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SRI LANKA: A man is randomly detained and extensively tortured at Bandaragama police station

July 2, 2009

ASIAN HUMAN RIGHTS COMMISSION – URGENT APPEALS PROGRAMME

Urgent Appeal: AHRC-UAC-070-2009



3 July 2009
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SRI LANKA: A man is randomly detained and extensively tortured at Bandaragama police station

ISSUES: Illegal detention; torturei 
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Dear friends,

The Asian Human Rights Commission (AHRC) has received information that a man was kept in illegal custody for seven days and tortured extensively and severely by the Bandaragama police to make him confess to a theft that he did not commit. He was badly beaten, hung up and kicked, and had chili juice squeezed into his eyes and nostrils a number of times. The officers have since charged him for possessing two pawn tickets that don’t belong to him, yet have not been investigated for torture.

CASE DETAILS: (according to the testimony of the victim)

On 20 May at about 11am Chaminda Sampath Kumara Wickramapathirana was returning home from the grocery store when he noticed a police jeep with about five men inside it, one of whom–Sub-Inspector (SI) Salwathura—was in uniform. As he passed the jeep a constable Kithsiri asked about the contents of his bag. He was told that it was poultry meat. Two other officers, Manoj and Salwathura, asked Chaminda the same question but when he replied they told him that he was the man they were looking for. Taking him by the scruff of his neck they entered his home.

Once inside the men searched his room and found a pawn receipt for some jewelry. On request, Chaminda gave them another pawn slip that he had, explaining that they had been given to him for safe-keeping by a neighbour. The neighbour K. Udayanga Kumara had asked Chaminda to hold them because the gold jewelery that had been pawned belonged to his girlfriend and the pair did not wish their parents to know about it. Chaminda was taken to Bandaragama police station for questioning; his mother was told sarcastically that 'he had not done any wrong but had surely helped his friends'.

At the police station he was told that he was lying and a constable Manoj took him to the police barracks behind the police station, where there were more officers and rows of beds. The officers crowded around him and Chaminda was made to strip, kneel down and hold his hands up straight. Then one of the officers put about 10 kochchi chilies (which are particularly potent) into his mouth and he was forced to eat them. He was then told to sit on the floor and his hands were tied behind him with a strip of cloth, his ankles were bound and his head forced back by constable Manoj, who had sat behind him with head between his knees. Kochchi juice was squeezed into Chaminda’s upturned eyes and nostrils.

The torture continued. Manoj demanded that Chaminda lie on his back on the floor. An officer held his head down hard, while another stamped a booted foot on his chest and another stood on his knees. Chaminda remembers that the latter was not wearing shoes. Manoj again squeezed kochchi juice into Chaminda’s eyes and nose, demanding to know if Chaminda had any more receipts. Chaminda said that he had given up all the receipts he had with him.

Whenever Chaminda screamed, he says, he was slapped hard. SI Salwathura threatened that if he did not tell the truth he would be framed for the possession of fire arms, an offence that does not allow bail. Sergeant Manoj hit him around the head with a rubber water hose bent into two. Chaminda kept repeating that he did not know what else to tell them. The officers finally told him to dress and took him to a cell.

At about 6pm Chaminda’s brother came to see him, and the victim was able to tell him about the torture. The next morning at about 10am Chaminda recognised another acquaintance of Udayanga Kumara called Danushka Nuwan, in the next cell. Shortly after that the two men plus another, a man called Anil from Makalanda, were taken in a police jeep to several pawn shops in the Piliyandala area. They were with five police officers, among them SI Salwathura and Sergeant Manoj. The officers showed Chaminda’s, Danushka’s and Anil's National Identity Cards (NIC) to the pawn shop owners and asked if there were any goods pawned under such identities. For the latter two they were successful, but for Chaminda they found nothing. Back at the police station Chaminda was again put into the cell.

On 24 May at about 10.15am Manoj again took Chaminda to the police, informing him that he would make him 'vomit the truth'. He boasted that he had done so before to men bigger than him. According to Chaminda, SI Salwathura joined the threats.

Inside the barracks Chaminda was made to strip and sit on the floor with his knees bent and his hands around his knees so that he could be hung upside down with a thick pole (a pastle used locally to grind grain) raised and balanced on two iron boxes. This method of torture is the 'dharma chakra' in police jargon—'the wheel of enlightenment'. Manoj swung Chaminda around the pole shouting at him to tell the truth, then proceeded to grind chilies with a broom handle while voicing threats. The juice was again squeezed into Chaminda’s eyes and nose, and when this failed to get a confession it was repeated. Fresh kochchi chillies were ground at least five times as far as Chaminda remembers, and whenever he screamed in pain he was slapped in the face and hit with the bent, platted rubber water hose. Manoj would also hit the soles of his feet with the handle of the broom and another officer kicked his neck. He started struggling for breath and Manoj shouted that he was going to die.

Chaminda was later untied but tormented further by being given rations of water that were too small to effectively clean out his eyes. He says that he was almost blind at this point and could only make out shadows. Then he was given his clothes and told to return to his cell, and told the officers he couldn't see the way; he fell over and the police guided him back. His relatives were denied access to him later that day.
Chaminda later got to know that his brother-in-law had come to the police station and managed to witness part of the abuse. When he asked officer Kithsiri to intervene, the policeman swore and chased him away. The victim also got to know that the gold jewelry which he was being accused of stealing had been delivered to the police station by a person named Chamil.

Chaminda was kept in the cell until the 27 May, when SI Salwathura told him to sign a small piece of paper, and he was taken to court. No statement was taken. He was charged for the possession of two pawn receipts not belonging to him and given bail. His next appearance in court is set for 8 September 2009.

ADDITIONAL COMMENTS:

Due to the extent of the injuries sustained during the torture sessions Chaminda admitted himself to Panadura hospital on 27 May. He told the doctors about the torture and was treated for two days. Though he says the hospital police visited him to take down a statement, when they discovered who the perpetrators were they refused to continue because it was they said that it was a case against the police. On 29 May a Judicial Medical Officer examined Chaminda.

Chaminda says that he is still receiving treatment and that he still finds it difficult to walk. There is also substantial psychological trauma.

In a letter dated 5 June 2009 Chaminda informed the chairman of the National Human Rights Commission, the chairman of the National Police Commission, the Inspector General of Police, and the Senior Superintendent of the police in Panadura about the incident in detail.

SUGGESTED ACTION:

Please write to the local authorities listed below and demand that due disciplinary and legal action be taken against SI Salwathura, constable Manoj and other officers at the Bandaragama Police Station involved in the intensive, prolonged torture of this man, and that compensation and redress be arranged. The medical staff at Panadura hospital must also be investigated for their failure to do their duty.

Please be informed that the AHRC has also written a separate letter to the UN Special Rapporteur on the Question of Torture calling for an intervention in this case.

To support this appeal please click here:

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SAMPLE LETTER:

Dear __________,

SRI LANKA: A man is randomly detained and extensively tortured at Bandaragama police station

Name of victim: Chaminda Sampath Kumara Wickramapathirana (31) an unmarried labourer (gardener), resident of Maithri Mawatha, Welmilla Junction, Walgama
Name of alleged perpetrators: Sub Inspector Salwathura, constable Manoj and other police officers attached to the Bandaragama Police Station
Date of incident: 20 to 27 May 2009
Place of incident: Bandaragama police station, Panadura Division, Western Province (South) Range

I am writing to voice my deep concern regarding the arrested on 20 May of a man who was arbitrarily arrested and kept in illegal custody for seven days in Bandaragama Police Station, throughout which he was allegedly tortured, to force a to confession for a theft.

I am informed that he was taken out of the police station to the police barracks where on two occasions he was stripped and severely tortured by hanging him across a pole, beating and kicking him and hitting him with a rubber horse. Kochchi chili juice was squeezed into his eyes and nose in extended sessions, often while he was being beaten and hung upside down by the police officers named above, particularly constable Manoj. He was later denied the water he needed to wash the chili from his eyes, and threatened frequently with death, and with fabricated charges without bail. Detailed information of the torture can be found on the Asian Human Rights Commission website.

The victim was then charged before the court for being in possession of two pawn tickets that were not his own, before being released on bail. He spent two days in hospital and was examined by a JMO, though hospital police refused to get involved when they discovered that the perpetrators were police officers.

I demand an immediate inquiry into this matter, and expect to hear that due disciplinary and legal action has been taken against SI Salwathura, constable Manoj and other officers at the Bandaragama Police Station involved in the disgraceful, brutal abuse of their powers as law enforcers. An immediate and thorough investigation must be initiated into how prolonged torture was able to take place in a police station by a number of policemen, and how officers so disposed to senseless violence were able to use it on defenseless men in their custody twice, and not be disciplined. I assume that the senior staff who were negligent in this matter will be discharged, and if found criminally negligent, will be charged for their crimes. The medical staff at Panadura hospital must also be investigated for their failure to do their duty and if found guilty, should be discharged.

Please be informed that the AHRC has also written a separate letter to the UN Special Rapporteur on the Question of Torture calling for an intervention in this case.


Yours sincerely,


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PLEASE SEND YOUR LETTERS TO:

1.Mr. Jayantha Wickramaratne,
Inspector General of Police (IGP),
New Secretariat, Colombo 1
SRI LANKA
Fax: +94 11 2 440440/327877
E-mail: igp@police.lk

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

3. Secretary of the 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 of the Human Rights Commission of Sri Lanka
No. 36, Kynsey Road, Colombo 8
SRI LANKA
Tel: +94 11 2 694 925 / 673 806
Fax: +94 11 2 694 924 / 696 470
E-mail: sechrc@sltnet.lk

Thank you.

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

Document Type :
Urgent Appeal Case
Document ID :
AHRC-UAC-070-2009
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.