COI Report March 2012 - UK Border Agency - Home Office

7 MARCH 2012 SRI LANKA
taken into army custody between May 16 and 18, 2009, appear to have been forcibly
disappeared. Most of them are known to have been detained in the Vadduvaakal area,
just south of the strip of land in northeastern Sri Lanka where the final battle between
the LTTE and government forces occurred. At the time, the area was controlled by the
Sri Lankan army's 59 Division.‖
8.26 Mentioning an oral statement by the Asian Forum for Human Rights and Development
(FORUM –ASIA) in the United Nations Human Rights Council (UNHRC) in Geneva on
16 March, TamilNet reported on 18 March 2011 145 that the ―… Sri Lanka government is
yet to provide clarification on 5,653 outstanding cases of disappeared persons…‖
8.27 The latest quarterly update to the Human Rights and Democracy: The 2010 Foreign &
Commonwealth Office Report 146 , dated 31 December 2011, observed:
―According to local media there were 13 incidents of extrajudicial killings or
disappearances between November and December [2011]. Many of those abducted
have been alleged to have links with organised crime, but two opposition JVP party
political activists were also abducted while travelling in the North. Other incidents have
included attacks on university students in the North and the abduction of a Jaffna
university student by unidentified persons in late November. The student was released
after 24 hours, approximately 90 miles from where he was abducted. Most cases of
past disappearances remain unresolved, including that of columnist and cartoonist
Prageeth Ekneligoda, whom the Government of Sri Lanka recently claimed had sought
asylum abroad. Mr Ekeneligoda‘s wife is pursuing the matter in Court. The High
Commission in Colombo is closely following events and attended a December hearing
of the case. The High Commission regularly raises concerns with relevant authorities
regarding disappearances.‖
8.28 The HRW World Report 2012, Sri Lanka 147 , released on 24 January 2012 noted that: ―In
2011, new reports of ‗disappearances‘ and abductions in the north and the east
emerged, some linked to political parties and others to criminal gangs.‖
8.29 On 31 July 2010 TamilNet 148 reported that: ―Sri Lanka police have received 101
complaints of abductions since January to the end of July [2010] in various parts of Sri
Lanka and 93 of them are related to ransom demands, SL police spokesman
Preshantha Jayakody told media in Colombo. The highest number of complaints was in
Colombo Central and South and 60 abducted persons related to 63 complaints had
been traced so far, he said.‖
145 TamilNet, 5,653 cases of ‘disappeared’ pending in Sri Lanka: Forum-Asia at 16th session of UNHRC,
18 March 2011 http://www.tamilnet.com/art.html?catid=13&artid=33689 date accessed 1 June 2011
146 Quarterly update to the Human Rights and Democracy: The 2010 Foreign & Commonwealth Office
Report, Latest update: 31 December 2011 http://fcohrdreport.readandcomment.com/human-rights-incountries-of-concern/sri-lanka/
date accessed 31 January 2012
147 Human Rights Watch, World Report 2012, Sri Lanka , released on 24 January 2012
http://www.hrw.org/sites/default/files/reports/wr2012.pdf date accessed 1 February 2012
148 TamilNet, 101 complaints of abductions made to SL police in 7 months, 31 July 2010,
http://www.tamilnet.com/art.html?catid=13&artid=32323 date accessed 29 September 2010
The main text of this COI Report contains the most up to date publicly available information as at 3 February 2012.
Further brief information on recent events and reports has been provided in the Latest News section
to 2 March 2012.
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