The Hindu : International : Red Cross officials meet Rajapaksa

Online edition of India's National Newspaper
Friday, Jun 15, 2007
ePaper

International

International

Red Cross officials meet Rajapaksa

B. Muralidhar Reddy

COLOMBO: Officials of the International Red Cross (IRC) and Red Crescent Movement met Sri Lankan President Mahinda Rajapaksa in Geneva on Thursday to seek information on action taken over the murder of two staff members of the Sri Lanka Red Cross Society in Colombo on June 1. Mr. Rajapaksa is in Geneva to attend the ILO conference.

The meeting was organised at Mr. Rajapaksa's request. ICRC's vice-president Jacques Forster and secretary- general of the International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies, Markku Niskala, expressed their concern over the killings.

"Need for action"

An IRC statement said its delegation welcomed Colombo's commitment to bring the perpetrators quickly to justice. Mr. Forster and Mr. Niskala emphasised the need for increased action to ensure that humanitarian workers were respected and protected and that humanitarian agencies were supported in their efforts to assist vulnerable people in Sri Lanka.

Separately, the Free Media Movement (FMM), a Colombo-based NGO working for the welfare of journalists, in a statement said it was deeply disturbed to note that Journalist Maunusamy Parameshwari's national ID and passport were taken away on Thursday and had not been returned to her. Ms. Parameshwari, a journalist with a Sinhala daily, was detained by the police for 123 days on suspicion of links with the Tigers and released after she filed a petition in the Supreme Court.

The FMM said Ms. Parameshwari was on her way to her office when two persons demanded her to produce her national ID and passport. They were carrying small arms with ID to ostensibly show they were from state security agencies.

"She handed them over and was then asked to come to the Rajagiriya Police Station, located nearby, to collect them at 3.00 pm. Despite waiting until 3.30 pm, no one produced her ID or passport. She has lodged a complaint with the Borella Police regarding this incident".

Ms. Parameshwari told the FMM that the person who took her IDs was the same person who bundled her into a van and threatened her against speaking to the media and politicians in April.

Printer friendly page
Send this article to Friends by E-Mail

International