SRI LANKA: Panwila Police illegally arrested, detained and tortured an innocent civilian

Dear friends,

The Asian Human Rights Commission (AHRC) has received information that police officers attached to the Panwila Police Station have illegally arrested, detained and tortured an innocent civilian. He was later released on police bail without being produced before a Magistrate. 

CASE NARRATIVE: 

Mr. Jesu Andrew (28) of Holankanda, Mudulkelle in the district of Kandy is married and his wife is expecting a baby. Andrew is engaged in a small business in the Wattegama area.

On 23 August 2010 Andrew was returning home from Wattegama to Mudulkelle by bus. Since there was a crowd Andrew helped a girl in the bus to carry her bag as he knew her previously from his school days.

At Maussa, the bus halted as the road was not passable so the girl collected her bag, got into a three-wheeler and proceeded home while Andrew also returned to his home.

In the evening at around 5pm the girl, along with her family members and police officers from the Panwila Police Station came and arrested Andrew saying that he had stolen jewelry from her bag. Andrew was then taken to the Panwila Police Station where he was tortured severely by the officers.

First, Andrew was slapped in front of the girl who made the complaint at the moment he was taken to the police station. Then, he was stripped naked. He was forced to lie down on a bench and was beaten severely with a pole over various parts of his body. The officers also rubbed chilli powder on his genitalia.

While he was being tortured the officers tried to force a confession from him that he had stolen the jewelry. However, when he refused to plead guilty he was thrown into a police cell and beaten again.

On 25 August his uncle arrived at the police station and offered a bottle of Arrack (liquor) to the police officers to get Andrew released. Subsequently Andrew was released later that day on police bail after having been illegally detained at the police station since 23 August. Prior to his release he was forced to sign a document written in Sinhala, the contents of which he had no knowledge of, as he cannot read or write Sinhalese. The police officers, when asked, refused to read or explain the document to him. After his release due to the pain in his joints he was treated at Panwila Hospital on 26 August.

ADDITIONAL COMMENTS: 

The Asian Human Rights Commission has reported innumerable cases of arbitrarily arrest, torturing while in detention by the Sri Lankan police which are illegal under international and local law which have taken place at different police stations in the country over the past few years.

The Constitution of Sri Lanka has guaranteed the right freedom from torture. According to the Article 11 of the Constitution no person shall be subjected to torture or to cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment or punishment.

Further Article 13 (1) has stated that ‘No person shall be arrested except according to procedure established by law. Any person arrested shall be informed of the reason for his arrest’.

The Supreme Court of Sri Lanka 
In the case of Amal Sudath Silva vs. Kodituwakku Inspector of Police and others (1987) 2 SLR119, as Per Atukorale, J.:
“Article 11 of our Constitution mandates that no person shall be subjected to torture, or to cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment or punishment. It prohibits every person from inflicting torture some, cruel or inhuman treatment on another. It is an absolute fundamental right subject to no restrictions or limitations whatsoever. Every person in this country, be he a criminal or not, is entitled to this right to the fullest content of its guarantee. Constitutional safeguards are generally directed against the State and its organs………. 
………This court cannot, in the discharge of its constitutional duty, countenance any attempt by, any police officer however high or low, to conceal or distort the truth induced perhaps, by a false sense of police solidarity. The facts of this case have revealed disturbing features regarding third degree methods adopted by certain police officers on suspects held in police custody. Such methods can, only be described as barbaric, savage and inhuman. They are most revolting to one’s sense of human decency and dignity particularly at the present time when every endeavour is being made to promote and protect human rights. Nothing shocks the conscience of a man so much as the cowardly act of a delinquent police officer who subjects a helpless suspect in his charge to depraved and barbarous methods of treatment within the confines of the very premises in which he is held in custody. Such action on the part of the police will only breed contempt for the law and will tend to make the public lose confidence in the ability of the police to maintain law and order. The petitioner may be a hard core criminal whose tribe deserve no sympathy. But if constitutional guarantees are to have any meaning or value in our democratic set up, it is essential that he be not denied the protection guaranteed by our Constitution.” 

Convention against Torture and Other Cruel, Inhuman or Degrading Treatment or Punishment (CAT) 
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 the law adopted by the Sri Lankan parliament making torture a crime that can be punishable for minimum seven years and not less than ten years on being proven guilty. The Attorney General of Sri Lanka is suppose to file indictments in the case where credible evidence were found on torturing people by state officers.

Furthermore, Sri Lanka has signed and ratified the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights (ICCPR). Nevertheless the lack of protection offered to those who are willing to take cases against abusive police officers and the state authorities, means that the law is under-used continues to be employed as a tool by the police to harass people. This not only takes a long-term toll on the victim and his or her family, but on society as a whole, by undermining of civilian respect for the law and encouraging impunity.

SUGGESTED ACTION: 

Please send a letter to the authorities listed below expressing your concern about this case and requesting an immediate investigation into the allegations of illegal arrest, torture and detention by the police perpetrators. If found guilty they must be punished with imprisonments after prosecuted under the Convention against Torture Act No. 22 of 1994. The officers involved must also be subjected to internal investigations for the breach of the departmental orders as issued by the police department.

Please note that the Asian Human Rights Commission has already written separate letters to the Special Rapporteur on the Question of Torture, on this regard.

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