SRI LANKA: Acts of torture committed by Sub Inspector Ariyaratne of Nawula Police station 

Dear friends,

The Asian Human Rights Commission (AHRC) has received information regarding the case of Mr. Seneviratne Goshara Mudiyanselage Upali Nissanka who was arrested, detained and tortured by Sub Inspector (SI) Ariyaratne and three constables of the Nawula Police station on 21 October 2005.  Mr. Nissanka was accused of stealing the trishaw he was riding in and taken to the Nawalu Police station.  At the police station, Mr. Nissanka was slapped in the face, hit on both ears and was trampled all over his body.  When he pleaded for SI Ariyaratne to stop, he took no notice and continued the torture for another 15 minutes by which time the victim was having a fit.  The victim was taken to the Nalanda Hospital and examined by a doctor who said that the victim’s eardrum was severely damaged and his ear was bleeding.

When Mr. Nissanka told SI Ariyaratne and three other SIs from Nawalu Police station that he planned to take legal action for the alleged abuse, they threatened the victim stating that if he should tell the courts then they will put him in prison for 14 days.  Furthermore, the victim was bribed by the Kekirawa police to omit mentioning that it was a police assault when he went for treatment.  By that time the victim still had not gone to the hospital for treatment and the problem with his ear worsened and his hearing became impaired very badly.  On October 26, the victim was admitted to the Dambulla Hospital for treatment.  Later when he was discharged from hospital, the doctor advised that he needed to attend regular clinics and that the treatment for his ear was going to take as long as one year.

We request your urgent action in asking the Inspector General of the Police to ensure that the Special Investigations Unit immediately commence an investigation into the alleged conduct of SI Ariyaratne and the police officers from both Nawula and Kekirawa Police station.  If it is found that the alleged perpetrators committed crimes against Mr. Nissanka, they must be made accountable and if found guilty of torture, indicted under the CAT Act No. 22 of 1994.  Protection must also be afforded to the victim and his family during the investigation of the police officers and compensation needs to be offered to Mr. Nissanka if it is found that the charges were fabricated and also for medical treatment.

Urgent Appeals Programme
Asian Human Rights Commission
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DETAILED INFORMATION:

Name of the victims: Seneviratne Goshara Mudiyanselage Upali Nissanka
Alleged perpetrator: Sub Inspector Ariyaratne of the Nawula Police station
Place of arrest: Near the filling station, which is 150 meters from Nawula town
Place of incident: Nawula Police station
Date of incident: 21 October 2005

Case details:

On 21 October 2005, at around 9.30 p.m. Mr. Seneviratne Goshara Mudiyanselage Upali Nissanka was going to attend a funeral house.  He travelled in a trishaw with three others, Vajira Sampath, Manel Senevirathne and Sarath Kumara.  The trishaw was checked at the police checkpoint at Nawalu town.  When they had proceeded for a further 150 meters past the checkpoint, the trishaw stopped without fuel and the three people in the trishaw went to get petrol.  Mr. Nissanka remained in the trishaw near the filling station, which was closed.  At about 10.45 p.m. Sub Inspector (SI) Ariyaratne and three constables from the Nawula Police came to the filling station in a jeep and inquired about where Mr. Nissanka was from and why he was there.  He told them that he was travelling to the funeral house in Kekirawa and the trishaw had run out of fuel.  The police officers questioned Mr. Nissanka on whether he had stolen the trishaw and said that the trishaw should be taken to the police station.  Since Mr. Nissanka was unable to drive the trishaw, it was towed by the jeep back to the police station.

After bringing Mr. Nissanka to the police station, an officer recorded his statement and went away.  Then SI Ariyaratne questioned him about his name.  When he stated his name, SI Ariyaratne accused him of lying since the name was different to that on the statement.  SI Ariyaratne then allegedly proceeded to abuse Mr. Nissanka stating that he was misleading them.  It is claimed that he slapped the victim very hard on the face and assaulted him on both ears and kept on trampling on his body.  The victim shouted very loudly for someone to help him, but his pleas were not heeded.  The pain was unbearable.  After a while, the victim felt that his fingers and toes were getting stiff and he was going into a fit.  SI Ariyaratne continued to abuse the victim for no less than 15 minutes.  That night, while still in the custody of the Nawula Police, the victim requested the officer who was in charge of the radio communication to inform his family where he was, but the police officer ignored him.

The next morning between 7.30 and 800 a.m. the victim heard that Kekirawa police had inquired about a reported missing person from Kekirawa.  Then SI Ariyaratne who had assaulted Mr. Nissanka the previous night, took him into a room and questioned him and recorded a statement. Due to the physical inability and mental stress, the victim did not know what he wrote and was in no mental state to read over what the statement contained.  The victim then signed the paper.   SI Ariyaratne called for two officers who took the victim to Nalanda Hospital in a lorry. The doctor examined Mr. Nissanka and said that his eardrum had burst.  The doctor informed the victim that he was bleeding in the ear and should be admitted to Dumbulla, Matale or Kandy Hospital.  Thereafter, the victim was taken to Kongahawela Hospital, but as it was a Saturday he was produced before the medical officer at his residence.  The doctor examined his entire body and told the police that the victim had been assaulted severely and his eardrum had burst.  SI Ariyaratne had given the two police officers a large sheet of paper and they gave it to the doctor and got entries made on it.  The doctor retained one copy and the other was given to the police.  Subsequently, at the police station, after SI Ariyaratne had read the doctor’s report he asked the victim what he was planning to do about the torture.  The victim responded to SI Ariyaratne and three other SIs of the Nawula Police station that he was going to take legal action.  SI Ariyaratne then threatened that if he told the court anything about the torture then he would be put in prison for 14 days.  Thereafter a police officer filled a set of forms and forcibly obtained the victim’s fingerprints.

At about 4.00 p.m. Mr. Nissanka was produced before the Dambulla magistrate and was ordered to be released on Rs. 10,000 personal bail.  The police filed a case against the victim under the number AR1165/05 and the next scheduled hearing is November 7th.

On October 23, while the victim was on his way to the hospital to obtain treatment, he met Siriwardena, an officer of Kekirawa Police station who gave him a piece of paper and asked him to meet either the Officer in Charge (OIC) of Nawula Police station or Sergeant Seneviratne.  The victim went to Nawula Police station and met Sergeant Seneviratne.  He invited the victim and his wife to a room where the victim’s wife explained the unprovoked and unexplained assault on her husband, to the Sergeant.  He agreed saying that the attack was indeed ‘without any reason’.  The Sergeant then took them to a nearby hotel and bought them lunch.  Afterwards, the OIC was called and said that action would be taken against SI Ariyaratne for allegedly torturing the victim.  He also said that he would personally help the victim attain medical treatment and when they leave the police station, an officer would give them something, which they were not to refuse.  All this in return for not mentioning the assault when the victim went for treatment.

Eventually, when the victim left with his wife, a police officer at the gate did indeed put Rs. 2000 into the victim’s pocket.  The victim still had not obtained medical treatment for the problem in his ear and the condition of his ear deteriorated resulting in his hearing becoming very badly impaired.  On October 26, the victim was admitted to Dambulla Hospital for treatment.  Later, when he was discharged from the hospital, the doctor advised him to attend the clinic regularly and said that the treatment for his ear was going to take as long as a year.

SUGGESTED ACTION:

Please write to the Inspector General of Police voicing the need to properly and independently investigate the fabricated charges and misconduct of the police against Mr. Nissanka.

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