SRI LANKA: Elpitiya police allegedly torture two young men and fabricate charges

Dear friends,

The Asian Human Rights Commission (AHRC) has received information that Elpitiya police allegedly tortured two young men and fabricated charges while they kept them in police custody, on May 5 and 6 2008, in Sri Lanka. As a result of the torture, one man underwent emergency surgery and was hospitalised for 12 days. The victims’ reported this to the relevant government authorities but no investigation has been conducted.

CASE DETAILS: (Based on the testimony of Kandegoda Rajapaksha Pathiranalage Nilantha Kumara (18) Thomma Hewa Chandralatha (37) mother of the said Nilantha Kumara and Duwage Premalatha (42) mother of Chathuranga)

On the night of 5 May 2008, Kandagoda Rajapaksa Pathirnalage Nilantha Kumara and Chathuranga were among the guests at a wedding party in their neighborhood. An argument arose between the hosts and some of the guests and it developed into a brawl. Goods in the house were smashed and 3 motorcycles belonging to the guests were torched.

The Elpitiya police were informed by the hosts and arrived at the scene. Nilantha who had gone home by then was told by a friend that Chathuranga was being assaulted by the police. Nilantha and a friend went to the scene. They did not see Chathuranga but instead were given chase and caught by the police, who severely beat Nilantha at the time of his arrest while his friend escaped.

Then, the officers took Nilantha to a police jeep where his trousers and shirt were stripped off. His hands and feet were tied together with a piece of wire on the floor of the jeep. The officers beat Nilantha’s entire body using their hands, feet and some poles. He was taken to the Elpitiya Police Station where Nilantha saw his friend, Chathuranga in a cell. They attacked Nilantha for the third time and put him into the adjoining cell.

On May 6, Nilantha was feeling very sick and pleaded with the officers to take him to the hospital for treatment. His request was denied. When he continued to ask, a female Constable Officer threatened him and told him to stop being a nuisance. In the morning, the mothers of Chathuranga and Nilantha came to the police station bringing them food. They saw their sons locked up in two adjoining cells but they were not allowed to speak to them. The officers scolded them and chased them away saying sarcastically, “It is not necessary to bring food. We will give them food and some good medicine too”.

Only later was Chathuranga’s mother allowed to give him the food they had brought and speak to the boys. Chathurang and Nilantha then told her that they had been assaulted by the police and were unable to take any food. They asked her to request the authorities to hospitalize them. Subsequently an officer named Balendra opened the cell, grabbed Nilantha by his abdomen and asked him to come to get medicine.

The officer took Nilantha to a room inside the police station where he demanded Nilantha strip completely and lie face down on the bed there. The officer tied both Nilantha’s hands and legs. Another officer named Batuwatta, who had also previously beaten Nilantha, stood on his legs, while officer Balendra beat the soles of his feet with an iron pole and a cinnamon stick. As Nilantha screamed in pain and begged them to stop hitting him, the officers began to ask him about the incident at the wedding. They particularly wanted information about who was responsible for setting the motorcycles on fire.

When Nilantha screamed that he did not know anything about it, the officers started beating him for the fifth time. Officer Balendra said that Nilantha was telling lies. He took a bag filled with petrol and tied it around his head, completely covering his face. After some time, he took it off and pressed Nilantha to tell the truth. Then, Nilantha was told to sit on the floor and hunch up his knees and keep his tied hands around them. The officer inserted an iron pole between his knees and hands and lifted the pole and wedged it between two beds. Then the officers standing on either side of him alternately struck the soles of his feet with poles.

After a while they took him down, untied his legs, and took him to a nearby washroom where they doused him with water. Thereafter, he was taken back to the room and assaulted for the seventh time. Later, Nilantha was taken down and his feet were untied. His hands were however tied with a rope behind his back and he was hung from a beam on the roof and assaulted once again. After about five minutes, he was taken down and received blows to his chest, stomach and the rest of his body. Assault number eight and nine.

Chathuranga was also brought in and roughed up in the same manner. While Chathuranga was assaulted, Nilantha was forced to keep jumping. Chathuranga was also taken to the washroom where water was thrown on him and brought back and assaulted again. After that, Chaturanga and Nilantha were both hung from the roof beam while their hands were tied behind their backs and assaulted. This was the tenth beating for Nilantha. It was about 4pm when they were told to put their trousers back on and return to the cell. Half an hour later, officer Balendra took them out of the cell to record their statements.

At 3pm on May 6, Chathuranga’s mother went to see her son at the police station. Nilantha’s mother was also there and they were told by the officers that the boys had been taken to water the garden. They waited outside till about 4:30pm and went into the police station again where they saw a police officer taking statements from them. They also saw that their sons were dripping wet but wearing trousers that were not wet. They saw that their sons’ bodies were   swollen all over.

When officer Balendra saw the mothers, he shouted at them to come inside and sit down near the boys since they too were involved in the wedding party case. The mothers saw that the boys appeared to be unable to stand straight but nevertheless the officer kicked them and shouted at them to stand straight. The officer stomped on Nilantha’s feet and shouted at him to stand straight. After the statements were completed, the boys were forced to sign them. They were put back into the cell without being allowed to see the contents of their statements. Chathuranga’s mother was later allowed to see her son and she asked him why they were soaking wet. He replied that they had been cruelly assaulted, tortured and had been doused with water in order to revive them.

Later that evening, May 6, Chaturanga and Nilantha were taken out of the cell and ordered to slap each other. However, officer Balendra said that they were not doing it hard enough and started slapping them himself. A little while later, the officer told them to do likewise until one of them lost consciousness. The boys were threatened into doing this until Nilantha fainted. The officer threw some water on his face and when Nilantha regained consciousness, he told him to continue until 7pm. Then, they were put back into the cell. As Nilantha tried to drink some water from a bottle in the cell, officer Batuwatte immediately grabbed the bottle from him.

At around 9pm, they were taken to the Elpitiya Hospital but no doctor there examined them. Then they were brought before the Magistrate at his official residence. Officer Balendra threatened them not to talk. When the Magistrate asked them why their feet were swollen, the officer told the Magistrate that the boys had been beaten up badly at the wedding. The boys were too frightened to speak up due to the fear of being assaulted again.

After this, they were taken to a prison near the Elpitiya court house. Nilantha was in great pain and he shouted to be taken to a hospital. An officer then gave him some medicine. Later that night, Nilantha started to vomit blood and was taken to the Elpitiya hospital. From there he was rushed to the Karapitiya Hospital where emergency surgery was performed on his stomach. He was hospitalized under guard.

Nilantha was treated in ward No 9 of the Karapitiya Hospital from May 6 to 18. He told all the doctors who examined him that he had been assaulted by the Elpitiya police. However, the hospital police did not take any statement from Nilantha.

During Nilantha’s hospitalisation, officer Balendra came to see him and said,”for lies, you were assaulted”. The officer furthermore made the statement that, “we will give you bail on the 27th” and with that he gave Nilantha his mobile phone number and left.

On May 18, Nilantha was taken to the Galle prison where he received medical treatment until May 22. He was taken to the Karapitiya Hospital clinic once a week. On May 22, he was produced in the Elpitiya Magistrate court and released on bail. Charges were also imposed on them that they had displayed fire arms, assaulted and injured people, damaged goods in the house and torched 3 motorcycles. (Case No. 52850)

While the two were in prison, their mothers reported this incident in a written complaint on July 1.  Nilantha reported this case of torture in a written complaint on August 5 to the relevant government authorities such as the Chairperson of the Human Rights Commission, the National Police Commission, the Inspector General of Police and the Deputy Inspector General Southern Province Galle.

ADDITIONAL COMMENTS

Once again, this is another example of the widespread use of torture commonly employed by Sri Lankan police to get information or to force persons to confess.  The case of Prasantha, who was hung upside down while the police poured the juice of chilies in his eyes and nose in order to extract information, is another example (AHRC-UAC-198-2008).

Likewise, Dasan was also assaulted by Gampaha police while he was hung from a roof beam in the police station. He was detained for 5 days without being produced before a magistrate, instead of within 24 hours. (AHRC-UAC-206-2008)

The Supreme Court in Sri Lanka has in recent times entered judgments in several cases in which the fundamental rights guaranteed by the constitution – for the equal protection of the law (Article 12(1)); freedom from arbitrary arrest and detention (Article 13(1) and (2)) and from torture (Article 11) – have been infringed and false and fabricated cases have been instituted.

SUGGESTED ACTION:

Please write letters to the authorities listed below and demand the prompt and thorough investigation into the alleged torture and fabrication of charges and take action against those responsible.

For your information, the AHRC has reported this case to the UN Special Rapporteur on the Question of Torture calling for an intervention in this case.

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