Sri Lanka
31.10.00
Urgent Interventions
Sri Lanka: extra-judicial killing of Mr. Mylvaganam Nirmalrajan
Case LKA 311000
The International Secretariat of OMCT requests your URGENT intervention in the following situation in Sri Lanka.
Brief description of the situation
The International Secretariat of OMCT has been informed by Asian Center for the Progress of Peoples, (ACPP), a member of the OMCT network, that on 19 October 2000, Mr. Mylvaganam Nirmalrajan, 38, a well-known journalist and father of three, was shot dead in his own home, through the window of his room, as he wrote a news report. He was the Jaffna correspondent for the Tamil daily "Virakesari", the independent Tamil radio station, "Sooriyan FM", the popular Sinhala political weekly, "Ravaya", the Tamil and Sinhala services of the BBC. He was also the secretary of the Northern Journalists' Association.
According to the information received, days before his killing, Nirmalrajan had confided with colleagues that he had received death-threats. He had reported on the serious problems of the Tamil people displaced by the war, and the destruction of family life. He also reported vote rigging, intimidation and violence in the recent elections, carried out by a militant group active on the peninsula. The armed group, which has joined the political mainstream and contested parliamentary elections, helps the Sri Lankan government’s security forces in the peninsula. Nimalrajan had written reports critical of the group.
Action requested
Please write to the authorities in Sri Lanka urging them to:
i. guarantee an immediate investigation into the assassination of Mr Mylvaganam Nirmalrajan, identify those responsible, bring them before a civil competent and impartial tribunal and apply the penal, civil and/or administrative sanctions provided by law;
ii. guarantee compensation to the family of Mr Mylvaganam Nirmalrajan;
iii. guarantee the respect of human rights and the fundamental freedoms throughout the country in accordance with national laws and international human rights standards.
Addresses
Her Excellency President Chandrika B. Kumaratunga, Presidential Residence, Colombo 3, Sri Lanka Fax: 94 - 1 - 333 - 703
Mr G L Peiris, Minister of Justice, Ministry of Justice, Colombo, Sri Lanka.
Inspector General of Police, Police Headquarters, New Secretariat, Colombo 1, Sri Lanka
Hon. Ambassador, Permanent Mission and Consulate General of Sri Lanka, 56, Rue De Moillebeau, 5th Floor, 1 209, Geneva 19, Switzerland, Fax: (41-22) 734 9084, E-mail: mission.srilanka@itu.ch
Hon. High-Commissioner, The High Commission of the Democratic Socialist Republic of Sri Lanka 13 Hyde Park Gardens London W2 2LU United Kingdom Fax: (0171) 262-7970, E-mail: lancom@easynet.co.uk
Geneva, October 31, 2000
Kindly inform us of any action undertaken quoting the code of this appeal in your reply.
The International Secretariat of OMCT requests your URGENT intervention in the following situation in Sri Lanka.
Brief description of the situation
The International Secretariat of OMCT has been informed by Asian Center for the Progress of Peoples, (ACPP), a member of the OMCT network, that on 19 October 2000, Mr. Mylvaganam Nirmalrajan, 38, a well-known journalist and father of three, was shot dead in his own home, through the window of his room, as he wrote a news report. He was the Jaffna correspondent for the Tamil daily "Virakesari", the independent Tamil radio station, "Sooriyan FM", the popular Sinhala political weekly, "Ravaya", the Tamil and Sinhala services of the BBC. He was also the secretary of the Northern Journalists' Association.
According to the information received, days before his killing, Nirmalrajan had confided with colleagues that he had received death-threats. He had reported on the serious problems of the Tamil people displaced by the war, and the destruction of family life. He also reported vote rigging, intimidation and violence in the recent elections, carried out by a militant group active on the peninsula. The armed group, which has joined the political mainstream and contested parliamentary elections, helps the Sri Lankan government’s security forces in the peninsula. Nimalrajan had written reports critical of the group.
Action requested
Please write to the authorities in Sri Lanka urging them to:
i. guarantee an immediate investigation into the assassination of Mr Mylvaganam Nirmalrajan, identify those responsible, bring them before a civil competent and impartial tribunal and apply the penal, civil and/or administrative sanctions provided by law;
ii. guarantee compensation to the family of Mr Mylvaganam Nirmalrajan;
iii. guarantee the respect of human rights and the fundamental freedoms throughout the country in accordance with national laws and international human rights standards.
Addresses
Her Excellency President Chandrika B. Kumaratunga, Presidential Residence, Colombo 3, Sri Lanka Fax: 94 - 1 - 333 - 703
Mr G L Peiris, Minister of Justice, Ministry of Justice, Colombo, Sri Lanka.
Inspector General of Police, Police Headquarters, New Secretariat, Colombo 1, Sri Lanka
Hon. Ambassador, Permanent Mission and Consulate General of Sri Lanka, 56, Rue De Moillebeau, 5th Floor, 1 209, Geneva 19, Switzerland, Fax: (41-22) 734 9084, E-mail: mission.srilanka@itu.ch
Hon. High-Commissioner, The High Commission of the Democratic Socialist Republic of Sri Lanka 13 Hyde Park Gardens London W2 2LU United Kingdom Fax: (0171) 262-7970, E-mail: lancom@easynet.co.uk
Geneva, October 31, 2000
Kindly inform us of any action undertaken quoting the code of this appeal in your reply.