Abduction and killing of two volunteers of the Sri Lanka Red Cross

The International Secretariat of the World Organisation Against Torture (OMCT) requires your urgent intervention in the following situation in Sri Lanka.

Brief description of the situation:

The International Secretariat of OMCT was informed by a reliable source and Antenna International, a member of SOS-Torture network, of the abduction and killing of Mr. Karthakesu Chandramohan (26) and Mr. Sinnarasa Shanmugalingam (32), two volunteers of the Sri Lanka Red Cross (SLRC), based in Batticaloa.

According to the information received, at approximately 6:45 am on 1 June 2007, six employees of the SLRC, among whom Mr. Karthakesu Chandramohan and Mr. Sinnarasa Shanmugalingam, gathered at platform 4 at the Colombo Fort Railway Station in order to return to Batticaloa after attending a five-day workshop in the city of Mount Lavinia. They were then approached by four to five men dressed in civilian clothing who asked them for their National Identity Cards (NIC).The SLCR employees were interrogated at the platform collectively and individually in Sinhala - allegedly the only language the interrogators could speak fluently.

It is reported that interrogators asserted being from the Criminal Investigation Department (CID). They asked only Mr. Chandramohan and Mr. Shanmugalingam to accompany them to the police station, on the grounds that they needed more information on them both. One of the other colleagues volunteered to translate for them from Tamil to Sinhala since the two victims were not able of holding a conversation in the latter, to which proposition the interrogators agreed.

They then boarded their vehicle, and as their co-worker was about to get in, the vehicle took off. However, he managed to take the registration number (No. 252 - 6432) of the tinted-windows-white van, as described by him. He subsequently met up with his other colleagues and called the head of SLRC in Colombo.

On 2 June 2007, the bodies of Messrs. Karthakesu Chandramohan and Sinnarasa Shanmugalingam were found in Kiriella near the central town of Ratnapura, 60 miles (40 Km) south east of Colombo. They were identified at the Ratnapura Base Hospital. Further investigations have shown that they died from gun shot injuries.

Actions requested:

Please write to the authorities in Sri Lanka urging them to:

1. Order a thorough and impartial investigation into the abduction and subsequent assassination assassination of Mr. Karthakesu Chandramohan and Mr. Sinnarasa Shanmugalingam, in order to identify all those responsible, bring them before a civil competent and impartial tribunal and apply to them the penal, civil and/or administrative sanctions provided by the law;
2. Guarantee that adequate reparation is provided to their families;
3. Guarantee the respect of human rights and the fundamental freedoms throughout the country in accordance with national laws and international human rights standards.

Addresses:

• President Mahinda Rajapakse, Presidential Secretariat, Colombo 1, Sri Lanka, Fax: + 94 11 2446657 / +94 11 2472100.
• Mr. Gotabaya Rajapaksa, Secretary, Ministry of Defence, 15/5 Baladaksha Mawatha, Colombo 3, Sri Lanka, Fax: +94 11 2446 300 / +94 11 2541 529
• Mr. Victor Perera, Inspector General of Police, New Secretariat, Colombo 1, Sri Lanka, Fax: +94 11 2 440440 / 327877. E-mail: igp@police.lk
• Mr. C.R. De Silva, Attorney General, Attorney General's Department, Colombo 12, Sri Lanka, Fax: +94 11 2 436421, Email: attorney@sri.lanka.net
• National Police Commission, 3rd Floor, Rotunda Towers, 109 Galle Road, Colombo 03, Sri Lanka, Tel: +94 11 2 395310. Fax: +94 11 2 395867. E-mail: npcgen@sltnet.lk
• Human Rights Commission of Sri Lanka, No. 36, Kynsey Road, Colombo 8, Sri Lanka. Tel: +94 11 2 694 925 / 673 806. Fax: +94 11 2 694 924 / 696 470. E-mail: sechrc@sltnet.lk
• Permanent Mission of Sri Lanka to the United Nations in Sri Lanka, 56 rue De Moillebeau, 5th Floor, 12119 Geneva 19, Switzerland, Fax: + 41-22 734 90 84, E-mail: mission.srilanka@ties.itu.int
• Embassy of Sri Lanka in Brussels, 27 rue Jules Lejeune, 1050 Ixelles, Belgium. Tel: + 32 2 344 53 94/ + 32 2 344 55 85. Fax : + 32 2 344 67 37. Email : sri.lanka@euronet.be

Please also write to the embassies of Sri Lanka in your respective country.

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Geneva, 6 June 2007

Kindly inform us of any action undertaken quoting the code of this appeal in your reply.