SRI LANKA: State cannot neglect duty to protect child sold in Kandy

ASIAN HUMAN RIGHTS COMMISSION - URGENT APPEALS PROGRAMME

Urgent Appeal Case: AHRC-UAC-026-2015
ISSUES: Administration of justice, Child rights, Institutional reform, Non-state actors,

Dear Friends,

The Asian Human Rights Commission (AHRC) has received information of an 8-year-old boy who was recently kidnapped, sold, and by chance rescued. However, by willfully neglecting their responsibilities, the court, the police, and the Probation Department have returned the boy to the very same vulnerable environment that saw the boy being kidnapped and traded. The life of the child is in peril. However, the Sri Lankan State, which, as per law, is the caretaker of children in Sri Lanka, has chosen to abdicate its responsibility. The case is symptomatic of the vulnerability of children in Sri Lanka, who have, in recent times, been increasingly subject to various forms of cruelty, such as: corporal punishment, exploitation, and physical and sexual abuse.

The AHRC urges the Sri Lankan government to take all measures to implement its obligations under the UN Convention on the Rights of the Child and its Optional Protocols and to follow its own laws. The future of Sri Lanka is its children, and their dignity and respect must be upheld by the State, which cannot abdicate responsibility.

CASE NARRATIVE:

The Asian Human Rights Commission (AHRC) has received information about a child having been sold in Katugastota Police Division, Kandy District, Sri Lanka, on 28 March 2015. The mother of the boy, a resident of Ambatenna, Katugastota Police Division, Kandy District, made a complaint to the Katugastota Police Station, stating that her 8-year-old boy was missing. The police officers accepted the complaint but did not commence investigation, despite the mother providing details and information on suspects.

Two days later, on March 28, the police by chance got a tip off, by an informant over the phone, that a child was being sold. The police rushed to the spot, and found a boy with injury marks on his body. The police questioned the boy and from the child learned about his kidnappers. With the child’s help the police were able to apprehend not only the kidnappers, but also the buyer, and were able to recover Rs. 50,000 – the boy’s price that had changed hands. All three persons arrested, were produced before the Acting Magistrate of Kandy, and two of them, both women, were immediately released on personal bail, while the third suspect, a man, was remanded. The child was then handed over to his natural mother.

While it may appear that the balance has been restored while the process of justice takes its course, what the Acting Magistrate has done, along with the police and the Probation Department is place the child right back where it is most vulnerable. It turns out the mother is desperately impoverished, and faces great difficulty in taking care of her four children. Her legal husband is chronically ill and bedridden. In these circumstances, she began cohabiting with another man, leaving her children untended. It turns out her lover is one of the persons accused of having kidnapped and sold the boy.

In the processing of this case, already, various departments of government have failed the boy. Firstly, the police were reluctant to investigate the boy’s disappearance and refused to follow the mother’s leads. It is only by luck that they received a tip-off, and only with the help of the boy were able to apprehend the three suspects. Next, it is the duty of the police to investigate the ground realities and apprise the Magistrate of the same. In this case, the police needed to inform the Magistrate that the woman and man accused of kidnapping the boy reside in the community and that the man is none other than the mother’s lover. This information would help the Magistrate decide on bail and on granting custody of the boy. However, the police have not even provided information that the child has been kidnapped by those who are in the position of being the child’s guardians.

As far as the court goes, it should have been a Magistrate and not an Acting Magistrate hearing the case. Nevertheless, the Acting Magistrate could have asked the Probation Officer to file a report, something that was not done. Going through the motions, the Acting Magistrate simply granted bail to two of the accused, simply on them being women, and handed the child to the mother, without checking whether such actions would keep the child safe.

Police officers had informed the court that when the boy was discovered several injuries were noticed on his body. Yet, neither the police nor the Acting Magistrate sought to ensure medical care was provided to the child. Also, it is the duty of all state officers to direct the child to a Psychiatric Clinic for assessment and treatment, which they failed to do. His mother later admitted the child to the Kandy Teaching Hospital for treatment. A Consultant Judicial Medical Officer has yet to examined the child for judicial purposes.

Handing over the injured child to the mother and relatives who reside in close proximity to the suspects shows the insensitive nature of the system and abdication of responsibility. The child, the prime witness, in addition to other witnesses, has been endangered with the Acting Magistrate granting bail to two of the suspects, without criminal investigation having been conducted.

Lastly, it is the responsibility of the State to ensure the child’s education is not interrupted, which has happened in this case. The court needs to take appropriate measures to protect the child’s right to continue his education. By overlooking all these, the State apparatus has proven itself to be lacking.

The Asian Human Rights Commission requests the State of Sri Lanka to take effective measures to implement its obligations regarding the UN Convention on the Rights of the Child and all its Optional Protocols, which it has signed. It is the duty of law enforcement agencies to uphold and implement the rule of law. Protection should be afforded for every child of Sri Lanka.

ADDITIONAL INFORMATION:

According to Sri Lankan law, the state is the ultimate caretaker of every child in the country. The district court is vested with all powers as the supreme guardian of the child. It is thus the responsibility of law enforcement agencies and their officers to monitor the situation of children and report the situation for appropriate measures to be taken by the Judiciary. Presently, there are several state agencies such as the Probation Department, Social Welfare Department, Women and Child Care Bureau, Police Department and finally the Grama Niladary (village level state officers), all of which are individually and collectively responsible to protect children. However, state officers, despite similar incidents having occurred in different parts of the country in recent times, have ignored demands for the effective protection of children. There have been several incidents of mothers jumping into rivers along with their children, having been unable to bear the suffering of desperate impoverishment.

SUGGESTED ACTION:

Please request the authorities to prosecute those proven to be responsible for misusing and ignoring the powers of the State. All officers involved must be subject to internal investigations for breach of department orders. Request the NPC and the IGP to conduct a special investigation into the malpractices of all the state officers for abuse of power.

Please note that the AHRC has also written a separate letter to the Chairperson, UN Committee on the Rights of the Child, on this regard.

To support this case, please click here: SEND APPEAL LETTER

SAMPLE LETTER

Dear …………….,

SRI LANKA: State Cannot Neglect Duty to Protect Child Sold in Kandy

Name of the victim: Name of child has not been revealed for obvious reasons
Alleged perpetrators: Officer-in-Charge (OIC) of Katugastota Police Station, Kandy District
Date of incident: 28 March 2015 to Present
Place of incident: Katugastota Police Division, Kandy District, Sri Lanka

I am writing to express my serious concern over the case of a child being sold by several alleged suspects in Katugastota Police Division in Kandy District on 28 March 2015. The mother of the child, a resident of Ambatenna in Katugastota Police Division, Kandy District, made a complaint to the Katugastota Police Station, stating that her child was missing since 26 March 2015. According to the victim, the police officers accepted the complaint but did not take appropriate measures to investigate the complaint and interrogate the individuals responsible for the crime.

Two days later on March 28, following fresh information given by an independent informant, the police arrested three persons along with the missing child. After questioning the child, police officers were able to recover the Sri Lankan Rs. 50 000 paid for the child by the buyer, and the buyer herself.

Later, all three participants in the crime were arrested by the police. Along with the child victim, the three suspects were produced before the Acting Magistrate of Kandy and two of them were released on personal bail, while the third suspect was remanded. The child was then handed over to his natural mother.

Police officers informed the courts that when the child was discovered, they noticed several injuries on his body. He was later admitted to the Kandy Teaching Hospital for treatment by his mother, and is yet to be examined by the Consultant Judicial Medical Officer (JMO) for judicial purposes.

The police investigation subsequently revealed that the desperately impoverished mother faced great difficulty in taking care of her four children, with her legal husband chronically ill and bedridden. She then started living with another man and left the children alone.

The children’s stepfather was also among the three suspects arrested and said to be responsible for the crime. Presently the life of the child is in danger as he was handed over to relatives, who live close by to the suspects. The witnesses are also in danger as the Acting Magistrate released two of the suspects without considering the conclusion of the criminal investigation.

Neither the police nor the Acting Magistrate paid attention to provide medical care to the child, despite the marks of several injuries on his body. Furthermore, it was the duty of all state officers to direct the child to the Psychiatric Clinic for assessment and treatment, which they failed to do.

This was a clear case of kidnapping a child from its legal guardianship, which was not reported to the court. This amounts to ignoring the law of the country by law enforcement officers.

The Magistrate must take steps to investigate all officers who have ignored their duties. The child’s future protection must be observed by the Probation Department Officers and measures arranged at the time of releasing the child to the mother.

The education of the child has been ignored and interrupted in this case. The courts must take appropriate measures to protect the child’s right to continue his education. By overlooking all these factors, the state apparatus has proven itself lacking.

I therefore request your urgent intervention with the authorities listed below. Please ask that they instigate an immediate investigation into the allegations of selling a child and bring the responsible people before justice. There has also to be prosecution of the responsible persons for misusing the powers of the state by ignoring the implementation of law.  All officers involved must be subject to internal investigations for breach of department orders in their respective departments.

Yours sincerely,

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PLEASE SEND YOUR LETTERS TO:

1. Mr. N.K. Illangakoon
Inspector General of Police (IGP)
New Secretariat
Colombo 1
SRI LANKA
Fax: +94 11 2 440440
Email: com@police.lk

2. Mr. Yuvanjana Jawaharlal Wanasundera Wijayatilake, PC
Attorney General
Attorney General’s Department
Colombo 12
SRI LANKA
Fax: +94 11 2 436421

3. Chief Justice
Office of the Chief Justice of the Supreme Court of Sri Lanka
Superior Courts Complex
Colombo-12
SRI LANKA
Fax: +94-11-2437534

4. Secretary
National Police Commission
3rd Floor Rotunda Towers
109 Galle Road
Colombo 03
SRI LANKA
Tel/Fax: +94 11 2 395960
Email: polcom@sltnet.lk

5. Secretary
Human Rights Commission of Sri Lanka
No 108 Barnes Place
Colombo 07
SRI LANKA
Tel: +94 11 2 694 925+94 11 2 694 925 / 673 806
Fax: +94 11 2 694 924 / 696 470
Email: sechrc@sltnet.lk

6. Mrs. Natasha Balendra
Chairperson – National Child Protection Authority
National Child Protection Authority,
No. 330, Thalawathugoda Road,
Madiwela,
Sri Jayawadrenapura,
Sri Lanka.
Tel: +94 11 2 778 911 – 4  (Ext:121)
Fax: +94 11 2 778 915
Email: chairperson@childprotection.gov.lk

Thank you.

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

Document Type : Urgent Appeal Case
Document ID : AHRC-UAC-026-2015
Countries : Sri Lanka,
Issues : Administration of justice, Child rights, Institutional reform, Non-state actors,