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Tuesday, February 14, 2012

[chottala.com] SRI LANKA: Abduction of a torture victim seeking judicial remedies from the Supreme Court [1 Attachment]

[Attachment(s) from William Gomes included below]

February 15, 2012

Ms. Eva Wanasundara
Attorney General
Attorney General's Department
Colombo 12
SRI LANKA
Fax: +94 11 2 436421
E-mail: ag@attorneygeneral.gov.lk

Re: SRI LANKA: Abduction of a torture victim seeking judicial remedies from Supreme Court

Dear Ms. Eva Wanasundara,

Name of victim: Mr. Ramasamy Prabakaran, 42 year old, a Tamil businessman of Indian descent; owns Panama Traders, an electronics store at Majestic City Complex in Bambalapitiya

Alleged perpetrators: Seven armed men armed with assault rifles onboard a 'white van'.

Date and place of incident: At 3:30pm on February 11, 2012 close to his home in Canal Bank Road, Wellawatte
Prior to his abduction: On February 13, the Supreme Court (SC) was to hear his fundamental rights application in seeking judicial remedies due to torture and illegal detention of his person. In September 2011, he was released after 28 months in police custody where he was illegally arrested, tortured and detained since May 2009.

I would like to bring to your notice the abduction of Ramasamay Prabhakaran, 42, who was bundled into a white van by seven men armed with assault rifles and hand guns. This was two days before a fundamental rights case filed by him was to be taken up.

I am aware that prior to his abduction, there had been similar targeted attacks on torture victims in the past; firstly, Gerald Perera, who was killed a few days before he was to give evidence before the Negambo High Court; secondly, Sugath Nishantha Fernando, who also murdered as he was pursuing a fundamental rights application relating to torture of himself and his family by 11 police officers working in the Negambo area. To date, no credible inquiry has been carried out into this murder.

I am deeply concerned by these targeted attacks on torture victims who had been pursuing redress before courts for violations of their fundamental rights were assassinated, allegedly by the persons against whom they were pursuing their complaints.

Recently, in the case of Fernando, the UN Human Rights Committee has already expressed in their views on the 17 October 2011 categorically stating that Sri Lanka has failed to provide redress for the violations of his rights.

I am of the opinion that the abduction of Prabhakaran is a direct affront to the Supreme Court of Sri Lanka. He was abducted to prevent him from obtaining possibilities of remedies from court, in the similar way it has been done in the murders of Perera and Fernando. They were torture victims who resorted to the courts for protection in their pursuit of justice.

What happened to Prabhakaran, Perera and Fernando, is a clear message to threatening all those victims or any persons who wish to come before the Supreme Court and other courts, to petition for court remedies; to place their grievances about the violations of their rights; to seek the intervention of the judiciary for their protection and for redress. This abduction and murders had a chilling effect on the administration of justice in Sri Lanka.

It is the duty of the judiciary itself to protect those who come before them seeking protection and justice. If the victims of violations desist from seeking justice due to the reprisals for doing so, the entire administration of justice relating to human rights will hardly be of any use. In the circumstances, it is not surprising that the number of applications filed before the Supreme Court on fundamental rights have declined.
The defeat of judicial intervention is always an objective of the executive who fails to protect the rights of the citizens. The objective of the executive is to defeat judicial interventions and attempt to reduce the judiciary to administrative functions. The attack on the juridical function has taken many forms, including far reaching constitutional changes, and the intimidation of witnesses is part of this strategy.

The foundation of law is the recognition of the juridical. If the recognition of the juridical is displaced by the administrative, then the very foundation of the law is undermined.

Yours sincerely,
William Nicholas Gomes
William's Desk

www.williamgomes.org

Download: SRI LANKA-Abduction of a torture victim seeking judicial remedies from the Supreme Court

http://www.williamgomes.org/?p=467

--
William Nicholas Gomes
Journalist & Human Rights Activist
80/ B Bramon Chiron, Saydabad,
Dhaka-1203, Bangladesh.
Cell: +88 019 7 444 0 666
E-mail:
William [at] williamgomes.org,editorbd[at]gmail.com
Skype: William.gomes9
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Web site :www.williamgomes.org



Attachment(s) from William Gomes

1 of 1 File(s)


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[chottala.com] Chittagong University



Link to my column in Daily Prothom Alo published today.

Thanks and warm wishes.


http://www.prothom-alo.com/detail/date/2012-02-15/news/224707
--
_________________________________
Abdul Mannan
Educator-Researcher-Writer-Analyst
Dhaka
Bangladesh



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[chottala.com] Fw: BSF took off one eye of bangladeshis this time and Cyber war betn India and Bangladesh



Bangladesh Govt. should protect its citizen.

 
Watch this video:

এবার চোখ উপড়ে বাংলাদেশীকে হত্যা করল বিএসএফ

ডেস্ক রিপোর্ট
বিএসএফের নির্যাতনে বাংলাদেশীর মৃত্যু হয়েছে। নিহত মো. মিজানুর রহমান (২৮) নবাবগঞ্জ উপজেলার নয়াপাড়া গ্রামের মজিবর রহমানের ছেলে। গতকাল ভোরে দিনাজপুরের হাকিমপুর উপজেলার ঘাসুড়িয়া সীমান্তে এই ঘটনা ঘটে। তবে বর্ডার গার্ড ব্যাটালিয়নের অধিনায়ক লে. কর্নেল মো. মেহেদী হাসান স্থানীয় সাংবাদিকদের কাছে বিষয়টি সরাসরি স্বীকার না করে বলেন, বিষয়টি শুনছি। এ ব্যাপারে তদন্ত করে দেখা হচ্ছে।
স্থানীয় সূত্রগুলো জনিয়েছে, সোমবার মিজানুরসহ ৮-১০ জন লোক হাকিমপুর উপজেলার ঘাসুড়িয়া সীমান্তের ২৮৮নং মেইন পিলারের কাছ দিয়ে যাচ্ছিল। এ সময় বিএসএফ ক্যাম্পের সদস্যরা মিজানুর রহমানকে আটক করে। ধারালো অস্ত্র দিয়ে উপর্যুপরি আঘাত করে তার ডান চোখটি উপড়ে তাকে ফেলে চলে যায়। পরে মিজানুরের সঙ্গীরা তাকে উদ্ধার করে হাকিমপুর উপজেলা স্বাস্থ্য কমপ্লেক্সে নিয়ে গেলে কর্তব্যরত চিকিত্সক মৃত ঘোষণা করেন। হাকিমপুর থানার ভারপ্রাপ্ত পুলিশ কর্মকর্তা মো. হেলাল উদ্দিন সাংবাদিকদের জানান, পুলিশ হাসপাতাল থেকে তার লাশ উদ্ধার করে দিনাজপুর মর্গে পাঠিয়েছে। লাশের ডান চোখটি উপড়ানো ছিল।






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