SRI LANKA: Tightening Screws on Paedophiles

By Feizal Samath Reprint | | Print |

Feizal Samath

COLOMBO, Feb 20 1998 (IPS) - Sri Lanka is tightening laws on child sex, making paedophilia a non-bailable offence, as pressure mounts for a full-scale probe into allegations of abuse against world famous space writer Arthur C. Clarke.

On Thursday, Justice Minister Gamini Lakshman Peiris said that his government was determined to protect children from sexual abuse, and planning legislation to keep offenders in custody until the completion of the trial.

“Only in very exceptional circumstances will they be released on bail,” he told reporters. Peiris said child crime cases will be expedited — compared to proceedings now which can take up to two years — and new provisions introduced for the rehabilitation of victims.

The government’s action follows recommendations made by a Presidential Task Force appointed last year to probe rising cases of rape and sexual assault on children, also physical abuse and harassment of minors by employers.

For the first time in October 1995, the government accepted that Sri Lanka had turned into a haven for foreign paedophiles and introduced sweeping changes in the law regarding sexual offences against children.

The maximum jail term for paedophiles was doubled to 20 years, and victims entitled to compensation. Two Europeans were deported last year on charges of being paedophiles to face trial in their own countries under a law that allows extra-territorial jurisdiction.

Now private groups want the government to start investigating charges of paedophilia against space visionary Clarke, a long- staying foreign guest here who is alleged to have told the London ‘Sunday Mirror’ that he had sex with minors in Sri Lanka.

Clarke who has lived in Sri Lanka since 1956 and never hidden his homosexuality, has dismissed the report as “totally” untrue, saying he personally disliked paedophiles and that he was seeking legal advice.

Minister Peiris refused to be drawn into suggestions that the new laws, including making child sex crimes non-bailable, were connected to the Clarke case. “No, this is not in any way connected to that,” he told reporters, adding that he was not fully aware of the allegations against Clarke as he had returned only this week to the country after a long overseas trip.

Meanwhile, the police say they are trying to verify the Clarke story, and have questioned some people who had been quoted in the British paper as saying they had had sexual contacts with Clarke.

But so far the police have neither questioned nor recorded a statement from the 80-year-old Clarke, though a senior member of the Presidential Task Force to probe crimes against children like paedophilia told IPS that at a meeting this week all members felt that the police should launch a full-scale investigation.

“Most of us urged the police representative on our committee that high priority should be given to this case and that we were simply disappointed over the lethargic attitude of the police,” said the Task Force member, who declined to be named.

The police must seek the assistance of Interpol and Britain’s Scotland Yard in the investigation, the members told their colleague from the police, Deputy Inspector General Mohamed Nizam who is in charge of crimes against children.

Dr. Hiranthi Wijemanne, senior programme officer of the U.N children’s agency, UNICEF, also thinks Clarke should be investigated. “The law should apply equally … Just because he is a top person, he is not above the law.”

But so far there is no word from the Kumaratunga government on the controversy swirling around the country’s most famous guest. Interestingly barring a few newspapers, the media too is similarly silent.

The British newspaper claimed in its report on Feb. 1 that Clarke had links with well-known paedophile rings operating in Britain and Europe.

Sri Lanka has come to be regarded as a cheap destination for sex tourists, particularly Western paedophiles who find young boys on the golden beaches easy prey. Estimates of young boys in the thriving industry here vary from 5,000 to 30,000, according to activists here.

Non-governmental organisations like PEACE (Protect the Environment and Children Everywhere) affiliated to the Bangkok- based worldwide charity ECPAT (End Child Prostitution in Asian Tourism) have been campaigning against paedophilia since 1991.

Arun Tampoe, legal counsel for PEACE, believes part of the problem has been “our colonial mentality … the white man is seen as a privileged guest, and nobody dares to complain about the exploitation of poor children.”

The new laws would be a deterrent for foreign paedophiles, asserts Dr. Wijemanne of UNICEF.

“It would make it tough for paedophiles who vanish when under investigation,” she said, pointing out that in the past some foreign paedophiles, under investigation, have fled the country while on bail. “Now it is like a murder charge — you can’t get off easily.”