An Appeal To Rajapaksa To Intervene So As To Prevent Another Beheading In Qatar
The AHRC urges its readers to write to the President of Sri Lanka at the address shown below to urgently intervene and to save the life of Mr. Wengadasalam Sudeshkar.
We reproduce below the letter written to His Excellency the President of Sri Lanka, the Hon. Mahinda Rajapaksa regarding the case of Mr. Wengadasalam Sudeshkar who faces the death sentence by beheadingin Doha, Qatar.
January 25, 2013
The Democratic Socialist Republic of Sri Lanka
‘Temple Trees’
Colombo 3
SRI LANKA
Your Excellency,
Re: The possibility of another beheading like that of Rizana Nafeek – Appeal to assist the family of Mr. Wengadasalam Sudeshkar with funds to stop the execution
The parents of Mr. Wengadasalam Sudeshkar have earlier written to Your Excellency about the situation faced by their above named 22-year-old son who is facing the death sentence in Doha, Qatar, which may be carried out at any time. Your Excellency’s office wrote to the mother of Mr. Sudeshkar requesting her to write to the Sri Lanka Bureau of Foreign Employment for the taking of further action on this matter. A letter from Your Excellency’s office was dated March 26, 2012 and was written on behalf of the Senior Assistant Secretary, Ms. Meda Bemmulla. The problem facing the family now is that they have been asked to pay a sum of Rs. 350,000/= to the family of the deceased victim in this case in order to secure Mr. Sudeshkar release.
Accordingly the family contacted the said bureau and as they did not receive a satisfactory solution they sought our help as a human rights organisation. On January 18, 2013, the Asian Human Rights Commission wrote to Mr. Amal Senalankadhikara, the Chairman of the Sri Lanka Bureau of Foreign Employment requesting him to let the family know whether the bureau will assist by way of providing this sum in order to get this young Sri Lankan released; or otherwise to let us know of their decision so that we could make a public appeal to the international community to help the family raise this sum.
Unfortunately there has been no reply to this letter from Sri Lanka Bureau of Foreign Employment. Under these circumstances there is no other recourse available within the Sri Lankan administrative system to resort to but to Your Excellency as the President of Sri Lanka.
Your Excellency is aware the harsh circumstances of the legal system in the countries of the Middle East and the fact that death sentences are carried out regularly in these countries. The case of Rizana Nafeek‘s execution illustrates the kind of danger faced in such situations.
Under these circumstances we appeal to Your Excellency on behalf of the family of Mr. Wengadasalam Sudeshkar to kind assist them in their desperate hour of need. With an order for Your Excellency the Sri Lanka Bureau of Foreign Employment is likely to act on this issue on an urgent basis.
We are writing this purely on the basis of an attempt to assist a person and a family faced with the problem of a death sentence by intervening before the ultimate tragedy takes again.
We urge Your Excellency to intervene in this matter.
We await your kind reply.
I remain,
Yours sincerely,
Bijo Francis
Interim Executive Director
Asian Human Rights Commission
Interim Executive Director
Asian Human Rights Commission
Please see below the original letter sent to Mr. Amal Senalankadhikara, the Chairman of the Sri Lanka Bureau of Foreign Employment
January 18, 2013
Mr. Amal Senalankadhikara
Chairman
Sri Lanka Bureau of Foreign Employment
234, Denzil Kobbekaduwa Mawatha
Koswatta, Battaramulla
SRI LANKA
Chairman
Sri Lanka Bureau of Foreign Employment
234, Denzil Kobbekaduwa Mawatha
Koswatta, Battaramulla
SRI LANKA
Dear Mr. Senalankadhikara,
Re: Mr. Wengadasalam Sudeshkar – Sri Lankan Passport No. 4031544 – the young Sri Lankan worked to be executed in Doha, Qatar
I am sure you are aware of the captioned matter relating to the imminent execution of Mr. Wengadasalam Sudeshkar. The parents of Mr. Sudeshkar who have written to His Excellency the President of Sri Lanka seeking his intervention and assistance regarding their son have received a letter on behalf of the Senior Assistant Secretary to His Excellency stating that their letter has been referred to your bureau for the necessary action. It further informs that your bureau, in the future, will take the necessary steps regarding this matter.
The parents of Mr. Sudeshkar have sought our assistance in trying to obtain the release of their son who, we were told, has been sentenced to death on December 31, 2012. We have also learned that Mr. Sudeshkar is 22 years old as of now and that during the time of the incident which caused this unintentional death he was 20 years and six months of age.
We have also learned that negotiations have been conducted on this matter for settlement by way of paying blood money for the sum of Rs. 350,000/=, that is QAR. 100,000.
We have also learned that the family of Mr. Sudeshkar is extremely poor and that they are not in possession of any properties or financial resources and thus, are unable to raise this sum of money.
We are very perturbed due to the sudden execution of Rizana Nafeek. In that case we have worked since the death sentence came to be known in 2007 and at that stage, as the government did not want to pay any sum for the filing of the appeal the Asian Human Rights Commission raised the necessary funds for the legal fees and enabled the appeal.
After the appeal was refused and the death sentence reconfirmed the only way to save the life of Rizana Nafeek was the payment of blood money. However, the necessary negotiations relating to this matter were not conducted with success in time and the result was the beheading of this young Sri Lankan girl. During the interval between the sentencing and the death we wrote several times to the Sri Lankan government. At one stage Mr. Lalith Weeratunga wrote to the AHRC and said that the Sri Lankan government was willing to pay any blood money if that was the way to save the life of Rizana Nafeek.
I am writing this to inquire from you whether you are making arrangements for the payment of the blood money, the sum of Rs. 350,000/= in order to save the life of this young man. We would very much urge you to do so.
Please be kind enough to inform us urgently whether you will be doing this for otherwise the Asian Human Rights Commission will make a public appeal in order to collect this sum through public contributions. As the time is running out we hope you could reply to us as a matter of urgency. Your cooperation would of course be appreciated by everyone who is concerned with saving the life of this young man.
We await your kind reply.
I remain,
Yours sincerely,
Basil Fernando
Director Policy & Programme Development
Asian Human Rights Commission
Director Policy & Programme Development
Asian Human Rights Commission
Personal contact numbers:
852 26986339 x118 (Office)
852 26969130 (Home)
Email: basil.fernando@ahrc.asia
852 26986339 x118 (Office)
852 26969130 (Home)
Email: basil.fernando@ahrc.asia
WikiLeaks: Bush Personally Had Encouraged Rajapaksa To Pursue Defeat Of The LTTE
By Colombo Telegraph -January 25, 2013
“In a private meeting following ambassador’s credentialing ceremony, President Rajapaksa expressed bewilderment and frustration at U.S. policy for encouraging him to fight terrorism and then criticizing him when he did. Rajapaksa claimed that 70 percent of the IDPs locked in camps would be returned by the end of January and complained that the UN was at fault for the poor condition of IDP camps now because they had refused to build the kind of permanent structures the GSL originally wanted. Ambassador underscored the value of the larger bilateral relationship and its great potential for expansion but stressed that the IDP issue will not go away and needs to be resolved.” the US Embassy Colombo informed Washington.
Bush and Mahinda
A Leaked ‘Confidential’ US diplomatic cable, dated September 18, 2009, updated the Secretary of State regarding Ambassador Patricia Butenis’s credentialing ceremony and a private meeting she had with the PresidentMahinda Rajapaksa. The Colombo Telegraph found the related leaked cable from the WikiLeaks database. The cable is signed by the US Ambassador to Colombo Patricia Butenis.
The ambassador wtore; “On September 17, Ambassador Patricia Butenis presented her credentials to Sri Lankan President Mahinda Rajapaksa in a ceremony with six other ambassadors. Foreign Minister (FM) Bogollagama made the point that ambassador had been credentialed very quickly after her arrival in country, hinting that this signaled the importance the GSL placed on the relationship with the U.S. and their desire to get it back on track. After the ceremony, the U.S. and Egyptian ambassadors were asked to stay behind for private meetings. Following a few minutes with the Egyptian, President Rajapaksa invited ambassador to speak with him, the FM, and Presidential Secretary Lalith Weeratunga”
“Expressing a combination of bewilderment and frustration, the president pointed out that while President Bush personally had encouraged him to pursue defeat of the LTTE, we were now criticizing Sri Lanka for the conduct of its fight against terrorism. The president raised the issue of the war crimes report, which is being prepared by Department. Ambassador explained the origins of the report as congressionally mandated, noted that Assistant Secretary Blake had discussed the report with FM Bogollagama and with the Sri Lankan ambassador in Washington, and informed the president that its release to Congress had been delayed by a month. On the question of freedom of movement for IDPs, the president held to his standard paternalistic line that the GSL could not release them from the camps until de-mining was finished and infrastructure was restored. He promised that 70 percent of the IDPs would be returned by the end of January. Asked to clarify whether they would be allowed to return to their own homes or resettled in new closed camps, FM Bogollagama interjected that they would go to their own homes.” Butenis further wrote.
Read the relevant part of the cable below;
