(July 30, 1999) Human Rights Watch today reacted with sorrow to Thursday morning's murder of Neelan Tiruchelvam, one of Sri Lanka's leading human rights advocates.
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"Neelan was a life-long campaigner for human rights and a tireless advocate for
a peaceful resolution to the bloody conflict in Sri Lanka. He was a wise
and valued colleague and he will certainly be missed."
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Jeannine Guthrie NGO Liaison for the Asia Division of Human Rights Watch, "
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The international monitoring group condemned Tiruchelvam's murder as a
deplorable violation of humanitarian law, and called on the Sri Lankan
government to launch an immediate investigation into his death.
Tiruchelvam was a member of parliament for the Tamil United Liberation Front
party (TULF) and the head of the Colombo-based International Centre for Ethnic
Studies. The institute he led is dedicated to the study of ethnic conflict and
the promotion of human rights and peace.
"Neelan was a life-long campaigner for human rights and a tireless advocate for
a peaceful resolution to the bloody conflict in Sri Lanka," said Jeannine
Guthrie, NGO Liaison for the Asia Division of Human Rights Watch, "he was a wise
and valued colleague and he will certainly be missed."
Although no organization has yet taken responsibility for the suicide bombing
that killed Tiruchelvam, involvement by the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam
(LTTE) is suspected. The group has been linked to the killings of several TULF
members in the past ten years as well as other violent attacks on civilians.
Human Rights Watch also reminded the Sri Lankan authorities of the need to
respect human rights procedures in the course of its investigation and to
refrain from arbitrary detentions of Tamil civilians as the investigation
proceeds.
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