Sri Lanka
17.05.04
Urgent Interventions
Sri Lanka: police confirmed to have tortured 17 year old boy
Case LKA 130803. 2. CC
Follow-up to case LKA 130803.CC
Child concern/Torture
The International Secretariat of OMCT has received new information regarding 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 HK, a member of the OMCT network, that an independent inquiry ordered by the Human Rights Commission (HRC) of Sri Lanka has found that the Ankumbura Police did illegally arrest, detain and torture 17-year-old Chamila Bandara during July 2003.
The one-man Inquiry Committee report, authored by Dr V Irwin Jayasuriya of the University of Peradeniya, found that the Officer in Charge (OIC) of the Ankumbura Police, W M Uvindasiri, and three other officers subjected Mr Bandara "to torture and degrading punishment". In so doing, it states, the officers violated articles 11, 12(1), 13(1) and 13(2) of the Constitution of Sri Lanka. With regards to OIC Uvindasiri, Dr Jayasuriya writes, "He has to accept total responsibility for the collective actions of all of the officers of Ankumbura Police Station as Head of the Institution and also... for the part he played in the torture and harassment of the Petitioner. I believe that he is individually responsible for the violations referred to."
Mr Bandara's case has been widely reported since he was illegally detained on 20 July 2003, and brutally tortured before being released on bail on July 30. The torture he was subjected to included being hit with posts while hung from the ceiling by his thumbs. In October 2003 he approached the UN Human Rights Committee in Geneva, where he narrated his case. Independent medical experts there also confirmed his allegations of torture, despite a baseless report by the HRC Area Coordinator in Kandy to the effect that Mr Bandara had manufactured his story. Criminal charges laid by the Ankumbura Police against Mr Bandara, filed at the time of torture, are still pending.
Brief reminder of the situation
The International Secretariat of OMCT had been informed by the Asian Human Rights Commission HK, a member of the OMCT network, of the brutal torture of Chamila Bandara by several police officers from Ankumbura Police Station and Gramma Arraksaka, Sri Lanka. He was arrested on 20th July 2003. During police custody he was brutally tortured in order to extract a confession to recent alleged thefts. Sergeant Pathnesiri reportedly struck the victim several blows to the face and the body. One policeman threatened to kill the victim’s cousin if he did not confess. They were allegedly taken to the Ankumbura police station where the Inspector of Police Senevirathna hit the victim and kicked him in the face. He was released but the next day (21st July) he was taken away again to a room. There were several officers present and the officer in charge and another officer hit the victim on the soles of his feet with a cricket stump, cane and pole. When he refused to confess he was hit further. A polythene bag which had contained petrol was tied to his face. They reportedly threatened to burn and kill him. Then they put the victim's hands behind his back, tied his thumbs together and strung the victim up by his thumbs from a beam on the ceiling and continued beating.
Because of the extreme pain the victim informed who his friends were, confessed to the thefts and was made to state falsely to whom he had given the stolen items. On 27th July, the victim was made to sign blank pages. Police officers obtained papers from a doctor at Ankumbura hospital but the victim was not allowed to access to a doctor. On 30th July the victim was granted bail on ten thousand rupees surety. The next day, he received treatment in a hospital in Kandy for six days. The doctors told him that a nerve in his left hand had been stretched. His legs were swollen, his hands were numb, and he had headaches. A complaint was made to the hospital police. They asked the victim to go and make a complaint at the Ankumbura police station.
Action requested
Please write to the authorities in Sri Lanka welcoming the conclusions of the Human Rights Commission of Sri Lanka and urging them to :
i. prosecute all perpetrators without delay;
ii. take disciplinary action against the Area Coordinator in Kandy, who is found to have defended the police perpetrators;
iii. clear the criminal charges pending against Chamila Bandara and provide him with adequate protection, psychosocial rehabilitation and reparation;
iv. publicise this case, together with detailed information on the rights of children to all police stations, calling for an immediate end to all forms of torture, cruel, inhuman and degrading treatment of children in accordance with national and international legislation and particularly with articles 37 and 40 of the Convention on the Rights of the Child.
v. guarantee the respect of human rights and the fundamental freedoms throughout the country in accordance with national laws and international human rights standards;
Addresses
· Hon. Mr. Ranil Wickremasinghe, Prime Minister, Cambridge Place, Colombo 7, SRI LANKA, Fax: +94 11 2 682905 / 575454, E-mail: secpm@sltnet.lk
· 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
· 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
· Dr. Radhika Coomaraswamy, Director, National Human Rights Commission of Sri Lanka,
· No. 36, Kynsey Road, Colombo 8, SRI LANKA, Fax: +94 11 2 694 924 / 696 470, E-mail: sechrc@sltnet.lk
· Ambassador Prasad Kariyawasam, Rue de Moillebeau 56 (5ème) - CP 436, CH-1211, Genève 19, Suisse, E-mail: mission.srilanka@ties.itu.int, Fax: +4122 734 90 84
Kindly inform us of any action undertaken quoting the code of this appeal in your reply.
Geneva, May 17, 2004
Follow-up to case LKA 130803.CC
Child concern/Torture
The International Secretariat of OMCT has received new information regarding 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 HK, a member of the OMCT network, that an independent inquiry ordered by the Human Rights Commission (HRC) of Sri Lanka has found that the Ankumbura Police did illegally arrest, detain and torture 17-year-old Chamila Bandara during July 2003.
The one-man Inquiry Committee report, authored by Dr V Irwin Jayasuriya of the University of Peradeniya, found that the Officer in Charge (OIC) of the Ankumbura Police, W M Uvindasiri, and three other officers subjected Mr Bandara "to torture and degrading punishment". In so doing, it states, the officers violated articles 11, 12(1), 13(1) and 13(2) of the Constitution of Sri Lanka. With regards to OIC Uvindasiri, Dr Jayasuriya writes, "He has to accept total responsibility for the collective actions of all of the officers of Ankumbura Police Station as Head of the Institution and also... for the part he played in the torture and harassment of the Petitioner. I believe that he is individually responsible for the violations referred to."
Mr Bandara's case has been widely reported since he was illegally detained on 20 July 2003, and brutally tortured before being released on bail on July 30. The torture he was subjected to included being hit with posts while hung from the ceiling by his thumbs. In October 2003 he approached the UN Human Rights Committee in Geneva, where he narrated his case. Independent medical experts there also confirmed his allegations of torture, despite a baseless report by the HRC Area Coordinator in Kandy to the effect that Mr Bandara had manufactured his story. Criminal charges laid by the Ankumbura Police against Mr Bandara, filed at the time of torture, are still pending.
Brief reminder of the situation
The International Secretariat of OMCT had been informed by the Asian Human Rights Commission HK, a member of the OMCT network, of the brutal torture of Chamila Bandara by several police officers from Ankumbura Police Station and Gramma Arraksaka, Sri Lanka. He was arrested on 20th July 2003. During police custody he was brutally tortured in order to extract a confession to recent alleged thefts. Sergeant Pathnesiri reportedly struck the victim several blows to the face and the body. One policeman threatened to kill the victim’s cousin if he did not confess. They were allegedly taken to the Ankumbura police station where the Inspector of Police Senevirathna hit the victim and kicked him in the face. He was released but the next day (21st July) he was taken away again to a room. There were several officers present and the officer in charge and another officer hit the victim on the soles of his feet with a cricket stump, cane and pole. When he refused to confess he was hit further. A polythene bag which had contained petrol was tied to his face. They reportedly threatened to burn and kill him. Then they put the victim's hands behind his back, tied his thumbs together and strung the victim up by his thumbs from a beam on the ceiling and continued beating.
Because of the extreme pain the victim informed who his friends were, confessed to the thefts and was made to state falsely to whom he had given the stolen items. On 27th July, the victim was made to sign blank pages. Police officers obtained papers from a doctor at Ankumbura hospital but the victim was not allowed to access to a doctor. On 30th July the victim was granted bail on ten thousand rupees surety. The next day, he received treatment in a hospital in Kandy for six days. The doctors told him that a nerve in his left hand had been stretched. His legs were swollen, his hands were numb, and he had headaches. A complaint was made to the hospital police. They asked the victim to go and make a complaint at the Ankumbura police station.
Action requested
Please write to the authorities in Sri Lanka welcoming the conclusions of the Human Rights Commission of Sri Lanka and urging them to :
i. prosecute all perpetrators without delay;
ii. take disciplinary action against the Area Coordinator in Kandy, who is found to have defended the police perpetrators;
iii. clear the criminal charges pending against Chamila Bandara and provide him with adequate protection, psychosocial rehabilitation and reparation;
iv. publicise this case, together with detailed information on the rights of children to all police stations, calling for an immediate end to all forms of torture, cruel, inhuman and degrading treatment of children in accordance with national and international legislation and particularly with articles 37 and 40 of the Convention on the Rights of the Child.
v. guarantee the respect of human rights and the fundamental freedoms throughout the country in accordance with national laws and international human rights standards;
Addresses
· Hon. Mr. Ranil Wickremasinghe, Prime Minister, Cambridge Place, Colombo 7, SRI LANKA, Fax: +94 11 2 682905 / 575454, E-mail: secpm@sltnet.lk
· 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
· 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
· Dr. Radhika Coomaraswamy, Director, National Human Rights Commission of Sri Lanka,
· No. 36, Kynsey Road, Colombo 8, SRI LANKA, Fax: +94 11 2 694 924 / 696 470, E-mail: sechrc@sltnet.lk
· Ambassador Prasad Kariyawasam, Rue de Moillebeau 56 (5ème) - CP 436, CH-1211, Genève 19, Suisse, E-mail: mission.srilanka@ties.itu.int, Fax: +4122 734 90 84
Kindly inform us of any action undertaken quoting the code of this appeal in your reply.
Geneva, May 17, 2004