SRI LANKA: Brutal torture and fabricated charges laid against the victim by the Poddala Police, Galle District 

SRI LANKA: Brutal torture; arbitrary arrest and detention; fabricated charges; threat and intimidation
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Dear friends,

The Asian Human Rights Commission (AHRC) has received information regarding the brutal torture of a man by the Poddala Police in what appears to be a case instigated by a private party in return for favours to the police. Chamara Nimantha had previously reported the theft of diesel from his excavating machine. When the police arrived at his workplace to take a statement in relation to this, they forced the victim into the car of the private party and drove him to the Poddala police station. There they tied the victim up and hung him from an overhead beam while simultaneously kicking and punching him and spraying high-pressured water into his face. After some time the victim was freed from the beam, at which point the private party approached him and made threats against him. The police then told the private party that he was to bring them drinks, food, cigarettes and diesel, in what appears to be a return favour. As a final injustice, the victim was then taken before the Additional Magistrate in Galle, on charges of having fabricated the theft case.

Upon release the victim was taken to the Karapitiya Hospital where he was admitted for three days. He continues to suffer from pain as a result of the torture he endured. Though the victim has come forward in relation to this case, he is increasingly fearful that the police will further harass him for complaining against them.

In light of this we ask that you intervene on the victim’s behalf. Please write to the Inspector General of Police and other relevant authorities listed below, seeking their urgent intervention before any further threats are made against the victim. A full independent investigation should be conducted into this case so as to ascertain what role the private party played, on what grounds the police charged the victim with theft, exactly who it was that tortured the victim, and what higher authorities allowed this to happen. If it is found that the police did arbitrarily arrest and detain the victim, and inflict torture upon him, they must be charged under the Convention Against Torture Act of Sri Lanka (CAT Act No. 22 of 1994), and brought before a court of law. Such action is essential in demonstrating to all police personnel in Sri Lanka that custodial torture will not and must not be accepted. Full protection must be provided to the victim and his family while investigations and the court trial are being conducted. Compensation must also be provided to the victim, both for his medical costs and for the psychological torment he has endured.

Urgent Appeals Desk
Asian Human Rights Commission (AHRC)
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DETAILED INFORMATION:

Victim: Chamara Nimantha, 25, married with one child, excavator machine operator, resident of Diyagaha, Matara.
Alleged perpetrators: Policemen attached to the Poddala police station, Galle
Date of incident: 1 August 2005

Details of the case:

On 1 August 2005, at around 5.30 pm Chamara Nimantha was at his workplace working on his excavator, when two policemen in civilian clothes walked up to him and demanded he give a statement regarding the diesel that had been allegedly ciphered from his machine. The victim agreed to give a statement but refused to go to the police station as he was afraid. However, the policemen called one Tyrone de Silva at his workplace, and after forcing the victim into Mr. de Silva’s car, took him to the Poddala police station

At the station the policemen asked him whether he stole the diesel, but the victim denied having done so. Then they took him into a room where one policeman kicked him on his chest, which threw the victim against the bench as a result of the force of the blow. Again he was kicked on his chest and the victim fell to the floor. Thereafter, the policemen slapped him several times on his face. He was then taken to a place near the police barracks and told to remove his clothes. He thus stripped to his underwear. Then one policeman tied the victim’s hands behind his back with his socks. He was then forced to sit on a broken iron chair and someone held his shoulders back while another tied a cloth around his face. Then his tormentors held a hosepipe to his face, suffocating him with the force of the water. Unable to breath and in pain from the gushing water to his face, the victim continuously screamed and struggled to free himself.  However, they secured him to the chair again and repeated the process.

Then they ceased the ‘water torture’ and began to slap him repeatedly, so much so that the victim said that after sometime, his cheeks became numb. Thereafter he felt no pain.  A policeman called for a piece of rope and once again tied the victim’s hands together behind his back. They removed the cloth from his face and made him stand on the chair. They tied the rope onto a beam above and secured it to the door. They pulled the rope and kicked the chair from beneath the victim leaving him dangling from the ceiling. The pain was unbearable and the victim screamed with all his might. Despite this, the police assaulted the victim with fists, boots and also the hosepipe. Finally, the rope was loosened and the victim was allowed to fall to the floor. Once again the police kicked and beat him on the soles of his feet.

After his assaulters had left, another policeman helped him to get up and told him to get dressed. He was escorted to a bench near the police cells. The victim then saw Tyrone de Silva who informed him: “You were tortured for your past sins” and then walked away.  The victim was then locked up in a holding cell.

Again that night the victim was taken out from the cell and intensely interrogated about his alleged involvement in the ‘diesel theft’. Then, according to the victim, the police phoned Tyrone de Silva and instructed him to bring drinks, food and some cigarettes for the police. They also told him to bring diesel for their vehicle. It would therefore seem that the police assaulted the victim at the instigation of a private party and in return for favours received.

The next day at around 11 pm, the victim’s statement was recorded and at around 1.45 – 2.00 pm he was taken before the Additional Magistrate, Galle. The Magistrate inquired whether he had any previous convictions and when he said that he did not, he was released on surety bail. Whilst in court the victim pleaded ‘not guilty’ to the charges against him.

At home that night Chamara Nimantha began vomiting blood. He was therefore rushed to the Karapitiya Hospital where he was admitted and treated for three days. At the Hospital his complaint was recorded by the hospital police. He also said that to date, as a result of the torture he continues to suffer from immense pain. Though the victim has come forward in relation to this case, he is increasingly fearful that the police will continue to harass him for complaining against them.
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SUGGESTED ACTION:

Please write a letter to the Inspector General of Police and other relevant authorities seeking their urgent intervention in this matter.

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