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UPDATE (SRI LANKA): Kandana Police OIC uses thugs to intimidate the victim's family; thugs threaten to assassinate victim's grandfather

June 8, 2002

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


ASIAN HUMAN RIGHTS COMMISSION - URGENT APPEALS PROGRAM

Update on Urgent Appeal 9 June 2002
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UP-37-2002 (RE: UA-18-2002: Urgent medical help needed for torture victim - 13 May 2002)

UPDATE (SRI LANKA): Kandana Police OIC uses thugs to intimidate the victim's family; thugs threaten to assassinate victim's grandfather
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Dear Friends

Following is an URGENT update on the case of Mr. Lalith Rajapakse, a torture victim in Sri Lanka. Following letter has been sent by the AHRC to the National Human Rights Commission of Sri Lanka to seek their urgent intervention. We are requesting you to act urgently by sending letters to relevant authorities who could provide due protection to the victim and victim's grandfather who is the complainant in this case.


Urgent Appeals Desk
Asian Human Rights Commission
--------------------------------------------------------------

09June 2002

Secretary
National Human Rights Commission
Sri Lanka

URGENT MESSAGE

This Is Further To AHRC's Report Made On 8th June 2002 On The Same Case


Case Of Lalith Rajapakse: Torture By Kandana Police -- Torture Causing Traumatic Encephalitis


AHRC has received further information on this case;

1. Mr. Bopearachchige Lal Appuhamy - 532/57 Wivekastana Road, Kapuwatte, Ja-ela, a dry fish trader who has been a long acquaintance of Elaris (the grandfather of Lalith Rajapakse) was visited by Madu Madurawala today, with a message from The Officer In Charge (OIC) of Kandana Police Station.
2. The message was this (a). Ask Lal Appuhamy to put poison on the dry fish that will be purchased by Elaris, the grand father of the Lalith Rajapakse, who has refused to withdraw the complaints made on behalf of Lalith Rajapakse of torture by Kandana Police; (b). to inform of any place Elaris may be going to have liquor, so that people of such a place can be asked to put poison on Elaris’s drinks; (d) that gangs will come and destroy Elaris’s house; (d) five a contracts have being given to a person at Hunupitiya to assassinate Lal Appuhamy.

Meanwhile, messages have been send for Lal Appuhamy to come to Kandana Police Station. As mentioned in yesterday's complaint, Lal Appuhamy was brought to Kandana police station yesterday and was rescued by the intervention of lawyer, Vernon Cooray.

We urge you to kindly act urgently to protect persons who are exposed to all this only due to coming forward to complaint about a human rights abuse.

Thank you.

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SAMPLE LETTER

Hon. Prime Minister

19 year old Lalith Rajapakse of Jaela was tortured by the police at the Kandana Police station on the 19th and 20th April 2002 causing traumatic encephalitis. This case has been brought to the attention of the National Human Rights Commission of Sri Lanka.

Asian Human Rights Commission has today learned that the Kandana Police OIC has sent thugs to intimidate the Elaris, the victim's grandfather who is the complainant in this case, trough Elaris's close acquaintances. There have been threats to assassinate Elaris.

I am very concerned of this victim and his family whose rights have been violated by the agency who is supposed to protect their rights which is police. Further, police has gone to the extent of intimidating the family of the victim and even threatening to assassinate victim's father.

I urge you to use all your authorities to protect the victim and his family and through all possible interventions.

I believe that your intervention could help bring real justice to the victims of this case thus giving a strong message to the society and the international community of the Sri Lankan Government's commitment to uphold the principles of rule of law and its international treaty obligations.

Thanking you.

Yours sincerely
_______________

CC: UN Special Rapportuer on Torture
Sri Lankan Human Rights Commission
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SEND LETTERS TO

Honourable Prime Minister
Mr. Ranil Wickremasinghe
Cambridge Place
Colombo 7
Sri Lanka
Tel/Fax: +94 1 682905
Email: secpm@sltnet.lk
SALUTATION: Hon. Prime Minister

Mr. B.L.V. Kodituwakku
Inspector General of Police
New Secretariat
Colombo 1,
SRI LANKA
Fax: +94 1 446174
SALUTATION: Dear Inspector General of Police

Mr. B.M. Liyanage
Deputy Inspector General of Police
DIG's Office
Colombo, SRI LANKA
Fax: +94 1 328874
SALUTATION: Dear Deputy Inspector General of Police

SSP Jayalath Abesiri Gunawardene
Superintendent of Police
Area Police Headquarters
Paliyagoda
Kelaniya, SRI LANKA
Fax: +94 1 911374
SALUTATION: Dear Superintendent

Hon. Mr. K.C. Kamalasabesan
Attorney General
Attorney - General's Department
Colombo 12
SRI LANKA
Fax: +94 1 436 421
SALUTATION: Dear Attorney General


SEND A COPY TO

Mr. Theo C. van Boven
Special Rapporteur of the Commission on Human Rights on the question of torture
OHCHR-UNOG
8-14 Avenue de la Paix
1211 Geneva 10,
Switzerland
Fax: +41 22 917-9016
E-mail: secrt.hchr@unog.ch
Please mark "URGENT ATTENTION: MR. VAN BOVEN"

Mr. Fais Musthapa
Chairperson
Human Rights Commission of Sri Lanka
No. 50, Dr. N. m. Perera Mawatha
Borella, Colombo 8
SRI LANKA
FAX: +941 694 924
E-mail: sechrc@sltnet.lk
SALUTATION: Dear Mr. Musthapa

Document Type :
Urgent Appeal Update
Document ID :
UP-37-2002
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.