SRI LANKA: Hotel owner and cashier assaulted by five police officers for asking payment for food that the police had taken 

Dear Friends,

The Asian Human Rights Commission (AHRC) has received information from a reliable source regarding the assault and illegal detention of a hotel owner and cashier by five police officers. The two victims had asked the police to pay for food that they had taken and in response, the police assaulted the two and detained them in the police cell for a night. This incident occurred on 28 March 2005 at Weligama, Matale and the officers involved are stationed with the Weligama Police. Following the incident, the two victims attempted to lodge a complaint at the police station. The police, however, refused to receive the complaint, and though they eventually did, to date no action has been taken.

Such assault, harassment and illegal detention by police is not unique to Sri Lanka. The AHRC has reported on several other cases where police have resorted to violence where citizens have requested that they pay for goods or services rendered. The continuation of this type of police conduct indicates that the Government of Sri Lanka and the country’s police department are not taking a serious approach to stop this type of behaviour from occurring.

The AHRC is particularly disturbed by the assault that took place in this case, and the police officers failure to then receive the victims’ complaint. We therefore call for your urgent intervention in this case. Please send a letter to the government of Sri Lanka urging them to conduct a proper and immediate investigation into this case under the CAT Act, Act No. 22 of 1994. An independent body such as a Special Investigating Unit should conduct the investigation, not by officers of the same police station where the assault took place. Please also ask that payment of compensation be made to the victims.  Finally, please request the Inspector General of Police to review the whole situation and ensure that discipline in the police force be restored.

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

Name of the victims: Mohammad Riyas, owner of the hotel, and Mohammed Arsik, cashier
Place of incident: Hotel premises in Weligama, Matale
Date of incidents: 28 March 2005
Name of perpetrators: Five police officers from the Weligama Police Station

Case deatils:

A group of five police officers ordered and took delivery of a food parcel to be taken away from a hotel at Weligama, Matale on 28 March 2005.  However, the officers did not pay for the food parcel and when the cashier requested payment, one officer is reported to have said that they would not pay.  When the cashier politely requested due payment one police officer threw Rs. 50/ (about US$. 0.50) and then struck the cashier on his head.  Thereafter, all five police constables assaulted the cashier and other workers at the hotel and then fled with the food parcel in their jeep.

The same night the owner of the hotel, who is the brother of the cashier, went to make a complaint to the Weligama police with his brother.  However, upon arriving, the same five police officers brutally attacked both the owner and the cashier inside the police station and then put them in a police cell for the night.

Later, with the intervention of others, the two men were released on police bail and thereafter they went to hospital.  While the cashier, Mohammed Arsik was released from the hospital some time after, the owner of hotel, Mohammad Riyas is still receiving treatment for his injuries.

Moreover, the police at the Matale refused to take a complaint on this matter and the assistance of the Assistant Superintendent of Police at Weligama had to be sought in order to get the complaint about the issue recorded.  Despite this, no action has been taken to have the matter properly investigated or prosecuted.

The Asian Human Rights Commission has in the past highlight other cases of brutal attacks on individuals by the police without any reason other than for petty personal gain.  On 5 October 2004, an urgent appeal was issued on the killing of a hotel manager at Polonnaruwa who refused to sell liquor to some police officers on a Poya, which is a religious holiday where the sale of liquor is forbidden (to see further details please view UA-132-2004). The continuity of this type of assault indicates that neither the Government of Sri Lanka or the country’s police department is taking a serious approach to stop this type of conduct on the part of law enforcement officers.  The quality of the officers, as reflected by this type of event, is also very low.  The lack of reinforcement of discipline has created a situation of extremely low morale.  The higher police officers who take such incidents lightly are in fact conniving in the effort to bring down the morale and the quality of the police service.  The victims who are assaulted in this manner receive little attention from the state and even the courts have failed to deal with this in a stern way.

The Foreign Minister of Sri Lanka, in addressing the 61st Session on the Commission of Human Rights on March 15, stated that his government condemned torture without reservation.  Yet while such statements are being made, all the norms of the protection of rights and prevention of torture are flouted with impunity.

SUGGESTED ACTION:

Please send a letter, fax or email to the Government of Sri Lanka urging a thorough investigation into this matter, prosecution of the offenders under the CAT Act, Act No. 22 of 1994 and the payment of compensation to the victims.  Please also request the Inspector General of Police to review the whole situation and ensure that discipline in the police force be restored.

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