SRI LANKA: A group of officers brutally assault a visitor to Polpithigama police station

ASIAN HUMAN RIGHTS COMMISSION - URGENT APPEALS PROGRAMME

Urgent Appeal Case: AHRC-UAC-061-2010
ISSUES: Administration of justice, Police violence,

Dear friends, 

The Asian Human Rights Commission (AHRC) has learned that another case of police brutality in Sri Lanka has yet to be investigated by the authorities. It involves the beating of a man by a large group of officers at Polpithigama police station when he tried to visit his cousins after their arrest. The man was beaten and kicked to the ground, and was later hospitalised. The case is the latest in a large body of complaints taken again police and recorded by the AHRC, and incidents do not appear to be reducing in the post-conflict era. 

CASE NARRATIVE: 

According to the information received, army corporal Gamage Sarath Gamini (left) was woken at around 12:30 at night on 1 March 2010 by his aunt shouting in her neighbouring home. He visited her and found that his cousins, Palitha Navaratne, Manjula Ekanayake and Chaturanga had been taken by police to Polpithigama police station. He visited the station about an hour later, on 2 March. 

Gamini reports that he arrived to find his cousins in a police cell being loudly verbally abused by a group of officers. A sergeant asked Gamini why he was at the station and when Gamini asked to see his cousins the sergeant reportedly started to shout at him; he also threatened to remand Gamini in the cell with them. Around eight officers then surrounded him and according to his report, the Officer in Charge (OIC) at the time, Ranjith Chandrasiri (badge No. 55027), also shouted that he should join his cousins in remand, then struck him forcefully to the chest. The group of officers then started to beat him with their fists before throwing him out of the police station. 

As Gamini was walking away an officer in civil clothing reportedly kicked him to the floor with a strike to the left side of his ribs. A number of the policemen then re-appeared and beat and kicked him again while he was on the ground. He was chased off of the premises. 

Gamini went directly to Nikawewa District Hospital where he was examined and warded. 

The following day we are told that two police officers from the same station visited the victim and asked for his account of the incident. They left and returned later that day with a new notebook, took his statement and asked him to sign it. Gamini directed a number of corrections but says that the statement was still quite unclear. He was discharged from the hospital on 4 March. 

However on 10 March Gamini visited Kurunegala Hospital with strong chest pain, was examined and was place on ward No. 27 until 12 March 2010. During that time a Judicial Medical Officer also examined him and two hospital police officers took down another statement. He had also made a written complaint to the Superintendent of Police (SSP) in Mahawa on 8 March, copying in the Inspector General of Police, the OIC and the Deputy Inspector General. 

A complaint has been lodged at the Human Rights Commission of Sri Lanka, which launched an investigation on the 30 April. However we are told that he has received various messages from the OIC of Polpithigama police station, requesting that he settle the case before it goes to trial. 

ADDITIONAL INFORMATION: 

Police abuse continues to shape the daily reality of Sri Lankans and only strong, clear legal action can begin to change this. The AHRC has been reporting on such patterns of violence for more than a decade and it shows little sign of dwindling in the post-war environment. In the last month alone we have reported on the following cases from around the country:  A family is prevented from filing a complaint with police after a woman and child are injured during an illegal arrestThe murder of a witness by police must be independently investigated;  A man is tortured by police and held without bail for two years;  A lawyer is ill treated in public by a senior police officer;Police torture and fabricate charges against a young man for revenge. Many others are available on our appeals homepage: . 

Legal action must be followed with training, adequate funding and widespread reforms before acceptable policing standards are attained. This much was acknowledged in April both by Sri Lankan defense secretary Gotabhaya Rajapaksa and Inspector General of Police, Mahinda Balasuriya, according to media reports on an address to the Police Academy at Katana. The defense secretary spoke of the need for corrective measures in a force that is consistently accused of failing to investigate complaints and delaying inquiries. The IGP has also acknowledged flaws in the prosecution process, and the need to strengthen the force’s capacity to investigate. These are sentiments that the AHRC has been campaigning on for years. Please see statements and reports for further analysis, such as:  People’s anger against bad policing and Reform of a police system rotten at the top

Political will must be shown for police impunity to end. It can no longer be considered acceptable for an officer to be simply transferred in response to allegations of brutality, as is commonly seen. In the case of Gamage Sarath Gamini – as in all others involving allegations of misconduct and criminal acts – officials must launch an immediate investigation that leads to the criminal prosecution of those proven guilty. It should be noted that although police assault has been a punishable offence under the Anti-Torture or CAT Act in Sri Lanka since 1994 it is still rarely tried as such. 

SUGGESTED ACTION: 

Please write to the authorities listed below asking them to ensure that a thorough and impartial investigation is launched, leading to the criminal prosecution of those proven guilty. Please also request that adequate protection and compensation be afforded the victim. 

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

SAMPLE LETTER

Dear __________, 

SRI LANKA: A group of officers brutally assault a visitor to Polpithigama police station 

Name of victim: 
Gamage Sarath Gamini, 29; a corporal of the Sri Lankan Army, Gajaba Regiment; resident of Herathgama Road,Galahitiyagama, Moragollagama, Kurunegala. 
Names of alleged perpetrators: 
1. Ranjith Chandrasiri, Officer In Charge (No. 55027) 
And approximately seven other police officers working at Polpithigama Police Station, Nikaweratiya Division, North Western Range. 

Date of incident: 2 March 2010 
Place of incident: Polpithigama police station, 

I am writing to voice my deep concern regarding another case of police brutality in Sri Lanka that has not yet been investigated by the appropriate authorities. 

According to the information I have received, Mr. Gamini visited Polpithigama police station at about 1:30am on 2 March after he found out that his cousins – Palitha Navaratne, Manjula Ekanayake and Chaturanga – had just been taken there. 

At the station Mr. Gamini reports that he could see his cousins in a police cell being loudly verbally abused by a group of officers, and that he himself was then shouted at and threatened by a sergeant when he asked to see them. Both the sergeant and an OIC Ranjith Chandrasiri threatened to remand him with his cousins, and I am told that the OIC struck his chest. The group of around eight officers then surrounded him and beat him with their hands and fists, before throwing him out of the police station. 

I am told that as Mr. Gamini was walking away, an officer in civil clothing kicked him to the floor with a strike to the left side of his ribs. A number of the policemen then re-appeared and beat and kicked him again while he was on the ground, then chased him off of the premises. 

He went directly to Nikawewa District Hospital where he was examined and warded until 4 March. 

The following day two police officers from the same station visited the victim and asked for his account of the incident, then left and returned to take his statement in a notebook, which the victims says did not read clearly. On 10 March Mr. Gamini visited Kurunegala Hospital with strong chest pain, was examined and was place on ward No. 27 until 12 March 2010. During that time a Judicial Medical Officer examined him and two hospital police officers took down another statement. 

Only strong, clear legal action will have an effective impact on the endemic kinds of police abuse that shape the daily reality of Sri Lankans. It is a pattern of violence that has been reported from the country for many years and shows little sign of abating in the post-war environment. 

Legal action must be followed with training, adequate funding and wide scale reforms before acceptable policing standards are attained. I see that this much was acknowledged in April both by Sri Lankan defense secretary Gotabhaya Rajapaksa and Inspector General of Police, Mahinda Balasuriya, according to media reports on an address to the Police Academy at Katana. 

It can no longer be considered acceptable for an officer to be simply transferred in response to allegations of brutality, as is commonly seen. 

The victim made a written complaint to the Superintendent of Police (SSP) in Mahawa on 8 March, copying in the Inspector General of Police, the OIC and the Deputy Inspector General. 
A complaint has been lodged at the Human Rights Commission of Sri Lanka, which launched an investigation on the 30 April. According to my information, no other investigation has yet been started. 

Since I understand that the victim has received various messages from the OIC of Polpithigama police station requesting that he settle the case rather than pursue legal proceedings, please ensure that the case is followed through with and that adequate protection and compensation is afforded Mr. Gamini. A thorough and impartial investigation must lead to the criminal prosecution of those proven guilty. 

Yours sincerely, 

—————- 

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 

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 

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 

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 
Email: sechrc@sltnet.lk 

Senior Superintendent of Police (SSP) 
Office of the Senior Superintendant of Police 
Nikaweratiya 
SRI LANKA 
Fax: +94 37 2260344 
Te: +94 37 2260343 
—————————— 

Thank you. 

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

Document Type : Urgent Appeal Case
Document ID : AHRC-UAC-061-2010
Countries : Sri Lanka,
Issues : Administration of justice, Police violence,