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SRI LANKA: The case of a missing student is still ignored by the authorities two years after his arrest

April 18, 2010

ASIAN HUMAN RIGHTS COMMISSION – URGENT APPEALS PROGRAMME

Urgent Appeal Case: AHRC-UAC-048-2010



19 April 2010
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SRI LANKA: The case of a missing student is still ignored by the authorities two years after his arrest

ISSUES: Disappearance; arbitrary arrest; police negligence
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Dear friends,

The Asian Human Rights Commission (AHRC) has learned that Wellawatte police have taken no action during the two-year period since a young student was allegedly arrested by the Criminal Investigation Division (CID). No information has been given to his family and his whereabouts are entirely unknown. The Human Rights Commission of Sri Lanka has also been aware of the case since 2008.

CASE DETAILS:

Tharmakulasingam Mauran, 25, went missing on his way home from an industrial training programme at Lanka Bell in Kolupitiya, sometime after 4pm on 4 March 2008.

According to the security guard at his compound and the apartment's owner Mrs. K Poomani, three men arrived at the compound at 5.30 that evening and searched his home. One wore a police uniform and carried a firearm and the others were in civil gear; they arrived together in a blue jeep. The men reportedly showed Mauran’s national identity card to the security guard and told him that the young man had been arrested and was in their custody for questioning about a credit card issue. They also showed the ID card to Ms. Poomani and identified themselves as from the Criminal Investigation Division (CID) before confiscating a computer CPU, a cloth bag, some wrestling CDs a DVD player and a mobile phone from Mauran's flat. The event was recorded in the security guard's entry book.

Mauran's parents, Mr. Uruththrasingam and Mrs. Tharmakulasigam were not able to raise the interest of any official body, though they registered various complaints and reports, including one at Wellawatte police station in March 2008 with police entry No. 323/74, and others with the Human Rights Commission (HRC/1300/08), the Fort Police, the International Committee of the Red Cross (LKC 427225), the man's former university and local ministers. No investigation has been started and no contact has been made with witnesses in the two years since he went missing.

This long-term neglect to investigate a disappearance is a clear breach of domestic and international law and questions the accountability and professionalism of CID officers in Sri the country. A wider investigation is clearly needed into the abuse of power by police, and the ways in which officers are circumventing the legal process by using abduction and disappearance tactics, without regard for the rule of law or the protection of basic human rights.

SUGGESTED ACTION:

Please write to the authorities listed below to call their attention to the disappearance of Tharmakulasingam Mauran and to the larger problems of police crime in Sri Lanka. Please call for those involved to be held accountable for their actions before a court.

The AHRC will write to the Working Group on Enforced and Involuntary Disappearances requesting their intervention in this case.

To support this appeal please click here:
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SAMPLE LETTER:

Dear __________,

SRI LANKA: No investigation into the two year disappearance of a student after his arrest

Name of victim: Tharmakulasingam Mauran, 25, a third year NDT student at the University of Moratuwa, also undergoing a Industrial training programme at Lanka Bell, Kollupitiya. He was boarding at 19/1, 2/1, Fredrica Road, Colombo 06.
Alleged perpetrators: CID officers

Date of incident: 4 March 2008
Place of incident: Kolupitiya

I am writing to voice my deep concern as to the whereabouts and safety of student Tharmakulasingam Mauran. He went missing on his way home from an industrial training porgramme at Lanka Bel in Kolupitiya on 4 March 2008 over two years ago.

According to the security guard at his compound and the apartment’s owner Mrs. K Poomani, three men arrived at the compound at 5:30 that evening and searched his home. One wore a police uniform and carried a firearm and the others were in civil gear; they arrived together in a blue jeep. The men reportedly showed Mr. Mauran’s national identity card to the security guard and matter concerning a credit card. They showed the ID card to Ms. Poomani and identified themselves as from the Criminal Investigation Unit (CID) before confiscating a computer, a cloth bag, some wrestling CDs, a DVD player and, a mobile phone from his flat. The event was recorded in the security guard’s entry book.

Mauran’s parents, Mr. Uruththrasingam and Mrs. Tharmakulasigam registered numerous complaints and reports, including one at Wellawatte police station in March 2008 (police entry No. 323/74) and others with the Human Rights Commission (HRC/1300/08), the For Police DIU, the International Committee of the Red Cross (LKC 427225), and the man’s former university and local ministers. These complains have not yielded significant action. There has since been no investigation and no contact made with witnesses in the two years since he went missing.

This long-term neglect to investigate a disappearance is a clear breach of domestic and international law and questions the accountability and professionalism of CID officers in the country. Please immediately intervene to see that an investigation is launched to locate Mr. Mauran, after which he must be safely released. Those involved in his abduction must be held legally accountable.

A wider investigation is clearly needed into the abuse of power by police and the ways in which officers are circumventing the legal process by using abduction and disappearance tactics. This is the only way in which regard for the rule of law or the protection of basic human rights can be encouraged in Sri Lanka.

Yours sincerely,

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PLEASE SEND YOUR LETTERS TO:

Mr. Mahinda Balasuriya
Inspector General of Police (IGP),
New Secretariat,
Colombo 1,
SRI LANKA
Fax: +94 11 2 440440

Mr. Mohan Peiris
Attorney General
Attorney General's Department
Colombo 12
SRI LANKA
Fax: +94 11 2 436421

Secretary, National Police Commission,
3rd Floor Rotunda Towers,
109 Galle Road
Colombo 03,
SRI LANKA
Tel/Fax: +94 11 2 395960
E-mail: npcgen@sltnet.lk or polcom@sltnet.lk

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

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
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Thank you.

Urgent Appeals Programme
Asian Human Rights Commission (ua@ahrchk.org)

Document Type :
Urgent Appeal Case
Document ID :
AHRC-UAC-048-2010
Countries :
Issues :
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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.