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SRI LANKA: Balagolla police officers beat, humiliate and arbitrarily arrest another civilian

August 3, 2010




30 July 2010
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SRI LANKA: Balagolla police officers beat, humiliate and arbitrarily arrest another civilian

ISSUES: Arbitrary detention and arrest; excessive use of force; corruption; torture.
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Dear friends,

The Asian Human Rights Commission (AHRC) has received information about the arbitrary arrest and assault of a man by Balagolla police. Although he was released on the same evening without being charged, the man's ear drum was damaged in the assault and he was hospitalized for a number of days. He has received no replies from the authorities regarding his requests for redress and compensation.

CASE NARRATIVE:

According to the information that we have received, on 17 June 2010 at around 8pm two officers from Balagolla Police Station, along with two civilians, violently intercepted Mr. Alhaj Farook Mohomad Ikram close to his home.

We are told that the victim was using his mobile phone when one of the police officers, later known to be a Mr. Kithsiri, aggressively handcuffed him. Kithsiri was in plain clothes, did not identify himself and reportedly struck Farook's left ear before pushing him into a three-wheeled vehicle. The victim was not told the reason for his arrest and when he asked he was told to be silent. We are informed that the officers and the civilians – identified as Raja, the son of a man called Abdul Kareen, and Raja's wife – then took a tea break outside a small hotel, leaving Farook handcuffed to the vehicle in public view.

At Balagolla Police Station Farook was told that he faced charges of entering unlawfully into Mr. Raja’s shop, and he reports that he was struck once more to the head by Officer Kithsiri, then taken to the Officer in Charge (OIC). After a short interview he was stripped of his possessions and detained in a police cell. His two brothers were able to visit him there and take him food.

The following day we are told that Farook’s father and two other male relatives made inquiries at the police station, and appealed to the OIC. Farook was questioned for a second time and at 11:30am he was released without bail or charge. However he worries that because his details are now recorded at the police station, he will be vulnerable to further fabricated charges.

The victim has had trouble with ear ache since the assault, and has visited various doctors. One local doctor referred the victim to Manikhinna Hospital, where he was admitted for two days. He was then moved to the Kandy Hospital where he was attended by an Ear, Nose, and Throat Specialist (ENT), and asked to stay for three more days. After examination by a Judicial Medical Officer (JMO), Farook was told that his ear drum had been severely damaged in the assault. Farook wrote to the Deputy Inspector General of Police, the Inspector General of Police and the Human Rights Commission of Sri Lanka on the 24 June, requesting the discipline and prosecution of Officer Kithsiri and compensation for his injuries, but has not received responses from them at the time of this appeal.

ADDITIONAL COMMENTS:

The Asian Human Rights Commission has reported innumerable cases of police assault, which amounts to torture under international and local law, a number of them have taken place at Balagolla Police Station over the past few years. For examples please see: Police allegedly torture a man and detain him for four months, Balagolla police mislead a magistrate and prepare charges against the wrong person, and Local gangs fabricate accusation against brutally assaulted family. This latest case suggests that despite this, significant action has not been taken by the Senior Superintendent of Kandy district to discipline the officers responsible and thus deter further acts of police brutality. In Sri Lanka such officers can be met with a prison term of between seven to ten years and a fine of between ten thousand rupees and fifty thousand rupees under the Anti Torture Act. Anything less sends the message that the abuse of power against civilians is tolerated.

Sri Lankan citizens are also protected from against arbitrary arrests – and the maltreatment and torture that often follows – by the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights (ICCPR), which the state has ratified. Nevertheless the lack of protection offered to those who are willing to take cases against abusive police officers, means that the law is under-used and torture continues to be employed as a tool in police interrogation. This not only takes a long-term toll on the victim and his or her family, but on society as a whole, by undermining of civilian respect for the law and encouraging impunity.

For other recent cases of torture in Sri Lanka please see our appeals: Stop the torture of detainees at Rajangana Police Station, and A man is badly beaten by Saliyawewa police during an illegal arrest and is denied medical treatment.

SUGGESTED ACTION:

Please send a letter to the authorities listed below expressing your concern about this case, and calling for an investigation.

To support this appeal please click here:

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SAMPLE LETTER:

Dear ________,

SRI LANKA: Balagolla police officers beat, humiliate and arbitrarily arrest another civilian

Name of victim:
Mr. Alhaj Farook Mohomad Ikram, 27; businessman and resident of No. 84, Hijrapura, Teldeniya.
Alleged perpetrators:
Two police officers of Balagolla Police Station, Kandy Division, Central Range (West)
Date of Incident: 17 June 2010
Place of Incident: Balagolla Police Station.

I am writing to voice my concern regarding the arbitrary arrest and assault of a man by Balagolla police. Although he was released on the same evening without being charged, the man's ear drum was damaged in the assault and he was hospitalized for a number of days.

According to the information that I have received, on 17 June 2010 at around 8pm two officers from Balagolla Police Station, along with two civilians, violently intercepted Mr. Alhaj Farook Mohomad Ikram close to his home. The victim was using his mobile phone when one of the police officers, later known to be a Mr. Kithsiri, aggressively handcuffed him. Office Kithsiri was in plain clothes, did not identify himself and reportedly struck Mr. Farook's left ear before pushing him into a three-wheeled vehicle. The victim was not told the reason for his arrest and when he asked he was told to be silent. We are informed that the officers and the civilians – identified as Raja, the son of a man called Abdul Kareen, and Raja's wife – then took a tea break outside a small hotel, leaving Mr. Farook handcuffed to the vehicle in public view.

At Balagolla Police Station Mr. Farook was told that he faced charges of entering unlawfully into Mr. Raja’s shop, and he reports that he was struck once more to the head by Officer Kithsiri, then taken to the Officer in Charge (OIC). After a short interview he was stripped of his possessions and detained in a police cell. His two brothers were able to visit him there and take him food.

The following day I am told that Mr. Farook’s father and two other male relatives made inquiries at the police station, and appealed to the OIC. Mr. Farook was questioned for a second time and at 11:30am he was released without bail or charge. However he worries that because his details are now recorded at the police station, he will be vulnerable to further fabricated charges.

The victim has had trouble with ear ache since the assault, and has visited various doctors. One local doctor referred the victim to Manikhinna Hospital, where he was admitted for two days. He was then moved to the Kandy Hospital where he was attended by an Ear, Nose, and Throat Specialist (ENT), and asked to stay for three more days. After examination by a Judicial Medical Officer (JMO), Mr. Farook was told that his ear drum had been severely damaged in the assault. Mr. Farook wrote to the Deputy Inspector General of Police, the Inspector General of Police and the Human Rights Commission of Sri Lanka on the 24 June, requesting the discipline and prosecution of Officer Kithsiri and compensation for his injuries, but has not received responses from them at the time of this appeal.

I am aware of innumerable cases of police assault, which amounts to torture under international and local law, and a number of them have taken place at Balagolla Police Station over the past few years. This latest case suggests that despite this, significant action has not been taken by the Senior Superintendent of Kandy district to discipline the officers responsible and thus deter further acts of police brutality. In Sri Lanka such officers can be met with a prison term of between seven to ten years and a fine of between ten thousand rupees and fifty thousand rupees under the Anti Torture Act. Anything less sends the message that the abuse of power against civilians is tolerated.

Sri Lankan citizens are also protected from against arbitrary arrests – and the maltreatment and torture that often follows – by the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights (ICCPR), which the state has ratified. Nevertheless the lack of protection offered to those who are willing to take cases against abusive police officers, means that the law is under-used and torture continues to be employed as a tool in police interrogation. This not only takes a long-term toll on the victim and his or her family, but on society as a whole, by undermining of civilian respect for the law and encouraging impunity.

I hope that you will act swiftly by intervening into this case, and ensuring that redress is arranged for the victim, with those proven responsible brought to account under the law.

Yours sincerely,





PLEASE SEND YOUR LETTERS TO:

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

2. Mr. Mohan Peiris
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 begin_of_the_skype_highlighting              +94 11 2 395310      end_of_the_skype_highlighting
Fax: +94 11 2 395867
E-mail: npcgen@sltnet.lk or polcom@sltnet.lk

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

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Thank you.

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

Document Type :
Urgent Appeal Case
Document ID :
AHRC-UAC-114-2010
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.