{"id":79542,"date":"2018-07-23T15:19:50","date_gmt":"2018-07-23T22:19:50","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.lankaweb.com\/news\/items\/?p=79542"},"modified":"2018-07-23T15:19:50","modified_gmt":"2018-07-23T22:19:50","slug":"sri-lankan-reform-has-ground-to-a-halt-with-torture-used-freely-un","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.lankaweb.com\/news\/items\/2018\/07\/23\/sri-lankan-reform-has-ground-to-a-halt-with-torture-used-freely-un\/","title":{"rendered":"Sri Lankan reform has ‘ground to a halt’ with torture used freely \u2013 UN"},"content":{"rendered":"
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Patrick Wintour<\/a>\u00a0Diplomatic editor\u00a0Courtesy The Guardian (UK)<\/em><\/span><\/h2>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n
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\u00a0Coalition government has failed on promise to repeal Prevention of Terrorism Act<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/header>\n
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Sri Lanka\u2019s progress towards reform has virtually ground to a halt\u201d and brutal torture is used with impunity, the UN concludes in a scathing report on the country\u2019s human rights record.<\/p>\n

The report, which comes three years after the country appeared to have turned a corner in its history by electing a new coalition government, is published on Monday following a UN visit to\u00a0Sri Lanka<\/a>\u00a0at the request of the government. None of the measures so far adopted to fulfil Sri Lanka\u2019s transitional justice commitments are adequate to ensure real progress,\u201d it says.<\/p>\n

Ben Emmerson QC, the UN rapporteur on countering terrorism, met most senior members of the government, military judiciary and prison staff \u2013 including inside high security Anuradhapura prison.<\/p>\n

Sri Lanka suffered three decades of civil war as Tamil fighters fought for a separate state, culminating in 2015 in the election of a national unity government.<\/p>\n