SRI LANKA: A man allegedly killed in police custody at the Polonnaruwa Police Station 

Dear friends,

The Asian Human Rights Commission (AHRC) has received information that a man named Mr. Herman Quintus Perera was allegedly killed by the Polonnaruwa police while in the police custody on 3 October 2004. The reason for his arrest was merely the victim, who was a restaurant manager, allegedly refused to sell liquor to the police on October 3 which was a Poya Day on which the sale of liquor is prohibited by law.

Even though three co-workers who were arrested along with Mr. Herman Quintus Perera by the police have given the facts of the incident, an Assistant Superintendent of Police (ASP) claimed that the victim was killed during a fight when the police raided his restaurant where they suspected of illicit liquor was being sold.

The AHRC is deeply concerned about the attempt by the police to cover up this serious case. Please send a letter to the government of Sri Lanka urging them that a proper and immediate investigation into this case should be conducted by an independent body such as a Special Investigating Unit, not by officers of the same police station where the death has taken place.

Urgent Appeals Desk
Asian Human Rights Commission (AHRC)
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DETAILED INFORMATION:

Name of the victim: Mr. Herman Quintus Perera, 40 years old, a restaurant manager, married with two children
Alleged perpetrators: Officers attached to the Polonnaruwa Police Station
Date of arbitrary arrest: 3 October 2004

Case details:

On 3 October 2004, Mr. Herman Quintus Perera (40), a restaurant manager and father of two children, was allegedly killed by the Polonnaruwa police.

According to the restaurant owner, he closed the counter, which sold liquor at the restaurant, on October 3 as that day was a Poya Day on which the sale of liquor is prohibited by law. However, in the evening, two police officers came by a motorcycle to the restaurant and asked for a bottle of liquor. Mr. Perera, who was the manager, explained to them that he could not accommodate their request as the counter has been closed. The two police officers then left the restaurant but they soon returned with a large number of other officers in a police jeep and allegedly assaulted Mr. Perera and the other workers in the restaurant. After that, the police put Mr. Perera and three other workers into the jeep and took them away.

On the following morning (October 4), the restaurant’s assistant manager went to the Polonnaruwa Police Station to see the arrested persons and learned from the other workers that Mr. Perera was not in the police cell. The assistant manager then went to the local hospital and checked the register to see whether Mr. Perera has been admitted but could not find any information about him. Thereafter the assistant manager went to the mortuary where he found Mr. Perera’s body.

The police version given by an Assistant Superintendent of Police (ASP) to several media channels is that there was a fight when the police raided the restaurant where they suspected of illicit liquor was being sold and Mr. Perera died during the fight.  However, none of the officers at the Polonnaruwa Police Station, where the death has actually taken place, has confirmed the ASP’s version of the story.

Deaths in police custody have become a common occurrence in Sri Lanka. In many of these cell death cases, the people severely assaulted. Many victims have lost their lives merely for trivial reasons. In particular, all deaths in police custody have been usually accompanied by attempts to cover up such crimes. Even the Judiciary and the Attorney General’s Department have acknowledged about the inadequate nature of the inquiries into the deaths in police custody in several occasions, but the Police Department has failed to establish a credible inquiry procedure to deal with this phenomenon.

The AHRC urges the government of Sri Lanka to have a Special Investigating Unit (SIU) take over an inquiry into this case, which is currently being conduct by local police. Because the ASP, a direct supervisor of the Polonnaruwa police, has already expressed his particular view on the events leading to Mr. Perera’s death, he should be removed from leading the inquiry.

In such matters, it is quite essential for the Inspector General of Police (IGP) to instigate a credible procedure for dealing with allegations of deaths in police custody.  The AHRC suggests that the prescribed procedure should specify that the inquiry into police custodial deaths be handed over to a SIU within 24 hours after the case has been reported. Further, such procedure should prohibit the officers, from the local police station where the death has taken place, from being the investigators into the alleged offense.  Furthermore, immediate supervising high-ranking officer of the police station where the death has taken place should also be excluded from being in charge of an inquiry.  All officers of the local police station where such a death has taken place should be obligated to divulge the facts of the deaths they know, and every attempt to create false evidence for covering up the case should be seriously punished.

SUGGESTED ACTION:
Please send a letter to the addresses below and express your concern about this serious case.

To support this case, please click here: SEND APPEAL LETTER