Amnesty Update on Disappearance of Fr. Jim Brown, 12
September 2006
Further Information on UA 230/06 (29 August 2006) Fear for Safety/ Possible
''disappearance'' SRI LANKA
Reverend Fr. Thiruchchelvan Nihal Jim Brown (m)
Wenceslaus Vinces Vimalathas (m)
An
eyewitness has alleged that they saw Reverend Fr. Thiruchchelvan Nihal Jim
Brown and Wenceslaus Vinces Vimalathas in the village of Allaipiddy on Kayts
Island off the northern peninsula of Jaffna, at about 2:15pm on 20 August,
being followed by armed men on motorbikes. This last confirmed sighting of
the two men greatly heightens fears for their safety.
On the day they went missing, Reverend Fr. Thiruchchelvan Nihal Jim Brown, a
parish priest in Allaipiddy, and Wenceslaus Vinces Vimalathas were traveling
by motorbike to Allaipiddy, when they met a friend who accompanied them to
the Allaipiddy Sri Lankan Navy (SLN) checkpoint. The friend left the two men
standing at the checkpoint at approximately 2.10pm. An eyewitness has
confirmed that they saw the two men shortly after this, traveling through
Allaipiddy on a motorbike. The eyewitness then saw two motorbikes each
carrying three armed men wearing bulletproof vests, following Reverend
Fr. Thiruchchelvan Nihal Jim Brown and Wenceslaus Vinces Vimalathas along
the road. The six armed men then stopped outside St. Mary�s Church in
Allaipiddy and following some discussion, one of the motorbikes turned back
in the direction of the SLN Allaipiddy checkpoint.
When the eyewitness reached the SLN Navy checkpoint in order to leave
Allaipiddy, they saw the same three armed men who had turned back from St.
Mary�s Church talking to the SLN personnel and pointing in the direction of
Allaipiddy. The armed men then allegedly rode back to Allaipiddy village,
taking a
different route than they had before.
Inquiries about the whereabouts of Reverend Fr. Thiruchchelvan Nihal Jim
Brown and Wenceslaus Vinces Vimalathas have been made at a number of
churches across the Jaffna peninsula and in surrounding areas.
As Kayts Island is strictly controlled by the SLN, there are
suspicions that the two men may have been taken into custody. Rear Admiral
Upali Ranaweera, Commander of the SLN's Northern Region, has denied that the
two men were arrested. Navy personnel at the Allaipiddy checkpoint have
stated that Father Jim Brown and Wenceslaus Vinces Vimalathas passed through
the Allaipiddy checkpoint and returned soon after, traveling in the
direction of Jaffna town. However, when police requested that they produce
the evidence of their passing through the checkpoint on their return from
Allaipiddy, they refused.
Father Jim Brown had assisted a number of civilians in moving from
Allaipiddy to the town of Kayts following armed conflict in Allaipiddy
between the SLN and the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE) on 13
August, during which at least 15 civilians were killed and 54 injured. In
the days following this incident, he allegedly received a number of death
threats from the Commanding Officer of the Allaipiddy Naval Camp, accusing
him and other civilians of assisting the LTTE to dig bunkers.
BACKGROUND INFORMATION
The human rights situation in Sri Lanka has deteriorated
dramatically in recent months, as escalating violence has resulted in
widespread human rights abuses and a climate of fear and insecurity.
Increased fighting between the government security forces and the Liberation
Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE) since April 2006 has resulted in the death and
injury of scores of civilians, the displacement of more than 200,000 people,
and the destruction of homes, schools, and places of worship. Neither the
government security forces nor the LTTE appear to be taking adequate
precautions to protect civilian lives. The two parties to the conflict say
they remain committed to the 2002 ceasefire agreement; however analysts
refer to the situation on the ground as an undeclared war. Over two decades
of conflict in Sri Lanka have claimed the lives of more than 65,000 people,
the majority of them civilians.
There are fears that a pattern of ''disappearances'' by state agents is
re-emerging in Sri Lanka following the introduction of new Emergency
Regulations in August 2005 that granted sweeping powers to the security
forces. Sixty-two cases of ''disappearance'' in the north of the
country have been registered by the Human Rights Commission of Sri Lanka
over the past year. The Commission is also investigating the status of 183
other individuals who are still missing under unknown circumstances.
RECOMMENDED ACTION: Please send appeals to arrive as quickly as possible:
- expressing concern at an eyewitness statement alleging that Rev. Fr.
Thiruchchelvan Nihal Jim Brown and Wenceslaus Vinces Vimalathas were
followed by armed men on 20 August, and that some of these men were later
seen speaking to SLN personnel;
- noting that this latest eyewitness statement, combined with a lack of
evidence of the two men's return from Allaipiddy on the day they went
missing, heightens fears that they have ''disappeared'';
- urging the authorities to conduct an independent and impartial
investigation into the fate and whereabouts of Rev. Fr. Thiruchchelvan Nihal
Jim Brown and Wenceslaus Vinces Vimalathas and to make the findings public;
- calling upon the authorities, if the two men are found to be in custody,
to allow them access to their relatives, a lawyer and any medical treatment
they may require, and urging that they be immediately and unconditionally
released unless they are to be charged with a recognizably criminal offence;
- expressing concern at reports that a pattern of ''disappearances'' appears
to be emerging again in northern Sri Lanka, and calling on the authorities
to put a halt to this practice immediately.
APPEALS TO:
President Mahinda Rajapakse
Presidential Secretariat, Colombo 1, Sri Lanka
Fax: 011 94 11 2472100/ 244 6657
Salutation: Dear President
Major General Asoka K Jayawardhana
Secretary, Ministry of Defence
15/5 Baladaksha Mawatha, Colombo 3, Sri Lanka
Fax: 011 94 11 2446 300 / 2541 529
Email: [email protected]
Salutation: Dear Secretary of Defence
Vice Admiral Wasantha Karannagoda
Navy Commander
Navy Headquarters
PO Box 593
Colombo, Sri Lanka
Fax: 011 94112542430/ 011 94 11 2433 896
Email: [email protected]
Salutation: Dear Vice Admiral
COPIES TO:
Rear Admiral Upali Ranaweera
Northern Naval Area Commander
Email: [email protected]
Salutation: Dear Rear Admiral
Ambassador Bernard A.B. Goonetilleke
Embassy of the Democratic Socialist Republic of Sri Lanka
2148 Wyoming Ave. NW
Washington DC 20008
Fax: 1 202 232 7181
Email:
[email protected]
Please send appeals immediately. Check with the AIUSA Urgent Action office
if sending appeals after 24 October 2006.
