Dear friends,
The Asian Human Rights Commission (AHRC) would like to draw your attention on the case of Kebbeduwa Gamage Prabhath Neel Chaminda, 28, who is arbitrarily arrested and tortured by the police at the Kelaniya Police Station on 1 December 2002. He is in remand prison for over one year now without any reason, but on fabricated charges. AHRC has reproduced the letter of his father KG Sirisena to the NHRC of Sri Lanka in our urgent appeal on this matter. (Refer to UP-02-2004: Delayed inquiries on alleged torture, illegal arrest and detention) We urge you to write to the local authorities to correct this matter immediately.
Urgent Appeals Desk
Asian Human Rights Commission (AHRC)
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DETAILED INFORMATION:
Name of the victim: Kebbeduwa Gamage Prabhath Neel Chaminda, 28, a three wheeler driver, married with two children
Address of the victim: Official resident address is Ambetholla, Kapuduwa, Thihagoda, Matara, Sri Lanka; resides with his married sister KG Pushpa at 207/8 Gonawala, Kelaniya
Alleged perpetrators: Mr. Lal Udugama, the Officer In Charge (OIC) of the Kelaniya Police Station, and other officers attached to the Kelaniya Police Station
Period of arbitrary arrest and detention: from 1 December 2002 until now
Case status: Over one year imprisonment on fabricated charges
Case details:
Around 8 p.m. on 1 December 2002, Kebbeduwa Gamage Prabhath Neel Chaminda, a three wheeler driver (registered No. WP- GT-4412 at Kotahena Junction, Colombo 13), was going back to his sister’s house in Kelaniya from Kotahena. When he passed near the Kelaniya Bus Stand (close to Kelaniya Rajamaha Viharaya), three armed persons stopped Neel Chaminda’s three wheeler. Then, they took his vehicle and ordered him to drive through by-roads as fast as possible, pointing a knife at his neck and aiming a pistol to his head. Neel Chaminda thought they were maybe criminals and at the risk of his life he over-turned the vehicle. Then, the criminals fled from the site. Several persons following the three wheeler in a van came to Neel Chaminda and handed him over to the Kelaniya Police Station although he explained the situation. It was around 9:30 p.m. at that time.
At the Kelaniya Police Station, the police took Neel Chaminda to the office of the Officer in Charge (OIC). They pushed him on the ground and tied his hands to his back and the OIC Mr. Lal Udugama mercilessly kicked Neel Chaminda’s face. In the meantime, the victim’s brother K. G. Ajith Priyantha heard the incident and rushed to the Kelaniya Police Station with two relatives. When they went into the OIC’s office, they saw that the victim’s hands were tied to the back, and while lying upside down, the OIC was kicking the victim’s face with his heavy boots. Neel Chaminda was bleeding profusely from the left eye. He also trampled the victim’s back and assaulted his chest and face. As a result of the torture, Neel Chaminda is suffering from a spinal disorder. The victim’s brother and relatives pleaded the OIC to allow them to speak to the victim, but the OIC chased them away. They saw the police assaulted the victim in front of the people who handed him over to the police.
While interrogating him, the police tortured Neel Chaminda intermittently all through the night. The occupants of the van were from a Communication Centre near the Kelaniya Bus Stand and the police have kept asking the victim the names of the three armed persons who had burgled of the Centre, which he knew nothing. When Neel Chaminda insisted his innocence, the OIC started pricking his fingers under the nails with needles, while blood oozed out all over. The more the victim pleaded innocence, the more he was assaulted until he could not stand.
About 7:00 a.m. of the following morning (2 December 2002) the victim’s father K G Sirisena of Ambetholla, Kapuduwa, Thihagoda, Matara came to the Kelaniya Police station to see his son which was refused by the OIC. The helpless victim’s relatives and father met several high-ranking police officers and government officials in a bid to get the victim released. When one of the officers telephoned the OIC, the OIC replied that the victim had been taken to the Court to be produced. The victim’s family went to the Court Premises, No.2 Magistrates Court in Hultsdorp from morning while retaining a lawyer and the victim was produced in Magistrate’s Chamber around 4 p.m.
The police brought Neel Chaminda to Court with the help of two other persons as he could not stand or walk due to severe torture. The magistrate was surprised at the victim’s condition and inquired the reason. The lawyer urged the magistrate to instruct medical attention to the victim and according to the magistrate’s order the victim received medical treatment and was remanded. When the OIC has learnt that the relatives tried to rescue the victim through other people, he threatened them saying that the victim would not be released on bail and he would do everything to send him to jail even by fabricating cases. In the same manner, The OIC got the Kadawatha police to charge Neel Chaminda on false grounds of burglary in three cases (Nos. B/2865, B/2954 and B/3041) in Gampaha Magistrates Court. Parades also were held to identify the victim, but all these fabricated cases failed and the victim was discharged.
Meanwhile, one of the three criminals, who forcibly took in the victim’s three wheeler on 1 December 2002, dropped his wallet and they were identified through the number of the Identity Card in the purse. At the Hultsdorp Magistrate’s Court, these accused has confessed that they had forcibly boarded the victim’s vehicle and the driver had nothing to do with them.
Because he was proved totally innocent, Neel Chaminda’s father implored the OIC of the Kelaniya Police Station to release his son. The OIC said that though the victim was appeared to be innocent with the alleged burglary, as he has already been charged in Court in case No.B/8061 of 2002 Magistrates Court No.2 in Hultsdorp, he cannot release the victim. When the father took a motion to release his son on bail, the police submitted a report against granting bail. The father then submitted an affidavit to Appeal Court in Case No.CA (PHC) 294/1003. The victim’s family has made a complaint to the National Human Rights Commission (NHRC) of Sri Lanka quite some time back, but allegedly inquiries have been delayed up to now.
Neel Chaminda has spent more than one year in the remand prison and is currently in Ward D of the Colombo Remand Prison. All this time he has been under medical treatment from the prison hospital and was warded in the prison hospital several times due to the after effects of torture. He cannot walk properly and he must be submitted to a thorough medical examination, as there is a likelihood of his getting paralyzed. The OIC threatened the victim’s father saying that he would see the entire family would be eliminated if he approach human rights organizations.
The victim’s father has obtained money on loans and spent more than Rs 400,000 in the quest of saving his son and has now become destitute to the point of committing suicide. Now the lenders are threatening him and the family fears that Neel Chaminda could be disabled and unable to support his family even if he is freed. Under the situation, the victim has developed irreparable moral disposition.
SUGGESTED ACTION:
Send a letter, fax or email to the local authorities requesting speedy and strong inquiries on this serious case.
1. Ms. Radhika Coomaraswamy
Chairperson
National Human Rights Commission of Sri Lanka
Tel: +94 11 2 694 925 / 673 806
Fax: +94 11 2 694 924 / 696 470
E-mail: sechrc@sltnet.lk
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 (need to ask to change to fax mode) / 691 926
Fax HOME: +94 11 2 674148
4. 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
5. Mr. Param Cumaraswamy
Special Rapporteur of the Commission on the independence of judges and lawyers
Room 3-060, OHCHR-UNOG
Palais Wilson,
8-14 Avenue de la Paix, 1211 Geneva 10
SWITZERLAND
Tel: 41 22 9179130
Fax: 41 22 9179006 / 603 2274 9834
Sample letter:
Re: A young man is in remand prison for over one year on fabricated charges by the police
Name of the victim: Kebbeduwa Gamage Prabhath Neel Chaminda, 28, a three wheeler driver, married with two children
Address of the victim: Official resident address is Ambetholla, Kapuduwa, Thihagoda, Matara, Sri Lanka; resides with his married sister KG Pushpa at 207/8 Gonawala, Kelaniya
Alleged perpetrators: Mr. Lal Udugama, the Officer In Charge (OIC) of the Kelaniya Police Station, and other officers attached to the Kelaniya Police Station
Period of arbitrary arrest and detention: from 1 December 2002 until now
Case status: Over one year imprisonment on fabricated charges
I am writing to bring to your attention the arbitrary arrest, torture and detention of Kebbeduwa Gamage Prabhath Neel Chaminda.
According to the information I have received, on the evening of 1 December 2002, three armed criminals forcibly took in the victim’s three wheeler and ran away later. Even though he was innocent, the victim was handed over to the Kelaniya Police Station where he was severely tortured by the police, especially the Officer in Charge (OIC) Mr. Lal Udugama. As a result of the torture, the victim is suffering from a spinal disorder and cannot walk properly and has developed irreparable moral disposition.
More seriously, the Kadawatha police charged the victim on false grounds of burglary in three cases (Nos. B/2865, B/2954 and B/3041) in Gampaha Magistrates Court. Although the victim was discharged from all these fabricated cases, and the three armed criminals, who forcibly took in the victim’s vehicle and were arrested later, have confessed that the driver (the victim) had nothing to do with them, the OIC did not release the victim. The victim has spent more than one year in the remand prison and is currently in Ward D of the Colombo Remand Prison. The victim’s family has made a complaint to the National Human Rights Commission (NHRC) of Sri Lanka quite some time back, but allegedly inquiries have been delayed up to now.
In the light of above, I urge you to order the immediate and impartial investigation of this case and bring those responsible persons behind the arrest, torture and false implication of a victim before court and apply the penal and/or administrative sanctions provided by law. The deliberate attempt to fabricate a case is a clear and illegal criminal act. I also urge you to provide compensation to the victim and to rehabilitate him and his family members. I further urge you to assist victim in accessing full medical treatment. Lastly, I request the National Human Rights Commission of Sri Lanka to initiate reviews of these two cases and take appropriate action to complete the inquiries as soon as possible.
Sincerely yours,
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Thank you.
Urgent Appeals Programme
Asian Human Rights Commission (AHRC)
