| Sri Lanka 2015.03.20 1 page / 40 KB |
Geneva-Paris, March 20, 2015 – The Observatory for the Protection of Human Rights
Defenders, an OMCT-FIDH joint programme, welcomes the release of Sri Lankan
human rights defender Ms. Balendran Jeyakumary after 362 days in detention
without charges, but calls for all restrictions to be lifted and for an immediate
and unconditional ending of any acts of judicial harassment.
On March 10, 2015,
the Magistrate Court of Hulftsdorf approved the bail application of Ms. Balendran Jeyakumary after 362 days
since she was detained without any charges, following the payment of a 200,000
LKR bail ($3,300). However, she is still be
subjected to some restrictions, including monthly police reporting and having
her passport confiscated. Six other detainees were also released on the same
day.
On March
13, 2014, Ms. Balendran Jeyakumari and her 13-year old daughter Vithuskaini,
were arrested after having been campaigning against enforced disappearances.
While Vithuskaini was subsequently placed under the care of Probation and Child
Care Service, Ms. Jeyakumari was held in Boosa detention centre under the Prevention
of Terrorism Act (PTA), according to which a person can be held without charge
for up to 18 months if accused of “terrorist connections” with the Liberation
Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE)[1].
The Observatory is
extremely concerned by the use of the PTA by the Sri Lankan authorities to undermine the legitimacy of the peaceful activities of
human rights defenders in Sri Lanka. For instance, according to reliable
sources, Ms. Jeyakumary’s detention has been perceived as a measure
aimed at intimidating the whole of human rights defenders working in the
country. Around 300 political prisoners are still being held under the PTA,
which contravenes Sri Lanka’s obligation to ensure that due process guarantees
are respected for all detainees. In addition, the implementation of such a law
is coupled with intimidation and harassment on the part of the military and
security forces against families of those forcibly disappeared, Tamil activists,
and other human rights defenders in the North and East of Sri Lanka.
The
Observatory welcomes the release on bail of Ms. Balendran Jeyakumary, and calls
upon the Sri Lanka authorities to immediately and unconditionally put an end to
any act of harassment against her, including at the judicial level. In
addition, the Observatory hopes that her release can mark the beginning of a
broader reversal of the pattern of harassment of human rights defenders in the
country.
For more
information, please contact:
·
OMCT: Miguel Martín Zumalacárregui: + 41 (0) 22 809 49
24
·
FIDH: Audrey Couprie/Arthur Manet: + 33 (0) 1 43 55
25 18
[1]
On March 18, 2014, the Representative of the Permanent Mission of Sri Lanka to
the United Nations in Geneva made a public statement about the supposed
terrorist affiliations of Ms. Jeyakumary Balendaran and other human rights
defenders in jail, in response to concerns raised by several NGOs during the
25th session of the UN Human Rights Council.
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