SRI LANKA: Another incident involving the misuse of power by the Mahiyangana police 

Dear friends,

The Asian Human Rights Commission (AHRC) has received another case involving the fabrication of charges by the Mahiyangana police. The victim, belonging to the Adhivasi (indigenous) community was illegally arrested and falsely charged because he insisted on speaking the Adhivasi dialect when the police questioned him. In Sri Lanka, many minority populations do not speak Sinhala (the majority language) fluently. After struggling with the case for over two and a half years, the victim was acquitted by the court on 11 July 2006.  However, no disciplinary and legal action has been taken against the Mahiyangana police till date.

On 26 December 2003, Mr. U Kekula Ratnayake of Dambana, received a police message that instructed him to visit the Mahiyangana police station in connection with a complaint made by a village postman. The postman was angry at a media story that reported that he illegally opened mail that was addressed to the Adhivasi (indigenous) community and pilfered all the monetary donations contained in them. He suspected Kekula was the media’s source.

When Kekula went to the police station, he was wearing a traditional garb carrying a short mammoty (sharp agricultural implement) on his one shoulder. When the police began to question him, he insisted on speaking his traditional language, the Adhivasi dialect that the police could not understand. In Sri Lanka, many minority populations do not speak Sinhala (the majority language) fluently. After failing to coerce Kekula to speak in Sinhala, an irate Officer-In-Charge (OIC) of the Mahiyangana police arrested this poor man and charged him with a fabricated criminal offence in revenge.

Kekula pleaded not guilty and his case which was heard before the Mahiyangana Magistrate’s Court over a period of about two and a half years (Case No: 19989). For the first year, Kekula retained the service from a local lawyer but realised soon that no progress was made in the case, which then repeatedly delayed the court dates. Kekula reported that the local lawyer apparently had no intent on antagonising the local police.

Kekula then sought the assistance from Janasansadaya, a local human rights organisation located almost 200 kilometers away from his residence, who then retained a Colombo-based lawyer on his behalf. Finally on 11 July 2006, the Magistrate gave an order acquitting Kekula of all charges against him.

After the court judgment, Janasansadaya wrote to the relevant authorities including the National Police Commission (NPC) of Sri Lanka, Inspector General of Police (IGP), the Deputy Inspector General (DIG)-Legal Section and the Human Rights Commission of Sri Lanka to take immediate disciplinary and legal action against the errant Mahiyangana police, including the OIC for the illegal arrest and fabrication of charges against Kekula, as well as the mental pain and harassment caused to him. However, no serious action has yet been taken against the responsible police officers to date.

In fact, this is not the first case of fabrication of charges on innocent people committed by the Mahiyangana police.  The AHRC has previously reported the case of Mr. A.M. Thilak Adhikari, who had been falsely charged by the Mahiyangana police in December 2004 after refusing to pay a bribe to the Officer-in-Charge (OIC) of traffic. He had also been acquitted of all charges against him on 11 July 2006 (See further: UP-154-2006 and UA-06-2005). No action has been taken against the responsible officers in this case as well.

The AHRC urges you to write to the relevant authorities urging that those responsible should be punished immediately according to the law. Your intervention in this case will help break the Sri Lankan police’s deeply rooted practice of illegal arrest and the fabrication of charges.

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