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SRI LANKA: Ongoing torture of a young man while being illegally detained by the Meegahathenna police

July 3, 2006

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ASIAN HUMAN RIGHTS COMMISSION - URGENT APPEALS PROGRAMME

4 July 2006
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UA-215-2006: SRI LANKA:  Ongoing torture of a young man while being illegally detained by the Meegahathenna police 

SRI LANKA: Illegal detention; police torture; un-rule of law
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Dear friends, 

The Asian Human Rights Commission (AHRC) calls for your urgent intervention to support a young man named Amitha Deepthi Kumara who is currently in illegal police custody and receives continued torture at the Meegahathenna Police Station in Sri Lanka. The police arrested him on the allegation of his involvement in a case of theft on 28 June 2006. However, the process of the arrest was illegal and the police have kept the victim in illegal police custody for six days since his arrest (i.e. 28 June to July 4) even though a person arrested must be produced before a magistrate court within 24 hours after the arrest. The victim's family reported the incident to various governmental authorities including the Human Rights Commission of Sri Lanka but up to now there has yet to be any action taken to release the victim from the police custody or arrest the perpetrators.

At around 8:30am on 28 June 2006, Amitha Deepthi Kumara (22) was arrested by the Meegahathenna police along with his friend while they were walking along the road. The police did not show any arrest warrant during the process of the arrest. The two men were then taken to the Meegahathenna Police Station where they were brutally assaulted by the police. The police accused Mr. Kumara of involvement in a case of theft. After being informed her son's arrest, Mr. Kumara's mother went to see her son on the next day (June 29) but the police did not allow her to meet him. However, she did learn about the brutal police torture of her son. The mother then informed the Human Rights Commission (HRC) of Sri Lanka via telephone and fax regarding her son's illegal arrest and torture on the same day.

On June 30, a local human rights group called Janasansadaya also reported this incident to the HRC via fax about the continued torture of Mr. Kumara. However, Mr. Kumara remains in the police custody and has continued to be tortured by the police until now. According to Sri Lankan law, a person arrested should be produced before the magistrate court within 24 hours after his/her arrest. The Meegahathenna police have not brought the victim to the magistrate court for 6 days since his arrest (i.e. 28 June to July 4) and are detaining him illegally. It seems that the 'torture hotline' of the HRC is totally ineffective and/or the police completely disregard the Commissioners.  The commissioners of Sri Lanka's Human Rights Commission have been chosen directly by the Executive President, bypassing a constitutional provision which prohibits such a choice, even though the Constitution of Sri Lanka requires the selection of commissioners to be done by the Constitutional Council, on the basis of merit. Since then, the HRC has lost its independence and competence and become defective to protect the people's rights.

Meanwhile, Janasansadaya further brought this case to the notice of the Inspector General of Police (IGP), the National Police Commission (NPC), Deputy Inspector General - Legal Division, Senior Superintendent of Police (SSP) of Kalutara and Attorney General by sending the letters both by fax and postal mail. All these institutions were urged to take immediate steps to secure the release of Mr. Kumara or have him produced before the courts without delay. 


SUGGESTED ACTION:
Please write letters to the persons listed below and urge them to immediately take action to release the victim from illegal police detention. Please also urge them to order a prompt and impartial investigation into this case and arrest/prosecute those responsible.

To support this appeal, please click to: 

Suggested letter:

Dear __________,

SRI LANKA:  An ongoing torture of a young man while being illegally detained by the Meegahathenna police 

Name of the victim: Amitha Deepthi Kumara, aged 22, unmarried, mechanic by occupation, residing in  Welapahala, Meegahathenna, Sri Lanka 
Alleged Perpetrators: Officers attached to the Meegahathenna Police Station
Date of incident:  from 8:30am on 28 June 2006 up to now

I am writing to bring to your urgent attention an illegal detention and ongoing torture of the young man mentioned above by the Meegahathenna police.

According to the information I have received, Amitha Deepthi Kumara (22) was arrested with his friend by the Meegahathenna police on 28 June 2006 with the allegation of his involvement into a theft case. However, the police did not show any arrest warrant to the two men during the process of their arrest. They were then taken to the two men were then taken to the Meegahathenna Police Station where they were brutally assaulted by the police. The police also did not allow Mr. Kumara's mother to meet her son when she came to the police station on the next day (June 29).  

Even though a person arrested must be produced before the magistrate court within 24 hours after his/her arrest according to the law, the victim remains in the police custody illegally and has continued to be tortured by the police till now. The Meegahathenna police have not brought the victim to the magistrate court. 

Mr. Kumara's mother reported her son's illegal detention and torture to various governmental authorities including the Human Rights Commission (HRC) of Sri Lanka via telephone and fax on June 29 and June 30 but nothing happened since then.

I therefore strongly urge you to take immediate action to release the victim from illegal police detention. I also urge you to order a prompt and impartial investigation into the alleged torture of the victim and bring those responsible to justice as soon as possible.

Your urgent action would be highly appreciated.

Yours truly,


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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. 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

8. Ms Leila Zerrougui
Chairperson
Working Group on arbitrary detention
Attn: Mr Miguel de la Lama
OHCHR-UNOG
1211 Geneva 10
SWITZERLAND
Fax: +41 22 917 9006 (ATTENTION: WORKING GROUP ARBITRARY DETENTION)
Email: mdelalama@ohchr.org


Thank you.

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

Document Type :
Urgent Appeal Case
Document ID :
UA-215-2006
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.