When Tamil asylum seeker Dayan Anthony was deported back to Sri Lanka by the Australian government last month, his immediate arrest and interrogation did little to allay fears he would not face harassment from authorities.
His subsequent government-arranged press conference appeared to be staged for the benefit of the Sri Lankan and Australian governments.
After 14 hours in custody and flanked by government officials, Anthony said: “Sri Lanka has become the safest place on the Earth after the LTTE [Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam] was wiped out from the country. I did not face any type of harassment at the hands of Sri Lankan authorities after I returned to the country.”
Such a statement is incredible given the many reports of human rights abuses by the Sri Lankan government, especially after the its victory over the LTTE that ended the civil war in 2009.
(...)
It detailed the widespread use of detention without trial against “suspected members of armed groups … against their family members and colleagues, outspoken critics and other perceived political opponents of the government, including journalists”.
This detention can last years and most are eventually released due to lack of evidence.
Torture of prisoners remains “common and widespread”, said Amnesty, and cases of enforced disappearances and extrajudicial killings by security forces continue to be reported. Full story...
Related posts:
His subsequent government-arranged press conference appeared to be staged for the benefit of the Sri Lankan and Australian governments.
After 14 hours in custody and flanked by government officials, Anthony said: “Sri Lanka has become the safest place on the Earth after the LTTE [Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam] was wiped out from the country. I did not face any type of harassment at the hands of Sri Lankan authorities after I returned to the country.”
Such a statement is incredible given the many reports of human rights abuses by the Sri Lankan government, especially after the its victory over the LTTE that ended the civil war in 2009.
(...)
It detailed the widespread use of detention without trial against “suspected members of armed groups … against their family members and colleagues, outspoken critics and other perceived political opponents of the government, including journalists”.
This detention can last years and most are eventually released due to lack of evidence.
Torture of prisoners remains “common and widespread”, said Amnesty, and cases of enforced disappearances and extrajudicial killings by security forces continue to be reported. Full story...
Related posts:
- Sri Lanka's killing fields 2. Unpunished war crimes. (Graphic)
- Sri Lanka's killing fields (Graphic)
- Thousands missing in Sri Lanka as people continue to disappear...
- Fears for Tamil detainees in Sri Lanka...
- Former Sri Lanka Tamil Tiger rebels 'disappear'
- Sri Lanka and the Tamil genocide...
- Footage of Sri Lankan soldiers' atrocities against Tamils (Graphic)
- Sri Lanka's sinister white van abductions on the rise...
- Sri Lanka: Protest in Jaffna over “disappearances”
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