CAT/C/LKA/CO/3-4
(a)
The adoption in 2005 of the Prevention of Domestic Violence Act No. 34,
which provides for protection orders to safeguard both children and women;
(b)
The adoption in 2006 of the Penal Code (Amendment) Act No. 16, which
inter alia made it a penal offence to engage and recruit a child for use in armed conflict and
in child labour, child trafficking and child pornography.
5.
The Committee also welcomes the efforts made by the State party regarding ongoing
policies and procedures, including:
(a)
The adoption of a National Plan of Action for Children (2010-2015);
(b)
The consultations with civil society organizations regarding the elements to
be incorporated in the draft National Action Plan on Human Rights, which would include a
focus area on the prevention of torture;
(c)
May 2010.
C.
The establishment of the Lessons Learnt and Reconciliation Commission in
Principal subjects of concern and recommendations
Allegations of widespread use of torture and ill-treatment
6.
Notwithstanding the new circumstances prevailing since the defeat of the Liberation
Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE) and the end of the military conflict that had consumed the
country for nearly 30 years, and the State party’s public commitment to the Committee that
it has a zero-tolerance policy on torture as a matter of State policy and practice, the
Committee remains seriously concerned about the continued and consistent allegations of
widespread use of torture and other cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment of suspects in
police custody, especially to extract confessions or information to be used in criminal
proceedings. The Committee is further concerned at reports that suggest that torture and illtreatment perpetrated by State actors, both the military and the police, have continued in
many parts of the country after the conflict ended in May 2009 and is still occurring in 2011
(arts. 2, 4, 11 and 15).
As a matter of urgency, the Committee calls upon the State party to take immediate
and effective measures to investigate all acts of torture and ill-treatment and
prosecute and punish those responsible with penalties that are consistent with the
gravity of their acts. It calls upon the State party to ensure that torture is not used by
law enforcement personnel and members of the military. In addition to these
measures, the State party should unambiguously reaffirm the absolute prohibition of
torture and publicly condemn practices of torture, accompanied by a clear warning
that anyone committing such acts or otherwise complicit or participating in torture
will be held personally responsible before the law for such acts and will be subject to
criminal prosecution and appropriate penalties.
The Committee recalls the absolute prohibition of torture contained in article 2,
paragraph 2, of the Convention, stating that “no exceptional circumstances
whatsoever, whether a state of war or a threat of war, internal political instability or
any other public emergency, may be invoked as a justification of torture”, as well as
the statement by the representative of the State party reaffirming this.
Fundamental legal safeguards
7.
While noting the information provided by the State party on the content of the
Presidential Directives of 7 July 2006 (reissued in 2007) and the Rules with regard to
Persons in Custody of the Police (Code of Departmental Order No. A 20), the Committee
expresses its serious concern at the State party’s failure in practice to afford all detainees,
including those detained under anti-terrorist laws, with all fundamental safeguards from the
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