Where’s Prageeth Eknaligoda?  On Jan. 24, the Sri Lankan cartoonist and journalist disappeared shortly after leaving work at the Lanka-e-News office.  Local residents reported seeing a white van without number plates close to his house around this time.  When his wife tried to lodge a complaint with the police the next day, she was detained for several hours at the police station.  In the days leading up to his disappearance, Mr. Eknaligoda had told a close friend that he believed he was being followed.

Prageeth Eknaligoda had previously been abducted last August by a group who also arrived in a white van; that time, he was released the following day.  White vans have been used in many abductions and enforced disappearances in Sri Lanka, particularly since 2006, when the security forces or allied paramilitary groups stepped up attacks on government critics.  Prageeth Eknaligoda had been actively reporting on the Sri Lankan presidential election, which took place on Jan. 26.  Shortly before his disappearance, he had completed a comparative analysis of the two main candidates, coming out in favor of the opposition candidate, Sarath Fonseka (who lost in the election, which saw President Rajapaksa re-elected).

His wife, Sandhya Eknaligoda, believes he was abducted by the government because of his criticism of President Rajapaksa.

Please write the Sri Lankan government and ask that his disappearance be promptly investigated and those responsible held accountable.  Thanks.

Pattani Razeek, a Sri Lankan human rights defender, has been missing since he was apparently abducted on February 11 in the town of Polonnaruwa.  He may have been taken by the security forces or a group allied to them, and could be at risk of torture or other ill-treatment.  Please write the Sri Lankan government and ask them to investigate his disappearance.  Thanks.

In advance of Sri Lanka’s presidential election on January 26, we’ve issued a 10-point Human Rights Agenda.

We’re asking that all presidential candidates commit to the following points, among others:

• ending arbitrary arrests under emergency laws
• ensuring protection and respects for the rights of civilians displaced by the recent conflict
• protecting freedom of expression
• ending torture and enforced disappearances
• ratifying international human rights treaties

This is the first national election in Sri Lanka since the war with the opposition Tamil Tigers ended last May.  It could be the start of a new era in Sri Lanka.  Would it be too much to hope for, that the presidential candidates grasp this opportunity to improve the protection of human rights for millions of people in Sri Lanka?  We’ll see.

Great news!  The detained Sri Lankan journalist, J.S. Tissainayagam, was granted bail today by the court in Sri Lanka.  He is appealing the 20-year sentence he received last August under Sri Lanka’s draconian Prevention of Terrorism Act, all for publishing two magazine articles critical of the government’s conduct of the war against the Tamil Tigers.  Amnesty International considers him to be a “prisoner of conscience,” imprisoned solely for his legitimate journalistic activities, and calls for his immediate, unconditional release.  Last May, President Obama singled him out for praise as an emblematic example of journalists unjustly imprisoned for exercising their profession.  Today, the court granted his application to be released on bail while his appeal against the 20-year sentence is pending.

While it’s great that he won’t be in prison while his appeal is pending, he should never have been charged or tried in the first place.  We’ll keep working on his behalf until he’s free of the unjust charges brought against him.  Please join our campaign and call for his immediate, unconditional release.

We mentioned in this site last August that a shocking video had been released which appeared to show extrajudicial killings in Sri Lanka during the final months of the war between the Sri Lankan government and the opposition Tamil Tigers.  The Sri Lankan government had denounced the video as a fake.  Today, a senior UN official presented the findings of three experts commissioned by him, which concluded that the video was authentic.   The official called for an independent inquiry into war crimes and other violations of human rights and humanitarian law committed during the war in Sri Lanka.   (The Sri Lankan government later criticized the UN official for publicly presenting his findings without first allowing the Sri Lankan government to respond.)

Separately today, the spokesperson for UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon said that the Secretary-General is considering appointing a commission of experts to advise him on addressing possible violations of human rights and international humanitarian law in Sri Lanka.

Amnesty International has been calling for an international, independent investigation into reports of violations of human rights and international humanitarian law, including war crimes, by both sides during the closing stages of the war in Sri Lanka.  Will today’s statements at the UN mean that we may finally see such an investigation sometime soon?

About a year ago, my first entry was posted to this site, about the murder of the Sri Lankan editor Lasantha Wickramatunga on Jan. 8, 2009.   Mr. Wickramatunga had been an outspoken critic of the Sri Lankan government and his paper, the Sunday Leader,  and its staff had previously come under attack before his killing.  President Rajapaksa ordered a police investigation into his murder.  As a recent report by the International Federation of Journalists makes clear, however, to date there’s been little progress in bringing his killers to justice.  At least 14 journalists and other media workers have been killed in Sri Lanka since 2006.  Will we see anyone punished for any of these crimes?  Or will impunity continue?

I wish, I really wish, that I had only good news to report today.  Today was the day the Sri Lankan government promised that the displaced civilians who’d been held in military-run camps for the last 6 months would be free to leave the camps “sans any conditions being imposed.”  But it hasn’t worked out that way.  The civilians were told today they could leave but they also have to return to the camps soon. 

As the war ended in May this year with the Sri Lankan government’s defeat of the Tamil Tiger rebels, about 280,000 civilians displaced by the fighting were placed in overcrowded, military-run camps which they weren’t allowed to leave.  The government said that the civilians first had to be  screened to determine whether there were any Tiger fighters among them.  Amnesty International pointed out that this violated the civilians’ freedom of movement and constituted arbitrary detention.  Amnesty launched its “Unlock the Camps” campaign to get the Sri Lankan government to allow the civilians to leave the camps if they wish to do so.

Since the end of the war, the government has released civilians from the camps, but according to the U.N., around 136,000 were still being held as of Nov. 25.

On Nov. 21, the Sri Lankan government announced that, as of Dec. 1, the civilians would at last be free to come and go from the camps.  Yesterday, a government minister said there would be no restrictions imposed on the duration of the civilians’ absence from the camps.

Today, 100,000 civilians, according to government officials, left the camps.  But the BBC reported that the civilians were told by officials that they had permission to stay away from the camps for only up to 15 days and that anyone trying to leave permanently would be “tracked down.”  In an interview with the BBC, the Sri Lankan Foreign Minister did not deny the existence of the 15-day restriction.  The U.N. is reported today as saying that the civilians had been given 10 days to return to the camps if they left today.  One civilian said today she’d been given permission to leave the camp for a week but would lose state aid if she didn’t return.

Amnesty is calling on the Sri Lankan government to permanently release the civilians from the camps immediately.  If the civilians want to remain in the camps pending a final decision on where they’ll live, they should be free to do so.  But if they do have other safe areas in which to stay, it should be their choice, not the government’s, where they live.  Sadly, we still need to say to the government, “Unlock the camps now!”   I really, really hope the time will come soon when that’s no longer needed.

I finally have good news to report:  the Sri Lankan government announced this past Saturday that the displaced civilians unlawfully trapped in internment camps will be free to come and go as of December 1!  Amnesty International has been calling for this for the past several months in our “Unlock the Camps!” campaign.

However, while the government announcement and a Sri Lankan newspaper article said that the civilians were being given total freedom of movement as of Dec. 1, other accounts of the government’s announcement have been less positive.  Another Sri Lankan government report referred to the civilians being allowed freedom of movement only within the region of the camps, while the BBC and Oxfam spoke of civilians just being granted day passes to leave the camps temporarily (and a day-pass system had been announced last September by the Sri Lankan government).   U.N. Under-Secretary General John Holmes said yesterday that the civilians could leave the camps for days at a time, but it was still being discussed whether they could leave the camps permanently.   Human Rights Watch today said that some of the displaced civilians have been told by the government that they won’t be released on Dec. 1 but instead moved to other detention camps.

So, while I want to be optimistic and hope that the Sri Lankan government will actually let all the displaced civilians leave the camps if they wish as of Dec. 1, here it’s a case of “seeing is believing.”

And there are some sobering facts to keep in mind, even as the civilians are let out of the camps:

• Lack of information:  Many of the civilians haven’t received any information about the choices available to them once they are freed.  How can they be expected to decide whether to return to their home villages or to resettle in another part of the country if they don’t know what resources will be available to them once they arrive?
• Humanitarian assistance: It’s extremely important that the displaced civilians get the help they need in resettling, especially food, water and shelter as they re-establish their homes.
• Incommunicado detention:  Around 12,000 persons (including children) suspected of links to the Tamil Tiger rebels are being held by the government without charge in incommunicado detention,  separately from the displaced civilians.  If the Human Rights Watch report is right, this number could increase dramatically next week.  All these detainees should be promptly charged with a recognizable criminal offense and given fair trials in civilian courts, or else released.

I really hope that next week I won’t be writing about how the government announcement has not been implemented as we all hope, or turns out to be something less than promised.  We’ll be watching.

AIUSA activists in Chicago demand the release of Internally Displaced People in Sri Lanka. November 2009. (c) AI

Across the U.S., from Boston to Chicago to San Francisco, Amnesty International activists are demanding:  “Unlock the camps in Sri Lanka!”

As the 26-year-old war between the Sri Lankan government and the opposition Tamil Tigers ended this past May, about 280,000 Tamil civilians fleeing the fighting were put in overcrowded, military-run camps which they were not allowed to leave.  The Sri Lankan government said that the civilians first had to be screened to determine if any of them were Tiger fighters.  Amnesty International has pointed out that this constitutes arbitrary detention and violates the civilians’ right to freedom of movement.

Although some civilians have been released from the camps, around 150,000 still remain and camp shelters have deteriorated as Sri Lanka has entered the rainy season.

Amnesty’s “Unlock the Camps” campaign calls on the Sri Lankan government to let civilians leave the camps if they wish, to put the camps under civilian (not military) management, and to allow aid agencies full access to the camps.

Earlier this month, AIUSA members gathered in Boston and San Franscisco signed petitions and postcards demanding that the Sri Lankan government “Unlock the Camps!”

Activists in San Francisco sign petitions to urge the Sri Lankan government to release IDPs. November 2009. (c) AI

Today, it was Chicago’s turn.  I joined activists from the AIUSA Chicago office and demonstrated in downtown Chicago.  Despite the rain and wind, we made our voices heard.  One man signing the petition told us that he had just returned from Sri Lanka and didn’t think anyone in the U.S. cared about what was going on there.  We were happy to show him that he was wrong.

Also today, AIUSA sent a letter to Secretary of State Hillary Clinton asking  the U.S. government to publicly express concern about the treatment of the displaced civilians.  The campaign was also publicized in a college paper today.

We’ll keep campaigning for the displaced civilians until their rights are restored.  Please join our campaign and add your voice.

Freedom of expression is again under assault in Sri Lanka.  On October 22, two editors at the Sunday Leader (a Sri Lankan newspaper), Frederica Jansz and Munza Mushataq, received identical death threats in the mail, handwritten in red ink.  Ms. Jansz is the editor-in-chief and Ms. Mushataq is the news editor.  The threats relate to coverage by the paper of a video which allegedly showed Sri Lankan soldiers executing Tamil prisoners.

The paper’s founder and former editor-in-chief, Lasantha Wickrematunge, was killed last January after receiving a similar death threat three weeks earlier.  No one has yet been prosecuted for his murder.

Last month, Dileesha Abeysundera, who works for the Sinhala-language edition of the Sunday Leader, was threatened.  The newspaper has suffered numerous serious attacks on its staff and offices in the past. 

Over the past three years, numerous journalists have been detained in Sri Lanka while others have fled the country.  At least 14 media workers have been killed.  Investigations haven’t resulted in  prosecutions.  For more on this issue, see the AI report, “Sri Lanka:  Silencing dissent.”

Amnesty International has issued an urgent action appeal calling on the Sri Lankan government to ensure the safety of Frederica Jansz and Munza Mushataq, and to investigate the death threats received by them and the attacks on other Sri Lankan journalists and media workers.  Please take action in response to our appeal and write to President Mahinda Rajapaksa (email:  prsec@presidentsoffice.lk).   Thanks for your help.