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SRI LANKA: A 15 year old boy tortured by officers from the Department of Excise and falsely charged

December 19, 2003

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ASIAN HUMAN RIGHTS COMMISSION - URGENT APPEALS PROGRAM

19 December 2003
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UA-83-2003: SRI LANKA: A 15 year old boy tortured by officers from the Department of Excise and falsely charged

SRI LANKA: Torture; Fabrication of the case; Rule of law
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Dear friends

The Asian Human Rights Commission (AHRC) has received information about the torture and false charges against a 15 year old boy in Sri Lanka. This is another example of brutal custom of torture and disregard for the rule of law in Sri Lanka. AHRC calls for your solidarity to pressure the local authorities to correct this matter immediately.

Urgent Appeals Desk
Asian Human Rights Commission
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DETAILED INFORMATION:

Name of victim: Nishantha Kumara, 15
Perpetrators: Four officers of Excise Station Bulathsinhala
Date of incident: 3 December 2003

Case details:

At 11:30 am on 3 December 2003, four officers from the Department of Excise came to Nishantha's house in a cab. One officer called Nalaka was in uniform and the others were in civilian clothes. The victim can identify other three officers if they are produced before him.

At that time Nishantha was at home for lunch after working in the paddy field. The officers immediately handcuffed Nishantha and asked him whether he knew a person called Chute, who is an illicit liquor seller. The officers accompanied Nishantha to search for Chute, however they couldn't find him. Then the officers took Nishantha to a near by forest, on the way there, the officers beat him. The officers put Nishantha's hand on a stone and bruised it.

After that he was brought to his house again, at which time Nishantha's father was also present. The officers then took both Nishantha and his father to the forest. They ordered Nishantha's father to take the barrel to the place where their cab was parked. Then the officers forced Nishantha and his father to sign some forms, which he knew nothing about, even though they didn't commit any crime. Nishantha's aunt, who came to see him at that time, had to put her signature on the forms, too. After that, the officers threatened Nishantha that they will charge him of possession of illicit liquor and file a case against him if somebody did not come to certify the forms. The officers also threatened to take Nishantha's aunt if they were unable to appear before the court.

On the same day Nishantha was admitted to the Government hospital of Pimbura. He was discharged after three days, although his hand has not yet healed. He has lodged a complaint about the incident to the police however the police have not taken any serious action to investigate this case.

Under Sri Lankan law, torture is a crime punishable by a mandatory minimum sentence of seven years in prison but it remains only in the books. So many cases of torture against even children by Sri Lankan state officials, especially police have been reported by human rights organizations, however not a single police officer has been yet convicted.

Sri Lanka is a State party to the Convention on the Rights of the Child, which is bound to the provision that "No child shall be subjected to torture or other cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment or punishment" (Art. 37 (a)). Furthermore, the Convention states that "Every child deprived of liberty shall be treated with humanity and respect for the inherent dignity of the human person, and in a manner which takes into account the needs of persons of his or her age." (Art. 37 (c)).

AHRC urges that this case be investigated immediately and the perpetrators be brought to justice. Furthermore, AHRC requests that the fabrication of charges be investigated also, and the victim released from the charges, which have been made falsely against him.

SUGGESTED ACTION:
Send a letter, fax or email to the local authorities 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 2 669 128 (need to ask to change to fax mode) / 691 926
Fax HOME: +94 11 2 674148

4. Dr. Radhika Coomaraswamy
Director
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 / 696 470
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

Sample letter:

Dear

Re: A 15 year old boy tortured by officers from the Department of Excise and falsely charged

Name of victim: Nishantha Kumara, 15
Perpetrators: Four officers of Excise Station Bulathsinhala
Date of incident: 3 December 2003

I am writing to protest against the torture and ill treatment of a 15 year old boy Nishantha Kumara.

The officers of Excise Station Bulathsinhala assaulted and tortured the victim even though he did not commit any crime. They took the boy to a near by forest and put his hand on a stone and bruised it. Moreover, they fabricated a case and made false charge against the victim.

This incident shows a type of cruelty which is so difficult to understand. During the last few months, I have also been informed of several other cases of torture against even children by Sri Lankan police and officers.

Despite of so many complaints of torture, the practice of torture continues with impunity. Sri Lanka is a signatory of all human rights conventions including the 'Declaration of the Rights of the Child (DRC). Unfortunately, laws such as Act No 22 of 1994 in Sri Lanka, which makes torture a crime punishable with serious consequences, remain only in the books. Merciless torture of the young for no reason at all makes a mockery of claim for rule of law.

I strongly urge you to take serious action on this case and bring the responsible persons to justice. I also urge you to investigate the fabrication of charges, and that the boy be released from the charge falsely made against him. I further urge the Sri Lankan authorities to take firm action, to bring the practice of torture by the perpetrators to justice under Sri Lankan law which prescribes a minimum of 7 year's imprisonment.

Torture is an all too common practice, which must be eradicated. Please take some genuine steps and strong action to stop torture. I look forward to hear of your intervention in this matter.

Yours faithfully



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Thank you.

Urgent Appeals Programme
Asian Human Rights Commission (AHRC)

Document Type :
Urgent Appeal Case
Document ID :
UA-83-2003
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.