SRI LANKA: A prisoner is in critical condition in hospital after being subjected to severe torture by prison officers 

Dear friends,

The Asian Human Rights Commission (AHRC) has received information that Mr. Sundaram Sathies Kumar was a detainee under the prison authorities of Sri Lanka. As a result of severe torture suffered during his incarceration Sundaram is now in critical condition at the National Hospital of Sri Lanka in Colombo (NHSL). He is presently in a coma and in danger of losing his life. Considering the immediate threat to his life we are making this special appeal for urgent intervention to provide the necessary prompt and essential medical assistance and protection for his security.

CASE NARRATIVE:

Mr. Sundaram Sathies Kumar (34) of Kandy Road, Kodigamam, Jaffna was a detainee under the prison authorities of Sri Lanka. As a result of severe torture suffered during his incarceration Sundaram is in a critical condition and being treated at the National Hospital of Sri Lanka in Colombo (NHSL). He is presently in a coma and in danger of losing his life. Considering the immediate threat to his life we are making this special appeal for urgent intervention to provide the necessary prompt and essential medical assistance and protection for his security.

Sundaram was a businessman when he was arrested by the military officials attached to the Sri Lanka Army on 15 August 2008 along with his wife and the son. The wife and the son were released later in 2010 after being detained for two years at the Welikada Remand Prison without any charge.

At the time of arrest they were not given any reason for their arrest or shown any warrant issued by any court of the land. They were among the many hundreds of Tamils who were arrested from the same area by the Armed Forces of Sri Lanka during the armed conflict in the North and East of the country. Sundaram was detained in several detention camps in areas of the North. Later he was detained at New Magazine Prison along with hundreds of other Tamils who were detained under the Prevention of Terrorism (Temporary Provisions) Act No. 48 of 1979 (PTA). Before he was detained he was produced before court but he did not know anything about the case which the Terrorist Investigation Department (TID) of the Sri Lanka Police had filed against him. Sundaram’s relatives vehemently deny that he has been involved in any criminal or terrorist activities and state that the TID has filed fabricated cases against him.

On 21 August 2012, Sundaram was brought by the prison officers from New Magazine Prison to the Galle Remand Prison. When he was brought he was informed by the prison officers that he was to be produced before the court in Galle for a case filed against him.

But Sundaram did not know anything about that case. Before he was produced before the court he was detained at Galle Remand Prison. Then the next morning instead of producing him before the judge he was admitted to the Karapitya Teaching Hospital by the prison officials. It was during this time that he suffered the severe torture that has placed him in a coma and in danger of losing his life.

At the hospital first he was treated at ward No: 14. The doctors examined a large number of severe injuries on his body. There were clearly visible severe injuries on his head, shoulders and face. The left side of the body was paralyzed and he was unconscious.

When the prison authorities informed the matter to his relatives the wife and son visited him at the Karapitiya Teaching Hospital. When they visited Sundaram they understood that he is in a critical condition and is being kept alive with the help of a life support system.

When the wife contacted the medical authorities several nurses ordered her to sign a document giving her consent for the further treatment and subjecting Sundaram for surgery. When she questioned the nurses for the cause of the illness but they were not able to explain. As all the documents were in Sinhala, which she cannot read or speak, she refused to sign them.

As his condition worsened on 28 August 2012 the hospital authorities transferred him from the Karapitiya Teaching Hospital to the National Hospital of Sri Lanka in Colombo.

When Sundaram’s wife questioned the prison officials as to why they tortured him she was told that he had sustained the injuries falling out of bed. When his wife and his son went to visit him in the hospital his 10-year-old son tried to talk to his father saying, “Dad what happened to you”. Sadly Sundaram was unable to indentify either his son’s voice or the boy himself. Sundaram’s wife categorically states that Sundaram was in good health when he was detained at New Magazine Prison on every occasion when she visited him. His condition was very much equal to the health of any other 34-year-old man and he has no history of any chronic illness.

It is very obvious that whatever injuries Sundaram sustained happened when he was in the custody of the prison officers during the process of producing him before the court in Galle and his transfer from New Magazine Prison to Galle. Such horrendous injuries could not have been the result of ‘falling out of bed’.

The wife of Sundaram clearly states that he was severely tortured by the prison authorities. She further states that when she met Sundaram before she learned that he was in fear of his life and being subjected to torture as he is a Tamil detainee. He further told her that the TID officers were trying to file fabricated charges against him for aiding and abetting the activities of the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE). He told her that he was being treated by the prison officers as an enemy.

There have been numerous incidents of prisoners being severely tortured in the very recent past in Sri Lanka. Two detainees died after they were severely tortured by prison authorities at Vavuniya Prison and Mahara Prison.

When one prisoner Nimala Ruban was declared dead on arrival at the Ragama Teaching Hospital the police wanted to bury the body at the Mahara Jurisdictional Area preventing the relatives from taking his body to his native village. When the parents made a request to the Magistrate of Mahara for approval to transport the body to their home the police objected with baseless reason that the people would protest against the officers. Then the parents filed a Fundamental Rights Applications in the Supreme Court of Sri Lanka and the Court ordered the authorities to hand over the body to the relatives so that they could pay their last respects and for the burial.

The Asian Human Rights Commission has reported numerous incidents of torture and custodial deaths of detainees while they were in the custody of either the police or prison authorities.

The wife of Sundaram further states that he was detained for more than four years without any reason. Even to date the law enforcement authorities have not filed an indictment against him. She states that the fundamental rights guaranteed by the Constitution of the country have been violated by agents of the state. Sundaram’s relatives seek an immediate and transparent investigation into the incident and the prosecution of the perpetrators of his torture. They further seek the authorities to provide the necessary protection for the life of Sundaram as his life in presently in peril.

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 supposed to file indictments in the case where credible evidence is found of people being tortured by state officers.

SUGGESTED ACTION: 
Please write to the authorities listed below 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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