Jeyakumari in her video to Channel 4 Tamil campaigner Balendra Jeyakumari, who was arrested along with her 13-year-old daughter Vipoosika under the Prevention of Terrorism Act, warned of unknown people following her home and threatening her, in a video sent to Channel 4 last month. Channel 4 revealed earlier today that Ms. Jeyakumari had sent a video where she warned of unknown persons looking for and following her. She told the British broadcaster, "Unknown faces follow me and track me whenever I go home after protests. [To me, in my mind, this frightens me]." “This is a serious threat. We are terrified to live here.” “I gladly give this interview to Channel 4 to publicise my plight.”
The TNA condemned the arrest and detention on Wednesday of the disappearances campaigner, Ms. Jeyakumari and her 13 year old daughter, Vipoosika, reports Colombo Gazette . TNA MPs Mavai Senathirajah and E. Saravanapavan said, “We have now heard reports that Jeyakumari and Vidushika may be detained by an Order of the Secretary, Ministry of Defence under the draconian Prevention of Terrorism Act, thereby circumventing the legal requirement that they be produced before a Magistrate within twenty-four hours of arrest. The TNA is shocked and appalled at the conduct of the authorities in this regard. The high-handed conduct of the government, even while its human rights record is under scrutiny at the current sessions of the Human Rights Council, is illustrative of the government’s disdainful conduct towards the Human Rights Council ,”
Commenting on the detention of the disappearances campaigner, Ms. Jeyakumari and her 13 year old daughter, Vipoosika on Wednesday, Sri Lanka's External Affairs Minister, G.L. Peiris dismissed widespread concerns over the incident. Asked by a Channel 4 journalist about the detention during a meeting of Commonwealth Foreign Ministers in London on Friday afternoon, Mr. Peiris responded to the question by saying it was " very wrong " to draw conclusions before facts are established. "People were arrested yesterday. We have to examine the evidence, the grounds on which it was done. That will happen in due course. There is judicial scrutiny." " I think it is very wrong to come to a conclusion before the facts are looked at objectively and in depth ."
The remains of Karthikesan Niruban, a school teacher from Vavuniya, were found by locals clearing a garden in Mankulam, JDS reported . Niruban went missing ahead of the Northern Provincial Council elections and his family made a complaint to Vavuniya police station in September last year. "Ms Sivakaran Nishthika, the sister of Karthikesan Niruban on Thursday has identified the remains to be that of her missing brother," local sources told JDS.
The leader of the opposition United National Party Ranil Wickremesinghe has stated that he saved leading members of the government from being hauled before the International Criminal Court, whilst campaigning in the south of the island. Addressing an event in Sirikotha, where the UNP was launching its election manifesto for the upcoming Southern and Western Provincial elections, Wickremesinghe accused the Rajapaksas as “masquerading as the greatest patriots”, according to the Island .
Updated 18:41 A Tamil rights activist campaigning for the families of those ‘disappeared’ in Sri Lankan military custody is tonight herself being held, along with her 13 year old daughter, at an unknown location. Earlier today Sri Lankan police and soldiers entered Balendran Jeyakumari’s home in Tharmapuram, as hundreds of troops were deployed in the area. Local residents told the Uthayan newspaper late this evening they had seen Ms. Jeyakumari and her daughter being arrested and taken away by police.
The Sri Lankan government says that it will formally reject the resolution that is to be proposed at the UN Human Rights Council. Minister Dinesh Gunawardena told media that the government is willing to accept constructive criticism, however it will not abide by any resolution which could harm Sri Lanka’s interests.
Tamils in Kilinochchi were left in fear today, after a prominent campaigner against disappearances, and her 13 year old daughter were arrested by the Sri Lankan police. Balendran Jeyakumari and her daughter Vipoosika, gained prominence during British Prime Minister Cameron’s visit to Jaffna in November, with Vipoosika’s desperate pleas for the return of her missing brother gaining widespread coverage.
Foreign Secretary William Hague reiterated the British government’s support for an international investigation in a written statement delivered in parliament on Thursday. Hague said, as no credible domestic accountability process had been established, the time has now come for international action and that the UK has been talking to a wide range of UNHRC members to garner support for a resolution calling for an international investigation. “[N]o credible domestic accountability processes have been set up to date in Sri Lanka. As a result, the time has now come for international action on the human rights situation in Sri Lanka ."
A resolution on stopping the military from being invited to take part in school and civil events in the Northern Province will be considered by the NPC, reports Uthayan . Speaking to press after a meeting with the French ambassador, the Chairman of the Northern Provincial Council, C V J Sivagnanam, outlined that the resolution was being discussed and drafted within the Council leadership. Sivagnanam further stressed the need for the Northern Provincial Council to regain control over the schools under its administration, as the military presence and involvement in civil activities was...