Enforced disappearance of Mr. Pattani Razeek

February 18, 2010

The Observatory for the Protection of Human Rights Defenders, a joint programme of the World Organisation Against Torture (OMCT) and the International Federation for Human Rights (FIDH), requests your urgent intervention in the following situation in Sri Lanka.

Brief description of the situation:

The Observatory has been informed by reliable sources about the enforced disappearance of Mr. Pattani Razeek, Managing Trustee of the Community Trust Fund (CTF)[1] in Puttalam city and member of the Executive Committee of the Asian Forum for Human Rights and Development (FORUM-ASIA), who has been missing since February 11, 2010.

According to the information received, Mr. Pattani Razeek was last seen in Polonnaruwa, a town in the North Central Province of Sri Lanka, in the afternoon of February 11, 2010. Mr. Razeek was then travelling together with other staff members of CTF on their way home from a mission when their van was intercepted by another vehicle, a white van[2].

Mr. Pattani Razeek approached the men in the white van and exchanged greetings in Arabic with them. After talking to them for some minutes, Mr. Razeek went back to his colleagues and told them that he would continue his journey in the white van that according to him was heading to the Eastern provincial town of Valaichchenai, telling them that he would meet them later.

On February 12, 2010, the CTF was informed by Mr. Razeek’s family that he never returned home from the mission. Since then, he remains disappeared.

On February 16, 2010, Mr. Razeek’s family was able to convince his mobile phone company to release some of the phone records coming from his mobile phone. The records revealed that a number of short calls were made from Mr. Razeek’s mobile phone on the evening of February 11, the day he was last seen by his colleagues. On February 15, 2010, a call from Mr. Razeek’s mobile phone was made to a CTF driver, but it was missed. When the call was returned, there was no answer. Also on February 15, 2010, a text message was sent from Mr. Razeek’s mobile phone to a member of his family, in which he assured that he was in Polonnaruwa town and that he would be coming back home soon. Since then, there has been no further contacts, nor responses to calls and text messages.

Subsequently, Mr. Pattani Razeek’s family lodged a complaint with the local police authorities in the city of Puttalam. They also filed a complaint with the Human Rights Commission of Sri Lanka. However, they were not given any file or reference number which they could use to follow up on the case, neither has the Commission been in touch with Mr. Razeek’s family or friends. It should also be noted that although this case has already been reported to police authorities, they have allegedly not been actively pursuing investigation into the case.

The Observatory strongly condemns Mr. Pattani Razeek’s enforced disappearance and fears for his physical and psychological integrity. These events illustrate once more the situation of extreme insecurity faced by human rights defenders in Sri Lanka. The Observatory calls upon the Sri Lankan authorities to take prompt action in order to disclose Mr. Razeek’s whereabouts and ensure his immediate release as his enforced disappearance seems to merely aim at sanctioning his human rights activities.

Actions requested:

Please write to the authorities of Sri Lanka asking them to:

1. Guarantee in all circumstances the physical and psychological integrity of Mr. Pattani Razeek;
2. Take prompt action in order to disclose the whereabouts of Mr. Pattani Razeek and ensure his immediate release, as this enforced disappearance seems to merely aim at sanctioning his human rights activities;
3. Order an immediate, thorough, effective and impartial investigation into Mr. Pattani Razeek’s enforced disappearance, the result of which must be made public, in order to identify all those responsible, bring them before a civil competent and impartial tribunal and apply to them the penal sanctions provided by the law;
4. Put an end to all acts of harassment against all human rights defenders and humanitarian workers in Sri Lanka;
5. Conform with the provisions of the UN Declaration on Human Rights Defenders, adopted by the General Assembly of the United Nations on December 9, 1998, especially its Article 12.2, which provides that “the State shall take all necessary measures to ensure the protection by the competent authorities of everyone, individually and in association with others, against any violence, threats, retaliation, de facto or de jure adverse discrimination, pressure or any other arbitrary action as a consequence of his or her legitimate exercise of the rights referred to in the present Declaration”;
6. Ensure in all circumstances respect for human rights and fundamental freedoms in accordance with international human rights standards and international instruments ratified by the Democratic Socialist Republic of Sri Lanka.

Addresses:

• President Mahinda Rajapakse, Presidential Secretariat, C/- Office of the President,Temple Trees 150, Galle Road,Colombo 3, Sri Lanka, Fax: +94 11 472100 / +94 11 2446657, Email: secretary@presidentsoffice.lk
• Mr. Mohan Peiris, Attorney General, Attorney General’s Department, Colombo 12, Sri Lanka, Fax: +94 11 2 436421
• Mrs. Chandra Ellawala, Secretary, Human Rights Commission of Sri Lanka, 118, Barnes Place, Colombo 07, Sri Lanka. Fax +94 2694924, Hotline +94 2689064. Email: sechrc@slnet.lk
• Mr. Mahinda Balasuriya, Inspector General Of Police (IGP), New Secretariat, Colombo 1, Sri Lanka. Fax no. +94 11 2 440440, Email: igp@police.lk
• National Police Commission, 3rd Floor, Rotunda Towers, 109 Galle Road, Colombo 03, Sri Lanka, Fax: +94 11 2 395867 / +94 11-2395866. E-mail: npcgen@sltnet.lk / polcom@sltnet.lk
• Her Excellency Mrs. Kshenuka Senewiratne, Ambassador, Permanent Mission of Sri Lanka to the United Nations in Sri Lanka, 56 rue De Moillebeau, 5th Floor, 1211 Geneva 19, Switzerland, Fax: + 41-22 734 90 84, E-mail: mission@lankamission.org
• Embassy of Sri Lanka in Brussels, 27 rue Jules Lejeune, 1050 Ixelles, Belgium. Tel: + 32 2 344 53 94/ + 32 2 344 55 85. Fax : + 32 2 344 67 37. Email: sri.lanka@euronet.be

Please also write to the diplomatic mission or embassy of Sri Lanka in your respective country as well as to the EU diplomatic missions or embassies in Sri Lanka.

Geneva - Paris, February 18, 2010

Kindly inform us of any action undertaken quoting the code of this appeal in your reply.

The Observatory, a FIDH and OMCT venture, is dedicated to the protection of Human Rights Defenders and aims to offer them concrete support in their time of need. The Observatory was the winner of the 1998 Human Rights Prize of the French Republic.

To contact the Observatory, call the emergency line:
E-mail: Appeals@fidh-omct.org
Tel and fax OMCT + 41 (0) 22 809 49 39 / + 41 22 809 49 29

Tel and fax FIDH + 33 (0) 1 43 55 20 11 / +33 1 43 55 18 80

[1] The CTF is a non-governmental organisation based in Puttalam that provides emergency relief and rehabilitation, in particular in conflict and disaster affected areas. It has also been involved in human rights documentation and protection.

[2] In Sri Lanka, ‘white vans’ have been known to be the preferred vehicles of groups responsible for abductions and disappearances.