Untitled - International Commission of Jurists

and whether … any person or persons … were subject to inhuman or
degrading treatment or to treatment which constitute an offence under any
written law as a result of a conspiracy and the person or persons directly or
indirectly responsible for the same;
(d) whether any inquiry or probe into any of the aforesaid matters had been
conducted by any officer and whether any person or persons directly or
indirectly interfered in such inquiry or probe and the person or persons
responsible for such interference;
(e) whether any officer of any other person was responsible for the
commission of any criminal offence under any written law or the use of undue
influence or misuse or abuse of power in relation to any of the aforesaid
matters.
The Batalanda Housing Scheme had allegedly been used as a ‘torture chamber’ during
the late 1980s through the early 1990s when the second insurrection of the Janatha
Vimukthi Peramuna (JVP) was at its height. The Commission found senior politicians
of the UNP, (which was in the government at the time), and senior police officers
culpable of using the Batalanda ‘torture chamber’ to torture and ‘disappear’
dissidents. Public controversy was generated by the manner in which this Commission
was established as well as by specific aspects of its functioning. 339
The strongest findings of the Commission were against a senior superintendent of
police, Douglas Pieris, for having “masterminded and executed the Counter
Subversive Unit operations from the Batalanda Housing Scheme”, thus becoming
directly responsible for the arbitrary detention and torture of persons. 340 In particular,
the Commission found that SSP Pieris was directly implicated in the abduction and
detention of a Sub-Inspector of the Peliyagoda Police Station who had been
investigating the alleged enforced disappearance of another colleague, Rohitha
Piyadarshana. Priyadarshana, a police officer attached to the Sapugaskande Police
station, had allegedly incurred the SSP’s disfavour by apprehending suspects without
consideration to political considerations. SSP Peiris was found to be indirectly
responsible for Priyadarshana’s enforced disappearance as well. 341 The Commission
arrived at more contentious findings of indirect responsibility against other senior
police officers, such as Nalin Delgoda and Merril Guneratne, who were found to have
participated in discussions on counter subversive activities presided over by then
Industries Minister 342 Ranil Wickremesinghe at Batalanda.
339 While there was no doubt about the substantive merit of the allegations that the Batalanda Housing
Scheme was used as a “torture chamber”, the manner in which this Commission functioned did cast
doubt on its credibility. The allegation was that the Commission was politically appointed by President
Kumaratunge to discredit Leader of the Opposition Ranil Wickremesinghe who had been a senior
Minister of the UNP during the time that the Batalanda “torture chamber” was in operation. As will be
discussed below, some of the police officers against whom disciplinary action was taken on the
findings of the Commission report later successfully challenged these actions in the Supreme Court on
the basis that they had been deprived of a fair hearing.
340 Final report of the Batalanda Commission, Sessional Paper No. 1, 2000, at pp. 61 and 62.
341 ibid, at p. 84 onwards as well as at p. 113 onwards.
342 For example, ibid, at pp. 63 – 70 and at p. 122.
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