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wife tried his cell phone several times but it was turned off. The family filed a police
report with the Dehiwala police that same day. They also submitted the case to the
UN Working Group on Enforced or Involuntary Disappearances, which sent it under
the urgent action procedure to the Sri Lankan government on January 9, 2007. 97 At
this writing, Prof. Raveendranath was still missing.
Karuna group
Over the past two years the Karuna group has been implicated in numerous
abductions resulting in summary killings. Most of the victims are alleged supporters
of the LTTE. The group also has engaged in wide-scale abductions of young men and
boys for use as soldiers (see Chapter IX, “Karuna Group and State Complicity”).
The Karuna group has also engaged in kidnappings for ransom of wealthy,
predominantly Tamil, businessmen to raise money. Such kidnappings, which one
journalist called an “industry,” have happened in Colombo and other towns, most
recently Vavuniya. 98 A few businessmen have been killed, apparently because they
or their families refused or were unable to pay, or perhaps as a message to others
that they should comply. According to the Civil Monitoring Commission, out of 78
cases of reported abductions of Tamil businesses in Colombo in late 2006-early
2007, 12 abductees have been murdered, 15 released after the ransom had been
paid, and 51 are still missing. 99 Media reports have suggested that security forces
were implicated in these abductions, either directly facilitating them or providing a
cover and not taking any action against them. 100
Human Rights Watch interviewed a Colombo Tamil businessman who had been
abducted by Tamils he believed to be from the Karuna group but had been released
97 Letter of receipt from the Working Group on Enforced or Involuntary Disappearances, reference number G/SO 217/1 Sri
Lanka, March 26, 2007.
98 Jeyaraj, “An Overview of the ‘Enforced Disappearances’ Phenomenon,” Transcurrents.
99 Figures cited in “Abductions spread to Wellawaya,” LeN, April 10, 2007. Representatives of the Civil Monitoring Commission
told Human Rights Watch that abduction for ransom is one the most underreported categories of cases, as families who
manage to secure the release of their relatives are very reluctant to report even to human rights groups, fearing further
prosecution. Human Rights Watch interview with Mano Ganesan, Colombo, February 20, 2007.
100 D.B.S. Jeyaraj, “Dear Ones of ‘Disappeared’ in depths of Despair,” Transcurrents, April 12, 2007,
http://transcurrents.com/tamiliana/archives/310 (accessed April 15, 2007).
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