Women's views on prevention of torture

(August 13, Colombo, Sri Lanka Guardian) A retired Woman Police Constable (WPC) (58) who does not wish to be named served the Police Department of Sri Lanka for 28 years in different areas like Kegalle, Kandy, Matale, Serunuara and Kanthale. She considers herself fortunate to have worked under 4 DIGs, 5 SSPs, 6SPs, 10 ASPs and 15 Headquarters Inspectors.

She expressed these views regarding the policing system in Sri Lanka

What do you think of the policing system of your country? Is it good? Or do you think it should be different?

Considering my own experience I feel presently that the Sri Lankan police system has become a seriously inefficient institution. The officers in service also suffer severe depression most of the time and this can be seen very much among the lower ranking officers. They are the officers who are supposed to carry out their duties with perfection. The facilities granted to these officers are inadequate. For example: although we are suppose to work only an eight out shift it is usually extended for up to 12 hours most of the time. This is due to the heavy work load and the lack of the officers in the service. Under this kind of situation it is usual for the officers to get deep frustrations and mental traumas. At the same time an additional allowance is not allocated to these officers. We are not allowed to communicate with higher ranking officers regarding these situations and make any claims for relief. The senior officers in the service treat the lower ranks without any sense of humanity or kindness. Most of the times they treat us like slaves.

What do you think of police use of torture? Good, Bad? Kindly explain.

It is very common in the hands of the police that the people are subjected to cruel and inhuman treatment and this should never happen at the hand of state authorities. Although at an early stage of the training all the new recruits get instructions on why torture should not be used when it comes to the actual situation it can be seen in practice in almost all places in the country. There are instructions that they should have a more kind and sincere relationship with the people who come to us as officers. We were taught to provide our service considering their necessity with heartfelt compassion. Although there is such guidance from the senior officers, the officers in the lower positions harass and treat people more degradingly due to their disgusting and stressful situation which I mentioned before. For example: we have been given instructions to treat more kindly the people who are come to make complaints to the police stations. We are instructed to kindly write down the complaints. But I have seen many officers who threaten and intimidate the complainants who are waiting to make their complaints. These people generally get insulted by these officers. Finally they get disgusted with police.

I have seen some officers blackguarding (blaming) the people who came to make complaints without any valid reason. The very first experience for any new comer to many police stations in the country would be disgusting verbal abuse and degrading treatment by the officers on duty. The general understanding of many low ranking officers is that it is necessary to helps us to control the public. In a country like Sri Lanka it is very difficult to have a command with officers and order in the public without certain enforcement of power on them like torturing them verbally or physically.

On many occasions I have experienced, when police officers started to blackguard the people waiting for complaint recordings they are dumbfounded. As a result of this, usually they forget to reveal the details of their own complaints. On many occasions they fail to reveal the genuine facts regarding the incidents or most necessary identities of relevant people. Finally they are unable to complete their complaint or statements. This may cause the lost of very critical details from the police records or curtail evidence of the incidents. Finally this has a knock on effect on the courts proceedings when they go to give their testimonies in the courts. The judges find many defects with their evidence or narratives. The evidence that they give often does are not tally with first information or complaint and the statements that they have given to the police. Finally the evidence of the witness is not accepted by the courts as the counsels appearing for the accused always mark contradictions or omissions with the evidence of the witnesses by challenging the credibility of the witness. As a result of this very often the accused is released.

This is one of the major procedural errors that happen in courts which lead to the failure in prosecutions and in convicting criminals. Always, innocent people and the victims are accused for lying in the courts in criminal trials but it is an error with the preliminary police officers who record the first complaint and the further statements of the first informants or witnesses. Finally it is the whole society which suffers irreparable damage and this damage is prolonged by impunity and the continuity of the failing criminal justice system.

Finally I would say that there are many good officers in the police service of Sri Lanka but because of the few officers like those in the department, the police has become an unpleasant and lower level institution.

I would say this practice of torture by the police officers is inhuman in its nature, unjust and unreasonable. I honestly believe that we can execute our duties without torturing people and can get more respectful satisfaction for the rest of our lives.

To be fair with many police officers who were with me I want to reveal one more thing behind this whole practice of torture in the policing system of Sri Lanka. The practical understanding of police officers in general of the practice of torture is that they feel that it is necessary in order to handle organised criminals, anti social and dangerous criminals such as murderers, robbers, contract murderers and repeat offenders who never reveal anything or admit to the crimes they have done unless they are tortured. So there is a more common understanding and acceptance among the majority of police officers that we have to have torture suspects in order to combat crime.

What is your idea of a good relationship between the police and citizens?

I want to say one thing. Presently there is a tremendous effort by the department to establish and maintain a better relationship between the public and the department. But because of the above mentioned faults in the police service this relationship has been destroyed. For example: when at the time of Kandy Pageant the police were trying hard to control the crowds and provide protection to the public day and night in a professional manner. But in return the public support for the police in those events is getting less and less. They are reluctant or object to follow the orders of the police.

At the same time in the Sri Lankan present society, crimes tendencies are more rampant. But it seems that the public never come forward to give evidence or assist the police to combat crimes. It also shows that there is no better relationship between the police and the public. I believe if there is a good relationship between the police and the public, there would be a possibility to reduce the crimes rate. Police cannot fulfil its duty or cannot prevent crimes happenings without the support of the public. A stable society that successfully implements the rule of law cannot be established without the ardent support of the public. At the same time I would say one more thing. The respect for the rule of the law by the people necessarily implies the hidden meaning of a more coherent support of the public towards their police to a much wider extent.

If you have a problem, would you feel safe to go the police and complain?

It will depend on the gravity of the problem that I would have. If the problem is serious I would go there for getting their help for a solution. But if it is a minor problem I would not go there. I personally believe I could get a relief from them. I am in such a position in our society.

Is there a domestic violence law in your country? If yes, is it well implemented? If none, what are the problems?

There is such law in Sri Lanka. I think there is a dark side of that law as well. That may be due to the reflection of the experience that I have as a woman police officer.

When one party goes for seeking justice for a dispute which happened between the matrimonial parties the other would have insurmountable anger on the other. I have seen some people who are afraid of the police following their order for fear of arrest. But I have seen many people who have ended up in divorce after having sought the intervention of the police for their dispute. That may be due to the manner in which many police officers handle these complaints.

This whole complaints process finally creates anger against the wife, in the mind of most of the husbands that 'you went to police against me'. Most of the cases ended with revenge takings. For example: one lady repeatedly came to the police station to make complaints against her husband due to overwhelming harassments that she suffered for many years. Finally the police were able to summon the husband and tried to go for a negotiation by advising the parties to live peacefully. But latter we learned that in the night of that particular day, the wife was murdered by the husband due to the hate he developed as a result of the police interrogation.

But I think that was due to the defect of the whole complaint and interrogations procedure adopted by the police. One such cause would be the miscalculation or wrong assessment of the situation by the police officers. Sometimes this may be due to the lack of the correct procedural steps by the responsible officers. On the other hand that may be due to the defects of the law that direct the public to come to the police for very private disputes which ultimately end in the humiliation of people. Domestic dispute investigations are usually held in the same area of the police station where hard core criminals are being interrogated. This humiliates the family members and leads to disharmony.

Though there is such a law to prevent domestic violence I want to disclose another side of the reality which prevails in our society. The implementation of this prevention of domestic violence law is not as easy to implement as it appears in the legal texts. The entire process of implementation initiated after the police receive a complaint from a victim spouse or a child or a court get a complaint directly. When courts receive direct complaints the police become involved in the case to assist the courts. The reality in our society is that many of the victims of domestic violence never come to seek justice or assistance from the police as they know full well the consequences that they have to face during the police procedures.

There is one other factor that prevents people from coming to seek justice through this new law.

Many victims will not seek assistance as they are more concerned with damaging the stability of their families. They believe that if they go to make complaints to the police or court that would cause a fatal blow which may ultimately dissolve the family. It is because of this that they tolerate these unjust actions against them for many years. So they never attempt to seek justice. I believe this present law and procedures fail to deal with these cases.

The Sri Lankan police department have established a special branch in its service called the Women and Child Care Bureau which has branches attached to all the police stations all over the country. Women police officers are normally attached to these bureaus. At the beginning the department wanted to have a more sensitive approach for the women and child related cases.

Many of these family related cases that the police department handle can be categorized as violence perpetrated by the fathers or close relatives. In many cases they are sexually related crimes. People tolerate these incidents and hide them from the legal system out of embarrassment and the fear of future consequences. They believe that if they go to the police or before the law the harassment that victims had to face is much larger than the loss. I honestly believe there may be some errors in the hands of police officers as well as the whole procedure that in the handling of these cases and the victims. We should have different approach for these cases.

In many cases mothers tolerate harassment by their husbands. The main reason behind this is that he is the main bread winner of the family. Protecting the continuity and stability of the family is considered more important than many other things. For example: when I was serving in the Matale police division we were informed about a father who sexually harassed his six months old girl child. In that case the mother had gone to a well a little way from the house to get water. On her return she has found the child screaming and she saw that she was bleeding. As the screaming of the child unbearable she bought the child to the hospital. As a result of the repeated questioning of the nurses of they were able to collect enough evidence to suspect that the father has abused the child. However, the mother begged them not to reveal the fact to the police. Her pleading was based on three simple grounds. First she would be killed by her husband and second if it be revealed that her family would fall apart. The third was that she would lose all her earnings.

The medical examinations showed positive evidence of child abuse and further confirmed that the child was in a severe condition. But the victim's mother did not consent to proceed with the case. The culpability with these cases cannot be understood; they cannot be accepted in any kind of society.

But finally what I have to say about the policing system of Sri Lanka is that it is not capable to deal with the many crimes occurring in the country. People do not fully trust the system, they do not believe in the system and it is because of this that they never fully cooperate with the system. In many occasions people believe that the damage that is caused by seeking justice from the system is much more that the damage that the crime has done.