Home / News / Urgent Appeals / UPDATE (Sri Lanka): Compensation granted to the torture victim by the Supreme Court while criminal prosecution against perpetrators delayed
 

UPDATE (Sri Lanka): Compensation granted to the torture victim by the Supreme Court while criminal prosecution against perpetrators delayed

May 6, 2007

URGENT ACTION URGENT ACTION URGENT ACTION URGENT ACTION URGENT ACTION

ASIAN HUMAN RIGHTS COMMISSION - URGENT APPEALS PROGRAM

Update on Urgent Appeal

7 May 2007

[RE: UA-121-2006: SRI LANKA: Brutal torture of a man by police trainees; UP-110-2006: SRI LANKA: Supreme Court grants leave to proceed in torture by police trainees case]
---------------------------------------------------------------------
UP-064-2007: SRI LANKA: Compensation granted to the torture victim by the Supreme Court while criminal prosecution against perpetrators delayed

SRI LANKA: Torture; police inaction; police impunity; delay of justice
---------------------------------------------------------------------

Dear friends,

The Asian Human Rights Commission (AHRC) has received update information regarding the alleged brutal assault of Mr. Dhanawardena by inmates and trainees of the police training college in Ketapola on 27 March 2006 (please see UA-121-2006 and UP-110-2006 for more details about the case). The fundamental rights case before the Supreme Court regarding the torture case of Mr. Dhanawardena was concluded on 5 April 2007 and the Court ordered that the victim be paid compensation for the violation of his fundamental rights. 

According to information received, the fundamental rights case (SC/FR/149/06) filed on behalf of the petitioner, Mr. Dhanawardena was concluded on 5 April 2007. In its order the Supreme Court held that the fundamental rights of Mr. Dhanawardena had been violated and that he was entitled to compensation of Rs. 25,000 (USD 226) for the injuries he received from the torture. The case was supported before the Supreme Court on18 May 2006 and leave to proceed with the case was obtain on the same date.

According to the information, all the respondents named in the petition to court, including the Officer in Charge of the police training college at Ketapola were found to have violated the Petitioners' fundamental rights. In addition, a case has also been filed under the Penal Code against the 6 inmates who assaulted the victim in the training collage at Ketapola, before the Elpitiya Magistrate's Court (Case No 375726). The case is currently being heard before the said court.

Although the AHRC welcomes the conclusion of the case before the Supreme Court, we are concerned about the petty amount of compensation awarded to the victim. We consider that Rs. 25,000 is not commensurate with the enormity of suffering, both physical and mental, undergone by the torture victim due to the brutal actions of the alleged perpetrator; neither does it reflect the gravity and heinousness of the acts of torture. Thus it is our opinion that the victim is entitled to receive a sufficient amount of compensation.

Therefore, the AHRC demands that the prosecution of the alleged perpetrators of this case before the Magistrate's Court be speedily heard and concluded and that the accused be brought to justice as soon as possible. This is considering the fact that the alleged perpetrators have already been found by the Supreme Court to be responsible for breaching the fundamental rights of the victim.

We therefore urge the Sri Lankan authorities to take all necessary action to speed up the criminal case against the alleged perpetrators who assaulted the victim at the training college. Also we urge the Sri Lankan authorities to adequately compensate this unfortunate victim of torture, considering the negligible amount of compensation awarded by the Supreme Court.


SUGGESTED ACTION:
Please write to the relevant authorities listed below and urge them to speed up the criminal prosecution against the alleged perpetrators without further delay. Please also urge them to give the victim and their family appropriate compensation which is higher than court designated amount.

To support this appeal, please click:


Sample letter:


Dear __________

SRI LANKA: Compensation granted to the torture victim by the Supreme Court while criminal prosecution against perpetrators delayed

Name of the victim: ODK Kithsiri Dhanawardena, 32 year-old, not married, three wheel cab driver
Alleged perpetrators:
1. Trainers and trainees attached to the Ketapola police training college
2. Inmates detained in the Ketapola police training college at the time of the incident
Date of incident: 27 March 2006

I am writing to you today to show my deepest concern about the alleged brutal assault against Mr. Dhanawardena by inmates and trainees in the Ketapola police training college on 27 March 2006.

According to the information I have received, the Supreme Court concluded a case of the assault of Mr. Dhanawardena on 5 April 2007 (case number SC/FR/149/06). The court concluded that the victim's fundamental rights have been breached and the victim is entitled to be warded compensation of amount of Rs. 25,000 (USD 226) for the damage that the victim received. 
 
I was further informed that all the respondents including the Officer in Charge of the police training college at Ketapola were found to be responsible in violation of the Petitioners' fundamental rights. In addition, the case against 6 inmates who assaulted the victim in the training collage at Ketapola has also been filed under the Penal Code at the Elpitiya Magitrate's court (case number 375726). The case has been under the process to be heard before the court. 

I welcomed the fact that the Supreme Court admitted that the victim is entitled to receive financial compensation for the damage he received, and it also held the incident as the breach of the victim's fundamental rights. I further welcome the court decision that held the all alleged perpetrators accountable to the breach of the victim's fundamental rights. However, to my regret, the criminal procedures of all those perpetrators are not being held and it is still being under the process to be brought before the court.

I was further informed that the amount of compensation awarded to the victim is not sufficient enough and it does not reflect the gravity of the sufferings that the torture victim had been inflicted from the brutal actions of the alleged perpetrators. I believe that the victim is entitled to receive sufficient amount of compensation which is more than Rs. 25,000.

I therefore urge the authorities of Sri Lanka to speed up the criminal prosecution against the all alleged perpetrators including the Officer in Charge of the police training college at Ketapola and bring them before justice immediately. I also urge the Sri Lankan authorities to offer sufficient amount of compensation which is more than Rs. 25,000.

I look forward to your immediate and sincere action to this case.

Yours truly,


----------------------

PLEASE SEND YOUR LETTER TO:

1. Mr. Mahinda Rajapaksa
Minister
Ministry of Defence, Public Security, Law and Order
15/5, Baladaksha Mawatha,
Colombo 03,
SRI LANKA
Tel: 94-11 2 430860-9, 430878-9 or 435879 (for the secretary)
Fax: 94 11 2 446300 or 421529
E-mail: secdef@sltnet.lk

2. Mr. C.R. De Silva
Attorney General
Attorney General's Department
Colombo 12
SRI LANKA
Fax: +94 11 2 436421
Email: attorney@sri.lanka.net

3. Mr. Victor Perera
Inspector General of Police
New Secretariat
Colombo 1
SRI LANKA
Fax: +94 11 2 440440/327877
E-mail: igp@police.lk

4. Secretary
National Police Commission
3rd Floor, Rotunda Towers
109 Galle Road
Colombo 03
SRI LANKA
Tel: +94 11 2 395310
Fax: +94 11 2 395867
E-mail: npcgen@sltnet.lk

5. Secretary
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

Thank you.

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

Document Type :
Urgent Appeal Update
Document ID :
UP-064-2007
Countries :
Issues :
Document Actions
Share |
Subscribe to our Mailing List
Follow AHRC
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.