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SRI LANKA: Man brutally tortured by Wanduramba Police Station requires months of hospitalisation

July 20, 2006

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ASIAN HUMAN RIGHTS COMMISSION - URGENT APPEALS PROGRAMME

Urgent Appeal

21 July 2006
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UA-247-2006: SRI LANKA: Man brutally tortured by Wanduramba Police Station requires months of hospitalisation

SRI LANKA: Torture; arbitrary arrest and detention; complete collapse of rule of law
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Dear friends,

The Asian Human Rights Commission (AHRC) has received information regarding the brutal torture of a man allegedly by Sergeant Samaranayake of the Wanduramba police. The victim was taken into custody on 11 July 2006, but was not given any explanation for this. On the way to the police station, and once inside, the victim was beaten mercilessly with poles causing extensive injuries to his body. He is now receiving medical treatment in hospital and has been told that he will need to remain there for at least one and a half months. This case is very similar to the torture of Gerald Perera who, like this victim, also suffered kidney failure due to blows.

On July 11, between 1:30 and 2:00am, the victim, Hevamarambage Premalal was approached at his home by officers from the Wanduramba police. They told him to put a shirt on and to accompany them as they needed to take a statement from him. One of the officers the victim identified as Police Constable Lasantha.

As he walked from his home, the victim was suddenly struck in the mouth by Sergeant Samaranayake who then used a wooden pole to beat him. The victim was taken in a jeep to a place where police sign patrol log books and then on to the police station. At the police station the victim was handcuffed and hung from above, with his feet unable to touch the ground. The officer who drove the jeep was the one who hung the victim in the cell.

While the victim was hanging from the handcuffs, Sergeant Samaranayake approached with a wooden pole and began beating him across the back and head. In fact the beating was so severe that the pole broke into pieces. The police then left the victim alone but returned a short time later evidently drunk and holding iron poles. They then began beating the victim again with the poles, until the point that he lost consciousness. When he regained consciousness the victim asked for water, which PC Lasantha brought to him. PC Nimal Ranjith then asked what happened to him and the victim explained the events.

The following morning Sergeant Samaranayake returned with a sarong.  He took the victim outside with two other persons and bathed him.  After that he was put behind a jeep where he overheard discussions amongst the police saying that they would take him away along small remote roads, being careful to avoid the main roads. It was then that the victim realised he was at the mortuary of the Karapitiya Teaching Hospital.  At that point the victim lost consciousness again and is unaware what happened to him at that time. 

Some time later when he regained consciousness the victim discovered that he was in hospital.  He was still handcuffed and there was a chain attached to the handcuff and the bed.  He realised that he was under remand custody but did not know the reason for this or what the charges were that had been laid against him. 

An examination was conducted on the victim at the hospital. According to the Judicial Medical Officer, the victim has been seriously assaulted with a blunt weapon and is under dialysis.  He also noted that (direct quotes from his report):

1. This persons upper body and lower body has been beaten.  According to the marks on his body he has been assaulted with two types of blunt weapons. 

2. The upper part of his body has been beaten with a blunt weapon and there have been internal injuries, there are not much external injuries visible, however internal muscles have been harmed, there have been injuries to internal organs.

3. The marks due to beatings below waist are very visible.  There are external injuries.  Due to that internal muscles has been broken and there have been internal bleedings.

4. There have been a lot of blows been given the back side of the victim.  One could count some of the injury marks below waist but not some others. 

5. Due to beatings there have been internal bleedings and due to that there have been malfunctioning of kidneys.  He is passing urine through a tube.  He will take months to recover and at least has to spend 1 ½ months in the hospital.

6. There are injuries on the wrists indicating that he has been handcuffed and possibly hanged from them.

7. His legs too are swollen due to injuries to muscles. 

The victim’s situation remains critical. 

SUGGESTED ACTION:

Please write a letter to the relevant authorities voicing your condemnation of this heinous attack on the victim. Those deemed responsible must be brought before a court of law and punished for the crimes they have committed. It must be ensured that the victim’s medical costs are met and that he receives compensation and appropriate medical attention for the trauma he has suffered.

To support this appeal, please click: 

Suggested letter:

Dear ______________,

SRI LANKA: Man brutally tortured by Wanduramba Police Station requires months of hospitalisation

Name of victim:  Hevamarambage Premalal (32), married with three children
Name of alleged perpetrators: Sergeant Samaranayake and other officers from the Wanduramba Police
Place of incident: Wanduramba Police Station
Date of incident: 11 July 2006

I am appalled by the sheer brutality of Sergeant Samaranayake of the Wanduramba Police, who it is alleged tortured a man on 11 July 2006. The victim, Hevamarambage Premalal was taken into custody on July 11 but was given no explanation for this. On the way to the police station he was struck in the mouth and assaulted with a wooden pole. Once at the police station he was handcuffed and hung from above from these. Sergeant Samaranayake, it is alleged, then repeatedly beat the victim with the pole causing extensive injuries to his body.

After leaving the victim to hang in his cell for some time Sergeant Samaranayake and other officers soon returned and were visibly drunk and wielding iron poles. They then mercilessly began to beat the victim once more resulting in him losing consciousness. When he regained consciousness the victim asked for water, which PC Lasantha brought to him. PC Nimal Ranjith then asked what happened to him and the victim explained the events.

The following morning Sergeant Samaranayake returned with a sarong.  He took the victim outside with two other persons and bathed him.  After that he was put behind a jeep where he overheard discussions amongst the police saying that they would take him away along small remote roads, being careful to avoid the main roads. It was then that the victim realised he was at the mortuary of the Karapitiya Teaching Hospital.  At that point the victim lost consciousness again and is unaware what happened to him next. 

Some time later when he regained consciousness the victim discovered that he was in hospital.  He was still handcuffed and there was a chain attached to the handcuff and the bed.  He realised that he was under remand custody but did not know the reason for this or what the charges were that had been laid against him. 

An examination was conducted on the victim at the hospital. According to the Judicial Medical Officer, the victim has been seriously assaulted with a blunt weapon and is under dialysis.  He also noted that (direct quotes from his report):

1. This persons upper body and lower body has been beaten.  According to the marks on his body he has been assaulted with two types of blunt weapons. 

2. The upper part of his body has been beaten with a blunt weapon and there have been internal injuries, there are not much external injuries visible, however internal muscles have been harmed, there have been injuries to internal organs.

3. The marks due to beatings below waist are very visible.  There are external injuries.  Due to that internal muscles has been broken and there have been internal bleedings.

4. There have been a lot of blows been given the back side of the victim.  One could count some of the injury marks below waist but not some others. 

5. Due to beatings there have been internal bleedings and due to that there have been malfunctioning of kidneys.  He is passing urine through a tube.  He will take months to recover and at least has to spend 1 ½ months in the hospital.

6. There are injuries on the wrists indicating that he has been handcuffed and possibly hanged from them.

7. His legs too are swollen due to injuries to muscles. 

The victim’s situation remains critical. 

I trust you will share my grave concerns for the victim and anger at those who perpetrated this terrible crime. I ask that an independent investigation be launched immediately into this incident and charges laid against those deemed responsible. Should they be found guilty in a court of law, then appropriate punishment must be passed. It must also be ensured that the victim’s medical costs are met and that he receives compensation and appropriate medical attention for the trauma he has suffered.

Yours sincerely,
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PLEASE SEND YOUR LETTERS TO:

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

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

3. Secretary
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. Secretary
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

5. 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

6. Prof. Manfred Nowak
Special Rapporteur on the Question of Torture
OHCHR-UNOG
1211 Geneva 10
SWITZERLAND
Tel: +41 22 917 9230
Fax: +41 22 9179016 (general)

Thank you.

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

Document Type :
Urgent Appeal Case
Document ID :
UA-247-2006
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.