Sri Lanka
12.09.03
Urgent Interventions
Sri Lanka: arrest, torture and death in detention of Mr. Okanda Hevage Jinadasa
Case LKA 120903
Torture/Custodial Death
The International Secretariat of OMCT requests your URGENT intervention in the following situation in Sri Lanka.
Brief description of the situation
The International Secretariat of OMCT has been informed by the Asian Human Rights Commission, a member of the OMCT network, of a 50-year-old father of five who was killed by the police after arrest and torture in Sri Lanka.
According to the information received, on September 5th, 2003, Mr. Okanda Hevage Jinadasa was stopped when returning home from work on his bicycle by two Grama Arakshaka personnel [paramilitaries] from the Okkampitiya Police Post. The officers searched his belongings and found two packets of illicit liquor, equaling 284ml, in his possession. They proceded to beat him and brought him to the Okkampitiya Police Post. At the Police Post they subjected him to severe torture, including beating him again with fists and poles and squeezing his testicles and neck until he died. Police personnel took his dead body to the Okkampitiya government rural hospital, under the pretense that they thought he was unconscious. The doctor who examined his body pronounced that he had died before being brought to the hospital.
The police reportedly said that Mr. Jinadasa fell from a chair and died. The Monaragala magistrate who held the inquiry on September 7th, 2003 ordered that the body be sent to Karapitiya [Galle] Teaching Hospital for an autopsy. The Judicial Medical Officer (JMO) who did the autopsy reported to the magistrate that he found injuries on the victim's body caused by blunt weapons. The JMO further stated that the victim's death was not due to these injuries. The JMO has reserved his decision on the cause of death till further investigation is completed. According to the report of the JMO, the Monaragala Assistant Superintendent of Police (ASP) has arrested two Grama Arakshaka personnel for questioning. They are still being held at the police station but no serious action to investigate this case has yet been taken by the police.
In the meantime, the Inspector General of Police (IGP) recently issued a circular stating that all Officers in Charge (OICs) and other high-ranking officers should take responsibility for custodial deaths and torture that take place at police stations. The perpetrators should be brought to justice and high-ranking officers should take responsibility for this incident in terms of the IGP's circular.
The International Secretariat of the OMCT wishes to express its deep concern for the death of Mr. Jinadasa and fears that there is a high risk of torture occurring in the custody of the Sri-Lankan police. OMCT calls upon the Sri-Lankan authorities to bring an end to these acts and to enforce the dispositions of its Constitution and international conventions.
Action requested
Please write to the authorities in Sri Lanka urging them to:
i. guarantee that adequate reparation is provided to the Mr. Jinadasa’s family;
ii. take all necessary measures to ensure respect for the international human rights instruments to which Sri Lankan civilians are party, which includes respect for the prohibition of torture and cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment and punishment, such as the practice of corporal punishment;
iii. order a thorough and impartial investigation into the circumstances of these arrests, in order to identify those responsible, bring them to trial and apply the penal and/or administrative sanctions as provided by law;
iv. guarantee the respect of human rights and the fundamental freedoms throughout the country in accordance with national laws and international human rights standards.
Addresses
President, Her Excellency Chandrika Bandaranaike Kumaratunga, President's House, Colombo 3, Sri Lanka, Fax: +94 12 333 703, E-mail: for_min@sri.lanka.net
Prime Minister, Hon. Ranil Wickremasinghe, Cambridge Place, Colombo 7, Sri Lanka, Fax: +94 12 575 454/682 905, E-mail: secpm@sltnet.lk, bradmanw@slt.lk
Attorney General, Hon. K.C. Kamalasabesan, Attorney General's Department, Colombo 12, Sri Lanka, Fax: +94 12 436 421, E-mail: attorney@sri.lanka.net or counsel@sri.lanka.net
Minister of Justice, Hon. W.J.M. Lokubandara, Ministry of Justice, Law Reform and National Integration, Superior Courts Complex, Colombo 12, Sri Lanka, Fax: + 94 12 424 447
Minister of Interior, Honourable John Amaratunga, Colombo, Sri Lanka, Fax: +94 12 387 526/698 282
Ambassadeur Kariyawasam,Prasad, Rue de Moillebeau 56 (5ème) - CP 436, CH-1211, Genève 19, Suisse, E-mail: mission.srilanka@ties.itu.int, Fax: +4122 734 90 84
Inspector General of Police, Mr. T.E. Anandarajah, Sri Lanka Police Headquarters, New Secretariat, Colombo 1, Sri Lanka, Fax: +94 1 438 915/446 174
Chairman of National Police Commission, Mr. Ranjith Abeysuriya PC, 10 A, Flower Road, Colombo 7, Sri Lanka
Please also write to the embassies of Sri Lanka in your respective country.
Geneva, September 12th, 2003
Kindly inform us of any action undertaken quoting the code of this appeal in your reply.
Torture/Custodial Death
The International Secretariat of OMCT requests your URGENT intervention in the following situation in Sri Lanka.
Brief description of the situation
The International Secretariat of OMCT has been informed by the Asian Human Rights Commission, a member of the OMCT network, of a 50-year-old father of five who was killed by the police after arrest and torture in Sri Lanka.
According to the information received, on September 5th, 2003, Mr. Okanda Hevage Jinadasa was stopped when returning home from work on his bicycle by two Grama Arakshaka personnel [paramilitaries] from the Okkampitiya Police Post. The officers searched his belongings and found two packets of illicit liquor, equaling 284ml, in his possession. They proceded to beat him and brought him to the Okkampitiya Police Post. At the Police Post they subjected him to severe torture, including beating him again with fists and poles and squeezing his testicles and neck until he died. Police personnel took his dead body to the Okkampitiya government rural hospital, under the pretense that they thought he was unconscious. The doctor who examined his body pronounced that he had died before being brought to the hospital.
The police reportedly said that Mr. Jinadasa fell from a chair and died. The Monaragala magistrate who held the inquiry on September 7th, 2003 ordered that the body be sent to Karapitiya [Galle] Teaching Hospital for an autopsy. The Judicial Medical Officer (JMO) who did the autopsy reported to the magistrate that he found injuries on the victim's body caused by blunt weapons. The JMO further stated that the victim's death was not due to these injuries. The JMO has reserved his decision on the cause of death till further investigation is completed. According to the report of the JMO, the Monaragala Assistant Superintendent of Police (ASP) has arrested two Grama Arakshaka personnel for questioning. They are still being held at the police station but no serious action to investigate this case has yet been taken by the police.
In the meantime, the Inspector General of Police (IGP) recently issued a circular stating that all Officers in Charge (OICs) and other high-ranking officers should take responsibility for custodial deaths and torture that take place at police stations. The perpetrators should be brought to justice and high-ranking officers should take responsibility for this incident in terms of the IGP's circular.
The International Secretariat of the OMCT wishes to express its deep concern for the death of Mr. Jinadasa and fears that there is a high risk of torture occurring in the custody of the Sri-Lankan police. OMCT calls upon the Sri-Lankan authorities to bring an end to these acts and to enforce the dispositions of its Constitution and international conventions.
Action requested
Please write to the authorities in Sri Lanka urging them to:
i. guarantee that adequate reparation is provided to the Mr. Jinadasa’s family;
ii. take all necessary measures to ensure respect for the international human rights instruments to which Sri Lankan civilians are party, which includes respect for the prohibition of torture and cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment and punishment, such as the practice of corporal punishment;
iii. order a thorough and impartial investigation into the circumstances of these arrests, in order to identify those responsible, bring them to trial and apply the penal and/or administrative sanctions as provided by law;
iv. guarantee the respect of human rights and the fundamental freedoms throughout the country in accordance with national laws and international human rights standards.
Addresses
President, Her Excellency Chandrika Bandaranaike Kumaratunga, President's House, Colombo 3, Sri Lanka, Fax: +94 12 333 703, E-mail: for_min@sri.lanka.net
Prime Minister, Hon. Ranil Wickremasinghe, Cambridge Place, Colombo 7, Sri Lanka, Fax: +94 12 575 454/682 905, E-mail: secpm@sltnet.lk, bradmanw@slt.lk
Attorney General, Hon. K.C. Kamalasabesan, Attorney General's Department, Colombo 12, Sri Lanka, Fax: +94 12 436 421, E-mail: attorney@sri.lanka.net or counsel@sri.lanka.net
Minister of Justice, Hon. W.J.M. Lokubandara, Ministry of Justice, Law Reform and National Integration, Superior Courts Complex, Colombo 12, Sri Lanka, Fax: + 94 12 424 447
Minister of Interior, Honourable John Amaratunga, Colombo, Sri Lanka, Fax: +94 12 387 526/698 282
Ambassadeur Kariyawasam,Prasad, Rue de Moillebeau 56 (5ème) - CP 436, CH-1211, Genève 19, Suisse, E-mail: mission.srilanka@ties.itu.int, Fax: +4122 734 90 84
Inspector General of Police, Mr. T.E. Anandarajah, Sri Lanka Police Headquarters, New Secretariat, Colombo 1, Sri Lanka, Fax: +94 1 438 915/446 174
Chairman of National Police Commission, Mr. Ranjith Abeysuriya PC, 10 A, Flower Road, Colombo 7, Sri Lanka
Please also write to the embassies of Sri Lanka in your respective country.
Geneva, September 12th, 2003
Kindly inform us of any action undertaken quoting the code of this appeal in your reply.