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SRI LANKA: 7 year old boy illegally detained and tortured by the police

November 3, 2003

URGENT ACTION URGENT ACTION URGENT ACTION URGENT ACTION

ASIAN HUMAN RIGHTS COMMISSION - URGENT APPEALS PROGRAM

3 November 2003

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UA-69-2003: SRI LANKA: 7 year old boy illegally detained and tortured by the police

SRI LANKA: Violence against children; Illegal arrest and detention; Torture

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Dear friends

The Asian Human Rights Commission (AHRC) has received information that a seven-year-old boy has been illegally detained and tortured by the police from the Polpithigame Police Station. According to the information from his mother, the boy has still not recovered from the shock. Your urgent action is required to correct this matter immediately.

Urgent Appeals Desk

Asian Human Rights Commission (AHRC)

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DETAILED INFORMATION:

7 year old boy illegally detained and tortured by the police

Name of the victim: Wijekone Mudiyanselage Sujith Priyantha Wijekone, 7, of 244, Thalawa, Moregollagame
Alleged perpetrator: Officer In Charge (OIC) Mr. Wijeratne and police officers attached to the Polpithigame Police Station
Period of detention and torture: From 30 July to 31 July 2003

Case details:

At about 4:30pm on 29 July 2003, the Officer In Charge (OIC) Mr. Wijeratne with two other policemen came to the house of Sujith Priyantha (7 years old) by a vehicle belonging to the Polpithigame Multi Purpose Cooperative Society (name of shop) and searched for him. At that time, Sujith Priyantha's mother, 47, was not at home. The OIC sent a person to bring her to the house.

When she arrived at home, the OIC told her that he wanted to take Sujith Priyantha to the police station because he had broken a cooperative shop and stolen some goods. Sujith Priyantha's mother strongly denied the charges and opposed his arrest. Then the OIC told her to bring Sujith Priyantha and his sister to the police station before 7:00 am of the next day (30 July 2003). Sujith Priyantha's mother could not reject the OIC's order and took her two children to the Polpithigame Police Station next day.

At the police station a constable questioned two children until 1:00 pm. At 1:00 pm the OIC took Sujith Priyantha to his room and did not allow anyone to enter. Then, Sujith Priyantha's mother heard her son scream but she was helpless. The OIC kept him for about one hour. Later Sujith Priyantha told his mother that the OIC had beaten and threatened him. In the afternoon the police took Sujith Priyantha and his sister into the police vehicle and searched for a thirteen-year old boy Aruna. After arresting Aruna, the police released Sujith Priyantha's sister. At about 7:30 pm the police put Sujith Priyantha and Aruna into the cell. When Sujith Priyantha's mother protested against the inhuman treatment of her son, the police led her away from the police station.

The next morning (31 July 2003), Sujith Priyantha's mother came to the police station again and saw the relatives of Aruna also there. The OIC Mr. Wijeratene told them that he would release the two boys if they pay for the goods stolen from the cooperative shop, which they refused. At about 3:30 pm they went to request the Attorney-at-law Mr. Siripala Hapuarrachi to intervene this matter on behalf of children. When the Attorney-at-law intervened in the case, the OIC agreed to bring the two boys before the Mahava Magistrate. At midnight the magistrate released the two boys on bail.

According to his mother, Sujith Priyantha has not recovered from the shock and is refusing to go to school. When he was 4 years old, his father died and his mother, a poor farmer with 5 children, is the breadwinner of the family.

SUGGESTED ACTION:

Please send a letter, fax or email to the addresses below and express your concern of this serious case.

1. Hon. Mr. Ranil Wickremasinghe
Prime Minister
Cambridge Place, Colombo 7
SRI LANKA
Fax: +94 11 2 682905 / 575454
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 11 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 11 2 691 926
Fax HOME: +94 11 2 674148

4. National 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
E-mail: sechrc@sltnet.lk

5. Hon. W.J.M. Lokubandara

Minister of Justice

Ministry of Justice,

Law Reform and National Integration,

Superior Courts Complex,

Colombo 12

SRI LANKA

Fax: + 94 11 2 424 447


6. 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

Sample letter:

Dear

Re: 7 year old boy illegally detained and tortured by the police

Name of the victim: Wijekone Mudiyanselage Sujith Priyantha Wijekone, 7, of 244, Thalawa, Moregollagame
Alleged perpetrator: Officer In Charge (OIC) Mr. Wijeratne and police officers attached to the Polpithigame Police Station
Period of detention and torture: From 30 July to 31 July 2003

I am writing to bring to your attention the illegal detention and torture of seven year old boy, Wijekone Mudiyanselage Sujith Priyantha Wijekone.

According to the information I have received, on 30 July 2003, Sujith Priyantha was questioned by a constable on suspicion of theft. It is alleged that the Officer In Charge (OIC) Mr. Wijeratne took Sujith Priyantha has beaten and threatened the victim during the inquiry. In addition, the police locked up Sujith Priyantha into the police cell that night. On 31 July, Sujith Priyantha was released with another boy on bail, however he has not recovered from the shock and is refusing to go to school.

The manner in which the police inhumanly treated the seven-year-old boy clearly illustrates how insensible they are of practicing illegal arrest, detention and torture against the people.

I urge you to investigate this case immediately and bring the perpetrators to justice. Please issue special instructions regarding the procedure for arrest, particularly of children. I also urge the Sri Lankan government to develop an action plan to impose discipline on law enforcement officers. I further urge the responsible local authorities to give compensation to the victim according to the standards of international law.

Sincerely yours

 

 

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Thank you.

Kim Soo A

Urgent Appeals Programme

Asian Human Rights Commission (AHRC)

Document Type :
Urgent Appeal Case
Document ID :
UA-69-2003
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.