Disappeared youth in SLA custody, parents complain

[TamilNet, Tuesday, 09 August 2005, 10:15 GMT]
Karunakaran Sasikaran (16) of Allarai Kodikamam in Thenmaradchchi division in Jaffna district who is alleged to have been taken into custody by Sri Lanka Army (SLA) soldiers in Muhamalai checkpoint recently when he was crossing to enter Wanni has not been released yet, according to complaints lodged by the parents of the boy with the Jaffna regional office of the Human Rights Commission of Sri Lanka (HRCSL) and the Jaffna office of the Sri Lanka Monitoring Mission (SLMM) Monday, civil sources said.

Parents said that they have not received any response to their complaints from the HRCSL and SLMM, sources said.

Sasikaran's parents said that they believed the boy is being detained in a military camp.

Parents have appealed to the civil authorities to take steps to get their son released from the army custody, sources said.

Arbitrary arrests by the SLA without proper procedures to inform relatives or human rights institutions will damage public trust in the SLA, civil sources said.