A Tamil think-tank based in Jaffna was visited and its staff questioned by Sri Lankan terrorism police.
Kumaravadivel Guruparan, executive director of Adayaalam Centre for Policy Research (ACPR) and senior law lecturer at Jaffna University, reported that the office of ACPR were visited by three TID (Terrorism Investigation Division) officials who claimed to have been sent by their superiors in Colombo to inquire into the human rights policy-think tank.
The officials asked the staff what they were doing and who was funding them alongside other similar questions. When asked whether they were investigating a complaint the officials responded by stating they were asked to make inquiries by their superiors. ?
This follows a worrying norm in Sri Lanka of state intimidation and harassment of human rights advocates. Executive director of ACPR Mr Guruparan was also recently intimidated outside court by individuals associated with the Sri Lankan Deputy Solicitor General who was representing the Sri Lankan army in a disappearances inquiry.
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