Uwazi

Sri Lanka police arrested over 45 people Thursday (08) for engaging and demonstrations and protests in violation of a COVID-19 ban on protests and public meetings, police said.

Thirty-one people including Sri Lanka Teachers’ Union General Secretary Joseph Stalin Thursday morning over a protest held against the proposed Kotelawala Defence University (KDU) bill at the parliament roundabout in Sri Jayawardenapura, Kotte.

The protest was jointly organised by the Inter-University Students Federation (IUSF), the Sri Lanka Teachers’ Union and the Frontline Socialist Party.

The bill, first presented in 2018 under the previous government, has been controversial, with left-leaning opposition parties including the Jantha Vimukthi Peramuna (JVP) alleging that it paves the way for militarisation of higher education in Sri Lanka.

Police Media Spokesman Senior Deputy Inspector General (SDIG) Ajith Rohana said that two monks and two females were among the 31 arrested.

Meanwhile, 13 members of the JVP, including two former provincial councillors, were arrested at a protest staged in Akuressa against the fuel price increase and the government’s controversial chemical fertilizer ban.

On Wednesday (07), former JVP provincial councillor Samantha Vidyaratna and national organiser of the All Island Govi Jana Federation (farmers’ collective) Namal Karunaratne and the three others were arrested over a protest against the fertiliser ban.

Four people including Nuwara Eliya district JVP organiser Manjula Suraweera Arachchi was arrested over another protest held in Hatton against the KDU bill on Thurday.

Meanwhile, the main opposition Samagi Jana Balavegaya (SJB) held a protest near parliament Thursday morning against what it called the government’s suppression of the people’s right to protest.

Sri Lanka banned protests and public meetings until further notice on Tuesday (06) to prevent large gatherings and the further spread of COVID-19.

Director-General of Health Services Dr Asela Gunawardena had written to the Inspector General of Police informing him of the decision, a police statement said.

Police said that the violations of the said decision will be dealt with according to quarantine regulations.

On 24 August 2021, human rights defender Sabharatnam Sivayoganathan, also known as Seelan, was visited by two officers from the Counter-Terrorism and Terrorism Investigation Division (CTID) at his residence, who summoned him to the Kallady Kaattukandhor police station for questioning the following day. During the inquiry, he was asked about his social media activities. The interrogation lasted for two hours after which the CTID officers informed him that he may be required to attend another interrogation at the Colombo CTID Headquarters.

Seelan is a longstanding human rights defender in Sri Lanka. During the ethnic conflict and civil war in Sri Lanka, Seelan supported victims of human rights violations in their fight for justice, many of whom are from vulnerable and impoverished communities. Seelan is an active committee member of the Batticaloa district NGO Consortium, a committee member of Transparency International Sri Lanka and the President of Batticaloa district civil society forum. Seelan has been part of several initiatives in relation to peace-building, transitional justice and the reconciliation processes. He has been vocal about the reprisals and intimidation faced by regional journalists, military land grabbing, militarization and the Presentation of Terrorism Act.

On 24 August 2021, two officers from the Counter-Terrorism and Terrorism Investigation Division (CTID) arrived at Seelan’s house and handed him an official notice summoning him for questioning at the Kallady Kaattukandhor police station. On 25 August 2021 at 12.30pm, Seelan presented himself along with is national identity card, passport, mobile phone and sim cards, as requested by the officers, to the station. During the interrogation, the officers questioned him about his communications and social media activities, especially on Facebook, WhatsApp and Gmail. The human rights defender is of the opinion that the CTID is using interrogation as a means to threaten and intimidate him against participating in human rights activities.

This is not the first time Seelan has been targeted for his human rights work. On 15 July 2021, Seelan was summoned by the CTID branch of Kaatukanthor, Batticaloa and was subjected to a two hour interrogation during which he was asked about his personal life and previous occupations. He was also questioned in detail about the 700 kilometer protest trek from Pottuvil to Pollikandi (P2P) held in February 2021, including the motivation behind it, the organisers, means of funding and his level of involvement in it.

On 23 May 2021, Seelan was interrogated by CTID at his residence during the nationwide lockdown in Sri Lanka in the wake of COVID-19. On 16 May 2021, the police handed over an order issued by the Batticaloa Magistrate court to the human rights defender, restricting any public participation ahead of the annual memorials for Tamils who were killed during the civil war which takes place on 18 May. In March 2021, Seelan was issued another court order along with 26 others to stop participating in a hunger strike in Maamangam, Batticalao.

Front Line Defenders is seriously concerned by the recent series of reprisals and harrassment faced by human rights defender Seelan, which appear to be directly related to his peaceful and legitimate work in defence of human rights.

Police in Sri Lanka should immediately release journalist Keerthi Ratnayake and halt further investigations into him, the Committee to Protect Journalists said today.

Ratnayake, a former army intelligence officer and regular freelance contributor to the London-based, Sri Lanka-focused news website Lanka-e-News, was summoned to the Kollupitiya Police Station in Colombo in western Sri Lanka on August 14 to answer questions about information he had provided to the Indian embassy in Colombo concerning a possible terrorist attack on the embassy, according to Lanka-e-News and news reports.

After reporting to the police station, Ratnayake, who covers defense and politics, was subsequently ordered to be held for 90 days at the station under the Prevention of Terrorism Act, while his home was searched and computers and phones confiscated, according to the reports.

He has not been charged with a crime, according to a person familiar with the case, who spoke to CPJ on condition of anonymity due to fear of reprisal. While in custody, police have pressured Ratnayake to reveal his sources for a warning he gave to the Indian embassy and for stories critical of the government he had written for Lanka-e-News, according to the person. The person did not name specific stories.

Sandaruwan Senadheera, editor of Lanka-e-News, told CPJ via messaging app that he believed Ratnayake was arrested and held by the police because of his critical articles for the website given that he has been questioned about his journalistic activities, which have nothing to do with the warning he gave to the Indian embassy.

“Sri Lankan authorities need to release Keerthi Ratnayake from custody, return his electronic devices, and stop trying to force him to reveal sources,” said Steven Butler, CPJ’s Asia program coordinator. “Providing safety information to a foreign mission is hardly a crime, and should not serve as an excuse to investigate the work of a critical journalist, in the process severely undermining press freedom in Sri Lanka.”

Under the Prevention of Terrorism Act, individuals may be held initially for up to three months without charge.

Confronted with a series of setbacks in addition to the failure in containing the devastating pandemic outbreak and economic crisis, the Sri Lankan government has launched a chilling crackdown on students and teachers in the Sinhala dominated south protesting militarisation of higher education. The crackdown has met with stiff opposition from academics as well as non-academics who have warned the government of consequences.

A leading activist Dr. Mahim Mendis of the Open University had been threatened over the phone for speaking at FUTA protest on August 3rd: “When I came home, someone called me to say that they don’t like what I said. Since then, I’ve been receiving threats,” he told JDS.

Police have also threatened former leaders of IUSF with death and hostage taking.

“I am receiving calls from the telephone number 072 5167782 saying - we won’t let you live in peace, at some point we will abduct you- and I am afraid to lodge a complaint as the police are also in the lookout for me,” said ex IUSF Convener and Buddhist Monk Rathkarawwe Jinarthana Thero.

The Centre for the Protection of Public Assets and Human Rights, an alliance of more than a dozen trade unions and grassroots activists condemned the government’s repressive action as a death blow to the freedom of expression. In a statement to the press the organisation said that the governments repressive action drives people to street protests notwithstanding the threat posed by the Covid19 pandemic.

Confronted with a series of setbacks in addition to the failure in containing the devastating pandemic outbreak and economic crisis, the Sri Lankan government has launched a chilling crackdown on students and teachers in the Sinhala dominated south protesting militarisation of higher education. The crackdown has met with stiff opposition from academics as well as non-academics who have warned the government of consequences.

On Friday (6), police convinced a court in the capital to detain two university student leaders who were effectively abducted by police the day before. The two are in the forefront of an ongoing protest against the militarising higher education. Scores of union leaders are in hiding as police carry on with unannounced visits to their homes and places they frequent. University dons have resolved to launch a strike action against the crackdown while many workers and professionals’ organisations have expressed solidarity with the teachers and undergraduates who are protesting the General Sir John Kotelawala National Defence University (KDU) Bill aimed at the military having a greater role in education policy and administration.

Arrests & abductions

Two leaders of the Inter University Students’ Federation (IUSF), the largest student body in Sri Lanka, Wasantha Mudalige and Amila Sandeepa produced before court were remanded until August 11 by Kaduwela Magistrate Manjula Ratnayake while two other activists Koshila Hansamali Perera and Chameera Koswatta arrested from their homes were also remanded until August 11. Both orders were later extended until 17.

Mudalige going home after attending a live TV broadcast was manhandled and handcuffed by men in civvies accompanied by uniformed police officers. Sandeepa abducted in broad daylight by men in civies was later declared by the police spokesman to be in their custody. University students and academics were able to foil an attempt to abduct Sri Jayawardenapura university lecturer Aminda Lakmal.

Police are targeting nearly 50 other student and trade union activists for arrest, according to activists.

“We are aware of 48 names on the hit list and police have visited many of their homes. Now they are in hiding,” a student leader told JDS on strict conditions of anonymity.

A group in civilian clothes who tried to abduct Sri Jayawardanapura University Senior Lecturer Aminda Lakmal while travelling, were stopped by colleagues and students. A mobile video streamed live by him went viral on social media platforms.

On Sunday, an Open University undergraduate tending to the father of another IUSF leader Udara Sandaruwan’s father who is undergoing treatment in the Colombo eye hospital has been given a police notice requesting Sndaruwan to present himself at the Peliyagoda police station.

The undergraduate had been warned that ‘someone from the family will be taken’ if the former convener doesn’t come the next day.

On Saturday, a vehicle claimed to be from the Peliyagoda police station in the western province had roamed Rajanganaya in the north central province seeking information about an IUSF activist while police teams had visited the office and residence of Chatura Samarasinghe, president of Ceylon Estate Staff union.

In a blatant anti-democratic attack, Sri Lankan police arrested 40 teachers, including 16 female educators, and four drivers of the vehicles they were travelling in, following a protest for higher wages outside the presidential secretariat in Colombo on Wednesday.

Around 2,000 teachers participated in the demonstration which assembled outside the secretariat after travelling by motorcade from the suburbs of Welisara, Kadawatha, Moratuwa and Pannipitiya. The protest was held in defiance of a court order obtained by the police to ban the event.

The teachers were arrested by Colombo Harbour police who jailed them until the following day when they were brought before a magistrate. Hundreds of teachers mobilised near the court premises in support of their arrested colleagues. They were blocked by baton-wielding riot police.

In court police opposed any release, spuriously arguing that those arrested broke quarantine regulations, participated in an unlawful assembly and violated thoroughfare laws.

The magistrate ruled, however, that the police had failed to justify why they should not be released. The decision was in response to widespread establishment fears that the ongoing incarceration of the educators would provoke mass outrage. Those arrested were released on 100,000 rupees ($US500) personal bail. It is not yet clear whether the police plan to initiate charges.

The Rajapakse government is intensifying repression against anyone protesting its socially-regressive policies.

This week police unleashed a witch-hunt against the organisers of a demonstration near parliament on Tuesday of students and teachers opposing the Kotelawala National Defence University Act (KNDUA). The law is a part of accelerating moves by the government to privatise education and expand the militarisation of government rule.

The “Student and People’s Movement for Schools” protest, which also involved university teachers, was initiated by the Inter University Student Federation (IUSF), controlled by the pseudo-left Frontline Socialist Party (FSP). Police used force and iron barricades to block the demonstration.

On Wednesday night, police arrested FSP leader Chameera Koswatta and party member Kaushalya Hansamli who participated in the protest and the following day detained five student leaders, including IUSF convenor Wasantha Mudalige.

Nearly 250,000 public school teachers and principals are continuing their “online learning” strike which began on July 12.

The Ceylon Teachers Union (CTU), the Janatha Vimukthi Peramuna-controlled Ceylon Teachers Service Union (CTSU), the FSP-affiliated United Teachers Service Union and several other unions called Wednesday’s protest in response to the rising anger of teachers over repeated government rejections of their wage demands. Educators are also calling for the withdrawal of the KNDUA.

The teachers’ strike is in defiance of education ministry orders that all principals and teachers should report for work on Monday. This directive is in line with last week’s government circular declaring that all state sector employees working from home must return to their workplaces.

Teachers’ union leaders met with an official from the president’s office on Wednesday during the protest. He told the union leaders that a committee of officials from the state treasury and the national salaries commission has been appointed to look into teachers’ wage demand. The new committee is yet another government manoeuvre.

Addressing Wednesday’s protest, leaders of the teachers’ unions made demagogic speeches in an attempt to keep their members under control. CTU leader Joseph Stalin thundered: “We came to inform you [the government] that if our problem is not solved by next Monday our actions will be stronger.” He called on the cabinet of ministers’ meeting on Monday to provide “a solution.”

CTSU secretary Mahinda Jayasinghe was more vociferous: “If you do not solve the problem we will not only close the gates of the presidential office but will file around the whole secretariat building with hundreds of thousands of heads… the struggle will end victoriously.”

In reality, the union leaders are rapidly moving to end the teachers strike action and impose another betrayal.

On July 28, Prime Minister Mahinda Rajapakse met with teacher union leaders, bluntly declaring that “under the present global situation and the country’s financial predicament, the government is not in a position to rectify the salary issue at this moment.” The union leaders assured the prime minister that they understood the economic crisis facing the country and were not expecting an increase in teachers’ pay. They urged him to simply make a “policy” decision to reduce salary anomalies.

On August 2, President Rajapakse for a second time told his cabinet of ministers that the teachers’ wage demand could not be granted.

According to media reports, he said nothing about a “policy decision” to reduce salary anomalies, as hoped for by the unions as an excuse to end all industrial action. Instead, the president cynically “admitted” that teachers’ wages had to be increased but said that the salary problems of all state employees would be considered in the government’s November budget.

Kapila Fernando, a teacher and a leading member of the Teachers-Students-Parents Safety Committee (TSPSC), attempted to address Wednesday’s protest, following speeches by union leaders. Fernando is also a Socialist Equality Party (SEP) Political Committee member with a long record of struggle among teachers and other sections of the working class. CTU leader Joseph Stalin intervened and prevented him from speaking.

Fernando insisted on his democratic rights as a teacher involved in the struggle, but Stalin stopped him, declaring, “This is a meeting of our unions. You can speak in a meeting organised by you. We have taken this protest to a certain stage, don’t spoil it.”

Speaking with World Socialist Web Site reporters after the event, Fernando said Stalin and the other union leaders stopped him speaking because they feared he would explain the critical political situation facing teachers and the necessity to fight for an alternative program to win their demands.

“Teachers can’t rely on these unions and their leaders,” Fernando stated. “They have consistently betrayed us over the past 24 years. Now they are looking for an excuse to call off our current action. That is why they are urging the government to declare that it will merely accept as a principle that salary anomalies be resolved.

“Like all previous regimes, the Rajapakse government has repeatedly rejected our demands. The COVID-19 pandemic has deepened the economic crisis. The unions are tied to capitalism and the establishment, and cannot see beyond this, that’s why they support imposing the economic burden on the masses.”

Fernando said teachers had to take control of their struggle by building action committees in every school, turning to other sections of the working class and fighting for the program elaborated in the July 28 TSPSC statement. “Militancy and protest are important,” he said, “but they alone are inadequate. Teachers must base their struggle on socialist and internationalist policies.”

Such a turn is urgent. Educators are continuing to take action in several parts of the country. On Wednesday, teachers began a 100-kilometre march from Kandy in central Sri Lanka, expecting to reach Colombo this coming Monday. Regional protests have been held, including one on Thursday in Anuradhapura.

The teachers’ struggle is part of a series of strikes and protests in Sri Lanka that have erupted this year involving health, postal and electricity workers in the state sector, and plantation workers in the private sector. This growing movement is in response to the skyrocketing cost of living and job losses which the COVID-19 pandemic has worsened.

Batticaloa-based Tamil journalist Selvakumar Nilanthan was interrogated by Sri Lankan’s Terrorism Investigation Division (TID) today.

Nilanthan, who is also the secretary of the Batticaloa Tamil Journalists Association, was summoned to the Batticaloa TID this morning where his statement were taken following intense interrogation lasting around three hours. He was asked whether he had any links to the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE) and was questioned extensively about his work.

“Do you have any connection with the LTTE? Were you a member of the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE)? Were any of your relatives in the LTTE? Have you helped the LTTE? Have you got any affiliations or are you in contact with former Batticaloa political head, Thayamohan?”

“Do you run the Battinaatham or Meenagam website? How many years have you been a journalist? Which media outlets do you work for? Which international media outlets are you working for?”

The journalist was also demanded by the TID to disclose his personal and financial details. He was asked a significant amount of questions about his accounts and the passwords and told to give full access to his Facebook account, Whatsapp account, email account, bank account and other personal details.

Nilanthan was also examined extensively about his sourcing of funds:

“Do you get money from abroad? Which money comes from which country? Who is who and who sent you the money? Do you own a charitable trust?”

Following the investigation, the TID told Nilanthan that he may be expected to attend another investigation. Nilanthan, who was shaken and distressed from the investigation stated, “They robbed me of the last bit of freedom I had”.

Selvakumar Nilanthan has previously been interrogated for his coverage across the North-East. Last year, he was probed for reporting on the military-assisted Sinhala settlements on Tamil cattle farmers’ land and was also threatened and arrested for reporting on local government corruption.

Freelance Journalist Malika Abeykoon, who was assaulted and arrested by Sri Lankan police on April 7, has been placed on remand until April 12. The International Federation of Journalists (IFJ) and its Sri Lankan affiliates, the Federation of Media Employees Trade Unions (FMETU) and the Free Media Movement (FMM) demand his immediate release.

Abeykoon was arrested while he was covering a health workers’ protest rally organised by the United Health Workers Union (UHWU) on April 7. Following his arrest, he was brutally assaulted multiple times inside Maradana Police Station. The journalist was not given any reason for his arrest.

According to FMM Abeykoon was put before the Maligakanda Magistrate's Court on April 8 with a fabricated medical report signed from a judicial medical officer stating that he had not been assaulted. In response, Abeykoon removed his shirt and showed the judge the bruises and scars he received the night before in the Maradana police station. He also revealed that no medical attention was given to him while he was in police custody. The judge then asked Abeykoon to submit a medical report from the prison hospital and placed him on remand until April 12.

Following his arrest, activists protested in front of Maradana police station demanding his immediate release. The protestors accused the government of violating their democratic rights. No protestors were allowed to visit Abeykoon.

A Tamil journalist was assaulted and threatened by a group of unidentified people, when he went to film a protest in Batticaloa on Tuesday (5th January).

Kugarasu Subojan traveled to Eravur, Batticaloa to cover a local protest against the ‘Airtel Tower’ on Tuesday morning when he was approached and threatened by a group of unidentified persons. They surrounded Subojan after identifying him as a journalist and told him to immediately stop filming the demonstrations, before attempting to assault him.

They tried to intimidate Subojan and said to him, “What is a journalist to us?, Oh, so you think you’re some big person?”

They repeatedly shouted at him to “delete the video” and tried to steal Subojan’s video equipment.

Subojan, however, resisted the attempts and was able to flee the scene safely with the help of some other nearby correspondents.

Journalists have demanded that Eravur police immediately locates and arrests the assaulters and submitted a complaint at the local Karadiyanaru police station on Wednesday.

Media repression in the North-East has escalated since the appointment of Gotabaya Rajapaksa as Sri Lanka’s president last year, with an increase in incidents of Tamil journalists facing state surveillance and intimidation.

A Tamil journalist was intimidated and harassed by three Sri Lankan Forest Department officials in Mullaitivu on 27th February.

Tamil Guardian correspondent Kanapathipillai Kumanan, who went to report on a Tamil landowner dispute in Thannimurippu, Mullaitivu was threatened and obstructed from doing his job by Forest Department officers, last month.

The officers took photographs and harassed him for his personal information, even though he was only in a nearby road to the land being disputed. Kumanan questioned the officers why he was stopped and subject to the intimidation. “Why is the department asking me for such information? I did not trespass in the forest to collect news?”

Despite identifying himself as a journalist, officials obstructed his work covering a local incident where a Buddhist monk accompanied by local Sri Lankan police, threatened and banned a Tamil villager from clearing his own farmland. The Buddhist monk insisted the land did not actually belong to the Tamil villager and that he must withdraw himself from the land that he claimed as ‘Buddhist land’.

Kumanan highlighted that there has already been similar incidents of hostility when journalists choose to report on issues of illegal logging and land disputes. He was attacked along with a fellow journalist for reporting on illegal logging and timber smugglers, which involved the Forest Department and the case is still being heard in court.

Media repression in the North-East has escalated since the appointment of Gotabaya Rajapaksa as Sri Lanka’s president in 2019, with an increase in incidents of Tamil journalists facing state surveillance, intimidation and violence.

Sri Lankan Police have arrested freelance journalist, Sujeewa Gamage, for allegedly making 'false claims that he was abducted, tortured and abandoned on a road in Colombo by armed men on 10 March 2021,

While receiving treatment for burns and injuries in the hospital, Gamage told the press that the attack was to obtain information, containing his news sources and of his affiliations with opposition politicians, that was in his possession at the time of the incident.

On 17 March, police officers of the Colombo Crime Division (CCD) detained and investigated the journalist soon after he released from the hospital. According to Attorney-at-law, Namal Rajapaksha, whose representation was retained by Gamage’s relatives, he was denied entry into the custody and was told by a police officer that his client will not be released for putting the government “in a difficult position.”

The CCD is also reportedly going to interrogate former Minister Rajitha Senaratne and former MP Chathura Senaratne in connection with the case. According to Police Media Spokesperson Ajith Rohana, Gamage had visited an office of Chathura Senaratne in Thimbirigasyaya, where he had met with Rajitha Senaratne at the office. The suspect has also admitted that he had made a false complaint through a confession, Rohana added.

On Friday Gamage was granted bail.

Media freedom continues to be under significant threat as an increasing number of attacks against journalists continue to be reported under the Rajapaksa regime. Last month, a Tamil Guardian correspondent, who went to report on a Tamil landowner dispute in Mullaitivu, was threatened and harassed by Forest Department officers.

As the two have not returned for hours, family members have retained the service of attorney at law Namal Rajapaksha. Police have intimidated him and threatened that Gamage will not be released “because a lawyer has come on behalf of the journalist”.

“Relatives of my client told me that he is been interrogated under duress for hours,” lawyer Rajapaksha told JDS.

“Not only I wasn't allowed to provide legal assistance, police threatened me saying that he wont be released as a lawyer coming to the police station on behalf of him is an offence. I was not even allowed to pass the gate although I explained that he is a torture victim who was just discharged from hospital. An Assistant Superintendent of Police named Anuranga told me that my client will not be released as he has put the government in a difficult position.”

The Colombo Crimes Division (CCD) and the Mirigama Police are investigating the alleged abduction and torture of Siyarata News website Journalist Sujeewa Gamage, The Morning learnt.

Speaking to The Morning, Police Media Spokesman Deputy Inspector General (DIG) of Police Ajith Rohana said that further investigations have already been commenced by the CCD and the Mirigama Police.

Also speaking to The Morning yesterday (16), Gamage said that he had been conducting investigations on jihad and that this may have convinced the abductors to abduct and question him.

Gamage was allegedly abducted and tortured for information on his sources and political contacts on 10 March.

“I normally take a train from the Mirigama Railway Station to come to Colombo. On 10 March, I was near the Station when a person from a black Montero model jeep asked me to come towards the jeep. When I reached the jeep, they dragged me inside and covered my face with a black garbage bag. After about 40 minutes, the vehicle stopped at a place and they then took me into a room where I was unmasked. There were around four persons in the room wearing denims. They seemed to be like trained members of a VIP security detail. They demanded to know the truth. ‘Don’t lie, we need the truth,’ they said. I then said that I would reveal what I know. Then they threatened me and said that they would kill my wife and child if I did not give information.”

He went on to say that he was questioned about several political and non-political individuals.

“I was questioned about Arun Siddharth, the youth who launched a people’s march on 28 February from Point Dondra in Matara to Jaffna to unify Tamils and Sinhalese to fight against external forces driven by geopolitics and neoliberal strategies, who, according to the abductors, frequented former Parliamentarian Chathura Senaratne’s office in Thimbirigasyaya. I was questioned on whether Senaratne was being funded by the Tamil and Muslim communities. When I said that I didn’t know anything about this, they kept a heated knife on my hand. They also asked about the funding for a particular newspaper and former Speaker of the Parliament Karu Jayasuriya’s involvement in it. They questioned me about a data storage chip related to an interview about the wife of one of the Easter Sunday suicide bombers, Pulasthini Rajendran alias Sarah Jasmine. The interview was stored in that chip which was kept in my home. I think they might have found it and taken it as after 45 minutes, I heard them receive a call where they said: ‘Okay, we got what we wanted, we can release him.’ I was then brought to Dematagoda with my face covered and dropped close to the Railway Station. I was shocked and at that moment, my only thought was to go to Senaratne’s office. His father, Dr. Rajitha Senaratne, came and advised me to get admitted to the National Hospital’s Accident Ward. I suffered several injuries and am still awaiting the final medical report.”

He explained that he had started his career in journalism in the 1980s and that most politicians are known to him.

“Not just Jayasuriya or Senaratne,” he said.

Gamage, who previously worked for newspapers such as Janadina, Janasathiya, Yukthiya, and Aththa said that in his career, he had risked his life to reveal the truth.

Attempts to contact Chathura Senaratne and Dr. Rajitha Senaratne proved futile.

Meanwhile, Samagi Jana Balawegaya MP Dr. Harsha de Silva had also raised concerns regarding the alleged abduction via a Tweet.

The families were met by a heavy police presence who claimed to have obtained a court order from the Eravur Magistrate Court to stop the protest from going ahead.

However, the organisers had notified the health department and the police department prior to the planned protest but were still disrupted by the police. This forms part of the ongoing surveillance and attempts to intimidate families and community representatives who are seeking justice for their loved ones.

Families from Jaffna, Mullaitivu, Kilinochchi, Vavuniya, Mannar, Batticaloa, Trincomalee and Ampara had travelled to Chenkalady to participate in the protest organised by the North Eastern Missing Person Organisation.

While the families have been campaigning for over a decade, they have been continuously protesting for over 1,250 days, demanding the fate of their relatives to be revealed.

Denying the allegations leveled over a supposedly large-scale hotel built near the Sinharaja Forest, Yoshitha Rajapaksa, son of Prime Minister Mahinda Rajapaksa, has sent a letter of demand to environmentalist Sajeewa Chamikara through his lawyers seeking a compensation of Rs. 500 million within seven days.

Rajapaksa in his letter cites that Chamikara's statement is false, baseless and insulting.

Chamikara on August 19 told media that a large scale hotel belonging to Yoshitha Rajapaksa was built in the Sinharaja Forest and a road is being developed penetrating the forest canvass to enter the hotel.

Rajapaksa also makes the following demands in his letter;

Acknowledge that there is no truth to this statement and plead apology Inform the relevant media institutions or parties to remove this news item, had it been published on media, and make arrangements to remove the news item Acknowledge before media through a press release that there is no truth to this statement Statement that no baseless allegations will be leveled against Mr. Yoshitha Rajapaksa again Payment of Rs. 500 million as compensation within 07 days

Two journalists who are in hospital after been violently beaten up and threatened with death while investigating an illegal logging racket, fear for their safety as the assailants are roaming free with apparent protection from authorities.

On 12 Monday afternoon, Shanmugam Thavaseelan and Kanapathipillai Kumanan covering illicit felling in the Mullaitivu district were attacked by illegal loggers wielding clubs and an adze. Most of their photographic evidence was destroyed while they managed to save few video footage.

“The leader of the thugs who attacked us is roaming freely even though there are multiple complaints against him and several arrest warrants,” Thavaseelan who lost a couple of his front teeth had told fellow journalists visiting him in the Mullaitivu District Hospital.

“This shows the level of protection he enjoys. He had an adze in his hand which he threatened to use to cut me down to pieces. If some in the gang did not stop him, I would have been dead by now. If they are not arrested our lives are in danger.”

Four men on motorbikes

The two Tamil journalists were investigating a tip-off about an illegal logging operation in the Murippu forest reserve adjoining a cultivated teak range. While the teak was legally felled by a supplier to the State Timber Corporation (STC) the bordering forest reserve was illegally logged by another who was allegedly introduced to the supplier by the Beat Forest Officer (BFO) of the range. Locals are convinced that the illegal logger was running a timber racket in collusion with the licensed supplier and forestry officials under the guise of supplying legitimate timber to STC.

When Thavaseelan and Kumanan visited the nearby Kumulamuani east, they found a two-floor timber construction within a clearing enclosed in a bared wire fence with teak posts. The journalists estimate that at least 200 logs went to build the enclosure.

Four men on motorbikes confronted the journalists who were filming what they saw.

“We told them that we are hearing about illegal logging and what they have to say about it,” said Thavaseelan.

“Then they beat us up. Kumanan was from that village. They accused him of doing harm to the village and banged him heavily on the head. He started bleeding. I was attacked with an adze. I lost my teeth. The leader threatened to kill us.”

Attacked and robbed

The four forced them to the enclosure, their recordings were wiped off and memory cards were removed. Their money was stolen.

Once inside the enclosure, the attackers filmed the two journalists accusing them of illegal entry and theft.

“I told them that they can lodge a complaint with the police if we have committed any offence,” said Thavaseelan.

The assailants released the two journalists later who lodged a complaint at the Mullaitivu police station and were admitted to the Mullaitivu District Hospital.

President Gotabaya Rajapaksa has rubbished exposures of illegal logging in forest reserves as “fake news campaigns”. In contrast, Defence Secretary Major General Kamal Gunaratne who admitted in public that the ongoing illegal timber racket is a serious threat to the environment, pledged to take action against it with the assistance of the president’s sibling and State Minister for Internal Security Chamal Rajapaksa.

The Free Media Movement strongly condemns the attack carried out on the Derana TV journalist Indunil Wijenayake in Monaragala, while he was there to cover an incident of unauthorized sand mining in the Kumbukkan Oya.

According to reports we have received, journalist Indunil Wijenayake has gone to report an incident of illegal sand mining around the Kumbukkan Oya. At that time, he was attacked by a group of people who obstructed his attempt to report, and as a result of the assault, he had to be admitted to the Monaragala Hospital for treatment. A complaint has been lodged with the Monaragala Police regarding the incident, and it has been reported that the police have commenced investigations into the incident and arrested one suspect.

During the past journalist have reported on unauthorized sand mining in various parts of the country, and recently with the police media spokesperson stating that those reports were instrumental and extremely helpful in the police investigations, it has validated and acknowledged the importance of the role of journalists.

The Government of Sri Lanka has a responsibility to protect the country’s rare natural resources through local environmental regulations as well as through international conventions.

In such a context, in the past journalists who have been engaged in reporting on the environment have been harassed and threatened on several occasions by people suspected of engaging in crimes against the environment. If the law were enforced adequately concerning such incidents, journalists would not often have to fall prey to these environmental criminals. Therefore, the Free Media Movement calls on the authorities to immediately conduct an impartial inquiry into the incident and enforce the law regardless of the status of the suspects.

Last week Jaffna-based lawyer and widely respected academic Dr Kumaravadivel Guruparan handed in his notice of resignation from his post as Senior Lecturer of the Department of Law at the University of Jaffna. As he wrote in a powerful open letter, it was a move made “with utmost pain and sadness”. He has been, and continues to be, subjected to a long-standing process of state-led harassment, which is aimed squarely at silencing voices of dissent. Not only is this a massive loss to academia on the island, but it is a stark and dangerous marker of the road that Sri Lanka is hurtling down.

As Guruparan made painfully clear, this was a move he was compelled to make. His letter comes after a ban was imposed on him by the Council of the University of Jaffna to engage in private legal practice, following pressure from the Sri Lankan military after he took up a public interest habeas corpus case into the 1996 disappearance of more than two dozen Tamil youth. In August last year, Sinhala speaking men dressed in civil uniform photographed the Tamil lawyers in the courtroom, in a brazen act of intimidation. One of the men was then seen getting into a car belonging to the Deputy Solicitor General representing the Sri Lankan army. Shortly after, the Terrorism Investigation Division visited the Jaffna office of the Adayaalam Centre for Policy Research (ACPR), a human rights think tank Guruparan co-founded and was executive director of at the time. Just weeks later, the military sent a letter to the University Grants Commission (UGC) questioning whether Guruparan had permission to engage in private practice. Acting swiftly, the UGC that very same day forwarded the letter to Jaffna University and shortly thereafter, the UGC passed a memo barring Guruparan from private practice.

Though he has courageously attempted to challenge the ban, the drawn-out legal process which has seen bizarre claims made against the Attorney-at-Law, has understandably taken its toll. “I cannot continue my work as a law teacher whilst being barred from this social engagement that I have had with the law,” he wrote, stating it was “something that I consider as being an inseparable part of the profile of an engaged academic”.

The driving forces behind this targeting are clear. As Guruparan noted, this has nothing to do with his academic role and his engagement with legal practice – which had already been clearly marked out before he took on the lecturer role. It is because Guruparan, as a Tamil lawyer, attempted to use the law to hold the Sri Lankan government accountable for grave violations it continues to try and keep buried.

The targeted harassment of Guruparan has happened alongside the Sri Lankan state ramping up its repression of dissenting voices over the past year, particularly from Tamils and Muslims. Lawyers, human rights defenders and activists have come under increasing fire, with some even jailed for their work. Our journalist colleagues and correspondents based in the North-East too have faced an increase in the intimidation that for decades has plagued their profession. Incidents of state violence have increased and as Sinhala nationalist rhetoric grows louder ahead of elections next month, the Tamil homeland remains fearfully braced for further repression.

The capitulation of Jaffna university should also not be overlooked. As Guruparan noted, “the track record of my University in upholding the rule of law, good governance, academic freedom and basic norms of dignity has been bitterly disappointing”. The Sri Lankan government has always viewed the University of Jaffna in particular with contempt and wariness. It has long been seen as a hotbed of Tamil activism, with students continuing to bravely hold protests and memorial events. The government’s response has been to exert its influence on the university, drawing it under the control of paramilitary groups and even resorting to deadly violence. In recent years, students have been locked out of the campus, beaten and even killed. Just last year the Vice-Chancellor was dismissed from his role, with authorities citing baseless “national security” grounds. This latest incident demonstrates how far the subversion of the premier academic institution in the North has gone.

The wielding of violence and intimidation to silence those critical of the state, particularly from the Tamil community, is not a new tactic in Sri Lanka. It is something that successive regimes since independence have employed with deadly results. The current regime under a man accused of overseeing heinous atrocity crimes at the end of the war has predictably shown a willingness to be even more brazen. International actors must act to protect human rights defenders on the island and utilise mechanisms at their disposal to hold the state accountable and prevent further atrocities from occurring. Though Guruparan’s case has drawn widespread and much-needed condemnation, words will not be enough.

Sri Lankan police have released a Tamil lawyer who was arrested as she attempted to enquire into the detention of Black Lives Matter protestors, as clashes broke out in Colombo yesterday.

Swasthika Arulingam was reportedly detained by Sri Lankan police, though it remains unclear as to the grounds on which she was held and if charges are to be pursued.

Clashes broke out in Colombo yesterday as Sri Lankan police tangled with protestors from the Frontline Socialist Party (FSP) who attempted to stage a demonstration outside the US Embassy in solidarity with the Black Lives Matter movement.

Sri Lankan police reportedly arrested up to 20 people at the protest, with Arulingam one of the detained. All have reportedly since been released.

On June 9, officials from the Criminal Investigation Department raided Bastians� home in Colombo, the capital, and seized her laptop in connection to an investigation over the alleged abduction of a Swiss embassy staffer in the city in November, she wrote in a statement shared on Twitter.

Bastians, a contributor to the New York Times and former editor of the state-run Sunday Observer newspaper, wrote that the officers had a warrant for the laptop, and that they had twice previously tried to confiscate it without a warrant.

Authorities allege that the embassy staffer�s abduction was staged, and accuse Bastians of communicating with the staffer and being linked to the alleged abduction, according to news reports. Bastians left Sri Lanka in November, and the raid was conducted while her family members were living in her home, according to those reports.

�CPJ strongly objects to the seizure of journalist Dharisha Bastians� laptop and is concerned it could further endanger her sources,� said Aliya Iftikhar, CPJ�s senior Asia researcher. �Sri Lankan authorities should immediately end this intimidation campaign against Bastians, which is clearly retaliation for her critical reporting.�

On June 16, the Colombo Chief Magistrate ordered government analysts to examine whether anything on the laptop had been changed since it was seized, according to those news reports.

In her statement, Bastians said she was concerned about �potential efforts by interested parties to compromise the integrity� of the laptop. She also wrote that Criminal Investigation Department previously obtained her phone records without a warrant and leaked them.

Bastians has reported and written columns on politics, human rights, enforced disappearances, and accountability for journalists who were murdered in Sri Lanka.

In 2018, CPJ reported that former President Mahinda Rajapaksa, who at the time was in the opposition party and is now the country�s prime minister, publicly named Bastians after she contributed to a New York Times investigation into his failed 2015 presidential campaign.

The Criminal Investigation Department did not respond to CPJ�s emailed request for comment. Mohan Samaranayake, a spokesperson for President Gotabaya Rajapaksa, did not respond to a request for comment via messaging app.

Six persons including the main suspect who assaulted an Ada Derana journalist in Atulugama, Bandaragama have been placed under arrest, the police said.

The assault had taken place this morning (24) when the journalist in question had visited the Atulugama area for the coverage of Muslim devotees celebrating the end of the holy month of Ramadan (Eid-ul-Fitr) while adhering to social distancing guidlines.

The journalist in question, Bimal Shyaman, had initially spoken to and obtained a voice cut from the chairman of the mosque association in Atulugama, Najeed Hajjiar Mohamed Najeed.

He had then proceeded to obtain footage of one of the mosques in the area and as he was set to leave, a group of residents had blocked his vehicle and threatened him. They had also reportedly caused damages to his vehicle.

However, another group of residents had assisted the journalist to leave amidst the tense situation.

The Atulugama mosque association�s chairman also arrived at the location in order to help out the Ada Derana journalist.

Bandaragama Police had launched an investigation into the incident following a complaint lodged by the Ada Derana journalist and six arrests were made subsequently.

On 23 May 2020, a Sri Lankan NGO was harassed by a national media outlet that urged an investigation against it in Sri Lanka.

On 14 May 2020, an unidentified number of students was intimidated by the police while commemorating the final stages of Sri Lankan civil war in Jaffna.

The International Commission of Jurists (ICJ) yesterday called upon the Sri Lankan authorities to respect human rights in the conduct of their investigation of the 2019 Easter Sunday bombings, including ensuring that investigations into the alleged involvement of Sri Lankan lawyer Hejaaz Hizbullah are conducted in accordance with due process and fair trial guarantees under international law. Specifically, the authorities must specify the charges against him, grant him full and immediate access to a lawyer, and investigate the circumstances of his arrest for potential rights violations, they said in a statement.

Sri Lankan lawyer Hejaaz Hizbullah was arrested by the Criminal Investigations Department of the Police (CID) on 14 April pursuant to the Prevention of Terrorism Act (PTA) and has since been kept in detention. No reasons were provided at the time of the arrest. During a media briefing, a Police spokesperson stated that he was arrested as a result of the evidence found against him during investigations into the 2019 Easter Sunday bombings. The ICJ understands that no remand or detention orders authorising his continued detention have been served, even after the lapse of 72 hours as required by Sections 7 and 9 of the PTA.

Moreover, Hizbullah was only granted limited access to legal counsel on 15 and 16 April, under the supervision of a CID official, who had insisted that the conversation be in Sinhala, in breach of attorney-client privilege. Legal access has been denied at least since 16 April. �No one questions the Government�s need and obligation to investigate the horrendous Easter Sunday attacks, but these investigations must be conducted in a way that is consistent with international law and the Sri Lankan Constitution,� said ICJ Asia-Pacific Director Frederick Rawski. �Not serving Hizbullah a remand order as required by law and denying him full and confidential access to legal counsel is unacceptable and in violation of international standards on the right to liberty.�

A Habeas Corpus petition was filed by Hizbullah�s father on 17 April, seeking his release from detention, and demanding that he be given access to his attorneys. According to the application, five persons posing as officials of the Ministry of Health entered his home and interrogated him after placing him in handcuffs. They demanded access to two of his case files, recorded a statement from him, and subsequently took him into custody at the Criminal Investigation Department.

�By allowing warrantless entry, search of premises and the arrest of persons, the Prevention of Terrorism Act violates basic due process guarantees under international law,� added Rawski. �This legal provision is one of many problematic provisions of the PTA. The ICJ reiterates it calls for the PTA to be repealed and replaced with a law that conforms with Sri Lanka�s international human rights obligations.�

According to Article 9 of the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights, �anyone who is arrested shall be informed, at the time of arrest, of the reasons for his arrest and shall be promptly informed of any charges against him.� Article 14 entitles anyone charged of a criminal offence �to have adequate time and facilities for the preparation of his defence and to communicate with counsel of his own choosing�. Similar guarantees are enshrined under Article 13 of the Sri Lankan Constitution. The UN Basic Principles on the Role of Lawyers provide that, �Governments shall further ensure that all persons arrested or detained, with or without criminal charge, shall have prompt access to a lawyer, and in any case not later than forty-eight hours from the time of arrest or detention.�

The ICJ has consistently called for the repeal of the Prevention of Terrorism Act, which has been used to arbitrarily detain suspects for months and often years without charge or trial, facilitating torture and other abuse. The ICJ reiterated its call for the repeal and replacement of this vague and overbroad anti-terror law in line with international human rights standards and Sri Lanka�s international obligations.

On 2nd April, Ramzy Razeek wrote a post on his Facebook wall about the need for ideological jihad or ideological struggle (?????? ???????? / ?????? ?????)[5]. Jihad is a controversial and often misunderstood word. According to multiple scholars, �jihad� means �struggle�, though it�s often misunderstood to mean armed warfare or terrorism. In his post, Ramzy is specific about the kind of struggle he is talking about � �ideological� � with �pen and keyboard�, through �social and mainstream media�, �on behalf of the county and all its citizens� and �to help people understand the truth� in context of �hate propagated against Muslims�.

When we read some of Ramzy�s past Facebook posts, it becomes clear he has been a consistent advocate against racism and promoting communal harmony, equality and justice. On 1st April, he had criticized the cremation of a Muslim COVID19 victim at a time Health Ministry guidelines allowed burials[6], but referring to reports of subsequently amended government regulations[7], he called on Muslims to accept cremations if it�s proved through health science that burials are bad for health or if the government has made a reasonable decision not to allow burials for public good[8].

On 3rd April, a day after the Facebook post about �ideological struggle�, April, Ramzy announced self-censorship � that he will not make future posts related to politics or national problems in Sinhalese, as he doesn�t want to endanger his children�s life[9]. He explained that some of the responses to his above-mentioned post included death threats and calls for his arrest and that his eldest daughter had been traumatized and fearful after seeing these. That statement of self-censorship is the last visible post on his Facebook wall.

It is reported that the above-mentioned post on 2nd April, had led to his arrest and that he has been remanded till 22nd April[10]. His lawyer said that the Magistrate had asked the police to report on 22nd April whether there is actual grounds to arrest and remand him. According to the lawyer, the police had cited the ICCPR Act[11] and the Cyber Crimes Act. The ICCPR Act gives discretion for the police to arrest and detain a person and Magistrates don�t have discretion in providing bail. Last year, a writer arrested under the ICCPR Act was imprisoned for more than four (4) months until a High Court judge gave him bail[12].

We have not seen any post or comment by Ramzy that would amount to the propagation of war or advocating hatred leading to incitement to hostility, discrimination or violence which is prohibited by Article 3 (1) of the ICCPR Act[13]. When arresting Ramzy, it appears the police has not considered the detailed recommendations by the Human Rights Commission[14] of Sri Lanka (HRCSL) on balancing the ICCPR Act provisions on hate speech with constitutional guarantees for free expression, six-point threshold test and the three-pronged test of legality, proportionality and necessity from Sri Lanka�s fundamental rights jurisprudence.

Ironically, there are comments that are death threats against Ramzy on Facebook, which is still available at the time of writing[15] but we have not seen news of any arrests or police actions in relation to these.

Women Nominees to be candidates of upcoming election: former Human rights commissioner Ambika Satkunarajah and women�s rights activist Nalini Ratnarajah were subjected to derogatory remarks and defamatory reporting by Tamil news website athirvunews. Ratnarajah was mainly targeted for her activism on reproductive rights and women�s rights.

The director of Vavuniya-based Thinapuyal newspaper, Sakthivelpillai Prakash and his wife alongside another editor, were summoned by Sri Lanka�s Terrorism Investigation Department (TID) on Monday, following the paper�s coverage of the UN Human Rights Council in Geneva.

The latest incident of journalist intimidation comes as the 43rd session of the Council is currently underway, where Sri Lanka has withdrawn co-sponsorship of a resolution on accountability and the UN human rights chief has urged member states to �explore all possible avenues� for justice.

Prakash told reporters that the newspaper was targeted over its coverage of events in Geneva, but expressed confusion over the summoning of his wife.

�This both surprised and amazed me,� he said. �My wife is in no way involved with Thinapuyal.�

Prakash added that another editor at Thinappuyal, S.Sasitharan had also been summoned by the TID to attend earlier today.

He went on to state that journalists for the newspaper had been repeatedly targeted by Sri Lankan security forces in the past, and said that �in this country, independent media is unable to write freely�.

The latest incident comes as the intimidation and harassment of journalists has ramped up since the election of Gotabaya Rajapaksa as president in November last year.

On 27th of February university student activists started a protest in front of the Ministry of Higher Education building in Ward place, Colombo. The students launched a continuous protest against the long-time closure of the University of Ruhuna. Colombo court had issued a court order to remove the protest hut made by the students, and to prevent students from protesting either on the road or on the pavement of the road. They were also prevented them from entering the government office premises. This literally meant according to the order they could no longer continue the protest. The students were told that they will be arrested and charged for contempt of court unless they obeyed. The order was issued against Inter University Student Federation (IUSF) convener Rathkarawwe Jinarathana Thero, Convener of General Students Association of Ruhuna University Weranga Pushpika, Convener of General Students Association of Rajarata University Wasantha Mudalige, Co-conveners of General Students Association of Peradeniya University Mangala Maddumage, and Gihan Weerasekara and other protesters who participated in the protest with them.

Police have allegedly threatened peaceful protestors that they will be arrested unless they move into the designated agitation site. The protestors were mainly women who have taken microfinance loans and caught in a debt trap and human rights activists. Microfinance loans have pushed rural women into debt traps, with high interest rates charged. The protestors marched from Pettah railway station towards the Presidential Secretariat.

Police assaulted protesters, who were former employees of National Housing Authority, and who had blocked the Galle Road near to Presidential Secretariat. As a result of the incident, three female protesters were hospitalized.

Rathugala indigenous Vedda community leader was physically attacked after criticizing sand mining in the local area allegedly by the people engaged in sand mining.

Prasad Purnimal Jayamanne, a journalist based in Wennappuwa in Chilaw was assaulted by group linked to few politicians after he exposed unauthorized filling of a paddy field in Wennappuwa. Mr. Jayamannehas told Free Media Movement that he was assaulted by a group including the son of a former Wayamba Provincial Council member who had taken over the land filling from another former Wayamba Provincial Council member who claims to own the paddy field.

A prominent Tamil disappearances activist and her daughter were attacked and hospitalised in Batticaloa on Sunday evening.

Amala Nayagi, the vice-president of the North East Families of the Disappeared Association and the president of the Batticaloa District Association, and her daughter were deliberately hit and knocked off their motorcycle by an oncoming motorcycle with three men.

The injured Amala Nayagi and her daughter were admitted to Karadiyanaru hospital in Batticaloa. They had been travelling to Batticaloa to attend a funeral when the attack took place.

While the attackers drove off after hitting the two, local youths attempted to chase and apprehend the three men. Although two escaped, one was caught and arrested by Karadiyanaru police.

Amala Nayagi has faced many threats over the years that she has been at the forefront of campaigning with families of the disappeared in Batticaloa. The activist said she was certain today’s attack was intended to intimidate her.

Unconfirmed reports suggest that the arrested attacker was linked to a paramilitary group.

We, the undersigned individuals strong condemn the recent threats, harassment and unfair treatment against human rights defender, Kumaravadivel Guruparan, by the Sri Lankan military and University Authorities. Guruparan, is a prominent human rights lawyer and academic based in Jaffna, in the Northern Province of Sri Lanka. He is the founder of the Adayalam Center for Policy Research, and is a Senior Lecturer and Head of the Department of Law, at the University of Jaffna. He is also a Co-Spokesperson of the Tamil Civil Society Forum (TCSF). On 09 November, 2019, Guruparan was informed by the Jaffna University Council, that he had been barred from private legal practice as per a decision of the University Grants Commission (UGC). We condemn this decision of the UGC, which was instigated by the military, and is aimed at silencing and suppressing Guruparan’s human rights work and legal advocacy.

Over the past decade or more, Guruparan has been a strong voice for human rights and accountability in Sri Lanka. Despite living and working in a highly militarized and hostile context, he has been consistently vocal against the failure of successive Governments to hold those responsible, especially the military, accountable for crimes against civilians.

The restrictions and harassment meted out against Guruparan are direct reprisals against his human rights work. We are deeply concerned at the conduct of the UGC and the University of Jaffna (UoJ), in their treatment of a senior faculty member. Both the UGC and the UoJ are civilian institutions, responsible at least in part, for moulding and guiding generations of university students in this country. In this instance, they have shown a crippling inability to withstand pressure from the military, a trend which threatens dangerous consequences. On 21August, 2019, the military wrote to the UGC questioning the basis on which Guruparan was permitted to practice law in court. Despite there being clear provisions under the University Establishment code under which a faculty member may be permitted to engage in private practice, and the military having no standing whatsoever to question or interfere in internal university matters, the UGC took the surprising decision on 05 September, that Guruparan should no longer be permitted to practice law. The decision of the UGC was communicated to the University of Jaffna which then in turn on 09 November 2019 has decided to ask Guruparan to act according to the UGC directives.

There has been a pattern of threats, intimidation and harassment against human rights defenders, especially those working in the North and East, in the lead up to the November election. Lawyers and activists working on military accountability have been particularly targeted. The recent threats and restrictions against Guruparan are believed to be linked to his representation of victims in the Navatkuli Habeas Corpus case, which relates to the enforced disappearance of 24 boys from military custody in 1996. Following the hearing of the case on 01 August 2019, Guruparan and other lawyers were photographed by unidentified men within the court premises. On 07 August, three officers from the Terrorism Investigation Department (TID) visited the Adayalam Center office and demanded staff details and information about their work. Other lawyers working on the case have also faced similar harassment and intimidation.

We reiterate that the restrictions and harassment against Guruparan are a reprisal against his human rights work. The restrictions on his legal practice is a clear attempt to subvert justice by preventing his cases from being litigated successfully in court. We stand in solidarity with Guruparan and other lawyers, journalists, and human rights defenders in the North and East, who face an increasingly tense and restrictive environment.

We also call upon the Judicial Service Commission to take note of the serious implications of such actions by the military, whose members have been named as respondents in the case that Guruparan is representing. Attempts to influence as to who appears on the other side through intimidation and undue influence is a very serious issue affecting the fundamental right to equality before the law and recourse to justice.The Hon. Attorney General who appears for the military must also appropriately advice his clients to desist from such reprehensible behaviour.

In conclusion, we condemn the UGC for aiding the military call on them to rescind the order, and clarify the rights of university legal academics staff to engage in practice.

Former Tamil political activist, Mr Kaviraj Shanmuganathan, was denied entry into Sri Lanka upon arrival at Bandaranaike International Airport on Monday.

Upon enquiry, he was told he was denied entry as he was listed as someone who worked against the sovereignty and interests of the country.

He was then told that he could voluntarily return a country of his choice or go back to the UK where he could make an application to visit with the permission of Sri Lanka’s Defence Ministry. He would need to contact Sri Lanka’s High Commission in London.

Tamilpolity reports that Shanmuganathan has chosen to go to Chennai where he will consider the options available to him. His family, however, have been granted entry into Sri Lanka.

Shanmuganathan was a leader of the protests in London between April to May 2009 which demanded a ceasefire in Sri Lanka and he also lobbied for an international independent investigation into the mass atrocities committed in the last stages of the war.

Shanmuganathan quit politics and engaged in humanitarian activities to support war victims in Tamil areas.

Families of the disappeared decried the surveillance and intimidation they endure at the hands of Sri Lankan security and intelligence forces, while Sri Lankan intelligence officers came out in force to photograph and carry out surveillance of a mass rally in Mullaitivu on Tuesday.

“We the mothers participating in the struggle are also panicked that we may also go missing after realizing past incidents. As a proof to our dangerous situation, the military interference and surveillance have now increased,” the families said in a letter to the United Nations.

“The military intelligence personnel are very often interrogating our participant mothers while following us secretly and monitoring our daily activities. They visit our homes in odd times and carry out interrogation. They wantonly attack our District leaders and vanish. No action by the police even though we make entries at the respective police stations. Intimidation continues.”

Leaders of the protests, many of whom are vulnerable women, have been routinely attacked and threatened by suspected intelligence personnel since the roadside protests started and gained momentum almost three years ago.

Sri Lankan police threatened residents of a Mannar village including the local priest when they protested against Sinhalese people illegally extracting sand from the village.

Residents of Thottaveli have for several years complained of illegal sand mining causing environmental damage to the area and leaving villages prone to flooding and soil erosion.

While local authorities including the divisional and district councils have repeatedly denied giving permission for sand extraction the problem has persisted due to the perpetrators producing ambiguous permits for other purposes, obtained from southern politicians.

In this latest incident on Wednesday, villagers, led by parish priest Father Alexander Benno Silva, confronted the sand miners. Following a verbal exchange, the miners initially agreed to refrain from extracting the sand.

However, a short while later, the extraction vehicles returned, this time with a police escort.

The villagers once again took to the streets and carried out a road-block to prevent the sand mining from taking place.

During a confrontation with police, one officer pushed Father Benno to prevent him from getting on his motorcycle, and continued to verbally threaten him and other residents while filming the women that were protesting.

As tensions were heightening, senior priests from the Mannar diocese and the head of the Mannar police station went to the village and attempted to defuse the situation.

The offending police officer was made to apologise to Father Benno, although villagers continued to criticise the police for protecting the sand miners.

The problem of sand mining continues to grow across the North-East, causing worsening relations between police and communities.

Tamil groups say the police use the issue as a guise to target and surveillance communities, accusing police departments of taking bribes to protect actual perpetrators.

In 2017, an unarmed Tamil man was shot dead by police in Vadamarachchi during a purported confrontation about sand mining.

Sri Lanka Police were compelled to use water cannons and tear gas to disperse a protest in Colombo staged by a group of unemployed graduates.

The unemployed graduates marched from the Fort railway station in Colombo to the Presidential Secretariat citing injustice was caused when graduates were recruited to the government sector.

Ven. Thenne Gnananada Thero requested the police to meet the prime minister, Ranil Wickremesinghe regarding their demands.

However, police denied their request citing the emergency state prevailing in the country.

Several students were emotional following the discharge of water cannons and tear gas stating that all they demand is employment as they underwent numerous hardships to graduate.

Ven. Thenne Gnananada Thero, Convener of Joint Unemployed Graduates Association explained that the government had voluntarily removed the names of the individuals who suffer from visually and auditory impaired from the recruitment lists along with graduates who are over 35 years of age.

The protestors attempted to commence a fast this evening opposite the Fort Railway Station, however, the attempt was foiled.

Meanwhile, during a media briefing held at the Temple Trees today, UNP MP Chandima Gamage expressed that a program to provide employment to graduates is already in effect.

MP Chandima Gamage noted that despite criticism claiming that it is a political agenda, the prime minister has already decided to appoint 20,000 graduates as Development Officers.

He confidently stated that none of the job opportunities provided by the Yahapalanaya government are political ploys and the government has already decided to recruit a total of 16,800 graduates to the program.

He finally added that these Development Officers will be promoted to the Project Officers following their training program.

The Free Media Movement strongly condemns the attack on journalist Prasad Purnamal Jayamanne and the obstruction in carrying out his professional media activities.

According to the reports received, Prasad Purnamal Jayamanne who was photographing a protest by villagers against a tipper transporting sand in the Mukkuthoduwawa area in Madurankuliya, has been attacked by a person inside the tipper truck.

It is reported that Prasad Purnamal Jayamanne’s camera equipment has also been damaged as a result of the attack.

This particular incident, is an addition to a series of incidents that have been reported pertaining to obstructions faced by journalists in carrying out their professional duties and it appears to have become an element of the anti-social behaviour of certain sections amongst the Sri Lankan society.

The development of such a trend is extremely detrimental to the existence of a democratic society.

The Free Media Movement does not approve in any form the prevention or obstruction of journalists from reporting information correctly for citizens to make informed decisions.

The Free Media Movement strongly urges the authorities to deliver justice by bringing those who disrupt the professional activities of journalists before the law, and to strengthen the required landscape in the country to maintain a free media culture. and conductive environment.

A senior Sinhala journalist was interrogated by Sri Lanka’s Terrorism Investigation Division (TID) for around six hours for allegedly threatening national security after reporting on the arrest of Kilinochchi’s Judicial Medical Officer (JMO).

Kilinochchi JMO and senior Tamil doctor Dr S Sivaruban was arrested by TID on August 18 for alleged links to terrorist activities.

Sinhala journalist Thinasena Rathgama was summoned to the TID in Colombo after publishing reports that the terrorism police were alleging Dr Sivaruban was involved in an assassination plot against former Defence Secretary and presidential candidate Gotabaya Rajapaksa and having links with the LTTE.

Rathgama said he had been accused of threatening national security by publishing the reports.

Dr Sivaruban, who remains in detention, was involved in several high profile cases as JMO, including providing medical reports linking the Sri Lankan army with the so called 'grease devil' attacks of 2011. He was also a key medical witness in the case of the rape and murder of a child by a member of the EPDP paramilitary group.

Freedom Media Movement vehemently condemns the threat to journalist K. Prasanna by Palani Digambaram, Minister of Minister of Hill Country New Villages, Infrastructure and Community Development, in connection to an article titled ‘Does the Indian Housing Scheme provide fund the Minister’s food?’ written by journalist K. Prasanna using Right to Information Act.

This article by journalist K. Prasanna highlighting the irregularities that had taken place in the implementation of the Housing Scheme under the Ministry of Hill Country New Villages, Infrastructure and Community Development, was published in the ‘Thinakkural’ Tamil Newspaper on 4.08.2019. The journalist had written this article using the RTI. Prasanna told us that Minister Digambaram and the Minister’s Coordinating Secretary contacted and threatened him following the publication of the said article. Journalist K. Prasanna has lodged a complaint with the RTI Commission. Free Media Movement views this as an act of intimidation on the freedom of the press and a threat to the Right to Information Act, thus it calls upon all parties to cooperate with journalists in their work without hindrance.

Aluthgama Police were yet to arrest the suspects identified in connection with the assault of Daily Mirror /Lankadeepa Aluthgama Correspondent Thusitha Kumara de Silva and his wife on Friday night, over an alleged exposure of artificial toddy mafia in the Kalutara District.

A large number of Kalutara District journalists representing mainstream print and electronic media organisations staged a silent demonstration yesterday afternoon demanding Aluthgama Police to bring the culprits of this attack to book without delay.

Thusitha Kumara and his wife who had been rushed to Aluthgama Base Hospital in a traumatic condition with assaults to their heads and body with clubs on Friday night had later been transferred to Kalutara General Hospital in Nagoda on Saturday. The journo and his wife who were away from home on a personal matter had rushed back hearing that an armed gang had stormed their house and was attacking it around 7.00 p.m. Friday (06). Their son was the only occupant at home during the incident. When the couple reached the scene about 10 to 15 men armed with clubs had started attacking them with threatening “you were the one who wrote about the artificial toddy industry in newspapers and exposed us”.
The gang had soon left the scene leaving the wounded couple behind who were rushed to the hospital by the neighbours.
Thusitha Kumara had lodged a complaint with the Aluthgama Police regarding the assault and had given details of five of the gang as identified to be residents of the same area. His mobile phone and cash amounting to Rs.4,800 had also been missing in the attack.

Speaking to the Daily Mirror, National Organiser of Independent Media Foundation of Kalutara Suresh Wijeyarangana said the district journalists gathered in solidarity to demand justice to Thusitha Kumara and his wife.

He said Thusitha was renowned for his brave reporting against illegal artificial toddy manufacturers in the area, where several large scale detections were made by the Police Special Task Force (STF) personnel a few months back and seized 40,000 litres of chemical toddy in Aluthgama.

The demonstration was held to urge the law enforcement authorities to secure the lives of journalists who fight against this illegal and artificial toddy industry in the area carried out by the goons of top politicians and some leading underworld figures of Kosgama area.

Meanwhile, the Aluthgama Police had searched the houses of the five identified suspects who had reportedly fled the area.

A special police protection has been given to journo Thusitha Kumara and his wife at the hospital as well as to their smashed house in Hettimulla. JVP Parliamentarian Dr. Nalinda Jayatissa also took part in the demonstration.

Unidentified assailants attacked Lasantha Wijeratna, a freelance journalist and anti- corruption activist, on November 14. The International Federation of Journalist (IFJ) and its affiliate Free Media Movement (FMM) raise concerns about the attack which took place in the lead-up to the country’s presidential election.

Wijeratna was attacked by three men with firearms in his home at around 2.30am on November 14. Wijeratna sustained injuries from the attack including severe lacerations to his hand and was admitted to the intensive care unit in Karapitiya Hospital.

News 1stspokesperson SSP Ruwan Gunasekara alleges it was a retaliatory attack to Wijeratna for his work on alleged acts of corruption believed to have been committed by Gotabaya Rajapaksa during his tenure as the former Secretary of Defense. Gotabaya Rajapaksa was declared the new president of Sri Lanka after the weekend’s election.

The Free Media Movement said it strongly urge “all parties concerned to expedite investigations into this incident, which has challenged the democratic space in this country.”

Mayuri Inoka, the wife of a disappeared husband, Madushka Haris De Silva, was herself abducted on 1 November 2014. According to Mayuri, her abductors threatened her not to engage in any activities calling for the recovery of her husband. Mayuri's husband disappeared in September 2013, and remains missing. Issuing a statement the Asian Human Rights Commission says; On 27 October 2014, Mayuri spoke at a public gathering in front of the "Monument for the Disappeared" at Raddoluwa, Seeduwa, during the annual commemoration ceremony for disappeared persons. The persons who abducted Mayuri identified themselves by stating, "we are from the police". They followed her and boarded the three-wheeler in which she traveled to the city centre in Anuradhapura, where she wanted to purchase milk powder for her 11-month-old twin babies. According to Mayuri's statement, broadcast in BBC's Sinhala Service, a well-built man, pointing a gun at her face boarded her three-wheeler, tied her hands behind her back, blindfolded her, and took her in a three-wheeler. Later, she was shoved into a van. She was driven around for about an hour and half in this van, a period when she was continually abused and threatened by her abductors, who asked her "not to engage in the campaign and protests to find her husband". She has recalled that, several times, one of the abductors aimed a pistol at her neck and threatened to shoot her. Mayuri says she was terrified and feared for her life. She was repeatedly told that "she will also be taken to where her husband is", if she continued to search for him, which, in fact, is nothing other than an assassination threat. Mayuri was finally thrown out of the van, onto the roadside near Nochchiyagama. Talking to BBC Sinhala Service following her ordeal, Mayuri says that when she was thrown out by the side of the road, with her hands still tied behind her back, and yelling for help, no person came to her assistance. Later, after sometime, several police officers in civilian clothes arrived and abused her in foul language, threatened her, and treated her as if she were a prostitute. Every month Mayuri holds a fast (hunger strike), in front of the Anuradhapura Police Station, demanding information about the whereabouts of her husband. The case regarding the disappearance of her husband is fixed for tomorrow, 4 November 2014, at the Anuradhapura Magistrate's Court. She has named Senior Police Superintendent Mahesh Senarathna and a group of other police officers as those who are involved in the abduction of her husband. She has complained to the police and to the courts about this disappearance and about whom she thinks is responsible for the disappearance. On a previous occasion, two persons have visited her house and threatened her to keep silent or face the consequences, and threatened her with her own death and that of her children. It is obvious that a group of police officers, afraid of being discovered for involvement and links to the disappearance of Madushka Haris De Silva, are pursuing her in order to intimidate her and to silence her. Given previous experiences in similar incidents, it will not be a surprise if Mayuri will be assassinated. The Asian Human Rights Commission calls on the Inspector General of Police and all government authorities to immediately inquire into Mayuri Inoka's abduction and the constant threats that have been levelled at her and her children by persons identifying themselves as "police officers". Meanwhile the AHRC also calls upon the Inspector General of Police to provide special protection to Mayuri Inoka and her children. The AHRC particularly calls upon the women's movements in Sri Lanka to come to Mayuri Inoka's assistance and to prevent her possible assassination. The AHRC also calls upon all human rights organizations to do everything they can, to provide for her protection. The AHRC will also take steps to bring this matter to the attention of the United Nations Human Rights agencies and the diplomatic community in Sri Lanka.

Sri Lanka's anti-terrorism police on Saturday 25th October arrested a 58-year old Tamil man in Kilinochchi for allegedly distributing forms meant to be circulated among the witnesses of the ongoing war crime probe by the Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR). Sri Lankan police has claimed that the Terrorists Investigation Department (TID) personnel on Saturday "has arrested Chinniah Krishnarajah at Mulankavil in Kilinochchi while he was distributing UNHRC witness forms". The police has also claimed to have recovered from Krishnarajah a set of UNHRC witness forms and other materials that were to be submitted to the UNHRC. According to sources, he has now been brought to the TID headquarters in Colombo for further investigation and is likely to be sent to the notorious Boosa detention camp in the South under the draconian Prevention of Terrorism (PTA) laws . Several hundreds of Tamil men and women have been held indefinitely in Sri Lanka's prisons without any charges under the provisions of PTA. President Mahinda Rajapaksa has not only refused to cooperate with the OHCHR inquiry, but has threatened to take action against those cooperating with the investigation, resulting in fear amongst the war-hit Tamil people. Leading human rights activists, however, have urged the survivors of the bloody war "to quietly and discretely have their evidence sent across" before it expires at the end of this month. The High Commissioner for Human Rights who presented an oral update during the September session of the Human Rights Council on the progress of the probe, will present the final report to the council's March 2015 session.

Sri Lankan military intelligence operatives have intensified attacks on independent Tamil journalists in Vanni in recent days. A 33-year-old reporter from Paranthan, Sinnarasa Siventhiran, who files news stories at Uthayan's branch office at Karadippoakku junction had a narrow escape from a squad that intended to kill him by throwing him in front of a vehicle on A9 Road Sunday 21st September 2014. Two masked men stopped Mr Siventhiran, who was returning home in his bicycle on A9 road after filing stories at the office of the Tamil daily Uthayan. He is a teacher and files stories in the evening as an independent journalist. He cycles to the branch office of the Tamil daily between 8:00 and 8:30 p.m. to write his stories, as he doesn't have computer or Internet facilities at home. First, the two men who claimed they were from Criminal Investigation Division interrogated him for 10 minutes. When Mr Siventhiran said he could go to the police station if there is anything he needed to clarify, the men claimed they were from a higher authority than the police and said they wanted to finish him off to give a lesson. The attackers claimed that there was no use in disciplining certain Tamil journalist, according to Mr Siventhiran. The incident took place at a least-populated locality situated between Paranthan and Karadippoakku. After attacking the journalist, the masked men wanted to throw him in front a speeding bus trying to kill him and make it look like an accident. However, the attempt failed as the driver of the approaching vehicle managed to turn his vehicle away from the person lying on the road. Mr Siventhiran managed to run towards a restaurant and the public gathered to confront the masked men who were chasing him. Siventhiran, in his complaint to the police on Sunday said he could identify one of the masked men who had pulled off his mask before pushing the journalist in front of the vehicle on A9 road.

Protected by the police, around 30 supporters of ruling party held a counter demonstration opposite the #FreeJeyakumary campaign held in front of Fort Railway station on 29th Sep 2014. The mob displayed a banner showing leading civil society activists in Sri Lanka ridiculing them. The pro government protestors displayed placards accusing leading HRDs of anti-country treacherous acts. There were more police offficers and intelligence agents than the demonstrators at the protest venue, according to reports from Colombo.

The Lawyers Collective has strongly condemned death threats to two of its leading members, Attorneys-at-Law, Namal Rajapakshe and Manjula Pathiraja. In a statement it said Rajapakshe and Pathiraja have been leading human rights activists and lawyers with long experience in public interest litigation. They appeared in a series of sensitive cases challenging arbitrary actions of all organs of the Government, including the Defence Authorities. Around 6:20 p.m. on 13 September 2014, two unidentified men with full face covered helmet and jackets, had rushed to the legal office of Rajapakshe, situated near the Thorana junction, Kelaniya, in the Colombo district. One of them had been armed, and he had taken Rajapakshe to a corner, and threatened that he and Manjula Pathiraja would be killed, if they appear in "unnecessary cases'. They particularly mentioned about several cases where Rajapakshe and Pathiraja had appeared against a controversial Buddhist monk. The two individuals had then fled on an unidentified motorcycle. Rajapakshe had made a complaint at the Peliyagoda Police Station bearing number CIB/III - 230/123. On 4 August 2014, Attorneys Rajapakshe, Pathiraja and Lakshan Dias were intimidated by a group of thugs inside the Maradana Police station, in front of the Head Quarters Inspector. The three of them were making representations on behalf of their clients, on the breaking up of a peaceful private meeting and criminal trespass. Rajapakshe had made a complaint regarding this incident on 5 August 2014. No actions have been taken by the Police in respect of this intimidation. Rajapakshe, Pathiraja and Dias have frequently appeared for victims of human rights violations across the country, irrespective of ethnic and religious backgrounds, often pro bono. They have made themselves available for emergencies at all times and days. While upholding the highest traditions of the legal profession, all three of them have been well respected and committed human rights defenders who have been taking forthright and courageous positions on issues of democracy, rule of law and human rights in Sri Lanka. Lawyers Collectice urges the Inspector General of Police to take immediate steps to ensure the protection of all three of them and to take all possible steps to hold accountable, all those responsible for these threats and intimidation.

An unknown group calling themselves " Patriotic Force that defends the country"[rata rakagathdeshapremeebalakaya] directed death threats to the journalist participants, organisers and their families at an event which was held on 15th October in Colombo. This event was organized to award certificates of a journalism training programme conducted by the Transparency International Sri Lanka (TISL) section. Senior journalist and coordinator of the event Mr.Jayasiri Jayasekara and journalists Mr. Janoor Kichilan and Mr. Amadoru Amarajeewa are among those who received death threats. Mr.Shan Wijethunga, the organiser and Ravaya consultant editor Mr. Victor Ivan, resource persons of the event too had received threatening SMS messages. The Free Media Movement (FMM) asserts that this so-called "'Patriotic Force'' is another puppet group which is protected by the intelligence agencies. This conclusion has been reinforced by the statement given by journalist Mr. Amadoru Amarajeewa stating that the mobile phones that originated these threatening telephone calls belonged to some intelligence officers.

G Thevaraja, a human rights defender from Vavuniya, was assaulted by an unidentified gang on October 8th while Sri Lanka's human rights record was being reviewed at the UN Human Rights Committee. Thevaraja was attacked hours after he concluded a discussion with members of the Vavuniya citizens committee on a protest they were planning to stage on Friday 10th October urging the authorities to free detained human rights defender Balendran Jayakumari. He was attacked by four people and was heavily assaulted by iron rods. According to reports, the attackers threatened to kill him if he went on to stage the protest. Thevaraja has been admitted to hospital to receive further treatments.

The National Peace Council has expressed deep concern over the increasing and continuous surveillance of civil society activities by the Rajapaksa-regime using military and law enforcement authorities in the post-war period. In a media statement issued yesterday, the NPC has noted the escalating surveillance operations - initially widely prevalent in the North and East but now spread to the entire country - includes every aspect of civilian life including weddings, puberty ceremonies, memorial services in addition to seminars and workshops organised by civil society organisations in the North. Underpinning their accusations and concerns, the NPC has pointed out that during the past month, its activities implemented under the inter-religious reconciliation programme have been subjected to surveillance by security forces on three occasions. Among the three incidents where the NPC activities were disturbed by military and police surveillance were: 1) An inter-religious dialog in Kandy - the event had been held inside a private hall of a reputed civil society organization. Despite informing the relevant authorities of the event, intelligence personnel had entered the hall in civvies and had recorded the discussion. 2) An event in Galle -Despite inviting the local Police to attend the event,another Police team had arrived at the premises to investigate the programme 3) A youth Amity camp in Addalaichenai in the East - Although the local police and local government authorities had been informed of the event, uniformed military personnel with weapons had arrived and questioned the organisers of the programme on three separate occasions over a two day period. The NPC has pointed out that two of the incidents occurring outside the former war zones of the North and East indicates surveillance is now being carried out in the entire country. In its statement, the NPC has also pointed out that this type of activity has resulted in the polarization of social relationships and a perpetuation of such conditions of insecurity will contribute to the creation of a lasting social mistrust between communities and jeopardize reconciliation. It has also stressed on the fact that such spying on civilian activities will also lead to the emergence of forces that lack faith in peaceful methods to rectify their grievances as happened in the 70s. "The government needs to recognize that the surveillance of civil society activities by members of security forces strikes fear and resentment in the minds of the people - particularly those of the ethnic and religious minorities that would in turn lead to self-censorship and reluctance to voice their grievances," the statement notes adding if not, the concerns will remain stifled and would continue to fester within the hearts of the people who feel victimized and deprived of justice. Writing furthermore, the NPC has pointed out the breakdown of affection towards the government as a result of the public being intimidated due to spying and surveillance, will turn the reconciliation process harder to achieve. _______________________________________________________________________________________________________________ Amid allegations of NGO attempts to collect evidence to be sent to Geneva, the government has decided to consider a proper regulatory framework to monitor their accountability, External Affairs Minister G.L. Peiris said today. [More...] He said the Government would take a serious view on this matter, though there was no intention of taking punitive action against the NGOs that had attempted to collect evidence to be submitted to the UN investigative panel. The minister said a regulatory system would be put in place to monitor the activities of the NGOs. "It is necessary to look at the quantum of money they receive and how it is used," he said at the Fourth Defence Seminar, which commenced today at the Galadari Hotel, Colombo, organised by the Sri Lanka Army and added that such a regulatory framework existed in South Asian countries "A foreign minister of an Asian country told me that there was an avalanche of foreign funds was received by NGOs when elections are around the corner in his country. Elections are meant for people of a particular country to decide their future. In certain cases, NGOs mention their purpose vaguely. Therefore, it is a matter that warrants consideration. It has been flagged for consideration now," the minister said. However, he said no firm decision had yet been taken on this matter so far. "Our good Samaritans or do-gooders do not live up to our expectations and they simply forget that ours is a tradition-rich society. You can now see how Sri Lankans feel the sense of belongingness as the national anthem rends the air. We will therefore be alert to elements who are intent on doing harm to us with foreign funds, some of which are spent for the sake of so called "capacity-building', etc. Explaining the series of positive and pragmatic measures that have been taken by the government after putting in place local mechanisms with the implementation of social and economic equity projects, enhancing credibility and the trust, being reposed in a society that has been affected continuously for near 30 years was as a result of bloodshed and violence, caused by the LTTE. "It is a matter of profound regret that we look at some foreign powers who are targeting Sri Lanka without learning or seeing what we are today and our involvement and the trajectory for the future, to couple with our social and economic growth. Our critics conveniently say that physical development, alone is not adequate. But they always fail to see reconciliatory moves, set in motion in war-affected areas in correct perspectives," Prof Peiris said. "HE the President took the bold decision with political courage to have elections in the Northern Province after absence of 28 years. That gave the people the chance to use their franchise as they prefer, and now the Northern Provincial Council, like other provincial councils elsewhere, has sufficient authority to deliver to their people. Isn't it a home-spun and home grown process? Those rudiments denigrate the public opinion and their cherished values and traditions," Prof Peiris claimed. "It is the constructing approach that is wanted, instead, what is forthcoming is the disincentive to engage in earnest in domestic process, by application of devolved power. All what they talk is 13th amendment. Other than Police powers, everything has already been devolved and such devolution has to go on," Prof Peiris commented, saying that it is the people who would identify their needs and not the powers that dedicate terms to us." People believe that the hard-won victory in the country should be maintained and should not be allowed to be torpedoed by organizations with vested interests, he added.

Seven journalists attached to Tamil newspapers in the Northern province had been detained last night and questioned for over six hours by the law enforcement authorities sabotaging a workshop they were planning to attend in Colombo today, under charges of possessing marijuana. The journalists had been en-route to Colombo to participate in a workshop last night. Tamil politician Gajendra Ponnambalam who has been tweeting on the incident claims the van had been tailed by the military since the group left Jaffna. According to his tweets the vehicle had been initially stopped at Mankulam and searched by the Army. Thereafter the second stop had been made at the Omanthai checkpoint where three Army personnel had placed in the front seat of the van, which had been searched thereafter. During the search, a packet of marijuana had been recovered from the van. Ponnambalam's tweets state that at least three journalists had witnessed the bag of cannabis being placed in the front seat of the van by the Army personnel. The group had thereafter been taken to the Omanthai Police where they were questioned for over six hours. The journalists also state that although they attempted to lodge a complaint concerning their suspicions over the planting of evidence, the Omanthai Police did not accept it. Military Spokesman Brigadier Ruwan Wanigasooriya commenting on the incident claims the checking was carried out after the officials at the Omanthai checkpoint received a tip on a possible transportation of heroin last night. "About ten minutes later, this vehicle in question had approached the checkpoint and it had been stopped to be checked during which, a packet of marijuana had been recovered. The driver and the van has been detained but the other seven passengers have been released. It is unfortunate that they had to be journalists," he said speaking at a media conference today. He also rejected allegations of an Army official stationed at the check point planting the evidence and said it could not have happened since it was two Police officials who discovered the marijuana packet from the van. Meanwhile, during a media conference organized by the Free Media Movement (FMM) today to raise objections over the harassment of the seven journalists, it was revealed that its Convener Sunil Jayasekara has been receiving death threats for holding the event. "I received a call from an unknown number, which I could not dial back - and the individual on the other end said he will not let me live if I hold this press conference today," he said adding that democracy and civil rights in Sri Lanka have been severely threatened presently and accused the Rajapaksa regime of attempting to turn journalists into puppets under their control.

Against the backdrop of some organisations defying the regulations governing NGO activities, the government has decided to enact a law, before the end of this year, making it mandatory for all of them to register with the National Secretariat on NGOs. NGO activities are currently governed by the provisions of the Voluntary Social Service Organizations[Registration and Supervision] Act Number 31 of 1980 and Voluntary Social Service Organizations[Registration and Supervision][Amendment] Act Number 8 of 1998. As required by the relevant acts, the NGOs are required register themselves with the National Secretariat on NGOs which functions under the Ministry of Defence. There are 1421 NGOs registered with this secretariat. Recently the secretariat issued instructions to NGOs to refrain from conducting press conferences and workshops for journalists unless they were mentioned in their annual action plans and approved by the secretariat. However, some organisations such as Transparency International and the Centre for Policy Alternatives, openly defied the instructions by the NGO Secretariat. Against this backdrop, Saman Dissanayake, the director of the NGO Secretariat, said the proposed law would be introduced in the form of an amendment to the existing Act and enacted before the end of this year. Then, he said, all these organisations would be required to register with the NGO Secretariat. "Otherwise, there will be legal restrictions on their activities. They will face restrictions in getting foreign funding," he said. Currently, though they operate as NGOs, some have been registered as nonprofit organisations under the Companies Act. Mr.Dissanayake said the new bill had almost been drafted. "The Legal Draftsman is giving it final the touches now," he said.

The National Secretariat for Non-Governmental Organization (NGOs), a body functioning under the Defence Ministry, has banned NGOs from holding news conferences, workshops and training of journalists and the issuance of media releases. The decision was taken in the aftermath of the cancellation of workshops for Journalists organised by Transparency International recently. It drew widespread condemnation from various bodies and the opposition. The NGO Secretariat, in a letter dated July 1 has requested all NGOs in the country to refrain from indulging in such activities. Its Director D.M.S. Dissanayake in a letter said such activities carried out by the NGOs were beyond their mandate. "It has been revealed that certain NGOs conduct news conferences, hold workshops, train journalists, and issue news releases, which is beyond their mandate. We reiterate that all NGOs should desist from such unauthorised activities with immediate effect," he said in his letter. When asked for a comment on the decision, Mr. Dissanayake told Daily Mirror NGOs had only been asked not to exceed their mandate through this letter. He said his office examined all aspects such as the trustee of the NGO concerned, its funding sources, vision and mission, programme of work and the officials, before registering it. He said intelligence reports were obtained about the officials when the NGOs applied for registration. "We register the NGOs after all these aspects are cleared. NGOs are also required to submit their annual action plans to us for approval. We also get confirmation letters of their foreign funding agencies as well. However, we have received numerous complaints that some NGOs act in contravention of their mandate. In this letter, we have only asked 1,416 NGOs registered with us to stick to their mandate," Mr. Dissanayake said.

The Sri Lankan government's decision to label 16 overseas Tamil organizations as financers of terrorism is so broad that it appears aimed at restricting peaceful activism by the country's Tamil minority, Human Rights Watch said on Monday. The government should provide evidence of the unlawful activity of specific groups and individuals or remove them from the list. On April 4, 2014, External Affairs Minister G.L. Peiris made public an order signed on March 20, on the advice of the defense secretary, freezing the assets and financial resources of entities ranging from the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE), which was militarily defeated in 2009, to nonviolent Tamil organizations around the world. Chief Military spokesman Brig. Ruwan Wanigasuriya reportedly said that under the order, legal action would be taken against anyone having links with the listed groups. This would place local activists and alleged group members visiting the country at risk of being detained and held without charge under Sri Lanka's abusive Prevention of Terrorism Act. "The Sri Lankan government is using vague counterterrorism regulations to tie the major diaspora Tamil groups to the ruthless but defunct LTTE," said Brad Adams, Asia director. "This broad-brush sanction could then be used to punish local Tamil activists and politicians with international ties." Sri Lanka's United Nations Regulation No. 1 of 2012 empowers the government to designate individuals, groups or entities believed to "commit or attempt to commit or participate in or facilitate the commission of, terrorist acts" and freeze their financial assets and economic resources. The government's order provides no factual basis for its actions. Most of the groups listed in the order are lawfully registered entities in the various countries in which they are based. The asset freeze also covers 424 individuals. The government should address its legitimate concerns about foreign terrorist financing primarily through legal cooperation with foreign governments. It should promptly produce the factual basis for listing, and ensure organizations and individuals are able to contest their designations before independent and impartial courts. United Nations Resolution No. 1 is derived from UN Security Council Resolution 1373 (2001), passed in the wake of the September 11, 2001 attacks on the United States, and requires countries to freeze assets and entities of those "who commit or attempt to commit terrorist acts or participate in or facilitate the commission of terrorist acts." Human Rights Watch has extensively reported on how Resolution 1373 has provided governments broad leeway to create vague and overbroad definitions of terrorist activity and to curtail basic rights. In 2009, UN High Commissioner for Human Rights Navi Pillay said that Resolution 1373, by serving as a vehicle for "numerous" countries to enact provisions that derogate from international human rights treaties, has had "a very serious negative impact on human rights." In 2010, the then-UN special rapporteur on human rights and counterterrorism, Martin Scheinin, said in his final report to the UN General Assembly that the counterterrorism regime created by the Security Council "continues to pose risks to the protection of a number of international human rights standards." Government statements on the asset freezes did not allay concerns of future rights abuses. The chief of national intelligence, Maj. Gen. Kapila Hendawitharana said that those having dealings with the listed persons and organizations could continue to do so as long as they do not violate Sri Lanka's constitution or collect money for terrorism, but did not specify further exactly what actions would be prohibited. Hendawitharana also left open the possibility that the government might issue an outright ban on the persons and organizations listed, and said that more could be added. "The government is putting all Tamil activists at risk by delegitimizing the major Tamil organizations abroad," Adams said. "Putting organizations engaged in peaceful political activity on a terrorist list is a modern version of McCarthyism."

Mar 20, Colombo: A Sri Lankan court has issued warrants to arrest 15 students attached to the Kelaniya University. The Mahara Chief Magistrate issued the arrest warrants on the university students for allegedly disturbing the peace by holding a protest march despite a court order forbidding it. The arrest warrants were issued as the university students had failed to present themselves in Court following a complaint that they had gone ahead with the protest. About 5,000 undergraduate students of Kelaniya University belonging to the Marxist student union launched the protest march to Colombo Wednesday. However, the police fired tear gas and water cannons and dispersed the protesters when they tried to reach the Presidential Secretariat. The protest march was organized by the Inter University Student Federation (IUSF) over several issues faced by the country's education and higher education sectors including the slashing of budgetary allocations to the country's education sector. Source: Colombo Page UPDATE 27/03/2014: Daily Mirror- The students are freed on bail.

Last night's arrest of Ruki Fernando and Fr. Praveen in Kilinochchi on terrorism charges, soon after the arrest of Jeyakumari Balendran and her young daughter on suspicion of harbouring a criminal, is extremely disturbing and an urgent call to action. In stark contrast to what the Government says in Geneva is what it does in Sri Lanka. Human rights activists are being arrested under draconian laws which permit the authorities to interrogate them in isolation for extended periods of time. It is clear the government wants to go after those who flag human rights abuses. This is happening when deliberations at the Human Rights Council on Sri Lanka are taking place, demonstrating the regime's scant regard for international opinion and scrutiny. It is an urgent call to hold the government accountable and use all means necessary, in Geneva and elsewhere, to secure the safety of Ruki, Fr. Praveen, Jeyakumari, her daughter and others similarly under arrest and detained. Failure to do suggests that words aside, the international community accepts the democratic deficit in Sri Lanka. We received the following updates last night: At around 10.05 pm tonight, several of us received a text message from Ruki Fernando, on his mobile number 0773874xxx stating that Ruki and Father Praveen have been detained at the killnochchi police station, apparently on suspicion of a shooting. Later, Ruki informed a colleague also via text, that he and father Praveen were being questioned separately. A lawyer who called the Killinochchi police station, was informed that no such persons were arrested by the Killinochchi police or being held at the police station. However the police said that two persons had been arrested by a specially appointed unit of the TID and were being held at a separate location in Killinochchi. Another lawyer who spoke to the OIC Killinochchi was informed that Ruki and Praveen were being questioned and a decision regarding their continued detention would be made in the morning. This directly contradicts the version in the para above. We don't know the details of arrest or the facts leading up to it. We are very concerned for their safety and urgently need a lawyer who can visit the police station tonight and find out where they are being held on for what reasons etc. We published two more updates to the situation: Update 1: A lawyer who called the Killinochchi police, was informed that ruki and fr. praveen were being questioned by around 15 TID officers at the Killinochchi Police station. The HRC has also been informed that both persons are being held at the police station. Still no clear reasons for this treatment and we have also not been able to find a lawyer in Jaffna/Vavuniya/Killi who can visit the police station. Update 2: there is a possibility that ruki and father praveen ay be moved to colombo or vavuniya, but we have not been able to verify where they are at present.As journalist Dinouk Colomboge notes on Twitter, Ruki has been a prolific author on Groundviews, covering over the years issues and incidents mainstream media has often glossed over and the Government claims simply don't exist, are fabricated or over-hyped. A number of videos featuring Ruki's take on the human rights conditions in Sri Lanka can be viewed here. UPDATE : 21 March 2015 Statement to mark one year since the issuing of the gag order, travel restrictions and TID investigation against Sri Lankan human rights defender Ruki Fernando. The 21st March 2015 will mark one year since a court order restricting the freedom of expression on leading Sri Lankan human rights defender and writer, Ruki Fernando was obtained by the Terrorist Investigation Department (TID). Such restriction on freedom of expression of a prolific writer and commentator on human rights issues such as Ruki, is unprecedented in recent Sri Lankan history. Ruki and another colleague were arrested on 16th March 2014 during a fact finding mission to the war ravaged Northern part of the country. Both were released on 19th March 2014 after massive national and international outrage. Immediately after his release, Ruki gave interviews to local and international media. As a result of this, he faced intimidation after his release and a fresh investigation was launched against him by the TID. The TID also obtained Court Orders restriction Ruki's overseas travels and freedom of expression, and also confiscated communication equipment , all of which are effective till today. Ruki's arrest had resulted in him being branded a traitor and terrorist supporter by some media and Sinhalese nationalist groups, and the restriction on freedom of expression had made it difficult for him to respond to such accusations and defamation and defend himself. His human rights work locally and internationally as well as personal life has been constrained by the need to go to courts each time he needs to travel overseas. Even after obtaining court permission, he was compelled to miss a flight when he was travelling overseas for a human rights conference and he had faced delays, humiliation on other occasions he was travelling overseas for human rights work, due to being stopped and questioned by the Immigration and State Intelligence Service officers. It is now more than 4 months since Ruki's lawyers had made verbal and written submissions to the Attorney General's Department about the closure of the case and lifting of the restrictions . There has been an indication of readiness to lift the travel restriction. But the Attorney General's Department and the TID has refused to close the investigation, return the confiscated equipment and lift of the gag order. This clearly indicates the continuing anti -human rights and media freedom mind-set of the security establishment and the insensitivity of the new political leadership towards same. It shows that HRDs released from detention can be subjected to continued harassments and restrictions, despite the new political leadership in Sri Lanka. The conditions imposed on Ms. Balendran Jeyakumari, a woman HRD released on bail on 10th March 2015 after 362 days in detention, reaffirms this. We the undersigned fully endorse and look forward to "...the day when all human rights defenders and dissenters can be free from accusations of supporting terrorism and are able enjoy their rights to express themselves and travel freely" (as said by Ruki ). Signatures: Individuals 1. Ainslie Joseph - Convener/Chief Animator, Christian Alliance for Social Action (CASA) 2. Amal de Chickera 3. Anberiya Hanifa 4. Anthony Jesudasan 5. B. Gowthaman 6. Balasingham Skanthakumar 7. Brito Fernando 8. Budi Tjahjono 9. Chamila Thushari 10. Damaris Wickremesekera 11. Deanne Uyangoda 12. Dr. Cheran Rudhramoorthy 13. Dr. Leonie Solomons - Executive Director, Language Matters 14. Dr. Muhammad Muzzammil Cader - Convener, People's Movement for Non-Violence 15. Dr. Paikiasothy Saravanamuttu - Executive Director, Centre for Policy Alternatives (CPA) 16. Dr. Richard Perera 17. Dulan de Silva 18. E.M. Bandara Menike 19. Emil van der Poorten - Community Activist seeking to uphold basic human rights 20. Faizun Zackariya - Citizens' Voice for Justice and Peace 21. Freddy Gamage - Editor, Meepura Newspaper 22. Godfrey Yogarajah - Executive Director, World Evangelical Alliance - Religious Liberty Commission (WEA RLC) 23. Herman Kumara - Convener, NAFSO 24. Ian Ferdinands 25. Indika Udugampola 26. Jake Oorloff 27. Jayampathi Bulathsinhala 28. Jayanthi Kuru-Utumpala 29. Joanne Senn 30. Joe William 31. Jovita Arulanantham 32. K. Guruparan - Attorney-at-Law 33. Kalani Subasinghe 34. Kelly Senanayaka 35. Krishan Rajapakshe 36. Kusal Perera - Journalist 37. Laaurence KWARK 38. Lesley Sirimane 39. M. Nilashani 40. M.M. Rahman - Journalist, Mannar 41. Manjula Wediwardana 42. Marianne Johnpillai 43. Marisa de Silva 44. Melani Manel Perera - Journalist 45. Melisha Yapa 46. Menaha Kandasamy - Red Flag Women's Movement 47. Monica Alfred 48. Nalini Ratnarajah - Women Human Rights Defender 49. Nicola Perera 50. Nilantha Ilangamuwa - Journalist & Editor of Sri Lanka Guardian 51. Nilshan Fonseka 52. Nimal Perera - CSM 53. Nimalka Fernando 54. Nirmala Rajasingam 55. P. Selvaratnam 56. P. Vijayashanthan - Theatre Activist 57. P.N. Singham 58. Paba Deshapriya 59. Philip Setunga 60. Poddala Jayantha 61. Prof. Ajit Abeysekera 62. Prof. Jayadeva Uyangoda - University of Colombo 63. Prof. Jayantha Seneviratne - University of Kelaniya 64. R.M.B Senanayake - Retired C.C.S 65. Rajany Chandrasegaram 66. Ranjith Henayakaarachchi 67. Rasika Manobuddhi 68. Ravindra Chandralal 69. Rev. Dr. Rayappu Joseph - Bishop of Mannar 70. Rev. Fr. Jeyabalan Croos 71. Rev. Fr. Sherard Jayawardane 72. Rev. Fr. T. L. R. Dominic 73. Rev. Jason J. Selvaraja - Assembly of God, Chavakachcheri 74. Rev. Sr. Anne Perera- HF - CSM 75. Rev. Sr. Deepa Fernando - HF 76. Rev. Sr. Noel Christine Fernando - SCJM, Sri Lanka 77. Rohini Hensman - Writer and Independent Scholar 78. S. R. Perera 79. S.C.C. Elankovan 80. Sampath Samarakoon 81. Senaka Wattegedara 82. Shantha D. Pathirana - Human Rights Defender 83. Shreen Saroor 84. Sunanda Deshapriya 85. Suren D. Perera 86. T. Mathuri - Attorney-at-Law 87. Tanuja Thurairajah - Researcher 88. Tejshree Thapa 89. Udaya R. Tennakoon 90. V. Sanjeev 91. Visaka Dharmadasa Organizations 92. Association of War Affected Women (AWAW) 93. National Peace Council (NPC) 94. Rights Now Collective for Democracy

Activist groups are now confirming that a Tamil woman from Kilinochchi and her 13 year old daughter have been arrested by police investigators following a five hour raid on their home at Dharmapuram last evening. Both of them are reportedly being held in Vavuniya. Reports that Balendran Jeyakumari a prominent campaigner for families of the disappeared in the Kilinochchi District and her daughter were being detained inside her home which is in the Indian Housing scheme broke late afternoon yesterday (13). Media and Tamil politician Gajen Ponnambalam reported that Jayakumari's home had been surrounded by police and armed forces personnel at about 4:30 P.M. on Thursday (13). Ponnambalam and other friends who called Jayakumari on her phone reported that the woman had first answered and that later her phone was snatched away by men claiming to be police, who said there was an investigation under way before switching off the mobile. Neighbours reported the sound of screams and crying by Vithushaini at the home. Media personnel rushing to the scene were not permitted to get close to Jayakumari's residence, with police cordoning off the area near her home. For several hours no reports emerged about their whereabouts, although late Wednesday night, Ponnambalam said there were unconfirmed reports Jayakumari and her daughter had been arrested. Police meanwhile, told reporters in Colombo that one policeman had been injured in an attack when a team of police personnel was attempting to arrest a suspected Ex-LTTE cadre in Kilinochchi. Police Spokesman Ajith Rohana told the BBC on Thursday that the suspect had been in a house in which there were two women who were now being investigated. More unconfirmed reports are emerging about further police casualties. Jayakumari and her daughter Vithushaini are familiar faces in disappearances protests and were heavily photographed during the missing peoples' protest in Jaffna when British Prime Minister David Cameron visited the area during CHOGM in November last year. Jayakumari had four children - two sons were killed in the war and a third went missing after she handed him over to the military in May 2009. Her 13 year old daughter is her last remaining child. Both Jayakumari and her daughter handed over documents of their family members last whereabouts and information to Channel 4?s Jonathan Snow who was mobbed by the demonstrators in Jaffna during Cameron's visit. Sources said that the two women were being harassed on suspicion of having been informants for the British Broadcaster. Video of demonstration at Nallur Kovil Jaffna prior to Cameron's arrival in the North shows Jayakumari and her daughter are in the first row of protestors. UPDATE: 10 March 2015 Jeyakumari was released after 362 days in detention under the Prevention of Terrorism Act (PTA) without charges. The Court granted conditional bail of Rs. 200,000 (approx. USD 1,464) and imposed travel ban by impounding her passport and ordering her to report to a police station twice a month. Police will continue investigations into her case.

A Buddhist monk, who campaigned for inter-faith harmony was found assaulted today with cut wounds, and has been hospitalized in Sri Lanka. The General Secretary of Jathika Bala Sena, Ven. Watareka Vijitha Thero was reportedly abducted and found beaten with cut wounds in the Bandaragama area this morning, the police said. He was admitted to the Panadura hospital and was later transferred to Colombo National Hospital for further treatments. According to the information received by the Panadura Police, Ven. Wataraka Vijitha Thero was found with his hands and feet tied up early this morning on the road side in an area called Hirana. Ven. Wataraka Vijitha Thero was threatened by Galagodaaththe Gnanasara Thera, leader of the extremist Buddhist group Bodu Bala Sena (BBS) in April during an inter-faith press conference he held with the Muslim religious leaders. The militant monk leader of BBS disrupted the press conference and made Watareka Vijitha Thero to apologize. The Thero later complained to the Slave Island police that he apologized due to threats to his life. Earlier this month the BBS leader threatened the lawyer, former Provincial Councilor of the United National Party (UNP) Maithri Gunarathna, who was representing the victimized monk, at the court premises. Panadura Police has begun investigations into the assault on Watareka Vijitha Thero.

On the night of April 14, 2014, Mr. Sivagnanam Selvatheepan, a Tamil journalist, was brutally attacked by two masked men in the Puraapporukki area of Jaffna Peninsula, in Northern Sri Lanka. Although, the assailants attacked with metal rods with intent to kill, Selvatheepan miraculously survived the murderous attack. The International Council of Eelam Tamils strongly condemns the attack on journalists who are risking their lives to bring out news about the atrocities committed by the occupying forces. Selvatheepan was the Jaffna Vadamaraachchi region correspondent for Virakesari, Thinakkural, and Valampuri newspapers. As a member of the Jaffna Press Club, he had been informing the Jaffna Press Club and his fellow journalist about the continuing threats to his life. Recently, the Nelliady Police Station had obtained personal details about him. The assailants who followed him for a few kilometers clearly identified him prior to the vicious attack. It should also be noted that Selvatheepan, accompanied by his mother, gave evidence about his missing brother to the Lessons Learned and Reconciliation Commission appointed by the Government of Sri Lanka. The fact that he was attacked in a closely guarded area with heavy military presence points to the strong links between the assailants and the military. Journalists and editors working for Puthiyavan, another regional newspaper from Mannar District located in the Northwestern part of Sri Lanka, have been receiving death threats from a politician aligned with the Government of Sri Lanka. The Government of Sri Lanka has also refused to extend the Visa of BBC correspondent Mr. Charles Haviland. All of these point to a strong culture of repression of the press freedom in Sri Lanka. Sri Lanka will continue to muzzle the press in order to hide its genocidal project coming to the attention of the international community. We strongly urge the international community to intervene and stop the attack on journalist and protect the Tamils from ongoing genocide.

Two student activists were abducted by the Government of Sri Lanka and 17 student activists were remanded until May 19th, says the Inter University Students' Federation. Issuing a statement the IUSF today said; "Abducting and illegally detaining students without warrants and assaulting them is a grave violation of the fundamental rights of the students activists. We categorically condemn this political witch hunt of student activists by the police in collusion with the courts, especially in the context of the Higher Education Minister S.B.Dissanayake's open threat towards IUSF activists and their families. We invite the people of this country to organize and rally to protect educational, political and fundamental rights of the students."\ We publish below the statement in full; Although the Government of Sri Lanka has failed to give solutions to the cut in the Allied Health Sciences' degree and the resistance action of Rajarata students against the repressive university administration, it has launched a campaign of repression against the student activists fighting for education rights. The latest step by the police in this direction is following students in civil attire and abducting and illegally detaining them. Police has conducted two such illegal abductions. In both these abductions they have produced fake warrants against the students. These abductions happened when the students were leaving after a protest action held in front of the University Grants Commission yesterday (16) afternoon. The first abduction happened at about 3.45 in the evening in front of the Post Office in Town Hall. Police officers in civil attire have followed 4 students, ambushed them and a three wheeler and a jeep that arrived suddenly have abducted them. Then they were illegally detained at the Kirulapona Police Station. Second abduction happened at about 5.35 in the evening. Students have got into a bus to go to Colombo Fort and again police officers in civil attire had got into the bus had attempted to arrest a student under a warrant issued in the name of a different person. Students had protested the illegal arrest of the fellow student and the police had arbitrarily ordered the driver to take the bus along with the 13 students to Slave Island Police Station. When the bus arrived at the Police Station the police have inhumanly attacked the students with batons and poles right in front of the Police Station. As of now, students who were injured were not even hospitalized. Students were presented in front of the Fort Magistrate at his residence in Mount Lavinia at about 10.30 in the night and the Magistrate had ordered them to be remanded until 19th. Allied Health Science Students activists of Universities of Ruhuna and Peradeniya are thus being illegally detained and Students Council President of University of Peradeniya, Dimuthu Gunasekere is also among the illegally detained. Abducting and illegally detaining students without warrants and assaulting them is a grave violation of the fundamental rights of the students activists. We categorically condemn this political witch hunt of student activists by the police in collusion with the courts, especially in the context of the Higher Education Minister S.B.Dissanayake's open threat towards IUSF activists and their families. We invite the people of this country to organize and rally to protect educational, political and fundamental rights of the students.

On 5 March 2013, about 600 human rights defenders, including relatives of disappeared persons from Jaffna, Kilinochchi, Mullaithivu, Mannar and Vavuniya districts, were reportedly heading to Colombo in a convoy of 13 buses in order to attend a peaceful demonstration organized by the Association of the Families Searching for the Disappeared Relatives, an association set up to seek justice for victims of enforced disappearances, and thereafter march to the United Nations office in Colombo with a view to submitting a petition. This peaceful protest was meant to be part of a larger advocacy campaign organized by relatives of disappeared persons.When defenders started gathering at the Vavuniya Urban Council (VUC) ground in Vavuniya, men in plainclothes, believed to be intelligence officers, started enquiring about the identity of the organizer, and the purpose and funding of their trip. The men advised them to return home. Around 5.30p.m., police officials registered the details of the buses and drivers, and then agreed to allow the buses to proceed to Colombo, although it is reported that no such registration, nor permission, is needed for buses and private vehicles to travel from Vavuniya to the capital or any other destination. At 8.30p.m., when the buses, loaded with people, started to move out from the VUC ground, the police reportedly stopped them on alleged security grounds since, according to the police, a bus had been stoned between Vavuniya and Anuradhapura. The police claimed that they would not be able to ensure the security of the convoy should it proceed.The police eventually resorted to block the path in front of the buses with their trucks. The military was reportedly ready to intervene. Defenders inside the buses became disconcerted, and the police gave them assurances that they would be allowed to travel the following day at 4.30a.m.. On 6 March 2013, at 1:00a.m., 11 bus drivers were reportedly called by men dressed in plainclothes, believed to be police officers, to remove the buses from inside the VUC ground. The men warned the bus drivers that they would be prevented from working in Vavuniya, and that they could lose their route passes enabling them to operate commercial buses in the north of the country, should they not follow their instructions. As a consequence, nine of the 11 bus drivers moved the vehicles outside the VUC ground, and drove their buses home. It is further alleged that two more bus drivers received similar threats on the phone, and they reportedly removed the buses from Pampaimadu, about 10 kilometers west of Vavuniya, where their buses had been parked. At 5:00 a.m. the organizers went to the police headquarters, and were told that they could leave after 5.30 a.m. However, it is reported that at the same time the police instructed all bus drivers in Vavuniya, including the Private Bus Owners Association, not to drive the peaceful demonstrators to Colombo, warning them that they would be in trouble should they do so. The organizers eventually had no other choice than cancelling their travel to Colombo.They decided to peacefully march to the office of the Government Agent with a view to handing over a memorandum to him, in which they called, inter alia, for the release or disclosure of names of individuals abducted and detained. After some exchanges between representatives of the group of peaceful demonstrators and the Government Agent, the latter went out of his office to receive the memorandum.At 2:00p.m., a delegation of human rights defenders and members of political parties met with the Inspector-General of Police in Colombo to report and enquire about the action of law enforcement authorities who prevented their colleagues from reaching Colombo to attend a peaceful demonstration.

Alleged attack on human rights defender. According to the information received, on 17 December 2012, Mr. Gunaratne Wanninayaka was attacked outside his home by four unknown individuals carrying assault rifles. Mr. Wanninayaka managed to escape and enter his house, while the armed individuals followed him and attempted unsuccessfully to gain entry to his residence. Mr. Wanninayaka is a high-profile campaigner for the independence of the judiciary in Sri Lanka and is President of the Colombo Magistrate's Court Lawyers Association. He was at the forefront of a recent campaign opposing the impeachment of a Supreme Court judge.

COLOMBO : A Catholic-run human rights group working in northeastern Sri Lanka said Monday it had been harassed by security personnel after meeting UN rights chief Navi Pillay last week. Pillay ended her first official visit to the formerly war-ravaged country at the weekend with a stinging press conference in which she accused the government of becoming "increasingly authoritarian". Veerasan Yogeswaran, a 60-year-old Jesuit priest who runs the Centre for Promotion and Protection of Human Rights, said five or six plainclothes policemen visited him at midnight and before dawn, just hours after the meeting with Pillay. "The concern is that they are going to homes at midnight and questioning people," the priest told AFP from his home in Trincomalee, 260 kilometres (160 miles) northeast of the capital Colombo. "This should not happen four years after the war has ended. People feel harassed and intimidated. "Just imagine the plight of the ordinary people when they are visited at midnight by the security forces." Pillay denounced the intimidation of people she had spoken to during her week-long fact-finding mission to probe alleged war crimes in Sri Lanka, which is under international pressure over its rights record. "This type of surveillance and harassment appears to be getting worse in Sri Lanka, which is a country where critical voices are quite often attacked or even permanently silenced," she said on Saturday. The Centre for Promotion and Protection of Human Rights in eastern Sri Lanka helps families of people who went missing during and after Sri Lanka's decades-long Tamil separatist war as well as people in detention. Rights activist Paikiasothy Saravanamuttu, who heads the Colombo-based Centre for Policy Alternatives (CPA), said he travelled to the war-affected districts of Mullaittivu and Jaffna and spoke to local people who also said they were questioned after meeting Pillay. "I have had reports confirming that civilians who spoke with her... had been visited and questioned by people they suspected to be military intelligence or army," Saravanamuttu told AFP. The CPA chief who is a member of the ethnic Tamil minority is routinely denounced on state television as a traitor and Tamil Tiger supporter. Sri Lanka's government has criticised Pillay, saying that she transgressed her mandate. It denied anyone who spoke with her had been harassed. Information Minister Keheliya Rambukwella said the government was prepared to probe her allegations of intimidation if she could provide evidence. "Those who make these allegations are only trying to discredit the country," Rambukwella told reporters. "If there is a complaint from them to the law enforcement authorities, we are ready to have a complete investigation." There was no immediate comment from the UN in Colombo or Pillay's office in Geneva to government demands for evidence of intimidation. Sri Lanka's battle with separatists from the minority ethnic Tamil group ended in 2009 with a no-holds-barred military offensive which crushed the Tamil Tiger rebel group. The military campaign sparked allegations that troops killed up to 40,000 civilians and committed other war crimes such as executing surrendering Tamil rebels and shelling civilian centres which had been declared no-fire zones. In March, the UN passed a second resolution in as many years pressing Sri Lanka to investigate alleged war crimes more thoroughly.

COLOMBO -- A Sri Lankan media rights group on Sunday accused the military of intimidating journalists who reported a deadly army crackdown on villagers protesting at contaminated water supplies. The army has been come under pressure after soldiers fired on unarmed locals on August 1 in a village outside Colombo, killing three, as they protested against a factory which they say polluted their ground water. The Free Media Movement (FMM) said the army summoned reporters, photographers and video persons to give evidence as part of a military investigation into the incident. "Summoning the journalists who were also badly assaulted by the army to give evidence is seen by us as further intimidation," FMM convener Sunil Jayasekera told AFP. "They (the media) were asked to come to an army camp on Saturday, but they did not comply." Jayasekera said the rights group was willing to cooperate with a separate police investigation also under way , but not one conducted by the army considering its own soldiers were accused of wrongdoing. "We have asked the military to tell us under what law are they summoning the journalists to army camps to give evidence." Military spokesman Brigadier Ruwan Wanigasooriya denied troops were intimidating witnesses, and said they issued summonses in the interests of a fair inquiry and to corroborate evidence gathered so far. At least 26 journalists have fled Sri Lanka in the past five years to escape threats, intimidation, violence and imprisonment, according to the New York-based Committee to Protect Journalists. At least five journalists have been killed in the same period. Sri Lanka was ranked 162 out of 179 countries in a recent press freedom index compiled by the Paris-based Reporters without Borders. Media rights groups say journalists have been forced to self-censor their work due to fear of attacks. Residents of Weliweriya, the village 20 kilometers (12 miles) northeast of Colombo, have also told Sri Lanka's Human Rights Council of their fear of intimidation following army summonses to give evidence, local media reports said Sunday. The U.S. and the European Union have condemned the August 1 shooting and called for a speedy civilian inquiry to prosecute those responsible. The incident comes ahead of a visit next week by U.N. human rights chief Navi Pillay, who has demanded an international probe into alleged war crimes by Sri Lankan forces during the final stages of a war against Tamil rebels in 2009.

Complaint made to the HRC-SL and IGP by Dr. Nimalka Fernando The radio programme titled Rata Yana Atha (The way country is forging ahead) broadcasted in the Commercial Channel of the Sri Lanka Broadcasting Corporation on 4th November 2013 was based on a voice cut given by me to the Hiru TV to be relayed in the HARD TALK segment during the daily news bulletin. I had listened to the original version of the HARD TALK relayed on Sunday 3rd of November by HIRU TV. On 4th November morning I received several telephone calls from friends and relatives stating that a statement made by me to HIRU TV is being used in a radio programme of the SLBC in an improper manner including causing threat to my life. According to them what was said in this programme was going to cause a real danger to my life. Since the telephone calls received were of serious nature taking note of their concerns I decided to switch on the radio to listen to this particular programme around 9.00am on the 4th. I listened to the programme for about 30 minutes. What I heard was so violent , defamatory and stressfulI and I had no mental strength to continue to listen any further. The synopsis of what I heard is given below: The main title of the Programme was Stoning the Sinner Woman' Broadcast: Sections of what I said in the Hard Talk interview 59 years old...divorced....serving 30 organisations...about Rs 100,000...since 1989 carried tales....' From the studio voice of Mr Hudson Samarasinghe Chairman of the Sri Lanka Broadcasting Corporation See what she has done' Then calls were taken. I am writing only what I remember though much more abusive and defaming statements were made by the callers , Mr Hudson Samarasinghe and a person called Gayan who was present in the studio as the compeer of the programme: Call 1: " We can not allow persons like Nimalka Fernando to live in this society" Call 2: " We use insecticides to eliminate the spread of mosquitoes. Some mosquitoes develop a resistance to such spray. These people are like that. We have to find a method to destroy them." Call 3: "If we do something to them the government will be blamed by the human rights people. We should use a lorry and cause an accident." Call 4: " There is something call cleaning in the army. Mr Gotabaya knows this. We should hand her over to the cleaning system." Call 5: "Chairperson, today you have started a good activity. Continue this upto March 2014 and begin to deal with the NGO clan one by one." While callers were making such statements Mr Hudson Samarasinghe was actively involved in supporting the ideas expressed to eliminate me. The words he used welcomed such ideas as well as endorsed them. The person called Gayan too (present in the studio) joined him agreeing to the ideas and facilitated the calls. Most of the callers were men. During the 30 minutes at least 3 of them identified themselves as those who had served the armed forces and retired. Another caller said that he has a friend who was injured during the war. Some callers also mentioned names of Vickramabahu and Lal Kantha who are political leaders in Sri Lanka who have expressed fearlessly their positions publicly. They were of the view that the society has not taken action against them'. Mr Hudson Samarasinghe who is the Chairman of the Sri Lanka Broadcasting Corporation did not stop the callers from making offensive and derogatory statement nor spreading such violent ideas against me. He did not disassociated himself from these comments which called for my annihilation. I heard a caller referring to me as a prostitute. The Chairperson of the SLBC encouraged all these comments and further encouraged openly defamation and my annihilation. The totality of this programme is the creation of a dialogue through a government media to destroy my life. On 26 November 2013, a Joint Urgent Appeal (JUA) was addressed to Sri Lanka by the Special Rapporteur on the promotion and protection of the right to freedom of opinion and expression; the Special Rapporteur on the rights to freedom of peaceful assembly and of association; the Special Rapporteur on the situation of human rights defenders; and the Special Rapporteur on extrajudicial, summary or arbitrary executions. Sri Lanka has not responded.

As we are all aware, there is a prolonged campaign against the government's attempt to legalize South Asian Institute for Technology and Management (SAITM) as a Private Medical College without proper accreditation by Sri Lanka Medical Council. University Students of Medical and all other Faculties are at the forefront of a battle against SAITM and have demanded its nationalization. As the campaign against SAITM has grown to be a national movement, the government has turned undemocratic to suppress it by using covert and overt violent means. As a result of the government's brutal suppression of several protests many student protesters were injured, and several leading student activists are being held in custody indefinitely. The government seems to be determined to suppress the anti-SAITM student movement by arresting its entire leadership. The government is targeting student leaders by unleashing violence and using intelligence services and civil clad military personnel to arrest them. The most recent example occurred on 20th July 2017 when there was an attempt to abduct a leading student activist, Ryan Jayalath, by some men without uniforms who were supported by the Police. Fortunately, Ryan could not be abducted due to the intervention of some activists who were around him. He was being clearly targeted for his activism. The government in arresting student leaders and suppressing their campaign undemocratically, is acting against the very principle of good governance. We as concerned academics belonging to several Universities and several other organizations working for the right of free education and social justice have resolved to condemn the government's attempt to suppress students and make a mockery of the rule of the law in this country. With this objective we will hold a Press Conference on 23rd July at 2.00 .p.m. at the Center for Society and Religion (CSR), Maradana. We kindly invite your media organization to attend this press briefing and provide wide publicity for the stance we are taking in order to safeguard the rights of student activists in particular and condemn the government's undemocratic and brutal approach in general.

On 14 June 2017, during a the TV talk show titled "Aluth Parlimenthuwa (new parliament)", Lakshan highlighted that Muslim and Christian places of worship are under attack and that 195 attacks against Christians have been reported since 8 January 2015. Lakshan has been a determined and long standing campaigner and advocate on the rights of religious minorities. He often travels far to rural areas, interacts with victimized communities, publicizes their plight, and appears in courts across the country on numerous cases, during this Government and under the previous Government. Although he was referring to the NCEASL report, he is personally aware of many such incidents. His comments on the TV talk show, especially his candid assertion that Buddhist Monks are behind some of these attacks, drew immediate and angry reactions from a hostile anchor and two other panelists. And within days, it also drew negative reactions from President Sirisena and Minister of Justice and Buddhasasana, Wijeyadasa Rajapakshe, both of whom were quoted on primetime news of government TV station, ITN on 17 June 2017. President Sirisena said that he had called the Catholic Archbishop of Colombo, Cardinal Malcolm Ranjith, and asked from him about attacks on Catholics/Christians (although Lakshan never mentioned attacks on Catholics in the TV talk show). According to President Sirisena, the Cardinal had said that there had been no such attacks. Minister Wijeyadasa misquotes Lakshan as having said 166 attacks against Christians in recent days of this year (what Lakshan actually said is that there have been 195 attacks between 8th January 2015 till todate). The Minister then goes on to say that the Cardinal had claimed no such incidents have happened in Sri Lanka. On June 17, 2017, Justice Minister Wijeyadasa Rajapakshe threatened Lakshan Dias to "take necessary steps to remove him from the legal profession" unless Dias apologized for remarks on a television program three days earlier about attacks on the Christian community.

On 20 May 2017, Father Elil Rajan was summoned in relation to a commemorative event he organised near St. Paul's Church in East Mullivaaikkal, a village on the north-east coast of Sri Lanka which was the scene of the final battle of the civil war. The event consisted of placing rocks carved with the names of Tamil victims of this final battle. While the police summons was withdrawn, the human rights defender was asked to provide the list of names that was engraved on the rocks. Father Elil Rajan had previously been summoned and questioned on 16 May by the Mullaitivu Police and on 19 May by the Vavuniya Police over the event he organised for Mullivaikkal Remembrance Day on 18 May, a commemorative day observed by Tamil people to remember those who died in the final stages of the civil war. The ongoing harassment of Father Elil Rajan is part of a broader crackdown on Tamil civil society, which has been subjected to other forms of harassment, intimidation and surveillance which hinder non-exclusionary truth and reconciliation efforts by restricting the recognition and remembrance of human rights violations suffered by Tamil people during the civil war. Human rights defenders such as Father Elil Rajan who work on Tamil issues and for the inclusion of the Tamil perspective in truth and reconciliation efforts, are particularly targeted through surveillance, and freedom of expression and assembly is restricted in Tamil regions, especially in military-occupied territories affected by the civil war. Police occasionally use excessive force to disperse protesters, and the army has imposed some restrictions on assembly in the North and East, particularly for planned memorial events concerning the end of the war, which impact human rights defenders working on violations perpetrated in the region both during and after the civil war. These restrictions have disproportionately affected Tamil people.

Ms. Nimalka Fernando and Mr. Sunanda Deshapriya participated in the UNHRC 34th session in March 2017 where the resolution entitled "Promoting reconciliation, accountability and human rights in Sri Lanka (A/HRC/34/1)" was adopted by consensus with the co-sponsorship of the Government of Sri Lanka. It decided to request the Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR) to continue its assessment on progress on the implementation of the Office's recommendations and other relevant processes related to truth, justice, accountability, reconciliation and human rights in Sri Lanka for next two years. Since the adoption of the resolution on 23rd March, the two human rights defenders have been subject to smear campaigns. After the UNHRC session, a public campaign was launched on Facebook which brands Ms. Fernando and Mr. Deshapriya as traitors. Their pictures were placed next to the image of the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam's flag with texts calling them "white tigers". Such stigmatization would pose them to a risk for attack, intimidation and harassment. On 27th March, a protest was organised by the Women for Justice (WFJ) Organization on the street of Ms. Fernando's residence. The demonstrators condemned her that she is lying to the United Nations and working for foreign money. Those personal attacks by alleged non-State actors raise serious concerns on the safety of the human rights defenders who rightfully engaged with the UNHRC. Since 30th March, a number of Sri Lankan human rights defenders including Ms. Fernando and Mr. Deshapriya have been named by certain individuals in Sri Lankan media. They are labelled as "foreign-funded NGOs working against the country". The reprisals against the two human rights defenders were reactions to the new UNHRC resolution on Sri Lanka. The perpetrators claimed that the two are responsible for the Council's decision to extend the OHCHR's monitoring on the country. Yet in fact, the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights Zeid Ra'ad Al Hussein clearly recommended the UNHRC "to continue its close engagement with the Government of Sri Lanka and to monitor developments in the country", based on his office's independent and comprehensive assessment of the country's progress on the transitional justice process. At the same time, he drew attention to the continuing incidents of harassment of human rights defenders, the use of hate speech and aggressive hate campaigns against groups and individuals in Sri Lanka. The recent two attacks are clear examples of reprisals against human rights defenders who cooperate with the UN human rights system. In 2015, the Government of Sri Lanka demonstrated its commitment by co-sponsoring the UNHRC resolution 30/1 to address all attacks against human rights defenders, hold perpetrators accountable and prevent future attacks. However, we regret that the Government failed to investigate the previous incidents n against human rights defenders including Ms. Fernando's case in 2013. It left the culture of impunity unaddressed which facilitated the recent attacks against Ms. Fernando and Mr. Deshapriya.

A well known as a human rights defender Rev. Fr. Nandana Manatunga, is being harassed by the police including the OIC of Wattegama Police Station, the Asian Human Rights Commission (AHRC)�_ reports.�_ Rev. Fr. Nandana Manatunga is the parish priest of St. Mary's Church in Wattegama, Kandy District. Following a land dispute with the owner of land ajoining the Wattegama Street, St.Mary's Church, police officers began harassing the priest, impartially carrying out the rule of law. The Priest states that he supported several torture victims in their legal battles against their torturers. In this case, two police officers attached to the Wattegama Police Station, were sentenced to 7 years rigorous imprisonment on 3rd, December 2014. Nandana said that he has been subjected to police harassment in revenge for his supportive help for torture victimss. He demands immediate justice. This case illustrates the collapse of the rule of law in Sri Lanka, says AHRC. CASE NARRATIVE: According to information received by the Asian Human Rights Commission (AHRC), Rev. Fr. Nandana Manatunga is the parish priest of St. Mary's Church in Wattegama in Kandy District. He is a well-known human rights activist and the Director of the Human Rights Office of Kandy. St. Mary's Church and its premises belong to the Roman Catholic Church, administration coming under the perview of the Bishop of Kandy. There was a long, boundary dispute with the owner of the ajoining land, due to his grabbing of land belonging to the church. The administration of the Bishop's House in Kandy took legal action against him in the District Court of Teldeniya. This case is pending under No: L/170/13, where the church adminstration is the plaintiff and the ajoining land owner, Francis Richard, is the defendant. In early 2016, Fr. Nandana learned that Francis Richard made a complaint against the church. On several occasions, police officers harassed Father when he inquired about the complaint. When Fr. Nandana went to the police station to clarify the situation, he was subjected to filthy language by Francis Richard and his wife. The police did not stop the abuse, simply allowing it. On 28 January 2016, when he was called to the Wattegama Police Station for a complaint made by Francis Richard, reference No: MCR 2575/16CH/ 102-03-06, Fr. Nandana retained his attorney-at-law, Mr. Padmadakshan who accompanied him to the police station. But when the inquiry was called up, the Police Officer-in-Charge (OIC), dismissed the lawyer and would not allow him to represent Father Nandana. The Priest was strictly warned by the OIC not to come to the police station again. If there was any dispute in future, the police would produce both parties in court and execute a bond for keeping the peace. Before this incident, on 17th June 2015, Francis Richard came into the mission house with one of his workers who was carrying a knife and threatening the priest. He then filed a complaint No: MCR 2286/15. It was not investigated, nor was the person who carried the knife called to the police station. Again, on 13th August 2016 Francis Richard complained to the police. Police officer (No: 47062) came to St. Mary's Church with Francis Richard and threatened the Priest. "Your priest is grabbing land and if he does not come to the police station, he will be arrested." At that, the police officer and Richard who were good friends went to the complainant's house for refreshments. Rev. Fr. Nandana, on 15 August 2016, did not go to the police station. He wrote to the OIC saying that he would not come given the above reasons. He lodged a complaint with the Senior Superintendant of Police (SSP), Kandy, regarding the continuous harassments and the non-investigation of his complaints. He reported the illegal inactions of the OIC and other officers of the Wattegama Police Station. Considering the appeal to higher authorities and submission of the Teldeniya District Court proceedings, the priest, through his lawyer made the following request: copies of the complaints made against him and made by him from the OIC office. But his request was denied. He learned later, that all copies were given to Francis Richard. Rev. Fr. Nandana states that the OIC and other police officers attached to the Wattegama Police Station, illegally harassed him. Further, they implemented the law maliciously. Fr. Nandana, states that two police officers from the Wattegama Police Station were sentenced to 7 years of rigorous imprisonment on 3th December 2015. Both were former police officers at Wattegama. He further reiterated, that as the Director of the Human Rights Office Kandy, he pioneered assistance work for these two torture victims. Both were brutally tortured by two police officers of the Wattegama Police. Fr. Nandana states that therefore it is obvious that Wattegama OIC and the police officers are using Francis Richard to facilitate these psychological harassements in taking revenge. Rev. Fr. Nandana states that his fundamental rights were violated by Sri Lankan State Officers. He demands justice and is waiting for a fair and impartial implementation of the rule of the law by the police officers.

By Ruwan Nelugolla. Following a book launch yesterday (03), I returned home at Kalalgoda Road after 11.00 pm. As I was having a chat with some of my friends at home, policemen in uniform and civics stormed in, dragging behind them a friend of ours by the name of Sanjaya, who is staying with us. As he was on his way to a boutique nearby, a police jeep stopped him, asked if he was a drug user, removed his clothes on the road and searched him. He was beaten up and dragged into the house. The police searched the house for drugs and finding nothing, tried to take all of us to the police station. Continuing my protestations, I asked them as to how they could do so. A man in civics, uttering raw filth and wielding a pistol, assaulted me and said I would be sent to prison by fabricating a heroin and ganja case against me. They dragged Sanjaya and me to the jeep. When they showed us the pistol, I asked if they were going to shoot us. Since I did nothing wrong and there was nothing to fear the police, and it was the police that had been abusing the law, I went to the jeep. After getting in, I took my mobile phone out, and the same person in civics asked as to whom I was going to call and again assaulted me. Then, I told them that I am a journalist working for Lanka News Web, and that the police had no right to assault people like that. Saying, "Your mother *** media", that person continued beating me up all they way until the jeep reached Thalangama police station. That is how the police marked its 150th anniversary yesterday. By the time Sanjaya and I were taken to the police station, our lawyer was already there. The police settled the matter and freed us. After being beaten by the police, I was not in a mental condition to get hospitalized, and returned home. On the previous day, there was an exchange of words with the police during a protest near Galle Face Green. Police did not allow us the peaceful protestors to go to the Presidential Secretariat to seek justice for Madhushka de Silva of Anuradhapura who was made to disappear three years ago. It ended with top police officials hiding behind a group of police women and warning of arrest on a charge of harassing the women if we tried to proceed forward. Madhushka's wife too, was with us and we did not want to inconvenience a group of women in police uniform who were being used against us. As we dispersed, two men from the police traffic division asked us for our identity cards. When we opposed their asking us for our identifications without a purpose, they called the Colombo Fort police and brought in two more policemen. We showed them our identity cards with an advice that they should not terrify us in the same manner they had terrified the average citizens of the north and elsewhere. Only the police that came yesterday know if these two incidents were related. Anyway, I am the aggrieved party and in both incidents, the culprit was the Sri Lanka Police Department. I work as a journalist of Lanka News Web website, and also an activist of the national movement for freedom for political prisoners. I know the law to a certain extent. Had an average citizen faced what I had to face yesterday, he would be behind bars by now. This is how Sri Lanka's police enforce the law. The person who assaulted me wielded his pistol and threatened me inside the jeep saying, "I first killed a man when I was at Year 11." Which institution is responsible for finding out if those in the police are murderers? The only reason for wielding a pistol and attacking me was my question of as to how they could take people like the way they did. I do not know how the police can be so conceited that a citizen could not ask them a question. That is clearly the lawlessness.

A memorandum showing how the Prevention of Terrorism Act (PTA) violates the rights of political prisoners. During the last 30 years due to the war that prevailed in the northern and eastern areas of Sri Lanka arrests were made. While the Prevention of Terrorism Act (PTA) was made use of from arrests like that up to the court proceedings through that those persons as well as the Tamil people as a community of people were subjected to a grave violation of human rights. The persons who were arrested under the PTA during the past from time to time were released though judicial processes as well as though political decisions. (ex: the detainees of all armed organizations operating in the north and east who were arrested and detained were granted release based on political decisions during the 1987 period. In 2001 when the government changed and the peace agreement was signed the release of detainees on political decisions has taken place). Such releases took place in instances when the war situation has not ended. While the arrests and detentions under the PTA prevailed at a very high level during the last stages of the war with the end of the war fifteen thousand (15,000) had been under arrest. They have got the release though various methodologies and got integrated with the society and only a small number of persons still remain under detention in prisons. Up to date seven years have lapsed after the end of the war. Even from time to time arrests and detentions are made making use of the PTA. During a period of more than 30 years making use of the PTA from the point of arrest up to the point of acquittal or conviction within the judicial process have entailed grave violations of human rights and disregard of the law causing intensive injustices and it still continues to happen. We are presenting below major concerns we have identified. 1. Arrest __� While the arrest have happened in an arbitrary way what has happened in most instances were abductions. __� Few days after the abduction the detention within a police division comes to be known. __� Unidentified groups abducting and handing over to legitimate security divisions after detaining at unknown places for weeks or months. __� The abductees have been subjected to torture in terrible ways. 2. Detention __� After arrests keeping in detention under Detention Orders for long periods (most detainees for one and a half years or more unlawfully) purportedly for investigations in various police divisions and thereafter remanding them. __� There are persons who have been kept under the custody of investigation divisions for more than 5 years. They have been indicted in High Courts while being detained as such and are being produced in courts for the cases under the custody of those divisions. They have not been presented in a Magistrate Court even for one day. __� Had been subjected to torture while being under detention. 3. Obtaining statements __� The statements have been obtained after keeping under detention for long periods on Detention Orders in investigation divisions. (most of the persons have been under detention for one year or for one and a half years.) __� Obtaining statements after subjecting to physical and mental torture while being under detention for long periods. __� Signatures have been obtained through assault or by coercion to documents purported to be confessions made in front of a Assistant Superintendent of Police or higher ranking officer. (Out of the number of cases filed 95% have been filed based on such confessions. The position that most of the persons coming under arrest made confessions voluntarily to an officer of high rank without being pressurized to do so cannot be accepted.) __� Most Tamil detainees often time have been made to sign documents presented to them prepared in Sinhala a language which they don't know. Example: Most of the persons whose details are given in attachments have faced this situation 4. Remanding __� After remanding having been kept in remand for long periods without filing indictment and have been produced in Magistrate Courts only for the extension of the remand order. (There are persons who have been in remand for close upon ten years like that) Example- Attachment (No 29) Subramanium Senduran __� Has to be in remand till the conclusion of the trial without receiving a release on bail. (There are persons who have been in remand like that for 19 years). Example: Fact sheet (No 76) Suppiah Sridharan (No 77) Sinnappu Selvarajah. For both these persons there have been no rails conducted for 19 years and in 2016 on agreement one year imprisonment and 06 months rehabilitation have been imposed and those cases concluded. Presently they are in prison serving the sentence. __� Even though kept under remand for long periods without concluding the cases release on bail is not granted. __� Though kept in remand for long periods of time these people not receiving right treatment for their ailments has even results in loss of lives. The possibilities of granting bail to such patients in remand have not even been considered. __� While there are persons who are over 60 years or even 70 years of age a granting of release on bail for them has not happened. (Even persons who are over 75 years of age have been released only after conviction) __� While the Tamil detainees within prisons have been subjected to severe racially motivated assaults from time to time on a number of instances, the number who have been killed during such assaults number around 100. 5. Maintaining High Court cases __� Nineteen 20 year long periods have been spent without concluding the trials __� The cases have been postponed for 06 to 08 months again and again for long periods (even now such practices continue). __� After dragging the trails for durations like 15 years the detainees have been both convinced and acquitted (Till then have been kept under remand) __� After keeping under detention for long periods when it comes close to acquittal and release after conclusion of the trial, the Attorney General Department has filed fresh indictments. For some persons when they are about to be released after serving the sentence fresh indictments have been filed. __� For many persons cases have been maintained based on confessions. While these confessions have been obtained by force after being subjected to torture often times signatures have been obtained for documents prepared in a language they don't know. Furthermore in this way signatures have been obtained to documents purported to be confessions after keeping in the custody of investigation divisions for periods around one and a half years. (Due to that reason it is really problematic whether those who were convicted were the real offenders). __� In the courts in the north eastern Tamil areas the case have been heard speedily while in the courts in the south even weak cases have been maintained without taking up for trail, for long periods of time. __� In the cases maintained, in the courts in north east Tamil areas, based on confessions in the "voire dire" examination due to the defective/questionable conditions in which the confession were taken the rejection of the confession has taken place. However, in the courts in southern areas the confessions have been accepted disregarding the defective questionable conditions in which the confessions were taken and most of the time convicted based on such confessions. __� The Attorney General's Department has transferred cases from north east Tamil areas to Sinhala areas when the accused are about to be granted bail or acquitted after trial. __� The courts in southern Sinhala areas have imposed maximum punishments than the courts in the north-eastern areas. Most of the time the punishments have been imposed based on the acceptance of the confession at the "voire dire" examination. __� Due to even after filing indictment in courts the cases not been taken up for trials and even if it is taken up for trial the trials being dragged on for a period as long as 15 years specially in the southern courts most of the detainees have been impelled to come to an agreement with the judiciary and the Attorney General's Department to plead guilty for a lesser offence with the amendment of the indictment, concluding the case quickly, serving the sentence and get released soon. Most of those who have been convicted up to now (like 80%) have been convicted in this manner and after release have got integrated with the society. __� While there are cases where maximum punishments have been imposed after trials there are also instances wherein similar cases lesser punishments have been given with amendment of indictments and the opportunity have been given to integrate with the society. This shows that though maximum punishments have been imposed there is a possibility to seek judgements to re-integrate them also with the society. __� While the arrests were made due to the prevailing war situation the detainees have been charged with many indictments in a number of courts in a number of districts. Most of the time all these indictments have been filed based on the same confession which is the only evidence available and while in one case the confessions gets rejected the other cases gets dragged on for many years without release of the detainee. In the same way though in one court the confession is rejected the same confession has been made use of in other courts. 6. Re-arrest __� There are persons who have been re-arrested and remanded after being released by courts. __� These persons before being arrested for the second time have been kept under detention, on Detention Orders, in investigation units for long periods of time and remanded only after doing the investigations. __� There are persons who have been re-arrested after getting integrated with the society having been referred for rehabilitation by courts and getting rehabilitated for one year. __� After re-arrest they incarcerate in remand prison for a number of year without any indictment being filed 7. Solutions offered in response to protests __� Due to protests made by detainees from time to time while the authorities have promised to release them on those occasions proposals have been made that detainees will be granted bail, will be rehabilitated and released after conducting the trials speedily. __� More over while there are occasions where it has been accepted that it is unjust to keep them in detention, there are also occasion when those acceptances have been publicly stated and also occasion when actions have been taken towards achieving that end. __� Due to the fast staged by these detainees a release have been made with a Presidential Pardon. Example: Attachment (No 30) Sivarajah Jeniven __� There is the instance when a group of close to be 40 detainees who continued to be in remand after the filing of indictments were produced in the Colombo Chief Magistrates Courts and released on bail, during the time of the fast in November, 2015 __� There are occasion when letters have been obtained from detainees inquiring about their consent for rehabilitation. __� There has been an instance when the Attorney General Department has published a list of 20 detainees for batch by batch rehabilitation consequent to a fast staged in 2016 (This has not been out into action as yet) __� Another time on the advice of the Attorney Generals Department the officers of the Legal Aid Commission have gone inside the prisons at the beginning of 2016 and have obtained the signatures of detainees stating their consent for rehabilitation (This has not been put into action as yet). Establishment of special High Courts as a solution Due to protests staged by detainees on the many occasions and the protests emerging from the society on the unjust situation in which people were detained special High Courts have been established purportedly to the solve the problems by accelerating the cases. After the controversial situation that ensued due to a fast staged by detainees in the Vavuniya Prisons in 2012 demanding that either the hearing of their cases be accelerated or else they be released while proposals were made to establish special High Courts in the Mannar Districts and the Vavuniya District in 2013 a special High Court was established in the Anuradhapura District. (In the instance of that fast 2 detainees were killed and the human rights of 17 detainees were violated by wounding them with the breaking of their limbs). In the High Court established in Anuradhapura a while around 400 cases of child abuse and raping of women are being heard the hearing of cases of political detainees are postponed for long periods deviating from the purpose for which it was established. Consequent to a fast staged by the detainees in Colombo prisons in 2016 a special High Court has been established in the No 8 High Court. Even there the trials are not conducted speedily and log trial dates with postponements extending to many months are being given. It does not seem that special ability has been created by the establishment of special High Courts to conclude the cases field under the Prevention of Terrorism Act speedily except in the usual lethargic way the Attorney Generals Department acts as the High Courts are unable to overcome the impediments posed by the Attorney General Department. Enjoying freedom for political reasons Though there is reluctance to grant freedom to these political detainees there are persons who have been released on political exigencies without going through a legal process. Karuna alias Vinayagamoorthi Muralidaran, K.P. alias Kumara Pathmanadan are special. While those who have received military training under Karuna and getting arrested and received punishment for acting on his orders, and those who are awaiting a resolution of their cases for number of years, those have received imprisonment for life sentence (example: Attachment for (No 10) Sellapillai Mahendran) are still languishing in jails Karuna alias Vinayagamoorthi Muralidaran had represented a seat in the Parliament even holding a ministerial portfolio. In addition based on political needs there are persons who have received legal redress. Among them Daya master and George master are special. Around 160 detainees who are still detained in the prisons in Sri Lanka under the Prevention of Terrorism Act have been subjected to injustices in ways as described above. Our belief is that it will become amply clear from the little bit of facts we have presented above the extent of injustice they will be subjected to by going to resolve the problems of these detainees though a legal process. The number of attachment containing the facts, we present as examples are very few in number. The violations of human rights and actions taken disregarding the law and beyond the law have been faced by the detainees under arrest during the whole of last 30 years. Likewise many detainees who are not included in our attachment have been subjected to the injustices we have enumerated. We say that at this time 7 years after the conclusion of the war to continue to act like this making use of the Prevention of Terrorism Act is a baseless act and is a great hindrance towards fostering reconciliation among the ethnic groups. As the existing situation is as aforesaid we propose that instead of going through the legal process to resolve the issue of political detainees that all detainees be freed through a political solution. (Prepared by the National Movement for the Release of Political Prisoners)

Sri Lankan police officials have reportedly attempted to stop a signature campaign in Jaffna calling for an international accountability mechanism to examine mass atrocities committed during the final stages of Sri Lanka's armed conflict, where tens of thousands of Tamil civilians were killed. The campaign, launched yesterday, had entered its second day and was taking place in locations across the North. In Nallur, whilst temple festivities were taking place campaigners set up a stall and collected signatures from the Jaffna public. The president of the Tamil National People's Front Gajendrakumar Ponnambalam tweeted that Nallur police officials had subsequently arrived as signatures were being gathered and "ordered it to be stopped". Speaking to the Tamil Guardian, Mr Ponnambalam said that despite permisssion being granted by Jaffna municipal authorities, police officers led by IC Yapa of Nallur police station demanded the campaigners stop collecting signatures and relocate. The campaign, organised by the Tamil Action Committee for International Accountability Mechanism (TACIAM), is collecting signatures ahead of the United Nation Human Rights Council session later this month, where a report into mass atrocities in Sri Lanka is to be discused. Tens of thousands have signed the petition since the campaign was started. - Sri Lankan police today disrupted a signature campaign in Trincomalee, calling for an international accountability mechanism to deal with mass atrocities committed during the final stages of Sri Lanka's armed ethnic conflict. The organisers of the campaign were asked by police to meet the chief inspector over a complaint that they were forcibly recruiting signatures in Trincomalee. President of the Tamil National People's Front Gajen Ponnambalam, who went to the police station, tweeted that the campaign was filmed by the police media unit, pointing out that the police could confirm that the allegations were untrue by checking their footage. Mr Ponnambalam further said that he was told the campaign was illegal as it was "against the government". The campaign, which was launched on Friday in Jaffna, entered its 4th day today. Sri Lankan police officials in Jaffna also attempted to stop the campaign on Saturday.

47-year-old Thavapalan Piriayatharsini, who is the head of Women Development Society at Theaththaa-vaadi, a village situated near Iluppaik-kadavai in Maanthai West division of Mannnaar district, says she and her three daughters have been subjected to death threats by an unknown squad. The family has been subjected to death threats since 11 August. A group of unknown men, who came in a white van entered her house that day and warned "rape and death' if she continued to give social leadership to the villagers. They were particularly angry about Piriyatharsini making demands from political parties. The threatening presence of a white van squad is still continuing, she told TamilNet on Thursday. Ms Piriyatharsini is a survivor of the 2009 genocidal onslaught on Vanni. Her husband, Balasubramaniyam Thavabalan, was a press worker at the Eezhanaatham daily in LTTE administered Jaffna before the mass exodus of Tamils from the peninsula to Vanni in 1995. The Sri Lankan military arrested him in 1999 during the military operation named Rana Gosha. Since then, there was no news of the whereabouts of her husband. During the final stages of the war in Vanni, her two sons recruited to fight against the advancing SL military had sacrificed their lives. One of her daughters, wounded in the shelling, has become disabled. Her family is dependent on agriculture in the resettled village. It is under these circumstances, Piriyatharsini, a former law student, who also has experience from NGO work in Vanni, came forward to give leadership to the resettled villagers of Theaththaa-vaadi. Piriyatharsini and her villagers, comprising around 23 families and 100 voters, have been demanding the political parties coming to the village seeking votes to prove their credibility by helping them to drill a bore well as the resettled families have been struggling to access potable water. The politicians, including those belonging to the Tamil National Alliance (TNA), who come to the village seeking votes during the times of the elections, forget their promises after the elections, the villagers under the leadership of Piriyatharsini were firm in passing their message. Their were firm in telling the politicians to prove their credibility by digging a borewell. Priyatharsini, her family and the villagers in Theaththaa-vaadi, who were once part of the de-facto Tamil administration with a noble cause and sacrifices are now reduced to the level of fighting for a borewell from the parties locked in the race for SL elections. TamilNet releases a video clip of Piriyatharsini, recorded before she was subjected to death threat by the unknown squad. In the interview, she describes the pathetic state of affairs in the village.

Media release/ 02 May 2015 Violence against Dissent should be punished - Free Media Movement - Sri Lanka The Free Media Movement strongly condemns the physical attack unleashed on Dr. Nirmal Ranjith Devasiri and Dr. Kumudu Kusum Kumara at the May Day rally organised by the pro- Rajapaksa political parties and groups at the Kirullapona Lalith Athulathmudali ground, Colombo. The National Freedom Front (NDF) led by Wimal Weerawansa, a member of the Parliament played a leading role in this pro-Rajapaksa rally. Dr. Devasiri is former FUTA President and current media spokes person of the Federation of University Teachers Association (FUTA) and Dr. Kumudu Kusum Kumara, also a prominent public intellectual. FMM would like to reiterate that those violent politicians and their henchmen who cannot stop the habit of hunting the dissenters should be brought to book. Dr. Devasiri has been actively engaged in not only on the issues of the University Community but also in re-establishing the democracy and good governance in the country. He is a person who expresses his views on social good without fear. It is not unusual that politically sensitive persons walk around the city of Colombo on May Day to various avenues to listen to different political opinions. Dr. Devasiri and Dr. Kumara have been attacked while listening to the speeches of pro-Rajapaksa May Day rally upon recognising them. The attack unleashed at the rally led by politicians like Wimal Weerawansa, who is known to make hate speech against dissenters and incite his followers against them shows that they are unable to reform themselves even after losing the state power in recently held presidential election. The FMM wants the government to take speedy action against those responsible for the assault against Dr. Nirmaal Ranjith Devasiri and Dr. Kumudu Kusum Kumara. At the same time the FMM would like to highlight that although some positive initiatives has been taken by the government in relation to media freedom, still old habits of media suppression had been reported form different parts of the country in recent times. One such incident was reported form Poddala in Galle district. An ITN TV reporter who has been covering short comings of a maternity clink held at the Poddala, Bope local council was assaulted and prevented from doing his profession by the Council's vice president. Again it was reported a journalists of the Swarnawahini TV was assaulted by a policeman while on his way home after work saying that the journalist ignore the sign to stop motorcycle he was riding. In Jaffna, journalists were prevented from covering a meeting held to discuss the serious issue of water pollution in Chunnakam. This was a clear case of preventing right to information of the people which the government has promised to adhere to. The FMM would like to urge the government to look in to these issues as well and take appropriate action in order to prevent repetition. Seetha Ranjanee Convenor, Free Media Movement - 0777312460

Visuvalingam Kirupaharan, General Secretary of the Tamil Centre for Human Rights, was reportedly threatened during the twenty-fifth session of the Human Rights Council. On 21 March 2014, Mr. Kirupaharan participated in a side event on human rights in Sri Lanka, organized by the International Buddhist Foundation. After the event, a journalist, reportedly from the Sri Lankan newspaper Divaina, approached Mr. Kirupaharan, stating that he could not return to Sri Lanka and that he would face consequences if he did so. The journalist allegedly told Mr. Kirupaharan that photographs of him at the Council would be published in newspapers in Sri Lanka. At the time of finalization of this report, no reply had been received from the Government to a joint communication sent on 27 March 2014 by three special procedures mandate holders.

On 21 March 2014, a group of special procedures mandate holders sent a joint communication regarding allegations that, on 6 March 2014, in its English news bulletin, the State-controlled Sri Lanka Rupavahini (TV) Corporation accused 24 civil society organizations of having issued a joint civil society memorandum to the Human Rights Council and the international community, while broadcasting the full names and images of the leaders of nine of those organizations and the names of affiliated civil society organizations. In the same bulletin, the Corporation allegedly also accused the mentioned organizations of having submitted false information to the international community to discredit the country, claimed that their memorandum would damage the peace and reconciliation prevailing in the country among various ethnic groups and regions and stated that it was common among NGOs to exaggerate information about the situation in Sri Lanka in order to receive funding. At the time of finalization of the present report, no reply had been received from the Government.

On 10 February 2014, allegations of intimidation and reprisals, including death threats, were raised concerning members of the National Fisheries Solidarity Movement, including in connection with the visit of the High Commissioner. On 7 March 2013, Jude Besil Sosai Anthirai was prevented from travelling to Colombo to the United Nations compound, where he wished to submit a petition. On 22 August 2013, Sanja Sandanadas was questioned at her home by officers from the Criminal Investigation Department about her work and told not to organize any event during the visit of the High Commissioner. On 3 September 2013, Selvakumar Krishnapillai was questioned several times by two men about a petition presented to the High Commissioner; two days later he was asked to report to the Ministry of Defence. At the time of finalization of the present report, no reply had been received from the Government to a joint communication sent by several special procedures mandate holders.

A two-member squad, dressed in civil clothes, was trying to knife three journalists in Jaffna after chasing them in a motorbike for 2 kilometres at Nalloor on Tuesday night. The journalists were returning to their offices in two motorbikes after collecting news of a hunger strike when the incident took place. The journalists managed to escape from the attackers and rushed to the Police station in Jaffna to lodge a complaint on the assassination attempt. At the police station, they saw the motorbike of the attackers parked inside the premises and the alleged attackers were a police inspector and a surgeon. The police officers at duty refused to file the complaint from the journalists. In the meantime, another reporter from Point Pedro has been remanded on Wednesday for filing a story about an attempted rape of a school girl by a police constable belonging to Nelliyadi police station. Tharmapalan Vinojith, the staff reporter at Yaazh Thinakkural and the chairman of Jaffna Press Club, Piratheepan Thampithurai, the Jaffna correspondent of Hiru TV and Mayurathan Sreeramachandran, the reporter of Ada Derana and Tamil Mirror were the three journalists, who were intercepted by the two member squad that chased them at Nalloor around 9:45 p.m. on Tuesday. When the journalists spotted the attackers wielding knives against them, they managed to escape from the site. The journalists say that the attackers in civil were wearing t-shirts used by the police. Only one of them was wearing a helmet. When the three journalists arrived at the police station and witnessed that the attackers were policemen from the same station, the policemen at the station not only refused to register their complaint, but they also attempted to assault them, the journalists said. A complaint was accepted only on the following day after a long process and that too registered as a "minor offence', the journalists said. In the meantime, the Senior Police Superintend in Jaffna was trying for a negotiation on Wednesday night with the journalists to avoid legal proceedings against the policemen, media sources in Jaffna said. Now, the police has accepted that the it was two of its police officers who were behind the incident. But, the police says that they took the knives for their "personal security'. The involved police officers have alleged that the three journalists had attempted to assault them. The journalists say that the attackers intended to cause major harm as the squad had chased them for 2 kilometres and pointed knives against them while intercepting them. "How could three journalists confront two trained police officers who were armed with knives", a journalist asked. In the meantime, Jaffna Press Club (JPC) has said the journalists have been continuously harassed by the SL police, the so-called Terrorist Investigation Division (TID) and the SL military intelligence. Journalists Mayoorathan and Vinojith have been harassed after they brought out the news of houses being destroyed inside the High Security Zone (HSZ) in Valikaamam North. Majorathan was subjected to an attack on the road by a squad. The TID has been harassing them continuously, the JPC said. The journalists, who do not want to drop the case agains the police squad, have approached the Human Rights Commission in Jaffna on Thursday. "We still remember that the assassinated journalist Nimalrajan was harassed by police squad that visited him before he was slain," one of the journalists told TamilNet. Meanwhile, S. Logathayalan, a journalist working for Uthayan and Thinakkural was remanded on Wednesday for investigations against filing a story on a rape attempt by a policeman from Nelliyadi station. The story was published in Uthayan paper on Tuesday. The story didn't mention the name of the policeman. However, on Wednesday, the SL police went out with a denial against the story in the same paper. The SL police wanted the editor T. Premananth and the staff reporter Logathayalan to record their statements. But, Logathayalan was arrested after he gave his statement and was taken to the court on Wednesday. Point Pedro court's acting Magistrate P. Subramaniyam remanded the journalist till 17 April. The journalist was released on bail on Thursday. It is very strange that the journalist was legally remanded for publishing a story that didn't violate the norms of journalism, journalists in Jaffna said

Today, on 7th January 2015, three human rights activists received death threats over the telephone from sources that have refused to identify themselves, but have appeared to be connected with security authorities. The human rights activists who received these death threats are Mr. Brito Fernando, Mr. Phillip Dissanayake and Mr. Prasanga Fernando - all of whom work with the Right to Life organization and the organization of the families of the disappeared in Sri Lanka. They have also been in the recent past taking part and actively campaigning for the common opposition candidate in the presidential election of Maithripala Sirisena on the basis that massive human rights violations have taken place and are taking place in Sri Lanka and that these need to be stopped. Brito Fernando and Prasanga Fernando have also received threats by way of hanging freshly killed dogs' heads in their homes earlier this week. During the phone conversation the speaker says that "we know all the details about you, your wives and about your children; ... and we know where they travel and where they can be found. We also know where your children go to school. We will teach you a lesson first, before we deal with your big people... before we do that we will get all the details from you about what you do... you have been involved in some matters relating to the Anuradhapura Police. We know all about that. We know how to get information from you once we get hold of you. It is after obtaining this information that we will finally deal with you... make your funeral arrangements at your homes.' Details relating to the earlier threats have been published in several media channels and you may find the details at the following link. [Asian Human Rights Commission](http://www.humanrights.asia/news/ahrc-news/AHRC-STM-002-2015 The Asian Human Rights Commission condemns these dastardly, cowardly, and mean acts of issuing death threats and we are also warning the public that carrying out of such death threats could actually take place in this environment of the upcoming presidential elections on 8th January 2015. We ask the Government of Sri Lanka and the Inspector General of Police to investigate into this matter with immediate effect and we will also inform all human rights organizations in Sri Lanka and overseas about these threats. We will also inform all the Embassies in Sri Lanka and the United Nation's about these threats. We ask President Mahinda Rajapaksa to immediately take appropriate action to find the culprits and apprehend them. In the event no such action is taken it may appear that such death threats are being made with President Rajapaksa's direct or indirect approval.

Two heads of dogs, freshly severed, have been strewn in front of the houses of two well-known human rights defenders as the race in the presidential election is intensifying in Sri Lanka. Mr. Brito Fernando and Prasanga Fernando are two well-known human rights activists who have a long history of fighting for the protection of human rights in Sri Lanka. They have also been campaigning against enforced disappearances, extra judicial killings, and torture and other human rights abuses. They have been actively campaigning for the common opposition candidate Maithripala Sirisena on the grounds that the Government of Mahinda Rajapaksa has been engaged in systematic violations of human rights that need to be stopped. Brito Fernando has also recently publicly declared that on a previous occasion he had campaigned together with President Rajapaksa when he was in the opposition, against enforced disappearances and other abuses of human rights. However, once in power President Rajapaksa has failed to honour his promises to bring the perpetrators of human rights violations to justice and in particular to end the present form of the executive presidential system which destroys the possibility of the protection of the rights of the people. The Asian Human Rights Commission condemns the threats made to these two human rights activists by the exhibition of severed heads of dogs, thrown in front of their houses which are a barbaric act. These types of sinister attacks can only be done with the corporation of some sections of the security agencies who are carrying out political instructions against those who are exercising their right to freely participate in campaigning for candidates of their choices. The AHRC also states that this act is a gross violation of the electoral laws which provides freedoms for all citizens to participate in the elections in order to elect a government of their choice. The rights of all citizens to participate in the elections are enshrined in the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights. We ask the Government, and the Commissioner of Elections to inquire into this act as it is a serious violation of the electoral laws. We also ask all Sri Lankan people to actively protect the rights of every citizen to participate in the electoral process and in particular to condemn this barbaric attack on the two human rights activists. The AHRC will also bring this matter to the attention of relevant United Nations authorities and to the attention of the international community.

On 28 November 2010, human rights defenders Mr Aruna Roshantha and Mr Marcus Anthony Fernando were arrested on charges of conspiring against the Government in Sri Lanka after being requested to attend a meeting at the Police Headquarters to discuss their recent human rights activities. Further Information Aruna Roshantha is a trade union leader with the Sri Lanka All Island Fishermen's Trade Union and Marcus Anthony Fernando is the Chairperson of the Negombo Lagoon Fisher People's Union. Both are leaders in the Alliance to Protect the Negombo Lagoon. On 28 November 2010, Aruna Roshantha and Marcus Anthony Fernando were arrested, before subsequently being released on bail, under Section 150 of the Penal Code for conspiring against, and trying to incite people to overthrow, the Government of Sri Lanka. That morning the two union leaders had been summoned by the Negombo Police to attend a meeting with Inspector Somasiri Liyanage at the Police Headquarters in Negombo. During the course of the meeting they were questioned over the distribution of a pamphlet on 27 November 2010 that explained environmental problems that would result from the reclamation of part of the Negombo Lagoon as part of a Government project to promote tourism to the region. The reclaimed land is the proposed site for a new landing strip for sea planes. Protest actions against the plans have resulted in a temporary cessation of some project activities. On the day in question approximately 60 people, including Aruna Roshantha and Marcus Anthony Fernando, were involved in distributing the pamphlets explaining the adverse consequences of the project. There were allegedly a number of plain clothes police officers amongst the crowd but there were no reports of problems or obstructions. Front Line believes that the arrests of Aruna Roshantha and Marcus Anthony Fernando is a result of their legitimate and peaceful activities in the defence of human rights in Sri Lanka, and in particular their attempts to protect the Negombo Lagoon and the rights of those whose livelihoods are dependent upon its protected environment.

On 8 October 2012, Mr Manjula Tillakeratne - the secretary of the Judicial Services Commission was assaulted by four unidentified men. He was taken to hospital after being stabbed at least three times, and his mobile phone was stolen. This attack reportedly took place after the Judicial Service Commission had issued a statement denouncing attempts to interfere with and propaganda against the judiciary, particularly regarding the Judicial Service Commission. According to higher education minister S.B. Dissanayake, the assault on the Judicial Service Commission secretary is nothing other than a conspiracy hatched by local and foreign forces.

On 4 and 7 December 2012, members of the human rights organisations Right to Life and Families of the Disappeared (FOD) were repeatedly summoned and questioned by police and immigration officials following a solidarity event organised by the Asian Federation against Involuntary Disappearances (AFAD) and its partners. Police officers appeared at the event and threatened to arrest several human rights defenders who were in attendance, seizing a copy of a documentary and electronic equipment in the process. Both NGOs work on human rights issues including enforced disappearances in Sri Lanka. The solidarity event took place at Lagoon View Restaurant in Negombo around 6.30pm on 3 December 2012. Among the guests were AFAD Council members from various Asian countries including the Philippines and Indonesia, and numerous members of civil society organisations as well as two mothers of victims of enforced disappearances. A Sinhala-language version of an AFAD primer on the UN Convention for the Protection of All Persons from Enforced Disappearance was presented, and a documentary was shown about the commemoration of victims of disappearances and massacres in Sri Lanka that was held on 27 October 2012. At 9.10pm, a group of people including the two mothers of disappeared victims and FOD Secretary Mr Wasantha Ranil Kumara left the venue in a taxi, which was stopped 100 metres further down the road. A group of policemen, both uniformed and in plain clothes, questioned the human rights defender and the mothers of the victims before forcing them to sit in the police jeep and confiscating their mobile phones and a laptop which they had with them. Wasantha Ranil Kumara was told by the officers that the group would be arrested. The officers reportedly said this was because they had shown a documentary critical of the President to foreigners at the event. The officers also demanded a copy of the documentary. After being held in the jeep for an hour, the group were eventually let go without arrest after the FOD Chairperson Mr Brito Fernando arrived and argued with the officers. Right to Life Secretary Mr Philip Dissanayake was also stopped by police while leaving the venue, and the organisation's laptop, projector and camera were seized. AFAD Council members who left the venue to go to the airport were also followed and stopped by police officers who recorded their passport details. Around 1pm the following day, five officials from the investigative unit of the Department of Immigration and Emigration led by Chief Immigration Officer W. P. Aminth S. Perera came to the Right to Life and FOD offices and questioned three staff members, among them Wasantha Ranil Kumara, about the purpose of the event and the foreigners who had come to attend it. When Brito Fernando arrived, he was similarly questioned but refused to answer in the absence of an official written request. He was subsequently summoned for questioning at the Department of Immigration and Emigration on 7 December 2012. During that interview he was again asked for details of the foreign visitors who had come to Sri Lanka for the event.

The Committee to Protect Journalists is deeply concerned by the reported disappearance of Prageeth Ekneligoda, a political reporter for the Sri Lankan news Web site Lanka eNews. Lanka eNews Editor Sandurwan Senadeera told news organizations that Ekneligoda was last seen leaving the office on Sunday evening. He told news outlets that he fears the reporter may have been abducted. In its own account, Lanka eNews described Ekneligoda as a political analyst who has supported opposition presidential candidate Sarath Fonska, a retired general, in Tuesday's election. The presidential election has already been marred by widespread violence and accusations of cheating by both sides. Lanka eNews has long been targeted for harassment by the government of Mahinda Rajapaksa, the incumbent who is seeking re-election in Tuesday's vote. In 2008, CPJ urged Rajapaksa to halt the Defense Ministry's practice of denouncing Lanka eNews and other news outlets on its official Web site. "We are deeply concerned by the disappearance of Prageeth Ekneligoda. Sri Lanka's elections are surrounded by violence, and it is legitimate to fear for the safe return of Ekneligoda," said Bob Dietz, CPJ's Asia program coordinator. The abduction of journalists is a recurring problem in Sri Lanka. Many local journalists say the government has permitted a climate of impunity that emboldens the assailants. The Canadian Press quoted Media Minister Lakshman Yapa Abeywardena as saying that the government had no involvement in Ekneligoda's disappearance. "The Web site has been publishing defamatory articles but all we did was to reply to them. We will not resort to these kinds of actions," Abeywardena told the Canadian Press.

On 15 October 2012, slanderous posters in Sinhala could be seen around Colombo with a reference made to CPA Executive Director, Dr. Paikiasothy Saravanamuttu. The text on the posters translates as: "Let us save the pro-people Divineguma Act that builds the lives of fifteen lakhs of low income families from the Paikiasothy gang that aids and abets the separation of the country." The context of the reference in the poster to the Divineguma Bill, which at the time of writing is in the enactment process, and CPA's legal challenge to its constitutionality. When the Bill was placed on the Order Paper of Parliament on 10 August 2012, both CPA and Dr.Saravanamuttu in his capacity as Executive Director, filed petitions challenging the Bill in the Supreme Court, bringing to the Court's attention a number of substantive and procedural grounds on which the Bill was potentially inconsistent with the Constitution. There are several substantive areas of constitutional concern in what is envisaged in the Bill, including the doctrine of the separation of powers, the possible reversal of certain subjects devolved to Provincial Councils, Parliament's control over public finance and its general oversight over the executive, and public access to information held by government. We will make no further comment at this stage on these issues as the matter is pending before the Supreme Court. On the procedural issues, however, the Supreme Court agreed with the averment in CPA's initial petitions that the substance of the Bill impacts on a number of devolved subjects in such a way as to require it to be passed in terms of the special procedure laid down in the Constitution, which involves the consent of the Provincial Councils. Pursuant to this determination by the Supreme Court, the government sent the Bill to the Provincial Councils where consent has been forthcoming, except in the case of the Northern Province, where there is no elected Provincial Council. There is currently a legal challenge by a Member of Parliament for the Jaffna District to the consent provided on behalf of that Province by the Governor. Regardless of the matter being referred to the Supreme Court on the question of the role of the Governor, the Bill was tabled for the second time in Parliament on 9 September 2012. CPA and Dr. Saravanamuttu have challenged the Bill yet again, with the matter to be taken up in the Supreme Court this week. Aside from these attacks, CPA disclosed that the military visited CPA office in the morning of 15 October, the same day the posters appeared. The military personnel informed CPA security that they in turn had been told by the Postal Department that the CPA address was one that had a connection to the Elections Department, which they were checking.

On 9 December 2011, Mr. Lalith Kumar Weeraraj and Mr. Kugan Muruganandan disappeared. The two HRDs were last seen leaving the house of Mr. Muruganandan in Avarangal, Jaffna, North Sri Lanka. Mr. Lalith Kumar Weeraraj is a prominent human rights defender mainly working on disappearances in the north and east Sri Lanka. He is the Jaffna Coordinator of the Movement for People's Struggles (MPS, ocal name: Jana Aragala Wiyapaaraya), a group aiming at mobilizing people against state repression. Mr. Kugan Muruganandan has been assisting Mr. Lalith Kumar Weeraraj in his work for MPS, especially on cases of enforced disappearances and unlawful detentions. On 9 December 2011, Mr. Lalith Kumar Weeraraj travelled to Jaffna to meet Mr. Kugan Muruganandan and organize a press conference together on International Human Rights Day, 10 December. The press conference planned to highlight a protest on 13 December in Colombo organized by MPS calling for the immediate release of missing activists . The two HRDs were last seen leaving Mr. Kugan Muruganandan's house at around 5pm and rode his motorbike with license number NP GT 7852. After this last sighting, the fate and whereabouts of the two missing human rights defenders remain unknown, as they never reached their destination. That evening, Mr. Lalith Kumar Weeraraj's father received a number of threatening phone calls which he reported on 11 December 2011 at the Kosagma police station in Colombo. Prior to his disappearance, Mr. Lalith Kumar Weeraraj had received repeated threats, intimidation and physical assault as a consequence of his active involvement in campaigns and work on enforced disappearances and arbitrary detention. In the year 2011 alone, Mr. Lalith Kumar Weeraraj was abducted twice by a group of men claiming to be army officers who questioned him about his work. On 14 November 2011, Mr. Lalith Kumar Weeraraj together with other activists were badly beaten up by a group of thugs while staging a protest with families of the disappeared in Jaffna. This attack took place in full view of the police and the army who did not take action to stop the violence. The families of both Mr. Lalith Kumar Weeraraj and Mr. Kugan Muruganandan already filed a complaint at two separate police stations after they went missing. Mr. Lalith Kumar Weeraraj's father also filed a complaint with the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) regarding the two missing HRDs. On 10 December 2011, written complaints were submitted by the Member of the Parliament Mr. Ajith Kumara to the Secretary of Defence Mr. Gotabhaya Rajapaksa, to the Jaffna police station, as well as to the National Human Rights Commission of Sri Lanka. Mr. Ajith Kumara also made a statement in Parliament on 14 December 2011 regarding the two missing HRDs. On 14 December 2011, Mr. Kugan Muruganandan's wife found her husband's motorbike inside the Atchuveli police station in Jaffna. The Jaffna police has thus far denied that the two missing HRDs are under their custody, and claim that the vehicle was found by the Kopai police parked near a Hindu temple in that area. However, the Cabinet Spokesperson Minister Keheliya Rambukwella said in a briefing on 15 December 2011 that the missing HRDs were not disappeared and "are there", without specifying any place. Minister Keheliya Rambukwella indicate that the two missing HRDs are in government custody, although added that if the two were in police or military custody, that they would be produced before a Magistrate and be treated according to the law. The family has heard through unofficial sources that the two are being held in an unspecified detention center somewhere in Jaffna. However there is no official confirmation of this information. They have reason to believe that the two are being held by security forces because of their human rights work and previous incidents in relation to this.

Mr. Visuvalingam Kirupaharan has been subjected to harassment and intimidation as a result of an ongoing smear campaign against him, by various newspapers and websites in Sri Lanka. It is alleged that the articles are published in pro-Government newspapers, in English, Singhalese, and Tamil. As a result of this smear campaign, Mr Kirupaharan has received numerous threatening phone calls. Mr. Kirupaharan has engaged with various UN mechanisms and brought to the attention of the UN Human Rights Council the situation on human rights in Sri Lanka. He exposed the alleged lack of adequate investigations into human rights violations. On 30 January 2011, a Sri Lankan newspaper called Divaina published an article claiming that Mr. Kirupaharan, along with 20 others, were wanted by Interpol for his alleged contact with people from the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE). However, Interpol reportedly holds no information concerning Mr. Kirupaharan in its files. The articles reportedly branded Mr. Kirupaharan as a "traitor" stating that he is an agent of the LTTE and suggested that "these people should be kept out of the UN". The publication of this article reportedly forms part of an ongoing smear campaign against Mr. Kirupaharan. It is alleged that a similar article was previously published by Divaina on 21 March 2010, labelling Mr. Kirupaharan a non-patriot and a terrorist, who had betrayed Sri Lanka and should therefore not be permitted access to the UN. The article was printed alongside a photograph of Mr. Kirupaharan which was taken as he attended the UN Human Rights Council in Geneva on 12 March 2010. The photograph was reportedly taken by a driver for the Sri Lankan Permanent Mission whose name is known by the Special Rapporteur, while Mr. Kirupaharan was speaking to another Sri Lankan human rights defenders at gate 40 of the UN Palais des Nations. Approximately 15 minutes after the photograph was taken, Mr. Kirupaharan was approached by the same man who had photographed him, who asked him to confirm his name. The man then allegedly asked Mr. Kirupaharan to accompany him to a quieter location within the Palais de Nations, where they spoke briefly. It is alleged that the objective of this conversation was to threaten Mr. Kirupaharan.

On 6 March 2012, Mr. Asela Bandara Ihagama was forced to cancel the annual women's day event which he had organised for Commission for Justice, Peace, Human Development, Human Rights Secretariat in Kandy (SETIK-Caritas Kandy) following an order by the Office in Charge (OIC) of the Hatton police, prohibiting any public event to take place in Hatton from 6 to 8 March 2012. The event was to be held in Hatton on 7 March and all arrangements had been made when the police informed that the event should not be held at around 6.30 pm on 6 March. Around 500 women from the estate community were expected to participate in the event, which focused on violence against women, in particular domestic violence. The OIC told Mr. Ihagamathat no public gathering or celebration would be permitted since it would disrupt preparations for the women's day celebrations organised by the Government, in Hatton, to which over 5,000 Sinhala women from Anuradhapura and Pollonnaruwa were due to participate. The OIC said that all buses and vehicles would be prevented from entering Hatton town from 6 to 8 March and threatened that any gathering of more than five persons would result in arrests by the police. As a result, Mr. Ihagamaand his staff were forced to cancel the event planned for the following day and to return to the city of Kandy that night. Moreover, Mr. Asela Bandara Ihagama has been subjected to a series of threats, intimidation and surveillance by State intelligence officers since January 2012. On 29 January officers from the Criminal Investigations Department (CID) visited his village and questioned neighbours about his work. On 9 February, Mr. Ihagama was questioned at his office by an officer from the Terrorism Investigation Department (TID) who said that the TID had received information that Mr. Ihagama was working to support the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE) among the estate community and was providing information to international groups, including through their websites in order to discredit the Government. On 19 February 2012, at around 8 pm, a group of men in a white van were seen parked near a funeral house Mr. Ihagama had visited in the morning in his neighbourhood (around 30 meters from his house). When neighbours asked the men where they had come from and what they were doing there, they replied that they knew Mr. Ihagama and had come from Colombo. They also questioned the neighbours regarding Mr. Ihagama's work and the details of his family members. They left at around 10.15 pm. On 20 February 2012, men visited Mr. Ihagama's office in Kandy and asked the caretaker whether he was in office, telling him that that they were Mr. Ihagama's friends and wished to speak with him. The caretaker informed them that Mr. Ihagama had not come to office since it was a holiday on that day and offered to give him a message. The men refused to leave a message and left shortly after. Mr.Ihagama believes that these men were intelligence officers since any of his friends would have called him before visiting the office. At SETIK, Mr. Ihagama has been involved in documenting human rights abuses including torture and assisting victims of torture and rape and their families since 1998. In particular, he has provided information to international bodies and has campaigned actively to raise human rights awareness and against rights abuses, particularly among the Estate Tamils.

Since January 2012, threats, harassment, intimidation, vilification and incitement to violence against Sri Lankan human rights defenders in connection with their views on accountability issues in Sri Lanka. These threats are part of a hate campaign directed against human rights defenders who have engaged with the 19th regular session of the UN Human Rights Council (Council) and supported the recent adoption of the Council resolution on "promoting reconciliation and accountability in Sri Lanka" (A/HRC/19/L.2). The resolution urges the Sri Lankan government to implement the recommendations of the Lessons Learnt and Reconciliation Commission (LLRC) and probe alleged abuses of international humanitarian law at the end of the war with the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Elam (LTTE). Human rights defenders present at the Council in Geneva and repeatedly identified, Dr. Paikiasothy Saravanamuttu, Dr. Nimalka Fernando, Ms. Sunila Abeysekera and Mr. Sunanda Deshapriya, are particularly targeted for their support of the resolution. They have been depicted as traitors and accused of supporting the LTTE as well as spreading lies about the human rights situation in Sri Lanka, with the view to undermine the legitimacy of their work. Furthermore, Media Minister Keheliya Rambukwella insinuated that the defenders present at the Council "betrayed the motherland for dollars after enjoying free education and health services," and that "they are worse than the foreign elements". The present series of accusations started in January 2012 and have been spread through State-controlled TV and radio stations and appear in pro-government print and online news in Sri Lanka. The continuous daily coverage, which provides names and photographs of the defenders, contains thinly-veiled threats of retaliation which has only compounded the climate of fear under which defenders work in the country and has had a chilling effect as comments to online news items by the general public have clearly incited violence. One comment to an article questioned whether there was anyone willing to set fire to Ms. Sunila Abeysekera's home. Another article suggests that in a country like Iran these "kinds of bastards would be stoned in public". The adoption of the Council's resolution on 22 March 2012 has further intensified the hate campaign against supporters of the resolution. On 23 March 2012, speaking at a protest against the UN resolution on Sri Lanka, Minister of Public Relations Mervyn Silva named Dr. Paikiasothy Saravanamuttu, Dr. Nimalka Fernando and Mr. Sunanda Deshapriya as traitors. He threatened to "break their limbs" in public if they dare to set foot in the country. The Minister also claimed responsibility for the eventual exile of journalist and free press activist Mr. Poddala Jayantha, who left Sri Lanka in 2009 after being abducted and severely beaten up. He stated that President Mahinda Rajapaksa would not take any action against him as "even if a tsunami flowed from Sigiriya, no tsunami would flow against him from Rajapaksa". On 23 March 2012, the High Commissioner for Human Rights, Ms. Navi Pillay warned that there must be no reprisals against Sri Lankan human rights defenders. She noted with concern the unacceptable level of threats, harassment and intimidation directed at Sri Lankan activists who had travelled to Geneva to engage in the debate, including by members of the Sri Lankan government delegation. During the plenary sessions of Council as well as in parallel events, members of Sri Lanka's delegation carrying diplomatic UN identity cards were seen photographing at close range Dr. Paikiasothy Saravanamuttu, Ms. Nimalka Fernando, Ms. Sunila Abeysekera and Mr. Sunanda Deshapriya and harassing them verbally. In a statement released by Dr. Paikiasothy Saravanamuttu, Ms. Nimalka Fernando and Ms. Sunila Abeysekera on 21 March 2012, they expressed that as human rights defenders they will remain committed to their ideals and goals to defeat impunity in Sri Lanka and to build strong system of justice and accountability for human rights violations.

Human rights defender Mr Sunanda Deshapriya was the target of a media smear campaign and death threats, following his participation in an event held at the UN headquarters in Geneva on 12 September 2011. State controlled media reportedly published an inaccurate account of the event following which calls were made to have Sunanda Deshapriya killed for betraying the Sri Lankan State. Sunanda Deshapriya is a Sri Lankan human rights defender who has been living in exile in Geneva since 2009. He has worked as a press freedom campaigner and journalist and currently writes a column which often focuses on human rights issues for the Sinhalese newspaper Ravaya. He also edits a website known as the Sri Lanka Brief and maintains an online blog which gathers information about human rights violations with a particular focus on freedom of expression. While in Sri Lanka, Sunanda Deshapriya was the head of the Free Media Movement. On 12 September 2011, Sunanda Deshapriya attended a side event to the 18th session of the UN Human Rights Council organised by the Sri Lankan Government. The event was attended by a number of Sri Lankan ministers and Government officials, as well as representatives from a number of diplomatic missions and H.E. Mohamed Nasheed, the President of the Maldives. There were also some representatives from human rights organisations as well as some other Sri Lankan human rights defenders in attendance. In the days following the event, various sections of the Sri Lankan media including the Sri Lanka Mirror, and the Sri Lanka Broadcasting Corporation among others, published articles which claimed that the President of the Maldives made negative comments about Sri Lankan human rights defenders who attended the Human Rights Council including a former leader of the Free Media Movement,. It is reported by those who attended the side event, that the President of the Maldives did not make statements as published in the Sri Lankan media. The President engaged in conversation with Sunanda Deshapriya and other human rights defenders after the side event. Since May 2009, Sunanda Deshapriya has been living in exile in Geneva as a result of threats issued against him following his participation and oral intervention in the 10th session of the Human Rights Council in March 2009 and 11th Special Session on Sri Lanka in May 2009. He has been repeatedly targeted by smear campaigns against him in the Sri Lankan media. Numerous calls have been made to have him killed as a result of his human rights work. Front Line believes that Sunanda Deshapriya has been targeted solely as a result of his work as a human rights defender. Although Sunanda Deshapriya is no longer living in Sri Lanka, Front Line is deeply concerned that calls have been made to have him killed. In this connection, deep concern is expressed for the physical and psychological integrity of his family who remain in Sri Lanka as concern grows that they may be targeted.

Reporters Without Borders is shocked to learn of yesterday evening's savage attack on Gnanasundaram Kuhanathan, 59, the editor of the Tamil-language daily Uthayan, who was beaten by unidentified men with iron bars in the northern city of Jaffna. He was rushed to hospital, where he was in a critical condition with serious head injuries and still unconscious. "We demand a rapid and thorough investigation into this appalling crime," Reporters Without Borders said. "The violence used by his attackers clearly shows they did not intend him to survive. Combating impunity is the first step towards creating the conditions for independent and pluralist journalism. "This attack must not be the prelude to a new wave of violence against journalists, which has been on the wane during the past year, in part because so many journalists are in exile. We remind the authorities that impunity continues to encourage wrongdoers." Kuhanathan was attacked near his home at around 6:30 p.m. by several men with iron bars who were waiting for him. After being rushed to a Jaffna hospital, he was put on a respirator in an intensive care unit. His doctors may decide he should be transferred to a hospital in the capital, Colombo. An opposition newspaper that defends the interests of Sri Lanka's Tamil minority, Uthayan tends to support the Tamil National Alliance, which won most of the local councils in Tamil areas in the local elections held on 23 June. Physical attacks against journalists have fallen overall since 2010 but threats and acts of intimidation continue to be common in Sri Lanka without the judicial authorities necessarily taking much interest. Yesterday's attack on Kuhanathan was nonetheless the second attack on an Uthayan journalist in the past two months. The reporter S. Kavitharan was attacked by armed men as he was going to work on 28 May. There have been four murders of journalists in Sri Lanka since 2008 in which a link with the victim's work was clearly established, and a well-known cartoonist, Prageeth Eknaligoda, has been missing since January 2010. None of these cases has been solved. More than 50 journalists and press freedom activists have fled abroad in recent years because their lives were in danger.

An active non-governmental organization worker based in the Puttalam district and who travelled widely carrying out relief work for victims of the conflict as well as those hit by the tsunami has disappeared after he was allegedly abducted in February last year. Identified as Pattani Razeek (56), it appeared he had known his abductors as he was seen getting into their vehicle - a white van - without any resistance. As a result of many protests and complaints search operations were launched to locate the NGO worker who last served as the Managing Trustee of the Community Trust Fund (CTF), but all efforts were fruitless. However, Police were able to finally discover his body buried in a partly built house in Valaichchenai. "My family members including myself received several telephone calls demanding a ransom of Rs. 20 million for his release. The figure was revised to Rs. 10 million and then was reduced to Rs. one million. The last call we received was in September last year," his son Riz Khan told the Sunday Times yesterday."The alleged abductors first inquired about the operations of the Fund and told us to get the money on behalf of our father. We declined as there were other members of the organization who had to give their consent," he said. He said the callers later inquired about the assets of his father and said they were willing to release his father if Rs. one million was paid. "I told the callers we cannot raise that amount of money even if we sold our house. My father was only a retired grama niladhari. However, later we agreed to pay Rs. 900,000, but wanted to talk to our father. That never took place and we never heard from them again", he said. The family members had then given the Police the telephone numbers of the persons who called, enabling the Police to make a breakthrough early this month. As a result police took into custody one Shabdeen Naushad, an employee of a vocational training institute located in Kilinochchi. The arrest came after investigators intercepted some phone calls made by the employee. He is said to have served as a co-ordinator of Minister Rishad Bathiudeen. In an anticipatory bail application filed by the suspect last year, he admitted his connection to Minister Bathiudeen and admitted that he met Razeek on the day of his disappearance and that he travelled with Minister Bathiudeen's brother and the staff of Minister Bathiudeen in a vehicle belonging to Minister Bathiudeen's Ministry. He also admitted he was a Government supporter and said his arrest might affect his credibility and also the credibility of Minister Bathiudeen and affect the prospects of the Minister in the upcoming elections. Police finally received information that Mr. Razeek was killed and buried in a partly built house in Valaichchenai. The house was owned by a relative of one of the two suspects currently in custody. The body of Razeek was in a highly decomposed state and was sent for a DNA test to Colombo. The results of the test are due on Tuesday. Family members of Mr. Razeek had been under pressure to fund a political campaign in the Puttalam district, but they had rejected the request. The recovery of the body has prompted a call from the UN to carry out investigations into other disappearances as well. UNHRC wants other disappearances probed The Office of the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights said it hopes that investigation and prosecution into the death of prominent human rights activist Pattani Razeek whose body was exhumed on Thursday will be expedited, and that there will be similar progress in resolving the many thousands of outstanding cases of disappearance in Sri Lanka. "We hope that investigation and prosecution of this crime will now be expedited, and that there will be similar progress in resolving the many thousands of outstanding cases of disappearance in Sri Lanka," Ravina Shamdasani, a Spokesperson for the UNHRC in Geneva said on Friday. Mr. Razeek, the Managing Trustee of Community Trust Fund (CTF) and a leading member of regional NGO networks, has been missing since February 11, 2010. It is only in the past few weeks that two suspects were arrested in relation to the case. The information they provided reportedly led to the discovery of the body. Now that the fate of this human rights defender has been established, it is time for an investigation to establish the truth of the circumstances of this heinous crime, and for prosecution to bring justice to the victim's family, the UNHRC spokesperson aid. In particular the spokesperson referred to the case of freelance journalist and cartoonist, Prageeth Ranjan Bandara Ekneligoda, who has been missing and considered "disappeared' since January 2010. "We strongly urge the Government of Sri Lanka to expedite investigations and provide information on Mr. Ekneligoda's whereabouts and fate," she said. The spokesperson also encouraged the Government to seek the assistance of the UN Working Group on Enforced and Involuntary Disappearances, which has 5,653 outstanding Sri Lankan cases on its books, by inviting it to visit the country.

The Asian Human Rights Commission (AHRC) has received information that Mr. Niroshan Premaratne, a professional journalist attached to the Independent Television Network (ITN) of Wickremasinghe Pura, Battaramulla, Colombo was illegally arrested and severely tortured by police officers attached to the Panadura Police Station on 8 May 2011. While Niroshan was driving with his wife and brother-in-law they were stopped by police officers and brought to Pandura Police Station. When Niroshan tried to inform his senior management regarding the illegal arrest two police officers started beating him. Shortly afterwards he was released and admitted to the Panadura Base Hospital who in turn transferred him to the Colombo South Teaching Hospital. He suffered several contusions to his face and one tooth was broken as a result of the beating. This case is yet another illustration of the exceptional collapse of the rule of law in the country where persons are tortured and extrajudicial killed in police stations and journalists have become fair game. CASE NARRATIVE: According to the information the Asian Human Rights Commission received Mr. Niroshan Premaratne, a professional journalist attached to the Independent Television Networks (ITN) of Wickremasinghe Pura, Battaramulla was subject to arbitrary assault by two police officers at the Panadura Police Station on 8 May 2011. In the morning Niroshan had gone to participate at a family event at Wadduwa with his wife and his brother-in-law following which they travelled back to Colombo in his vehicle. Some officers of the Motor Traffic Unit of the Panadura Division pulled him over on charges of driving his vehicle while disobeying Police orders. But Niroshan states that he did not see the signal which the police officers said they had given him. Instead of carrying out the necessary investigations after taking him to the Panadura Police Station the officers tried to lock up him in the cell. When Niroshan tried to inform his senior management of the situation using his wife's mobile phone two officer of the Motor Traffic Unit brutally assaulted him. This assault was witnessed by his wife and brother-in-law. Niroshan was not charged and after the assault he, his wife and brother-in-law were released. He was admitted to the Panadura Hospital and thereafter transferred to the Colombo South Teaching Hospital. As a result of the beating he sustained injuries to his head and face and one tooth was broken. He also said that his gold chain and mobile phone had gone missing following the incident. Following the assault the Inspector General of Police (IGP) ordered a special investigation and the two police constables have been suspended over their alleged involvement in the assault. However, it is apparent that there will only be an internal inquiry into this incident and it is unlikely that any prosecutions will take place.

The continuous persecution by the Sri Lankan government of the Lanka-E-News publication reached a new stage when its editor, Bennet Rupasinghe was arrested and detained yesterday. For many months now Lanka-E-News has been under severe attack and one of its reporters, Prageeth Eknaligoda has been missing for over one year now. His family has accused the government of Sri Lanka for causing his forced disappearance. Very recently the Lanka-E-News office was subjected to an arson attack. Previously there had been several other attacks on this web-site. According to reports it appears that the government is trying to blame the arson attack on the editors of the website itself. This method of trying to attribute attacks on media organisations to the staff of the organisations themselves is now a common feature in Sri Lanka. The attack on the Sirasa News Agency was also attributed to the staff of that agency and there were even suggestions that the assassinations and attacks on journalists were also self-inflicted. There was an attempt to attribute the earlier attacks on journalists to the opponents of the ruling regime in order to discredit the government. For example the assassination of Lasantha Wickrematunga was blamed on Sarath Fonseka who was the former army commander who led the struggle against the LTTE. Fonseka was also the opposition candidate that ran against President Rajapakse in the last presidential election. One of his colleagues was arrested and detained for several months under this charge before being finally released. The attack on Lanka-E-News preceded a vicious campaign against website publications referring to their editors as traitors to the nation. It appears that the government which has been engaged in the suppression of the print media within the country for a considerable time and who has to a greater degree achieved this end is now directing its attack on the web organisations. The Asian Human Rights Commission (AHRC) has for a long period of time pointed out that the manipulation of the criminal justice process for political purposes is becoming a marked feature in the persecution of those perceived to be opponents of the government. The manipulation of the criminal justice process has reached the point where the confidence of the public in this process has greatly diminished. The AHRC calls for the end to the persecution of the management and staff of Lanka-E-News and the vicious campaign against the web-site-based newspapers. Such attacks are attacks, not only on the individuals concerned but also on the rights of the Sri Lankan people who are already being deprived of the right to be informed about the public affairs of their own country. We specifically call for the immediate release of Bennett Rupasinghe who has been subjected to several unjustified attacks on his rights as the editor of Lanka-E-News.

Mr. Jayaprakash Sittampalam Tissainayagam is a respected Tamil journalist and editor who writes for the Northeastern Monthly Magazine and the Sunday Times in Sri Lanka. He is also the founder of the website Outreachsl.com, which focused on the Tamils minority in Sri Lanka. On 3 December 2008, Mr.Jayaprakash Sittampalam Tissainayagam was nominated for a media freedom award for defending the freedom of information by the Reporters Without Borders (RSF) On 2 October 2009, Mr.Jayaprakash Sittampalam Tissainayagam was awarded the first Peter Mackler Award for Courageous and Ethical Journalism. His wife, Mrs. Ronnate Tissainayagam, accepted the award on his behalf because he was in prison then. On 7 March 2008, Mr. Jayaprakash Sittampalam Tissainayagam was arrested by the Terrorist Investigation Division (TID) of the Sri Lankan Police in Colombo. The police eventually confirmed that they had detained him because they suspected him of being a member of the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE). On 8 March 2008, TID officers raided and searched Mr. Jayaprakash Sittampalam Tissainayagam's home without a warrant. A copy of the Northeastern Monthly Magazine was seized. On 23 March 2008, sources close to the family of Mr. Jayaprakash Sittampalam Tissainayagam revealed that there were several phone calls threatening his wife. The source suspected that the threats emanated from government agencies On 6 April 2008, Amnesty International (AI) issued a press statement claiming that Mr. Jayaprakash Sittampalam Tissainayagam suffers from an eye condition that has required operations to re-attach his retinas. High levels of stress, or exposure to extreme levels of light, could cause a recurrence of the condition, which may result in blindness. It is not known whether he has received the required specialist medical treatment for his condition. On 9 May 2008 Mr. Jayaprakash Sittampalam Tissainayagam was granted access to an eye specialist. The specialist had said his condition required monitoring and that he needed new glasses. On 25 August 2008, Mr. Jayaprakash Sittampalam Tissainayagam was indicted for alleged violations of the PTA and was also charged with violating the 2006 Emergency Regulations with regard to allegations of aiding and abetting terrorist organizations through raising money for the magazine. It is noted that he is the first person who was charged under the PTA in the almost 30 years since it was adopted as a "temporary" measure. Mr. Jayaprakash Sittampalam Tissainayagam was denied bail on the ground that he has been charged under the PTA. On 9 September 2008, the Sri Lankan authorities dropped the charge against Mr. Jayaprakash Sittampalam Tissainayagam of "bringing disrepute to the government" but retained other charges related to editing, printing and fundraising for the magazine. On 24 October 2008, the Free Media Movement (FMM) reported that a series of letters were received by human rights defenders and lawyers associated with the current trial of Mr. Jayaprakash Sittampalam Tissainayagam. The letter reportedly warned any supporters of Mr. Jayaprakash Sittampalam Tissainayagam or other defenders of human rights cases that they would be summarily killed or suffer life-threatening injuries. The source of the letter, "Mahason Balakaya" (Mahason Regiment) is an unknown group. In November 2008, Mr. Jayaprakash Sittampalam Tissainayagam testified that he had a serious eye condition. An accident when he was 18 had caused a detached retina in both eyes and since then, he has only had 50 percent vision. Doctors had advised him that a blow to the head could make the condition recur. He said that officers of Sri Lanka's terrorist investigation division had threatened him saying he would be "beaten up like other detainees" and that he would go blind if the officers beat him. He also said he was threatened on a daily basis. On 5 December 2008, the High Court ruled that the confession made by Mr.Jayaprakash Sittampalam Tissainayagam has been proven to be made voluntarily, despite the fact that he has told the court at the initial hearing that the confession was made under duress from the police. On 31 August 2009, Mr.Jayaprakash Sittampalam Tissainayagam was convicted by the Colombo High Court and sentenced to 20 years of rigorous imprisonment for inciting communal violence and receiving money from the LTTE. On 11 January 2010, Mr.Jayaprakash Sittampalam Tissainayagam was granted bail by the Appeals Court. His lawyer said the court had ordered him to surrender his passport and pay $500 for bail. It is noted that Mr.Jayaprakash Sittampalam Tissainayagam's sudden release comes in the run up to Sri Lanka's Presidential elections in which President Mahinda Rajapaksa is pitted against his former army chief, General Sarath Fonseka. Tamil votes may play a deciding factor in the elections. On 13 January 2010 Mr.Jayaprakash Sittampalam Tissainayagam left prison.

Mr. Jayampathy Bulathsinhala, owner of the J and J Printing Press and one of the victims, is known to be a strong supporter of civil society initiatives against the civil war, the curtailment of freedom of expression, and attacks and intimidation on media persons. In the evening of September 7, 2010, Sarala Graphics, a printing press located at 43/43, Walauwatta Road, Nugegoda town, was raided by a Police team from the Special Investigations Unit located at the Mirihana police station. Authorities were looking for a poster of the President printed by the United National Party (UNP). The owner of the press and 7 workers present there, including one woman, were arrested. These posters which featured images of the Sri Lankan President Mahinda Rajapaksha were a part of campaign against the controversial 18th amendment to the Constitution of Sri Lanka. Civil society groups in the country believe that the 18th amendment undermined checks and balances instilled in the Constitution. At about 3 a.m. on the 8th September, Police went to the house of the person who had brought the print order to Sarala Graphics, Jayampathy Bulathsinhala, on Kandewatta Road, Nugegoda. He was not at home. They arrested his wife, Kumudu Wijeyawardena (34), and her two younger brothers, Nimal (30) and Kelum Wijeyawardena (26), who were in the house at the time. The three of them were also asked for the posters. They said they knew nothing. They were taken to the Mirihana police station, and at about 9 a.m. were taken to the premises of the New Vidyadara Bookshop in Maradana, which is where the office of J and J printers, the name of Bulathsinhala's printing press, is located. The premises were searched. No posters were found. At about 1 p.m. Jayampathy Bulathsinhala went to the Mirihana Police Station and handed himself over to the Police. The wife of Mr. Bulathsinhala and her two brothers were later released and produced before the Magistrate, after Mr. Bulathsinhala reported to the police and was subsequently arrested. In the afternoon, UNP MPs, Mangala Samaraweera, Jayalath Jayawardena and Dayasiri Jayasekera,went to the Mirihana Police Station and informed the Police that Jayampathy had been executing a printing order for them and that they would take full responsibility for the poster. However, the Police asked them too to hand over the poster if they wanted Jayampathy to be released. Detention Orders under the Prevention of Terrorism Act (PTA) were subsequently issued on 9 persons. 1. Jayampathy Bulathsinhala, Sinhala, male, owner of J and J Printers; 2. Galagoda Ranjith Perera, 50, Sinhala, male, owner of Sarala Graphics; 3. Sirinatha Kumaradasa Jayasundera, 39, Sinhala, male, Manager of Sarala Graphics; 4. Narahenpitage Anushka Sandaruwan Costa, 22, Sinhala, male, Machine Minder, Sarala Graphics; 5. Narahenpitage Asanka Sandaruwan Costa, 26, Sinhala, male, Machine Minder, Sarala Graphics; 6. Adikarige Thilanka Chaturanga Perera, 18, Sinhala, male, Printers' Assistant, Sarala Graphics; 7. Lalinda Pradeep Alahapperuma, Sinhala, male, Machine Minder, Sarala Graphics; 8. Dorairaj, 45, Tamil, male, watcher, Sarala Graphics; 9. Ramaiah Rameshwary, wife of Dorairaj, 33, Tamil, female, office assistant, Sarala Graphics; All of the 12 persons arrested were charged under the sweeping powers of the Prevention of Terrorism Act of 1982. This is similar to other states use of such anti-terrorism laws that give vague definitions of "acts of terrorism", in order to stifle legitimate dissent of persons who criticise state policies and to restrict the work of human rights defenders. Mr. Jayampathy Bulathsinhala's arrest is a violation of his rights as such protected by the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights and the UN Declaration on Human Rights Defenders. By arresting and detaining the printing workers, police have also denied their right to work by continuing to detain them and preventing them to perform their jobs and earning their wages. Authorities have in effect punished them for doing their work which was only incidental to the political issue. However, the more insidious threat arising from these arrests is the violation of the right to freedom of expression. By arresting workers in the printing trade, Sri Lankan authorities are sending a message of indirect intimidation of the political opposition and the public. It must be stressed that these are persons arrested whose work was an essentially neutral desk. However, the work of printers is vital to the practice of the right to freedom of expression, since mass distribution of opinion and expression materials require the contribution of printing workers. By arresting persons related to printing, authorities are sending the message that printers ought to follow the wishes of state authorities on what to print or not. In reality, the responsibility of the contents of printed materials rests on those who contract the services of printers, in this case the United National Party (UNP). This responsibility over contents is fully protected within the right of freedom of expression and opinion, as long as it is within the bounds of democratic principles. UNP is a legitimate opposition party, and their act of criticism of the 18th amendment is a part of their duty as an opposition party in a democratic political arena. Indeed, there is a bigger cause for concern in this event since, the issue of the 18th amendment being criticised through the poster has been perceived as a threat to the check and balance system of the Sri Lankan government.

On 11 February 2010, Mr. Pattani Razeek, Managing Trustee of the Community Trust Fund (CTF) and represented CTF in the executive committee of FORUM-ASIA was abducted . Mr. Razeek was last seen in Polonnaruwa, a town in the North-Central Province of Sri Lanka. In the afternoon of 11 February 2010, Mr. Razeek, was in Polonnaruwa in a van together with other staff of his organization, the Community Trust Fund (CTF), on their way home from a mission when their van was intercepted by another vehicle, a white van. In Sri Lanka, "white vans' have been known to be the preferred vehicles of groups responsible for abductions and disappearances. Mr. Razeek alighted from their vehicle, approached the men in the white van and exchanged greetings in Arabic with them, indicating that the men are Muslim. After talking to them for some minutes, Mr. Razeek went back to his colleagues and told them that he will be joining the group in the white van that according to him was heading to the Eastern provincial town of Valaichchenai. He assured his colleagues that he will be meeting up with them later. After much delay in the police investigation, his body was only found and exhumed on 29 July 2011 by the police in Kavathamunai, Oddamavadi, Valaichenai. P. Razeek was the.Razeek's body was sent to Batticaloa Hospital on 28 July 2011 for post-mortem. The post-mortem was completed on 2 August 2011 with the body released to the family on the same day. Samples of Mr. Razeek teeth, skin, hair, etc were taken by the Colombo Crimes Division and sent to the Gene Tech lab for DNA testing on 4 August 201. Mr. Razeek's son, Riskhan supplied blood to the Gene Tech Lab on 8 August 2011. Stomach samples from Mr. Razeek's body were sent to the Government Analyst on 5 August 2011.