SRI LANKA: Torture of an 18-year-old by the Bandaragama police 

Dear friends,

On 24 April 2006, at about 9:00am, four persons visited Samantha Perera’s home. One was a policeman from Colombo; one was a policeman from Bandaragama; one was working at the Colombo port but a resident in Medigama; and the other’s details are unknown. They arrived at Samantha’s home in a white coloured van belonging to the man from the ports. One policeman accused Samantha of stealing a bicycle and demanded that Samantha return it immediately. He then pushed Samantha into the van. Samantha says that both his aunt Badhra and his younger brother Dinesh Tharanga were witnesses to the incident. As the van was pulling out, his mother came running, stopped the van and asked why her son was being taken away. The man from the ports said if she wanted to know why she could visit the Bandargama police station.

According to Samantha, during the ride to the station, the police shouted at him in obscene language while the man from the ports said, “you have stolen our bike. Either return the bike or accept the theft and give us 6000 rupees”. Samantha says they then took him to the Bandaragama police station to see the loku mahatthaya (Officer-in-Charge of the Crime Division, S.I. Kasturiarachi). This policeman also shouted at him in obscene language and slapped him several times. He forced Samantha to kneel before him, grabbed him by his hair and viciously kicked him. He threatened that he would give Samantha 10 minutes to accept the crime or implicate him (falsely) for possessing offensive weapons (Note: when a suspect is charged under the Offensive Weapons Act he/she may only obtain bail from the Court of Appeal in Colombo and not from a lower court).

The policeman ordered Samantha to stand aside. He then began a conversation with the policeman from Colombo and the person from the ports and consequently wrote something down. He again walked up to Samantha, pulled him by his hair and forcing him to walk, viciously assaulted him on his spine. Samantha screamed in agony and fell to the floor. The policeman then climbed on Samantha’s knees and stamped on them several times. Samantha was then dragged into a lock-up cell.

The next morning another policeman came to the cell and told Samantha that when he is taken out of the cell he must walk without limping. Samantha refused. This policeman got angry, grabbed Samantha’s wrists from between the cell bars and ordered him to put out his tongue. He then pulled hard at his tongue, scolded him and went away. That same day, at about 9pm, the OIC of the Crime Division visited Samantha’s cell and threatened him with severe torture unless he admitted to the theft. He also threatened to arrest and lock Samantha up for 14 days.

On April 26, at about 9am, a policeman took Samantha to the police barracks. When Samantha limped, the policeman demanded that he refrain from doing so. When he tripped and fell, the policeman lifted him by his hair and assaulted him on his spine. In the barracks Samantha was told to remove his clothes. The policemen brought chilli powder in a coconut shell and liberally applied it on his eyes. They then splashed him with water. They tugged at his eyelids and re-applied the chilli powder. They hit him on the head and slammed his head against a box. All the while, they threatened him to admit to the alleged theft. Samantha says that this brutal treatment continued for some time. Finally they pulled him up by his arms and dragged him outside. At a water tap he was forced to wash himself. Later he was ordered to put on his clothes and was returned to the police lock-up.

That night, at around 9.20pm, he was taken to the OIC of the Crimes Division who again asked him the whereabouts of the bicycle and assaulted him. This policeman then recorded something in a book, asked his name and address and locked him up again. However, that same night he was visited by the OIC’s wife who in an apparent bid to unduly influence him into not complaining about the harsh treatment meted out to him, brought him a fried rice meal to eat and also asked him details of what had conspired during the last few days. Samantha refused the meal.

On April 27 a policeman demanded that Samantha sign a document—the contents of which were not shown to him. At about 11am he was taken by vehicle to the Panadura police station to see the Assistant Superintendent of Police. A policeman in civvies questioned him, wrote something down and told him to sign. He was taken back to the Bandaragama police station where his parents had come to visit him. Accordingly Samantha was handed over to his parents at around 2.30pm.

As Samantha was badly injured the parents rushed him to the Nagoda hospital where Samantha insists he told the doctors that the police assaulted him. He was admitted and examined by the doctors. On April 28 the hospital police recorded his statement in which he detailed his assault by the Bandaragama police. That evening the Judicial Medical Officer examined him and treated him after which he returned home.

He continues to receive medicines for his injuries.

This is another example of brutal torture by the Sri Lankan police. Samantha and his family firmly believe that the police were heavily bribed to illegally arrest, detain and subject him to severe torture.

SUGGESTED ACTION:

Please write to the relevant authorities below seeking their intervention in bringing justice to this case. Full legal action must be taken against those deemed responsible for this brutal assault and protection and compensation should be afforded to the victim.

 

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