SRI LANKA: Alleged illegal detention and torture of two men by police

Dear friends,

The Asian Human Rights Commission (AHRC) has received two further alleged torture cases committed by Sri Lankan police. In one case, the 17-year-old victim was illegally arrested by the the Special Investigation Unit (SIU) of the Vavuniya police on 22 May 2007, and subjected to brutal torture. It is reported that the police allegedly implicated him into the false charge of the procession of bullets. In another case, a 25-year old three wheeler driver was arrested by the Peradeniya police on suspicion of being involved in a murder case on 20 May 2007 and brutally tortured. In both cases the victims were detained in police custody for more than 24 hours without being produced to court in violation of the law. Both victims are being detained in the remand prisons, while their family members insist that the police arbitrarily charged them without sufficient evidence.

CASE DETAILS:

Ruwantha Chrishantha Dias is a 17-year-old boy residing at 122, Tekkawatte, Vavuniya. He was allegedly picked up by the Special Investigation Unit (SIU) of the Vavuniya police on 22 May 2007, when he was going to a tailor shop. One of the officers who illegally arrested him was identified as Karunarathne. The police did not produce any arrest warrant or other valid documents for his arrest.

He was then taken to the Vavuniya police station, where he was brutally tortured. The police removed his clothes and tortured him, while forcing him to accept the charge of possessing 5 bullets. However, Ruwantha denied the accusation.

According to the general penal law of Sri Lanka, a person arrested must be produced before a magistrate within 24 hours of arrest. However, Ruwantha was only produced to the court with false charges of possessing 5 bullets on June 7, 16 days after his illegal arrest and detention. He was then remanded by the magistrate until June 11 and is currently detained at Anuradapura remand prison.

Meanwhile, Ruwantha’s parents lodged a complaint to the Office of the Human Rights Commission in Vavuniya (Entry No: H.R.C. V 763-2007). The parents challenge the police claim against their son and believe that the police mistakenly arrested and then tortured Ruwantha and then framed the false charge against him to cover up the incident.

Ruwantha’s father Anthony Dias is a security guard at the Sampath Bank. Ruwantha has just completed his schooling and was waiting to continue on to higher education.

In another case, Gnanapragasam Benedict Rosery, a 25-year-old three wheeler driver living at Uda Peradeniya, Kandy, was brutally tortured by the Peradeniya police. In the evening of 20 May 2007, one three wheeler driver named Bonniface asked him to go for a bath together with another man named Suresh. According to the victim, Boniface and Suresh accompanied him to his house after the bath and he said good bye to them.

On the following morning (May 21), Benedict came to know that Suresh had been murdered. He says that strangely on that morning, Boniface sent him Suresh’s purse, which he refused to receive. Benedict then went to the Peradeniya police station to inform them of the incidents of the previous day and the morning. However, police immediately took him into their custody instead. Benedict was allegedly brutally tortured by police, who forced him to confess murdering Suresh. Meanwhile, Boniface was also reportedly arrested by police with charge of murder.

On May 22, Benedict’s mother informed the incident of her son to a local partner of the AHRC, who immediately reported the incident to the HRC Hotline in Kandy and asked for their intervention to stop the on-going torture of Benedict. He was only produced before court on May 23 in violation of the law. The court then ordered him to be remanded until June 4. He was further remanded by court on June 4. He is currently detained at Bogambara Prison in Kandy.

Meanwhile, Benedict’s mother Arulmary moved to her sister’s house at Meekanuwa Ampitiya fearing possible intimidation and harassment by the police. The mother insists upon the innocence of her son and believes that the police implicated Benedic into Suresh’s murder case without concrete evidence in order to conclude the case quickly.

ADDITIONAL COMMENTS:

Sri Lanka has ratified the Convention against Torture and Other Cruel, Inhuman or Degrading Treatment or Punishment (CAT) in 1994 and introduced the correspondent local legislation called the CAT Act No 22 of 1994, which outlaws torture. Punishment of committing torture under this Act is seven to ten years of rigorous imprisonment and a fine not less than 10,000 rupees and not exceeding 50,000 rupees.

However, in reality only very few state officers have been convicted under this Act for the last 12 years, while torture remains endemic at police stations cross the whole country. For instance, the U.N. Committee against Torture stated in its 2005 conclusions and recommendations, “The Committee expresses its deep concern about continued well documented allegations of widespread torture and ill treatment as well as disappearances, mainly committed by the State’s police forces. It is also concerned that such violations by law enforcement officials are not investigated promptly and impartially by the State party’s competent authorities.” [CAT/C/LKA/CO/2, 15 December 2005, Article 12]

Torture is being used as the ‘only effective method’ for investigation by Sri Lankan police, who are poorly equipped and trained, although Article 12 of the CAT Act No. 22 of 1994 strictly prohibit torture from being used for the purpose of obtaining any information or confession from a person. It is also very common practice in Sri Lanka that police arrest and arbitrarily charge innocent persons to quickly conclude pending crimes cases. In most of such cases, it is the people from poor and marginalized sectors who are targeted by police. Torture and other human rights abuses committed by the police are getting worse under the conflict situation in the country.

The two cases mentioned above exactly shows these aspects. In both cases, the police brutally tortured the victims to extract their confession rather than conducting investigation to collect sufficient evidence. Presumption of innocence until conviction, one fundamental right of the accused, has been completely ignored by the police. It should also be noted that torture is strictly prohibited by domestic and international laws even for those criminals.

The HRC of Sri Lanka has adopted a zero tolerance policy against torture but its recommendations are frequently ignored by the government authorities. Also, the National Police Commission, a government institution responsible for sanctions of the police forces, has recently created a speedy inquiry mechanism into the alleged crimes by the police in accordance with the Rules of Procedure (Public Complaints) 2007. According to the Rules, the NPC should complete the investigation into the case within one month after receiving the complaint.

Despite all these domestic mechanisms for the purpose of preventing and punishing the act of torture, most torture perpetrators escape from their legal responsibility due to lack of implementation of those mechanisms by the Sri Lankan government.

The brutality of torture and the impact of several decades of instability on the Sri Lankan policing system have been thoroughly documented in a number of reports published by the Asian Legal Resource Centre, the sister organization of the AHRC. For details, please see the reports published in the ALRC’s bimonthly publication article 2: Special report: Torture committed by the police in Sri Lanka (Vol. 1, No. 4, August 2002) and Second special report: Endemic torture and the collapse of policing in Sri Lanka (Vol. 3, No. 1, February 2004).

To see basic guidelines of preventing torture described in the CAT Act No 22 of 1994, also see: http://www.hrschool.org/doc/mainfile.php/lesson28/58/

SUGGESTED ACTION:
Please write to the local authorities listed below and demand the prompt and thorough investigation into the alleged two torture cases and take action against those responsible police officers. Please also demand that the victims are immediately released if there is no sufficient evidence to prove their guilty acts. Please also urge them to strictly implement the CAT Act. No 22 of 1994 and other domestic provisions preventing and punishing act of torture.  For your information, the AHRC has already reported the two cases to the U,N. Special Rapporteur on torture for his intervention.

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