Twenty one of the dead were identified as Tamils, killed in the custody of the Special Task Force (STF) at its headquarters in the capital. Twenty two STF officers were charged, but the case was dismissed in March 1997, after the accused and the Attorney General failed to appear in court. Three STF members are now said to be facing charges of abduction and illegal detention.
Ratnam Suresh was deported to Sri Lanka in March 1994 from Sweden after his attempt to enter Denmark failed and the Danish authorities returned him to Sweden. The Swedish authorities issued Mr Suresh an Emergency Identity Document to enable deportation. The Sri Lankan police have notified the ICRC that Mr Suresh was among those killed in the Bolgoda Lake cases.
In Colombo, arrest and detention of Tamils continue. The US State Department in its Sri Lanka Country Report on Human Rights Practices for 1998, says that arrest and detention by police took place in violation of the legal safeguards built into the Emergency regulations and other legislation, particularly regarding requirements that receipts be issued and that the Sri Lankan Human Rights Commission be notified of any arrest within 48 hours. The State Department also says that impunity for those responsible for human rights abuses remained as a serious problem.
The police say they have information on LTTE infiltration and the Tigers plan to disrupt electricity supply and telecommunication lines in the capital during the North-West Provincial Council elections. Two electricity transformers in Pettah suburb in Colombo were blasted with bombs on 18 January. The following day, the Army and police carried out a five-hour search operation in Pettah, Kotahena and Grandpass suburbs and arrested over 250 Tamils.
Bombs damaged three more transformers in Kotahena on 23 January. Following the blasts, ten Tamils were arrested in houses and lodges in the area. Three days later, the security forces conducted a search on Armour Street and detained over 200 Tamils, after a bomb was found in Pettah.
Security force personnel are accused of attempting to search a Tamil women’s hostel in Wellawatte suburb on 30 December, at 2.00am, without a woman officer. The officers, whose vehicle did not have number plates, belong to Operation Command Colombo (OCC) which is said to function in three divisions - Colombo North, Central and South - headed by senior officers in the Navy, Airforce and Army. Reports say that the OCC is authorised to carry out secret investigations and search operations without any notice to the local police. The Committee of Inquiry into Undue Arrest and Detention (CIUAD) has been notified of the incident.
Since establishment on 12 July last year, CIUAD has received 154 complaints upto end of January, including two disappearances. CIUAD chief Lakshman Jayakody says that many complaints relating to arrest and prolonged detention have been received. CIUAD is said to be taking action to offer legal aid to detainees and establish a computer database to prevent repeated arrests.
CIUAD is investigating allegations of torture in police custody of Muthuthamby Vanitha, a deportee from France. Meanwhile, Jaffna resident Damila Jayakanthan who arrived in Colombo to go to Italy to join her husband remains in custody. She was arrested in April last year and police have filed a case based on a confession obtained in detention.
Twenty Tamil youths working in Pettah were taken into custody on 13 January accused of not registering with the police. They were released after Colombo MP R Yogarajan pointed out that they are registered with the police in the area of their residence and there was no requirement to register also in the area of the work place.
On 14 January, Batticaloa’s Alayadivembu regional council chairman R Nadarajah, held under the Prevention of Terrorism Act for the last three months, was released by a court after the Attorney General admitted that there was no evidence of LTTE links against him. Louis Rama, accused of being a Sea Tiger, was released by the Colombo High Court on 13 January. The Court rejected the confession obtained in custody, after the Judicial Medical Officer’s evidence revealed that Ms Rama had suffered severe torture.
Twenty six Tamil prisoners in Kalutara resumed their hunger strike on 18 January demanding the authorities to file charges or release them. Following similar protests in December, the government appointed a committee headed by Justice Secretary Kamalini de Silva to expedite the cases against detainees. Although the protest ended on 25 January, the detainees say they will resume demonstrations if no action is taken. The Attorney General Department’s Sugath Gamlath says that cases will be filed as soon as police reports on the detainees are received.