Lanka Business Online
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Hong Kong based Asian Human Rights Commission said TISL had been summoned before the island's Financial Investigation Unit in what it called "the abuse of the criminal justice process to suppress discussions relating to corruption."
TISL has been informed by the investigation unit is probing a complaint on suspicions transactions of Transparency International Sri Lanka under criminal law.
"The FIU inquiry started after TISL commenced monitoring the abuse of state resources," said the Asian Human Rights Commission (AHRC), a regional non-governmental organisation monitoring and lobbying human rights issues in Asia.
"According to information available, the investigation was later dropped. TISL issued their final report of the investigations last week. The notice of FIU to TISL to appear before it was issued after that."
The Asian Human Rights Commission has earlier warned that the criminal justice process will be used against all critics of the government.
"The trials against (former army chief and opposition presidential candidate) Sarath Fonseka and (journalist) J Tissasanayagam are test trials in this direction," the statement said.
"Thousands of such cases have been made under anti-terrorism laws in the past. Like in the case of forced disappearances most of the victims of such arrests and detentions were innocent persons."
The Asian Human Rights Commission said the use of courts for political control is a common method used in Burma and Cambodia for silencing political opponents and civil society critics.
"In particular all attempts to discuss problems of corruption are targets of such 'criminal investigations'," it said.
"While the justice process is abused to punish opponents, the government propaganda machinery tries to make it appear that such decisions are taken through the courts and should therefore be respected," the statement said.
"In this way any person may be imprisoned through fabricated charges and by the abuse of criminal justice process."
The AHRC has highlighted a series of cases where Sri Lankan citizens have died in police custody or have made allegations of torture.
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