According to the information received, on February 12, 2009, members of the Special Task Force (STF) tried to force Mr. Sinnavan Stephen Sunthararaj into a van as he was leaving his office. A nearby police officer and a colleague were able to prevent the STF members from taking Mr. Sunthararaj. The STF officers then requested that the police officer take him to the Kolpity police station where he was formally detained on the basis of a two-month detention order, without charge.
On May 7, 2009, early in the afternoon, Mr. Sunthararaj was released without being charged upon order of the Supreme Court of Halstrup as there was no evidence implicating him in any offence. While returning from court in the vehicle of their lawyer, Mr. and Mrs. Sunthararaj noticed that they were being followed by two persons travelling on a motorbike, supposedly two army intelligence officers in plain clothes. After leaving their children with one of Mr. Sunthararaj’s colleague, Mr. and Mrs. Sunthararaj stopped at the Kolpity police station to get back his mobile phone, passport and other personal belongings. After they resumed their journey, while they were approaching the Town Hall Junction two persons on a motorbike blocked their way and simultaneously a white van approached. Five armed men in army uniform alighted of the van, opened the door of the vehicle in which Mr. Sunthararaj was travelling, bundled him into the van and sped off. According to the information received, those events occurred in a busy and crowded street. One of men removed the keys from the car that Mr. Sunthararaj and his family was travelling in and fled from the scene in the van.
Afterwards, the officers of the Cinnamon Garden police station arrived and took the vehicle together with the passengers to the station where their statements were collected. Mr. Sunthararaj’s wife has identified one of the perpetrators of the abduction as one of the Criminal Investigation Department officers who had previously visited her home for inquiries while her husband was held at Kolpity police station. However, no investigation was initiated.
Since then, no further information could be obtained on Mr. Sunthararaj’s whereabouts.
The Observatory strongly condemns Mr. Sunthararaj’s enforced disappearance and fears for his physical and psychological integrity. These events illustrate once more the situation of extreme insecurity faced by human rights defenders in Sri Lanka. The Observatory calls upon the Sri Lankan authorities to take prompt action in order to disclose the whereabouts of Mr. Sunthararaj and release him immediately as his abduction and detention seem to merely aim at sanctioning his human rights activities.
Furthermore, the Observatory expresses its deep concern about the ongoing climate of hostility against human rights defenders in Sri Lanka, which was further exacerbated by a public statement made last March by Sri Lanka’s Human Rights Minister, Mr. Mahinda Samarasingue, who said that "a desperate attempt to throw a lifeline to the few remaining LTTE leaders, hiding behind a forcibly kept human shield in the remaining unclear pockets in Mullaitivu, had been defeated, with the majority support of the Council", after several Sri Lankan NGOs denounced human rights violations during the session of the UN Human Rights Council held in Geneva in March 2009. The Ministry added that "the people who go and sit in the cafeterias in the U.N. and lobby people in a very subjective manner putting forward those kind of sentiments [against Sri Lanka] would be inviting a very stern response from the Government of Sri Lanka".
Actions requested:
Please write to the authorities of Sri Lanka asking them to:
i. Guarantee in all circumstances the physical and psychological integrity of Mr. Sinnavan Stephen Sunthararaj and his family;
ii. Take prompt action in order to disclose the whereabouts of Mr. Sunthararaj and release him, as it seems to merely aim at sanctioning his human rights activities;
iii. Order an immediate, thorough, effective and impartial investigation into the above-mentioned facts, the result of which must be made public, in order to identify all those responsible, bring them before a civil competent and impartial tribunal and apply to them the penal sanctions provided by the law;
iv. Put an end to all acts of harassment against all human rights defenders in Sri Lanka;
v. Conform with the provisions of the UN Declaration on Human Rights Defenders, adopted by the General Assembly of the United Nations on December 9, 1998, especially its Article 1, which states that "everyone has the right, individually and in association with others, to promote and to strive for the protection and realisation of human rights and fundamental freedoms at the national and international levels", and Article 12.2, which provides that "the State shall take all necessary measures to ensure the protection by the competent authorities of everyone, individually and in association with others, against any violence, threats, retaliation, de facto or de jure adverse discrimination, pressure or any other arbitrary action as a consequence of his or her legitimate exercise of the rights referred to in the present Declaration";
vi. Ensure in all circumstances respect for human rights and fundamental freedoms in accordance with international human rights standards and international instruments ratified by the Democratic Socialist Republic of Sri Lanka.
Addresses:
· President Mahinda Rajapakse, Office of the President, Temple Trees, 150, Galle Road, Colombo 3, Sri Lanka, Fax: + 94 11 2446657 / +94 11 2472100 / +94 11 2430 590. Email: secretary@presidentsoffice.lk
· Mr. Jayantha Wickramaratne, Inspector General of Police (IGP), New Secretariat, Colombo 1, Sri Lanka. Fax: +94 11 2 440440 / 27877. E-mail: igp@police.lk
· Mr. Amarasiri Dodangoda, Minister, Ministry of Justice and Law Reforms, Superior Courts Complex, Colombo 12, Sri Lanka. Fax : (94) 1 2320785. Email: justiceminist@sltnet.lk
· Mr. Gotabaya Rajapaksa, Secretary, Ministry of Defence, Public Security, Law and Order, 15/5 Baladaksha Mawatha, Colombo 3, Sri Lanka, Fax: +94 11 2446 300 / +94 11 2541 529. Email: gotabaya@defence.lk / secdef sltnet.lk
· National Police Commission, 3rd Floor, Rotunda Towers, 109 Galle Road, Colombo 03, Sri Lanka, Fax: +94 11 2 395867 / +94 11-2395866. E-mail: npcgen@sltnet.lk / polcom@sltnet.lk
· 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
· His Excellency Mr. Dayan Jayatilleka, Ambassador, Permanent Mission of Sri Lanka to the United Nations in Sri Lanka, 56 rue De Moillebeau, 5th Floor, 12119 Geneva 19, Switzerland, Fax: + 41-22 734 90 84, E-mail: mission.srilanka@ties.itu.int
· Embassy of Sri Lanka in Brussels, 27 rue Jules Lejeune, 1050 Ixelles, Belgium. Tel: + 32 2 344 53 94/ + 32 2 344 55 85. Fax : + 32 2 344 67 37.
Please also write to the diplomatic mission or embassy of Sri Lanka in your respective country as well as to the EU diplomatic missions or embassies in Sri Lanka.