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SRI LANKA: A pregnant woman and her husband brutally assaulted by the Rathgama police

March 6, 2006

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ASIAN HUMAN RIGHTS COMMISSION - URGENT APPEALS PROGRAMME

Urgent Appeal

6 March 2006
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UA-085-2006: SRI LANKA: A pregnant woman and her husband brutally assaulted by the Rathgama police

SRI LANKA: Torture; police brutality; un-rule of law; impunity
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Dear friends,

The Asian Human Rights Commission (AHRC) has received information regarding a brutal torture of a young couple, namely Mr. D. Indika Wasantha and Mrs. Kumudini Malkanthi, by the Rathgama police on 16 February 2006. It is alarming that the police did not hesitate to assault the eight months pregnant woman, who was on her way to hospital at the time to meet with a doctor. Ms. Malkanthi was in a serious condition and there is a possibility that the unborn child may have suffered from irreparable damage due to the assault. It is alleged that the couple was arbitrarily taken into custody and assaulted by the police due to the husband's refusal to lend his vehicle to the police a few days before the incident. Despite their complaints to the Galle police, no arrest has been made against the alleged perpetrators. 
  
At around 5:30pm on 16 February 2006, D. Indika Wasantha left his house in Owakanda, Rathgama to take his eight months pregnant wife, Kumudini Malkanthi, to a doctor as she was complaining of severe abdominal pains. However, they were caught in rush hour traffic jam. When his vehicle slowly approached near the Rathgama Police Station, Inspector of Police (IP) Jayarathne, who was standing in front of the station, shouted loudly at Mr. Wasantha, “Ado(‘Hey you)!". When Mr. Wasantha stopped his vehicle, IP Jayarathne ordered him to drive his vehicle into the police station premises. When Mr. Wasantha inquired into the reason for this, the IP only replied, “you will find out inside the police station." Even though Mrs. Malkanthi asked the IP to allow them to go because they were rushing to see a doctor, the IP refused to listen to her. 

When Mr. Wasantha drove his vehicle into the police station premises, IP Jayarathne called out to his colleagues, including Police Constable (PC) No 63063 and five others (four in uniform and one in civilian clothes), to come outside.  Immediately PC No. 63063 slapped Mr. Wasantha's face without saying a word. Seeing that her husband was bleeding from his lip, Mrs. Malkanthi begged the PC not to assault him. Again, she explained that they were rushing to the hospital as she had severe abdominal pains and begged the policemen to let them go. Instead, IP Jayarathne verbally abused her in filthy, degrading and humiliating language. 

Mr. Wasantha could not bear the verbal insult on his wife and alighted from his vehicle. Six or seven policemen then immediately pounced on him and brutally assaulted him with their fists and boots. When Mrs. Malkanthi tried to shield her husband, the policemen also beat her body, including her abdomen. She finally fell unconscious. But the policemen did not even attempt to take her to the hospital and continued to beat Mr. Wasantha.

Meanwhile, several villagers gathered outside the police station and saw the incident. They shouted at the police to stop assaulting Mr. Wasantha and his wife and urged them to allow Ms. Malkanthi to be taken to hospital. However, the policemen did not listen to the villagers and attempted to drag the injured Mr. Wasantha into the station. The villagers then prevented the police from doing so and helped Mr. Wasantha and his wife to leave for the hospital.

On the same day (February 16), both Mr. Wasantha and Mrs. Malkanthi were admitted to the Karapitiya Hospital. The doctors, who examined the wife, said that she was in a very serious condition and may be in risk of losing her child. She was later transferred to the Mahamodara Hospital where she was treated for four days. Mr. Wasantha was also hospitalised for two days. Ms. Malkanthi was to give birth in April but the doctors informed her that the due to the assault she is to return to the hospital in March to deliver the baby by caesarean section. The couple fear that their unborn child may have suffered from irreparable damage due to the brutal assault by the Rathgama police.

The couple subsequently complained about the incident to both the hospital authorities and the Galle police, who visited them in hospital to obtain their statement. However, no serious action has yet been taken by the police to investigate the incident and the alleged perpetrators are still at large. Mr. Wasantha claims that the reason for the assault on him and his wife is that he refused IP Jayarathne's request to lend his vehicle to the policemen, who wanted to use it to attend a wedding function, a few days before the incident. He believes that the incident was in revenge for his refusal.

Sri Lankan police have been notorious for their brutality including arbitrary arrest, detention and torture of innocent people for a long time. The situation is all the more alarming as the National Police Commission (NPC), which was given power of disciplinary control over the police by way of the 17th Amendment to the Sri Lankan Constitution, has not functioned since last November 2005 after its mandate finished. However, instead of appointing new commissioners to the NPC, the Sri Lankan government has been delaying this process and meanwhile several senior government officials have openly said that the NPC's power should be transferred to the Inspector General of Police (IPC). This, however, is totally against the objective of the amended constitution. To learn details of this issue, please refer to the following AHRC statements: AS-131-2005, AS-001-2006, AS-003-2006 and AS-24-2006.   

SUGGESTED ACTION:
Please write letters to the concerned authorities listed below and urge them to launch an immediate and thorough investigation into this case and take action to arrest and prosecute the alleged perpetrators as soon as possible. Please also urge them to suspend the concerned officers or transfer them to another region for the security of the victims while the investigation is going on, and provide adequate compensation to the victims. Please also urge the Sri Lankan government to take immediate steps to appoint new commissioners to the NPC in accordance with the 17th Amendment to the Sri Lankan Constitution.

Suggested letter:

Dear __________,

SRI LANKA: A pregnant woman and her husband were brutally assaulted by the Rathgama police after being arbitrarily taken into custody

Names of victims:
1. Mr. D Indika Wasantha, aged 28, businessman, of Owakanda, Rathgama, Sri Lanka
2. Mrs. H.L. Kumudini Malkanthi, 8 months pregnant, Mr. Wasantha's wife
Names of alleged perpetrators:
1. Mr. Jayarathne, Inspector of Police (IP) of the Rathgama Police Station
2. Police Constable No. 63063 of the Rathgama Police Station
3. Around five other officers attached to the Rathgama Police Station, who can be identified by the victims. 
Time and date of incident: At around 5:30pm on 16 February 2006
Place of incident: Rathgama Police Station

I was appalled to learn about the inhuman torture and ill-treatment of an eight months pregnant woman and her husband by the Rathgama police on 16 February 2006.

According to the information I have received, at around 5:30pm on February 16 Mr. Wasantha and Mrs. Malkanthi were rushing to hospital when they were stopped and taken into police custody by IP Jayarathne without being given any reason for this. In the police station premises, Mr. Wasantha was brutally assaulted by the said IP and five to six other police officers, including Police Constable No. 63063. They also beat Mrs. Malkanthi's body, including her abdomen, before she fell unconscious. The couple was only able to leave for hospital after the local villagers' strong intervention in the incident. 

Mrs. Malkanthi, who was in serous condition, was admitted to the Karapitiya Hospital and later transferred to the Mahamodara Hospital where she was treated for four days. Mr. Wasantha was also hospitalised for two days due to his injuries. According to the doctor who examined Mrs. Malkanthi, the assault on her body has endangered her unborn child. The couple now fears that their child may have suffered irreparable damage.

I was also informed that even though the couple complained about the incident to the police station at the hospital and the Galle police, no serious action has yet been taken by the police either to investigate the incident or to arrest the alleged perpetrators. It is also shocking that this brutal incident was most likely the result of a personal matter. According to Mr. Wasantha, the incident was in revenge for his refusal to IP Jayarathne's request to lend his vehicle to the policeman a few days before the incident.

In light of the above, I urge you to order an immediate and thorough investigation into this incident and arrest and prosecute the officers responsible for this inhuman act as soon as possible.  I also request you to take appropriate action to provide adequate compensation to the victims. The concerned officers should be suspended or transferred to another region for the security of the victims while the investigation is going on.

Lastly, I strongly request you to urge the Sri Lakan government to take immediate steps to appoint new commissioners to the National Police Commission (NPC), which was given power of disciplinary control over the police by way of the 17th Amendment to the Sri Lankan Constitution, without further delay. I firmly believe that a properly functioning NPC will significantly contribute to establishing a strict discipline within the police force and eliminate police torture and misconduct in the country.

Yours sincerely,


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PLESE SEND YOUR LETTERS TO:

1. Mr. Chandra Fernando.
Inspector General of Police (IGP)
New Secretariat
Colombo 1
SRI LANKA
Tel: +94 11 2 421750 (Ext. *377)
Fax: +94 11 2 440440, 327877 or 446174

2. Mr. K. C. Kamalasabesan
Attorney General
Attorney General's Department
Colombo 12
SRI LANKA
Fax: +94 11 2 436421

3. National Police Commission
3rd Floor, Rotunda Towers,
109 Galle Road
Colombo 03
SRI LANKA
Tel: +94 11 2 395310
Fax: +94 11 2 395867
Fax HOME: +94 11 2 674148
E-mail: polcom@sltnet.lk

4. Dr. Radhika Coomaraswamy
Chairperson
Human Rights Commission of Sri Lanka
No. 36, Kynsey Road
Colombo 8
SRI LANKA
Tel: +94 11 2 694925 / 673806
Fax: +94 11 2 694924 / 696470
E-mail: sechrc@sltnet.lk

5. Mr. Mahinda Rajapakse
President
Socialist Democratic Republic of Sri Lanka
C/- Office of the President
Temple Trees
150, Galle Road
Colombo 3
SRI LANKA
Fax: +94 11 2472100 / +94 11 2446657 (this is contact for Secretary to President) 
Email: secretary@presidentsoffice.lk

6. Prof. Manfred Nowak
Special Rapporteur on the Question of Torture
Attn: Mr. Safir Syed
C/o OHCHR-UNOG
1211 Geneva 10
SWITZERLAND
Tel: +41 22 917 9230
Fax: +41 22 917 9016 (general)
E-mail: ssyed@ohchr.org

7. Ms. Yakin Erturk
Special Rapporteur on Violence against Women
c/o Ms Vernonica Birga
Room 3-042
c/o OHCHR-UNOG
1211 Geneva 10
SWITZERLAND
Tel: +41 22 917 9615
Fax: +41 22 917 9006 (ATTN: SPECIAL RAPPORTEUR VIOLENCE AGAINST WOMEN)
Email: vbirga@ohchr.org  (please also cc: rrico@ohchr.org)

Thank you.

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

Document Type :
Urgent Appeal Case
Document ID :
UA-085-2006
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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.