SRI LANKA: British citizen tortured and arbitrarily detained in Sri Lanka

Dear Friends,

The Asian Human Rights Commission (AHRC) has received information that Mr. Velauthapilai Renugaruban, a British citizen who was visiting his relatives in Jaffna, Sri Lanka, has been illegally arrested, detained, and severely tortured by Sri Lankan police officials. He is being accused of aiding and abetting the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Elam (LTTE) organization, allegations he flatly refutes. Following his torture he was later treated in the Jaffna Teaching Hospital for his injuries, and is presently under detention in Jaffna Prison. Relatives demand immediate release of the victim and for justice to be done. This case illustrates the collapse of the institutions meant to uphold and enforce the rule of law and the failures in the administration of the justice processes in Sri Lanka.

CASE NARRATIVE:

According to the information received by the Asian Human Rights Commission (AHRC), Mr. Velauthapilai Renugaruban was beaten and forcefully arrested by two men who entered his family home in Jaffna on 2 June 2016. The men informed the family that they had come to arrest Mr. Renugaruban on suspicion of assisting the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Elam’s (LTTE) activities in the United Kingdom. Neither an arrest warrant nor any identification was provided by the two men, who forcibly entered his house, dragged him out, and took him away in a van.

A day after Mr. Renugaruban was arrested, two men alleging to be representatives of the British High Commission visited the detainee’s mother at her family house in Jaffna, advising the family to confess that they were LTTE members, in order to help them negotiate Mr. Renugaruban’s release. When asked for identification, the two men failed to produce documents.

In response to the detention, Mr. Renugaruban’s family approached the British High Commission in Colombo and also human rights activists, who inquired into the case. Upon contact, the President’s advisor and Governor of the Eastern Province, Mr. Austin Fernando, managed to locate the detained British citizen and confirm that he was in Sri Lankan police custody. Shortly after inquiries made by international officials, Mr. Renugaruban was produced before the Jaffna Magistrates Court, and is now being detained under charges of an alleged incident of assault. The Commander of Sri Lanka’s Security Forces stationed in Jaffna, Major General Mahesh Senanayake, is confirmed to have contacted Mr. Renugaruban’s family and warned them not to take this case any further.

Mr. Renugaruban was kept in Jaffna Prison and temporarily admitted to Jaffna Teaching Hospital on June 7 as he was suffering torture-inflicted injuries. He sustained deep cuts to his face and blunt trauma swelling around various parts of his body.

Mr. Renugaruban’s sister, Ms. Velauthapilai Lalitharuby, was a former journalist that worked in the LTTE controlled region of the Vanni during the armed conflict prior to 2009. She currently works as a human rights campaigner and volunteer at the International Centre for Prevention and Prosecution of Genocide (ICCPG) in the UK.

In a similar incident last month, an independent researcher, Mr. Pushpatharan Puthirasigamani, who works for the UK based Tamil Information Centre (TIC) was abducted and severely tortured by Sri Lanka’s intelligence outfit before being deported to the UK. During his detention, he was asked to provide details of witnesses and volunteers in the UK working with the organisation in documenting human rights violations.

The family members of the victim state that the Sri Lankan State officers have violated Renugaruban’s fundamental rights. They demand justice and immediate release of the victim.

SUGGESTED ACTION:

Please write to the authorities listed below expressing your concern about this case and requesting an immediate investigation into allegations of torture by the police perpetrators, and the prosecution of those proven to be responsible under the criminal law of the country. The officers involved must also be subjected to internal investigations for the breach of department orders as issued by the police department.

The AHRC will also write a separate letter to the United Nation’s Special Rapporteur on torture and other cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment or punishment in this regard. 

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