Goons intimidate HRC officers in Kandy

[TamilNet, Monday, 03 March 2008, 14:40 GMT]
Goons alleged to be associated with Kandy police threatened a Tamil female high official attached to Kandy Regional Human Rights Commission (HRC) coordinating office and confiscated her National Identity Card (NIC) near Kingston College in Kandy, accusing her of suspicious presence in the school environment, sources in Kandy said.

Police officers from Kandy police station receiving notification from the thugs through the emergency 119 number, had later gone to the HRC office and threatened her and another male Tamil staffer at the office that they will be called for further interrogation, the sources said.

The Tamil woman officer, a native of Jaffna and a high official handling Education and data processing in the HRC Kandy office, was on official errand to Kandy town where the thugs intimidated and insulted her despite her attempt to establish that she was an HRC official.

Her fellow staffers later managed to recover the NIC from the thugs, according to HRC officials who wanted to remain anonymous.

Colombo HRC head office said that the two HRC officials had made complaints about the incident to them and that they are taking steps to refer the matter to Ministry officials.

Meanwhile, the two HRC officials have lodged complains with Kandy police.

The Kandy Regional Coordinating Office of the HRC is responsible to handle matters related to human rights violation in Kandy, an area where many Tamils of Indian origin live, and caters to Sinhalese, Tamils and Muslims in the Central Province.