Dear friends,
The Asian Human Rights Commission (AHRC) has been informed that a torture victim has suffered hearing loss after having been severely assaulted by Excise Officers on 17 May 2008. Furthermore, one of the officers has allegedly attempted to coerce sexual favours from the victim’s wife, urging her to cooperate with them to allow a settlement in her husband’s case.
CASE DETAILS: (Based on testimony of the wife of the victim)
On 17 May 2008, four officers attached to the Excise Station of Panadura went to the house where the victim, Uswatte Liyanage Stanley Senaviratna and his wife, Wijesuriya Arachchige Dona Shirani, are living. The said officers were looking for Stanley, who reportedly sells prohibited liquor, but he was not there.
Shortly after the officers left, Mrs. Shirani saw her husband being assaulted by the officers when she heard some noise near their house. She ran to the scene and begged the officers to stop assaulting her husband. However, the officers ignored her and continued to beating him. Shirani, however, was able to recognize three of the four officers and remembered that they were noted as drug addicts. These officers assaulted her husband with poles. They also punched and kicked him.
After having Stanley beaten, the Excise Officers then demanded from him bottles of prohibited liquor that he was reportedly selling. He gave them two bottles of arrack. As he passed on the money worth Rs. 850 from his pocket to his wife, one of the officers forcibly took the money from her by suddenly thrusting his hand into her blouse where she had kept the money.
The same officers then took Stanley into their vehicle towards the Excise Station of Panadura. Mrs. Shirani then followed them by taking a three-wheeler. Mr. Stanley, however, was released on bail from the officer’s custody and went back home on the same day. The officers though warned him from going to hospital to get medication for the injuries he sustained following his arrest. They also told him to return to the Excise Station on the following day.
As Shirani and Stanley went to the Excise Station on May 18, the Officer-in-Charge (OIC) sent Stanley outside the room. He then took another officer in order to forcibly take Shirani’s finger prints from about ten bottles of prohibited liquor. When Shirani refused to do so, the officers threatened her that they would assault her husband once again if she refuses to comply with their order; thus, she had no choice but to cooperate with them.
The OIC summoned Shirani into his room and told her that he could arrange for some settlement or relief on her husband case if she would closely follow his orders and cooperate with him. The OIC asked her to come close to his place and when she went, she was told, “I will put you into a job. But, you must send your husband to work every day. Do not keep him at home. And you must keep the phone near you”.
Shirani then realized that the OIC was giving her ugly message in an attempt to take sexual advantage from her and on the situation. On the same day, Shirani went to the Panadura South Police Station where she met the Head Quarters Inspector. There she filed a complaint about the assault of her husband and about the officer who attempted in taking sexual advantage of her. The Head Quarters Inspector then referred her case to the 119 Police Squad who recorded her statement.
On May 19, Stanley had himself admitted to the Panadura Hospital. There, Stanley and his wife Shirani described the story of physical torture that the Excise Officers had perpetrated on the victim to the doctor examining him. The doctors admitted Stanley in ward No. 1. The medical examination revealed that he suffered from hearing loss after his ears were seriously affected by the assault.
On May 21, Stanley was discharged from the hospital. On the same day also, Shirani lodged complaints about her husbands arrest and subsequent torture before the Commissioner General of Excise, the Secretary of the Human Rights Commission (HRCSL) and the Inspector General of Police (IGP). However, there has not been any substantial progress so far regarding any action taken by any of the authorities where the complaint has been filed.
SUGGESTED ACTION:
Please write letter to the authorities below requesting them to investigate thoroughly into the torture perpetrated on the victim and the attempt by one the officers to take sexual advantage from his wife. The victim should be afforded with adequate medication he requires and those responsible must be held to account promptly.
The AHRC has also written separate letters to the UN Special Rapporteur on Question of Torture requesting their immediate intervention into this case.
To support this case, please click here: SEND APPEAL LETTER
SAMPLE LETTER
Dear ___________,
SRI LANKA: Torture victim suffers hearing loss following assault
Name of victims:
1. Mr. Uswatte Liyanage Stanley Senaviratna, 35 years old and his wife;
2. Mrs. Wijesuriya Arachchige Dona Shirani, 32 years old. The couple had three children and are residing in 32/B Janapriya Mawatha, Avariyawatte, Alubomulla
Name of alleged perpetrators: Officer-in-Charge (OIC) and other Excise officers attached to the Excise Station of Panadura
Date of incident: 17 May 2008
Place of incident: At the Excise Station of Panadura
I am writing to express my concern regarding torture perpetrated on Mr. Uswatte Liyanage Stanley Senaviratna by four officers attached to the Excise Station of Panadura and alleged attempts by the Officer-in-Charge (OIC) of the same station into taking sexual advantage from his wife whose name is mentioned above.
According to the information I have received, the officers went to the house of the victim looking for him but they left shortly after when he was not at his home. The officers, however, saw him close to his home and had him assaulted there. Upon hearing the noise and seeing her husband being assaulted, his wife came to his rescue begging the officers to stop assaulting her husband. She saw the officers beating her husband with poles, punching and kicking him.
The officers too forced the victim to hand over to them the two bottles of prohibited liquor he was reportedly carrying. When he was giving the money he had from his pocket to his wife, one of the officers suddenly thrust his hand into his wife’s blouse in taking the money from her.
Though Mr. Stanley has already been released on bail, the same officers threatened him from going to the hospital for medical attention. They also asked him and his wife to return the following day, May 18. When the couple returns, the Officer-in-Charge (OIC) sent Stanley outside the room. The officer then had the finger prints of his wife forcibly taken by another officer from about 10 bottles of prohibited liquor. I am deeply concerned that in doing they would falsely charge her for the prohibited liquor.
When Shirani refused to follow the order, the said OIC has threatened her saying that they would assault her husband once again. Shirani had no choice but to comply. She was as well told that they would arrange for settlement for the case of her husband, if she cooperates and follows his orders. She was also given instruction to let her husband work daily and to place their telephone close to her for him to contact her.
For the said office to do so is not only conduct unbecoming for OIC involved, but itself an act of taking sexual advantage or opportunity from the victim herself. It is disappointing that this officer involved has not been held to account for his actions. As you already know, the said officer is in fact taking advantage on the case they are pursuing on the torture victim in order to take advantage from her. The victim himself has already suffered severe injuries from the assault.
I am aware that from May 19 to 21, Stanley has received medical treatment at the Panadura Hospital for the injuries he suffered. I have learned that the medical examinations perform on him has revealed that he has suffered hearing loss due to severe injuries to his ears due to the assault.
I therefore urge the government to commence a thorough investigation in this case and to ensure that those responsible are held to account and effectively prosecuted. They, too, must ensure that Mr. Stanley obtains adequate medication he requires. His wife’s complaint regarding the officer’s attempt to take sexual advantage on her should also be thoroughly investigated.
The couple and their family must also be provided with necessary protection from any harm I am concerned may be taken against them by the perpetrators as it usually happens on victims making complaints there.
I trust that you will take immediate action into this matter.
Yours sincerely,
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PLEASE SEND YOUR LETTERS TO:
1. Mr. Mahinda Rajapakse
President
Socialist Democratic Republic of Sri Lanka
C/- Office of the President
Temple Trees
150, Galle Road
Colombo 3
SRI LANKA
Fax: +94 11 2472100 / +94 11 2446657
E-mail: secretary@presidentsoffice.lk
2. Mr. Ratnasiri Wickremanayake
Prime Minister
Temple Trees
Galle Road, Colombo 03
SRI LANKA
Fax: +94 11 2 575454
Tel: +94 11 2 575317-8 or 370 737-8
3. Mr. Amarasiri Dodangoda, MP
Minister of Justice
Ministry of Justice and Law Reforms
Superior Courts Complex,
Colombo 12
Fax: 94 11 2325354 / 2445446
Tel: 94 11 2384837, 2324681, 2392932
4. Mr. Rohitha Bogollagama, MP
Minister of Foreign Affairs
Mnistry of Foreign Affairs
Republic Building, Colombo 01,
Sri Lanka
Fax: +94-11-2446091
Tel: +94-11-2325371 / 5
E-mail: publicity@formin.gov.lk
5. The Secretary
Ministry of Defence, Public Security, Law and Order
15/5, Baladaksha Mawatha,
Colombo 03,
SRI LANKA
Fax: 94 11 2 446300 or 421529
Tel: 94-11 2 430860-9, 430878-9 or 435879 (for the secretary)
E-mail: secdef@sltnet.lk
6. Mr. Victor Perera
Inspector General of Police
New Secretariat
Colombo 1
SRI LANKA
Fax: +94 11 2 440440/327877
E-mail: igp@police.lk
7. Mr. Neville Piyadigama
Chairperson
National Police Commission
3rd Floor, Rotunda Towers,
109 Galle Road
Colombo 03
SRI LANKA
Fax: +94 11 2 395867
Tel: +94 11 2 395310
E-mail: npcgen@sltnet.lk
8. The Secretary
Human Rights Commission of Sri Lanka
No. 36, Kynsey Road
Colombo 8
SRI LANKA
Fax: +94 11 2 694 924 / 696 470
Tel: +94 11 2 694 925 / 673 806
E-mail: sechrc@sltnet.lk
Thank you.
Urgent Appeals Programme
Asian Human Rights Commission (ua@ahrchk.org)
