The Disappearance of Subramaniam Ramachandran is an incident that took place against a Tamil journalist in Sri Lanka.
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.
Free Media Movement The Free Media Movement (FMM) is a media freedom watchdog organization of journalists from Sri Lanka.
It evolved out of the standing committee of journalists, which was formed in late 1991. The standing committee was formed by a group of journalist ...
an
International Federation of Journalists
The International Federation of Journalists (IFJ) is the largest global union federation of journalists' trade unions in the world. It represents more than 600,000 media workers from 187 organisations in 146 countries.
The IFJ is an associate m ...
associate reported that newspapers like
Sudor Oli and
Thinakkural
''Thinakkural'' is a Tamil newspaper published in Sri Lanka. It was founded by Pon Rajagobal, former editor of Virakesari in 1997. There have reported number of attempts to force the paper to stop its distribution in recent times.
See also
*List ...
have received threats from government aligned
para-military
A paramilitary is an organization whose structure, tactics, training, subculture, and (often) function are similar to those of a professional military, but is not part of a country's official or legitimate armed forces. Paramilitary units carr ...
groups demanding that their distribution be stopped and there were attempts to unofficially censure Tamil media organizations His disappearance is part of a series of disappearances of Tamils in Jaffna which is under Army control. Ramachandran had written an article about illegal sand trafficking which included the license numbers of the vehicles involved and the businessman's connections with certain officers.
Ramachandran was also threatened by the Tamil Tigers in the past for having good relations with members of the security forces. The LTTE intelligence services are said to have investigated him in November 2006 after he took photos of a gathering organised in honour of its leader, Velupillai Prabhakaran.
Incident
Subramaniam Ramachandran left the school he runs in Karaveddy along with a friend. When he arrived at the Kalikai Junction military camp he was stopped for questioning by the
Sri Lankan Army
ta, இலங்கை இராணுவம்
, image = File:Sri Lanka Army Logo.png
, image_size = 180px
, caption = Emblem of the Sri Lanka Army
, start_date ...
soldiers. Subramaniam Ramachandran was taken inside the camp for questioning. However, his friend was allowed to leave. Further eyewitness stated that
Eelam Peoples Democratic Party (EPDP) cadres arrived in the army camp along with army informers. Several Jaffna based journalists confirm that he was being held in an army camp.
Reaction
The RSF appealed for his release.
the press freedom organization added.
Personal life
Ramachandran known to be as a minority
Sri Lankan Tamil
Sri Lankan Tamils ( or ), also known as Ceylon Tamils or Eelam Tamils, are Tamils native to the South Asian island state of Sri Lanka. Today, they constitute a majority in the Northern Province, live in significant numbers in the Eastern ...
Journalist for the
Tamil
Tamil may refer to:
* Tamils, an ethnic group native to India and some other parts of Asia
** Sri Lankan Tamils, Tamil people native to Sri Lanka also called ilankai tamils
**Tamil Malaysians, Tamil people native to Malaysia
* Tamil language, nati ...
newspapers ''
Yarl Thinakural
On April 13, 2023, Ralph Yarl, a 16-year-old black teenager, was shot twice and wounded after ringing the doorbell to the wrong house in Kansas City, Missouri. Yarl was attempting to pick up his twin brothers and ended up at the wrong address, a ...
'' and ''
Valampuri
Valampuri is a Tamil newspaper based in Jaffna,Sri Lanka
Sri Lanka (, ; si, ශ්රී ලංකා, Śrī Laṅkā, translit-std=ISO (); ta, இலங்கை, Ilaṅkai, translit-std=ISO ()), formerly known as Ceylon and officia ...
''. He also ran a private school. He has been missing since he was arrested by some individuals in
Vadamarachchi
Vadamarachchi ( ta, வடமராட்சி Vaṭamarāṭci, si, වඩමාරච්චි) is one of the three historic regions of the Jaffna peninsula in northern Sri Lanka. The other two regions are Thenmarachchi and Valikamam. Alternat ...
, north of
Jaffna
Jaffna (, ) is the capital city of the Northern Province of Sri Lanka. It is the administrative headquarters of the Jaffna District located on a peninsula of the same name. With a population of 88,138 in 2012, Jaffna is Sri Lanka's 12th mos ...
. He was 37 years old. Eyewitness claimed that he was held in a
Sri Lankan Army
ta, இலங்கை இராணுவம்
, image = File:Sri Lanka Army Logo.png
, image_size = 180px
, caption = Emblem of the Sri Lanka Army
, start_date ...
camp. Furthermore,
Reporters Without Borders
Reporters Without Borders (RWB; french: Reporters sans frontières; RSF) is an international non-profit and non-governmental organization with the stated aim of safeguarding the right to freedom of information. It describes its advocacy as found ...
claimed that they are beyond any doubt that the Sri Lankan Army was involved in his disappearances.
/ref>
References
{{DEFAULTSORT:Ramachandran, Subramaniam
Possibly living people
Sri Lankan Hindus
Sri Lankan Tamil journalists