9 August 2022 12:00 am Views - 93
By Lakmal Sooriyagoda
Former Commissioner of the Human Rights Commission of Sri Lanka Ambika Satkunanathan and former Commissioner of the Office on Missing Persons Mirak Raheem have filed a Fundamental Rights petition in Supreme Court challenging the arbitrary and irrational action of Police and the military.
The petitioners are challenging the legality of administrative and executive practice of arresting individuals and temporarily keeping them in secret detention, contrary to the Constitution, the rule of law, and accepted international human rights norms.
Inspector General of Police, Minister of Justice, Minister of Public Security, Army Commander, Air Force Commander, Navy Commander, the Human Rights Commission of Sri Lanka, the Office on Missing Persons, and the Attorney General were named as the respondents of the petition.
The petitioners stated, the recent spate of arbitrary arrests carried out by individuals,
in no identifiable uniform, with protesters being taken away in vehicles that are not identifiable as belonging to the police and where protesters are being detained sometimes for several hours, in undisclosed locations, prior to being produced before a Magistrate.