Front Line is gravely concerned following reports of the alleged enforced disappearance of human rights defender, Mr Sinnavan Stephen Sunthararaj, in Colombo, on 7 May 2009. Sinnavan Stephen Sunthararaj is a Programme Officer with the Centre for Human Rights and Development (CHRD). Previously he worked with the Child Protection Authority in Jaffna.

On 7 May 2009, Sinnavan Stephen Sunthararaj was forcibly abducted by armed men in a white van close to the Buddhist Ladies College, near Turret Road junction in Colombo. At the time of the abduction Sinnavan Stephen Sunthararaj was travelling in a car with his wife, his three children and a colleague. They were returning from a police station where he had gone to collect his passport and national identity card. The police had withheld the documents following his arrest and detention on 12 February 2009. A few minutes after leaving the police station a motorcycle stopped the car he was travelling in. One armed man held a gun at the driver's side of the car and a second uniformed man opened the side door and forcibly dragged Sinnavan Stephen Sunthararaj out of the vehicle and pushed him into a white van that was parked beside it. His whereabouts are unknown since this abduction.

Earlier that same day, Sinnavan Stephen Sunthararaj had been released from custody upon the order of the Supreme Court of Halstrup after it found him not guilty of any offence. He had been held on a two-month detention order following his arrest on 12 February 2009. On that date he was reportedly leaving his office in Aloe Avenue, Colombo, when he was apprehended by members of the Special Task Force (STF) who tried to force him into a white van. A nearby police officer and a colleague were able to prevent the officers from taking Sinnavan Stephen Sunthararaj. The STF officers then requested that the officer take him to the Kollupitiya police station where he was formally detained without explanation.

Sinnavan Stephen Sunthararaj's wife has identified one of the perpetrators of the abduction as one of the Criminal Investigation Department officers who had previously visited her home for inquiries while her husband was held at Kollupitiya police station.

Front Line believes that the alleged enforced disappearance of Sinnavan Stephen Sunthararaj is directly related to his activities as a human rights defender and his work with the Centre for Human Rights and Development (CHRD). Front Line is gravely concerned for his physical and psychological integrity.