A British Tamil man has been arrested and held in Sri Lanka for over four years without charge under the Prevention of Terrorism Act (PTA), reports the Guardian.
Father of two, Viswalingam Gopithas, from South London has been under Sri Lankan custody since April 2007, accused of trying to supply night vision equipment to the LTTE.
Reports have also emerged of other British Tamils, including a fifty-one year old woman, Vasugi Kaunanithy, being held by Sri Lankan security forces under the Prevention of Terrorism Act, since August 2011.
Gopithas' continued detention has prompted expressions of concern from the both the British Government and legal charities, bringing into focus the Sri Lankan government's draconian anti-terror legislation.
A spokesman for the British Foreign and Commonwealth Office said,
"FCO minister Alistair Burt raised Mr Gopithas's continued detention without charge with the Sri Lankan foreign minister, [G L] Peiris in June this year … [and] more broadly, the UK has regularly expressed its concern about legislation in Sri Lanka that allows for prolonged detention without charge."
Gopithas says he was arrested for purchasing mobile phones and global positioning systems to bring to UK for use in a friend’s minicab business.
The equipment was in fact never actually brought into Sri Lanka, but left with customs officials at Colombo on his entry to Sri Lanka, while he visited family. Shortly before his departure, Gopithas went to the airport to ensure that the items were ready for transport back to the UK, but came under arrest by the Terrorism Investigation Department (TID).
In any event, Gopithas also pointed out, the equipment was not prohibited at the time.
From there, he was made to sign a statement in Sinhalese, a language that he does not understand and has since spent his custody in New Magazine prison in Colombo.
Fair Trials International, a UK-based NGO, has filed an application with the UN Human Rights Committee on Gopithas’s behalf, challenging his detention.
Jago Russell, the charity's chief executive said,
"The Sri Lankan conflict ended years ago but thousands of people, including Mr Gopithas, still languish under so-called 'emergency laws' with no trial and no end date to their detention."
"British authorities must pressure the Sri Lankan authorities to either try Mr Gopithas fairly or put an end to his arbitrary detention, and allow him to return home to his wife and two young daughters in London."
Current British Foreign and Commonwealth Office travel advice warns that the "Sri Lankan Prevention of Terrorism Act and Emergency Regulations permit prolonged detention without charge or trial."
It is also noted that, “anti-Western (particularly anti-British) rhetoric has increased” and urges visitors to avoid “military, government and paramilitary locations”.
They also state that in Sri Lanka "you should exercise a high level of vigilance”.
See our earlier post: "Army defends use of PTA on civilians" (Sep 2011)
