Human rights officials dismissed reports in Sri Lankan papers that 200 children had been handed over by Jaffna parents to protect them from being abducted by the Liberation Tigers.
Officials at the Jaffna office of the Sri Lanka Human Rights Commissions (SLHRC) called the story in the Daily Mirror newspaper a blatant lie.
The Daily Mirror had reported that parents in Jaffna “handed over some 200 children” to the SLHRC and they “are now accommodated in a special building in Jaffna following a court order”.
Jaffna SLHRC officials also criticised the paper for false reporting, saying the member cited in the article is a Sinahalese who used to be part of the organisation but is no longer in Jaffna.
The news story was written in a language giving an impression that the said official is still attached to the SLHRC Jaffna office, they said.
The paper quoted former Supreme Court judge Dharmasiri Jayawickrama, as telling the media “these children, whose parents had feared that they would be abducted by the LTTE, are being cared for by Prisons officials.”
The building where the children are now accommodated is fast becoming inadequate and the HRC is looking for a new building, the paper reported him as saying.
Nothing of this nature has ever happened, SLHRC officials in Jaffna said.
They admit that more than 72 youths and young family men have sought safety with them and been placed in protective custody in Jaffna prison.
But the Jaffna officials say these men have sought their protection fearing that they could be abducted or killed by the Sri Lanka Armed Forces and the paramilitary cadres collaborating with them.
Officials at the Jaffna office of the Sri Lanka Human Rights Commissions (SLHRC) called the story in the Daily Mirror newspaper a blatant lie.
The Daily Mirror had reported that parents in Jaffna “handed over some 200 children” to the SLHRC and they “are now accommodated in a special building in Jaffna following a court order”.
Jaffna SLHRC officials also criticised the paper for false reporting, saying the member cited in the article is a Sinahalese who used to be part of the organisation but is no longer in Jaffna.
The news story was written in a language giving an impression that the said official is still attached to the SLHRC Jaffna office, they said.
The paper quoted former Supreme Court judge Dharmasiri Jayawickrama, as telling the media “these children, whose parents had feared that they would be abducted by the LTTE, are being cared for by Prisons officials.”
The building where the children are now accommodated is fast becoming inadequate and the HRC is looking for a new building, the paper reported him as saying.
Nothing of this nature has ever happened, SLHRC officials in Jaffna said.
They admit that more than 72 youths and young family men have sought safety with them and been placed in protective custody in Jaffna prison.
But the Jaffna officials say these men have sought their protection fearing that they could be abducted or killed by the Sri Lanka Armed Forces and the paramilitary cadres collaborating with them.
