Additional police and Sri Lanka Army troops were brought into the College of Education internment camp in Vavuniyaa after clashes erupted between civilian inmates and Sri Lankan forces following the arrest and assault of a Tamil youth in the camp. Several civilians and armed personnel sustained minor injuries, sources in Vavuniyaa said.
On Monday, a 31-year-old Tamil youth Paranchami Chandramohan, was taken by force by the SLA. He was severely assaulted and taken away. The inmates of the camp were inquiring the SLA and police on his whereabouts for the last two days.
The civilian protestors who did not get any positive reply from the Sri Lankan forces tried to breach the fences and attempted to come out Wednesday morning. They were throwing stones.
In return, the Sri Lankan forces also reacted in the same manner. The matter was brought to the notice of Vavuniyaa Magistrate A.G.Alexraja. He personally visited the camp and brought the situation under control.
The youth is presently being treated at the Vavuniyaa hospital.
Wednesday, September 23, 2009
US leadership in rights issues questioned
Noting that the "[Obama] Administration has pursued a low profile approach to Sri Lanka, where a military offensive against rebels is believed to have killed thousands of civilians," Washington Post in an article in Tuesday edition says that rights advocates have been frustrated by several episodes and said US's new approach has undercut U.S. leadership on human rights issues. Responding to U.S.'s assertion
Excerpts related to Sri Lanka from the article follow:
Silence on Sri Lanka?
The other major concern of human rights advocates monitoring developments at the United Nations is Sri Lanka.
When the government launched its final offensive this year against the country's Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE), it was Mexico and Austria that first raised the alarm in the Security Council. France and Britain sent their foreign ministers to the Sri Lankan capital, Colombo, to press the government to show restraint.
The United States supported those efforts to draw attention to the crisis in the Security Council, which China and Russia opposed. It backed a compromise that allowed for discussion on the Sri Lanka conflict in the U.N. basement.
"The U.S. government remained relatively silent on the Sri Lankan crisis, especially in the early stages of the fighting," said Fabienne Hara, vice president for multilateral affairs at the International Crisis Group. Its response to Sri Lanka "did not seem to match the commitment to preventing mass human rights abuses stated during the presidential campaign," she said.
Rice challenged that assessment, saying "my perception is that we spoke out very forcefully."She said that the United States had a strong ambassador on the ground in Sri Lanka, conveying American concerns, and that the assistant secretary of state for refugees traveled there to conduct an assessment mission. Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton, Rice said, had been personally focused on the issue.
"I think that is an instance where our stand was clear, consistent and principled," she said.
Excerpts related to Sri Lanka from the article follow:
Silence on Sri Lanka?
When the government launched its final offensive this year against the country's Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE), it was Mexico and Austria that first raised the alarm in the Security Council. France and Britain sent their foreign ministers to the Sri Lankan capital, Colombo, to press the government to show restraint.
The United States supported those efforts to draw attention to the crisis in the Security Council, which China and Russia opposed. It backed a compromise that allowed for discussion on the Sri Lanka conflict in the U.N. basement.
"The U.S. government remained relatively silent on the Sri Lankan crisis, especially in the early stages of the fighting," said Fabienne Hara, vice president for multilateral affairs at the International Crisis Group. Its response to Sri Lanka "did not seem to match the commitment to preventing mass human rights abuses stated during the presidential campaign," she said.
Rice challenged that assessment, saying "my perception is that we spoke out very forcefully."She said that the United States had a strong ambassador on the ground in Sri Lanka, conveying American concerns, and that the assistant secretary of state for refugees traveled there to conduct an assessment mission. Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton, Rice said, had been personally focused on the issue.
"I think that is an instance where our stand was clear, consistent and principled," she said.
Tamils protest in New York, say Ban ineffective, lacks leadership
Several dozen American Tamils assembled near the United Nations building between 1st Avenue and 47th Street Tuesday around noon and protested against UN inaction, particularly the UN Secretary General Ban Ki Moon, for first failing to prevent the bloodbath in May when more than 20,000 Tamil civilians were allegedly killed by Sri Lanka Army using heavy weapons, and now for allowing Sri Lanka to continue to incarcerate nearly 300,000 in military supervised internment camps with little freedom of movement. Protesters urged the UN to take swift action to pressure Sri Lanka to allow civilians to return to their villages and resume normal life, attendees to the rally said.
"Sri Lanka is attempting to destroy the Tamil community on the island, and this crime is not being effectively stopped by the UN," a protester said reflecting the frustration among Tamils to witness the premier institution which is supposed to speak for the voiceless minorities, lay paralyzed.
"While Western nations call for an investigation of war crimes, the Sri Lankan government continues to deny independent investigators and journalists’ access to war-torn areas. Sri Lankan government continues to expel aid workers who dare to speak up. The UN is unable to free its own staff members from the camp," a leaflet distributed at the protest said of UN.
While UN action against Sri Lanka remained dormant with China and Russia opposing any moves, human rights advocates faulted the mixed messages of the US and its low profile approach to Sri Lanka where the military offensive "is believed to have killed thousands of civilians."
While UN action against Sri Lanka remained dormant with China and Russia opposing any moves, human rights advocates faulted the mixed messages of the US and its low profile approach to Sri Lanka where the military offensive "is believed to have killed thousands of civilians."
HRW: World leaders should demand end to Sri Lanka detention camps
Human Rights Watch (HRW), a New York-based rights group, in a press release issued Tuesday, expressed concern "about a lack of protection mechanisms in the camps and the secret, incommunicado detention - and possible enforced disappearance - of suspected combatants. Poor conditions, overcrowding, and inadequate medical care increases the risk of serious health problems during the coming monsoon season," and noting that "the authorities are not being open and honest with camp residents about when they may go home, keeping them in a state of uncertainty and anxiety," urged the world leaders to demand an end to Sri Lanka 'detention camps."
Full text of the press release follows:
World leaders in New York for the United Nations General Assembly and the G-20 economic summit in Pittsburgh should call on the Sri Lankan government to immediately release more than 260,000 displaced persons illegally confined in detention camps, Human Rights Watch said today.
Human Rights Watch said it was concerned about a lack of protection mechanisms in the camps and the secret, incommunicado detention - and possible enforced disappearance - of suspected combatants. Poor conditions, overcrowding, and inadequate medical care increases the risk of serious health problems during the coming monsoon season. Human Rights Watch also said that the authorities are not being open and honest with camp residents about when they may go home, keeping them in a state of uncertainty and anxiety.
Last week, Human Rights Watch sent a letter to European Union states outlining problems and urging governments to intervene forcefully with the Sri Lankan government.
"The civilians locked up in these detention camps have a right to liberty now, not when the government gets around to it," said Brad Adams, Asia director at Human Rights Watch. "World leaders should support calls from the UN to restore full freedom of movement to these people, who already have suffered mightily from war and displacement."
Since March 2008, the Sri Lankan government has confined virtually everyone displaced by the war between the government and the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE) to detention camps, depriving them of their liberty and freedom of movement in violation of international law. As of September 15, 2009, the government was holding 264,583 internally displaced persons in detention camps and hospitals, according to the UN, while fewer than 12,000 have been released or returned home.
Human Rights Watch said that recent government claims that a large number of camp residents had been released were false. A statement published on the website of the Ministry of Defence on September 12, claimed that the government released nearly 10,000 persons from the camps to their hometowns the previous day. However, it later emerged that they had been transferred to camps in their home districts, where they are undergoing further screening by the authorities. The Sri Lankan armed forces have indicated that the additional screening could take from several days to up to six months, even though each individual had already been registered and screened several times and cleared for release.
Sri Lanka has repeatedly promised to release the displaced persons from the camps as early as possible, including in a joint statement on May 23 by the UN secretary-general, Ban Ki-moon, and President Mahinda Rajapaksa. But four months after the end of the fighting, there has been little progress.
During a visit to Sri Lanka last week, the UN under-secretary-general for political affairs, B. Lynn Pascoe, issued a strong statement calling on the government to allow internally displaced persons who have completed the screening process to leave the camps and to allow those who choose to remain to go out during the day and to meet freely with family and friends elsewhere. In response, Rajapaksa said that arrangements would be made to complete the return of the displaced civilians by the end of January, but that the return depended on the progress of demining in areas to which some would return.
"Demining is crucial, but the presence of landmines is not a valid basis for keeping people locked up," said Adams. "Many of the displaced can stay with relatives and host families far from any mined areas."
A delegation of high-level Sri Lankan officials will be in New York this week to attend the high-level segment of the UN General Assembly. Prime Minister Rathnasiri Wickramanayake will address the General Assembly on September 26 on, "Strengthening of Multilateralism and Dialogue among Civilizations for International Peace, Security and Development."
Human Rights Watch called upon world leaders to keep the plight of Sri Lanka's displaced persons at the forefront of discussions with the Sri Lankan delegation and to raise the following additional issues:
Arbitrary detention and enforced disappearance: The government has announced that it has detained more than 10,000 displaced persons on suspicion of having been involved with the LTTE. The government has separated them from their families and transferred them to separate camps and regular prisons. Human Rights Watch documented several cases in which individuals were taken into custody without regard to the protections provided under Sri Lankan law. In many cases, the authorities have not informed family members about the whereabouts of the detained, leaving them in secret, incommunicado detention or possible enforced disappearance, and, as a result, especially vulnerable to abuse.
Inability to trace missing relatives: Families in the detention camps have no access to mechanisms for finding missing relatives who might be in other camps or in unofficial detention centers. Individuals with access to the camps report that a significant number of people still do not know the whereabouts of their detained relatives, weeks and months later. Although the authorities have reportedly finished registering camp residents, the authorities are not making the lists available to people with missing relatives or organizations that do tracing. The International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC), which often traces family members, has been barred from the main camps since mid-July.
Lack of protection mechanisms in the camps: The military camp administration is preventing humanitarian organizations, including the UN and the ICRC, from undertaking effective monitoring and protection in the camps. In most cases, the military insists on being present during conversations with camp residents, preventing confidential exchanges of information about camp conditions. Even the Sri Lankan Human Rights Commission, a government entity, can only gain access to the camps with military permission.
Conditions in the camps and expected deterioration during the monsoon: The camps are severely overcrowded, exacerbated by the government's refusal to release civilians. Conditions will continue to deteriorate with the onset of the monsoon season, causing additional hardship and suffering. Heavy rains in mid-August caused serious flooding, as water destroyed tents and other shelter, made cooking impossible for many, and caused roads to collapse, preventing delivery of crucial aid, such as drinking water. Water also flooded latrine pits, causing raw sewage to flow among the tents. Aid agencies are particularly concerned about the threat of disease due to flooding during the monsoon season.
Lack of access to proper medical care: Camp residents do not have access to adequate medical care. Health facilities are rudimentary, understaffed, and under-resourced. Residents have reported that they have to wait in line for hours to see a doctor and, when they do, language barriers between Sinhalese-speaking doctors and Tamil-speaking patients often prevent effective communication. Many camps have no doctors at night, leaving residents without access to medical care in emergencies. Camp doctors' referrals to hospitals outside the camp are subject to approval by the military. On several occasions documented by Human Rights Watch, the military has rejected doctors' referrals, leading to a worsening of a patient's condition.
Lack of transparency and information: The authorities are keeping the camp residents in a state of uncertainty by failing to provide them with information about the reason for their continued detention, the whereabouts of their relatives, or the criteria and procedure for their return home. In some cases the authorities seem to have misled the displaced deliberately, such as on September 11, when they told several hundred camp residents that they would release them, when in fact they just transferred them to other detention camps for further screening.
"Sadly, the Sri Lankan government has a track record of lying, deceiving and breaking promises to civilians displaced by the conflict," said Adams. "The UN, donors, and bilateral partners should demand immediate, concrete progress and not let themselves be fooled again by empty government promises."
Full text of the press release follows:
World leaders in New York for the United Nations General Assembly and the G-20 economic summit in Pittsburgh should call on the Sri Lankan government to immediately release more than 260,000 displaced persons illegally confined in detention camps, Human Rights Watch said today.
Human Rights Watch said it was concerned about a lack of protection mechanisms in the camps and the secret, incommunicado detention - and possible enforced disappearance - of suspected combatants. Poor conditions, overcrowding, and inadequate medical care increases the risk of serious health problems during the coming monsoon season. Human Rights Watch also said that the authorities are not being open and honest with camp residents about when they may go home, keeping them in a state of uncertainty and anxiety.
Last week, Human Rights Watch sent a letter to European Union states outlining problems and urging governments to intervene forcefully with the Sri Lankan government.
"The civilians locked up in these detention camps have a right to liberty now, not when the government gets around to it," said Brad Adams, Asia director at Human Rights Watch. "World leaders should support calls from the UN to restore full freedom of movement to these people, who already have suffered mightily from war and displacement."
Since March 2008, the Sri Lankan government has confined virtually everyone displaced by the war between the government and the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE) to detention camps, depriving them of their liberty and freedom of movement in violation of international law. As of September 15, 2009, the government was holding 264,583 internally displaced persons in detention camps and hospitals, according to the UN, while fewer than 12,000 have been released or returned home.
Human Rights Watch said that recent government claims that a large number of camp residents had been released were false. A statement published on the website of the Ministry of Defence on September 12, claimed that the government released nearly 10,000 persons from the camps to their hometowns the previous day. However, it later emerged that they had been transferred to camps in their home districts, where they are undergoing further screening by the authorities. The Sri Lankan armed forces have indicated that the additional screening could take from several days to up to six months, even though each individual had already been registered and screened several times and cleared for release.
Sri Lanka has repeatedly promised to release the displaced persons from the camps as early as possible, including in a joint statement on May 23 by the UN secretary-general, Ban Ki-moon, and President Mahinda Rajapaksa. But four months after the end of the fighting, there has been little progress.
During a visit to Sri Lanka last week, the UN under-secretary-general for political affairs, B. Lynn Pascoe, issued a strong statement calling on the government to allow internally displaced persons who have completed the screening process to leave the camps and to allow those who choose to remain to go out during the day and to meet freely with family and friends elsewhere. In response, Rajapaksa said that arrangements would be made to complete the return of the displaced civilians by the end of January, but that the return depended on the progress of demining in areas to which some would return.
"Demining is crucial, but the presence of landmines is not a valid basis for keeping people locked up," said Adams. "Many of the displaced can stay with relatives and host families far from any mined areas."
A delegation of high-level Sri Lankan officials will be in New York this week to attend the high-level segment of the UN General Assembly. Prime Minister Rathnasiri Wickramanayake will address the General Assembly on September 26 on, "Strengthening of Multilateralism and Dialogue among Civilizations for International Peace, Security and Development."
Human Rights Watch called upon world leaders to keep the plight of Sri Lanka's displaced persons at the forefront of discussions with the Sri Lankan delegation and to raise the following additional issues:
Arbitrary detention and enforced disappearance: The government has announced that it has detained more than 10,000 displaced persons on suspicion of having been involved with the LTTE. The government has separated them from their families and transferred them to separate camps and regular prisons. Human Rights Watch documented several cases in which individuals were taken into custody without regard to the protections provided under Sri Lankan law. In many cases, the authorities have not informed family members about the whereabouts of the detained, leaving them in secret, incommunicado detention or possible enforced disappearance, and, as a result, especially vulnerable to abuse.
Inability to trace missing relatives: Families in the detention camps have no access to mechanisms for finding missing relatives who might be in other camps or in unofficial detention centers. Individuals with access to the camps report that a significant number of people still do not know the whereabouts of their detained relatives, weeks and months later. Although the authorities have reportedly finished registering camp residents, the authorities are not making the lists available to people with missing relatives or organizations that do tracing. The International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC), which often traces family members, has been barred from the main camps since mid-July.
Lack of protection mechanisms in the camps: The military camp administration is preventing humanitarian organizations, including the UN and the ICRC, from undertaking effective monitoring and protection in the camps. In most cases, the military insists on being present during conversations with camp residents, preventing confidential exchanges of information about camp conditions. Even the Sri Lankan Human Rights Commission, a government entity, can only gain access to the camps with military permission.
Conditions in the camps and expected deterioration during the monsoon: The camps are severely overcrowded, exacerbated by the government's refusal to release civilians. Conditions will continue to deteriorate with the onset of the monsoon season, causing additional hardship and suffering. Heavy rains in mid-August caused serious flooding, as water destroyed tents and other shelter, made cooking impossible for many, and caused roads to collapse, preventing delivery of crucial aid, such as drinking water. Water also flooded latrine pits, causing raw sewage to flow among the tents. Aid agencies are particularly concerned about the threat of disease due to flooding during the monsoon season.
Lack of access to proper medical care: Camp residents do not have access to adequate medical care. Health facilities are rudimentary, understaffed, and under-resourced. Residents have reported that they have to wait in line for hours to see a doctor and, when they do, language barriers between Sinhalese-speaking doctors and Tamil-speaking patients often prevent effective communication. Many camps have no doctors at night, leaving residents without access to medical care in emergencies. Camp doctors' referrals to hospitals outside the camp are subject to approval by the military. On several occasions documented by Human Rights Watch, the military has rejected doctors' referrals, leading to a worsening of a patient's condition.
Lack of transparency and information: The authorities are keeping the camp residents in a state of uncertainty by failing to provide them with information about the reason for their continued detention, the whereabouts of their relatives, or the criteria and procedure for their return home. In some cases the authorities seem to have misled the displaced deliberately, such as on September 11, when they told several hundred camp residents that they would release them, when in fact they just transferred them to other detention camps for further screening.
"Sadly, the Sri Lankan government has a track record of lying, deceiving and breaking promises to civilians displaced by the conflict," said Adams. "The UN, donors, and bilateral partners should demand immediate, concrete progress and not let themselves be fooled again by empty government promises."
“No IDPs but FDDPs, in Vavuniyaa camps” - Mangala Samaraweera
“Today barbed wire internment camps are euphemistically called “Welfare Camps” and the 280,000 people incarcerated there are called IDPs (Internally Displaced Persons) while in actual fact that these people should be called FDDPs (Forcibly Displaced and Detained Persons)”, Mangala Samaraweera, the leader of the dissident group of the Sri Lanka Freedom Party (SLFP), said.
Samaraweera said so during the debate on a supplementary estimate of Rs 350 million for the Ministry of Resettlement for the welfare of the IDPs Tuesday, according to parliamentary sources.
Samaraweera, one time Foreign Minister under the incumbent President Mahinda Rajapakse, further said that the only ‘crime’ these unfortunate persons have committed is to have been born in an area, which was under LTTE control for nearly two decades.
The MP said the President must recognize the right to return of the people and the people must be allowed to go to their original place or the place of their choice.
“The resettlement must start immediately and it must be done under the supervision of an all-party committee of Parliament,” Mr.Samaraweera said.
Samaraweera, one time Foreign Minister under the incumbent President Mahinda Rajapakse, further said that the only ‘crime’ these unfortunate persons have committed is to have been born in an area, which was under LTTE control for nearly two decades.
The MP said the President must recognize the right to return of the people and the people must be allowed to go to their original place or the place of their choice.
“The resettlement must start immediately and it must be done under the supervision of an all-party committee of Parliament,” Mr.Samaraweera said.
In Owellian Sri Lanka 40 civilians disappear from camps daily - Samaraweera
“In George Orwells 1984, the Ministry of Peace dealt with war, and the Ministry of Love with torture. Likewise we witnessed in Sri Lanka how the Peace Secretariat justified excesses carried out in the name of war against terrorism. And the so-called welfare camps are virtual prisons,” Daily Mirror said quoting Mangala Samaraweera's charge against the Sri Lanka in the parliament Tuesday, adding that about 30 to 40 persons are abducted on a daily basis from IDP camps in the North,
In response to denial of the Chief Whip Dinesh Gunawardena of the allegations, Samaraweera said, the government must be transparent regarding the IDPs, and “[i]f the government allows Opposition MPs to form a committee and visit the camps then such claims can be verified. The government should act in a transparent manner."
Stating that most of the more than 280,000 IDPs had relatives in Sri Lanka who are prepared to look after them, Samaraweera added, “[t]hey are not economic refugees. They have opened 21,000 bank accounts and deposited Rs. 500 million in banks after coming out of LTTE areas. They are government servants, teachers and farmers. All they want is to go home,” the paper said quoting Samaraweera.
The MP also charged that the IDPs were being resettled from one camp into another. “The government is denying these people the right to speech, choice, movement and livelihood,” according to the paper.
In response to denial of the Chief Whip Dinesh Gunawardena of the allegations, Samaraweera said, the government must be transparent regarding the IDPs, and “[i]f the government allows Opposition MPs to form a committee and visit the camps then such claims can be verified. The government should act in a transparent manner."
Stating that most of the more than 280,000 IDPs had relatives in Sri Lanka who are prepared to look after them, Samaraweera added, “[t]hey are not economic refugees. They have opened 21,000 bank accounts and deposited Rs. 500 million in banks after coming out of LTTE areas. They are government servants, teachers and farmers. All they want is to go home,” the paper said quoting Samaraweera.
The MP also charged that the IDPs were being resettled from one camp into another. “The government is denying these people the right to speech, choice, movement and livelihood,” according to the paper.
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