AI says Tamil men in detention are in 'grave danger of torture'

Three Tamil men are currently held incommunicado by Sri Lankan police in the capital, Colombo, Amnesty International (AI) said.

Sujith Gunapala, Sasikaran Thevarajah and Satyaphavan Aseervatham were arrested by the police Criminal Investigations Division (CID) upon arrival from Thailand.

No request by relatives

Police spokesman, Deputy Inspector General (DIG) Jayantha Wicramaratne, denied the AI accusation.

He told BBC Sandeshaya that no request was made by the families or any other representative to visit the detainees.

	Police say no request was made to visit the three detainees

"They are held in custody because they are accused of many other offences including immigration related offences before they left for Thailand," he told BBCSinhala.com.

DIG wickramaratne however refused to reveal the exact centre where the detainess are kept.

The men "are believed to be in grave danger of torture," a statement issued by the AI stated.

Applications for political asylum in Thailand by the three Sri Lankan nationals were refused by the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR).

Asylum applications rejected

"They are all ethnic Tamils and it is thought they have been detained on suspicion of having links with the LTTE armed opposition group because they have served prison sentences in Thailand for illegal possession of firearms," the statement added.

In many cases, no receipts or records of detention are made available to family members of those who have been arrested, despite a Presidential warrant of July 2006 requiring this AI on arbitrary detention in Sri Lanka

Their lawyer was told that he must get formal permission from the CID Director before he is allowed to see the detainees.

The rights watchdog says that over 1000 people are believed to be abducted by the armed forces, LTTE and other armed groups in Sri Lanka during the last 12 months period.

"Detentions in Sri Lanka are becoming increasingly arbitrary," the statement said.

"In many cases, no receipts or records of detention are made available to family members of those who have been arrested, despite a Presidential warrant of July 2006 requiring this".