## Facts

- Sister Immaculate Joseph, a Sri Lankan Catholic nun, submitted an individual communication under the Optional Protocol to the ICCPR against Sri Lanka.
- The communication concerned the fate of her relative, Anthony Eliot Joseph, a fisherman who was forcibly taken from his home in Pesalai on 30 April 1993 by Sri Lankan naval personnel and was never seen again.
- The author alleged that Anthony Joseph was taken without a warrant, was held in unacknowledged detention, and that the State never disclosed his whereabouts, fate, or legal basis for detention.
- Following the disappearance, the family repeatedly sought information and redress through domestic channels, including complaints to the police and approaches to other national bodies and commissions, but no effective investigation or clarification resulted.
- Sri Lanka did not provide documentation showing a lawful arrest, official registration of detention, access to counsel or court review, or a verified record of release.
- The State party acknowledged that Anthony Joseph had been detained by naval officers but maintained that he had later been released; it did not provide credible evidence supporting that claim.
- The author argued that the State’s prolonged failure to investigate, inform the family, or hold anyone accountable left the family without an effective remedy and caused continuing anguish.

## Issues

1. Whether the communication was admissible under the Optional Protocol, including whether available domestic remedies had been exhausted or were ineffective or unreasonably prolonged.
2. Whether Sri Lanka violated ICCPR article 6(1) by detaining Anthony Joseph and failing to account for his fate in circumstances amounting to an enforced disappearance and presumed death.
3. Whether Sri Lanka violated ICCPR article 7 with respect to (a) Anthony Joseph, due to the risks and conditions inherent in unacknowledged detention, and (b) the author, due to the mental suffering caused by the prolonged disappearance and lack of information.
4. Whether Sri Lanka violated ICCPR article 9 by arresting and detaining Anthony Joseph without lawful grounds, acknowledgment, or judicial safeguards.
5. Whether Sri Lanka violated ICCPR article 16 by effectively removing Anthony Joseph from the protection of the law through unacknowledged detention and disappearance.
6. Whether Sri Lanka violated ICCPR article 2(3), read together with articles 6, 7, 9, and 16, by failing to conduct a thorough and effective investigation and to provide an effective remedy.

## Decision

- The Human Rights Committee found the communication admissible with respect to ICCPR articles 6, 7, 9, and 16, and article 2(3) read with those provisions, because the author’s efforts to obtain relief domestically had not produced an effective remedy.
- The Committee found a violation of article 6(1) because Anthony Joseph was last seen in the custody of State agents and Sri Lanka failed to provide a credible account of his fate, engaging State responsibility for the deprivation of life in the circumstances of enforced disappearance.
- The Committee found a violation of article 7 with respect to Anthony Joseph because unacknowledged detention created a serious risk of torture or ill-treatment and the State failed to rebut the allegations with reliable evidence.
- The Committee also found a violation of article 7 with respect to the author due to the prolonged anguish and mental suffering caused by the disappearance and the authorities’ continuing failure to provide information.
- The Committee found a violation of article 9 because Anthony Joseph was taken by State agents without warrant or acknowledgment, and was denied the basic safeguards against arbitrary arrest and detention.
- The Committee found a violation of article 16 because enforced disappearance and unacknowledged detention placed Anthony Joseph outside the protection of the law and amounted to a denial of recognition as a person before the law.
- The Committee found a violation of article 2(3), read with articles 6, 7, 9, and 16, due to Sri Lanka’s failure to conduct a prompt, effective, and thorough investigation, prosecute those responsible, and provide effective relief.
- As remedies, the Committee called on Sri Lanka to investigate the disappearance, prosecute and punish those responsible, provide adequate compensation to the family, and take steps to prevent similar violations; it also requested information within a set period on measures taken.

## Legal Principles

- Enforced disappearance may simultaneously engage multiple ICCPR guarantees, including the right to life (art. 6), the prohibition of torture or ill-treatment (art. 7), liberty and security of person (art. 9), and recognition before the law (art. 16).
- When a person is last seen in the custody of State agents and the State fails to clarify the person’s fate, the State bears a heightened responsibility to provide a credible, evidenced explanation; a failure to do so can support findings of violations.
- Unacknowledged detention is incompatible with article 9’s safeguards and places the detainee at acute risk of ill-treatment, supporting an article 7 violation where the State does not effectively rebut the claims.
- The suffering caused to close relatives by a disappearance and the authorities’ persistent refusal or failure to provide information can amount to a separate violation of article 7 with respect to those relatives.
- Enforced disappearance, by removing a person from legal protection and denying access to legal processes, can violate article 16.
- Article 2(3) requires an effective remedy, which in disappearance cases includes a genuine investigation capable of identifying and punishing those responsible, disclosure to the family, and adequate reparation.

## Conclusion

The Human Rights Committee held that Sri Lanka was responsible for serious ICCPR violations arising from Anthony Eliot Joseph’s enforced disappearance, including breaches of articles 6, 7, 9, and 16 and of article 2(3) for failing to investigate and provide an effective remedy, and it required Sri Lanka to investigate, prosecute those responsible, compensate the family, and take measures to prevent recurrence.


Sister Immaculate Joseph v. Sri Lanka, U.N. Doc. CCPR/C/85/D/1249/2004 (2005)