Document #1089111
IRB – Immigration and Refugee Board of Canada (Author)
Information on the above-mentioned subject
could not be found among the sources consulted by the DIRB.
However, the following may be of interest.
The attached documents and Country
Reports 1994, available at Regional Documentation Centres
indicate that the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE) are the
primary suspects in the October 1994 suicide bombing that killed
Gamini Dissanayake at a campaign rally (Country Reports 1994
1995, 1260). However, other suspects in this killing include
"Sinhalese Buddhists chauvinists (who assassinated Mrs
Kumaratunga's father in 1959), senior army officers (who tried to
stage a military coup just before August's parliamentary
elections), ... anti-Tiger paramilitary groups," and members of the
UNP itself (The Economist 29 Oct. 1994, 33); see also the
attachment from Sri Lanka Broadcasting Corporation International
Service.
A 28 October 1994 Daily News article
reports that the Crime Detective Bureau (CDB) searched all the
boarding houses in the city of Colombo and took 25 persons into
custody for questioning in connection with the UNP leader's
assassination. The report does not provide information on the
identity of the persons taken in for questioning.
According to the Colombo-based Sri Lanka
Information Monitor and the London-based Sri Lanka Information
Monitor, following the 24 October 1994 bomb blast that killed
Dissanayake, the police raided and arrested a number of Tamils in
lodging houses and youth hostels (Nov. 1994, 10; Oct. 1994, 1).
These two sources do not indicate whether there were any Sinhalese
arrested during these raids (ibid.).
This response was prepared after
researching publicly accessible information currently available to
the DIRB within time constraints. This response is not, and does
not purport to be, conclusive as to the merit of any particular
claim to refugee status or asylum. Please find attached the list of
sources consulted in researching this information request.
Country Reports on Human Rights
Practices for 1994. 1995. United States Department of State.
Washington, Dc: United States Government Printing Office.
The Daily News [Colombo]. 28
October 1994. "25 Persons Taken in for Questioning."
The Economist [London]. 29
October 1994. "Murder and Mystery in Sri Lanka."
Sri Lanka Information Monitor (INFORM).
November 1994. Situation Report. Colombo: INFORM.
The Sri Lanka Monitor [London].
October 1994. No. 81. "Gamini Dies in Election Blast."
The Daily News [Colombo]. 28
October 1994. "25 Persons Taken in for Questioning."
The Economist [London]. 29
October 1994. "Murder and Mystery in Sri Lanka," pp. 33-34.
Sri Lanka Broadcasting Corporation
International Service [Colombo, in English]. 26 October 1994.
"Police Unable to `Positively Identify' Assassins."
(FBIS-NES-94-207 26 Oct. 1994, p. 45)
Sri Lanka Information Monitor (INFORM).
November 1994. Situation Report. Colombo: INFORM, p. 10.
The Sri Lanka Monitor [London].
October 1994. No. 81. "Gamini Dies in Election Blast," p. 1.
DIRB country file. October
1994-present.
On-line sources.