Sri Lanka
26.11.02
Urgent Interventions
Sri Lanka: death in police custody of 78-year-old Mr. P. A. Piyadasa
Case LKA 261102
Torture / Death in detention / Impunity
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 alleged torture and the death in police custody of 78-year-old Mr. P. A. Piyadasa in Veralugampola, Sri Lanka.
According to the information received, Mr. P. A. Piyadasa of Papiliwela in Veralugampola was arrested by a group of policemen from the Kirindiwela police station at midnight on Nov. 20, 2002, while he was sleeping in his home. In the early morning of Nov. 21, his body was reportedly handed over to the Watupitiwela Base Hospital where he was declared dead.
It is reported that the police claims that Mr. Piyadasa was arrested in relation with sales of illicit liquor near his house. Police agents reportedly first took him to this alcohol sales point, where another person had reportedly been arrested and assaulted, and then to the Kirindiwela police station. According to relatives, he was assaulted at the police station, allegedly resulting in his subsequent death in detention.
A complaint has been submitted to the superintendent of the police in the area. Following petitions from the public, which included claims that there were eyewitnesses to the alleged assault, a special police investigation is being conducting by the deputy inspector general of police (DIG), Pathmasiri Liyanage. The officer in charge (OIC) of the Kirindiwela police station, Ranjith Mahimkanda, and six other policemen attached to the station have been transferred pending the completion of the investigations.
In addition, there are also reports that the army was called in and a curfew applied on November 24th, in order to defuse tensions at Mr. Piyadasa’s funeral procession, which was reportedly attended by 3,000 people.
This case must be seen in the light of other similar cases of deaths in the custody of the Sri-Lankan police, in which persons arrested in relation with petty crime or small-time robbery – often without valid reasons or as a resulted of eroneous tip-offs - are tortured, sometimes to death, at the hands of the police. Local human rights groups fear that this reflects a growing and widespread pattern of police abuse in Sri-Lanka, in which the authorities are not doing enough to bring the perpetrators to justice.
The International Secretariat of the OMCT wishes to express its deep concern about the death of Mr. Piyadasa. While OMCT welcomes the launching of an investigation into the circumstances of this death, it fears that the perpetrators of these alleged acts will not be brought to justice, as this has so often been the case in the past. OMCT calls on the authorities to ensure that the investigation is conducted in an effective and impartial way and that sanctions be imposed as provided by the law on all persons found guilty of human rights violations in relation with this case.
Action requested
Please write to the authorities in Sri Lanka urging them to:
i. ensure 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, civil and/or administrative sanctions as provided by law;
ii. put an immediate end to the torture and ill-treatment of persons held in police custody;
iii. guarantee the respect of human rights and the fundamental freedoms throughout the country in accordance with international human rights standards.
Addresses
· Her Excellency President Chandrika Bandaranaike Kumaratunga, President's House, Colombo 3, Sri Lanka. Fax: + 94 1 333703, E-mail: for_min@sri.lanka.net
· Hon. Prime Minister Ranil Wickremasinghe, Cambridge Place, Colombo 7, Sri Lanka. Fax: + 94 1575 454. E-mail: secpm@sltnet.lk
· Hon. Mr. K. C. Kamalasabesan, Attorney General, Attorney General's Department, Colombo 12, Sri Lanka. Fax: + 94 1 436-421
E-mail: attorney@sri.lanka.net or counsel@sri.lanka.net
· Honourable Minister for Justice and Constitutional Affairs, 37, Kirula Place, Colombo 5. Sri Lanka. Fax: + 94 1 437680
· Honourable Minister of Interior John Amaratunga, Colombo, Fax: + 94 1387 526, + 94 1698 282
· Inspector General of Police, Mr. B.L.V. Kodituwakku, New Secretariat, Colombo 1, Sri Lanka, Fax: 0094 1 446174
Please also write to the embassies of Sri Lanka in your respective country.
Geneva, November 26th, 2002
Kindly inform us of any action undertaken quoting the code of this appeal in your reply.
Torture / Death in detention / Impunity
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 alleged torture and the death in police custody of 78-year-old Mr. P. A. Piyadasa in Veralugampola, Sri Lanka.
According to the information received, Mr. P. A. Piyadasa of Papiliwela in Veralugampola was arrested by a group of policemen from the Kirindiwela police station at midnight on Nov. 20, 2002, while he was sleeping in his home. In the early morning of Nov. 21, his body was reportedly handed over to the Watupitiwela Base Hospital where he was declared dead.
It is reported that the police claims that Mr. Piyadasa was arrested in relation with sales of illicit liquor near his house. Police agents reportedly first took him to this alcohol sales point, where another person had reportedly been arrested and assaulted, and then to the Kirindiwela police station. According to relatives, he was assaulted at the police station, allegedly resulting in his subsequent death in detention.
A complaint has been submitted to the superintendent of the police in the area. Following petitions from the public, which included claims that there were eyewitnesses to the alleged assault, a special police investigation is being conducting by the deputy inspector general of police (DIG), Pathmasiri Liyanage. The officer in charge (OIC) of the Kirindiwela police station, Ranjith Mahimkanda, and six other policemen attached to the station have been transferred pending the completion of the investigations.
In addition, there are also reports that the army was called in and a curfew applied on November 24th, in order to defuse tensions at Mr. Piyadasa’s funeral procession, which was reportedly attended by 3,000 people.
This case must be seen in the light of other similar cases of deaths in the custody of the Sri-Lankan police, in which persons arrested in relation with petty crime or small-time robbery – often without valid reasons or as a resulted of eroneous tip-offs - are tortured, sometimes to death, at the hands of the police. Local human rights groups fear that this reflects a growing and widespread pattern of police abuse in Sri-Lanka, in which the authorities are not doing enough to bring the perpetrators to justice.
The International Secretariat of the OMCT wishes to express its deep concern about the death of Mr. Piyadasa. While OMCT welcomes the launching of an investigation into the circumstances of this death, it fears that the perpetrators of these alleged acts will not be brought to justice, as this has so often been the case in the past. OMCT calls on the authorities to ensure that the investigation is conducted in an effective and impartial way and that sanctions be imposed as provided by the law on all persons found guilty of human rights violations in relation with this case.
Action requested
Please write to the authorities in Sri Lanka urging them to:
i. ensure 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, civil and/or administrative sanctions as provided by law;
ii. put an immediate end to the torture and ill-treatment of persons held in police custody;
iii. guarantee the respect of human rights and the fundamental freedoms throughout the country in accordance with international human rights standards.
Addresses
· Her Excellency President Chandrika Bandaranaike Kumaratunga, President's House, Colombo 3, Sri Lanka. Fax: + 94 1 333703, E-mail: for_min@sri.lanka.net
· Hon. Prime Minister Ranil Wickremasinghe, Cambridge Place, Colombo 7, Sri Lanka. Fax: + 94 1575 454. E-mail: secpm@sltnet.lk
· Hon. Mr. K. C. Kamalasabesan, Attorney General, Attorney General's Department, Colombo 12, Sri Lanka. Fax: + 94 1 436-421
E-mail: attorney@sri.lanka.net or counsel@sri.lanka.net
· Honourable Minister for Justice and Constitutional Affairs, 37, Kirula Place, Colombo 5. Sri Lanka. Fax: + 94 1 437680
· Honourable Minister of Interior John Amaratunga, Colombo, Fax: + 94 1387 526, + 94 1698 282
· Inspector General of Police, Mr. B.L.V. Kodituwakku, New Secretariat, Colombo 1, Sri Lanka, Fax: 0094 1 446174
Please also write to the embassies of Sri Lanka in your respective country.
Geneva, November 26th, 2002
Kindly inform us of any action undertaken quoting the code of this appeal in your reply.