(ARTICLE 19/IFEX) – The following is an ARTICLE 19 press release: For immediate release – 4 August 1999 ARTICLE 19 STATEMENT ON THE ASSASSINATION OF DR NEELAN THIRUCHELVAM ARTICLE 19 – the International Centre Against Censorship – unreservedly condemns the assassination of Dr Neelan Thiruchelvam in Colombo on 29 July 1999. It views Dr Thiruchelvam’s […]
(ARTICLE 19/IFEX) – The following is an ARTICLE 19 press release:
For immediate release – 4 August 1999
ARTICLE 19 STATEMENT ON THE ASSASSINATION OF DR NEELAN THIRUCHELVAM
ARTICLE 19 – the International Centre Against Censorship – unreservedly
condemns the assassination of Dr Neelan Thiruchelvam in Colombo on 29 July
1999. It views Dr Thiruchelvam’s murder as a direct assault on freedom of
expression and democratic practice in Sri Lanka, as well as a violation of
international humanitarian law.
Dr Thiruchelvam’s murder by a suicide bomber has been attributed to the
Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE), who are fighting for an independent
Tamil state in north eastern Sri Lanka. The LTTE have long waged a campaign
of intimidation and killing to silence the moderate Tamil voices of those
who seek to address long-standing minority grievances through peaceful,
democratic means. Dr Thiruchelvam’s killing is but the most recent in a long
line of killings of Tamil politicians whom the LTTE appear to have perceived
as being opposed to their cause, as ARTICLE 19 has documented in its reports
on Sri Lanka.
Dr Thiruchelvam was a widely respected lawyer, academic and civil society
activist both locally and internationally. He had worked for many years,
under successive governments, to try to find a peaceful, political solution
to the ethnic conflict in Sri Lanka. He aspired to the creation of a new
constitutional form for the state that would provide redress for serious
minority grievances while also accommodating the aspirations and protecting
the rights of all ethnic groups in the country. Dr Thiruchelvam was also a
staunch defender of the right to freedom of expression, and as a member of
both the Parliamentary Select Committee on constitutional reform and the
Parliamentary Select Committee on the Legislative and Regulatory Framework
relating to Media, he advocated strengthening constitutional protection for
free expression and other human rights.
A senior member of the Tamil United Liberation Front, he became a member of
parliament in 1994. He was believed to have played a major role in the
development of the People’s Alliance government’s proposals for devolution
of power to eight regional councils. A version of these proposals was
expected to be placed before parliament within the next few weeks.
Dr Thiruchelvam’s violent and sudden death represents a most grave assault
on basic values of free expression, human rights and democratic
participation.
See also ARTICLE 19’s website: http://www.gn.apc.org/article19
