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SRI LANKA: Man tortured by Alawathugoda Police

July 20, 2006

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ASIAN HUMAN RIGHTS COMMISSION - URGENT APPEALS PROGRAMME

Urgent Appeal

21 July 2006
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UA-248-2006: SRI LANKA: Man tortured by Alawathugoda Police

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 detailing the torture of a man by police officers attached to the Alawathugoda Police Station. The victim was beaten and humiliated by the police who accused him of being in possession of illicit liquor. They also threatened to disappear him if he did not cooperate. Upon release the victim received medical attention at the Kandy General Hospital.

On 9 July 2006, at about 1.30am, the victim was stopped by the police while he was returning home after attending the funeral home of Gune Ayyas Mother. The police were in civil clothes at the time. They told the victim’s friends to go away as it was he who they were after. At that point they began to brutally beat the victim.

After beating the victim for some time the police then asked him where the kasippu (illegally made arrack (liquor)) was. The victim maintained that he was not in possession of any kasippu. The police then made the victim take off his shirt and tied this around his mouth. They then put him in their nearby jeep and drove to the police station.

Once at the police station the victim was forced to strip naked and to walk around the building. During this time he was also beaten once more. He was then told to sit on a table where he remained until 6am that morning. At that point Police Officer Hettiarachchi (S.I.) came and warned, "If you don't tell me the place, even now, I know where you should be left".  When, one of the victim’s fellow villagers phoned the police station and asked whether he was there, Mr. Hettiarachchi replied "no".  Further, he told the villager that the person in question (the victim)was not taken to the police station. Such a statement led to the victim’s fears that he might be disappeared.

On July 10 at about 9.30a.m, the victim was released by the police. At 1.30pm he went to the Peradeniya Government Hospital due to the severe pain that he was suffering. As patients were not being admitted that day, the victim instead went to the Kandy General Hospital where he was admitted into ward No. 10. The Judicial Medical Officer attended to him and wrote down his details. He was discharged the following day. Upon his release from hospital the victim approached the Human Rights Office in Katugastota to lodge a complaint.

SUGGESTED ACTION:

Please write a letter to the relevant authorities requesting their intervention in seeking justice for 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 for the torture inflicted on him.

To support this appeal, please click: 

Suggested letter:

Dear ______________,

SRI LANKA: Man tortured by Alawathugoda Police

Name of victim: Suppaiya Saundarajan, resident of Hapugollawatta, Vilanagama, Kandy, Sir Lanka; occupation – Mason, single.
Names of alleged perpetrators:
1. Mr. Hettiarachchi (Sub Inspector of Police of Alawathugoda Police Station)
2. Mr. Kulathissa (driver)
Place of incident: Vilanagama
Date of incident: 9 July 2006

I write seeking your intervention in bringing justice to yet another torture victim in Sri Lanka. According to the information I have received, the victim was tortured by police officers attached to the Alawathugoda Police Station on 9 July 2006. The victim was beaten and humiliated by the police who accused him of being in possession of illicit liquor. Police Officer Hettiarachchi (S.I.) also threatened to disappear him if he did not cooperate by informing outsiders that the victim was not in his custody. Upon release the victim received medical attention at the Kandy General Hospital. The Judicial Medical Officer attended to him and wrote down his details. He was discharged the following day. Upon his release from hospital the victim approached the Human Rights Office in Katugastota to lodge a complaint.

I trust that you will share in my frustration at the repeated incidents of torture, arbitrary arrest and detention and blatant corruption and cover-up by the police in Sri Lanka. The impunity that police officers enjoy in the country makes the pursuit of justice for victims almost impossible. Such a situation is highly unacceptable and must be remedied without any further delay.

I therefore ask that you take steps to ensure that an investigation is launched into the actions of the accused and if the allegations are found to be true, then charges must be laid. 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 for the torture inflicted on him.

I look forward to your intervention.

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-248-2006
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.