Amnesty Update on Disappearance of Fr. Jim Brown
URGENT ACTION APPEAL UPDATE
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http://www.amnestyusa.org/urgent/newslett.html
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12 September 2006
Further Information on UA 230/06 (29 August 2006)
Fear for
Safety/ Possible ''disappearance''
SRI LANKA
Reverend Fr. Thiruchchelvan Nihal Jim Brown (m)
Wenceslaus Vinces Vimalathas (m)
An eyewitness has alleged that they saw Reverend Fr. Thiruchchelvan Nihal Jim Brown and Wenceslaus Vinces
Vimalathas in the village of Allaipiddy on Kayts Island off the
northern peninsula of Jaffna, at about 2:15pm on 20 August,
being followed by armed men on motorbikes. This last confirmed
sighting of the two men greatly heightens fears for their safety.
On the day they went missing, Reverend Fr. Thiruchchelvan
Nihal Jim Brown, a parish priest in Allaipiddy, and Wenceslaus
Vinces Vimalathas were traveling by motorbike to Allaipiddy,
when they met a friend who accompanied them to the Allaipiddy
Sri Lankan Navy (SLN) checkpoint. The friend left the two men
standing at the checkpoint at approximately 2.10pm. An
eyewitness has confirmed that they saw the two men shortly
after this, traveling through Allaipiddy on a motorbike. The
eyewitness then saw two motorbikes each carrying three armed
men wearing bulletproof vests, following Reverend Fr.
Thiruchchelvan Nihal Jim Brown and Wenceslaus Vinces
Vimalathas along the road. The six armed men then stopped
outside St. Mary’s Church in Allaipiddy and following some discussion, one of the motorbikes turned back in the direction of
the SLN Allaipiddy checkpoint.
When the eyewitness reached the SLN Navy checkpoint in order
to leave Allaipiddy, they saw the same three armed men who
had turned back from St. Mary’s Church talking to the SLN
personnel and pointing in the direction of Allaipiddy. The armed
men then allegedly rode back to Allaipiddy village, taking a
different route than they had before.
Inquiries about the whereabouts of Reverend Fr. Thiruchchelvan
Nihal Jim Brown and Wenceslaus Vinces Vimalathas have been
made at a number of churches across the Jaffna peninsula and
in surrounding areas. As Kayts Island is strictly controlled by the
SLN, there are suspicions that the two men may have been
taken into custody. Rear Admiral Upali Ranaweera, Commander
of the SLN's Northern Region, has denied that the two men were
arrested. Navy personnel at the Allaipiddy checkpoint have
stated that Father Jim Brown and Wenceslaus Vinces
Vimalathas passed through the Allaipiddy checkpoint and
returned soon after, traveling in the direction of Jaffna town.
However, when police requested that they produce the evidence
of their passing through the checkpoint on their return from
Allaipiddy, they refused.
Father Jim Brown had assisted a number of civilians in moving
from Allaipiddy to the town of Kayts following armed conflict in
Allaipiddy between the SLN and the Liberation Tigers of Tamil
Eelam (LTTE) on 13 August, during which at least 15 civilians
were killed and 54 injured. In the days following this incident, he
allegedly received a number of death threats from the
Commanding Officer of the Allaipiddy Naval Camp, accusing him
and other civilians of assisting the LTTE to dig bunkers.
BACKGROUND INFORMATION
The human rights situation in Sri Lanka has deteriorated
dramatically in recent months, as escalating violence has
resulted in widespread human rights abuses and a climate of
fear and insecurity. Increased fighting between the government
security forces and the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE)
since April 2006 has resulted in the death and injury of scores of
civilians, the displacement of more than 200,000 people, and the
destruction of homes, schools, and places of worship. Neither
the government security forces nor the LTTE appear to be taking
adequate precautions to protect civilian lives. The two parties to
the conflict say they remain committed to the 2002 ceasefire
agreement; however analysts refer to the situation on the ground
as an undeclared war. Over two decades of conflict in Sri Lanka
have claimed the lives of more than 65,000 people, the majority
of them civilians.
There are fears that a pattern of ''disappearances'' by state
agents is re-emerging in Sri Lanka following the introduction of
new Emergency Regulations in August 2005 that granted
sweeping powers to the security forces. Sixty-two cases of
''disappearance'' in the north of the country have been registered
by the Human Rights Commission of Sri Lanka over the past
year. The Commission is also investigating the status of 183
other individuals who are still missing under unknown
circumstances.
RECOMMENDED ACTION: Please send appeals to arrive as
quickly as possible:
- expressing concern at an eyewitness statement alleging that
Rev. Fr. Thiruchchelvan Nihal Jim Brown and Wenceslaus
Vinces Vimalathas were followed by armed men on 20 August,
and that some of these men were later seen speaking to SLN
personnel;
- noting that this latest eyewitness statement, combined with a
lack of evidence of the two men's return from Allaipiddy on the
day they went missing, heightens fears that they have
''disappeared'';
- urging the authorities to conduct an independent and impartial
investigation into the fate and whereabouts of Rev. Fr.
Thiruchchelvan Nihal Jim Brown and Wenceslaus Vinces
Vimalathas and to make the findings public;
- calling upon the authorities, if the two men are found to be in
custody, to allow them access to their relatives, a lawyer and any
medical treatment they may require, and urging that they be
immediately and unconditionally released unless they are to be
charged with a recognizably criminal offence;
- expressing concern at reports that a pattern of
''disappearances'' appears to be emerging again in northern Sri
Lanka, and calling on the authorities to put a halt to this practice
immediately.
APPEALS TO:
President Mahinda Rajapakse
Presidential Secretariat, Colombo 1, Sri Lanka
Fax: 011 94 11 2472100/ 244 6657
Salutation: Dear President
Major General Asoka K Jayawardhana
Secretary, Ministry of Defence
15/5 Baladaksha Mawatha, Colombo 3, Sri Lanka
Fax: 011 94 11 2446 300 / 2541 529
Email: modadm@sltnet.lk
Salutation: Dear Secretary of Defence
Vice Admiral Wasantha Karannagoda
Navy Commander
Navy Headquarters
PO Box 593
Colombo, Sri Lanka
Fax: 011 94112542430/ 011 94 11 2433 896
Email: cofn@navy.lk
Salutation: Dear Vice Admiral
COPIES TO:
Rear Admiral Upali Ranaweera
Northern Naval Area Commander
Email: comnorth@navy.lk
Salutation: Dear Rear Admiral
Ambassador Bernard A.B. Goonetilleke
Embassy of the Democratic Socialist Republic of Sri Lanka
2148 Wyoming Ave. NW
Washington DC 20008
Fax: 1 202 232 7181
Email: slembassy@slembassyusa.org
Please send appeals immediately. Check with the AIUSA
Urgent Action office if sending appeals after 24 October 2006.
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contact information and stop action date (if applicable).
Thank you for your help with this appeal.
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END OF URGENT ACTION APPEAL
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