SRI LANKA: Police kill a man and subsequently fabricate stories to justify his death 

Dear friends,

The Asian Human Rights Commission (AHRC) has received information regarding the killing of a man, Udaya Kumara, by policemen attached to the Mount Lavinia police station on 19 December 2005. After the victim’s death, the policemen involved allegedly fabricated stories to justify Udaya’s death. The police claimed that Udaya tried to throw a hand grenade at them when they tried to arrest him. The victim’s family, however, is not convinced with the police’s version of events. They claim that Udaya was killed due to mistaken identity.

This is yet another incident wherein the police have resorted to fabricating stories against people they have killed to justify their death. The police in Sri Lanka have regularly and arbitrarily deprived suspects or victims of their right to life in absence of a due process of law. In any circumstance, a person suspected to have committed a crime should be brought to court – this right is non-derogable. The AHRC condemns this killing and supports the family’s call for an independent inquiry into the matter.

The police version that it was a killing in self-defense is unacceptable; for even if there was an attempt to use a grenade, the suspect could have been brought under control through the use of non-lethal force. Additionally, the family’s claim that the police have mistakenly identified the victim in their operation should also be investigated.

Your urgent intervention is required to ensure that an immediate and impartial investigation is conducted in this case. The policemen involved must be placed under investigation and sanctions must be imposed upon them without delay. If the allegations are found to be true, appropriate criminal and administrative charges must be filed against them in court.

Urgent Appeals Programme
Asian Human Rights Commission
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DETAILED INFORMATION:

Name of the victim: Udaya Kumara from Panadura
Alleged perpetrators: Some officers attached to Mount Lavinia Police
Date of incident: 19 December 2005

Case details:

On the 19th December Udaya Kumara was shot dead allegedly by some officers attached to the Mount Lavinia police station.  The family suspects that probably the shooting was due to mistaken identity.  Udaya Kumara had never had any criminal record.  He is a person from Moneragala, which is far away from Panadura where he lived due to his employment.

After the death the police tried to make out that the victim tried to throw a hand grenade when they tried to arrest him and that it was on that occasion that he was shot dead.  It is a very common story made out by the police after extrajudicial killings or torture that they were merely trying to defend themselves by such shooting or torture.  There are also many regular stories of people being killed in a campaign to eliminate “criminals”.  There are instances when innocent people are killed due to mistaken identity.

Often such incidents are not investigated and only the version given by the police is recorded.  The victim’s family has called for an independent investigation into the matter.

Given the frequency with which the police in Sri Lanka use this kind of excuse for killings there is no reason to believe their version of the story in the present case at all. The state is under obligation to inquire into all killings and when the alleged culprits are police officers these investigations need to be conducted by independent bodies.  The UN treaty bodies such as the Human Rights Committee and the CAT Committee has repeatedly drawn the attention of the Sri Lankan government to ensure prompt and impartial inquiries into abuses of human rights.  However, the mechanisms for such inquiries are in fact degenerating more rather than improving.

 

 

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