Sri Lanka
06.10.04
Urgent Interventions
Sri Lanka: death in custody of Mr. Herman Quintus Perera
Case LKA 061004
Arbitrary arrest / Death in custody
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 (AHRC), a member of the OMCT network, of the death of Mr. Herman Quintus Perera (40 years old, restaurant manager) on October 3, 2004 while he was in custody at Pollonawa Police Station.
According to the information received, in the evening of October 3, two police officers arrived at the restaurant where Mr. Herman Quintus Perera was working as the manager and asked for a bottle of liquor. Mr. Herman Quintus Perera refused to accommodate their request since October 3 was a Poya Day and the law forbids the sale of alcoholic beverages on such days. It is reported that the two officers left the restaurant upon this refusal but they soon returned with a police jeep loaded with policemen and assaulted Mr. Herman Quintus Perera and other employees of the restaurant. Then Mr. Herman Quintus Perera and three other restaurant employees were taken away in the jeep.
According to the information provided, on the next morning, October 4, 2004, the assistant manager of the restaurant attempted to visit the arrested persons in the Pollonawa Police Station. The other arrested employees informed him that Mr. Herman Quintus Perera was not with them in the police station cell. Continuing to look for Mr. Herman Quintus Perera, the assistant manager of the restaurant finally found his body in the morgue.
Following these events, a Police Assistant Superintendent claimed that the police raided the restaurant because alcohol was being sold there in violation of the law and that Mr. Herman Quintus Perera was killed in the fighting that resulted during the police raid. However, according to the information received, none of the officers at the Pollonawa Police Station, where accordingly the death took place, confirmed the Police Assistant Superintendent’s version of the story.
According to the information received, death while in police custody happens frequently in Sri Lanka and these deaths are often followed by attempts by police authorities to cover up the precise circumstances in which the deaths have occurred.
The International Secretariat of OMCT is gravely concerned by the death of Mr. Herman Quintus Perera and calls on the Sri Lankan authorities to immediately launch a thorough and impartial investigation into these events, to identify the perpetrators and to bring them to justice. The suspected perpetrators should be suspended from their service at the police station during the investigation. OMCT also calls on the authorities to guarantee the awarding of adequate compensation to the victim’s family.
Action requested
Please write to the Sri Lankan authorities urging them to:
i. immediately launch a thorough and impartial investigation into the events that resulted in Mr. Herman Quintus Perera’s death, to identify those responsible and to bring them before a competent and impartial tribunal and to apply the penal, civil and/or administrative sanctions provided by law;
ii. award adequate compensation to Mr. Herman Quintus Perera’s family;
iii. guarantee the respect of human rights and fundamental freedoms including the right to life throughout the country in accordance with the international human rights standards.
Addresses
Please also write to the embassies of Sri Lanka in your respective country.
Geneva, October 6, 2004
Kindly inform us of any action undertaken quoting the code of this appeal in your reply.
Arbitrary arrest / Death in custody
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 (AHRC), a member of the OMCT network, of the death of Mr. Herman Quintus Perera (40 years old, restaurant manager) on October 3, 2004 while he was in custody at Pollonawa Police Station.
According to the information received, in the evening of October 3, two police officers arrived at the restaurant where Mr. Herman Quintus Perera was working as the manager and asked for a bottle of liquor. Mr. Herman Quintus Perera refused to accommodate their request since October 3 was a Poya Day and the law forbids the sale of alcoholic beverages on such days. It is reported that the two officers left the restaurant upon this refusal but they soon returned with a police jeep loaded with policemen and assaulted Mr. Herman Quintus Perera and other employees of the restaurant. Then Mr. Herman Quintus Perera and three other restaurant employees were taken away in the jeep.
According to the information provided, on the next morning, October 4, 2004, the assistant manager of the restaurant attempted to visit the arrested persons in the Pollonawa Police Station. The other arrested employees informed him that Mr. Herman Quintus Perera was not with them in the police station cell. Continuing to look for Mr. Herman Quintus Perera, the assistant manager of the restaurant finally found his body in the morgue.
Following these events, a Police Assistant Superintendent claimed that the police raided the restaurant because alcohol was being sold there in violation of the law and that Mr. Herman Quintus Perera was killed in the fighting that resulted during the police raid. However, according to the information received, none of the officers at the Pollonawa Police Station, where accordingly the death took place, confirmed the Police Assistant Superintendent’s version of the story.
According to the information received, death while in police custody happens frequently in Sri Lanka and these deaths are often followed by attempts by police authorities to cover up the precise circumstances in which the deaths have occurred.
The International Secretariat of OMCT is gravely concerned by the death of Mr. Herman Quintus Perera and calls on the Sri Lankan authorities to immediately launch a thorough and impartial investigation into these events, to identify the perpetrators and to bring them to justice. The suspected perpetrators should be suspended from their service at the police station during the investigation. OMCT also calls on the authorities to guarantee the awarding of adequate compensation to the victim’s family.
Action requested
Please write to the Sri Lankan authorities urging them to:
i. immediately launch a thorough and impartial investigation into the events that resulted in Mr. Herman Quintus Perera’s death, to identify those responsible and to bring them before a competent and impartial tribunal and to apply the penal, civil and/or administrative sanctions provided by law;
ii. award adequate compensation to Mr. Herman Quintus Perera’s family;
iii. guarantee the respect of human rights and fundamental freedoms including the right to life throughout the country in accordance with the international human rights standards.
Addresses
- Hon. Mr. Mahindra Rajapakse, Prime Minister, Cambridge Place, Colombo 7, SRI LANKA, Fax: +94 11 2 682905 / 575454, E-mail: secpm@sltnet.lk or bradmanw@slt.lk
- Mr. Chandra Fernando, Inspector General of Police (IGP), New Secretariat, Colombo 1, SRI LANKA, Fax: +94 11 2 440440/426711/327877
- 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
- Mr. Ranjith Abeysuriya PC, Chairperson, National Police Commission, 69-1 Ward Place, Colombo 7, SRI LANKA, Fax: +94 11 2 669 528, Fax HOME: +94 11 2 674148; E-mail: polcom@sltnet.lk
- Dr. Radhika Coomaraswamy, Chairperson, 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
Please also write to the embassies of Sri Lanka in your respective country.
Geneva, October 6, 2004
Kindly inform us of any action undertaken quoting the code of this appeal in your reply.