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subject:	SRI LANKA: Yet again Polpithigama Police torture another innocent man, and concoct a fabricated charge
	Please do NOT remove the place holders like [salutation] or [fullname], as they will be replaced with the actual names. Please feel free to edit this text as you like.
body text:	Dear [salutation], SRI LANKA: Dodangoda Police tortured 16-year-old victim of traffic accident Name of Victims: Sixteen year old boy at Dodangoga, Matugama Road, Kalutara Alleged perpetrators: 1) Sergeant Chandrajith Kapilasiri (59558) and 2) Constable N Arunasiri (6108) both attached to the Dodangoda Police Station Date of incident: 1 April 2017 Place of incident: Dodangoda Police Division <p style="text-align: justify;">According to the information I have received According to the media communique issued by Chirantha Amarasinghe, secretary of the Ceylon Motorcyclists’ Association (CMA), a 16 year-old resident of Dodangoda Junction, Matugama Road, Dodangoda, Kalutara District, drove a motorbike on April 1 to buy several commodities from a nearby shop, at his parents’ request. On his way to the shop, he noticed two police officers were on duty; being underage, he did not have a valid driving license to drive a motorbike. <p style="text-align: justify;">Noticing the boy, the police officers tried to stop the motorbike driven by the boy. But the boy did not notice the signal, and the angry police officers chased the young rider. When he noticed the two police officers, the boy was frightened and as a result, crashed with a three-wheeler on the road. The boy fell to the ground and was trapped beneath the fallen motorbike. He could not get up by himself and was injured on both his legs, resulting in a blood hemorrhage. <p style="text-align: justify;">The two police officers approached the wounded and trapped boy, and started to assault him ruthlessly. A large number of people gathered around the accident site and wanted to help the accident victim, but feared police reprisal for doing so; the manner in which the police tortured the boy terrified them. Throughout the assault, the boy kept screaming and pleading with the officers not to beat him. Later, the officers ordered the wounded boy to walk with them to the police station. The boy was paraded on the road with hundreds of people watching. The boy was detained inside the police station for several hours, and only later was he taken to the Nagoda Teaching Hospital for treatment. <p style="text-align: justify;">One onlooker recorded the brutal police beating, which was then heavily covered by the national media. <p style="text-align: justify;">Secretary Chirantha Amarasinghe of the Ceylon Motorcyclists’ Association (CMA) condemned the actions of the two police officials involved in the incident. Speaking on the matter CMA Secretary Chirantha said that such heavy-handed tactics by the police should be stopped immediately, and he requested the Inspector General of Police (IGP) and the other senior police officials to take stern action against officers who break the rules in this manner. <p style="text-align: justify;">After the <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZEMgTUmebvk">video clip</a>went viral (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZEMgTUmebvk) and following the continuous media reports and public demands for justice, the two responsible police officers, attached to the Dodangoda Police Station, were suspended from service: Sergeant Chandrajith Kapilasiri (59558) and Constable N Arunasiri (6108). <p style="text-align: justify;">Subsequently, Assistant Superintendent of Police (ASP) Kapila Premadasa, who is in charge of the Kalutara Police Division, told the media that he had immediately launched an investigation into the matter. He stated that, “We investigated the incident soon after we witnessed this video. Statements were recorded from the parties involved and a statement was also taken from the victim. Investigations revealed that the two officers had acted with excessive force and as a result we have suspended them from service with immediate effect”. <p style="text-align: justify;">However, the victim’s family members and civil society activists are demanding the prosecution of the police perpetrators without any further delay under the Torture Act No. 22 of 1994. <p style="text-align: justify;">I request the intervention of your good offices. Ensure that the authorities listed below open an immediate investigation into the allegations of violations of fundamental rights of the victim by officers of the Sri Lankan Police Department. All officers involved should be subject to an internal investigation for breach of Police Departmental Orders. Yours sincerely, [fullname] [country]

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