Sri Lanka: HRDs arrested for demanding rights for Tamil people
Event- Country
- Sri Lanka
- Initial Date
- Aug 7, 2023
- Event Description
On 7th August, Civil society activist, and Hindu Priest Velan Swamigal and members of the Association for Relatives of the enforced Disappeared, parliamentarian M K Sivajilingam were arrested and produced in the Kilinochchi magistrate court by the Police, on charges of participating in an illegal assembly, in relation to a protest march they organised, demanding rights for Tamil people, and calling the independence day “a black day for Tamils” during a protest held on 4th February 2023. They were granted bail on the same day.
- Impact of Event
- 22
- Gender of HRD
- Man
- Other (e.g. undefined, organisation, community)
- Violation
- (Arbitrary) Arrest and Detention
- Judicial Harassment
- Rights Concerned
- Freedom of assembly
- Minority Rights
- Freedom of expression
- Offline
- Right to liberty and security
- Right to Protest
- HRD
- Community-based HRD
- Minority rights defender
- Perpetrator-State
- Police
- Source
- Monitoring Status
- Pending
- Event Location
Latitude: 9.384175694240977
Longitude: 80.4085345994974
- Event Location
- Summary for Publications
On 7 August 2023, Velan Swamigal, community-based defender, and other members of the Association for Relatives of the enforced Disappeared, were arrested by the police and produced before a magistrate for leading a protest earlier in February to demand rights for Tamil people in Kilinochchi, Sri Lanka.