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UPDATE (Sri Lanka): Improper and biased manner of police inquiry into a torture case

November 8, 2006

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

ASIAN HUMAN RIGHTS COMMISSION - URGENT APPEALS PROGRAMME

Update on Urgent Appeal

8 November 2006

[RE: UA-241-2006: SRI LANKA: Illegal arrest, brutal torture and fabrication of charges by the Kalutara South police]
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UP-206-2006: SRI LANKA: Improper and biased manner of police inquiry into a torture case

SRI LANKA:  Poor quality of police inquiry; torture; un-rule of law
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Dear friends,

The Asian Human Rights Commission (AHRC) has received updated information regarding the completely improper and biased police inquiry into the torture case of 19-year-old Dhanuka Tisara, who was brutally tortured by the Kalutara South police on 2 July 2006 (See further: UA-241-2006). The victim and his family say that they do not expect any justice in his case after experiencing the sham that has come to be known as a 'a police inquiry'. 

On 2 July.2006, Dhanuka Tisara was arbitrarily arrested by the Kalutara South Police, taken to the police station on the accusation of committing murder without any evidence to support this. He was then brutally tortured by the police who tried to extract a confession. He was later released on the same day without charges being filed against him. 

After he submitted to his written complaints regarding his case to Inspector General of Police (IGP) and police department, Dhanuka Tisara received a notice to appear before the Assistant Superintendent of Police (ASP) of Horana by 10:00am on 27 October 2006 for an inquiry into the complaint. On that day, he went to the ASP's office along with his mother Malini Soysa in time but they were made to wait for 1 ½ hours.
 
At about 11:30am, a policeman began recording the statements of Mr. Tisara and his mother. But according to the victim's mother, the policeman, instead of inquiring into the details of the victim's brutal torture, asked questions, which were totally irrelevant and in fact degrading to them. These questions include (i) details of Ms. Soysa’s parents and her children, (ii) where she gave birth to Mr. Tisara, (iii) whether she was legally married at the time of his birth, etc.

The policeman had also perused a document written in English (that is considered to be from the AHRC) and commented, “so you are taking legal action with the help of some Asian organisation (presumably the AHRC). He also commented, “those from Pinwatte commit wrong and then run for human rights heh?” Tisara alleges that he also referred to the other children in the family in a disparaging manner. At the same time, the policeman recorded few details of the actual incident and asked them to leave.

The victim and his mother had a strong impression that the inquiry was conducted in a biased and improper manner in favour of the alleged perpetrators. They say that if a police inquiry is not held in a proper and professional manner, they will refuse to attend any of future inquiries because there is no point in doing so.


SUGGESTED ACTION:
Please write to the relevant Sri Lankan authorities listed below and urge them to ensure that a proper and competent police inquiry is held in a proper, impartial and professional manner into the victim's case. Please also urge them to take disciplinary and legal action against the alleged perpetrators without further delay.

To support this appeal, please click:

Sample letter:

Dear ___________,

SRI LANKA: Completely improper and biased manner of police inquiry into a torture case

Names of the victim: Dhanuka Tisara, aged 19, unmarried, labourer by occupation, resides in Pinwatte, Panadura, Sri Lanka (Mother: Malini Soysa)
Alleged perpetrators: Policemen attached to the Kalutara South police station
Date of incident: 2 July 2006
Place of incident: Kalutara South police station

I am extremely disappointed to learn about the completely improper and biased police inquiry into the torture case of 19-year-old Dhanuka Tisara, who is the victim of a brutal torture committed by the Kalutara South police on 2 July 2006. He was accused by the police committing murder without any evidence but later released on the same day without charges filed against him.  

According to the information I have received, the victim went to the Assistant Superintendent of Police (ASP) of Horana along with his mother on 27 October 2006 after receiving a notice to appear before the ASP's office by 10:00am on that day for an inquiry into his earlier written complaint to the Inspector General of Police (IGP) and police department.

However, when they arrived in the ASP's office, they were made to wait for 1 ½ hours there. Furthermore, I was informed that the manner of the inquiry by the policeman was completely biased and improper. According to the victim's mother, the policeman, instead of inquiring into the details of the victim's brutal torture, asked irrelevant questions instead, for example (i) details of the victim's mother's parents and her children, (ii) where she gave birth to Mr. Tisara, (iii) whether she was legally married at the time of his birth, etc.

The victim's mother also alleged that the policeman also perused a document written in English and commented, “so you are taking legal action with the help of some Asian organisation" and “those from Pinwatte commit wrong and then run for human rights heh?” But the policeman recorded few details of the actual incident and asked them to leave.

I am very concerned to received the information that the victim and his mother will refused to attend future inquiries if it is not held in a proper and professional manner, because there is no point in doing so.

I therefore strongly urge you to ensure that the police inquiry into this case is conducted in a proper and professional manner and the victim and his family members are treated with dignity and respect by the inquiring officers. I also urge you to take immediate disciplinary and legal action against the alleged torture perpetrators without further delay.

Sincerely yours,


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PLEASE SEND YOUR LETTER TO:

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

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

3. 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

4. Prof. Manfred Nowak
Special Rapporteur on the Question of Torture
Attn: Safir Syed
c/o OHCHR-UNOG
1211 Geneva 10
SWITZERLAND
Tel: +41 22 917 9230
Fax: +41 22 917 9016 (ATTN: SPECIAL RAPPORTEUR TORTURE)


Thank you.

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



Document Type :
Urgent Appeal Update
Document ID :
UP-206-2006
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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.