SRI LANKA: A young man tortured to death in Kandaketiya police custody

The Asian Human Rights Commission (AHRC) has received information regarding a young man of the age of 17 who was illegally arrested by officers from the Kandaketiya police and severely tortured along with his brother and another family member. Despite appeals by his parents and lawyers the Magistrate who heard the case presented by the police ignored face that he had been tortured. Denied of medical treatment, P.H. Sadun Mallinga died in the remand prison while his brother held him in his arms.

Sri Lanka: AHS undergraduate activists assaulted in custody and hospitalised; Academics condemn.

A student leader assaulted  in custody

Of the 17 student activists arrested on Friday, four were admitted to the Accident Ward in the National Hospital yesterday, after sustaining injuries while in police custody.

However, the activists claim that two of the more seriously injured students have not been hospitalised despite pleas, a claim denied by the police. The Student Unions claim that the 13 students were brutally beaten by the police while in custody. The students were arrested at two different locations on Friday.

Kamlesh Sharma, promises made to you, personally by the GoSL have been shamelessly, unrepentantly broken

Samaraweera: Sharma, act now

''We recall that you promised Sri Lanka would put plans in place to change its legislative procedures to remove senior judges within weeks of a key meeting of a Commonwealth Ministers Grouping (CMAG) in April last year. We were further encouraged by your announcement that the Commonwealth Secretariat will assist Sri Lanka in setting up a National Inquiry on Torture on the eve of CHOGM. Repeatedly we have been told that the Commonwealth Secretariat had in fact initiated a process that would bring the issue of national reconciliation under Commonwealth scrutiny and compliance.''

Mangala Samaraweera writes to Kamalesh Sharma

Sri Lanka: Another Video Exposed Army Brutality

 from the vedio

After Sri Lanka Gaurdian a  video just few days ago,just few days ago, another video received by Sri Lanka Guardian from a reliable source in the Army Intelligence, which exposed another aspect of the Sri Lankan Army brutality.
WATCH VIDEO HERE
According to the source, this video also recorded on a mobile devise, though we could not find detail about the location and victims. Our humble request for all people in the country to join us to eradicate torture in the country which ratified the UNCAT convention and other human rights protocols.
- Sri lanka Gaurdian

Sri Lanka’s Abu Ghraib Moment

Screen shot of the video

Tisaranee Gunasekara
“Evil is unspectacular and always human, And shares our bed and eats at our own table Auden (Herman Melville) For once, the military has done something sensible. It has admitted the authenticity of the footage depicting several army personnel inflicting cruel and degrading punishments on a group of female recruits .
Crimes of every sort, from rape downwards, happen in any army. But these crimes are often conducted in secret, behind at least a semi-closed door. The scenes depicted in the latest Lankan footage happen out in the open. The perpetrators seem totally at ease, almost nonchalant, with no discernible concerns about exposure, leading to censure or condemnation.

Sri Lanka Army says video of Solidiers beating Tamil female recruits is authentic

Screen shot from the video

See video here

“The military says a new video leaked and circulating on YouTube showing some soldiers harassing a group of female recruits is authentic, and promised strict action against them,” the Colombo Gazette reports while quoting the Army spokesman today. Army spokesman, Brigadier Ruwan Wanigasooriya said that Army Commander Daya Ratnayake had ordered an investigation into the video after it first surfaced earlier this month. The investigation carried out by the Sri Lanka Army Corps of Military Police had revealed that the video in question is an authentic one, the army spokesman said.

Report: Torture and Sexual Violence in Sri Lanka 2009—2014

Yaumin Sooka , Author of the report at HRC25
presenting the report (©sunanda deshapriya)

Executive Summary

This report paints a chilling picture of the continuation of the war in Sri Lanka against ethnic  Tamils, five years after the guns went silent. The findings are: • Abduction, arbitrary detention, torture, rape and sexual violence have increased in the post-war period. Targeted for these violations are LTTE suspects, or those perceived as having been connected to, or supporters of, the LTTE. The purported aim is to extract confessions and/or information about the LTTE and to punish them for any involvement with the organisation.

Skull with open mouth adds to Mannaar killing field evidences

One of the skulls, recovered at Thirukkeatheesvaram mass grave in Mannaar had its mouth wide open bearing marks of torture injuries in the mouth. Four more human skeletons were located on Thursday, when exhumation resumed at the site. The SL police at the site blocked Tamil physician from Mannaar G Gunaseelan, who is an elected member of the Northern Provincial Council, from witnessing the exhumation. The Sinhala policemen sent him away from the site, news sources in Mannaar said.

Rights Now challenges the Human Rights Commission's lame excuses on postponing National Torture Inquiry

Sudarshana Gunawardena.

Rights Now Collective for Democracy challenged the Human Rights Commission of Sri Lanka (HRCSL) to be transparent about real reasons as to why the previously announced National Inquiry on Torture has been postponed, through a letter to the Chairman of the HRCSL from the Executive Director of Rights Now, Attorney-at-Law Sudarshana Gunawardena.

Torture: a common part of Sri Lankan police interrogations

Chaminda Priyantha Kumara, 32, was tortured over
a period of two days at Kalutara South Police Station

Critics decry brutal, corrupt criminal justice system

Chaminda Priyantha Kumara, a 32-year-old amputee, was about to begin a 130 km journey to deliver heart medication to his wife when he was surrounded by men at a bus stop in Kalutara, accused of theft, attacked and then arrested by police.
Kumara, who was initially accused of stealing a mobile phone and 680 rupees (about US$5.20), says that on the night of May 21 last year and the following day he was brutally tortured, publicly shamed and accused of additional crimes including petty theft, burglary and murder.

Letter to Human Rights Commission of Sri Lanka on the postponed Tortutre Commission

The following text was sent as a letter addressing the Chairman, Human Rights Commission of Sri Lanka today. It was signed by Sudarshana Gunawardana of Rights Now Collective for Democracy on behalf of 16 civil society organisations.

This was faxed to the Human Rights Commission today (Friday 13.12.2013) and it will be sent to the HRC by registered post tomorrow.

Sri Lanka to set up National Inquiry on Torture, It will be monitored by Commonwealth, says Kamalesh Sharma

 “We are also putting in place a scheme
that will help Sri Lanka progress
towards national reconciliation.”

Parvathi Menon

The Commonwealth Secretariat will assist Sri Lanka in setting up a National Inquiry on Torture, its Secretary-General Mr. Kamalesh Sharma said in an interview to The Hindu at the Secretariat headquarters at Marlborough House on the eve of his departure to Colombo to attend the Commonwealth Heads of Government Meeting.

To be set up under the aegis of the Sri Lanka National Human Rights Commission and to be assisted and monitored by the Commonwealth Secretariat, the inquiry will investigate all allegations of torture committed by government agencies or arms of the state from 2009 (the final stages of the civil war) to the present, he said.

Sri Lankan refugees at risk under return policy: Australian HRC

Asylum seekers from Sri Lanka risk being returned to potentially harmful situations under the government's enhanced screening process, the Australian Human Rights Commission says.
It's also warning that proposed changes to the refugee determination process to reduce avenues for appeal could see refugees return to danger.

Scarred by Sri Lankan torture

Michael Gordon

 ''Kumar's'' scars are real and are only just beginning to heal - the result, he maintains, of four gruesome days of torture in a dark room, somewhere outside Colombo, barely two weeks ago.

''I thought I was going to die,'' he says, before his captors allowed him to dress, then blindfolded him, and dumped him beside a road.

Police reject US allegations of torture of suspects

The police have rejected allegations of torture of detainees raised in a US human rights report released by the State Department. Acting police spokesman Priyashantha Jayakody said that the police undergo training in maintaining human rights when carrying out their duties.

Matale mass grave: Gory details of torture ; Nails inserted into the fingers

Crime scene: will the perpetrators be punished? 

Ranga Jayasuriya
The report of Judicial Medical Officer (JMO), Dr. Ajith Jayasena, on the mass grave in Matale reveals in gory detail the extensive torture the hapless victims had been subjected to before their mass burial.
“The skeletons bore extensive marks of torture. We have discovered a major crime scene,” said Dr. Jayasena.
“Nails have been inserted into the fingers in some skeletons. In some others, nails have been inserted into the legs of the victims as well.

Varnakulasingham Arulanandam : Released, re-arrested and tortured

Mr. Varnakulasingham Arulanandam (42) lived in Ward 09, Mallihaithun, Pudukuduirippu in Mulative District. He was abducted and forcefully recruited into the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Elam (LTTE) during the middle of 1996. This was before he completed his schooling. Arulanandam was among many other children who were abducted by the LTTE under their massive child soldier recruitments that was rampant in his area.

The LTTE policy was that one child in each family should serve in their military. In 2003 Arulanandam was able to escape from the LTTE but left with fearful and traumatic memories. Then he was able to rejoin his family which includes an elder brother, a younger brother and sister and his father who was a farmer.

Written statement to UNHRC: The absence of action regarding complaints of torture and ill-treatment

Sri Lanka: The absence of action regarding complaints of  torture and ill-treatment
The ALRC and its sister organisation the Asian Human Rights Commission (AHRC) has submitted to the government of Sri Lanka in 2012 a total of 46 complaints relating to torture and ill-treatment. All these cases related to serious assaults on persons after arrest and during the period of detention at police stations. The victims in these cases and the date of the incidents are listed below:

Matale Mass Grave:arms and legs appear to have been severed and the bodies buried in a haphazard manner

Nearly 200 skeletons unearthed: clear sings of torture ( Photo- Ceylon Today)

The skeletal remains found in the mass grave at the Matale Hospital premises do not belong to people who had died due to natural causes, as their arms and legs appear to have been severed and the bodies buried in a haphazard manner, a senior police official said.

Matale Skeletal Remains On The Rise

Consultant Judicial Medical Officer of Base Hospital, Matale Dr Ajith Jayasena collecting bones of those buried.

Disrespectful mass burial

The skeletal remains that were found at the Matale District Hospital compound has put the whole nation in a state of shock, and questions are being raised about the identity of the three skeletons, and how such a gruesome act could have happened in a civil society as ours.

This brings to surface the findings of mass graves in Chemmini and Sooriyakanda in the past. Even today, there are dead bodies found all over the island. One ponders whether Sri Lanka itself has become a mass grave today.

The count of skeletons found in Matale is growing as we go to print. By last Thursday, the number had gone up to 43. According to Matale District Hospital, Consultant Judicial Medical Officer, Dr. Ajith Jayasena, more skeletons may be found in the coming days. “If so, this will be the biggest mass grave ever found in the history of Sri Lanka,” Dr. Jayasena said.