SRI LANKA: Alleged abduction of three brothers by the Navy officials 

Dear friends,

The Asian Human Rights Commission (AHRC) has received information from a reliable source regarding the alleged disappearance of three young men from their home in ongoing conflict area Jaffna, Sri Lanka by Navy officers. The victims’ family and their supportive friends have been receiving constant threats by the Navy officials under the emergency regulation since the abduction. Since the authorities have been allegedly involved in this abduction and intimidation to the family, complaints lodged by the family have not been successfully accepted by the authorities and no investigations have been instigated so far.

According to the information we have received, three brothers in the family were abducted by three men who entered their house in Ward No.10, Punkuduthevu Jaffna, Sri Lanka when the family was sleeping at around 10pm on August 19, 2006. The three brothers belonging to the Tamil ethnic minority, Natpirathapan Edward Vincent (age 27), Maxi Edward Vincent (age 24) and Jeya Pirthap Edward Vincent (age 17) were sleeping in their home when the three persons broke open the front door of the family’s house. One of the three alleged perpetrators asked the family about Natpirathapan and Maxi in Tamil. When they found Maxi getting up from the floor, they held his neck and pushed back him back down.

After they found all of three young brothers in the house, they threatened the family saying they would shoot them if they do not go into the room and keep quiet. The family members then followed their instruction and went into the room and locked the door due to fear. While the family members were in the other room, the perpetrators tied Jeya Pirthap’s hands behind him with tire tube and stripped Maxi’s clothes off. They also forcibly took the identity cards of Natpirathapan and Jeya Pirthap. The three young brothers were then taken out the house and have not been seen since. While the perpetrators and the three brothers were in the house, noises were heard by several witnesses and it seemed as if there were more than 6 people moving in and out of the house.

According to the witnesses, one of the alleged perpetrators was wearing a black T-shirt and white stripped trousers and the other two were in navy clothing. One of the witnesses said that they appeared to be navy personnel. Witnesses also said that there had been seen many Navy personnel around the victims’ house at around 9 pm on August 19. There have also been observed around 30 uniformed people strolling around and many signs of boots prints around the premises of supporters of victims in Jaffna.

Natpirathapan and Maxi are masons working in Jaffna town and Jeya Pirthap is a student. They are Tamil ethnic minority and their family has been displaced from time to time due to the ethnic problem. When the family was based in Navatkul in 1992, Maxi had joined the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE) at the age of 9. When the family displaced to Mulankavil, Nirthpirrathap joined the police of the LTTE Faction in 1997. After the ceasefire accord (CFA) was made between the government and the LTTE in 2002, the family returned to Ponukuduthivu. Since then, they did not have any problems with the Navy and the police as well as the opponent political party the Eelam People’s Democratic Party (EPDP). None of the three brothers were arrested by police or other security forces even when the several cordon search operations were conducted.

It is also alleged that at around 12 pm on August 19, the day three brothers were abducted, Antony Fernando, alias Piratheep who is an EPDP member visited the house of the family on his way to go to his cousin’s house with two other men, one called Kanthan, an officer in charge of the EPDP camp at Kayts and the other is called Rajani Vincent Noil from Pungoduthivu. Rajani Vincent Noil had been seen sneaking about the house of Edward Vincent’s family. One of his accomplices had been seen by his strange behaviour by not getting off from the vehicle and he was even trying to hide himself behind the seats.

Beside this, 15 days before the abduction of three brothers were taken, Sri Lankan Navy (SLN) personnel had allegedly rounded up villagers from the costal side of Punguduthivu village. According to the villagers, they had inquired about Maxi and his connection to LTTE. It has been also reported that the family next door to the Vincent’s family, who allegedly has been paid by EPDP, had asked one of the villagers whether Maxi had supplied food to the LTTE or not. The father of the three brothers said that he is a strong supporter of Navy.

After three young brothers were abducted, the family had lodged a complaint with the police and the Jaffna branch office of the Human Rights Commission of Sri Lanka. And the next day after the abduction they went to the public relations office of Navy at Punguduthvu on August 20 with nearly 20 people and also to the magistrate on 21 August. The family had also informed the EPDP camps at Vangalavadi, Velanai, where the family was told that they did knew nothing of the arrest.

The victims’ family say that there was a Navy camp in Punguduthevu, and when it was closed down many people ran into the camp and looted the military property of the Navy personnel. However, they claimed that the Navy camp was located far away from the house of the three young brothers and the victims were not involved in the looting at the Navy camp and there are no reasons that the three brothers would be accused by the Navy in relation to the looting in any case.

In fact, this is yet another case of forced disappearance that frequently happens in Jaffna area recently. 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/ 

We also suggest you to look into the reports documented by the Commissions on Disappearances in the South that illustrates how armed men, travelling in white vans without number plates abducted thousands of people who were never seen again during the last few years of the 1980s. The reports are available at: www.disappearances.org.  

CONSTANT INTIMIDATION TO THE FAMILY OF THE VICTIMS:

The family members of the victims and their friend have been continuously intimidated by Navy since the day of three brothers’ abduction. A friend of the family has been helping them to lodge the case with the Human Rights Commission of Sri Lanka, had been questioned at the Navy check point near the bakery where he was going to by Navy personnel on 22 August 2006. To answer the questions the man told the Navy about the abduction of his family friends and that the case was already lodged at the police and Navy, and he was going to the EPDP at Winsor Theatre to see its head to talk about the case with victims’ family. However, the Navy officer immediately communicated with the other Navy personnel who were stationed about 300 metres away from the check point and reported that the man had complained about police and Navy.

After all that happened, the family members got into the bus to Jaffna to see the head of EPDP. After the bus run about 300 metres, it was stopped by Navy officers and they called a man, a friend of Vincent family and threatened him by pointing their guns complaining about his bad behaviour of speaking ill of police and Navy. After that the family had not been allowed to go to Jaffna town to meet the head of EPDP and returned to their house.

Later on the same day, the public relations officer of the Navy camp called the friend of the family to report to the Navy camp. The friend was scared so he asked the wives of Maxi, Natpirathapan and the father of the Vincent family to go to the Navy camp with him. At the Navy camp, the friend was told by a Navy officer that his four brothers were killed by the LTTE and that is the reason that the Navy threatened the friend of the family. The Navy registered his National Identity Card and now the man is under the threat of his life, and he stays in the secure place other than his own house.

On 25 August, the father of the family went to see the head of EPDP at Velanai whose name is Paul, and he promised to help find all three missing brothers. However there had no response from other authorities. And no progress of investigation into this case had been seen either.

In Jaffna, the Emergency Regulations have been enforced and the government had placed a curfew in the town as well. The victim’s family and their supportive friend are living in desperate fear.

SUGGESTED ACTIONS:
Please write letters to the concerned authorities to urge immediate and impartial investigation into disappearance of the three young brothers, and security for the victim’s family to be provided immediately as well as the necessary support including financial and legal assistance. Also, please urge the concerned authorities of Sri Lanka to establish a fair investigation mechanism especially for the cases in which state and military officials are involved.

To support this case, please click here: SEND APPEAL LETTER