The Human Rights Actions Network
www.derechos.org/human-rights/actions/
ACTION REQUEST
Case LKA 311000
The International Secretariat of OMCT requests your URGENT
intervention in the following situation in Sri Lanka.
Brief description of the situation
The International Secretariat of OMCT has been informed by Asian
Center for the Progress of Peoples, (ACPP), a member of the OMCT
network, that on 19 October 2000, Mr. Mylvaganam Nirmalrajan, 38, a
well-known journalist and father of three, was shot dead in his own
home, through the window of his room, as he wrote a news report. He
was the Jaffna correspondent for the Tamil daily "Virakesari", the
independent Tamil radio station, "Sooriyan FM", the popular Sinhala
political weekly, "Ravaya", the Tamil and Sinhala services of the BBC.
He was also the secretary of the Northern Journalists' Association.
According to the information received, days before his killing,
Nirmalrajan had confided with colleagues that he had received death-
threats. He had reported on the serious problems of the Tamil people
displaced by the war, and the destruction of family life. He also reported
vote rigging, intimidation and violence in the recent elections, carried out
by a militant group active on the peninsula. The armed group, which has
joined the political mainstream and contested parliamentary elections,
helps the Sri Lankan government's security forces in the peninsula.
Nimalrajan had written reports critical of the group.
Action requested
Please write to the authorities in Sri Lanka urging them to
i. guarantee an immediate investigation into the
assassination of Mr Mylvaganam Nirmalrajan, identify
those responsible, bring them before a civil competent and
impartial tribunal and apply the penal, civil and/or
administrative sanctions provided by law;
ii. guarantee compensation to the family of Mr Mylvaganam
Nirmalrajan;
iii.guarantee the respect of human rights and the fundamental
freedoms throughout the country in accordance with
national laws and international human rights standards.
Addresses
Her Excellency President Chandrika B. Kumaratunga, Presidential
Residence, Colombo 3, Sri Lanka Fax94 - 1 - 333 - 703
Mr G L Peiris, Minister of Justice, Ministry of Justice, Colombo, Sri Lanka.
Inspector General of Police, Police Headquarters, New Secretariat,
Colombo 1, Sri Lanka
Hon. Ambassador, Permanent Mission and Consulate General of Sri
Lanka, 56, Rue De Moillebeau, 5th Floor, 1 209, Geneva 19, Switzerland,
Fax(41-22) 734 9084, E-mailmission.srilanka@itu.ch
Hon. High-Commissioner, The High Commission of the Democratic
Socialist Republic of Sri Lanka 13 Hyde Park Gardens London W2 2LU
United Kingdom Fax(0171) 262-7970, E-maillancom@easynet.co.uk
Geneva, October 31, 2000
