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

November 29, 2006

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)


Document Type :
Urgent Appeal Case
Document ID :
UA-385-2006
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Extended Introduction: Urgent Appeals, theory and practice

A need for dialogue

Many people across Asia are frustrated by the widespread lack of respect for human rights in their countries.  Some may be unhappy about the limitations on the freedom of expression or restrictions on privacy, while some are affected by police brutality and military killings.  Many others are frustrated with the absence of rights on labour issues, the environment, gender and the like. 

Yet the expression of this frustration tends to stay firmly in the private sphere.  People complain among friends and family and within their social circles, but often on a low profile basis. This kind of public discourse is not usually an effective measure of the situation in a country because it is so hard to monitor. 

Though the media may cover the issues in a broad manner they rarely broadcast the private fears and anxieties of the average person.  And along with censorship – a common blight in Asia – there is also often a conscious attempt in the media to reflect a positive or at least sober mood at home, where expressions of domestic malcontent are discouraged as unfashionably unpatriotic. Talking about issues like torture is rarely encouraged in the public realm.

There may also be unwritten, possibly unconscious social taboos that stop the public reflection of private grievances.  Where authoritarian control is tight, sophisticated strategies are put into play by equally sophisticated media practices to keep complaints out of the public space, sometimes very subtly.  In other places an inner consensus is influenced by the privileged section of a society, which can control social expression of those less fortunate.  Moral and ethical qualms can also be an obstacle.

In this way, causes for complaint go unaddressed, un-discussed and unresolved and oppression in its many forms, self perpetuates.  For any action to arise out of private frustration, people need ways to get these issues into the public sphere.

Changing society

In the past bridging this gap was a formidable task; it relied on channels of public expression that required money and were therefore controlled by investors.  Printing presses were expensive, which blocked the gate to expression to anyone without money.  Except in times of revolution the media in Asia has tended to serve the well-off and sideline or misrepresent the poor.

Still, thanks to the IT revolution it is now possible to communicate with large audiences at little cost.  In this situation there is a real avenue for taking issues from private to public, regardless of the class or caste of the individual.

Practical action

The AHRC Urgent Appeals system was created to give a voice to those affected by human rights violations, and by doing so, to create a network of support and open avenues for action.  If X’s freedom of expression is denied, if Y is tortured by someone in power or if Z finds his or her labour rights abused, the incident can be swiftly and effectively broadcast and dealt with. The resulting solidarity can lead to action, resolution and change. And as more people understand their rights and follow suit, as the human rights consciousness grows, change happens faster. The Internet has become one of the human rights community’s most powerful tools.   

At the core of the Urgent Appeals Program is the recording of human rights violations at a grass roots level with objectivity, sympathy and competence. Our information is firstly gathered on the ground, close to the victim of the violation, and is then broadcast by a team of advocates, who can apply decades of experience in the field and a working knowledge of the international human rights arena. The flow of information – due to domestic restrictions – often goes from the source and out to the international community via our program, which then builds a pressure for action that steadily makes its way back to the source through his or her own government.   However these cases in bulk create a narrative – and this is most important aspect of our program. As noted by Sri Lankan human rights lawyer and director of the Asian Human Rights Commission, Basil Fernando:

"The urgent appeal introduces narrative as the driving force for social change. This idea was well expressed in the film Amistad, regarding the issue of slavery. The old man in the film, former president and lawyer, states that to resolve this historical problem it is very essential to know the narrative of the people. It was on this basis that a court case is conducted later. The AHRC establishes the narrative of human rights violations through the urgent appeals. If the narrative is right, the organisation will be doing all right."

Patterns start to emerge as violations are documented across the continent, allowing us to take a more authoritative, systemic response, and to pinpoint the systems within each country that are breaking down. This way we are able to discover and explain why and how violations take place, and how they can most effectively be addressed. On this path, larger audiences have opened up to us and become involved: international NGOs and think tanks, national human rights commissions and United Nations bodies.  The program and its coordinators have become a well-used tool for the international media and for human rights education programs. All this helps pave the way for radical reforms to improve, protect and to promote human rights in the region.