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SRI LANKA: Alleged brutal assault of a man by the Panadura police

February 8, 2007

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ASIAN HUMAN RIGHTS COMMISSION- URGENT APPEALS PROGRAMME

Urgent Appeal

8 February 2007
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UA-044-2007: SRI LANKA: Alleged brutal assault of a man by the Panadura police 

SRI LANKA: Arbitrary arrest and detention; torture; impunity
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Dear friends,

The Asian Human Rights Commission (AHRC) has received yet another alleged torture of a young man by the police in Sri Lanka. According to the information we have received, Mr. A. Dushmantha Silva (29) residing in Temple Road, Dibedda, Panadura was tortured by the Panadura police after his arbitrary arrest on 3 February 2007. After being released on police bail on February 4, the victim lodged his complaints to various government authorities including the Inspector General of Police but no serious action has yet been taken to investigate the incident and arrest the alleged perpetrators so far.

CASE DETAILS:

Mr. A. Dushmantha Silva is a 29--year-old manual worker living in Temple Road, Dibedda, Panadura, Sri Lanka. On 3 February 2007 about 3pm, he was on his way to a motor garage to buy a silencer for his motorcycle when he was illegally arrested by four policemen from the Panadura police lead by Sub Inspector (SI) Upul Kumara. The policemen then allegedly assaulted him all over his body with a length of rubber (a three wheel vehicle door beading), while demanding that he tell them where he hidden the illicit liquor. Mr. Silva insisted he was no longer engaged in that illegal business but the policemen did not listen to him and continued to brutally assault him. After that he was handcuffed and taken to a shrubbery nearby where the police had allegedly recovered several barrels of illicit liquor, a gas stove and cylinder. They put these implements into a hand-tractor and proceeded to the police station.

At the police station, Mr. Silva was fingerprinted and locked up in a holding cell. At about 11:30am on February 4, the police took Mr. Silva to the Panadura Hospital, where presumably they hoped to fraudulently obtain the 'all clear' for a remand order from the court. However Mr. Silva complained to the doctor regarding the police assault and the doctor requested him to show his injuries. Mr. Silva removed his shirt and showed the doctor the marks on his back. Later the doctor requested him to leave the room and had a long animated conversation with the policemen who escorted Mr. Silva to hospital. Mr. Silva believes the doctor must have refused to sign the medico-legal form enabling his remand, because the police simply brought him back to the police station and threatened him with death if he approached any human rights organisation regarding his case. The police then recorded his statement and released him on bail. The police also ordered him to appear in court on 9 February 2007.

As soon as he was released, Mr. Silva rushed to the Kalubowila Hospital, where he complained about the police assault. On February 5, Mr. Silva complained about his case to the Assistant Superintendent of Police (ASP), who recorded his statement and afforded him a medico-legal form which he took to the hospital. Later he was examined by the Judicial Medical Officer (JMO) to whom he again complained about the police assault.

Meanwhile, Mr. Silva has lodged written complaints to the Human Rights Commission of Sri Lanka, the National Police Commission, the Office of the Inspector General of Police (Inspector General of Police) and other relevant government authorities demanding action against his torture perpetrators and adequate compensation for the serious injuries sustained from torture. No serious action has yet been taken to investigate the incident and arrest the alleged perpetrators so far.

SUGGESTED ACTION:
Please write to the relevant government authorities listed below and urge them to order an immediate and fair investigation into this matter and prosecute the alleged perpetrators. 

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Sample letter:

Dear ___________,

SRI LANKA: Alleged brutal assault of a man by the Panadura police 

Name of victim: Mr. A. Dushmantha Silva, 29 years, married with one child, manual labourer, residing in Temple Road, Dibedda, Panadura. Sri Lanka
Alleged perpetrators:
1. Sub Inspector Upul Kumara attached to the Panadura police station
2. Some policemen attached to the Panadura police station
Date of incident: At around 3:00pm on 3 February 2007

I am deeply concerned by yet another alleged torture of a young man by the police in your country.

According to the information I have received, Mr. A. Dushmantha Silva (26) he was illegally arrested by four policemen from the Panadura police, including Sub Inspector (SI) Upul Kumara on 3 February 2007, when he was on his way to a motor garage to buy a silencer for his motorcycle. I was informed that the policemen brutally assaulted the victim all over his body with a length of rubber (a three wheel vehicle door beading), while demanding that he tell them where he hidden the illicit liquor. Mr. Silva insisted he was no longer engaged in that illegal business but the policemen did not listen to him and continued to brutally assault him. After that he was handcuffed and taken to a shrubbery nearby where the police had allegedly recovered several barrels of illicit liquor, a gas stove and cylinder. The victim was then taken to the police station.

I was informed that after staying in the police lock-up overnight, the victim was taken to the Panadura Hospital at around 11:30am on the following day. However, the doctor at the hospital reportedly refused to to sign the medico-legal form enabling the victim's remand, after seeing his injuries. This meant that the police did not have the "all clear" medical report for a remand order of the victim by the court, The police then brought the victim back to the police station and threatened him with death if he approached any human rights organisation regarding his case. The victim was released on bail on the same day, after the police recorded his statement. He was also instructed to appear in court on 9 February 2007.

I am informed that the victim Mr. Silva complained about his case to the Assistant Superintendent of Police (ASP), who recorded his statement and afford him a medico-legal form which he took to the hospital on February 5. The victim was then examined by the Judicial Medical Officer (JMO). I am also informed that the victim has lodged the written complaints to the Human Rights Commission of Sri Lanka, the National Police Commission, the Office of the Inspector General of Police (Inspector General of Police) and other relevant government authorities demanding action against his torture perpetrators and adequate compensation for the serious injuries sustained from torture. However, no serious action has yet been taken to investigate the incident and arrest the alleged perpetrators so far.

I am have been informed of several cases where former illicit liquor sellers, who gave up such business, have been punished by police officers. Illicit liquor business often is of benefit to the police officers as such business can only be carried out by paying bribes to the police. When the illicit liquor sellers give up their business some police officers lose a source of additional income. I therefore urge you to order an inquiry that whether the police's arbitrary arrest and torture was a way to punish the victim through fabricating charges and evidence against him. Even if the victim might be engaged in illegal business, torture is still a serious crime prohibited by law and the police should have followed legal proceedings to investigate the allegations against him.

I therefore urge you to order a full and fair inquiry into the alleged torture of the victim by the Panadura police. The alleged police officers should be prosecuted under CAT Act No. 22 of 1994 and immediately suspended while the investigation is ongoing. I also request you to ensure that the victim is adequately compensated for his serious injuries sustained from torture.

Sincerely yours,


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PLESAE SEND YOUR LETTERS TO:

1. Mr. K. C. Kamalasabesan
Attorney General
Attorney General's Department
Colombo 12
SRI LANKA
Fax: +94 11 2 436421
Email: attorney@sri.lanka.net 

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

3. Secretary
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 

4. 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 

5. Prof. Manfred Nowak
Special Rapporteur on the Question of Torture
OHCHR-UNOG
1211 Geneva 10
SWITZERLAND
Tel: +41 22 917 9230
Fax: +41 22 9179016 (ATTN: SPECIAL RAPPORTEUR TORTURE)


Thank you.

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


Document Type :
Urgent Appeal Case
Document ID :
UA-044-2007
Countries :
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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.