Justice delayed is Justice denied wherever it happens

We have no idea if the ‘freed prisoner’ received any compensation for wrongful incaceratation

On June 11, the Daily Mirror headlined the story of a man who was freed from jail thirty-years after he was convicted of double murder. Possibly he is now out of jail. This unfortunate spent thirty years of his life on death row, confined to a cell.

Studies by the Human Rights Commission of Sri Lanka (HRCSL) and an expose on prison conditions in the ‘Sunday Times’ reveal   ill-lit overcrowded cells. Muddy kitchens infested with flies, rats, cockroaches and mosquitos.  It speaks of shopping bags being used as makeshift toilets at night. 

The HRCSL report added the Commission did not observe standard size cells during inspections. As to the allocation of floor space per prisoner in various prisons, the report shows a number of inmates sleeping in one cell was three to five. The report also charges provision of services to which prisoners are entitled, including access to healthcare and opportunities for rehabilitation, were poor, while overcrowding was common.

Many may probably wish to raise their hats to a judicial system which,  even after a period of time, found an innocent party not guilty of a crime he was found guilty of 30 years earlier. But has justice been served to this person? An innocent man lost his freedom, the right to a decent life and had to live in the horrendous conditions described above for no fault of his own.

We have no idea if the ‘freed prisoner’ received any compensation for wrongful incaceratation and other indignities he had to undergo during this time. Does our system of justice have a means to rehabilitate the life of this broken person, whose freedom was wrongfully taken away from him? In addition,  he had to undergoing all the horrors of life in a Lankan prison.

This a clear case of justice denied. But this does not surprise members of minority communities in our country. During the war against the LTTE, many young Tamil men and women were taken into police/military custody, tortured and brutally killed. Shortly after the LTTE was defeated,  the Muslim community was subject to similar discrimination.

Political leaders of the day failed to protect these communities. In fact,  many felt the government encouraged it and offered culprits immunity. Hopefully today things are changing. 

Today we are witnessing the arrest of high-ranking intelligence and military officials who previously oversaw the arrest, torture and killing of detainees. Now they themselves are arrested, questioned and will hopefully be punished for the dark deeds they stand accused of. 

What is shameful are the opportunistic politicians thrown out of parliament by the people attempting to make a comeback, claiming perpetrators of war crimes to be ‘war heroes’!  They do not seem to realise that  war heroes are not those who kill or torture innocents. War heroes protect civilians irrespective of race, religion or colour.

Government needs to be congratulated for fearlessly attempting to deliver justice despite knowing opportunists will try to rouse racist emotions  claiming that the accused fought against LTTE terrorism. These opportunists have already been cast into the dustbins of history by the people,  and are foolishly attempting claw their way into the seats of power with racist slogans. 

While the government needs to be congratulated for backing issues of justice in this country, on the international scene, they have not sought to rigorously apply the same standards in acting against the genocide committed on the people of Palestine. This is shameful. The JVP, the leading party in the National People’s Power (NPP) government, was a very vocal critique of the occupying Israeli forces in Palestine before they formed the government.

Today, they have taken no concrete action against Israel’s unlawful occupation of Palestine even though countries like Spain, Slovenia, and Ireland have officially moved to ban imports of Israeli goods.

Neither has the government taken  cognisance of the aggressive growing Israeli presence in our own Arugam Bay. Here,  Israeli nationals have even gotten into physical altercations with Lankans. Strangely, the government is providing security to Israeli Chabads and business places.

Just as the government fights for justice and against corruption in our country, our government must necessarily demand justice in Palestine.