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SRI LANKA: Sixty-year-old man arbitrarily arrested, detained, tortured and deprived of medical treatment by the Godakawela police

December 9, 2005

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ASIAN HUMAN RIGHTS COMMISSION - URGENT APPEALS PROGRAMME

Urgent Appeal

8 December 2005
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UA-233-2005: SRI LANKA: Sixty-year-old man arbitrarily arrested, detained, tortured and deprived of medical treatment by the Godakawela police

SRI LANKA: Arbitrary arrest; detention and torture; maltreatment and deprivation from receiving medical treatment; alleged fabricated charges
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Dear friends,

The Asian Human Rights Commission (AHRC) has been informed that a sixty-year-old man was arbitrarily arrested and detained, then tortured by the Godakawela police on 30 October 2005. The man was arrested from his home on a false compliant made to the police station by one of his neighbours. He was assaulted with sticks, and punched and kicked, while in a cell of the police station.  

According to our sources, the victim was tortured during arrest, on his way to the police station, and once in custody. The victims also reported that he was deprived of medical treatment, and the police also intimidated his relatives. In addition, the victim was forced to give a statement to the police, and only after recording the statement was he bailed from custody on October 31.  

Following the incident, the victim received medical treatment for his injuries at the Ratnapura hospital, where he was warded for seven days. The victim made a complaint to the authorities, including the IGP, NPC and HRC seeking justice for the violation he suffered. The government authorities in Sri Lanka have, however, yet to take any punitive action regarding the case.   

The AHRC has also learned that the relatives of the victims were threatened by the police not to disclose his torture to anyone, and in case of disclosure they would be arrested and tortured in the same way.

The AHRC is gravely concerned for the security of the victim and strongly urges the Sri Lankan authorities to provide immediate and effective protection to him and his family. All incidents involving the victim should be investigated thoroughly and those responsible for any violations, particularly those pertaining to the torture, must be charged and brought before a court of law. 

Urgent Appeals Programme
Asian Human Rights Commission
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DETAILED INFORMATION:

Name of the victim: AGA Samaranayake (60), a farmer by occupation, married with seven children
Name of the accused: Police Constables Marasinghe, Sanath, Sunil Shantha, Dharmasiri and another attached to the Godakawela police station
Date of incident: 30 October 2005

Case Details:

On 30 October 2005, several policemen of the Godakawela police, including police constables Marasinghe, Sanath, Sunil Shantha, Dharmasiri and another arrived at victim’s house. The policemen arrested him and took him in a three-wheeler vehicle. On their way to the police station, the policemen assaulted Samaranyake severely with their fists and banged his head hard against the side of the three-wheeler. At the police station he was put inside a cell and beaten again. The policemen hit the victim with sticks and punched him and kicked him with their boots. As a result, the victim began to bleed from his nose and mouth. 

That night, when relatives of the victim went to see him, the police threatened to assault them and chased them away. At around 10.00pm, when the physical condition of Samaranayake deteriorated the police took him to the Godkawela government hospital. There he complained to the doctor about the police beating. The doctor examined him and requested that he be warded at the hospital. However, the police refused this request and took the victim instead back to the police station, where he was locked up in a cell. 

On October 31, at around 9.00am, the police recorded a statement by the victim and released him on police bail. To his knowledge, no charges were laid against him, nor was he informed to attend the court.    

On the same day, due to the unbearable pain from his injuries, the victim went to the Ratnapura hospital and was admitted to ward number six. He stayed there for about seven days to receive treatment for his injuries. He informed the doctor who examined him and the JMO about the assault upon him by the police. The hospital police also recorded his statement in this regard. 

To date, the police have neither charged the victim nor instituted action against him in a court of law. He wrote to the authorities, including the IGP, NPC and HRC seeking justice for the violation of his fundamental rights guaranteed by the Constitution of Sri Lanka. No action, however, has been taken to date.   

SUGGESTED ACTION:

Please write to the relevant authorities listed below voicing your strong condemnation of the alleged conduct of the Godakawela police.

Sample letter:

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Dear ____________,

SRI LANKA: Sixty-year-old man arbitrarily arrested, detained, tortured and deprived of medical 
treatment by the Godakawela police

Name of the victim: AGA Samaranayake (60), a farmer by occupation, married with seven children
Name of the accused: Police Constables Marasinghe, Sanath, Sunil Shantha, Dharmasiri and another attached to the Godakawela police station
Date of incident: 30 October 2005

I am writing to bring to your attention the arbitrary arrest and detention, torture, deprivation of medical treatment and inhuman treatment of a sixty-year-old man by the Godakawela police in Sri Lanka on October 30 2005.

According to the information I have received, the victim was arrested from his house, tortured, and detained in the police station for no apparent reason. The police brutally tortured him, beating him with sticks and kicking and punching him. This torture took place inside a vehicle on the way to the Godakawela police station, and also while in custody. He was then detained overnight and was subjected to further torture, abuse and threats. Subsequently, the victim began to bleed from his nose and mouth. He was deprived of medical treatment despite the doctors at the Godakaywla hospital stating that it was necessary to him to be admitted.

Along with threatening the victim, the police also threatened his family and chased them away when they visited him at the police station. For this reason, I am concerned for the safety of the victim and his family.

The victim has sent letters to the authorities seeking justice regarding this violation of fundamental rights he has suffered.

In light of this, it is vital that the victim receive full and appropriate protection. This is only possible with your intervention. I therefore request that you order a prompt and thorough investigation into the alleged conduct of the police.  If it is found that the alleged perpetrators committed crimes against the victim, then they must be made accountable for their actions and if found guilty of torture, indicted under the CAT Act No. 22 of 1994.  What is more, the Godkawela Police must compensate the victim for the injuries he suffered.     

Such action by the police is common practice in many of Sri Lanka’s police stations. It reflects the lack of training many police officers have in terms of investigation skills, and the excessive powers they wield and abuse. Therefore, I urge you and other government officials in Sri Lanka to consider reforming your current law enforcement system by introducing better training programmes for your police officers and to make them more accountable for the abuses they have committed against ordinary citizens of Sri Lanka.

I look forward to your urgent intervention in this matter.

Yours sincerely,

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SEND LETTERS TO:

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

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

3. 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

4. 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

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

6. Mr. Mahinda Rajapakse
President of Sri Lanka
Cambridge Place
Colombo 7
SRI LANKA
Fax: +94 11 2 682905 / 575454
E-mail: secpm@sltnet.lk or bradmanw@slt.lk

7. The National Police Commission
c/o Mr. Mahinda Rajapakse
President of Sri Lanka
Cambridge Place
Colombo 7
SRI LANKA
Fax: +94 11 2 682905 / 575454
E-mail: secpm@sltnet.lk or bradmanw@slt.lk

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 22 917 9016 (general)
E-mail: ssyed@ohchr.org

9. Ms Leila Zerrougui
Chairperson
Working Group on Arbitrary Detention
c/o Miguel de la Lama
OHCHR-UNOG
1211 Geneva 10
SWITZERLAND
Fax: +41 22 917 9006 (ATTENTION: Working Group on Arbitrary Detention)
Email: mdelalama@ohchr.org

Thank you.

Urgent Appeals Programme
Asian Human Rights Commission

Document Type :
Urgent Appeal Case
Document ID :
UA-233-2005
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.