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SRI LANKA: An innocent young man tortured by the Panadura North Police after being illegally arrested

November 23, 2004

URGENT ACTION URGENT ACTION URGENT ACTION URGENT ACTION

ASIAN HUMAN RIGHTS COMMISSION - URGENT APPEALS PROGRAM

23 November 2004
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UA-161-2004: SRI LANKA:  An innocent young man tortured by the Panadura North Police after being illegally arrested

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

The Asian Human Rights Commission (AHRC) has received information that 21-year-old Don Mahesh Duminda Weerasuriya was illegally arrested and tortured by the officers of the Panadura North Police Station on 5 November 2004. It is reported that the police arbitrarily arrested the innocent victim to inquire into the whereabouts of his uncle. According to the victim, the police also threatened to fabricate bomb possession charges against him if he did not provide information about his uncle. After being tortured at the police station, the victim was falsely charged by the police and remanded at the Kalutara Prison where he was detained until November 10.

Your urgent action is needed to pressure the government of Sri Lanka to investigate this case and to take legal/disciplinary action against those responsible for the crimes against Mr. D.M.D. Weerasuriya.

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

Name of the victim: Mr. Don Mahesh Duminda Weerasuriya, 21 years old, a driver
Address of the victim: 265/6, Sri Nivasarama Road, Pallimulla, Panadura
Alleged perpetrators:  1) Inspector of Police (I.P.) Prasanna, Officer in Charge (O.I.C.) of Panadura North Police Station, 2) I.P. Buddhadasa, O.I.C. of Crimes Branch of the Panadura North Police Station, 3) Sub Inspector (S.I.) Dhananjaya of the Panadura North Police Station
Date of illegal arrest and torture: 5 November 2004
Place of incident: Panadura North Police Station

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

Mr. Don Mahesh Duminda Weerasuriya was severely tortured by the officers of the Panadura North Police Station after being illegally arrested on 5 November 2004.

At about 7pm on 5 November 2004, Mr. D.M.D. Weerasuriya, who was scheduled to have plastic surgery on his ear within a few days, went to a pharmacy at Galle road, Pallimulla, Panadura to buy some medicine. When he came out of the pharmacy, about eight police officers from the Panadura North Police Station, only two of whom were in uniform, surrounded him and checked his body for about 15 minutes.

When the police failed to find anything on his body, an officer asked Mr. D.M.D. Weerasuriya whether a person named Janaka was his uncle. When he said yes, the police arrested him immediately. The police also arrested two bystanders along with the victim. At the time of the arrest, the police did not produce a warrant memo nor inform the victims of the reason for their arrest. They then took the three to the Panadura North Police Station in a lorry. Inside the lorry, one police officer assaulted Mr. D.M.D. Weerasuriya with his hand and kicked him while questioning him about his uncle. To this day, the victim does not know why the police are pursuing his uncle.

At the Panadura North Police Station, Mr. D.M.D. Weerasuriya was assaulted by the police officers mentioned above.  S.I. Dhananjaya ordered him to remove his T-shirt before torturing him by hitting him with his hand and kicking him with his boots; all the while questioning him about the whereabouts of his uncle. The police also threatened the victim saying that if he did not provide information about his uncle, they would implicate him on false charges of bomb possession and would produce him before a court with evidence of such charges. After that, Mr. D.M.D. Weerasuriya was put into a cell.

At 11am on the following day (November 6), the police forced Mr. D.M.D. Weerasuriya to put his fingerprints on a blank sheet of paper for the purpose of comparing his to those of other suspects. This police act is in violation of domestic law in Sri Lanka, which requires a court order for police to take fingerprints of any suspect. However, in reality, such a violation is a standard practice in most police stations in Sri Lanka.

At about 5pm on the same day (November 6), Mr. Weerasuriya was produced before Mr. G.D. Perera, acting Magistrate in Panadura, who remanded him to the Kalutara Prison. After being taken to the Kalutara Prison, Mr. D.M.D. Weerasuriya was assaulted again by the prison staff. On November 10, Mr. D.M.D. Weerasuriya was released on bail.

The AHRC is deeply concerned about the torture and fabrication of charges against the victim by the Panadura North Police. We urge the local authorities to conduct a proper inquiry into this case and bring the responsible officers to justice without delay.


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:  A young man tortured by the Panadura North Police after being illegally arrested

Name of the victim: Mr. Don Mahesh Duminda Weerasuriya, 21 years old, a driver
Address of the victim: 265/6, Sri Nivasarama Road, Pallimulla, Panadura
Alleged perpetrators:  1) Inspector of Police (I.P.) Prasanna, Officer in Charge (O.I.C.) of Panadura North Police Station, 2) I.P. Buddhadasa, O.I.C. of Crimes Branch of the Panadura North Police Station, 3) Sub Inspector (S.I.) Dhananjaya of the Panadura North Police Station
Date of illegal arrest and torture: 5 November 2004
Place of incident: Panadura North Police Station

I am deeply disturbed to hear that Mr. Don Mahesh Duminda Weerasuriya (21) was illegally arrested and tortured by the Panadura North Police on 5 November 2004. At the time of his arrest, the police failed to produce a warrant of memo for his arrest, and to inform Mr. D.M.D. Weerasuriya of the reason for his arrest.
 
In particular, I am concerned by police action in this case in relation to threats made against the victim that he would have false charges laid against him, if he did not provide sufficient information about his uncle.  As the victim was unable to provide such information, the police covered up their illegal act and falsely charged him with crimes that he did not commit.

Therefore, I urge you to investigate this case and take legal/disciplinary action against those responsible officers who illegally arrested and tortured the victim. Proper compensation should be provided to the victim for the injuries he has received and the hardship he has endured.

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 440440/327877

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 9230
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-161-2004
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.