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SRI LANKA: Police officer not arrested despite magistrate's request

November 17, 2004

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ASIAN HUMAN RIGHTS COMMISSION - URGENT APPEALS PROGRAM

17 November 2004
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UA-155-2004: SRI LANKA: Police officer not arrested despite magistrate's request

SRI LANKA: Denial of due process rights; Rule of law
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Dear friends,

The Asian Human Rights Commission (AHRC) has received information that police constable Prasanna of the Keselwatta Police Station, Sri Lanka has not been arrested despite several requests from the Panadura Magistrate, in connection with his alleged involvement in the death of Mr. Done Lakshman Priyantha Rathnayake on 15 October 2004. PC Prasanna is the only suspect who has not yet been arrested by the police.

Your urgent action to pressure the local authorities and Sri Lankan government to follow due process and ensure that all those involved in this incident are arrested and investigated is immediately required. 

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

Name of the deceased: Mr. Done Lakshman Priyantha Rathnayake, 39 years old, a driver
Address of the deceased: No. 313, MJC Mawatha, Horaithuduwa, Keselwatte
The people involved in the incident: 1) Police Constable Prasanna attached to the Keselwatta Police Station, 2) Mr. Lakshman Fernando, 3) Mr. Premalal, 4) Mr. Suranjan (All the four people are the deceased's friends)
Date of incident: 15 October 2004
The complainant: Mrs Thuppahige Don Chandralatha, 38 years old, the victim's wife
Cause of death:  Homicide- the victim suffered brain injuries caused by his fall after being assaulted on the face (according to an inquest)

Case details: 

At around 6:00pm of 15 October 2004, Mr. Done Lakshman Priyantha Rathnayake (39) left his house with his vehicle (No. 20 Sri 3035) to the vehicle park at Moratuwa Junction. He told the family that he would buy some daily necessities. 

Some time later, police constable (PC) Prasanna of the Keselwatta Police Station came to Mr. D.L. Priyantha Rathnayake's house by the vehicle belonging to Mr. D.L. Priyantha Rathnayake and informed his wife that her husband was admitted to the Panadura Hospital. PC Prasanna left the house with the vehicle and parked it in the police station.

Rathnayake's wife then went to the Panadura Hospital, but her husband was not there. She finally found him at the National Hospital of Sri Lanka at Colombo. Mr. D.L. Priyantha Rathnayake died at the hospital on 16 October 2004. His wife was present to identify her husband during the post-mortem held at the Judicial Medical Officer (JMO)'s Office in Colombo. Later, she also attended the death inquest on the deceased body held before the coroner of Colombo on 7 November 2004.

In the meantime, Rathnayake's wife learned that her husband was with PC Prasanna along with Lakshman Fernando, Pramalal and Suranjan in the vehicle before his death, all of whom she knows as her husband's friends. She also learnt that when these five people including her husband were on their way to Panadura from Moratuwa there was a quarrel. According to the three other men in the vehicle, the quarrel resulted in PC Prasanna assaulting all the other four persons while they were at the edge of Moratuwa. Subsequently, Mr. D.L. Priyantha Rathnayake fell down and hit his head severely on the ground. He became unconscious, so PC Prasanna put him into the vehicle and took him to the Panadura Hospital where he was admitted. Later, he was transferred to the National Hospital of Sri Lanka for better treatment.  

According to the deceased's wife, the Officer In Charge (OIC) of Moratuwa Police Station filed a case in Panadura Magistrate Court regarding the incident, and subsequently all of the men who were with the deceased except PC Prasanna were arrested by the police and produced before the magistrate. Rathnayake's wife added that the police officers handling her husband's case are reluctant to arrest PC Prasanna and have ignored several requests of the Panadura Magistrate to arrest and produce the said police constable.

The AHRC is deeply concerned by this case and urges the local authorities to take immediate steps to arrest the concerned police constable and conduct a proper investigation into the case. Due process must be followed, without which perpetrators of human rights violations will gain impunity.

SUGGESTED ACTION:
Please send a letter, fax or email to the addresses below and ask them to take proper action to arrest the concerned police constable and ensure a proper investigation into this case.

Sample letter:

Dear _____________,

Re: Police officer not arrested despite magistrate's request

Name of the deceased: Mr. Done Lakshman Priyantha Rathnayake, 39 years old, a driver
Address of the deceased: No. 313, MJC Mawatha, Horaithuduwa, Keselwatte
The people involved in the incident: 1) Police Constable Prasanna attached to the Keselwatta Police Station, 2) Mr. Lakshman Fernando, 3) Mr. Premalal, 4) Mr. Suranjan (All the four people are the deceased's friends)
Date of incident: 15 October 2004
The complainant: Mrs Thuppahige Don Chandralatha, 38 years old, the victim's wife
Cause of death:  Homicide- the victim suffered brain injuries caused by his fall after being assaulted on the face (according to an inquest)

I am deeply concerned by the denial of due process rights with regards to the death of Mr. Done Lakshman Priyantha Rathnayake, which took place on 15 October 2004.

According to the information I have received, Mr. D.L. Priyantha Rathnayake was with police constable Prasanna, Lakshman Fernando, Pramalal and Suranjan in his vehicle at the time of the incident on October 15. He fell unconsciousness after falling and hitting his head on the ground due to being assaulted by PC Prasanna during some quarrel. He finally died at the National Hospital of Sri Lanka.  

Although a case was registered by the Moratuwa police against four suspects in Panadura Magistrate Court regarding the incident, PC Prasanna is the only suspect who has not been arrested, while the other three suspects were arrested and produced before the magistrate. More seriously, the police have ignored the request of the Panadura Magistrate who asked the police to arrest and produce the concerned police constable several times.
 
I urge you to take immediate steps to arrest the concerned police constable and ensure a proper investigation be conducted in the incident to determine the cause of the victim's death. 

Yours sincerely,


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SEND A LETTER TO:

1. 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

2. 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

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

4. 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

5. 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


Thank you.

Urgent Appeals Programme
Asian Human Rights Commission (AHRC)

Document Type :
Urgent Appeal Case
Document ID :
UA-155-2004
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.