Sri Lanka
13.08.04
Urgent Interventions
Sri Lanka: arbitrary arrest and ill-treatment of four men, including two minors.
Case LKA 130804 / LKA 130804. CC
URGENT APPEAL / CHILD CONCERN
Arbitrary arrest, unlawful detention, ill-treatment
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 illegal arrest of four men, including two minors, by police officers of the Matale Police Station. Three of them were allegedly subjected to acts of torture during their detention.
According to the information received, at about 8:30 p.m. on 22 July 2004, police officer Ekanayaka (No. 28370) came to the house of Mr. Balakrishnan Shiwabalan, 17 years old, with a group of police officers from the Matale Police Station. They accused Mr. Shiwabalan, together with two friends of his, Mr. T. Parameshwaran and Mr. Muniyandi Neelamugam Selavakumar, 17 years old, of breaking into the house of the said police officer, Mr. Ekanayaka, and stealing 12,000 rupees. This arrest occurred just after the three young men refused to work on the construction of officer Ekanayaka’s house, as he had requested it.
The police forced the three men to come to the Matale Police Station to make a statement, without producing any arrest warrant. An hour later, the police released Mr. Parameshwaran but Mr. Shiwabalan and Mr. Selavakumar remained in custody.
During their detention, the two men were stripped of their clothes and blindfolded, beaten with iron poles, slapped and kicked by several police officers. By torturing them, the police tried to force them to admit to the false accusation that they broke into Mr. Ekanayaka's house and stole money. The police said that the victims would be released if they admitted to the crime. As they did not accept to do so, they were brutally assaulted repeatedly. Mr. Shiwabalan was beaten on his chest and soles of his feet with cricket wickets and was made to lie down flat on his face while beaten on the back and thighs. Mr. Selavakumar was also beaten on his thighs and back, and made to lie naked face down on a table.
On the following morning, on 23 July 2004, at about 10:00 a.m. three police officers led by Mr. Veeriah Vathan of Matale Police, came and took Mr. Anthonysamy Anandakumar, 19 years old, a very close friend of Mr. Shiwabalan and Mr. Selavakumar, to the police station. Mr. Anandakumar was brought into the police station at about 11 a.m. He was beaten in the same manner as the other victims and was kicked on the lower abdomen with police boots.
After the assaults, the three persons were taken to a District Medical Officer (DMO) but no medical attention was provided, despite the fact that Mr. Shiwabalan complained about his chest pain caused by torture inflicted by the police officers.
When the father of Mr. Shiwabalan, Mr. Muthiah Balakrishnan, went to the Matale Police Station with his friends to find his son, they noticed that the victims were handcuffed and held to the benches with iron chains. They came to know his son and the two other persons were tortured by police officers in the said police station. On questioning about the victims' release, they were told that the three victims would be released by 4:00 p.m., but they were not released. The police then said that the three young men would be released after 24 hours of detention, at 9:00 p.m., however, nothing happened. The police claimed they needed to ask more questions to the victims. They asked the father and his friends to leave the police station, threatening to assault them if they didn't go.
The men were detained over 40 hours (from 8:30 p.m. on 22 July to 2:00 p.m. on 24 July) in the Matale Police Station and were taken before the Matale magistrate's court and released on bail on 24 July 2004. After their release, all of the victims were admitted to the Matale hospital. Although they told both the Judicial Medical Officer (JMO) and the DMO of Matale hospital about the police assault, they were not examined seriously. They are now seeking medical treatment regularly.
The International Secretariat of OMCT is gravely concerned by this recent case of arbitrary arrest, detention and torture of several individuals, including minors. OMCT recalls that the events described above are a clear infringement of articles 7 and 9 (1), (5) of the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights, to which the Sri Lanka is a state party, which state that “no one shall be subjected to torture or to cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment or punishment [and that] no one shall be subjected to arbitrary arrest or detention” and which require that “anyone who has been the victim of unlawful arrest or detention shall have an enforceable right to compensation.” Moreover under article 37(a), (b) of the Convention on the Rights of the Child, “no child shall be subjected to torture or other cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment or punishment [and that] no child shall be deprived of his or her liberty unlawfully or arbitrarily.” OMCT calls upon the authorities of the Sri Lanka to initiate an impartial investigation on these cases of abuse of authority by police and military forces in order to find those responsible for these violations of human rights and to bring them to justice.
Action requested
Please write to the authorities in Sri Lanka urging them to:
i. Guarantee the physical and psychological integrity of Mr. Shiwabalan, Mr. Parameshwaran, Mr. Selavakumar and Mr. Anandakumar;
ii. Order a thorough and impartial investigation into the circumstances of these events, in order to bring those responsible to trial and apply the penal and/or administrative sanctions as provided by law;
iii. Provide an adequate compensation to the victims;
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
Please also write to the embassies of Sri Lanka in your respective country.
Geneva, 13 August 2004
Kindly inform us of any action undertaken quoting the code of this appeal in your reply.
URGENT APPEAL / CHILD CONCERN
Arbitrary arrest, unlawful detention, ill-treatment
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 illegal arrest of four men, including two minors, by police officers of the Matale Police Station. Three of them were allegedly subjected to acts of torture during their detention.
According to the information received, at about 8:30 p.m. on 22 July 2004, police officer Ekanayaka (No. 28370) came to the house of Mr. Balakrishnan Shiwabalan, 17 years old, with a group of police officers from the Matale Police Station. They accused Mr. Shiwabalan, together with two friends of his, Mr. T. Parameshwaran and Mr. Muniyandi Neelamugam Selavakumar, 17 years old, of breaking into the house of the said police officer, Mr. Ekanayaka, and stealing 12,000 rupees. This arrest occurred just after the three young men refused to work on the construction of officer Ekanayaka’s house, as he had requested it.
The police forced the three men to come to the Matale Police Station to make a statement, without producing any arrest warrant. An hour later, the police released Mr. Parameshwaran but Mr. Shiwabalan and Mr. Selavakumar remained in custody.
During their detention, the two men were stripped of their clothes and blindfolded, beaten with iron poles, slapped and kicked by several police officers. By torturing them, the police tried to force them to admit to the false accusation that they broke into Mr. Ekanayaka's house and stole money. The police said that the victims would be released if they admitted to the crime. As they did not accept to do so, they were brutally assaulted repeatedly. Mr. Shiwabalan was beaten on his chest and soles of his feet with cricket wickets and was made to lie down flat on his face while beaten on the back and thighs. Mr. Selavakumar was also beaten on his thighs and back, and made to lie naked face down on a table.
On the following morning, on 23 July 2004, at about 10:00 a.m. three police officers led by Mr. Veeriah Vathan of Matale Police, came and took Mr. Anthonysamy Anandakumar, 19 years old, a very close friend of Mr. Shiwabalan and Mr. Selavakumar, to the police station. Mr. Anandakumar was brought into the police station at about 11 a.m. He was beaten in the same manner as the other victims and was kicked on the lower abdomen with police boots.
After the assaults, the three persons were taken to a District Medical Officer (DMO) but no medical attention was provided, despite the fact that Mr. Shiwabalan complained about his chest pain caused by torture inflicted by the police officers.
When the father of Mr. Shiwabalan, Mr. Muthiah Balakrishnan, went to the Matale Police Station with his friends to find his son, they noticed that the victims were handcuffed and held to the benches with iron chains. They came to know his son and the two other persons were tortured by police officers in the said police station. On questioning about the victims' release, they were told that the three victims would be released by 4:00 p.m., but they were not released. The police then said that the three young men would be released after 24 hours of detention, at 9:00 p.m., however, nothing happened. The police claimed they needed to ask more questions to the victims. They asked the father and his friends to leave the police station, threatening to assault them if they didn't go.
The men were detained over 40 hours (from 8:30 p.m. on 22 July to 2:00 p.m. on 24 July) in the Matale Police Station and were taken before the Matale magistrate's court and released on bail on 24 July 2004. After their release, all of the victims were admitted to the Matale hospital. Although they told both the Judicial Medical Officer (JMO) and the DMO of Matale hospital about the police assault, they were not examined seriously. They are now seeking medical treatment regularly.
The International Secretariat of OMCT is gravely concerned by this recent case of arbitrary arrest, detention and torture of several individuals, including minors. OMCT recalls that the events described above are a clear infringement of articles 7 and 9 (1), (5) of the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights, to which the Sri Lanka is a state party, which state that “no one shall be subjected to torture or to cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment or punishment [and that] no one shall be subjected to arbitrary arrest or detention” and which require that “anyone who has been the victim of unlawful arrest or detention shall have an enforceable right to compensation.” Moreover under article 37(a), (b) of the Convention on the Rights of the Child, “no child shall be subjected to torture or other cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment or punishment [and that] no child shall be deprived of his or her liberty unlawfully or arbitrarily.” OMCT calls upon the authorities of the Sri Lanka to initiate an impartial investigation on these cases of abuse of authority by police and military forces in order to find those responsible for these violations of human rights and to bring them to justice.
Action requested
Please write to the authorities in Sri Lanka urging them to:
i. Guarantee the physical and psychological integrity of Mr. Shiwabalan, Mr. Parameshwaran, Mr. Selavakumar and Mr. Anandakumar;
ii. Order a thorough and impartial investigation into the circumstances of these events, in order to bring those responsible to trial and apply the penal and/or administrative sanctions as provided by law;
iii. Provide an adequate compensation to the victims;
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
- 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
- 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 / 691 926, Fax HOME: +94 11 2 674148, E-mail: polcom@sltnet.lk
- Mr. T. I. de Silva, Inspector General of Police (IGP), New Secretariat, Colombo 1, SRI LANKA, Fax: +94 11 2 381394/ 446174
- Dr. Radhika Coomaraswamy, Chairperson, National 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
- Ambassador Prasad Kariyawasam, Permanent Mission of the Democratic Socialist Republic of Sri Lanka to the United Nations in Geneva, Rue de Moillebeau 56, Case postale 436, 1211 Genève 19, Tel. : +41 22 / 919 12 50, Fax : +41 22 / 734 90 84, Email : mission.srilanka@ties.itu.int
Please also write to the embassies of Sri Lanka in your respective country.
Geneva, 13 August 2004
Kindly inform us of any action undertaken quoting the code of this appeal in your reply.