HRW: Recurring Nightmare – State Responsibility for “Disappearances” and Abductions in Sri Lanka 2008

by Human Rights Watch, New York, March 8, 2008

HRW Recurring Nightmare-Full_Report

srilanka0308cases

This report was originally posted with links to HRW, but those links are being moved, so the report is being reposted here.  The current link is Recurring Nightmare: State Responsibility for “Disappearances” and Abductions in Sri Lanka | HRW

See HRW statement about the report at HRW : Sri Lanka – ‘Disappearances’ by Security Forces a National Crisis (sangam.org)

I. Summary

His father opened the door, and the men pushed him aside and then forced us and the children into one of the rooms. Junith Rex came out of his room, covering himself with a bed sheet, and the men grabbed him by the bed sheet and seized him. They wore black pants, green T-shirts, and their heads were wrapped with some black cloth. Later I found out that they arrived in a van, but they parked it on the main road. They smashed the lights bulbs in the room and dragged him away. They told him “Come,” in Tamil. He cried, “Mother!” but we couldn’t help him.

— Family member describing the abduction of Junith Rex Simsan on the night of January 22, 2007, following an army search of the house earlier that same day. At this writing, despite repeated inquiries by his family, his whereabouts remain unknown, his fate uncertain.

For instance, take the missing list. Some have gone on their honeymoon without the knowledge of their household is considered missing. Parents have lodged complaints that their children have disappeared but in fact, we have found, they have gone abroad.… These disappearance lists are all figures. One needs to deeply probe into each and every disappearance. I do not say we have no incidents of disappearances and human rights violations, but I must categorically state that the government is not involved at all.

— Sri Lankan President Mahinda Rajapaksa, in an interview to Asian Tribune, October 4, 2007.

The resumption of major military operations between the government of Sri Lanka and the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE) in mid-2006 has brought the return of a haunting phenomenon from the country’s past—the widespread abduction and “disappearance” of young men by the parties to the conflict. With the de facto breakdown of the 2002 Norway-brokered ceasefire between the parties, and its formal dissolution in January 2008, it is likely armed conflict will intensify in the coming year. Unless the Sri Lankan government takes far more decisive action to end the practice, uncover the fate of persons unaccounted for, and prosecute those responsible, then 2008 could see another surge in “disappearances.”

Hundreds of enforced disappearances committed since 2006 have already placed Sri Lanka among the countries with the highest number of new cases in the world. The victims are primarily young ethnic Tamil men who “disappear”—often after being picked up by government security forces in the country’s embattled north and east, but also in the capital Colombo. Some may be members or supporters of the LTTE, but this does not justify their detention in secret or without due process. Most are feared dead.

In the face of this crisis, the government of Sri Lanka has demonstrated an utter lack of resolve to investigate and prosecute those responsible. Families interviewed by Human Rights Watch all talked about their failed efforts to get the Sri Lankan authorities to act on the cases of their “disappeared” or abducted relatives.

The cost of this failure is high. It is not only measured in lives brutalized and lost, but in the anguish suffered by the survivors—the spouses, parents, and children who may never learn the fate of their “disappeared” loved one. And it is felt in the fear and uncertainty that remains in the communities where such horrific, unpunished crimes take place.

This report provides extensive case material and data about enforced disappearances and abductions since mid-2006. It details the Sri Lankan government’s response, which to date has been grossly inadequate. The government shows every sign of repeating the failures of past administrations, making lots of noise—including launching a spate of new mechanisms to investigate “disappearances”—but conducting little actual fact-finding and virtually no prosecution of perpetrators. The report concludes with specific recommendations on how authorities and concerned international actors can respond more effectively. The appendix to this report contains a detailed description of 99 cases documented by Human Rights Watch. A list of 498 additional cases documented by Sri Lankan human rights groups is available at: http://hrw.org/reports/2008/srilanka0308/srilanka0308cases.pdf.  Also srilanka0308cases.

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Under international law, an enforced disappearance occurs when state authorities detain a person and then refuse to acknowledge the deprivation of liberty or the person’s whereabouts, placing the person outside the protection of the law.

In Sri Lanka, “disappearances” have for too long accompanied armed conflict. Government security forces are believed to have been responsible for tens of thousands of “disappearances” during the short-lived but extremely violent insurgency from the left-wing Sinhalese nationalist Janatha Vimukthi Peramuna (JVP) from 1987 to 1990, and the ongoing two-decades-long civil war between the government and the Tamil-nationalist LTTE.

Enforced disappearances have again become a salient feature of the conflict. Figures released by various governmental and nongovernmental sources suggest that more than 1,500 people were reported missing from December 2005 through December 2007. Some are known to have been killed, and others have surfaced in detention or otherwise have been found, but the majority remain unaccounted for. Evidence suggests that most have been “disappeared” or abducted. The national Human Rights Commission (HRC) of Sri Lanka does not publicize its data on “disappearances,” but Human Rights Watch learned that about 1,000 cases were reported to the HRC in 2006, and over 300 cases in the first four months of 2007 alone.

“Disappearances” have primarily occurred in the conflict areas in the country’s north and east—namely the districts of Jaffna, Mannar, Batticaloa, Ampara, and Vavuniya. A large number of cases have also been reported in Colombo.

Who Is Responsible?

In the great majority of cases documented by Human Rights Watch and Sri Lankan groups, evidence indicates the involvement of government security forces—army, navy, or police. The Sri Lankan military, empowered by the country’s counterterrorism laws, has long relied on extrajudicial means, such as “disappearances” and summary executions—in its operations against Tamil militants and JVP insurgents.

In a number of cases documented by Human Rights Watch, family members of the “disappeared” knew exactly which military units had detained their relatives, which camps they were taken to, and sometimes even the license plate numbers of the military vehicles that took them away.

In other cases, groups of about a dozen armed men took victims from their homes, located near army checkpoints, sentry posts, or other military positions. While eyewitnesses could not always identify the perpetrators beyond doubt, they suspected the military’s involvement, as it seemed inconceivable that large groups of armed men could move around freely during curfew hours and get through checkpoints without the military’s knowledge.

Relatives frequently described uniformed policemen, especially members of the Criminal Investigation Department (CID), taking their relatives into custody before they “disappeared.” The police claimed that these individuals were needed for questioning, yet did not say where they were being taken and did not produce the required “arrest receipt.” After these arrests, the families did not manage to obtain any information on the detainees’ fate or whereabouts.

The involvement of the security forces in “disappearances” is facilitated by Sri Lanka’s emergency laws, which grant sweeping powers to the army along with broad immunity from prosecution. Several provisions of the two emergency regulations currently in force create a legal framework conducive to “disappearances.” People can be arrested without a warrant and detained indefinitely on vaguely defined charges; there is no requirement to publish a list of authorized places of detention; and security forces can dispose of dead bodies without public notification and without disclosing the results of the post-mortem examination, thus preventing proper investigations into custodial deaths.

Also implicated in abductions and “disappearances” are pro-government Tamil armed groups acting either independently or in conjunction with the security forces. Relatives of the “disappeared” have often pointed to the Karuna group, which broke away from the LTTE in March 2004 and operates primarily in the east and in Colombo. In Jaffna, eyewitnesses to several abductions have implicated members of the Eelam People’s Democratic Party (EPDP), a Tamil political party that has long been targeted by the LTTE.

Both groups cooperate closely with Sri Lankan security forces. The military and police frequently use native Tamil speakers, often alleged to be Karuna group or EPDP members, to identify and at times apprehend suspected LTTE supporters. In several cases reported to Human Rights Watch, families said that they were first visited and questioned by the military, and then, usually several hours later, a group of Tamil-speaking armed men came to their house and took their relatives away. On other occasions, the Karuna group and EPDP seemed to be acting on their own—settling scores with the LTTE or abducting persons for ransom—with security forces turning a blind eye.

The LTTE has been implicated in abductions in conflict areas under the government’s control, though the numbers reported to human rights groups and the Human Rights Commission are comparatively low. This is not cause for complacency about LTTE practices which, as Human Rights Watch and others have documented elsewhere, include bombings targeting civilians, massacres, torture, political assassinations, systematic repression of basic civil and political rights in LTTE-controlled areas, and other serious abuses. In part, the LTTE abduction numbers are low because it is not the LTTE’s primary tactic; the LTTE prefers to openly execute opponents, perhaps to ensure a deterrent effect on the population. LTTE abductions may also be under-reported because the family members of the victims and eyewitnesses are often reluctant to report the abuses, fearing LTTE retribution.

Who Is Being Targeted?

No matter who is responsible for the “disappearances,” the vast majority of the victims are ethnic Tamils, although Muslims and Sinhalese have also been targeted. The security forces appear to target individuals primarily because of their alleged membership in or affiliation with the LTTE. Young Tamil men are among the most frequent targets, including a significant number of high school and university students. In other cases, the “disappearances” of clergy, educators, humanitarian aid workers, and journalists not only remove these persons from the civil sphere but act as a warning to others to avoid such activities.

In the north and east, many arrests leading to “disappearances” have occurred during or after military cordon-and-search operations following an LTTE attack. During such operations, the military either has detained people or seized their documents and requested that they report to the army camp or another location to collect them. In both scenarios, some of these people have never returned, and the relatives’ efforts to obtain any information on their whereabouts from the military have proved futile.

Particularly in Jaffna, individuals often have been “disappeared” after being stopped by military personnel at checkpoints, or as a result of targeted raids that sometimes followed claymore mine attacks or similar security incidents. In several cases in Jaffna, family members believe that EPDP cadres participated in the raids—judging by the perpetrators’ native Tamil speech, appearance, and cars leaving in the direction of EPDP camps.

In the east, Human Rights Watch received credible reports from eyewitnesses and humanitarian aid workers of “disappearances” that took place when thousands of people fled LTTE areas during fighting in late 2006 and early 2007. The army and the Karuna group reportedly screened displaced persons entering government-controlled territory to identify suspected LTTE members. In a number of cases, young Tamil men detained as a result of such screenings then “disappeared.”

Particularly in Colombo, and in the eastern districts of Batticaloa, Trincomalee, and Ampara, the lines between politically motivated “disappearances” and abductions for ransom have blurred since late 2006, with different groups taking advantage of the climate of impunity to engage in abductions as a way of extorting funds. While criminal gangs are likely behind some of the abductions, there is considerable evidence that the Karuna group and EPDP have taken up the practice to fund their forces, while the police look the other way.

Human Rights Watch has previously reported on abductions by the Karuna group in the east for the purpose of forced recruitment, including of boys. In many such cases, while the families knew that their husbands or sons were taken away to be used as soldiers, they subsequently received no information on their fate or whereabouts.

Unpunished Crimes

Enforced disappearances are a continuing offense—meaning the crime continues to be committed until the whereabouts or fate of the victim becomes known. The continuing nature of the crime takes a particularly heavy toll, with family members left wondering for months or years or forever whether their loved one is alive or dead. Some of the “disappeared” reappear as corpses showing signs of execution or torture, or turn up alive in detention in police custody or army camps, or simply turn out never to have been disappeared after all. But the great majority never turn up again and are presumed dead, victims of extrajudicial execution or other death in custody.

A critical factor contributing to continuing “disappearances” in Sri Lanka is the systemic impunity enjoyed by members of the security forces and pro-government armed groups for abuses they commit.

Police still do not investigate most of the cases and rarely follow up with families on the progress of cases, claiming they lack sufficient information to identify perpetrators and locate victims. As detailed in this report, however, family members say that even when they provide details to the police that should at least give a start to an investigation—such as the license plate numbers of the vehicles allegedly used in the abductions and the names of people or military units the family believes were involved—police do not follow through.

Figures on accountability released by the government show how little has been done to bring perpetrators to justice. A document provided to Human Rights Watch by the Sri Lankan government in October 2007 mentions only two pending cases against army personnel for unspecified human rights violations committed in 2005-2006, and refers to a recent indictment served on an unspecified number of army personnel for the killing of five students in Vavuniya in 2007. None of the indictments for abductions and “wrongful confinement” mentioned in the document appear to be for abuses committed since mid-2006.

The only known arrests for recent abductions were of former Air Force Squadron Leader Nishantha Gajanayake and another two policemen and an air force sergeant in June 2007. Although Sri Lankan authorities widely publicized these arrests as proof of their resolute action against the abductors and promised to promptly bring the perpetrators to justice, in early February 2008 the suspects were released; it is unclear whether charges against them were dropped.

The Government’s Response

Instead of making a diligent effort to investigate and prosecute enforced disappearances, the government of President Mahinda Rajapaksa continues to downplay the scope of the problem. Many official statements suggest there is no “disappearance” crisis at all or, if there is one, the sole perpetrators are LTTE fighters and common criminals. While the government has set up various mechanisms to address abductions and “disappearances,” all have lacked the independence, power, resources, and capacity necessary to conduct effective investigations.

Sri Lanka has a long history of setting up mechanisms to address “disappearances” but not following through. Four official commissions of inquiry set up by then President Chandrika Kumaratunga in the 1990s established that more than 20,000 people “disappeared” during armed conflicts in the 1980s and 1990s. Human rights groups believe that the actual figure may be two to three times higher. These commissions identified suspected perpetrators in more than 2,000 cases, but few have ever been prosecuted, and only a handful of low-ranking officers were convicted. Nor have successive governments meaningfully implemented the commissions’ recommendations for legal and institutional reforms aimed at preventing “disappearances” in the future.

The Rajapaksa government’s response to the surge in “disappearances” starting in mid-2006 appears to be following this pattern. First, the independence of existing government bodies, the Human Rights Commission and the National Police Commission, has been significantly undermined by decisions by the president to bypass constitutional requirements and directly appoint commissioners to these bodies.

Despite the hundreds of alleged “disappearances” reported over the last two years to the Human Rights Commission, it has issued no public reports on the matter, has refused to provide statistics on the complaints it has received, and has tried to downplay the scale of the problem. The monitoring and investigative authority of the Human Rights Commission has also been effectively negated by the obstructive attitude of the security forces and lack of support from the government. As a sign of the HRC’s failings, in December 2007 the international body that regulates national human rights commissions downgraded the HRC’s status to “observer” because of government encroachment on its independence.

Second, while the government has created at least nine other special bodies to address “disappearances” and other human rights violations—all of them described in the report—as yet none of them have yielded concrete results.

Aside from periodic announcements on their establishment, the government rarely has provided any information regarding the mandate of such bodies, or the progress made in the investigations. The government also has not explained whether it continues to create new bodies because of the inability of previously established mechanisms to deal with the problem, or whether it is simultaneously correcting flaws in existing mechanisms.

Many observers believe that most of these bodies have been established to give the impression the government is taking seriously reports of widespread “disappearances” by security forces even as officials dither in initiating investigations into the cases. The government’s continuing dismal record in prosecuting perpetrators lends credence to such beliefs.

The lack of progress in investigations and the failure to halt the abuses is hardly surprising given that, at the highest levels, the Sri Lankan government continues to deny any new “disappearance” crisis or that its security forces are responsible for any significant portion of the violations. Typical in this respect are claims made by Judge Mahanama Tillekeratne, who stated that the abductions were “the result of personal grudges,” and that the majority of the missing persons have returned, neither of which claim is substantiated by the evidence.

President Rajapaksa, government ministers, and the government’s Secretariat for Coordinating the Peace Process (SCOPP) also have repeatedly dismissed reports of widespread “disappearances” as LTTE propaganda aimed at smearing the state’s image. They have claimed that most of the missing individuals have returned, left the country, went into hiding to escape criminal charges, or simply left home and failed to inform their families of their whereabouts—without providing facts to support these contentions.

These claims contradict statements made by some Sri Lankan law enforcement officials, such as the inspector general of the police, and information, albeit limited, that has been released by the governmental commissions, as well as facts and figures publicized by the media and NGOs. Such claims also invite the obvious question of why the government has felt the need to establish so many different mechanisms to look into an allegedly non-existent problem. High-level attempts to dismiss the problem of “disappearances” send a signal to security forces that the government does not take the allegations of their involvement in human rights abuses seriously.

International Response

Various United Nations mechanisms and some of Sri Lanka’s key international partners have raised concerns about the high number of enforced disappearances since mid-2006. Senior UN officials visiting Sri Lanka such as the High Commissioner for Human Rights, the Special Rapporteur on extrajudicial, summary or arbitrary executions, and the Special Advisor on Children and Armed Conflict, have all noted the alarming prevalence of impunity and the failure of law enforcement bodies and national human rights mechanisms to establish accountability. Foreign governments such as the United States and United Kingdom have also spoken out.

Sri Lanka’s response to the growing international criticism has taken two forms. The government has intensively lobbied international organizations and bilateral partners, emphasizing improvements in the human rights situation and its willingness to cooperate with UN officials and human rights specialists. At the same time it has fiercely attacked its critics, including the very same UN representatives, accusing them of being, at best, ignorant of the situation and, at worst, LTTE sympathizers.

The continued refusal of the Sri Lankan government to acknowledge and adequately address the wide range of human rights violations has led to growing national and international support for the establishment of a UN human rights monitoring mission to investigate and report on abuses by government forces and the LTTE throughout the country.

The European Union and more recently the US government have joined the calls of domestic and international NGOs for establishing an international monitoring mission under the auspices of the Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights. During her October 2007 visit to Sri Lanka, UN High Commissioner for Human Rights Louise Arbour expressed the willingness of her office to work with the Sri Lankan government toward establishing such a presence.

The Sri Lankan government has thus far rejected the proposals for any international monitoring mechanism. This response belies the government’s claims that it is taking the measures necessary to protect the rights of all its citizens.

Key Recommendations

• The Sri Lankan government should publicly acknowledge the scope of “disappearances” in the country and the continuing role of security forces in committing such abuses.

The Sri Lankan government will not make meaningful progress in ending “disappearances” until it takes the problem seriously and is seen to be taking it seriously. However many new mechanisms the government creates, their efforts cannot be expected to succeed when senior officials deny there is a serious problem. An essential starting point is unambiguous acknowledgment of the problem, and of the role of security forces and pro-government, non-state armed groups in perpetuating the practice.

• The Sri Lankan government should reform detention procedures to ensure transparency and compliance with international due process standards.

In order to stop the spree of new “disappearances,” the government should ensure that all persons taken into custody are held in recognized places of detention, and each facility maintains detailed detention records. Detained individuals must be allowed contact with family and unhindered access to legal counsel; they should promptly be brought before a judge and informed of the reasons for arrest and any charges against them.

• The Sri Lankan government should vigorously investigate and prosecute perpetrators of “disappearances.”

Lack of accountability for perpetrators is one of the key factors contributing to the crisis of “disappearances.” The authorities must vigorously investigate all cases of enforced disappearances and arbitrary arrests, including those documented in this report—until in each case the fate or whereabouts of the person is clearly and publicly established. Those responsible for “disappearances” and abductions, be it members of government security forces or members of non-state armed groups, must be disciplined or prosecuted as appropriate.

• The government and the LTTE should cooperate with the UN Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights to establish and deploy an international monitoring team to report on violations of international human rights and humanitarian law by all parties to the conflict.

Deployment of an experienced international monitoring team would save lives, curtail abuses, and promote accountability. Here, the burden rests not only with the Sri Lankan government and LTTE, but also with concerned international actors. The latter should make it clear that they view the Sri Lankan government’s position on deployment of such a team as an important test of its commitment to human rights and its willingness to take real, rather than feigned, measures to address continuing problems. Sri Lanka’s international partners, in particular India and Japan, should make further military and other non-humanitarian assistance to Sri Lanka contingent on government efforts to halt the practice of “disappearances” and to end impunity, including its acceptance of an international monitoring team.

International monitoring has proven particularly effective in dealing with the problem of large-scale “disappearances.” With sufficient mandate and resources, the monitoring mission could achieve what the government and various national mechanisms have failed to do—establish the location of the detainees through unimpeded visits to the detention facilities; request information regarding specific cases from all sides to the conflict; assist national law enforcement agencies and human rights mechanisms in investigating the cases and communicating with the families; and maintain credible records of reported cases.

Detailed recommendations to the Sri Lankan government, the LTTE, and the international community are found in the closing chapter of this report.

Note on Methodology

This report is based on field research carried out in Sri Lanka in February, March, and June 2007, and follow-up research through January 2008. Human Rights Watch conducted over 100 interviews with families of the “disappeared,” as well as dozens of interviews with human rights activists, lawyers, and international agencies working in Sri Lanka. Human Rights Watch visited Colombo and its environs, and the districts of Batticaloa and Jaffna.

Following the visits, Human Rights Watch communicated closely with local NGOs and international organizations working in Sri Lanka to update the information and obtain new data.

Human Rights Watch has raised its concerns in various meetings with the president of Sri Lanka, the foreign minister, and the minister for disaster management and human rights, among other Sri Lankan officials. Human Rights Watch sent inquiries to various Sri Lankan authorities—the Ministry for Disaster Management and Human Rights, the Inspectorate General of the Police, the Defense Ministry, the Human Rights Commission, and the Presidential Commission on Abductions, Disappearances, and Killings—requesting information related to the issues raised in this report. Human Rights Watch also sent an inquiry to Eelam People’s Democratic Party (EPDP).

Human Rights Watch received responses from the Human Rights Commission of Sri Lanka and the Sri Lankan police. The EPDP also responded to the inquiry. Their responses are incorporated in the relevant sections of this report. Other officials mentioned above did not respond to Human Rights Watch inquiries. Human Rights Watch letters of inquiry and responses we have received are appended to this report (Appendix II).

Appendix I of this report contains detailed descriptions of 99 cases of “disappearances” and abductions documented by Human Rights Watch. A list of 498 additional cases reported to Sri Lankan human rights groups is available at: http://hrw.org/reports/2008/srilanka0308/srilanka0308cases.pdf.

While all efforts were made to ensure that information in Appendix I is up to date, given the challenge of obtaining information from some parts of Sri Lanka, especially the north, it is possible that new developments may have occurred in some of the cases before the report went to print.

Human Rights Watch also notes that in some of the documented cases there were no eyewitnesses to the abduction or arrest, and such cases may not technically qualify as “disappearances.” Most such cases were excluded from this publication; where we have included such cases it is because there is other evidence, set forth during our discussion of the case, suggesting the victim was abducted by a pro-government armed group, the LTTE, or government security forces…

Appendix I: “Disappearances” and Abductions Documented by Human Rights Watch

Northern Sri Lanka

1. Thiyagarajah Saran

 On the night of February 20, 2007, 25-year-old Thiyagarajah Saran, an employee at a private bus company, was at home with his wife and daughter. At about 9 p.m. two men arrived in their village in East Puttur, Jaffna, on a motorcycle. They stopped near Saran’s neighbors’ house and told the neighbors to call Saran and his wife. By the time the two came out of the house, another seven or 10 men had arrived on motorcycles.

According to Saran’s relatives, the men were wearing military pants and T-shirts, and their faces were painted with black stripes. They were armed with AK-47 assault rifles and pistols. Some of the men spoke Sinhala and some “bad” Tamil as if it was not their native language, while others were fluent and swore in Tamil a lot.

Saran’s relative told Human Rights Watch:

They started beating Thiyagarajah. They took his T-shirt off and stuffed it into his mouth. The neighbors came out to help, but they pushed them away. His wife was crying and shouting, and they hit her with a gun butt. She was nine months pregnant. They were accusing Thiyagarajah of having bombs in the house, and forced him to dig the ground around the house. They searched the house, turning everything upside down, but didn’t find anything. They beat him so badly that he couldn’t walk-they had to carry him away. They took him away on a motorcycle.

While the family has no clear information about Saran’s whereabouts, they believe that he was taken away by a joint group of the military and EPDP members. They made this assumption based on the mixture of languages the perpetrators spoke. Witnesses also told the family that two of the motorcycles left in the direction of Puttur army camp, and others went to the Achchuveli EPDP facility.

The morning after Saran had been taken away, his family started searching for him. They filed a complaint with local police, and visited various camps, including Achelu military camp, Puttur military camp, and Atchuvely EPDP camp. They visited the EPDP office in Jaffna town. The military and EPDP members everywhere told them that they were not holding Saran, but would inquire and let them know. The family also submitted a petition to the Human Rights Commission (HRC). As of this writing Saran’s whereabouts remain unknown.[367]

2. Pathinather Prasanna                             3.  Anton Prabananth

                                     

On February 17, 2007, 24-year-old Pathinather Prasanna and 21-year-old Anton Prabananth were returning home from the market in Kalviankadu in Nallur, Jaffna district, where they used to sell fish. About four kilometers from the market, near the village of Nayanmarkaddu, a Powell military vehicle was patrolling the road. Local villagers later told the families that the two men on their bicycles did not stop as the vehicle passed them. The Powell then stopped, reversed, and several soldiers got out of the vehicle and ordered the two men to stop. Prabananth’s father told Human Rights Watch:

A friend of mine, who was also coming back from the market at the time, saw what happened and informed us. I came to Nayanmarkaddu the same day. The villagers told me they saw Pathinather and Anton being interrogated by the military. The military held them at gunpoint. Then the military put them into the Powell, and also loaded their bicycles into their vehicle. The villagers could not see much because the army ordered them to disperse, and now they are too afraid to talk to anybody about what they saw.

The villagers also told the families that this Powell vehicle had been parked at Thapal Kadai junction, not far from the village, and was used to patrol the road during the day, usually accompanied by an army field group on motorcycles. But when the family inquired at Thapal Kadai, the military personnel there denied having any knowledge of the incident and said they did not have the two men.

The families filed a complaint with the Jaffna police and also went to the military Brigade 51 in Jaffna. When they filed a complaint with the military commander, he told them that “if the army arrests somebody, they have to hand the person to the police in 72 hours,” and suggested that the families should inquire with the police stations instead. The families visited several police stations without success. As of this writing their efforts to find their relatives have proved futile.

4. Sathees Sabaratnam

Sathees Sabaratnam, age 27, worked as a driver in a grocery shop in Jaffna. On February 13, 2007, Sabaratnam accompanied his friend to a pawn-broker in Jaffna to redeem the friend’s pawned jewelry. Sabaratnam had 20,000 rupees (about US$180) to secure the release of his friend’s jewelry.

After he failed to get in touch with Sabaratnam, his brother contacted the friend he left with. The brother told Human Rights Watch that Sabaratnam left his friend after they secured the jewelry, saying he would go back to work. Nobody has seen him since. The brother said he also learned from the friend and other people he had spoken to in Jaffna that the police had inquired about Sabaratnam several days before he went missing. He said:

I have no idea why anyone would want to take him. But everyone in the community knew that our parents had now moved to Germany and were in a position to send us money. However, there was no ransom demand and no unexpected withdrawals from the bank.

The family has filed a complaint with the police and reported the case to the HRC, the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC), and the Sri Lanka Monitoring Mission (SLMM).

5. Krishnabhavan Kanapathippillai

 The family of 36-year-old Krishnabhavan Kanapathippillai used to live in front of a large military camp in Thondaimanaru in Jaffna district. As the camp expanded its territory, the families living nearby were leaving the area. Kanapathippillai’s family moved to an abandoned house nearby. The family members frequently visited their old residence, for instance, to take baths and look after their garden. They used to leave the keys with their neighbors, the only family that continued to live in front of the camp.

Kanapathippillai’s relatives told Human Rights Watch that on February 11, 2007, he left home at around 11 a.m. on his motorbike, and went to their old house to take a bath. The neighbor who kept the keys to the house told the family that Kanapathippillai had stopped by to pick up the keys only at 2 p.m. because, in the interim, military personnel from the camp had borrowed Kanapathippillai’s bike and he had to wait till they returned. The family said it was a usual practice for soldiers to borrow his bike. Kanapathippillai was the president of the fishing society, and the military knew him well.

The neighbor said that after taking the key at 2 p.m. Kanapathipillai went to his house. She heard the sounds of bathing, and saw his bike parked in front of the house. Later in the afternoon she got worried and at around 4:30 p.m. went to the house to check. The door was closed, but she saw that the bike was still there and in front of the door somebody had left the keys, a water pump, and a lamp-she believed these were things Kanapathippillai was planning to take to his new residence. Concerned, the neighbor then informed Kanapathippillai’s brother and other relatives.

The family immediately went to the Thondaimanaru camp, but the military personnel there claimed to have no knowledge of Kanapathippillai. Kanapathippillai’s relative said:

We kept asking them, “How can it be that you don’t know anything? You are right here, the door [to the house] is locked from outside-somebody must have locked it, and somebody must have seen him and what happened to him!” But they just responded that they were new, and that only the old battalion would know where Krishnabhavan was. We actually noticed some of the officers from the old battalion in the camp, but they kept hiding from us. And when we requested to talk to them, the military told us that they were not there, that they couldn’t find them, etc. They must know something-the lane where the house is located is blocked on both sides, there is a sentry point, and only the people who live there are allowed in.

Next morning, the family filed a complaint with the Valvettiturai police, and also reported the incident to the HRC. The police, however, never visited the family, or the neighbor to collect additional information. At the time of this writing the family had no information on Kanapathippillai’s fate or whereabouts.

6. Balendran Cruz      
7. Satish Kumar Cruz

Balendran Cruz, age 29, had been working in Saudi Arabia for four years. He came back home to Sri Lanka to visit his mother in January 2007. On the morning of February 6, 2007, Balendran and his friend, 31-year-old Satish Kumar Cruz, went from Pesalai to Mannar town, on Mannar island.

According to Balendran Cruz’ mother, the families kept waiting for them, intermittently trying their mobile phones to establish contact. There was no response on either phone, and the men never returned. Later, their relatives found out that the two were last seen at around 2:30 p.m. near a place called Tharapuram.

Balendran Cruz’ mother told Human Rights Watch:

There are six checkpoints manned by the army, navy, and police between Mannar and Pesalai. There is a checkpoint every two kilometers and heavy patrolling throughout. It is very improbable that two persons can just disappear from such a heavily patrolled place. The [local Catholic] bishop sent us to the navy camp to check if they had been picked up by the navy but the navy denied arresting them.

She added that one of their relatives claimed he had seen Balendran in an armored vehicle near Pesalai, but the family was unable to confirm it. The family also got in touch with an EPDP representative from Mannar to raise the matter. The EPDP representative went to the Navy checkpoints and inquired about the two men, but did not get any information.

The family lodged a complaint at the Thalaimannar police station, and registered statements with the HRC, ICRC, and SLMM.

8. Luis Moris Satkunanathan

On February 6, 2007,54-year-old Luis Moris Satkunanathan, a former village administrator (GS) from Mannar, went to work on a construction site in Thalaimannar on Mannar island.

His wife told Human Rights Watch that he left on his motorbike at 6 a.m., planning to come back at 11 a.m., but he never returned home.

The family did not have enough information to say what happened to Satkunanathan. They said on February 24 they got a phone call and heard a crying voice and then someone cursing. “We think it was him,” the wife said, but the person who had been cursing did not demand money and nobody has called since.

Satkunanathan’s relatives filed a complaint with the police in Mannar and reported the case to the HRC, but to date have received no further information on his fate or whereabouts.

9. Rajkumar Nadesalingam

On January 23, 2007, 21-year-old Rajkumar Nadesalingam was staying with his friends in the village of Kerudavil, in Chavakachcheri, Jaffna district. At around 6 p.m. villagers from Kerudavil informed Nadesalingam’sfamily that he had been taken away by the military.

The family learned that at around 2 or 3 p.m. soldiers from Kanakampuliyady camp conducted a cordon-and-search operation in the village and arrested a number of young men, including Nadesalingam. Some men managed to escape, others got released after their families’ intervention, yet Nadesalingam apparently remained in military custody. The military apparently arrested him, after beating him, for involvement with the LTTE. A relative told Human Rights Watch:

Villagers from Kerudavil said that the military severely beat him, and then he showed them places in the village where weapons were hidden-the military dug there and found weapons. He must have had connections with the people in Wanni [that is, the LTTE]-during the arrest, the military found cyanide on him [LTTE cadres frequently carry cyanide capsules to commit suicide upon capture], and some Wanni phone numbers in his cell phone.

Nadesalingam’s father said he was too afraid to go to the military camp to search for his son as he thought the military may detain him also because of his son’s alleged connection to LTTE. However, he inquired with the Chavakachcheri police who said that they had no knowledge of the case and that the military had not handed any detainees over to them. He also reported the case to the HRC and ICRC. According to the father, the ICRC inquired with the Kanakampuliyady military camp, yet the military said they had released everybody they arrested in Kerudavil village.

To date, the fate and whereabouts of Rajkumar Nadesalingam remain unknown.

10. Junith Rex Simsan

 28-year-old Junith Rex Simsan used to earn his living by providing huts and furniture for rent for holiday celebrations. At about 2:45 p.m. on January 22, 2007, an army group of about 35 men conducted a search in the area where he lived with his family. His relative told Human Rights Watch that when the military personnel came to his house they initially told Simsan that they wanted to rent some furniture. They then proceeded to question him about any arms he might posses as well as alleged connections with the LTTE.

The soldiers searched the family’s house, including the attic area, and dug up the ground around the house looking for hidden ammunition. According to the family, the group was from the nearby Colombothurai military camp in Jaffna district. The military then checked his ID and left, saying that everything was in order.

The same night, at around 12:30 a.m., several other men came to Simsan’s house. They jumped over the gate and knocked on the door. One of Simsan’s relatives told Human Rights Watch:

[Simsan’s] father opened the door, and the men pushed him aside, and then forced us and the children into one of the rooms. He [Simsan] came out of his room, covering himself with a bed sheet, and the men grabbed him by the bed sheet and seized him. They wore black pants, green T-shirts, and their heads were wrapped with some black cloth. Later I found out that they arrived in a van, but they parked it on the main road. They smashed the lights bulbs in the room, and dragged him away. They told him, “Come!” in Tamil. He cried, “Mother!” but we couldn’t help him.

The family informed Jaffna police of the abduction. The police promised to make inquiries but never visited the family. The family also visited various military camps in the area. The family said that in one of the camps the military looked through “a big list of detainees” in their presence, but told them that Simsan’s name was not on their list. The family also filed reports with the HRC, ICRC, and SLMM. To date the family has received no further information on Simsan’s whereabouts. The ICRC informed the family that the army denied having arrested Simsan.

11. Emil Pramittan Velautham

 On the night of January 22, 2007, 25-year-old Emil PramittanVelautham was sleeping in his house in Jaffna town, along with eight other family members. One of the relatives told Human Rights Watch that at around 1:20 a.m. they heard the dogs barking and thought that somebody was trying to break into the house.

The family cried for help, thinking the perpetrators were thieves, but the men outside said in Tamil, “Are we thieves?” as if denying it. Then they tried to break the gate, but the family opened it. Two men then came in, in civilian clothes, armed with assault rifles, and their faces covered with dark scarves.

Velauthamwas sleeping in the adjacent house. The men then took Velautham’s father and two brothers outside. The family saw that they were showing them to someone who had been waiting outside. Then they asked, “Is that all?” and one of the brothers responded that they had another brother. The men then went to the room where Velauthamwas sleeping. His relative told Human Rights Watch: “He was sleeping, and they started dragging him away in his nightclothes. We all shouted, and cried, and tried to follow them, but they started shooting in the air to scare us off, and left.” The perpetrators did not take the other two brothers or the father.

The family filed a complaint with the local police, who said that they would contact the family if they received any information, but never did. The family also inquired about Velauthamin the Colombothurai military camp, Passaiyoor military camp, and the main EPDP camp in the area. The military personnel denied holding Velautham, and EPDP members repeatedly told the family to come back later.

The relatives filed the case with the HRC, SLMM, and ICRC.

12. Kajendran Kanapathippillai

On January 18, 2007, 21-year-old KajendranKanapathippillai returned home in the morning after spending a night in a shop in Jaffna town where he used to work. At around 2 p.m. he left home and went back to Jaffna.

Kanapathippillai’srelative told Human Rights Watch that at around 3 p.m. he called home and said that he had reached Jaffna. However, an hour later, when his daughter tried to reach him on his cell phone, nobody picked up the phone. Kanapathippillaidid not return home that day.

The next day Kanapathippillai’sfamily inquired at the shop, but his co-workers said they had not seen him since he left the shop on January 17.

The family started searching for Kanapathippillai, checked in the hospitals, and filed complaints with Jaffna and Chavakachcheri police stations, yet all their efforts proved futile. They also registered the case with the HRC and ICRC.

While the family found no witnesses to Kanapathippillaibeing arrested or taken away, they believe he was seized by the military. His father explained that in 2003 Kanapathippillai, who was then 17 years old, spent a year in the Wanni, at an LTTE training camp. The father said that his son had no continuing involvement with the LTTE but, a week before he went missing, several military personnel stopped the father on the road not far from his house and started interrogating him about his son. The military asked whether Kanapathippillai had been in the Wanni and seemed to know much about him. Family members also note that, on his way to Jaffna, Kanapathippillai would have passed the Varani military camp.

13. Kandayiah Latheeswaran

 At 8 a.m. on December 22, 2006, 20-year-old student Kandayiah Latheeswaran left his house in Mavady, Vaddukkoddai, western Jaffna district to attend classes in a college in Jaffna town. He never returned home.

The family inquired with the college, and found out that he had not come to the classes that day. They learned that he had been last seen at Anaicoddai area, on the outskirts of Jaffna town.

The family inquired at the local police station in Vaddukkoddai, and at the Mavady military camp, but both the police and the military denied arresting Latheeswaran. They also registered reports with the HRC, ICRC, SLMM, and local NGOs.

One of Latheeswaran’s relatives told Human Rights Watch that she had seen him in the Kaladdy military camp several weeks after he went missing. She said:

On January 9, 2007, I was on my way to the university in Jaffna-there were no classes but I was going to the bank in the university-and passed by Kaladdy military camp, located near the university. Suddenly, through a gap in the fence I saw [Kandayiah]. The fence was high and I could only see his face, but I immediately recognized him. He was just five meters away. He was talking to an army person; there were just two of them. He looked tired and had a bruise on his nose.

The relative said she had reported the encounter to the ICRC. To date she has not received any information regarding Latheeswaran’s fate.

14. Thilipkumar Ranjithkumar                     15.  Ganesh Suventhiran

                                     

On the morning of December 8, 2006, the military conducted large-scale cordon-and-search operations in several villages in Valvedditturai area in northern Jaffna district, including Samarapaku, Naachchimaar, Navindil, Illanthaikkadu, and Mavadi. According to eyewitnesses, the group conducting the searches consisted of personnel from Point Pedro camp, Polikandy camp, Valvedditturai camp, Uduppiddy camp, and another camp locally known as “Camp David.”

The wife of 25-year-old Thilipkumar Ranjithkumar told Human Rights Watch that in the morning four soldiers searched their house and checked the ID cards of the family members. They returned her card, but seized Ranjithkumar’s and told him to come later that day to Navindil to collect it.

Ranjithkumar’s wife took their two children and accompanied her husband to Navindil. She said there were almost 2,000 people at the area where the military told them to come-men with their families who had come to collect their IDs. The military personnel were calling out people’s names, asking some questions, and returning their ID cards. She said that they also called Ranjithkumar, checked his documents again, and let him go. However, he never left the area. Ranjithkumar’s wife said:

He got his card back, and was making his way through the crowd. There were two Powell vehicles parked there, and as he was passing in between them, several military personnel jumped off the vehicle, picked him up and pushed him inside. It all happened in front of my eyes-I stood with the kids some ten meters away. I ran there, screaming, “Where are you taking him? Please, let him go!”In response, one of the soldiers unfastened a strap from his gun, and lashed me, saying, “Go away, he is not here; if you lost your husband, go and ask the police.” I kept crying, asking them to either release him or take me and the kids as well, “because we wouldn’t survive without him anyway.” One of the soldiers, moved by my tears, got inside the vehicle and I heard him talking, but he did not come back to us.

Ganesh Suventhiran, age 23,also had his ID card confiscated on the morning of December 8, 2006, in his home village of Naachchimaar, northern Jaffna district. He also went to Navindil to pick up his card.

His wife told Human Rights Watch that she came there some time later and although she had to wait behind the fence, she saw her husband, who waved to her. She said that the military personnel checked his ID again and returned the card, allowing him to leave. However, as he was leaving two soldiers picked him up and put him into one of the Powell vehicles. Suventhiran’swife said she then immediately ran to the vehicle, and, along with Ranjithkumar’s wife started begging the soldiers to release the men. She said that the soldiers kept pushing the women away, saying they would hit them if they came closer.

The women said that some 15 minutes after their husbands had been put into the Powell, the vehicles quickly drove off, and other personnel followed them. The two women told Human Rights Watch that they managed to write down the license plate numbers of the two Powell vehicles, 40041-14, and 40032-14.

The wives of Ranjithkumar and Suventhiranimmediately went to file a complaint at the Point Pedro police station located inside the Point Pedro military camp. Suventhiran’swife said:

We gave them the vehicle numbers we wrote down, but they said, “We have hundreds of vehicles with the same numbers, so it is childish of you to expect us to find them by these numbers.” The next day, when we came back, we saw both vehicles leaving the camp and coming back. We told the policeman, and also talked to a female military officer who wrote something down. Then a commander-he had stars on his epaulets and a red band on his arm-came; he talked to us and to the female officer, but never returned to us. They said they did not know anything and sent us to the Valvettiturai police station.

The Valvettiturai police registered the complaint, but advised the women to search for the men in the forest; they mentioned that previously a man taken away by the military had been dumped in the forest, blindfolded, yet alive. The families, however, did not find their husbands there.

The two women told Human Rights Watch that they kept visiting Point Pedro and Polikandy military camps, and that on Christmas day 2006 the military personnel from the Polikandy camp came to verify the places of residence of the two men with their village leaders. The soldiers, however, kept denying having any knowledge of the men’s whereabouts. The women also reported the “disappearances” to the HRC, ICRC, and SLMM. The ICRC inquired with the military, the women said, but received the same response.

To date the fate and whereabouts of the two men remain unknown.

16. Kajenthiran Sivasubramaniam

Kajenthiran Sivasubramaniam, age 29, used to work in a bakery owned by his family in Kalviyankadu, Jaffna district. At about 10 p.m. on December 6, 2006, he delivered baking supplies for overnight baking to the bakery and went to his uncle’s house nearby. According to his family, that had been part of his daily routine since 2000 when he started working in the bakery: he used to come home before 6 p.m. to have dinner, return to the bakery with supplies, and then go to his uncle’s house for the night.

According to information relatives later received from the workers at the bakery and the uncle’s family, at about 1:30 a.m. a group of about 40 or 50 armed men came to the bakery. They asked for “Jegan”-Sivasubramaniam was locally known by this name. The bakers told his family that the assailants wore military pants and civilian T-shirts, and had masks on their faces. They arrived in a Powell military vehicle and a white van. Those speaking spoke Tamil.

Sivasubramaniam’s relative told Human Rights Watch:

The workers were very scared-there were so many armed men they thought the military was cordoning the entire area. Initially they told the armed men that that they did not know where Jegan was, and that he should come in the morning. But the men then turned everything upside down in the bakery, and seized one of the workers. They told him they would put him into the oven if he didn’t tell them. So he had to say where Jegan was sleeping.

The armed men then went to the house of Sivasubramaniam’s uncle, breaking the kitchen door and pushing away the uncle and his wife who tried to prevent them from entering. They did not search the house and did not ask the family to produce their identification documents, but seized Sivasubramaniam and took him away in his bedclothes.

Eyewitnesses to the incident believe that the perpetrators were from the military, and so Sivasubramaniam’s family started searching for him in the army camps. They went to the Irupalai army camp, but military officials there said they had not conducted operations in the area and did not know anything about the abduction. They also approached military personnel in the Urelu camp, the main army camp in the area. Military officials there said they did not know anything about the incident but took testimony from the family.

Sivasubramaniam’s relatives also submitted a statement to the Kopai police station. The police contacted the Urelu camp but said they received no response and did not proceed with the investigation.

The family reported the case to the HRC and ICRC.

17. Rasiharan Somalingam

 On December 6, 2006, 23-year-old Rasiharan Somalingam was on his way to his mother’s house in the village of Samarapaku, in Valvedditturai, Jaffna district. In Navindil area, the military was conducting a cordon-and-search operation. Somalingam told his family that soldiers stopped him and seized his ID card, saying he should come to Uduppiddy military camp to get it back. Somalingam returned home and then the same day went to the camp accompanied by his wife and sister. The military personnel ordered Somalingam inside but told his relatives to leave, saying they would release him shortly.

The two women left, but when Somalingam did not return home they came back and asked the military about him. They saw Somalingam’s bicycle parked inside the camp, yet the military officials denied they had arrested him.

Somalingam’s relative told Human Rights Watch that one other man from the area had been detained in the Uduppiddy camp along with Somalingam, and many people witnessed him being taken inside. Three days after his detention, the other man was dumped at a junction, away from his village, blindfolded, with his legs and hands tied. Somalingam’s relative said that the man was very scared and was not willing to talk to anyone about the circumstances of his detention or about other detainees he had seen in the camp.

The family reported the case to the HRC, ICRC, and SLMM. To date they have not received any information about his fate or whereabouts.

18. Thiyaganagalingam Sundaralingam

 On the night of December 3, 2006, at around 11 p.m., the family of 50-year-old Thiyaganagalingam Sundaralingam heard a vehicle stopping near their house in Tellippalai, Jaffna district. Sundaralingam’s wife and his oldest son went to wake him up. The men outside told the family to open the door, and when they refused, they broke the kitchen door and burst inside.

Sundaralingam’s wife told Human Rights Watch that there were nine men, all wearing T-shirts, but the family members couldn’t see much as the men shone a light in their eyes. The men spoke badly accented Tamil. Later the family saw the vehicle they arrived in, and learned from neighbors that two other vehicles were parked at a nearby junction. Sundaralingam’s wife said:

We all gathered in the hall around my husband. We were nine people altogether. The men told my oldest daughter, who was carrying a baby in her hands, to go away so that the child wouldn’t get scared. Then they sent us all to another room, and only my husband and the oldest son stayed. The men then ordered my husband to go with them. We all started shouting, but they told us to stop and said they would just question and release him. They took him out, and I just saw their vehicle leaving.

The family filed a complaint with the local police who promised to look into the case, but they never provided them with any information. They also went to the Uduvil military camp, but the military officials there denied having Sundaralingam. The family said that on December 13, 2006, the military police from Uduvil camp came to their house and told them to come to the camp. Sundaralingam’s daughter was crying, and one of the soldiers told her so that others could not hear, “Don’t cry, your father is in the camp, so go and cook your food.” When the family went to the camp, the military officials took a statement from them, recorded in Sinhala, and asked Sundaralingam’s wife to sign it. She did not want to sign something in a language she couldn’t read, but the official ordered her to do so.

The family later found out that the night Sundaralingam had been taken away the military had picked up another man from the area who was beaten and then released. This man told the family that the people who had detained him wore military uniforms and drove a military truck, and that he had seen Sundaralingam on another military truck.

The family home is one of only two inside a high security zone near two military camps, Tellippalai and Kollankaladdy. Family members say that military personnel from Tellippalai camp used to conduct weekly checks in the area, and knew the family very well. In response to the family’s inquiries, military officials said that Sundaralingam was a “good man” but claimed to have no knowledge of his whereabouts.

The family also reported the case to the HRC, ICRC, and SLMM. They have received no further information on Sundaralingam’s whereabouts. The relatives suspect that Sundaralingam might have been taken away because he used to take undeveloped rolls of film from local people and take them to Colombo to develop and print the photos. The family thinks that the military might have wanted to interrogate him about the photographs to which he had access.

19. Sivasooriyakumar Tharmaratnam

 On November 17, 2006, 28-year-old SivasooriyakumarTharmaratnam went with his wife and infant child to obtain permission from the local authorities to travel to Colombo at the Travel Clearance Civil office at Hospital Road, Jaffna, located inside a military camp. Along with other petitioners he was waiting at the checkpoint near the office, and at around 12:30 p.m. the military staff told him to come in. His wife gave him her ID card, and went to a nearby church to breastfeed the baby.

When she came back about half an hour later and asked about her husband, the officials told her that he had received his permission and left. She saw that her husband’s bicycle was still parked at the place where he left it earlier and decided to wait for him. She told Human Rights Watch:

I kept waiting because he had to take us home. At around 5:30 p.m., an official came out and showed me his application form with his signature certifying that he had received his permission. But when I started asking people who were still waiting at the checkpoint, they told me he had not come out. They knew him because we all made friends while we were waiting. There is only one way out of that office, through the checkpoint so they would have seen him if he had left.

The family immediately went to the Jaffna office of the HRC, located nearby, and the HRC contacted the Travel Clearance office. The military staff said again that Sivasooryakumar had left.

Sivasooryakumar’s family told Human Rights Watch that shortly before his “disappearance” he had opened a small shop to sell car parts. The shop was located inside the high security zone, and Sivasooryakumar used to spend time outside the shop. The family believes that the military might have suspected him of spying on them.

The family reported the “disappearance” to the Jaffna police, SLMM, and ICRC. The ICRC inquired in the Palali camp and Nallur military camp, but military personnel there claimed to have no knowledge of Sivasooryakumar’s whereabouts. At this writing the family has received no further information about his fate.

20. Charles Caston Raveendran

 At around 11:30 p.m. on November 15, 2006, 37-year-old Charles Caston Raveendran and his family were sleeping in their house in Chundikuli, Jaffna, when they heard knocking on the door. Raveendran worked for Halo Trust, an international mine-clearing organization operating in Jaffna. They did not open the door, and when Raveendran’s wife looked out of the window, she could not see anything as the men outside shone a flashlight into her eyes. She said that when she asked the men who they were, they answered, “police.” Raveendran, who thought the perpetrators were thieves, called for the neighbors, but the men broke the front door and burst in.

According to Raveendran’s wife, the assailants were eight men, all dressed in civilian clothes, some wearing bandanas, and all armed with AK-47 assault rifles or pistols. They spoke a mixture of Tamil and Sinhala, but she thought most of them were Tamil. The neighbors later told her that the men had arrived in two vehicles-a white van and a green jeep-which they parked on the main road. She told Human Rights Watch:

They took him out of his room into the hall, and pushed me, our son and two daughters, and his aunt into another room. He was wearing his sarong, and they allowed him to tie it and then tied his hands. I couldn’t see much from another room, but he yelled, “They are tying my hands!” I heard a slap, and then he didn’t say anything else. They took him out of the house and then came back to do a search. They asked us where the person who worked for Halo Trust was-I didn’t realize they were asking about [my husband] Charles Caston, and thought they were looking for his former colleague who is now living abroad. They searched my husband’s room and took away his mobile phone, his watch, his work boots, and his documents. We were too terrified to ask any questions.

The family told Human Rights Watch that, judging by the perpetrators’ accents, appearance, and bearing, they were Tamils from the area.

The family inquired with the Jaffna police, but the police said they had not come to the area. According to Raveendran’s wife, when she asked the police how it was possible for such a big group of men to break into their house during the curfew time, the police said, “if it’s the army, we cannot discuss it.” They also reported the case to the HRC, ICRC, and SLMM.

On behalf of the family the village headman inquired about Raveendran in the Passaiyoor military camp, but the military staff there denied arresting him. Halo Trust also informed the Palali military camp about the abduction, and the military personnel there said they had not arrested him, but added that “if it was the army intelligence unit, they could not interfere.” The family has not obtained any further information regarding his whereabouts.

21. Sivasothy Sivaramanan

 Sivasothy Sivaramanan, age 28, ran a small teashop in Urumpirai, Jaffna district, together with his father. In the beginning of October 2006, an army unit on motorcycles (a so-called “field group”) came to the family’s house in Urumpirai West. Sivaramanan was not at home at the time. The military searched the house, checked his father’s ID, and left.

Sivaramanan’s father told Human Rights Watch that on November 4, 2006, at about 6 a.m., another three soldiers in uniform came to the family’s teashop and asked him in Sinhala about his son’s whereabouts. He answered that his son had not yet come to the shop and asked why they were inquiring. The military officials responded that is was “nothing special,” and left.

The same night at around 9 p.m., after both the father and the son returned home, they heard a noise of a vehicle stopping near their house and of people running. According to Sivaramanan’s father, male voices called Sivaramanan by name from the street, and then about 15 men, fully armed and wearing loose pants and T-shirts, jumped over the gate and broke down the door into the house. They mostly spoke to each other in Sinhala, but some spoke Tamil as well. The men smashed the light bulbs in the house, pulled the drawer out of a desk, took out a photo album, and started asking the family about the people in the photos. The father told Human Rights Watch:

The armed men then woke our cook who was sleeping outside. The cook was drunk, and when the men started beating him up and questioning him, he showed them the room in the adjacent house where my son was sleeping. They went to that room, and I followed them. My son was hardly awake, and the men just put handcuffs on him, and started dragging him away. I asked, “Where are you taking my son?” but they just kicked me and pushed me aside. They took him outside, put him in a van, and drove away.

The family filed a complaint with the local police, who promised to make inquiries but did not come back to the family with any information. The relatives also inquired at the Kondavil and Thavady military camps, but military personnel in both places denied having Sivaramanan in custody. Sivaramanan’s father also met with the leader of the EPDP, government Minister for Social Services and Welfare Douglas Devananda, who said he would find his son. According to the father, he went to the EPDP office three times, and every time Devananda said he would get back to him in 10 days, but never did.

The family believes that the army might have taken Sivaramanan because the teashop used to serve lunch to many local people, and the military might have suspected that LTTE members were among them. Sivaramanan’s father told Human Rights Watch that when he asked about his son and complained at a checkpoint not far from the shop, the military personnel there told him casually “Oh, that’s because you were feeding LTTE.”

The family also reported the case to the HRC, ICRC, and local NGOs. At this writing the family had no additional information on Sivaramanan’s fate or whereabouts.

22. Padmanathan Rajendran
23. Sureshkumar Rajendran
24. Nishanthan Tharmakulasingam

On September 28, 2006, 21-year-old Padmanathan Rajendran and his brother, 18-year-old Sureshkumar Rajendran, who was staying with him in Irupalai, Jaffna district, went to play sports at a local sports ground and invited 21-year-old Nishanthan Tharmakulasingam to join them.

None of the three ever returned home. When their families started searching for them the same day, they only managed to find out that local residents had seen all three at the sports ground at around 4:30 p.m. However, nobody saw them being arrested or taken away, and no army or other security forces were present in the area.

The families believe that the three men were abducted by the LTTE. They said that the LTTE had a strong presence in the area. The relatives said that Padmanathan and Sureshkumar Rajendran spoke good Sinhala and were “friends” with the army, and used to tell the people in the village that they would help them out should they have any problems with the military. Their connection with the military was apparently well known in the village, and could have been the reason for their abduction by the LTTE. The families said that their fellow villagers also believed that the LTTE was involved in the men’s abduction, although people were too scared to share any specific information with the families.

Relatives with close connections in the military said that their military contacts were adamant the army was not responsible for the abductions.

The families of the three men filed a complaint with the Kopay police. They also reported the case to a local human rights group. To date they have not been able to obtain any information regarding the fate or whereabouts of their missing relatives.

25. Irajeevan Sathiyavagiswaran

On the night of September 11, 2006, 32-year-old Irageevant Sathiyavagiswaran,an information technology officer with the government, was sleeping in his family home in Tirunelveli, Jaffna district, when at about 12:15 a.m. the family heard the sound of motorcycles and a van stopping near the house. The family saw about 15 men jumping over the fence into the yard, and shouted, “Robbers!” as they were aware of a spree of robberies in the neighborhood. The men then broke the door and burst into the house.

According to Sathiyavagiswaran’s relatives, the men were in civilian clothes, but they could hardly see them as they were blinded by a flashlight. They said that most of the men spoke accented Tamil, though one spoke Tamil as a native speaker. They were armed with AK-47 assault rifles and other guns. One of the relatives told Human Rights Watch:

We were 11 people in the house. We were all begging them to take anything they wanted but not to hurt us. They told us to shut up and pushed us into a corner. They asked our names, and one of them went and checked other rooms in the house. They then asked for our documents, but as one of the women went to get to get the documents, they grabbed Sathiyavagiswaran. He tried to resist, but they knocked him down, and just dragged him out by his feet, like a dog. His mother was trying to grasp him, but they hit her with a gun butt on the head, and punched his sister who was in their way. He just kept shouting, “Mother! Mother!”

The relatives tried to follow the men as they were dragging Sathiyavagiswaran out of the house, but the assailants put him into a white van and drove away. The family said that there is a military checkpoint only 25 meters from their house and the soldiers there could easily see what was happening. However, when they inquired at the checkpoint, a soldier told them that he just thought they were shouting and crying because “someone got sick in the family,” and so did not think the soldiers should intervene.

The family filed a complaint with the Kopai police station and inquired at the Urelu military camp, but the military staff there said they had no knowledge of the incident. When they inquired at the EPDP camp in the area some 20 days after the abduction, one of the EPDP officials there said he believed Sathiyavagiswaran “must still be alive,” and suggested that otherwise the family would have found the body. The family also reported the case to the ICRC and SLMM, and a number of organizations made inquiries on their behalf.

At this writing the family has received no further information on Sathiyavagiswaran’s fate or whereabouts.

26. Iyngaran Selvarasa

On September 3, 2006, at around 3 p.m., three soldiers came to the house of 24-year-old Iyngaran Selvarasa in Kopai, Jaffna district. Members of his family said they knew these men well, as they were from the nearby Irupalai camp and frequently stopped by the house while on patrols in the village. Military personnel had previously searched the house twice, but never found anything. That day the soldiers just talked casually to Selvarasa, and then left.

A few hours later, a group of about 10 or 15 fully armed men arrived at the house in a white van. The family said they spoke unaccented Tamil and were in civilian clothing. Selvarasa’s relative told Human Rights Watch:

They told him, “You thought you could escape from us?!” and then just started dragging him out. I kept asking why they were taking him away, but they said nothing in response and just put him in a van. They kept the rest of the family at gunpoint. I ran to the van, but one of them pushed his gun into my chest, then raised the barrel and shot into the air.

One relative said there is a military checkpoint some 200 meters away from the house, but the soldiers did not come when she was crying for help. She said she also saw the van passing the checkpoint without being stopped. Later, when the family tried to inquire at the checkpoint, the soldiers advised them to go and ask about Selvarasa at the Irupalai camp, but the family was too scared to go there.

The family filed a complaint with Kopay police, and inquired at the Srithar EPDP camp. They also reported the abduction to the HRC, ICRC, and SLMM. To date they have not received any information on Selvarasa’s fate or whereabouts. They said that after Selvarasa had been taken away, the soldiers stopped coming to their house.

27. Thavaruban Kanapathipillai  
28. Shangar Santhivarseharam

On August 16, 2006, at around noon, 26-year-old Thavaruban Kanapathipillai went to Kachai, in eastern Jaffna district, to buy some items for his shop, and invited 30-year-old Shangar Santhivarseharamto accompany him. The two men rode a bicycle together. They never returned. Their families told Human Rights Watch that they waited for the men, but could not go out to search for them the same day because a curfew was imposed in the area.

The next day, Santhivarseharam’s mother went to Kodikamam military camp located near her house to inquire about her son. She said she was surprised when the military officials asked her whether her son used to work for a bus company, the Ceylon Transport Board, because Thavaruban Kanapathipillai had worked there and the detail suggested the military might have some knowledge of the two men’s whereabouts, although the officials denied it.

The same day, both families filed a complaint with the Kodikamam police station, and went to the military camp again. Kanapathipillai’s uncle told Human Rights Watch:

When we got to the camp, I saw my nephew’s bicycle parked there. It was parked near the camp, in the military-controlled area. When we asked the soldiers, they denied arresting them, and when I said we had seen the bike, they got very angry, and started yelling, “Who told you to go and look there?! We’ll shoot you if you ever approach this place again!” We asked the GS [local civilian official] and the police to get the bike back, but they couldn’t. Eventually, the commander in the camp returned the bike to us. He said that the people who had arrested our men were no longer there, so we should just take the bike and go.

The families reported the case to the HRC, SLMM, and ICRC, and wrote petitions to various state and military authorities. To date they have not been able to obtain any information regarding the fate and whereabouts of their relatives.

29. Thavavinayagam Anantharasa
30. Selvanathan Kanthy

 On August 15, 2006, two men-35-year old Thavavinayagam Anantharasa and 22-year-old Selvanathan Kanthy-left their home in Velanai, on Kayts island west of the Jaffna peninsula, for Jaffna town, to buy supplies for their shop. They never returned home.

Anantharasa’s relative told Human Rights Watch that when the families started searching for the men the next day, they learned that both had been stopped and questioned by the navy at Allaipiddy checkpoint at around 12 p.m. The navy let them pass, but they were stopped again at the Mankumpan checkpoint about half an hour later.

Local residents in Mankumpan told Anantharasa’s family that they saw him there at around 12:30 p.m., near the Mankumpan Pillar Hindu Temple. They said he was sitting under a tree surrounded by a group of uniformed navy officers. The people were not sure whether the navy personnel were interrogating him or just talking to him.

When the relative inquired with the navy at the Mankumpan checkpoint, they first told her that Anantharasa had crossed the checkpoint and his name was registered there. Then they added they did not know what had happened to him and suggested that he might have been taken away by the LTTE.

Both families filed complaints with the police. They also filed cases with the HRC. When the HRC inquired at the Mankumpan navy camp, the navy said it had no information about the two men.

Kanthy’s relative said that local people at Allaipiddy told them they had seen navy personnel driving Kanthy’s motorcycle-the license plate was removed yet they said they recognized the vehicle.

Kanthy’s relative informed Human Rights Watch that on August 26, 2006, 11 days after the “disappearance,” two bodies were found under the bridge near Mankumpan checkpoint. While the villagers and the families could see the bodies from a distance, the military did not allow them to approach the place and did not provide any information regarding identification of the bodies.

31. Sutharsan Vijayakumar

At around 3 p.m. on August 9, 2006, 19-year-old student Sutharsan Vijayakumar left his house in the village of Alady, Jaffna district. He told his family he was going to play sports at a nearby playing field. He never returned home.

When Vijayakumar’s family started searching for him they found out he had been detained by the military on his way to the sports ground. A relative told Human Rights Watch:

There is a small checkpoint, a military post about a kilometer away from our house. It’s right in front of a shop, and the shopkeepers there saw everything. They said the soldiers beat him and pushed him onto his knees. They kept him on the roadside for awhile and then took him to an abandoned house nearby. Nobody dared to follow them, of course, and so nobody knows what happened afterwards.

The relative said she did not dare to go and inquire at the checkpoint, yet visited two military camps nearby, Manipay camp and Chunnakam camp. Military personnel, however, chased her away saying they had not arrested Vijayakumar.

The relative also mentioned that another young man was arrested together with Vijayakumar, but she did provide Human Rights Watch with his name or further details.

Vijayakumar’s family filed a complaint with the Chunnakam police, but did not hear anything back. They also registered the case with the HRC and ICRC. To date the fate and whereabouts of Sutharsan Vijayakumar remain unknown.

32. Shanthakumar Palaniyappan

At around 8:30 a.m. on July 22, 2006, a large group of military personnel came to the house of 26-year-old Shanthakumar Palaniyappan in Meesali, Jaffna district. Palaniyappan’s wife told Human Rights Watch that earlier that morning there had been a claymore landmine attack not far from their house which had left three soldiers dead and several injured. She said that the soldiers who usually patrolled the area were from Puttur junction military camp, but was not sure whether this group was from there as well.

Palaniyappan’s wife said that the military personnel did not introduce themselves and did not produce any documents, but started questioning her husband about the attack. She said:

They just took him away. I kept asking where they were taking him, but they said they would inquire and bring him back. When they left, I followed them. They took him to a place not far from where we live. There was a house there, and for awhile they kept him there; he was just standing near the wall and I could see him. The military then chased me away, and I don’t know where they took him from there.

Palaniyappan’s wife inquired about him in the Puttur junction military camp and the Puliayadi military camp, but the military in both places denied having arrested him. She also filed a complaint at the Chavakachcheri police station. She reported the case to the HRC and ICRC.

Three days after the “disappearance,” the Chavakachcheri magistrate who Palaniyappan’s wife said was investigating the claymore attack summoned her and informed her that her husband had not been arrested by the army. The court told her that she would be notified if any information came to light. To date her husband’s fate and whereabouts remain unknown.

33. Maruthai Ajanthan

On June 26, 2007, 17-year-old MaruthaiAjanthan, a grade 10 student at Vipulanandan College in Vavuniya, was on his way to Vavuniya town.

His father told Human Rights Watch that while people saw him leaving the village, no one saw him in Vavuniya town. He said:

Since nobody saw him in town, I suspect that he was taken away on his way to town. I went to the LTTE and the [pro-government Tamil group] PLOTE and asked them if they had seen my son or knew about him. They all said that they knew nothing about him. Anything could have happened to him. There are many police checkpoints on the road to town. I don’t know who could have taken him.

Ajanthan’s family filed a complaint at the Vavuniya police station (Case No MOIB885/298) and followed up their complaint with repeated visits. The family also complained to the village administrator, the HRC, ICRC, SLMM, UNICEF, and the nongovernmental Civil Monitoring Committee (CMC). To date the family has received no additional information about Ajanthan’s fate or whereabouts.

34. Tharmakulasingam Kuruparan

At around 2 p.m. on May 11, 2006, 24-year-old Tharmakulasingam Kuruparan left his home town of Chavakachcheri in southern Jaffna district, and went to Jaffna town on a motorbike. He intended to return home the same day, but never did. He earned his living by buying and selling motorcycles.

Kuruparan’s relative told Human Rights Watch that at 7 p.m. that day he received a call from a friend of Kuruparan who said that Kuruparan had been arrested at Kaladdy junction, near the university there. When the relative went there the next day, eyewitnesses to the incident who knew Kuruparan told him that the previous day an army field group on five or six motorcycles, accompanied by a Powell vehicle, closed the road.  Soldiers were checking documents of people traveling on the road.

The people said that after checking Kuruparan’s documents, soldiers handcuffed him, pulled his T-shirt up around his head, and put him into the military vehicle. They similarly arrested three or four other people, but Kuruparan’s relative did not know their names.

The eyewitnesses believed that those arrested had been taken to the Urelu military camp, as this was the only camp in the area with motorized field groups.

Kuruparan’s relative told Human Rights Watch:

Two days after his arrest, we went to the Urelu military camp, but they said they had not arrested anybody. We also went to the Jaffna police station. They did not ask us to produce witnesses, but went to the scene to inquire. They did not tell us what they found but in any case the witnesses would have been too afraid to tell them what they saw. I also wrote letters to the Palali camp, the SLA [Sri Lankan army] commander-in-chief, and the GA [Government Agent-central government official at the local level] also appealed on our behalf, but he also received no response.

The family also filed the case with the HRC, SLMM, and ICRC. They did not receive any reliable information about Kuruparan’s whereabouts, although they heard rumors which they were unable to verify that he had been detained in Kankesanthurai military camp near Palali.

35. Rasanvagampillai Sivananthamoorthy
36. Markandu Pushpakanthan
37. Kandasamy Parimelalakan
38. Ramachandran Rasakumar
39. Ponnambalam Parthipan
40. Vaikundavasan Vaikundakumar
41. Selvaratnam Sivananthan
42. Ratnam Thayaroopan

On May 6, 2006, eight men from Manthuvil East in Jaffna district went to spend the night in a local Hindu Temple for holiday celebrations. Their families told Human Rights Watch that around 12:30 a.m. they heard the sound of a vehicle passing through the village in the direction of the temple. About half an hour later they heard seven gunshots. The families were too scared to come out in the middle of the night and decided to wait till morning. At 4:30 a.m. the military started a search operation in the village. The relatives of the eight men said they saw a jeep and a Powell military vehicle approaching the temple.

The relatives convinced their neighbors to join them and went to the temple. One of the mothers told Human Rights Watch:

We wanted to get there before the military vehicles left. When we got to the temple, we saw a guard with a gun at the entrance to the premises, other military personnel around the temple, and the two vehicles parked there. When we approached, the guard blew a whistle, and the soldiers ran to their vehicles and quickly left. We suspect they had put our men in one of the vehicles and drove them away.When we entered the temple, nobody was there. At the lodging area, we saw their mats, clothes, and one of their ID cards. We saw some blood stains, and collected bullet cartridges from the place.

The relatives believed that the soldiers who conducted the search operation were from Puttur junction military camp-they had often patrolled the village.

The relatives tried to go immediately to the nearby Varani military camp. However, on the way, as they were passing the Iyathalai camp, the soldiers there stopped them, asked for the “disappeared” men’s names, and did not allow the families to proceed to the Varani camp, telling them to report to the Kodlikamam police station instead.

The women filed complaints with the police. They also reported the case to the HRC, ICRC, and SLMM. The police went to the temple three days later, but did not get back to the families with any information.

On May 9, 2006, when the families were finally able to visit the Varani military camp, military personnel there told them that the LTTE had published an online article saying that the eight men had been killed by the security forces and dumped in the forest at Kaputhuveli. They suggested that the relatives should go and search there. The women said that SLMM staff had looked into the case, visited the temple, met with the families, and searched for the bodies in the forest mentioned by the military, yet they were not able to find anything. To date, the fate of the eight men remains unknown.

43. Sakthivadivel Rajkumar

On the morning of October 23, 2006, a group of men abducted Sakthivadivel Rajkumar, age 29, in front of a garment school in Vavuniya. His wife, who received the news on his abduction from the garment school employees, told Human Rights Watch that three or four men forced Rajkumar into a white van and drove away.

The same day, Rajkumar’s family registered a complaint with a police station in Vavuniya (Case No CIB 200/219), and later also reported the case to the SLMM (Case No VV1428) and the HRC (Case No 394/2006).

One week after the abduction the family received a telephone call from a man who called himself Robert and said he was from the Karuna group.The man demanded two million rupees (about US$18,000) for Rajkumar’s release. The family requested to see Rajkumar before paying the ransom, but the caller refused.

The next day someone left Rajkumar’s umbrella in the garden.His wife told Human Rights Watch that “Robert” then called again and said, “If we brought his umbrella then it’s not hard to bring a part of his body.” She recorded the numbers from which the phone calls were made.

According to Rajkumar’s wife, “Robert” told the family to deposit the money in Sampath Bank, and gave her an account number and the name in which the deposit should be made.

On November 3, 2006, the family deposited half of the requested sum, and received a call from a man who confirmed that the money had arrived. During the call the person also said that Rajkumar had been injured during torture and that he would be released upon recovery.At this writing Sakthivadivel Rajkumar has not returned home, and the family has not received any further information from his abductors.

Western Sri Lanka

44. Kirubalan Balasubramaniam

KirubalanBalasubramaniam, age 23,worked with a NGO calledArbeiter Samariter Bund (ASB) in Jaffna but wanted to go abroad to continue his education. On April 1, 2007, he went to Colombo to get a student visa for Cyprus. He had not been admitted to a university yet but was in the process of preparing his application. While in Colombo, he stayed at the Ramakrishna Mission in Wellawatta.

According to his mother, the last time she spoke to Balasubramaniam was on April 27, 2007. When she tried calling him the following day he did not answer his mobile phone. Her attempts to reach him during the following week also failed. In desperation, the mother called the mission where he was staying. The mission told her that they knew nothing of his whereabouts since April 28, 2007. The mother later discovered that around 40,000 rupees (about US$360) had been withdrawn from his account a few days after he went missing.

Balasubramaniam’s family filed a complaint with the police (case No CIB I 298/19) and also reported the case to the HRC, CMC, and ICRC. At this writing the family has not received any further information regarding his fate or whereabouts.

45. Surendrakumar Puniyamurthi

SurendrakumarPuniyamurthi, age 39,worked as a newspaper delivery man and was fondly called “Paper Suresh” by his clients and friends. On April 20, 2007, at around 8:30 p.m., he went to his mother’s house, had dinner, and returned to his rented room in a building occupied by many tenants in Colombo.

According to his mother, Puniyamurthi’s cotenants later told her that about six armed med came into the building shortly after he returned from her house asking for “Paper Suresh.” People in the building directed them to his room and the armed men entered and took him away. Two days later Puniyamurthi’s friends informed his mother of the incident. She told Human Rights Watch:

He had lived in Colombo for six years, his records were absolutely clean. He had never been on the wrong side of law, never had problems with the police. We don’t suspect anyone because he was not the kind of person to get into trouble with anybody.

The family lodged a complaint with the police on April 24 (Case No CIB II53/196); they also reported the case to the HRC and CMC. The police came to Puniyamurthi’s house to conduct an inquiry but to date have not informed the family of any progress in the investigation.

46. Antony Paul Eldrin Mathew

 Antony PaulEldrin Mathew, age 34, had worked as a crane operator in Colombo harbor for over six years. His wife and 7-year-old son lived in Trincomalee but the family spoke by phone every morning and evening. Mathews’s wife told Human Rights Watch that she spoke to him on the morning of February 14, 2007, but when she tried his number at 6 p.m. that evening there was no answer. At around 7:30 p.m. Mathew’s wife received a call from his landlady who told her that Mathew had been taken away by four men in a white van. The landlady told Mathew’s wife that the men had said that they needed to take Mathew away to question him.

Some of Mathew’s neighbors later told his wife that they noticed a small board with the word “police” behind the windscreen of the van. His wife told Human Rights Watch:

On the day of the suicide attack on Defense Secretary Gothabaya Rajapaksa [December 1, 2006], the CID [Criminal Investigation Department of the police] took my husband away to question him. But they released him the same evening when they found no evidence of his involvement. When he was taken away on February 14, I thought they were the same people who had taken him away [in 2006] and would release him.My husband has no links with any terrorists or militants. There is no reason for the police to be suspicious of him other than that he is Tamil and that he moved from Trincomalee. He is the only Tamil working in crane operations in the port.

The family filed a complaint with the Kotahena police station (case No GCIB 25/192). They also registered information with the HRC and ICRC. To date the family has received no information on Mathew’s fate or whereabouts.

47. Suresh Palanisamy

On the morning of February 1, 2007, four policemen, two of them in uniform, arrived at the house of 22-year-old SureshPalanisamy in Colombo. According to information from Palanisamy’sfamily, the police told him that he was needed at the Eheliyagoda police station regarding a complaint, and Palanisamyleft with them.

Upon hearing the news from Palanisamy’swife, his father rushed to the police station. The police denied ever bringing Palanisamythere. The father then went to Kotahena police station and filed a complaint. On February 5, 2007, the family also registered the case with the HRC.

48. Kanapathipillai Ravindran

 Kanapathipillai Ravindran, age 30, lived in Colombo for over five years. He owned a phone repair shop in Wellawatta and was financially well-off. According to his mother, on the night of January 28, 2007, Ravindran received a call from someone asking him to repair a phone urgently. The caller said he was waiting outside his house and kept ringing the bell.

Neighbors who witnessed the scene conveyed details to the mother. They told her that when Ravindran stepped outside, two or three people were waiting for him near the house, while another couple of men were waiting in the street, near a white van. The men bundled him and pushed him over the wall, put him into the van, and drove away.

Ravindran’s mother told Human Rights Watch:

The people who picked him up spoke Tamil. The neighbors said that it was fluent Tamil. However, we have no other information about them. My son had no links with any Tamil groups or the LTTE. We don’t know who could have taken him.

Ravindran’s landlord reported the abduction to the police (case No GCIB 229/481), yet, so far the fate and whereabouts of Ravindran remain unknown.

49. Ravees Subramaniam

 RaveesSubramaniam, age 30,moved to Colombo from Jaffna in 2004, and worked in a jewelry shop.

According to his mother, Subramaniamwas going to work as usual on the morning of January 28, 2007, when four unidentified people kidnapped him on Kathiresan Street in Colombo.

Subramaniam’smother told Human Rights Watch that people who witnessed the abduction informed her about it. However, no one could identify the abductors and there was no information on where they had fled with her son.

The family registered complaints with the Pettah police and filed the case with the CMC. At this writing the family has received no further information on Subramaniam’swhereabouts.

50. Ramachandran Sivakumar

In December 2006, 43-year-old Ramachandran Sivakumar, a trishaw (motorbike taxi) driver from the Wanni moved to Colombo, hoping the city would offer him a better chance to feed his family of six. He stayed in a lodge near Pettah in Colombo, and kept in touch with his family through regular phone calls.

On the evening of January 14, 2007, Sivakumar called his wife to tell her that he had found a job as a driver in a delivery company and would be starting the job the following day. She never heard from him again.

According to Sivakumar’s wife, witnesses who saw him in the lodge later told her that he left on the morning of January 15, 2007, and never returned. She received no news of his being abducted, but believes he may have been picked up the security forces.

She told Human Rights Watch:

Right after he came to Colombo, he was picked up for questioning by the Pettah police station. He told me they had asked him if he was a member of the LTTE. They found no evidence of his involvement with the LTTE and had to release him. I suspect that the security forces may have taken him again. Nobody else knew him in Colombo, and nobody had a reason to target him. He is a poor man.

Sivakumar’s family filed a case with the Pettah police station. They also reported the matter to the HRC, ICRC, and SLMM. His whereabouts remain unknown to date.

51. Balendran Ratheeskanth

 In December 2006, 27-year-old Balendran Ratheeskanth moved from Vavuniya to Colombo in the process of migrating to the United Arab Emirates for work. He obtained the necessary work and travel permits, and had a ticket to fly out of Colombo on January 23, 2007.

According to Ratheeskanth’s mother, who had spoken to his landlord, at around 2:30 p.m. on January 13, 2007, six unarmed men arrived in a blue van at his boarding house in Colombo. The men identified themselves as CID officers and presented their identity cards. They said they had to take Ratheeskanth away. The landlord repeatedly asked them why and where they were taking Ratheeskanth, but they did not reply and forcibly took Ratheeskanth away.

Ratheeskanth’s mother told Human Rights Watch:

Normally my son called me every evening. But that evening I did not receive a call so I got worried. I called the landlord of the boarding house and he informed me about what had happened. The same night I got on a bus from Vavuniya and came to Colombo.

Ratheeskanth’s mother filed a complaint with the police; she also inquired at the CID office at Dematagoda about her son. The police and the CID denied having any knowledge of the arrest. At this writing, Ratheeskanth is still missing.

52. Subaramaniam Jeshuthasan                          
53. Alakaiya Logeshwaran
54. Raveendran Ranjith                    
55. Kanapathipillai Puvaneshwaran
56. Thavapalan Krishnakaran 
57. Muhammad Mazeen Muhamed Riyaz

             

Subaramaniam Jeshuthasan                    Alakaiya Logeshwaran                         Thavapalan Krishnakaran

On January 10, 2007, five young men from Batticaloa arrived in Colombo to apply for work visas for the Middle East. After their visa interviews, 22-year-old Subaramaniam Jeshuthasan and 31-year-old Alakaiya Logeshwaran took a bus back to Batticaloa on January 12. An eyewitness told the families that a white van stopped the bus. Men saying they were from the CID took Jeshuthasan and Logeshwaran off the bus and drove them away.

The two men’s relatives, interviewed separately, told Human Rights Watch that they had each learned these details from an eyewitness who was arrested with Jeshuthasan and Logeshwaran but was released the same day.

Jeshuthasan’s family informed the police in Batticaloa the next day and officers there said they would inform the other stations. The family also got a call from Jeshuthasan’s cell phone. The person spoke Sinhala and when the family went to get a neighbor who spoke the language the person on the phone hung up. The family called back Jeshuthasan’s cell, and the person who answered said he was with the police and that he would inquire into the family’s complaint, but the relatives have not heard anything from the police since.

Logeshwaran’s family said they reported the case to the police in Eravur, and officers there said they would inform other stations. They also reported the case to the HRC (case No 026/07/MA).

The three other men from the group stayed in Colombo, at the South Asia Lodge, awaiting their interviews and medical exams. Their relatives told Human Rights Watch that, according to the lodge owner, on the night of January 12, a group of men arrived at the lodge in a white van (license plate number 253-0467) and showed CID identification cards.

The men took away 24-year-old Raveendran Ranjith, 33-year-old Kanapathipillai Puvaneshwaran, and 20-year-old Thavapalan Krishnakaran.

Ranjith’s family went to the Pettah police station and filed a complaint, but the police did not provide the family a case number. The family also submitted information to the HRC (case No 024/07/MA).

Krishnakaran’s family reported him as a missing person to the police in Pettah, Colombo, and Valaichchenai, the last of which took the case. They also filed a case with the HRC.

Krishnakaran’s relatives on January 19, 2007, filed a complaint with the Batticaloa police (case No CIB 130/131). They also reported the case to the HRC (case No 030/07/MA) and SLMM (case No BT-3549).

The employment agent for four of the five men, a 34-year-old named Muhammad Mazeen Muhamed Riyaz, also apparently was “disappeared.” A relative of Riyaz’s told Human Rights Watch that after Riyaz learned about the abductions, he went to eight different police stations in Colombo and registered complaints. He also reported the case to the CMC, and took the families of the “disappeared” to the Tamil-owned Shakti TV to publicize the case.

According to Riyaz’s wife, on the morning of January 22, Riyaz left home to go to his office on Messenger Street in Colombo 12. At around 11:15 a.m. other employees informed her that about six armed men in civilian clothes walked into the office. They introduced themselves as CID and said they had come to check Riyaz’s office. They got him outside the office on some pretext and once he came out, they bundled him into a van and sped away.

Riyaz’s family filed a complaint with the Kotahena police and at Boosa prison. They also registered statements with the HRC and ICRC. At this writing the family has received no further information on Riyaz’s fate or whereabouts.

58. Ketheeswaran Sujampu Nadar                       
59. Kanapathy Sujampu Nadar

 Ketheeswaran Sujampu Nadar, age 30, and his brother, 25-year-old Kanapathy Sujampu Nadar, owned a bus and provided transportation services in Colombo. Kanapathy was not married and lived with his brother and sister-in-law in Colombo.

According to Ketheeswaran’s wife, on January 10, 2007, she received a phone call asking for a private hire of the bus. The caller spoke Sinhala. She passed on her husband’s mobile number to the callers but also told them that he was at work and would not be free until 9 p.m. that day. Her husband and his brother never returned home.

Ketheeswaran’s wife told Human Rights Watch:

We discovered my husband’s bus parked in the place where it is normally parked. But the men never came back home. The bus is normally parked at Ellie Lane in Colombo 15, but there was no trace of my husband or his brother.Six months ago, the police arrested my husband on suspicion but later released him when they found no evidence. I felt maybe this is like that. But till now there is no news of my husband.

The family filed a complaint with the local police who promised to make inquiries but did not come back with any information. The relatives also inquired with the CID chief. They also provided information to the CMC. So far their efforts to find the two men have proved futile.

60. Varapragasam Morrison                      
61. Natkunam Selvarasa

 Varapragasam Morrison, age 35, and Natkunam Selvarasa, age 27, shared a house in Colombo.

According to Selvarasa’s relative, at around 4 a.m. on January 8, 2007, six or seven armed and masked men in civilian clothes jumped over the compound wall and entered the house. The relative told Human Rights Watch that the men knocked on their door, and when Selvarasa opened they assaulted him and ordered him to hand over all his possessions. The family handed them 10,000 rupees (about US$90) and a mobile phone. The assailants pushed Selvarasa into a small blue van parked outside and left.

The same men then beat up and took away VarapragasamMorrison. His wife, who was in Jaffna with their children, told Human Rights Watch that she learned the details of the incident once she got to Colombo.

Selvarasa’s stepmother told Human Rights Watch:

We suspect the Sri Lankan government. There is a police checkpoint adjoining the boundary of our house; who else could dare to come in with the police on guard next door? My son had no links with any militants. We don’t know why anybody would take him.

Selvarasa’s family registered a complaint in the Modara police station. They also reported the case to the CMC. Morrison’s wife reported the case to the SLMM, ICRC, and CMC.

62. Vairamuththu Varatharasan

 For eight months, 40-year-old Vairamuththu Varatharasan worked as a truck driver, transporting goods from Colombo to other cities. He moved to Colombo from Jaffna at the age of 20. An ethnic Tamil, Varatharasan married a Sinhalese woman in 1993 and has four daughters and a son.

At midnight on January 7, 2007, a group of uniformed policemen came to Varatharasan’s house. His wife told Human Rights Watch that one armed policeman came inside the house and asked for identity papers. Around 20 other people, some in civilian clothes, surrounded the house outside. Varatharasan’s wife told Human Rights Watch:

I went inside the house to get the identity card. By the time I came out of the room, my husband was not there; neither was the policeman. I ran out and spotted a van parked in a dark place on the road. I ran to the road but by the time I got there, the van started and left.The next night about 20 uniformed army personnel came to my house. They said, “You are a Sinhalese lady. Why don’t you help us? We know you have kept weapons in the house.” I told them there were no weapons in the house. They went around the house, hitting the floor with iron pipes but did not find anything. Before I could ask them any questions, they asked me, “Where is your husband?” I told them that the police had taken him the previous night. They asked me if I had reported the matter to the police.

The woman said that her husband had been arrested previously, and the CID used to visit their house regularly and question him. After the killing of Foreign Minister Lakshman Kadirgamar in August 2005, she said, the CID arrested Varatharasan and held him for two days. The family complained to the police about this constant harassment by the CID, but it did not help.

The family filed a complaint about Varatharasan’s “disappearance” at the Grandpass Police Station (Case No MOIB-355/132). According to Varatharasan’s wife, the police told her she would have to wait for 91 days before they would take any action. The family also reported the case to the HRC, CMC, and Municipal Council opposition leader Vasudeva Nayannakara.

63. Thangavel Mayuran

When ThangavelMayuran, age 23, finished his advanced level studies in Jaffna in March 2006, he and his entire family moved to Colombo because of the rapidly deteriorating security situation in the peninsula. Mayuran’s uncle, who lives in the Netherlands, supported them financially during the move. Mayuran worked evenings in a print shop on Galle Road, Colombo, and on occasion slept in the shop and returned home the next morning.

According to Mayuran’s mother, at around 11 p.m. on December 22, 2006, one of Mayuran’s colleagues informed her that Wellawatte police had taken her son away. She said:

We immediately went to the police station where the officer-in-charge checked the lock-up and told us our son was not there. The officer asked us to wait, as a police team which had gone for round-ups was to return shortly. But they came back without our son.

According to a statement given by the owner of the shop to the CMC, “five armed persons in civilian clothes entered the shop at around 10:30 p.m. on December 22. They asked all those present in the shop for identity cards. When Mayuran showed his ID card, one of the men started pulling him to take him away.” In his statement, the owner says he tried to intervene and asked them which police station they were from. The men replied they were from “Slave Island-CID” [“Slave Island” is an area in Colombo]. The owner said he wanted to check the vehicle they were going to take Mayuran in. In response the men threatened to shoot anybody who came out of the shop.

On the family’s request, the Wellawatte police called Slave Island police station to check if anyone who fitted Mayuran’s description had been arrested, but they denied such an arrest. The family provided information to the HRC, ICRC, SLMM, and CMC. To date they have not received any further information about Mayuran. Mayuran’s mother told Human Rights Watch:

I think they took my son by mistake. They were looking for some other Mayuran because before my son joined the shop, another boy by that name worked there. Till now, there is no news. We just want our son back.

64. Sivakumar Jathavakumar

 Sivakumar Jathavakumar, age 23, traveled from Vavuniya to Colombo on November 15, 2006, to get a visa for work abroad. He stayed in the Wellawatte Lodge on Frances Road in Colombo 6 with two friends.

On December 16, 2006, men in civilian clothes arrived at the lodge in a police van and took Jathavakumar away. Jathavakumar’sparents learned about the abduction from the friends with whom he was staying.

The family said they filed a complaint with the Wellawatte police station, and several months later they saw a newspaper article that said Jathavakumar was being held in Boosa prison.

The article, viewed by Human Rights Watch, lists 89 people the authorities said were being held in Boosa prison. Based on that information, the parents went to Boosa prison to find their son. His father said, “They took us in and brought five prisoners out, asking them to look for our son. The army then said he was injured. This was last Friday [March 2, 2007].”

The parents left Boosa without any confirmation that he was being held at the prison. It is not known if they reported the case to the police or anyone else.

65. Sivasubramaniam Raveendranath

Professor Sivasubramaniam Raveendranath, age 56, Vice Chancellor at Eastern University in Batticaloa, went missing from a high security zone in Colombo on December 15, 2006.

Previously, on September 20, 2006, a group of unidentified armed men had abducted Dr. Bala Sugamar, the dean of the arts faculty at the Eastern University, saying they would release Dr. Sugamar if Prof. Raveendranath resigned from his post as University Vice Chancellor. According to Prof. Raveendranath’s family, the professor and his immediate relatives left Batticaloa for Colombo on the night of October 1, 2006. The next day, he submitted his resignation and Dr. Sugamar was released 11 days later.

Prof. Raveendranath stayed in Colombo, where he worked for the university grants commission. He reported receiving death threats on his cell phone. “The people who threatened him said they would punish him and kill him if he didn’t stop working,” his son-in-law told Human Rights Watch.

On December 15, Prof. Raveendranath attended a science conference near the BMICH conference hall in Colombo, which is in a high security zone with a large military and police presence. The family expected him back for lunch but he never arrived. His wife tried his cell phone several times but it was turned off.

That same day his family filed a police report with the Dehiwala police (Case No 225/260/CIB2). They also submitted the case to the UN Working Group on Enforced or Involuntary Disappearances (UN Working Group), which sent it under the urgent action procedure to the Sri Lankan government on January 9, 2007. At this writing, Prof. Raveendranath remains missing.

66. Maxi Bolton

 Maxi Bolton, age 42, worked for one year in Australia. According to his family, during that time he won 20 million rupees (about US$180,000) in a lottery. Upon his return to Sri Lanka, he bought land and a house, and opened a grocery and communications shop.

An employee told Bolton’s wife that on December 9, 2006, Maxi Bolton was at his shop in Kotahena, Colombo, when five men arrived in a white van (license plate number 250-5669). Two of them came inside, saying they were from the CID and Bolton was needed for questioning.

One-and-a-half months later, the wife said, the family got information that Bolton was in Welikanda area. A man who identified himself as Jithan called Bolton’s sister to say that his questioning was almost done and the family could pick him up. According to Botlon’s wife, the caller said, “Go to Welikanda and talk to the people. There is Karuna and an army base there.”

In late February 2007, some members of the family went to Welikanda. Bolton’s wife told Human Rights Watch:

There’s a house in Welikanda that we thought was their [Karuna’s] house. They said, “You must go to Batticaloa town.” We went. There they said, “We don’t do such things, but we can help you look.” We also went to the army camp, but they would not speak with us.

The family returned to Colombo without Bolton, and they have not received any phone calls since. “If it’s for money, we would have gotten phone calls,” the wife said.

It is not known if the family reported the case to the police.

67. Pradeepan Sandirasekaran

Originally a resident of Jaffna, Pradeepan Sandirasekaran,age 26,moved to Colombo in 2002. He studied at the Jaffna Open University and then worked as an agent in Ceylinco Insurance Corporation in Colombo. At the time of his “disappearance,” he was completing a four-month course at the British College of Applied Studies.

Sandirasekaran’s father told Human Rights Watch that his son went missing on November 16, 2006. On that day witnesses saw him coming out of Ramakrishna Hotel in Colombo, which is close to an internet cafe where Sandirasekaran had been working to pay for his education. His father was unable to ascertain with certainty what happened to his son, although he said “Most people said he was arrested.”

Sandirasekaran’semployers registered a complaint with the Wellawatte police. The family reported the case to the commissioner of police, the HRC, and the chief justice of the Supreme Court. They also reported the case to the UN Working Group. At the time of writing they have received no information on Sandirasekaran’swhereabouts.

68. Ramachandra Susilakumar

 On November 2, 2006, 36-year-old Ramachandra Susilakumar was walking out of the Mayura Café in Kathiresan Street in Colombo, having finished his meal. At around 2 p.m. a white van stopped near him on the road. Some men in civilian clothes jumped out of the van, pushed him inside, and drove away. His mother, who learned about the abduction from one of her son’s friends who had witnessed the incident, told Human Rights Watch:

Initially, we thought this was the police or the CID and he would be released, as he had been arrested once before on suspicion in the middle of 2006. He was in custody for a month and then released. But this time he has not been released.

The family filed a complaint with the police. They also registered the case with the CMC. To date they have not received any further information on Susilakumar’s fate or whereabouts.

69. Jeyawarthanage Raja

On October 19, 2006, 45-year-old JeyawarthanageRaja, a small trader from Mt. Lavinia,Colombo,was returninghome from a work trip to Ratmalana, south of Colombo.

According to information that his wife received from eyewitnesses, at about 10.30 a.m. he stopped at a tea shop to have breakfast close to Ratmalana. Half an hour later, when he left the shop and was walking toward his motorbike, two men stopped him. He did not appear to know them and they spoke for five minutes. Raja then left with the two men; none of the witnesses saw the vehicle in which he left with them.

Raja’s wife told Human Rights Watch:

At about 12:30 in the afternoon I got a phone call from my husband. He was calling from his mobile, but did not want to talk much. All he told me was that he was going to come home late and hung up the phone. I got worried and waited for him at our shop till 7 p.m. that evening. But he never came home.

Raja has been missing ever since. His family filed a complaint with the police. They also reported the matter to the HRC and ICRC. To date they have not received any information.

70. Muthaiya Thiruchelvam

 Muthaiya Thiruchelvam, age 33, worked as a hairdresser at the New City Salon in the Bastian Mawatha section of Colombo.

According to his mother, who spoke to employees at the salon, after midnight on October 13, 2006, a dark blue jeep with four men, three of them in police uniforms, pulled up to the salon and took Thiruchelvam away.

The family reported the case to the Pettah police, who registered the complaint.  The parents also visited Boosa and Kalutara prisons but officials in both places said they had no information about their son. The family has not received any news about their son, and the police have not provided any information.

71. Ramiah Subramaniam

 

Ramaiya Subramaniam, age 33, a married carpenter with two young daughters, went missing on September 26, 2006, in the Colombo suburb of Delkanda.

His mother-in-law told Human Rights Watch that he went for a bath in the river with five friends, and on the way back someone came in a white van and took him away. Subramanian’s friends ran away.

Subramaniam’s employer filed a complaint with the police in Paduka but the family is not aware of any subsequent progress in the case.

72. Pushpakumar Yoganathan

 In September 2006, 26-year-old Pushpakumar Yoganathan came to Colombo from Vavuniya to get a visa for India. He obtained the visa and was staying at a friend’s house in Colombo 5.

According to Yoganathan’s mother, wholearned about the abduction from an eyewitness, on September 23, 2006, a police van pulled up to the house and some men asked for Pushpakumar, and took him away.

His mother came to Colombo from Vavuniay and inquired with the Narahenpita police, but the police denied having any knowledge of Yoganathan.

Shortly thereafter, some policemen from the CID went to the Vavuniya police asking about Yoganathan, and the Vavuniya police called the mother. They said they had received a request to search for him, and asked questions, such as why he had gone to Colombo. Since then the police have not provided any information to the family.

73. Thirulogarasa Prabhakaran

 ThirulogarasaPrabhakaran, age 30, had lived in Colombo for nearly a decade. At around 9 p.m. on September 12, 2006, he was returning home after buying food at a nearby shop.

As he was approaching the house, a white van stopped near him on the road. Prabhakaran’s wife, who witnessed the incident, told Human Rights Watch:

I saw three or four men jump out of the van and approach my husband. My husband started screaming and shouting but the men managed to push him into the van, and drove away. There was nothing I could do. I just watched the whole incident helplessly; it all happened so fast.

The family filed a complaint with the police (case No: CIB 299/118). They also registered the case with the CMC. To date the fate of ThirulogarasaPrabhakaran remains unknown.

74. Muragaiya Suvendran

On the evening of September 1, 2006, 24-year-old Muragaiya Suvendran went to bathe at a well near his house in Puttalam, a town 130 kilometers north of Colombo. His mother told Human Rights Watch that people who arrived in a white van abducted her son. She said:

 He went out and was abducted. Six to seven people were in the van. One of them was in an army uniform. The others had civilian clothes. I was inside the house. I saw him go out but I didn’t see him get into the van. My sister’s daughter saw him getting taken into the van.

The family immediately filed a complaint with the Puttalam police. According to Suvendran’s mother, the police said they had not taken him but promised to search for him. The family also reported the case to the HRC and ICRC. To date the family has received no information on his whereabouts.

On January 9, 2007, unknown perpetrators in a white van reportedly abducted   Muragaiya Suvendran’s cousin, 24-year-old Sivasubramaniam Sritharan.

75. Sellathamby Selvakumar

 At around 9:30 p.m. on August 28, 2006, a group of five men arrived in a white van at a video shop in Puttalam and abducted the owner, 38-year-old Sellathamby Selvakumar.

According to Selvakumar’s brother-in-law, who heard the account of the incident from a shop employee, the men, two of them armed with AK-47 assault rifles, asked for the owner. The employees said he was inside, and the armed men then hauled Selvakumar out, asked for his ID card, which he produced. The men then pushed him into their van and drove away.

Selvakumar’s family reported the case to the Puttalam police, but the police said they were not holding him. The family also filed a complaint at the police headquarters in Colombo, and the police said they had no record of his arrest. The family reported the case to the HRC and ICRC. Thus far their efforts to locate Selvakumar have borne no results.

76. Ramakrishnan Rajkumar

In June 2006, Ramakrishnan Rajkumar, a 21-year-old manual laborer, came from Trincomalee to Colombo with his wife and their two-year-old daughter. Rajkumar had applied through an agency for a work visa to Saudi Arabia. The couple stayed in Colombo until the visa came through, sleeping at the AKB Lodge at Grandpass Road in Colombo 14, across the street from a police station.

Rajkumar’s wife told Human Rights Watch that on the evening of August 23, 2006, police came to the lodge and made some arrests, including of her husband. She explained:

That night the police were knocking on all the doors saying they are checking. It was 12:20; we were sleeping. Police in uniform came and we were all there. They asked for our ID cards. When they asked, I saw that two boys had been taken from the room next door. They threw my card down and grabbed my husband’s card and took him. Two people came to our door, in uniforms. They were armed. Another man was dressed in an army T-shirt and jeans. They spoke Sinhala. A Muslim guy across the hall translated.I asked where they were taking him. The person in civilian clothes showed me a pistol. I asked where they were taking him again and he showed the pistol again, and then they took him out. I ran after them, and they had two vans, white and blue.

The next morning at 6 a.m., Rajkumar’s wife went to the Armour Street police station across the street from the lodge, but the police refused to accept her complaint. She spent the day searching at other police stations, she said, and returned to the Armour Street station that evening. “I was crying,” she said. “Then they took the complaint.” The police registered the case (Case No GCIB 19/244).

The woman also reported the case to the HRC (case No 4809/06), CMC, and ICRC.

One week after the “disappearance,” two men in civilian clothes came to the lodge to talk with Rajkumar’s wife. She said the men told her that they had arrested two other people with her husband, and added that the other two “were guilty,” but her husband was not. They promised they would release him in one week and send him by train to Trincomalee. To date, however, Rajkumar has not returned home and his family has no information on his whereabouts.

According to the Civil Monitoring Commission, the two other men “disappeared” on the same night were 24-year-old Gunasekaran Mahindan and 24-year-old Kandasamy Sridharan. Both remain missing to date.

77. Kunjupillai Sivakanthan

On August 23, 2006, 34-year-old Kunjupillai Sivakanthan was at his workplace atthe Phoenix Complex on Messenger Street in Colombo.

According to Sivakanthan’s father, who spoke to witnesses of the incident, at around 1 p.m. six men in civilian clothes arrived and said they needed Sivakanthan for a police investigation. Sivakanthan got into their van and the family has not seen him since.

The family reported the case to the HRC. To date they have received no information on Sivakanthan’s fate or whereabouts.

78. Paramjothipillai Navaratna

 On the night of August 21, 2006, 30-year-old Paranjothipillai Navaratna, a trishaw driver from Colombo, left home to park his trishaw. He never came back, his wife told Human Rights Watch.

Navaratna’s wife said that she tried calling his mobile phone at around 11 p.m., but the phone was turned off. She went to the Grandpass police station, and the policemen, whom she knew well, gave her a case number and promised to look for Navaratna.

One week later, the family heard that the police had found Navaratna’s trishaw. His wife and brothers saw the trishaw at the Wellampitiya police station-they said it had been found on the street 10 to 15 meters away from the station. Since then, however, the police have not provided any additional information, and have been unresponsive to the family’s inquiries.

79. Shanmugalingam Manivannan

Shanmugalingam Manivannan, age 31, sold gift items in an internet café in Colombo. According to Manivannan’s mother, at around 8 p.m. on August 21, 2006, six men in civilian clothes came to the shop. Two of them went inside and asked Manivannan to come out. Within minutes, Manivannan was pushed into a white van parked outside the shop. Some bystanders took down the van number (251-7376).

Manivaran’s uncle who was helping him in the shop rushed outside when people started shouting, but the van sped away. Manivannan’s family said they believe other shopkeepers, jealous of Manivannan’s success, might have been complicit in his abduction. His mother said that when the family started the shop, “people made various petitions to the police.”

The family filed a complaint with the Kotahena police and also went to the CID. However, the police denied that they were holding Manivannan. They also registered the case with the CMC. There has been no information on Manivannan’s fate or whereabouts to date.

80. Mahalingam Subbaiya

 Mahalingam Subbaiya, age 45, worked for a truck company for 15 years, and his job involved transporting rice from Vavuniya to Colombo, which he did regularly.

According to his mother, on August 21, 2006, Subbaiya was standing near his truck in front of People’s Park, a shopping complex in Colombo. At about 11:30 a.m. a white van (license plate number 251-6843) stopped near him. A fellow truck driver, who later related the incident to the mother, said that four men jumped out of the van, grabbed Subbaiya and pushed him into the van. The truck driver saw the incident from a distance but he managed to take a picture of the van with his mobile phone camera.

Subbaiya’s mother tried to register a complaint with the Grandpass police station and the Pettah police station, but the police in both places refused to open a case. She reported the case to the HRC and the CMC. So far she has received no information about Subbaiya’s fate.

81. Manikkan Easwaran

 Manikkan Easwaran, age 30, owned a restaurant on Negombo Road in Wattala, outside of Colombo.

On August 17, 2006, at around 9:45 p.m., a white van (license plate number 253-8617) pulled up to the restaurant as the family was closing up for the night. According to Easwaran’s relatives, he went outside and armed men pulled him inside the van, and drove away.

Soon thereafter Easwaran’s wife received a phone call (from a number that she recorded) and the unidentified caller demanded 50,000 rupees (about US$450). The same person called again from a different number and demanded that the family deposit 100,000 rupees (about US$900) into a specific account at the Commercial Bank in Kotahena, Colombo. The relatives said the caller warned them not to inform the police. It is not known if the family paid the requested amount.

The family reported the case to the HRC (case No 4795/06). Easwaran remains missing to date.

82. Ramiah Jeyaraj
83. S. Sriskandarajah

Ramiah Jeyaraj, age 22, worked as a driver with Kala Traders, a business house in Colombo. On July 20, 2006, when Jeyaraj was driving the business owner, S. Sriskandarajah, to the shop, unknown perpetrators abducted both men.

Jeyaraj’s father, who lives in Badulla, told Human Rights Watch that he learned about the abduction only in September. He said he immediately went to Colombo and tried to get the details from his son’s employers, yet had no success. He also registered the case with the Cinnamon Gardens police station.

The father also visited the CID headquarters in Colombo four times, and registered a complaint with an officer from the CID anti-terrorism department in Fort, Colombo. He reported the case to the Presidential Commission of Inquiry into incidents of abductions, disappearances, and attacks on civilians resulting in death through the island, and wrote to the Presidential Secretariat. He also registered the case with the HRC, ICRC, and CMC. He also tried to get the help of some parliamentarians he knew to locate his son, but so far all of his efforts proved futile.

The CMC reported that that Sriskandarajah’s family paid over 30 million rupees (about US$270,000) as ransom for his release. Both men remain missing to date.

84. Muniyandi Sureshkumar                               
85. Muttiah Sathyaseelan

86.Balakrishnan Ramar

                

Muniyandi Sureshkumar                         Muttiah Sathyaseelan                             Balakrishnan Ramar

Muniyandi Sureshkumar, age 22, had a business in Chilaw, Puttalam district. On July 10, 2006, on his way home, Sureshkumar stopped at the house of his friend, 31-year-old Muttiah Sathyaseelan, in Thillaiyadi. Another friend, 24-year-old Balakrishnan Ramar, was staying there as well.

Sureshkumar’s wife told Human Rights Watch that, according to eyewitnesses with whom she spoke, at 3 a.m. that night four or five policemen came to the house. Sathyaseelan’swife, interviewed separately, said the men arrived in a white van, armed with AK-47 assault rifles. They conducted a thorough search of the house but could not find what they were looking for. They took the identity cards and mobile phones of all the three men and ordered them to go with them. Sathyaseelan’swife said:

My husband and the other two said they would go and hand themselves to the police station in the morning, if that was what the men wanted them to do. The men insisted that they leave with them.At 4 a.m., I went to the police station to look for them. I thought that was where they had taken my husband. But they were not there. I asked the police station to pass on the message to other police stations but I don’t know if they did.

At the families’ request, a week later the police registered the case (Case No GUB333/153).

Sathyaseelan’sfamily also visited the CID in Colombo, met parliamentarians from Puttalam, submitted a memorandum to President Mahinda Rajapaksa, and wrote to the HRC. All their efforts have proved futile; to date, the whereabouts of the three men remain unknown.

87. Ariyadas Pushpadas

Ariyadas Pushpadas, age 27, owned and managed a lodge in Colombo for three years. Prior to that he lived in Indonesia and Malaysia but decided to come back to Sri Lanka to run his own business.

Pushpadas’ mother, who gathered the details of the incident from eyewitnesses at the lodge, told Human Rights Watch:

 On July 7, 2006, at about 1 p.m., four persons in civilian clothes came to the lodge in a white van. They came inside the lodge and said, “We are from the CID,” and told my son they wanted to question him. At first, my son refused to go with them but when they tried to handcuff him, he went without protest.

His mother said that Pushpadas’ brother immediately went to the Kotahena police station and filed a complaint against the CID. The police inquired with the CID, but the CID denied having arrested Pushpadas.

At about 6 p.m. the same evening, some unknown people called on the brother’s mobile phone and demanded 10 million rupees (about US$90,000) for Pushpadas’ release. The next day, after the mother arrived in Colombo, the same person called again and was negotiating with her on the phone. “They told us that if we complained to anybody, they would shoot us,” she said.

On July 19, Pushpadas’ mother brought the money to a place called Dematagoda in Colombo 8, where she had agreed to meet her son’s abductors. She handed the money over to a Tamil man in civilian clothes who told her to go home and said her son would be released soon.

However, he did not come back. At the time of the interview, more than six months after her son’s abduction, the mother had heard nothing about his fate. She said that she had been talking to her son before she handed over the money, but after the ransom was paid her efforts to contact him were unsuccessful. Eventually the family reported the case to the local police which referred it to the CID. So far, however, there has been no progress in the investigation.

88. Velu Selvaratnam

 On the night of July 6, 2006, 31-year-old Velu Selvaratnam was staying in Munneswaram, Chilaw, Puttalam district. His mother told Human Rights Watch that on July 7 the family tried to contact Selvaratnam but his mobile phone was off.

The relatives got worried and broke into the house. They said that the van that Selvaratnam owned and rented out was there, but Selvaratnam was missing.His driver’s license, mobile phone, and identity card were also gone.

The family told Human Rights Watch that the Chilaw police had questioned Selvaratnam two months before he went missing, asking why he had undertaken a trip to Jaffna, how he could afford the van, and with whom he worked.

The family reported the case to the police in Chilaw, but the police said they knew nothing about it. In September 2006, the family got a phone call from someone who said “Help me! Help me!” but they do not know for sure if the caller was Selvaratnam. They have not been able to locate him to date.

89. Chelliah Premasiri                               

 

90. Sithamparapillai Satkunarasa

In July 2006, 38-year-old Selaiya Premasiri, a resident of Jaffna, and his friend, 35-year-old Sithamparapillai Satkunarasa, were staying at the Western Lodge on Sea Street in Colombo. Premasiri’s wife told Human Rights Watch that the lodge owners informed her that on July 5 her husband left the lodge to go for lunch and never returned.

She did not manage to collect much information about what happened to her husband. She said that people on Sea Street told her that people in a white van took Premasiri and Satkunarasa away.

Premasiri’s family filed a complaint with the police. They also registered the case with the CMC. To date the whereabouts of the two men remain unknown.

91. Sivarajah Haran

 In early 2006, Sivarajah Haran was in Colombo looking after his sick mother. When his mother left for Jaffna in April, Haran stayed in Colombo. His father told Human Rights Watch that on April 26, 2006, at around 4 p.m. Haran went out for a drink. A shopkeeper in the area later told the father that as Haran was sitting at a shop, a man approached him, and the two exchanged words. Soon thereafter a trishaw with three men arrived. They took Sivarajah Haran into the trishaw and drove away. Nobody has seen him since.

The father said that several months earlier, a CID officer had visited them in Wellawatta, and asked about one of Haran’s aunts. They also had asked Haran’s friends about him.

To date the family has received no further information about Haran’s whereabouts.

92. YogarasaMathanarasa

 In January 2006, 33-year-old Yogarasa Mathanarasacame to Colombo from Jaffna with his nephew and his sister-in-law. The nephew got a work visa for Qatar and left for Doha in early February.

Mathanarasaand his sister-in-law stayed on in Iswarya Lodge in Colombo. On the evening of February 8, 2006, while they were watching TV, three men in civilian clothes arrived at the lodge in a white van.

Mathanarasa’ssister-in-law told Human Rights Watch:

They came to the hall where we were watching TV. Once inside, they just pulled my brother-in-law away. I rushed to show them our ID cards but they dragged him outside. The lodge-owner followed them outside but was sent back in.

Mathanarasa’ssister-in-law did not know why he had been taken away. The family registered a complaint with the police (Case No: GCIB 286/92) and reported the case to the HRC and CMC. At this writing Mathanarasa’swhereabouts remain unknown.

93. Sinnakkili Karunakaran

Sinnakkili Karunakaran, age 35, worked as a travel agent at the Raj Travel Agency in Pettah, Colombo.

According to his brother, on December 27, 2005, Karunakaran was traveling on a motorbike to meet a friend in Bambalapitiya, Colombo 4. At around 6 p.m. a white van stopped near him on the road. A man inside showed an ID card and pulled him into the van. A shopkeeper witnessed the incident and told the family about the incident.

The day after the abduction, the family saw that someone had withdrawn 40,000 rupees (about US$360) from Karunakaran’s Commercial Bank account. No one has called with threats or ransom demands.

Karunakaran’s brother told Human Rights Watch that two weeks before his brother’s abduction, the military had come looking for him at the Bambalapitya Lodge, where he spent a lot of time.

It is not known whether the case has been reported to the police.

To date, Karunakaran’s fate remains unknown.

Eastern Sri Lanka

94. Shanthakumar Thirukumaran 

On October 5, 2006, 18-year-old Shanthakumar Thirukumaran boarded a bus from Vaharai to Batticaloa. His mother told Human Rights Watch that he was kidnapped on the way and they have not seen him since he boarded the bus.

Thirukumaran’s uncle invited him to Batticaloa so that he could pursue higher studies in the relative safety of the town. He left his house unaccompanied, carrying just enough money for his bus fare. Thirukumaran’s mother told Human Rights Watch:

My son came out of the LTTE-controlled area to the government-controlled area. His kidnappers took him from the area which was under government control. I suspect the Karuna faction took him; I suspect that he is in Welikanda. If the LTTE wanted to take him, they could have done it freely while he was in their area, they wouldn’t take him off a bus.

Thirukumaran’s mother reported the case to the police, the HRC, ICRC, and the Karuna group. She went to the Karuna group’s camp in Mutugala in the Polonnaruwa area, but was not allowed to enter the camp. According to the woman, members of the Karuna group told her, “We will investigate and inform you. He is not here at this camp.”

A knowledgeable local human rights monitor believed that, given the circumstances, the parents had good reason for blaming the Karuna group for their son’s “disappearance.”

95. Mary Joseph Jugin Premkumar

 Mary Joseph Jugin Premkumar, a 39-year-old computer operator with Sri Lanka Telecom (SLT), lived in the workers’ quarters above his office in Trincomalee.

At around 12:30 a.m. on September 26, 2006, a group of masked men came to the office and abducted Premkumar. His coworkers later told his mother that the men spoke Tamil and knew Premkumar’s name. Family members went to the SLT office to make inquiries.

The family filed a complaint with the Trincomalee police. To date the police have not provided the family with any information. Premkumar remains missing.

96. Abdul Wahid Mohammad Fawzal Ameer

On July 22, 2006, 43-year-old Abdul Wahid Muhammad Fawzal Ameer, abeedi leaves supplier, left Mawanalla in Kegalle district to go to Batticaloa with his driver in a Dolphin-IS van (no 251-2729). The family has not heard from him since.

According to his nephew, Ameer’s wife called his mobile number on July 23. He said that an unknown man who answered the phone spoke Tamil with a northeast accent.

The nephew said the next day some people called the beedi factory owner demanding 300,000 rupees (about US$2,700) to release Ameer. The callers asked Ameer’s employers to bring the money to Manampetiya in the Welikanda area. The employers took the money to the area, but could not find them. Ameer’s van was spotted by his acquaintances in the Batticaloa area two months after he went missing, but there has been no sign of either  Ameer or his driver. Ameer’s nephew told Human Rights Watch:

All signs are that the people who took him belonged to an armed group which is operating in the East. The area where they asked my uncle’s employers to bring the money is controlled by Karuna.

The family reported the case to the CMC. At this writing the family has not received any information on Ameer’s fate or whereabouts.

97. Devarajah Jegatheepan

At around 5:30 p.m. on July 4, 2006, 29-year old trishaw driver, Devarajah Jegatheepan, parked his vehiclein front of the police station in Batticaloa.

Based on eyewitness accounts, Jegatheepan’s relatives told Human Rights Watch that two men who arrived in a white van then approached Jegatheepan and asked him to take them to Urani, just north of Batticaloa. They went in his trishaw, but the van followed. In Urani they stopped and pushed him out of the trishaw and into the van. Witnesses told Jegatheepan’s family that they saw an army truck near the place where he was pushed into the van.

Shortly thereafter, the family got a phone call from Jegatheepan’s mobile phone. The person on the line said he was Devarajah, but the family did not recognize the voice. The family got three calls, and in one instance Jegatheepan’s brother told the caller: “Tell us if you want anything.” But the caller did not respond.

The family said that after the abduction someone withdrew 40,000 rupees (about US $360) from Jegatheepan’s account at Ceylon Bank in Polonnaruwa with his bank card.

The family filed a complaint with the Batticaloa police. They also reported the case to the TMVP office. To date they have received no information on Jegatheepan’s fate or whereabouts.

98. Danesh Amarthalingam

On February 19, 2007, 20-year-old Danesh Amarthalingam from Kiliveddi, Trincomalee district, was traveling with his aunt by bus to Batticaloa, trying to leave the area before ongoing fighting intensified. His aunt told Human Rights Watch that as the bus made a lunch stop near Welikanda town in Polonnaruwa district, two men who sat next to Amarthalingam on the bus started making frantic calls on their cell phones, pointing at the young man. As passengers boarded the bus, the two men were joined by a third one, in a T-shirt and army trousers.

Amarthalingam’s aunt told Human Rights Watch:

We all got back on the bus. The bus drove for about 10 kilometers from our lunch stop when a white van coming from the opposite direction swerved and blocked the bus. The bus came to a halt. One man came out of the van and stood outside the van, blocking the registration number from view. About nine men got into the bus. They told the driver, “Don’t shout,” and “Keep quiet.” At this point, the three men who had kept an eye on my nephew once again pointed towards him and got off the bus.One of the men was masked. He grabbed another boy, who was traveling with us, and my nephew by the collar and dragged them out of the bus. The boys were very scared. They did not say anything. I kept quiet because I was also very afraid they would shoot my nephew. They all had weapons. They said, “If anyone shouts, we will kill these two boys.” The other boy’s mother managed to be dragged outside along with her son. She was shouting and screaming but nobody helped her. The van sped off.The bus driver stopped the bus at a police checkpoint and told the policemen about the incident. The policemen told the bus driver, “We can’t open a file here. Go and tell Valachchenai police station.”

The aunt said that the incident took place in the government-controlled area where the Karuna group also operated freely. She reported the abduction to the ICRC. To date she has not received any information about Amarthalingam.

99. Karalasingham Kantharoopan

On the night of January 3, 2007, 24-year-old Karalasingham Kantharoopan fled Vaharai, Batticaloa district, with a group of five other Tamil friends as intense fighting broke out between government forces and the LTTE. The group of six left Vaharai through the jungle route and planned to go to government-controlled territory in the district.

Kantharoopan’s parents had moved to Batticaloa town in December and were expecting his arrival. However, he never made it to Batticaloa.

The family believes that the men were taken by government forces, although they also might have been taken by the LTTE. Kantharoopan’s mother told Human Rights Watch:

The only armed people on the way from Vaharai are the Sri Lankan army, so I suspect them. Some other villagers told me that after my son left, they heard some firing. I don’t know what happened. The Sri Lankan army captured many Tamil youths at that time, that’s why I suspect the SLA [Sri Lankan army] much more than the LTTE.

Kantharoopan’s mother went to the Kandy army camp in central Kandy district as she had heard that some Tamil youths were being held there, but did not find her son. She also visited the Welikanda army camp where she gave her son’s name to the police officer at the gate. The officer checked and told her that nobody by that name was at the Welikanda camp.

Kantharoopan’s mother also went to Karuna group camps in Mutugala and Theevuchchenai to inquire about her son, but Karuna cadres denied having him. His family filed a complaint at a police station in Batticaloa.

[230] Response of the national police to Human Rights Watch, January 2, 2008. In the letter, the names of the dead are spelled as Selvarasa Sri Skandarajan and Selliah Janachandran. Human Rights Watch’s letter of inquiry and the response from the police can be found in Appendix II to this report.

[231] Ibid.

[232] Ibid.

[233] “Over a Dozen Civilians Killed in Past Seven Days,” Asian Tribune, January 28, 2007.

[234] “Over a Dozen Civilians Killed in Past Seven Days,” Asian Tribune, January 28, 2007.

[235] Report by a Jaffna-based NGO, on file with Human Rights Watch. Name of the NGO withheld for security reasons. The case was also reported on the EPDP web-site, see “Dead Body of an Abducted Person Found,” EPDP News Flash, January 23, 2007, http://www.epdpnews.com/Archive/2007/2007-January-English/news-english-2007-01-23.html (accessed October 15, 2007).

[236] Response of national police to Human Rights Watch, January 2, 2008. Human Rights Watch’s letter of inquiry and the response from the police can be found in Appendix II to this report.

[237] Ibid.

[238] Response of the national police to Human Rights Watch, January 2, 2008. Human Rights Watch’s letter of inquiry and the response from the police can be found in Appendix II to this report.

[239] Ibid.

[240] Information on the Kopay exhumations was provided to Human Rights Watch by a Jaffna-based NGO. Name of the NGO withdrawn for security reasons. It was also reported in the Sri Lankan media.

[241] D.B.S. Jeyaraj, “An Overview of the Enforced Disappearances Phenomenon,” April 13, 2007, http://transcurrents.com/tamiliana/archives/311 (accessed September 17, 2007).

[242] Human Rights Watch interviews, Jaffna, February 26, 2007, and Colombo, February 19, 2007.

[243] “Mutilated Body Caught in Fishing Net in Punguduthivu,” TamilNet, March 15, 2007, http://www.tamilnet.com/art.html?catid=13&artid=21568 (accessed October 15, 2007).

[244] “Pungkudutheevu Body Identified as Belonging to Fr. Brown,” TamilNet, May 31, 2007, http://www.tamilnet.com/art.html?catid=13&artid=22321 (accessed October 15, 2007).

[245] “DNA Tests Prove the Human Remains Are Not of Fr. Jim Brown or His Aide,” Statement by the Embassy of Sri Lanka, Washington DC, June 15, 2007, http://www.slembassyusa.org/archives/main_index_pages/2007/dna_tests_prove_15jun07.html (accessed October 15, 2007).

[246] Response of the national police to Human Rights Watch, January 2, 2008. Human Rights Watch’s letter of inquiry and the response from the police can be found in Appendix II to this report.

[247] The failure of the Sri Lankan authorities to establish accountability for “disappearances” that occurred in the 1980s and 1990s is discussed in Chapter II.

[248] Human Rights Watch interview with the wife of Ramakrishnan Rajkumar, Colombo, March 4, 2007. For more information, see Appendix I, the “disappearance” of Ramakrishnan Rajkumar (case No 76).

[249] Human Rights Watch interview with the wife of Thilipkumar Ranjithkumar, Jaffna, February 28, 2007. For more information, see Appendix I, “Disappearances” of Thilipkumar Ranjithkumar and Ganesh Suventhiran (case Nos 14-15).

[250] Human Rights Watch interview with relatives of Thavaruban Kanapathipillai, Jaffna, February 28, 2007. Human Rights Watch interview with a relative of Shangar Santhivarseharam, February 28, 2007, Jaffna. For more information, see Appendix I, “disappearances” of Thavaruban Kanapathipillai and Shangar Santhivarseharam (case Nos 27-28).

[251] Human Rights Watch interview with the wife of Thiyaganagalingam Sundaralingam, Jaffna, February 26, 2007. For more information, see Appendix I, the “disappearance” of Thiyaganagalingam Sundaralingam (case No 18).

[252] Human Rights Watch interview with the wife of Ganesh Suventhiran, Jaffna, February 28, 2007. For more information, see Appendix I, “Disappearance” of Thilipkumar Ranjithkumar and Ganesh Suventhiran (case Nos 14-15).

[253] Response of the national police to Human Rights Watch, January 2, 2008. Human Rights Watch’s letter of inquiry and the response from the police can be found in Appendix II to this report.

[254] As of November 2007, the alleged perpetrator remains in custody but charges have yet to be filed against him.

[255] Human Rights Watch interview with Mano Ganesan, Colombo, February 20, 2007.

[256] See, e.g., “Summary of Issues Arising from the Killing of Ten Muslim Villagers at Radella in Pottuvil Police Area on 17th September 2006,” Report by Law and Society Trust, INFORM and Rights Now, May 2007.

[257]University Teachers for Human Rights (Jaffna), “Flight, Displacement and the Two-fold Reign of Terror,” Information Bulletin No. 40, June 15, 2006. See also D.B.S. Jeyaraj, “STF Suspects in Trinco Youth Murder to be Released,” May 3, 2006, http://transcurrents.com/tamiliana/archives/143 (accessed September 15, 2007); D.B.S. Jeyaraj, “The terrible truth of the Trincomalee tragedy,” January 23, 2006, http://transcurrents.com/tamiliana/archives/34 (accessed September 15, 2007).

[258] See, e.g., “Sri Lanka: ICJ Calls for Justice as Inquest into Killing of 17 Aid Workers Concludes,” Statement by International Commission of Jurists, March 9, 2007; “Sri Lanka: ICJ Inquest Observer Finds Flaws in Investigation into Killing of ACF Aid Workers,” International Commission of Jurists press release, April 23, 2007, http://www.icj.org/news.php3?id_article=4151&lang=en (accessed September 15, 2007). All three cases are also discussed in: International Crisis Group, “Sri Lanka’s Human Rights Crisis,” Asia Report no 135, June 14, 2007.

[259]“Sri Lanka President blasts police dept for handling of abductions and killings,” ColomboPage, March 11, 2007, http://www.colombopage.com/archive_07/March11175225JV.html, accessed May 15, 2007.

[260]Susistha R. Fernando, “Majority of ‘Abductees’ Found to Have Returned,” Daily Mirror, June 29, 2007.

[261] University Teachers for Human Rights (Jaffna), “Can the East be Won through Human Culling?” Special report No 26, August 3, 2007.

[262] Easwaran Rutnam, “Only Government Forces Can Carry Weapons: FM,” Daily Mirror, May 25, 2007.

[263] In the weekly report  for October 8-14, 2007, SLMM monitors noted:

On 10 October SLMM monitors witnessed TMVP members passing check points unhindered. Close to Kappalthuray SLMM monitors saw a convoy of five vehicles – three white vans, one white pick-up and a sedan. At the back of the pick-up two boys, about 15/16 years old, in military-like clothing were lying, partially covered by a tarpaulin. Inside one of the vans there were up to eight armed civilians. The SLMM witnessed the convoy traveling through check points.

See Sri Lanka Monitoring Mission, Weekly Reports, http://www.slmm.lk/ (accessed January 28, 2007).

[264]“Sri Lankan Police, Troops Involved in Abductions: Police Chief,” AFP, March 6, 2007; “Sri Lanka Police, Soldiers Arrested over Abductions,” Reuters, March 6, 2007.

[265] International Crisis Group, “Sri Lanka’s Human Rights Crisis,” Asia Report no 135, June 14, 2007, with a reference to INFORM and Law and Society Trust, “Sri Lanka Human Rights Update,” March 15, 2007.

[266] Response of the national police to Human Rights Watch, January 2, 2008. Human Rights Watch’s letter of inquiry and the response from the police can be found in Appendix II to this report.

[267] Sunil Jayasiri, “Ongoing Abductions Probe: Gajanayake Arrested,” Daily Mirror, June 22, 2007.

[268] “Sri Lanka’s Abduction Investigations Take a New Turn,” Colombo Page, June 23, 2007, http://www.colombopage.com/archive_07/June23141431SL.html (accessed October 16, 2007).

[269] “Media is Commended for Highlighting HR Violations; Government Sets Up a Special Center to Avert Abductions,” Ministry of Defense news release, June 28, 2007, http://www.defence.lk/new.asp?fname=20070628_01 (accessed October 22, 2007).

[270] Kesara Abeywardena, “Patriots and Traitors in a Shadow War,” Daily Mirror, October 10, 2007.

[271] Response of the national police to Human Rights Watch, January 2, 2008. Human Rights Watch’s letter of inquiry and the response from the police can be found in Appendix II to this report.

[272] “Main Suspect in Abductions and Extortions Released on Bail in Sri Lanka,” Colombo Page, January 19, 2008, http://www.colombopage.com/archive_08/January19124246JV.html (accessed January 28, 2008).

[273] The three-page document with statistics was given to Human Rights Watch by Palitha Kohona, the foreign secretary who heads the inter-ministerial working group set up to address human rights abuses during a meeting in Washington, DC, in October 2007.

[274] The reference here is apparently to the November 2006 arrests of a police officer and army soldier in relation to the killing of five students from the Thandikulam Agricultural College near Vavuniya. See Ministry of Disaster Management and Human Rights, “Government to Prosecute Army and Police Personnel Indictment to Be Served on Thandikulam Killings,” July 5, 2007, http://www.slembassyusa.org/backup/PR_July_6_2007.dwt (accessed October 18, 2007).

[275] The document states that 382 or 31% of the complaints have been investigated by the Commission. It is unclear whether investigations will be carried out into the remaining 69% of the complaints.

[276] Ibid.

[277] UN Commission on Human Rights, “Report of the Special Rapporteur on extrajudicial, summary or arbitrary executions, Philip Alston, Mission to Sri Lanka,” E/CN.4/2006/53/Add.5, 27 March 2006, http://daccess-ods.un.org/TMP/6402584.html (accessed April 16, 2007).

[278] Office of the Special Representative of the Secretary-General on Children and Armed Conflict, “Allan Rock, the Special Advisor to the United Nations Special Representative for Children and Armed Conflict on Sri Lanka, has concluded his 10 day mission to the country,” statement, November 13, 2007,http://www.un.org/children/conflict/pr/2006-11-13127.html (accessed December 6, 2007).

[279] “Press Statement by High Commissioner for Human Rights on Conclusion of Her Visit to Sri Lanka,” Colombo, October 13, 2007, http://www.unhchr.ch/huricane/huricane.nsf/view01/2C07EE5600DE5B19C12573750034C474?opendocument (accessed October 20, 2007).

[280] Human Rights Commission Act, No. 21, § 14 (1996). See also Mario Gomez, “Sri Lanka’s New Human Rights Commission,” Human Rights Quarterly 281, 284-5 (1998).

[281] The HRC’s Annual Report 2003, the last one to have been made public, stated that “owing to the heavy cuts imposed on the HRC budget in terms of the government’s budgetary policy, HRC was severely constrained during this period in carrying out its routine duties such as visiting police stations and this often hampered the Commission in performing this deterrent role as efficiently as it would have.” The HRC recommended that the Human Rights Commission Act of 1996 should be amended to make the recommendations of the Commission enforceable but no action was taken by the government. “Sri Lanka: Spectre of abductions by the security forces officially admitted,” Asian Center for Human Rights Weekly Review, 157/2007, March 7, 2007, http://www.achrweb.org/Review/2007/157-07.htm (accessed April 20, 2007).

[282] The Constitutional Council was created by the 17th Amendment to the Sri Lankan Constitution passed in 2001. See the full text of the 17th amendment at http://www.priu.gov.lk/Cons/1978Constitution/SeventeenthAmendment.html (accessed October 20, 2007).

[283] In March 2005 the terms of six of the 10 council members expired, and the Constitutional Council lost its necessary quorum. Months later, following the election of President Rajapaksa, the prime minister and leader of the main opposition party finally made their recommendations for appointment to the council. The president, however, argued that the council could not function without the tenth member, who had to be nominated by a majority vote of the smaller parties in parliament. To date, the smaller parties have been unable to decide on the name of their recommended appointee, ostensibly due to disagreement over the proper process of selection. Lawyers and human rights activists in Sri Lanka view the president’s decision as a way to keep the council from operating.

[284] United Nations Human Right Council, Fourth session, Item 2 of the provisional agenda, “Report of the Working Group on Enforced or Involuntary Disappearances,” A/HRC/4/41, January 25, 2007.

[285] Namini Wijedasa, “No Investigations ‘Without Special Directions from Government’ – HRC dumps 2,000 Uninquired Complaints,” Sunday Island, July 16, 2006. See also, Sri Lanka: The Human Rights Commission of Sri Lanka Has Stopped Investigations into 2000 Disappearance Cases to Avoid Having to Pay Government Compensation to the Victims,” Statement by the Asian Human Rights Commission, AS-169-2006, July 18, 2006.

[286] Response to Human Rights Watch from the Human Rights Commission of Sri Lanka, by e-mail, January 24, 2008. The Human Rights Watch letter to the HRC and the Commission’s response can be found in the Appendix II to this report.

[287] Ibid.

[288] See International Crisis Group, “Sri Lanka’s Human Rights Crisis,” Asia Report no 135, June 14, 2007.

[289] Ranga Jayasuriya, “Jaffna Ordered to Blackout News,” Lakbima, October 21, 2007.

[290] Response to Human Rights Watch from the Human Rights Commission of Sri Lanka, by e-mail, January 24, 2008. The Human Rights Watch letter to the HRC and the Commission’s response can be found in the Appendix II to this report.

[291] See International Crisis Group, “Sri Lanka’s Human Rights Crisis,” Asia Report no 135, June 14, 2007.

[292] Press Statement by High Commissioner for Human Rights on Conclusion of Her Visit to Sri Lanka, Colombo, October 13, 2007, http://www.unhchr.ch/huricane/huricane.nsf/view01/2C07EE5600DE5B19C12573750034C474?opendocument (accessed October 20, 2007).

[293] For more information, see “Sri Lanka: Human Rights Commission Downgraded: UN Human Rights Monitoring Urgently Needed to Stem Violations,” Human Rights Watch press release, December 18, 2007.

[294] See, e.g., Official website of the Government of Sri Lanka, “Majority of ‘Disappeared’ Had Returned-Commissioner,” June 29, 2007; Somini Sengupta, “Specter of kidnappings returns to torment Sri Lanka,” The International Herald Tribune, October 31, 2006, http://www.iht.com/articles/2006/10/31/news/lanka.php (accessed March17, 2007).

[295] International Crisis Group, “Sri Lanka’s Human Rights Crisis,” Asia Report no 135, June 14, 2007.

[296] Human Rights Watch interview with international aid worker, Batticaloa, February 27, 2007.

[297] “Disappearances, Abductions Recede: Sri Lankan Government,” PeopleDaily.com, August 31, 2007, http://www.google.com/search?hl=en&q=Disappearances%2C+abductions+recede%3A+Sri+Lankan+gov%27t&btnG=Search (accessed October 15, 2007).

[298] For a detailed analysis of the inadequacy of the CoI, see Human Rights Watch, Sri Lanka – Return to War: Human Rights under Siege, vol. 19, no. 11(c), August 2007.

[299] See, e.g., Centre for Policy Alternatives, “Commission of Inquiry and the International Independent Group of Eminent Persons: Commentary on Developments,” January-April 2007, CPA Policy Brief no. 2, 2007; International Crisis Group, “Sri Lanka’s Human Rights Crisis,” Asia Report no 135, June 14, 2007; “Sri Lanka: Why a Presidential Commission Cannot Ensure Protection of Human Rights and Why Foreign Observers Cannot Play a Positive Role in Such a Commission?The Case for an International Monitoring Mission,” Statement by the Asian Human Rights Commission, AS-233-2006, October 4, 2006; http://www.cpalanka.org/research_papers/Policy_Brief_2_2007.pdf (accessed October 10, 2007).

[300] “The IIGEP Reiterates Concerns over the Work of the Commission of Inquiry,” Statement by the International Independent Group of Eminent Persons, IGEP-PS-003-2007, September 19, 2007.

[301] Address by Ms. Loiuse Arbour, High Commissioner for Human Rights, on the occasion of the resumed 6th session of the Human Rights Council, Geneva, December 11, 2007.

[302] Petition by relatives of the disappeared persons adopted at the first meeting of the Civil Monitoring Commission. D.B.S. Jeyaraj, “Dear Ones of “Disappeared” in depths of Despair,” Transcurrents.com, April 12, 2007, http://transcurrents.com/tamiliana/archives/310 (accessed September15, 2007).

[303] “Sri Lanka: Spectre of abductions by the security forces officially admitted,” Asian Center for Human Rights Weekly Review, 157/2007, March 7, 2007, http://www.achrweb.org/Review/2007/157-07.htm (accessed April 20, 2007).

[304] Kishali Pinto-Jayawardena, “The National Police Commission in Sri Lanka: Squandering a Golden Opportunity,” Commonwealth Human Rights Initiative Newsletter, Vol.12, No 4, New Delhi, 2005.

[305] “Report on the action taken by the National Police Commission on allegations of the police involvement in the abduction and enforced disappearances,” attached to the response of the national police to Human Rights Watch, January 2, 2008. Human Rights Watch’s letter of inquiry and the response from the police can be found in Appendix II to this report.

[306] Ibid.

[307] “Special Police Unit to Probe Incidents of Killing,” Office of the President media release, September 15, 2006, http://www.slembassyusa.org/archives/main_index_pages/2006/sl_govt_takes_18sep06/pr_presi_secre_15sep06.pdf (accessed October 20, 2007).

[308] “Media is Commended for Highlighting HR Violations; Government Sets Up a Special Center to Avert Abductions,” Ministry of Defense news release, June 28, 2007, http://www.defence.lk/new.asp?fname=20070628_01 (accessed October 22, 2007).

[309] Supun Dias, “Many Abducted People Found: CID,” Daily Mirror, October 30, 2007.

[310] Response of the national police to Human Rights Watch, January 2, 2008. Human Rights Watch’s letter of inquiry and the response from the police can be found in Appendix II to this report.

[311] Ibid.

[312] Information available on the website of the Ministry of Disaster Management and Human Rights, http://www.dmhr.gov.lk/hr/english/committees.html (accessed October 22, 2007).

[313] Ibid.

[314] “Special Committee on Abduction and Violation of Child Rights,” The Official Government News Portal of Sri Lanka, October 8, 2007, http://www.news.lk/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=3647&Itemid=44 (accessed October 20, 2007).

[315] “You cannot expect everything to be normal,” Interview by Human Rights and Disaster Management Minister Mahinda Samarasinghe, The Nation, March 18, 2007.

[316] “Sri Lanka Rights Activists Quit Panel in Protest Over Killings,” AFP, October 15, 2007.

[317] “Media is Commended for Highlighting HR Violations; Government Sets Up a Special Center to Avert Abductions,” Ministry of Defense news release, June 28, 2007, http://www.defence.lk/new.asp?fname=20070628_01 (accessed October 22, 2007).

[318] See, e.g., “Sri Lanka Upholds the Value of Human Life,” The Official Government News Portal of Sri Lanka, October 9, 2007, http://www.news.lk/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=3658&Itemid=44 (accessed October 20, 2007); SLMM weekly report for September and October 2007.

[319] See, e.g., “Sri Lanka: Latest Report on ICRC Activities in the Field, July 7th to August 31st,”ICRC Bulletin No. 16, September 3, 2007, http://www.icrc.org/Web/Eng/siteeng0.nsf/htmlall/sri-lanka-news-30907 (accessed October 30, 2007). SLMM weekly report for December 3 – December 9, 2007, mentioned the abduction of 22 persons, seven of them children, in the Eastern region. See Sri Lanka Monitoring Mission, Weekly reports for December 2007, http://www.slmm.lk/ (accessed January 28, 2007).

[320] Sandun A Jayasekera, “Abductions: Government Tells West to Heal Itself,” Daily Mirror, October 10, 2007.

[321] See, e.g., “You cannot expect everything to be normal,” Interview by Human Rights and Disaster Management Minister Mahinda Samarasinghe, The Nation, March 18, 2007.

[322]“Baseless Allegations of Abductions and Disappearances,” SCOPP Report, March 8, 2007, http://www.lankamission.org/other%20pages/News/2007/Mar/2007-03-11Baseless%20Allegations%20of%20Abductions%20and%20Disappearances.htm (accessed April 17, 2007).

[323] Daya Gamage, “Western Powers Despise My Non-Elitist Leadership in Sri Lanka – Mahinda Rajapakse,” Asian Tribune, October 4, 2007.

[324] See, e.g., “An unwavering commitment to protect people’s fundamental rights,” interview by Disaster Management and Human Rights Minister Mahinda Samarasinghe, Daily News, March 2, 2007.

[325] Simon Gardner, “Halt Abductions, Sri Lanka and Tigers Urged,” Reuters, April 5, 2007.

[326] Supun Dias, “Many Abducted People Found: CID,” Daily Mirror, October 30, 2007.

[327] Teymoor Nabili, Interview with Mahinda Rajapaksa, the President of Sri Lanka, 101 East, Al Jazeera, May 30, 2007, for the transcript see http://www.lankanewspapers.com/news/2007/6/15481.html (accessed October 20, 2007).

[328] Daya Gamage, “Western Powers Despise My Non-Elitist Leadership in Sri Lanka – Mahinda Rajapakse,” Asian Tribune, October 4, 2007.

[329] See, e.g., “Ackerman Calls for Increased U.S. Efforts in Sri Lanka,” press statement by House Committee on Foreign Affairs, Subcommittee on the Middle East and South Asia, July 10, 2007; “Lantos Calls for Calm, Return to Negotiations in Sri Lanka,” press statement by House Committee on Foreign Affairs; ” the Honorable Frank Pallone, Jr., “Political Crises in South Asia: Pakistan, Bangladesh, Sri Lanka and Nepal,” written testimony, House Committee on Foreign Affairs, Subcommittee on the Middle East and South Asia, August 1, 2007.

[330] “RemarksBy U.S. Assistant Secretary of State for South and Central Asian Affairs Richard A. Boucher at the Press Conference in Colombo,” transcript by the Embassy of the United States in Sri Lanka, May 10, 2007, http://srilanka.usembassy.gov/bouchermay07.html (accessed October 28, 2007).

[331] “Under Secretaries Burns and Dobriansky Meet With Human Rights Defenders,” media note, Office of the Spokesman, US Department of State, 2007/946, October 30, 2007.

[332] H.R.2764, Consolidated Appropriations Act, 2008 (Enrolled as Agreed to or Passed by Both House and Senate).

[333] “Sri Lanka,” Congressional Record, November 2, 2007, http://thomas.loc.gov/cgi-bin/query/D?r110:16:./temp/~r110HqiyAL: (accessed November 3, 2007).

[334] “Ambassador Blake’s Remarks at the International Seminar on Human Rights in Conflict Situations,” January 11, 2008, website of the Embassy of the United States: Sri Lanka & Maldives, http://colombo.usembassy.gov/ambsp-11jan08.html (accessed February 27, 2008).

[335] “The EU’s Relations with Sri Lanka,” April 2007, website of the European Commission, http://ec.europa.eu/external_relations/sri_lanka/intro/index.htm (accessed October 30, 2007).

[336] United Nations Human Rights Council, 6th Session, Statement by H.E. Ambassador Francisco Xavier Esteves, Permanent Representative of Portugal on behalf of European Union, Item 2, Annual Report of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights, September 13, 2007.

[337] Statement by H.E. Mr. Swashpawan Sinhg, Ambassador/Permanent Representative of India at the General Debate following the Address by the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights, September 13, 2007.

[338] PK Balachandran,”Lanka Asks UN to Emulate India,” The Hindustan Times, October 14, 2007.

[339]PK Balachandran,”Lanka Asks UN to Emulate India,” The Hindustan Times, October 14, 2007.

[340] Ananth Palakidnar, “Akashi Commends President for Safeguarding Human Rights,” Sunday Observer, June 10, 2007.

[341] “Japan-Sri Lanka Foreign Ministerial Meeting and Working Lunch,” press release of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Japan, June 28, 2007,http://www.mofa.go.jp/announce/announce/2007/6/1174268_828.html (accessed November 1, 2007).

[342] “Japanese Envoy Warns Sri Lanka of Aid Cut,” AFP, January 31, 2008.

[343] United Nations General Assembly, 62nd session, Item 72 (b) of the provisional agenda, “Promotion and protection of human rights: human rights questions, including alternative approaches for improving the effective enjoyment of human rights and fundamental freedoms,” Report of the Special Rapporteur on Extrajudicial, Summary or Arbitrary executions, A/62/265, August 16, 2007.

[344] “Press Statement by High Commissioner for Human Rights on Conclusion of Her Visit to Sri Lanka,” Colombo, October 13, 2007, http://www.unhchr.ch/huricane/huricane.nsf/view01/2C07EE5600DE5B19C12573750034C474?opendocument (accessed October 20, 2007).

[345] Ibid.

[346]Human Right Council, Fourth session, Item 2 of the provisional agenda, “Report of the Working Group on Enforced or Involuntary Disappearances,” A/HRC/4/41, January 25, 2007.

[347]“Working Group on Enforced or Involuntary Disappearances Concludes Eighty-First Session,” United Nations press release, HR/07/44, March 22, 2007, http://www.unhchr.ch/huricane/huricane.nsf/view01/7601FF7596243906C12572A7002D0348?opendocument (accessed April 22, 2007).

[348] “The United Nations Working Group on Enforced or Involuntary Disappearances concluded its 82nd session,” press statement, June 29, 2007,http://www.unhchr.ch/huricane/huricane.nsf/view01/67FA6318F09F13EAC125739B004D114A?opendocument (accessed December 17, 2007).

[349] “UN Working Group on Enforced or Involuntary Disappearances Concludes Its 83rd Session, Revises Methods of Work and Adopts Annual Report,” press statement, November 30, 2007, http://www.unhchr.ch/huricane/huricane.nsf/view01/0300FB5BD28C6E2FC12573A300741BC3?opendocument (accessed December 17, 2007). The other country mentioned by the Working Group was Pakistan.

[350] “Allen Rock’s Report Looks Like a Mere Calumniation – Defense Spokesman,” Statement by the Ministry of Defense, January 20, 2007, http://www.defence.lk/new.asp?fname=20070118_05 (accessed October 17, 2007).

[351] Simon Gardner, “Sri Lanka Rebukes Aid Chief Over Safety Fears,” Reuters, August 10, 2007.

[352] “Sri Lankan Minister Brands U.N. Official Who Questioned Aid Workers’ Safety a ‘Terrorist,'” International Herald Tribune, August 15, 2007.

[353] Rathindra Kuruwita, “Jeyaraj Slams Ban Ki-moon,” The Nation, August 19, 2007, http://www.lankanewspapers.com/news/2007/8/18409_space.html (accessed October 20, 2007).

[354] “Kicking Facts Around,” SCOPP Report, October 16, 2007, http://www.peaceinsrilanka.org/peace2005/Insidepage/SCOPPDaily_Report/SCOPP_report161007.asp (accessed October 25, 2007); “Louise Arbour as a Political Football,” SCOPP Report, October 12, 2007, http://www.peaceinsrilanka.org/peace2005/Insidepage/SCOPPDaily_Report/SCOPP_report121007.asp (accessed October 25, 2007).

[355] See, e.g., “Sri Lanka is open to Rational Persuasion. It is not Open to Pressure-Ambassador Dayan Jayatilleka,” press release by the Permanent Mission of Sri Lanka to the United Nations Office at Geneva, September 13, 2007; “Geneva Report: NGO Allegations of Human Rights ‘Crisis’ refuted,” statement by the Permanent Mission of Sri Lanka to the United Nations Office at Geneva, September 17, 2007.

[356] Uditha Jayasinghe and Ravindu Peiris, “UNHRC Resolution a Dead Letter-Minister,” Daily Mirror, October 5, 2007; “Sri Lanka: Government will Continue to Protect Human Right-Mnister Mahinda Samarasinghe,” Sunday Observer, October 8, 2007.

[357] See, e.g., “Geneva Report: NGO Allegations of Human Rights ‘Crisis’ refuted,” statement by the Permanent Mission of Sri Lanka to the United Nations Office at Geneva, September 17, 2007.

[358] The letter contains a list of 84 members of the police or armed forces who have been indicted for abductions, “disappearances,” and, in some cases, murder, before 2004. Notably, only one of these led to a conviction so far-the accused received two years’ imprisonment and had to pay compensation. Eighteen members of the security forces were acquitted, and the rest of the cases are pending in courts. The letter also lists 40 indictments served since 2004 pertaining to investigations into allegations of torture, yet none related to abductions or “disappearances.” See Letter from the Embassy of Sri Lanka to the Senate Appropriations Committee and Subcommittee on State and Foreign Operations, Re: Amendment relating to Sri Lankan, proposed under the Foreign Military Financing Program of the Senate Appropriations for the Department of State, Foreign Operations and Related Programs FY 2008, October 24, 2007.

[359] “Sri Lanka,” Congressional Record, November 2, 2007, http://thomas.loc.gov/cgi-bin/query/D?r110:16:./temp/~r110HqiyAL: (accessed November 3, 2007).

[360] “Sri Lanka: Government will Continue to Protect Human Right-Mnister Mahinda Samarasinghe,” Sunday Observer, October 8, 2007.

[361] United Nations Human Rights Council, 6th Session, Statement by H.E. Ambassador Francisco Xavier Esteves, Permanent Representative of Portugal on behalf of European Union, Item 2, Annual Report of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights, September 13, 2007. A copy of the statement in on file with Human Rights Watch. The European Commissioner for External Relations reiterated the EU’s position, emphasizing that “in the dramatic context of Sri Lanka, a forward-looking UN human rights field operation, which can monitor, investigate and report on abuses by all parties to the conflict and deter further violations, is clearly justified.” Answer given by Ms Ferrero-Waldner on behalf of the Commission, E-4193/07EN, E-4194/07EN, September 28, 2007.

[362] “Government of Sri Lanka’s Reaction to High Commissioner Arbour’s Visit,” press statement by the US Department of State, 2007/904,October 22, 2007. US Senator Patrick Leahy argued that an international monitoring mission is essential to put an end to human rights violations and ensure impartial investigations into abuses committed by both sides of the conflict. In his November 2007 statement to the Senate, he said:

An international human rights field presence, under the auspices of the United Nations, could do much to improve the situation. Given the gravity and scale of the violations witnessed in Sri Lanka, and particularly the inability of the Sri Lankan Government to monitor the abuses taking place in areas held by the LTTE, such a presence would help protect lives, document abuses by all sides, and support the Government and civil society in protecting the civilian population. The Department of State has publicly endorsed such a role for the United Nations.…

A field presence of the Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights, with sufficient mandate and capability to conduct full and unfettered monitoring throughout the country, communicate its findings to all sides of the conflict and the public, and provide advice and technical assistance, is overdue.

“Sri Lanka,” Congressional Record, November 2, 2007, http://thomas.loc.gov/cgi-bin/query/D?r110:16:./temp/~r110HqiyAL: (accessed November 3, 2007).

[363] “Press Statement by High Commissioner for Human Rights on Conclusion of Her Visit to Sri Lanka,” Colombo, October 13, 2007, http://www.unhchr.ch/huricane/huricane.nsf/view01/2C07EE5600DE5B19C12573750034C474?opendocument (accessed October 20, 2007).

[364] Ibid.

[365] Address by Ms. Loiuse Arbour, High Commissioner for Human Rights, on the occasion of the resumed 6th session of the Human Rights Council, Geneva, Dec ember 11, 2007.

[366] “Sri Lanka: Government will Continue to Protect Human Right-Mnister Mahinda Samarasinghe,” Sunday Observer, October 8, 2007.

[367] Each of the case descriptions in this Appendix is based on Human Rights Watch interviews with family members of the “disappeared” or abducted person. These interviews were conducted by Human Rights Watch researchers in March, February, and June 2007 in the districts of Jaffna, Batticaloa, and Colombo. Wherever possible, Human Rights Watch sought to obtain up-to-date information on individual cases through subsequent communication with NGOs in Sri Lanka.

[368] “Over a Dozen Civilians Killed in Past Seven Days,” Asian Tribune, January 28, 2007.

[369] The case was also reported on the EPDP web-site, see “Dead Body of an Abducted Person Found,” EPDP News Flash, January 23, 2007, http://www.epdpnews.com/Archive/2007/2007-January-English/news-english-2007-01-23.html (accessed October 15, 2007).

[370] “DNA Tests Prove the Human Remains Are Not of Fr. Jim Brown or His Aide,” Statement by the Embassy of Sri Lanka, Washington DC, June 15, 2007, http://www.slembassyusa.org/archives/main_index_pages/2007/dna_tests_prove_15jun07.html (accessed October 15, 2007).

[371] “Over a Dozen Civilians Killed in Past Seven Days,” Asian Tribune, January 28, 2007.

[372] R The case was also reported on the EPDP web-site, see “Dead Body of an Abducted Person Found,” EPDP News Flash, January 23, 2007, http://www.epdpnews.com/Archive/2007/2007-January-English/news-english-2007-01-23.html (accessed October 15, 2007).

[373] “DNA Tests Prove the Human Remains Are Not of Fr. Jim Brown or His Aide,” Statement by the Embassy of Sri Lanka, Washington DC, June 15, 2007, http://www.slembassyusa.org/archives/main_index_pages/2007/dna_tests_prove_15jun07.html (accessed October 15, 2007).

[374] “Special Police Unit to Probe Incidents of Killing,” Office of the President media release, September 15, 2006,  http://www.slembassyusa.org/archives/main_index_pages/2006/sl_govt_takes_18sep06/pr_presi_secre_15sep06.pdf (accessed October 20, 2007).

[375] “Media is Commended for Highlighting HR Violations; Government Sets Up a Special Center to Avert Abductions,” Ministry of Defense news release, June 28, 2007, http://www.defence.lk/new.asp?fname=20070628_01 (accessed October 22, 2007).

[376] Supun Dias, “Many Abducted People Found: CID,” Daily Mirror, October 30, 2007.