Wife of missing Sri Lankan journalist speaks to WSWS

Photo courtesy: vikalpa.org

By Panini Wijesiriwardane and Wasantha Rupasinghe | World Socialist Web Site
.............................................................................................................................................................................................

Sandhya Priyangani Ekneligoda, wife of disappeared Sri Lankan journalist and cartoonist Prageeth Ekneligoda, recently spoke to the World Socialist Web Site about her ongoing struggle to discover what happened to her husband, and the continuing harassment of the Sri Lankan authorities.

Prageeth Ekneligoda disappeared on 24 January 2010, after he went to report on Sri Lankan presidential election meetings. Police investigations have drawn the usual blanks and a habeas corpus case, originally filed by Sandhya Ekneligoda in February 2010, is only now being heard at the Colombo Magistrates Court.

Prageeth Ekneligoda supported former Army Commander General Sarath Fonseka, the main bourgeois rival of President Mahinda Rajapakse, during the 2010 presidential election. Fonseka was arbitrarily arrested immediately after the poll and imprisoned on various frame-up charges. Ekneligoda frequently criticised the Rajapakse administration—especially the president and his brothers—over injustice and corruption and is believed to have been disappeared because of these exposures.

Over the past two years, 50-year-old Sandhya Ekneligoda, the mother of two teenage boys, has written to numerous local and international human rights organisations, including the United Nations Human Rights Commission (UNHRC), seeking their help. She also sent letters to President Rajapakse and other state officials, who have ignored her appeals.

“After the disappearance of my husband,” Ekneligoda told the WSWS, “the government began telling lies in order to divert the sentiment of the masses. Former Attorney General Mohan Peiris told the UNHRC that Prageeth had sought refuge in a foreign country, so I wrote him a letter asking about my husband’s whereabouts. I never received a reply.”

Ekneligoda explained what happened after she participated in a side event at the recent UNHCR sessions in Geneva. The UNHRC adopted a US-sponsored resolution over Sri Lankan human rights abuses in its war against the separatist Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE). The Sri Lankan government bitterly opposed the resolution, despite its very limited character.

Ekneligoda said: “With the help of international human rights organisations I went to Geneva to tell my story to the world. For the understanding of those in attendance, I tried to explain the anti-democratic and repressive environment that is increasingly developing in Sri Lanka. I thought this would help to make people aware of the roots of my husband’s disappearance.

“Speaking about the militarisation of the country, I explained how the military is occupying the north and east. I presented some pictures and described how the families who were displaced during the war are now living in tents, huts and damaged structures, while by contrast there are growing numbers of tourist hotels and war monuments.”

Ekneligoda told the WSWS that she was harassed by several members of the Sri Lankan delegation. UK Sinhala Association president Douglas Wickramarathne attempted to ridicule her, declaring: “How can you see yourself as a victim? You came here in a happy mood.”

Echoing the Rajapakse government, Wickramarathne and several other Sri Lankan delegates accused her, and others participating in the Geneva event, of being “traitors.” Sri Lanka’s state-owned press and television networks published their photographs while media minister Mervin Silva, who is infamous for threatening journalists, publicly branded several Sri Lankan reporters and human right activists in Geneva as “bastards.”

Silva told a Sri Lankan public meeting that “these people” were “betraying us in Geneva.” He named Sunanda Deshapriya, Nimalka Fernando and Poddala Jayantha, and boasted: “I’m the one who chased [journalist] Poddala Jayantha from Sri Lanka.” The media minister declared that he would not hesitate to “break the limbs” of the named journalists “if they set foot” on the island. Confident that his threats would be endorsed by Rajapakse, Silva said his ministerial position was granted by Rajapakse and “will remain unchanged while he is in power.”

Ekneligoda told the WSWS that Silva’s outburst was an “attempt to provoke the Sinhala racists against us. Our lives are in a grave danger. What’s the wrong I did? The only thing I’ve done is taken the path of democratic rights.”

Explaining the official response to her husband’s disappearance, she said: “On the night my husband failed to return home I went to Homagama police station to report it but they refused to open a case. The police finally accepted my complaint two weeks later.” When she later attempted to get a copy of her complaint, police officers told her they had lost the logbook in which it had been entered. In August 2011, the appeal courts decided to take up her February 2010 habeas corpus case and these proceedings are currently underway in the Magistrates Court (MC).

“On March 26, when the case was taken to the MC, I was questioned by the Deputy Solicitor General Shavendra Fernando who represented the state,” Ekneligoda said. “He asked more questions about my visit to Geneva. My counsel pointed out that this had nothing to do with the case, but he kept asking me why I went to Geneva, who sponsored me, how much money I was getting per day, and so on.”

Ekneligoda told the WSWS that even after explaining the purpose of her Geneva visit—to raise concerns about her missing husband—the state counsel accused her of lobbying against the government and the country. “It was a direct violation of my democratic rights,” she added.

Prageeth Ekneligoda’s disappearance is part of broader assault on democratic rights that has intensified under the Rajapakse government. The police-state laws developed during the civil war remain in place. The denunciation of government opponents as “unpatriotic” takes places as “disappearances” by pro-government death squads continue.

Various Sri Lankan human rights organisations claim that appeals to the US and other international powers can protect basic rights. This is an illusion. The US sponsored the recent UNHRC resolution not to defend democratic rights but as a means for exerting pressure on the Rajapakse government to distance itself from China.

In the past ten years, 17 journalists and other media workers have been killed and around 50 journalists have fled Sri Lanka in fear of their lives.

© WSWS

Read More

Summary only

The Gap walks a tightrope in Sri Lanka

by Sonya Hubbard | Footnoted
.............................................................................................................................................................................................

As The Gap’s (GPS) shareholders reflect on how to cast their votes between now and the May 15 annual meeting, they’ve got a doozy of a proposal to sort out that one of our eagle-eyed researchers, B.B. Murti, spotted in the company’s April 3 proxy. It’s Proposal No. 4, submitted by Stephen M. Jaeger and Yasodha Natkunam, who own 125 shares of stock through their family trust.

Jaeger and Natkunam think that the Gap should not engage in trade with Sri Lanka until it ceases violating human rights. The country, called Ceylon until 1972 and now officially known as the Democratic Socialist Republic of Sri Lanka, is a tiny teardrop-shaped island in the Indian Ocean, slightly bigger than the state of West Virginia, close to the southeast corner of India.

The human rights violations Jaeger and Natkunam refer to are real and brutal, stemming from the war that lasted almost three decades between the government and the separatist group known as the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE or the “Tamil Tigers”). Jaeger and Natkunam focus on the crimes committed by the Sri Lankan government; however, this March, 2011 report published by the United Nations (an executive summary is available here, if you prefer) makes it clear that both sides are guilty of unspeakably horrific conduct.

The proponents argue that The Gap should heed the recommendation of the U. S. Senate’s Appropriations Committee, which they say “has proposed that international institutions vote against any loan, agreement or other financial support (except humanitarian aid) for Sri Lanka unless it complies with standards set by international law.” One of The Gap’s major suppliers, Brandix, is located there and may soon expand its operations. (According to the 2011 proxy, unnamed shareholders submitted a similar proposal last year, although they missed the filing deadline and the resolution was not voted on.)

Jaeger and Natkunam submitted the resolution because:“We are concerned that a reputable company such as Gap Inc, which is one of the largest garment manufacturers in Sri Lanka, will appear to endorse the crimes perpetrated by the Government of Sri Lanka, if it continues its trade with that country. We believe that this claim is not merely theoretical since Gap Inc is providing Sri Lanka with the foreign exchange that keeps its massive military viable.”

Needless to say, The Gap’s board doesn’t see things the same way as Jaeger and Natkunam do. The board says that it shares the proponents’ concern for “the protection of human rights and is committed to advancing the rights of garment workers around the world.” Nevertheless, it urges shareholders to vote against the resolution.

The Gap’s directors acknowledge that the allegations of abuse committed by the Sri Lankan government are serious, but it adds that “apparel production in the country benefits its citizens.” Apparel production provides employment and helps to improve the stability and economy in Sri Lanka, the company says, and it “only contract[s] with factories that employ workers regardless of ethnic background”, working to ensure that all workers aren’t discriminated against and have fair working conditions. The proxy adds that The Gap requires contracted garment factories to abide by its “Code of Vendor Conduct” and in 2010 created a “Human Rights Policy.”

The Gap has supported a number of social programs in Sri Lanka; but since 2009 its focus has been to provide “life skills and enhanced technical skills education to [about 550] female garment workers to help them advance in the workplace and in their personal lives.” The program, known as Personal Advancement and Career Enhancement, or “P.A.C.E.”, received recognition by former president Bill Clinton as an effective way to equip poor women with the skills they need to improve their lives and those of their families. The proxy adds that The Gap plans to expand the program to other facilities in Sri Lanka later this year.

There’s no easy answer to this resolution as we see it. If the U.N.’s report is accurate, the Sri Lankan government is still unwilling to account for its past behavior, which included shelling hospitals, murder, torture, causing critics to “disappear,” depriving people of humanitarian aid, and much, much more. On the other hand, punishing the government has huge repercussions on the people, too. There is evidence from many sources that when women have access to education and employment opportunities, the standard of living improves not just for themselves and their families, but also for their communities and nations.

It may be one short line on the proxy card, but this resolution could have a big impact, regardless of which side wins.

© Footnoted

Read More

Summary only

Sri Lanka: The disappeared

Banyan | The Economist
.............................................................................................................................................................................................

Dimuthu Attygala was abducted on April 6th. A leader of the Frontline Socialist Party (FSP), a small Sri Lankan opposition group, she had attacked the government of Mahinda Rajapaksa on its grim human-rights record. Four days later she stumbled into a press conference held by the party, dishevelled and with a disturbing story to tell. Burly men with weapons, who drove a white van, had grabbed her from a suburb of Colombo, the capital. She had since been kept blindfolded, manacled and shackled. She was also gagged, except when being grilled about her about political work, the party and its members.

Elsewhere in the city, another FSP leader went missing. Early on April 7th a colleague found Premakumar Gunaratnam gone from his home amid signs of struggle. He was also freed after a few days, but “not out of the kindness of his abductors’ hearts”, says a party member. He (and presumably Ms Attygalle) got away because he has Australian citizenship and his wife had alerted authorities in Canberra. Robyn Mudie, Australia’s high commissioner in Colombo, then asked Defence Secretary, Gotabaya Rajapaksa—the widely-feared brother of the president—to help find the missing Australian. As pressure grew, Mr Gunaratnam was dumped on a roadside, then deported.

Their fates might have been worse. Two others from the group, who were snatched in December, remain missing. A terrifying spate of abductions (as reported by The Economist) of critics of the government continues unchecked. It is “mindboggling how brazen and frequent” the disappearances have become, says a rights activist who dares not be named. Groundviews, a citizen journalism website, counts 29 abductions reported by local media in February and March. It tallies 56 abductions in the past six months. These have taken place even as Sri Lanka fought a resolution at the United Nations Human Rights Council that called for it to “credibly investigate widespread allegations of extra-judicial killings and enforced disappearances”. The resolution passed with a clear majority on March 22nd.

No one has offered proof of a government role in the abductions, but circumstantial evidence suggests it. The high number of cases, use of weapons, the daring of the perpetrators and police inaction all point to a degree of official direction. Nor is it clear who else could possibly wish to kidnap human-rights activists. The main opposition United National Party says that country’s image as is being tarnished as the government lets abductions go on.

Others are more direct. The Lawyers for Democracy, another activist group, says it is reasonable to infer that the defence authorities, Gotabaya Rajapaksa’s men, were involved in these abductions. Another case suggests so. Last month Sagara Senaratne, a politician and businessman, was snatched at a busy roundabout by men in a white van. Mr Senaratne, from the ruling party, is the brother-in-law of a minister. His friends told the authorities and he was released. He says that intervention by the president, the defence secretary and his in-law saved his life. But rights groups naturally ask how such powerful men knew whom to contact to get him free. And precisely how, too, did Gotabaya Rajapaksa help with the Australian request to find Mr Gunaratnam? Such mysteries go unanswered—and worries grow about Sri Lankan democracy.

© The Economist

Read More

Summary only

Abductors had 'political backing' - Gunaratnam

BBC Sinhala
.............................................................................................................................................................................................

Abductors were trained security personnel that operate unofficially and secretly under the patronage of the political authority says the freed political leader Premakumara Gunaratnam.

“The places they kept me were not military camps or police stations, but the way they operated strongly suggested that abductors were a part of government security services”, leader of the Frontline Socialist Party (FSP) Premakumara Gunaratnam told BBC Sandeshaya.

Deported to Australia

“I was unable to recognise any of my captors, but the way they behave and act strongly suggested that they belong to security forces and operate with the blessings of a political authority”, he added.

He and senior leader of the FSP Dimuthu Artigalle were abducted on the 6th April from Colombo.

Police said that Gunaratnam, who is an Australian national, had walked into the police anti-crime unit at Dematagoda- Colombo on the 10th April and had been deported to Australia.

Speaking to BBC Sandeshaya from Sydney, Australia, Gunaratnam said that he was tortured by his captors immediately after he was kidnapped but later changed their tactics.

New political party

“I see this abduction as a clear death threat to me and it violates fundamental rights. I thought they would kill me,” he added.

According to Gunaratnam captors changed the way they handled him and was extensively questioned about his politics, political party, its agenda and associates.

Gunaratnam who is also known with few other identities claimed that he was kept in two different locations.

“The captors did not extensively question me about my forged identity but indicated to me that they knew all about it” he said.

The Government denies involvement of security personal and has cast doubts on the abduction.

© BBC Sinhala

Read More

Summary only

Australian says he was tortured in Sri Lanka

By Matthew Carney | ABC
.............................................................................................................................................................................................

An Australian man says he was sexually tortured by security forces after being abducted in Sri Lanka.

Speaking in Sydney on his return home, Kumar Gunaratnam claimed he was abducted at gunpoint by secret police in Colombo on Friday, assaulted, tortured and left to fear for his life.

He was released after the intervention of the Australian Government following a public appeal by his wife.

The Sri Lankan government has denied the kidnapping claims and says Mr Gunaratnam is a dangerous militant.

Mr Gunaratnam says he was about to launch a left-wing political party Sri Lankan officials want to silence.

He says about 15 government security personnel stormed into his house in Colombo around 4:30am on Friday.

The 42-year-old, who holds dual citizenship in Australia and Sri Lanka, claims he was held for about four days and moved around to different army bases around the capital.

"I confirm I was abducted by the Sri Lankan government forces [who] blind-folded me and tortured [me]," he said.

"This includes, I'm embarrassed to say, sexual torture. I was handcuffed and my ankles were bound during the whole period."

Mr Gunaratnam says he believes without the intervention of the Australian High Commission and the media pressure put on the Sri Lankan government, he would be not be alive.

"I have no doubt that if I didn't have the Australian Government's support, I would have been killed just like my brother and hundreds of other political activists and journalists have been killed," he said.

The Sri Lankan foreign ministry has put out a statement saying Mr Gunaratnam's abduction is a fabrication and he was thrown out of the country because he overstayed his visa for more than five months.
Abuse claims

Mr Gunaratnam says he was a member of the Marxist group People's Liberation Front (JVP) but is now no longer a part of the radical organisation.

"I was a former member of the JVP but we had a political debate inside the party and we formed a new party and that was the Frontline Socialist Party," he said.

Sri Lankan author and journalist Rowan Senadeera says Mr Gunaratnam was a well-known member of the JVP in the late 1980s when serious human rights violations occurred.

"During the reign of terror he was a part of the JVP for sure," Senadeera said.

"The JVP slowly came back to the mainstream. At that time I believe that he was not agreeing with their joining the democratic process.

"I don't think he has been a believer in democratic process under capitalist system and even now or then."

But Mr Gunaratnam rejects any suggestions he committed human rights abuses, but for the first time he did confirm he did operate under three different aliases.

When pressed about it he would not go into details.

"I would like to speak with you everything in detail later on because I was just in a trauma...[in] the last 48-72 hours."

Mr Gunaratnam says he has not ruled out returning to Sri Lanka to continue his political work.

He has been reunited with his wife and children.

© ABC

Read More

Summary only

Sri Lanka: The government's abduction industry exposed

Asian Human Rights Commission
.............................................................................................................................................................................................

In one of the most shameful episodes ever to be revealed the Sri Lankan government's involvement in the 'abduction industry' was exposed last night (April 9) when the government took action to deport Premakumar Gunarathnam alias Ratnayake Mudiyanselage Dayalal who was abducted on April 6, 2012. This abduction brought immediately reactions from the Frontline Socialist Party (FSP), human rights organisations and the Australian government. The Secretary of the Ministry of Defense, Gotabaya Rajapakse initially declared that he was unaware of any such abduction. The Director General of the Media Centre for National Security (MCNS), Lakshman Hulugalle, previous stated to the BBC that there was no reason for the government to arrest Mr. Gunarathnam and Ms. Dimuthu Attigala. Then, even shortly before the deportation Gotabaya Rajapakse told the media that Mr. Gunarathnam would be charged in many cases.

The Police Spokesman, SP Ajith Rohana, now claims that Mr. Gunarathnam was abducted by some unknown persons and brought to Dematagoda and later to the Colombo Crime Division.

This episode clearly exposes the government involvement in abductions. Earlier two officers of the rank of captain from the Sri Lankan military and two other officers were arrested after an attempt to abduct the Mayor of Kolonowara. The photographs of these officers were taken by their captors and published leading to their identification. The government later claimed that they were mistakenly arrested while they were on their way to arrest some army deserters.

The latest incident relating to Mr. Gunarathnam and Ms. Attigala has vividly exposed the government's abduction industry. The number of abductions in recent months has risen to around 60.

As long as Gotabaya Rajapakse remains the Secretary to the Ministry of Defense there is no likelihood of any credible inquiry into the allegations of the government's involvement in these abductions.

The Asian Human Rights Commission calls upon the government to appoint a high level inquiry into the abduction of Mr. Gunarathnam and Ms. Attigala and also all other recent abductions. Unfortunately, we are compelled to state such an inquiry is most unlikely due to the high level position held by Gotabaya Rajapakse who is also President Mahinda Rajapakse's brother.

The Sri Lankan opposition have an obligation to the people to demand such a high level inquiry into this particular incident and all other abductions. The newly formed Frontline Socialist Party and all other political parties need to make it a high priority to take all possible action to stop abductions taking place in Sri Lanka. It is also the duty of all civil society organisations to intervene effectively to ensure that the government takes effective action to remove all those in high positions who are suspected of having links to such abductions.

We also call upon the High Commissioner for Human Rights, Navanethem Pillay, to request the Sri Lankan government to initiate a high level inquiry into this particular abduction as well as all reported abduction in recent months.

© AHRC

Read More

Summary only

Sri Lanka says activist leaving for Australia

AFP | Yahoo! News
.............................................................................................................................................................................................

A radical Sri Lankan activist reported by his party to have been abducted has been found safe and is to return to his home in Australia on Tuesday, a police spokesman in Colombo told AFP.

Joint Sri Lankan-Australian citizen Premakumar Gunaratnam, 46, went missing on Friday from Kiribathgoda, north of Colombo, where he was preparing to launch a new political party, according to his family and fellow activists.

"He has told us that he wants to return to Australia," spokesman Ajith Rohana said. "We have given him a security escort to go to the airport."

Rohana said Gunaratnam had already checked in for his flight to Australia. He added that the activist had used a different name while in Sri Lanka.

Officials in Colombo had earlier insisted that no Australian national named Premakumar Gunaratnam had recently entered the country.

There was no immediate comment from his party or his family in Australia.

Gunaratnam is the leader of a breakaway faction of the JVP, or People's Liberation Front. The JVP led two failed bids to violently overthrow governments in 1971 and 1987 in campaigns that left up to 100,000 people dead.

Australia pressed Sri Lanka for urgent clarification on his whereabouts and a foreign office spokeswoman said Tuesday that he had been accounted for.

Gunaratnam's family said that he had been abducted by an armed group, with his Frontline Socialist Party splinter group blaming the "state and government".

Colombo denied any involvement in Gunaratnam's disappearance.

Rights groups have reported dozens of abductions since the end of the island's civil war in 2009, but at least some of the incidents appear to have been private disputes or underworld activities.

© AFP

Read More

Summary only

'Release my son' appeals abducted political activist's mother

By Yohan Perera | Daily Mirror
.............................................................................................................................................................................................

Family members of missing Front Line Socialist Party Leader Premkumar Gunaratnam today requested the authorities to deal with him in a legally accepted manner if he has done anything wrong and to release him if he is innocent. V. R. Gunaratnam, the mother of the JVP breakaway group leader told a news conference today in Colombo that her son had been illegally abducted by unknown persons. Mrs. Gunaratnam said her son should have been tried legally if he has done something wrong without abducting him in such a violent manner.

She said she is not aware of her son’s political connections bur said she is scared for him that he might also suffer the same fate which her elder son suffered. Her eldest son Ranjitham Gunaratnam who was an active member of the JVP during the 1987/89 insurrection was abducted, tortured and killed allegedly by the armed forces who were engaged in cracking down the youth who launched an armed struggle then.

Gunaratnam’s sister Niranjalee Gunaratnam made a plea from the international community to help find her brother. She said she too is aware about the political activities of his brother but said he only strived to build a better future for all Sri Lankans through a social and political transformation.

Convener of the ‘Movement for People’s Struggle’ (name which the group identified themselves earlier) Chamira Koswatte said they decided not to bring Gunaratnam before the public because they had fears about his safety. These fears he said had come true. This he said is the reason as to why Gunaratnam said earlier that he might not participate in the Front Line Socialist Party’s first convention which is to be held on the 9th of April.

He however said the party would go ahead with the convention which is to be held at Sugatadasa Stadium.

© Daily Mirror

Read More

Summary only

Latest victims of a heinous trend: Abduction of political activists

WATCHDOG | Groundviews
.............................................................................................................................................................................................

Political activists and leaders of the People’s Struggle Movement in Sri Lanka, Mr. Premakumar Gunaratnam[1] and Ms. Dimithu Attygalle[2] disappeared on 6th April 2012. Prior to their disappearance both activists had been preparing for the first convention of the Frontline Socialist Party, a party formed by a dissident group from the opposition party, Janatha Vimukthi Peramuna (JVP – meaning People’s Liberation Front). FSP party members had received credible information that both activists were under intense Government surveillance, shortly before their disappearance. There is currently no information regarding their fate or whereabouts.

Mr. Gunaratnam was a key leader of the People’s Struggle Movement (PSM) and Ms. Attygalle was the Secretary for Women’s and International affairs of the organization, which was a forerunner to the Frontline Socialist Party (FSP).

Mr. Gunaratnam had been instrumental in forming the FSP which was due to be launched officially on 9th April 2012 and he was expected to be appointed as its head. The PSM has campaigned actively since its formation against the systemic violation of human rights by this Government including, disappearances, extra-judicial killings, illegal detentions and militarization in the North.

Details of Disappearance

Mr. Gunaratnam is believed to have been abducted from his temporary residence at No.29/1, Gemunu Mawatha, Kiribathgoda (Gampaha district), on 6th April. He was last seen by a party member who dropped Mr. Gunaratnam at his residence in Kiribathgoda at around 5 pm on 6th April following a party meeting. At around 11 pm that day, Mr. Gunaratnam spoke to the same party member and asked to be picked up from his residence at 5 am the following day (7th April). Mr. Gunaratnam has not been seen or heard from since.

The party member who arrived at Mr. Gunaratnam’s residence at around 4.30 am the following day (7th April), found that the air had been let out of all four tyres in Mr. Gunaratnam’s vehicle (No. NWKE 9457). On further examination he found that the door locks had been broken. Mr. Gunaratnam could not be found and was not contactable on his mobile phone. A neighbor had told police that 4 or 5 armed men had come to the house at around 4.30am on the morning of 7th April and instructed her to shut off lights and stay indoors. When she had looked out around 5.15am, she had seen nothing unusual.

According to party members, Mr. Gunaratnam’s mobile number (+94-71-3519722) was ringing till around 8 am on 7th April but was not answered. The phone is currently disconnected or unreachable. The GPS coordinates of Mr. Gunaratnam’s mobile phone indicate that the phone was in the Thalawathugoda area on 7th April morning. However there is no further evidence regarding his whereabouts.

Ms. Attygalle was last seen by a party leader who dropped her at the Kottawa bus stand (Colombo District) at around 6pm on 6th April. Ms. Attygalle confirmed that she was going to her residence at 32/14/7, High level road, Henawatte, Meegoda (Colombo district). However Ms. Attygalle did not answer her mobile phone (+94-77-0325567) the following morning though it had been ringing till about 11am. It had been confirmed that Mr. Attygalle had not arrived home on 6th April.

Police complaints/action taken

On 7th April 2012, Mr. Ajith Kumara, Member of Parliament, filed a complaint with the Police Head Quarters in Colombo regarding Mr. Gunaratnam’s disappearance, recorded under CIB I 105/19. MP Ajith Kumara also filed a separate complaint with the police head quarters regarding Ms. Attygalle’s disappearance recorded under CIB I 105/20, on 7th April.

Mr. Gunaratnam’s sister-in-law, Dr. Nandani Somaratne, also filed a complaint with the Pilliyandala Police (Colombo district) on 7th April, recorded under CIB 306/133.

Mr. Duminda Nagamuwa, a party leader, filed complaint number CIB I 11/135 with the Kottawa Police on 7th April regarding the disappearance of Ms. Attygalle.

The Australian High Commission in Colombo has been informed of the disappearance as Mr. Gunaratnam is an Australian citizen. The media, diplomatic community and human rights groups have been informed about the disappearances.

Police spokesperson told media said neither of the two had been taken in for questioning or arrested by the Police.

Prior to their abduction, Mr. Gunaratnam and Ms. Attygalle were engaged in intense negotiations in preparation for the first party convention on 9th April 2012. Party members had received credible information that Mr. Gunaratnam was under intense surveillance by the Government during this period. As a safety precaution Mr. Gunaratnam and Ms. Attygalle always informed party members of their whereabouts and never switched off their mobile phones.

FSP party members believe that Mr. Gunaratnam and Ms. Attygalle have been abducted by forces linked with the Government since the party has campaigned actively against human rights abuses by the Government, particularly against the Tamil minority in the North.

PSM activists have suffered threats, attacks, intimidation and surveillance due to their work. PSM activists Lalith Weeraraj and Kugan Muruganandan were abducted on 9th December 2011 in Jaffna and have not been seen or heard from since [3]. Lalith Weeraraj was repeatedly threatened by police and military prior to his abduction and ordered to stop his work in the North. There has been no information or credible investigation into their disappearance despite widespread protests, local and international campaigns and a habeas corpus petition before the Court of Appeal in Sri Lanka. The families of both men have also suffered threats, harassment and surveillance following their abduction.

Media reports indicate that there have been twenty nine disappearances in Sri Lanka between February and March 2012 and a total of fifty six disappearances over the past six months [4]. There have been repeated incidents of threats, harassment, attacks and intimidation against HRDs and activists travelling to/working in the North apart from the systematic attacks against national level HRDs and journalists during the Human Rights Council Sessions in Geneva in March 2012.
.................................................................................................................................................

[1] Mr. Gunaratnam had studied at Kegalle St. Mary’s College, Pinnawala central College and Peradeniya University. His brother, Ranjitham Gunaratnam, who was a Poliburo member of the People’s Liberation Front (JVP – the party from which the new party Frontline Socialist Party broke away) and was assassinated by the government in 1989. After the repression of the JVP in late 1980s, Mr. Gunaratnam played a key role in reforming an reviving the party.

[2] Ms. Attygalle had studied at Bandarawela Central College and at Teachers Training College. She has been an activist of the People’s Liberation Front (JVP ) since 1988 and became the National Organizer of the Socialist Women’s Union.

[3] http://groundviews.org/2011/12/19/disappearance-of-human-rights-defenders-political-activists-lalith-kumar-weeraraj-and-kugan-murugan-on-9th-december-2011/

[4] http://groundviews.org/2012/04/05/horrible-rise-of-disappearances-in-post-war-sri-lanka-continues-unabated/

© Groundviews

Read More

Summary only

SRI LANKA: DISSIDENT POLITICAL ACTIVISTS ARRESTED

Daily Mirror Online
.............................................................................................................................................................................................

JVP dissident leader Premakumar Gunarathnam and member of the dissident arm Dimuthu Attigala have been arrested early this morning, the JVP dissidents said. The dissident leader of the JVP was arrested in Kiribathgoda while Attigala had been arrested in Thalawathugoda, a spokesman of the media unit of the Progressive Socialist Party said.

Speaking to the Daily Mirror, frontline member of the JVP dissident group Pubudu Jayagoda said that the arrest was made by the state defense establishment. “ The arrest was made by the countries security forces but they have been denying this. We will take all possible legal measures against the arrest. We are now in the process of lodging a complaint at the IGP’s office” he said.

Addressing a press conference held today in this regard Senadheera Gunathilake a member of the newly formed party said that the arrest was preceded by intimidation. “There was a meeting that was held last night, this morning when one of our comrades visited the house in which Gunarathnam was staying at around 4 in the morning he had seen that the tire of the vehicle Gunarathnam was supposed to travel was deflated. Later when he went in, he saw the backdoor of the house Gunarathnam was staying in broken and some of his belongings kept in the room being disrupted” he said.

When contacted the Police said they were unaware of the arrest.

© Daily Mirror

Read More

Summary only