Concern for activists - Amnesty

[TamilNet, Monday, 14 September 1998, 07:41 GMT]
Amnesty International, the human rights organisation, said Friday that it is concerned about five activists of the Socialist Equality Party (SEP), formerly the Revolutionary Communist League, following their arrest by the intelligence unit of the Liberation Tigers in the embattled Kilinochchi district.

Amnesty says that A Rasaratnam, E Nayavel (Amudan), Thirugnanam Sambandan, Kasinathan Naguleswaran and Rajendran Sudarsan, all living in Kilinochchi, were arrested in July and August by the LTTE intelligence unit.

Amnesty has asked its members to write to the LTTE requesting assurances that the activists will not be ill-treated or tortured during interrogation.

Amnesty said that complaints "have been lodged with the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC)" and said the ICRC had not heard from the LTTE over the arrests.

Sources close to the LTTE in Europe when contacted by TamilNet said that they did not have any information about the arrests.

The SEP said earlier that some of those arrested had been "putting up posters" in Kilinochchi.

The Kilinochchi district is currently the epicenter of the island's conflict, and has seen much military activity in the past year. The fighting has escalated in the past few months.

None of the main political parties in the island has conducted political activity in the north and east of the island, where heavy fighting is taking place between the Sri Lankan military and the Liberation Tigers.