Dear friends,
The Asian Human Rights Commission (AHRC) has received updated information regarding the incredibly urgent situation of three Sri Lankan migrant workers in Saudi Arabia currently facing death sentences. (To see the original appeal please view the following:
UA-49-2005). Mr E. J. V. Corea, D.D. Ranjith de Silva and Sanath Pushpakumara, are all facing death sentences in Saudi Arabia for the charge of theft. They are all currently being detained at Al Nayad Prison, in Riyadh.
Immediately after the issue of the Urgent Appeal by the AHRC, the Sri Lankan government wrote to the Mayor of Riyadh and His Excellency the King of Saudi Arabia seeking mercy and pardon on behalf of the three Sri Lankans. In the Sri Lankan parliament the matter was also raised by members of the party. Several political parties have written to the Sri Lankan Consulate of Saudi Arabia seeking its intervention on the matter. Meanwhile there has been much interest in the media and the civil society on this issue. Two interviews by the families of the three persons facing death sentences were published in the justice page of the Daily Mirror in Sri Lanka on 27 March 2005. We reproduce those interviews below.
The AHRC urges everyone to take further interest in this matter. Please intervene on behalf of the three persons by writing to His Excellency the King of Saudi Arabia seeking his intervention to commute the death sentences passed.
Your urgent action is required to save these person’s lives.
Urgent Appeals Desk
Asian Human Rights Commission (AHRC)
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Below are two interviews given by the families of the persons facing the death sentence.
Are they going to die?
Kumari tells of her lone battle to save her husband from death penalty
“He is going to die. And my children will never see their father again”, is the horrifying thought etched on the mind of Geetha Kumari, the wife of Victor Corea, a Sri Lankan citizen who has been sentenced to be executed in Saudi Arabia. This was despite his not being legally represented at either of his court trials and no translator being afforded to him at the appeal.
Kumari married Victor Corea 11 years ago and they have 2 children aged 10 and 5. They lived in Rajanganaya, off Anuradhapura. She told JUSTICE on Thursday, that her husband had been employed in Saudi Arabia as a heavy vehicle driver since 1996 and was working for a company named Globe Marine Services. He would telephone and write to the family often, so when the letters did not arrive and the phone calls suddenly stopped, she knew something was amiss. She then contacted some of his workmates in Saudi Arabia, only to be told the shocking news; Victor was in prison.
Kumari said, she simply could not believe it, as he had never been involved in a crime in Sri Lanka. She waited, a few more weeks. There was still no news. So she came to Colombo to find out about the fate of her husband. She visited the Foreign Ministry and was directed to the consular office in Kollupitiya, where she was told to return the next week for information about Victor. It was after a few weeks that she learnt, yes, he was in prison and worse, his case was finished, and he was sentenced to die.
Kumari said she felt quite helpless. She returned to her village, and wrote to and faxed as many influential people as possible — including the President and the Prime Minister — about the axe hanging over her husband. Kumari said she received several replies, but they were mostly the same: ‘We received your correspondence. We will look into the matter and keep you informed.’ However, she rarely heard from them again.
Desperately in need of information — of any kind — regarding the fate of her Victor, she decided personally to meet these people in Colombo and tell her story. She travelled from Anuradhapura to Colombo again and again, but she claimed, she was not allowed to even meet them. Instead she only met with the ‘doratupalakayas’ (security guards) who either rudely turned her away or went away, while she waited and watched. And she is angry; “I explained my plight, about my 2 little children and how Victor was our only source of income. I told them everything, but they simply chose not to hear”.
She is also annoyed that her husband was not legally represented in court. “For the first case, he had been given only a translator, but for the second, he was neither given a translator nor a lawyer. He would not have understood, what was going on and might have been forced to sign papers written in a language he could not read”. Kumari said she remembered how a consular official had spoken bout a lawyer for her husband, but said the State could not retain one as he was accused of a crime. But a lawyer could be provided if she was willing to bear the expense.
Therefore, she agreed in writing to pay for a lawyer, and also requested the official to inform her how much this would cost, because she had to find the money. She knew she would have to sell her meagre possessions and borrow to be able to afford a lawyer in Saudi Arabia. But she did not care. All she wanted was to save her husband. But she never heard about a lawyer, from that official again. She had also wanted to meet with the families of the two other men imprisoned with her husband and also under death sentence as she thought they could pool their resources for a lawyer. But these details were not given her.
Much later she was told that the death sentence has been affirmed and upon the signature of the King — within even weeks — Victor could be gone. She was fast losing hope. Her efforts seemed in vain. Finally tired and worn out with worry, Kumari sought the assistance of a friend who helped her bring the matter to the attention of the Asian Human Rights Commission (AHRC) and the Daily Mirror.
Said Kumari, “My son still does not know his father is in prison. My husband used to write to him in big letters so he could read. When his letters stopped, I continued writing and posting letters to my son, as from my husband. My daughter cries at night when I have to leave for Colombo and refuses to sleep without me. So my children are really suffering. Asked about the treatment meted out by State officials Kumari said, ‘I don’t want to blame anyone. I only want to save my husband’s life. But I cannot say I was treated right.” They (the officials) did not even help me contact the other families. And all I wanted was his life to be spared for that one day my children can see their father again”.
‘Big trouble’
A similar sad story is that of Maddumage Bamunu Nona, 72, the mother of Ranjith de Silva, who is another Sri Lankan awaiting execution for the same offence. According to Bamunu Nona, her son went to West Asia as a labourer just 3 months before he was arrested last year. When his phone calls suddenly stopped she, together with her daughter, visited the Foreign Employment Bureau (FEB) for some information. Several months later they were informed that her son was sentenced to be executed. Strangely his workmates, whom they contacted, were quite unaware of the seriousness of his plight. They said, yes, he is in prison, but will be released soon. It was only after his conviction was affirmed that they said, ‘he is in big trouble’.
Mr. de Silva’s family too claimed that no lawyer had represented him at any of these court hearings — only a translator was afforded at the first. The FEB too had refused to secure him a lawyer, instead requesting the family to do so, if they wished. And though the family agreed in writing to bear legal expenses, the matter was not pursued.
They too continued to trek from the politically powerful to the religiously influential, to obtain a pardon for Ranjith. Said his mother, “All we want is a pardon to stop his execution. If he has done wrong he may be punished, but not killed, because he has not killed anyone.” Unlike Kumari they admit they were given access to dignitaries, including Ministers, who promised to look into the matter. But like Kumari, they have received little feedback.
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The Asian Human Rights Commission believes that it is a shame that at the time of trial and arrest the Sri Lankan consulate made little attempt to provide the Sri Lankan citizens with legal assistance. Thus, these migrant workers are unable to defend themselves and are often found guilty. Even after conviction little is done to win mercy for the citizens who are faced with cruel and inhumane punishments under particular types of criminal justice systems existing in some countries. Where other governments have made such interventions, the lives of their citizens have been saved.
The Foreign Ministry in a statement said it had sent an appeal to the Foreign Affairs Ministry of Saudi Arabia requesting pardon on humanitarian grounds or a lesser punishment on behalf of the three Sri Lankans.
As a consequence to the extensive publicity given by the Daily Mirror the matter was raised in Parliament with a few Parliamentarians volunteering to intervene on behalf of the Sri Lankans facing the death penalty. Though some state officials have expressed their annoyance at the publicity given to the plight of these people, it is nonetheless hoped that now that the authorities have awoken from their slumber, these hapless families will receive some respite.
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Suggested Action:
Please write, fax, or email a letter to His Excellency the King of Saudi Arabia seeking his intervention to commute the death sentence passed on the three Sri Lankan persons.
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Your Royal Highness,
I write to you pleading for your clemency for the lives of three Sri Lankan migrant workers in Saudi Arabia, namely Mr E. J. V. Corea, D.D. Ranjith de Silva and Sanath Pushpakumara, who are currently detained at Al Nayad Prison, in Riyadh, facing death sentences for the alleged charge of theft.
I am most concerned that these three persons have not been able to defend themselves properly in a court of law. I plead for Your Excellency’s mercy and ask that you commute these person’s death sentences. I believe in the goodness of Your Excellency and the compassionate nature of Islam.
I most fervently hope that Your Excellency’s mercy will save the lives of these three persons and also the lives of their families.
Yours faithfully,
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Contact details:
King Fahd bin Abdul Aziz Al Saud
Royal Court, Riyadh Saudi Arabia
Thank you,
Asian Human Rights Commission
Urgent Appeals Program
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