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Suggest pagesJoseph Pararajasingham
| Joseph Pararajasingham MP |
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|---|---|
 |
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| Joseph Pararajasingham and his wife on a trip to Europe | |
| Member of the Sri Lanka Parliament for Batticaloa District |
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| In office 1990–2004 |
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| Member of the Sri Lanka Parliament for National List |
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| In office 2004–2005 |
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| Succeeded by | C. Chandrakanthan, TNA |
| Personal details | |
| Born | November 26, 1934 |
| Died | December 25, 2005 (aged 71) St Mary's Church, Batticaloa, Sri Lanka |
| Political party | Tamil United Liberation Front |
| Other political affiliations |
Tamil National Alliance |
Joseph Pararajasingham (November 27, 1934-December 25, 2005) was a Sri Lankan Member of Parliament and a poet who was known for his pro-Tamil Tiger views and advocacy of human rights. Pararajasingham was a founding member of the North East Human Rights Secretariat NESHOR.
Pararajasingham became a member of the Sri Lankan Parliament in 1990 and joined the Tamil National Alliance, a pro-rebel party. UTHR and Inter-Parliamentary Union have both claimed that he was assassinated by TMVP.
[edit] Assassination
He was assassinated in 2005 while attending a Christmas midnight mass at St Mary's church in Batticaloa, some 190 miles (306 km) east of the Sri Lankan capital city of Colombo. Gunmen opened fire on Pararajasingham just after he received communion, killing him and injuring eight others, including his wife.
It is unclear who assassinated Mr. Pararajasingham, and the assassination is one of the 15 cases to be investigsated by the Commission of Inquiry into alleged serious human rights abuses warranted by President Rajapakse in September 2006, and whose investigations will be observed by an International Independent Groups of Eminent Persons (IIGEP).
The Government provided details of the case to the Inter-Parliamentary Union, stating that only Mrs Pararajasingham and his personal security officer (who the Batticalao police provided) knew of his decision to attend the Christmas Eve Mass, and this was only revealed when they arrived in Batticalao that morning.[1]
They also stated that St Mary's Church is located in a High Security Zone, between 2 military checkpoints and that the church was reportedly "surrounded" by military personnel, concluding that the culprits could only have escaped with the complicity of the security forces.[1]
They also noted that Mr Pararajasingham's family gave the name of 3 suspects, yet no action has been taken against them.[2] It was also reported, that it was "public knowledge" that a member of the Karuna Group TMVP, was one of the assassins, yet no action has been taken.[1]
Further UTHR ,a local human rights organization, claimed the pro governmentTMVP and EPDP cadres were the assailants.[3]
[edit] References
- ^ a b c Inter-Parliamentary Union (2006-10-18). CASE No. SRI/49 - JOSEPH PARARAJASINGHAM. Inter-Parliamentary Union. http://www.ipu.org/hr-e/179/Sri49.htm. Retrieved 2007-05-10.
- ^ http://www.ipu.org/hr-e/179/Sri49.htm
- ^ Hoole, Rajan. "Supplement to Special Report No.23: Before Time Obscures the Moul’dring". UTHR. http://www.uthr.org/SpecialReports/spreport23suppl.htm. Retrieved 2007-12-06.
- Sri Lankan Tamil politicians
- Assassinated Sri Lankan politicians
- Assassinated Sri Lankan activists
- 1934 births
- 2005 deaths
- Deaths by firearm in Sri Lanka
- Sri Lankan Roman Catholics
- Sri Lankan terrorism victims
- Terrorism deaths in Sri Lanka
- People murdered in Sri Lanka
- Tamil United Liberation Front politicians
- Members of the 9th Parliament of Sri Lanka
- Members of the 10th Parliament of Sri Lanka
- Members of the 11th Parliament of Sri Lanka
- Members of the 12th Parliament of Sri Lanka
- Members of the 13th Parliament of Sri Lanka
- Tamil National Alliance politicians
- Illankai Tamil Arasu Kachchi politicians
