SRI LANKA: Alleged torture and fabrication of case against a man by the Special Investigation Unit-Kalutara

Dear friends,

The Asian Human Rights Commission (AHRC) has received information from a reliable source about the alleged torture of a man by the Special Investigation Unit (SIU) of the Kalutara division. It is alleged that Mr. Maha Hewage Sumith Perera was inhumanely tortured for several hours for two days. What is particularly horrendous about this case is that it is the SIU who are frequently tasked with the duty of investigating accusations of torture by elements of the Sri Lankan Police Force.

CASE DETAILS:

Mr. Maha Hewage Sumith Perera is a 32-year old three wheeler operator residing at 52/A Henawatte, Maggona, Sri Lanka. On 26 March 2007, the officers of the Special Investigation Unit (SIU) of Kalutara Division came in search of Mr. Perera, who was not at home at that time. The police then left a message with his wife requesting him to go to the office of the SIU at the Kalutera Police Station.

At around noon on the following day, Mr. Sumith Perera went to the SIU Office, where he was allegedly handcuffed and made to sit on the floor. At about 9:00pm that evening the Officer-in-Charge (OIC) of the SIU, Mr. Nimal Karunaratne came in, ordered the victim to stand and questioned him about certain thefts using foul language. Mr. Sumith Perera then realized that he was being detained in the said OIC’s room.

When Mr. Perera told the officer that he knew nothing about the thefts, the OIC made him lean against the wall and assaulted him with a pole about 3 feet long. The OIC beat the victim’s feet, back, shoulders in a most inhumane manner. After the brutal assault, the OIC questioned the victim about the theft cases again. When Mr. Perera kept insisting on his innocence, the OIC again assaulted him. According to Mr. Perera, the OIC interrogated him while torturing him until 11:00pm on that night. The OIC then left the office saying “we will see in the morning”.

Mr. Sumith Perera said that there were three other detainees who were arrested on suspicion of being involved in the same theft case. He said that all three persons were also tortured.  All four of them were kept handcuffed within the room of OIC Nimal Karunaratne overnight.

On the following morning, the four men were not given anything to eat or drink. The OIC Nimal Karunaratne came to the office at about 11:00am and sent the three other persons out of the room. He then interrogated Mr. Sumith Perera in a similar manner as he had done the previous day. When the victim insisted his innocence, the OIC hit him with his fist on the right cheek and on his chest.

There were three other police officers in civilian clothes present in the room at the time. The OIC, Nimal Karunaratne, allegedly told the officers that it is useless to hit the victim like this and ordered them to him bring a pole. One of the officers then handed the OIC the same pole with which Mr. Perera had been tortured the previous day.  The OIC then got Mr. Sumith Perera to lean against the wall and assaulted him.

The OIC also took Mr. Sumith Perera’s mobile phone and threatened him continuously saying, “Even if you escape this time, I will not let you live, I will place a bomb and catch you or I will see that you die with a bomb, or I will put heroin . You will be then put to the High Court then you have to pay at least Rs. 5,000 (USD 45) to the lawyers”.

After the assault, the OIC and some other officers took the victim into a white van and brought him to his sister’s house. The vehicle did not stop right up to the house. Instead it was stopped ahead and Mr. Perera was taken down in handcuffs and forced to walk to his sister’s house. It is alleged that this was done in order to embarrass him. At the sister’s house her TV was taken into the police custody.

The police then took Mr. Sumith Perera to his house where they searched his household. The victim’s house windows were not completed and the OIC Nimal Karunaratne took out one of the windows. Mr. Sumith Perera’s wife was not at home at that time.

Mr. Perera was then brought back to the SIU’s Office and again questioned about the alleged theft cases and tortured in the same manner. In the meantime, three TVs were taken into the custody of SIU from the area of Beruwala, Payagala and Maggona. On that night after the OIC left the office, the victim and three others once again slept inside the OIC’s room like the previous day.

On March 28, the victim’s wife Mrs. Vidanalage Renuka Subashni complained about her husband’s unlawful arrest, detention and torture to the Human Rights Commission of Sri Lanka (HRCSL), the National Police Commission (NPC) and the Inspector General of Police (IGP). According to the victim, his wife and a relative, who visited him at the SIU Office several times, witnessed the victim’s injuries sustained by the assault of the OIC Nimal Karunaratne.

On the same day, the SIU Officers took a statement from Mr. Perera and three other detainees. An officer named Suminda also took the victim’s photograph. When taking the photograph, the officers covered the victim’s handcuffs with a T-shirt so that they did not appear in the photograph. Photographs were taken of Mr. Perera both alone and in the company of the three other persons.

At around 6:30pm on the same evening, a person came to meet the OIC Nimal Karunaratne. At that time Mr. Perera and the three others were shifted to a room behind, which was filled with bottles and cans of illicit liquor that had been confiscated in raids. They were kept there until 8:00pm and taken back to the OIC’s room. On that occasion, the OIC and some other officers allegedly consumed liquor in front of Mr. Perera and the three others. All the four were then sent to another room and were not tortured on that night. The officers drank and left the office. That night too the victim and the three others slept while being handcuffed like on the previous nights.

On March 29, the OIC Nimal Karunaratne arrived at the SIU Office about 10:30am. He did not harass Mr. Sumith Perera on that day but detained him in the room where the illicit liquor was kept.  At about 8:00pm on the same day, Mr. Sumith Perera and the three others were taken into the same white van and handed over to the Payagala police. Finally their handcuffs were removed and they were put into the police lock-up.

All the four were then detained at the Payagala police station until around 3:00pm on March 30 when they were produced before the Magistrate’s Court of Kalutara on alleged fabricated charges and sent to a remand prison until April 5. The victim was represented by Attorney-at-law Kanishka. Due to the brutal torture, Mr. Perera was in a poor condition and he reported this to the officials of the remand prison. However, they did not arrange any medical attention for him.

On April 5, Mr. Sumith Perera  was again produced before the Magistrate Court of Kalutara and   released on a bail of  Rs. 5,000 (USD 45) and on a surety bail of Rs. 150,000 (USD 1,365). The next date of the case hearing is scheduled for 5 July 2007.

After his release, the victim lodged a written complaint to the Chairman of the HRCSL, the Chairman of the NPC and IGP and Senior Superintendent of Police of Kalutara division.

The AHRC is deeply concerned by the alleged illegal arrest, detention, torture and fabrication of charges against the victim by the SIU of Kalutara Division. A person arrested should be produced before a magistrate within 24 hours after the arrest by law. The AHRC suspects that the OIC of the SIU of Kalutara Division intentionally detained the victim in his room to avoid this legal requirement. Furthermore, the manner of the victim’s detention and torture is inhuman in violation of the international standards for detainees. The AHRC strongly urges the Sri Lankan authorities to immediately take disciplinary and legal action against the OIC and other responsible officers of the SIU Kalutara.

ADDITIONAL COMMENTS:

This case is yet another example illustrating the absence of a credible mechanism of criminal justice inquiries in Sri Lanka. Still torture is a main tool for the investigation of crimes at the police stations in Sri Lanka. If there is any complaint against Mr. Sumith Perera, the police should have properly conducted an investigation into the matter; for example, summon Mr. Sumith Perera for an inquiry through lawful process, locate the witnesses and collect the statements from them and collect the sufficient evidence to prove Mr. Sumith Perera’s guilty.

However, the SIU Kalutara illegally arrested and further tortured Mr. Sumith Perera. He was then framed with alleged false charges by the police. This is in clear violation of the victim’s fundamental right to security, and right not to be tortured that is guaranteed by the Sri Lankan constitution as well as UN Convention against Torture (CAT) to which Sri Lanka is a state party. Furthermore, the victim was detained in the unlawful detention places, the room of the OIC of the SIU.  The AHRC is particularly concerned that those responsible in this case are the officers of the SIU, who are frequently tasked with the duty of investigating accusations of torture by elements of the Sri Lankan Police Force.

Although the Sri Lankan government introduced the CAT Act no. 22 of 1994 in a purpose of seeking the prosecutions of the torture perpetrators, the number of cases filed under the CAT Act on complaints is very few so far though allegations of torture have increased.

There is no doubt that it is impossible to deal with the issue of endemic torture at the police stations in Sri Lanka, without reforming the criminal justice inquiry mechanism and strict sanction and prosecution against the torture perpetrators.

The impact of several decades of instability on the Sri Lankan policing system has been thoroughly documented in a number of reports by the AHRC. article 2, Vol. 1, No. 4 (http://www.article2.org/mainfile.php/0104/) and Vol. 3, No. 1
(http://www.article2.org/mainfile.php/0301/).

SUGGESTED ACTION:
Please write to the relevant authorities listed below expressing your concern about this serious case. Please urge them to take action for a proper investigation and punishment of the alleged perpetrators. The AHRC has already written to the UN Special Rapporteur on Question of Torture demanding for his intervention into this matter.

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