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SRI LANKA: Girl student of Ambakotte Tamil Vidayalaya in Kandy was severely beaten by the principle and forced to return to school against her will

January 27, 2012

ASIAN HUMAN RIGHTS COMMISSION-URGENT APPEAL PROGRAMME

Urgent Appeal Case: AHRC-UAC-009-2012



27 January 2012
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SRI LANKA: Girl student of Ambakotte Tamil Vidayalaya in Kandy was severely beaten by the principle and forced to return to school against her will

ISSUES: torture; impunity; rule of law
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Dear friends,

The Asian Human Rights Commission (AHRC) has received information that Ms. Chandramohan Denusha is a student at Ambakotte Tamil Vidyalaya. Twelve year old Denusha was severely beaten by the principal of her school and when she refused to return she was forcefully taken by two of the teachers. Corporal punishment has been banned in schools, remand centres and prisons in Sri Lanka and this act of brutality is a gross violation of this young girls rights.

CASE NARRATIVE:

Ms. Chandramohan Denusha of No: 01/B, Ambakotte, Kengalle in the Kandy District is a student at Ambakotte Tamil Vidyalaya. She is twelve years old and studying in grade 8 of the school. Denusha's father has been in remand prison for the last six years without trial; she has a younger sister and her mother, M Dayamani, has no regular income.

Ambakotte Tamil Vidyalaya is a mixed school and there are 469 children. It offers classes up to General Certificate of Examination, Ordinary Level and employs 29 teachers.

According to Denusha the teachers, especially Mr. Sudakaran, the discipline master who is also the vice principal, punishes the children by beating them brutally. He does this is in blatant violation of Sri Lankan law which prohibiting corporal punishment in schools, remand centres and prisons. The principal of the school, Mr. S Rajendran also beats the children mercilessly almost every day. One of the students, S Kavitha, a student of Grade 8 who was severely beaten in the first week of January 2012 left the school because of the continuous beatings.

In January 2012, Denusha was severely beaten by the principle and as a result her left arm became swollen. When her mother questioned the principal he gave her oil balm, 'Wintogeno' as a treatment to apply. When Denusha refused to go to school the principal sent two masters to their house and they forcefully took her. If they did not receive the tacit approval of Denusha's mother this is tantamount to kidnapping and it is believed that they did this in order to avoid any possible legal problems.

Denusha who is a very intelligent student, scored 132 at the year 5 scholarship exam and she fears that if she complains about the brutality of her teachers she will have to leave the school like Kavitha because the principal and the teachers would take revenge. This in itself is a common occurrence is Sri Lankan schools where the principals and teachers rule almost without control.

Her mother M Dayamani is even scared to go to the police as the police officers of Theldeniya have taken revenge from her husband by remanding him and delaying his trial which is a violation of his rights. Therefore she appeals for justice for her daughter.


ADDITIONAL COMMENTS:

The Asian Human Rights Commission has reported innumerable cases of torturing innocent by the Sri Lankan police which are illegal under international and local law which have taken place at different state's agencies including Schools and Police Stations in the country over the past few years.

The State of Sri Lanka sign and ratified the CAT on 3 January 1994. Following state obligations Sri Lanka adopted Act number 22 of 1994 the law adopted by the Sri Lankan parliament making torture a crime that can be punishable for minimum seven years and not less than ten years on being proven guilty. The Attorney General of Sri Lanka is suppose to file indictments in the case where credible evidence were found on torturing people by state officers.

SUGGESTED ACTION:
Please send a letter to the authorities listed below expressing your concern about this case and requesting an immediate investigation into the allegation of torture by the perpetrator, and the prosecution of those proven to be responsible under the criminal law of the country for misusing powers of a state. The officer involved must also be subjected to internal investigations for the breach of the department orders as issued by the Educational Department.

Please note that the AHRC has also written a separate letter to the Special Rapporteur on torture and other cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment or punishment on this regard.

To support this appeal please click here:

SAMPLE LETTER:

Dear ________,

SRI LANKA: Girl student of Ambakotte Tamil Vidayalaya in Kandy was severely beaten by the principle and forced to return to school against her will

Name of the victim: Ms. Chandramohan Denusha of No: 01/B, Ambakotte, Kengalle in the Kandy District
Alleged perpetrator: The principle of the Ambakotte Tamil Vidyalaya school in Kandy
Date of incident: January 2012
Place of incident: Ambakotte Tamil Vidyalaya

I am writing to express my serious concern over the case of Ms. Chandramohan Denusha of No: 01/B, Ambakotte, Kengalle in the Kandy District. Denusha is a student at Ambakotte Tamil Vidyalaya. She is twelve years old and studying in grade 8 of the school. Denusha's father has been in remand prison for the last six years without trial; she has a younger sister and her mother, M Dayamani, has no regular income.

Ambakotte Tamil Vidyalaya is a mixed school and there are 469 children. It offers classes up to General Certificate of Examination, Ordinary Level and employs 29 teachers.

According to Denusha the teachers, especially Mr. Sudakaran, the discipline master who is also the vice principal, punishes the children by beating them brutally. He does this is in blatant violation of Sri Lankan law which prohibiting corporal punishment in schools, remand centres and prisons. The principal of the school, Mr. S Rajendran also beats the children mercilessly almost every day. One of the students, S Kavitha, a student of Grade 8 who was severely beaten in the first week of January 2012 left the school because of the continuous beatings.

In January 2012, Denusha was severely beaten by the principle and as a result her left arm became swollen. When her mother questioned the principal he gave her oil balm, 'Wintogeno' as a treatment to apply. When Denusha refused to go to school the principal sent two masters to their house and they forcefully took her. If they did not receive the tacit approval of Denusha's mother this is tantamount to kidnapping and it is believed that they did this in order to avoid any possible legal problems.

Denusha who is a very intelligent student, scored 132 at the year 5 scholarship exam and she fears that if she complains about the brutality of her teachers she will have to leave the school like Kavitha because the principal and the teachers would take revenge. This in itself is a common occurrence is Sri Lankan schools where the principals and teachers rule almost without control.

Her mother M Dayamani is even scared to go to the police as the police officers of Theldeniya have taken revenge from her husband by remanding him and delaying his trial which is a violation of his rights. Therefore she appeals for justice for her daughter.

I request your urgent intervention to ensure that the authorities listed below instigate an immediate investigation into the allegations of torture by the perpetrators, and the prosecution of those proven to be responsible under the criminal law of the country for misusing powers of state officers and for wrongful prosecution. The officers involved must also be subjected to internal investigations for the breach of the department orders as issued by the police department.

Yours sincerely,

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PLEASE SEND YOUR LETTERS TO:

1. Mr. N K Illangakoon
Inspector General of Police
New Secretariat
Colombo 1
SRI LANKA
Fax: +94 11 2 440440 / 327877
E-mail: igp@police.lk

2. Ms. Eva Wanasundara
Attorney General
Attorney General's Department
Colombo 12
SRI LANKA
Fax: +94 11 2 436421
E-mail: ag@attorneygeneral.gov.lk

3. Secretary
National Police Commission
3rd Floor, Rotunda Towers
109 Galle Road
Colombo 03
SRI LANKA
Tel: +94 11 2 395310
Fax: +94 11 2 395867
E-mail: npcgen@sltnet.lk or polcom@sltnet.lk

4. Secretary
Sri Lanka Human Rights Commission
No. 108
Barnes Place
Colombo 07
SRI LANKA
Tel: +9411 2694925, +9411 2685980, +9411 2685981
Fax: +9411 2694924 (General) +94112696470 (Chairman)
E-mail: sechrc@sltnet.lk

Thank you.

Urgent Appeals Programme
Asian Human Rights Commission (ua@ahrc.asia)

 


 

Document Type :
Urgent Appeal Case
Document ID :
AHRC-UAC-009-2012
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Extended Introduction: Urgent Appeals, theory and practice

A need for dialogue

Many people across Asia are frustrated by the widespread lack of respect for human rights in their countries.  Some may be unhappy about the limitations on the freedom of expression or restrictions on privacy, while some are affected by police brutality and military killings.  Many others are frustrated with the absence of rights on labour issues, the environment, gender and the like. 

Yet the expression of this frustration tends to stay firmly in the private sphere.  People complain among friends and family and within their social circles, but often on a low profile basis. This kind of public discourse is not usually an effective measure of the situation in a country because it is so hard to monitor. 

Though the media may cover the issues in a broad manner they rarely broadcast the private fears and anxieties of the average person.  And along with censorship – a common blight in Asia – there is also often a conscious attempt in the media to reflect a positive or at least sober mood at home, where expressions of domestic malcontent are discouraged as unfashionably unpatriotic. Talking about issues like torture is rarely encouraged in the public realm.

There may also be unwritten, possibly unconscious social taboos that stop the public reflection of private grievances.  Where authoritarian control is tight, sophisticated strategies are put into play by equally sophisticated media practices to keep complaints out of the public space, sometimes very subtly.  In other places an inner consensus is influenced by the privileged section of a society, which can control social expression of those less fortunate.  Moral and ethical qualms can also be an obstacle.

In this way, causes for complaint go unaddressed, un-discussed and unresolved and oppression in its many forms, self perpetuates.  For any action to arise out of private frustration, people need ways to get these issues into the public sphere.

Changing society

In the past bridging this gap was a formidable task; it relied on channels of public expression that required money and were therefore controlled by investors.  Printing presses were expensive, which blocked the gate to expression to anyone without money.  Except in times of revolution the media in Asia has tended to serve the well-off and sideline or misrepresent the poor.

Still, thanks to the IT revolution it is now possible to communicate with large audiences at little cost.  In this situation there is a real avenue for taking issues from private to public, regardless of the class or caste of the individual.

Practical action

The AHRC Urgent Appeals system was created to give a voice to those affected by human rights violations, and by doing so, to create a network of support and open avenues for action.  If X’s freedom of expression is denied, if Y is tortured by someone in power or if Z finds his or her labour rights abused, the incident can be swiftly and effectively broadcast and dealt with. The resulting solidarity can lead to action, resolution and change. And as more people understand their rights and follow suit, as the human rights consciousness grows, change happens faster. The Internet has become one of the human rights community’s most powerful tools.   

At the core of the Urgent Appeals Program is the recording of human rights violations at a grass roots level with objectivity, sympathy and competence. Our information is firstly gathered on the ground, close to the victim of the violation, and is then broadcast by a team of advocates, who can apply decades of experience in the field and a working knowledge of the international human rights arena. The flow of information – due to domestic restrictions – often goes from the source and out to the international community via our program, which then builds a pressure for action that steadily makes its way back to the source through his or her own government.   However these cases in bulk create a narrative – and this is most important aspect of our program. As noted by Sri Lankan human rights lawyer and director of the Asian Human Rights Commission, Basil Fernando:

"The urgent appeal introduces narrative as the driving force for social change. This idea was well expressed in the film Amistad, regarding the issue of slavery. The old man in the film, former president and lawyer, states that to resolve this historical problem it is very essential to know the narrative of the people. It was on this basis that a court case is conducted later. The AHRC establishes the narrative of human rights violations through the urgent appeals. If the narrative is right, the organisation will be doing all right."

Patterns start to emerge as violations are documented across the continent, allowing us to take a more authoritative, systemic response, and to pinpoint the systems within each country that are breaking down. This way we are able to discover and explain why and how violations take place, and how they can most effectively be addressed. On this path, larger audiences have opened up to us and become involved: international NGOs and think tanks, national human rights commissions and United Nations bodies.  The program and its coordinators have become a well-used tool for the international media and for human rights education programs. All this helps pave the way for radical reforms to improve, protect and to promote human rights in the region.