(RSF/IFEX) – In an 8 March 2001 letter to Sri Lankan Minister of Justice Batty Weerakoon, RSF called for the release of Subramaniam Thiruchelvan, a correspondent in Point Pedro (Jaffna peninsula) for the government press group Lakehouse. The journalist has been detained by the Terrorist Investigation Division (TID) since 2 January. RSF believes that the […]
(RSF/IFEX) – In an 8 March 2001 letter to Sri Lankan Minister of Justice Batty Weerakoon, RSF called for the release of Subramaniam Thiruchelvan, a correspondent in Point Pedro (Jaffna peninsula) for the government press group Lakehouse. The journalist has been detained by the Terrorist Investigation Division (TID) since 2 January.
RSF believes that the violence and degrading treatment to which the journalist was subjected during the first weeks of his detention must be investigated and the perpetrators punished. Such treatment by the security forces contravenes Sri Lanka’s international commitments, such as the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights, Article 7 of which states that “No one shall be subjected to torture or to cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment or punishment.”
RSF Secretary-General Robert Ménard reminded the minister that his “duty is to ensure that periods of detention without trial do not exceed the legal limits, even if it is under the emergency regulations.” Ménard also noted that “this prolonged and excessive detention of a journalist from the Jaffna peninsula is a very worrying warning to all media professionals working there, especially since it has occurred a few months after the still unpunished crime against reporter Mayilvaganam Nimalarajan from Jaffna.” (See IFEX alerts of 10 November and 20 October 2000.)
According to information collected by RSF, Thiruchelvan, a correspondent from the governmental press group Lakehouse Newspapers and the Tamil newspaper “Valampuri” in Point Pedro, Jaffna district, has been detained by the TID in Colombo since 2 January. Arrested after an anonymous petition, he was detained at the TID offices on Chaityaya Road, in Colombo, for several weeks. According to his family and a human rights activist who visited him, the journalist was beaten with a pipe several times by policemen. He was also handcuffed night and day. Police stated that he confessed his links with the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eeelam (LTTE). But his family is adamant that he confessed under duress. Thiruchelvan is accused of collecting money for the LTTE.
The journalist has been detained for over two months without charge. He appeared before a judge, but because the TID had not completed the investigation, the legal proceedings could not get underway. A hearing was due to take place on 16 March but it was postponed indefinitely. According to provisions ER18 and ER19 of the Emergency Regulations, the journalist could be detained without charge for six months, solely based on the needs of the investigation.
