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UPDATE(Sri Lanka): A torture victim has received threats by Katugastota Police, after he lodged a complaint against them

November 19, 2004

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

ASIAN HUMAN RIGHTS COMMISSION - URGENT APPEALS PROGRAMME

Update on Urgent Appeal
19 November 2004

[RE: UA-03-2004: SRI LANKA: A man who gave up illicit liquor sales was tortured by police from the Katugastota Police Station]
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UP-72-2004: SRI LANKA: A torture victim has received threats by Katugastota Police, after he lodged a complaint against them

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

The Asian Human Rights Commission (AHRC) has received information that Mr. D.G. Premathilaka, who was illegally arrested and tortured by the Katugastota Police from 8 to 9 January 2004, has been threatened by the police of the said police station in response to his complaint lodged against the perpetrators. (see previous urgent appeal : UA-03-2004: SRI LANKA)

According to Mr. Premathilaka, several police officers attached to the Katugastota Police have been trying to implicate him in criminal acts and have threatened him to withdraw the case filed in January 2004.

Mr. Premathilaka is deeply concerned for his safety due to the police harassment and is afraid to attend the inquiry by the National Human Rights Commission (NHRC), which is scheduled to be held on 29 November 2004.

Your urgent action is needed to pressure the local authorities and Sri Lankan government to provide full protection to Mr. Premathilaka, so that he is able to attend the inquiry.  Please also ask the authorities and the government to take immediate steps for legal/disciplinary action against those who are threatening Mr. Premathilaka to withdraw his case.

Urgent Appeals Desk
Asian Human Rights Commission (AHRC)
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UPDATED INFORMATION:

Name of the victim: D.G. Premathilaka
Alleged perpetrators: Mr. Aranpath and several officers attached to the Katugastota Police

Case details: 

Mr. D.G. Premathilaka, who was illegally arrested and tortured by the Katugastota Police from 8 to 9 January 2004, has been threatened by Mr. Aranpath and several officers attached to the Katugastota Police. The victim insists that the police have been trying to implicate him in criminal acts and have threatened him to withdraw the Fundamental Rights application against them, which was filed in January 2004.

On November 15, three police officers from the Katugastota Police went to the Pujapitiya town and checked the three wheeler (No. 206-0747) which Mr. Premathilaka was driving. They checked whether there was illicit liquor inside the vehicle, but failed to find any such thing. After that, the police asked Mr. Premathilaka to take them to a place in his three wheeler where illicit liquor was being made. However, Mr. Premathilaka refused to go.

The following day (November 16), Mr. Aranpath and another officer in civil dress went to an area where Mr. Premathilaka's three wheeler was parked and asked him to get in the three wheeler in which they came. After that, they proceeded toward Bokkawela and went to several places to extract information about Mr. Premathilaka and tried to arrest him on false charges. As the police failed to find information, they threatened him and demanded that he withdraw his application against the police, saying "If you do withdraw the file, you will be taken good care of by the police."

The police further informed Mr. Premathilaka that a warrant had been issued for his arrest and that he was wanted by the police.  They also said he should accompany them to the police station, but failed to produce a warrant memo against him.  Mr. Premathilaka refused to go saying that without a warrant, he would instead present himself to the court. The police then asked Mr. Premathilaka to put petrol into their three wheeler due to the long distances they had travelled. Even though Mr. Premathilaka did not have enough of his own money to buy the police petrol, he managed to borrow 180 Rupees out of fear for his safety if he did not do so.

An inquiry into the illegal arrest and torture of Mr. Premathilaka by the National Human Rights Commission (NHRC) is scheduled to be held on 29 November 2004. However, Mr. Premathilaka has been pressured by the police officers of Katugastota Police Station to withdraw his complaint. Now Mr. Premathilaka is deeply concerned for his safety due to the police harassment. As a result, he is too afraid to attend the inquiry.

The AHRC is deeply concerned about this case and urges the government of Sri Lanka to take immediate legal/disciplinary action against the police officers involved.  The AHRC also asks that a proper investigation into the case be conducted. In particular, the AHRC urges NHRC to give full protection to Mr. Premathilaka and ensure that he can attend the inquiry on 29 November 2004.

SUGGESTED ACTION:
Please send a letter, fax or email to the addresses below and ask them to take immediate action against those responsible. Also urge them to provide full protection to the victim and  ensure a proper investigation into this case is conducted.

Sample letter:

Dear _____________,

Re: SRI LANKA: A torture victim has received threats by Katugastota Police, after he lodged a complaint against them

Name of the victim: D.G. Premathilaka
Alleged perpetrators: Mr. Aranpath and several officers attached to the Katugastota Police

I am extremely disturbed to hear that Mr. D.G. Premathilaka, who was illegally arrested and tortured by the Katugastota Police from 8 to 9 January 2004, has been threatened by several officers attached to the Katugastota Police, demanding that he withdraw his complaint against the perpetrators.

According to the information I have received, Mr. Aranpath and several officers from Katugastota Police have been trying to implicate Mr. D.G. Premathilaka in criminal acts and have threatened him to withdraw the Fundamental Rights application he lodged in January 2004.

An inquiry into the illegal arrest and torture of Mr Premathilaka by the National Human Rights Commission (NHRC) is scheduled to be held on 29 November 2004. However, Mr. Premathilaka is currently deeply concerned for his safety, due to the police harassment, and is too afraid to attend the inquiry.

Therefore, I urge you to take immediate legal/disciplinary action against those police officers who are threatening Mr. Premathilaka. I also urge you to ensure that a thorough and impartial investigation be conducted into this case. In particular, I urge the NHRC to give full protection to Mr. Premathilaka and to ensure that he can attend the inquiry on 29 November 2004.

I hope to receive your reply soon.

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-72-2004
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.