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UPDATE (Sri Lanka): 49 year-old male victim of illegal arrest allegedly being tortured and still under detention

December 15, 2006

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

ASIAN HUMAN RIGHTS COMMISSION - URGENT APPEALS PROGRAMME

Update on Urgent Appeal

15 December 2006

[RE: UA-378-2006: SRI LANKA:  Man illegally arrested and held in secret detention by police]
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UP-230-2006: SRI LANKA: 49 year-old male victim of illegal arrest allegedly being tortured and still under detention
SRI LANKA: arbitrary arrest and detention; torture; abuse of police power; collapse of the rule of law; forced disappearances
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Dear friends,

The Asian Human Rights Commission (AHRC) is calling for your immediate intervention into the alleged arbitrary detention of a 49 year-old man, Weligoda Ananda in the Welikada Magazine prison in Sri Lanka. It has been reported that the victim was severely tortured by while he was interrogated by police officers. Mr. Ananda was taken by police and arrested without being informed of the charges laid against him. He had been held in so called "secret detention" since police took him on November 8, and his family had not known his whereabouts until recently.

CASE DETAILS:

In the past Urgent Appeal issued in November (UA-378-2006), the AHRC had reported the case of illegal arrest and detention of Mr. Weligoda Ananda that had happened on November 8 at the victim's house in the District of Gampaha, Western province. Mr. Ananda was arrested by 10 police officers in plain clothes from the Criminal Investigation Division (CID) of the Peliyagoda and Divulapitiya detachments at around 11:30am on November 8. The family members were forced to leave the room by the police officers and went upstairs after they saw Mr. Ananda was handcuffed, however they heard the police officers questioning the victim and asking about some information on a telephone number.  They also heard the sounds of the victim being tortured.

Despite the family's pleadings to the police on the reason why the victim was arrested and where he will be taken for, the police did not give any answer to the family when they left the victim's house. The family had lodged complaints with several local police offices and the CID office asking them to search the victim. However, the police never treated their complaint seriously and they could never find his whereabouts.

A few days after the arrest, Indra Kanthi, the wife of the victim, received a telephone call from her husband saying that he was safe and that the police were treating him well and that he would be home soon. On November 15, she received another message from her husband via an unknown messenger. While on November 16, the Divulapitiya Police finally agreed to enter a complaint and went to Indra Kanthi’s residence to take a statement the following day. 

The victim's whereabouts had not been known by the family since then until the Magistrate ordered the victim's wife to go to the Welikada Magazine Prison which is where the police indicated as the place where the victim had been detained.

The victim's wife visited the designated prison recently, and saw that her husband had wounds all around his body and had difficulty walking. The victim told his wife that he was tortured severely by police when he was arrested. Now the case was brought to the High Court in Negombo from the Magistrate Court, and we will be closely monitoring the trials.

BACKGROUND INFORMATION:

Mr. Ananda has been arrested by police twice since 2005 including the arrest on 8 November 2006. The earlier arrest came after it was believed Mr. Ananda was involved in the murder of provincial council member Mr. Sunil Mendis of Ragama, Western Province. Mr. Ananda’s mobile phone was allegedly found at the scene of the crime. Although not charged with the murder, Mr. Ananda is accused of being an accomplice and was awarded bail on 2 September 2005.   

The AHRC condemns that the arrest without notifying the reasons and charges, detention in unknown place for over two weeks without being given complete legal access including access to the magistrate, and severe torture of Mr. Ananda consists of serious violations of rights. We therefore urge the concerned authorities to release Mr. Ananda immediately and make an investigation into the police officers who involved in his illegal arrest, detention and torture case.   This is another example of the Sri Lankan police abusing their powers and violating the laws of the country. Secret detention is illegal and those responsible must be held accountable. 

SUGGESTED ACTION :

Please write to the relevant authorities listed below calling for the immediate release of Mr. Ananda. The AHRC also urges you to express your concern over the continuing use of illegal detention and abuse of power by the police in Sri Lanka. 

To support this appeal, please click:

Sample letter:

Dear ________,

SRI LANKA: 49 year-old male victim of illegal arrest allegedly being tortured and still under detention

Name of the victim: Weligoda Ananda, 49 year-old welder
Alleged perpetrators: Criminal Investigation Division (CID), Peliyagoda and Divulapitiya police detachments
Place of illegal arrest: The victim's house at 'Sevana' (house) Induragara, at Dunagaha in the District of Gampaha, Western Province, Sri Lanka
Period of illegal arrest and detention: from 8 November 2006 to date

I am writing to express my deepest concern over the arbitrary detention of a 49 year-old man, Weligoda Ananda who was arrested by police on 8 November 2006 from his house in the District of Gampaha, Western Province, Sri Lanka. I have learned that Mr. Ananda was arrested by police without knowing the charges filed against him and had since been held in secret detention, with his whereabouts remaining unknown.

According to the information I have received, at 11:30am on 8 November 2006, Mr. Ananda's home was raided by 10 plain clothed police officers from the Criminal Investigation Division (CID) of the Peliyagoda and Divulapitiya detachments. The victim was immediately handcuffed, while his wife Dissanayake Mudiyanselage Indra Kanthi, his child and his mother-in-law were forced to leave the room and go upstairs. Mr. Ananda’s family then heard him being tortured by the police over information regarding a telephone number.  
 
When the police removed Mr. Ananda from his house for questioning, Indra Kanthi pleaded with the officers as for the reason of arrest and where her husband was being taken. However the police did not give any answer to her and Indra Kanthi went to all the local police stations in order to inquire about her husband’s whereabouts including Divulapitiya, Negombo, Peliyagoda, Police Headquarters and the CID offices. She could not receive any information on her husband's abduction at any above mentioned police stations. 

The victim's wife once received a telephone call from her husband few days after his arrest, saying that he was safe and that the police were treating him well and that he would be home soon. Also on November 15, she received another message from her husband via an unknown messenger. While on November 16, the Divulapitiya Police finally agreed to enter a complaint and went to Indra Kanthi’s residence to take a statement the following day.

I have learned that Indra Kanthi found the whereabouts of her husband recently when she visited the Welikada Magzaine Prison as the police indicated in response to the magistrate's order. Indira saw her husband with wounds in all over his body and that it was difficult for him to walk. The victim told his wife that he was severely tortured by police when he was arrested.

Now the case was brought to the High Court in Negombo from the Magistrate Court, and I strongly condemn that the arrest and detention without notifying the whereabouts of the detainee to the family is illegal. The brutal abuse of powers by Sri Lankan police has been well known by now, and this is another example of such abuse of power that severely violates rights of the people.

In light of the above, I would like to urge your immediate intervention into the case that it would be lawfully examined with thorough and impartial investigation into the arrest and the alleged torture of Mr. Ananda. Moreover, I urge your intervention to the release of Mr. Ananda due to the fact that he had been detained in an unknown place for over two weeks without being brought before a magistrate.

Yours sincerely,

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PLEASE SEND YOUR LETTER TO:

1. Mr. Mahinda Rajapakse
President
Socialist Democratic Republic of Sri Lanka
C/- Office of the President
Temple Trees
150, Galle Road
Colombo 3
SRI LANKA
Fax: +94 11 2472100 / +94 11 2446657
Email: secretary@presidentsoffice.lk

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

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

6. Ms. Leila Zerrougui
Working Group on arbitrary detention
OHCHR-UNOG
1211 Geneva 10
SWITZERLAND
Fax: +41 22 917 9006 (ATTENTION: WORKING GROUP ARBITRARY DETENTION)

7. 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 Appeal Programme
Asian Human Rights Commission (ahrchk@ahrchk.org)

Document Type :
Urgent Appeal Update
Document ID :
UP-230-2006
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.