Torture

Dear Friends, Over 2,800 persons have signed the online petition to the President and Prime Minister of Sri Lanka urging immediate action to be taken to undo the blatant injustice suffered by Michael Anthony Fernando. The Asian Legal Resource Centre made an oral submission at the 59th Session of the UN Human Rights Commission on the […]

SRI LANKA: Torture and Illegal Detention; Police Hit Man with Iron Bars ——————————————————————- NAME of the Victim: K.T.Kumarasinghe, alias Sunil. ADDRESS: No. 140, Kadanhena, Gallalla. AGE: 33 years old. OCCUPATION: Sri Lankan Army. DATE ARRESTED: 01/04/2003 at the above address at 20.40 hours. ALLEGED REASON FOR THE ARREST: Theft. OFFICERS WHO ARRESTED: S.I.-C.I.B. Police Station. […]

HONG KONG, Friday, April 4, 2003: The Supreme Court of Sri Lanka today awarded a torture victim a record amount in compensation. In the case of Gerald Perera, who was tortured by a group of police of the Wattala station on June 3, 2002, the Court awarded 800,000 Rupees cash, and full medical costs. Mr […]

Dear Friends, A local solidarity group for Mr. Michael Anthony Emmanuel Fernando (aka Tony) in Sri Lanka has launched a petition for release of him. AHRC has launched a petition on behalf of Tony on 21 March 2003. When you sign this petition on line, your name will be added to the list of signatories […]

Dear Friends, We reproduce below a letter written by the Asian Human Rights Commission at the request of the parents of Mr. Michael Anthony Fernando, to the Sri Lankan authorities. We urge you again to write similar letters may help to save the life of a person facing a very complicated situation, due to several […]

Regarding our previous appeal on the torture case of human rights defender, Mr. Michael Anthony Emmanuel Fernando, who was an applicant in a case of fundamental rights.(Ref: S.C. [F/F] No. 55/20030), he was sentenced to one years imprisonment on Feb. 6, 2003, for alleged contempt of court. He was then severely assaulted while in custody […]

Dear Friends, We are sending you the following translation of a newspaper report on the torture case of Mr. Anthony Michael Emmanuel Fernando (see more details at http://www.ahrchk.net/ua/mainfile.php/2003/408/) that occurred from the hospital to Ananda Dharmapriya Jayasekara. The story was published in Ravaya, a Sinhalese newspaper, on Feb. 23, 2003. We urge you to take […]

SUMMARY While presenting his petition before the Supreme Court of Sri Lanka, Mr. Anthony Michael Fernando was convicted and imprisoned under contempt of court. His fundamental right to a fair trial was violated as one of the respondents to Mr. Fernando’s claim sat in judgment on him, thereby undermining international norms of judicial objectivity. Furthermore, […]

SRI LANKA: Widespread practice of torture; cruel and inhumane treatment and torture by the police ——————————————————————– – Name of the victims: Anuruddha Kusum Kumara (15) and Bambarende Gamage Suraj Prasanna (17) – Perpetrators: Officers of Wellawa police station and Matugama police station CASES DETAILS Case 1: Cruel and inhumane treatment to a 15-year-old student Anuruddha […]

TORTURE AND CYANIDE: A RESPONSE TO “IS TORTURE EVER JUSTIFIED” — Basil Fernando, AHRC Note: The following letter, dated 14 January 2003, was written to the Economist magazine in reply to its January 11 cover story, “Is torture ever justified?” The opinion column from that edition is currently available online at http://economist.com/opinion/displaystory.cfm?story_id=1524784. ——————– Dear Sir/Madam […]

SRI LANKA: Widespread practice of torture; another case of brutal assault by the police ——————————————————————– SUMMARY Subasinghe Aarachchilage Nihal Subasinghe (40), suffered serious injuries after been assaulted with a T-56 gun by police officers and was hospitalized. The allegation against Subasinghe is that he has stolen some firewood. In November 200,2 AHRC issued an urgent […]

Regarding our previous appeal and update on the case of two people tortured to death at the same police station in Sri Lanka (see http://www.ahrchk.net/ua/mainfile.php/2002/379/ and http://www.ahrchk.net/ua/mainfile.php/2002/380/), the Asian Human Rights Commission (AHRC) has been informed that the initial investigation into the death of a young man, which was conducted by a special police team […]

SRI LANKA: Widespread practice of torture; inhuman treatment but no justice ——————————————————————– – Name of the victim: Mohamed Najeed Rukshan – Perpetrator: The police of Gokarella police division – Date of torture: November 14, 2002 Mr. Mohamed Najeed Rukshan (28), a development officer of the Hevanegedera Samurdi Society is living in the village of Dethilianga […]

The Asian Human Rights Commission (AHRC) has been informed that a 25-year-old man was tortured by the police at the Kirindiwela police station – the same police station where a 70-year-old man, P. A. Piyadasa, was tortured to death (see our previous appeal at http://www.ahrchk.net/ua/mainfile.php/2002/379/; please note that his correct age is 70, not 78).  […]

P. A. Piyadasa of Papiliwela in Veralugampola was arrested by a group of policemen from the Kirindiwela police station at midnight on Nov. 20, 2002, while he was sleeping in his home. In the early morning of Nov. 21, his body was handed over to the Watupitiwela Base Hospital where he was declared dead. 

SRI LANKA: The widespread practice of torture; Illegal arrest, torture and fabrication of charges by police ——————————————————————– – Name of the victim: A.M. Kusumawathie (37), mother of three children in Uppuwatte, Warapitiya, Darganagaraya – The date of torture: October 22, 2002 – Tortured by: Aluthgama Police   CASE DETAILS Kusumawathie was assaulted by police with […]

SRI LANKA: Assault, fabrication of charges by police, and an attack on freedom of expression ——————————————————————– – Name of the Victim: Mr. Uvidu Kurukulasuriya – Date of the Incident: November 15, 2002 – Assaulted by: Police of the Maharagama police station CASE DETAILS Uvidu Kurukulasuriya, a journalist from the well known Sinhala newspaper, Ravaya was […]

Mr. Lamahewage Lal Meddagoda (36), a coconut plucker who lived in Seeduwa South, was a father of three children (two daughters and one son). He was arrested by the Seeduwa Police with another person named Wewalage Shelton Fernando for allegedly stealing Sri Lanka Rupees 300 worth ‘kehel kana’ (a plantain bunch). He was arrested on the 5 November 2002. According to the evidence of Mr. W. Shelton Fernando at the inquest conducted by the Magistrate Negombo M. N. Buran, both persons were tortured by the Police.

The Asian Human Rights Commission (AHRC) has been informed that Amnesty International (AI) has issued a press release to urge the government of Sri Lanka to end torture.  In the press release, AI urged the prime minister of Sri Lanka to implement key recommendations made by the UN Committee against Torture (CAT) and also called […]

Name: Hettitantrige Lasitha Sameera Madusanga, 17 years old, a student of Gurukula MV studying in Grade 12 A/Level class in the Science stream Address: No. 245, Dias Place, St. Francis Mawatha, Dalugama, Kelaniya. Tel 907804. The Date of the Police Assault: 17th Oct 2002 after 4.00 p.m. up to 18th Oct 2002 Morning Alleged Perpetrators: […]