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ASIAN HUMAN RIGHTS COMMISSION - URGENT APPEALS PROGRAM

11 September 2003

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UA-48-2003: SRI LANKA: A 50 year old man killed by the police after arrest and torture

SRI LANKA: Torture; custodial death; danger of police inaction

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Dear friends

Name of victim: Okanda Hevage Jinadasa (50), Married man with 5 children; a mason by occupation

Date of victim's death: 5 September 2003

Address of victim: Okkampitiya, Moneragela District

Alleged Perpetrators: Grama Arakshaka personnel attached to the Okkampitiya Police Post

On 5 September 2003, Okanda Hevage Jinadasa was returning home by bicycle after work. Two Grama Arakshaka personnel [paramilitaries] attached to the Okkampitiya Police Post stopped him and searched his belongings. They found two packets of illicit liquor, equaling 284ml, in his possession. They beat him and brought him to the Okkampitiya Police Post. At the Police Post they beat him again with fists and poles and squeezed his testicles and neck, until he died. Police personnel took his dead body to the Okkampitiya government rural hospital, making a pretense that he was unconscious. A doctor who examined the body pronounced that he had died before being brought to the hospital.

The police have said that Mr. Jinadasa fell from a chair and died. The Monaragala magistrate who held the inquiry on 7 September 2003 ordered 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.

Meantime, a few days ago the Inspector General of Police (IGP) 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.

Please write a letter to the addresses below and express your concern over this serious case. Ask the local authorities to investigate the incident immediately and punish the responsible persons according to the law. A sample letter is attached.

1 Hon. Mr. Ranil Wickremasinghe
Prime Minister
Cambridge Place, Colombo 7
SRI LANKA
Fax: +94 1 2 682905
E-mail: <mailto:secpm@sltnet.lk>secpm@sltnet.lk or <mailto:bradmanw@slt.lk>bradmanw@slt.lk

2. Hon. Mr. K. C. Kamalasabesan
Attorney General
Attorney General's Department
Colombo 12
SRI LANKA
Fax: +94 1 2 436 421
Email: <mailto:attorney@sri.lanka.net>attorney@sri.lanka.net or <mailto:counsel@sri.lanka.net>counsel@sri.lanka.net

3. Mr. Ranjith Abeysuriya PC
Chairman National Police Commission
69-1 Ward Place, Colombo 7
Sri Lanka
Fax: +94 1 2 691 926
Fax HOME: +941 2 674148

4. National Human Rights Commission of Sri Lanka
No. 36, Kynsey Road, Colombo 8
SRI LANKA
Tel: +94 1 2 694 925 / 673 806
Fax: +94 1 2 694 924
E-mail: <mailto:sechrc@sltnet.lk>sechrc@sltnet.lk

5. Mr. Theo C. van Boven
Special Rapporteur on the Question of Torture
OHCHR-UNOG
8-14 Avenue de la Paix
1211 Geneva 10
SWITZERLAND
Fax: +41 22 917-9016
E-mail: <mailto:secrt.hchr@unog.ch>secrt.hchr@unog.ch

6. Ms. Asma Jahangir
Special Rapporteur on Extrajudicial, Summary or Arbitrary Executions
c/o OHCHR-UNOG
1211 Geneva 10
SWITZERLAND
Tel: 92 42 5763 234
Fax: 41 22 917 9006 / 92 42 5763 236
Email: webadmin.hchr@unog.ch / asmalaw@brain.net.pk

Sample letter:

Dear

I am wring to bring to your immediate attention a custodial death case involving Okanda Hevage Jinadasa, 50.

Okanda Hevage Jinadasa was arrested by two Grama Arakshaka personnel without the legal power to arrest people, on trivial grounds of having a small quantity of illicit liquor on 5 September 2003. After he was brought to the Okkampitiya Police Post, he was severely tortured by two Grama Arakshaka personnel and finally he died. The Monaragala Assistant Superintendent of Police (ASP) has held the Grama Arakshaka personnel for questioning, but no serious action has yet been taken by the police to punish the responsible persons.

I am deeply concerned about serious human rights violations committed by the police and security personnel that have sadly been too frequent in Sri Lanka. The tolerance of torture has been widespread among all authorities, including the police and judges, as well as politicians.

I urge you to immediately investigate this serious case and bring the responsible persons to justice. I also urge you to call high-ranking police officers to account for this incident, in keeping with the circular of the Inspector General of Police, which has stated that all Officers in Charge and other high-ranking officers should take responsibility for the custodial deaths and torture at police stations. I further urge the Inspector General of Police to offer an apology to the victim's family, in writing and with due publicity.

A more serious approach to eliminate custodial deaths and torture, and to develop an action plan to impose discipline on law enforcement officers, needs to be taken in Sri Lanka. I again urge the Sri Lankan government to give compensation to the victim's family in keeping with the standards of international law.

Thank you.

Sincerely yours

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Thank you.

Urgent Appeals Programme

The Asian Human Rights Commission (AHRC)