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SRI LANKA: Another two cases of deaths in custody

September 1, 2003

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ASIAN HUMAN RIGHTS COMMISSION - URGENT APPEALS PROGRAM

2 September 2003

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UA-43-2003: SRI LANKA: Another two cases of deaths in custody


SRI LANKA: Torture; custodial death; extrajudicial killing
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Dear Friends,

The Asian Human Rights Commission (AHRC) has received another two cases of deaths in custody in Sri Lanka. It is already the third custodial death case that AHRC has received in the past week. Victims of both cases were allegedly tortured and killed by police officers.

AHRC expresses our deep concern for the continuing practice of torture and extrajudicial killings by police officers and strongly urges you to take action to pressure the Sri Lankan government to launch an immediate and impartial investigation into these cases and to take strong action to stop the routine use of torture.

Urgent Appeals Programme

The Asian Human Rights Commission

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DETAILED INFORMATION:

1. The case of Garlin Kankanamge Sanjeewa (25 years old)

- Date of incident: 28 August 2003

- Perpetrators: Police officers of the Kadawatta police station

- Details:

Garlin Kankanamge Sanjeewa, a 25-year-old soldier, was on his way home for a holiday. He was arrested in Kadawatta, a Colombo suburb, by police officers from the Kadawatta police station on 27 August 2003 for suspicion of robbery.

The next day he was found dead with the police claiming that he had hung himself in the police cell with the belt of his trousers because he felt it was too shameful to be in detention. However, there is widespread suspicion that the victim was tortured to death and that the police fabricated the case to cover up his murder.

The victim's mother said that she saw that her son's feet were on the floor of the cell when she saw his body, but the sketch made by police officers does not show his death this way. She also saw blood flowing from the lower part of her son's body and a wound on one of his arms. The victim's family is insisting that a proper and impartial inquiry be held and that a second inquest take place because they do not trust the post-mortem conducted in the police station. They have now buried the victim's body in a private garden on 1 September because they fear that the police will steal his body.

2. The case of R. M. Loku Banda (60 years old)

- Date of incident: 28 August 2003

- Perpetrators: Police officers of Maturata police station

- Details:

R. M. Loku Banda, 60, had a dispute with two villagers about the construction of a road. While they were arguing with each other, the police came to intervene in the dispute, and they arrested R. M. Loku Banda. He was taken to the Maturata police station where he was later found dead in his cell. The reason for his death has not yet been revealed.

However, human rights groups state that torture after his arrest is seen as the reason for his death. The son of the victim, R. M Jayasinghe, made a complaint about his father's death to the authorities, but the investigation against the responsible police officers has not yet begun.

In Sri Lanka, there is no public confidence in the inquiries conducted by the police into serious crimes where the alleged perpetrators are also police officers.

SUGGESTED ACTION:

Please send a letter, fax or e-mail to the addresses below expressing your concern about the high number of deaths and torture in police custody in Sri Lanka.

1 Hon. Mr. Ranil Wickremasinghe

Prime Minister

Cambridge Place, Colombo 7

SRI LANKA

Fax: +94 1 2 682905

E-mail: <mailto:secpm@sltnet.lk>secpm@sltnet.lk or <mailto:bradmanw@slt.lk>bradmanw@slt.lk

2. Mr. John Amaratunge

Minister of Interior

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

Mawatha, Colombo 3,

SRI LANKA

Tel: 941 2 430-860

Fax: 00941 2 -385526

Email: <mailto:interior@sltnet.lk>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: <mailto:attorney@sri.lanka.net>attorney@sri.lanka.net or <mailto:counsel@sri.lanka.net>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: <mailto:sechrc@sltnet.lk>sechrc@sltnet.lk

6. 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: <mailto:webadmin.hchr@unog.ch>webadmin.hchr@unog.ch / <mailto:asmalaw@brain.net.pk>asmalaw@brain.net.pk

7. 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: <mailto:secrt.hchr@unog.ch>secrt.hchr@unog.ch

and at:

International Relations

Maastricht University

The Netherlands

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

Email: <mailto:th.vanboven@ir.unimaas.nl>th.vanboven@ir.unimaas.nl

Suggested Letter:

Dear

RE: The custodial death of Garlin Kankanamge Sanjeewa (25 years old); the custodial death of R. M. Loku Banda (60 years old)

I am wring to bring to your immediate attention two custodial death cases involving Garlin Kankanamge Sanjeewa, 25, and R. M Loku Banda, 60.

Garlin Kankanamge Sanjeewa was arrested by police officers from the Kadawatta police station on 27 August 2003 and was found dead the next day (28 August 2003). The police have claimed that he hung himself in the police cell with the belt of his trousers. However, there is widespread suspicion that the victim was tortured to death and that the police have fabricated the case to cover up his murder.

In the case of R. M. Loku Banda, he was arrested by the police while he had an argument with his neighbours on 28 August 2003. He was taken to the Maturata police station and was later found dead in his cell.

Even though these are serious human rights violations committed by the police, which have sadly been too frequent in Sri Lanka, there seems to be no serious action taken by the authorities to correct this matter. It shows that the culture of the "tolerance of torture" is widespread among all authorities, including the police and judges as well as politicians.

I strongly urge you to immediately investigate these two custodial deaths and to reveal the truth of their deaths. I also urge you to bring the responsible police officers before an independent and impartial court and punish them. I further urge you to take a more serious approach to eliminate custodial deaths and torture and to develop an action plan to impose discipline on law enforcement officers.

Yours truly,

 

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Thank you.

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Urgent Appeals Programme

Asian Human Rights Commission

Document Type :
Urgent Appeal Case
Document ID :
UA-43-2003
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.