Torture

The assassination of the High Court Judge Sarath Ambepitiya took place on the 19th of November. To date, no one has owned up to the responsibility for the failure to provide security to the Judge, who held senior position in the judiciary. In any democracy or in any country that respects the rule of law, […]

Several newspapers reported on 29 November 2004 that the Bar Association of Sri Lanka has taken a stand to instruct lawyers not to appear for those persons accused of the murder of a Colombo High Court judge. Its president, Ikram Mohamed, is reported to have said that although every suspect has the right to retain […]

Dear friends, The Asian Human Rights Commission (AHRC) is gravely concerned by a strong attempt to increase torture in Sri Lanka. Gerald Perera’s case is one example. Torture victim Gerald Perera, who was going to give evidence before Negombo High Court against several police officers involved in his torture case, was shot on 21 November […]

Dear friends, The Asian Human Rights Commission (AHRC) is gravely concerned by another case of death threats on a torture victim and a human rights defender, following the death of Mr. Gerald Perera, a torture victim who succumbed to his injuries yesterday after being shot by an unknown person on 21 November 2004. (See further: UP-76-2004, UP-74-2004 and UA-157-2004) […]

Dear friends, The Asian Human Rights Commission (AHRC) is very sorry to inform you that Mr. Gerald Perera, a torture victim who was shot by an unknown person on 21 November 2004, succumbed to his injuries at around 1:00pm local time on 24 November 2004, at the Colombo Hospital, Sri Lanka. (See further: AHRC statement AS-51-2004 and […]

It is now five days since the shooting of Gerald Mervin Perera, who died yesterday, November 24. However, as yet there have been no arrests. Nor have there been any reports of progress in investigations. In fact, there do not appear to be any serious inquiries at all. As Gerald Perera was due to stand […]

The Asian Human Rights Commission (AHRC) announces with great shock and sadness that Gerald Mervin Perera, who was due to give evidence in court against seven police officers accused of torture, passed away at around 1pm local time today, 24 November 2004, at the Colombo General Hospital, Sri Lanka. He had been in a critical […]

Since the attempted murder on last Sunday, November 21 of Gerald Perera, a victim of police torture in Sri Lanka, no protection has been provided to either him or his family. Gerald, who was shot in advance of giving evidence against the police in the Negombo High Court (case no. HC 326/2003), is struggling for […]

Dear friends, The Asian Human Rights Commission (AHRC) provides you the updated information below regarding the case of Mr. Gerald Perera, a torture victim who was shot by an unknown person on 21 November 2004. (See further: UA-157-2004)  As of now, this case has not received any attention from the Sri Lankan authorities. Even though Gerald Perera […]

Dear friends, The Asian Human Rights Commission (AHRC) has received information that 21-year-old Don Mahesh Duminda Weerasuriya was illegally arrested and tortured by the officers of the Panadura North Police Station on 5 November 2004. It is reported that the police arbitrarily arrested the innocent victim to inquire into the whereabouts of his uncle. According […]

Dear friends, The Asian Human Rights Commission (AHRC) has received information that 20-year-old Mr. Pushparaj Kanagaraj was severely tortured by a drunk officer of the Pussellawa Police Station for several hours after being arbitrarily arrested on 23 September 2004. The victim claimed that the police prosecuted him with false charges after taking bribes from a […]

Dear friends, The Asian Human Rights Commission (AHRC) is gravely concerned by information we have received regarding further torture inflicted on victims by police in Ayutthaya province, Thailand. The AHRC released an urgent appeal last Friday, 12 November 2004 (UA-153-2004) regarding two cases of extremely serious torture and cruel and inhuman treatment by police in […]

Dear friends, The Asian Human Rights Commission (AHRC) wishes to bring to your attention two recent cases of very serious and gruesome torture and cruel and inhuman treatment by police in Thailand. According to the information we have received, in the first case officers at the Lumpini Police Station in Bangkok detained a young couple […]

Dear friends, The Asian Human Rights Commission (AHRC) has received information that the case of Mullakandage Lasantha Jagath Kumara, who was tortured to death by police officers of Payagala Police Station, has not yet been prosecuted under the Convention Against Torture (CAT) Act, No 22 of 1994.   According to the information received, though Inspector of […]

Dear friends, The Asian Human Rights Commission (AHRC) has received information that 23-year-old Mr. E.R. Kumara was arbitrarily arrested and tortured by Kalutara North police officers on 14 October 2004. At the time of arrest, it is reported that a Sub Inspector (SI) failed to show a memo of warrant to Mr Kumara. He then […]

Dear friends, The Asian Human Rights Commission (AHRC) has received information that a torture victim, Hikkaduwa Liyanage Sandun Kumara (17 years old) and his family has been receiving continuous threats from the police officers who were involved in the brutal torture of the victim. H.L. Sandun Kumara had been illegally detained, brutally tortured and sexually […]

Dear friends, The Asian Human Rights Commission (AHRC) has received information regarding the torture and inhuman and degrading treatment of a Dalit youth, called Sharavanan, by police officers attached to the Njarackal Police Station between 22 September 2004 and 30 September 2004.  The victim was detained on 22 September 2004, following a complaint lodged against […]

Dear friends, The Asian Human Rights Commission (AHRC) has received information that a man named Kadawatha Gedara Dharmasiri (32) was tortured and prosecuted on an alleged false charge by Police Officer Kithsiri, of the Hasalaka Police Station, on 2 August 2004. Due to the torture inflicted by Officer Kithsiri, the victim now suffers from severe […]

The manner in which inquiries are conducted by the Human Rights Commission (HRC) of Sri Lanka and particularly about the functioning of the Kandy Area Office including the conduct of the coordinator of that office, Mr. Sumanasekara, have been a source of concern for the Asian Human Rights Commission (AHRC) for quite some time. The […]

Dear friends, The Asian Human Rights Commission (AHRC) has received information that a 42-year-old man named Rathnasiri Senadheera was arbitrarily assaulted by the sub inspector (SI) of the Horana Police Station on 29 September 2004. The victim was visiting his brother who was in police custody at the time of the incident. Due to the […]