Lankan Defence Ministry “vehemently denies” surveillance of families of the disappeared
Posted on February 23rd, 2020
Courtesy NewsIn.Asia
Defence Secretary Maj.Gen.Kamal Gunaratne said that the forces are not keeping a tab on these families.
Colombo, February 23 (newsin.asia): The Sri Lankan Defence Ministry has vehemently” denied accusations by the Human Rights Watch (HRW), that families of persons who had disappeared and those of activists supporting them are under the microscope of the Security Forces and intelligence agencies.
The HRW in its latest report claimed: ‘Sri Lankan Security Forces and intelligence agencies have intensified surveillance and threats against families of victims of enforced disappearance and activists supporting them since Gotabaya Rajapaksa became the President in November 2019’.
Defence Secretary Maj. Gen. Kamal Gunaratne, denying the allegations, said apart from operating routine security network, the Security Forces and intelligence agencies are not engaged in monitoring any specific group of people.
They are not focusing any of those relatives of missing persons and we have not used any of the intelligence segments of the armed forces or the police to keep a tab on those families,” he said.
The Defence Secretary said the Security Forces and the Police are kept on high alert to ensure national security but not targeting any specific group of people in Sri Lanka.
According to the HRW, activists working in six locations in the north and east with the relatives of the forcibly disappeared have told the HRW that there has been a significant increase in Government surveillance and intimidation.
The Defense Secretary further said: ” Especially, we do not keep an eye on the relatives of missing persons or intimidate them.,” he said.
Maj.Gen. Gunaratne said these allegations might be leveled against the country’s Security Forces to discredit the Government targeting the coming UN Human Rights sessions in Geneva..
He said the entire intelligence network, which was functioned in isolation and was in disarray, was brought under a strong network following the directives of President Rajapaksa to face future security threats to ensure national security to prevent deadly incidents like Easter Sunday suicide attacks.
The Defence Secretary requested the HRW, a New York based rights organization, to verify the authenticity of those who claimed that the families of missing people and their supporters were intimidated by the Sri Lankan Security Forces and intelligence agencies.