Posted on October 9, 2011 by Evening Post, The London Editorial Team

By Nalaka Rupasinghe

Sri Lankans confront armed soldiers while protesting the killing by police of Roshen Chanaka.

“‘Budu Sir mava maranna epa mata podi daruvek innava’ –My lords don’t kill me I have a little son.” The locals heard Gayan’s screaming in agony while he was being beaten in the Dompe police barracks. Around midnight, his dead body was handed over to the local hospital. His murder sparked violent protests in the district of Gampaha. Police claimed the suspect died after jumping from a speeding jeep in an attempt to escape from the them.

Less than a week, after the massive protest in Dompe against that police murder, another suspect, Lalith Susantha Peiris, (32) was killed this week at the hands of the Moratuwa police. The message to the public from police was ‘WE DON’T CARE.’ The police claimed that the suspect had drowned in the river in Bolgoda while he was being taken to recover a so-called murder weapon. Moratuwa police area is notorious for police crimes since two innocent young men were killed in cold blood by the Angulana police in 2009, for allegedly touching a woman’s hand.

Last week’s prey of Sri Lankan police was G.A. Gayan Saranga, 28, a young father of a toddler from Dompe, in Gampaha district. He was taken into custody for transporting a stolen water pump in his three-wheeler, on 28th September, around 3.30 p.m. The following night he was dead (in Sri Lanka three-wheeler-owners earn a little money transporting goods and people). In the media the police portrayed Gayan as a wanted criminal. They claimed that the suspect who died in custody was a notorious criminal behind a series of robberies who was killed while attempting to escape from a moving vehicle.

This was reported in Times online on September 30, 2011. On the same day the Daily Mirror reported: “The suspect who died while in police custody in Dompe had jumped from the police jeep when the police had taken him to look for the stolen items which had been hidden.” But the locals knew the truth. After Gayan’s arrest, his family was not allowed to see him. According to the family members he had been hung by his legs from a beam in the police barracks and beaten overnight. The residents around the police station had heard his screaming in agony and begging for mercy.

Hearing the news that Gayan had been murdered, the enraged locals came to the streets and launched a violent protest against the police. When the protest started, the police had fled from the area as they were unable to defend the station. At least 16 police vehicles were burnt and the police station was set on fire by enraged residents. Heavy-handed military and the Special Task Force (STF) were deployed to calm the situation down. This was the largest ever protest against police killing in Sri Lanka’s history. According to intelligence sources more than ten thousand people had taken part in the protest. But the sad truth was many local media institutions were reluctant to demand justice for the victim. Did the media reflect the public anger? The anger was clearly evident in the video recordings. The Media are considered to be watch dogs of democracy. Thanks are due to some websites like The Asian human rights Commission, for publishing some vital facts.

The London Evening Post received some first-hand information from one of the army officers who were deployed to calm the situation down. He had seen the injuries on Gayan’s body. He said Gayan’s body had bruises everywhere; on his legs, face and chest even on the genitals. Both feet were purple from beating. He said: “The police version was utterly false. It is crystal clear he (Gayan) had been beaten to death. There were no signs of injuries to show he had jumped from a speeding jeep.” Gayan’s father is contesting the local government election on the opposition United National Party (UNP) ticket.

Hearing Gayan’s death, his father suffered a heart attack. This is not the first time public anger exploded. When two innocent young men were killed by the Angulana Police, public anger also erupted. When another man was forced to drown in the sea, by being beaten with poles, by the Bambalapitiya police, public anger exploded too. All those incidents happened not far from the centre of the Colombo administration, not far from the president’s official residence and the Presidential secretariat. There are hundreds of such incidents which have gone unnoticed in remote parts of the island. ‘Enough is enough’ that was the message from the public to the government and to the police.

The recent trend in Sri Lanka is for the government to deploy heavy-handed military and Special Task Force (STF) to calm down situations and cover up the government’s failure to stop extrajudicial killings. For example Roshan Chanaka, 22, was killed in May 2011, by the indiscriminate police shooting at protestors against the Private Pension Bill in the Katunayake Free Trade Zone. Hundreds of thousands of people came to the streets to protest against that brutal police attack. The mourners were banned from attending Roshan’s funeral. His body was buried under strict military restrictions.

The justification of extrajudicial killings by pro-government media is also partly responsible for the situation. When Neluwa Priyantha was shot dead by the STF, it was glorified by many news outlets in Sri Lanka without knowing that they were actually promoting extrajudicial killings. The papers reported: “A notorious underworld gang leader was shot dead by the STF in the southern province last night. The gang member known as Neluwa Priyantha was shot in the Sooriykanda area. Police claimed he had been taken to the area, after his arrest to show some of the weapons hidden and attempted to shoot at the STF personnel when he was fired upon. He was wanted for some 25 murders and was reported to be involved in distributing narcotics.’’

A London based Lanka news website had revealed the other side of the story. “The main reason for the assassination of Southern underworld leader Neluwa Priyantha is due to a business conflict with some of parliamentarian Namal Rajapaksa’s associates, sources from the Police Headquarters said.’’

Serial killers are identified by professional detectives by the way they attack and kill. Usually they are white males from a lower-to-middle-class background, usually in their late twenties to early thirties. But in Sri Lanka they are not ordinary criminals but criminals in the police of all ages. Their method is obvious in the killings and fabrications. In my previous article to The Sunday leader ‘Police Murders and Sri Lankan Media Responsibility’ I urged the media to prevent further such killings and to promote human rights in the island. It was widely received by independent media and nearly 10 websites re-published it for their audiences.

The government has never shown an interest in stopping extra judicial killings because it is the government’s best tool for to eliminating its opponents. Where is the procedure of taking suspects out of police cells for investigation? Why are police and the STF allowed to take suspects without handcuffs? Can suspects with handcuffs shoot at police? These are complete nonsense. Here I remind journalists and the public should be reminded by an editorial on Sunday, 11th Jan 2009, by the late editor of The Sunday Leader, Lasantha Wickramathunga before he was murdered: “Terror, whether perpetrated by terrorists or the state, has become the order of the day. Indeed, murder has become the primary tool whereby the state seeks to control the organs of liberty. Today it is the journalists; tomorrow it will be the judges….’’

Britain is known as a model for democracy. Torture is banned completely as a method of interrogation. In Britain if the crime could have been prevented the authorities such as Chief Constables, Police commissioner, Defense minister have to take full responsibility. In Britain when such crimes happen the media join together to demand justice and bring all relevant facts to the public eye. They do not allow police to disappear from the ‘radar’ until justice is done. They even expose misconduct in any media institution. For example, one of the most popular British newspapers ‘News of the world ‘ had to be closed forever in July this year after the revelation of ‘its own phone hacking scandal.’

When the British media revealed MPs’ expenses scandals, many MPs lost their jobs and four MPs and two members of the House of Lords have so far been jailed. Sri Lankans also deserve such democracy. “First they came…” is a famous poem written by pastor Martin Niemöller (1892–1984) about how passive German intellectuals were following the Nazi rise to power and the purging of their chosen targets, group after group.

Lasantha quoted it in his editorial (2009):

“First they came for the communist and I didn’t speak out because I wasn’t a communist. Then they came for the trade unionist and I didn’t speak out because I wasn’t a trade unionist. Then they came for the Jews and I didn’t speak out because I wasn’t a Jew. Then they came for me and there was no one left to speak out for me.” - Rev. Martin Niemoller, 1945.

Nalaka Rupasinghe is TLEP’s Sri Lanka Correspondent.