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SRI LANKA: Kandy police are threatening a torture victim to leave the area

December 20, 2007

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ASIAN HUMAN RIGHTS COMMISSION – URGENT APPEALS PROGRAMME

Urgent Appeal

20 December 2007
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UA-344-2007: SRI LANKA: Kandy police are threatening a torture victim to leave the area

SRI LANKA: Threats; torture victim
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Dear Friends,

The Asian Human Rights Commission (AHRC) has received information that Kandy police have been threatening a man to leave the area when he returned to Kandy in 2007 since last September. The man was a torture victim and released from the prison due to lots of intervention in 2000. After his return to Kandy from Jaffna, it is reported that the police again tried to accuse him of terrorism and questioning him and his family either in work place or house without any evidence. It is alleged that the police are constantly threatening him to leave the area with his children.

CASE DETAILS: (Based on the testimony from Edward Michael)

The Criminal Investigation Division (CID) of Kandy branch arrested Edward Michael as a terrorist suspect on 21 May 1998 and kept him in Thalathuoya police custody until the police produced him before the Magistrate on 9 October 1998. While he was kept in, he was allegedly tortured and the AHRC issued an Urgent Appeal (UA 17/00) on 24 March 2000. Due to lost of interventions, he was finally released from the prison on 2 May 2000 (RE: UA 17/00).

The family of Edward Michael had stayed in Heerassagala Kandy until 2005 and shifted to Jaffna. However the situation of Jaffna has become deteriorating, they returned to Kandy in 2007. They lived in a rented house in Heerassagala Kandy for 7 months. With the help of their relatives they bought a house in Tankiya watte, Kandy on 26 July 2007 and Edward Michael started working at Mallika studio.

According to the information received, when his family was at Heerassagala, the Kandy police officers had threatened his family and now, they are threatening almost everyday at his work place which is located opposite to the Kandy police station. The police accused him and his family of being terrorists without any evidence.

On September 1, a Kandy police called him and his wife and asked them to give all details of the family members including their passports. From then onwards the police constable regularly visited their house. At around 12 noon on November 24, a CID officer and a police officer visited his house and questioned why they bought the house and why he was employed there and again called them to the police station on November 25.

When Edward and his wife went on the following day, the police officers were not present. When Edward went to the police station again the same evening, the police officers threatened him of arrest and again took details of the family. Once again, the police asked him to bring his case file regarding his arrest on 1998 and bank details on November 26 to the Kandy police. Edward went to Kandy police on the next day, November 27 and showed the case file and the bank book. However the police officers have threatened and asked his family to leave Kandy. Due to continuing threat, Edward left the job but he could not find another job so he started working again from December 6 at the same place where he used to work.

According to Edward, he recognized one police officer, Sergeant Weerasinghe, and those police are from intelligence unit from Kandy police.

Edward Michael has six children. Five of them are at home and two children are still studying. He fears of his arrest at any time and another torture as Edward had earlier experienced. His family cannot either go to Jaffna or live in Kandy.

SUGGESTED ACTION:
Please write letters to the relevant government authorities below and investigate the police's threats to Michael Edward. The AHRC writes a separate letter to the UN Special Rapporteur on the Question of torture in order to call for his intervention in this case.

To support this appeal, please click here:

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Suggested letter:

Dear __________,

SRI LANKA: Kandy police are threatening a torture victim to leave the area

Name of victim: Michael Edward, working at Mallika studio located opposite to the Kandy police station, residence of 15/13 Tankiya Watte, Pushpadana Road, Kandy
Name of alleged perpetrators: Sergeant Weerasinghe from Intelligence Unit and some other police officers from Kandy Police, Kandy District I, Kandy Division, Central Range (West)
Date of receiving threat: Since September 2007
Place of incident: in the victim's work place and his residence

I am writing to voice my concern about the police threat against Mr. Michael Edward since last September 2007.

Michael Edward recently came from Jaffna to Kandy in 2007 because the situation of Jaffna has become deteriorating since the last few years. His family lived in a rented house in Heerassagala, Kandy for 7 months and bought a house in Tankiya watte, Kandy on 26 July 2007 with the help of their relatives.

According to the information received, when his family was temporarily staying in Heerassagala, some Kandy police officers used to visit his residence and accused Edward of terrorism without any evidence. On September 1, a Kandy police called him and his wife and asked them to give all details of the family members including their passports. From then onwards the police constable regularly visited their house. At around 12 noon on November 24, a Criminal Investigation Division (CID) officer and a police officer visited his house and questioned why they bought the house and why he was employed there and again called them to the police station on November 25.

When Edward and his wife went on the following day, the police officers were not present. When Edward went to the police station again the same evening, the police officers threatened him of arrest and again took details of the family. Once again, the police asked him to bring his case file regarding his arrest in 1998 and bank details on November 26 to the Kandy police. Edward went to Kandy police the next day, November 27 and showed the case file and the bank book. However the police officers have threatened and asked his family to leave Kandy. Due to the continuing threat, Edward left the job but he could not find another job so he started working again from December 6 at the same place where he used to work.

I have been informed that the CID of Kandy branch arrested Edward Michael as a terrorist suspect on 21 May 1998 and kept him in Thalathuoya police custody until the police produced him before the Magistrate on 9 October 1998 where he was allegedly tortured. I have been also informed that Edward was released on 2 may 2000 after his torture was known to the public.

Edward Michael has six children. Five of them are at home and two children are still studying. He fears of his arrest at any time without any evidence and another torture as Edward had earlier experienced. His family cannot either go to Jaffna or live in Kandy.

In light of the above, I urge you to investigate the police's threat to Edward Michael of leaving the area where his family is staying. I also urge you to stop threats against him without any evidence. I finally urge you to ensure Edward keep continuing his work to earn a living and his children get education without any further interference from the police.

I trust that you will take immediate action in this serious matter.

Yours sincerely,


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PLEASE SEND YOUR LETTERS 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
E-mail: 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. 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-344-2007
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.