Three 'missing' detainees released

[TamilNet, Thursday, 22 April 1999, 19:28 GMT]
Three of the five youths arrested a few days ago by the Sri Lanka Army (SLA) at Thatchanamaruthamdu were released last night, said Rev.Fr.A.Devasagayam the Administer of Madhu Church.

He said that these youths had been taken to the Vanni Army Head Quarters in Vavuniya for inquiries.

However, the other two, Sathasivam Kannathasan (26) and Seenivaasan Yukenthiran (21) are still in SLA custody.

"After the arrest of these young men, people in the refugee camps at Madhu and Thatchanamaruthamadhu are tense and panicky" Fr.Devasagayam said.

"Hundreds of arrested people in the Jaffna peninsula are still missing and their whereabouts remains as unsolved mystery. At this stage the arrests of youths among the displaced population at Madhu and Thatchanamaruthamadhu Open Relief Centres have made the parents worry about their grown up children", Rt.Rev.Rayappu Joseph, Bishop of Mannar said today.

"We do not know how to console the worrying parents, who had sought refuge in the Holy Rosary Church region to escape the continuing war" he added.