[hre-asiapacific] Miscarriage of justice in the Bindunuwewa massacre case

[The weekly commentary and analysis of the Asian Centre for Human Rights
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Index: Review/74/2005
Embargoed for: 1 June 2005

Dear Sir/Madam,

Please find attached the latest issue of the ACHR REVIEW
titled "Miscarriage of justice in the Bindunuwewa massacre case". It is
available on our website at: http://www.achrweb.org/Review/2005/75-05.htm

On 27 May 2005, a five-member bench of the Supreme Court of Sri Lanka
acquitted all the four accused convicted by the Trial-at-Bar of the High
Court on charges of mass murder of 28 inmates and attempted murder of 14
others at the Bindunuwewa Rehabilitation Centre on 25 October 2000. The
Trial-at-Bar held the police responsible for removing the detainees' bodies
from the scene of the massacre to destroy the evidence. Yet the Supreme
Court justified destruction of evidence on the grounds it was done under
the instructions of the superior officers to preserve peace. From day one,
the investigators and prosecutors worked in tandem to systematically
destroy the evidence.

The full report, "Sri Lanka: Miscarriage of Justice", will be released
tomorrow to coincide with one day visit of President Chandrika Kumaratunga
to New Delhi. It is available on our website at:
http://www.achrweb.org/reports/srilanka/SLK0105.pdf

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With kind regards,

Yours sincerely

Suhas Chakma
Director


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