Dear friends,
The Asian Human Rights Commission (AHRC) has received information regarding the brutal assault of 14-year-old Manoj Tillakaratne by his physical training teacher A.D.C Renuka on 31 January 2006.
On January 31 Manoj had participated in a sports festival at school. Manoj had been taking part in the march when his physical training teacher, A.D.C Renuka noticed Manoj wearing a colourful wristband. A.D.C. Renuka demanded that Manoj remove the wristband. Manoj obeyed temporarily but later adorned the wristband again. A.D.C. Renuka was infuriated by this who then severely assaulted Manoj for his disobedience. Manoj suffered a ruptured eardrum as a result of the assault.
Later that day, Manoj returned home in great pain, but due to fear he did not confide in his parents. However, when Manojs earache became unbearable he was forced to tell his parents of the incident. Manojs parents rushed Manoj to the Nagoda Government Hospital where doctors examined him and discovered that his right eardrum had been ruptured. Subsequently Manoj was hospitalised until February 8. Doctors have told Manojs parents that Manoj should take special care of his ear and should not swim in water.
Manojs parents lodged a complaint at the Bombuwela police station. Since lodging the complaint, the police requested Manojs parents and the perpetrator to attend the police station. The perpetrator then promised to pay the parents Rs.100,000 compensation for his actions but requested that he be allowed one month to make the payment. The police then cajoled the parents into agreeing to the perpetrators request. The police then obtained written statements from both parties to this effect. It was later revealed that a Higher Education officer and religious dignitary in the area had also intervened on behalf of the perpetrator.
SUGGESTED ACTION:
Please write to the relevant officials below condemning the actions of the police in their attempt to conceal a criminal offence and to intervene on behalf of a perpetrator of crime, whilst the victim is left to fend for himself. Please remind the officials that the law clearly prohibits the physical punishment of schoolchildren and urge them to conduct an inquiry into this matter and take disciplinary action against the said teacher.
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SAMPLE LETTER
Dear __________,
SRI LANKA: Brutal assault on 14-year-old by his games teacher
Name of victim: Manoj Tillakaratne (14) a grade nine student of the Bombuwela Senior School; Address: Batakuluketiya, Bombuwela.
Names of alleged perpetrators: The physical training Instructor A.D.C. Renuka of the Bombuwela School and the Bombuwela police.
Date of incident: 31 January 2006
Place of incident: Bombuwela School
I am writing to voice my deep concern regarding the brutal assault of 14-year-old Manoj Tillakaratne by his physical training teacher A.D.C Renuka on 31 January 2006.
According to the information I have received, on January 31 Manoj had participated in a sports festival at school. Whilst taking part in the festival, Manojs physical training teacher, A.D.C Renuka noticed Manoj wearing a colourful wristband. A.D.C. Renuka demanded that Manoj remove the wristband and whilst Manoj temporarily obeyed he later adorned the wristband. A.D.C. Renuka was infuriated by this and as a consequence severely assaulted Manoj for his disobedience, causing Manoj to suffer a ruptured eardrum.
Later that day, Manoj returned home, but due to fear he did not confide in his parents. However, when Manojs earache became unbearable he was forced to tell his parents of the incident. Manojs parents rushed him to the Nagoda Government Hospital where doctors examined him and discovered the ruptured right eardrum. Subsequently Manoj was hospitalised until February 8. Doctors have informed Manojs parents that Manoj should take special care of his ear and should not swim in water.
Soon after, Manojs parents lodged a complaint at the Bombuwela police station, and the police later requested Manojs parents and the perpetrator to attend the police station. The perpetrator then promised to pay the parents Rs.100,000 compensation for his actions but requested that he be allowed one month to make the payment. The police cajoled Manojs parents in to agreeing to the perpetrators request and obtained written statements from both parties to this effect. It was later revealed that a Higher Education officer and religious dignitary in the area had also intervened on behalf of the perpetrator.
I am greatly disturbed by this incident and am requesting that you condemn the actions of the police in their attempt to conceal a criminal offence and to intervene on behalf of a perpetrator of crime, whilst the victim is left to fend for himself. In addition I remind you that the law clearly prohibits the physical punishment of schoolchildren. As such, I am requesting that you conduct an inquiry into this matter and take disciplinary action against the said teacher and not allow him simply to get away with an unjust compensation deal.
I trust that your intervention will be forthcoming in this matter.
Yours sincerely,
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PLEASE SEND LETTERS TO:
1. Dr. Hiranthi Wijemanne
National Child Protection Authority
330, Thalawathgoda Road
Madiwella
SRI LANKA
Tel: +94 11 2 778912/13/14
Fax: +94 11 2 778975
E-mail: ncpa@childprotection.gov.lk
2. Minister for Education
Ministry of Education
SRI LANKA
Tel: + 94 11 2 785 617
Fax: + 94 11 2 784 846
3. Bo Viktor Nylund
Head of Child Protection
UNICEF Sri Lanka
P.O. Box 143, Colombo
SRI LANKA
Tel: +94 11 2 555 270 (6 lines)
Fax: +94 11 2 551 333
E-mail: colombo@unicef.org
4. Dr. Radhika Coomaraswamy
Chairperson
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. Mr. Chandra Fernando
Inspector General of Police (IGP)
New Secretariat
Colombo 1
SRI LANKA
Fax: +94 11 2 440440/327877
6. Mr. K. C. Kamalasabesan
Attorney General
Attorney General's Department
Colombo 12
SRI LANKA
Fax: +94 11 2 436421
7. Mr. J Thangawelu
DIG Legal
Police Headquarters
Colombo 1
SRI LANKA
Fax: 94 11 2381 394
Email: legaldiv@police.lk
8. Mr. Jacob Egbert Doek
Chairperson
Committee on the Rights of the Child
OHCHR-UNOG
8-14 Avenue de la Paix
1211 Geneva 10
SWITZERLAND
Fax: +41 22 917 9022
Thank you.
Urgent Appeals Programme
Asian Human Rights Commission (ahrchk@ahrchk.org)
