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SRI LANKA: Custodial death of 53-year-old man following severe and repeated torture

June 5, 2005

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ASIAN HUMAN RIGHTS COMMISSION - URGENT APPEALS PROGRAMME

06 June 2005
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UA-90-2005: SRI LANKA: Custodial death of 53-year-old man following severe and repeated torture

SRI LANKA: Custodial torture; Custodial death; Police intimidation
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Dear friends,

The Asian Human Rights Commission (AHRC) has received information from a reliable source regarding the death of a 53-year-old man after allegedly being severely and repeatedly tortured while under police custody following his arrest on 29 May 2005. The police allegedly arrested the victim on the charge of theft.

It was reported that during the arrest, policemen from the Weliweriya and Pitigala Police Station subjected the victim to severe beatings. An attempt to conceal the circumstances behind the victim’s death was also reported when police did not properly inform his relatives that the victim had died. The relatives come to know of the victim’s death only a day after he had died.

On June 1 a post-mortem was performed on the body; the results of which are yet to be released. The body was then transferred to Colombo North Hospital in Ragama to undergo forensic examination. The Magistrate is set to conduct an inquiry on this case on June 6.

We urge your intervention in this matter calling for relevant authorities in Sri Lanka to ensure that the case is properly investigated. Please also ask the Inspector General of the Police (IGP) to initiate immediate sanctions against the alleged perpetrators once the investigations are commenced and whilst in progress. Charges of murder and torture should also be filed against the alleged perpetrators without delay.

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

Name of the victim: Lelwala Gamage Nandiraja (53), of Ambana, Kahaduwa in Elpitiya in Southern Province in the District of Galle
Date and place of arrest: 29 May 2005 at 8:30p.m in Ambana, Kahaduwa in Elpitiya
Police who took victim into custody: Weliweriya Police Station, about 30 km from Colombo in the District of Gampaha, Western Province
Alleged perpetrators during the arrest: Unnamed policemen from the Weliweriya Police Station and Pitigala Police Station. Two of them wore police uniforms while the others wore civilian clothes

Account of the incident:

Police personnel from Weliweriya and Pitigala police stations arrested Lelwala Gamage Nandiraja (53) on 29 May 2005, over allegations of theft.

According to Ms. K. K. Weerawathie Gamage, the victim's sister, two police officers wearing uniforms from Weliweriya police and four others in civilian clothes, carrying guns and clubs, arrived at her house that night. They knocked on the door looking for Nandiraja. When asked, they said they had come to arrest him.

When told that Nandiraja was inside the room sleeping, they immediately entered the room and there they started severely beating him. He was beaten several times all over his body. When Ms Gamage pleaded with the police not to hurt her brother, they ignored her. Likewise, they did not respond when asked where they were taking Nandiraja or what the charges against him were. It was later discovered that the victim was suspected of stealing goods from a furniture shop. Some time later, Nandiraja was dragged naked from the house and taken away by the police towards a Toyota Hiace 65-1999 vehicle.

On May 30 at 8.30a.m, Nandiraja was reportedly rushed to Gampaha District Government Hospital. However, it is believed that the victim might have already been dead at that time.

Ms Gamage said that policemen from Pitigala police station, who went to her house at 6.30pm on that same day to interview her and to obtain a statement, did not even inform her of her brother’s death, despite being aware of it. Ms Gamage said that she only came to know of her brother’s death on the morning of May 31.

Ms Gamage believes her brother died of severe torture. The victim had no serious prior health problems that could have caused his death. Ms Gamage added that her brother had only a scratch mark on his forehead when he was arrested.

A post-mortem examination on the body was performed on June 1. The body was later transferred to the Colombo North Hospital in Ragama for forensic examination. A Magisterial inquiry is scheduled for June 6.


Suggested letter:


Dear __________,


Re: SRI LANKA: Custodial death of 53-year-old man following severe and repeated torture

I am writing to raise my serious concern regarding the death of a 53-year old man, Lelwala Gamage Nandiraja (53), who may have died as a result of torture while in police custody. Nandiraja allegedly died whilst in the custody of Weliweriya and Pitigala police stations, following his arrest on 29 May 2005.

I am aware that during Nandiraja’s arrest, he was severely and repeatedly beaten with clubs all over his body. The police did not provide Nandiraja, or his family, reasons as to why he was being arrested. The victim was dragged naked towards a service vehicle and taken into custody.

The death of Nandiraja demonstrates that the practice of custodial torture, leading to death, is still very much rife in Sri Lanka today. I therefore urge you to intervene immediately so that such a practice is stopped.

I ask that you ensure that an independent and proper investigation be conducted into Nandiraja’s murder. I further ask that immediate sanctions be placed against all police personnel involved in this case so as to avoid any interference in the investigation itself.

Further I urge that the court ensure the immediate filing of murder and torture charges against the policemen involve without delay. In addition to these charges, the Pitigala police should also be investigated over allegations of attempts to conceal the custodial death.

Nandiraja’s death is yet another case of custodial death by the police in Sri Lanka. Such a practice must be stopped and it is the responsibility of the Government of Sri Lanka to initiate policy to ensure this. I therefore call upon the government to implement policy that will prevent further custodial deaths from occurring.

I trust that you will take action on this serious case.

Respectfully yours,

____________________

PLEASE 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. 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)

6. Mr. Philip Alston
Special Rapporteur on Extra-judicial, Summary, or Arbitrary Executions
Atten: Lydie Ventre
Room 3-016
c/o OHCHR-UNOG1211
Geneva 10
SWITZERLAND
Tel: +41 22 917 9155
Fax: +41 22 917 9006 (general)


Thank you.

Urgent Appeals Programme
Asian Human Rights Commission

Document Type :
Urgent Appeal Case
Document ID :
UA-90-2005
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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.