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SRI LANKA: Malicious assault of a 16-year-old girl by her school principal

November 5, 2006

[NOTICE: The AHRC have developed a new automatic letter-sending system using the "button" below. However, in this appeal, we could not include e-mail addresses of Ministry of Education and local Education department of Sri Lankan authorities. We encourage you to send your appeal letters via fax or post to those people. Their fax numbers and postal addresses are attached below with this appeal. Thank you.]

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ASIAN HUMAN RIGHTS COMMISSION - URGENT APPEALS PROGRAMME

Urgent Appeal

5 November 2006
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UA-360-2006: SRI LANKA: Malicious assault of a 16-year-old girl by her school principal

SRI LANKA: Child assault; alleged sexual maltreatment
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Dear friends,

The Asian Human Rights Commission (AHRC) has received information regarding complete negligence of a school principal into a complaint by the parents of a 16-year-old girl who was allegedly sexually mistreated by her Math teacher. We were also informed that the school principal further physically assaulted the girl instead of inquiring about the complaint and taking action against the alleged teacher. Due to these incidents, the girl is reportedly suffering from mental trauma. Please urge the Sri Lankan authorities, in particular the Ministry of Education, to immediately intervene into this matter.

On 20 October 2006, 16-year-old B.T.F. (only the victim's name initial is quoted for her privacy) attended her Prime Minister's Girls' (Agamethi Balika) School in Panadura. That day, the morning session was allocated for rehearsing events for the English Day. After rehearsals, B.T.F. returned to her class when her class teacher Ms. Rohini instructed her to go to the principal’s office. Ms. B.T.F says in accordance with the instructions, when she visited the principal’s office, the Principal Nandani Jayasundara, without much ado, reportedly grabbed her cane and struck her several times on her arms and legs.

She was reportedly not only physically injured by this assault but also severely mentally traumatized. She returned home and told her parents who accompanied her that evening to the Panadura police where they lodged a complaint against the school principal.  Then in accordance with police advice they also admitted her to the Panadura hospital where she was subjected to an examination by the Judicial Medical Officer (JMO).

According to the girl's father, a few months ago a female Math teacher at school —on the pretext of affording private tuition to his daughter—sexually molested her. Ever since, B.T.F suffered has from severe mental trauma and recently wrote to a friend and her English teacher about her intention to commit suicide due to ‘what that teacher did to her’. However, her parents did not complain the incident to the police or other state authorities due to the sensitive nature of the incident and in order to save their daughter from further trauma. Instead, they afforded her counselling at an organization ‘Sumithrayo (friends)' to help her to cope with her mental agony. They also complained about the incident to the school principal, who did not take the matter that seriously. Instead of inquiring into the girl's parent's complaint, the principal instead opts to further victimise the already traumatized child by her senseless and cruel act.

SUGGESTED ACTION:
Please write the relevant Sri Lankan authorities, including the Ministry of Education, listed below and urge their immediate intervention into this case. Please urge them to ensure that prompt and thorough inquiry is conducted both in the case of alleged assault of the victim by the school principle and the alleged the sexual maltreatment by her Math teacher. Please also urge them to take proper action to ensure that proper disciplinary and legal action is taken against the school principle and the Math teacher if the allegations are proven to true.

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Sample letter:

Dear __________,

SRI LANKA: Malicious assault of a 16-year-old girl by her school principal

Name of victim: Miss B.T.F (only the victim's name initial is quoted for her privacy), aged 16, the grade 11 student at the Panadura, Prime Minister's Girls' (Agamethi Balika) School, daughter of a 45-year-old senior manager of the Metropolitan Company, Panadura
Alleged perpetrator: Ms. Nandani Jayasundara, Principal of the Prime Minister’s Girls’ School, Panadura
Date of incident: 20 October 2006
Place of incident: Within school premises; inside Principal’s office

I am shocked to learn about the complete insensitivity of the school principal mentioned above regarding an 16-year-old school girl, who allegedly suffered from sexual mistreatment at the hands of her Math teacher. Despite the girl's parent's complaint about the matter, the school principal reportedly assaulted the victim instead of inquiring about the incident and taking action against the concerned teacher.

According to the information I have received, on 20 October 2006, the school principal reportedly called B.T.F. (only the victim's name initial is quoted for her privacy) to her office and grabbed the girl's cane and struck her several times on her arms and legs. I was also informed that the girl was not only physically injured by this assault but also severely mentally traumatized during this time.

I was further informed that the girl's parents lodged a complaint with the Panadura police on the same day and admitted her to the Panadura hospital where she was subjected to an examination by the Judicial Medical Officer (JMO).

According to the girl's father, a few months ago a female Math teacher at school —on the pretext of affording private tuition to his daughter—sexually molested her. Since then, the victim suffered from severe mental trauma and recently wrote to a friend and her English teacher about her intention to commit suicide due to ‘what that teacher did to her’. The victim also had to receive counselling to cope with her mental agony. The parents then complained about the incident to the school principal.

However, Instead of inquiring into their complaint and then taking strong action against the concerned teacher, the principal further victimised the already traumatized child by her cruel act.

I therefore strongly urge you together with the Ministry of Education, to inquire about this case and take proper disciplinary action against the school principle. Inquiry should also be conducted into the allegation of the sexual maltreatment of the victim by her Math teacher and if it is proven to true, strong sanction must be taken against the responsible teacher. I also urge the police department to conduct a thorough investigation into the two incidents and ensure that legal action is taken against the school principal as well as the concerned Math teacher.  

Sincerely yours,


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PLEASE SEND YOUR LETTERS TO:

1. Dr. Hiranthi Wijemanne
Chairperson
National Child Protection Authority
330, Thalawathgoda Road
Madiwella
SRI LANKA
Tel: +94 11 2 778912/13/14
Fax: +94 11 2 778975
E-mail: ncpa@childprotection.gov.lk

2. Minister for Education
Ministry of Education
SRI LANKA
Tel: + 94 11 2 785 617
Fax: + 94 11 2 784 846

3. Mr. Marcus Fernando
Chief Secretary
Western Provincial Council
Sravasthi, 32, Mawatha,
Colombo 7
SRI LANKA
Fax: 94 11 2694667

4. Ms. Amanda Coomaraswamy
Provincial Education Director
Western Province Education Dept.,
76, Mawatha, Colombo 7
SRI LANKA 
Fax: 94 11 2693894

5. 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 

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

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

8. Bo Viktor Nylun
Head of Child Protection
UNICEF Sri Lanka
P.O. Box 143, Colombo
SRI LANKA
Tel: +94 11 2 555 270 (6 lines)
Fax: +94 11 2  551 333
E-mail: colombo@unicef.org 


Thank you.

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


Document Type :
Urgent Appeal Case
Document ID :
UA-360-2006
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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.