A total of 49 suspects have reportedly died while in custody over the past five years from 2020 to 2025, according to Human Rights Commissioner Nimal Punchihewa.

Nimal Punchihewa said 30 of these deaths occurred during Police confrontations, adding that a total of 79 such deaths have been reported during this period, describing it as a serious issue.

Stating that some of these deaths are linked to severe torture during detention, the Human Rights Commissioner stated that misconduct by a few individuals has tarnished the reputation of entire institutions.

“Every citizen has the right to remain politically neutral. Fear of being harmed for reporting crimes discourages the public from sharing such information,” he warned.

Nimal Punchihewa criticized certain police records that label arrests as “suspicion-based” without sufficient legal justification, asserting that arrests should be backed by actual wrongdoing.

He made these remarks during a media briefing held in Colombo yesterday (02 July). (Newswire)

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The BAR Association of Sri Lanka (BASL) has raised concerns over the actions of the law enforcement authorities, regarding the recent courthouse shooting and the deaths of two suspects involved in a recent shooting in Kotahena. 

Expressing grave concern over the spate of incidents, BASL said in a statement that this poses a grave threat to the rule of law of the country.

“It is imperative that the law enforcement agencies, namely the Police and Prison Authorities, exercise great caution and act with utmost responsibility to prevent such incidents, as such would tend to erode public trust in the legal system,” it said. 

Stating that extrajudicial killings can never be a solution in confronting an increase in criminal activity, BASL said crime can best be curbed when there is adherence to the rule of law by the state.

BASL has called on the Acting Inspector General of Police (IGP) to launch an immediate impartial inquiry to investigate how the suspects were killed at the hands of the Police.

It further requests the Acting IGP to take all necessary measures to prevent the recurrence of such serious incidents of encounter killings and custodial deaths. 

BASL has also emphasized the need for the Police to take all necessary action against officers who are responsible for the culture of custodial deaths and extrajudicial killings to ensure that such incidents are eradicated from society. (Newswire)

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