Batalanda Torture Chamber Cases Must Be Reinvestigated, Says AG

COLOMBO (News 1st); The Attorney General has concluded that fresh investigations should be conducted into the killings allegedly linked to the Batalanda torture chamber.

The Attorney General's Department stated that observations containing that conclusion have been forwarded to the Secretary to the President.

The Attorney General's view is that indictments cannot be filed against suspects solely on the basis of evidence contained in the Batalanda Commission Report.

What is the Batalanda Report?

In 1994, Chandrika Bandaranaike Kumaratunga was elected President, ending 17 years of United National Party rule.

A key pledge of her election campaign was to deliver justice for killings and disappearances that occurred during the 1988-1990 period.

After assuming office in 1994, Chandrika Bandaranaike Kumaratunga appointed a Presidential Commission of Inquiry through an order issued on September 21, 1995.

That commission became known as the Batalanda Commission of Inquiry.

The Commission was tasked with investigating allegations that young people had been unlawfully detained, tortured, killed, or disappeared in houses located within the Batalanda Housing Scheme in Biyagama, which was owned by the State Fertilizer Manufacturing Corporation, and identifying those responsible.

After receiving 12 extensions, the Commission handed over its report to then-President Chandrika Bandaranaike Kumaratunga on March 26, 1998.

A number of significant revelations emerged during the Commission proceedings, including statements relating to former President Ranil Wickremesinghe.

House A2/2 within the housing complex had reportedly been used by Ranil Wickremesinghe from 1983 until April 1989 as a holiday bungalow belonging to the Ministry of Youth Affairs and Employment.

From April 1989 to 1994, the same house was reportedly used as the official residence of Ranil Wickremesinghe in his capacity as Minister of Industries.

House A2/1 had reportedly been allocated for the security personnel of Ranil Wickremesinghe, while House A2/3 had been assigned to a ministry operating under his purview.

A man named Vincent Fernando, who served as caretaker of Ranil Wickremesinghe's bungalow, was residing at the premises and died under mysterious circumstances shortly before Ranil Wickremesinghe was due to give evidence before the Commission.

House A1/7 was also reportedly used by security personnel attached to Ranil Wickremesinghe, while House B2 had allegedly been used by him as an office.

A notable development during the Commission proceedings was the identification of that house by a person who claimed to have been tortured there and later escaped.

House B1 had also reportedly been used by security personnel attached to Ranil Wickremesinghe.

The Batalanda Commission Report states that then Police Inspector Sudath Chandrasekara, who served as a personal security officer to Ranil Wickremesinghe, had used House B7.

House B8 was located nearby and was reportedly used by security personnel attached to Superintendent of Police Douglas Peiris.

A witness named Earl Sugi Perera testified before the Batalanda Commission that he had been detained and tortured at that location.

"Douglas Peiris used to come there, and they would say, 'Ranil has arrived, the boss has arrived.' People from Ranil's escort would come and kick us. Bring all those people from Ranil's escort and I can identify them. Bring the entire escort, more than thirty of them, and I will point them out. I was detained and beaten for 23 days. So, why won't I recognize them."

In recent months, the Batalanda Commission Report has once again become the subject of public discussion amid expectations that it could shed further light on a number of large-scale crimes for which evidence is still believed to exist.

Leader of the House Bimal Rathnayake tabled the report in Parliament on March 14, 2025.

However, the Attorney General's advice is that the evidence contained in the Commission report alone is insufficient to bring alleged perpetrators before the law.

Nevertheless, the Attorney General has recommended that fresh investigations be carried out into the murder allegations.

Should justice for innocent people who were allegedly subjected to brutal torture and killed, only to have their stories buried by the passage of time, be delayed any longer?