Sri Lankan President Chandrika Kumaratunga today demanded that the LTTE be asked to disarm first before it is allowed to join any interim administration for the north and east and questioned the idea of creating a ‘‘joint task force’’ to review high security zones there. ‘‘If they are really committed to peace, they do not need any weapons in their hands. It is untenable and unacceptable in a democracy for a party to be armed while being in administration,’’ presidential spokesman Harim Peiris said here. Human Rights body accuses Lanka police of torture COLOMBO: A human rights group on Wednesday accused the Sri Lanka police force of torture, saying police ‘‘barbarity’’ has become so widespread it threatens the rule of law. ‘‘In Sri Lanka, policing has so degenerated that it has become a manifest threat to the rule of law,’’ the Hong Kong-based Asian Human Rights Commission said in its report, released today. Sri Lanka’s Interior Minister John Amaratunga declined comment, saying he had not seen the report. (Agencies) In a related development, Kumaratunga wrote to Prime Minister Ranil Wickremesinghe expressing unease over the agreement in the recent first round of talks in Thailand to set up a joint task force to review the location of high security zones in the north-east and coordinate rehabilitation work. The task force will comprise representatives of the government and the LTTE and will be jointly responsible for reviewing security arrangements and handling matters related to the rehabilitation and resettlement of people displaced by the 19-year-long civil war. She cautioned him on the ‘‘serious implications for national security’’ arising from any step to drastically alter the existing high security zones. Welcoming the commencement of direct talks between the government and the LTTE, Peiris said Kumaratunga wanted the next round of talks to go beyond issues of rehabilitation and de-mining, and focus more on decommissioning the LTTE weaponry. Kumaratunga took note of a ‘‘passing-out parade’’ held by an LTTE artillery unit in a government school near Trincomalee a day after the first round of talks at Sattahip in Thailand. ‘‘I am at a loss to understand how, while the peace process is in progress, any responsible government could allow the LTTE to conduct military training and encourage recruitment of children by permitting passing-out parades at government school grounds in open violation of the ceasefire agreement,’’ she said. (PTI)
