SRI LANKA: Another child tortured by the police; children’s rights abused

SRI LANKA: Another child tortured by the police; children’s rights abused

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– Name of the Victim: V. G. G. Chaminda Premalal, (16 years old) – a Grade 11 student, Vilayaya Mahavidyalaya [High School], Polonnaruwa

– Date of the Incident: July 9 and 10, 2002

– Address: No. 65, Gamunu Pura, Devagala, Polonnaruwa

– Perpetrators: Several officers of the Aralaganvila police station in Polonnaruwa

CASE DETAILS

V. G. G. Chaminda Premalal was arrested by several Aralaganvila police officers while he was at home. The arrest took place on July 9, 2002, at about 7:40 p.m. The arresting officers said that Chaminda Premalal was taken for questioning for several theft cases. At the police station, he was told that he was responsible for breaking into a hair salon and some houses in the area. He was then beaten with a PVC pipe on his back, including his spinal cord, and on the soles of his feet. His head was pushed hard against a wall several times. He was then pushed onto the floor, and the officers trampled upon his body.

On the following day, July 10, 2002, he was taken to the upper floor of the police station and shown a rope. He was then threatened that if he did not admit responsibility for the thefts he would be hung.

“We will hang you up; we will kill and throw you out,” he was told. “You know we can escape. We can say that you ran away on the way. We will break your hands and legs. We will hit you in a way you will die in a month.”

These threats were allegedly made by two police officers of the Crimes Division, Lalith Rajamantri and Nihal, who were drunk, and several other officers, who the victim states he would be able to identify if he sees them again. They kept on assaulting him several times.

Chaminda Premalal shouted: “Don’t hit me. My head is aching. I will admit to anything.”

Then the torture stopped. He was taken home, and his own personal belongings – his bicycle which he uses to go to school, a screwdriver and a calculator used at school – were taken into police custody. He was taken to the police station again. The next day he came before a magistrate, and the magistrate ordered that bail be granted to him.

As a result of being tortured, the soles of his feet are swollen, he has pain in his spine, he faints periodically and has headaches, vomits and is confused. He is now being treated at the hospital in Aralaganvila.

Complaints and accusations of torture are building against the Sri Lankan police. Within the last two weeks, the torture of two school children, aged 10 and 12, by several police officers in Hiniduma, Galle, has shocked the nation and caused outrage. The attempt to get a confession from innocent people in unresolved criminal cases is the cause of many cases of torture which have been exposed and made public. The level of fabrication of cases and the use of blackmail by police officers has reached unbelievable proportions. Law enforcement has become a sad mixture of tragedy and comedy. The level of people¡¯s anger and outrage against the police is extremely high. The political authorities, who are very much aware of the problem, do little though to change this course of events. They take no legal or disciplinary action against the police despite the fact that under Sri Lankan law torture is a crime punishable by a mandatory minimum sentence of seven years in prison. No one has yet been convicted under this law though, which was passed in 1994. Several cases are pending before the courts, however.
 

SUGGESTED ACTION

Please write to the prime minister, the inspector general of police (IGP), the attorney general and the minister of education and express your concern about the general use of torture in criminal investigations by the police and in particular, the use of torture against this 16-year-old boy, V. G. G. Chaminda Premalal.
 

 

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