Reply to thread

Message: <blockquote data-quote="ramarajan" data-source="post: 1603371" data-attributes="member: 86701">b. DisappearanceThe Sri Lanka Human Rights Commission (SLHRC), reportedly acting on instructions from senior government officials, did not provide statistics on the number of disappearances in the current year, but it reported 345 instances countrywide of politically motivated disappearances in 2006 by the state security forces, progovernment paramilitary groups, or the LTTE. According to NGOs, the number of disappearances sharply increased during the year. For example, the Foundation for Coexistence reported 880 disappearances.Witnesses and potential victims identified the perpetrators of abductions as Tamil-speaking armed men using white vans without license plates. The government generally failed to investigate allegations of abductions by armed men in white vans on the grounds that white vans are too common for these incidents to be effectively investigated.In response to a list of 350 abductees in the previous 12 months presented to President Rajapaksa in March, the government reported by year's end that authorities had traced 21 persons who were still alive and identified the remains of four other victims whose cases were now considered murders. The government had not been able to resolve the remaining 325 cases and requested foreign government assistance in obtaining details of 105 cases which had not been reported to police. Human rights organizations have noted that the relatives of human rights victims, particularly in Jaffna, often did not contact the police for fear of reprisals against other family members.On February 2, unknown men in Jaffna abducted Ranjan Sellanthurai, the son of the widow Ranganathan Visalakshmi. Despite her repeated attempts to get information and intervention by a foreign embassy, no information had been received from Jaffna Army Commander Chandrasiri or the Tilakaratne Commission.On March 2, four men in a white van abducted Protestant Pastor Victor Emmanuel Yogarajan, his two sons Daniel and David Yogarajan, and a third Tamil youth near Negombo. Three bodies were found in Wennappuwa (near Negombo) in October. Following the practice for unclaimed bodies in mortuary beyond three months, the Wennappuwa Magistrate ordered burial. The DIG of Vavuniya stated that clothes found with the bodies were identified as belonging to the pastor and his two sons. The Negombo Magistrate ordered DNA tests carried out. At year's end the SLHRC had not set a date for police to initiate the DNA tests.In May a group of parliamentary security guards abducted a wealthy Muslim businessman from Colombo. They lured him to a Kandy hotel with the promise of a business deal, transported him to a secret safe house in Kandy, and extorted from his family a ransom of $200,000 (22.5 million rupees) before releasing him. On June 6, opposition MP Lakshman Seniviratne publicly accused government Defense Spokesman and Minister of Foreign Employment Promotion and Welfare Keheliya Rambukwella's body guards of committing the act. Rambukwella denied responsibility. There was no investigation into the incident.There was no progress on disappearances from 2006, including the May disappearance of eight Tamil men from a Hindu Temple in Jaffna District while security personnel were seen at the temple. There were no indictments, investigations, or prosecutions of security force personnel for past disappearances. The government disbanded the 2004 Presidential CoI dealing with 16,305 past cases of disappearance.During the year the LTTE continued to detain civilians, often requiring individuals to fight government security forces against their will. Credible sources also alleged that the LTTE required individuals to purchase the right to leave LTTE‑controlled territory.In addition to politically motivated abductions, there were dozens of kidnappings‑for‑ransom, with payment demands ranging from $20,000 (2.25 million rupees) to $750,000 (60.6 million rupees). Although initially the problem appeared limited to the Tamil business community, in June and July dozens of Muslim businessmen were kidnapped for ransom, the vast majority of whom were released after ransom was paid. However, less than half of Tamil businessmen kidnapped for ransom were released after the ransom was paid.c. Torture and Other Cruel, Inhuman, or Degrading Treatment or PunishmentThe law makes torture a punishable offense but does not implement several provisions of the UN Convention Against Torture. If convicted of torture, the law mandates a sentence of not less than seven years' imprisonment. However, in the few publicized torture convictions since 2004, the individuals were released on bail pending an appeal rather than serving the minimum seven-year sentence. Human rights groups maintained that while torture is prohibited under specific circumstances, it was allowed under others. According to credible sources, including UN Special Rapporteur (UNSR) on Torture Manfred Nowak, the use of torture by police and security forces to extract admissions and confessions was endemic and conducted with impunity. In addition, the emergency regulations make confessions obtained under any circumstance, including by torture, sufficient to detain a person until the individual is brought to court. On October 29, following his one week assessment mission to the country, Nowak attributed the lack of convictions for torture to the absence of effective investigation, inadequate protection for victims and witnesses of torture, and an excessive minimum sentence for torture. He stated also that the police used threats of violence or fabrication of criminal cases to prevent the victims of torture by police officers from filing complaints. Nowak added that detainees reported that the magistrates did not provide them an opportunity to complain about police torture while the perpetrators often accompanied the victims to courts and remained present during medical examinations.Methods of torture and abuse reportedly included beatings, often with sticks, iron bars or hose; electric shock; suspending individuals by the wrists or feet in contorted positions; burning with metal objects and cigarettes; genital abuse; blows to the ears; asphyxiation with plastic bags containing chili pepper or gasoline; and near‑drowning. Detainees reported broken bones and other serious injuries as a result of their mistreatment. UNSR Nowak singled out the Terrorist Investigative Department facility in Boossa for including the "fullest manifestation" of torture methods.On October 27, an Asian Human Rights Commission (AHRC) study of 48 police torture cases in the south revealed that the reasons for torture included obtaining bribes, favoring a second party, preventing a complaint that may lead to a criminal inquiry, failing to comply with traffic rules, and asking a police officer a question.In the conflict-affected north and east, military intelligence and other security personnel, sometimes working with armed paramilitaries, carried out documented and undocumented detentions of civilians suspected of LTTE connections. The detentions were followed by severe interrogations, frequently including torture. When the interrogations failed to produce evidence, detainees were often released with a warning not to reveal information about their arrests and threatened with re-arrest or with death if they divulged information about their detention. Some were killed by masked gunmen on motorcycles immediately after leaving these military facilities on foot. As UNSR Nowak reported, the military denied holding detainees at its facilities and did not grant him access to investigate claims of torture by military forces.</blockquote>

Verification: Nawa warak dahaya keeyada? (Namaya wadi kireema dahaya)

Top Bottom