SRI LANKA: Innocent man is extrajudicial killed by officers of the Dompe Police

Dear friends, 

Mr. Ganearachchi Appuhamilage Gayan Saranga (29) of Katulanda, Dekatana, Dompe in the Gampaha District was arrested and extrajudicially killed by the police officers attached to the Dompe Police Station on 29 September 2011. Saranga was first arrested at his wife’s home and the police informed his relatives they needed to record a statement from him regarding the transportation of a water pump in his three-wheeler. When the wife tried to visit him later at the police station she was refused permission to see him. Later at 11 pm of the same day Saranga’s corpse was handed over to the mortuary of the Dompe Government Hospital by the police officers. The police stated that while Saranga was being taken to the place where he had hidden the stolen water pump he feel out of running police jeep and later succumbed to his injuries. Later the Inspector General of Police officially announced by special communiqué that there is no evidence to prove the version of the police. The case is yet another in the very long list of extrajudicial killings by the Sri Lanka police. 

CASE NARRATIVE: 

According to the information that the Asian Human Rights Commission (AHRC) received Mr. Ganearachchi Appuhamilage Gayan Saranga (29) of Katulanda, Dekatana, Dompe in the Gampaha District was arrested and extrajudicially killed by police officers attached to the Dompe Police Station on 29 September 2011. 

Saranga was married, the father of one child and a three-wheeler driver by profession. According to his mother, Ms. Lalani Ajantha (54), Saranga was arrested while he was at his wife’s home at Pattiwela in Dompe on 29 September 2011 at 5.15 pm. Five police officers attached to the Dompe Police Station requested Saranga to accompany them to the police station to record a statement. Saranga’s father identified one police officer, who was a closely known friend, went to the police officers and demanded the reason for the arrest. The officers explained that they are only arresting him to record a statement about transporting a water pump by his three-wheeler. 

The mother, father and the wife of Saranga followed the police officers and pleaded with the police officers not to assault Saranga, stating that he had never engaged in any crime. The police officers promised them that they were not going to harm Saranga. They then took Saranga to the police station along with his three-wheeler. 

When Saranga did not come back, his wife Rashika went to the police station to see what had happened to her husband. However, when she tried to enter the station the police officers in front prevented her and asked her to go home. Then she was afraid for Saranga’s safety and once again she pleaded with the officers not to torture him. Then she returned home. 

Later in the morning of the following day she learned that Saranga had been killed and his body handed over to the Mortuary of Dompe Government Hospital. 

Then she and hundreds of relatives and friends of Saranga rushed to the hospital mortuary and observed the dead body and demanded the reason for his death. They all were able to see several dozen marks of injury very clearly on the body. They further learned that Saranga had been hung and beaten by the police officers while he was in the custody and that the noise of the torture and his pleading with the officers had been heard by many people in the vicinity of the police station. 

Police Headquarters then issued a communiqué stating that the police had arrested a suspected criminal wanted for more than 20 crimes and that while the suspect was being taken to a place where he had hidden the stolen property he had fallen from the speeding police jeep and succumbed to his injuries. 

However, when the communiqué was received, along with the news of his death thousands of people surrounded the Dompe Police Station and demanded the quick and speedy action against the police officers who were responsible for the death. 

On 2 Octorber 2011 the Inspector General of Police (IGP) issued a statement that the earlier version of the police could not be proved. The IGP further stated that he had directed the Criminal Investigation Division (CID) of the police to investigation the incident. 

The CID is currently conducting further investigations into the suspicious death of Saranga and has arrest five policemen including the Officer-in-Charge (OIC) Crime Branch of the Dompe Police Station. Also, according to reports the entire contingent of officers at that police station in question has been transferred. 

Along with the Crimes OIC, the CID arrested a Sub Inspector, a Police Sergeant and two Police Constables on 2 October evening. 

Later on three of the arrested police officers were produced before the Magistrate of Gampaha and remanded till the 14 October. The case has now been postponed pending the development of further investigations into the incident. 

The Sri Lankan police have adopted a systematic practice of extrajudicially killing its citizens in the name of crime prevention. The innocent, even after arrest by the police, especially by the Special Task Force (STF) have been killed while in police custody. In a recent incident the police claimed that one suspect drowned while trying to escape their custody. They offered no explanation when it was pointed out to them that the ‘suspect’ had been a navy specialist and an expert swimmer. 

The prevention of crime is a one of the sacred and paramount duties of the any civilized state. According to the Constitution of the country the law enforcement authorities are bound to protect the right to life of the people and their constitutionally enshrined rights. Sri Lanka, while running the country with a democratic framework is bound to support the judiciary and impose the rule of law and protect the civil liberties of the people. The killing of civilians by police officers has become a peremptory norm in the country. For many years now there has been no command responsibility in the Sri Lanka police and it is the supervisory officers that should be held primarily responsible for the killings perpetrated by the officers under their command. 

ADDITIONAL COMMENTS: 

The Asian Human Rights Commission has reported innumerable cases of arbitrary arrest, detention, torture and extra judicial killings cases of citizens at the hands of the police which is illegal under international and local law and which have taken place at different police stations in the country over the past few years. The Asian Human Rights Commission has observed that the Sri Lankan police have used torture as an instrument to terrorize innocent persons and harass the public. Further, the country’s police are implementing a policy of eliminating criminals by killing them after arresting them without producing them to the court of law. 

The Constitution of Sri Lanka has guaranteed the right freedom from torture. According to Article 11 of the Constitution ‘No person shall be subjected to torture or to cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment or punishment’. Further, Article 13(4) “No person shall be punished with death or imprisonment except by order of a competent court, made in accordance with procedure established by law. The arrest, holding in custody, detention or other deprivation of personal liberty of a person, pending investigation or trial, shall not constitute punishment.” Further article 13 (5) guarantees the right of presumption of innocence until being proven guilty. 

Furthermore, Sri Lanka has signed and ratified the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights (ICCPR). Nevertheless the lack of protection offered to those who are willing to take cases against abusive police officers and the state authorities, means that the law is under-used continues to be employed as a tool by the police to harass people. This not only takes a long-term toll on the victim and his or her family, but on society as a whole, by the undermining of civilian respect for the law and encouraging impunity. 

Furthermore, the Asian Human Rights Commission has continuously exposed the way the witness and the victims are getting harassed and on some occasions even killed to suppress the justice. Furthermore we have urged the State of Sri Lanka to adopt a law for the protection of witness protection. 

SUGGESTED ACTION: 
Please send a letter to the authorities listed below expressing your concern about this case and requesting an immediate investigation into the allegations extra judicial killings by the police perpetrators, and the prosecution of those proven to be responsible under the criminal law of the country. The officers involved must also be subjected to internal investigations for the breach of the department orders as issued by the police department. 

The AHRC has also written a separate letter to the Special Rapporteur on Extra-judicial, Summary or Arbitrary Executions and to the Special Rapporteur on torture and other cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment or punishments on this regard. 

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