URGENT APPEAL GENERAL URGENT APPEAL GENERAL URGENT APPEAL GENERAL

ASIAN HUMAN RIGHTS COMMISSION – URGENT APPEALS PROGRAMME

Urgent Appeal

29 November 2006
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UA-385-2006: SRI LANKA: An abduction of a man allegedly by the Sri Lankan military

SRI LANKA: disappearance; delay in investigation
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Dear friends,

The Asian Human Rights Commission (AHRC) has received information about abduction of a man of Madawachiya, Sri Lanka in a notorious white van incident on 4 September 2006. It is reported that one day before his abduction, Sri Lankan army personnel came to his house to look for him. There is sufficient suspicion that the victim might have been abducted and is being detained by the Sri Lankan army. The victim's family lodged complaints to the one-man Commission on the disappearances as well as several police stations in Madawachiya and Colombo. But so far, three months after the incident they have not seen any progress regarding their complaints from those agencies. The family now seeks immediate intervention into the case from both domestic and international organizations.

CASE DETAILS:

At around 1:30am on 4 September 2006, Mr. Jayasinghe Steven (Jaya) left his home in Madawachiya in order to go to Colombo by bus which is run by his travel agency 'Kabilan Travel'. The driver of the bus was an employee of Jaya's company and they knew each other since before the trip to Colombo.

The bus arrived in Colombo at around 8:30am on the same day. The bus stopped at the private lot near Gunasinghe Pura in Colombo. Just before the bus stopped in the lot, Jaya received a strange phone call to his mobile phone that terminated when he answered it. It might be the case that someone on the bus wanted to identify him. When Jaya and the bus driver got off the bus, a white van with six persons inside was waiting for him. One of the persons in the white van called to Jaya to come with them and intimidated the driver to move on without interfering. According to the bus driver, Jaya was then taken into the white van which then left. The bus driver immediately noted down the white van's number of licence plate (250-4835), and informed Jaya's family that he had been abducted in Colombo.

According to the family, prior to his abduction, Jaya was detained by the Sri Lankan army on August 28 briefly and was inquired about his family history. Jaya's father is a Sinhalese ethnic and his mother is a Tamil ethnic. Furthermore, on September 3, the day before his abduction, Sri Lankan army personnel reportedly came to Jaya's house in Madawachiya to look for him. The family also said that after Jaya's abduction, on September 13, persons identified themselves from the Special Investigation Unit (SIU) came to his house. But instead of inquiring about details of Jaya's abduction, they asked Jaya's wife about the details of her family. Suspicion arises based on the facts above that Jaya might have been abducted and is being detained by the Sri Lankan army.

Meanwhile, Jaya's family has been working hard to search for Jaya, asking police and other governmental authorities and human rights groups for their help since the day he was abducted. Jaya's wife went to many places in Colombo which is about 200km away from her home. Whenever she travels to Colombo to request the search of Jaya, she has to leave her three children with her family or friends.

She also went to see the members of 'Karuna Group' which is one of the factions of the paramilitary group. A few days later, she lodged a complaint to the one-man Commission led by Judge Makanama, who was appointed by the president to make inquiries into cases of disappearances. The complaints were also lodged to the police stations in Madawachiya and Colombo. However, so far the family have not received any information regarding their complaints from those agencies.

The AHRC condemns the dramatically escalating number of cases of forced disappearance and abduction in Sri Lanka. The AHRC also condemns that the Sri Lankan government in its failure to stop such abductions and identify the alleged perpetrators of those cases, in particular those in which a white van is involved. We urge the Sri Lankan government to conduct an immediate and impartial inquiry into this case, find out whereabouts of the victim, identify those responsible and take action against them. Especially, the possibility of army's involvement into his abduction should be investigated as well.

Please also refer to the disappearance cases which the AHRC has reported for the last three months. There is little progress in all these cases.

UA-368-2006: SRI LANKA: One man killed after abduction and his brother complains of his possible forced disappearance
UA-317-2006: SRI LANKA: Another abduction case by a white van without a number plate
UA-310-2006: SRI LANKA: Another forced disappearance in Jaffna
UA-305-2006: SRI LANKA: Alleged abduction of three brothers by the Navy officials
UA-280-2006: SRI LANKA: One Catholic priest and a man disappear

To learn more about the issue of disappearance in Sri Lanka, please also see our recent statements:

1. AS-278-2006: SRI LANKA: The launching of a signature campaign by victims of past disappearances to demand authentic investigations and against sham commissions
2. AS-277-2006: SRI LANKA: Commission to investigate disappearances - real or fake
3. AS-213-2006: SRI LANKA: White vans without number plates; the symbol of disappearances reappear

SUGGESTED ACTION:
Please write a letter to the relevant Sri Lankan authorities to urge them to conduct a fair and immediate investigation into the case of Jaya's abduction.  Please also urge the government authorities to give the victim's family all sorts of assistance to seek remedies immediately.

To support this appeal, please click:

Sample letter:
 
Dear ________,

SRI LANKA: An abduction of a man allegedly by the Sri Lankan military

Name of victim: Mr. Jayasinghe Steven, Madawachiya, Sri Lanka; works at "Kabilan Travel" (a bus service) based in Vavunia, Sri Lanka
Address of victim: Samadhi Pura, Mannar Road, Madawachiya, Sri Lanka
Alleged perpetrators: Six unidentified men in a white van with licence plate number: 250-4835 
Date of incident: At around 8:30am on 4 September 2006
Place of incidence: Bus stop in Colombo 12, Sri Lanka

I am writing to you to express my grave concern regarding another forced disappearance of a man in which a notorious white van is involved.

According to the information I have received, Mr. Jayasinghe Steven of Madawachiya arrived in the private lot near Gunasinghe Pura in Colombo 12 by the bus belonging to "Kabilan Travel" where he works at around 8:30 on 4 September 2006. According to the bus driver, just before the bus stopped in the lot, Jaya received a strange phone call to his mobile phone that terminated when he answered it. It might be the case that someone on the bus wanted to identify him. The victim was then abducted by six persons who were waiting for him in a white van. According to the bus driver, the white van wore licence plate number: 250-4835.

According to the family, prior to his abduction, the victim was detained by the Sri Lankan army on August 28 briefly who inquired about his family history. Furthermore, on September 3, the day before his abduction, Sri Lankan army personnel reportedly came to Jaya's house in Madawachiya to look for him. I was also informed that on September 13, persons identified themselves from the Special Investigation Unit (SIU) came to the victim's house but instead of inquire about details of Jaya's abduction, they asked Jaya's wife about the details of her family.

It seems to me that the victim's abduction was well planned for some time. Otherwise, how could the abductors know that the victim would come to Colombo and wait for him at the exact place the bus arrived? It is only possible for the people who closely watched him for some time. Such manner of the adduction and the previous record of harassment by the Sri Lankan army personnel against the victim make me suspicious that the Sri Lankan army might be involved in his abduction. 

I am also disappointed by inaction of the Sri Lankan authorities in this case. The victim's family had made a lot of effort to search for him and lodged complaints at the police stations in Madawachiya and Colombo as well as the one-man Commission led by Judge Makanama that was established to inquire about the cases of disappearance. However, so far the family have not received any progress regarding their complaints from those agencies in almost three months after his abduction.  This is despite the fact that they were able to identify the licence number of the van.

I am annoyed by the sharply escalating number of forced disappearances and abductions of civilians in Sri Lanka. It seems to me that the Sri Lankan government has failed to stop such abductions and identify the alleged perpetrators of those cases, in particular those in which a white van is involved.

I therefore strongly urge you to conduct an immediate and impartial inquiry into this case, find out whereabouts of the victim, identify those responsible and take action against them. I also urge you to look into possibility of the army's involvement into the victim's abduction. I further urge the Sri Lankan government to take all possible measures to stop such abductions and disappearances in the country.  

Sincerely yours,

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SEND YOUR LETTERS TO:

1. Mr. Mahinda Rajapakse
President
Socialist Democratic Republic of Sri Lanka
C/- Office of the President
Temple Trees
150, Galle Road
Colombo 3
SRI LANKA
Fax: +94 11 2472100 / +94 11 2446657
Email: secretary@presidentsoffice.lk

2. Mr. Ratnasiri Wickremanayake
Prime Minister
Temple Trees
Galle Road, Colombo 03
SRI LANKA
Tel: +94 11 2 575317-8 or 370 737-8
Fax: +94 11 2 575454

3. Mr. Mahinda Rajapaksa
Minister
Ministry of Defence, Public Security, Law and Order
15/5, Baladaksha Mawatha,
Colombo 03,
Sri Lanka.
Tel: 94-11 2 430860-9, 430878-9 or 435879 (for the secretary)
Fax: 94 11 2 446300 or 421529
E-mail: secdef@sltnet.lk

4. Mr. Mahinda Samarasinghe, MP
Minister of Disaster Management and Human Rights
Ministry of Disaster Management and Human Rights
383,Bauddhaloka Mawatha
Colombo 07
SRI LANKA
Tel: +94 11 2 390895, 384116

5. Mr. K. C. Kamalasabesan
Attorney General
Attorney General's Department
Colombo 12
SRI LANKA
Fax: +94 11 2 436421
Email: attorney@sri.lanka.net

6. Mr. Victor Perera
Inspector General of Police
New Secretariat
Colombo 1
SRI LANKA
Fax: +94 11 2 440440/327877
E-mail: igp@police.lk

7. Secretary
Human Rights Commission of Sri Lanka
No. 36, Kynsey Road
Colombo 8
SRI LANKA
Tel: +94 11 2 694 925 / 673 806
Fax: +94 11 2 694 924 / 696 470
E-mail: sechrc@sltnet.lk

Thank you.

Urgent Appeals Programme
Asian Human Rights Commission (ahrchk@ahrchk.org)