The Asian Human Rights Commission is forwarding the following letter from Mas Rashid Singawangsa, a Sri Lankan citizen, which gives detailed information of the ordeal he suffered at the hands of the Fort Police.
Please see below the letter from Mas Rashid Singawangsa.
I humbly and respectfully submit the following facts with the fervent hope of getting redress and justice:
I am a Cambridge University qualified English teacher. I studied in the US and UK and then taught in Yemen (I have lived out of the country for over 15 years). Afterwards I returned to Sri Lanka on about February 2012 and went on a tour around the island.
On or about 15 March 2011, I applied for a Police Clearance Certificate to enable me to take up employment abroad before undergoing some specialized Chinese treatment in Malaysia for a skin problem I have been suffering for a long time. I had already bought a ticket to Malaysia to leave by 10th May 2011.Since the clearance was getting delayed I visited the Police HQ several times without getting any positive response. Again, I visited this office on the 9th of May 2011, and met ASP Ms. Renuka who had earlier given me an appointment to see her and was told it was not ready and if I wanted earlier I could write a letter of appeal to DIG, which she could take to him to expedite the matter. Accordingly, I handed over a letter to her and left her office. After about half an hour I received a call from OIC Mr. Alwis of the Clearance Section Police HQ who asked me to report at his office and collect the Clearance Letter. Since I was taking some Ayurvedic treatment for my eczema (a skin problem) and also was having loose motions, I called Ms Renuka and asked if I could come a little later and if she could leave the letter at the entrance. She said it was not possible and asked me to come before 5.00 p.m.
I arrived at OIC Clearance office around 5.00 p.m. and met Ms Renuka. She told me that she took a lot of trouble by personally seeing the DIG to obtain the Clearance Letter. Then I asked OIC Mr. Alwis for the letter and he kept me delayed up to one hour saying the letter was still under process.
All of a sudden I saw SI Mr. Wijedasa (who I later learnt was from the Fort Police station) along with a number of PCs walked in and asked me to follow them to a corner of the hallway, surrounded me and strip-searched me. They removed all the items in my possession and went through them. They left my things on the floor which was put back into my bag later. However, they kept back my wallet which had approximately Rs.70,000/- in S/L currency and Two Travelers Cheques of US$100 each, among other items. Then the SI took my wallet to ASP Renuka’s office while I was asked to stay outside the office. I was completely unaware as to what was happening inside the office. The officers who were present there were joking at me calling me “Bin Laden” apparently for my beard in spite of my protests. One of the officers however, repeated this name many times which appeared like insults. After about 15 minutes the SI came out of the office and accompanied me with another officer out of the HQ and took me to Fort Police Station on a Three Wheeler. At this stage my bag and wallet were still in their custody. At the Fort Police Station, they had me seated and asked me a few questions which I don’t fully recollect. I asked some of the officers around why I was taken here for which they were reluctant to answer. However, one of the officers jokingly said “you have been arrested for a theft of Rs. 8,000/=,” which I too took as a joke as they did not show any anger towards me. Then I was shocked when I was taken to the cell and locked up. I was lying there for some time and also performed my prayers. Then I was brought to the office and was asked to sign a statement for the items which they found in my wallet. I looked at the amount mentioned as Rs.55,000/= and disagreed about the amount as it was short by Rs.15,000/=. Also, the receipt mentioned only one TC x US$100 whereas I had two TCs. I counted the money in my wallet and after discovering the amount stolen, I banged the wallet on the table saying, “you know how much was in it and you know who took it”. The officers there did not react to my shouting. They kept insisting me to sign the statement which I totally refused to do. I was then put back into the cell. I spent the most agonizingly sleepless night since this was the first time I ever experienced such a dreadful event in my entire life.
On the following day morning, a police officer from the Tourist Police (I was told) forced me to provide a statement the way he wanted relating to the incident. I was not sure what the incident was. He said, if I don’t give a statement I would be given another prison sentence. He asked me several questions and wrote down on his own words. From the questions I inferred that I was being framed to have committed a theft of some money from the Police HQ. It looked ridiculous to me to imagine even a hard core criminal could have had the courage to steal cash from the Police HQ. Here I would mention that due to absence from Sri Lanka for a long period of time due to employment abroad and studies I had been out of touch with Sinhala language and my accent sound foreign. The Officer was perturbed that I could not manage in Sinhalese and even cursed me intermittently, “you fucker, you forgot your language”, and was very angry with me notwithstanding the fact that I am not a Sinhalese and throughout my life I used English as my home language. I asked him to write the exact words I spoke, which he refused and used his own words and insisted me to sign the statement.
I remember signing the document with my comment at the bottom “with reservations” within brackets. After the interview I was put back in the cell and later I was asked to sign for the “release of my property that included money”. I refused to sign as part of my money was missing as mentioned before. Then they told me they would not return rest of my money if I did not sign the receipt they had with them. I was therefore compelled to sign the document in order at least retrieve the rest of my own money. However, I mentioned that “missing Rs.15000/= and a TC for US$100” after my signature on the document. Also, the trouser belt they removed the previous night before putting me in the cell was not returned to me. I had to wear my trouser without the belt which made me very inconvenient as I had to hold on to it with my hands.
I was taken to the Magistrate’s Court, Fort where the Fort Police read out a statement to the judge. I did not see the statement which was read out at the courts which I could not follow fully well as it was hardly audible. The honorable judge did not ask me a single question, when I was prepared to tell her my version of the events. Later, some prison officers took me to the Magazine Prison.
Up to now I am not clearly told what crime I had committed or given any charge sheet. I spent 14 days or so at the prison and after the initial court appearance. On my second appearance I was offered bail which I could not utilize as I did not know any procedure and was put back into the cell notwithstanding the fact I was represented by a Lawyer arranged by the Police against my will. After a few more days, through a motion I was released on bail on 30th May 2011. Having spent most of my hard earned money on the above matters, I have now become almost a pauper, without a job, unable to go abroad for employment, unable to face the world and suffer through mental agony. Inside the prison, I had to stay with some of the worst criminals and drug dealers I have ever come across in my entire life, and also had to tend to my bleeding wounds without any proper medicines. All these when I remain not even knowing what I am really accused of. My plan to obtain treatment in Malaysia for my skin problem has failed and the problem has worsened since then.
Though I am fully aware of the true incident (that it was a total fabrication), I leave that decision with you to decide. However, apart from that, any laymen can say with certainty that the police have made inaccurate and contradictory statements under oath, as a cursory perusal of the documents will show. Out of the more than 40 contradictions, let’s take the following as an example:
The alleged lost money was kept in the following locations:
(a) In an open cane basket (A,1,26) (b) under a book (B,4,19) (c) under a file (P1,4,5) (d) on a shelf (P2,8,3) (e) on W1’s left side of table
Since a person’s life would depend on the statements made by police, one could even get a life sentence based on a wrong wording. Therefore, under such circumstances, I believe it is irresponsible to have such characters to continue service since they clearly pose a risk to the well-being of our society as they have themselves clearly demonstrated through their work, without a shadow of a doubt, in statements under oath, that they are incapable of doing their duties properly and thus putting people’s lives at risk. I was myself in prison for 3 weeks. Although out on bail, I can never forget the miserable time I had to endure. I can’t forget being dragged in chains and hand cuffed while being taken to the hospital and spending sleepless nights in drug and cigarette smoke filled environments next to murders, rapists and criminals. I am now on psychiatric medication, and to date suffer from strange rashes in my body and groin areas. The perpetrators are no other than criminals in uniform. So long as they and their likes remain employed, I will never feel safe, nor you or your family, dear reader or anybody else known or unknown. I am sure everybody will disagree as dangerous if we have former prisoners work in the police force. Likewise, as responsible citizens, those police officers must be stripped from their positions and brought to trial as the evidence is established with certainty based on their own statements made under oath. I believe police officers engaged in such misconduct ought to be suspended so as to discourage further crime since they have committed perjury as noted in the proceedings as well in complete disregard to the judicial system.
I therefore request that proper charges be brought against those responsible and that they be taken to task to the fullest extent of the law so that it remains a lesson to would-be-criminals. I also request that the evidence be looked into and that I be acquitted and the case dismissed, if you are satisfied of my innocence.
I lodged a complaint with the Human Rights Commission (1636/11) a photo copy is attached herewith within a month after being released on bail and therefore would like to file a fundamental rights petition.
Below are some of the violations:
1) Falsely and knowingly bringing false charges+imprisonment.
2) Stealing money in my possession.
3) Refusing (Fort Police) to lodge my complaint.
4) Refusing a copy of the first information.
5) Refusing to provide a clearance for work.
6) Tarnishing of my character.
7) Causing physical and psychological damage.
I therefore most humbly request that I be released and absolved of all the charges, if any, which I never committed to the best of my knowledge and belief. I also hope the perpetrators of this criminal injustice to me be legally taken to task as they tarnish the good image of this government and our beautiful nation.
