Sri Lanka police to persist with drug bust despite UN concerns

Sri Lanka police on Sunday said that they would launch a new phase of the controversial drug bust operation despite concerns raised by the UN Human Rights chief over its fairness.

Police said they were targeting 42,248 suspects identified criminals.

''All police stations must work 24 hours a day for the next one month to arrest 42,248 suspects and bring them to justice,'' a statement said.

On Saturday, the UN Human Rights body slammed Sri Lanka police’s ongoing operation to curb the narcotics menace and called on the government to reassess strategy with a human rights-based approach.

“We are very concerned that authorities in Sri Lanka are adopting a heavily security-based response to the country’s drugs problem...A staggering 29,000 people have reportedly been arrested on drug-related matters since December 17, with allegations that some have been subjected to ill-treatment and torture”, a statement issued in Geneva on Saturday by Volker Turk, the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights, said.

Operation ‘Yukthiya’ (the Sinhala term for ‘justice’) was launched on December 17 with a June 30 deadline to end the drug menace plaguing the island nation and arrest all the drug dealers.

He said the Security forces have reportedly conducted raids without search warrants, detaining suspected drug sellers and users, with hundreds sent to military-run rehabilitation centres.

The police said the new phase to arrest criminals should complement the drug bust raids with action to break the network of drug distribution and dealers.

Sri Lanka’s own Human Rights Commission and the lawyers’ body the Bar Association had also raised questions on the operation.

(This story has not been edited by Devdiscourse staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)