National Authority for the protection of Roping in the culprits

by Dhaneshi Yatawara

A new Authority is to be set up soon to give effect to the newly introduced Witness Protection Law, Justice Minister Wijeyadasa Rajapakshe said.

Pic: Times of Malta

A separate Authority will soon be set up under the Justice Ministry. "The Authority is vested with powers to ensure that the Act will be implemented in the correct manner. It is now legal and is just a matter of implementing it" Justice Minister Wijeyadasa Rajapakshe said.

The Act titled , ‘Assistance to and Protection of Victims of Crime and Witnesses Act’ did not bring justice to Sri Lankans. As many argued and agreed it was the most important missing link in the local legal framework.

"This is the first time an Act was passed in our Legislature, addressing issues related to victims and witnesses though we had numerous enactments to deal with crimes and offenders," the Minister said.

The Act, in keeping with the Lessons Learned and Reconciliation Commission (LRRC) recommendations has been hailed by local and international human rights activists and concerned parties.

Delay

With much pressure from the legal community and human rights activists ‘The Assistance to and Protection of Victims of Crime and Witnesses Bill’ was drafted and it took more than a decade to be enacted.

"When the world was enlightened enough to protect witnesses and victims as a basic human right, why couldn't the Sri Lankan government give such assurance to its citizens? If there was sufficient political will of the previous government the Bill could have been enacted", said Minister Rajapakshe. "Being in the Opposition, we raised our voice, highlighting the importance of enacting the Bill,"he added.

Justice Minister Wijeyadasa Rajapakshe Pic: Susantha Wijegunasekera

The initiative of the Draft Bill originally came from the late S.S.Wijeratne of the National Centre for Victims of Crime. The Law Commission was asked in 2000 to prepare draft legislation on victim and witness assistance and protection which it did and forwarded to the Ministry of Justice. However, the draft stalled.

In 2005, the Law Commission was once again asked to prepare a Draft Bill. The final Draft Bill was forwarded to the Ministry of Justice and Law Reform in late July 2007. A Witness Protection Act was suggested to Sri Lanka by the International Independent Group of Eminent Persons (IIGEP) chaired by Justice P N Bhagwati of India.

The IIGEP had overseen the work of the Presidential Commission of Inquiry headed by retired Supreme Court Judge Nissanka Udalagama which investigated some serious human rights violations in 2005-2006.

"It is in our common domain that our criminal justice failed to a large extent. According to records of the recent past, on an average only 4% of the court cases where suspects were found guilty. The rest got away. That was the trend. One of the main reasons was the difficulty in bringing witnesses to reveal the truth. In criminal cases there was a lot of pressure, intimidation, influence, gratifications where witnesses and victims were concerned.

Most criminals who resorted to crime knew how to prevent true evidence from reaching the Courts," Minister Rajapakshe said.

A lack of witness protection drew international concern with the cases of missing and disappearance of people. A lack of a witness protection system was one of the main allegations levelled against Sri Lanka during UN Human Rights Council Sessions in Geneva.

Navaneethem Pillay, when she was the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights first questioned the absence of a witness protection system during her visit to Sri Lanka, as a result it was of grave concern not only domestically but internationally too," he added.

New terms

Pic: The Guardian

When the Draft Bill was presented to the Supreme Court, it was challenged in the Supreme Court claiming that it was against Article 121 (1) of the Constitution. The constitutional conflict was cleared later."The Supreme Court suggested some amendments to the Bill. We made the necessary adjustments and made the enactment possible" he explained.

The Act, envisages the setting up of a National Authority for the protection of victims of crime and witnesses, a Board of Management, a Protection Division in the Lankan police and a high level Advisory Council.

Among those involved in the National Authority will be experts in criminology, nominees of the Attorney General, the Inspector General of Police, and the Minister of Justice. The Advisory Board will comprise the Chief Justice, the Attorney General, the President of the Bar Association, Social activists, and the Inspector General of Police. There will be compensation for victims of crime and also a fund to aid witnesses and victims. Under the provisions of the Act, a victim or witness of crime will have the right to be treated with equality, fairness and with respect for his dignity and privacy.

The Tamil National Alliance has gone on record saying that the law should be implemented in letter and in spirit.

"The amendments made no substantial changes to the Act. Only technical matters were dealt with. The objectives are intact", said the Minister.