SRI LANKA: A man was arrested on suspicion of taking part in a bombing and sentenced to death after a sham trial

Dear friends,

The Asian Human Rights Commission (AHRC) has received information that Mr. Krishnaswami Ramachandran was arrested on suspicion of his involvement in the bomb blast at Daladha Maligawa in 1998. He was tortured and the charges were based on the confession he was forced to give under duress. In 2003 he was sentenced to death by the Kandy High Court. Ramachandran states that he was not given a fair trial. He further states that the trial was held in Sinhalese which is not his mother language and due to this he was unable to follow the proceedings. He also vehemently refutes the charges and says that he was convicted and sentenced for a crime he did not commit.

CASE NARRATIVE:

Mr. Krishnaswami Ramachandran of No 200, Mawalawatta, Uda-Peradeniya, in the District of Kandy, was arrested by the police on the suspicion of his involvement in the bomb blast at Daladha Maligawa in 1998. Ramachandran was arrested on 3 February 1998. He is married and the father of two daughters, Megala Ramachandran (24 years) and Kamalesh Ramachandran (22 years). He was detained at the Bogambara Prison.

In 2003 he was sentenced to death by the Kandy High Court. Ramachandran states that he was not given a fair trial. He further states that the trial was held in Sinhalese which is not his mother language and due to this he was unable to follow the proceedings. He also vehemently refutes the charges and says that he was convicted and sentenced for a crime he did not commit. In this regard Ramachandran has filed an appeal against the verdict of the High Court in the Court of Appeal of Sri Lanka which, according to his two daughters, is still pending.

Ramachandran daughters also affirm that their father did not get a fair trial as he was not kept apprised of the proceedings and that his full testimony was never submitted and to the trial judge who did not consider the scant information that he did actually receive. According to the two daughters, “On 14 January 1998 on a Thai Pongal Festival Day, one of our father’s relatives, Subramaniam Ravindran came to our house after almost ten years. We were not aware of what he was doing or what his job was. When our father inquired about it, he said that he (Subramaniam Ravindran) got married in Trincomalee and that he is now doing a business(in small scale) in a lorry”. Later Ramachandran learned that this Ravindran had been arrested by the police on the suspicion of his involvement in the bomb attack. It was one day after his visit that Ramachandran was also arrested. Ramachandran and his two daughters state that they were not aware that Ravindran had any connection to the bomb blast.

On 3 February 1998, Ramachandran was arrested from his home by police officers attached to the Kandy Headquarters Police Station as a suspect in the bomb blast. He was severely tortured and forced to sign several documents while in police custody. He was then produced in court and detained without bail at Bogambara Prison. In 2003 without any investigation and also without giving him a chance to properly defend himself he was sentenced to death. At that time of his arrest his children were 10 and 7 years old, respectively.

Setting off a bomb at Dalada Maligawa was considered a very serious offense against the Buddhists and therefore the lawyer was reluctant to appear for the suspects.

According to Ramachandran’s daughters, “Krishnaswami Ramachandran, our father was just a laborer when he was arrested and we did not have anybody to help. Our mother had to take care of us all by herself from the day our father was arrested. However she got very sick after he was arrested and her illness got worse and she died (due to a cardiac arrest heart attack) on 30 September 2006 leaving both of us behind. After her untimely death we were cared by our relatives. We studied at Sarasavi Sinhala Maha Vidyalaya in Sinhala medium and we completed our G.C.E. Ordinary Level Examinations, and could not go further due to financial difficulties. We are still not married and expecting our father to return home”.

The further explained the difficulties they face: “We are certain that Krishnaswami Ramachandran our father did not have any contacts with the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Elam (LTTE). He supported and helped our former ex-president Chandrika Bandaranayaka Kumarathunga during the time of presidential elections. He is now in prison for almost 10 years, suffering from diabetes. He is 58 years old but he has never done anything wrong against the government but unfortunately he was accused by the police officers for no reason, that he had no contacts with the LTTE. He was suspected because of the visit of Subramaniam Ravindran who was arrested just on the suspicion in connection with the bomb blast. The police officers who arrested our father, Krishnaswami Ramachandran were given promotion and were admired by the Buddhists community. The news reports said that Krishnaswami Ramachandran made a confession that he blasted the Dalada Maligawa”.

The daughters further state that all these allegations were based on the confession which was made after severely torturing their father and where the officers took his signature by force. They confidently states that, “Our parents were born and raised in Kandy at the above mentioned address and our parents had no connection with the LTTE. Therefore we appeal for justice and fair trial”.

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 Sri Lankan authorities 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.

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