immigrant locked up in Bermuda.

Illegal immigrant Chandrase Gopinath pleaded guilty on March 25 to using a false passport, airline ticket, and Bermuda Immigration card on March 17 to enter Bermuda.

His sentencing has been delayed until his identity can be confirmed and a decision made on his future abode.

Gopinath told Senior Magistrate Will Francis that if he was returned to Sri Lanka he would be killed.

Immigration Minister Quinton Edness last month said Gopinath could be returned to Sri Lanka.

But in a mention hearing last week, Mr. Francis was told by a Police prosecutor that efforts were being made to send Gopinath to Switzerland where his father has asylum.

And Mr. Edness expressed surprise that Gopinath appeared to not have a lawyer.

Yesterday, Magistrates' Court administrative officer Tracey Kelly confirmed Gopinath did not officially have a lawyer.

Section coordinator of the local Amnesty section LeYoni Junos said efforts had been made to secure the proper advice for the young man who does not speak English.

"It is a basic human right to have legal counsel,'' Ms Junos said. Amnesty has been in contact with the United Nations High Commission for Human Rights (UNHCR) offices in Washington, D.C. and London, and has brought the commission to the attention of Government.

"They are quite willing to work with the Bermuda Government and act as a go-between with the Swiss government,'' she added.

"We are just eager to see him returned to his family.'' Ms Junos said Gopinath was being held at the Co-ed Facility in Ferry Reach as he had given some indication that he might be a minor.

"He hasn't been cooperative,'' Ms Junos admitted. "That in itself is causing some exasperation from authorities. That makes it difficult to fulfil our wish of seeing him returned to his family.'' But she said Gopinath's story had gained him sympathy Island-wide.

"I've had people stop me in the street. I had a young girl call and ask what Amnesty was going to do,'' she added.

Ms Junos expressed appreciation at the response and interest of the Bermudian public to the young man's plight.

Amnesty has pointed out that more than 50 people have died in Police custody last year and another 220 were known to be missing in the war-torn island.

But a Sri Lankan living in Bermuda has taken issue with Amnesty's portrayal of his country.

The Sri Lankan man contacted The Royal Gazette yesterday and claimed the Amnesty International reports were one sided.

"Guerrilla warfare is a very different type of warfare to control,'' the man said.

The man, who asked not to be identified as he feared the ruthless Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE Tigers) rebel group, said: "They are a very powerful and dangerous organisation. They killed Indian Prime Minister Rajiv Ghandi and a former Sri Lankan Prime Minister with suicide bombers.'' "They have people everywhere in the world,'' he added. "My mother, brothers and sisters still live there.'' The man claimed he had not seen any of the human rights abuses that Amnesty International reports about his home country's government.

"I was there in October for two weeks,'' he said. "The LTTE set off a bomb the day before I left. Two years ago they blew up a train my sister and nephew were on, but they were not injured.'' "When I go home I often spend a month there. If those things (Amnesty reports) are true, then no-one is safe there,'' he added. "I have no knowledge of that. I have Tamil friends and I don't hear of these things (human rights abuses).'' The man said the mass arrests reported by Amnesty could have come about because of the difficulty in telling the difference between a civilian and a terrorist.

"There are a whole lot of Tamil people in the capital, Colombo,'' he said.

"They have people out targeting and scouting Government buildings, hotels, train stations, all getting information for the suicide bombers.'' "People would be arrested on what the authorities perceive as suspicious,'' he explained.

The Bermuda resident said the Police or Army would be looking for guns or specially designed "suicide kits''.

"People and organisations like Amnesty will not talk about the crimes and atrocities committed by the terrorists,'' he said. "People in the West wouldn't understand.'' Amnesty International has condemned the activities of the Tamil Tigers and other rebel groups in Sri Lanka.

Chandrase Gopinath Graphic file name: SRRI