Dear friends,
The Asian Human Rights Commission (AHRC) has received updated information about Rohitha Upali Liyange, who was brutally tortured by the Wattegama police. (See further: UA-136-2005) He is undergoing treatment at the Kandy Hospital where he is in an external fixator consisting of several pins and screws inserted in and attached to his right leg.
Meanwhile his left leg is chained to the bed frame on court orders. All the conditions of bail have been fulfilled by the family but there is one technical matter which requires that he should be brought to the court to sign the case book. However, he cannot be moved without causing further injuries to his leg and interrupting the treatment of the bone fractures that he is undergoing.
This matter has been brought to the notice of the court and a request has been made to overcome this technical problem by the court registrar or another officer taking the case record to the hospital and getting it signed. Once it is signed the chain on his leg can be removed. However, the Teldiniya Magistrates’ Court has so far taken the view that there is no provision in the law to do this. This would mean that the patient will be in this situation for a month or more due to his medical condition. This is obviously an absurd interpretation of the law and there are many instances in which such technical obstacles are removed at the court’s discretion.
The AHRC has drawn the attention of all the Supreme Court judges and the secretary of the judicial service commission to this matter.
We kindly urge you to help in ending the suffering of this torture victim by urging the authorities to take suitable action to overcome this technicality and ensure that the chains are removed from the patient’s leg. This method of treatment clearly consists of cruel and inhumane treatment under the The Convention Against Torture and Other Cruel, Inhuman or Degrading Treatment or Punishment (CAT) and the relevant Sri Lankan law. Also, it violates the Constitutional previsions which prohibit cruel and inhuman treatment.
SUGGESTED ACTION:
Please send a letter to the Judicial Service Commission and the Registrar of the Magistrates’ Court, Teldeniya, demanding that practical measures be taken to enable the victim to sign the necessary book while he is still in the hospital.
To support this case, please click here: SEND APPEAL LETTER
SAMPLE LETTER
Dear __________,
Re: SRI LANKA: A torture victim with serious injuries is chained to his bed due to legal technicality
Name of the victim: Rohitha Upali Liyanage
Case status: The victim was severely injured due to torture by Wattegama police on 28 July 2005 and the police fabricated charges against him to cover-up their crime
I am surprised and shocked to learn that Rohitha Upali Liyange, a torture victim who is already suffering from serious injuries, is being kept chained to his hospital bed due to a technical problem of his inability to go to court and sign the case record.
This is an absurd situation and the law should not be interpreted in such an absurd manner, particular as such interpretation leads to the continuation of serious suffering by the victim. This interpretation and the court's failure to use its discretion also goes against the letter and the spirit of the law. It further violates the right of a person not to be cruelly and inhumanely treated.
I urge your kind intervention to ensure that practical measures be taken to enable the patient to sign the necessary book while he is still in the hospital and enable him to have the chains removed.
I look for your urgent intervention in this matter.
______________
PLEASE SEND YOUR LETTER TO:
1. The Registrar
Magistrates's Court
Teldeniya
Sri Lanka
Fax: 94 81 2 374066
2. Mr. P.W.D.C. Jayathilaka
Secretary of the Judicial Service Commission
Supreme Court Complex
Colombo 12
Sri Lanka
Fax: 94 11 2 432854
Thank you.
Urgent Appeals Programme
Asian Human Rights Commission (AHRC)
