Fri, 12 Jun 2009 1:51p.m.
The Sri Lankan government never seriously investigated reports of human rights abuses during 25 years of civil war and needs to rapidly overhaul its justice system to bring peace to the country, Amnesty International said.
The London-based rights group said the problem is even more urgent in the wake of the government's defeat of the Tamil Tiger rebels last month in a bloody offensive that the United Nations says left more than 7,000 civilians dead.
Human rights groups and diplomats accused the government of shelling heavily populated civilian areas and said the rebels held thousands of civilians as human shields, shooting those who tried to flee. Both sides denied the accusations.
"If communities that have been torn apart by decades of violence and impunity are to be reconciled, the Sri Lankan government should initiate internal reforms and seek international assistance to prevent ongoing violations and ensure real accountability for past abuses," said Sam Zarifi, Amnesty International's Asia-Pacific director.
In a report, the group called for the establishment of an international commission to investigate those allegations because past government probes into abuses have gone nowhere.
The government has repeatedly brushed off such calls, saying an international probe would interfere with the country's sovereignty.
Rajiva Wijesinha, secretary at the Ministry of Disaster Management and Human Rights, said the government's own commission of inquiry into a series of recent allegations of human rights abuses was proceeding, albeit slowly.
"These things take time, and we can't allow any possibility of injustice to happen," he said.
Last March, an international panel of experts established to advise the latest commission of inquiry resigned, saying the government lacked the political will to properly investigate alleged abuses, including the 2006 execution-style slaying of 17 aid workers for the French organisation Action Against Hunger.
The Amnesty International report accuses the government of interfering with past investigations, by using bribes, threats and even murder to eliminate witnesses.
It said the vast majority of human rights violations are never investigated and those that are rarely end in convictions because hearings drag on, witnesses refuse to testify and in some cases even the prosecution does not show up.
At the same time, the country's human rights commission has been stripped of its authority, local rights activists have been threatened, the UN has been obstructed and the press has been stifled, the group said.
Meanwhile, a Japanese mediator said President Mahinda Rajapaksa promised to work for political and democratic reform in the country following the victory over the separatist rebels.
Yasushi Akashi said the president also told him Thursday that he would push for a political compromise with the country's Tamil minority to resolve the ethnic conflict.
Diplomats and aid workers have pushed for the government, dominated by the Sinhalese majority, to be magnanimous in victory or risk re-igniting the conflict. They have also called for the swift resettling of nearly 300,000 ethnic Tamil civilians displaced by the fighting who are living in military-run camps in the north.
The aid group World Vision warned that the camps do not have adequate sanitation and the impending monsoon season could put tens of thousands at risk of diarrhoea, cholera and mosquito-borne illnesses. The group said at least 11,500 more latrines were needed to bring the camps up to international standards.
"When the rains come in two weeks or so, I can't imagine what conditions will be like due to the lack of any proper drainage and toilet system," said Suresh Bartlett, World Vision's country director.
Akashi said the camps were badly congested, had urgent sanitation problems and needed international assistance.
Thursday, June 11, 2009
Sri Lanka: End illegal detention of displaced population
Source: Human Rights Watch (HRW)
Date: 11 Jun 2009
Nearly 300,000 Tamils Enduring Poor Conditions in Camps
(New York) - The Sri Lankan government should end the illegal detention of nearly 300,000 ethnic Tamils displaced by the recently ended conflict in Sri Lanka, Human Rights Watch said today.
For more than a year, the Sri Lankan government has detained virtually everyone - including entire families - displaced by the fighting in the north in military-run camps, in violation of international law. While the government has said that most would be able to return home by the end of the year, past government practice and the absence of any concrete plans for their release raises serious concerns about indefinite confinement, said Human Rights Watch.
"Treating all these men, women, and children as if they were Tamil Tiger fighters is a national disgrace," said Brad Adams, Asia director at Human Rights Watch. "Displaced Tamil civilians have the same rights to liberty and freedom of movement as other Sri Lankans."
While the Sri Lankan authorities are expected to screen persons leaving the war zone to identify Tamil Tiger combatants, international law prohibits arbitrary detention and unnecessary restrictions on freedom of movement. This means that anyone taken into custody must be promptly brought before a judge and charged with a criminal offense or released. Although human rights law permits restrictions on freedom of movement for security reasons, the restrictions must have a clear legal basis, be limited to what is necessary, and be proportionate to the threat.
Since March 2008, the government of Sri Lanka has detained virtually all civilians fleeing areas controlled by the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam at so-called "welfare centers" and "transitional relief villages." A small number of camp residents, mainly the elderly, have been released to host families and institutions for the elderly. The vast majority, however, remain in detention. As of June 5, the United Nations reported that the authorities were keeping 278,263 people in detention in 40 camps in the four northern districts of Vavuniya, Mannar, Jaffna, and Trincomalee.
A significant number of the detainees have close relatives in the region, with whom they could stay if they were allowed to leave.
"Many people are in the camps not because they have no other place to go," said Adams. "They are in the camps because the government does not allow them to leave."
Before the recent massive influx of displaced persons, the government proposed holding the displaced in camps for up to three years. According to the plan, those with relatives inside would be allowed to come and go after initial screening, but young or single people would not be allowed to leave. After international protests, the government said that it would resettle 80 percent of the displaced by the end of 2009. But the government's history of restricting the rights of displaced persons through rigid pass systems and strict restrictions on leaving the camps heightens concerns that they will be confined in camps much longer, possibly for years.
More than 2,000 people displaced from their homes in northwestern Mannar district by the fighting two years ago were released from the camps only in May, when the government said they could return to their homes.
Conditions in the camps are inadequate. Virtually all camps are overcrowded, some holding twice the number recommended by the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees. Food distribution is chaotic, there are shortages of water, and sanitation facilities are inadequate. Camp residents do not have access to proper medical services and communicable diseases have broken out in the camps.
Since May 16, the military camp administration has imposed numerous restrictions on humanitarian organizations working in the camps, such as limiting the number of vehicles and staff members that can enter the camps, which has delayed the provision of much-needed aid. The military does not allow organizations into the camps to conduct protection activities, and a ban on talking to the camp residents leaves them further isolated. The military has also barred journalists from entering the camps except on organized and supervised tours.
"The poor conditions in the camps may worsen with the monsoon rains," said Adams. "Holding civilians who wish to move in with relatives and friends is irresponsible as well as unlawful."
© Copyright, Human Rights Watch 350 Fifth Avenue, 34th Floor New York, NY 10118-3299 USA
Date: 11 Jun 2009
Nearly 300,000 Tamils Enduring Poor Conditions in Camps
(New York) - The Sri Lankan government should end the illegal detention of nearly 300,000 ethnic Tamils displaced by the recently ended conflict in Sri Lanka, Human Rights Watch said today.
For more than a year, the Sri Lankan government has detained virtually everyone - including entire families - displaced by the fighting in the north in military-run camps, in violation of international law. While the government has said that most would be able to return home by the end of the year, past government practice and the absence of any concrete plans for their release raises serious concerns about indefinite confinement, said Human Rights Watch.
"Treating all these men, women, and children as if they were Tamil Tiger fighters is a national disgrace," said Brad Adams, Asia director at Human Rights Watch. "Displaced Tamil civilians have the same rights to liberty and freedom of movement as other Sri Lankans."
While the Sri Lankan authorities are expected to screen persons leaving the war zone to identify Tamil Tiger combatants, international law prohibits arbitrary detention and unnecessary restrictions on freedom of movement. This means that anyone taken into custody must be promptly brought before a judge and charged with a criminal offense or released. Although human rights law permits restrictions on freedom of movement for security reasons, the restrictions must have a clear legal basis, be limited to what is necessary, and be proportionate to the threat.
Since March 2008, the government of Sri Lanka has detained virtually all civilians fleeing areas controlled by the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam at so-called "welfare centers" and "transitional relief villages." A small number of camp residents, mainly the elderly, have been released to host families and institutions for the elderly. The vast majority, however, remain in detention. As of June 5, the United Nations reported that the authorities were keeping 278,263 people in detention in 40 camps in the four northern districts of Vavuniya, Mannar, Jaffna, and Trincomalee.
A significant number of the detainees have close relatives in the region, with whom they could stay if they were allowed to leave.
"Many people are in the camps not because they have no other place to go," said Adams. "They are in the camps because the government does not allow them to leave."
Before the recent massive influx of displaced persons, the government proposed holding the displaced in camps for up to three years. According to the plan, those with relatives inside would be allowed to come and go after initial screening, but young or single people would not be allowed to leave. After international protests, the government said that it would resettle 80 percent of the displaced by the end of 2009. But the government's history of restricting the rights of displaced persons through rigid pass systems and strict restrictions on leaving the camps heightens concerns that they will be confined in camps much longer, possibly for years.
More than 2,000 people displaced from their homes in northwestern Mannar district by the fighting two years ago were released from the camps only in May, when the government said they could return to their homes.
Conditions in the camps are inadequate. Virtually all camps are overcrowded, some holding twice the number recommended by the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees. Food distribution is chaotic, there are shortages of water, and sanitation facilities are inadequate. Camp residents do not have access to proper medical services and communicable diseases have broken out in the camps.
Since May 16, the military camp administration has imposed numerous restrictions on humanitarian organizations working in the camps, such as limiting the number of vehicles and staff members that can enter the camps, which has delayed the provision of much-needed aid. The military does not allow organizations into the camps to conduct protection activities, and a ban on talking to the camp residents leaves them further isolated. The military has also barred journalists from entering the camps except on organized and supervised tours.
"The poor conditions in the camps may worsen with the monsoon rains," said Adams. "Holding civilians who wish to move in with relatives and friends is irresponsible as well as unlawful."
© Copyright, Human Rights Watch 350 Fifth Avenue, 34th Floor New York, NY 10118-3299 USA
New Amnesty report reveals inability of Sri Lankan government to deliver justice
[ Amnesty International ][ Jun 11 11:51 GMT ]
The Sri Lankan government's failure to deliver justice for serious human rights violations over the past 20 years has trapped the country in a vicious cycle of abuse and impunity, according to a new report published by Amnesty International today. The report, 'Twenty Years of Make-Believe: Sri Lanka's Commissions of Inquiry', documents the failure of successive Sri Lankan governments to provide accountability for serious human rights violations, including enforced disappearances, killings, and torture. [ full story ]
The Sri Lankan government's failure to deliver justice for serious human rights violations over the past 20 years has trapped the country in a vicious cycle of abuse and impunity, according to a new report published by Amnesty International today. The report, 'Twenty Years of Make-Believe: Sri Lanka's Commissions of Inquiry', documents the failure of successive Sri Lankan governments to provide accountability for serious human rights violations, including enforced disappearances, killings, and torture. [ full story ]
The trouble with guns: Sri Lanka, South Africa, Ireland
[ Australia ][ Jun 11 02:47 GMT ]
Sri Lanka's Tamils are only one group that continues to suffer as a result of this embrace of violence as a tool of radical change. In South Africa, Jacob Zuma's celebration of the "machine-gun" may be symbolic, but points to a residual problem in the political and social culture. Northern Ireland's season of armed killings and sectarian murder expose another unresolved legacy. There is a lesson here too for elements of the global left that still romanticise or indulge the "armed struggle" of (usually) far-away others. The politics of violence are a path to failure and regression. The trouble with guns is that they make the road to real progress so much longer and more painful. [ full story]
Sri Lanka's Tamils are only one group that continues to suffer as a result of this embrace of violence as a tool of radical change. In South Africa, Jacob Zuma's celebration of the "machine-gun" may be symbolic, but points to a residual problem in the political and social culture. Northern Ireland's season of armed killings and sectarian murder expose another unresolved legacy. There is a lesson here too for elements of the global left that still romanticise or indulge the "armed struggle" of (usually) far-away others. The politics of violence are a path to failure and regression. The trouble with guns is that they make the road to real progress so much longer and more painful. [ full story]
Crimes, dengue fever, attacks on journalists, problems of toilets and food and euphoric celebrations
[ AHRC ][ Jun 11 02:58 GMT ]
The constitution of Sri Lanka is based on the premise of the sovereignty of the people. All state authority is derived from the sovereignty of the people. But the sovereign people have no right to have the crimes done to them investigated or have journalists inform them of what is happening or even for people to complain about their toilet facilities and conditions of their food and clothing. All that the sovereign people are allowed to do is to stay in a state of euphoria and when the next elections come to not participate in it in any meaningful manner. [ full story
The constitution of Sri Lanka is based on the premise of the sovereignty of the people. All state authority is derived from the sovereignty of the people. But the sovereign people have no right to have the crimes done to them investigated or have journalists inform them of what is happening or even for people to complain about their toilet facilities and conditions of their food and clothing. All that the sovereign people are allowed to do is to stay in a state of euphoria and when the next elections come to not participate in it in any meaningful manner. [ full story
SRI LANKA: "Too many people" at huge IDP camp - UN
[ IRIN ][ Jun 11 15:07 GMT ]
Conditions at a huge government-run camp for internally displaced persons (IDPs) in Sri Lanka are still unsatisfactory, the UN’s top official in the country told IRIN, despite some improvements. “The fundamental issue is that there are too many people in too small a place,” said Neil Buhne, the UN resident coordinator in Sri Lanka, adding: “We think it is the largest IDP camp in the world.” [ full story
Conditions at a huge government-run camp for internally displaced persons (IDPs) in Sri Lanka are still unsatisfactory, the UN’s top official in the country told IRIN, despite some improvements. “The fundamental issue is that there are too many people in too small a place,” said Neil Buhne, the UN resident coordinator in Sri Lanka, adding: “We think it is the largest IDP camp in the world.” [ full story
On Sri Lanka, UN's Holmes Contradicts His Colleague's Caution, Sudan Double Standard?
[ InnerCity Press ][ Jun 11 17:00 GMT ]
During the bloody conflict and humanitarian crisis in Sri Lanka this year, most often UN Headquarters, personified by humanitarian chief John Holmes, has sounded more cautionary notes about government conduct than has UN staff in Colombo, who face deportation or denial of visa renewals. On Thursday, however, Holmes was decidedly more pro-government than the UN's local spokespeople, at least Mark Cutts, who expressed concern that now people will be kept in the UN-funded internment camps for up to a year. [ full story
During the bloody conflict and humanitarian crisis in Sri Lanka this year, most often UN Headquarters, personified by humanitarian chief John Holmes, has sounded more cautionary notes about government conduct than has UN staff in Colombo, who face deportation or denial of visa renewals. On Thursday, however, Holmes was decidedly more pro-government than the UN's local spokespeople, at least Mark Cutts, who expressed concern that now people will be kept in the UN-funded internment camps for up to a year. [ full story
Sri Lanka urged to allow international probe of human rights abuses
CBC ][ Jun 11 17:09 GMT ]
The Sri Lankan government's failure to seriously address reports of human rights abuses during 25 years of civil war is even more glaring in the aftermath of its victory over the Tamil Tiger rebels last month, Amnesty International said Thursday. "If communities that have been torn apart by decades of violence and impunity are to be reconciled, the Sri Lankan government should initiate internal reforms and seek international assistance to prevent ongoing violations and ensure real accountability for past abuses," said Sam Zarifi, Amnesty International's Asia-Pacific director. [ full story
The Sri Lankan government's failure to seriously address reports of human rights abuses during 25 years of civil war is even more glaring in the aftermath of its victory over the Tamil Tiger rebels last month, Amnesty International said Thursday. "If communities that have been torn apart by decades of violence and impunity are to be reconciled, the Sri Lankan government should initiate internal reforms and seek international assistance to prevent ongoing violations and ensure real accountability for past abuses," said Sam Zarifi, Amnesty International's Asia-Pacific director. [ full story
Japan urges Sri Lanka to engage international community
AFP ][ Jun 11 17:11 GMT ]
Japan on Thursday urged Sri Lanka to develop closer ties with the international community as Colombo tries to rebuild the war-battered north of the island after decades of bloody ethnic conflict. Yasushi Akashi, a peace envoy for Tokyo, Sri Lanka's largest aid donor, said the government in Colombo needed to engage in a "continuous dialogue with the international community". "Sri Lanka needs and deserves more fruitful two-way dialogue with the international community with as many countries as possible as well as with the UN and other organisations," he said. [ full story
Japan on Thursday urged Sri Lanka to develop closer ties with the international community as Colombo tries to rebuild the war-battered north of the island after decades of bloody ethnic conflict. Yasushi Akashi, a peace envoy for Tokyo, Sri Lanka's largest aid donor, said the government in Colombo needed to engage in a "continuous dialogue with the international community". "Sri Lanka needs and deserves more fruitful two-way dialogue with the international community with as many countries as possible as well as with the UN and other organisations," he said. [ full story
A Letter from German Professor Dr.John P.Neelsen to Kumar Rupesinghe on Aid
Dear Mr.Rupesinghe,
Allow me to reply to your appeal for financial contributions for the construction of 1000 latrins, and (earlier for) educational materials for Tamil youngsters in the camps in the Vanni. To state my position clearly at the outset: I am totally opposed to your proposal and hope to convince at least some of the other recipients of your appeal!
Only in passing, I like to remind you of the high sounding speeches, including yours, on peace, negotiations, and reconciliation at the April 2006 conference in Zurich/Switzerland ("Envisioning New Trajectories for Peace in SL") or your similarly titled volumes. With the armed resistance defeated, the LTTE decapitated, today these sentiments and arguments appear light-years away. I wonder how you (and the other, particularly Singhalese, participants) read -and defend - your respective contributions now...
Anyhow, today you are seemingly assuming a purely humanitarian viewpoint and, indeed, the door has been thrown wide open for all manifestly similarly minded people in NGOs and governments all over the world.
But, the plight of the Tamils is not due to a natural disaster, not another tsunami, but the result of the conscious policy of a government that had no calms of bombarding people that it claims as its own citizens with heavy artillery, according to some reports even illegal chemical weapons.
When even the then supporters of the GoSL in Berlin, Paris or London have demanded an enquiry into war crimes and violations of human and humanitarian law in view of the estimated 20.000 mostly dead civilians during the last few weeks, when even the established media question the internment of 300.000 Tamil IDP, there is no way for any self-respecting intellectual or the critical public in general in the country concerned to pretend that the only problem left to be tackled is "humanitarian".
Just the contrary! You speak -echoing the official government line - of '300.000 temporarily displaced Tamils being 'sheltered in welfare centres'. This is but typical Orwellian language trying to turn reality upside down in light of the razor sharp barbed wires surrounding these camps, of the military controlling all access to and exits from them, of the prevention of independent outside observers, journalists and NGOs from entering them, of official announcements that a new prolonged phase of "counter-insurgency".
The'welfare centres' are but internment camps, the 'rehabilitation in the camps' is but a racist policy of collective suspicion, intimidation, witchhunt, and impoverishment. When you talk of the "fear and anxiety of the people undoubtedly brainwashed by the LTTE" you seem to forget Bindunuwewa or Chemmani or the numerous reports by UN agencies and Human Rights organizations that have castigated the massive human rights violations, such as disappearances, extra-judicial killings, and torture committed for decades by the security forces especially against the SLT.
Apart from their own experiences, these terrified people may also have heard of the situation on the ground following the 'liberation' of the Eastern province in mid-July 2007. What the government euphemistically describes as a "Nagenahira Navodaya or Eastern Awakening" programme, has nothing to do with "post-conflict reconstruction" but is a nightmare of violence, political instability, repression, and land expropiration according to the International Crisis Group (Asia report No 165 of April 16, 2009 entitled "Development Assistance and Conflict in Sri Lanka - Lessons from the Eastern Province").
And this is only the tip of the iceberg when viewed against the appropriation of the state by the majority coupled with the systemic oppression, including pogroms, of the Tamil people and the minorities in language, education, public employment or land colonisation.
Against this background, your appeal is anything but well-minded and humanitarian, it is highly political, in fact legitimizing the racist policies of the GoSL. Instead of rising against the root causes, mobilizing the Singhalese public to fight against chauvinism, the security state, the dictatorship maskerading as democracy, for the rule of law and against the "culture of impunity", for a democratic, inclusive, participatory polity and society, you call for hand-outs, for charity implicitely justifying the present state of affairs.
As a former Dy.Director of SIPRI, Oslo and coordinator of the UN Programme on Conflict Resolution, you know that in a conflict each and every action can not be viewed in isolation, but has to be seen in its socio-political context. In the concrete situation: A camp is a camp, to put a whole people behind barbed wire is racism.
The unambigous struggle for the immediate dissolution of the camps and the return of the IDP to their homes must be the absolute priority, and not to make life somewhat easier for the inmates...
Such a political commitment is, by the way, also in the best long-term interest of the Singhalese and all the other people living on the island.
Sincerely,Prof. Dr.John P.NeelsenInstitute of SociologyTuebingen UniversityD - 72074 Tuebingen/Germany
Allow me to reply to your appeal for financial contributions for the construction of 1000 latrins, and (earlier for) educational materials for Tamil youngsters in the camps in the Vanni. To state my position clearly at the outset: I am totally opposed to your proposal and hope to convince at least some of the other recipients of your appeal!
Only in passing, I like to remind you of the high sounding speeches, including yours, on peace, negotiations, and reconciliation at the April 2006 conference in Zurich/Switzerland ("Envisioning New Trajectories for Peace in SL") or your similarly titled volumes. With the armed resistance defeated, the LTTE decapitated, today these sentiments and arguments appear light-years away. I wonder how you (and the other, particularly Singhalese, participants) read -and defend - your respective contributions now...
Anyhow, today you are seemingly assuming a purely humanitarian viewpoint and, indeed, the door has been thrown wide open for all manifestly similarly minded people in NGOs and governments all over the world.
But, the plight of the Tamils is not due to a natural disaster, not another tsunami, but the result of the conscious policy of a government that had no calms of bombarding people that it claims as its own citizens with heavy artillery, according to some reports even illegal chemical weapons.
When even the then supporters of the GoSL in Berlin, Paris or London have demanded an enquiry into war crimes and violations of human and humanitarian law in view of the estimated 20.000 mostly dead civilians during the last few weeks, when even the established media question the internment of 300.000 Tamil IDP, there is no way for any self-respecting intellectual or the critical public in general in the country concerned to pretend that the only problem left to be tackled is "humanitarian".
Just the contrary! You speak -echoing the official government line - of '300.000 temporarily displaced Tamils being 'sheltered in welfare centres'. This is but typical Orwellian language trying to turn reality upside down in light of the razor sharp barbed wires surrounding these camps, of the military controlling all access to and exits from them, of the prevention of independent outside observers, journalists and NGOs from entering them, of official announcements that a new prolonged phase of "counter-insurgency".
The'welfare centres' are but internment camps, the 'rehabilitation in the camps' is but a racist policy of collective suspicion, intimidation, witchhunt, and impoverishment. When you talk of the "fear and anxiety of the people undoubtedly brainwashed by the LTTE" you seem to forget Bindunuwewa or Chemmani or the numerous reports by UN agencies and Human Rights organizations that have castigated the massive human rights violations, such as disappearances, extra-judicial killings, and torture committed for decades by the security forces especially against the SLT.
Apart from their own experiences, these terrified people may also have heard of the situation on the ground following the 'liberation' of the Eastern province in mid-July 2007. What the government euphemistically describes as a "Nagenahira Navodaya or Eastern Awakening" programme, has nothing to do with "post-conflict reconstruction" but is a nightmare of violence, political instability, repression, and land expropiration according to the International Crisis Group (Asia report No 165 of April 16, 2009 entitled "Development Assistance and Conflict in Sri Lanka - Lessons from the Eastern Province").
And this is only the tip of the iceberg when viewed against the appropriation of the state by the majority coupled with the systemic oppression, including pogroms, of the Tamil people and the minorities in language, education, public employment or land colonisation.
Against this background, your appeal is anything but well-minded and humanitarian, it is highly political, in fact legitimizing the racist policies of the GoSL. Instead of rising against the root causes, mobilizing the Singhalese public to fight against chauvinism, the security state, the dictatorship maskerading as democracy, for the rule of law and against the "culture of impunity", for a democratic, inclusive, participatory polity and society, you call for hand-outs, for charity implicitely justifying the present state of affairs.
As a former Dy.Director of SIPRI, Oslo and coordinator of the UN Programme on Conflict Resolution, you know that in a conflict each and every action can not be viewed in isolation, but has to be seen in its socio-political context. In the concrete situation: A camp is a camp, to put a whole people behind barbed wire is racism.
The unambigous struggle for the immediate dissolution of the camps and the return of the IDP to their homes must be the absolute priority, and not to make life somewhat easier for the inmates...
Such a political commitment is, by the way, also in the best long-term interest of the Singhalese and all the other people living on the island.
Sincerely,Prof. Dr.John P.NeelsenInstitute of SociologyTuebingen UniversityD - 72074 Tuebingen/Germany
UN concern over Sri Lanka camps
[ BBC ][ Jun 11 11:49 GMT ]
Most of Sri Lanka's displaced people could still be kept in government-run camps in one year's time, a UN official has told the BBC quoting army sources. But the government rejected the suggestion, saying that it aimed to resettle most by the end of this year. About 250,000 people fled the final bloody phase of the civil war between the government and Tamil Tiger rebels. Meanwhile, a human rights group accused the government of failing to probe rights abuses during the conflict. [ full story
Most of Sri Lanka's displaced people could still be kept in government-run camps in one year's time, a UN official has told the BBC quoting army sources. But the government rejected the suggestion, saying that it aimed to resettle most by the end of this year. About 250,000 people fled the final bloody phase of the civil war between the government and Tamil Tiger rebels. Meanwhile, a human rights group accused the government of failing to probe rights abuses during the conflict. [ full story
UN concern over Sri Lanka camps
Most of Sri Lanka's displaced people could still be kept in government-run camps in one year's time, a UN official has told the BBC quoting army sources. But the government rejected the suggestion, saying that it aimed to resettle most by the end of this year. About 250,000 people fled the final bloody phase of the civil war between the government and Tamil Tiger rebels. Meanwhile, a human rights group accused the government of failing to probe rights abuses during the conflict. [ full story
New Amnesty report reveals inability of Sri Lankan government to deliver justice
The Sri Lankan government's failure to deliver justice for serious human rights violations over the past 20 years has trapped the country in a vicious cycle of abuse and impunity, according to a new report published by Amnesty International today. The report, 'Twenty Years of Make-Believe: Sri Lanka's Commissions of Inquiry', documents the failure of successive Sri Lankan governments to provide accountability for serious human rights violations, including enforced disappearances, killings, and torture. [ full story
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