Amnesty concerned over new "disappearances"

[TamilNet, Friday, 27 October 2000, 16:44 GMT]
The Amnesty International Thursday issued a statement expressing its concern for safety of two Tamil youths who were arrested by the Sri Lanka Army soldiers earlier this month in Vavuniya.

Tharmalingam Sriranganathan, 21, and Shanmugalingam Thushyanthan, 19, have "disappeared" after they were arrested by the Sri Lankan army in separate incidents, the Amnesty International said.

According to Amnesty, Tharmalingam Sriranganathan was arrested on the evening of 1st October by ten uniformed soldiers travelling on bicycles. He was reportedly seen with head wounds inside the Thandikulam army camp on 2nd October. However, the army continues to deny his arrest.

Shanmugalingam Thushyanthan has been missing since he was detained on 7th October at an army checkpoint in Veeravapuliyankulam, Vavuniya district. Two of his friends, who were detained at the same time, were released later that day. Sri Lanka Army (SLA) soldiers at the checkpoint had told his relatives that Thushyanthan had been taken to the 211 Brigade Headquarters, but officers there denied holding him, the Amnesty statement said.

The statement said that the organisation has received reports of 11 "disappearances" in the area this year.