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Reports
The
State of Civil and Political Rights in Sri Lanka
30 December 2003
Torture
is a part of administration of justice in Sri Lanka and perpetrated
with impunity. It is so rampant that the victims include soldiers,
police, CID officials and not to mention about the minority Tamils.
No perpetrators of torture have so far been convicted in a criminal
court, despite the reported filing of some cases." Although,
in February 2003, Police headquarters were in the process of investigating
over 100 torture cases against policemen including several officers-in-charge
of police stations. But past track records evoke little confidence.
Read more about torture in Sri Lanka......More
The
Status of Children in India
9 October 2003
The
routine toll of mutilated victims, extrajudicial killings, alleged
"suicides" in police stations and disappearances across
India is clear indication of the level of torture in India. Yet,
the government of India in its first periodic report to the CRC
Committee asserts, "There are also no widespread incidences
of victimisation of children in the country". The first periodic
report describes torture in one paragraph, exactly in 194 words
to be precise. This is scandalous by any yardstick! Read more about
torture in India with special focus on children......More
Human
Rights Record of the Philippines: Spectacular on paper
20 October 2003
The
constitution of the Philippines prohibits torture, and evidence
obtained through its use is legally inadmissible in court. However,
there is ambiguity in the definition of torture. Perpetrators could
only be charged with committing crime for "serious physical
injuries." As the government of the Peoples Republic of the
Philippines rightly states in its periodic report, "one common
difficulty torture victims encounter in filing a case is the alleged
use of torture methods that bear no physical signs or indications
of such treatment, e.g., by tying plastic bags over the heads to
suffocate the alleged victim; by forcibly holding the head under
water …….by threatening the victim with rape, if female
and other physical treatment" . Read more..... More
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