{"id":75867,"date":"2018-03-22T17:20:56","date_gmt":"2018-03-23T00:20:56","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.lankaweb.com\/news\/items\/?p=75867"},"modified":"2019-09-12T16:05:40","modified_gmt":"2019-09-12T23:05:40","slug":"yahapalana-and-the-police","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.lankaweb.com\/news\/items\/2018\/03\/22\/yahapalana-and-the-police\/","title":{"rendered":"YAHAPALANA AND THE POLICE"},"content":{"rendered":"

KAMALIKA PIERIS<\/em><\/span><\/h2>\n\n\n

REVISED 9.9.19<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Sri Lanka\nPolice will be made the best in Asia, said Prime Minister Ranil Wickremasinghe\nin 2016. But that does not seem to be happening. Instead, the Sri Lanka police are\ngoing in the opposite direction. They might end up as the worst in Asia.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Yahapalana\ngovernment   appointed Pujitha Jayasundara as Inspector\nGeneral of Police (IGP) in April 2016.  Jayasundara said he got the top job because he\nattended 35 Bodhi poojas, offering water to Bo trees, seeking the appointment. From the very beginning, it was\nobvious that he was not suited for the position of IGP, said Chandraprema,  in the past,\nthere were no jokers like this holding such a high position. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

The IGP\nwas reprimanded for attempting to sing on a public stage during a nationally\ntelevised ceremony. Since then, he had stopped singing, reported the amused media. Speaker Karu Jayasuriya, who is the chairman\nof the Constitutional Council which suggested Jayasundara for the top job, had\nasked the IGP to stop making a fool of himself. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

In February 2017, the IGP had sobbed\nin front of over 100 senior officers at Police Headquarters saying that he had\nfailed in leadership, reported the   ever\ndelighted media. During his three hour sermon to the senior most officers of\nthe service, Jayasundara said the service had failed because they did not pay\nmuch attention to spiritual development. At the end of his emotional\nconfession, the Inspector-General ordered that all police should start the day\nwith 15 minutes of Anapanasati meditation followed by a brief session of\nmaithri bhavana. Regional police heads have now been asked to order all ranks\nto begin the day in this manner.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Then something\nentertaining happened. CCTV footage, leaked to the public, showed the IGP\nshaking a lift operator by the collar and making threatening gestures because\nthe man had failed to join the meditation session at police headquarters, This\nhappened in  October 2017.\nThe leaked video became a sensation on social media   Jayasundara  \naccused the CID of leaking this video. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

In a special circular issued April 2017, the\nIGP  made it mandatory for  policemen to report for work at 6.00 am and\nsing the national and police anthems after hoisting national and police flags.\nThereafter they have to participate in religious observances. This would be applicable only to those who\nare in the police station, not those doing routine police work. IGP\nwould assign senior police officers to ensure that the programme is carried out.\n<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The IGP \nalso engaged in activities which were no laughing matter. In December 2016, IGP\nJayasundara was caught on camera taking a telephone call, while attending a\npublic function. During the telephone call, he addressed the caller as \u2018sir\u2019\nand assured him that a person identified as \u2018nilame\u2019 would not be arrested when\nhe was brought in for questioning. This was shown to the public on television\nnews. \u2018We have an IGP that suits the government he\nserves under,\u2019 declared Chandraprema. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

The IGP has started spying on his senior officers, said his\nsubordinates. The Police \u2018top brass\u2019 including DIGs had met the Police Commission,\nwithout the IGP, in December 2017  to complain that telephone  conversations of some 48 senior police\nofficers were being listened to. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Ravi Seneviratne, Senior DIG and head of the Criminal\nInvestigation Department (CID) stated that Special Investigation Unit (SIU),\nhad given him a list of telephone numbers to obtain details from the service\nproviders. He found that all the mobile phone numbers in the list belonged to\nsenior Police officers, including himself. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

SIU had told him that the call details of the senior Police\nofficers had been sought by the IGP.  The\nSIU comes directly under the IGP. IGP Jayasundera had also wanted to use a machine\ngifted to the Police by Australian Federal Police. It extracted information\nheld on mobile phones, including deleted e-mails and location data.  <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Senior police officers told the Police Commission that the IGP does\nnot speak to them directly, but was trying to listen to their phone\nconversations and read text messages and e-mails which had nothing to do with\npolice work. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Senior police officers were now scrambling to\nlearn sign language following disclosures that the Inspector General of Police\nwas tapping their phones and snooping on digital communications reported the\nmedia. Alternative ways of communication have become an urgent need because of\nthe risk of phone tapping, said a senior officer. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

A large number of police completed an\nAustralian-funded six-month sign language course and more were joining the next\nbatch. The course had suddenly become attractive to even the senior Deputy\nInspectors of General (SDIGs) who have been targeted by the IGP for telephone\nsurveillance, the media said. Orders\ncould be passed down to the rank and file using sign language to avoid\nincriminating digital finger prints.\n<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Under Yahapalana the police have emerged in a repressive role\nnever seen before under any other government. The police are emerging as the\nmain force through which Yahapalana demonstrates its power. Police personnel have been issued orders to shoot in\ninstances where Clause 93 and 96 of the Penal Code is violated, the police said\nat a media briefing. This does not suggest that Police can simply shoot a\nperson. But what it means is that Police can use force required even up to the\npoint of killing a person in such instances. Shooting a person is also included\nin this clause, said the police.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Yahapalana\nhas faced a series of angry protests and demonstrations ever since it came to\npower. The police were unfailingly brought in to quell the protests. The\nprotests vary, but the remedy is the same, police battalions, barriers, tear\ngas, water cannon, protective shields,   \nand baton charges. Here are some illustrations.<\/h1>\n\n\n\n

There were three demonstrations in Hambantota against the handing\nover of the port to China. In the third demonstration in October 2017, Joint\nOpposition  activists demonstrated before\nthe Indian consulate in Hambantota against the government decision to hand over\nthe Mattala airport to an Indian company. They also opposed the Hambantota port\nlease agreement with China. At the Indian Consulate, a tense situation arose,\nwhich led to clashes between the Police and protesters, reported Daily News.<\/em>  \u2018The Police clashed with hundreds of\nsupporters protesting before the Indian Consulate\u2019 said Island<\/em>. Police anti-riot\nsquads   used teargas and water cannon to\ndisperse the crowd. Police arrested 26 of the protesters.” \nApparently, a mother taking lunch for her children was also arrested. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Those arrested on this occasion were charged with several\noffences, violating a court order, contempt of court, damaging public property,\nassembling illegally and disturbing duties of the police officer and assaulting\nthem. Television news showed the Tangalle ASP approaching a journalist who had\nbeen arrested and giving him a resounding slap. This was shown over and over\nagain on television news. The assaulted journalist, who had been reporting\nfor   \u2018Sunday Apple\u2019, later  complained to Supreme Court. The case is\nproceeding, reported the media.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Yahapalana government said police intervened only when  the protest turned violent.  Police\ncomplained that four policemen were injured when the demonstrators pelted stones.” Police vehicles were also\ndamaged. The police added that  they\nwere  scrutinizing the video footage and\nphotographs of the incident to identify others responsible. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

 \u2018First, we were attacked by\ngovernment sponsored thugs. Police did nothing to prevent them. Thereafter, the\nanti-riot squads were sent in. Many were injured due to tear gas and water\ncannon attacks,\u2019 said Joint Opposition. \nThey also said that a toxic chemical harmful to humans may have been\nadded to the water in the water cannons, because those who had been hit by the\nwater cannons had fallen sick.” <\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

In February 2017, the police used\nforce to disperse JVP led port workers demonstration, which demanded that the\nYahapalana government abandon plans to privatize Colombo, Trincomalee and\nHambantota harbors.  The demonstrators\nrefused to call off the protest and the police fired tear gas Island <\/em>2.2.2017. p 2 carries a\nphotograph. In January 2018, CEB employees had a sit in strike in the\nHQ and took the ChaIrman hostage. Police went in with batons.(Derana news  18.1.18) <\/p>\n\n\n\n

A protest march was organized by the Inter University Bhikkus\nFederation  in April 2017. The Federation\nwas demanding an immediate increase of the university intake this year. The\npolice used tear gas and water canon to disperse the march.<\/strong> The newspapers ran a photograph of a member of the\npolice anti-riot squad grappling with a Buddhist monk at the Lotus Junction.<\/strong> <\/p>\n\n\n\n

The most spectacular  anti-SAITM \nstudent demonstration was in May 2017 in Colombo. The demonstrators, who\nincluded Inter-University Student Bala Mandalaya and  Medical Students\u2019 Action Committee, defied a\ncourt order and tried to march to Presidents House in a very forceful\nmanner.  Police blocked their way but\nthey refused to move and were exposed for half an hour to water cannon. Then,\nsince they still did not disperse, the police baton charged them. The ferocity\nof the attack   was clearly visible on\ntelevision news. (E.g. Derana news of 10.10.17). Island<\/em> ran a half page of photos on this incident. 13\npersons were   admitted to hospital for\ntreatment.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The police were also\ncalled in to control the protests over garabage dumping. Television news showed\npolice with shields and batons trying to control protestors at the garbage\ndumps in Oragodawatte and Muturajawela. Garbage protestors\nblocked the road at  Maligawatta Waste\nManagement Centre at Dompe and police were compelled to use tear gas and water\ncannon to disperse them.  at Wattala,\npolice assaulted protestors who said they did not want the Colombo\ngarbage.  There were many protestors and\nit was a prolonged fight . The fight continued even after the garbage\ntrucks  unloaded and went back.\nGarbage   from Colombo was dumped at\nKaradiyana under a police guard which included elite police commandos as well\nas ordinary police. The\npublic objected to the use of\npolice and military to quell protests agisnt the transfer of garbage. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

There is public anger towards the police.\nSix hundred complaints against police have been received by the National Police\nCommission in the first six months of 2017. In 2016 a total of 1,800 complaints\nagainst police had been received by the NPC. Most of the complaints related to\npolicemen not carrying out proper investigations into public complaints, acting\npartially and assaults, reported the media.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

25-year-old\nPathiranalage Niroshan, 44 years,  married with one child, was shot and killed\nby a policeman in Kataragama on January 20 2018. He had been on his way\nhome on a motorbike in the night when police had allegedly flagged him down\nusing a torch. Niroshan\u2019s friend Nuwan Buddhika, who was the pillion rider, had\ninsisted that Niroshan had stopped the motorbike only a few metres away from the\nspot from where a torchlight had been shone on them. They were just starting to\nget down from the motorbike when two shots were fired at them, one of which\nstruck Niroshan in the back of the head. He was pronounced dead after being\nadmitted to hospital. The\npillion rider was injured.  We saw the whole event\n on television news. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

The incident caused violent protests. People living close to\nthe scene of the shooting started pelting stones at the police personnel\npresent there. A large mob staged a protest march and attacked the police\nstation, damaging vehicles and buildings. The protest continued throughout the\nday. The police fired tear gas and shot in the air to disperse the protesters.\nThereafter police called in STF commandos to bring the situation under\ncontrol.  We saw this too on television\nnews. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Thirteen women and 45 men were arrested on the charges of\nobstructing traffic, causing damage to the road, assaulting police officers and\ncausing injury to them, obstructing police duties  and causing damage to\npolice property. The suspects were produced before the Tissamaharama Magistrate\non Sunday and released on 200,000 personal bail.They are to report to the\nKataragama Police Station every last Sunday, sign the register and ensure that\nno more violent protests are conducted until the completion of the funeral\nrites of the deceased. The constable and a civil defence force cadre had been\narrested over the shooting incident. The\npoliceman was remanded.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Barely\na month later,\nthe body of 20-year-old Nalinda Kasun was found in a Piliyandala canal on\nFebruary 17. Angry relatives and area residents blamed the Kahathuduwa Police\nfor his death. According to a friend of Kasun, he had allegedly jumped into the\ncanal from a bridge in fear after two policemen in civvies had tried to arrest\nhim. Kasun\u2019s friend was arrested by the police for the possession of drugs. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

 The arresting officers, however, had allegedly\ntaken the friend to the police station without checking on what happened to\nKasun. They had also allegedly failed to report to their OIC or any other\nsenior officer that a second person aside from the one arrested had been\npresent at the time and had jumped into the water. Following public outrage after the discovery\nof Kasun\u2019s body,  the public invaded the Kahathuduwa\npolice station and protested violently.  the two officers\ninvolved in the incident \u2014 a sergeant and a constable \u2014 were ordered to be\ntransferred with immediate effect. This order was thereafter revoked and the\ntransfers suspended pending the conclusion of a magisterial inquiry into the\nincident. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

After the\nLocal government elections, a UNP   \ntrishaw driver had been assaulted by a Pohottuwa group at Sapugaskanda, but\nthe police had not taken any action. Television news showed the rrelatives of\nthe driver storming the Sapugaskanda police station and hooting at the police\nthere. The scene was displayed for quite some time on the news. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

There is a\nnewly visible  desire  to \ncurb police excesses. A\nFundamental Rights petition  was filed by\na toddy tapper.Gamaralalage Siril Kumara of Kitulgala  challenged the activities of Kitulgala police\nin producing persons who refuse to comply with their demand to provide free\ntoddy, before Courts on illicit liquor offences. The petitioners complained htat  they\nare then compelled to plead guilty for the possession of illicit liquor and pay\npenalties ranging from Rs.1,000 to Rs.15,000. The failure to comply with such\nillegal demands results with further harassment and intimidation by the police\nofficers.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The petitioners stated on July 28, 2017 at around 4.30 pm\nthe 3rd and 4th Respondents arrived at the 1st Petitioner\u2019s residence and took\ninto possession a small quantity of toddy which was lawfully tapped by the\nfirst petitioner and claimed that the 1st Petitioner has illegally tapped\ntoddy.They further sought Rs.5 million as compensation from the respondents. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Siril Kumara filed this petition along with two   relatives. He named the OIC of Kithulgala\nPolice Station, two sub inspectors, two sergeants of Kithulgala station and IGP\nPujith Jayasundara as respondents. The Supreme Court two-judge-bench comprising Chief Justice\nPriyasath Dep and Justice Sisira de Abrew refused to grant leave to proceed\nwith the petition, citing that there is no legal basis to proceed with the\npetition.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Disabled police officers held a protest in Pettah in January 2018,\ndemanding that the government restore their allowances. There is nothing to\nindicate that Yahapalana took notice of the protest. But pet doggies of police\nbigwigs are getting royal treatment.\nHere is a story of how one from the canine breed has been enjoying special\nprivileges like his boss, a top cop in the south, reported the media in March\n2018. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

One of the staffers was asked to remove ticks off the dog\nand groom it for a birthday party in the top cop\u2019s office. The party took place\nin the official premises. Every now and then, the same staffer is asked to take\nthe dog for a sea bath. Three other Police officers have been assigned to\naccompany the dog in official vehicles. That is to ensure the pet does not\nstray away. If we went for a sea bath in an official vehicle, we would be\ncharge sheeted, declared the cops. The staffer has now complained to the\nInspector General of Police, the Police Commission, and the Ombudsman in\nParliament. It\u2019s a dog\u2019s life for him, he says. A senior officer at Police\nHeadquarters confirmed that an investigation was under way.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

APPENDIX<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Fort Magistrate,\nordered the Criminal Investigation Department to investigate and report to the\ncourt the criminal intimidation and coercion charges against IGP Pujith\nJayasundara who is currently on compulsory leave. The complainant is a police constable\nwho served as an elevator operator in the police headquarters. Police Constable\nAM Samarakoon Banda had complained to the Acting IGP on June 2 that on April\n11, 2017 he had been manhandled and threatened by Jayasundara. The Constable\nhad made a statement to the Acting IGP that Jayasundara had threatened him to\nstop the elevator in the police headquarters and pulled him by his shirt and\nroughed him up. Jayasundara also threatened him in abusive language while six\nother police officers including a Woman Police Inspector were present there.\nThree of those officers including the WPI had made statements to the Acting IGP\non the incident, .The Magistrate ordered the CID to investigate the incident\nand record statements from relevant persons and report the progress of the\nprobe to the court on Sept 4, 2019. ( Island 26.6.19 P 5) <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

KAMALIKA PIERIS REVISED 9.9.19 Sri Lanka Police will be made the best in Asia, said Prime Minister Ranil Wickremasinghe in 2016. But that does not seem to be happening. Instead, the Sri Lanka police are going in the opposite direction. They might end up as the worst in Asia. Yahapalana government   appointed Pujitha Jayasundara as […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[104],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-75867","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-kamalika-pieris"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lankaweb.com\/news\/items\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/75867","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lankaweb.com\/news\/items\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lankaweb.com\/news\/items\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lankaweb.com\/news\/items\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lankaweb.com\/news\/items\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=75867"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.lankaweb.com\/news\/items\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/75867\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lankaweb.com\/news\/items\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=75867"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lankaweb.com\/news\/items\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=75867"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lankaweb.com\/news\/items\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=75867"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}