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UPDATE (Sri Lanka): Serious security threat to Mr. Dingiri Banda who lodged three complaints against two army captains

September 7, 2004

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

ASIAN HUMAN RIGHTS COMMISSION - URGENT APPEALS PROGRAM

Update on Urgent Appeal 7 September 2004

(UA-79-2004: SRI LANKA: Tortured army officer complains to Bar Association of Sri Lanka after his lawyers withdraw case issued on 2 July 2004; UP-51-2004: SRI LANKA: Inaction of the Bar Association to find redress for the victim issued on 3 September 2004)
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UP-52-2004: SRI LANKA: Serious security threat to Mr. Dingiri Banda who lodged three complaints against two army captains

SRI LANKA: Threat to life; Protection needed for the torture victim
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Dear friends,

The Asian Human Rights Commission (AHRC) has received information from Mr. R.K.L.G. Dingiri Banda on the serious security threat by two unknown men on 3 September 2004. Mr. Dingiri Banda is pursuing three cases against two army officers who are now captains regarding the severe assault on him which took place on 21 February 2000 at the officer's mess of Gajaba Regiment at Saliyapura. He strongly believes that the two men might have been contracted or mobilized to harm his life due to his complaints.

The rate of assassinations in Sri Lanka is very high and intimidation of complainants and witnesses is also very common. Under these circumstances, your urgent action is required to pressure the government of Sri Lanka to provide immediate and adequate protection to Mr. Dingiri Banda without delay. In particular, there is more reason to provide such protection to the victim as the opponents are powerful persons in the Sri Lankan army.
?lt;br />Urgent Appeals Desk
Asian Human Rights Commission (AHRC)
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UPDATED INFORMATION:

A complaint relating to the threat to life of Mr. R.K.L.G. Dingiri Banda of No. 69, Track 02 Orubandisiyambalwa, Bakamuna, a complainant of three cases against two army captains.?Mr. R.K.L.G. Dingiri Banda has complained of his fear that some persons have been contracted or mobilized in order to harm his life due to pursuing three cases regarding serious assaults on him by two army officers while he was a lieutenant in the Sri Lankan army. The assault leading to these three cases took place on the night of 21 February 2000 at the officer's mess of Gajaba Regiment at Saliyapura. The assault was so serious that his life was saved only with great difficulty. As a result, he had to stop his military career and took early retirement. According to Mr. Dingiri Banda, the two perpetrators were later promoted and are army captains now. No disciplinary action has been taken against the two said officers regarding his case.

The three pending cases are:
-- A Non Summary Inquiry regarding attempted murder before the Magistrates Court at Anuradhupura
-- A case in the District Court of Anuradhupura in which Mr. Dingiri Banda has claimed compensation for serious injuries and damages caused to him
-- A fundamental rights application before the Supreme Court.?With regard to the this case, Mr. Dingiri Banda has appealed to the Sri Lankan Bar Association regarding the alleged misconduct of his defense lawyer on his case. (Refer to: UA-79-2004 and UP-51-2004)

On 30 August 2004 at around 3:00 pm, Mr. Dingiri Banda came to Colombo to meet his lawyers who are attending to his fundamental rights application matter in which the respondents had tried to force a settlement by way of payment of Rs.100,000/= which Mr. Dingiri Banda refused to accept. He went to meet the lawyers for the purpose of taking steps to get his case re-listed before the Supreme Court and also to pursue the complaint he had made to the Bar Association of Sri Lanka.He returned from Colombo at around 3:00 pm on September 3.

On the same day (September 3) at about 9:00 pm two unknown men arrived on a motorcycle at Mr. Dingiri Banda's sister's house at Athrugiriya and asked for Mr. Dingiri Banda. Mr. Dingiri Banda was not there at that time. His sister, who was suspicious of the two persons, told them that there was no such person in her house. Thereafter the two men told her that they knew that Mr. Dingiri Banda was staying there and again asked her where he was. The sister replied, "He has gone back". The two men then left the place saying "We know how to find him."

The sister reported this incident to Mr. Dingiri Banda over the telephone immediately. He then made inquiries with all of his relatives and friends as to whether any of them had tried to visit him at his sister's house but he found that no on had. Mr. Dingiri Banda firmly believes that the two men who visited his sister's house at the late hour of the night are very likely to be persons with a contract to harm his life. He claims that there is no other reason for anyone to harm him except the cases he is pursuing regarding those two army officers who had made an attempt on his life while he was a lieutenant and who had virtually ruined his career. He also stated that he has no other enemies.

Mr. Dingiri Banda, as a complainant in a case, has a right for protection from the state. In particular, there is more reason to provide protection to him, as his opponents are in powerful positions in the Sri Lankan army. The rate of assassinations in Sri Lanka is very high and intimidation including attempts on the lives of complainants and witnesses is also very common.

Under these circumstances, Mr. Dingiri Banda has a genuine and well-founded fear for his life.

Therefore, AHRC strongly urges the government of Sri Lanka and all agencies concerned including the National Human Rights Commission (NHRC) and the National Police Commission (NPC) to take immediate and adequate action to safeguard the life of Mr. Dingiri Banda.

SUGGESTED ACTION:
Please send a letter, fax and an e-mail to the addresses below and express your concern about this serious case.

Sample letter:

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Dear Sir,

Re: Serious security threat to Mr. Dingiri Banda who lodged three complaints against two army captains

I am writing to bring to your attention the serious security threat to Mr. R.K.L.G. Dingiri Banda.

Mr. Dingiri Banda reported that two unknown men came to his sister's house at night on 3 September 2004 and looked for him. He fears that these two persons have been contracted or mobilized in order to harm his life due to pursuing three cases regarding serious assaults on him by two army officers while he was serving as a lieutenant in the Sri Lankan army. The assault took place on the night of 21 February 2000 at the officer's mess of Gajaba Regiment at Saliyapura. The assault was so serious that his life was saved only with great difficulty. Because of the injuries he had to stop his military career and took early retirement. The two said army officers were later promoted and are now army captains.

Mr. Dingiri Banda, as a complainant in a case, has a right for protection from the state as described by law. Also, there is more reason to provide protection to him as the opponents are in powerful positions in the Sri Lankan army. The rate of assassinations in Sri Lanka is very high and intimidation including attempts on the lives of complainants and witnesses are also very common.

Under these circumstances, I strongly urge you to take immediate and adequate action to provide protection to Mr. Dingiri Banda. I also request you to take up this matter with the Commander of the Sri Lankan Army Lt. Gen. Santh Kottegoda since the alleged opponents of former Lieutenant Dingiri Banda are two captains in the army. A thorough investigation must be conducted and the responsible persons punished.

Truly yours,


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Send a letter to:

1. Ms. Chandrika Bandaranaike Kumaratunga
President
Democratic Socialist Republic of Sri Lanka
Presidential Secretariat
Colombo-1, Sri Lanka
Fax: +94 11 2 333 703

2. Mr. Mahindra Rajapakse
Prime Minister
Cambridge Place
Colombo 7
SRI LANKA
Fax: +94 11 2 682905 / 575454
E-mail: secpm@sltnet.lk or bradmanw@slt.lk

3. Lieutenant General Shantha Kottegoda
The Commander of the Army
Sri Lanka Army Headquarters
Galle Face, Colombo 3
SRI LANKA
Tel: + 94 11 2432683-85
Fax: +94 11 2440087(direct)/2434862 (general)

4. Mr. Theo C. van Boven
Special Rapporteur on the Question of Torture
OHCHR-UNOG
8-14 Avenue de la Paix
1211 Geneva 10
SWITZERLAND
Fax: +41 22 917 9016

5. Mr. Philip Alston
Special Rapporteur on Extrajudicial Summary, or Arbitrary Executions
Att: Lydie Ventre
Room 3-016
c/o OHCHR-UNOG, 1211 Geneva 10, Switzerland
Tel: +41 22 917 9155
Fax: +41 22 917 9006 (general)
E-mail: lventre@ohchr.org

6. Mr. Leandro Despouy
Special Representative on the Independence of judges and lawyers
OHCHR-UNOG, Palais Wilson,
Rue des Paquis 52, Geneva
SWITZERLAND
Tel: +41 22 9175727
Fax: +41 22 9179006

Thank you.

Urgent Appeals Programme
Asian Human Rights Commission (AHRC)


Document Type :
Urgent Appeal Update
Document ID :
UP-52-2004
Countries :
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.