Calling For Their Immediate Releas

Statement Condemning the Arrest and Unlawful Detention of Seven Tamil Youth

( December 19, !1", Colombo, Sri #an$a %uardian& 'e the undersigned, strongl( condemn the arbitrar( arrest and illegal detention of )aveendran *a+ee,an ( 1&, Alfred -irathee,an ("!&, .uru$ai(a Asho$$umar ("/& and 0ageswarasri Yarsan ( & from 1affna, and the arrest and continued detention of three other (outh2 from .annar, b( the Terrorism 3nvestigation De,artment (T3D& between the /th and 4th of 0ovember, !1"5 3t has become common ,ractice for the %overnment to arrest and detain Tamil (outh under the -revention of Terrorism Act (-TA& coinciding with the time of .ahaveerar 0aal (#TT6 7eroes Da(&5 3n 0ovember !1 too, four Tamil students from the Universit( of 1affna were arrested and detained under the -TA, and released intermittentl( over the course of " months5 (28amilies of these three (outh did not want to reveal the identities of their sons for fear of re,risal5 As, following their arrests, intelligence officers had visited the homes of those arrested and

warned their families to not ,ursue an( course of legal action, as this would ,rolong their detention5& The 1affna 3ncident 9n the /th of 0ovember, at a,,ro:imatel( 4,m, the four (outh mentioned above had been engaged in a conversation near the Sooduvandhaan +unction, on 0aamagal )oad, Telli,,alai (a,,ro:imatel( "!m awa( from their homes,&5 A cut;out of -resident .ahinda )a+a,a$se had been erected near this +unction several months ago5 Since then, the cut;out had to,,led over and torn due to the number of heav( vehicles travelling along the 0aamagal )oad5 Subse<uentl(, some locals from the area had ,ro,,ed the cut;out against a nearb( fence5 9n the /th of 0ovember, a ,assing ,atrol of four militar( ,ersonnel on bic(cle, had sto,,ed and in<uired as to what the four (outh were doing at the +unction5 =efore the (outh could res,ond, the ,atrol had ,ointed to the cut;out of the -resident and accused the four (outh of damaging it5 The( had then ,roceeded to severel( assault the (outh5 At this ,oint, a crowd of locals, neighbours and relatives had gathered at the +unction, where the %rama Seva$a too had arrived5 The %rama Seva$a had attem,ted to e:,lain to the militar( ,ersonnel that the cut;out had alread( been damaged, and that the four (outh were not res,onsible for its condition5 7e had further stated that the (outh would reinstall the cut;out, if the militar( would sto, the assault5 The militar( ,ersonnel had agreed to the %rama Seva$a>s re<uest5 Thereafter, the crowd had borrowed hoes from a neighbouring house, and the four (outh had restored the fallen cut; out to its original ,lace5 9nce the cut;out had been restored, the militar( ,ersonnel were seen s,ea$ing on their mobile ,hones5 Soon after, the( had assaulted the four (outh again and forced the (outh to remove the cut;out, whilst ,hotogra,hing them in the ,rocess5 The militar( had then thrown the cut;out on to the street, further damaging it5 7aving then ta$en

,hotogra,hs of the damaged cut;out as well, the militar( had summoned the ,olice and handed over the four (outh to them5 The ,olice had made no further in<uiries, and merel( handed over the (outh to the T3D5 The four (outh were then ta$en to the T3D office in ?avuni(a, and are currentl( being detained at the =oosa Detention Centre5 The( have not been ,roduced before the .agistrate Court as (et5 %iven the above details, the arrest and detention of the four 1affna (outh is clearl( arbitrar( and illegal5 8urthermore, the un,rovo$ed assault of the four (outh b( officers of the State, for no legitimate reason, amounts to torture and inhuman and degrading treatment, which is in clear violation of the 3nternational Convention Against Torture (3CAT&, which Sri #an$a has acceded to in 199@5 )aveendran is a refrigeration technician, -irathee,an is a sales van driver at a business establishment, Asho$$umar assists his father in his masonr( and Yarsan assists his father in his car,entr(5 .annar 3ncident 9n Ath 0ovember, the .annar ,olice arrested a Tamil (outh for allegedl( graffiting B.aaveerar 0aal> on a wall in .urun$an5 9n the 4th, the ,olice arrested another two Tamil (outh, claiming that the( were acting on information ,rovided b( the (outh arrested on the ,revious da(5 All three (outh are also currentl( being detained at =oosa5 These three (outh were ,roduced before the .annar Additional .agistrate on 8rida( 1"th December, and have been remanded for a further 1@ da(s5 The( will be ,roduced in court ne:t on the 4th of December5 3n a se,arate incident, also on the Ath of 0ovember, Thiruchelvam *risthura+a, a father of two, from ?aal$ai,etran$andal, .urun$an, .annar, was summoned to the .urun$an -olice and subse<uentl( arrested on alleged charges of being a former #TT6 cadre5 7e was then handed over to the T3D in ?avuni(a, and is currentl( being held

at the =oosa Detention Center5 7is famil( claims he is wea$ and ailing5 3n light of the facts above, we are dee,l( concerned that these arrests are unfounded, and onl( serve to ,er,etuate the climate of fear and insecurit( of the ,eo,le of the 0orth5 The continued harassment and intimidation of Tamils b( the securit( forces, reinforces our call to remove the e:cessive militar( ,resence and their interference in civilian affairs in the 0orth5 'e also reiterate our call to re,eal the re,ressive -revention of Terrorism Act which facilitates the State to carr( out such arbitrar( and illegal arrests and detentions5 'e therefore call on the Sri #an$an %overnment toC )elease with immediate effect all four (outh arbitraril( arrested and detained from 1affna 3nvestigate into the 1affna incident and hold all the officers res,onsible for the brutal assault and arrest of the four (outh 3n the absence of clear evidence lin$ing them to an alleged crime, release with immediate effect the remaining three detained (outh from .annar 6nsure their right to e<ualit( before the law, freedom from arbitrar( arrest and right to due ,rocess, which includes the right to legal assistance and visits b( their famil( members 6nsure the safet(, and ,h(sical and mental welfare of the (outh currentl( held in detention, including access to medical care -ut an immediate halt to an( further arrests under the -TA, acts of intimidation, harassment and re,risals carried out b( the T3D and the militar( )e,eal the re,ressive -TA with immediate effect SignaturesD 3ndividuals 15 Ainslie 1ose,h E Convenor, Christian Alliance for Social Action (CASA&

5 Amal de Chic$era "5 Anton .arcus ; 8ree Trade Fones G %eneral Services 6m,lo(ees> Union @5 A(eshea -erera /5 =5 %owthaman A5 =5 S$antha$umar 45 =havani 8onse$a H5 =uddhadasa %ala,,att( E -oet G 1ournalist 95 Chandragu,tha Thenuwara ; ArtistISenior #ecturer 1!5 Chulani *odi$ara 115 Danesh *arunana(a$e 1 5 Deanne U(angoda 1"5 Dhammi$a de Silva ; United Socialists -art( 1@5 Dharmasiri #an$a,eli 1/5 Dilsh( =anu 1A5 Dr5 Dharmasena -athira+a 145 Dr5 1ehan -erera E 0ational -eace Council (0-C& 1H5 Dr5 #eonie Solomons 195 Dr5 -ai$iasoth( Saravanamuttu ; 6:ecutive Director, Centre for -olic( Alternatives (C-A& !5 Dr5 )anil D5 %uneratne E Universit( of Colombo 15 Dr5 Sa,umal =andara Dhana,ala E *and( 5 Dr5 Fulfi$a 3smail "5 6mil van der -oorten @5 8ahad 8aroo$ /5 %a+en .ahendra A5 %amini ?i(angoda 45 7arean 7ettiarachchi H5 7asantha %unaweera 95 7erman *umara "!5 7ilm( Ahamed "15 1a$e 9orloff

" 5 1ehan$i Anandha ""5 1oe 'illiam ; 0ational -eace Council (0-C& "@5 *5 %uru,aran ; Universit( of 1affna "/5 *5D5C5 *umarage E Attorne(;at;#aw G Co;Convener, #aw(ers for Democrac( "A5 *usal -erera E 1ournalist "45 #5 0iran+an ; Attorne(;at;#aw "H5 .5 75 .ohamed 7isham "95 .5A5 Sumanthiran E .-, Tamil 0ational Alliance (T0A& @!5 .arisa de Silva @15 .elani .anel -erera ; 1ournalist @ 5 .elisha Ya,a @"5 .inoli de So(sa E 0ational -eace Council (0-C& @@5 .ira$ )aheem @/5 05 *odituwa$$u E Attorne(;at;#aw G Solicitor (6ngland& @A5 0adie *ammallaweera @45 0icola -erera @H5 0igel ?5 0ugawela @95 0ilantha 3langamuwa E 1ournalist /!5 0ilshan 8onse$a /15 0imal$a 8ernando / 5 0irmanusan =alasundaram ; 7uman )ights Advocate I 3nde,endent 1ournalist /"5 0ishanden( )atnam ; Attorne(;at;#aw /@5 -505 Singham //5 -aba Desha,ri(a /A5 -hili, Setunga /45 -rabu Dee,an /H5 -ri(a Thangara+ah /95 -rof5 A+it Abe(se$era ; Universit( of Sri 1a(ewardene,ura A!5 -rof5 1a(antha Seneviratne E Universit( of *elani(a A15 -rof5 *umar David

A 5 )5.5=5 Senana(a$e A"5 )egina )amalingam A@5 )ev5 =ro5 #aJar A/5 )ev5 8r5 6lil )a+an AA5 )ev5 8r5 6mmanuel Sebamalai A45 )ev5 8r5 1e(abalan Croos AH5 )ev5 8r5 )eid Shelton 8ernando A95 )ev5 8r5 S515 6mmanuel 4!5 )ev5 8r5 S5?5=5 .angalara+ah ; Chairman, 1ustice and -eace Commission of the Catholic Diocese of 1affna 415 )ev5 8r5 Sarath 3ddamalgoda 4 5 )ev5 8r5 Terrence 8ernando 4"5 )ev5 1ason 15 Selvara+a ; Senior -astor, Assembl( of %od, Chava$achcheri 4@5 )ev5 Sr5 Dee,a 8ernando 4/5 )ev5 Sr5 7elen 8ernando 4A5 )ev5 Sr5 7ilar( 445 )ev5 Sr5 1e(am 4H5 )ev5 Sr5 #aurine 495 )ev5 Sr5 0ichola H!5 )ev5 Sr5 0oel Christine H15 )ev5 Sr5 Tharani H 5 )u$i 8ernando H"5 S5 .5 -raveen H@5 Sam,ath Samara$oon H/5 Shreen Saroor HA5 Siritunga 1a(asuri(a E United Socialists -art( H45 Srinath -erera E Attorne(;at;#aw G %eneral Secretar(, 8ree Trade Union Centre HH5 Sudarshana %unawardana ; )ights 0ow Collective H95 Sumanasiri #i(anage ; 0egombo 9!5 Sumath( Sivamohan

915 Sunanda Desha,ri(a 9 5 Sunil 1a(ase$era 9"5 T5 1a(asingam ; 6astern Universit( of Sri #an$a 9@5 T5 .athuri ; Attorne(;at;#aw 9/5 Thiruni *elegama 9A5 Thi(agara+a 'aradas 945 Th(agi )uwan,athirana 9H5 Ton( Senewiratne 995 Uda(a *alu,athirana ; 3089). 7uman )ights Documentation Center 1!!5 U,ul 'ic$ramasinghe 1!15 '5 1a(asiri 9rganiJations 1! 5 7uman )ights 9ffice, *and( 1!"5 .others and Daughters of #an$a 1!@5 0etwor$ing for )ights in Sri #an$a (0f)& 1!/5 'omen>s -olitical Academ(