SRI LANKA: TID officers detain a man for more than two years without a trial and on clearly fabricated charges

Dear friends, 

The Asian Human Rights Commission (AHRC) has learned that a man has been illegally imprisoned for over two and a half years after his illegal arrest, beating and mock execution by police officers. Although no legitimate evidence has been produced and he was cleared of the charge after two years, a second terrorism charge has been fabricated against him by police officers. He has been given no chance to arrange legal representation or to go to trial and is one of hundreds currently languishing in jails and remand prisons across the country due to the misuse of draconian Anti Terrorism laws. The AHRC firmly believes that these laws need to be reviewed and repealed for the rule of law to be restored in Sri Lanka. 

CASE DETAILS: 

According to Suresh Kumar Dias, he was in his tailoring shop on 7 March 2007 when about seven men wearing civilian clothing arrived and started to question him about a business contact, who had been accused of being linked to the LTTE. They tied his hands and feet together and searched his shop, beating him with a stick for half an hour and fracturing his left upper arm. 

Business documents were taken and Suresh was driven to various spots around town, during which he was beaten again and made to undergo a mock execution. It was only later that he found out that they were police officers. 

The men eventually took him to Negombo hospital, and then to the Terrorism Investigation Division (TID) in Colombo the next day, where he was detained without charge for over a month. On 12 April 2007 he was transferred to Boosa Detention Centre where he was illegally detained again until 26 June. He was then transferred to Colombo’s New Magazine Prison. He was only able to find out that a B report (B 9681/2007) had been filed, accusing him of unspecified terrorism charges. 

Dias was cleared from those charges on February 13, 2009 after almost two years in remand prison, on the instructions of the Attorney General (AG). But he was not released; during his time in prison another case (B 519/2006) had been filed against him at the Pugoda Magistrate’s Court, accusing him of bombing a Dialogue Telecom PLS transmission tower in Radhawan. He has been refused bail and the case is pending. 

The AG has not made any representation in this case. No evidence of any sort has been produced against him and the case has not gone to trial, which means that he has been unable to prepare any kind of defense. 

However Suresh is a Tamil, albeit one who can’t speak or write Tamil; his family migrated to Colombo a long time ago. Because of his birth name he says he faced continual problems at traffic checkpoints—officers would be suspicious when he couldn’t answer them in Tamil or give them any information relating to Tamil affairs—so he decided to legally adopt a Sinhala name. 
This may well have been the trigger for his arrest. 

We urge that he be released immediately from illegal detention and swiftly compensated for the gross violations of his constitutional rights. Representation has been made to the Attorney General on this matter. 

SUGGESTED ACTION: 

Please send letters to the authorities listed below condemning the conduct of the Sri Lankan authorities and calling for the release of the victim following a legitimate investigation. 

The AHRC has sent a letter to the UN Working Group on arbitrary detention calling for its intervention into this case.

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