Vadivel Nimalarajah
Quick Facts
Biography
Vadivel Nimalarajah is a minority Sri Lankan Tamil proof reader for the newspaper Uthayan in Jaffna. He has been missing after being abducted on November 17, 2007 after working overnight in the Uthayan newspaper office. Uthayan has been specifically targeted for its independent reporting by the Sri Lankan military and the paramilitary group EPDP.
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. Vadivel Nimalarajah was abducted by a paramilitary allied with the Sri Lankan Army earlier two journalists of Uthayan were killed after a cartoon mocking Douglas Devananda. His disappearance is part of a series of disappearances of Tamils in Jaffna which is under Army control.
Incident and reaction
Vadivel Nimalarajah disappeared on November 17, 2007 after working overnight in the Uthayan newspaper office in what is termed as an enforced disappearance by human rights groups. A journalist working for Agence France-Presse describing the situation in Jaffna as terrible said