report in EconomyNext online, March 4, 2023 at 3:30 pm
Police have asked the Human Rights Commission of Sri Lanka for guidelines on dealing with ever increasing protests and public demonstrations in a bid to address allegations of excesses and violations of personal freedoms.
Police chief C. D. Wickramaratne in a seven-page letter to the Commission on Friday outlined four scenarios when police officers are required to deal with both peaceful crowds and violent mobs and sought advise on how they should react.
The Commission is also asked to spell out the limits of discretion officers could exercise in dealing with situations that could affect the freedoms of a larger section of the population that is not party to any protest or agitation.
The police chief is also seeking clarifications on the use of force to deal with protests following allegations that police used excessive force in firing tear gas and water cannon at a JVP-led protest at Union place last weekend.
One protester had died following tear gas inhalation while several others required hospitalisation.
The guidelines are sought when a policeman is required to act alone, a group of junior officers confronted with a mob, a police unit led by an officer facing an unexpected crowd of protesters or a violent mob and how a group of policemen cut off from their superior officers should react.
A police spokesman said the intention of the Inspector General’s request to the Commission was to ensure that across the police department there would be a uniform approach to dealing with such situations and tackle excesses. https://economynext.com/sri-lanka-police-seeks-human-rights-commission-help-to-tackle-abuses-114064/
