NationNews

A joint statement by 13 international organizations call for immediate release of Sri Lankan poet detained for a year without charge.

Sri Lanka: Today marks one year since Ahnaf Jazeem was arrested

A joint statement by 13 international organizations call for immediate release of Sri Lankan poet detained for a year without charge.

We, the undersigned organisations, are deeply concerned about the ongoing detention of poet
and teacher, Ahnaf Jazeem, who has now been detained for a year without charge. We call on
the Sri Lankan authorities to immediately release Ahnaf Jazeem, or promptly charge him with
internationally recognizable criminal offences and try him in accordance with international fair
trial standards.
Ahnaf Jazeem (pen name, Mannaramuthu Ahnaf) is a 26-year-old poet and teacher who was
arrested on 16 May 2020 under Sri Lanka’s draconian Prevention of Terrorism Act (PTA). The
arrest was in connection to a Tamil-language poetry anthology called Navarasam (நவரசம்),
which he wrote and published in July 2017, as well as other unsubstantiated claims of exposing
his students to ‘extremist’ content with the intention of turning them into followers of
‘extremist ideology’. His arrest comes against a backdrop of increased marginalisation and
discrimination targeting Sri Lanka’s Muslim community.
The Sri Lankan authorities reportedly found copies of Navarasam at a school that was being
investigated for its alleged links to the Easter Sunday Terror attacks. Despite the fact the book
is currently listed in Sri Lanka’s national library, having never been banned, the authorities
decided to allegedly detain Ahnaf Jazeem for its content, among other reasons.
Sri Lankan authorities have continued to argue that the contents of Navarasam promote
extremism. However, this has been flatly rejected by the author and his legal representative,
Sanjaya Wilson Jayasekera, who views Ahnaf Jazeem’s detention as being ‘directed at
entrenching anti-Muslim racism’. Macbool Alimmohamed Nuhman, a renowned Tamil
language professor has also contested the authorities’ interpretation of Ahnaf Jazeem’s poetry,
stating that ‘there are several poems against extremism, violence, and war in this collection’.
We, the undersigned, do not believe that Jazeem’s poetry shows intent to incite others to
commit violence.
According to his lawyer, Ahnaf Jazeem is detained in squalid conditions which may amount to
cruel, inhuman and degrading treatment, that have contributed to his deteriorated health.
Further, the authorities have violated Jazeem’s due process safeguards during his time in
detention. Jazeem’s legal counsel states that Jazeem has been coerced to make false
confessions while under interrogation and has been made to sign documents written in a
language he does not understand. Jazeem was denied access to legal representation for close
to ten months since his arrest, and when access was provided, privileged conversations
between lawyer-client were recorded by the authorities. His family too were only given access
after five months of Ahnaf Jazeem’s detention.
One year into his detention, the authorities have yet to bring forth any evidence that
substantiates their allegations against Ahnaf Jazeem. In the event the authorities do possess
credible and admissible evidence that Jazeem has committed an internationally recognised
crime, they must promptly charge him, assuring him due process and the right to a fair trial in
accordance with international standards so that he has an opportunity to prove his innocence.
In the absence of such evidence, they must immediately release him.
Ahnaf Jazeem is detained under the PTA, which provides authorities with sweeping powers to
arbitrarily detain individuals without any charges for up to 18 months without charge or trial.
Use of torture and other forms of ill treatment to obtain forced confessions is a widespread
practice used by the notorious Counter-Terrorism and Terrorism Investigation Division against
detainees. The PTA has been used against Sri Lanka’s ethnic and religious minority
communities, with a disproportionate number of Tamils and Muslims in detention under the
Act.
Despite repeated calls from the United Nations and human rights organisations to have the
legislation repealed, authorities continue to use the PTA against some of Sri Lanka’s most
vulnerable populations.
We, the undersigned organisations, call on the Sri Lankan authorities to immediately release
Ahnaf Jazeem, or to charge him so that he has an opportunity to prove his innocence as part
of a fair trial. We also call for the immediate repeal of the deeply flawed PTA, which has
facilitated human rights violations especially of Sri Lankan minorities.
Signed:
• PEN International
• Amnesty International
• The Sri Lanka Campaign for Peace and Justice
• Journalists for Democracy in Sri Lanka
• The International Working Group on Sri Lanka
• International Truth and Justice Project – Sri Lanka
• The Center for Justice and Accountability
• Australian Centre for International Justice
• Article 19
• Human Rights Watch
• IMADR
• PEARL
• Freemuse

error: Content is protected !!உள்ளடக்கம் பாதுகாக்கப்படுகிறது!!