By Ranga Jayasuriya
“A policeman put a pistol into the mouth of a driver and threatened that he would not return to Vavuniya alive if he takes us to Colombo,” Brito Fernando, a human rights activists who was among the family members of the disappeared Tamils, and who had been prevented from coming to Colombo by the police last week, said.
Seven hundred people, all of who were family members of the disappeared youth, who had planned to arrive in Colombo to handover a petition to the UN Mission, were on Tuesday prevented from leaving Vavuniya and herded into the Urban Council grounds of Vavuniya, where families were forced to spend most of the night without food, water or sanitation.
In the wee hours of the following day, when the families were preparing to proceed on their journey, they found that the drivers of the buses had been chased away by the police.
“Police took the drivers out and threatened them. They said the buses would be set on fire on their arrival in Colombo, if they take us to Colombo. They threatened those drivers saying they would never be able to run in Vavuniya,” Fernando, said. He had earlier campaigned for the rights of the disappeared Southern youth who had been abducted by the State-orchestrated death squads and the military during the second JVP uprising in 1987-89. At that time, one of the fellow travellers of the human rights campaign was the current President Mahinda Rajapaksa, who was then an MP from Hambantota.
Last week, Fernando watched the unfolding drama helplessly, as ageing mothers and fathers of missing youth were threatened, humiliated, and some younger members of the group were threatened with abduction.
On one occasion, a police officer allegedly stuffed a pistol into the mouth of a driver and threatened to kill him, should he disobey police orders, when he had argued with the cops.
Plans go awry
On Tuesday, 700 family members of disappeared Tamil youth arrived in Vavuniya from far flung corners of the Wanni, from Kilinochchi, Mullaitivu and Mannar, to travel to Colombo to handover a petition to the United Nations office in Colombo.
“We had decided on the Vavuniya Urban Council grounds as the meeting point. We planned to proceed to Colombo later in the evening,” Rev. Father Emanuel Sebamallai, a Catholic priest and an organizer of the collective of family members known as the ‘Association of Families Searching for Disappeared Relatives,’ said.
“One hundred and twenty people came from Mannar and as we waited for the other members, the police came and wrote down the registration numbers of our buses. They left a while later and thereafter, a senior policeman came and told us they cannot grant us permission to go to Colombo,” the Catholic priest explained.
Despite protests by the organizers and pleas by the ageing parents of the missing youth, the police did not allow the 11 bus-loads of hapless humans to proceed to Colombo.
Relatives waited inside the parked buses as heavy rains lashed Vavuniya that day. Some were drenched in the rain and they had no food or water, or sanitation facilities.
Later, a Superintendent of Police came and told us, “ubalata kolomba gihilla pissu kelinna denne ne” (You won’t be allowed to mess around in Colombo), Fernando said.
Alleged threat to protesters
However, some time later, the police had offered a formula by way of a bargain, saying family members would be allowed to proceed the following day. The police said there were reports that certain groups were planning to hurl stones at the passengers as they head to Colombo in the night.
As night fell, ageing parents were accommodated in the Urban Council Hall, which could not house the entire group. However, altruism on the part of the police was missing when the organizers demanded that the buses be allowed to take the rest of the group to a nearby church. Permission was denied and a senior policeman told the old Tamil men and women, who were tired and starving, to walk to the church in the dead of night. Later, the police had permitted them to use one bus to transport the group in batches.
In the early hours of the following day, when the members requested that they be allowed to proceed to Colombo, the police appeared to have changed their mind.
“They told us, not now, later, when the sun rises,” Father Sebamallai said. However, when the families came out in the morning, they found the drivers of the buses had been chased out. They found a wooden board containing sharp nails placed near the tires of one bus.
“They have chased away the drivers. Some drivers who came over subsequently told us what had happened. We understand their fear as well,” he priest added.
“Intelligence Officers and CID Officers were everywhere. They were very rude, Father Sebamallai complained.
Some young males who were among the group had been threatened with abduction, another person from the group who requested anonymity, said.
“The CID asked one organizer whether his wife was at home. Later they had visited his house and had threatened her, warning that the next time she would be wearing a white sari. The house was also stoned by unidentified groups after he had returned to his home,” said another person from Kilinochchi, who also requested anonymity for obvious reasons.
Activists and family members say they are routinely harassed by the State apparatus for seeking truth about their missing relatives.
A person from Kilinochchi complained: “Government officials often treat us like dirt. They behave like we have committed a crime when it is our children who have been abducted by those people.”
Police deny
When contacted, Police Spokesperson, SP Buddhika Siriwardena, denied all allegations against police and said there is no truth to the claims that police officers threatened the family members of the disappeared, and intimidated the drivers in Vavuniya.
When asked whether the family members have lodged a complaint against the behaviour of the policemen, the SP said he is not aware of such a complaint
Us concerned
The United States Embassy in Colombo last week expressed its concern at the protestors being prevented from coming to Colombo.
“The US Embassy is concerned about reports that hundreds of Sri Lankan family members of the disappeared were blocked in Vavuniya by the Sri Lankan authorities while travelling to Colombo. These family members are calling for information about their missing, loved ones. The Embassy calls upon Sri Lankan authorities to allow free movement of these citizens. The right to freely express opinions is universal and protected under Sri Lankan and international law,” it said in a media statement.
Cabinet Spokesman, Minister Keheliya Rambukwella, when questioned on the issue at the weekly cabinet briefing, refused to comment on the incident but defended the police action, saying that it is the responsibility of the police to protect the protesters if they had prior information regarding a security threat.
COURTESY:CEYLON TODAY