Dear friends,
The Asian Human Rights Commission (AHRC) is gravely concerned of brutal torture on John Pollage Udays Saman Jayasuriya by the police at Kadugannawa Police Station on 9 March 2004.
According to the information, when his car was stopped by the motorbike, the victim tried to identify two policemen in civilian clothes. However, this “rude attitude” brought brutal assault by the policemen. Even though he escaped from the scene luckily, within an hour, he was arrested by a whole contingent of uniformed policemen in a jeep from Kadugannawa Police Station with weapons and poles, and was brutally tortured at the police station again. Even though he is a victim of torture, the Kandy Magistrate charged the victim along with Nandana Amarasuriya and Vigith Kumara Senarath (the two who were in his car) on the grounds of obstructing the police on 24 March 2004. The three victims cannot expect a fair and independent investigation by the police because the Magistrate ordered them to give statements to Kadugannawa Police Station where the victim was tortured.
Please send a letter to the Sri Lankan government and request them to conduct an independent investigation into this matter and withdraw the charges against the victims.
Urgent Appeals Desk
Asian Human Rights Commission (AHRC)
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DETAILED INFORMATION:
Name of the victim: John Pollage Udays Saman Jayasuriya, a driver and married with two sons, Buddhist
Address of the victim: 159/A, Kuruduwatta, Urapola, Pilimathalawa
Alleged perpetrators: Mr. Priyantha Anuruddha, Mr. Dushyahntha Herath (Police Inspector of the Peradeniya Police Station) and several police officers attached to the Kadugannawa Police Station
Date of the incident: Around 8:15 pm on 9 March 2004
Police Stations related to the incident: Kadugannawa and Peradeniya Police Station
Case details: (Based on the victim’s testimony)
At around 8:15 pm on 9 March 2004, Mr. Saman Jayasuriya was driving his elder son’s Toyota Hiace Van numbered 50 Sri 0314 from the town of Pilimatalawa to his house. He was, in the vehicle, with his younger son, U.G. Nandana Amarasooriya, and D. G. Vigitha Kumara Senarath (a person who works under him). While the vehicle was coming forward, a motorbike followed the vehicle from Kudaoya Bridge and stopped Saman’s car near the Giragama Tea Factory.
Two persons in civilian clothes came to the vehicle and asked for the license and insurance. Since the two persons wore civilian clothes, Saman asked them, “Who are you?” They told him they were policemen and then one of the two, later identified as Inspector of the Police (I.P.) of Peradeniya Police Station, Dushyahntha Herath, punched Saman several times. Then I.P. Herath forcibly switched off the vehicle and took the key. After that the two policemen dragged Saman and Nandana out of the vehicle and started to hit their face with their helmets. By this time they were fully drunk. Since the policemen continued to assault them, Saman and Nandana pushed them and they fell down from the bike. Then Saman started the vehicle and escaped from the scene.
After they came back home Saman described the incident to his elder son Tilakasiri. As Saman was bleeding from his wounds, they were trying to go to the Hospital. When they were about to go to the hospital at 9:00 pm, suddenly, a whole contingent of uniformed policemen in a jeep, civilians in a three wheeler, and two on a motorbike from Kadugannawa Police Station came to Saman’s house with weapons and poles. Saman could identify the two officers who assaulted them. There was also the Sub Inspector of Kadugannawa Police Station in uniform.
As soon as they arrived in his house, the policemen began to attack Saman with Z-lon pipe in front of his wife. While they were beating Saman, those in civilian clothes captured his elder son Tilakasiri, thinking that he was the one who was at the vehicle. His younger son Nandana and Senarath were not present there. When the police attacked Thilakasiri, he told them that he was a police officer who had been shot in the leg and that now he was invalid. Then they dragged him to the road and put him in the police jeep. Mr. Tilakasiri saw that his father was inside the jeep with handcuffs.
The police brought Tilakasiri and Saman to the Kadugannawa Police Station at around 9:30 pm. The police put Saman in the police cell and took his elder son upstairs. At that time, I.P. Herath and the other officer, who had assaulted the victim, arrived at the police station. They opened the cell door and assaulted Saman with the Z-lon pipe inhumanly. When he fell down they kicked his face with their boots. Due to this assault Saman was severely injured on his left eye and head. Tilakasiri was not assaulted but he heard the cries of his father. He pleaded with them not to assault his father but they continued assaulting Saman and finally he fainted. Later Saman realised that he was taken to the Kadugannawa rural hospital. Saman was warded in the hospital and an attendant applied some medicine to his head. The Officer In Charge (O.I.C) of the Kadugannawa Police Station came to Saman and questioned him about the incident and he told O.I.C the whole story. Meantime, the police dropped Tilakasir near his house.
On the following day (10 March 2004), Saman was transferred to Peradeniya Teaching Hospital in an ambulance, but the hospital authorities refused to accept him so he was taken to the Kandy Hospital. He was warded in Ward no. 10 and received two operations, one on his head and the other on his teeth. Later Saman was transferred to Ward no. 22 and stayed there from the 17 March to 24 March 2004. While he was in hospital, Saman was kept under vigilance and his left was chained to the bed. The Kany Magistrate had come to the Kandy Hospital to remand him. The B report (The complaint made by the police) of this case is No. 04/54108.
On 24 March 2004, this case was called by the Kandy Magistrate and Nandana Amarasuriya and Vigith Kumara Senarath (the two who were in the vehicle) were charged on the grounds of obstructing the police. All three were given bail for Rs 3,000 per each. However, they could pay only for Nanadana, and the other two were kept in custody till they furnished bail. Saman was sent to Remand Hospital. The Magistrate also ordered the three of them to give statements to Kadugannawa Police Station, the same station where Saman was tortured. The next hearing for the case will be on 28 July 2004.
Saman was released on 25 March 2004 after he paid the money for bail. He was readmitted to the Kandy Hospital and was discharge on the 29 March 2004. In his medical certificate, it is written that four of his teeth were dislodged and he had an operation to adjust his chin with a wire. Saman and his family have sent an appeal letter dated 22 March 2004 to the President Ms. Chandrika Kumaratunga, asking for an independent inquiry into this matter. They also sent copies of the letter to Inspector General of the Police (IGP), District Inspector General (DIG) of the Police Central Province, The National Police Commission (NPC) in Colombo, and the Human Rights Commission Kandy.
SUGGESTED ACTION:
Please send a letter, fax or email to the addresses below and express your concern of this case.
1. Ms. Chandrika Bandaranaike Kumaratunga
President
Democratic Socialist Republic of Sri Lanka
Presidential Secretariat
Colombo-1, Sri Lanka
Fax: +94 11 2 333 703
2. Hon. Mr. K. C. Kamalasabesan
Attorney General
Attorney General’s Department
Colombo 12
SRI LANKA
Fax: +94 11 2 436 421
Email: attorney@sri.lanka.net or counsel@sri.lanka.net
3. Mr. Ranjith Abeysuriya PC
Chairman National Police Commission
69-1 Ward Place, Colombo 7
SRI LANKA
Fax: +94 11 2 669 128 / 691 926
Fax HOME: +94 11 2 674148
4. Dr. Radhika Coomaraswamy
Chairperson
National Human Rights Commission of Sri Lanka
No. 36, Kynsey Road, Colombo 8
SRI LANKA
Tel: +94 11 2 694 925 / 673 806
Fax: +94 11 2 694 924 / 696 470
E-mail: sechrc@sltnet.lk
5. Mr. Theo C. van Boven
Special Rapporteur on the Question of Torture
OHCHR-UNOG, 8-14 Avenue de la Paix
1211 Geneva 10
SWITZERLAND
Fax: +41 22 917 9016
To support this case, please click here: SEND APPEAL LETTER
SAMPLE LETTER
Dear
SRI LANKA: A man was severely injured on his face and head after being tortured at the Kadugannawa Police Station
Name of the victim: John Pollage Udays Saman Jayasuriya, married with two sons
Address of the victim: 159/A, Kuruduwatta, Urapola, Pilimathalawa
Alleged perpetrators: Mr. Priyantha Anuruddha, Mr. Dushyahntha Herath (Police Inspector of the Peradeniya Police Station) and several police officers attached to the Kadugannawa Police Station
Date of the incident: On 9 March 2004
Police Stations related to the incident: Kadugannawa and Peradeniya Police Station
I am gravely concerned to learn the torture of John Pollage Udays Saman Jayasuriya at Kadugannawa Police Station on 9 March 2004.
The only “fault” made by the victim is that he tried to identify the two policemen in civilian clothes when his car was stopped by them on a motorbike. However, his “rude attitude” toward the policemen just brought brutal assault to the victim. I would like to draw your attention to the UN Special Rapporteur on Torture’s article published in the second special report on torture by the police in Sri Lanka by the Asian Legal Resource Centre (Article 2 February 2004, vol. 3, no. 1). In the article, Professor Theo van Boven, mentioned, “Arrest without proper procedures may open the door to further human rights abuses, including torture. To prevent such abuses, law enforcement officials should clearly identify themselves or, at least, the unit to which they belong. Their vehicles should be clearly identifiable and carry number plates at all times.”
Luckily, the victim could escape from the scene, but within a hour, he was arrested by the policemen from the Kadugannawa Police Station and was tortured again by the two policemen, who assaulted him previously, inhumanly at the station. Due to this torture, he was severely injured on his head and face and was hospitalized for several days and received two operations on his head and teeth. But the Kandy Magistrate charged the victim and other two person named Nandana Amarasuriya and Vigith Kumara Senarath (the two who were in the vehicle) on the grounds of obstructing the police (B report No. No. 04/54108) on 24 March 2004. Furthermore, the Magistrate also ordered the three of them to give statements to Kadugannawa Police Station, the same station where the victim was tortured. Under the circumstance, how can the victim expect a fair and independent investigation?
Therefore, I strongly request you to order an authentic and independent investigation into this matter and withdraw the charges against the three victims immediately. I also urge you to suspend the perpetrators from their service at the police station and bring them to justice as soon as possible. I further urge the Sri Lankan government to provide compensation to the victim. The Sri Lankan government must strongly instruct the police to observe the proper procedures for arrest or inquiry when they are on their duty. Lastly, I urge the government of Sri Lanka to implement the Convention against Torture and Other Cruel, Inhuman or Degrading Treatment or Punishment (CAT) into domestic law and take prompt and strong action to eliminate torture at police stations in Sri Lanka.
I truly hope you to take practical action into the matter of torture.
Sincerely yours,
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Thank you.
Urgent Appeals Prograame
Asian Human Rights Commission (AHRC)
