SRI LANKA: Death in prison custody of illegally arrested man; second man seriously injured 

Dear friends,

The Asian Human Rights Commission (AHRC) has learned that M.S.F. Perera who was allegedly tortured by prison guards at Kuruwita Remand Prison has succumbed to his injuries at the National Hospital in Colombo on 6 July 2006.  He was arrested on mistaken identity on the allegation of making bomb threats by telephone.  Another man, Mr. L.G. Munaweera was also arrested and later tortured.  He is still taking treatment. We urge you to intervene to ask for urgent and thorough inquiry into the death of this victim and into the entire incident of the torture of both persons.  We urge immediate prosecution of the offenders.  And further that you express your concern about the Sri Lankan government’s complete reluctance to eliminate torture in the country despite of it being a state party to the ICCPR as well as the CAT. 

Mudalige Sunil Fermin Perera , a 55-year-old man residing in 55 1/A Pitakotte Kott, died to injuries received as a result of torture he allegedly suffered while in prison custody and another man namely Linton Gamini Munaweera, who was arrested along with M.S.F.Perera, was severely insured. On 28 June 2006, the two men mentioned above were arrested by Ratnapura Police on the information supplied by the Vice Principal of Mihindu College, Ratnapura which is about 90 km south-east of the capital Colombo, regarding the bomb threat creating a false alarm in the College.

The two men were taken in by the Ratnapura Police at midnight on June 28 and produced before the Magistrate, Mr. N. V. Karunatileke, on the following day (June 29). They were remanded on the plaint filed by the Ratnapura Police. They were arrested due to the allegation that Linton had supposed to have made a telephone call delivering a message regarding bomb threats and causing a situation of fear among the school community. However, both men denied the charges. They were remanded at the Kuruwita Remand Prison.  After being jailed on June 29, the two men were severely tortured by the Jail Guards.

It is now alleged that the information was wrongly supplied by the Vice Principle of the School to the Police from a CLI record. The Police had depended on this version and arrested these two and remanded them without any foundation. Only later when they checked up with the Telecom and Dialogue, they found that the persons tortured had not given calls on that particular day and earlier they had taken some calls on account of a business deal of supplying balloons to some celebration in the College. This call had been misrepresented as the allege misdeed on June 28.  The Police in their motion had declared that they had already identified another person who had given the call.  Police Officer B. Solngarachchi submitted a motion on July 3 and wanted them released because they were innocent and that day they had not made any telephone calls from their cell to the Mihindu College.

Accordingly, on July 3, the Magistrate ordered both accusers to be released but this order was not executed by the Prison officials.  On July 4, the victims were brought before the Magistrate Court. The Magistrate noticed that Mr. M.S.F. Perera had problems walking and was escorted by the two jailors. As he was barely conscious, he given a seat. He was in fact severely tortured about the lower legs.  Furthermore, he was unable to say anything because of his condition. Then the second accused Linton Munaweera was asked to enter the box and then his lawyer Mr. Ben Abeyratne stated that his client was also tortured by the jail guards while in prison.

The Magistrate ordered that a statement be obtained from the Vice Principal and his inability to read the CLI records from the Telephone be further investigated.  The Magistrate noted the difference of the appearance of the first accused and when a relative requested that he be taken to the National Hospital, the Magistrate ordered the Police Post at the National Hospital to take a statement when he gained full consciousness.  Subsequently, the two men have made a report to the Human Rights Commission of Sri Lanka. Meanwhile, M.S.F. Perera has succumbed to his injuries at the National Hospital in Colombo on July 6.

SUGGESTED ACTION:

Please write a letter to the relevant authorities to demand that inquiries are made into the allegations of torture by the guards at the Kuruwita Remand Prison and that action be taken against the persons under the CAT Act, (Act No. 22 of 1994).

To support this appeal, please click: 

 

 

To support this case, please click here: SEND APPEAL LETTER