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SRI LANKA: A man arbitrarily arrested and imprisoned for 21 months

September 17, 2003

URGENT ACTION URGENT ACTION URGENT ACTION URGENT ACTION

ASIAN HUMAN RIGHTS COMMISSION - URGENT APPEALS PROGRAM

18 September 2003

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UA-51-2003: SRI LANKA: A man arbitrarily arrested and imprisoned for 21 months

SRI LANKA: Illegal arrest and detention; Torture
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Dear friends

The Asian Human Rights Commission (AHRC) has received information that Kurukulasuriya Pradeep Niranjan, 30, was arrested and imprisoned for 21 months without any concrete evidence of his involvement in murder of Fr. Aba Costa, who was killed on 10 May 2001. More seriously, he was severely tortured while he was in detention. He now suffer from the after effects. On 21 February 2003, the Magistrate released Kurukulasuriya Pradeep Niranjan on the instructions of the Attorney General and stated his innocence. Allegedly, the police arbitrarily arrested Niranjan without accurate evidence in order to cover up the murder of the popular priest, even though Niranjan was innocent and the police knew that.

Your urgent action is required to pressure the Sri Lankan government to investigate this severe case and punish all the persons behind the arrest, torture and false implication of the victim.

Urgent Appeals Desk
Asian Human Rights Commission (AHRC)
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Re: Arrest, torture and imprisonment after deliberate false implication and victimization in the well-known murder case of Fr. Aba Costa in order to save the actual culprits

Name of victim: Kurukulasuriya Pradeep Niranjan (30 years old)
Date of arrest: 13 May 2001
Date of release: 21 February 2003 (Released by the order of Attorney General)

DETAILED INFORMATION:

Rev. Fr. Alfred Bernard Costa, popularly known as Fr. Aba Costa, was killed on the night of 10 May 2001 at his mission house in Thillanduwa Negombo. He was 78, lived alone, and preached against the social vices of the city of Negombo.

On 13 May 2001, Negombo Police arrested Kotagalage Gamini, known as Kudu Gamini (Kudu means drug dealer or user). After gathering information from him the police arrested Kurukulasuriya Pradeep Niranjan, a 30-year-old worker and father of four children in the Negombo Lagoon.

As soon as he entered the Negombo Police Station he was asked whether he knew Kudu Gamini, alias Kotagalage Gamini, and Niranjan told them he had only heard of him. Then he saw Gamini there, who told Niranjan to tell the truth about killing Fr. Aba Costa. He shouted at Gamini that he did not know anything about this. He realized that the police were falsely and purposefully implicating him and pleaded his innocence.

The policemen began torturing Niranjan. They mutilated his hands and fingers. Then they hung him upside down with his legs tied, and Fernando, Ananda Nasser, Sugath and Nihal, four police men of the police station, supervised by Police Inspector Nishanth, hit him with cricket wickets on his back, legs and soles of his feet.

At about 8.00 p.m. they took him to Kandana, to the house of Acting Magistrate Godfrey Cooray. In the meantime his wife had come to look for him but could not enter the police station; people yelled that she was the wife of a murderer of a priest. She could hear Niranjan begging not to be tortured. Then she went to the Assistant Superintendent of Police (ASP)'s office and pleaded her husband¡¦s innocence. The ASP did not respond.

They took Niranjan to Negombo Remand Prison but did not register him as an inmate. Jailor Somaratne tortured him the next day by beating him on a table while naked. After the initial torture they registered his name, and then another jailer named Senadeera tortured him, saying he murdered a priest.

Then they took Niranjan to court, where the magistrate recorded his statement. Subsequently the Central Intelligence Bureau (C.I.B) took over the investigation and ASP Priyantha Jayakody took him to Police Headquarters in Colombo and again recorded his statement. On 21 February 2003, the Magistrate released him on the instructions of the Attorney General stated his innocence, and said there would be no legal action against him. For 21 months he stayed in the remand prison and during this time people abused and defamed his family, and even his children could not enroll in the school. Now Niranjan suffers from the after effects of torture and can not work outdoors to support his family. His family was excommunicated from the church, and have requested to be reinstated.

Mr. Kudu Gamini is still in prison because of several other drug charges. Niranjan was a ploy to show that the police were investigating the murder of the popular priest even though Niranjan was innocent and the police knew that. The police committed a gross miscarriage of justice by arbitrarily arresting Niranjan.

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

6. Ms. Manuela Carmema Castrillo
Special Rapporteur
Working Group on Arbitrary Detention
Room 3-010
Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights,
Palais Wilson,
Rue des Paquis 52, Geneva
Switzerland
Tel: 41 22 9179313
Fax: 41 22 9179006

Suggested Letter:

Dear

Re: Arrest, torture and imprisonment of Kurukulasuriya Pradeep Niranjan after deliberate false implication and victimization in the well-known murder case of Fr. Aba Costa in order to save the actual culprits

Name of victim: Kurukulasuriya Pradeep Niranjan (30 years old)
Date of arrest: 13 May 2001
Date of release: 21 February 2003 (Released by the order of Attorney General)

I am bringing to your attention the shocking case of Kurukulasuriya Pradeep Niranjan, 30, who was arbitrarily arrested by the police from the Negombo Police Station for suspicion of murder of Fr. Aba Costa on 13 May 2001. He was imprisoned for 21 months. On 21 February 2003, he was released by the order of Attorney General, after they found out that he has been falsely arrested. However, while he was in detention, he was severely tortured by the police officers and his family members were abused. Allegedly, the police used him as a ploy to cover up the murder of the popular priest, even though Niranjan was in fact innocent.

I urge you to order the immediate and impartial investigation of this case and bring those responsible persons behind the arrest, torture and false implication of a victim before an impartial tribunal and apply the penal and/or administrative sanctions provided by law. The deliberate attempt to fabricate a case is a clear and illegal criminal act. It is very easy to find names of perpetrators as they would be found in the relevant books and case records.

I also urge you to provide compensation to the victim and to rehabilitate him and his family members. It should be seriously considered that the victim and his family suffered from ostracism and isolation from society for a long time. I further urge you to assist victim in accessing full medical treatment. I urge again you to take strong and speedy action to correct this matter.

Thank you.

Sincerely yours,



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Thank you.

Urgent Appeals Programme
Asian Human Rights Commission (AHRC)

Document Type :
Urgent Appeal Case
Document ID :
UA-51-2003
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.