Singapore’s Law Minister Kasiviswanathan Shanmugam speaking in Colombo during the opening of a Special Task Force Command center said that Sri Lanka could use some of the tactics deployed by the Singaporean Special Operations Command.
“Heartiest congratulations to Tiran on the successful opening of this command center. I think undoubtedly establishing a command center in the heart of Colombo will strengthen the capabilities of the STF and we are happy to have been able to play a small role,” Shanmugam told reporters at the event.
Singapore’s assistance in the sphere of public security comes at a questionable juncture in Sri Lanka, at a time when the Sri Lankan Police does not have a sitting Inspector General and in the backdrop of increasing human rights abuses. Sri Lanka’s Public Security Minister Tiran Alles, himself has encouraged the police to engage in extrajudicial killings claiming “eliminating criminals from the country is not a sin”.
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The remarks by remarks by Shanmugam come as tens of thousands have been arrested across Sri Lanka as part of a Sri Lankan police and military operation, purportedly aimed at stemming drug trafficking. ‘Operation Yukthiya’ has come under criticism from human rights organisations and United Nations experts for its widespread violation of human rights.
Shanmugam went on to reveal that Alles during a recent visit to Singapore was particularly interested in knowing more about Singapore’s Special Operations Command.
“Tiran liked what he had seen and you have a long tradition with STF, it's more about sharing experiences,” he said. “You had to deal with it in a civil war context while we dealt with it in an urban context. There is room for us to learn from each other.” Since Alles' visit, both Sri Lankan Special Task Forces and the Singapore counterparts have been exchanging “notes and experiences” according to Shanmugam who added that Alles will also bring in tactics and equipment that Singapore uses.
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The STF is a paramilitary unit widely understood to be responsible for a range of human rights violations and extrajudicial killings, including a string of massacres of Tamils, such as the 'Trinco 5' murders.
In a 2018 report, the International Truth and Justice Project (ITJP) identified 56 STF individuals who the group said should not be deployed as UN peacekeepers, including an officer then serving in Africa, as they were involved in extrajudicial killings.
The unit has been known to receive international training, including from Britain.
Secret CIA reports at the time noted Britain’s training of the STF through a private company, adding that “US Embassy sources assert the STF is behind most of the violence against Tamil civilians in Eastern Province… These sources report a common STF tactic when fired upon while on patrol is to enter the nearest village and burn it to the ground”.
In 2018, Police Scotland came under fire for continuing to train STF troops, despite the reports of human rights abuses
