ASIA: Narrative of Justice in Sri Lanka
Print Version ISBN: 978-962-8161-11-9
Online Version ISBN: 978-962-8161-12-6
The Asian Legal Resource Centre (ALRC), the sister organisation of the Asian Human Rights Commission (AHRC) announces
the publication of Narrative of Justice in Sri Lanka as told through the stories of torture victims. The book contains
736 pages.
This book records the stories of 400 cases of torture out of over 2,000 cases which were researched and published by the
AHRC and the ALRC over the last ten years. The victims of torture were interviewed in great detail and assisted to
pursue their complaints to the Sri Lankan authorities. The ALRC researchers have studied each of these cases through
long years while the victims were pursuing their grievances before local authorities and courts.
"This book tells a grim story of the actual situation and of the way the criminal justice system works, or in fact, does
not work in Sri Lanka. Through the stories of torture the victims reveal the extremely cruel and brutal methods used by
the police and other law enforcement agencies and what it more striking is the narrative of the utter neglect that seems
to pervade the police, who are supposed to be investigators into crime, the Attorney General's Department, which is
supposed to prosecute competently and impartially and the judiciary which is supposed to protect the citizens of the
country. The weight of evidence that is presented by this book on the complete failure of the system demands a response
from the Sri Lankan government as well as its basic institutions such as the police, the Attorney General's Department
and the judiciary", said Mr. Basil Fernando, the Director, Policy & Programme Development of the ALRC who is also the editor of this book.
Fernando further said, "No study of human rights in Sri Lanka would be complete without reference to this publication.
This is the most comprehensive book, not only on the practice of torture but also the widespread impunity that prevails
in Sri Lanka".
He went on to say that the study of law in Sri Lanka requires a change. The legal texts that are supposed to say what
the law is should be contrasted with the actual situation that prevails in the country. This book graphically exposes
how far Sri Lanka has drifted away from the rule of law and how far the people of Sri Lanka are denied of their basic
protection.
Copies of the book may be obtained from the Asian Legal Resource Centre.
# # #
About the AHRC: The Asian Human Rights Commission is a regional non-governmental organisation that monitors human rights
in Asia, documents violations and advocates for justice and institutional reform to ensure the protection and promotion
of these rights. The Hong Kong-based group was founded in 1984.
About the ALRC: The Asian Legal Resource Centre is an independent regional non-governmental organisation holding general
consultative status with the Economic and Social Council of the United Nations. It is the sister organisation of the
Asian Human Rights Commission. The Hong Kong-based group seeks to strengthen and encourage positive action on legal and
human rights issues at the local and national levels throughout Asia.
ends