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UPDATE (Sri Lanka): List of 53 extrajudicial killings reported for the month of October

November 13, 2007

UPDATE ON URGENT APPEAL UPDATE ON URGENT APPEAL UPDATE ON URGENT APPEAL

ASIAN HUMAN RIGHTS COMMISSION – URGENT APPEALS PROGRAMME

Update on Urgent Appeal

13 November 2007

[RE: UP-123-2007: SRI LANKA: Further list of victims of extrajudicial killings, disappearance; UP-117-2007: SRI LANKA: Killing and disappearance of 57 humanitarian workers reported; UP-061-2007: SRI LANKA: List of another 22 disappeared persons; UA-113-2007: SRI LANKA: List of 81 disappeared documented for the last 8 months]
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UP-151-2007: SRI LANKA: List of 53 extrajudicial killings reported for the month of October

SRI LANKA: Extrajudicial killings; collapse of rule of law
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Dear friends,

The Asian Human Rights Commission (AHRC) has received information from reliable sources regarding a list of extrajudicial killings of 53 persons solely for the single month of October 2007 in Sri Lanka. Even though several cases of extrajudicial killings and disappearances have been continuously reported since last year, none of those responsible have been investigated or prosecuted.

Due to the long failure to prosecute the alleged perpetrators and the absence and dysfunction of proper mechanisms that the affected family members are able to seek for redress, cases of extrajudicial killings and disappearances have been reported.

We have previously reported in recent months several lists of persons who have been victims of these continuing killings and disappearances; UA-318-2007, UP-123-2007, UP-117-2007, UP-061-2007 and UA-113-2007.

Please also see the statements concerning the continuing incident of forced abductions and forced disappearances: AS-245-2007, AS-216-2007, AS-214-2007, AS-082-2007, AS-027-2007 and AS-025-2007. (We will soon inform you of cases of disappearances which occurred in October 2007.)

The AHRC is gravely concerned by the extrajudicial killings and disappearances in Sri Lanka. Even though the AHRC informs of the number of cases, these are only based on those cases that are reported. Thus no one knows the exact number in Sri Lanka due to the absence or dysfunction of the mechanism to receive complaints from the victim's family, investigate the cases received and prosecute those responsible. The AHRC strongly urges the government to establish a field based office with the co-operation of the United Nations Human Rights Council in order to stop these killings and disappearances.

THE LIST OF VICTIMS OF EXTRAJUDICIAL KILLINGS OF 53 PERSONS:

Name (gender) and address of the victim/age/date of incident/district/brief detail of the case

1. Nadarasa Ravi (M) - Velanai Jaffna/ na / 2 October 2007 / Jaffna / While he was in his house at Velanai, Jafffna, an armed group came there and called him by his name. When he came out, they shot him several times then he died.

2. A person (M) - Batticaloa / 41 / 2 October 2007 / Batticaloa / A man aged 41 from Kaththankudy in Batticaloa was shot and killed by an unknown armed group.

3. S. Nirmalanathan (M) - Nallur, Jaffna / 24 / 3 October 2007 / Jaffna / He had a tea boutique near Nachchimar Temple, Jaffna. On that day an unknown armed group came there and shot him inside the tea botique. On the spot he died.

4. S. Sivajikaneshan (M) - Alvai, Vadduwaththai, Vadamaradchi Jaffna / 56 / 3 October 2007 / Jaffna / On the fatal day unidentified gun man entered restaurant and shot him. His restaurant was near Mayakkai Pillaiyar Temple Alvai.

5. Suntharam Jeyaraja (M) – Kamparmalai, Valvettithurai Jaffna / 34 / 4 October 2007 / Jaffna /
About 3:30am during the time of curfew order; an armed group came there in a vehicle, shot and killed him in his own house.

6. Krishnasamy Palasupramaniyam (M) - Pololy South, Thuraiyamunai Jaffna / 50 / 4 October 2007 / Jaffna / His own address is Puloly South, Thuraiyamunai in Jaffna. On that day he was shot death by an armed group in his own business centre at Manthikai, which is in the High Security Zone. This happened at about 8:30am.

7. Two corpses – Batticaloa / 4 October 2007 / Batticaloa / Two corpses were found near the Siththandy Railway Station at Eravur Batticaloa.

8. One person (M) - Jaffna / na / 4 October 2007 / Jaffna / An army intelligence group (four persons) shot and killed the man by gun at the village of Konavil in Kokuvil at around 6pm. The body is not identified.

9. Two corpses / na / 5 October 2007 / Puththalam / Two corpses were found near the Chilaw sea shore at Puttalam. They were found blind folded and shot.

10. One corpse / na / 6 October 2007 / Colombo / People found one corpse which was thrown in the river in the suburb of Colombo.

11. S. Mahinan (M) - Jaffna / 60 / 7 October 2007 / Colombo / A professor of Mathematics from the University of Jaffna was killed at Kollupiddy, Colombo. The body showed marks of torture.

12. A person (M) / na / 8 October 2007 / Jaffna / At about 6pm, a Military Intelligence Group coming by a motor bike shot and killed him. The body was not identified.

13. Kathirkamar Ravichsanthiran (M), Father of Ravichsanthiran (no. 14) – Vavuniya / 50 / 10 October 2007 / Vavuniya 
14. Ravichsanthiran (M), Son of Kathirkamar (no. 13) – Vavuniya / 20 / 10 October 2007 / Vavuniya
[A father (no. 13) and his son (no 14) were killed by an unknown gang at Kanesapuram Vavuniya within 15 minutes interval]

15. A youth (M) / na / 10 October 2007 / Colombo / While he was walking on the road in Colombo Habour area at about 9:30am, an unknown group came there by a motor car and shot him and escaped. He was mortally wounded and immediately was taken to the Colombo National Hospital by the people who were resent there but died.

16. A person (M) / app. 35 / 12 October 2007 / Jaffna / At about 9:30am he was shot and killed by Sri Lankan Army near the Jaffna Kurunagar Water Tank.

17. A person (M) / 58 / 12 October 2007 / Jaffna / He was murdered by an unknown armed group at VAlvettithurai in Jaffna.

18. Jeyarajah Kanthasamy (M) - Batticaloa / 20 / 15 October 2007 / Batticaloa / He went to Santhivei, Batticaloa to meet his relations. On his way back home he was shot and killed by an unknown armed group.

19. M. Uvais (M) / na / 15 October 2007 / Batticaloa / He was running a trade center on main street of Akkaraipattu Amparai. At around 7:30pm, an armed group by a motor bike shot him and killed him.

20. Two persons (M) – Moothur Trincomalee / na / 16 October 2007 / Trincomalee / They were shot and killed in Narayanapuram Moothur in Trincomalee.

21. Kanapathippillai Pathmanathan (M) – 10th Word Pungudutheevu Jaffna / 52 / 17 October 2007 / Jaffna / He had a trade center at Punkudutheevu in Jaffna. When he was in his shop, Sri Lankan Intelligence group on three motor bikes and entered the shop pretending to buy things. They unexpectedly shot him and killed.

22. A person (M) / na / 17 October 2007 / Trincomalee / He was shot and killed by unknown persons at Kiliveddy in Trincomalee.

23. P. Kumarasuwamy (M) / 57 / 18 October 2007 / Vavuniya / He, the village headman, was shot and killed by an unknown armed group at Goods Shed road, Thonikkal, Vavuniya.

24. Jebamalai Jesuthasan (M) / 55 / 18 October 2007 / Mannar 
25. Maximus Milaxsini (F) / 15 / 18 October 2007 / Mannar
26. Maximus Dilaxsan (M) / 11 / 18 October 2007 / Mannar
[While three members of one family (no. 24, 25 and 26) were going to India as asylum seekers by boat at Pesalai Mannar, Sri Lankan navy shot and killed all of them]

27. Sithamparam (M) – Eravur Batticaloa / 55 / 19 October 2007 / Batticaloa / Para Military group shot and killed him at Eravur Batticaloa.

28. Piratheepan Sivarasa (M) - Veeramunai Amparai / 29 / 19 October 2007 / Amparai / He went to his friend's house in Veeramunai Amparai. On the way, he was shot and killed by gun men who came cycling.

29. Jeyarasa Thavaruban (M) - Ealalai North Jaffna / 21 / 19 October 2007 / Jaffna / He was a student of Kokuvil Hindu College in Jaffna. He was shot and killed near his home Ealalai in Jaffna by the Army.

30. A person (M) / 60 / 19 October 2007 / Amparai / He was killed and his body showed marks of torture at Karaitheevu in Amparai. He was placed in the Karaitheevu hospital for the identification

31. Kannautham Peethamparam (M) – Vantharumoolai Batticalao / 55 / 20 October 2007 / Batticaloa / He was sleeping in his home with his three children. At about 1am an unknown armed group came and shot him and killed. His wife reported it to Eravur police station.

32. Two persons (Both are Males) – Vantharumoolai Batticaloa / 20 and 24 / 20 October 2007 / Amparai / They were shot and killed by unknown persons at Sammanthurai in Amparai.

33. Jeevaratnam Rajan (M) - Karaitheevu Batticaloa / 26 / 21 October 2007 / Batticaloa /
34. Kanapathippillai Saththiyaseelan (M) - Karaitheevu Batticaloa / 26 / 21 October 2007
[Both (no. 33 and 34) were recovered in front of the Addaipalam Mariyamman Temple at Sammanthurai Amparai. The public in that area alleged that unknown paramilitary of Sri Lankan Army kidnapped them and killed]

35. A person (M) - Jaffna / 74 / 21 October 2007 /Jaffna / He was shot and killed in Thenmaradchi Jaffna.

36. Sivasupramaniyam (M) - Kaithady Jaffna / 59 / 22 October 2007 / Jaffna / He was recovered with the wound by a knife at Kaithady area, Thenmaradsi in Jaffna. It is said that he was kidnapped by an unknown persons on previous day.

37. Ratnasamy Premasiry (M) - Thevanagar Trincomalee / na / 22 October 2007 / Trincomalee / When he carries fire wood on his cart, the cart went over the land mine. He died of explosion of the mine.

38. Selvamani Krisdeen Janarthanan (M) – Nallur Jaffna / 25 / 23 October 2007 / Jaffna / At about 9:10am an unknown group with guns shot and killed him on the side of the Kanthasamy Temple in Nallur in the Jaffna Point pedro road.

39. Selvanathan Parimalam Ranji (F) – Periyamadu Mannar / 20 / 25 October 2007 / Mannar
40. The infant of no 39 / na / 25 October 2007 / Mannar
41. Jeyapalasingam Kowsalya (F) – Periyamadu Mannar / 10 / 25 October 2007 / Mannar
42. Somasuntharam Jeyapalasingam (M) - Periyamadu Mannar / 61 / 25 October 2007 / Mannar
[The people numbering from 39 to 42 were displaced by the military operation and were staying in the Periyamadu refugee's camp. When the Sri Lankan military base attacked a Shell Gas at Thallady in Mannar, the Shells fell on the refugee camp and killed them]

43. A dead body (M) - Amparai / na / 25 October 2007 / Amparai / his body was recovered in the sea shore at Kathankudy in Amparai

44. Palani Selvarasa (M) / na / 25 October 2007 / Jaffna / His body was recovered with the wounds of the gun shot by the side of the Kokuvil Hindu College. His body was handed over to the Jaffna Teaching Hospital. His identity card revealed his name.

45. Two dead bodies (Both are Males) / na / 25 October 2007 / Jaffna / They were recovered with the sounds of gun shot at Kilaly area in Jaffna. They were handed over to the Jaffna teaching hospital

46. Kanagarasa Partheepan (M) - Kokkuvil East Vithanaiyar Veethy Jaffna / na / 26 October 2007 / Jaffna / He was a media personnel and shot and killed by an armed group inside the municipality boundary, near the Brown road of Jaffna.

47. Sanmuganathan Pageerathanathan (M) - Naranthani North Thanthonreeswarar Kovilady / 28 / 28 October 2007 / Jaffna / He was shot and killed by unknown gun men group in Naranthanai north Jaffna after getting him from his house. He was working in the Denis Land mines group.

48. Kunaratnam Ilanko (M) – Koththiyapulvu Batticaloa / 37 / 30 October 2007 / Batticaloa / He is a father of four children. At around 7:30pm he was abducted by Vavunatheevu police in previous day and recovered death with the wounds of the gun shot by the side of the Koththiyapulavu Kali Kovilady.

SUGGESTED ACTION:
Please write letters to the concerned authorities below, asking them to thoroughly and impartially investigate each of these cases. The victims' families and relatives must also be actively involved and properly informed in this process. The authorities must also ensure that appropriate assistance and remedies are afforded to them accordingly.

To support this appeal, please click here:

Sample letters:

Dear _______,

SRI LANKA: List of 53 extrajudicial killings reported for one month of October

I am writing to express my deep concern over the evidently increasing number of extrajudicial killings and disappearances in Sri Lanka. Although several international human rights organizations and institutions, including the Working Group on Enforced or Involuntary Disappearances have intervened in this matter, it appears that very little has been done by the Sri Lankan government to solve these gross human rights violations.

The Sri Lankan government is primarily responsible for persons who have been extrajudicially killed and disappeared, both to prevent such crimes and to take effective action to investigate, arrest and prosecute the offenders. However the government has failed to use its power to safeguard the security of its citizens. The inept Presidential Commission of Inquiry appears both unable and unwilling to thoroughly investigate the extrajudicial killings and enforced disappearances. Thus the lack of adequate investigation mechanisms, compounded by unwillingness by the Sri Lankan government has resulted in inaction against gross abusers of human rights.

The increasing frequency with which the act occurs reflects its use as an instrument of repression, amidst a culture of impunity. Perpetrators who are involved in such serious breaches of the law do so only when they have the assurance that those who hold power will ensure that no investigations and prosecutions will take place. This in turn emboldens the perpetrators to continue to commit these acts.

There has been an exceptional collapse of the rule of law. The existing mechanisms that should protect Sri Lankan citizens are defunct. For instance, the Criminal Procedure Code of Sri Lanka specifies the detailed procedure for the recording of complaints, their investigation and the prosecution of criminal cases. In reality however, individuals are deprived of legal redress. Yet the government declares that international agencies need not interfere as there are local legal mechanisms to deal with such matters. However what the government has shown to the international community was just let it happen and has failed to show its strong will to end this grave violation. Thus the state deprives the individual of access to both local and international systems.

In light of the above, I urge you to immediately order thorough and independent inquiries into these extrajudicial killings and ensure that those responsible are brought to justice without delay. The families of the victim should be protected from any obstacles and special care to those families must be provided.

I take this opportunity to draw your attention to the fact that the government has indeed failed to effectively protect citizens from extrajudicial killings and enforced disappearances so far. Thus I further strongly urge you to establish a field office with the cooperation of the United Nations Human Rights Council to end these ongoing extrajudicial killings and disappearances in the country.

I look forward to your prompt intervention in these cases.

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

3. Hon. Amarasiri Dodangoda, MP
Minister of Justice
Ministry of Justice and Law Reforms
Superior Courts Complex,
Colombo 12
Tel: +94 11 2384837 / 2324681 / 2392932
Fax: +94 11 2325354 / 2445446

4. Hon. Rohitha Bogollagama, MP
Minister of Foreign Affairs
Mnistry of Foreign Affairs
Republic Building, Colombo 01,
Sri Lanka
Tel: +94 11 2325371 / 5
Fax: +94 11 2446091
E-mail: publicity@formin.gov.lk

5. Secretary
Ministry of Defence, Public Security, Law and Order
15/5, Baladaksha Mawatha
Colombo 03,
SRI LANKA
Tel: + 94 11 2 430860-9 / 430878-9 / 435879 (for the secretary)
Fax: +94 11 2 446300 / 421529
E-mail: secdef@sltnet.lk

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. Mr. Neville Piyadigama
Chairperson
National Police Commission
3rd Floor, Rotunda Towers,
109 Galle Road
Colombo 03
SRI LANKA
Tel: +94 11 2 395310
Fax: +94 11 2 395867
E-mail: npcgen@sltnet.lk 

8. Mr. C.R. De Silva
Attorney General
Attorney General's Department
Colombo 12
SRI LANKA
Fax: +94 11 2 436421
E-mail: attorney@sri.lanka.net

9. 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

10. Hon. Minister Mahinda Samarasinghe
Ministry of Disaster Management and Human Rights
2, Wijerama Mawatha
Colombo 7
SRI LANKA
Tel: +94 11 269 3282
Fax: +94 11 269 3284 (ATTN: P. Dias Amarasinghe, Secretary)
E-mail: info@dmhr.gov.lk

11. Professor Philip Alston
Special Rapporteur on Extrajudicial, Summary, or Arbitrary Executions
Room 3-016
c/o OHCHR-UNOG
1211 Geneva 10
SWITZERLAND
Tel: +41 22 917 9155
Fax: +41 22 917 9006 (ATTN: SPECIAL RAPPORTEUR EXECUTIONS)

Thank you.

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

Document Type :
Urgent Appeal Update
Document ID :
UP-151-2007
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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.