Asia
Human Rights Office – Kandy
Sri Lanka A silent protest was organised by the Kandy Human Rights Office in collaboration with families and the victims of torture and other grave human rights violations. More than 250 people gathered in front of the park at the heart of Kandy city with posters; leaflets were distributed to the people who passed by. Having made a silent protest for an hour, the protestors marched to the parish hall of St Anthony’s Cathedral where reverends explained the historical background and the relevance of the gathering and of the main focus of 2012 international torture day. The Human Rights Office along with the victims of torture called on the government not to extend the time limit of detention of suspects from 24 to 48 hours. The extension of detention time limit would further allow the police officers to torture the suspects although the media spokesmen of the police recently denied the practice of torture in Sri Lanka. Furthermore, Kandy requested that the government release the suspects who are detained without trial for many years in remand prisons and in various detention centres. In May 2012 the Minister of Justice promised to release the names of all the detainees and expedite their trials by instituting special courts for this purpose. However, so far the detainees haven’t been brought to trial.
The silent protest in Kandy counted with the participation of more than 250 people.
FRC – The Family Rehabilitation Centre
Sri Lanka FRC centres successfully conducted eight additional office-based and field-based medical clinics and provided additional medical and physiotherapy consultations for FRC clients. One hundredsixty torture survivors received this additional benefit via 32 team members of our medical team. FRC also participated at the event organised by the Human Rights Commission of Sri Lanka. More than 150 active representatives of leading organisations including higher ranking police and prison officers participated in this event. The event included speeches on the international standards and best practices to ensure torture survivors’ rights, social responsibility to prevent torture in society, and a panel discussion on mechanisms to ensure the appropriate rehabilitation process to victims of torture in general. Executive director of the FRC was invited and took a leading role in the panel. This event was covered by many local print media and as well as mass media units and the event was broadcast via TV.
16