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UPDATE (Sri Lanka): Rape victim at the Bandaranaike International Airport receives death threats and urgent protection is required

November 28, 2005

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

ASIAN HUMAN RIGHTS COMMISSION - URGENT APPEALS PROGRAMME

Urgent Appeal
28 November 2005

[RE: UA-183-2005: SRI LANKA: Rape of a female passenger by the airport officers inside of the Bandaranayake International Airport; UP-127-2005: Main suspect identified in alleged rape incident at Bandaranayake International Airport]
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UP-149-2005: SRI LANKA: Rape victim at the Bandaranaike International Airport receives death threats and urgent protection is required

SRI LANKA: Threat to rape victim; Violence against women; Rule of law
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Dear friends,

The Asian Human Rights Commission is deeply concerned by alleged death threats made against a female passenger who was allegedly raped by airport officers at the Bandaranaike International Airport in Sri Lanka on 10 October 2005 (See further: UA-183-2005). The main suspects of the incident were later identified by the victim at an identification parade before Negombo Acting Magistrate, Indra Peiris. They are airport security officer and main suspect, Mervyn Nissanka Anthony of Mulleriyawa North along with W. Indika Dewapriya Fernando of Amuna Road, Bandarawatte, Seeduwa, Shamindra Tharanga Kumara, of Pahala Ellawala, J.M. Ramesha Dimuthukumara of Elenegoda, Pamunugama, and U.D. Sunil Shantha of Devatagolla, Minuwangoda (See further: UP-127-2005).

According to the latest information we have received, the victim received anonymous telephone calls threatening to kill her, only days after the identification parade in court took place.  The victim also reported that suspicious persons were loitering close to her residence in Wellawa. She made a compliant about the incidents to the Wellawa police.

The AHRC was also informed that on October 28 when the identification parade took place, three unknown persons behaved threateningly before the victim. She informed this matter to a female police officer who took her into court and then to a safer place within the court’s premises, instead of recording her statement or informing the court of this threat.

In addition, on the same day (October 28), a person who is suspected to be a friend of the main perpetrator took a photograph of the victim with a camera phone. Furthermore, a female relative of the main suspect screamed in the court premises threatening to kill the victim for taking action against the alleged perpetrator. Moreover, the perpetrator signaled a shooting action with his hand to the husband of the victim through a window of the prison bus.

Fearing for her security, the victim informed the police that she would withdraw the case filed against the suspect, now held in remand. Police at the Bandaranaike International Airport (BIA) Police have complained about this matter to the Chief Magistrate Negombo Kanthi Wanigasekera, who then refused to grant bail to the suspect and ordered him to be remanded until November 21. However, no witness protection has been provided to the victim and she still fears for her life and suffers from acute mental stress and humiliation. It is also reported that she has undergone severe financial loss as she has had to borrow money on interest to pay her employment agency and other expenses.

The AHRC is gravely concerned for the security of the victim and strongly urges the Sri Lankan authorities to provide immediate and effective protection to her and her family. All incidents involving the victim should be investigated thoroughly and those responsible for the threats must be arrested and brought before courts.

SUGGESTED ACTION:

Please send a letter to the persons listed below and express your serious concern about this matter. Please urge them to provide urgent protection to the victim and her family.

Sample letter:

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Dear ____________,

Re: 

SRI LANKA: A rape victim at the Bandaranaike International Airport receives death threats
 
Name of the victim: Ms. X (Name withheld), aged 23, mother of a one-year-old boy
Alleged perpetrators:
1) Mervyn Nissanka Anthony of Mulleriyawa North, the security officer at the airport and main suspect
2) W. Indika Dewapriya Fernando of Amuna Road, Bandarawatte, Seeduwa
3) Shamindra Tharanga Kumara, of Pahala Ellawala
4) J.M. Ramesha Dimuthukumara of Elenegoda, Pamunugama
5) U.D. Sunil Shantha of Devatagolla, Minuwangoda
Date of rape incident:  10 October 2005
Place of rape incident: Inside of the Bandarnayake International Airport in Katunayake, Sri Lanka
Current status of the case: The victim has receieved several death threats and has tried to withdraw her complaints against the perpetrators as no protection has been provided to her and her family.  

I am writing to bring to your attention the alleged death threats recently made to a woman who was allegedly raped by airport officers at the Bandaranaike International Airport in Sri Lanka on 10 October 2005.

According to the information I have received, the victim received anonymous death threatening telephone calls only days after an identification parade was held in court on October 28 regarding her case.  She also reported that suspicious persons were loitering close to her residence in Wellawa.

I have also been informed that during the identification parade, three unknown persons behaved threateningly before the victim and a person that is suspected to be a friend of the main perpetrator took a photograph of the victim with a camera phone. Furthermore, a female relative of the main suspect screamed in the court premises threatening to kill the victim for taking action, while the main perpetrator signaled a shooting action with his hand to the husband of the victim. Despite this, no witness protection has been provided to the victim or her family to date.

Fearing for her security, the victim tried to withdraw the case filed against the suspect, now held in remand. She is also suffering from acute mental stress and humiliation.

I am gravely concerned by the security of the victim and strongly urge the Sri Lankan authorities to provide immediate and effective protection to the victim and her family. All incidents involving the victim should be investigated thoroughly and those responsible for the threats made against her must be arrested and brought before a court of law.

I further urge you to put your effort into establishing an effective witness protection programme regarding all witnesses in criminal trials, where particular government officials are involved.

I look forward to your urgent intervention in this matter.

Yours sincerely,
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SEND A LETTER TO:

1. Mr. Mahinda Rajapakse
President of Sri Lanka
Cambridge Place
Colombo 7
SRI LANKA
Fax: +94 11 2 682905 / 575454
E-mail: secpm@sltnet.lk or bradmanw@slt.lk

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

3. Mr. K. C. Kamalasabesan
Attorney General
Attorney General's Department
Colombo 12
SRI LANKA
Fax: +94 11 2 436 421

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. The National Police Commission
c/o Mr. Mahinda Rajapakse
President of Sri Lanka
Cambridge Place
Colombo 7
SRI LANKA
Fax: +94 11 2 682905 / 575454
E-mail: secpm@sltnet.lk or bradmanw@slt.lk

6. Ms. Yakin Erturk
Special Rapporteur on Violence against Women
c/o Ms Lucinda Ohanlon
Room 3-042
OHCHR-UNOG, Palais Wilson,
8-14 Avenue de la Paix,
1211 Geneva 10
SWITZERLAND
Tel: +41 22 917 9615
Fax: +41 22 917 9006
Email: lohanlon@ohchr.org


Thank you.

Urgent Appeals Programme
Asian Human Rights Commission

Document Type :
Urgent Appeal Update
Document ID :
UP-149-2005
Countries :
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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.