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UPDATE (Sri Lanka): Fundamental rights application to proceed in case of brutal assault against a 14-year-old boy

March 26, 2006

UPDATE ON URGENT APPEAL UPDATE ON URGENT APPEAL UPDATE ON URGENT APPEAL

ASIAN HUMAN RIGHTS COMMISSION - URGENT APPEALS PROGRAMME

Update on Urgent Appeal

27 March 2006

[RE: UP-033-2006: SRI LANKA: Threats to 14-year-old boy and his family to withdraw complaint of brutal assault by teacher; UA-060-2006: SRI LANKA: Brutal assault on 14-year-old by his games teacher]
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UP-056-2006: SRI LANKA: Fundamental rights application to proceed in case of brutal assault against a 14-year-old boy

SRI LANKA: brutal assault of a minor; threat and intimidation; collapse of rule of law
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Dear friends,

In February 2006, the Asian Human Rights Commission (AHRC) issued an appeal regarding the brutal assault on 14-year-old Manoj Tillakaratne of the Bombuwela School by his school sports master. As a result of the assault the boy’s eardrum was ruptured and he had to be hospitalised for 11 days.

When the boy’s parents attempted to lodge a complaint at the Bombuwela police station the police attempted to settle the matter between the parties by way of payment. However, the parents resisted. The education authorities and others continuously pressurised the parents and even organised public meetings to prevent the matter from proceeding any further. Eventually, the teacher was produced in court, charged and released on bail.

Adamant to see justice done to their son, the parents also filed a fundamental rights application SC/FR//89/2006 before the Supreme Court under article 11 of the Constitution that guarantees freedom from torture and cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment or punishment. Accordingly the case was supported before the Supreme Court on 23 March 2006 on which date the court granted leave to proceed in the said case. The case was fixed for 11 July 2006 on which date the court ordered the Assistant Director of the Nagoda General Hospital to furnish the bed head ticket and other documents pertaining to the victim’s medical treatment.

Viran Corea, instructed by Piyal Kariyawasam, appeared for the Petitioner in court.

SUGGESTED ACTION:
Please call on the relevant authorities listed below to intervene in this case and ensure that the victim and his family are afforded protection. This is particularly important given that they have been the subject of repeated threats and intimidation in the past.

Suggested letter:

Dear _________,

SRI LANKA: Fundamental rights application to proceed in case of brutal assault against a 14-year-old boy

Name of victim: Manoj Tillakaratne, a 14-year-old, grade 9 student of the Bombuwela Senior School; Address: Batakuluketiya, Bombuwela.
Names of alleged perpetrator: The sports master [Physical training Instructor], A.D.C. Renuka of the Bombuwela School.
Date of incident: 31 January 2006

I welcome the news that a fundamental rights application before the Supreme Court regarding the brutal assault of a 14-year-old boy has been granted leave to proceed. The application (SC/FR/ /89/2006) filed before the Supreme Court under article 11 of the Constitution that guarantees freedom from torture and cruel, inhuman and degrading treatment or punishment, concerns Manoj Tillakaratne, who on 31 January 2006, was brutally assaulted by his school sports teacher resulting in a ruptured eardrum and a hospital stay of 11 days.

When the boy’s parents attempted to lodge a complaint at the Bombuwela police station the police attempted to settle the matter between the parties by way of payment. However, the parents resisted. The education authorities and others continuously pressurised the parents and even organised public meetings to prevent the matter from proceeding any further. Eventually, the teacher was produced in court, charged and released on bail.

Adamant to see justice done to their son, the parents filed the fundamental rights application before the Supreme Court where on 23 March 2006 the court granted leave to proceed in the said case. The case was fixed for 11 July 2006 on which date the court ordered the Assistant Director of the Nagoda General Hospital to furnish the bed head ticket and other documents pertaining to the victim’s medical treatment.

This brings Manoj and his family one step closer to seeking justice for the crimes committed against him. What concerns me, however, are the repeated threats made against the victim and his family in the past, and the potential for these to continue between now and the court reaching a conclusion in this case.  Accordingly, protection must be provided to the victim and his family and all measures must be taken to ensure that they remain free from threat and intimidation. Without such intervention, the case may not proceed and one more perpetrator of crime will walk free in Sri Lanka.

Yours sincerely,

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PLEASE SEND YOUR LETTERS TO:

1. Dr. Hiranthi Wijemanne
National Child Protection Authority
330, Thalawathgoda Road
Madiwella
SRI LANKA
Tel: +94 11 2 778912/13/14
Fax: +94 11 2 778975
E-mail: ncpa@childprotection.gov.lk

2. Minister for Education
Ministry of Education
SRI LANKA
Tel: + 94 11 2 785 617
Fax: + 94 11 2 784 846

3. Bo Viktor Nylund
Head of Child Protection
UNICEF Sri Lanka
P.O. Box 143, Colombo
SRI LANKA
Tel: +94 11 2 555 270 (6 lines)
Fax: +94 11 2  551 333
E-mail: colombo@unicef.org 

4. Mr. K. C. Kamalasabesan
Attorney General
Attorney General's Department
Colombo 12
SRI LANKA
Fax: +94 11 2 436421

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

6. 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 

7. Mr. Jacob Egbert Doek
Chairperson
Committee on the Rights of the Child
OHCHR-UNOG
8-14 Avenue de la Paix
1211 Geneva 10
SWITZERLAND
Fax: +41 22 917 9022

8. 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)
E-mail: ssyed@ohchr.org

Thank you.

Urgent Appeals Programme
Asian Human Rights Commission (ahrchk@ahrchk.org)

Document Type :
Urgent Appeal Update
Document ID :
UP-056-2006
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.