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UPDATE (SRI LANKA): Supreme Court grants leave to proceed in Jerad Perera's torture case

July 1, 2002

UPDATE ON URGENT APPEAL UPDATE ON URGENT APPEAL UPDATE ON URGENT APPEAL <br>
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ASIAN HUMAN RIGHTS COMMISSION - URGENT APPEALS PROGRAM <br>
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Update on Urgent Appeal 2 July 2002 <br>
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UP-47-2002 (RE: UA/18 and 19/2002 - Torture by police, impunity and denial of proper rehabilitation <br>
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UPDATE (SRI LANKA): Supreme Court grants leave to proceed in Jerad Perera's torture case <br>
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Regarding the torture case of Jerad Perera in Sri Lanka, issued by the World Organization Against Torture (OMCT) on June 17, 2002, three judges of Supreme Court of Sri Lanka heard the submissions of the petitioner in the fundamental rights violation case in which Jerad Perera complained of brutal torture by the Officer In Charge (OIC) and 7 other officers of the Wattala police station on 26th of June. <br>
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At the time the petition was being made the Jerad Perera was in a unconscious state living with the help of a life support system as result of torture. The beatings of the person had so affected the muzzles that proteins and other substances have entered his blood stream, making it unable for kidneys to function. Respondents have admitted after torture that they have made a mistake in arresting Jerad. <br>
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Rights guaranteed under article 11 and 13 of the constitution has been violated by the respondents, petitioned alleged. The court consisting of Justices Mark Fernando, Viknesvaran and Gunasekara granted leave to proceed, fixed that answer of the respondents must be filed in two weeks and the final hearing will be on 19th of August 2002. <br>
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DETAILS <br>
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The Petitioner alleged that Waragoda Mudalige Gerard Mervyn Perera after finishing his work at The Colombo Dockyard around 9 a.m. on the 3rd of June 2002 went to his mother's place at Alwis Town. Having spent some time there, around 11 he went by bus to Ekala. At Ekala he bought some groceries to take home and then took the Gampaha bus go to his home at Gonagaha. He got off at the Welikada junction and started walking towards his home. <br>
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Two persons dressed in civilian clothes held him by the hand and took him to a jeep that was parked nearby, saying, \&quot;It's you we want. We were waiting till you came\&quot;, and pushed him into the jeep. This took place around 12:45 p.m. on the 3rd June 2002 Seeing his wife and his three year son inside the jeep, Jerad asked his wife. \&quot;Where is our daughter? Sobbing she replied. \&quot;They did not allow me to fetch them from the pre-school\&quot;. <br>
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Realizing that the men in the jeep were police officers Jerad pleaded with them men ¡°Please collect my daughter and drop the three of them at my sister¡¯s house in Alwis town¡±. This request was not heeded. His wife and son were dropped on the roadside and he was taken away. <br>
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While being taken in the jeep Jerad Perera¡¯s banian was removed and he was blindfolded with it. At the time of his arrest he was not been given any reason for his arrest or produce any warrant issued by any court of law. <br>
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Jerad Perera was taken into the Wattala police station and was brutally assaulted by the officers attached to Wattala police station. The first, second, third, fourth, fifth, sixth, seventh respondents and an another police officer whose name is not known, engaged in torturing Jerad Perera. Jerad Perera¡¯s hands were tied behind the back and he was hung on a beam. Thereafter he was brutally tortured for about one hour. They have beaten Jerad with a wooden pole and with an iron bar to. He was severely beaten on his back, legs, abdomen and the other parts of his body. <br>
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Thereafter he was untied and brought to the upstairs of the police station. He was laid on the floor and started to burn his to hands with the matches. Jerad Perera was questioned about a murder about which he knew nothing. He was tortured by several policemen. Those who tortured him were the respondents named above and another officer whose name is not known. He was kept at the police station on the night of 3rd June. The next morning Jerad Perera was told that he was arrested due to wrong information given to the police. <br>
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Around 10 a.m., of morning of the 4th of June, of Jerad Perera¡¯ wife, his brother Ranjith Perera, the Chairman and the Vice Chairman of the Pradhesiya Sabha visited the police station and made inquiries about Jerad Perera from the first respondent. He said that Jerad Perera has been taken to custody due to false information. Gerard Perera was released from the police station on the morning of 4th of June. <br>
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As Jerad Perera was complaining of severe pains, he was taken to Yakkala Wickramarachchi Ayurvedic Hospital on the same day. The doctor who examined Jerad Perera found that his condition was very serious and advised that he should be taken to a hospital with facilities for intensive care. Jerad Perera was immediately taken to Nawaloka Hospital, Colombo. <br>
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Since then and up to now Jerad Perera has been in the Intensive Care Unit of the Nawaloka Hospital. While in hospital Jerad Perera made a statement to an officer from Slave Island police station about the way he sustained his injuries. All efforts are being made to save Jerad Perera¡¯ life. He is attached to a life support system. The victim¡¯s condition worsened by 14th of June .The doctors have advised Jerad Perera¡¯s family that his condition is very critical and that he may not survive the injuries. <br>
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Jerad Perera has been visited in hospital by several friends and relatives. The affidavit of Jerad Perera¡¯s wife who was present at the time of the arrest and was an eyewitness to the manner of his arrest, is attached as document marked P1 as part and parcel of this petition. The petitioner also files a copy of a statement sent by the wife of Jerad Perera to Assistant Superintendent of Police, ASP¡¯s Office, Peliyagoda as marked document P2 and is attached it as part and parcel of this petition. The petitioner further files a copy of a telegram sent by K.P.J.R. Fernando on the instruction of the wife of Jerad Perera on 14th of June to the Honorable Chief Justice marked as document P3 and is attached it as part and parcel of this petition. The same message was telegraphed to the Attorney General and the Inspector General of Police. Jerad Perera¡¯s wife made a complaint on his behalf about the violations of his fundamental rights to the Human Rights Commission in Colombo. <br>
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The petitioner claimed that the following rights of Jerad Perera, guaranteed under the Constitution of Sri Lanka has been violated by the Respondents above named: Article 11, guaranteeing freedom from torture and other cruel and Inhuman Treatment or Punishment. Article 13.1 of the said Constitution as no reason for the arrest was given to the Jerald and his arrest was done against the procedures establish by the law and Article 13.2 guaranteeing freedom form illegal detention. The Petitioner further states that the right to life is implied in the Constitution and the Respondents by seriously endangering the life of Jerad Perera have violated his right to life. <br>
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The petitioner has prayed for a declaration of violation of his rights, for compensation and an order to attorney general to prosecute the perpetrators under Act. No 22 of 1994 of Sri Lanka, which prescribed minimum 7 years of imprisonment for any act of torture. <br>
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The Court consisting of Justices Mark Fernando, Viknesvaran and Gunasekara granted leave to proceed, fixed that answer of the respondents Jerad must be filed in two weeks and the final hearing will be on 19th of August 2002. <br>
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Document Type :
Urgent Appeal Update
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UP-47-2002
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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.