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| The nephew had run to his home with severe pain. He had told his friends about the incident as his father had gone to work. He had returned to his aunt’s house few hours later in the late evening to confront the uncle....... |
by Our Correspondent in Jaffna
(April 02, Jaffna, Sri Lanka Guardian) Relatives of torture victims in a family dispute have contacted the Sri Lanka Guardian with firsthand account of inhuman practices by the state forces to extract information from the accused. It is clear from the information provided, the police and the army have acted one sided by holding the complainant’s complaint as gospel and tortured the defendant to agree to the accusations.
The police and army in this case had taken the side of the complainant and had gone to the extra-ordinary length to torture the accused. The accused father and a neighbour too were tortured by the army.
This case highlights the need for mechanisms to be created for the forces to become accountable for their own conduct and the government’s Human Rights body to be informed of any arrests and their engagement in the investigation process to safeguard the victims from any abuse.
The principle of ‘an accused or defendant is presumed innocent until and unless proven guilty’ must be the objective of any investigations.
Systems must be established to put the responsibility on the police to conduct fair investigations and come out with high degree of proof established through fair and accountable investigative process before producing a person in court.
Sri Lanka Guardian is withholding the names of the persons involved. This news together with the identity of the persons will be sent to the international human rights organisations for their consideration.
Two weeks ago in an argument involving two male relatives in the Kachcheri Nallur Road in Jaffna where they lived as neighbours, the army had involved following complaint by one party. Both males are said to be three wheeler drivers. The argument took place in front the older relative’s house and his sister had come out of the house and had shown sympathy towards the younger male relative who is said to be her nephew. She had hugged him to facilitate the brother to assault the victim. According to the victim’s relatives, the hugging had helped her brother to hit the victim with a coconut on his head.
The nephew had run to his home with severe pain. He had told his friends about the incident as his father had gone to work. He had returned to his aunt’s house few hours later in the late evening to confront the uncle. The gate was locked and the doors remained bolted. The victim found that his aunty and uncle were hiding inside the house in fear.
According information, the victim’s aunty is well respected by the army in the nearby army camp. She supplies them with tea, coffee and Tamil sweet dessert on a daily basis. The army too calls her Sudu Nona, meaning white lady. The army officials had said: ‘ Sudu Noda bohama hondai. Apita The, coppi, payasang hadala denawa’ (The white lade is very good. She makes us tea, coffee and sweet dessert).
Whilst the younger relative was sleeping at his house in the night, the army had called in and had taken him away to the nearby army camp. He was told that they have received complaints that he had stolen some jewelleries of Sudu Nona which he denied.
He was beaten and tortured at the camp to agree to the complaint. The victim despite pain inflicted on him had stood to his grounds.
After two days of ill treatment, the victim was handed over to the Jaffna police where he had undergone further torture.
The victim’s father on returning from work next morning rushed to his relatives house (Sudu Nona) with a neighbour to find the whereabouts of his son. Sudu Nona had called the army and both were taken into captivity and were severely tortured by the army at the camp. The neighbour was released the next day and the father two days later.
The father rushed to the Human Rights office on release and made a complaint of the arrest and torture inflicted on them. The HR officials had rushed the Jaffna police station and pressurised the police not indulge in torture. With their involvement, the victim was transferred from police remand to the prison and torture too came to an end.
Soon after, the son was produced before the Magistrate Court on 28 March 2011 on charges of stealing properties of Sudu Nona. At the brief hearing, the victims denied the charges and he was ordered to appear for full a hearing on 27 April 2011 with his father and neighbour.
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