(Hong Kong, June 27, 2008)
Several human rights organisations held meetings and other activities to highlight the problem of torture and the sufferings of the torture victims in several locations in Sri Lanka. Janasansadaya held a street protest and meeting to mark the occasion, while Right to Life and Homes for Victims of Torture also held several events.
In Kandy a public meeting was held at which several torture victims and family members spoke. It is well established that my husband was an innocent man, picked up by the police without any reason and assaulted to an extent that he suffered renal failure and remained unconscious for over two weeks, said Patma Wickramarathna, the widow of Gerard Perera. Gerard was a torture victim who was assassinated to prevent him from giving evidence in the High Court. Patma went on to say that the state had failed to provide justice to her regarding the torture as well as the assassination of her husband. She said that the police officers who were accused of torturing her husband were acquitted by the Negombo High Court and asked how is it possible that the police investigators failed to adequately investigate this grave crime so as to be able to prove the case before the High Court. She also asked as to how the Attorney General’s Department failed to examine all the available evidence, thereby failing to successfully prosecute the perpetrators. Patma spoke of a system that brutally assaults innocent people and then fails to provide justice. This, said Patma, is what the Sri Lankan people have for a justice system. The monstrous absurdity of the situation which has brought her family this enormous suffering is on-going and will cause more suffering to other families. She sincerely wished that the suffering imposed on her family would not be imposed on others. But, she said, There is no reason to believe that it will not happen because the same system still exists and there is no attempt on the part of the government to change it. She said the only ray of hope she found in her bitter years were a few people from human rights organisations that helped her to maintain her faith in humanity.
Suranji Kumarihami, the mother of Chamila Bandara, who was an 18-year-old boy at the time he was tortured for eight days in July, 2003, said that since this incident she and her family have been constantly harassed by the local police as well as others who are acting in connivance with the police. She said that her family had to leave their house in the village and take shelter in various places in order to find safety. She has since learned that their house has now been demolished and everything she owned stolen. She also said that the names of her family members have been removed from the voting list in the area. When I am walking on the road the OIC who is charged with the torture now comes on a motor bike and circles around me to intimidate me, said Suranji. Threats to the life of her son, herself and others in the family are made all the time and the state has failed to provide any protection for them. The whole family has become victims of severe torture carried out for no reason at all and now they have become outcasts having to go from pillar to post to find safety.
Rita Jesudasan, a young Tamil girl from among the estate workers was raped when she was on her way to school also spoke. She said that because she was a Tamil she was harassed at the police station and that initially they even refused to record her statement. Throughout her ordeal she was treated badly by the police when she tried to get her complaints registered. Now several years have passed and the case is still before the courts. She had been subjected to humiliation and constant harassment. For all this suffering there has been no help from the state, not even a word of sympathy. The only help came from human rights organisations. Rita said that she is aware of many other girls who are suffering similar situations.
Mr. Dingiri Banda, a former army lieutenant who was severely tortured by two army officers, who have since been promoted to the rank of captain, said that the United Nations Human Rights Committee made recommendations that the government of Sri Lanka had violated his rights by not prosecuting the two officers and not providing him compensation. He said that despite of the UN recommendations the government had not done anything to implement them and to prosecute the army officers. He said that a case filed against the officers for non-summary inquiry for attempted murder has been dragging on for over five years now and he believes that this is being done deliberately to deny him justice. The Attorney General’s Department should have prosecuted the army officers under the CAT Act, Act No. 22 of 1994. There is a complete absence of justice and there is no one that I can complain to in order to have my grievance recorded. Everything has come to a dead end.
Lalith Rajapakse, another torture victim who has cases against the police who tortured him in the Negombo High Court and the Supreme Court stated that on the 25th May three persons visited his house at midnight, two of whom carried pistols. Fortunately he noticed them from afar and escaped from the house. Ever since he has not been able to return out of fear for his life and is living far away. He complained about this matter to the Inspector General of Police and the Attorney General by writing to them through a lawyer but so far, no action has been taken to investigate the matter or to provide him with any security. He is unable to return to his house to look after his grandfather who is seriously ill. Life has become a nightmare simply because he complained about the severe torture he suffered due to which he suffered a brain injury which caused him to be unconscious for about 15 days. At the Negombo High Court, the officer accused of the torture gave evidence in which he stated that the police did not have a complaint against him, either before or after the arrest. The police fabricated several cases against him but he was acquitted because they failed to present any evidence. It is a terrible crime to fabricate cases against innocent persons, said Lalith. But, he went on to say, there was nothing that the state has done to prevent this or protect the victims.
Several other torture victims also spoke before a senior Buddhist monk, two catholic priests and four lawyers also addressed the meeting. Reverend Udalumada Gunarathna the high priest for the North Central province stated that he was shocked by what he had heard from these very poor persons. It clearly appeared to him that torture is perpetrated, not on people wearing a coat and tie, but on persons who are from extremely poor socio-economic backgrounds. There is something terribly wrong here, said Reverend Udalumada Gunarathna, and he was lost for words to describe what he was feeling at the moment. He said that basic morals seemed to have been lost in this society. He said that it is necessary to establish basic loca dharma (Universal Ethics) in order to deal with this serious problem. He expressed concern and sympathy for those who spoke and promised to do whatever he could with regard to their grievances.
