NGO staffer disappears near Chemmani

[TamilNet, Friday, 27 October 2006, 00:18 GMT]
A field officer attached to Non Violent Democrative Activities Group (NVDAG), a local Non Governmental Organization (NGO), disappeared after being interrogated by the Sri Lankan Army (SLA) stationed along the A9 highway between Chemmani road junction and Ariyalai Mampalam junction Wednesday, civil society sources in Jaffna said.

Thiyagarajah Sajinthan, 28, from Nunavil, Chavakachcheri in Thenmarachchi region who set out from the NGO office located at Nunavil along the A9 highway Wednesday, was last seen with the SLA in Chemmani area, relatives said.

Sajinthan's relatives have lodged a complaint with the Human Rights Commission (HRC) in Jaffna of his disappearence, rights officials said.

Six youths, including a teacher, disappeared last week in the same area surrounding Chemmani.

More than 600 civilians, mostly young men and women, who were arrested by the Sri Lanka army in Jaffna during 1996-97, believed to have been murdered and buried in Chemmani. Despite many appeals and protests by the Missing Persons Guardian Association (MPGA) and other community organisations in Jaffna for several years, Governments of Sri Lanka failed to conduct proper investigations to avoid implicating the security forces of the crime.

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