Continued threats for ex combatantsl!
Journalist Yogeshwaran has complained to the Human Rights Commission of Sri Lanka (HRCSL) that he continues to face intelligence threats for the sole reason of being a former rebel. He claims in the complaint that his human rights are being grossly violated.
Yogeshwaran, 42, a resident of Wattu East, Sittankeni, said, “I am a former rebel and it is a great threat to me to keep calling and asking for information.
He called on the Human Rights Commission to provide security for himself and his family as he feared such a threat.
Journalists like Yogeshwaran have always been the target of intelligence, as many former LTTE insurgents have been rehabilitated and are now living normal lives. Therefore, they are vulnerable to threats and harassment. Being ex-rebels, the intelligence services have been harassing them from time to time over issues such as investigations and access to information.
Against this backdrop, he has been subjected to the kind of repression that makes him unable to fulfill his media responsibilities due to being a former rebel. Moreover, people who have relations with him and come to see him for various purposes are also at risk of becoming targets of the intelligence service.
In the post-war period, many ex-rebels are now accustomed to normal civilian life, but the intelligence and security forces have been tempted to view them as terrorists for security reasons. This is a blatant violation of human rights.
It has been 10 years since the end of the war and they have been contacted by phone and in person from time to time to get information about the LTTE.
Accordingly, it is a serious matter that former insurgents like journalist Yogeshwaran continue to be monitored and persecuted for past events. Against such a backdrop, they continue to carry out their media mission in the face of threats from the security forces, even as a group deprived of fundamental rights as well as liberties.
– Journalist c. Yogeshwaran
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