Dear Friends,
The Asian Human Rights Commission (AHRC) has received information regarding the violent and arbitrarily arrest of a man being investigated by officers from the Excise Department on suspicion of being in possession of illicit liquor on 29 November 2006. The arresting officers had no warrant or evidence and proceeded to violently assault the victim in front of his family. The officials then forced the man to sign a statement without his knowledge of what the document read. It has also been reported that the victim was refused the right to lodge a complaint about the incident and has since been presented before the court on false charges laid by the alleged perpetrators.
CASE DETAILS:
About 4:00 am on 29 November 2006, five mysterious men including one in uniform began pounding on the door of Mr. R.H. Dhanapala’s home while he and his family were asleep. At the sound of shouting, one of the victims children opened the door. The five men entered the house and identified themselves as officers from the Excise Department. One man who was wearing civilian cloths then pulled Mr. Dhanapala by his sarong and shouted, “come on, show us where the kasippu (illicit liquor) barrels are!”
Mr. Dhanapala maintained that he was not in possession of any kasippu. The officers then verbally abused him in front of his family and began assaulting him on his head. When Mr. Dhanapala’s children began screaming in fear, the officers dragged him outside the house only after they had forcibly obtained the signatures of the victim and his wife without informing them of what they were signing.
The excise officers then took Mr. Dhanapala to a nearby shrubbery and pressed hard upon him, demanding to know where the barrels of kasippu were. When Mr. Dhanapala continued to insist that he had no idea, the officers grabbed him by his beard and hair. They then began to severely assault him with their fists and kicked him with their boots.
Meanwhile, officers took a second person into custody and brought that man to the same shrubbery and brutally assaulted him and Mr. Dhanapala with a pole. At that time, Mr. Dhanapala saw that two barrels of kasippu were presented there but did not know where the police got these barrels from. The officers then took that man and Mr. Dhanapala back to the other man’s house and told Mr. Dhanapala that he would be charged in court. He was then released and instructed to be present at the Ratnapura courts on 14 December 2006.
On 30 November 2006, Mr. Dhanapala who was accompanied with his employer Shantha Kumara, visited the Ratnapura Excise Department to lodge a complaint regarding the incident. They were informed that the relevant officer was not in and were told to return on 5 December 2006 at 9:00 am. When they returned on December 5, one of the officers who had arrested and assaulted Mr. Dhanapalacame forward and verbally abused both Shantha Kumara and Mr. Dhanapala. Furthermore, Mr. Dhanapala’s compliant was not accepted.
On 14 December 2006, Mr. Dhanapala went to the Ratnapura courts where he discovered that he had been falsely charged with the possession of illicit liquor. He pleaded not guilty to the charges against him and was enlarged on bail by the court. The case has been fixed for 18 January 2007.
According to Mr. Dhanapala, ever since the incident, his children who had seen him assaulted and dragged out of their house have been suffering from mental trauma and are now living in fear.
Mr. Dhanapala has complained in writing to the IGP, Commissioner General of Excise, the Human Rights Commission of Sri Lanka and other relevant authorities regarding the illegal arrest, assault and fabrication of charges against him. He is requesting that these authorities take immediate legal and disciplinary measures against the errant excise officers.
ADDITIONAL COMMENTS:
In similar cases involving the sale of illicit liquor reported on by the AHRC (UA-248-2006 and UA-091-2006), officers from various authorities visit the alleged person’s house in the middle of the night or early morning without any warrant or evidence. Since the officers do not have any specific real evidence, the method of investigation is not through the legal process but by using violence in order to extract a confession, which is then used as the only legal evidence at trial. The officers also force the arrested persons to sign a written statement that consists of information that they are not read. Eventually, the alleged person is presented at the court in accordance with the statement which he/she has forcibly signed. This illegal process is an endemic issue that has encroached upon the entire legal system in Sri Lanka.
SUGGESTED ACTION:
Please write a letter to the relevant authorities listed below and urge them to launch an immediate and impartial investigation into this case and take action to prosecute the responsible officers as soon as possible. Also, please urge them to establish a fair investigation mechanism in order to prevent the recurrence of illegal arrests and violent investigations.
To support this case, please click here: SEND APPEAL LETTER
SAMPLE LETTER
Dear ________,
Sri Lanka: Man illegally arrested and assaulted by excise officers
Name of the victim: R. H. Dhanapala(38), labourer by occupation
Address: Millekade, Dodampe, Ratnapura District, Sabaragamuwa Province
Alleged perpetrators: Officers attached to Excise Department of Ratnapura
Time and Date of Incident: 4 am on 29 November 2006
Place of Incident: Mr. Dhanapala’s home in Millekade, Dodampe
I am writing to express my deep concern over the illegal arrest and inappropriate investigation methods used by the officers of Excise Department in Ratnapura on 29 November 2006. The arresting officers had no warrant or evidence and proceeded to violently assault the victim in front of his family. The officials then forced the man to sign a statement without his knowledge of what the document read. It has also been reported that the victim was refused the right to lodge a complaint about the incident and has since been presented before the court on false charges laid by the alleged perpetrators.
According to the information I have received, at about 4:00 am on 29 November 2006, five mysterious men including one in uniform began pounding on the door of Mr. R.H. Dhanapala’s home while he and his family were asleep. At the sound of shouting, one of the victims children opened the door. The five men entered the house and identified themselves as officers from the Excise Department. One man who was wearing civilian cloths then pulled Mr. Dhanapala by his sarong and shouted, “come on, show us where the kasippu (illicit liquor) barrels are!”
I have learned that the officers then verbally abused him in front of his family and began assaulting him on his head. When Mr. Dhanapala’s children began screaming in fear, the officers dragged him outside the house after they had forcibly obtained the signatures of the victim and his wife without informing them of what they were signing.
I also know that the excise officers then took Mr. Dhanapala to a nearby shrubbery and pressed hard upon him, demanding to know where the barrels of kasippu were. When Mr. Dhanapala continued to insist that he had no idea, the officers grabbed him by his beard and hair. They then began to severely assault him with their fists and kicked him with their boots.
Meanwhile, officers took a second person into custody and brought that man to the same shrubbery and brutally assaulted him and Mr. Dhanapalawith a pole. The officers then took the two men to the second person’s home and told Mr. Dhanapala that he would be charged in court. He was then released and instructed to be present at the Ratnapura courts on 14 December 2006.
On 30 November 2006, Mr. Dhanapala who was accompanied with his employer Shantha Kumara, visited the Ratnapura Excise Department to lodge a complaint regarding the incident. They were informed that the relevant officer was not in and were told to return on 5 December 2006 at 9:00 am. When they returned on December 5, one of the officers who had arrested and assaulted Mr. Dhanapalacame forward and verbally abused both Shantha Kumara and Mr. Dhanapala. Furthermore, Mr. Dhanapala’s compliant was not accepted.
Then on 14 December 2006, Mr. Dhanapala went to the Ratnapura courts where he discovered that he had been falsely charged with the possession of illicit liquor. He pleaded not guilty to the charges against him and was enlarged on bail by the court. The case has been fixed for 18 January 2007.
It also pains me to hear that ever since the incident, his children who had seen him assaulted and dragged out of their house have been suffering from mental trauma and are now living in fear.
In similar cases involving the sale of illicit liquor reported on by the Asian Human Rights Commission, officers from various authorities visit the alleged person’s house in the middle of the night or early morning without any warrant or evidence. Since the officers do not have any specific real evidence, the method of investigation is not through the legal process but by using violence in order to extract a confession, which is then used as the only legal evidence at trial. The officers also force the arrested persons to sign a written statement that consists of information that they are not read. Eventually, the alleged person is presented at the court in accordance with the statement which he/she has forcibly signed.
This illegal process is an endemic issue that has encroached upon the entire legal system in Sri Lanka.
I therefore urge you to intervene in this detrimental situation in order to ensure the following:
1. The officers attached to the Excise Department of Retnapura should be immediately and severely punished for the illegal arrest, violent investigation methods and refusal to accept the victim’s complaint.
2. The judicial authorities should impartiality and thoroughly investigate this case including what has happed to the victim in accordance with the victim’s rights.
3. The victim and his family must be properly compensated and no longer threatened by state officials.
4. Without warrant or evidence officers must not be able to trespass on private property and conduct arbitrarily arrests.
5. An independent agency should be formed to monitor departmental officials to ensure that they are conducting their investigations in accordance with the law.
I hope that you will take immediate action to ensure that this troubling reality no longer exists in Sri Lanka.
Sincerely yours,
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PLEASE SEND YOUR LETTER TO:
1. Mr. Mahinda Rajapakse
President
Socialist Democratic Republic of Sri Lanka
C/- Office of the President
Temple Trees
150, Galle Road
Colombo 3
SRI LANKA
Fax: +94 11 2472100 / +94 11 2446657 (this is contact for Secretary to President)
Email: secretary@presidentsoffice.lk
2. Mr. K. C. Kamalasabesan
Attorney General
Attorney General’s Department
Colombo 12
SRI LANKA
Fax: +94 11 2 436421
Email: attorney@sri.lanka.net
3. Mr. Victor Perera
Inspector General of Police
New Secretariat
Colombo 1
SRI LANKA
Fax: +94 11 2 440440/327877
E-mail: igp@police.lk
4. Secretary
Human Rights Commission of Sri Lanka
No. 36,
Kynsey Road
Colombo 8
SRI LANKA
Tel: +94 11 2 694 925 / 673 806
Fax: +94 11 2 694 924 / 696 470
E-mail: sechrc@sltnet.lk
5. Secretary
National Police Commission
3rd Floor, Rotunda Towers,
109 Galle Road
Colombo 03
SRI LANKA
Tel: +94 11 2 395310
Fax: +94 11 2 395867
E-mail: npcgen@sltnet.lk
6. Prof. Manfred Nowak
Special Rapporteur on the Question of Torture
OHCHR-UNOG
1211 Geneva 10
SWITZERLAND
Tel: +41 22 917 9230
Fax: +41 22 9179016 (general)
Thank you.
Urgent Appeals Programme
Asian Human Rights Commission (ahrchk@ahrchk.org)
