The Police Scotland officials who had come to Sri Lanka to train Police officers have left in the wake of the Covid-19 pandemic, but the relevant modules will be covered by local instructors, according to the Police Media Unit.
The Sri Lanka Police recently stated that bilateral discussions were ongoing to resume training which had been temporarily halted due to the Covid-19 pandemic.
Accordingly, when contacted by The Morning yesterday to inquire into the progress of the rPoliceelevant training programmes, an official of the Police Media Unit said that the Police Scotland officials who had come to train local Police officers have left the country due to the Covid-19 pandemic.
“The Police Scotland officials have left Sri Lanka. However, the relevant training modules are being covered at Police training schools by local instructors,” he added.
Despite the Chief Constable of Police Scotland being quoted in the Scottish media stating that Police Scotland has stopped training officers of the Sri Lanka Police over human rights-related concerns, the Sri Lanka Police has denied this, stating that bilateral discussions are ongoing to resume training which had been temporarily halted due to the prevalent Covid-19 pandemic situation.
According to Scotland’s The Sunday Post, the demand for a Parliamentary inquiry into the services and international clients of Police Scotland came after Police Scotland Chief Constable Iain Livingstone confirmed that a controversial Sri Lankan training contract would end. The announcement had come after concerns of a leading human rights lawyer, a United Nations (UN) rapporteur, and the testimony of torture victims who had allegedly been raped, beaten, and asphyxiated by the Sri Lankan Police and security forces.
They accused Police Scotland of being naïve in continuing to train Sri Lankan officers despite damning UN reports into human rights abuses in the country. Campaigners claimed that the national force was giving credibility to an administration linked to violence, torture, and disappearances.
However, when contacted at that time, Police Media Spokesman and Senior Superintendent of Police Nihal Thalduwa claimed that the reports that the training given by the Scottish Police to the Sri Lankan Police officers had been stopped were untrue.
“Certain reports that the Scottish Police has halted training programmes for the Sri Lanka Police Department officers are erroneous. We have not been notified of such by the Scottish authorities,” he added.
Thalduwa said that even though such a halt has not taken place due to concerns over the human rights record, the Covid-19 pandemic has resulted in a halt of not only the Scottish training, but many other training programmes. He added that due to the Covid-19 pandemic situation, Sri Lankan Police officers have not left for Scotland since 2020.