SRI LANKA: Another forced disappearance in Jaffna 

Dear friends,

The Asian Human Rights Commission (AHRC) is deeply concerned by another forced disappearance in the ongoing conflict on the Jaffna peninsula, Sri Lanka. A Tamil ethnic, Mr. Irajeevan Sathiyavagaswaran (aged 32), a computer technician in a government department, has been missing since 11 September 2006 after being abducted by a group of armed men from his house in Sir Pon Ramanathan Veethy, Thirunelweli, Jaffna, Sri Lanka. The victim’s family believes that the government’s security forces are responsible for his disappearance. Despite the family’s efforts, they have failed to locate the victim. Meanwhile, the local authorities have not shown any serious interest in this case.

At around 12:15am on 11 September 2006, 15 men fully equipped with heavy weapons came to Mr. Irajeevan Sathiyavagaswaran’s house at #171, Sir Pon Ramanathan Veethy, Thirunelweli, Jaffna, Sri Lanka. Irajeevan’s family members got out of bed up upon hearing loud barking of their two dogs. The armed men then broke open the main door and forcefully entered the house. Irajeevan’s family thought they were thieves and told them to take away all that they wanted and leave them unharmed. The gunmen wore black trousers and shirts while others wore shorts and T-shirts.

The police curfew was in effect at the time of the incident and electricity was only provided until 11:00pm.  This has been the situation in Jaffna since September 3. The family members had only two kerosene lamps but the gunmen had a very powerful torch with them. They could not identify the faces of the gunmen as the powerful torch was flashed in their faces. The gunmen then thoroughly checked the house while the family members were standing along the corridor.

After that, the gunmen came out of the rooms and threatened the family members at gun point. They told the family that they would wipe them all out if they shouted and began to question the adults one by one. According to the family, the gunmen spoke clumsy Tamil but fluent Sinhala. They then suddenly grabbed Irajeevan and dragged him away. Irajeevan’s mother hugged him strongly and begged them not to take his son but the gunmen hit her on the head with a weapon and she fainted immediately, bleeding from her wound. Irajeevan’s sister and wife were also injured while attempting to stop them.

According to the family, Irajeevan fell down as the gunman struck him on the chest with the gun. They then dragged him nearly 50 meters by his leg. Their vehicles were parked 45 meters away from the main gate along the roadside. The men broke the pad lock at the gate and dragged Irajeevan towards the vehicles. When his wife and family members rushed to the main gate, the gunmen threatened them and also said Irajeevan would be killed if they followed them. The gunmen then left the place with Irajeevan in a van and on two motorbikes. His present whereabouts are unknown.

Irajeevan Rathika, the victim’s wife and a programme officer of the World Food Programme (WFP), immediately lodged a complaint about her husband’s abduction with the police at Kopy (Reference No. GCIB 281/ 44) and with the Human Rights Commission of Sri Lanka (Reference No. 06/HRC/J/MP/06) on September 11. However, all efforts to locate her husband were in vain. In the meantime, the local authorities have not taken any serious action to investigate the incident and locate the victim. She says that her husband is a good man and is not involved in any political groups or activities.

Irajeevan’s family suspects that he was abducted by the government security forces, as the incident took place while curfew was in effect. Irajeevan’s house is fully secured by the sentry point of the government security forces. The family says that on the house’s east side, a sentry point of the Sri Lankan Army (SLA) is located 75 meters away from the house and another sentry is posted in the south of the house at Parameshwara Junction. The two sentry points are only 100 meters apart. Beside this, from the house’s west direction, another sentry point of the SLA is located around 250 meters away. The family insists that it is impossible for the gunmen’s motorbikes and van to escape without being noticed by the SLA. Strangely, despite cries for help from the family for hours, the security forces posted nearby did not come to find out the cause of the commotion and had not even appeared by the next morning.

ADDITIONAL COMMNETS:

In fact, this is yet another case of alleged forced disappearances in Jaffna, Sri Lanka. The AHRC has reported on September 14 regarding the alleged disappearance of three young men from their home by Navy officers (See further: UA-305-2006) and on August 30 regarding the disappearance of Fr. Thiruchchelvan Nihal Jim Brown (34) and Mr. Wenceslaus Vinces Vimalathas, who were last seen at a military checkpoint situated at the entrance to Allaipiddy in Jaffna peninsula, Sri Lanka (See further: UA-280-2006). The whereabouts of those people are unknown.

In recent months, the number of forced disappearances and extra-judicial killings is increasing since the ongoing conflict between the government and the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE) intensified. Under the situation a police curfew is in effect in the Jaffna area. The official broadcasting cooperation of the Secretariat for Defence Headquarters at Palaly, Jaffna called “Jarl FM” announced that the curfew will be enforced very strictly. However, people allege that it is during this period that the white van abduction and extra judicial killings take place. In Sri Lanka a white van without a number plate is a symbol of terror and the disappearances that occurred in all parts of the country in the South during the last few years of the 1980s. During this time, armed men, travelling in white vans without number plates abducted thousands of people who were never seen again (Relevant report is available at: www.disappearances.org). Now such vans have reappeared and do so frequently in the Jaffna peninsular. The people in Jafna peninsula are terrified by those in the white vans that are called a “fifth force” by the people along with the police, army, navy and air force. A report from one family states “the fear of the white van in the day and especially in the night is killing everyone in the peninsular.”

To see further details of those disappearances and crisis in Jaffna, please go to:

1. AHRC statement: SRI LANKA: White vans without number plates; the symbol of disappearances reappear: http://www.ahrchk.net/statements/mainfile.php/2006statements/729/
2. AHRC forwarded statement: SRI LANKA: The Wider Implications of the Human Rights and Humanitarian Crisis in Jaffna: http://www.ahrchk.net/statements/mainfile.php/2006statements/730/

SUGGESTED ACTION:
Please write to the relevant Sri Lankan authorities listed below and urge them to take immediate action to locate the victim and ensure his safe return to home. Please also demand the Sri Lankan government to take strong steps to stop forced disappearances and extra-judicial killings in Jaffna.

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