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UPDATE (Sri Lanka): A 17-year-old torture victim, Sandun Kumara, needs urgent protection

November 4, 2004

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

ASIAN HUMAN RIGHTS COMMISSION - URGENT APPEALS PROGRAM

Update on Urgent Appeal
4 November 2004

[RE: UA-70-2003: SRI LANKA: Hikkaduwa Liyanage Sandun Kumara, 16, seriously tortured by the police at Rathgama Police Station on 3 November 2003]
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UP-67-2004: SRI LANKA:  A 17-year-old torture victim, Sandun Kumara, needs urgent protection

SRI LANKA: Intimidation by the perpetrators: Need of protection to the victim
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Dear friends,

The Asian Human Rights Commission (AHRC) has received information that a torture victim, Hikkaduwa Liyanage Sandun Kumara (17 years old) and his family has been receiving continuous threats from the police officers who were involved in the brutal torture of the victim. H.L. Sandun Kumara had been illegally detained, brutally tortured and sexually abused for nearly one week after he was arrested by the Rathgama police on 12 September 2003. The AHRC had previously issued an urgent appeal regarding this case. (To see the case details, go to: UA-70-2003).

Accordingly, the victim filed a fundamental rights application against the alleged perpetrators before the Supreme Court on 21 October 2003 (SCFR application No.570/2003). The respondents of this case are (1) R. Chandimal de Silva, Officer in Charge, (2) J. T. Ramyasiri OIC-Crimes, (3) Silva -17462, Police Sergeant, (4) Chandrasiri Silva - PC 11579 and (5) Upul-PC 28014. The case is still pending and is scheduled to be taken up on 10 December 2004.

Meantime, the boy's mother reported that the accused police officers have constantly threatened her son and her family as soon as they became aware that action is being taken against them for their illegal acts. As a result, she had to send her son out of the village for his safety.

However, since a false case has been filed by the Rathgama Police against H.L. Sandun Kumara, it is mandatory that he appeared before the Magistrate's Court, Galle, from time to time. This fact has affected the mental and physical wellbeing and the safety of the victim.

The boy's mother also reported that the threats on her son and family members have been intensified by the perpetrators recently, who are pressuring the family to withdraw the case against them and accept a small sum of money as compensation. The destitute mother, a widow, has no means of providing the required protection to her son.

The AHRC calls for your urgent intervention into this case. Please urge the local authorities to provide the immediate protection to the boy and his family.

SUGGESTED ACTION:
Please send a letter to the addresses below and express your concern about this case.

Sample letter:

Dear _________,

Re: Continuous threats to the torture victim, Sandun Kumara by the perpetrators (SCFR application No. 570/2003)

I am deeply concerned by the continuous threats to the 17-year-old torture victim, Hikkaduwa Liyanage Sandun Kumara, and his family from the police officers who were involved in the brutal torture of the victim. The boy had previously been illegally detained and brutally tortured by the Rathgama police for nearly one week after his arrest on 12 September 2003.

The victim has filed a fundamental rights application against police officers responsible for his torture before the Supreme Court on 21 October 2003 (SCFR application No.570/2003). However, he reported that he and his family have been received constant threats from the perpetrators as soon as they learned about his complaint. As a result, the victim's mother had to send him out of the village for his safety.

However, since a false case has been filed by the Rathgama Police against H.L. Sandun Kumara, the boy had to appear before Magistrate's Court, Galle, from time to time. This fact has affected the mental and physical wellbeing and the safety of the victim. In addition, the perpetrators are threatening the boy and his family by saying that they would face serious circumstances if not withdraw the case.

The accused police officers are (1) R. Chandimal de Silva, Officer in Charge, (2) J. T. Ramyasiri OIC-Crimes, (3) Silva -17462, Police Sergeant, (4) Chandrasiri Silva - PC 11579 and (5) Upul-PC 28014.

I request you to ensure that the victim and his family be provided an urgent protection. I also urge you to inquire the alleged threats to the boy and his family by the responsible officers and take suitable disciplinary/legal action against them. While the investigation is going on, the alleged perpetrators should be suspended from their service or transferred for the victim's safety.

Yours sincerely,


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SEND A LETTER TO:

1. 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

2. Mr. K. C. Kamalasabesan
Attorney General
Attorney General's Department
Colombo 12
SRI LANKA
Fax: +94 11 2 436 421
Email: attorney@sri.lanka.net or counsel@sri.lanka.net

3. Mr. Chandra Fernando
Inspector General of Police (IGP)
New Secretariat
Colombo 1
SRI LANKA
Fax: +94 11 2 440440/426711/327877

4. Mr. Ranjith Abeysuriya PC
Chairperson
National Police Commission
69-1 Ward Place, Colombo 7
SRI LANKA
Fax: +94 11 2 669 528
Fax HOME: +94 11 2 674148
E-mail: polcom@sltnet.lk

5. Dr. Radhika Coomaraswamy
Chairperson
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. Mr. Theo C. van Boven
Special Rapporteur on the Question of Torture
Attn: Mr. Safir Syed
C/o OHCHR-UNOG
1211 Geneva 10
SWITZERLAND
Tel: +41 22 917 9174
Fax: +41 22 917 9016 (general)
E-mail: ssyed@ohchr.org


Thank you.

Urgent Appeals Programme
Asian Human Rights Commission (AHRC)
Document Type :
Urgent Appeal Update
Document ID :
UP-67-2004
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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.