SRI LANKA
CONFIDENTIAL
Report by British High Commission, Colombo
Right No.
Rating suggested by Post
(i) Article 18(1)(c) of the 1972
Constitution says: "No citizen shall be arrested, held in custody, imprisoned or detained except in accordance with the law". Under emergency regulations (first passed in 1971 to cope with the effects of armed insurgency but dropped in November 1976) about 25 Tamil youths have, at December 1976, been held without trial for some time for violent separatist activities. country is on an uptrend.
The
(ii) There is no evidence of torture but
police brutality exists. Recent exposures of 15 deaths in police cells in 1976 have led to a reform campaign. Government and senior police are now showing concern at the fairly widespread misconduct of lower rank police and are taking positive steps to put matters right.
Comment by South Asia Department
We would suggest a rating of 2.
(iii) Slavery does not exist.
Comment by South Asia Department
The Ceylon citizenship Act of 1948 rendered 975,000 Tamils of Indian origian stateless. These people are effectively without constitutional rights. Under agreements between Sri Lanka and India, all should be granted citizenship by 1983. We would suggest a rating of 1.
(iv) The main newspaper group and Sri Lanka
Broadcasting Corporation are Government controlled, but otherwise freedom of speech and of publication is high, although press censorship was introduced during the strikes in January 1977.
Comment by South Asia Department
We would suggest a rating of 3.
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2
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CONFIDENTIAL