Home / News / Urgent Appeals / SRI LANKA: Arbitrary arrest and detention and brutal assault of civilian by Ratnapura Police

SRI LANKA: Arbitrary arrest and detention and brutal assault of civilian by Ratnapura Police

March 15, 2007

URGENT ACTION URGENT ACTION URGENT ACTION URGENT ACTION URGENT ACTION

ASIAN HUMAN RIGHTS COMMISSION - URGENT APPEALS PROGRAM

15 March 2007
---------------------------------------------------------------------
UA-085-2007: SRI LANKA: Arbitrary arrest and detention and brutal assault of civilian by Ratnapura Police

SRI LANKA: arbitrary arrest and detention; torture; authority abuse
---------------------------------------------------------------------

Dear friends,

Asian Human Rights Commission (AHRC) has received information about the alleged arbitrary arrest and assault of a man by the Ratnapura police. According to the information we have received from our local partner organization in Sri Lanka, he has been arrested twice on fabricated charges including this time and been harassed by the Ratnapura police. The victim is in a prison hospital for medical treatment as he was seriously assaulted while in custody. However it has been allegedly reported that the victim is not being treated properly due to the poor medical facilities in the hospital. No accurate and thorough investigation into the incident has been taken yet.

CASE DETAILS:

On 3 March 2007, Daluwattalage Gamini Weerasinghe was with his friends at a public bathing spot, Julis Mudalalis Bar at Pathulpana. By accident, a fight broke out between Gamini Weerasinghe' side and another set of people who were also enjoying themselves at the same spot. One of Gamini Weerasinghe's friends was seriously injured and they were scattered. On the way Gamini Weerasinghe's home with his friend, Suranga together, some people in three wheelers including some persons who fought with Gamini Weerasinghe at the bathing spot came and caused injuries to them. Those who assaulted Gamini Weerasinghe and his friend took Gamini Weerasinghe and his friend to the Ratnapura police station saying that they were from the police. Gamini Weerasinghe and his friend were once again brutally violated in the police station.

On 4 March 2007 Gamini Weerasinghe's father lodged a complaint over the phone to the Human Rights Commission of Sri Lanka (HRC) at around 7:30 in the morning. When the victim's father and some neighbours went to the police station to see the victim at 8:30am, they were not allowed to see the victim. They could not meet the victim who was in custody until they complained about it to the HRC again. When the family met the victim at the police station, they saw the assault marks covering the victim's body and were told that the victim had been violated in most inhumane manner. The victim could hardly speak at that time.

On the same day, at 7:00 pm, the victim was brought before the Magistrate court on a fabricated case. Lawyer Gamini Ratnayaka requested that the victim should be given an immediate and proper medical treatment but the victim is still in the Kuruvita prison hospital which does not have sufficient medical facilities. According to the victim's father, the victim's eye sight is fading for the lack of proper medical treatment.

For the victim, this is the second time he was arbitrarily arrested by the police for, again, a fabricated charge that the Ratnapura police made on to him. The victim complained to the HRC and the case is in the process under the case number HRC 182906. It has been reported that despite the fact that the complaint was lodged with the HRC, the police allegedly attempted to assault the victim many times without any legitimate reason.

Meanwhile, the victim Gamini Weerasinghe has lodged written complaint to the Human Rights Commission of Sri Lanka, the National Police Commission, the Office of the Inspector General of Police (IGP), Prison Commissioner. No serious action has yet been taken by the authorities to investigate the incident and arrest the alleged perpetrators so far. Most of all, the victim is suffering from the serious injuries caused by the police and is still in prison hospital without sufficient medical facilities.

To our regret, the cases of arbitrary arrest, detention and violent assault of innocent civilians during detention by police authorities have been continuously reported to our office from Sri Lanka. Few of the recently issued Urgent Appeals on arbitrary arrest, detention and violent assault by police are UA-077-2007; UA-076-2007; UA-069-2007; UA-044-2007; UA-009-2007.


SUGGESTED ACTION:
Please write to the relevant authorities listed below and urge them to order an immediate and fair investigation into the case and take legal action against the alleged perpetrators. Please also urge them to give the victim immediate and proper medical treatment in the hospital.

To support this appeal, please click:


Sample letter:


Dear _________,

SRI LANKA: Arbitrary arrested and violated man by the Ratnapura Police

Name of the victim: Daluwattalage Gamini Weerasinghe, 22 years, married with one child, residing in Koladagala, Lellopitiya
Alleged perpetrators: some police officers attached to the Ratnapura police station
Date of incident: 3 March 2007

I am deeply concerned about the alleged another arbitrary arrest and violation of a young man by the police.

According to the information I have received, on 3 March 2007 Mr. Daluwattalage Gamini Weerasinghe was assaulted and arbitrarily arrested by the Ratnapura police officers right after he and his friends fought with another group of people by accident while they were enjoying themselves at the public bathing spot.

After their fighting, on their way to home, Mr. Daluwattalage Gamini Weerasinghe and another one of his friends were brutally violated and taken to the Ratnapura police station by those who were involved in the fighting with the victim and told the victim that they were from the police. The victim was seriously assaulted again in the police station.

The following day, at 7:30am, on 4 March 2007, the victim's father complained on the phone to the Human Rights Commission of Sri Lanka (HRC) and went to the Ratnapura police station to meet the victim. However he was refused permission to meet his son. Not until the victim's father lodged a complaint to the HRC again he could see the victim, who was sprawled in the cell and could hardly speak. I was informed that the victim's body was covered with assault marks by the police. On the same day at 7:00pm, the victim was brought up before the Magistrate on a fabricated case.

I was also informed that this is not the first time that the victim is charged on a fabricated case. The victim was arrested by the Ratnapura police on a fabricated charge, and the case lodged to the Human Rights Commission of Sri Lanka is in the process under the case number HRC 182906. Even after the complaint was lodged to the HRC, it has been alleged that the police have attempted to harass the victim several times. On the contrary, the first case is not investigated thoroughly and impartially yet and the police are enjoying their authority by means of constant harassment, arbitrary arrest, and torture in custody without any legitimate reason.

It has to be emphasised that the victim is suffering from the violence in custody. Despite the lawyer requested the proper medical treatment for the victim, the victim is still in a prison hospital where has no sufficient medical facilities. According to the victim's father, on 5 March 2007, the victim told his father that his eye sight was fading allegedly because of lack of proper medical treatment to the victim.

I therefore urge you to take appropriate actions to ensure that the victim can receive a proper medical treatment and should the victim be brought to the general hospital if it is necessary. The alleged fabricated cases on the victim should be thoroughly and fairly investigated and the alleged perpetrators, the Ratnapura police officers should be prosecuted in accordance with CAT Act No. 22 of 1994. Also the state authorities of Sri Lanka should be responsible to the practice of violence and arbitrary arrest of its citizens that are prohibited under article 9 of the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights (ICCPR) in order to root out the constant arbitrary behaviours by the police in Sri Lanka. Please let the police be aware that their duty is not enjoying their authority by arbitrary arrest and violence but protecting the civilians from the violence.

I look forward your immediate and sincere action to this case.

Yours truly,


----------------------

PLEASE SEND YOUR LETTER TO:

1. Mr. Mahinda Rajapaksa
Minister
Ministry of Defence, Public Security, Law and Order
15/5, Baladaksha Mawatha,
Colombo 03,
SRI LANKA
Tel: 94-11 2 430860-9, 430878-9 or 435879 (for the secretary)
Fax: 94 11 2 446300 or 421529
E-mail: secdef@sltnet.lk

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

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

4. 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

5. 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
?lt;br />6. Prof. Manfred Nowak
Special Rapporteur on the Question of Torture
Attn: Safir Syed
c/o OHCHR-UNOG
1211 Geneva 10
SWITZERLAND
Tel: +41 22 917 9230
Fax: +41 22 917 9016 (ATTN: SPECIAL RAPPORTEUR TORTURE)

7. Ms. Leila Zerrougui
Working Group on arbitrary detention
OHCHR-UNOG
1211 Geneva 10
SWITZERLAND
Fax: +41 22 917 9006 (ATTENTION: WORKING GROUP ARBITRARY DETENTION)

Thank you.

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

Document Type :
Urgent Appeal Case
Document ID :
UA-085-2007
Countries :
Issues :
Document Actions
Share |
Subscribe to our Mailing List
Follow AHRC
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.