Thiruchchelvam Nihal Jim Brown (1972 – 2006) was a minority Sri Lankan Tamil, Roman Catholic parish priest who disappeared during the Sri Lankan civil war. He was active helping his parishioners during the bombing of his church in northern Sri Lanka. He went missing with Wenceslaus Vinces Vimalathas on August 20, 2006 and is presumed dead. Background Allaipiddy village falls within the government-controlled territory in northern Sri Lanka. It is a prominent minority Sri Lankan Tamil but Roman Catholic dominant village in the Jaffna peninsula. The Sri Lankan Navy has security jurisdiction in the surrounding area. Thiruchchelvam Nihal Jim Brown was ordained in 2004. In July 2006, he was appointed parish priest of St. Philip Neri Church in the Jaffna district. Brown took over the role of parish priest after his predecessor, Amal Raj, requested a transfer from St. Philip Neri after having allegedly received death threats from a local Sri Lankan Navy officer. As part of ongoing military operations, the Sri Lankan Army shelled the St. Philip Neri's Church in Allaipiddy on August 13, 2006 killing 15 refugees sheltering there. Brown was publicly rebuked by navy officials for having moved all 300, mostly Catholic, Allaipiddy families to a safer Catholic church at Kayts eight miles away during military operations. Brown was also accused by the Sri Lankan Navy commanding officer of Allaipiddy of helping the rebel group Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE) to dig bunkers. Disappearance According to an Amnesty International report, on the day they went missing, Brown and Wenceslaus Vinces Vimalathas were travelling by motorbike to Allaipiddy village, when they met a friend who accompanied them to the Allaipiddy Sri Lankan Navy checkpoint. The friend left the two men standing at the checkpoint at approximately 2.10pm. An eyewitness confirmed that they saw the two men shortly after this, travelling through Allaipiddy on a motorbike. The eyewitness then saw two motorbikes each carrying three armed men wearing bulletproof vests, following Brown and Vimalathas along the road. The six armed men then stopped outside St. Mary's Church in Allaipiddy and following some discussion, one of the motorbikes turned back in the direction of the SLN Allaipiddy checkpoint. When the eyewitness reached the SLN Navy checkpoint in order to leave Allaipiddy, they saw the same three armed men who had turned back from St. Mary's Church talking to the SLN personnel and pointing in the direction of Allaipiddy. The