October 27, 2011ASIAN HUMAN RIGHTS COMMISSION-URGENT APPEAL PROGRAMME
Urgent Appeal Case: AHRC-UAC-223-2011
SRI LANKA: Perpetrators of a brutal attack on a student of Jaffna University have not been arrested
ISSUES: Extrajudicial killing attempt; torture; right to assembly; denied investigation and justice; impunity; rule of law
Dear friends,
Mr. Rajavarothayan Kavirajan (27) of Nalloor, Punarin in Kilinochchi District, a final year student of Art Faculty of the Jaffna University was severely assaulted by members of an unknown group, who are believed to be of the country's military intelligence units, in Jaffna on 24 October 2011. Rajavarothayan was seriously injured, and was admitted to the Kilinochchi General Hospital and then on the next day considering the severity of the condition he was transferred to the Intensive Care Unit of the Jaffna Teaching Hospital. Rajavarothayan organized many protests against the attack on his fellow student and the President of the Jaffna University Student Union on 16 October 2011. None of Sri Lanka's law enforcement agencies have begun a transparent investigation into the incident. The fate of a civil rights activist is in danger. Thavapalasingham's relatives and the rest of Sri Lankan civil society are waiting for the perpetrator to be caught and justice to be appropriately delivered. This case is yet another illustration of the exceptional collapse of the rule of law in the country.
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