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SRI LANKA: Second assault and serious threats made by police informer attached to the Mirihane Police

June 28, 2006

URGENT ACTION URGENT ACTION URGENT ACTION URGENT ACTION

ASIAN HUMAN RIGHTS COMMISSION – URGENT APPEALS PROGRAMME

Urgent Appeal

29 June 2006

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UA-208-2006: SRI LANKA: Second assault and serious threats made by police informer attached to the Mirihane Police

SRI LANKA: Assault; violence against women; threat and intimidation; police misconduct; collapse of rule of law
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Dear friends,

The Asian Human Rights Commission has come to learn of a second assault instituted by a man who is a police informer attached to the Mirihane Police. In both incidents the alleged perpetrator threatened the victims that they too would suffer the same fate as Gerald Perera. That this man believes it is acceptable for him to assault others and threaten them is intolerable. That the police are not taking action to prevent him from doing this again is a matter for urgent intervention by government authorities.

Jenny Violet, a 53 year-old married woman was physically dragged out of her premises by the hair on 25 June 2006 by Jayasantha, a police informer attached to Mirihane Police Station. She was then taken to another house where she was assaulted severely.  She was admitted to the Base Hospital at Gampaha at around 7:30pm on the same day and is still receiving treatment for her injuries. 

While assaulting Ms. Violet the perpetrator stated, “that the same thing that was done to Gerald Mervyn will be done to you”. This is a reference to the late Gerald Perera who also lived in the same neighbourhood and who was assassinated while waiting to give evidence in a torture case against several police officers.

According to information given to the investigating officers regarding the assassination, this same Jayasantha was identified as the person who befriended Gerald Perera and who took Gerald in his own vehicle to the bus in which he was shot.  The bus in which Gerald traveled was followed by a car in which the assassin traveled.  This car overtook the bus allowing the assassin to board the bus and subsequently to shoot Gerald.  The suspicion is that after getting Gerald into the bus Jayasantha passed the information to the driver of the car in which the assassin traveled.  Despite this being reported to the inquiring officers Jayasantha was never arrested or produced as a suspect in the murder case of Gerald Perera.

On June 16 the AHRC also reported another assault by this same Jayasantha on D.M. Chandrani Dissanayake, the wife of A.P. Nimal, who also lives in the same neighbourhood (please refer to: UA-193-2006).

Though complaints have been made regarding the attacks on both Jenny Violet and Chandrani Dissanayake no investigations have been conducted by the police.  The two families believe that the police are protecting this police informer who also has the protection of some other police officers due to his alleged involvement in Gerald Perera's case which has received wide publicity in the country as well as internationally.  The two families of the victims feel that the criminal actions of Jayasantha will not be properly investigated or prosecuted.  Besides this, Jayasantha himself has been claiming that he gets the protection of the police officers.

These two neighbouring families fear that Jayasantha will attack them again and may do harm to the husbands of the two women also as these men have made complaints to the police regarding the assaults.  It is also feared that the family of Gerald Perera, which is also residing in the same neighbourhood, may also be further harassed or come to more serious harm by Jayasantha.

Everyone in the neighbourhood, particularly the two families mentioned above and that of Gerald Perera request a serious inquiry into the matter and also criminal action to be instituted against Jayasantha.  The neighbours also seek protection against any further criminal actions by him.


SUGGESTED ACTION:

Please write a letter to the authorities strongly condemning the actions of the alleged perpetrator. Action must be taken at once before any more threats are made or any further actions are taken of a far more serious nature.

Automated email letters can be sent by the AHRC Urgent Appeals on-line support system. To support this appeal please refer to http://www.ahrchk.net/support.php?ua=UA-208-2006. For those contacts without an email address, we ask that you still write a letter and post or fax this. If you have any problems or questions using this system, please feel free to contact us at ua@ahrchk.org.

Suggested letter:

Dear _______,

SRI LANKA: Call for inquiries against the assault of Chandrani Dissanayake and Jenny Violet by police informer Jayasantha attached to the Mirihana Police

Name of victim: Jenny Violet Jayasinghe, 53-years-old, resident of 53A Mehidumawatte, Gonagaha Makavita
Name of alleged perpetrator: Jayasantha, a police informer attached to Mirihane Police Station

I am shocked to learn of a further attack by alleged police informer, Jayasantha on another person in the neighbourhood of Gonagaha while threatening to "do the same thing to her as Gerald Perera."  Gerald was assassinated while waiting to give evidence in a torture case and several police officers have been indicted regarding this murder.

Previously another neighbour complained of a similar assault by this same person.  The victims fear that no criminal action will follow due to the protection that this police informer enjoys.  If no action is taken now it is likely that there may be further assaults on these families and even others.  Given this entirely unacceptable situation, Sri Lanka's commitment to the ICCPR as well as the Convention against Torture appears to be honoured on paper only.

I request that urgent action be taken to inquire into the matter as well as to provide protection for the families concerned.

I trust you will act promptly in this matter.

Yours sincerely,
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PLEASE SEND LETTERS TO:

1. Mr. K. C. Kamalasabesan
Attorney General
Attorney General's Department
Colombo 12
SRI LANKA
Fax: +94 11 2 436421
Email: attorney@sri.lanka.net

2. Mr. Chandra Fernando
Inspector General of Police
New Secretariat
Colombo 1
SRI LANKA
Fax: +94 11 2 440440/327877
Email: chandralaw@police.lk

3. 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. J Thangawelu
DIG Legal
Police Headquarters
Colombo 1
SRI LANKA
Fax: 94 11 2381 394
Email: legaldiv@police.lk

5. National Police Commission
3rd Floor, Rotunda Towers,
109 Galle Road
Colombo 03
SRI LANKA
Tel: +94 11 2 395310
Fax: +94 11 2 395867
E-mail: polcom@sltnet.lk

6. Mr. Mahinda Rajapakse
President
Socialist Democratic Republic of Sri Lanka
C/- Office of the President
Temple Trees
150, Galle Road
Colombo 3
SRI LANKA
Fax: +94 11 2472100 / +94 11 2446657 (this is contact for Secretary to President) 
Email: secretary@presidentsoffice.lk

7. Hon. Mahinda Samarasinghe
Minister for Disaster Management and Human Rights
Parliamentary Complex
Colombo 1
SRI LANKA

8. 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 9179016 (general)
E-mail: ssyed@ohchr.org/ urgent-action@ohchr.org

9. Ms. Yakin Erturk
Special Rapporteur on Violence against Women
c/o Ms Vernonica Birga
Room 3-042
c/o OHCHR-UNOG
1211 Geneva 10
SWITZERLAND
Tel: +41 22 917 9615
Fax: +41 22 917 9006 (ATTN: SPECIAL RAPPORTEUR VIOLENCE AGAINST WOMEN)
Email: vbirga@ohchr.org / urgent-action@ohchr.org 

Thank you.

Urgent Appeals Programme
Asian Human Rights Commission (ahrchk@ahrchk.org)

Document Type :
Urgent Appeal Case
Document ID :
UA-208-2006
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.