SRI LANKA: An innocent man has been detained for more than four years

Dear friends,

The Asian Human Rights Commission (AHRC) has received information that Mr. Kitnasami Rajendran(57) of Udayarkattu North, Udayarkattu in Mullaitivu District was illegally arrested in 2008 and has been detained without trial for more than four years. He was tortured in the custody of the Colombo Criminal Investigation Division and is now detained at the Anuradapura Remand Prison after being produced in the Vavuniya Magistrate’s Court and the Colombo Magistrate’s Court. To-date, Rajendran has never been shown a charge sheet describing his ‘crimes’. This case is yet another illustration of the exceptional collapse of the rule of law in the country.

CASE NARRATIVE:

Mr. Kitnasami Rajendran(57) of Udayarkattu North, Udayarkattu in Mullaitivu District was illegally arrested in 2008 and has been detained without trial for more than four years. Rajendran, who is originally from Galle District, was in the business of buying and selling clothes. His business was mainly in the north and therefore he used to go to the area frequently. 

In 1981 he bought a piece of land in the Mullaitivu District and 1984 he married Komadi who is from Ratnapura and brought her to Mullative to settle down. They had 3 sons and one daughter. Rajendran used to travel a lot for his business work even during the civil war and had to pass check points maintained by government forces and Liberation Tigers of Tamil Elam (LTTE) on a regular basis. 

On the 7 November 2008 when Rajendran was on the way to the Northern Province for business he was arrested at the Omantha check point by the Sri Lankan Army, and detained at the Army Camp at the area. On the 27 November 2008 he was handed over to the Criminal Investigation Division (CID) and taken to Colombo for questioning. 

Rajendran was tortured while in the custody of the CID and forced to admit to charges that were not made clear to him. Later on the 4 December 2009 he was transferred to Boossa Detention Center and from there he was handed over to the police on the 9 December 2009 and produced in Vavuniya Magistrate’s Court and Colombo Magistrate Court. 

According to Komadi, Rajendra is accused of having explosives in his possession which he vehemently denies. After Rajendran was arrested his wife Komadi lost two of their sons on 3 February 2009 as a result of a shelling while in their house at Udayakattu. Elder son Vasantha Ruban was 24 and the second Sathya Ruban was just 21.

Vasantha Ruban who was abducted by the LTTE managed to escape and return home when he heard that a shell had stuck the house and Sathya Ruban was injured. Wasantha Ruban was carrying his brother when a second shell stuck and they both died on the spot. The date was 3 February 2009.

As a result of this tragedy Komadi is living with the youngest son who is still schooling and she is without any income. Rajendran is now detained at Anuradapura Remand Prison after being produced in the Vavuniya Magistrate’s Court and the Colombo Magistrate’s Court.

Komadi says that Rajendran is innocent and that he is from Southern Province of Sri Lanka, Galle, and had no connections with the LTTE. Rajendran, who has been detained since 2008, has ever been charged for any crime in the investigation conducted by the authorities.

ADDITIONAL COMMENTS:

The Asian Human Rights Commission has reported innumerable cases in which innocent people have been tortured by the Sri Lankan police. Torture is illegal under international and local law.

The Asian Human Rights Commission received several hundreds of cases where innocent people have been illegally arrested and detained under the Prevention of Terrorism (Temporary Provisions) Act No. 48 of 1979 (PTA). This act has been used by state authorities to conduct mass arrests and detain people indefinitely without producing them before a court of law. Furthermore, this law allows authorities to prosecute the suspects with voluntarily recorded confessions. As a result of these legal provisions, the AHRC has observed hundreds of cases in which suspects who have severely tortured, are forced to sign blank documents or documents which have not been explained to them for use as confessions in court.

The AHRC has issued several Urgent Appeals in recent years calling for justice for the detainees who were illegally arrested and detained under the PTA. The basic principles of rule of law are not respected within the legal system of Sri Lanka. These draconian laws curtail the civil liberties and fundamental human rights of the people of Sri Lanka.

The State of Sri Lanka sign and ratified the CAT on 3 January 1994. Following state obligations, Sri Lanka adopted Act number 22 of 1994 making torture a crime punishable with a minimum of seven years and not less than ten years in prison, on being proven guilty. The Attorney General of Sri Lanka is suppose to file indictments in the case where credible evidence is found of people being tortured by state officers.

SUGGESTED ACTION: 
Please write to the authorities of Sri Lanka expressing your concern about this case and requesting an immediate investigation into the allegations of illegal arrest, illegal detention, torturing by the police perpetrators, and the prosecution of those proven to be responsible under the criminal law of the country for misusing powers of a state. The victim must be released from the prolonged arbitrary detention immediately. 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 UN Special Rapporteur on Torture and Other Cruel, Inhuman or Degrading Treatment or Punishment and the Working Group on Arbitrary Arrest and Detention on this regard.

To support this case, please click here: SEND APPEAL LETTER