Abductions, HR abuses see drastic drop

Chaminda Perera

COLOMBO: The People’s Action for Free and Fair Election (PAFFEREL) yesterday said there is a drastic drop in abductions, disappearances and other acts of Human Rights violations over that reported a few months earlier in the country.

The PAFFEREL in an interim report on abductions, disappearances, indiscriminate arrests and assassinations said there appears to be a significant decrease in arrests, disappearances and abductions during July-August compared to the figures during May -June.

PAFFEREL Chairman Kingsley Rodrigo said the setting up of a one man Commission to receive complaints of abductions and a special desk at the Presidential Secretariat directing investigations of such complaints have contributed in some way to this situation.

Police have arrested certain groups of persons allegedly involved in abduction and extortions. Such effective measures have an impact, the report stated.

The report also added that the number of those released from custody do not receive the same publicity the same as when arrests are made.

The PAFFEREL interim report said it is no easy task to separate the assassinations that takes place as a result of the conflict and those that take place due to other reasons. An assassination that takes place due to personal enmity could also be construed as a human rights violation in such a context, the report added.

The organisation has received information that although the number of abductions and disappearances has declined in other parts of the country such incidents still take place in the Jaffna District at a considerable rate.