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SRI LANKA: A father of three assaulted and killed by the Panadura police

April 11, 2005

URGENT ACTION URGENT ACTION URGENT ACTION URGENT ACTION

ASIAN HUMAN RIGHTS COMMISSION - URGENT APPEALS PROGRAMME

12 April 2005
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UA-60-2005: SRI LANKA: A father of three assaulted and killed by the Panadura police

SRI LANKA: Death of a civilian; Police brutality; Rule of Law;
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Dear friends,

The Asian Human Rights Commission (AHRC) has received information on the death of Nallawarige Sandasirilal Fernando, a 36-year-old man who died of serious head injuries after he was assaulted by a policeman from the Panadura Police station on 26 March 2005 at his home in Wekaeda, Panadura, Sri Lanka. His death has seriously affected his three children, aged 11, 14 and 17, who are now forced to survive their own and fear they will have to stop going to school. The children's mother is employed abroad. Despite this incident, an investigation into Sandasrilal's death has yet to be conducted nor has any action been imposed against the responsible policeman.

We urge you to pressure the concerned Sri Lankan authorities to immediately take action on N. Sandarilal Fernando's case. A thorough and proper investigation must be carried out so that the perpetrator can be brought to justice as soon as possible. Compensation must be provided to the victim's family. Please also urge the National Police Commission and Human Rights Commission to intervene in this case.

Urgent Appeals Desk
Asian Human Rights Commission (AHRC)
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DETAILED INFORMATION:

Name of the victim: Nallawarige Sandasirilal Fernando, 36 years old, a mason by occupation, married with three children; two sons aged 17 and 14 and a daughter aged 11;  all studying at the Baudhaloka Maha Vidiyalaya, Wekaeda, Panadura, Wife currently employed abroad
Name of perpetrator: A police officer attached to Panadura Police Station (can be identified by the victim's family)
Date of incident: 27 March 2005
 
Nallawarige Sandasirilal Fernando (36) died of serious head injuries when a policeman from the Panadura Police Station assaulted him while they were trying to arrest his brother, Deepal Kumara Fernando, on the evening of 26 March 2005 at his residence in Wakaeda, Panadura, Sri Lanka.

According to his brother, Deepal, on the previous day (March 26), there was a fight at a neighbouring house nearby and he went there and intervened in the fight. However no sooner had he returned home, then one of his neighbours called Saman arrived and accused him of stabbing him. Deepal denied the allegation and went to see Saman the next day again and told him that he did not stab anyone. However, on the evening of the same day, Saman went to Deepal's house with two policemen from the Panadura Police Station. The police proceeded to arrest him and took him into the police jeep despite his claim of innocence.
 
The incident started when the victim, Sandasirilal, who was under the influence of liquor, shouted and protested to the policemen regarding his brother's arrest. It angered the policemen and one of them alighted from the jeep and began to hit Sandasirilal hard on his back and neck. Another blow hit his face. Sandasirilal then fell on the ground onto his head and fell unconscious. The police, however, left him there, instead of taking him to the hospital for treatment. They left the house taking Deepal with them to the police station.

On March 28, Deepal was released on bail. However when he went home, he was informed that his brother's condition was very serious. Deepal rushed Sandasirilal to Panadura hospital where he was treated. However, following his confinement, his condition deteriorated. He started to vomit and lost control of his bowels. He was transferred to the National Hospital in Colombo but died a few hours later.

Sandasirilal is survived by his three children, aged 11, 14 and 17, who are now forced to live on their own and fear they might have to stop studying as a result of their father's death. Their mother is working abroad.

No investigation into Sandasrilal's death has yet been conducted. Meanwhile, Deepal claims that Saman had a grudge against him and that is the reason he falsely accused him.  


SUGGESTED ACTION:
Please send a letter, fax or e-mail to concerned authorities addressed below in this case.

Sample letter:

Dear ________,

Re: SRI LANKA: A father of three, assaulted and killed by Panadura Police

Name of the victim: Nallawarige Sandasirilal Fernando, 36 years old, a mason by occupation, married with three children
Name of perpetrator: A police officer attached to Panadura Police Station (can be identified by the victim's family)
Date of incident: 27 March 2005

I am writing to raise my serious concern involving a case of police brutality that led to the death of a man named Nallawarige Sandasirilal Fernando (36). He died of serious head injuries when a policeman of the Panadura Police Station assaulted him at his house on 26 March 2005. His death has left his three children, aged 11, 14 and 17, living in a difficult situation to survive on their own, and they fear they might have to stop going to school. The children's mother is working abroad and it was only their father looking after them.

I urge you to immediately take action on this case. An independent and impartial investigation regarding N. Sandasirilal Fernando's death must be ensured. The policeman and his companions must be held responsible in court for the victim's death and the suffering it caused to the surviving children. The incident could have been avoided if the perpetrator was prevented. The police impatiece in observing the rules of engagement must be dealt with accordingly.

It must be ensured that investigators tasked with the victim's case are not in anyway connected or could be influenced by individuals from Panadura Police Station. An impartial and a truthful manner of investigation must be ensured in the process of the said inquiry.

Likewise I appeal to the National Police Commission to consider imposition of disciplinary sanctions against the policeman and his companions involved that they should not be allowed to perform their duties at the same unit while the investigation is in progress. This would threaten not only the investigation, but also the safety of the victim's relatives living in the area. The National Human Rights Commission must also consider indemnifying the victim's family.

Yours truly,


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SEND A LETTER TO:

1. Mr. K. C. Kamalasabesan
Attorney General
Attorney General's Department
Colombo 12
SRI LANKA
Fax: +94 11 2 436 421
Email: attorney@sri.lanka.net or counsel@sri.lanka.net

2. Mr. Chandra Fernando
Inspector General of Police (IGP)
New Secretariat
Colombo 1
SRI LANKA
Fax: +94 11 2 440440/327877

3. Mr. Ranjith Abeysuriya PC
Chairperson
National Police Commission
69-1 Ward Place, Colombo 7
SRI LANKA
Fax: +94 11 2 669 528
Fax HOME: +94 11 2 674148
E-mail: polcom@sltnet.lk

4. Dr. Radhika Coomaraswamy
Chairperson
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

5. Mr. Philip Alston
Special Rapporteur on Extrajudicial, Summary, or Arbitrary Executions
Atten: Lydie Ventre
Room 3-016, c/o OHCHR-UNOG
1211 Geneva 10
SWITZERLAND
Tel: +41 22 917 9155
Fax: +41 22 917 9006 (general)
E-mail: urgent-action@ohchr.org

6. Prof. Manfred Nowak
Special Rapporteur on the Question of Torture
Attn: Mr. Safir Syed
C/o OHCHR-UNOG
1211 Geneva 10
SWITZERLAND
Tel: +41 22 917 9230
Fax: +41 22 917 9016 (general)


Thank you.

Urgent Appeals Programme
Asian Human Rights Commission (AHRC)
Document Type :
Urgent Appeal Case
Document ID :
UA-60-2005
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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.