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OO RUEHWEB

DE RUEHLM #1441/01 2920922
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O 190922Z OCT 07
FM AMEMBASSY COLOMBO
TO SECSTATE WASHDC IMMEDIATE 7040

UNCLAS COLOMBO 001441 
 
SIPDIS 
 
SIPDIS 
 
DEPARTMENT FOR SCA/INS AND G/IWI 
 
E.O. 12958: N/A 
TAGS: PREL PHUM KWMN KPAO CE
SUBJECT: SRI LANKA: NOMINATION FOR SECRETARY'S 
INTERNATIONAL WOMEN OF COURAGE AWARD 
 
REF: STATE 126072 
 
¶1.  Embassy Colombo wishes to nominate Ms. Srinithy 
Nandasekaran of Sri Lanka for the Secretary's International 
Woman of Courage  Award.  As one of Sri Lanka's few female 
attorneys from the ethnic minority Tamil population, Ms. 
Nandasekaran has worked tirelessly as a lawyer, judge, and 
human rights activist to protect the rights of civilians 
caught in the crossfire of Sri Lanka's 25-year ethnic 
conflict. 
 
¶2.  Ms. Nandasekaran's determined efforts to hold government 
officials and security force officers accountable for their 
actions have led to career demotions and threats to her life 
and the lives of her family members.  In 2003, while serving 
in Kayts, an island off the Jaffna peninsula in northern Sri 
Lanka, Ms. Nandasekaran came under fire for ordering the 
return of 13 official vehicles that were being 
inappropriately used by the Eelam People's Democratic Party 
(EPDP), a pro-government paramilitary group with a history of 
serious human rights abuses.  She defied advice from a senior 
judge to consider the lives of her three children and 
withdraw the order against the EPDP.  Rather than allow the 
case to proceed, the Government removed her from her position 
as Magistrate and District Judge in Kayts and transferred her 
to Jaffna. 
 
¶3.  Ms. Nandasekaran served in Jaffna as an Additional 
Magistrate from late 2003 until September 2006.  While in 
that position, Ms. Nandasekaran allowed a case against 
several officers, including Lt. Col. Duminda Chanaka 
Keppetiwalana, to proceed.  Keppetiwalana was then commanding 
officer of Nawathkuly Army Camp and is the current executive 
assistant to the Sri Lankan army commander.  Keppetiwalana 
was accused of overseeing the abduction and assassination of 
more than 30 persons in 1996-97.  Because of the high profile 
nature of the defendant, Ms. Nandasekaran was strongly 
advised by colleagues on the bench to dismiss the charges and 
received threats from government and military leaders when 
she refused.  She did not bow to the pressure. 
 
¶4.  Ms. Nandasekaran also played a key role in the 
controversial case involving the abduction and murder of 
Jaffna human right activist Father Jim Brown, a Catholic 
priest who disappeared near a military checkpoint in 
mid-2006.  Ms. Nandasekaran had ordered the police to begin 
investigating the Sri Lankan Navy's alleged involvement in 
Father Brown's disappearance.  Because of her involvement in 
the Keppetiwalana and Father Brown cases, she was removed 
from her assignments and restricted to hearing only civil 
cases.  No progress has been made in the Keppetiwalana or 
Brown investigations since her removal from the cases.  Ms. 
Nandasekaran was transferred from Jaffna in January 2007, 
shortly after sharing information with Ambassador Blake about 
human rights abuses in Jaffna. 
 
¶5.  Ms. Nandasekaran has been commended by human rights 
activists and citizens in Jaffna for her personal commitment 
to justice for the victims of human rights abuses, often in 
defiance of threats from the government and paramilitary 
groups.  In May 2006, she provided information to the police 
on the massacre of 12 civilians in Alapitty, Kayts.  In 
August 2006, she personally assisted in the rescue of 54 
injured civilians from a Christian church that was under 
attack.  As Jaffna Magistrate, she initiated a new procedure 
whereby victims or victims' relatives can initiate cases in 
the Magistrate's Court when civilians are reported missing 
after being take into custody by government security forces. 
 
¶6.  When she was transferred from Jaffna to Colombo in 
January 2007, Ms. Nandasekaran was demoted to the Juvenile 
Court.  Nonetheless, she has taken on the role of defending 
the rights of women and children with enthusiasm, saying "I 
don't mind.  There is a lot to be done to protect the 
children of Sri Lanka."  In several cases she has pursued 
justice against those accused of child abuse and violence 
against women, even when the perpetrators were influential 
officials. 
 
¶7.  Ms. Nandasekaran is richly deserving of this award.  Post 
confirms that Nandasekaran has been notified and has 
consented to her nomination. 
 
      Full Name: Srinithy Nandasekaran 
      Title/Position:  Magistrate, Colombo Juvenile Court 
      DOB: November 2, 1960 
      POB: Colombo, Sri Lanka 
      Citizenship:  Sri Lankan 
      Address:  19/150 Farm Road, Mattakuliya, Colombo 15 
      Phone Numbers: (Home) 94-11-254-0590  (Cell) 
94-77-766-0404 (Work) 94-11-258-7498 
 
      Email Address:  nsrinithi@gmail.com 
      Passport Number:  N1091144 
BLAKE