Vadivel Nimalarajah
| Vadivel Nimalarajah | |
|---|---|
| Residence | Jaffna, Sri Lanka |
| Nationality | Sri Lankan Tamil |
| Occupation | Journalist |
| Employer | Uthayan Newspaper |
| Known for | Journalist |
| Religion | Hindu |
Vadivel Nimalarajah is a minority Sri Lankan Tamil proof reader for the newspaper Uthayan in Jaffna. He has been missing after being abducted on November 17, 2007 after working overnight in the Uthayan newspaper office. Uthayan has been specifically targeted for its independent reporting by the Sri Lankan military and the paramilitary group EPDP.[1]
Background
This incident is part of acts of violence and intimidation against journalists and human rights activists taking place in areas controlled by the Sri Lankan government.[2] Vadivel Nimalarajah was abducted by a paramilitary allied with the Sri Lankan Army earlier two journalists of Uthayan were killed after a cartoon mocking Douglas Devananda.[3][4] His disappearance is part of a series of disappearances of Tamils in Jaffna which is under Army control.[5]
Incident and reaction
Vadivel Nimalarajah disappeared on November 17, 2007 after working overnight in the Uthayan newspaper office in what is termed as an enforced disappearance by human rights groups.[6] A journalist working for Agence France-Presse describing the situation in Jaffna as terrible said
| “ | I have never seen anything like it. Even in Iraq under Saddam Hussein, foreign journalists had more freedom of movement". | ” |
References
- ↑ Amnesty:Call for the protection of Sri Lankan media workers
- ↑ Sri Lanka: Incommunicado detention/ fear of torture or ill-treatment/ detention without charge\n | Amnesty International
- ↑ Media Terror in Sri Lanka's Jaffna
- ↑ HRW Sri Lanka: ‘Disappearances’ by Security Forces a National Crisis
- ↑ BBC White van 'terrorizes' Jaffna
- ↑ Human Rights Watch Recurring Nightmare
- ↑ RSF Sri Lanka - Annual report 2008