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SRI LANKA: Brutal torture of a man by police trainees

April 6, 2006

URGENT ACTION URGENT ACTION URGENT ACTION URGENT ACTION

ASIAN HUMAN RIGHTS COMMISSION – URGENT APPEALS PROGRAMME

Urgent Appeal

7 April 2006
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UA-121-2006: SRI LANKA: Brutal torture of a man by police trainees

SRI LANKA: Torture; police inaction; collapse of rule of law
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Dear friends,

The Asian Human Rights Commission (AHRC) has received information regarding the brutal torture of OKD Kithsiri Dhanawardena by Ketapola police training college trainees.

On March 25, Mr. Dhanawardena received a message from police trainees, Mr. Gunathilake and Mr. Jayarathne to come to the Ketapola training college for a cab hire. However, Mr. Dhanawardena was already engaged in another hire at the time and therefore he refused. Then on March 27, at around 6pm, Mr. Gunathilake and Mr. Jayarathne arrived at the three-wheel cab stop and approached Mr. Dhanawardena, threatening him about the incident two days earlier. When Mr. Dhanawardena told them he would complain to the police Officer-In-Charge (OIC) about their behaviour, they verbally abused him for threatening to do so.

Forty minutes later, Mr. Gunathilake and Mr. Jayarathne returned to the stop with about 100 others, all from the police training college and all in uniform. One of them pointed at Mr. Dhanawardena and queried, “Is that him?” then without warning, pulled Mr. Dhanawardena by his shirt collar and began beating him. Immediately all the others pounced on the victim and pummeled him with fists, poles and boots. As a result the victim was severely injured and fell to the ground screaming. Mr. Gunathilake and Mr. Jayarathne then drove the victim in a police training college vehicle, first to the training college itself and thereafter to the Elpitiya police station.

After his family was notified they went to the Elpitiya police where they saw the victim sitting on a chair bleeding and bruised. They attempted to lodge a complaint but the police refused. The police told them to wait until the station OIC arrived. Two hours later the station OIC together with the training college OIC arrived and they took the victim aside and inquired about the incident. The victim’s mother intervened and told the police that her son was severely injured and in need of urgent medical attention. Only then did the OIC allow the victim to go to hospital. However, the Elpitiya police failed to obtain any statement from the family.

The victim was taken to the Elpitiya district hospital where the doctor insisted that he be warded immediately. The family told the doctor about the assault on him. After urgent treatment the victim was transferred to the Karapitiya hospital, where the family once again told doctors the details of the incident. As a result of the brutal torture, the victim had to be hopitalised untill April 3. It was also found that the victim’s vertebra had been damaged and he had to be fixed with a catheter.

Later in the face of apparent police inaction, angry villagers protested against the police. Due to the massive protest regarding the incident, the Elpitiya police finally arrested the perpetrators Mr. Gunathilake, Mr. Jayarathne and one other from the training college and charged t    hem before the Elpitiya Magistrate Court (Case No. 37546). Also three trainees on March 28 and one more on March 31 were arrested and remanded for the same incident. Subsequently, they were all released on bail. The victim also complained that no steps have been taken to apprehend the other culprits whom the victim can recognise if seen again.

Unfortunately, this is another example of the growing number of torture cases carried out by public officers in Sri Lanka. The AHRC has previously reported on many cases regarding this matter (UA-108-2006, UP-069-2006, UP-051-2006 and UA-103-2006). Immediate legal action must be taken against the perpetrators and as public officers such conduct should be subjected to the provisions of the Convention Against Torture Act No 22 of 1994 which states a minimum seven years sentence for torture conviction.

SUGGESTED ACTION:
Please write a letter to the relevant authorities listed below and condemn the actions of the alleged perpetrators. Please urge them to ensure that the alleged perpetrators are prosecuted as soon as possible. Also ask that the concerned officers be suspended or transferred from their service while the investigation is going on. An investigation should also establish any other persons who are responsible for the attack on the victim. Adequate compensation should be afforded to the victim for the injuries and trauma he has suffered.

Suggested letter:

Dear __________,

SRI LANKA: Brutal torture of a man by police trainees

Name of victim: OKD Kithsiri Dhanawardena, 32-years-old, unmarried; occupation: three wheel cab driver; address: Thanthiriwatte, Ganegoda
Name of alleged perpetrators: Trainers and trainees attached to the Ketapola police training college
Date of incident: 27 March 2006

I am writing to you with deep concerning regarding the brutal torture of OKD Kithsiri Dhanawardena by Ketapola police training college trainees.

On March 25, Mr. Dhanawardena received a message from police trainees Mr. Gunathilake and Mr. Jayarathne to come to the Ketapola training college for a cab hire. However, the victim was already engaged in another hire at the time therefore he refused. Two days later the perpetrators arrived at the three-wheel cab stop and threatened the victim about the incident two days earlier. When the victim told them he would complain to the police Officer-In-Charge (OIC) about their behaviour, they verbally abused him for threatening to do so.

An hour later the perpetrators together with about 100 others, all from the police training college and who were in uniform, rushed towards the three-wheel stop. The trainees immediately pounced on the victim and pummeled him. As a result the victim was severely injured and fell to the ground screaming. The perpetrators then took him to the training college and thereafter to the Elpitiya police station.

After his family was notified, they attempted to lodge a complaint but the police refused. The police told them to wait until the station OIC arrived. Two hours later, the station OIC together with the training college OIC arrived. The victim’s mother intervened and told the police that her son was severely injured and in need of urgent medical attention. Only then did the OIC allow the victim to go to hospital. However, the Elpitiya police failed to obtain any statement from the family.

The victim was taken to the Elpitiya district hospital where the doctor insisted that he be warded immediately. After urgent treatment, the victim was transferred to the Karapitiya hospital, where the family told the doctors the details of the incident. As a result of the brutal torture, the victim had to be hospitalised until April 3. It was also found that the victim’s vertebra had been damaged and he had to be fixed with a catheter.

Later, in the face of apparent police inaction, angry villagers protested against the police. Due to the massive protest, the Elpitiya police finally arrested the perpetrators and one other from the training college and charged them before the Elpitiya Magistrate Court (Case No. 37546). Also four more trainees were arrested and remanded but they were all released on bail. The victim also complained that no steps have been taken to apprehend the other culprits.

I therefore am calling on you to intervene in this matter. As public officers the alleged perpetrators should be subjected to the provisions of the Convention Against Torture Act No 22 of 1994 which states a minimum seven years sentence for torture conviction. I also ask that the concerned officers be suspended or transferred from their service while the investigation is going on. An investigation should also establish any other persons who are responsible for the attack on the victim. Lastly, I ask you to ensure adequate compensation be afforded to the victim for the injuries and trauma he has suffered.

This is an appalling start to the careers of these alleged perpetrators. That these young men may have committed such a dreadful crime so early on in their careers is most concerning and one is forced to wonder what they may be capable of once they are fully recoganised police officers wielding far more power.

I trust your intervention will be forthcoming in this matter.

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

Thank you.

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

Document Type :
Urgent Appeal Case
Document ID :
UA-121-2006
Countries :
Issues :
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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.