SRI LANKA: A man is randomly detained and extensively tortured at Bandaragama police station

Dear friends, 

The Asian Human Rights Commission (AHRC) has received information that a man was kept in illegal custody for seven days and tortured extensively and severely by the Bandaragama police to make him confess to a theft that he did not commit. He was badly beaten, hung up and kicked, and had chili juice squeezed into his eyes and nostrils a number of times. The officers have since charged him for possessing two pawn tickets that don’t belong to him, yet have not been investigated for torture. 

CASE DETAILS: (according to the testimony of the victim) 

On 20 May at about 11am Chaminda Sampath Kumara Wickramapathirana was returning home from the grocery store when he noticed a police jeep with about five men inside it, one of whom–Sub-Inspector (SI) Salwathura—was in uniform. As he passed the jeep a constable Kithsiri asked about the contents of his bag. He was told that it was poultry meat. Two other officers, Manoj and Salwathura, asked Chaminda the same question but when he replied they told him that he was the man they were looking for. Taking him by the scruff of his neck they entered his home.

Once inside the men searched his room and found a pawn receipt for some jewelry. On request, Chaminda gave them another pawn slip that he had, explaining that they had been given to him for safe-keeping by a neighbour. The neighbour K. Udayanga Kumara had asked Chaminda to hold them because the gold jewelery that had been pawned belonged to his girlfriend and the pair did not wish their parents to know about it. Chaminda was taken to Bandaragama police station for questioning; his mother was told sarcastically that ‘he had not done any wrong but had surely helped his friends’. 

At the police station he was told that he was lying and a constable Manoj took him to the police barracks behind the police station, where there were more officers and rows of beds. The officers crowded around him and Chaminda was made to strip, kneel down and hold his hands up straight. Then one of the officers put about 10 kochchi chilies (which are particularly potent) into his mouth and he was forced to eat them. He was then told to sit on the floor and his hands were tied behind him with a strip of cloth, his ankles were bound and his head forced back by constable Manoj, who had sat behind him with head between his knees. Kochchi juice was squeezed into Chaminda’s upturned eyes and nostrils. 

The torture continued. Manoj demanded that Chaminda lie on his back on the floor. An officer held his head down hard, while another stamped a booted foot on his chest and another stood on his knees. Chaminda remembers that the latter was not wearing shoes. Manoj again squeezed kochchi juice into Chaminda’s eyes and nose, demanding to know if Chaminda had any more receipts. Chaminda said that he had given up all the receipts he had with him. 

Whenever Chaminda screamed, he says, he was slapped hard. SI Salwathura threatened that if he did not tell the truth he would be framed for the possession of fire arms, an offence that does not allow bail. Sergeant Manoj hit him around the head with a rubber water hose bent into two. Chaminda kept repeating that he did not know what else to tell them. The officers finally told him to dress and took him to a cell. 

At about 6pm Chaminda’s brother came to see him, and the victim was able to tell him about the torture. The next morning at about 10am Chaminda recognised another acquaintance of Udayanga Kumara called Danushka Nuwan, in the next cell. Shortly after that the two men plus another, a man called Anil from Makalanda, were taken in a police jeep to several pawn shops in the Piliyandala area. They were with five police officers, among them SI Salwathura and Sergeant Manoj. The officers showed Chaminda’s, Danushka’s and Anil’s National Identity Cards (NIC) to the pawn shop owners and asked if there were any goods pawned under such identities. For the latter two they were successful, but for Chaminda they found nothing. Back at the police station Chaminda was again put into the cell. 

On 24 May at about 10.15am Manoj again took Chaminda to the police, informing him that he would make him ‘vomit the truth’. He boasted that he had done so before to men bigger than him. According to Chaminda, SI Salwathura joined the threats. 

Inside the barracks Chaminda was made to strip and sit on the floor with his knees bent and his hands around his knees so that he could be hung upside down with a thick pole (a pastle used locally to grind grain) raised and balanced on two iron boxes. This method of torture is the ‘dharma chakra’ in police jargon—’the wheel of enlightenment’. Manoj swung Chaminda around the pole shouting at him to tell the truth, then proceeded to grind chilies with a broom handle while voicing threats. The juice was again squeezed into Chaminda’s eyes and nose, and when this failed to get a confession it was repeated. Fresh kochchi chillies were ground at least five times as far as Chaminda remembers, and whenever he screamed in pain he was slapped in the face and hit with the bent, platted rubber water hose. Manoj would also hit the soles of his feet with the handle of the broom and another officer kicked his neck. He started struggling for breath and Manoj shouted that he was going to die. 

Chaminda was later untied but tormented further by being given rations of water that were too small to effectively clean out his eyes. He says that he was almost blind at this point and could only make out shadows. Then he was given his clothes and told to return to his cell, and told the officers he couldn’t see the way; he fell over and the police guided him back. His relatives were denied access to him later that day. 
Chaminda later got to know that his brother-in-law had come to the police station and managed to witness part of the abuse. When he asked officer Kithsiri to intervene, the policeman swore and chased him away. The victim also got to know that the gold jewelry which he was being accused of stealing had been delivered to the police station by a person named Chamil. 

Chaminda was kept in the cell until the 27 May, when SI Salwathura told him to sign a small piece of paper, and he was taken to court. No statement was taken. He was charged for the possession of two pawn receipts not belonging to him and given bail. His next appearance in court is set for 8 September 2009. 

ADDITIONAL COMMENTS: 

Due to the extent of the injuries sustained during the torture sessions Chaminda admitted himself to Panadura hospital on 27 May. He told the doctors about the torture and was treated for two days. Though he says the hospital police visited him to take down a statement, when they discovered who the perpetrators were they refused to continue because it was they said that it was a case against the police. On 29 May a Judicial Medical Officer examined Chaminda. 

Chaminda says that he is still receiving treatment and that he still finds it difficult to walk. There is also substantial psychological trauma. 

In a letter dated 5 June 2009 Chaminda informed the chairman of the National Human Rights Commission, the chairman of the National Police Commission, the Inspector General of Police, and the Senior Superintendent of the police in Panadura about the incident in detail. 

SUGGESTED ACTION: 

Please write to the local authorities listed below and demand that due disciplinary and legal action be taken against SI Salwathura, constable Manoj and other officers at the Bandaragama Police Station involved in the intensive, prolonged torture of this man, and that compensation and redress be arranged. The medical staff at Panadura hospital must also be investigated for their failure to do their duty. 

Please be informed that the AHRC has also written a separate letter to the UN Special Rapporteur on the Question of Torture calling for an intervention in this case. 

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