SRI LANKA: The nation must defend the criminal investigations being conducted by the Commission against Bribery and Corruption

STATEMENT ISSUED BY THE ASIAN HUMAN RIGHTS COMMISSION

A revolt has been organized by few irresponsible politicians through a campaign to stop investigations into allegations of bribery and corruption. The latest name to be added to the list of those who are being investigated on such allegations is the former president Mahinda Rajapaksa himself.

There cannot be a greater attempt to drag a nation into chaos and anarchy than to disrupt investigations into crime and such an attempt to drag the country into chaos and anarchy is now taking place, led by some of the senior politicians associated with the former regime.

It is not for us to pronounce guilt or innocence for any of the alleged criminals. This is a task for a court, when the matters reach the court at some future date. However, no citizen can remain neutral on the issue of the right of the appropriate authorities to conduct investigations into crime.

Law, order, and peace are maintained within any nation through strict conduct of investigations into crime and subsequent punishment for those who break the rules on which the society keeps itself together. All attempts to breakdown the investigations into crime are attempts to rip apart the society altogether.

For a long time, the law enforcement officers, prosecutors, and judges have all been prevented from doing their duties by an all-powerful executive which thought it fit to break all the rules of the society.

It was a welcome sign that after the 8^th of January 2015 elections such interferences has been brought to an end and some attempts have been made to enforce the law, particularly in the area of control of bribery and corruption. Now the fear has spread among those who had relied on impunity.

The present demands for written undertakings by the government promising no prosecution of the former President on the one hand and attacks on officers who have been doing their job diligently on the other are all attempts to return to a situation of lawlessness which prevailed before.

The Asian Human Rights Commission urges every law-abiding citizen to intervene in order to ensure that all serious efforts are made to enforce the law that should be respected by everyone. No one is above the law; there are no privileged citizens who can claim that allegations against them should not to be investigated.