Briefing note on Sri Lanka and Malawi

Spokesperson for the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights: Ravina Shamdasani, on behalf of Rupert Colville
Location: Geneva
29 July 2011

(1) Sri Lanka

The UN human rights office would like to highlight reports that a body, believed to be that of a prominent human rights defender who has been missing since February 2010, was exhumed in Sri Lanka yesterday. We hope that investigation and prosecution of this crime will now be expedited, and that there will be similar progress in resolving the many thousands of outstanding cases of disappearance in Sri Lanka.

Some background on this particular case: Pattani Razeek, the Managing Trustee of Community Trust Fund (CTF) and a leading member of regional NGO networks, was last seen near the mosque in Pollonaruwa (North Central Province) on 11 February 2010. For some months, his family and colleagues received calls demanding a ransom. Police investigations made little progress amid allegations of political interference. CTF members and Muslim community leaders faced threats to drop the case.

It is only in the past few weeks that two suspects were arrested in relation to the case. The information they provided reportedly led to the body. Now that the fate of this human rights defender has been established, it is time for an investigation to establish the truth of the circumstances of this heinous crime, and for prosecution to bring the justice to the victim’s family.

We hope that similar progress will be made in uncovering the truth behind the disappearance of several thousand individuals both during and since Sri Lanka’s conflict. In one such case, a freelance journalist and cartoonist, Mr. Prageeth Ranjan Bandara Ekneligoda, has been missing and considered “disappeared” since January 2010. We strongly urge the Government of Sri Lanka to expedite investigations and provide information on Mr. Ekneligoda’s whereabouts and fate.

We further encourage the Government to seek the assistance of the UN Working Group on Enforced and Involuntary Disappearances, which has 5,653 outstanding Sri Lankan cases on its books, by inviting it to visit the country.

(2) Malawi

We have been following with great concern the reports of human rights violations in the context of last week’s anti-government demonstrations in Malawi, including the reported killings of several protestors through the excessive use of force by the security forces. We call on the Government to stop the use of force and urge prompt, impartial and transparent investigations into these allegations of grave human rights violations.

We are extremely worried about reports of arrests of large numbers of people during the demonstrations, and death threats against several leaders of the protests following President Bingu wa Mutharika's announcement via radio that eight people he specifically named would be arrested. We urge the Government to cease the use of mass arrests and threats to silence opponents.

We have furthermore received reports that the government has shut down news websites and social media networks and has blocked signals from radio stations. Journalists have also reportedly been targeted and subject to violence and intimidation. We urge the authorities to respect the freedom of expression.

For more information or interviews, please contact press officers: Ravina Shamdasani (+ 41 22 917 9310 or rshamdasani@ohchr.org) or Xabier Celaya (+ 41 22 917 9383 or xcelaya@ohchr.org)

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