SRI LANKA: The murder of a witness by police must be independently investigated

Dear friends, 

The Asian Human Rights Commission (AHRC) has gathered detailed information on the escalating harassment of criminal witness Saman Thialakasir by police before his murder in February. He was found dead the morning after he was picked up by officers. Saman had reported a case of illegal logging in his neighbourhood with suspected connections to local police. In the 17 months that followed he was arrested and framed and his family members were threatened and harassed by officers, among them the Officer In Charge of the local police station. When the victims applied for protection, the district’s Assistant Superintendent reportedly told them that this was the consequence of upsetting police. 

This case is emblematic of the crisis that now faces the Sri Lankan police force, where a lack of accountability and professionalism has allowed extrajudicial punishment to become standard. Although three police officers in the case have been indicted, the OIC has simply been transferred. Once a credible independent investigation has found out how these events were possible, effective reforms must be brought into force. 

CASE NARRATIVE: 

According to information received from Mrs. Pradeepa, the widow of Saman Thialakasiri, and other witnesses, Saman was picked up on the night of 21 February 2010 by two police officers from Inginiyagala police station and a home guard (all named below). His body was found the next day nearby, in a quiet lake-side spot towards the south end of Senanayake Tank known as ‘Side Bunt’ (pictured below). 

Harassment and fabricated charges: 
According to Saman’s wife and to extracts from his diary found after his death (pictured), he had first come to the attention of the police in 2008 when he reported the activities of an illegal timber operation to the forest conservation department. He and the officials were told by the driver of the truck that police officers were involved. (The man claimed that he was forced to carry the timber as punishment for riding a motorbike without a helmet). On the evening of on 16 September 2008 about ten police officers reportedly arrived at the house of Saman’s mother-in-law, where the couple was staying the night. When they found that Saman was not there the officers searched the house and left with the promise that ‘We will find him’. 

Officers returned the next morning at about 5.30am and against procedure, took Saman to Inginiyagala police station. At the house, according to Pradeepa, they accused Saman of felling the trees himself. They threatened to teach him a ‘good lesson’, warned that if he talked ‘too much’ they would ‘shoot and kill [him] like a dog’, and accused him of operating with others. 

According to a diary extract belonging to the victim (see the original extract in Sinhala here: 1, 2, 3, 4, 5) Saman was then taken to the Officer in Charge (OIC), Anil Ariyawnasa, who verbally abused him with the following (translated): 

You bugger, I thought you are a muscular man. You devil; my arm is fatter than you. We are licensed thugs. We have power as well as muscles. I hear there are some more thugs in your gang including two Buddhist monks and a newspaper reporter. You know we can turn the pen whichever way we want. Don’t try to be funny with me. As long as I am here you cannot stay in this village. If you don’t leave Inginiyagala I will kill you, or else I will see that you stay in the police remand or government ‘boarding’. 

A case was then fabricated against Saman for felling the trees. He was produced in the Inginiyagala Magistrate Court on 18 September 2008 and released on cash bail. 

Death threats and bribery: 
Saman was also due to give evidence on 6 May for the forestry conservation department, who had been investigating the case. This case contradicted the one taken against him by police. We are told that Saman was offered Rs. 30,000 to admit to the charges, in a message brought to him by an Inginiyagala police station driver called Bandara. 

Saman refused to plead guilty and experienced a series of harassments by police. In October 2008 a group of officers accused him of selling illegal liquor and raided his house, though they found nothing. We are told that OIC Anil Ariyawansa would regularly threaten him with death. 

The family received no help from other police, though they complained about these incidents and asked for protection. Following a complaint letter sent by his sister, Saman and his brother Grama Sevaka, a civil servant, visited the Assistant Superintendent (ASP) in Ampara. The ASP reportedly told them that this is what happens when a person gets into the ‘bad books’ of the police. 

An extrajudicial execution: 
At 7pm on the 21 February 2010 Constables Samarakoon (P.C.64308) and Nissanka, and a home guard called Ranjith (89580) arrived at Saman’s house and told his wife that someone had called the police emergency number about an incident at the local temple. She told them that Saman was at a mill nearby with a friend, Chandana Senarath Bandara, who lived near it. 

According to Bandara and another friend, Labuwathenna Viyanalage Chandrasena, the officers asked that Saman go to the station with them on their bikes to take a statement. Bandara and Chandrasena report that after about 25 minutes they decided to follow the police officers, but on route they passed two of the same two bikes parked near Side Bunt. Continuing on, they were then passed by these bikes about 10 minutes later. 

Bandara and Chandrasena saw the same bikes at the station when they arrived but say that their their questions about Saman were not addressed. They left after about an hour without answers. At about 7.30 the following morning Saman’s body was found by neighbours near Side Bunt (pictured left). 

The investigation: 
A post mortem by a Judicial Medical Officer has revealed that the victim was drowned and suffered two severe blows to his head. Although an investigation is now underway and witness statements have been recorded, the conduct of the authorities and the atmosphere of lawlessness leading up to Saman’s murder has thrown the independence of any enquiry into doubt. 

This has been reflected in that fact that OIC Ariyawansa has not been indicted along with Samarakoon, Nissanka and Ranjith. He has reportedly been transferred: a common and shockingly insufficient response to police crime. The Human Rights Commission of Sri Lanka must take responsibility for independently investigating the case, and the role and responsibility of the high rank police officers in the district. 

SUGGESTED ACTION: 

Please call for the thorough, legitimate investigation of the case and for those proven responsible to be brought before a court of law. An investigation would need to thoroughly examine the lack of protection and support extended to a family and a witness under threat. Such protection must now be promptly provided. Please also call for the Human Rights Commission of Sri Lanka to independently investigate the case, particularly the roles of the high ranking police officers in the district. 

The AHRC has written to the Special Rapporteur on Extra-judicial, Summary or Arbitrary Executions informing him of this case. 

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