COLOMBO, 19 August 2021, (TON): The Scottish government should provide details of a review of Police Scotland training for Sri Lankan police, Human Rights Watch, Freedom from Torture, the Sri Lanka Campaign for Peace and Justice, and Pax Christi Scotland said in a letter to the Scottish Justice Secretary Keith Brown.

Scottish ministers should exercise their authority to suspend the training program, which risks appearing to endorse the actions of Sri Lanka’s abusive police force.

The Sri Lankan police in recent months have allegedly been responsible for torture and extrajudicial killings. They have been implicated in a pattern of such abuses over many years, despite receiving Police Scotland training “on an almost continuous basis” since 2013.

Yasmine Ahmed, UK director at Human Rights Watch said “Police Scotland should halt its Sri Lanka training program until the Sri Lankan government and police demonstrate a willingness to reform,”

“Scottish ministers have the authority to end this program, which does not live up to their government’s support for human rights.”