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Urgent campaigns / Urgent Interventions / Sri Lanka / 2005 / January

Sri Lanka: Sri Lanka: Arbitrary arrest and torture of Mr. D.G. Premathilaka

Case LKA 280105
Arbitrary arrest / Torture


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 arbitrary arrest and torture of Mr. D.G. Premathilaka by Katugastota police for the second time.

According to information received, Mr. Premathilaka was arrested and severely tortured by twelve Katugastota policemen, including the officer-in-charge on 23 January 2005. The police forcibly entered his house and took him to the police station. His wife visited him the next day and noticed that his sarong was wet with blood. Premathilaka complained that he had been brutally tortured.

On 25th January, Mr. Premathilaka appeared before Kandy Magistrate, he was appointed a lawyer by Katugastota police officers, and was charged with selling illicit liquor. He was not granted bail and is remanded until 8 February 2005.

Previously, on 8 and 9 January 2004, Mr. D.G. Premathilaka was arrested and tortured by Katugastota police, for giving up his illicit liquor business. It is reported that the illicit liquor business is often beneficial to the police, as it can only be carried out by paying bribes to the police. Subsequently, he filed complaints against the alleged perpetrators and has since been threatened and pressured to withdraw his compliant by the police. On 16 November 2004, D.G. Prmathilaka was threatened by Mr. Aranpath and several officers from the Katugastota Police who allegedly said, “If you do withdraw the file, you will be taken good care of by the police”. The police further told him that a warrant had been issued for his arrest and he should accompany them to the police station, but failed to produce a warrant against him. At the time, D.G. Premathilaka refused to accompany them without seeing a warrant.

The International Secretariat of OMCT is gravely concerned for the physical and psychological integrity of Mr. D.G. Premathilaka and calls on the Sri Lankan government abide by the international legal obligations it has subscribed to, namely by taking genuine steps to implement the Convention Against Torture (CAT), which it has ratified and therefore accepted as domestic law.


Action requested
Please write to the authorities in Sri Lanka urging them to:

i. Take all necessary measures to guarantee the physical and psychological integrity of Mr. D.G. Premathilaka;

ii. Order his immediate release in the absence of valid legal charges, and if such charges exist, to ensure that he is given a prompt and fair trial, in which his procedural rights are guaranteed at all times;

iii. Immediately order a thorough and impartial investigation into this case of torture, in order to identify all those responsible, bring them to trial and apply the penal and/or administrative sanctions as provided by law;

iv. Guarantee that adequate reparation and medical care is provided to the victim;

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
  • Mr. Mahindra Rajapakse, Prime Minister Temple Trees, Galle Road , Colombo03, SRI LANKA Tel: +94 11 2 543938-42 / 437676, Fax: +94 11 2 384916, E-mail: pm_sec@slt.lk

  • 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. Chandra Fernando, Inspector General of Police (IGP), New Secretariat, Colombo 1, SRI LANKA, Fax: +94 11 2 440440/327877

  • 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

  • Prof. Manfred Nowak, Special Rapporteur on the Question of Torture
    Attn: Mr. Safir Syed, C/o OHCHR-UNOG, 1211 Geneva 10, SWITZERLAND
    Tel: +41 22 917 9230, Fax: +41 22 917 9016 (general), E-mail: ssyed@ohchr.org

Please also write to the embassies of Sri Lanka in your respective country.

Geneva, 28 January 2005

Kindly inform us of any action undertaken quoting the code of this appeal in your reply.

Properties

Date: January 28, 2005
Activity: Urgent campaigns
Type: Urgent Interventions
Country: Sri Lanka

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