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SRI LANKA: Weligama Police implicated in the torture and killing of a father and son

April 3, 2006

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ASIAN HUMAN RIGHTS COMMISSION - URGENT APPEALS PROGRAMME

4 April 2006
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UA-113-2006: SRI LANKA: Weligama Police implicated in the torture and killing of a father and son

SRI LANKA: Torture; extra-judicial killings; police cover-up; inaction by authorities; threat and intimidation; collapse of rule of law
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Dear friends,

The Asian Human Rights Commission (AHRC) has come to learn of a case involving the alleged torture and extra-judicial killing of a father and son by the Weligama Police. Despite years having now passed since their suspicious deaths, little action has been taken by the authorities to properly investigate this matter, and consequently no person has been held accountable for the crimes committed against the two victims.

A.H. Ariyadasa was a fisherman by occupation. According to his wife, Kamala Mallika in 1999 there were groups of people in their area who went about demanding protection money from businessmen and other traders. She said that if these demands were not met the ‘local Mafia’ would create trouble for those who refused.  

Apparently this local Mafia had also demanded payment from Mr. Ariyadasa and his sons, but they had refused to pay up and instead chased the group members away. In October 1999 A.H. Ariyadsa was arrested by the Weligama police and taken to the police station where, it is alleged, he was brutally tortured and then killed. Later, the police allegedly colluded with the medical profession at the Matara hospital to conceal the truth about the victim’s death.  Ms. Mallika believes that her husband’s unwillingness and failure to pay the local Mafia the money they were demanding was the main reason for her husband’s arrest, torture and eventual killing by the Weligama police (who she believes were in direct collusion with the mafia and thus resented her husband’s refusal to ‘pay-up’).

Suspecting foul play in her husband’s death Ms. Mallika was persistent in petitioning the Magistrate’s Court in Matara to examine the case. Thereafter the court ordered the exhumation of the body and requested for it to be sent for autopsy at the Karapitiya Hospital. Upon examination, it was concluded that the death was due to assault by blunt weapons.

Currently Ms. Mallika is still unaware of the status of the case before the Matara Magistrate’s court while the police are refusing to afford her any details regarding the matter. 

Then, on 24 October 2002, Ms. Mallika’s son, A.H. Sudath was also arrested—this time by the Wanathavillawa police. His mother was unaware of the reason for his arrest but according to her, the Wanathavillawa and Weligama police joined together to severely assault him, falsely charge and to get him remanded. Two months after his arrest, on 7 December 2002, Sudath died in prison. When a medical examination was conducted on his body, the Judicial Medical Officer (JMO) clearly found that assault with a blunt weapon had resulted in his death. 

According to Ms. Mallika no satisfactory investigation or inquiry has been conducted into the death of either her husband or son. She also says that not only are the perpetrators freely roaming about in the area but they are constantly threatening members of her family with death or fabrication of charges if they continue to ‘make trouble for the police’.

Though she has complained to the Matara branch of the Human Rights Commission, no investigation or inquiry has been held by the institution. Thus, some seven years after her husband’s murder and more than three years after her son’s, Ms. Maillkia is no closer to finding the truth behind their deaths or bringing justice to the perpetrators of these crimes.

SUGGESTED ACTION:
Please write to the relevant authorities, as listed below, seeking their intervention in this matter. The alleged torture and extra-judicial killings of both the father and son must be investigated into at once and charges laid against anyone deemed responsible for the crimes committed against them. Once the investigation is launched the case must be given an official number so that Ms. Mallika can obtain copies of the court proceedings and follow any developments in the case. Further, once the investigation commences, and should Ms. Mallika request it, full and adequate protection must be provided to her. The investigation should also inquire into why it was that the police did not pursue either case, despite medical reports clearly stating that suspicious circumstances surrounded both deaths, and why the Human Rights Commission of Sri Lanka ignored Ms. Mallika’s complaint. Should the perpetrators be found guilty in court, full legal action must be taken against them and compensation must be provided to Ms. Mallika.

Suggested letter:

Dear _______________,

SRI LANKA: Weligama Police implicated in the torture and killing of a father and son

Name of victims/deceased: Ariyadasa (49) and A.H. Sudath Udaya Kumara (29) of Palana Weligama.
Name of complainant: Ms. Kamala Mallika (widow of AH Ariyadasa and mother of Sudath
Name of alleged perpetrators: Policemen attached to the Weligama police station.
Dates of incident: Ariyadasa was arrested, detained and died in October 1999. His son Sudath was arrested on 24 October 2002 and died on 7 December 2002.

I have recently learned of a case involving the alleged torture and extra-judicial killing of a father and son by the Weligama Police. Despite years having now passed since their suspicious deaths, little action has been taken by the authorities to properly investigate this matter, and consequently no person has been held accountable for the crimes committed against the two victims. Such a response to the two deaths is entirely unacceptable and should be corrected without delay.

According to the information that I have received, A.H. Ariyadasa was a fisherman by occupation whose sons were also involved in the business. According to his wife, Kamala Mallika in 1999 there were groups of people in their area who went about demanding protection money from businessmen and other traders. She said that if these demands were not met the ‘local Mafia’ would create trouble for those who refused.  

Apparently this local Mafia had also been demanding payment from Mr. Ariyadasa and his sons, but they had refused to pay up and instead chased the group members away. In October 1999 A.H. Ariyadsa was arrested by the Weligama police and taken to the police station where, it is alleged, he was brutally tortured and then killed. Later, the police allegedly colluded with the medical professional at the Matara hospital to conceal the truth about the victim’s death.  Ms. Mallika believes that her husband’s unwillingness and failure to pay the local Mafia the money they were demanding was the main reason for her husband’s arrest, torture and eventual killing by the Weligama police (who she believes were in direct collusion with the mafia and thus resented her husband’s refusal to ‘pay-up’).

Suspecting foul play in her husband’s death Ms. Mallika was persistent in petitioning the Magistrate’s Court in Matara to examine the case. Thereafter the court ordered the exhumation of the body and requested for it to be sent for autopsy at the Karapitiya Hospital. Upon examination, it was concluded that the death was due to assault by blunt weapons.

Currently Ms. Mallika is still unaware of the status of the case before the Matara Magistrate’s court regarding her husband’s death while the police are refusing to afford her any details on the matter. 

Then, on 24 October 2002, Ms. Mallika’s son, A.H. Sudath was also arrested—this time by the Wanathavillawa police. His mother was unaware of the reason for his arrest but according to her, the Wanathavillawa and Weligama police joined together to severely assault him, falsely charge him and to get him remanded. Two months after his arrest, on 7 December 2002, Sudath died in prison. When a medical examination was conducted on his body, the Judicial Medical Officer (JMO) clearly found that assault with a blunt weapon had brought about his death. 

According to Ms. Mallika to date no satisfactory investigation or inquiry has been conducted into the death of either her husband or son. She also says that not only are the perpetrators freely roaming about in the area but they are constantly threatening members of her family with death or fabrication of charges if they continue to ‘make trouble for the police’.

Though she has complained to the Matara branch of the Human Rights Commission, no investigation or inquiry has been held by the institution. Thus, some seven years after her husband’s murder and more than three years after her son’s, Ms. Maillkia is no closer to finding the truth behind their deaths or bringing justice to the perpetrators of these crimes.

I am sure you will agree that this situation is in urgent need of intervention. The alleged torture and extra-judicial killings of both the father and son must be investigated into at once and charges laid against anyone deemed responsible for the crimes committed against them. Once the investigation is launched the case must be given an official number so that Ms. Mallika can obtain copies of the court proceedings and follow any developments in the case. Further, once the investigation commences, and should Ms. Mallika request it, full and adequate protection must be provided to her--this is particularly important given that threats have already been directed at her and her family. The investigation should also inquire into why it was that the police did not pursue either case, despite medical reports clearly stating that suspicious circumstances surrounded both deaths, and why the Human Rights Commission of Sri Lanka ignored Ms. Mallika’s complaint. Should the perpetrators be found guilty in court, full legal action must be taken against them and compensation must be provided to Ms. Mallika.

Given the prolonged delay in bringing justice to this case, I trust that your intervention will occur immediately.

Yours sincerely,

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PLEASE SEND YOUR LETTERS TO:

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

2. Mr. Chandra Fernando
Inspector General of Police (IGP)
New Secretariat
Colombo 1
SRI LANKA
Fax: +94 11 2 440440/327877

3. 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. Mr. J Thangawelu
DIG Legal
Police Headquarters
Colombo 1
SRI LANKA
Fax: 94 11 2381 394
Email: legaldiv@police.lk

5. 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: polcom@sltnet.lk

6. 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

7. 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

8. Mr. Philip Alston
Special Rapporteur on Extra-judicial, Summary, or Arbitrary Executions
Atten: Lydie Ventre
Room 3-016, c/o OHCHR-UNOG
1211 Geneva 10
SWITZERLAND
Tel: +41 22 917 9155
Fax: +41 22 917 9006 (general)
Email: lventre@ohchr.org

Thank you.

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

Document Type :
Urgent Appeal Case
Document ID :
UA-113-2006
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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.