Home / News / Urgent Appeals / SRI LANKA: Disappearance of 26 year old man after arrest and torture by Watthegama Police officers in Kandy District
 

SRI LANKA: Disappearance of 26 year old man after arrest and torture by Watthegama Police officers in Kandy District

August 31, 2003

URGENT ACTION URGENT ACTION URGENT ACTION URGENT ACTION URGENT ACTION

ASIAN HUMAN RIGHTS COMMISSION - URGENT APPEALS PROGRAM

1 September 2003

------------------------------------------------------------
UA-42-2003: SRI LANKA: Disappearance of 26 year old man after arrest and torture by Watthegama Police officers in Kandy District


SRI LANKA: Disappearance; Torture
-----------------------------------------------------------

Dear friends,

Disappearance of 26 year old man after arrest and torture by Watthegama Police officers in Kandy District

Victim: Saliya Padma Udaya Kumara (26 years old)

Date of incident: from 26 August to 28 August 2003

Alleged Perpetrators: Police officers at Watthegama Police Station in Kandy District

DETAILD INFORMATION: (based on the statement from the victim's family)


Saliya Padma Udaya Kumara was arrested by the police officers from Watthegama Police Station in Kandy District around 4pm on 26 August 2003. When his parents went to the police station to see their son about 4-5pm on 27 August 2003, they found out that their son was seriously tortured by then.

The next day (28 August 2003), his mother went to see him again but he was not at the police station. She asked police officers where her son is but they didn't give any answer to her. She prepared a detailed written statement and made complaints to the National Human Rights commission (NHRC), the National Police Commission (NPC) and other authorities. However, there has been no reply from the governmental authorities and the victim's parents still do not know even whether their son is alive or not.

Your urgent action is required to pressure the Sri Lankan government to investigate this serious case immediately and to brig the responsible persons to justice. More detailed information will be updated soon.


BACKGROUND:

In recent years, the Asian Human Commission(AHRC) has drawn the Sri Lankan Government its attention to the routine use of torture of an extremely barbaric nature, by the Sri Lankan police. Sri Lanka has one of highest figures of enforced or involuntary disappearances. Also, the Sri Lankan government follows a policy of the "Tolerance of Torture" and therefore is unwilling to take action against the police. Even in cases where the Supreme Court has found police officers having had committed torture, the officers are allowed to remain as police officers and even to hold high office. Despite law against torture contained in Act No 22 of 1994, not a single officer has been brought to trial or convicted. The Chief Law Enforcement Officer, the Attorney General, has failed to enforce the law against torture. The National Police Commission (NPC) which as the power of disciplinary control has failed in its duty to control discipline. It has for all practical purposes refused to use its power.

SUGGESTED ACTION:

Please send letters to the addresses below expressing your concern about torture and disappearance of Saliya Padma Udaya Kumara. The sample letter was attached below.

1 Hon. Mr. Ranil Wickremasinghe
Prime Minister
Cambridge Place, Colombo 7
SRI LANKA
Fax: +94 1 2 682905
E-mail: secpm@sltnet.lk or bradmanw@slt.lk

2. Mr. John Amaratunge

Minister of Interior

Ministry of Interior, Colombo, Sri Lanka

P.O. Box 572, No. 15/5, Baladaksha,

Mawatha, Colombo 3,

SRI LANKA

Tel: 941 2 430-860

Fax: 00941 2 -385526

Email: interior@sltnet.lk

3. Hon. Mr. K.C. Kamalasabesan

Attorney General

Attorney General's Department

Colombo 12

SRI LANKA

Fax: +94 1 2 436 421

Email: attorney@sri.lanka.net or counsel@sri.lanka.net

4. Mr. Ranjith Abeysuriya PC

Chairman National Police Commission

69-1 Ward Place, Colombo 7

Sri Lanka

Fax: +94 1 2 691 926

Fax HOME: +941 2 674148

5. National Human Rights Commission of Sri Lanka

No. 36, Kynsey Road, Colombo 8

SRI LANKA

Tel: +94 1 2 694 925 / 673 806

Fax: +94 1 2 694 924

E-mail: sechrc@sltnet.lk

6. Mr. Diego Garcia-Sayan

Chairperson-Rapporteur

Working Group on Enforced or Involuntary Disappearances

Room 3-043, OHCHR-UNOG, Palais Wilson,

Rue des Paquis 52, Geneva
Switzerland
Tel: 41 22 9179830
Fax: 41 22 9176009
Email: tkunanayakam.hchr@unog.ch

7. Ms. Asma Jahangir

Special Rapporteur on Extrajudicial, Summary, or Arbitrary Executions
c/o OHCHR-UNOG, 1211 Geneva 10, Switzerland

Tel: 92 42 5763 234

Fax: 41 22 917 9006 / 92 42 5763 236
Email: webadmin.hchr@unog.ch / asmalaw@brain.net.pk

8. Mr. Theo C. van Boven

Special Rapporteur of the Commission on Human Rights on the Question of Torture

OHCHR-UNOG, 8-14 Avenue de la Paix, 1211 Geneva 10,

Switzerland

Fax: +41 22 917-9016

E-mail: secrt.hchr@unog.ch

and at:

International Relations

Maastricht University

The Netherlands

Tel: 31-43-3883233 (Assistant: Chantal Kuipers)

Email: th.vanboven@ir.unimaas.nl

Suggested letter:

Dear Sir

Case of Saliya Padma Udaya Kumara (26 years old)

Disappearance after arrest and torture by Watthegama Police in Kandy District

I am writing to bring to your urgent concern of the brutal torture and disapperance of Saliya Padma Udaya Kumara (26 years old). According to reliable information received by the AHRC, he was arrested by the police officers from Watthegama Police Station in Kandy district around 4pm on 26 August 2003. When his parents went to the police station to see their son on 27 August 2003, they found out that their son was seriously tortured by then. The next day (28 August 2003), his mother went to see him again to the police station but he was not at the police station. She asked police officers where her son is but they didn't give any answer to her. Even though she made complaints to the National Human Rights Commission (NHRC), the National Police Commission (NPC) and other authorities, the victim's parents still do not know even whether their son is alive or not.

I strongly urge you to investigate this serious case on priority basis and reveal the truth of Saliya Padma Udaya Kumara's disappearance and to bring the perpetrators to justice. I also urge you to effectively bring disciplinary actions against police officers who resort to torture so that they desist from torture.

In Sri Lanka, there has been the routine use of torture of an extremely barbaric nature, by the Sri Lankan police. Sri Lanka also has one of the world's highest figures of enforced or involuntary disappearances. Despite law against torture contained in Act No 22 of 1994, not a single officer has been brought to trial or convicted. I strongly urge you to take strong action to stop torture and extra-judicial killings immediately.

Yours faithfully

 

 

 

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

 

Thank you.

Urgent Appeals Programme

Asian Human Rights Commission

Document Type :
Urgent Appeal Case
Document ID :
UA-42-2003
Countries :
Issues :
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.