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SRI LANKA: Illegal arrest, torture and fabrication of charges against three young men

September 14, 2003

URGENT ACTION URGENT ACTION URGENT ACTION URGENT ACTION

ASIAN HUMAN RIGHTS COMMISSION - URGENT APPEALS PROGRAM

15 September 2003

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UA-49-2003: SRI LANKA: Illegal arrest, torture and fabrication of charges against three young men

SRI LANKA: Illegal arrest and detention; Torture; Fabrication of charges

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Dear friends

Illegal Arrest and detention, torture, and fabrication of charges to wreak vengeance for lodging complaints with the Human Rights Commission

- VICTIMS: Mohamad Ameer Mohamad Riswan (23 years old), Suppaiya Ravichandran (23 years old), Abdul Karim Mohamad Roshan Lathief (30 years old)


- PERPETRATORS: Officers of the Wattala Police Station and Paliyagoda Police Headquarters


DETAILED INFORMATION:

On 30 August 2003 at about 12:30pm the victims named above were travelling in a three wheeler driven by Suppaiya Ravichandran. They were stopped by a van, in which there were six persons including the driver, who were police officers from the Wattala police station dressed in plain cloths. All three victims including a driver were forced into the van. They were blindfolded and taken to the Wattala Police Station.

On the same day at about 7:00pm they were severely assaulted by several police officers in particular by an officer named Mr. Navaratne, which continued for the next day as well. On 31 August by night the victims were taken to the office of the DIG, North Colombo at Paliyagoda, which is the police headquarters for the area. At the police headquarters, the victims were handed over to a senior officer, who assaulted the victims on the legs, stomach, chest and hands. The police officer forced them to confess their involvement of robbery which they know nothing. When the victims pleaded innocence the officer intensified the assault until the brick used for the assault broke into pieces.

When Mr. Rizwan was hit with the brick on his ears, he started to bleed through his nose. When the brick broke into pieces one of the officers of the Wattala Police Station brought an old broomstick and the assault continued upon the victims until the broomstick broke. As a result of the assault the victims suffered severe injuries, especially Mr. Latief, who was continuously assaulted without stop for about 30 minutes. He was also stabbed with the broken end of the broomstick and was bleeding from the chest.

On 1 September 2003, the victims were brought back to the Wattala Police Station, where they were locked up in the cell. There they could only have some water while they were in the cell. On the same day evening, their family members came to the police station to meet them after they knew that the victims were in custody. On the same day by night the officers resumed their assault on Mr. Latief and later, when Mr. Latief told the other victims that he was tortured while he was hung up from a beam.

On receipt of a complaint from the family of the victims, on 1 September three officers from the National Human Rights Commission (NHRC) visited the victims at the Wattala Police Station. They took written statements from the victims and also noted the injuries suffered by the victims. They also ordered the police to produce the victims before a Judicial Medical Officer, which the police obliged. The medical officer examined the victims and it is learned that on the same day evening the victims were produced before a magistrate, from whom the police obtained a detention order allegedly for investigating offences related to narcotic drugs. It is pertinent to note that the victims were never questioned for such offences when the police illegally assaulted them. After the visit of the Human Rights Officers from the HRC, the Sub Inspector Mr. Navaratne told Mr. Riswan and Mr. Ravichandran that since they complained to the NHRC, they would be implicated for possession of narcotic drugs.

On the 6 September the victims were produced before the Magistrate, charged with 28 offences. Mr. Latief was charged with alleged theft and the others allegedly for possessing drugs. When interviewed in prison they denied any involvement in any of the offences charged against them.

BACKGROUND INFORMATION:

The Wattala Police Station has a history of torture. It is the police station where Mr. Gerald Perera was detained and tortured. When the case came up before the Supreme Court of Sri Lanka, the court held that Mr. Sena Suraweera, the officer in charge of the police station, and other fellow officers are guilty of torturing Mr. Parera and the court ordered the highest compensation ever awarded in a torture case. (SCFR. 328/2002 - W.R. Sanjeewa AAL (for Gerald Perera) Vs. Sena Suraweera and eight others) However, Mr. Sena Suraweera continues to be the Officer In Charge (OIC) of the same police station.

The pattern of this case shows that the police is looking for substitute suspects to be victimised for crimes the police has either failed to investigate or were unable to prove. Even more frightening is the use of detention orders for purely arbitrary and frivolous reasons. This justifies the stand of AHRC and other Human Rights groups demanding abolition of detention orders permitting persons to be kept in police custody for more than 24 hours. Sri Lankan authorities have not taken any steps, what so ever, to put an end to this situation despite exposure of ever so many cases and enormous media coverage against police torture. In this context, it is also pertinent to note that an officer who was once held responsible for illegal torture of suspects still holds his office as the officer in charge of the same police station. This is a pointer towards the lack of interest of the authorities to put an end to this situation.

SUGGESTED ACTION:
Please send a letter, fax or e-mail to the addresses below expressing your concern about this serious case.

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. 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

3. 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

4. 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

5. Mr. Theo C. van Boven
Special Rapporteur 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)
E-mail: th.vanboven@ir.unimaas.nl

Suggested Letter:

Dear

RE: Illegal Arrest and Detention, torture and fabrication of charges to wreak vengeance for lodging complaints with the Human Rights Commission

- Victims: Mohamad Ameer Mohamad Riswan (23 years old), Suppaiya Ravichandran (23 years old), Abdul Karim Mohamad Roshan Lathief (30 years old)


- Perpatrators: Officers of Wattala Police Station and Paliyagoda Police Headquarters

I'm writing to bring to your urgent attention the illegal arrest and torture of three young men named above.

The three victims named above were arrested by the police officers attached to the Wattala Police Station on 30 August 2003. The Police officers from the Wattala Police Station severely tortured the victims and the torture was continued until the next day. They were taken to the Paliyagoda Police Headquarters on 31 August 2003 and the police officers assaulted the victims seriously on the legs, stomach, chest and hands. In addition, it is alleged that the police officers tried to fabricate charges against them after their family members submitted a complaint to the National Human Rights Commission (NHRC).

More seriously, he direct involvement of a senior police officer in torturing a person makes the situation even more fearsome. The fact that the officer in charge of the police station is a person found to be guilty of a case of gruesome torture in the past seems to make a mockery of the whole function of policing in the country. It is disheartening to note that Sri Lankan authorities are not making any serious attempt to put an end to this barbaric and inhuman practice. In fact, the officers seem to be exploiting the situation where their superiors are unlikely to take any action except to make some gestures for pacifying international criticism.

I urge you to investigate this serious case immediately and to bring the responsible person(s) to justice as soon as possible. I also urge to the Sri Lankan government to change this attitude and to take genuine steps to stop the practice of torture by the police.

The IGP, after discussions with the National Police Commission (NPC) and the Human Rights Commission of Sri Lanka has issued a circular a few days ago stating that all officers the rank of O.I.C and above will be held responsible for torture and custodial deaths in caused by the police. I urge all relevant agencies to honor their commitments.

Thank you.

Sincerely yours,

 

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Thank you.

Urgent Appeals Programme

The Asian Human Rights Commission (AHRC)

Document Type :
Urgent Appeal Case
Document ID :
UA-49-2003
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.