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Large-scale arrests of Tamil youth under the Emergency Regulations are particularly
common after attacks attributed to the LTTE. After the suicide bomb attack against
Army Commander Lt. Gen. Sarath Fonseka in April 2006, for example, the authorities
arrested 97 Tamils in Colombo. 143 The status of their cases remains unclear. Similarly,
security forces arrested a large number of Tamils in connection with the August 2005
Kadirgamar assassination. Between midnight of December 30 and noon on
December 31, 2005, the Sri Lankan army and police arrested 920 people, mostly
Tamils, in a joint cordon and search operation named “Strangers Night III.” The pro-
LTTE website Tamilnet said the police arrested only Tamils, including 105 women, 144
but the police said the 920 suspects comprised 118 Sinhalese, 96 Muslims, and 706
Tamils. 145 It remains unclear how many of these people remain in detention at this
writing. Human Rights Watch asked the Sri Lankan government how many of those
arrested in “Strangers Night III” are still under detention, how many have been
charged, and how many have been brought to trial, but the government did not reply.
Sri Lankan lawyers dealing with arrests under the Emergency Regulations told
Human Rights Watch that the security forces frequently detain individuals on
spurious charges, such as if found speaking softly on a mobile phone in Tamil in a
public place. The police take advantage of the powers granted them under the
regulations to arrest all those suspected in any way of supporting the LTTE.
In some cases, deliberate misrepresentation of a suspect’s identity has led to
innocents being detained. On October 2, 2006, for example, the police arrested
Rasurajah, a 32-year-old Tamil from Talgampola in Galle district. According to the
Asian Human Rights Commission, Rasurajah remained in custody for three days
because the police misrepresented his identity in court as “M. Selliah,” an individual
wanted by the police for investigation. A second magistrate, informed of the facts of
the case, did not release Rasurajah but kept him on remand until the next hearing on
October 6, after which he was released. 146
143 Centre for Policy Alternatives, “War, Peace and Governance in Sri Lanka,” December 2006.
144 “920 Tamils arrested in major cordon, search operation in Colombo,” TamilNet, December 31, 2005,
http://www.tamilnet.com/art.html?catid=13&artid=16702 (accessed July 16, 2007).
145 Nirmala Kannangara, “DIG says Tamils not targeted through search operations,” Morning Leader (Colombo), January 11,
2006, http://www.themorningleader.lk/20060111/News.html (accessed July 16, 2007).
146 “Sri Lanka: Innocent man victimised by illegal arrest and detention due to unlawful police malpractice of misrepresenting
suspect's identity in court,” Urgent Appeal, Asian Human Rights Commission, November 9, 2006.
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