SRI LANKA: Torture and fabrication of charges of an innocent man by an Estate Superintendent

Dear friends,

Mr. Selambaran Wanaraja, a resident at the Hunnasgiriya Estate where he is employed obtained permission to collect fallen branches to use as firewood by the established means of applying in writing to the administration office of the Hunnasgiriya Estate. As he was collecting the firewood in the company of his friends he was questioned by the Assistant Superintendent of the estate. As this officer was unfamiliar with the practice and routine he called his superior, the Superintendent ,who arrived in a state of inebriation. This man then assaulted Wanaraja and when the latter made a report to the Matale police he countered this with the false claim that Wanaraja had damaged his vehicle. The police refused to conduct an inquiry into Wanaraja’s complaint of assault and instead laid fabricated charges against him of criminal damage.

This case is yet another illustration of the Sri Lankan police siding with influential persons and denying the victim the due process of the law.

CASE NARRATIVE:

According to the information received by the Asian Human Rights Commission (AHRC) Mr. Selambaran Wanaraja (54) of No 68, Pahalamahaoya, Hunnasgiriwattte, Elkaduwa of Matale District is a father of four children. He is a resident at the Hunnasgiriya Estate where he is employed.

The residents of the estate usually gather firewood for their needs from within the estate and do so with the permission of the administration. Generally they hand over a letter to the estate-office asking for permission and obtain the approval. Accordingly, Wanaraja had submitted such a letter asking for permission to collect the unwanted branches of some “Sabuka” trees which were already cut down, to use as firewood for his late wife’s three month’s alms giving. He duly received permission from the administration of the estate for this application.

On 16 December 2013, at about 10.30a.m Wanaraja had gone to the place where the trees were cut down; which was around 1km from his house to collect the firewood along with Pichchei Mailwaganam, R. M. Sanjeewa Sujeewa Priyankara and Ugalendram Subramaniyam. While they were loading the firewood onto a truck, the Assistant Superintendent (AS) of the Estate, Janaka Dassanayake arrived and asked what they were doing. Wanaraja and the others replied saying that they acquired the permission following the usual procedure.

The AS was newly appointed to the Elkaduwa estate and was unfamiliar with the system. He therefore called the Superintendant, Mangala Dayasiri via phone to make inquiries. The Superintendant, who was visibly inebriated at that time, arrived at the venue shortly thereafter (around 1p.m) and questioned who authorised them to get the firewood.

Wanaraja gave the same answer he had earlier given to the AS, mentioning the letter which had been handed over to the office. The Superintendant then claimed that there is no such established rule or procedure and abused them with filthy language. He then assaulted Wanaraja which made him fall down following which he then kicked him. (It must be noted that in this case the estate concerned is owned by the Sri Lankan government and therefore the Superintendent is a government employee. Therefore this abuse constitutes torture under the CAT Act (Act No 24 of 1994).

Afterwards Wanaraja was forced to get into the truck, go to the factory stores around 1km from where the assault took place and unload the firewood there.

Since Wanaraja was not feeling well after the assault, he asked Alagan Sathyasheelan to get a vehicle. He went to the General Hospital at Matale to get medical treatment. Due to the fact that the Matale Hospital and the police station are situated close to one another, Wanaraja and Sathyasheelan saw the Superintendant; Mangala Dayasiri going to the police station at the same time as they went to the hospital.

Wanaraja was examined by the doctors and warded at the Matale Hospital for further treatments. Officers attached to the Matale Headquarters Police Station recorded a statement from him the next day (17 December 2013) at about 12.30p.m and he was discharged at 2.30p.m. On the same day Pichchei and other witnesses to Wanaraja’s assault were accused of having damaged the Superintendent’s vehicle and were questioned by the police officers regarding the damage. The two police constables who came in a three-wheeler asked Pichchei to show them the place where the incident had taken place the previous day and asked him to come and give evidence.

However, no case was initiated against the Superintendent who assaulted Wanaraja. Instead the victim himself was accused of damaging the Superintendent’s vehicle and was dismissed from the estate.

Wanaraja states that he was tortured by the Superintendent of the estate and later the police officers illegally obstructed him from getting justice for the violation of his rights. He further states that the police officers not only failed to investigate his complaint they violated his rights by filing fabricated charges against him on the baseless complaint by the Superintendent.

Wanaraja and his family members seek justice and the protection of his rights as enshrined in the Constitution of Sri Lanka.

SUGGESTED ACTION:

Please send a letter to the authorities expressing your concern about this case and requesting an immediate investigation into the allegations torturing an innocent man by the police officers and denying justice and independent inquiry by the police officers. Please request the authorities for prosecution of those proven to be responsible under the criminal law of the country for misusing powers of a state. The officers involved must also be subjected to internal investigations for the breach of the department orders as issued by the police department. Further, please also request the NPC and the IGP to have a special investigation into the malpractices of the police officers for abusing the state officers’ powers.

Please note that the AHRC has also written a separate letter to the Special Rapporteur on torture and other cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment or punishment on this regard.

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