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UPDATE (Saudi Arabia/Sri Lanka): Three Sri Lankans facing imminent execution suffer severe depression, with one having attempted suicide

December 2, 2005

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

ASIAN HUMAN RIGHTS COMMISSION - URGENT APPEALS PROGRAMME

Update on Urgent Appeal

2 December 2005

[RE: UP-43-2005: Questions remain in Sri Lanka's willingness to save three of its citizens; UP-39-2005: Three Sri Lankans face imminent execution in Saudi Arabia; UP-38-2005: Please send a letter to the King of Saudi Arabia urging his intervention to commute the death sentence of three Sri Lankans; UP-34-2005: Death sentence for three migrant workers requires urgent intervention; AS-36-2005: The Government of Sri Lanka must take a more proactive stance to save the lives of three Sri Lankans on death row in Saudi Arabia; UA-49-2005: Death sentence to migrant workers requires urgent intervention by the Sri Lankan government; UP-90-2005: Amnesty International appeals Saudi king to commute death sentences of the three Sri Lankan men; UP-142-2005: Renewed plea for commuting the death sentence of Sri Lankan men to the new King of Saudi Arabia]
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UP-154-2005: SAUDI ARABIA/SRI LANKA: Three Sri Lankans facing imminent execution suffer severe depression, with one having attempted suicide

SAUDI ARABIA/SRI LANKA: Death penalty; Right to fair trial; Rule of law
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Dear friends,

The Asian Human Rights Commission (AHRC) writes to inform you of the desperate condition of three Sri Lankans, namely Mr. E. J. V. Corea, D.D. Ranjith de Silva and Sanath Pushpakumara, who are currently detained at Al Nayad Prison in Riyadh, Kingdom of Saudi Arabia facing imminent execution for alleged armed robbery. One of them, Sanath, has already tried to commit suicide due to depression. The other two are also suffering from depression and all have lost hope that their lives will be spared.

While the three men have had to endure their desperate condition, it was reported that the officials of the Sri Lankan Embassy and the Foreign Employment Bureau have reportedly done little to intervene, and have apparently lost interest in pursuing clemency for the three men. It was also reported that the fate of the three Sri Lankans is soon to be decided by the Saudi king, Abdullah bin Abdul Aziz Al Saud.

Under the Saudi Law, the King has the power to grant clemency or to ratify the death sentence of death convicts. Therefore, there is a need for strong and persistent intervention to ask and appeal for clemency to King Abdullah bin Abdul Aziz Al Saud to spare the lives of the three men. The AHRC is deeply concerned that if the sentences are ratified by the King, they could be executed within a short time.

It can be recalled that the parents, relatives and friends of the three men have sought the immediate intervention of former President Chandrika Kumaratunga and Mahinda Rajapakse, the former Prime Minister who is now the president of Sri Lanka. However, according to the three men, the Sri Lankan authorities have completely ignored them of late. Even the regular visit of a Sri Lankan official has been stopped.

The AHRC believes that through the strong intervention by President Rajapakse and concerned government agencies in requesting King Abdullah bin Abdul Aziz Al Saud for clemency, the lives of the three men may be spared (see our previous statement on this: AS-36-2005; UP-38-2005; UA-49-2005).

Your urgent intervention is required to pressure the Government of Sri Lanka, in particular President Mahinda Rajapakse to appeal for pardon and clemency of its three Sri Lankan citizens. Please also appeal to the King of the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia, Abdullah bin Abdul Aziz Al Saud, to spare the lives of the three men.


Suggested letter:

SAMPLE LETTER 1: (To His Excellency the King of Saudi Arabia)

Abdullah bin Abdul Aziz Al Saud
Royal Court, Riyadh
SAUDI ARABIA
Tel: + 966 1 401 1944 (for Ministry of interior)
Fax: + 966 1 403 1185 (for Ministry of interior)

Your Royal Highness,

SRI LANKA: Three Sri Lankans facing imminent execution suffer severe depression, with one having attempted suicide

I am writing to you pleading for your clemency for the lives of three Sri Lankan migrant workers in Saudi Arabia, namely Mr E. J. V. Corea, D.D. Ranjith de Silva and Sanath Pushpakumara, who are currently detained at Al Nayad Prison, in Riyadh, facing death sentences for the alleged charge of armed robbery. I am aware that all three men are suffering severe depression as a result of their predicament, and believe that one of them attempted suicide just recently.

I am most concerned that these three persons have not been able to defend themselves properly in a court of law. According to the information I have received, there was no lawyer representing them and no witnesses were called to the stand during the court proceedings. The family claims that after the trial ended, the three Sri Lankan men were asked to sign a document in Arabic, which they do not understand, which stated their acceptance to the death sentence.

I plead for Your Excellency's mercy and ask that you commute these person's death sentences. I have faith in you and in the compassionate nature of Islam. All three men are married and have children to support. Ranjith Silva is the only son in a family of five and has one son. Victor Corea and Sanath Pushpakumara both have two children. I most fervently hope that Your Excellency will save the lives of these three persons and thereby the lives of their families by pardoning them from the death sentence.
Yours truly,
--------------------------------


SAMPLE LETTER 2: (To the President of Sri Lanka)

Mr. Mahinda Rajapakse
President
Democratic Socialist Republic of Sri Lanka
Presidential Secretariat
Colombo-1
SRI LANKA
Fax: +94 11 2 333 703

Dear Mr. Mahinda Rajapakse,

SRI LANKA: Three Sri Lankans facing imminent execution suffer severe depression, with one having attempted suicide

I seek your urgent intervention in relation to the lives of three migrant workers from Sri Lanka facing imminent death in Saudi Arabia. Mr E. J. V. Corea, D.D. Ranjith de Silva and Sanath Pushpakumara, are all facing death sentences in Saudi Arabia for the charge of theft. They are all currently being detained at Al Nayad Prison, in Riyadh. I am aware that all three men are suffering severe depression as a result of their predicament, and believe that one of them attempted suicide just recently.

The men were allegedly involved in a robbery and arrested by the Riyadh police on 10 March 2004. They were sentenced to death on the charges of possession of illegal firearms and attempted robbery by the Saudi Arabia High Court.

However, it is reported that the three men did not get a fair trial. There was no lawyer representing them during the court proceedings. During two court hearings, no witnesses were called to the stand. In addition, the family claimed that after the trial ended, the three men were asked to sign a document in Arabic, stating their acceptance to the death sentence. Only Ranjith Silva reportedly refused to place his signature.

It is very clear that these persons would not receive death sentences in Sri Lanka if the same charges were brought in a Sri Lankan court. I strongly believe that the King of Saudi Arabia might be inclined to accept a plea from Your Excellency regarding the death sentences of these men. I therefore kindly request you to contact the King of Saudi Arabia and plea for the mercy of these three men.

Yours truly,

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Thank you.

Urgent Appeals Programme
Asian Human Rights Commission

Document Type :
Urgent Appeal Update
Document ID :
UP-154-2005
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.