Dear friends,
The Asian Human Rights Commission (AHRC) has received information about the allegedly unlawful arrest of a man from his workplace in Dehiwela by police in 2008. Hours after making a police complaint and a public announcement about the disappearance, the man’s boss was abducted from Wallawatte by men claiming to be from the Criminal Investigation Division. Neither man has been seen or heard of since.
CASE DETAILS: (based on the testimony of the two victims’ wives)
On 21 July 2008 at about 7:15pm a group of plain clothed persons identified themselves as police and asked Mr. Palaniyandi Shanmugarajah to leave his work at a printing press in Dehiwela, and go with them to record a statement. No charges were made and Shanmugarajah has been missing since.
His colleagues tried to make a complaint at the Dehiwala police station, but say that the police did not accept it. The next day the business owner, Mr. Sinnaiah Devanayagam made a complaint at the same station, and then made a statement through a popular Tamil TV channel, Shakthi TV. On his way home he was abducted.
According to witnesses, Devanayagam’s vehicle was stopped on Vihara lane Wellawatte by a white van and men in plain clothes, who later identified themselves as being from the Criminal Investigation Department of the police. They forced Devanayagam and his driver, a Mr. Rjasighham Chandra Kumar, to go with them, though the driver was released after about 2km. The van had no number plate.
Shanmugarajah’s wife Anjela lodged a complaint with the National Human Rights Commission (NHRC) on September 2, 2008 (HRC 4388/08/L-16). She did not complain to the police because she was aware that complaints had already been made. The NHRC office requested a copy of the police complaint but when Anjela went to get it an officer refused, stating that the complainant must request it personally. Since the complainant is missing the NHRC told her that they would obtain the copy themselves. She has not received news of further action on their part.
According to the two women a case was lodged by the Dehiwela police in the Mt. Lavinia Court (B2178/08) last year regarding the abduction. However since no witnesses are willing to come forward the case has not progressed.
SUGGESTED ACTION:
Please write letters to the relevant authorities urging them to thoroughly investigate these abductions, discern the fate of the two men and punish those responsible for their disappearance.
Please be informed that the AHRC is writing a separate letter to the UN Working Group on Arbitrary Detention and Enforced or Involuntary Disappearance calling for its intervention in this case.
To support this case, please click here: SEND APPEAL LETTER
SAMPLE LETTER
Dear __________,
SRI LANKA: The case of two missing men has still not been investigated almost one year after their abduction by alleged CID agents
Name of victims:
1) Palaniyandi Shanmugarajah (38) married, resident of No. 161/10 Richard Aluvihare Street, Aluvihare, Matale. Employee of St Judes Creation Pvt. Ltd. a printing press company in Dehiwela.
2) Mr. Sinnaiah Devanayagam, owner of St. Jude’s Creation Pvt. Ltd, Dehiwela.
Name of alleged perpetrators: Persons working for the Criminal Investigation Department
Date of incident: July 21, 2008 and July 22, 2008
Place of incident: Dehiwela and Wellawatte, Sri Lanka
I am writing to voice my deep concern regarding the abduction of two men by persons claiming to be police and members of the CID.
Mr. Palaniyandi Shanmugarajah was taken from his job at a printing press in Dehiwela on July 21, 2008 and has been missing since, and little has been done regarding the complaint made by his boss at the Dehiwala police station.
The business owner, Mr. Sinnaiah Devanayagam was abducted the following day after making his complaint and giving a statement to a popular Tamil TV channel, Shakthi TV. Devanayagam’s vehicle was stopped on Vihara lane Wellawatte by a white van and men in plain clothes, who identified themselves as being from the Criminal Investigation Department of the police. They forced Devanayagam and his driver, a Mr. Rjasighham Chandra Kumar, to go with them, though the driver was released after about 2 kilometers. The van had no number plate.
Police have been unhelpful when Shanmugarajah’s colleagues tried to lodge a complaint, and when the victim’s wives have since tried to ask for copies of the complaint and follow the progress of the case. The National Human Rights Commission seems to have made little progress in its investigation.
I strongly urge you to revive the investigation into the whereabouts of these men, and expect that their safety become a top priority. Those found to be responsible for their abduction must be subjected to due process. This case must not join the legions of those past, in which hundreds of Sri Lankans have disappeared without investigations being made into their fate, and no action taken against their alleged abductors.
Yours sincerely,
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PLEASE 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
E-mail: secretary@presidentsoffice.lk
2. Hon. Amarasiri Dodangoda, MP
Minister of Justice
Ministry of Justice and Law Reforms
Superior Courts Complex,
Colombo 12
SRI LANKA
Tel: 94 11 2384837, 2324681, 2392932
Fax: 94 11 2325354 / 2445446
3. Secretary
Ministry of Defense, 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. Mohan Peris
Attorney General
Attorney General’s Department
Colombo 12
SRI LANKA
Fax: +94 11 2 436421
E-mail: attorney@sri.lanka.net
Mr. Mohan Peris
5. Mr. Victor Perera
Inspector General of Police
New Secretariat
Colombo 1
SRI LANKA
Fax: +94 11 2 440440/327877
E-mail: igp@police.lk
6. 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 (ua@ahrchk.org)
