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SRI LANKA: Brutal torture of a minor by Uragaha Police

November 14, 2005

URGENT ACTION URGENT ACTION URGENT ACTION URGENT ACTION

ASIAN HUMAN RIGHTS COMMISSION – URGENT APPEALS PROGRAMME

Urgent Appeal

14 November 2005
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UA-207-2005: SRI LANKA: Brutal torture of a minor by Uragaha Police

SRI LANKA: Fabricated charges; arbitrary arrest; torture 
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Dear Friends,

The Asian Human Rights Commission (AHRC) has received information regarding the case of 16-year-old, W.K. Nilantha who was taken by two home guards to the Uragaha Police Station and severely tortured by police officers.  According to the victim, several policemen tied his hands behind his back and hung him from the ceiling with rope. They then proceeded to severely hit him with wooden poles, especially on the soles of his feet, until he began to bleed.

Later the police took the victim to the Uragaha Government Hospital where a doctor, after examining him, said there was nothing wrong with him.  Thereafter he was taken to the Galle remand prison where the victim told the prison authorities of the torture by the police. He was then admitted to the prison hospital for four days. The victim was then transferred to the Karapitiya Teaching Hospital where he was warded for seven days.

We request your urgent intervention in asking the Inspector General of the Police to order the Special Investigations Unit to immediately commence an investigation into the alleged conduct of the Uragaha Police. If it is found that the alleged perpetrators committed crimes against Nilantha, they must be made accountable and if found guilty of torture, indicted under the CAT Act (Act No. 22 of 1994).  Protection must also be afforded to the victim and his family during the investigation of the police officers and compensation needs to be offered to W.K. Nilantha for the pain and distress he has suffered and also for his medical expenses.

Urgent Appeals Programme
Asian Human Rights Commission
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DETAILED INFORMATION:

Victim: W.K. Nilantha, 16 years-of-age and educated up to grade 6; currently employed as a casual labourer
Address: Obadawatte, Bentota
Alleged Perpetrators: Super Intendent Silva and two other police officers of the Uragaha Police Station

Date of incident:  7 October 2005
Place of incident: Uragaha Police Station
 
Case details:

At approximately 4:00am on 7 October 2005, a villager named Sandalal escorted the victim under threat to a village boutique popularly known as 'Sarath Kada (Sarath boutique). There, the victim was instructed to climb onto the boutique roof, lower himself down inside and bring whatever he could find out from inside the boutique. However, when the victim entered the boutique from the roof, several people inside caught him and tied him up. Then two home guards from the Uragaha police station came and took him to the police station.

At the station, the victim was locked in a cell for some time. Then he was taken into another room and fingerprinted. According to the victim, several policemen tied his hands behind his back and hung him from the ceiling with rope. They then severely tortured him with Kurundu and Kitul poles (hard wooden poles), especially on the soles of his feet, until his soles began to bleed. They then lowered him onto the ground and continued to torture him by hitting him with the poles and savagely kicking him with their boots. The victim says he was bleeding from his nose. The policemen then dragged him to a lavatory and forced his head into a basin filled with water mixed with chilli powder.

The police then handcuffed the victim, put him in a police jeep and took him to an isolated field where they resumed their torture on him. He says he was tortured with poles. He was dragged back into the jeep and brought back to the police station. According to the victim, he could not tolerate the torture anymore, so despite his injuries, as he was getting down from the police vehicle he escaped and ran to the Uragaha Government Hospital adjoining the police station. However, the policemen caught up with him and severely tortured him inside the hospital premises. Then they took him back to the station.

Later the police took him to the Uragaha Government Hospital.  Despite the victim suffering severe and visible injuries, a doctor at the hospital examined him and concluded that 'there is nothing wrong with you'. Thereafter he was taken to the Galle remand prison where the victim insists he told the prison authorities that the police had tortured him. He was thereafter admitted to the prison hospital for four days. Later the prison officials took him to the Karapitiya Teaching hospital - presumably because the prison hospital was not equipped to treat his injuries - and the victim was warded there for seven days. The victim says that a surgical operation was also performed on him. 
 
One month later, the victim - who hails from a very poor family - is still physically and mentally suffering from the brutal torture he endured at the hands of the Uragaha police.

SUGGESTED ACTION:

Please write to the Inspector General of Police requesting him to order an impartial inquiry by the Special Investigation Unit into this incident so that the perpetrators are duly punished and the victim is compensated for the damages he suffered while he was in custody.

Sample letter:
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Dear Mr Fernando,

SRI LANKA: Brutal torture of a minor by Uragaha Police

Victim: W.K. Nilantha, 16 years-of-age and educated up to grade 6; currently employed as a casual labourer
Address: Obadawatte, Bentota
Alleged Perpetrators: Super Intendent Silva and two other police officers of the Uragaha Police Station

Date of incident:  7 October 2005
Place of incident: Uragaha Police Station

I write to express my deep concern over the case of W.K. Nilantha, a 16-year-old boy who was allegedly brutally tortured by S.I. Silva and two other officers of the Uragaha Police Station.

When the victim was caught breaking into a local shop, which he claims he was threatened and forced into doing, two home guards took him to the Uragaha Police Station, where he was severely tortured by police officers.  According to the victim, several policemen tied his hands behind his back and hung him from the ceiling with rope. They then proceeded to severely hit him with wooden poles, especially on the soles of his feet, until he began to bleed. The policemen then dragged him to a lavatory and forced his head into a basin filled with water mixed with chilli powder. Not content with this level of torture, the police then took the victim to an isolated field and continued to torture him there.

Later the police took the victim to the Uragaha Government Hospital where a doctor, after examining him, said there was nothing wrong with him.  Thereafter he was taken to the Galle remand prison where the victim told the prison authorities of the torture by the police. He was then admitted to the prison hospital for four days. The victim was then transferred to the Karapitiya Teaching Hospital where he was warded for seven days.

In light of this brutal torture on a minor, I request you to order the Special Investigations Unit to immediately commence an investigation into the alleged conduct of the Uragaha Police. If it is found that the alleged perpetrators committed crimes against Nilantha, they must be made accountable and if found guilty of torture, indicted under the CAT Act (Act No. 22 of 1994).  Protection must also be afforded to the victim and his family during the investigation of the police officers and compensation needs to be offered to W.K. Nilantha for the pain and distress he has suffered and also for his medical expenses.

Despite claims to the contrary, torture in police custody remains common in Sri Lanka and it is the duty of your office to impartially investigate all reports and claims of torture by citizens.

I therefore trust your intervention will be forthcoming without delay.

Yours sincerely,
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PLEASE SEND LETTERS TO:

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

PLEASE SEND COPIES TO:

1. Mr. K. C. Kamalasabesan
Attorney General
Attorney General's Department
Colombo 12
SRI LANKA
Fax: +94 11 2 436 421

2. Mr. Ranjith Abeysuriya
Chairperson
National Police Commission
3rd Floor, Rotunda Towers,
109 Galle Road
Colombo 03
SRI LANKA
Tel: +94 11 2 395310
Fax: +94 11 2 395867
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 694925 / 673806
Fax: +94 11 2 694924 / 696470
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. Mr. Mahinda 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. Prof. Harendra De Silva
Chairperson
National Child Protection Authority
330, Thalawathgoda Road
Madiwella
SRI LANKA
Fax: +94 11 2 778975
E-mail: ncpa@childprotection.gov.lk

7. Bo Viktor Nylund
Head of Child Protection
UNICEF Sri Lanka
P.O. Box 143, Colombo
SRI LANKA
Tel: +94 11 2 555 270 (6 lines)
Fax: +94 11 2  551 333
E-mail: colombo@unicef.org

8. Mr. Jacob Egbert Doek
Chairperson
Committee on the Rights of the Child
OHCHR-UNOG
8-14 Avenue de la Paix
1211 Geneva 10
SWITZERLAND
Fax: +41 22 917 9022
Email: urgent-action@ohchr.org (Attention: Committee on the Rights of the Child)

9. 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

10. Ms Manuela Carmema Castrillo
Chairperson
Working Group on Arbitrary Detention
c/o OHCHR-UNOG
1211 Geneva 10
SWITZERLAND
Fax: +41 22 917 9006 (ATTENTION: Working Group on Arbitrary Detention)
Email: urgent-action@ohchr.org (Attention: Working Group on Arbitrary Detention)

Thank you.

Urgent Appeals Programme
Asian Human Rights Commission

Document Type :
Urgent Appeal Case
Document ID :
UA-207-2005
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.