SRI LANKA: A group of officers brutally assault a visitor to Polpithigama police station

Dear friends, 

The Asian Human Rights Commission (AHRC) has learned that another case of police brutality in Sri Lanka has yet to be investigated by the authorities. It involves the beating of a man by a large group of officers at Polpithigama police station when he tried to visit his cousins after their arrest. The man was beaten and kicked to the ground, and was later hospitalised. The case is the latest in a large body of complaints taken again police and recorded by the AHRC, and incidents do not appear to be reducing in the post-conflict era. 

CASE NARRATIVE: 

According to the information received, army corporal Gamage Sarath Gamini (left) was woken at around 12:30 at night on 1 March 2010 by his aunt shouting in her neighbouring home. He visited her and found that his cousins, Palitha Navaratne, Manjula Ekanayake and Chaturanga had been taken by police to Polpithigama police station. He visited the station about an hour later, on 2 March. 

Gamini reports that he arrived to find his cousins in a police cell being loudly verbally abused by a group of officers. A sergeant asked Gamini why he was at the station and when Gamini asked to see his cousins the sergeant reportedly started to shout at him; he also threatened to remand Gamini in the cell with them. Around eight officers then surrounded him and according to his report, the Officer in Charge (OIC) at the time, Ranjith Chandrasiri (badge No. 55027), also shouted that he should join his cousins in remand, then struck him forcefully to the chest. The group of officers then started to beat him with their fists before throwing him out of the police station. 

As Gamini was walking away an officer in civil clothing reportedly kicked him to the floor with a strike to the left side of his ribs. A number of the policemen then re-appeared and beat and kicked him again while he was on the ground. He was chased off of the premises. 

Gamini went directly to Nikawewa District Hospital where he was examined and warded. 

The following day we are told that two police officers from the same station visited the victim and asked for his account of the incident. They left and returned later that day with a new notebook, took his statement and asked him to sign it. Gamini directed a number of corrections but says that the statement was still quite unclear. He was discharged from the hospital on 4 March. 

However on 10 March Gamini visited Kurunegala Hospital with strong chest pain, was examined and was place on ward No. 27 until 12 March 2010. During that time a Judicial Medical Officer also examined him and two hospital police officers took down another statement. He had also made a written complaint to the Superintendent of Police (SSP) in Mahawa on 8 March, copying in the Inspector General of Police, the OIC and the Deputy Inspector General. 

A complaint has been lodged at the Human Rights Commission of Sri Lanka, which launched an investigation on the 30 April. However we are told that he has received various messages from the OIC of Polpithigama police station, requesting that he settle the case before it goes to trial. 

ADDITIONAL INFORMATION: 

Police abuse continues to shape the daily reality of Sri Lankans and only strong, clear legal action can begin to change this. The AHRC has been reporting on such patterns of violence for more than a decade and it shows little sign of dwindling in the post-war environment. In the last month alone we have reported on the following cases from around the country:  A family is prevented from filing a complaint with police after a woman and child are injured during an illegal arrest; The murder of a witness by police must be independently investigated;  A man is tortured by police and held without bail for two years;  A lawyer is ill treated in public by a senior police officer;Police torture and fabricate charges against a young man for revenge. Many others are available on our appeals homepage: . 

Legal action must be followed with training, adequate funding and widespread reforms before acceptable policing standards are attained. This much was acknowledged in April both by Sri Lankan defense secretary Gotabhaya Rajapaksa and Inspector General of Police, Mahinda Balasuriya, according to media reports on an address to the Police Academy at Katana. The defense secretary spoke of the need for corrective measures in a force that is consistently accused of failing to investigate complaints and delaying inquiries. The IGP has also acknowledged flaws in the prosecution process, and the need to strengthen the force’s capacity to investigate. These are sentiments that the AHRC has been campaigning on for years. Please see statements and reports for further analysis, such as:  People’s anger against bad policing and Reform of a police system rotten at the top. 

Political will must be shown for police impunity to end. It can no longer be considered acceptable for an officer to be simply transferred in response to allegations of brutality, as is commonly seen. In the case of Gamage Sarath Gamini – as in all others involving allegations of misconduct and criminal acts – officials must launch an immediate investigation that leads to the criminal prosecution of those proven guilty. It should be noted that although police assault has been a punishable offence under the Anti-Torture or CAT Act in Sri Lanka since 1994 it is still rarely tried as such. 

SUGGESTED ACTION: 

Please write to the authorities listed below asking them to ensure that a thorough and impartial investigation is launched, leading to the criminal prosecution of those proven guilty. Please also request that adequate protection and compensation be afforded the victim. 

To support this case, please click here: SEND APPEAL LETTER