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Protest in Mullaitivu against State ‘intimidation’

15 Sep 2022

  • Human rights activists, civil society groups allege harassment   
BY Dinitha Rathnayake    A protest was held in front of the Mullaitivu District Secretariat urging a halt to alleged State-sponsored intimidation against human rights defenders and civil society organisations in the North and East. The North-East Co-ordinating Committee (NECC), a collective of 15 grassroots-level human rights organisations that function in the Northern and Eastern provinces, called upon the State to immediately stop all forms of State-sponsored intimidation and harassment perpetrated against human rights defenders and civil society organisations in the North and East. Civil society organisations, including grassroots-level women’s organisations and action groups such as the families of disappeared persons, have been continuously facing harassment, threats, and various forms of rights-related violations perpetrated against them by men attached to the State Intelligence Service, the National Investigation Bureau, the Police, the military (Army and Navy), and military intelligence, the NECC claimed. The NECC has organised a 100-day campaign in the North and the East seeking a political resolution for the Tamil-speaking people of this region under the theme of “a dignified and righteous political resolution for the North and East people of Sri Lanka”. A press statement was made by the NECC on 30 July relating to the 100-day campaign, and according to the NECC, since then, the crackdown on member organisations of the NECC, community groups, and the public who engage with and support the campaign has systematically intensified. Speaking to The Morning, a female activist, under the condition of anonymity, said: “Male intelligence, Police, and Army personnel call female staff of civil society organisations and inquire about their work at odd times, like after 10 p.m. In the Vavuniya District, on 18 August, two men attached to an intelligence service visited a young female civil society worker’s house while she was at office. The worker’s mother was alone at home. The men asked several questions relating to the work of her daughter. This has caused the mother fear and she is worried about the safety of the family,” she observed. The types of intimidation and threats include: Targeting staff members and activists of civil society organisations and continually making telephone calls to them even at night and at odd times in order to question them about their work; getting their details including phone numbers and national identity card numbers; Army, Police, and intelligence personnel from different locations calling the same person; continuously following the activists wherever they go; photographing and videoing civil society activists; men attached to intelligence services, without any prior notice, entering the offices of civil society organisations and inquiring about their work, financial sources, and donors; threatening civil society activists by making false allegations against them such as linking them with the Tamil diaspora; levelling false allegations such as that rights-related activities are anti-Government; threatening activists that they would be arrested and detained for their activism; intelligence, Police, and military personnel compelling civil society organisations to produce their organisational action plans and to inform them about common events in advance; directly visiting the houses of staff members even at odd times and inquiring from the staff members about their work and staying in the houses for hours; directly visiting the houses when the staff members or activists are not at home and questioning family members about the work of the activists; giving a negative impression to the families about the work of the activists and creating fear among the families; questioning family members in a threatening manner and staying for hours; male intelligence officers storing the photos of activists in their mobile phones and showing the photos to neighbours of the activists and communities with whom the activists work and in turn creating a negative impression and fear about civil activism among those people; State intelligence, Police, and military personnel visiting the houses of local villagers and threatening them not to engage in civil activism; social activists being summoned to the Terrorism Investigation Division in Colombo for inquiries; Intelligence, Police, and Army personnel compelling media personnel to get the details of events organised by civil society organizations; pressuring Government officials (e.g. Grama Niladharis and officers attached to the Divisional Secretariats) in the respective areas to get details of civil organisations and incidents of Government officers being threatened by those men; Army, Police, and intelligence personnel instructing Local Government officials not to authorise the use public places for the events of civil society organisations; the level of intimidation being expanded to office break-ins, unlawfully searching documents stored in cupboards and in electronic devices and stealing the data; and the Police dealing with civil society organisations rudely when they make complaints to the Human Rights Commission of Sri Lanka. Police Media Spokesman, Senior Superintendent of Police, and Attorney-at-Law Nihal Thalduwa, speaking to The Morning, said that if there are any incidents as such, a complaint could be filed regarding the Police officers or intelligence officers in question.


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