Home / News / Urgent Appeals / SRI LANKA: Arbitrary detention and ill-treatment by the police of a man suffering from mental illness

SRI LANKA: Arbitrary detention and ill-treatment by the police of a man suffering from mental illness

November 17, 2006

URGENT APPEAL GENERAL URGENT APPEAL GENERAL URGENT APPEAL GENERAL

ASIAN HUMAN RIGHTS COMMISSION –

17 November 2006
---------------------------------------------------------------------
UA-373-2006: SRI LANKA: Arbitrary detention and ill-treatment by the police of a man suffering from mental illness

SRI LANKA: Arbitrary and illegal detention; ill-treatment
---------------------------------------------------------------------

Dear Friends,

The Asian Human Rights Commission (AHRC) has received information about the arbitrary and illegal detention of a man suffering from mental illness at the Wadduwa police station. His detention is thought to have been carried out because of a conversation he allegedly had that upset the Officer-In-Charge (OIC) of the police station. The victim, Nishantha Perera, was detained in one of the police station's holding cells for over 9 hours, without being issued an official warrant of detention. The detention frightened the victim, reportedly causing him to become hysterical. As a result, the OIC allegedly stripped the victim naked and insulted him, before forcing him to run back home without any clothes on. His clothes and other belongings, including his wallet and National Identity card, are still being retained by the police.

At around 1:15pm on October 29, 2006, Nishantha Perera, a 29 year old man from Wadduwa, was having a conversation with the Officer-in-Charge (OIC) Lalith Obeysekera at Wadduwa police station in the south of Sri Lanka. When Nishantha Perera reportedly made a remark about the current Sri Lankan president, OIC Obeysekera became upset and ordered other police officers to detain Mr. Perera. There was no official warrant issued for Mr. Perera’s detention.

Mr. Perera has reportedly been suffering from mental illness and has been under medication for six years. The detention affected him psychologically; frightening him and causing him to become hysterical, as a result of which he repeatedly kicked the partition between the holding cell and the toilet area.

At around 10:30pm that evening, after 9 hours of detention, Mr. Perera was released from the cell but was stripped naked and insulted by OIC Lalith Obeysekera. Subsequently, Mr. Perera was forced to run back to his home naked by Obeysekera.

Mr. M. Jayawathi Perera, the victim's father, was outraged by the illegal detention and inhuman and degrading treatment to which his son was subjected by the police, who reportedly knew of his psychological condition.

Mr. Perera has reportedly attempted to seek justice concerning the arbitrary detention and cruel and degrading treatment to which he was subjected, but his complaint has not been dealt with seriously; there has been no investigation into the case and his belongings have not been returned to him by the Wadduwa police.

The AHRC condemns the arbitrary detention and ill-treatment of Nishantha Perera, who suffers from mental illness. OIC Lalith Obeysekera, the senior officer who detained Mr. Perera without any legal basis, should immediately be investigated concerning his cruel and illegal actions.


SUGGESTED ACTION:
Please write a letter to the relevant Sri Lankan authorities to urge them to conduct a fair and impartial investigation into the case of illegal detention and ill-treatment by members of the Wadduwa police station. 

Suggested letter:
 
Dear ________,

Sri Lanka: Arbitrary detention and ill-treatment by the police of a man suffering from mental illness

Name of victim: Mr. K. Nishantha Perera, 29 years old, from Mastiya, Wadduwa, Sri Lanka
Alleged perpetrator: Officer-in-charge Lalith Obeysekera and other police officers from the Wadduwa Police
Date of incident: 29 October, 2006
Place of incidence: Wadduwa Police station

I am writing to you to express my grave concern about the illegal and arbitrary detention of a man suffering from mental illness at the Wadduwa police station. His detention is thought to have been carried out because of a conversation he allegedly had that upset the Officer-In-Charge (OIC) of the police station. The victim, Nishantha Perera, was detained in one of the police station's holding cells for over 9 hours, without being issued an official warrant of detention. The detention frightened the victim, reportedly causing him to become hysterical. As a result, the OIC allegedly stripped the victim naked and insulted him, before forcing him to run back home without any clothes on. His clothes and other belongings, including his wallet and National Identity card, are still being retained by the police.

At around 1:15 pm on October 29, 2006, Nishantha Perera, a 29 year old man from Wadduwa, was having a conversation with the Officer-in-Charge (OIC) Lalith Obeysekera at Wadduwa police station in the south of Sri Lanka. When Nishantha Perera reportedly made a remark about the current Sri Lankan president, OIC Obeysekera became upset and ordered other police officers to detain Mr. Perera. There was no official warrant issued for Mr. Perera’s detention.

Mr. Perera has reportedly been suffering from mental illness and has been under medication for six years. The detention affected him psychologically; frightening him and causing him to become hysterical, as a result of which he repeatedly kicked the partition between the holding cell and the toilet area.

At around 10:30 pm that evening, after 9 hours of detention, Mr. Perera was released from the cell but was stripped naked and insulted by OIC Lalith Obeysekera. Subsequently, Mr. Perera was forced to run back to his home naked by Obeysekera.

Mr. M. Jayawathi Perera, the victim's father, was outraged by the illegal detention and inhuman and degrading treatment to which his son was subjected by the police, who reportedly knew of his psychological condition.

Mr. Perera has reportedly attempted to seek justice concerning the arbitrary detention and cruel and degrading treatment to which he was subjected, but his complaint has not been dealt with seriously; there has been no investigation into the case and his belongings have not been returned to him by the Wadduwa police.

I condemn the arbitrary detention and ill-treatment of Nishantha Perera, who suffers from mental illness. OIC Lalith Obeysekera, the senior officer who reportedly had Mr. Perera detained without any legal basis, should immediately be investigated concerning his cruel and illegal actions and reparation must be provided to the victim.


Yours sincerely,


--------------------------

SEND YOUR LETTER TO:

1. 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
Email: secretary@presidentsoffice.lk

2. Mr. Ratnasiri Wickremanayake
Prime Minister
Temple Trees
Galle Road, Colombo 03
SRI LANKA
Tel: +94 11 2 575317-8 or 370 737-8
Fax: +94 11 2 575454

3. Mr. Mahinda Rajapaksa
Minister
Ministry of Defence, Public Security, Law and Order
15/5, Baladaksha Mawatha,
Colombo 03,
Sri Lanka.
Tel: 94-11 2 430860-9, 430878-9 or 435879 (for the secretary)
Fax: 94 11 2 446300 or 421529
E-mail: secdef@sltnet.lk

4. Mr. Mahinda Samarasinghe, MP
Minister of Disaster Management and Human Rights
Ministry of Disaster Management and Human Rights
383,Bauddhaloka Mawatha
Colombo 07
SRI LANKA
Tel: +94 11 2 390895, 384116

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

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

7. 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

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

Document Type :
Urgent Appeal Case
Document ID :
UA-373-2006
Countries :
Document Actions
Share |
Subscribe to our Mailing List
Follow AHRC
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.