SRI LANKA: A man died after being tortured by the Mahawela Police

Dear friends,

The Asian Human Rights Commission (AHRC) is gravely concerned of extrajudicial killing of Dehiwatte Gedera Jayathilaka by the police at the Mahawela Police Station on 9 March 2004.

According to the information we have received, the victim was arbitrarily arrested by the police from the Yatawatte Police Security Barrier on charge of possessing illicit liquor even though he had no liquor in his belongings. The victim was brought to the Mahawela Police Station where he was allegedly tortured by the police. He was released on bail, but the next morning he was found dead in front of his neighbor’s house. The Judicial Medical Officer (J.M.O.) of Kandy, who examined the victim¡Çs body, has certified at the inquestthat the victim’s ribs were broken and bruises were found on his body. Even though the victim’s son lodged a complaint to the Mahawela Police Station about the torture of his father by the police which brought his father’s death, his statement was not properly written by the police.

Please send a letter to the local authorities and request them to conduct a thorough and independent investigation into this matter and bring the perpetrators to justice as soon as possible. 

Urgent Appeals Desk
Asian Human Rights Commission (AHRC)
——————————————————

DETAILED INFORMATION:

Name of the victim: Dehiwatte Gedera Jayathilaka, 45, married with one son
Address of the victim: No. 26, Golangala Village, Egodamulla, Devilla, Yatawatte
Alleged perpetrators: 
1. Mr. Bandaranayake, the Sub Inspector (S.I.) of the Yatawatte Police Security Barrier
2. Mr. Nawarathne, the Officer In Charge (O.I.C.) of the Mahawela Police Station 
3.  Officers attached to the Mahawela Police Station  
Date of the incident: 9 March 2004
Place of the incident: Mahawela Police Station

Case details:

At around 1:00 pm of 9 March 2004, Dehiwatte Gedera Jayathilaka was arrested by the officers from the Yatawatte Police Security Barrier, led by Sub Inspector (S.I.) Bandaranayake, that comes under the Mahawela Police, when he was in a bus station. The police accused Jayathilaka of possessing illicit liquor even though they could not find anything from his belongings. Then, the police took him to the Mahawela Police Station. 

At about 6:30 p.m. of the same day, Jayathilaka’s son, D. G. Saliyathilaka Rupakumara,was informed by the Mahawela Police that his father was in custody at the police station,and was asked to come to the station to give to bail his father out. He went to the police station along with his relative named Senarath Chandrasekara by a three-wheeler. When he met his father at the police station, Jayathilaka told him that the police officers brutally assaulted him and he was suffering from severe pain on his whole body due to torture. After Rupakumara signed the bail form, Jayathilaka was released at around 11:00 p.m and they left the police station by a three wheeler. 

On the way to home, Jayathilake asked his son to buy a bottle of wine saying that he wanted to have a drink to relieve the severe pain. Then Rupakumara went to a wine shop at Yatawatte and came back to the three- wheeler after 10 minutes. Even though he wanted to take his father to see a doctor, Jayathilake said he would go to the hospital the next morning. 

Because their house was located in a hilly area, Jayathilake got out of the three wheelerand walked towards the house, while his son went to park the three-wheeler at the near place which is 350m far from his house. When Rupakumara came to his house, he found that his father was not there. Because his father normally comes home late at night, hethought that his father went somewhere and went to sleep keeping the front door open. 

On the following day morning (10 March 2004), Jayathilake’s body was found in front of the house of his neighbor named Somawathie. Rupakumara has made a complaint at the Mahawela Police Station about the torture of his father by the police which brought his father’s death. But according to him, his statement was not properly written by the police. At the same day, the people of the village gathered in Mahawela Town and protested against Mr. Nawaratne, the Officer In Charge (O.I.C ) of Mahawela Police Station and S.I  Bandaranayake. 

The victim’s body was taken to the Kandy hospital for the postmortem and sent back to his house on 11 March 2004. The Judicial Medical Officer (J.M.O.) of Kandy, who examined the victim¡Çs body, has certified at the inquest that the victim’s ribs were broken and bruises were found on his body. It is reported that all the funeral arrangements for the victim were done by the Mahawela Police. 

SUGGESTED ACTION:
Please send a letter, fax or email to the addresses below and express your concern of this case. 

1. Ms. Chandrika Bandaranaike Kumaratunga
President
Democratic Socialist Republic of Sri Lanka
Presidential Secretariat
Colombo-1, Sri Lanka
Fax: +94 1 333 703

2. Hon. Mr. K. C. Kamalasabesan 
Attorney General 
Attorney General’s Department 
Colombo 12 
SRI LANKA 
Fax: +94 11 2 436 421 
Email: attorney@sri.lanka.net or counsel@sri.lanka.net

3. Mr. Ranjith Abeysuriya PC 
Chairman National Police Commission 
69-1 Ward Place, Colombo 7 
SRI LANKA 
Fax: +94 11 2 669 128 / 691 926 
Fax HOME: +94 11 2 674148

4. Dr. Radhika Coomaraswamy
Chairperson 
National 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. Theo C. van Boven 
Special Rapporteur on the Question of Torture 
OHCHR-UNOG, 8-14 Avenue de la Paix
1211 Geneva 10
SWITZERLAND 
Fax: +41 22 917 9016 

6. Ms. Asma Jahangir
Special Rapporteur on extrajudicial, summary or arbitrary executions
c/o OHCHR-UNOG, 1211 Geneva 10
SWITZERLAND 
Tel: +92 42 5763 234 
Fax: +41 22 917 9006 / +92 42 5763 236 
Email: webadmin.hchr@unog.ch or asmalaw@brain.net.pk

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