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SRI LANKA: Absence of Investigation due to the alleged corruption of Bulathsinhala police

November 1, 2007

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ASIAN HUMAN RIGHTS COMMISSION – URGENT APPEALS PROGRAMME

Urgent Appeal

1 November 2007
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UA-313-2007: SRI LANKA: Absence of Investigation due to the alleged corruption of Bulathsinhala police

SRI LANKA: Police negligence; corruption; protection; lack of investigation
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Dear friends,

The Asian Human Rights Commission (AHRC) has received information regarding the Bulathsinhala police who failed to conduct an investigation into the complaint of a man who was stabbed by some villagers on 1 October 2007. It is alleged that one of attackers bribed the Officer-in-Charge (OIC) of the police station concerned and the OIC is now protecting the attacker. The victim's mother filed a complaint on October 5 but the attackers are still free due to the absence of an investigation.

CASE DETAILS: (Based on the testimony of the victim's mother)

On 1 October 2007, Guna Munige Lakpriya (33) was working in the rubber estate when without warning some villagers approached and attacked him. They stabbed him and further cut him on the hands and legs. They also struck hit his head with a pole. It is reported that this followed an argument that had taken place beforehand. One of persons who led the attack is known as Ranga Kumara and he is considered a thug in the village. After this incident, Lakpriya was immediately taken to the intensive care unit of the National Hospital Colombo and warded for 3 days. Consequently he was transferred to the Horana hospital.

On the same day when the Acting Superintendent of the Estate tried to lodge a complaint with the Bulathsinhala police the police refused to record it stating that he was not relevant to this incident.

The following day (October 2), Malimage Misi Nona, Lakpriya's mother tried to go to the Bulathsinhala police station in order to lodge a complaint. However, before she was able to leave the house one of attackers named Sunil, together with another person carrying a gun and a mobile phone arrived and threatened her and the family not to go anywhere.

On October 5, Malimage Misi Nona was brave enough to go to the police station to lodge a complaint even though she was under the threat. A woman police officer at the Bulathsinhala police station recorded the complaint but the officer did not let the mother read or check the contents of the complaint, nor explained anything to her. (Complaint no. MOIB 177/33)

According to the information received, it is alleged that Ranga Kumara has been working very closely with the Bulathsinhala police and pays them bribe in order to get his work done. It is also alleged that the OIC of Bulathsinhala police is protecting Ranga Kumara and no action has been taken, even though the case had already been filed.

The AHRC is concerned about the alleged connection between the OIC of Bulathsinhala police station and Ranga Kumara and the fact that the investigation has yet to be conducted. An immediate and impartial investigation has to be launched without any interference and the special security concerns of the family members should be considered as a matter of priority.

SUGGESTED ACTION:
Please write to the relevant authorities listed below and urge them to start an impartial investigation immediately and take legal action against the alleged perpetrators who assaulted the victim. Please also urge them to guarantee the security of the victims' family. 

To support this appeal, please click here:

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Suggested letter:

Dear __________,

SRI LANKA: Absence of Investigation due to the alleged corruption of Bulathsinhala police

Name of victim: Guna Munige Lakpriya (33), married with 2 children, worker at rubber estate, resident of C/o Benthara Hotel, Kalawellawa, Mahagama
Name of alleged perpetrators: Officer-in-Charge of Bulathsinhala police station, Mathugama Dist., Kalutara Division

I am writing to express my grave concern regarding the delay of conducting impartial investigation into the case of Guna Munige Lakpriya who was brutality assaulted by some village people while he was working in the rubber estate.

According to the information received, some villagers stabbed Lakpriya and cut him on his hands and legs and hit his head with a pole. As a result of this attack, the victim was warded for three days in the intensive care unit of the National Hospital Colombo on 1 October 2007 and transferred to the Horana Hospital. On the same day when the Acting Superintendent of the Estate tried to lodge a complaint to the Bulathsinhala police however, the police did not record it with saying that he was not relevant to this incident.

On next day October 2, when Malimage Misi Nona, Lakpriya's mother tried to go to the Bulathsinhala police station in order to lodge a complaint, at the same time one of attackers named as Sunil together with another person carrying a gun and a mobile came to her house and threatened her family not to go anywhere. However, on October 5, Malimage Misi Nona was brave enough to go to the police station to lodge a complaint even though she was under the threats and a woman police officer at the Bulathsinhala police station recorded the complaint but the police officer did not let the mother to read or check the contents of the complaint nor explained anything to the mother. (Complaint no. MOIB 177/33)

It is alleged that Ranga Kumara has been working very closely with the Officer-in-Charge (OIC) of Bulathsinhala police and used to pay bribe to the police in order to get his work done. It is also alleged that the OIC of Bulathsinhala police was protecting Ranga Kumara and no action has been taken even though the case had already been filed.

In the light of the above, I urge you to immediately intervene in this case in order to ensure that impartial and thorough investigation start without any interference. I also urge you to find out the reported allegation that the connection between the OIC of Bulathsinhala police station and Ranga Kumara and the reason of delay of investigation. I further urge you to pay special attention to the victim's family members for their security from any possible harm from those attackers.
 
I earnestly look forward to your prompt action into this matter.


Yours sincerely,


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PLEASE SEND YOUR LETTER TO:

1. Mr. Victor Perera
Inspector General of Police
New Secretariat
Colombo 1
SRI LANKA
Fax: +94 11 2 440440/327877
E-mail: igp@police.lk

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

3. 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: npcgen@sltnet.lk

4. Senior Superintendent of Police
Kalutara Division
SRI LANKA
Fax: +94 34 2222199

5. Secretary
Human Rights Commission
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

Thank you.

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

Document Type :
Urgent Appeal Case
Document ID :
UA-313-2007
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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.