Friday, August 30, 2013

Letter To Pillay: Sri Lanka’s NGO Media Rights Groups Take Revenge From Colombo Telegraph

Colombo TelegraphAugust 30, 2013 
imagePhoto: RAJAPAKSA FAMILY TIES 
Read more;
https://www.colombotelegraph.com/index.php/sri-lanka-the-brothers-grip/The Alliance of Media Organisations yesterday delivered a special memorandum to UN High Commissioner for Human Rights Navi Pillay, appealed to her office in the face of severe threats to the freedom of expression in Sri Lanka. The special memo drafted by seven media organisations including the Free Media Movement, cited the killing and abduction and assault of journalists, attacks on media institutions, attempts to control the private media by threat, concessions or buy outs and web censorship among other issues faced by media professionals in the country. The Memo said a number of websites publishing material critical of the government, such as “Sri Lanka Guardian”, “Lanka E News”, “Lanka newsweb”, “Jaffna Muslims” and “Tamilnet” have  been blocked at various times. However, the memo fails to raise concern about Sri Lanka’s block on the Colombo Telegraph website over the past six days.
The alliance calls on High Commissioner Pillay to make explicit reference to these concerns during her final press conference in Colombo, and her oral and written updates to the UN Human Rights Council and all other forums. It also calls for more attention by the UN on freedom of expression issues in Sri Lanka.
Read the full text of the memorandum here
When asked why they failed to mention about Colombo Telegraph;  “It’s because you have exposed corruption related to these organisations which made most of them angry with CT” , highly placed source within the drafting committee of the memorandum told Colombo Telegraph. The memorandum was drafted by a group of people who are not members of these organisations.
These media organisations maintain a culture that they do not support critics even when they were being threatened and intimidated for their work as journalists.
In July 14, 2012 Colombo Telegraph reported; “The Colombo Telegraph learnt that in a conversation withUvindu Kurukulasuriya, a former Convenor of the Free Media Movement, South Asia Project Manager for IFJ, Sukumar Muralidharan said his organization would not be issuing a statement condemning the Defence Secretary’s recent tirade against Sunday Leader Editor Fredrica Jansz until the journalist patched up her relationship with the FMM and certain media activist groups in Colombo. ‘They (Sunday Leader) need to patch up their relationship and we cannot get involved in something that could alienate us from the affiliates,’ he said.”
Three days after Colombo Telegraph was blocked,on August 26, Sri Lanka’s Consul General to Sydney and former Presidential Media Director Bandula Jayasekara, referring to Colombo Telegraph tweeted; ”They have gone far beyond that I have heard from many. Is your free media free to insult? Just cowards hiding elsewhere”
Freedom House, US based watchdog in its report on Freedom on the Net 2012 said; “In November 2011, five popular news websites known for their reporting on human rights, governance issues, and corruption were arbitrarily blocked. Prior to this incident, the government and the TRCSL had never admitted to blocking websites but did so in this case on the premise of concerns about defamation and the violation of privacy. In December 2011 and intermittently in November 2011, Colombotelegraph.com, a news and commentary website run by exiled Sri Lankan journalists, was also blocked with absolutely no justification provided by authorities,but is accessible as of early 2012. The authorities have occasionally blocked website domains hosted on the servers of blogging platforms rather than specific blogs themselves,although only a few of the most popular blogs publish political content and dissenting narratives.”     Read More

Sri Lanka’s authorities must #TellTheTruth

Posted on  by Shiromi Pinto
Feels like paradise? This is the Sri Lanka the authorities don’t want you to see.
In June, we launched our Tell the Truth campaign, calling on Sri Lanka to come clean about its appalling record of torture, killings and other human rights abuses – and stop them.
Last week, we brought you Dr Manoharan’s account of his son’s killing by Sri Lanka’s security forces. After challenging the government’s version of events in his son’s case, Dr Manoharan received death threats and fled the country with his family.
He and his son are not the only ones to have suffered at the hands of the authorities. Across the country, journalists, lawyers, grassroots activists – anyone who dares to criticize the authorities – risks jail, torture and disappearance every time they speak out. A climate of intolerance and fear has swept the island as the government’s stranglehold on the population grows ever tighter.
Sri Lanka can’t dodge the truth much longer. Its authorities have put a lot of effort into covering up killings, crushing dissent and whitewashing its post-war image to present a fresh new version of itself.
But these cosmetic applications are just that. The truth will out.
Act now
Help us get Sri Lanka’s authorities to tell the truth about past and present abuses, and stop them, by signing our petition – Dr Manoharan will present it to the UN in September.
Find out more

Media Organisations’ Memo to Navi Pillay

Posted on August 29, 2013
 Still Counting the Dead
navi pillayMemorandum to H.E. Navaneetham Pillay, UN High Commissioner for Human Rights
Alliance of Media Organizations in Sri Lanka[1]
29th August 2013
Freedom of Expression is a constitutionally guaranteed fundamental right in Sri Lanka, while it’s also guaranteed by virtue of Sri Lanka being a party to the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights. However, the last few years had seen this right under severe threat, and below is a summary of some of our key concerns and appeals to Your Excellency.
1.    Killing, abduction, assaults and threats to journalists and media workers
FOUR UPFA CANDIDATES THREATEN TO QUIT
logoImageBy Ananth Palakidnar-2013-08-30
Four United People's Freedom Alliance (UPFA) candidates in the North have warned they would withdraw from contesting under the UPFA at the Northern Provincial Council (NPC) polls and resign from the Sri Lanka Freedom Party (SLFP), unless the Party hierarchy takes legal action against the supporters of the Jaffna SLFP Organizer, Angajan Ramanathan and his father, who had fired gunshots in the Chavakachcheri area at 7:30 p.m. on Tuesday.

The four UPFA candidates, Mudiyappu Remedius, A. Sarvananthan, Akiladas and Ponnambalam, held a special press conference at the Jaffna Press Club on Wednesday (28), on the Chavakachcheri shooting incident. Mudiyappu Remedius, who had crossed over to the UPFA from the Tamil National Alliance (TNA) had said, it was ridiculous that the supporters of candidates of the same Party are clashing with each other.

"We have complained to the Commissioner of Elections, Mahinda Deshapriya, and to the UPFA General Secretary, Minister Susil Premajayantha, over the incident. If the UPFA does not take any action against the shooting and against the people who were involved in it, we will withdraw from the election and even resign from the SLFP," Remedius warned.

Sarvananthan, another candidate said, he narrowly escaped from the gunshots fired at him, allegedly by the supporters of Ramanathan and his father. "I ducked when he fired the gun. But, one of my supporters, who was standing next to me was injured and is currently receiving treatment at the Chavakachcheri Hospital," he said.

Other two candidates, Akiladas and Ponnambalam, demanded legal action against the gun-toting fellow UPFA supporters and warned that they would also resign from their candidature and from the SLFP.
http://www.ceylontoday.lk/16-41349-news-detail-four-upfa-candidates-threaten-to-quit.html

Sri Lanka Upset By U.N. Treatment

Eranga Jayawardena/Associated Press
Sri Lankan police officers stood guard during a protest the U.N. office in Colombo, Sri Lanka, Aug. 26
Need a Real Sponsor hereThe Sri Lankan government said it has received unfair treatment from the United Nations Human Rights Council as the head of the group neared the end of a weeklong official visit to the country.
“There is a perception in the country about the lack of objectivity and fairness in the treatment meted out to Sri Lanka,” Minister of External Affairs G.L. Peiris told Navanethem Pillay, the U.N. High Commissioner for Human Rights, according to a statement on the MEA’s website.
“The minister added that Sri Lanka accepts constructive and justified criticism but resents vicious and baseless positions which are incessantly repeated,” the statement said.
In March, the Human Rights Council passed a resolution calling for Sri Lanka to conduct an investigation into allegations of human rights violations by government forces during its civil war. The U.S. and India were among the 25 countries to vote in favor of the resolution, while 13 countries, including Pakistan, voted against it. There were eight abstentions.
A U.N. panel in 2011 said that more than 40,000 people, mainly civilians from the island nation’s ethnic Tamil minority, were killed in the final stages of the near three-decade war, which ended in 2009 after Sri Lankan troops defeated the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam, a separatist group also known as the Tamil Tigers.
In a report published in December 2011, the Sri Lankan government largely exonerated its forces from blame for atrocities, including allegations the army shelled schools and hospitals. In February, New York-based Human Rights Watch issued a report that said there was widespread rape of men and women in custody during the war. It added that politically motivated sexual violence by the military and police continues.
In its statement Thursday, the MEA said allegations against the government, including claims that it starved people in the north during the conflict, were “without basis.”
“With regard to High Commissioner Pillay’s reference to the last days of the armed conflict, Prof. Peiris stated that the Sri Lanka military was involved in the largest hostage rescue operation in contemporary history,” the statement said.
“It is factually known that the LTTE ruthlessly annihilated people trying to escape from their clutches,” it added.
The MEA said Mr. Peiris spoke with Ms. Pillay about post-conflict development, including steps taken to channel resources to the north of the country where the government claims the growth rate is 27%, compared with the national growth of 7%. It didn’t provide a timeframe for these growth statistics.
He also said all “High Security Zones,” apart from one in the northern town of Palaly, have been dismantled and troops relocated to military cantonments and bases, while a program has been launched on private land disputes with the aim of resolving them within two years.
Ms. Pillay is due to meet Sri Lankan President Mahinda Rajapaksa on Friday and will hold a conference in Colombo on Saturday. She arrived in Sri Lanka on Aug. 25 and earlier this week visited the scene of the final battle between government troops and the Tamil Tigers. There, she reportedly told survivors and relatives of people who disappeared that she will raise their complaints with government officials in Colombo.
Follow Will and India Real Time on Twitter @WillMHDavies and @WSJIndia.  

CMC on fire over ‘cremated’ documents


By Chaminda Silva-
Members of the Colombo Municipal Council in a heated argument during the monthly meeting yesterday on the recent burning of thousands of CMC files at the Borella Cemetery. Pic by Sajith Jayasekera.
Pandemonium reigned at the Colombo Municipal Council’s monthly meeting yesterday as councilors resorted to profane language and disturbances in a debate on the recent burning of thousands of CMC files at the Borella cemetery.

Tension prevailed as the councilors, both UPFA and UNP, hurled verbal abuse at one another, demanding explanations on the findings of the probe into the burning of around 6,000 municipal files.

The uproar started with Opposition members accusing the Municipal Commissioner of acting against a motion passed in the council to remove Administrative Officer of the CMC Secretariat, Shelton Perera from his post.

The motion was passed on July 20 as Perera was found guilty of malpractices. Yet he was still working in his position, the Opposition claimed

Some members of the ruling party even spoke in support of their Opposition counterparts. They said that Perera continued to hold that post despite the removal order and it was he who had wanted to destroy some files containing details about some questionable deals. Members shouted that Perera should be removed immediately.

The members who had visited the place where documents were set on fire said they had found partially burnt documents pertaining to recruitment during the period 2010-2011 as well as the Council’s assets.

Some members were seen trying to hit each other and the arguments continued even after the house had adjourned at 4.30 p.m.

Lanka rejects impunity charge

August 29, 2013
DSC_9342
The government says there is no culture of impunity in the country and in instances where evidence is available action to conduct legal proceedings have been instituted  irrespective of the status of those accused, which include politicians, public officials and officers of the law enforcement agencies.
External Affairs Minister, Prof. G.L. Peiris said this when he met visiting UN High Commissioner for Human Rights Navanethem Pillay at the Ministry of External Affairs today.
He said it is important to have an objective approach and extend equal treatment to all countries when fulfilling the assigned mandate.
Minister Peiris reiterated to High Commissioner Pillay Sri Lanka’s firm resolve to work with the United Nations system. However he said that there is a perception in the country about the lack of objectivity and fairness in the treatment meted out to Sri Lanka. The Minister added that Sri Lanka accepts constructive and justified criticism but resents vicious and baseless positions which are incessantly repeated.
On the aspect of accountability, the Minister highlighted the action taken by the law enforcement authorities and cited the instances of some members of the Special Task Force having been indicted in relation to the killing of five students in Trincomalee and status of  investigations with regard to  the Muttur incident involving the ACF workers.  He further explained the difficulties encountered in identifying the perpetrators due to the conditions prevailing at the time of incidence, with regard to the ACF case. The Minister informed however that mobile phone evidence is being pursued in this regard, and therefore the case remains open. He drew a parallel with the case of the assassination of the former Foreign Minister late Lakshman Kadirgamar, where conviction has not been possible due to the lack of evidence.
Addressing allegations of disappearances, Prof Peiris explained that the Ministry of Justice has formulated a draft amendment to the Penal Code to criminalize enforced disappearances, also formulated amendments to the Criminal Procedure Code and the Human Rights Commission of Sri Lanka Act in order to give effect to recommendations in the National Human Rights Action Plan.  He outlined the difficulties in identifying the missing due to instances involving persons having migrated to other countries holding multiple identities, and those host governments not divulging their details.  This fact aggravates the difficulty in compiling correct statistics. It was indicated that the repeated use of baseless and arbitrary figures in respect of disappearances, eventually acquire authenticity in the face of the massive propaganda that is being carried out against the Government of Sri Lanka.
With regard to High Commissioner Pillay’s reference to the last days of the armed conflict, Prof. Peiris stated that the Sri Lanka military was involved in the largest hostage rescue operation in contemporary history.  It is factually known that the LTTE ruthlessly annihilated people trying to escape from their clutches.  While noting that Ms. Pillay too had called on Sri Lanka to end military operations, the Minister stated that if Sri Lanka had acceded to that call the present ground realities would have been different as a responsible government steps had to be undertaken to safeguard the Sri Lankan people not heeding to calls of some external elements.
The Minister also referred to the High Commissioner’s concern over the inclusion of the police under the newly created Ministry of Law and Order, instead of the Ministry of Justice.  He indicated that her stated position is fundamentally unacceptable and does not move in accordance with the established procedures of Sri Lanka.  The Minister pointed out that the Police Department has consistently been under the Ministry of Defence and only briefly, 2002-2004, under an Interior Ministry.  It has to be noted that most countries too have Police under Ministries other than Justice, and   further, he indicated that the creation of the new Ministry of Law and Order under which the Police Department is now placed is in line with a LLRC recommendation. (Colombo Gazette)



 
The identity of the mastermind of Saturday’s break-in, at The Sunday Leader Associate Editor, Mandana Ismail Abeywickrema’s residence in Bambalapitiya, had been revealed by one of the suspects in custody and action had been taken to track him down, Western Province Senior DIG Anura Senanayake told The Island yesterday.

There was absolutely no doubt that the intruders had broken into her house to rob valuables, Snr. DIG Senanayake said

Meanwhile, Abeywickrema and her mother met Senanayake at his office yesterday morning and told him that the gold jewellery recovered following the abortive robbery belonged to them.

The journalist and her mother, contacted for comment, confirmed that all the jewellery recovered by the police, soon after the killing of one intruder and the arrest of four others, were theirs.

However, Abeywickrema told this newspaper on Wednesday that the valuables did not belong to her.

Journalists’ associations and civil right groups have called for a high level probe into the incident.

The police said investigations were continuing and the suspects were being interrogated.

Pillay told people threatened

August 30, 2013
C.V.Vigneswaran
The Tamil National Alliance (TNA) has told the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights Navi Pillay that several people who spoke to her during her visit to the North have been threatened.
TNA Chief Ministerial candidate for the Northern elections C.V. Wigneswaran said that the TNA communicated this to her when they had a meeting at the Cinnamon Lakeside hotel today.
Pillay had visited the North this week and met several civilians including relatives of those reported missing during and soon after the war.
The TNA had briefed Pillay on the current situation in the north and expressed confidence that she will issue a balanced report at the end of her visit.
Wigneswaran also said that Pillay was told that the government had failed to abide by the agreement reached between President Mahinda Rajapaksa and UN Secretary General Ban ki-moon.
Pillay had told the TNA delegation during their 45 minute meeting that she had received a lot of information during her Sri Lanka visit. (Colombo Gazette)

PC candidate’s  firecrackers injure two women 



By Suranga Dilhan-August 29, 2013

Two women passengers were injured when firecrackers, thrown by supporters of a provincial council candidate, fell into a moving bus at Nawalapitiya yesterday.

The victims were admitted to the Nawalapitiya and Gampola hospitals.

Party supporters had been lighting fire crackers to welcome the candidate campaigning in the town when the accident happened.

The victims suffered burn injuries on the face and shoulders. They were first admitted to the Nawalapitiya Hospital

Nawalapitiya police are conducting investigations.

Sri Lanka: The Brothers’ Grip

By Eric Ellis -August 30, 2013 
Eric Ellis
Colombo TelegraphIn Sri Lanka, power is concentrated – around President Mahinda Rajapaksa. Meet his brothers, sons, other relations and even his astrologer-turned-banker.
Meet Sumanadasa Abeygunawardena. He’s every saver’s dream come true – a bank director who can predict the future.
Rajapaksa Family Ties  
Abeygunawardena is the ‘working director’ of one of Sri Lanka’s biggest banks, the state-owned National Savings Bank (NSB) – that is, when he’s not being a celebrity soothsayer.
Abeygunawardena’s main claim to fame in Sri Lanka is as an astrologer. With his columns in government-friendly newspapers, a regular star-gazing spot on national television and a lucrative personal horoscope service delivered via SMS with the state telco, he’s one of the country’s most visible faces.
Read more in the The Globalmail
*Eric Ellis is an award-winning journalist who writes about the politics, economics and societies of South and South-East Asia. He has written for a range of international journals; Fortune Magazine, Forbes, the Financial Times, Time Magazine, The Times, The Bulletin/Newsweek, The Spectator,Institutional Investor, Euromoney, The Sydney Morning Herald, The Age, The Australian Financial Review and the International Herald Tribune.
Other stories;

Norwegian ambassador in Colombo bares agenda in Oslo

TamilNet[TamilNet, Friday, 30 August 2013, 00:58 GMT]
Grete LøchenNorway, once hoodwinked the nation of Eezham Tamils with an ‘internal self-determination’ formula in the Oslo Declaration, now bares its deceptive face by talking about ‘development’ of Tamils with diaspora ‘partnership’ within a ‘Sri Lankan minority’ formula and the PC model. While the Norwegian ambassador in Colombo Ms Grete Løchen was baring the agenda in Oslo on Monday, the Tamil participants looped in were not only confirmed revisionists, habitual upholders of the Sri Lankan State and tangent-polity activists, but were also the representatives of the NCET, Tamil Women Organisation, a TCC outfit and the TECH-Norway. If the agenda can’t be perceived with its nuances and rejected outright at the face of Norway, the diaspora will prove only its impotence, commented Tamils for alternative politics in the island. 


Grete Løchen [Library Photo]

After Navi: Troops Are Back In The North

August 30, 2013 
Colombo TelegraphSecurity forces personnel who were confined to barracks in the northern province have returned to their outposts and are back on the streets after visiting UN Envoy Navi Pillay left the area, according to eyewitness reports from the region.
While the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights travelled extensively in the north including the former LTTEstronghold of the Wanni, the heavily garrisoned province was somewhat bereft of armed forces personnel who have become part and parcel of the scenery post-war in the north.
The Elephant Pass checkpoint that was dismantled ahead of the UN High Commissioner’s visit has also been restored, sources told the Colombo Telegraph. “Troops are out on the roads again in Jaffna,” the sources said.
Reports are also emerging about military intelligence officials threatening Tamil civilians who demonstrated for their disappeared loved ones and held discussions with the UN Envoy. These claims cannot be independently verified at this time.
Militarisation of the north has been a hot button issue on the international agenda against Sri Lanka, because the heavy presence of soldiers in the former battlezones are seen as being an impediment to the resumption of normal civilian life in the region. The Government has repeatedly pledged to downscale the military in the north prior to the Northern Provincial Council elections but residents claim no such move has been made so far.

சென்றார் நவி பிள்ளை, மீண்டும் வந்தது இலங்கை இராணுவம்

BBC28 ஆகஸ்ட், 2013
சென்றார் நவிப்பிள்ளை, வந்தது இராணுவம்(பழைய படம்)
ஐநா மனித உரிமைகளுக்கான ஆணையர் நவிப்பிள்ளை அவர்கள் வடபகுதிக்கு மேற்கொண்டிருந்த விஜயத்தையடுத்து, முகாம்களுக்குள் முடக்கப்பட்டிருந்ததாகக் கூறப்பட்ட இலங்கை இராணுவத்தினர் புதனன்று மீண்டும் வீதிகளில் தமது கடமைகளில் ஈடுபட்டிருப்பதாகத் தகவல்கள் தெரிவிக்கின்றன.
"இராணுவத்துக்கு சொந்தமான இடம்
நவிப்பிள்ளை யாழ்ப்பாணத்திலிருந்து கிளிநொச்சிக்கும், அங்கிருந்து முல்லைத்தீவு மாவட்டம் புதுமாத்தளன், முள்ளிவாய்க்கால் மற்றும் கேப்பாப்பிலவு மாதிரி கிராமம் ஆகிய இடங்களுக்கும் பயணம் செய்த வீதிகளில் அமைக்கப்பட்டிருந்த இராணுவ காவலரண்கள் உரு மறைப்பு செய்யப்பட்டும் சில காவலரண்கள் முற்றாக அகற்றப்பட்டிருந்தன.
எனினும், புதனன்று, இந்த காவலரண்கள் மீண்டும் செயல்படத் தொடங்கியிருந்ததாக அந்தப் பகுதியைச் சேர்ந்தவர்கள் கூறுகிறார்கள்.

யாழ்ப்பாணத்திலிருந்து ஏ9 வீதியூடாக நவிப்பிள்ளை பிரயாணம் செய்ததையடுத்து, மூடப்பட்டிருந்த ஆனையிறவு வீதிச் சோதனை முகாமும் புதனன்று மீண்டும் திறக்கப்பட்டுள்ளது.
ஆனையிறவின் வழியாகச் செல்கின்ற வாகனங்களைப் பதிவு செய்யும் நடவடிக்கைககளில் இராணுவத்தினர் ஈடுபடுத்தப்பட்டிருந்ததாக பயணிகளும் வாகன ஓட்டுநர்களும் தெரிவித்துள்ளனர்.
முள்ளிவாய்க்கால் கிராமத்திற்குச் சென்றிருந்த நவிப்பிள்ளையிடம் மீள்குடியேற்றப்பட்டுள்ள தங்களுக்கு இன்னும் வீட்டு வசதிகள், வாழ்வாதாரம் உள்ளிட்ட அடிப்படை வசதிகள் செய்து கொடுக்கப்படவில்லை என்றும், சில இடங்களில் தமது வயல் மற்றும் தோட்டக்காணிகள் படையினரால் அடைத்து வைக்கப்பட்டிருப்பதாகவும் தெரிவித்து, அவற்றைத் தங்களுக்கு பெற்றுத் தருமாறும் அந்த மக்கள் கேட்டுக்கொண்டனர்.
தென்னிலங்கையில் இருந்து தமது பகுதிக்குள் வந்து தொழில் செய்கின்ற வெளிமாவட்ட மீனவர்களினால், மீன்பிடி தொழிலில் தாங்கள் பல பிரச்சினைகளை எதிர்நோக்கியிருப்பதாகவும் அவர்கள் நவிப்பிள்ளையிடம் தெரிவித்தனர்.
இறுதி யுத்தத்தின் முடிவில் இராணுவத்தினரிடம் சரணடைந்து காணாமல் போயிருப்பவர்கள் தொடர்பான பிரச்சினைகளையும் அங்குள்ள மக்கள் அவரிடம் எடுத்துக் கூறினார்கள்.
முள்ளிவாய்க்கால் பகுதியில் நவி பிள்ளையை சந்தித்த பொதுமக்கள்.
நவிப்பிள்ளையைச் சந்தித்த மக்கள் புதனன்று அச்சுறுத்தப்பட்டிருப்பதாகவும் அங்கிருந்து வரும் தகவல்கள் தெரிவிக்கின்றன.
Welcome! Our new friend Belarus


 Friday, 30 Aug 2013
Last Sunday, President Mahinda Rajapaksa left the shores of the isle on an official visit, as the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights, Navanethem Pillay, who had finally accepted an invitation extended two years ago by the Rajapaksa Administration, arrived in the country. Sri Lankans, who have a fascination for conspiracy theories would call it a snub and was a belittling of the UN Envoy.

AI calls on Rajapaksa government to investigate enforced disappearances

dissapearence slThe London based human rights group Amnesty International (AI) has called on the Mahinda Rajapaksa government to investigate thousands of cases of enforced disappearances reported in Sri Lanka.
According to AI, in Sri Lanka, some 12,000 complaints of enforced disappearances have been submitted to the UN since the 1980s – making it second only to Iraq. But it says the actual number of disappeared is much higher, with at least 30,000 cases alleged up to 1994 and many thousands reported after that.
“The number of disappeared people in Sri Lanka is astounding. The government has to stop making empty promises and once and for all seriously investigate the tens of thousands of cases of enforced disappearances,” said Yolanda Foster, Amnesty International’s Sri Lanka expert.
This year’s Day of the Disappeared coincides with the visit of UN High Commissioner for Human Rights, Navi Pillay, to Sri Lanka.
Pillay has met the family members of some of the disappeared.
The Prevention of Terrorism Act (PTA) in the country has given the security forces wide powers to arrest suspected opponents of the government and detain them incommunicado and without charge or trial for long periods – conditions which provide a ready context for deaths in custody, enforced disappearances and torture.