SRI LANKA: Alleged torture and prolonged detention of a couple

Dear friends, 

The Asian Human Rights Commission (AHRC) has received information that officers attached to the Dehiwela Police Station arrested a couple on 21 November 2007 who were allegedly tortured by the police and later again tortured by the Terrorist Investigation Division. Since then, the couple has been detained in Colombo Remand Prison. No reason was given for their detention and no investigation has been conducted into the allegations of torture during their interrogations. 

CASE DETAILS: (Based on the information given by the victims Muthukumar Ravikumar and his wife Stella Rani) 

Ravikumar lived in and worked in Colombo. On 12 November 2007, he and his wife were arrested for no reason. His wife was 5 months’ pregnant at the time. When they were taken to the Dehiwela Police Station, police allegedly bound him from his neck to his feet with a cable. He was assaulted with a cricket stump and hung from the ceiling while being beaten. His wife was transferred to police headquarters by four male police officers where she was allegedly subjected to sexual harassment and beaten with a wire. 

On 22 November 2007, the couple was handed over to the Terrorist Investigation Division (TID) for interrogation. Officers from the TID again allegedly tortured Ravikumar by hanging him from a beam. They also placed a book on his head and hammered his head with a cricket stump while rolls of paper were inserted in his ears. They also beat his feet and injected petrol into his feet until they were numb. They reportedly drove a ball point pen into his ears. His ears bled for several days. 

Ravikumar was handed over to the Navy for further investigation on 2 January 2008 . Naval officers continued to torture him by pulling out his beard and assaulting him. Thereafter he was taken to sea by a boat along with a few others and tortured. According to him, one person named Muhanthan was stabbed and thrown into the sea. Ravikumar was beaten until he lost consciousness. 

On January 3, when he regained consciousness, he was in a hospital. His shirt was soaked with blood and he was bleeding from his nose, ears and mouth. He was discharged on January 9 (his admission card number is 231337 and his name was incorrectly written as Shashikumar instead of Ravikumar). He continued to be detained by the TID until he was remanded on August 15 to Colombo Remand Prison. 

His wife was shifted briefly to the Colombo Remand Prison in June 2007 for child birth. She gave birth to a daughter and both of them are still in the Remand prison. 

The whole family imprisoned from 2007 until the present, is produced in court in the Welikada Prison every two weeks. However, no charges have been lodged against them even though two years have passed. 

Ravikumar is registered with the Red Cross: ICRC 124967 & 125767 

BACKGROUND INFORMATION: 

Ravikumar was earlier arrested in Colombo on 13 July 2007. He was arrested by the CCD (Colombo Crime Division) Dematagoda Branch. He was released by the Mount-Lavinia Court on the 22 August 2007. During this time, he was also assaulted while in custody. 

Ravikumar believes that he and his wife were targeted because they refused to give money to the Karuna group which was broken up by the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam and information about them was given to the police. 

ADDITIONAL INFORMATION: 

The AHRC has documented several cases of torture and ill- treatment by the police. It appears to be common practice for the police to assault a person at the time of arrest, as well as on the way to and inside the police station during interrogation. The arrest was made without due process. 

For example, Anil Chandana,19, had to undergo surgery on his leg when he was in prison due to being tortured. (AHRC-UAC-021-2009) Police seldom open an investigation into such injuries, and when they do the investigations are not thorough or transparent. They are more likely to threaten the complainant to withdraw his case (AHRC-UAC-019-2009). Arbitrary arrests and detentions are common, at which time police can assault the arrestees or detainees. (AHRC-UAC-012-2009) 

Another young man, Mr. Abesinhage Don Janaka had to undergo treatment in prison hospital due to injuries allegedly caused by police torture. (AHRC-UAC-024-2009) Sunil Shantha was accused of theft without any evidence and severely tortured, necessitating hospitalization. (AHRC-UAC-026-2009) The SI in this particular case was also involved in the case of assault and ill treatment of Loku Naramgodage Shantha. (AHRC-UAC-028-2009) 

In one case police held both parents of a man hostage until he surrendered himself to the police. While in custody the father was allegedly tortured and the mother was prevented from leaving the station. After the son was handed over to the police some days later he emerged from custody with one of his legs broken. The police threatened him not to reveal the cause of his injuries–custodial torture–in court. (AHRC-UAC-030-2009) 

Mr. Sinnavan Stephen Sunthararaj who works in the field of human rights in Jaffna and Colombo, was arbitrarily arrested on 12 February, 2009, and detained in the Kollupitiya Police Station. Here again the family was not provided with the reason for his arrest. (AHRC-UAC-031-2009) Police allegedly tortured the accused to provide five names as in a case in which one man was allegedly tortured and four others were detained despite the fact that none were at the crime scene. (AHRC-UAC-034-2009) 

Mr. Rengasami Chithrakumar, a driver was allegedly tortured during interrogation after his arrest. (AHRC-UAC-035-2009) 

SUGGESTED ACTION: 
Please write letters to the relevant authorities to investigate into this illegal detention and to provide security for the victims. 

Please be informed that the AHRC is writing separate letters to the UN Working Group on Arbitrary Detention and Special Rapporteur on the question of torture calling for their intervention.

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