Death of a Balloonman
Sunil Perera sold balloons as small business (not like Mt Lavinia photo)
Amma needed some balloons for Subu’s birthday. She called the Balloonman. Punchi needed some balloons when the little one turned three. She did the same. In April the Balloonman’s company provided 350 red, yellow and blue balloons for a sports meet in Ratnapura. On June 29th there was a bomb threat to the school. The teachers looked through their received calls and somehow found the Balloonman’s cell phone number. The police knock up to the house around midnight and take him to jail, beating the 55 year old man and his assistant in custody. Five days later he’s released, barely conscious. He dies two days later from his injuries. The charges were entirely baseless. The phone records listed no calls to the school. As if that’s a crime. An innocent man was just taken to jail and beaten to death. His name was Sunil Perera.
From the reports I read Perera’s company number was in someones phone at the school. Then the cops took him and his assistant Gamini Munaweera in for questioning. At midnight. The onus was on the distraught wife to investigate and get the phone records from Dialog. Not the, er, investigators. The wife has to wade through red tape and paperwork while her husband is being beaten in remand. He was diabetic and they weren’t giving him medication. According to Munaweera,
“They forced us to kneel and then they assaulted us with sticks. They also shouted at us in foul language. On one occassion they forced us to kneel continously for about 45 minutes.” Gamini said. He said the two of them were bleeding from their knees and they pleaded with the guards not to beat them but they continued to do so mercilessly. “About six of them beat us. I could identify some of them” (Sunday Times)
The story of the five days is the same as any dealing with the police. Nobody knows any sort of procedure and you bring one document to be told to go find another. I can stand the wait cause all I’m killing is time, but this woman has to run through hoops while the cops are killing her husband. I’m not sure it’s legal to even keep someone in remand without any evidence, court order, or – whatsitcalled – rule of law. It is certainly not acceptable to beat and torture anyone in custody. But it happens. And this time the man died.
Most police are surely trying to do their job, but police are but the servants of the law. All these physical entities ‘doing something’ serve words, they serve the constitution and they serve the law. They serve an ideal and a country where you can sell balloons and make phone calls without getting beat to death. Where you need some evidence before you’re dragged out of your home. Where you can get some insulin while you’re waiting in jail. This isn’t security and this isn’t justice. It’s just the trappings of law and order over a core of wanton brutality.
Photo and inane headline in Sunday Leader
I’m not asking for too much. I don’t have to live at the mercy of every soldier or policeman manning a checkpoint. They cannot drag me out of my house without charges, they cannot hold me without evidence. They can’t tell me when to drink or what to watch or what ads I see in the goddam magazine. It’s not right. The state is slowly becoming a parasite, feeding on fear, corrupting the causes of the poor and defenceless, spewing out diseased copies of itself. This isn’t Sri Lanka. We’re better that this. We have to demand rule of law, even when following the law may be inconvenient. As the retired admiral John Hutson said, “If you don’t apply it when it’s inconvenient,” he said, “it’s not a rule of law.” No temporary security measures are worth cutting corners. This wasn’t even a real bomb and there wasn’t any evidence. We’ve just cut corners in the name of ‘terror’ so many times that we’ve forgotten what real justice is. Justice means rule of law for everyone, in every situation. That is real security. Not this.
Can I relate to you a joke I heard a very long time back, which became more ironic after this incident. I’ll put it down briefly, just for the sake of the gist of the joke.
There was a contest to find the best police force in the world. The task they had to complete was to find a rabbt that was released to the jungle. First to go was Scotland Yard. They searched everywhere, couldn’t find the rabbit and reported back saying further investigations will be carried out. Next came the Americans who ravaged the jungle and burned it down and then said “don’t worry about the rabbit, it’s been destroyed”.
Last but definitely not the least, the Sri Lankan Police came. They went into the jungle and in a little while returned with a bear. It was bleeding and they policemen were hammering the poor fellow. Finally the bear fell on its knees and said “Budu Mahaththayo mata gahanna epa, ow mama thamai haawa” (Good Sir please don’t hit me anymore, yes I’m the Rabbit)
I laughed when I first heard this but now it is scary because it could happen to anyone. If the police can’t handle simple technology like CLI properly to complement their investigations, I shudder to think what messes they would create with other advanced technologies. Sunil Perera was not the first victim of such irresponsibility and he most definitely won’t be the last.
The original of this joke refered to the CIA, the FBI an the LAPD.
Actually, there is no need to worry too much about this incident because the newspapers have reported that those responsible will be punished.
It was reported that they will be “suspended from service”!
Its disturbing to see that we are acting in a manner reminicent of the Americans in Iraq. The policemen are merely acting in a manner that has (perhaps unofficially) been approved of by their superiors who, in the face of any public outcry, turn up the heat on their subordinates and suspend/dismiss them from service. When in fact, they are the very people who brought about this behavior by ratifying eliciting information through torture by promotions etc. If you want any change you have to always start from the top – if the superiors dont support a change, it’s just NOT going to work however fair or justifiable it is. Chances are that most of the guys at the top also got their on the merit of having beaten up at least a few guys. However, what is more disturbing is that the Americans at least are not torturing their fellow countrymen, they are torturing people who they think are the “axis of evil” as good old George Bush put it – and I, for one, would like to think that this makes a difference.
I hope “nobody” (above) is not being serious. Sunil Perera used to supply my place of work with balloons when we needed them. The reason this case is receiving so much attention is because he was connected. He had his own business. His children are abroad. He was Somebody.
I shudder to think how much of this is meted out to people who are less well-connected, without it ever being noticed by the media. Police beatings are a very common occurence. It’s a standard interogation technique.
I walked into the Welikada Police Station in 1998 or 1999 and, while sitting on bench in waiting area, I heard bloodcurdling screams and the noise of a thrashing in the next room. This guy I was with popped his head round the door to see what was going on, and he saw a man with his hands hundcuffed behind him (one over the shoulder, one under, accross his back) being beaten with a rubber hose. Everybody in the police station including people who had come on traffic matters – members of the general public -could hear the screams. Nobody batted an eyelid.
I was 18 or 19 then. I didn’t even think about doing anything about it then. I just accepted it as a fact of life. What would I do now? What CAN I do now? I guess I could make a fuss about it and report it to the Human Rights Commission. Is that the procedure? I don’t know. Are they on call? Is there even a number? Is it listed? I think we need to find out, and save it on our phones. I have a feeling somebody reading this is going to need it sooner or later.
I was partly serious.
Some newspapers did report that those responsible will be “suspended from service”.
like this one in lankadeepa
This particular headline seemed irrisponsible to me. I mean here is a man who is murdered, and a newspaper reports that those suspected of the crime will be “suspended from service”!
i.m.o those who are suspected of this crime should be behind bars by now, and they should remain behind bars till the investigations are completed, so the issue of “suspending them from service” shouldn’t even occur. (But even they should not be treated the way Mr. Perera was treated!!!)
When I say that they should be behind bars till investigations are complete, I assume that in their case there is some tangible evidence such as eye witness testimoney (which is likely to be the case since Mr. Gamini says he can identify the attackers) to implicate them. If the evidence is as thin and groundless as it was in the case of Mr. Sunil Perera, then what I said doesn’t apply.
In any case, if an ordinary citizen is accused of murder, you can be sure that he’ll be arrested immediately instead of being merely suspended from his job. (I assume that the people accused of Mr. Perera’s murder haven’t yet been arrested because that hasn’t been reported in the newspapers.)
But I didn’t meant it when I said there was “no need to worry too much about this indicent”. I was just trying to express my disgust at the fact that those who did this attrocious crime are unlikely to be punished properly. Such people are almost never punished properly. ironically, they are likely to receive all the benefits of due process of law that they denied to the late Mr. Sunil Perera.
just to clarify – I used the word nobody purely refering to myself.
I’ve had a similar experience of sitting in a cop-shed while they beat the crap out of some poor drunk chap they picked up on the street, that was a pretty traumatic incident. The thing is for the most part the police system has completely broken down in Sri Lanka. When my aunt had to go to the police station for some ID related issues I had to accompany her simply because she didn’t trust the police.What happened is absolutely horrendous but is hardly a surprise. Remember all that talk about doing something on Moju, well this is a concrete issue that deserves public outrage and demonstration for some of the following points:
1) The police respect people’s rights
2) Torture which is now systemic throughout the law-enforcement establishment is abolished
3) Some sort of accountability procedure and reporting procedure for abuses.
Just some ideas. This is also an ideal opportunity to display people power, pick someone public, high-up in the Police chain of command and agitate for his public apology, acceptance of responsibility and resignation. The apathy that led to this incident has to be addressed at the very top levels, otherwise we are only treating the symptom and not the disease.
police brutality is of course common. i was once in the receiving end ( 14 or so years ago) after getting arrested (illegally, for a few hours) for ‘disturbing the peace’(actually protesting against a government official’s unjust actions) .
and as childof25 says this is a concrete issue on which ppl can rally and make clear demands.
however one thing we should not do is overly generalize as indi’s post does. for instance is it fair to accuse and convict the whole police bc of actions of a few (and to nitpick they were not exactly police in this case, but prison officers, which is completely different administratively ) ?
nor should we commit the same error by not allowing those accused the due process . i read somewhere, too lazy to search and link, may be ‘journalists’ here will enlighten us with the facts, that the postmortem examination concluded that this death was not due to beating. we too should be careful to get the facts.
generalizations and premature judgment will only destroy the credibility of the ppl making them.
nobody : what’s done is done and someone is dead, killed in the worst way possible for absolutely no reason at all. whether those that were responsible are ‘punished’ or not now, they did what they did and THAT’S what’s scary. you can’t justify wrong with punishment. it’s not that simple.
Whether such incidents will repeat themselves in the future will depend partly on whether those responsible for this incident (and other similar crimes) are punished properly.
If the system allows the people who do these kinds criminal acts to go scot free, then we should not be surprised to find these kinds of things being done in the future.
On the other hand, if those who are responsible are punished for their crime, others with similar inclinations will be deterred from beating or torturing prisoners in the future.
Also, I did not advocate “wrong punishment”.
Whatever is done should be done in accordance with procedures layed out in law and in accordance with the principles of natural justice and people should be presumed innocent until proven guilty. (The fact that I find it ironic that those who denied due process to Mr. Perera are most likely to receive the benefits of due process of law is a different matter. I did not imply that this should not be the case.)
As far as I know, ther usual procedure is for suspects to be detained while investigations are being carried out if the prima facie evidence that implicates them is strong. The fact that this hasn’t happened yet indicates that something fishy is going on and probably means that those responsible for this crime arn’t likely to be punished ever.
Sure it’s scary THAT this happened at all!
Now that it has happened though, it would be much scarier if those responsible arn’t punished.
That’ll be a free pass for any jailer to repeat this kind of thing in the future.
The Moju enough group is working on gathering information on what your rights, etc. It’d also be great if there was some hotline with lawyers people could get access to, or at least sensible advice. The thing that’s scary is that you can get tossed in jail and then lost in unweildy bureaucracy unless you have some solid phone calls in your pocket. You literally need a ‘Get Out of Jail Free’ card to accomplish anything in a timely manner.
Another thing the group is trying to do is speak with the relevant people in the police/security departments who are, ultimately, trying to protect the public. I think it is important to recognize them as fundamentally helpful people and to open a dialogue more than protesting.
Regardless, there should be much more transparency. One near-future step would be to simply record everything (or record randomly). If there were CCTV cameras in police offices then the process would literally be transparent.
Dialogue would be much better, I just didn’t think there would be people in the higher ranks willing to listen. There’s also this push-pull problem off whether us the rich are willing to give up that “get out of jail free” card that most of us have beccome so accustomed to. It’s sorta ingrained in us that the law can’t really touch us and there’s going to be a lot of resistance to giving that up.
I would add to transparency the need for accountability. Someone for example has to resign over this scandal, the OIC who was in charge of the investigation for negligence and the head honcho of the prison should be made examples of.
Also on the subject of dialogue overcoming resistance from the higher up people (which I’m assuming some would) to initiate meaningful dialogue would require some sort of protest, public humiliation via print media, etc. so wouldn’t discount that out of hand…at least as a back up
Try Mahinda Samarasinghe. he’s going on about Transparency, etc. now.
Besides he’s a pretty pragmatic man, and this type of thing should fall under his ministry’s purview.
The CCTV suggestion is good, would be expensive to implement i would imagine. At least if they can implement it in Colombo for starters, and places like CCD. Currently if you are arrested by the CCD, they even deny you are under their custody, and brutality is kind of common in that type of situation.
I think it’s better to go after some solid tangible commitments like this one, I’m sure anyone will be willing to give a verbal commitment to uphold human rights.
Sittingnut – generalisations???
… that the postmortem examination concluded that this death was not due to beating. we too should be careful to get the facts …???
Come on man, that is exactly the point, of course the bloody “postmortem” from your “can’t find the link ” is going to say that this man’s death was “not due to beating”
How callous can you be? Do the words cover up mean anything? The whole incident stinks and there is no justifying it so stop trying to slip in a bit of “in the name of national security” to explain this latest Sri Lankan tradgedy.
Moving on to doing something a bit more positive…
Get this Mojo project off the ground, I mean it looks like everyone (including s/nut) has a story to tell – write them down, put them into categories, look for patterns of abuse, expose these patterns and make people aware of what to be careful of and their rights.
No matter how many blood thirsty violent bastards of all shapes and forms there are in Sri Lanka, there are just as many if not more decent human beings who are for justice.
My deepest sympathies to all of you who knew this well loved man, may he rest in peace and may his death not be in vain. It’s up to you to ensure that it isn’t.
ashanthi:
so calling for facts (rare in sl blogs in general and your comments in particular) and clarifications, and asking ppl not to pre judge or generalize is callous? and helping the ‘cover up’ ?
oh well.
if ppl want to live in a fantasy world and do not want to deal with details of reality, they are free to do so.
in that case do not expect to influence reality unless you can impose your fantasy on others by force.( as ltte does). bc in a free society there will always be ppl who ask questions.
Ashanthi you were away for a while. Where were you? Can’t you go back?
Like it or not this sort of thing happens all the time. More often than not for petty thieves and criminals it’s the most effective form of punishment. For them a few days in the slammer counts for nothign and is probably the only way of guaranteeing a free meal. The ‘due process’ is a hassle for policemen, and sadly rarely brings results. Justice delayed is justice denied, and immediate justice is sometimes that of the jungle.
One of th leading dailies is where sittingnut is getting his info. The JMO for whatever reason said that his death didn’t stem from injuries. A ‘cover up’ is very possible. But the JMO’s word is law in Court. This situation, apart from the fact that it happened to Sunil Perera, forms a large number of the fundamental rights applications in the Supreme Court.
The fact is, you can be detained on suspicion. If under the PTA indefinitely, and under normal laws for 24 – 48 hours before being produced before a Magistrate who may remand you for a further two weeks etc etc.
On the flip side. The ‘due process’ is often too slow and not compelling enough to make an LTTE informant or other criminal give up any noteworthy information. You have to beat the fuckers till they do. Otherwise you risk a bomb in a central place, a couple of murders etc., and then we are the same group who turn around and say what the hell are the security forces doing?
This incident smacks of some personal grudge. CLI is fairl low tech investigative procedure and perhaps Companies like Dialog need to be mindful of their importance and be less anal about giving out information to someone who can prove their identity. Their was a sinister hand that took Balloonman’s life. We should agitate until it is found.
Indi you insist that words are key in this environment. May I suggest you start writing to a broader reader base on these issues? Seriously.
I can bail you out for free. And do the fundamental rights application for your family upon your gruesome death. But we’ve got to have some balls and get out there men. Seriously.
//*** Like it or not this sort of thing happens all the time. More often than not for petty thieves and criminals it’s the most effective form of punishment. For them a few days in the slammer counts for nothign and is probably the only way of guaranteeing a free meal. The ‘due process’ is a hassle for policemen, and sadly rarely brings results. Justice delayed is justice denied, and immediate justice is sometimes that of the jungle. ***//
People who share the kind of sentiment expressed above should also share part of the responsibility for the late Sunil Perera’s death.
If petty thieves should be whipped and beaten as a punishment then that is something that should be decided by parliament through appropriate legislation. It’s not something that should be decided by police officers.
In Singapore for example, criminals are whipped and lashed, but it’s done in accrodence with laws passed by the parliament of that country and in accordence with procedures established by those laws and those whippings are carried out only in accordence with judicial orders.
The problem with spot punishment for petty thieves is the fact that the alleged thief might be innocent and the police might have made a mistake or maybe the theifs neighbour made false allegations as some kind of revenge over a personal matter.
Legal procedures are designed to give any accused person an opportunity to present any evidence he may have to concerning his innocence. A person who is accused of a crime has a right to present his side of the story. This right is denied when an accused is given on the spot punishment in the form of beatings.
The rule of law is a central element of civilisation and if we dispense with it and deal with “the justice of the jungle” then we should not be surprised when crimes such as Mr. Pera’s murder are commited.
The fact that due process is a “hassle” for policemen is hardly a reason to dispense with it.
Until and unless people better understand the importance of the rule of law, the incidents such as Mr. Perera’s murder will continue to occur.
Someone sent me a mail regarding the arrests of Tamil civilians and what rights people have in general,
Presidential Directives: receipts of arrest
*A person can only be arrested when a reason for arrest is clearly given to the person arrested. It is the right of every citizen of Sri Lanka to demand the reason for arrest.
*A person can only be arrested by state officers, and not by other persons who may act in the guise of being state representatives. Hence, officers must be in uniform with valid ID when attempting arrest.
*When a person is arrested, the officers arresting must issue a document to the spouse, father, mother, or any other close relative of the detained stating the following.
1. acknowledgement of the arrest
2. the name and rank of the arresting officer
3. the time and date of arrest
4. the place at which the detained will be held
*This receipt must be issued to all persons arrested or detained by the security forces. If an officer does not do this, he must explain why he is unable to do so and record these reasons in the Information Book in the relevant police station.
*The family member who is given this receipt must produce it at time of release of the detained person.
Asking for this receipt at time of arrest is every person’s right!!
*When a person is arrested by any member of the state forces, the detained must be given means to communicate with a member of the family or friend.
Also, women and children have the right to be accompanied to the station and the Human Rights Commission must be informed within 48 hours of any arrest.
Machan can your someone please source this information, because it’s not in any of the legislation. It seems he might be talking out of his arse.
Daily Mirror, Wednesday, July 5th. See front page article “Respect Fundamental Rights of People : President Tells Armed Forces, Police.” It’s not worded exactly like that, but the gist of it is similar, and in fact it goes into greater specifics. I’ll put it up on my blog.
Obviously this is not being practiced. but are there any legal repercussions of not adhering to this ? like not being presentable in court or sometin?
“presidential directives” are not laws.
These are instructions given by the president.
Whether these procedures are implemented will depend on how serious the President is regarding them.
Personally I’m sceptical, these directives will probably be forgotted after the public outcry is over. (And since they are not laws, there is nothing that members of the public can do to obtain any relief through them in a court of law.)
We don’t need any new laws or regulations or presidential directives.
We need the “rule of law”.
If prison officers don’t respect the rule of law, it’s unlikely that they will care much about “directives”.
All that is necessary for the triumph of evil is that good men do nothing. – Edmund Burke
I agree with Sophist. We need to broaden the base of this forum, and of kottu.org in general. Alternative voices like Janapathi’s and Ashanthi’s must be heard.
I think about 3% of the population have internet access. That is about 500,000 people. We must increase awareness and encourage larger numbers of the population to participate in this unfetterred expression of opinion. The influence of the blogs will grow with its size.
This is the thing. Like Sinick or someone was saying the other day, we’re just preaching to the converted. The only problem as you mention Ravana is the lack of internet access, and the fact that most buggers who do have it at work or home or school, are probably surfing porn. We need to get in people’s faces, and I think it might be a slight bit more useful at this juncture than any actual lobbying. Let’s face it we don’t have the clout to get ourselves heard at the top, and nobody would even know if were chucked out of someone’s office.
We’ve got some buggers with publishing know how and tech wizardry (despite the fact that they can’t send a simple forward), and I’m sure we could get the help of some big English/Sinhala daily to make this forum as interactive as possible.
I have been discussing this with Indi. We must use the mainstream media to increase the awareness of kottu.org in exchange for material for their newspapers. Good posts and comments can be compiled as news articles. It’s a win-win situation. First crack the English speaking newspapers.
The country has gone to the dogs.
Those who can get out, should do so. Others, put everything in hard currency and hang on tight – we are still close to the top of the roller coaster and there is a long ride to the bottom.
country was always to the dogs. jumping ship is not always an option.
I like this english newspaper idea. there’s are some good content in SL Blogs.
Another way is also to find some sort of a connecting ‘hub’ for different people even online. since obviously it’s the same old people in the blogs who are reading and commenting. perhaps an Aggregator site which covers not only blog content, but refer to forum discussions in other sites. might connect these different ‘speheres’ so to speak. Not that it’s anything solid.
More pormotions for Kottu is another option. actually, that might work. what u say?
Now you want to write to the MSM? Oh please.
The readership of English MSM is made up of, for the large part, people with a similar ‘moderate’ mindset. Writing articles to the English MSM will not effect any changes. One only has to read the letters pages of these papers to see that people are already writing to the papers on these issues.
The problem is that no-one is taking these issues up. An issue pops up, someone writes a letter, maybe a politico says they’ll look into it, and then it’s forgotten.
What we need is to keep the pressure on until these issues are resolved. The curent crop of MSM outlets don’t do that.
Take the following example. If a man was beaten to death while in police custody in the US, the media would go into such a frenzy until someone somewhere had to take the responsibility for it and resign. And measures would be passed to see that it wouldn’t happen again.
Our MSM is not like that. It doesn’t have that power. So writing to the papers isn’t going to do much. Whenever anything happens, my Uncle’s answer is “I must write to the papers.” He’s been doing that for a few decades now, and we’re still up shit creek without a paddle. Like I said, people have been talking for a long time now. Talking is great, but without action, it’s all just hot air, isn’t it?
Social activism. It’s the only way, kids. Let’s get on the streets and make some noise. Pick a few issues and protest. People will come.
As a suggestion, here are some issues that should be taken up:
• Police brutality
• Any issues of racism to Tamils or any other minority
• Any issues of corruption (especially ones that are hushed-up)
• Any issues relating to people being intimidated by thugs for whatever reason
• Any issues relating to people perverting the course of justice using influence
• Minor annoyances, like how embassies rip-off our poor public by charging five-figures for visa applications (does it really cost that much to process a visa application?)
To do this we need to have an organised movement, that sees that these issues are taken up, publicises them, and follows them up tenaciously until they are resolved. The movement should be totally apolitical, only serving to look after issues that concern Sri Lankan society as a whole.
Can it be done though? Or shall we just write to the papers?
Blogs in the west have developed to pressurize the MSM and powers-that-be indirectly. Blogs serve the role of keeping things from slipping off the front pages. Examples include Trent Lott, Dan Rather, AOL Dial-Up service, etc. Those were all things knocked down (though Rather was regretable) by blogs. The relationship with the MSM is important, for the health of both parties.
Social activism and organized movements take time, office space, phone calls, and – most importantly – human resources. If that’s what you want to get into that’s fine by me. I am a terrible manager and interact poorly with the physical world. I have no personal interest or skill in that sort of thing. Other people are exploring it and I try to support them however I can. If you want to do something, by all means, do it. This is what I do.
As a medium-term goal I think connecting to the MSM is important. Any social activism you’d like to undertake would be great.
[...] The Sri Lankan police are not the politest people in the world. Neither are they always the most restrained (as is glaringly obvious in the recent case of the brutal interrogation and death of the Balloonman). I find their manner less than desirable when I commit minor traffic offences. I can imagine I would find a fair bit worse if they suspected me of terrorism, and I could not express myself very well in a language they understood. [...]
s.nut – stop being obtuse and twisting my words
sophist – are you sure you want me to go away, if so stop talking to me. Anyway thanks for at least elaborating on the article that s/nut was referring to. I’m afraid I still see no justification for anyone being beaten up, although you do have a point about time taken to get confessions – still you cannot honesly believe that because of this innocent people must die.
I definitely smell a rat too and I’m sure, if someone was to dig a bit deeper on the otherside of this story you will find that this murder was as a result of someone wanting to take out the competition. Certainly it’s not politicaly motivated, although I am surprised that s/nut hasn’t come up with some sort of a ltte slant
ravana – thanks I think, but I am hardly as alternative as Jayaschmuko – please, he’s a complete nutter, I’m a woman, I just get very emotional and upset about things – ask s/nut & Morq :-)
Your post above I think is a good starting point. Why am I being called alternative when I say that every Sri Lankan should have the right to be treated with respect at the Police Station or in any of their dealings with the Police, or any government official.
If we are talking about 500,000 internet users now, this will surely grow. Does anyone have an estimate on the annual increase in purchase of computers and what age group is making this purchase. If we could get just 1 per cent of users to actively email and promote awareness on their blogs about human rights issues and links to relevant web sites, who knows how many additional people we could reach.
As I said, it’s in your hands but certainly it gives me hope. I have done my best to promote Sri Lankan bloggers and their opinions, even if I don’t agree with them. The bottom line is most decent people want the same thing. Extremeists must be tempered in Sri Lankan society it is long over due. s/nut (and others) go on and on about the ltte, fact is they, like the JVP are a product of a violent government system which disenfranchised particular groups. So who came first the ltte/jvp or the bloody GOSL with it’s thugs in uniforms (the police in this case) who have been brutalising civilians for decades. Whether it’s an innocent man being beaten up in a suburban Colombo police station or the army standing aside and watching whilst thugs kill people on the basis of their ethnicity after an election that some arsehole politician won or lost.
If this paragraph makes me “alternative” – well so be it but I would appreciate it if Sophist and co. stop acting so bloody high and mighty and step outside of their prima donna “I live in Sri Lanka, I’m the son of so & so, I get plastered every night and I’m more entitled to talk about Sri Lanka than anyone else”.
For all the arguing that s/nut and I are doing at the moment (!) – I sitll read his blog and not Sophists. Ravana is 100 per cent right, you need to broaden your base and the first way to do that is to get of your high horse (Sophist).
ashanthi:
s.nut – stop being obtuse and twisting my words
as i said before,
oh well.
Certainly it’s not politicaly motivated, although I am surprised that s/nut hasn’t come up with some sort of a ltte slant
i see that you have been reduced to finding speculative faults about me. :-)
anyway exaggerations, generalizations, and pre judgments will only hurt those who make them.
when someone making a case depend exclusively on anecdotal evidence and personal experience, willfully exclude inconvenient but known facts, appeal to emotions using circumstances not relevant to the case, draw unwarranted general conclusions from a few ( if that) incidents, etc. one should start questioning the case or hold one one’s nose till some else does.
Ashanthi, you’re not an alternate because you promote some imaginary notion of ‘equality. We call you an alternate voice because you’re a fuckwit. And some of are have a brain and the ability to construct sentences. So we’re an alternative to you. But you are immensely useful because you bring the fuckwit to the party. Hence the necessity to hear voices such as yours.
And the reason you don’t read my blog is possibly, and I maybe wrong on this, because I don’t have one.
Fuckwit.
A sample of Sophist’s command of the English language and how he uses his brain…
And some of are have a brain and the ability to construct sentences … fuckwit … fuckwit … fuckwit… Wow I’m so impressed.
Thanks, for telling me you don’t have a blog Sophist, I never bothered to look.
I’ve also heard that you are a goose of no significance so I’m not too worried about your swearing and carry on and I would refrain from using the royal we too – you don’t represent as many as you might like to think. You’re constant berating of other bloggers to make yourself feel superior gives me great insight into your real status amongst the set you so desperately want to join and I have had this confirmed. Feel free to write entire comments just to me though, you’re proving my point more than I could ever manage.
S/nut – you deserve everything I dish out to you, come on now :-). Still I think when bloggers write about a particular person they might have known, you should try show some respect and sympathy. Blogging by it’s very nature is personal, all I say, is tread lightly, sometimes, try, just for me, OK ;-).
The realisation that this man will never be able to have his simple ordinary and peaceful intreactions with other people anymore. He didn’t desrve to die and I don’t believe his death was caused by anything other than Police brutality. It’s going to take a lot more than your scolding me s/nut to convince me otherwise.
So – let’s move onto the more positive comments in this blog which would mean that all people in Sri Lanka can visit a blog/site to find out their rights and obligations when dealing with police matters in what is essentially a police state.
WTF!!!! she called you a GOOSE OF NO SIGNIFICANCE Sophist!!! surely you can’t get up from that insult… hang your head in shame… I didn’t realise we were back in grade four
What’s this set that I so desperately want to join? I’d really like to know, especially as it’s confirmed and all.
Sophist, I think we should stop attacking people, and attack their arguments instead. I know it is difficult when people are being thick and extreme, and I have probably been guilty of it in the past as well. However, as long as people are willing to be rational and logical, some degree of agreement can eventually be achieved, I think.
The problem is, some people are not rational and logical, and this is why I class you along with Janapathi, Ashanthi. In fact, Janapathi, as misplaced as his opinions are, I think can be made to see a point if you have the divine patience to logically reason it out with him. I am not sure whether you, on the other hand, would allow yourself to change your mind.
When you suggest, for example, that some sinister force other than the LTTE is behind Lakshman K’s assassination, and the Kebethigollawa bombing, I find you adopt the position taken by LTTE apologists, if not the LTTE themselves. The other thing is, you seem to believe that, strategically they have nothing to gain by these two actions, when actually, strategically it makes all the sense in the world to do this. Therefore, I often feel that you do not understand the motivations of the various groups, and the reality of what is going on in Sri Lanka at the moment.
I agree Ravana. But sometimes you just can’t take it. Like Zizou. It’s like Materazzi’s chest…she’s just there! My apologies to the greater blogging community for the vile personal attack.
ashanthi:
I don’t believe his death was caused by anything other than Police brutality. It’s going to take a lot more than your scolding me s/nut to convince me otherwise.
i also think he probably died due to his treatment in custody (not police in this case, i repeat) . and as i said before police brutality is common, i know personally. but if one wants to make a case for some action, one must make sure of the details.
that all people in Sri Lanka can visit a blog/site to find out their rights and obligations when dealing with police matters in what is essentially a police state.
:-) what did i say about exaggerations, generalizations and pre judgments? but as you wish.
Police brutality still exists almost everywhere in the world, and it’s always a tragedy. When you fear those who are supposed to be protecting you, I don’t see how you can ever feel safe. My sympathy goes out to Sunil Perera’s family.
I guess tragedies like this are more prone to happen, and less likely to be reported, where there aren’t independent watchdogs or the finances to provide reliable CCTV cameras and other such safeguards.
Ravana has a good point quoting Burke, it’s so crucially important that things like this are reported. Blogging really does provide a way of spreading awareness to a broad base of readers, and such open and frank discussion allows us to make up our own minds about whether any bias exists. It’s a damn good start.
Happy to see Sinick make at least one concrete proposal.
Unfortunately, his proposal is the same old, tired old: get on the street and wave some placards.
No, the strength of the blog is what needs to be leveraged. Even the street demos are no longer street demos; they are street demos performed as TV visuals. Go for the blog to English MSM to Sinhala and Tamil MSM route.
Tamil Net is now essential reading for journalists in LK. Took some time to get there, but it did. Objective should be to get MSM journos to glance at Kottu after they read Tamil Net.
Colombo is a small town: you can start by reaching out to individual journos; and of course writing in a way they can use easily.
Never forget: like everyone else the journo is a lazy animal. The easier you make it for him/her to do her/his work, the greater are your chances of success.
You’ve come a long way. Keep going.
Capitalize on your strengths. Words matter.
Hello Ravana – sorry, s/nut’s keeping me well busy – I will respond but truly as the above comment says, keep going and keep up the good work.
I suppose I should begrudgingly thank indi for creating an atmosphere for this discussion to occur.
You know.. when you make an outgoing call. The number sent as calling party can be assigned. There is technology that assigns any given number you want as the pilot number. So who on earth can trust CLI these days? I myself make use of the clir facility cos i dont want business parties having my number on their call back list. Yet clir in SL works only from mibile to mibile device. For actual call records it is the billing system that had to be accessed. But there again there have been so many cases of bill tampering that mobile companies gave restricted access to the billing systems. Yet how do you control something like a national telephone service?
As much as admire your capacity for nihilistic though processes…how is this relevant?
Evil lankan – that sound extra that you have going on your blog is sooooo full on.
Ravana – The problem is, some people are not rational and logical, and this is why I class you along with Janapathi, Ashanthi. I
Crap
In fact, Janapathi, as misplaced as his opinions are, I think can be made to see a point if you have the divine patience to logically reason it out with him.
Ravana – you are indeed a patient man, I commend you…
I am not sure whether you, on the other hand, would allow yourself to change your mind.
Nope, not just because some blogger said so and not when it doesn’t make sense. One doesn’t “allow” ones self to change one’s mind, ones mind changes one… hmmm?
When you suggest, for example, that some sinister force other than the LTTE is behind Lakshman K’s assassination, and the Kebethigollawa bombing,
Hang – I’m not the only one that questions this – have a look at Electra’s blog something was written – to me from one of Lux Kadi’s younger relatives, sorry he thought it very strange too. Strange, sinister, suspect – either way, does anyone have the right to hound anyone because we express our opinion?
I find you adopt the position taken by LTTE apologists, if not the LTTE themselves.
Hmmm – I think you are hitting a bit low here. Did you vote this last election Ravana – who did you vote for, let’s say you voted for the JVP – are you an apologist for all the crimes against humanity they committed? No, didn’t think so. So if someone expresses an opinion that could be twisted in the ltte’s favour, does that make them an apologist. The way you idiots carry on with you nationalistic fervour, I surpirsed PB doesn’t offer Morq a PR job!!! Me – well, there’s no way he would do that – because I’d be too much trouble :-). I’d ask too many questions. I’d be a woman and too demanding. I wouldn’t put up with bullies like Sophist or s/nut (on a bad day that is :-).
The other thing is, you seem to believe that, strategically they have nothing to gain by these two actions, when actually, strategically it makes all the sense in the world to do this.
Seriously – c’mon you cannot be serious – the LK thing just does not make sense. It has resulted in them being banned from the EU. You’ve got see that this is a serious issue for them. Also – LK was old, really old.
Therefore, I often feel that you do not understand the motivations of the various groups, and the reality of what is going on in Sri Lanka at the moment.
Quite possilby – and with the utmost humility I fully accept that I do not live there, I have no SL friends, in fact I know you more than I know any other SL’n. Such is the sinister nature of blogging :-). Still – don’t be so naive as to think that the tyranny of distance does not give some of us a very good perspective on what you buggers are doing with our country – OK?
Why thank you :D Lets hope i put some more entertainment on for everyone :D
I think you guys (and girls) are overestimating the power of Kotthu and other SL blogs. Even if 2.5% of the population has internet access, you can be sure that the overwhelming majority aren’t reading SL blogs. I’ve been an internet user from about ’99 or so, and a prolific one from about 2001. In that time, I never discovered an SL blog. Crazy isn’t it? I had a look at Moju only a few months ago, and that because I was directly linked to it so that I could read my interview. Most other surfers are like me. So blogs are very much a niche. Indi points out how US blogs pressure the MSM, but Doc correctly points out what little influence the MSM has on society in SL. There’s no point in pressuring the impotent. If you want to change the impact of MSM, blogs will have to become more mainstream. This might mean a blog becoming a weekly newspaper itself in order that what is discussed during the week can be solidified into articles.
Don’t kid yourselves. Anonymous debates and conversations on the internet will have no effect whatsoever in SL. It has very little even in the west. The only time it breaks the horizon is when the MSM picks it up, and that usually doesn’t have much of a lifespan.
Blogs are important and MSM has a huge impact on Sri Lanka. Sri Lankans are creatures of gossip, reputation and words and media has almost more effect here than in the West. Even blogs, for the small population they reach, still have higher toto readership than Hi! or any glossy magazine. indi.ca, for example has about 10,500 visitors a month, compared to a print run of 5,000. Their readership, of course, is at least 3 times that, but blogs in toto have gotten legitimately big very fast.
Second, regardless, of the readership, what is more important is that people are talking to each other. Before you can say anything to the world you need to know what you’re saying, and Kottu – even if no outsiders read it – is valuable in that it has about 200 repeat visitors every day. Pure numbers, are IMHO, inconsequential and even detrimental to ‘changing things’. If you have 12 people that communicate with each other and have hashed out commonalities that is a much more potent force than 1 million readers.
The more history I read the more fascinating I am at the small and mundane germs of amazing things. The American conservative movement was launched by an obscure memo by Justice Powell and some meetings, Wednesday meetings at Grover Norquist’s house, etc. The entire multi-billion dollar House of Saud originally seized power with 20 men and some camels. The American Revolution was presaged by writings by Silence Dogood (Ben Franklin), Thomas Paine and other pamphleteers with fewer reach than most laptop jockeys today.
It is not a numbers thing. Words are important for their own sake, in both their light and heavy aspects, for transmission over distance or time. As a writer you don’t need to worry about you or how many people read you. You just have to write, and you write because you have to. History starts from very small, mundane things that fly completely under the radar. So, to respond. Anonymous debates and conversations on the Internet will have an effect on Sri Lanka.
Well, if the idea of a blog or internet debate is to express yourself or to ‘write because you have to’, fine. Painters don’t expect to change society with their work either. But if you want to influence change, that’s another matter, and I strangely thought that’s what you guys were talking about. Then numbers count. Not the numbers doing the talking/writing, but the numbers reached. BTW, do you have 10,500 individuals visiting a month, or do you mean hits? I might write a book because I feel the need to write, but if I write an article or report I must be concerned about readership.
As for Ben Franklin et al, they didn’t simply write. Neither did the House of Saud. Words were followed by action, and action that was of the most dynamic kind. Most blogs are just debates and occasional rants (especially in SL), there’s no real call to action. Even the great peace outcry on Moju has now dimmed down to making checkpoint personnel more polite.
The biggest problem with blogs is the anonymity factor. Anonymous voices in cyberspace carry no weight with civil and national leadership. These voices are barely given human status by the establishment. Over the past months I’ve attempted to point military officers, GoSL officials, journalists and editors to various topics and posts on blogs, only to have the overwhelming number say something like ‘yeah, but that#s not important’.
Mainstream media does carry more weight, but not in the way it should. SLers are no more gossipy than people anywhere else, sorry. Can’t agree with you on that. But again, the leadership is quite aware of how inconsistent the MSM is, and don’t give it the respect given in the west. Ever heard of a poll in SL? I haven’t. Take that recent issue of how a cable TV provider was shut down and accused of illegal practices. The company had been patronized by several GoSL ministers and one had even been a guest of honour at its opening. The guy who ordered the shutdown was also a govt official. If this had happened in the US or Europe, whatever the outcome, the MSM would have asked for heads to be rolled, and the rquest would’ve been granted. But not in SL. The MSM just does not have much impact. Newspaper readership is dropping steadily (in all languages) and with it influence.
I agree with David that anonymous voices in cyberspace carry no wieght with civil and national leadership. It seems to me though, that whilst blogs don’t have the power to change the world they do have the power to influence individuals on a personal level.
I’m reading this blog in England having no real connection to Sri Lanka. That in turn has led to us talking about it in the office. We’re more aware of Sri Lanka because of this blog. Sure, we’re not civil or national leaders, and we’re not going to change the situaiton in Sri Lanka by chatting about it in a office in England – but stories like this are reaching and affecting people on the other side of the world, and that makes it a very powerful medium.
Quite so. Blogs are a powerful medium. But don’t give them more than they deserve. And since we are talking about influencing the situ in SL, that is the context it must be looked at in. I was just watching a report on CNN about Israeli and Lebanese blogs and their content. While the latter is informative and helps build a pic of what’s happening, it held no weight because of the anonymity and the inability to verify anything. There is no responsibility. We have no clue of who a blogger is or what he really represents, whether he is an individual or a front for an organization, whether one individual is merely creating aconversation with an alter-go or not. The CNN correspondent repeatedly (3 times in a 5-minute piece) stated that they could not authenticate anything on the blogs in question. All of these issues are not present in MSM, and that’s why they have whatever respect they get. For blogs to really have influence on the establishment, they must be established themselves, and reputation, responsibility, and all the other things that go with conventional media are needed.
Blogs are not powerful.
MSM are not powerful, in Sri Lanka.
Only powerful things are feet on streets; placards in hands.
Evidence?
It took Ranil Wickremesinghe 9 hours to get from the airport to Colombo after CBK took the three ministries because of the massive crowds expressing their support. Did that change anything? The FMM routinely stands outside the Fort Railway Station with placards in hand after a journalist is killed. Does that change anything?
I’ve been told that the manifestly corrupt Airport-Colombo expressway deal (where costs went up from rupees 11 billion to 30 billion within a year, after competitive process was aborted and Cabinet took it upon itself to award the contract) has been postponed/cancelled one week after Ravaya ran a headline story. Is this true?
If yes, MSM can do things.
If MSM can, blogs can too.
Don’t get me wrong. I am not claiming that blogs in their present form are powerful. I am simply questioning this blind faith that placards in hand has some magic power.
without credibility there will not be power to influence.whether it be blog , msm, or protest. mere preaching( in whatever media) won’t work, you have to convince.
to be a credible influence ppl need to get their details, aims, and methods right.
credibility can also be destroyed by questioning the veracity and legitimacy of the above mentioned details, aims, and methods.
if ppl cannot defend, or even in some cases define, any of that their attempt at whatever will not be successful.
that ravaya article probably had enough details to convince.
ranil in 2003 did not read the situation clearly(and underestimated cbk) and probably personally disliked the methods (mass protests) he had available.
additional problem with sl blog’s credibility is the bloggers number and social background. it is telling that indi chose ‘hi’ magazine as a good comparison. lol
sl bloggers if they can get off their butts, are probably capable of putting on a party cum fund raiser on behalf of mr perera’s family on a comparable scale to any ‘hi’ mag reading ladies group. :-) nobody will oppose that.
but whether present lot of bloggers have the stomach to take on any cause that will generate opposition and build a credible case to convince those who do not read glossy mags and watch cable tv is highly doubtful. whether bloggers like it or not it is that kind person who really need to be influenced in order to change anything bc it is they who have the power in sl.
Ah get over it. This is how it is in the 3rd world. There simply aren’t enough resources to go around and the police has to compensate for that by being brutal. That’s how it used to be in all the developed countries that you’re using as a benchmark. Sri Lanka will eventually get there.
Most of their victims aren’t innocent. In a country where so many criminals never get prosecuted, we have a choice between some police brutality or no criminal justice at all. Wake up from your fantasies. This is the real world.
How did developed country policing get cleaned up? Because people protested; not because of people accepting the stupid violence.
JM, you are as criminal as the police and jailors who killed the Balloonman. Go wash your hands of the blood of an innocent man. Pity that there will no inquiry about criminals like you.
aththa
if he is a criminal, what does that make you who convicts ppl without evidence?
practice what you preach. or be a hypocrite
JM’s comments are repugnant and Sri Lanka can and should aspire to be much better. Murder and torture are not justice, they subvert justice and nothing excuses them. If you believe in Sri Lanka you have to believe we’re better than this
again are you sure this is murder? who gave you the right to judge that? aren’t those jailers( not police as you alleged ) allowed due process ?
isn’t a person who convicts all policeman of a death that autopsy says was not due to a beating that some( not all) jailers may or may not have given, doing exactly what he is accusing others of doing ?
as i said practice what you preach or be a hypocrite.
am i being too fantastic? too unrealistic? ( was jm right after all? )
am i wrong to expect better from ppl here ? ( not just from sri lanka)
Who gave me the right to judge?
The corrupt legal system of Sri Lanka, headed by a completely out-of-control Chief Justice.
Udathalawinna massacre. All accused acquitted because they had the right kind of surname.
SB Dissanayake found innocent of bribery charges (explanations that were accepted by the courts: Neththikumaras just felt sorry for me and gave me a few million) and found guilty of contempt of court (by the same person he is alleged to have insulted (audi alterem partem, anyone?) and sentenced to punishment that is nowhere specified.
Because of things like:
Mr. Michael Anthony (Tony) Fernando has filed several cases of human rights violations against
prison guards who had tortured him while he was in the custody after being
sentenced to a term of one year’s imprisonment on the basis of alleged
contempt of court. Mr. Fernando has also filed a communication before the
United Nations Human Rights Committee challenging the validity of the
Supreme Court Judgment as having no basis in law and as a violation of his
fundamental rights. Former Special Rapporteur for the independence of the
Judiciary and Lawyers, Dato Param Curamarswarmy publicly denounced the
judgment of the Supreme Court as an “act of injustice”.
For more:
http://www.ahrchk.net/ua/mainfile.php/2003/569/
Based on the available evidence (which was warranted adequate to suspend the prison guards), I can judge that the Balloonman was murdered. I have no faith in the judicial system any longer.
:-)
prejudice is same however you justify it.
maybe ( i repeat just maybe- i do presume to think that is what happened ) the jailers is this case too thought they are prosecutors , witnesses, and judges, all rolled in to one (defense counsel is not worth any mention) as you do. after all he was arrested ( you are willing to covict bc they were only suspended.)
may be(just maybe) they too lost confidence in the judicial system after seeing criminals going free without even getting prosecuted ( isn’t that partly what jm implied).
curious how hard some find it to be honest ( to themselves as well as others ) .
Smiley faces aside, you’re still trying to justify someone being beaten to death and denied diabetes medicine in police custody. Don’t think it’s hard to see who’s in the right here.
did i justify anything? i think i included enough qualifications. unlike others who do not hesitate to convict very real ppl without any qualifications and without any evidence of crimes they may( see another qualification) not have committed.
i did not say ‘beaten to death’ and other such things when the evidence clearly says otherwise.
i did not take upon my self to judge when i do not know the facts and i certainly did not misrepresent known facts.
if one wants justice to prevail law should be equitably applied to everyone not just to ppl one happened to take up as the the latest ’cause’ for one reason or other.
i have no intention of convicting ppl presumed innocent . if such conviction is ‘right’ and pointing out ( with qualifications) that this is hardly the best way to go about this ( hardly mounting a robust defense ) is ‘wrong’ , i am really disappointed in expecting something better from ppl ‘here’. :-(
fortunately i or you cannot ‘see’ whether that is the case.
may be ‘god’ ( even though i do not believe in him) can , :-)
“do not pervert justice; do not show partiality to the poor or favoritism to the great” – leviticus 19:15,
so do not be partial to the ‘poor’.
Waliyak dhe??
Money makes people do miraculous things. Good or bad?
Sittingnut worships the principle of “presumed innocent until proven guilty.” This seems to apply to prison guards and the chief justice. It does not seem to apply to the balloonman and other people tortured in police stations and prisons. But this only the uneducated view of a lesser mortal.
Would the Fair, Unbiased and Non-Judging (Exalted) One kindly enlighten us on how the principle is applied, so we lesser mortals too can achieve his exalted results?
I am kind of slow, so would the Exalted One walk us through step-by-step, from the moment the Police visit the house of the balloonman, applying the noble principle of “presumed innocent until proven guilty”? Because of the stupid policies of Sri Lankan banks and non-rag newspapers, I am unable to provide a link to the relevant news coverage, but I am sure the Exalted One can find the information on his own.
By exalted one i think you mean ‘sanctimonious prick’. He’s pretty jobless so this will go on forever.
athatha
i apply presumed innocent until guilty to every one including jailers.
you apply it only to ‘ballonman’. that is unjust.
you know that yourself nobody needs to teach it you, that is why you resorted to silly sarcasms :-)
-
as for ‘sanctimonious jobless prick’. lol
isn’t it pathetic how these ‘do gooders’ always end up calling ppl names. :-)
Sir, you avoid the question.
Please walk us step by step from the moment the balloonman is visited in his home in Pitakotte to the suspension of the prison guards, applying the principle of “presumed innocent unless proven guilty.”
We wish to be educated. There is a possibility that the teacher may learn something too.
if you do not know any of that why did you convict the jailers of a crime.
why not stick to what you know instead of endlessly disputing your own gaol.
Considering that most above are in agreement that the system of law is corrupt (at all levels), it’s sad that people who are newly entering this system are supporting “beating up” people simply because due process is too slow. Those cops made the mistake of taking the law into their own hands and beating up this chap and we are rightly condemning them; but it’s as bad that, similarly, a few people above are taking the law into their own hands in deciding that sometimes it is alright for the cops to beat up criminals because due process is too slow. There’s no point condemning the high-ups in the legal system, if the lower-downs are making irresponsible statements like that.
I agree with the many comments above saying that these jailers too deserve a fair hearing before we decide that they are definitely guilty. The moment the rule is broken in one place, the whole system is in jeopardy, and too many people are blind to this fact.