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SRI LANKA: An innocent man is severely assaulted without explanation by the Gampola Police

June 29, 2012

ASIAN HUMAN RIGHTS COMMISSION-URGENT APPEAL PROGRAMME

Urgent Appeal Case: AHRC-UAC-114-2012



29 June 2012
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SRI LANKA: An innocent man is severely assaulted without explanation by the Gampola Police

ISSUES: Denial of justice; torture; impunity; rule of law
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Dear friends,

The Asian Human Rights Commission (AHRC) has received information that Mr. Jayasinghe, an agricultural labourer, was visited by police officers at his residence and assaulted without cause. His right leg was broken and he requires surgery so that he will be able to walk once again. The police officers did not show him an arrest warrant, nor did they give Mr. Jayasinghe and his family members any explanation of the assault, despite numerous requests. Although Mr. Jayasinghe’s family have filed complaints regarding this incident to the National Human Rights Commission and the Deputy Inspector General’s office, an investigation into this assault has yet to be initiated. This case is yet another illustration of the exceptional collapse of the rule of law in the country.

CASE NARRATIVE:

According to information that the Asian Human Rights Commission (AHRC) has received, Mr. JA Susantha Kumara Jayasinghe of No: 33, Pambadeniya, Panvilathenna, Gampola in Kandy District, an agricultural labourer, was assaulted by police officers from the Gampola Police Station without an established reason.

AHRC-UAC-114-2012-01.jpgOn 28 May 2012 at around 10:30am, three police officers from the Gampola Police Station dressed in civilian clothes came to Mr. Jayasinghe’s residence. Without showing Mr. Jayasinghe a legal warrant or otherwise explaining why they were there, the police officers began to assault Mr. Jayasinghe. His right leg was broken during the assault.

Mr. Jayasinghe’s sister witnessed part of the assault, and pleaded with the officers to tell her why they were assaulting her brother, and to release him. The police officers refused her requests. The police officers did not bring Mr. Jayasinghe to the local police station to file a case against him, and Mr. Jayasinghe and his family remains unaware of the reason for his assault. Mr. Jayasinghe’s mother and sister brought Mr. Jayasinghe to Gampola Government Hospital, where he was admitted for treatment. He was later transferred to Kandy Teaching Hospital for surgery on his right leg (Please see photo-1 and photo-2 regarding the injury in the leg of the victim).

Mr. Jayasinghe’s family have filed a complaint to the Sri Lanka Human Rights Commission (HRCSL), National Police Commission (NPC) and the Deputy Inspector General's office in Kandy (DIG, Central Province). However, these authorities have yet to launch a credible and impartial investigation into the cause of his assault, and they have failed to offer Mr. Jayasinghe rehabilitation for his extensive injuries.
Mr. Jayasinghe and his family are seeking justice; they demand that Mr. Jayasinghe’s rights enshrined in the Constitution of Sri Lanka be immediately upheld.

ADDITIONAL COMMENTS:

The Asian Human Rights Commission has reported innumerable cases of the torture of innocent people by the Sri Lankan police. These acts, which have taken place at different police stations across the country, are illegal under local and international law.

The State of Sri Lanka signed and ratified the CAT on 3 January 1994. Following state obligations, the Parliament of Sri Lanka adopted Act No. 22 of 1994, which made torture a crime that is punishable for a minimum seven years and not less than ten years on being proven guilty. The Attorney General of Sri Lanka is suppose to file indictments in cases where credible evidence is found of people being tortured by state officers.

SUGGESTED ACTION:
Please send a letter to the authorities listed below expressing your concern about this case and requesting an immediate investigation into the allegations of torturing an old person and stealing the money by the police perpetrators, and the prosecution of those proven to be responsible under the criminal law of the country for misusing powers of a state. The officers involved must also be subjected to internal investigations for the breach of the department orders as issued by the police department. Further, please also request the NPC and the IGP to have a special investigation into the malpractices of the police officers for abusing the state officers' powers.

Please note that the AHRC has also written a separate letter to the Special Rapporteur on torture and other cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment or punishment on this regard.

To support this appeal please click here:

SAMPLE LETTER:

Dear ________,

SRI LANKA: An innocent man is severely assaulted without explanation by the Gampola Police

Name of the victim: Mr. J A Susantha Kumara Jayasinghe of No: 33, Pambadeniya, Panvilathenna, Gampola in Kandy District
Alleged perpetrator: Police officers attached to the Gampola Police Station
Date of incident: 28 May 2012
Place of incident: Gampola Police Division

I am writing to express my serious concern over the case of Mr. JA Susantha Kumara Jayasinghe of No: 33, Pambadeniya, Panvilathenna, Gampola in Kandy District, an agricultural labourer, who was assaulted by police officers from the Gampola Police Station without an established reason.

On 28 May 2012 at around 10:30am, three police officers from the Gampola Police Station dressed in civilian clothes came to Mr. Jayasinghe’s residence. Without showing Mr. Jayasinghe a legal warrant or otherwise explaining why they were there, the police officers began to assault Mr. Jayasinghe. His right leg was broken during the assault.

Mr. Jayasinghe’s sister witnessed part of the assault, and pleaded with the officers to tell her why they were assaulting her brother, and to release him. The police officers refused her requests. The police officers did not bring Mr. Jayasinghe to the local police station to file a case against him, and Mr. Jayasinghe and his family remain unaware of the reason for his assault. Mr. Jayasinghe’s mother and sister brought Mr. Jayasinghe to Gampola Government Hospital, where he was admitted for treatment. He was later transferred to Kandy Teaching Hospital for surgery on his right leg.

Mr. Jayasinghe’s family have filed a complaint to the Sri Lanka Human Rights Commission (HRCSL), National Police Commission (NPC) and the Deputy Inspector General's office in Kandy (DIG, Central Province). However, these authorities have yet to launch a credible and impartial investigation into the cause of his assault, and they have failed to offer Mr. Jayasinghe rehabilitation for his extensive injuries. Mr. Jayasinghe and his family are seeking justice; they demand that Mr. Jayasinghe’s rights enshrined in the Constitution of Sri Lanka be immediately upheld.

I further request your urgent intervention to ensure that the authorities listed below instigate an immediate investigation into torturing a old person and stealing the money by the police perpetrators, and the prosecution of those proven to be responsible under the criminal law of the country. The officers involved must also be subjected to internal investigations for the breach of the department orders as issued by the police department.

Yours sincerely,

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PLEASE SEND YOUR LETTERS TO:

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

2. Ms. Eva Wanasundara
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
Fax: +94 11 2 395867
E-mail: npcgen@sltnet.lk or polcom@sltnet.lk

4. Secretary
Sri Lanka Human Rights Commission
No. 108
Barnes Place
Colombo 07
SRI LANKA
Tel: +9411 2694925, +9411 2685980, +9411 2685981
Fax: +9411 2694924 (General) +94112696470 (Chairman)
E-mail: sechrc@sltnet.lk


Thank you.

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

Document Type :
Urgent Appeal Case
Document ID :
AHRC-UAC-114-2012
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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.