Arrest and abduction of Stephen Sunthararaj - No progress in investigations
It's
been over a year since Mr. Sinnvan Stephen Sunthararaj, Programme
Manager of the Centre for Human Rights and Development (CHRD) was abducted by
unknown gunmen in army uniforms in Colombo.
Mr. Stephen Sunthararaj who worked as Project Manager of the Centre for Human Rights and Development (CHRD), was taken into custody by the Army near his CHRD office at Colombo 3 on February 12, 2009 and handed over to the Kollupitiya Police where he had been detained on Detention Order for nearly three months. A fundamental Rights application No. SCFR 265/2009 was filed for his release and is still pending in the Supreme Court.
After several representations made to the Authorities by his wife Stephen was produced in Fort Magistrate Court in Case No B330 on May 7, 2009 and was released from custody by the court at about 3.30 p.m.
While returning from court in the vehicle of their lawyer Mr.K.S. Ratnavale, Mr and Mrs Stephen observed that the car was being followed by two persons traveling in a motor bike. Mr. Stephen Sunthararaj and wife identified them to be the two Army Intelligence Officers in civil who were constantly present at the Police Station preventing Stephen’s release. The car was being followed up to Kollupitiya Junction. Thereafter, Mr. Stephen Sunthararaj and wife went to the office at Kollupitiya and got down their children from their home in order to stay at a friends place.
In the evening around 6.00 pm they were traveling in the friend’s vehicle and on the way they stopped at the Kollupitiya Police Station to take back the mobile phone, passport and bank books belonging to Stephen. Thereafter while they were approaching the Town Hall Junction just past the Buddhist Ladies College and opposite Cinnamon Garden Post Office, two persons traveling on a motor bicycle blocked their way and simultaneously a white van approached close to them from which alighted 4 to 5 persons allegedly in Army uniforms. They were armed with pistol and forced open the door of the vehicle in which Stephen and others were traveling, took him by force, bundled him into the white colour van and sped off. They also took the starter keys of the vehicle so that the inmates of the vehicle could not move in addition to their already frightened condition. Even the on lookers and those who were in the other vehicles on the road were stunned by the events unfolding before their eyes on a busy and crowded street. The Officers of the Cinnamon Garden Police came and took the vehicle together with the passengers to the Cinnamon Garden Police Station where their statements were obtained.
The family and friends who witnessed this scene and the young children of Stephen are still in a dazed condition. The incident points out to systematic operation by several persons drawn from the Army, Police and Tamil paramilitary groups which are bent on targeting whomever they suspect and to settle old scores and for monetary benefits by way of ransom. The manner in which this operation was carried out with utter disregard for law and order highlights the extreme state of impunity prevalent in this country. The suspicion strongly points to the Army Intelligence Personnel who may have had assistance from the Kollupitiya Police Station to follow the vehicle in which Stephen was traveling and to relentlessly reach their target with nary a care for the order made by a court of law by which Stephen was set free. Apart from the complaint made at Cinnamon Garden Police, entries were made in the Human Rights Commission and ICRC, Attorney General, IGP and DIG Colombo. Yet no progress has been made in the investigation in relation to his abduction.
While in employment, Mr. Sunthararaj carried out several activities and programmes in his capacity as Programme Manager, some of them sensitive and relating to current human rights issues in the country. He pursued his duties relentlessly in what he believed was correct and appropriate in relation to his work. Prior to his appointment in the post Mr. Sunthararaj has also been a staff member of several organizations in the protection of children’s welfare in the Jaffna district. In the process he had been handling high profile investigations and cases in the Jaffna province and had earned the displeasure and wrath of interested individuals and groups.
It apt to mention that soon after his abduction, then Permanent Secretary to the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Mr. Palitha Kohana at a meeting with US Embassy and European Union officials confirmed that it was an arrest and not abduction. Clarifying the matter further, Mr. Kohona stated that Mr. Sunthararaj was in state custody. Having the custody of Mr. Sunthararaj as revealed by a person no less a person than the Secretary to the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, the Government of Sri Lanka is directly and solely responsible for the safety and well being of the person in custody.
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