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SRI LANKA: Torture of a young man allegedly prosecuted with false charges by the Pussellawa police

November 18, 2004

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ASIAN HUMAN RIGHTS COMMISSION - URGENT APPEALS PROGRAM

18 November 2004
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UA-156-2004: SRI LANKA:  Torture of a young man allegedly prosecuted with false charges by the Pussellawa police

SRI LANKA: Torture; Alleged manipulation of a warrant against the victim; Police corruption
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Dear friends,

The Asian Human Rights Commission (AHRC) has received information that 20-year-old Mr. Pushparaj Kanagaraj was severely tortured by a drunk officer of the Pussellawa Police Station for several hours after being arbitrarily arrested on 23 September 2004. The victim claimed that the police prosecuted him with false charges after taking bribes from a bus owner whose bus was damaged during a protest on June 5 in which the victim had participated. The protest held in Pussellawa, was against the assault of a youth who wrote an article in a local newspaper about exorbitant rates of private buses in the area. At that time, the police randomly recorded about 20 persons including the victim as attackers of the bus.    

However, the victim said that he reported to the Gampola Magistrate Court in June as requested by the police but soon left the place as a police officer in the court informed him that his name was not on the list of attackers. He insists that the police manipulated the warrant against him and arbitrarily arrested him three months after the incident because of bribes from the bus owner. Furthermore, he said that the bus owner was present at the time of his arrest and had offered alcohol to the police officers.

Your urgent action is required to correct this matter. Please send a letter to the responsible local authorities and urge them to arrest and prosecute the officers responsible for the torture of Mr. Pushparaj Kanagaraj. An inquiry regarding the allegation of manipulation of a warrant against the victim and police accepting bribes must be conducted as well.   

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

Name of the victim: Mr. Pushparaj Kanagaraj, 20 years old, a machine operator
Current address of the victim: 7B, Arnest Place, Rawathawatta, Moratuwa
Alleged perpetrators:  Officers attached to the Pussellawa Police Station (can be identified by the victim)
Date of arrest and torture: 23 September 2004
Place of incident: Pussellawa Police Station

Case details:
 
On 5 June 2004, the villagers of Pussellawa held a protest against an assault by a private bus driver on a youth who wrote an article in a local newspaper on the previous day, alleging how private buses operating in the area benefited from charging villagers exorbitant rates. Mr. Pushparaj Kanagaraj also participated in the protest. When the Pussellawa police arrived and inquired as to who attacked and damaged the bus during the protest, about 500 protesters replied that they were responsible for that. The police then randomly recorded the names of about 20 people, including Mr. Pushparaj Kanagaraj out of the 500. After that, the police ordered the 20 people to come to the Gampola Magistrate Court on a certain date (the victim cannot remember the exact date as it happened a long time ago). Mr. Pushparaj Kanagaraj went to the Gampola Magistrate Court on the requested day, but one police officer there told him that his name was not on the list of the attackers so he could leave. Mr. Pushparaj Kanagaraj then left the court.  

On June 22, Mr. Pushparaj Kanagaraj went back to Moratuwa, where he works. On September 23, four officers from the Pussellawa Police Station came to Mr. Pushparaj Kanagaraj's workplace and told him that they had a warrant against him regarding the damage of the bus on June 5. Mr. Pushparaj Kanagaraj explained to the police that he had reported to the Gampola Magistrate Court on the informed date, but had left the court when a police officer told him that his name was not on the list. However, the police ignored him, put him into a private van and took him to the Pussellawa Police Station. Only one officer was wearing uniform among the four officers at that time.

On the way to the police station, the police officers assaulted Mr. Pushparaj Kanagaraj inside the van. He found that the private bus owner, whose bus was damaged, was also in the van with the police and saw that the owner bought a bottle of whisky at Kegalle supermarket and gave it to the police officers on the way. As soon as they arrived at the police station at about 9:00pm, Mr. Pushparaj Kanagaraj was put into a cell.

At about 9:30pm, a police officer in civilian clothes came into the cell and began to assault Mr. Pushparaj Kanagaraj severely on his buttocks, back and legs with a wooden pole. The officer also ordered the victim to sit down and assaulted him again on his soles and hands while he was holding his knees in a bent position. During the torture, the police officer accused the victim of stealing a CD player from the bus, which he denied. The assault on the victim continued for several hours until 1:00am on 24 September 2004. Mr. Pushparaj Kanagaraj reported that the police officer was drunk at that time.

Mr. Pushparaj Kanagaraj was produced before the Gampola Magistrate on the same day (September 24) at about 5:00pm and was remanded to the Kandy Prison. When the prison officers inquired, at the time of admission, about injuries on his body, Mr. Pushparaj Kanagaraj told them that the Pussellawa police assaulted him, but no treatment was provided to him at the prison. He was released on bail on November 7. The victim said that he still does not know the exact charges against him and alleged that the police arbitrarily arrested him with false charges in order to satisfy the bus owner who bribed them.

The AHRC is gravely concerned by the torture and false prosecution of the victim by the Pussellawa police. The AHRC urges the local authorities to take legal/disciplinary action against the responsible officers, and inquire into the allegations of manipulation of a warrant against the victim and police bribery with regards to this case.  
 
SUGGESTED ACTION:
Please send a letter, fax or email to the addresses below and express your concern about the case.

Sample letter:

Dear _________,

Re: SRI LANKA:  Torture of a young man allegedly prosecuted with false charges by the Pussellawa police

Name of the victim: Mr. Pushparaj Kanagaraj, 20 years old, a machine operator
Address of the victim: 7B, Arnest Place, Rawathawatta, Moratuwa
Alleged perpetrators:  Officers attached to the Pussellawa Police Station (can be identified by the victim)
Date of arrest and torture: 23 September 2004
Place of incident: Pussellawa

I am deeply disturbed to hear of the torture of Mr. Pushparaj Kanagaraj (20) by the Pussellawa police on 23 September 2004. The victim testified that he was tortured for several hours by the officer who was drunk at that time.

According to the information I have received, the victim had participated in the protest held in Pussellawa on 5 June 2004 against the assault of a youth who wrote an article in a local newspaper about exorbitant rates of private buses in the area. During the protest, a bus was attacked and damaged by the protesters. The police then randomly recorded about 20 persons including the victim as attackers and told them to report at the Gampola Magistrate Court on a certain date. However, when the victim reported to the court on the requested date, a police man in the court informed him that his name was not on the list of attackers so he left.

Now, the victim insists that the police manipulated the warrant against him and arbitrarily arrested him three months after the incident as they were bribed by the bus owner. He also confirmed that the bus owner was present at the time of his arrest and offered alcohol to the police officers.

I therefore urge you to order a proper investigation into this case and prosecute the responsible officer(s). I also request you to initiate a thorough inquiry into the allegation of manipulation of a warrant against the victim and police bribery. The victim should be compensated as well. 

Sincerely yours,


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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

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

7. Ms Manuela Carmema Castrillo
Chairperson
Working Group on Arbitrary Detention
c/o OHCHR-UNOG
1211 Geneva 10
SWITZERLAND
Fax: +41 22 917 9006 
 

Thank you.

Urgent Appeals Programme
Asian Human Rights Commission (AHRC)
Document Type :
Urgent Appeal Case
Document ID :
UA-156-2004
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.