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SRI LANKA: A man arbitrary arrested and tortured by Kalutara North Police

November 10, 2004

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ASIAN HUMAN RIGHTS COMMISSION - URGENT APPEALS PROGRAM

9 November 2004
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UA-150-2004: SRI LANKA: A man arbitrary arrested and tortured by Kalutara North Police

SRI LANKA: Arbitrary arrest; Torture; Rule of law
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Dear friends,

The Asian Human Rights Commission (AHRC) has received information that 23-year-old Mr. E.R. Kumara was arbitrarily arrested and tortured by Kalutara North police officers on 14 October 2004.

At the time of arrest, it is reported that a Sub Inspector (SI) failed to show a memo of warrant to Mr Kumara. He then took Mr Kumara to a house where some items had been stolen and asked him whether he stole them or not. When Mr Kumara denied stealing the items, the police began to assault him severely. Afterwards, when Mr. Kumara was taken to the police station, he was again brutally tortured by several police officers. 

Your urgent action is required to put an end to this kind of police torture. Please send a letter and urge relevant authorities to take legal/disciplinary action against those responsible. Proper compensation should be given to Mr Kumara for the injuries he has received and the hardship he has endured. 

Urgent Appeals Desk
Asian Human Rights Commission (AHRC)
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DETAILED INFORMATION:

Name of the victim: Edirisuriyage Ravindra Kumara, 23 years old, a labourer (sand mining industry)
Address of the victim: Diyagama, Galpatha
Alleged perpetrator: A Sub Inspector of Police and several officers attached to Kalutara North Police Station (distinguishable by the victim)
Date of the incident: 14 October 2004
Place of the incident: Kalutara North Police Station

Case details: (based on the victim's account)

At about 1:45pm on 14 October 2004, Mr. Kumara (23) was arbitrarily arrested and tortured by Kalutara North Police.

Two police officers in civil dress attached to Kalutara North Police Station approached Mr. Kumara, who was at Diyagama junction, close to his residence. They then proceeded to arrest him without any stated reason and they did not produce a memo of warrant. After the arrest, they took Mr Kumara to a house where some items had been stolen. When he claimed that he had no knowledge of the stolen items, the Sub Inspector (SI) proceeded to assault Mr. Kumara. When the victim denied this allegation of theft further, the police put him in a police jeep and took him to Kalutara North Police Station. 

After arriving at the station, Mr. Kumara was put in a cell. Some time later, the SI took him to the kitchen of the police station where he assaulted him repeatedly. Mr. Kumara was then ordered by several police officers, who were in the kitchen at that time, to kneel on the ground. The police officers then tied Mr Kumara's hands behind his back, and proceeded to bite and kick him a number of times. They then untied his hands, and forced him to lie on the floor. At this point the officers began to hit Mr Kumara with an iron bar, beating the soles of his feet, his legs, and his buttocks. During this beating, the officers were yelling at Mr Kumara to confess to the theft of the house items. 

Brutally tortured, Mr. Kumara was returned to his cell again. He was produced to the Kalutara Magistrate on October 15, where he testified when questioned that the police had assaulted him. At the same time, he showed the injuries and swellings on his body caused by the assault. However, Mr Kumara was charged with theft along with three other suspects who had been earlier arrested. After the Magistrate's findings were delivered, Mr Kumara was taken to Kalutara prison.

Upon arriving at the prison, Mr. Kumara reported once again his assault by the police. In the meantime, his mother complained to the National Human Rights Commission (NHRC) on October 18. Eventually Mr Kumara was taken to Nagoda hospital the following day. A doctor examined him before he was returned to the prison. 

On October 28, Mr. Kumara was produced to the court where an identification parade was held with two other accused. The occupants of the house where the items had been stolen, did not identify Mr Kumara or the other two suspects brought before them. As a result of this, Mr Kumara was discharged. He has however undergone mental and physical trauma caused by the torture. He has complained to NHRC and National Police Commission (NPC), but no investigation has been conducted.

This is yet another case where police arbitrarily arrest innocent persons without any reason or with the necessary warrant memo and then proceed to brutally torture them. Even though the government of Sri Lanka ratified the Convention Against Torture (CAT) and it insists that the police are educated and NHRC has a policy called 'Zero-Tolerance Policy' to eradicate torture by the police, what this case shows us is that the police still do not abide by criminal law and torture by the police is still very much in existence.

The AHRC is gravely concerned about the arbitrary arrest and inhuman torture of Mr. Kumara and urges relevant authorities to take legal/disciplinary action against those responsible. Medical treatment and proper compensation should be provided to Mr Kumara for the injuries he has received and the hardship he has endured.

SUGGESTED ACTION:
Please send a letter, fax or an email to the addresses below and express your concern about this case.

Sample letter:

Dear _______,

RE: SRI LANKA: A man arbitrary arrested and tortured by Kalutara North Police

Name of the victim: Edirisuriyage Ravindra Kumara, Age 23 years, a laborer (sand mining industry)
Address of the victim: Diyagama, Galpatha
Alleged perpetrator: A Sub Inspector of Police and several officers attached to Kalutara North Police Station (distinguishable by the victim)
Date of the incident: 14 October 2004
Place of the incident: Kalutara North Police Station

I am deeply concerned by the arbitrary arrest and torture of Mr. E.R. Kumara (23 years old) by several police officers including a Sub Inspector (SI) attached to Kalutara North Police Station on 14 October 2004.

According to the information received, when Mr. Kumara was at Diyagama junction, a Sub Inspector (SI) and one police officer in civil dress approached him and then arrested him. They then took him to a house where some items had been stolen and proceeded to assault Mr Kumara when he refused to admit to the theft. When Mr Kumara was taken to the police station, the SI took him to the kitchen of the police station, where several police officers were already present. They forced him to lie on the floor and began to brutally hit him on his soles, legs and buttocks. At the same time, the officers were yelling at Mr Kumara to admit to the theft.

This is yet another case where police arbitrarily arrest innocent persons without any reason or with the necessary warrant memo and then proceed to brutally torture them. Even though the government of Sri Lanka ratified the Convention Against Torture (CAT) and it insists that the police are educated and NHRC has a policy called 'Zero-Tolerance Policy' to eradicate torture by the police, what this case shows us is that the police still do not abide by criminal law and torture by the police is still very much in existence.

I, therefore, strongly urge you to take legal/disciplinary action against those responsible including the SI attached to Kalutara North Police Station for the arbitrary arrest and torture of Mr. Kumara. I also ask that proper compensation be provided to Mr Kumara. I further request you to take steps to bring about the implementation of the Convention Against Torture (CAT) act, which was ratified and accepted as domestic law.

Yours sincerely,


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SEND A LETTER TO:

1. Mr. Chandra Fernando
Inspector General of Police (IGP) 
New Secretariat 
Colombo 1
SRI LANKA 
Fax: +94 11 2 440440/426711/327877

2. Mr. Ranjith Abeysuriya PC 
Chairperson 
National Police Commission 
69-1 Ward Place, Colombo 7 
SRI LANKA 
Fax: +94 11 2 669 528
Fax HOME: +94 11 2 674148
E-mail: polcom@sltnet.lk 

3. Dr. Radhika Coomaraswamy
Chairperson 
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. K. C. Kamalasabesan 
Attorney General 
Attorney General's Department 
Colombo 12 
SRI LANKA 
Fax: +94 11 2 436 421 
Email: attorney@sri.lanka.net  or counsel@sri.lanka.net 

5. Mr. Mahindra Rajapakse 
Prime Minister 
Cambridge Place 
Colombo 7 
SRI LANKA
Fax: +94 11 2 682905 / 575454
E-mail: secpm@sltnet.lk  or bradmanw@slt.lk 

6. Mr. Theo C. van Boven 
Special Rapporteur on the Question of Torture 
Attn: Mr. Safir Syed 
C/o OHCHR-UNOG 
1211 Geneva 10 
SWITZERLAND 
Tel: +41 22 917 9174 
Fax: +41 22 917 9016 (general) 
E-mail: ssyed@ohchr.org  


Thank you.




Urgent Appeals Programme
Asian Human Rights Commission (AHRC)

Document Type :
Urgent Appeal Case
Document ID :
UA-150-2004
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.