Colombo.While the outpourings of grief, anger and horror continue, to which LankaWeb also joins in, many viable sources entitled to ask relevant questions including the Asian Human Rights Commission have consequently assessed the relative strengths and credibilities of the Sri Lankan authorities while making recommendations towards implementing law and order with stringent actions and an effective response with immediate preventive measures towards a complete breakdown of law and order where otherwise the law of the gun and consequently that of the jungle could easily take over in the uneasy environment of Sri Lanka Today! Needless to say there are many discerning Sri Lankans who believe it has already, perhaps to a degree of circumspect paranoia albeit the unmistakable signs overall, existing in a general perspective considering the alarming increase in crime within Sri Lanka today! While the President of Sri Lanka has ordered the complete restoration of the death penalty for specified high crimes against society which has been on tenterhooks for many years now, in that it has not been completely implemented, while its deterrent effect is bound to be imposing on the criminal element, there will undoubtedly be a greater need towards fortifying internal security where high profile personalities with Administrative and Judicial responsibilities, citing the assasinated member of the High Judiciary as an example would need greater protection and an increased surveillance by the law enforcement agencies on criminal activity and the complete destruction of the means of accessibility of criminals towards commiting high crimes and misdemeanors unabated! Shockingly there is much evidence to point towards neglect on the part of the authorities and that the needless killing of Judge Ambepitiya might have been prevented while it was almost predictable considering the turn of events which led to the dastardly crime. There have been warnings and recommendations made by many Human Rights and Legal Watchdogs to the Government subsequent to a despicable attempted rape of a High Court judge in her house in the not too distant past, the brazen killings of prosecution witnesses in all important cases and the spate of recent Islandwide crimes by bold armed gangas and individuals with free access to weapons which seem to have gone to neglect or shelved in lieu of greater priorities as the cliche goes despite assuarances made by the authorities towards greater protection for judges and persons of High Office and somewhat of an apathy through indifference as the failures to execute are indicative and bear sad testament. In the case of slain Justice Ambepitya who had allegedly recieved death threats due to the iron fisted nature of many of his judgements and his relentless pursuit of the criminal element, curiously the security around him had been very lax and allegations rife that extra officers assigned for his protection were either mysteriously relieved of their duties or unavailable at the time of the assassination to afford greater protection which is now somewhat academic yet somewhat puzzling!. A very accurate and appropriate observation has been made recently by the Asian Human Rights Commission and highlighted by the Asian Tribune that, quote" Assassinations and threats of assassinations have been going on in Sri Lanka for decades. There has been no serious effort to stem the practice. Like all other problems, it has been met with rhetoric and promises, devoid of strategies and action.There has been no attempt to break the culture of murder that has slowly strangled the country since the mass disappearances of the 1980s. Everybody goes about his own business expecting that somebody else will be the target, as did Reverend Martin Niemoeller, who was arrested by the German Gestapo in 1938. Reverend Niemoeller later famously wrote that, "In Germany, the Nazis first came for the communists, and I didn’t speak up because I wasn’t a communist. Then they came for Jews, and I didn’t speak up because I wasn’t a Jew. Then they came for the trade unionists, and I didn’t speak up because I wasn’t a trade unionist. Then they came for Catholics, but I didn’t speak up because I was a protestant. Then they came for me, and by that time there was no one left to speak for me." end quote which speaks volumes towards its relevance applicable to the recent murder to which one might add in sad hypothesis in speaking for the fallen Judge "And When They Came For Me There Was No One To Protect Me "and in greater perspective the hopeless cry of a defenceless Nation helplessly battered by crime and the rank incapacity by the status quo towards restitution and dire consequences in case there is further neglect towards maintaining law and order within Sri Lanka and could easily initiate anarchy instigated by its criminal element while also remembering the terrorists in hiding who would undoubtedly convert this to their criminal advantage given the slightest opportunity As an alternative, it seems now upto all Sri Lankas citizens to bear collective responsibilities towards a greater awareness against crime prevention, a banding together of neighbourhood watch groups in close liason with the law enforcement agencies, the foremost responsibility resting with the authorities towards an unravelling and re- structuring of the laws of the land which have lent many platforms for criminals to ply their despicable trade, some of them even in high office and powerful Administrative disposition! as the very inrastructure of Sri Lanka's Judicial and Law Enforcement system now feels the tremors of what might be the initial stages of impending disaster and the need for immediate resolution imperative!
		DISCLAIMER BACK TO LATEST NEWS Copyright © 1997-2001www.lankaweb.Com Newspapers Ltd. All rights reserved. Reproduction In Whole Or In Part Without Express Permission is Prohibited.