South Asia 1 June 2011
The police action provoked angry demonstrationsIn an extremely rare move, the chief of police in Sri Lanka has opted for early retirement.
It comes two days after 250 people were injured in clashes between police and factory workers. One man died later.The police have been widely criticised for opening fire with live bullets and an opposition MP says one injured person is fighting for his life.
The violence happened as workers demonstrated against a new pension scheme, which has now been suspended.
Police Inspector-General Mahinda Balasuriya said that he was resigning from his post because of what happened on Monday at a free trade zone north of the capital.
Factory employees, mainly garment workers, protested angrily about a new pension scheme which they say will hit the poorest people hardest.
They threw stones and the police fired live rounds and teargas.
The government says hundreds were injured including 15 police officers.
An opposition parliamentarian, Ranjan Ramanayake, told the BBC he had visited hospitals and met at least eight people who had been shot.
He said one young man who was on a life-support machine after a bullet went right through his body had died.
Television footage from Monday appeared to show the police storming a factory compound after workers retreated from the teargas, knocking men to the ground and beating them up.
Live bullets The police gave a different account, saying the protesters attacked police stations and tried to steal weapons inside.
In a rare display of public anger, big cardboard cutouts of President Mahinda Rajapaksa were torn down.
The free trade zone has been closed down for the moment and many parents have come to pick up their daughters and sons who work there, fearing for their immediate safety.
Two senior police officers have been arrested in connection with the violence and a retired judge is investigating it.
With concern over the health of the most badly injured people, a private news website says the government has ordered the director of the biggest hospital not to release casualty figures.
A Hong Kong-based campaign group, the Asian Human Rights Commission, says it needs to be established who ordered live bullets to be fired.
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June 1, 2011 SRI LANKA: Who gave the orders to use live bullets on protesters at Katunayake?
The use of live ammunition has come under public condemnation, even from some of the government ministers. The one-man commission of inquiry was appointed in answer to such criticism.
However, the mandate of the one-man commission is not clear. The basic questions that any public inquiry must resolve are:
- Who gave the orders to use live ammunition against the protestors?
- What is the top most authority that authorized such use?
- Who was the highest ranking officer on the ground who gave the orders to use live ammunition?
- Were the protestors warned prior to the police opening fire and were warning shots fired before deadly force was used.
- How many rounds of ammunition were expended and by whom?
- Was it the intention of the authorities to use of such deadly force in order to bring the protest to an end and was it pre-planned?As for the top most authority that authorized the use of live ammunition it is most likely that the orders came from the Secretary of the Ministry of Defense or someone working under him. Further, it is also unlikely that such a shooting would take place without the knowledge, if not the tacit consent of the Inspector General of police.
Will there be a forensic inquiry into all aspects of the shooting, for example an examination of all the weapons used during the incident? What are the means available for the one-man commissioner to conduct such an inquiry in terms of the requirements of criminal law?
These are just a few of the questions that need to be answered if the inquiry is to be credible and genuine and not just another white wash.
