RIGHTS-SRI LANKA: Public Anger Grows Against Defence Lawyers

By Feizal Samath Reprint | | Print |

Feizal Samath

COLOMBO, Apr 18 2000 (IPS) - A spate of brutal killings and rapes of women and children have triggered growing public anger against lawyers appearing for the accused.

Apart from facing angry and hostile public protesters at courthouses across the country, lawyers appearing for accused persons say they are being intimidated by anonymous telephone threats.

“The whole issue is getting out of control. Mass murderers have a right to be defended in a court of law,” argues lawyer Angelo Benedict, who believes the present wave of agitation could ultimately lead to violence.

Some sociologists fear that as frustration and apathy over the justice system increases, there could be an eruption of vigilante groups ready to circumvent the law.

“With the public having no faith in the system, people may resort to eye for an eye ways of seeking justice and go after criminals themselves. That could lead to anarchy,” one sociologist, who declined to be named, warned.

Courthouse protests and demonstrations against lawyers appearing for those accused of violent crimes, particularly those against women and children, have increased in recent times and prompted even judges to draw attention to the crisis.

Justice P. Edirisooriya, president of the country’s Appeal Court, told the annual convocation of the Bar Association last month that public protests and attacks against lawyers should be condemned.

“We are not insensitive to the sufferings of victims of crime any kind of crime, but the situation is getting out of hand and lawyers are becoming targets for doing their job,” said a worried Upali Goonaratne, president of Sri Lanka’s Bar Association.

Human rights activists and victims have a different story. A public debate — over the right of defence for accused persons — is also hotting up in the country as skepticism over whether the perpetrators would get their due in court, grows.

“The public is losing faith in the system because it does not bring them justice. They are helpless,” argues Nimalka Fernando, a lawyer and human rights activist.

Citing one case, she said suspects detained for the murder and rape of a 12 year-old girl at Buttala in the northeast Monaragala district about three weeks ago were released for lack of evidence.

“Where does that place the parents of the child? What justice do they have against those who killed their daughter?” asked Fernando who is also president of the Tokyo-based International Movement against Discrimination and Racism (IMADR).

Local women carried out a protest in the Buttala courthouse against lawyers appearing for the suspects. “As a rights activist, I support these demonstrations,” she added.

According to latest available police figures, more than 400 children were raped in Sri Lanka during the period January to September last year, up from 271 cases in the same period in 1998.

Two hundred more cases of grave sexual abuse, sexual harassment and unnatural offences against children were recorded during the same period. Incidents of violence against children in the January-September period last year totalled 4,100 while gender-related violence totalled 39,498 incidents.

According to the Police Bureau for the Protection of Women and Children, 307 women were raped in the January-September period last year, up from 221 in 1998.

Two years ago when a newly-married Indian woman, who arrived in Sri Lanka on a honeymoon with her Sri Lankan husband, was brutally raped and murdered, women took to the streets demanding justice for the victim and protection against rapists.

When the alleged rapists and killers were found and tried, women carried placards in the courts demanding that lawyers should not represent such persons.

Even some lawyers, outraged by the brutal killing, also demanded that their brethren do not defend rapists.

Justice was however swift in that case with the rapists being quickly charged and convicted in a highly publicised trial. But most people say that kind of efficiency shown by legal authorities is lacking in other low-profile cases.

The killing of a young boy by some other youngsters in a southern town last year, drew protest marchers who threw stones at the car of the lawyer appearing for the accused and tried to manhandle him as he was escorted into the courthouse.

There were also scuffles as police stopped demonstrators entering the premises and the victim’s father had to calm down the agitated protestors, many of whom were mothers.

Prof. Siripala Hettige, respected sociologist at the University of Colombo believes that part of the problem is due to what he calls “the gap between precept and practice” that compels people to take the law into their own hands.

Politicians are corrupt, litigants are at the mercy of lawyers, doctors are more concerned about money than caring for patients and government officials care two hoots for a public they are supposed to serve with dedication, he said.

President Chandrika Kumaratunga’s People’s Alliance (PA) government, mindful of the problem, last year, tightened laws, increased punishment against murderers and rapists and made bail conditions more difficult but that has not stemmed crime.

Justice Minister Professor Gamini Lakshman Peiris, speaking at a media workshop on crime reporting earlier this month, attributed the crime rate to a number of reasons including a proliferation of arms and automatic weapons.

Apart from this, police and the military have less time for criminal activity as most state resources have since 1983 been directed towards tackling a Tamil militancy in the north of the island country.

Bar association president Goonaratne says it is important for people to understand that protests against lawyers could be counterproductive in seeking justice against criminals.

“If lawyers are prevented from appearing for the accused, the accused may be freed on the grounds that he did not receive proper representation and then the victims and their families won’t get justice,” he added.

Goonaratne says weaknesses in the justice system should be remedied instead of attacking one part of the legal process. “I agree we need to cut down on laws delays and expedite trials but we can’t penalise people without a proper trial,” he noted. (EMD/IPS/fs/rdr/00)