Parent Seeks HRC Intervention To Find Whereabouts

• Missing JVP Dissidents

By Mandana Ismail Abeywickrema

JVP dissident Lalith Kumara Weeraraj’s father, A. Weeraraja, requested the Human Rights Commission of Sri Lanka (HRCSL) to intervene and inform of his whereabouts and allow the family members to meet him.
Weeraraja on Friday (16) made the request from the HRCSL following a statement made by Cabinet Spokesperson, Minister Keheliya Rambukwella to the media that Lalith Kumara and Kugan Muruganadan who have been missing since the 9th were “not missing.”
Rambukwella has said, “They are not missing, they are there,” adding that an investigation is being carried out into the matter.
JVP dissident and Executive Committee member of We Are Sri Lankan, Udul Premaratne said Minister Rambukwella’s statement clearly indicated that both Lalith Kumara and Kugan were being held.
Premaratne told The Sunday Leader that if the authorities had knowledge of Lalith Kumara’s and Kugan’s whereabouts, their family members had the right to know.
“We presented the voice cut of the Minister’s statement to the media to the HRC,” he added.
When asked as to how the HRC responded, Premaratne said the Commission was convinced and said they would immediately conduct an inquiry into the matter. Lalith Kumara and Kugan went missing on the 9th of this month when they were making preparations for the launch of the Movement for People’s Struggle formed by the JVP dissidents.
The two persons had left Kugan’s residence in Jaffna on a motorbike at 5 p.m. on the 9th and had been missing since then. JVP dissident and DNAMP Ajith Kumara lodged a complaint with the Jaffna Police about the two missing persons and the HRC. The Movement for People’s Struggle also organised a protest in Colombo last week demanding action to find the two missing persons. However, the motorbike was recovered a few days earlier from the Achchuveli area.