Despite the end of hostilities, children in Sri Lanka continue to be at risk of forced recruitment, arbitrary detention and other human rights abuses, the Coalition to Stop the Use of Child Soldiers (Coalition) said Tuesday. In a new briefing to the Security Council Working Group (Working Group) on Children and Armed Conflict, the Coalition urged the Sri Lankan authorities to act immediately to protect conflict-affected children.
Children are among dozens of people who have been detained by security forces in internally displaced person (IDP) camps in Vavuniya, apparently for their alleged links to the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE). In one case in June 2009, a group of four or five girls and boys from a camp in Menik Farm were reportedly detained and questioned by members of the Sri Lankan military. One of the girls admitted that she had been with the LTTE for two days. The children were subsequently taken away and there has been no news of them since.
“The families of children taken by the security forces from detention camps have no idea where they are -- if they are in detention, have been taken to rehabilitation centres or have disappeared” said the Director of the Coalition, Victoria Forbes Adam.
Given the background of large-scale disappearances in Sri Lanka, there are grave fears that some of the reported incidents of children and adults being removed from IDP camps may represent enforced disappearances.
“There are simple steps that can be taken to enhance the security of children in IDP camps including allowing unhindered access to independent human rights monitors and maintaining a centralized register of all persons in the camps. Families should also be informed of where their children have been taken and their access to them should be facilitated” said Victoria Forbes Adam.
The Coalition has received reports of continued abductions for ransom and forced recruitment of children by pro-government armed groups. Unverified reports indicate that young boys in rehabilitation centres in Vavuniya have been forced to join pro-government armed groups including the Eelam People‟s Democratic Party (EPDP) and Tamil People‟s Liberation Front (TMVP). They are now reportedly collecting „protection money‟ from merchants and traders in Vavuniya town. There are also sporadic reports of child recruitment in Batticaloa district by the TMVP and cadres loyal to the former TMVP leader, V. Muralitharan, known as Karuna.
“Armed groups are clearly operating with the support of the security forces who are allowing them access to IDP camps and centres for surrendees and using them to identify individuals formerly associated with the LTTE. The Sri Lankan authorities must act immediately to prevent armed groups from entering facilities where children are housed and must investigate reports of ongoing abductions and recruitment by them” said Victoria Forbes Adam.
An entrenched culture of impunity in Sri Lanka facilitates ongoing abuses against children. In 2007 the government initiated an investigation into elements of the armed forces suspected of complicity in the forced recruitment of children by the TMVP. Twenty-three months later it has yet to be completed. In the meantime, Karuna, the former head of the TMVP, has been made a government minister. Karuna also stands accused of recruiting thousands of child soldiers when he was an LTTE commander prior to his split with the group in 2004. No known action has been taken against any member of the security forces or of any armed group suspected of child abductions or forced recruitment.
Intense recruitment of children by the LTTE during the final phase of the conflict has created serious challenges for the release and reintegration of underage recruits. While the government has set up a framework to provide support for children leaving armed groups through the establishment of accommodation and rehabilitation centres, the efforts fall short of internationally recognized best practice. Under the framework, there are concerns that former child soldiers may be held in custody for up to one year without clear grounds. Further, there are concerns about the inadequate access of these children to their families; the incomplete separation of children from adults; and the security of children in the centres.
“The end of the 25-year long conflict represents a unique opportunity to release and reintegrate all former child soldiers and to assist thousands of other conflict-affected children in Sri Lanka. It will take concerted and coordinated efforts by the Sri Lankan authorities and the international community to ensure that this opportunity is not squandered.”
Tuesday, August 4, 2009
US concerned over Sri Lankan camps; Reconciliation vital
Visiting US Assistant Secretary of State for Population, Refugees, and Migration Eric P. Schwartz expressed concern over hundreds of thousands of people displaced by war and continued to be confined in military-run camps for more than two months now. He pledged funds to help their resettlement.
Eric P. Schwartz spoke to reporters Monday in Colombo after visiting the Manik Farm, the largest camp for IDPs in Vavuniya. He said the U.S was "deeply concerned about a range of issues where further progress is essential.
He also announced $8 million to help hasten the resettlement and recovery process of 280,000 displaced Tamil people living in internment camps.
"In particular the vast majority of displaced persons remain confined to camps," "Moreover there remain burdensome limitations on access to those camps for those international humanitarian organizations and others who are in a position to ameliorate the conditions faced by these victims of conflict," Associated Press reported quoting Eric P. Schwartz.
AP further reported Schwartz saying, that President Mahinda Rajapaksa and other top officials have assured him of "significant and substantial returns" of displaced people to their homes over the next month.
Foreign diplomats and aid workers fear that the camps are actually internment camps where the displaced people are being held indefinitely. Schwartz said he raised the issue with government officials who insisted that camps were only temporary.
He said the government also invited him back to observe the process of return and recovery. He said he hoped to do so. He added that the extent of relations between Sri Lanka and the US hinges on the outcome of the reconciliation process in Sri Lanka.
Eric P. Schwartz spoke to reporters Monday in Colombo after visiting the Manik Farm, the largest camp for IDPs in Vavuniya. He said the U.S was "deeply concerned about a range of issues where further progress is essential.
He also announced $8 million to help hasten the resettlement and recovery process of 280,000 displaced Tamil people living in internment camps.
"In particular the vast majority of displaced persons remain confined to camps," "Moreover there remain burdensome limitations on access to those camps for those international humanitarian organizations and others who are in a position to ameliorate the conditions faced by these victims of conflict," Associated Press reported quoting Eric P. Schwartz.
AP further reported Schwartz saying, that President Mahinda Rajapaksa and other top officials have assured him of "significant and substantial returns" of displaced people to their homes over the next month.
Foreign diplomats and aid workers fear that the camps are actually internment camps where the displaced people are being held indefinitely. Schwartz said he raised the issue with government officials who insisted that camps were only temporary.
He said the government also invited him back to observe the process of return and recovery. He said he hoped to do so. He added that the extent of relations between Sri Lanka and the US hinges on the outcome of the reconciliation process in Sri Lanka.
IMF defends Sri Lanka loan amid human rights worries
The loan was approved by the IMF board on Friday with opposition from several countries including the United States, Britain, Germany, France and Argentina, which expressed concern at human rights abuses in Sri Lanka.
"In Sri Lanka's case they have been hit by the global crisis and the IMF's mandate is to address and ward off balance of payments crises," IMF mission chief to Sri Lanka, Brian Aitken told reporters on a conference call.
"The balance of payments crisis sounds rather dry but it really would have a devastating impact on the economy and on the people, particularly the most vulnerable," he added.
Aitken said the IMF was in regular contact with humanitarian groups and diplomats over human rights worries.
Months after the end of the civil war with the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam, the Sri Lankan government continues to hold thousands of Tamils displaced by the fighting in detention camps, according to Human Rights Watch.
Aitken said none of the IMF funding would be directed through the government budget. Instead, the entire loan is going toward rebuilding the central banks currency reserves, which have been drained by the collapse in global trade that has affected the country's mainstay garment industry.
"The hope is that the loan provides a framework in which multilateral and bilateral donors can support the reconstruction effort directly," he added.
He also said it was important that Sri Lanka's foreign exchange policy remained flexible to meet targets for rebuilding international reserves to at least 3.5 months of imports by the end of the 20-month program.
"The program is targeted to increase reserves and the exchange rate under those circumstances needs to be flexible to respond to changes in foreign exchange flowing into the country," Aitken said.
Aitken said as the global crisis dissipates, Sri Lanka's growth should rebound quickly on the back of post-war rebuilding. He said the IMF agreed with the central banks' forecast for economic growth of 3 percent for 2009. ((Reuters, Washigton; by Lesley Wroughton)
Can Sri Lanka fulfill agreed economic reforms with IMF?
The International Monetary Fund (IMF) approved a $2.6 billion loan for Sri Lanka to help the country through the global financial crisis and rebuild following a 25-year civil war.
Sri Lanka will immediately be able to tap the first disbursement of $322 million under the 20-month programme but the rest will be phased in, subject to quarterly reviews.
Following are some questions and answers on key conditions and whether the government will be able meet them.
What is the hardest condition for Sri Lanka to meet?
Maintaining a 7 percent budget deficit in 2009. Latest Ministry of Finance data showed the deficit has already hit 4 percent in the first four months of this year and economists expected the full-year figure to reach at least 9 percent.
They say the government will be forced to revise its populist policies to more economically rational ones if it wants to receive the entire $2.6 billion loan.
The 5 percent fiscal deficit target in 2011 will also be a difficult task for President Mahinda Rajapaksa, who faces a parliamentary and presidential election before then.
Analysts say the Rajapaksa administration, which has already promised to cut military expenditure after the war, could introduce new indirect taxes to increase revenue.
But that might be unpopular with the electorate. So Rajapaksa could take advantage of his current high popularity and call for elections early and, assuming he wins, implement the less popular policies afterwards.
What will IMF do if Sri Lanka fails to meet the conditions?
Initially, the IMF is likely to be flexible, taking into consideration Sri Lanka's post-war situation. However, continued failures to meet conditions will compel the lender to stop disbursement of the loans, which would be negative for domestic markets. The IMF discontinued a previous loan programme due to Sri Lanka's failure in adhering to its conditions in 2001.
What impacts will the conditions have on the economy?
Inflation is expected to pick up. The government has agreed with the IMF to halt subsidies to loss-making state enterprises Ceylon Electricity Board (CEB) and the Ceylon Petroleum Corporation (CPC). That is likely to lead to higher inflation via increased energy prices, raising pressure for policy rates to rise.
Will the exchange rate policy be an issue?
No. One of the conditions state that the central bank must allow flexibility in the foreign exchange rate and limit intervention to smooth volatility in the market. But the IMF has also said the flexibility should help maintain exporters' competitiveness, suggesting it is in line with the current central bank policy of intervening only when the rupee is depreciating.
Central bank Governor Ajith Nivard Cabraal told Reuters on Monday that the rupee is trading at a reasonable rate and it will continue to maintain a stable exchange rate.
Traders also expect the rupee remain steady.(Reuters, Sri Lanka)
Sri Lanka will immediately be able to tap the first disbursement of $322 million under the 20-month programme but the rest will be phased in, subject to quarterly reviews.
Following are some questions and answers on key conditions and whether the government will be able meet them.
What is the hardest condition for Sri Lanka to meet?
Maintaining a 7 percent budget deficit in 2009. Latest Ministry of Finance data showed the deficit has already hit 4 percent in the first four months of this year and economists expected the full-year figure to reach at least 9 percent.
They say the government will be forced to revise its populist policies to more economically rational ones if it wants to receive the entire $2.6 billion loan.
The 5 percent fiscal deficit target in 2011 will also be a difficult task for President Mahinda Rajapaksa, who faces a parliamentary and presidential election before then.
Analysts say the Rajapaksa administration, which has already promised to cut military expenditure after the war, could introduce new indirect taxes to increase revenue.
But that might be unpopular with the electorate. So Rajapaksa could take advantage of his current high popularity and call for elections early and, assuming he wins, implement the less popular policies afterwards.
What will IMF do if Sri Lanka fails to meet the conditions?
Initially, the IMF is likely to be flexible, taking into consideration Sri Lanka's post-war situation. However, continued failures to meet conditions will compel the lender to stop disbursement of the loans, which would be negative for domestic markets. The IMF discontinued a previous loan programme due to Sri Lanka's failure in adhering to its conditions in 2001.
What impacts will the conditions have on the economy?
Inflation is expected to pick up. The government has agreed with the IMF to halt subsidies to loss-making state enterprises Ceylon Electricity Board (CEB) and the Ceylon Petroleum Corporation (CPC). That is likely to lead to higher inflation via increased energy prices, raising pressure for policy rates to rise.
Will the exchange rate policy be an issue?
No. One of the conditions state that the central bank must allow flexibility in the foreign exchange rate and limit intervention to smooth volatility in the market. But the IMF has also said the flexibility should help maintain exporters' competitiveness, suggesting it is in line with the current central bank policy of intervening only when the rupee is depreciating.
Central bank Governor Ajith Nivard Cabraal told Reuters on Monday that the rupee is trading at a reasonable rate and it will continue to maintain a stable exchange rate.
Traders also expect the rupee remain steady.(Reuters, Sri Lanka)
Friday, July 24, 2009
Indian support in negating Tamil aspirations in Sri Lanka
The following fact file was compiled by a group of Tamil citizens in Tamil Nadu. If the facts and numbers are right, the story is very devastating. It also spells a very inhuman approach in wiping out Tamil aspirations under the guise of rehabilitation, with total consent and support from the Indian administration.
This fact file compiled, also reveals that all decisions are taken by a Committee controlled by military and police personnel.
Chennai based M.S.Swaminathan’s Research Foundation is seen as the brain behind the whole project. In fact Swaminathan was a respected a visitor in Sri Lanka who met with President Rajapaksa and his Advisors about a month ago and was reported to have discussed future developments in Sri Lanka.
in this fact file needs immediate and serious scrutiny by human rights and democratic organizations, both in SL and in South Asia.
Fact File on the proposed “rehabilitation” in Northern Sri Lanka.
On 27th April 2009 a sum of Rs.100 crores was announced as relief by the Government of India..
Again on 23rd May 2009 a sum of Rs.500 crores was announced by the Indian Government presumably also to cover the following cost:
- Expenses towards running of Indian Medical hospital at the camp of Vavuniya.
- De-mining project at Vanni, undertaken by Private companies viz “Horizon” of Pune and “Sarvathra” of Gurgaon (Haryana) and the expenses towards deploying of 500 Indian army personnel for de-mining.
- Fee for imparting rapid agricultural programme for the rehabilitated women under the aegis of Multinational corporations under the supervision of M.S. Swaminathan’s Research Foundation.
The Secretariat/Committee for Rehabilitation:
- No. of Members : 18
- Chairperson: Basil Rajapakshe
- Member: Gotabhaya Rajapakshe
- Not even a single Tamil in the team.
- 8 of them are from the army and the police
- The rest from the Bureaucracy
- Major General Chandrasri, the Chairperson of all the camps, and now appointed Governor of the North, is one of the members, (Chandra Sri served as the totalitarian Head of the Army at Jafna between 2006 and 2008).
12 army divisions, aggregating 84,000 Sinhala personnel will be stationed at Vanni region to supervise the rehabilitation.
In addition to this, 20,000 Police personnel and an equal number of Administrative personnel will be posted in the North.
30,000 Sinhala prisoners are to be released and to be inhabited in the North.
Over one lakh members of the family of Sinhala Police and Administration are expected to move to the North.
Thus, even before the Internally Displaced Tamils are rehabilitated in their homeland at Vanni region, approximately 2.5 lakh Sinhalese representing the administration personnel and their families are to be moved to the Vanni region.
Hence, the traditionally Tamil dominated Vanni region will be predominantly inhabited by sponsored Sinhalese shortly. This is precisely the reason why Sri Lankan President declined to recognize the existence or rights of the traditional Tamil homeland.
Meanwhile, according to the rehabilitation package, able bodied Vanni women would have been converted as contract labourers of private Agri and Fisheries corporates, thanks to the assistance rendered by Chennai based M.S.Swaminathan Research Foundation.
The men in the camps will be detained under long term Preventive custody.
In this backdrop, the Srilankan government may even declare the implementation of the 13th Constitutional amendment and conduct general elections in the Vanni region and proclaim itself as a great democratic nation!
Human Casualties and disappearances during the last 14 months of war (Apr 2008 to June 2009):
Total population of Vanni region in April 2008: 4,03,000 (extrapolated from 2004 population data)
- No. of Internally Displaced persons detained in the camps: approx. 2,80,000 [as on 18th June 2009, as per UN OCHA (Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs) Report]
- Children among them: 60,000 approx
- Aged and pregnant women: 4,000 approx
- Fatally injured: 12,000
- Crippled: 4,000
- Thus, those who are dependent on others number 80,000 (Approximately one third of those detained in the camp).
- Hence, the number of able bodied persons: 2,00,000
- Therefore the number of persons disappeared: 1,20,000 (Approximately one third of the total population in the Vanni region).
- Number of youngsters detained separately suspected as supporters of LTTE : 13,000
- Rate of Death in the Camp: 10 per day (66 on May 23rd; 62 between May 26th June 9th ; These were reported at Menik Farm at Vavuniya Chettikulam. The dead were buried enmasse).
What can be done for rendering justice to the people of Vanni?
India should prevail upon the GOSL to dismantle the Task Force Committee constituted for implementing the “Northern Spring”. (வடக்கின் வசந்தம்).
Rajapakshe brothers who have been accused of committing War Crimes and Crimes against humanity are the key members of the Rehabilitation Committee. More over all of them are Sinhalese. This committee will have to be reconstituted for the genuine reconstruction of North with suitable members. The Committee should be reconstituted with the members representing the refugees in the Sri Lankan camps and the displaced living in India and elsewhere; and representatives from various Human Rights Organisations; and representatives from the UN. Sinhalese like Sri Lankan Justice Sarath Nanda Silva and the like to be included in the committee. Until the committee is reconstituted, disbursement of Rs.500 crores declared by the Indian government should be kept on hold.
Indian government and the Government of Tamil Nadu should impress upon the GOSL categorically that the rehabilitation and reconstruction of Vanni region should be vested with the people of the region for whom it is their traditional home land, since time immemorial, and it cannot be left with the occupied Sinhala army/authorities.
India should initiate action against GOSL in the UN Human Rights Council and the ICC and bring the authorities concerned for a trial for their War Crimes and Crimes against Humanity. The truth behind the disappearance of over 30% of the population in the North and the plight of the civilians in the detention camps need to be examined by independent agencies. India should prevail upon all concerned to ensure transparency of the probe and expose the crimes committed by the GOSL.
M.S.Swaminathan’s Research Foundation and other Private Corporates which have been lined up to obliterate the Tamils, their very identity and existence as a community, in the name of the so called rehabilitation and reconstruction should withdraw from their role from Sri Lanka.
No corporates or other institutions from India should engage themselves in any activity in Sri Lanka which will deprive the people of Vanni region their rights over their traditional homeland. If they indulge in such ventures for gain, they will also be deemed as participants in the genocidal war
34 media personnel killed during present SL govt rule: JDS
Journalists for Democracy in Sri Lanka (JDS) express its serious concern that even after government's declaration of war victory and end of war, intimidations and harassments to media and journalists continue with increasing ferocity.
People of Sri Lanka are deprived of their right to information and media and journalists are forced to practice unprecedented level of self censorship, a press release today by the executive committee of the Journalists for Democracy in Sri Lanka (JDS) said.
JDS statement further said: It is in this context JDS reports with anger and great sadness that thirty-three journalists and media workers have been killed with no recourse to justice since the present government was formed. Out of 34 killed, 30 were from the Tamil community, three were Sinhala journalists and one Muslim and.
In addition, 10 journalists and media workers were abducted. Journalist Jeyaprakash Tissainayagam, his printer Vetrivel Jesiharan and Jesiharan’s wife Vadivel Valarmathi remain in custody since their arrest over a year ago. These unresolved killings and abductions clearly demonstrate the culture of impunity that prevails in Sri Lanka.
The United Peoples Freedom Alliance (UPFA) government came into power in April 2004 with the present President Mahinda Rajapaksa as its prime minister. Never before in the history of Sri Lanka have such a number of journalists and media workers been killed in such a short period of time.
During the same period, intimidations and threats against journalists and media increased unabated. This situation resulted in more than 50 journalists leaving Sri Lanka fearing persecution: Austria 01; Australia 03; Canada 03; Denmark 01; France 12; Germany 04; India 05; Malaysia 01; Netherlands 02; Nepal 02; Norway 02; Switzerland 16; UK 10; USA 02.
JDS supports the eleven point plan put forward by International Press Freedom Mission to redress the perilous press freedom environment in Sri Lanka and pledges to work with all democratic forces within and outside the country to achieve human and democratic rights for all peoples in Sri Lanka.
JDS calls upon the United Nations, governments and other international organisations to put pressure on the government of President Rajapaksha by taking all practical means at their disposal to end the culture of impunity and to bring the perpetrators of these crimes to justice.
Journalists for Democracy in Sri Lanka (JDS) is an action group of journalists, writers, artists and human rights defenders who fled persecution in their country and convened in Europe in order to campaign for democracy, human rights and media freedom in Sri Lanka.
People of Sri Lanka are deprived of their right to information and media and journalists are forced to practice unprecedented level of self censorship, a press release today by the executive committee of the Journalists for Democracy in Sri Lanka (JDS) said.
JDS statement further said: It is in this context JDS reports with anger and great sadness that thirty-three journalists and media workers have been killed with no recourse to justice since the present government was formed. Out of 34 killed, 30 were from the Tamil community, three were Sinhala journalists and one Muslim and.
In addition, 10 journalists and media workers were abducted. Journalist Jeyaprakash Tissainayagam, his printer Vetrivel Jesiharan and Jesiharan’s wife Vadivel Valarmathi remain in custody since their arrest over a year ago. These unresolved killings and abductions clearly demonstrate the culture of impunity that prevails in Sri Lanka.
The United Peoples Freedom Alliance (UPFA) government came into power in April 2004 with the present President Mahinda Rajapaksa as its prime minister. Never before in the history of Sri Lanka have such a number of journalists and media workers been killed in such a short period of time.
During the same period, intimidations and threats against journalists and media increased unabated. This situation resulted in more than 50 journalists leaving Sri Lanka fearing persecution: Austria 01; Australia 03; Canada 03; Denmark 01; France 12; Germany 04; India 05; Malaysia 01; Netherlands 02; Nepal 02; Norway 02; Switzerland 16; UK 10; USA 02.
JDS supports the eleven point plan put forward by International Press Freedom Mission to redress the perilous press freedom environment in Sri Lanka and pledges to work with all democratic forces within and outside the country to achieve human and democratic rights for all peoples in Sri Lanka.
JDS calls upon the United Nations, governments and other international organisations to put pressure on the government of President Rajapaksha by taking all practical means at their disposal to end the culture of impunity and to bring the perpetrators of these crimes to justice.
Journalists for Democracy in Sri Lanka (JDS) is an action group of journalists, writers, artists and human rights defenders who fled persecution in their country and convened in Europe in order to campaign for democracy, human rights and media freedom in Sri Lanka.
UN concerned about camp conditions, calls for clear IDP resettlement plan
A detailed plan to resettle almost 300,000 internally displaced persons (IDPs) in Sri Lanka is needed to sustain donor assistance, says UN Country Representative. Meanwhile Spokeperson for the UN Secretary General in yesterday's press briefing said "we have tremendous concerns about the humanitarian conditions in the camps, and that was in fact one of the topics that the Secretary-General raised with the Sri Lankan President last week."
“It’s very important that there be clear plans and timelines for people to return,” Neil Buhne, the UN country head, had told IRIN in Colombo.
“I think it is going to be difficult to sustain the financing (for relief measures) over a long period if you have 300,000 people in there (IDP camps) for months and months, stretching into a year,” Buhne warned. “The first stage in reconciliation is how (IDPs) are treated. I think the government recognizes that, we recognize that, but it is a huge challenge.”
His comments followed a pledge by Sri Lanka’s President Mahinda Rajapaksa on 10 July to resettle up to 60 percent of the IDPs by November. In 180 days, we want to settle most of these people. It's not a promise, it's a target.
But aid workers on the ground have expressed concern that some of the facilities being erected in the camps appear more permanent than temporary.
Spokeperson for the UN Secretary General when asked about the deaths in the internally displaced person's camps on Tuesday said due to the level of available access they do not have precise information and added that UN is concerned about the humanitarian conditions in the camps, and that was in fact one of the topics that the Secretary-General raised with the Sri Lankan President last week.
"Well, that of course depends on the level of access we have. We don’t have necessarily the most precise information about things like death tolls. At the same time, we do have tremendous concerns about the humanitarian conditions in the camps, and that was in fact one of the topics that the Secretary-General raised with the Sri Lankan President last week."
Transcript of the question and answer at the Tuesday press briefing by the Spokeperson for the UN Secretary General at UN:
Question: Perhaps belatedly, over the weekend, Action Contre la Faim -- it’s this French NGO -- denounced the Sri Lankan Government’s ending of an inquiry of how 17 of their workers were killed, and they called for an international inquiry, including calling on the UN to take action. Since the UN -- John Holmes and others -- had said they were closely watching that investigation, what do they say now that it’s over, and the group concerned calls it a whitewash?
Associate Spokesperson: We’ll check with OCHA what kind of particular response they have on the issue concerning Contre la Faim. As far as that goes, there has been no UN investigation into this, as you are aware. We’ll first monitor events on the ground, and we do continue to monitor a wide range of issues concerning how the Government of Sri Lanka has followed up on the commitments that the Secretary-General had outlined in his letters. As you know, the Secretary-General met with President [Mahinda] Rajapaksa last week on the margins of the Non-Aligned Movement summit, and he brought up again the sort of actions we had wanted taken in Sri Lanka.
Question: Just one more on that. I wanted to know, there was a report in the Times of London saying that, in the camps in Vavuniya, up to 1,400 people have died, and the AP has also reported that the conditions are very dire in terms of health. What’s the UN, if they’re closely monitoring, are they monitoring both the health and the level of deaths inside these camps?
Associate Spokesperson: Well, that of course depends on the level of access we have. We don’t have necessarily the most precise information about things like death tolls. At the same time, we do have tremendous concerns about the humanitarian conditions in the camps, and that was in fact one of the topics that the Secretary-General raised with the Sri Lankan President last week.
Comment by Matthew Russell Lee, Inner City press at UN
With Sri Lanka putting restrictions on the Red Cross and the press, and despite statements by the UK and US on the country's application for a $1.9 billion loan from the International Monetary Fund, on July 20 IMF Managing Director Dominique Strauss-Kahn announced his staff will recommend a $2.5 billion transfer to Sri Lanka at a board meeting on July 24.
Since March, Inner City Press has asked IMF spokespeople what safeguards if any would be attached to the loan. Most recently on July 16, the IMF's Caroline Atkinson said that the views of the international community will be taken into account. Four days later her boss issued a press release with no mention of safeguards. Pro-government media in Sri Lanka report IMF board approval as a mere formality. HSBC and now JPMorgan Chase are helping the Rajapakse regime to do a road show to foreign capitals to drum up more investment.
Outgoing UK minister to Asia and the UN Mark Malloch Brown told Inner City Press earlier this month that "the IMF loan is not moving," is not going anywhere. His boss David Miliband had said the conditions are not right for such a loan. With 300,000 people detained in government camps, are the conditions any better now?
An AP wire service reporter who exposed conditions in the camps was told to leave the country, his visa not renewed. (Reuters with more pro-government reporting, on the other hand, apparently had no such problem.)
The Red Cross was been ordered to cut back in Eastern Sri Lanka, where it had over 140 workers. Despite commitments to investigate itself, the Rajapakse government ended an investigation into the killing of 17 workers of the NGO Action Contre La Faim, exonerating its armed forces. And what does the UN have to say?
“It’s very important that there be clear plans and timelines for people to return,” Neil Buhne, the UN country head, had told IRIN in Colombo.
“I think it is going to be difficult to sustain the financing (for relief measures) over a long period if you have 300,000 people in there (IDP camps) for months and months, stretching into a year,” Buhne warned. “The first stage in reconciliation is how (IDPs) are treated. I think the government recognizes that, we recognize that, but it is a huge challenge.”
His comments followed a pledge by Sri Lanka’s President Mahinda Rajapaksa on 10 July to resettle up to 60 percent of the IDPs by November. In 180 days, we want to settle most of these people. It's not a promise, it's a target.
But aid workers on the ground have expressed concern that some of the facilities being erected in the camps appear more permanent than temporary.
Spokeperson for the UN Secretary General when asked about the deaths in the internally displaced person's camps on Tuesday said due to the level of available access they do not have precise information and added that UN is concerned about the humanitarian conditions in the camps, and that was in fact one of the topics that the Secretary-General raised with the Sri Lankan President last week.
"Well, that of course depends on the level of access we have. We don’t have necessarily the most precise information about things like death tolls. At the same time, we do have tremendous concerns about the humanitarian conditions in the camps, and that was in fact one of the topics that the Secretary-General raised with the Sri Lankan President last week."
Transcript of the question and answer at the Tuesday press briefing by the Spokeperson for the UN Secretary General at UN:
Question: Perhaps belatedly, over the weekend, Action Contre la Faim -- it’s this French NGO -- denounced the Sri Lankan Government’s ending of an inquiry of how 17 of their workers were killed, and they called for an international inquiry, including calling on the UN to take action. Since the UN -- John Holmes and others -- had said they were closely watching that investigation, what do they say now that it’s over, and the group concerned calls it a whitewash?
Associate Spokesperson: We’ll check with OCHA what kind of particular response they have on the issue concerning Contre la Faim. As far as that goes, there has been no UN investigation into this, as you are aware. We’ll first monitor events on the ground, and we do continue to monitor a wide range of issues concerning how the Government of Sri Lanka has followed up on the commitments that the Secretary-General had outlined in his letters. As you know, the Secretary-General met with President [Mahinda] Rajapaksa last week on the margins of the Non-Aligned Movement summit, and he brought up again the sort of actions we had wanted taken in Sri Lanka.
Question: Just one more on that. I wanted to know, there was a report in the Times of London saying that, in the camps in Vavuniya, up to 1,400 people have died, and the AP has also reported that the conditions are very dire in terms of health. What’s the UN, if they’re closely monitoring, are they monitoring both the health and the level of deaths inside these camps?
Associate Spokesperson: Well, that of course depends on the level of access we have. We don’t have necessarily the most precise information about things like death tolls. At the same time, we do have tremendous concerns about the humanitarian conditions in the camps, and that was in fact one of the topics that the Secretary-General raised with the Sri Lankan President last week.
Comment by Matthew Russell Lee, Inner City press at UN
With Sri Lanka putting restrictions on the Red Cross and the press, and despite statements by the UK and US on the country's application for a $1.9 billion loan from the International Monetary Fund, on July 20 IMF Managing Director Dominique Strauss-Kahn announced his staff will recommend a $2.5 billion transfer to Sri Lanka at a board meeting on July 24.
Since March, Inner City Press has asked IMF spokespeople what safeguards if any would be attached to the loan. Most recently on July 16, the IMF's Caroline Atkinson said that the views of the international community will be taken into account. Four days later her boss issued a press release with no mention of safeguards. Pro-government media in Sri Lanka report IMF board approval as a mere formality. HSBC and now JPMorgan Chase are helping the Rajapakse regime to do a road show to foreign capitals to drum up more investment.
Outgoing UK minister to Asia and the UN Mark Malloch Brown told Inner City Press earlier this month that "the IMF loan is not moving," is not going anywhere. His boss David Miliband had said the conditions are not right for such a loan. With 300,000 people detained in government camps, are the conditions any better now?
An AP wire service reporter who exposed conditions in the camps was told to leave the country, his visa not renewed. (Reuters with more pro-government reporting, on the other hand, apparently had no such problem.)
The Red Cross was been ordered to cut back in Eastern Sri Lanka, where it had over 140 workers. Despite commitments to investigate itself, the Rajapakse government ended an investigation into the killing of 17 workers of the NGO Action Contre La Faim, exonerating its armed forces. And what does the UN have to say?
War without end - SL having won the war risks losing peace: NYT
To begin easing the deep mistrust between the communities, donor countries will have to pressure the government to be as serious about securing a just peace as it was earlier this year about winning the war, he said.
The opinion column further said: The final months of combat in the decades-long war between the Sri Lankan Army and the rebel Tamil Tigers were brutal. As government forces tightened a noose around insurgent positions, hundreds of thousands of civilians were caught in the middle.
The army was indiscriminately launching artillery shells and air strikes into mixed areas of insurgents and innocents, and the Tigers shot at people who tried to escape. The U.N. estimated some 7,000 civilians, including at least 1,000 children, died and more than 10,000 were injured in the last few months of the war.
The legacy of atrocities on both sides clearly needs to be investigated if the Tamils and Sinhalese are to share the same island peacefully in the future. The immediate concern is for the 300,000 Tamils still interned behind barbed wire in camps with no government plan for returning them to their homes. Up to two thirds of them are in the giant camp at Manik Farm, where lives are lost every day to overcrowding, poor sanitation, lack of clean drinking water and inadequate medical services.
The government has blamed the United Nations and international aid agencies for the poor conditions, because those organizations are reluctant to build permanent or semi-permanent shelters to house the displaced. The real origin of the problem, however, is the government’s refusal to expedite its “screening” process and allow tens of thousands of the displaced to live with relatives or host families.
Furthermore, access for international agencies is restricted in ways that limit the effectiveness of aid delivery. Many of the restrictions appear designed to prevent the disclosure of conditions in the camps or the situation that civilians faced during the final months of the war. No private consultations with the displaced are allowed in the camps, and no cameras or recording equipment can be brought in.
Many of the displaced remain uncertain about the whereabouts or fate of family members from whom they have been separated. Many suspected of involvement with the Tigers have been separated from their families and detained for further questioning, some in undisclosed locations. Some end up in detention and rehabilitation centers that the Red Cross and Unicef have access to.
One case deserves special mention. Three Tamil government doctors and one senior health official are known to be in government custody and are now threatened with prosecution for cooperating with the Tamil Tigers. As just about the only remaining officials inside the war zone in the final weeks, they worked heroically to save lives and alert the world to the humanitarian disaster endured by civilians trapped in the fighting. On July 8, their captors forced them to recant their stories. This farce should end: They should be freed.
After winning the war, the Sri Lankan government now risks losing the peace with its approach toward ethnic Tamils displaced by the conflict. Colombo needs to alter course if the country is to begin overcoming years of animosity and avoid having old hatreds and current antipathy turn into the next Tamil rebellion.
Specifically, the government needs to provide a clear timetable for rapid and full resettlement of those currently interned in all the camps. It also has to make significant improvements in access to and conditions in those camps. Colombo should make public its lists of the interned and allow the Red Cross access to all places of detention and all aspects of the “screening” process conducted by the military and intelligence agencies.
The international community has a clear role to play in convincing the Sri Lankan government to take these steps. The cochairs of the Tokyo Conference on Reconstruction and Development of Sri Lanka — the United States, the European Union, Japan and Norway — have particular responsibility as they prepare to meet in August. They must send an unequivocal message.
All donor countries, both acting alone and using their influence in key institutions such as the World Bank and the Asian Development Bank, should condition all new non-emergency economic assistance to the country on their implementation. Creating the basic conditions necessary for a sustainable and equitable peace demands no less.
AP writer leaves Sri Lanka after visa not renewed
The Associated Press bureau chief in Sri Lanka, who broke news of private U.N. reports outlining civilian death tolls, has been denied permission to remain in the country.
The AP's Ravi Nessman left Sri Lanka on Monday after the government declined to renew his journalist's visa.
The government denied that the decision was related to his reporting on the final throes of Sri Lanka's quarter-century civil war with the Tamil Tiger rebels. The AP reported extensively on the heavy toll the war took on civilians as government forces surged across the rebels' strongholds in the jungles of the north this year.
"We find this failure to renew Ravi's visa disturbing," said John Daniszewski, AP's senior managing editor for international news.
Aside from reports on civilian casualties, Nessman revealed first word of a government document from January outlining a plan to keep hundreds of thousands of displaced people in camps for up to three years.
Nessman received a one-year journalist visa upon arriving in Sri Lanka in July 2007, and it was renewed the following year. The government declined to renew it for a third year.
Lucien Rajakarunanayake, director of international media in the office of President Mahinda Rajapaksa, insisted the government had not ousted Nessman. He said it was standard for foreign journalists to be based in Colombo for two years.
Nessman's predecessor as AP bureau chief, Dilip Ganguly, was based in Colombo for a decade, from 1997-2007.
Both sides of Sri Lanka's civil war have been accused by media groups of attempting to manipulate coverage.
The New York-based Committee to Protect Journalists said at least 11 Sri Lankan reporters were forced to flee the country in the past year, and Amnesty International said at least 14 Sri Lankan journalists and media workers have been killed since the beginning of 2006.(AP, COLOMBO)
The AP's Ravi Nessman left Sri Lanka on Monday after the government declined to renew his journalist's visa.
The government denied that the decision was related to his reporting on the final throes of Sri Lanka's quarter-century civil war with the Tamil Tiger rebels. The AP reported extensively on the heavy toll the war took on civilians as government forces surged across the rebels' strongholds in the jungles of the north this year.
"We find this failure to renew Ravi's visa disturbing," said John Daniszewski, AP's senior managing editor for international news.
Aside from reports on civilian casualties, Nessman revealed first word of a government document from January outlining a plan to keep hundreds of thousands of displaced people in camps for up to three years.
Nessman received a one-year journalist visa upon arriving in Sri Lanka in July 2007, and it was renewed the following year. The government declined to renew it for a third year.
Lucien Rajakarunanayake, director of international media in the office of President Mahinda Rajapaksa, insisted the government had not ousted Nessman. He said it was standard for foreign journalists to be based in Colombo for two years.
Nessman's predecessor as AP bureau chief, Dilip Ganguly, was based in Colombo for a decade, from 1997-2007.
Both sides of Sri Lanka's civil war have been accused by media groups of attempting to manipulate coverage.
The New York-based Committee to Protect Journalists said at least 11 Sri Lankan reporters were forced to flee the country in the past year, and Amnesty International said at least 14 Sri Lankan journalists and media workers have been killed since the beginning of 2006.(AP, COLOMBO)
Friday, July 17, 2009
What really happened in Sri Lanka?
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SRI LANKA / MUTTUR MASSACRE: ACF demands an internationalized inquiry
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Tamils look for leadership after Tigers
Tamil National Alliance (TNA)is trying to assume a leadership role by proposing a solution. "Our proposals will be based on the Canadian and Swiss model of power sharing in a federal set up. We will try to build a consensus among the Tamil parties barring the ones which support the ruling party," says R Sampanthan, the leader of the TNA. Tamil United Liberation Front (TULF) V. Anandasangaree believes the Indian model of power sharing between the central and state governments will solve the problems in Sri Lanka. But the Sinhala hardliners in the government are not keen to dilute the unitary structure of the Sri Lankan state.
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Tamil issue paramount in relations - India
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The silent suffering of Sri Lanka's Tamils
Roy Ratnavel, National Post
In May of this year, during the final stages of a brutal ethnic civil war between the Tamil Tigers and the Sri Lankan government, a so-called "humanitarian rescue" of civilians was undertaken by Sri Lanka's armed forces. More than 20,000 Tamil civilians trapped in the conflict zone were massacred. Thousands of dead are children, and most of them died before they even knew that they were Tamils. Scores of people died in bunkers, or were burned alive and bombed in open spaces. People were also shot at close range by the Sri Lankan army. Sri Lanka had no qualms about using heavy weapons to bombard the very people it claimed to be rescuing. According to some reports, the army even used illegal chemical weapons.
Full story
In May of this year, during the final stages of a brutal ethnic civil war between the Tamil Tigers and the Sri Lankan government, a so-called "humanitarian rescue" of civilians was undertaken by Sri Lanka's armed forces. More than 20,000 Tamil civilians trapped in the conflict zone were massacred. Thousands of dead are children, and most of them died before they even knew that they were Tamils. Scores of people died in bunkers, or were burned alive and bombed in open spaces. People were also shot at close range by the Sri Lankan army. Sri Lanka had no qualms about using heavy weapons to bombard the very people it claimed to be rescuing. According to some reports, the army even used illegal chemical weapons.
Full story
Sri Lanka, India bridge proposal revived
July 17, 2009 (LBO) - A proposal to build a bridge linking Sri Lanka and Indian across the Palk Straits is to be discussed at a meeting of south Asian transport ministers in Colombo, a senior official said.
Amal Kumarage, chairman of the island's National Transport Commission, said the bridge will help Sri Lanka regain its regional identity and be part of a continent.
The bridge, over the existing Adam's Bridge of sand banks, would almost be like an umbilical link between the two countries.
"If we have a land bridge with India it will revolutionaise travel," he told a seminar organised by the Chamber of Construction Industry on transport needs to revive the island's north and east whose progress had been retarded by the 30 year ethnic war.
Government forces defeated the Tamil Tiger rebels in May after a lengthy military campaign. The government is trying to revive the former war zone.
Kumarage said the Indo-Lanka bridge is still at least 10 years away and should be looked at as a long-term project.
"Next weekend (south Asian) transport ministers are to meet in Colombo at which the Indo-Lanka land bridge is an item for discussion."
Amal Kumarage, chairman of the island's National Transport Commission, said the bridge will help Sri Lanka regain its regional identity and be part of a continent.
The bridge, over the existing Adam's Bridge of sand banks, would almost be like an umbilical link between the two countries.
"If we have a land bridge with India it will revolutionaise travel," he told a seminar organised by the Chamber of Construction Industry on transport needs to revive the island's north and east whose progress had been retarded by the 30 year ethnic war.
Government forces defeated the Tamil Tiger rebels in May after a lengthy military campaign. The government is trying to revive the former war zone.
Kumarage said the Indo-Lanka bridge is still at least 10 years away and should be looked at as a long-term project.
"Next weekend (south Asian) transport ministers are to meet in Colombo at which the Indo-Lanka land bridge is an item for discussion."
Post-War Sri Lanka- Concerns and Reservations
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Sri Lankan refugee appeal
SOS Children has launched an emergency appeal for funds to finance helping refugee children after fighting in Sri Lanka. SOS has been working in Sri Lanka for 29 years and so far is the only organisation that has been invited to visit the area and start work for children. Senior staff of SOS Sri Lanka have been able to visit the northern part in Vavuniya. Vavuniya is also the area where SOS had programmes in early 1990 for about 5 years or so helping the community rebuild their lives. There are hundreds of unaccompanied children in the camps in immediate need of help and care.
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DEPLOYMENT TO SRI LANKA - HAP SUPPORT IN NEW EMERGENCIES
The HAP field team will be in Colombo, Sri Lanka on 23rd July 2009, for a three month deployment to work with HAP members, their partners, and other interested agencies responding to the current humanitarian crisis in Northern Sri Lanka with the aim of improving understanding about, and strengthen performance of, NGO humanitarian accountability and quality management practices. Fifteen HAP members are responding either directly or through implementing partners: ACFID, ACT, ACTED, CAFOD, CARE, Christian Aid, DanChurchAid, Danish Refugee Council, MERCY Malaysia, Muslim Aid, Norwegian Refugee Council, Oxfam GB, Save the Children UK, Tearfund, and World Vision.
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US Congress places Rights barriers on Sri Lanka IMF loan
The language inserted in the Department of State Appropriations bill S.1434 soon to be passed in the United States Senate, has virtually blocked U.S. Treasury Secretary from authorizing the projected $1.9B IMF loan to Sri Lanka, unless Secretary of State Hilary Clinton certifies that Sri Lanka "is treating internally displaced persons in accordance with international standards, including by guaranteeing their freedom of movement, providing access to conflict-affected areas and populations by humanitarian organizations and journalists, and accounting for persons detained in the conflict," and Sri Lanka is promoting "reconciliation and justice including devolution of power to provincial councils in the north and east as provided for in the Constitution of Sri Lanka."
The bill makes appropriations for the Department of State, foreign operations, and related programs for the fiscal year ending September 30, 2010, and for other purposes.
Vermont Democratic Senator Patrick Leahy, chairman of the Appropriations Subcommittee on State and Foreign Operations, reported the original bill which was read twice and placed on the calendar.
Congressional staffers told TamilNet the strong language in the bill inserted by Senator Leahy greatly diminishes the prospects for the IMF to release the long delayed loan to Sri Lanka any time soon.
TamilNet also learnt that the Leahy committee has asked US State Department to submit a report on possible war crimes committed in Sri Lanka between January and May this year.
The text of the portion of the bill related to Sri Lanka follows:
SRI LANKA
SEC. 7091. (a) None of the funds appropriated by this Act under the heading ‘‘Foreign Military Financing Program’’ may be made available for assistance for Sri Lanka, no defense export license may be issued, and no military equipment or technology shall be sold or transferred to Sri Lanka pursuant to the authorities contained in this Act or any other Act, until the Secretary of State certifies to the Committee on Appropriations that the Government of Sri Lanka—
is suspending and bringing to justice members of the military who have been credibly alleged to have violated internationally recognized human rights or international humanitarian law; and
has agreed to the establishment of a field presence of the Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights in Sri Lanka with sufficient staff and mandate to conduct full and unimpeded monitoring throughout the country and to publicize its findings;
is treating internally displaced persons in accordance with international standards, including by guaranteeing their freedom of movement, providing access to conflict-affected areas and populations by humanitarian organizations and journalists, and accounting for persons detained in the conflict; and
is implementing policies to promote reconciliation and justice including devolution of power to provincial councils in the north and east as provided for in the Constitution of Sri Lanka.
(b) Subsection (a) shall not apply to technology or equipment made available for the limited purposes of maritime and aerial surveillance.
(c) The Secretary of the Treasury shall instruct the United States Executive Directors of the international financial institutions (as defined in section 1701(c)(2) of the International Financial Institutions Act (22 U.S.C. 262r(c)(2))) to vote against any loan, agreement, or other financial support for Sri Lanka except to meet basic human needs, unless the Secretary of State certifies to the Committees on Appropriations that the Government of Sri Lanka is meeting the requirements in subsections (a)(3) and (4).
The model indictment document produced by Washington Attorney Bruce Fein, and the submittals to the District of Columbia District Court on Tamils Against Genocide (TAG's) legal action against IMF loan have also been forwarded to the Leahy committee, according to TAG officials.
The bill makes appropriations for the Department of State, foreign operations, and related programs for the fiscal year ending September 30, 2010, and for other purposes.
Vermont Democratic Senator Patrick Leahy, chairman of the Appropriations Subcommittee on State and Foreign Operations, reported the original bill which was read twice and placed on the calendar.
Congressional staffers told TamilNet the strong language in the bill inserted by Senator Leahy greatly diminishes the prospects for the IMF to release the long delayed loan to Sri Lanka any time soon.
TamilNet also learnt that the Leahy committee has asked US State Department to submit a report on possible war crimes committed in Sri Lanka between January and May this year.
The text of the portion of the bill related to Sri Lanka follows:
SRI LANKA
SEC. 7091. (a) None of the funds appropriated by this Act under the heading ‘‘Foreign Military Financing Program’’ may be made available for assistance for Sri Lanka, no defense export license may be issued, and no military equipment or technology shall be sold or transferred to Sri Lanka pursuant to the authorities contained in this Act or any other Act, until the Secretary of State certifies to the Committee on Appropriations that the Government of Sri Lanka—
is suspending and bringing to justice members of the military who have been credibly alleged to have violated internationally recognized human rights or international humanitarian law; and
has agreed to the establishment of a field presence of the Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights in Sri Lanka with sufficient staff and mandate to conduct full and unimpeded monitoring throughout the country and to publicize its findings;
is treating internally displaced persons in accordance with international standards, including by guaranteeing their freedom of movement, providing access to conflict-affected areas and populations by humanitarian organizations and journalists, and accounting for persons detained in the conflict; and
is implementing policies to promote reconciliation and justice including devolution of power to provincial councils in the north and east as provided for in the Constitution of Sri Lanka.
(b) Subsection (a) shall not apply to technology or equipment made available for the limited purposes of maritime and aerial surveillance.
(c) The Secretary of the Treasury shall instruct the United States Executive Directors of the international financial institutions (as defined in section 1701(c)(2) of the International Financial Institutions Act (22 U.S.C. 262r(c)(2))) to vote against any loan, agreement, or other financial support for Sri Lanka except to meet basic human needs, unless the Secretary of State certifies to the Committees on Appropriations that the Government of Sri Lanka is meeting the requirements in subsections (a)(3) and (4).
The model indictment document produced by Washington Attorney Bruce Fein, and the submittals to the District of Columbia District Court on Tamils Against Genocide (TAG's) legal action against IMF loan have also been forwarded to the Leahy committee, according to TAG officials.
Mahinda takes Tamils on merry go round for the world to see
In the aftermath of the LTTE’s military defeat, some of the Tamil-speaking people in the northern parts of Sri Lanka rush to the polls to elect representatives to their local councils. This election is a ruse, Sri Lanka’s false face of democracy to the world. Even if we were to concede that government elections are an aspect of democracy, it is a tiny part devoid of free media and freedom of speech, with the ratio of one military officer for every ten Tamil persons. Colombo wants to show the world that political stability and democracy have been restored so that they will prove both that the ethnic strife has dissipated and to cover up the genocide accusations. They want to show the world that all people of the island are Sri Lankans and they all embrace Sri Lankan democracy. However, Colombo uses the Tamils as scapegoats and is taking them for a ride. The Local Councils will look after the removal of rubbish bins, destroy stray dogs, and try keeping the toilets clean. If the huge rubbish mounds in Colombo are anything to go by, then we can imagine what kind of work these local councils would be engaged in.
The tragedy is that Colombo rejects the fundamental rights of Tamils and has treated the entire Tamil community as terrorists even in the aftermath of the LTTE – GoSL war in Vanni, where nearly 300,000 Tamils have been incarcerated in the Nazi-style camps in Vavuniya. Despite confining the Tamils in the razor-wired camps, Colombo claims that it is seriously concerned about the plights of Tamils and they want to educate the Tamils in democracy.
Elections a waste in the Northeast
It is pathetic that the government does not allow free movement of media access, even to the NGOs and INGOs, for the fear that these organizations will bring out the miseries of the people living in the military controlled areas. Instead, Sri Lanka claims that they are educating the Tamils in democracy.
Tamils are again taken for a ride as they were in the past on several occasions. In the past when the Indian Armed Forces infiltrated the Tamil homeland, they too conducted such elections and they put forwarded their loyal militant-turned-political parties and even ten year old Tamil children were taken forcefully, had their heads shaved, and put in the camps of the militant organizations such as EPRLF, ENDLF and EPDP so that in case if they happened to join the LTTE, they could be identified and killed. However, the Tamils rejected all these militant groups as well as the Indian Armed Forces except the LTTE because the other organizations acted against the interest of the Tamils, while the LTTE was receiving a red-carpet welcome from the Tamils. Varatharajah Perumal of EPRLF became the first Chief Minister with the introduction of 13th amendment of Sri Lanka’s Constitution as per the Indo-Lanka accord, which legalized the joining of the North and East of Sri Lanka as a single entity known as the “Northeast”. However, Varatharajah Perumal and his associates fled the country to India for safety because Tamils rejected them. Perumal and associates are still in the protection of Indian taxpayers and their whereabouts are still kept confidential for fear that they will be killed by the LTTE.
As it is the history of Eelam struggle, Sri Lanka’s president, too, makes such a move to hold elections after claiming that they have defeated the LTTE militarily in May 2009. Colombo announced that they defeated the LTTE and the time is ripe for Tamils to hold the elections as it would help bring democracy to the Tamils in the North who experienced terrorism in the past three decades. The irony is, Colombo failed to acknowledge that it was Colombo that terrorized the Tamils who are now defenceless and who will have no choice but to live within the military culture introduced by the Sri Lankan Armed Forces.
After the war was over, Colombo announced that 174 candidates from six political parties and two independent groups are vying for 29 seats in the Jaffna Municipal Council while there are 15 seats in the Vavuniya Urban Council for the 135 candidates from six political parties and three independent groups. The Elections Department will set up 85 polling stations in Jaffna and Vavuniya on August 8. The question is who and what the election staff would be. The record of the government has been involved in the rigging of elections since the Development Council elections in 1981 in Jaffna where the election staff was appointed from among carpenters, tailors, labourers, and criminal elements taken to Jaffna from the south coinciding with the burning of the Jaffna Public Library.
The Tamil National Alliance (TNA) credible to the Tamils submitted its list of 29 candidates contesting the Jaffna election. The TNA announced that S.N.G Nathan would be its “principal candidate” for the list for Vavuniya. In Jaffna, the three-party coalition consisting of EPRLF Varathar front, PLOTE, and Tamil United Liberation Front (TULF) tendered its nomination list with Veerasingham Anandasangaree as its principal candidate. The ruling United People’s Freedom Alliance (UPFA), United National Party (UNP), Sri Lanka Muslim Congress (SLMC), and two independent groups, one headed by Abimanasingham Manickasothy and the other formed by displaced Muslims of Jaffna, filed nominations.
No free and fair elections
TNA Jaffna district MP Mavai Senathirajah has said: “We do not believe that the elections are going to be free and fair. The burning of newspapers on the eve of nominations raises a big question.” He said his party’s priority would be to resettle the displaced Jaffna civilians once it is elected to the Jaffna Municipal Council. He further said: “Our intention is to rebuild Jaffna to its pristine glory with the resettlement of displaced civilians from Jaffna. The Jaffna Municipal Council areas are the worst hit in the Jaffna district. Thousands of people have been displaced from Jaffna Municipal Council limits with their houses and business establishments coming under severe attacks. Therefore, the TNA’s priority would be in re-building the Jaffna Municipal Council to its old glory with all modern facilities.”
In the meantime, Deputy Inspector General of Police Gamini Navaratne, who is in charge of elections, said in response to the growing violence and intimidations that there is no group that exists in the region to cause such problems. However, residents and media outlets say they face severe threats and violence taking place daily, even in broad daylight, but the culprits manage to escape without apprehension by the Sri Lankan security.
The ruling party, UPFA General Secretary and Education Minister Susil Premajayantha, said that people who accept UPFA policies can join the UPFA. Everybody should at this critical point unite to propel the country to achieve the development targets set under the Mahinda Chintanaya. Referring to the Jaffna and Vavuniya local government poll’s nomination lists which included EROS, TELO, and EPDP, representatives of the UPFA Secretary said that President Mahinda Rajapaksa had also stressed recently that all citizens should work for the country’s sinking narrow differences.
The UPFA election campaign in Jaffna is managed by Social Services and Social Welfare Minister Douglas Devananda, while Resettlement and Relief Services Minister Rishard Badiudeen and Vavuniya District Parliamentarian Sumathipala will lead the campaign in the Vavuniya district. Tamil United Liberation Front (TULF) leader V. Anandasangaree will contest the Mayoralty of the Jaffna Municipal Council. Anandasangaree said that the TULF was contesting the election with the objective of bringing about a change in the Jaffna political landscape.
It is well known that the EPDP of Douglas Devananda conducted elections in the mid-1990s and killed many opponents, intimidated voters, and was vehemently condemned by opponents because they rigged the elections and won majority of seats. The EPDP is a rejected party by the Tamils. In the recent past elections, the TNA, the proxy party of the LTTE, won the majority vote. The EPDP is collaborating with UPFA and that would be an asset for the UPFA to sweep the seats and thereby impose detrimental actions against the Tamils.
As these elections are being hurriedly done, unknown armed men believed to be the paramilitaries sponsored by the Sri Lankan army threaten the locals and even the local newspapers are receiving death threats, assisted by parties loyal to the government such as the EPDP. Despite promises given by Colombo, Tamil dailies are severely threatened to support the UPFA. A group calling itself the Tamil Front Protecting the Country earlier said in a note sent to newspaper dealers that reporters and other staff, including the security guard, must quit the dailies. The note further said: “Uthayan has been a propaganda organ for terror activities. Since you have ignored our previous warnings, we are forced not to allow newspapers that mislead the people. Those who ignore this will be subjected to the death penalty.”
The Sri Lankan armed forces are escorting the vehicles of the UPFA and its allies and they are pasting posters with the photos of Mahinda Rajapaksa and Douglas Devananda. But, the pro-government militants and the armed forces bring down the posters of opponents even in broad daylight. Also, the armed forces as well as paramilitaries are threatening the volunteers who put up the posters of TNA and others with death.
Sri Lanka is a country where at least 14 journalists and staff at news outlets have been killed by suspected government paramilitaries since the beginning of 2006. Others have been detained, tortured, or have disappeared, and 20 more have fled the country because of death threats. The farcical elections made out to be vital to democracy are in serious turmoil because the freedom of expression has been suppressed by the state and the people have no say publically for fear they will be persecuted by the state armed forces. This is the reality on the ground for the Tamils on the island.
The elections to be held on August 8 in Vavuniya and Jaffna are nothing but a means to hoodwink the global community and thereby weaken the political demands of the Tamils, and further to receive aid from foreign donors in the guise that they are making every effort to restoring democracy to the region the LTTE had terrorised. Also, the government will use its electoral victory in the local government elections in the Tamil dominated North as the mandate for the Mahinda Chinthanaya, and that would easily allow the government to deny the political demands of Tamils for which the LTTE was fighting for more than three decades militarily. However, it is unlikely that the global community would recognize Colombo’s sinister plans though they will soon realize the real face of the Sri Lankan government. Rajapaksa and his brothers who run the state would never grant autonomy for the Tamils, even a federalism that exists in India, because Sinhala extremists would not allow it to happen, and the Tamils who have silenced their guns will have no choice but to rise again with the global support.
-- By Satheesan Kumaaran for Tamil National
The tragedy is that Colombo rejects the fundamental rights of Tamils and has treated the entire Tamil community as terrorists even in the aftermath of the LTTE – GoSL war in Vanni, where nearly 300,000 Tamils have been incarcerated in the Nazi-style camps in Vavuniya. Despite confining the Tamils in the razor-wired camps, Colombo claims that it is seriously concerned about the plights of Tamils and they want to educate the Tamils in democracy.
Elections a waste in the Northeast
It is pathetic that the government does not allow free movement of media access, even to the NGOs and INGOs, for the fear that these organizations will bring out the miseries of the people living in the military controlled areas. Instead, Sri Lanka claims that they are educating the Tamils in democracy.
Tamils are again taken for a ride as they were in the past on several occasions. In the past when the Indian Armed Forces infiltrated the Tamil homeland, they too conducted such elections and they put forwarded their loyal militant-turned-political parties and even ten year old Tamil children were taken forcefully, had their heads shaved, and put in the camps of the militant organizations such as EPRLF, ENDLF and EPDP so that in case if they happened to join the LTTE, they could be identified and killed. However, the Tamils rejected all these militant groups as well as the Indian Armed Forces except the LTTE because the other organizations acted against the interest of the Tamils, while the LTTE was receiving a red-carpet welcome from the Tamils. Varatharajah Perumal of EPRLF became the first Chief Minister with the introduction of 13th amendment of Sri Lanka’s Constitution as per the Indo-Lanka accord, which legalized the joining of the North and East of Sri Lanka as a single entity known as the “Northeast”. However, Varatharajah Perumal and his associates fled the country to India for safety because Tamils rejected them. Perumal and associates are still in the protection of Indian taxpayers and their whereabouts are still kept confidential for fear that they will be killed by the LTTE.
As it is the history of Eelam struggle, Sri Lanka’s president, too, makes such a move to hold elections after claiming that they have defeated the LTTE militarily in May 2009. Colombo announced that they defeated the LTTE and the time is ripe for Tamils to hold the elections as it would help bring democracy to the Tamils in the North who experienced terrorism in the past three decades. The irony is, Colombo failed to acknowledge that it was Colombo that terrorized the Tamils who are now defenceless and who will have no choice but to live within the military culture introduced by the Sri Lankan Armed Forces.
After the war was over, Colombo announced that 174 candidates from six political parties and two independent groups are vying for 29 seats in the Jaffna Municipal Council while there are 15 seats in the Vavuniya Urban Council for the 135 candidates from six political parties and three independent groups. The Elections Department will set up 85 polling stations in Jaffna and Vavuniya on August 8. The question is who and what the election staff would be. The record of the government has been involved in the rigging of elections since the Development Council elections in 1981 in Jaffna where the election staff was appointed from among carpenters, tailors, labourers, and criminal elements taken to Jaffna from the south coinciding with the burning of the Jaffna Public Library.
The Tamil National Alliance (TNA) credible to the Tamils submitted its list of 29 candidates contesting the Jaffna election. The TNA announced that S.N.G Nathan would be its “principal candidate” for the list for Vavuniya. In Jaffna, the three-party coalition consisting of EPRLF Varathar front, PLOTE, and Tamil United Liberation Front (TULF) tendered its nomination list with Veerasingham Anandasangaree as its principal candidate. The ruling United People’s Freedom Alliance (UPFA), United National Party (UNP), Sri Lanka Muslim Congress (SLMC), and two independent groups, one headed by Abimanasingham Manickasothy and the other formed by displaced Muslims of Jaffna, filed nominations.
No free and fair elections
TNA Jaffna district MP Mavai Senathirajah has said: “We do not believe that the elections are going to be free and fair. The burning of newspapers on the eve of nominations raises a big question.” He said his party’s priority would be to resettle the displaced Jaffna civilians once it is elected to the Jaffna Municipal Council. He further said: “Our intention is to rebuild Jaffna to its pristine glory with the resettlement of displaced civilians from Jaffna. The Jaffna Municipal Council areas are the worst hit in the Jaffna district. Thousands of people have been displaced from Jaffna Municipal Council limits with their houses and business establishments coming under severe attacks. Therefore, the TNA’s priority would be in re-building the Jaffna Municipal Council to its old glory with all modern facilities.”
In the meantime, Deputy Inspector General of Police Gamini Navaratne, who is in charge of elections, said in response to the growing violence and intimidations that there is no group that exists in the region to cause such problems. However, residents and media outlets say they face severe threats and violence taking place daily, even in broad daylight, but the culprits manage to escape without apprehension by the Sri Lankan security.
The ruling party, UPFA General Secretary and Education Minister Susil Premajayantha, said that people who accept UPFA policies can join the UPFA. Everybody should at this critical point unite to propel the country to achieve the development targets set under the Mahinda Chintanaya. Referring to the Jaffna and Vavuniya local government poll’s nomination lists which included EROS, TELO, and EPDP, representatives of the UPFA Secretary said that President Mahinda Rajapaksa had also stressed recently that all citizens should work for the country’s sinking narrow differences.
The UPFA election campaign in Jaffna is managed by Social Services and Social Welfare Minister Douglas Devananda, while Resettlement and Relief Services Minister Rishard Badiudeen and Vavuniya District Parliamentarian Sumathipala will lead the campaign in the Vavuniya district. Tamil United Liberation Front (TULF) leader V. Anandasangaree will contest the Mayoralty of the Jaffna Municipal Council. Anandasangaree said that the TULF was contesting the election with the objective of bringing about a change in the Jaffna political landscape.
It is well known that the EPDP of Douglas Devananda conducted elections in the mid-1990s and killed many opponents, intimidated voters, and was vehemently condemned by opponents because they rigged the elections and won majority of seats. The EPDP is a rejected party by the Tamils. In the recent past elections, the TNA, the proxy party of the LTTE, won the majority vote. The EPDP is collaborating with UPFA and that would be an asset for the UPFA to sweep the seats and thereby impose detrimental actions against the Tamils.
As these elections are being hurriedly done, unknown armed men believed to be the paramilitaries sponsored by the Sri Lankan army threaten the locals and even the local newspapers are receiving death threats, assisted by parties loyal to the government such as the EPDP. Despite promises given by Colombo, Tamil dailies are severely threatened to support the UPFA. A group calling itself the Tamil Front Protecting the Country earlier said in a note sent to newspaper dealers that reporters and other staff, including the security guard, must quit the dailies. The note further said: “Uthayan has been a propaganda organ for terror activities. Since you have ignored our previous warnings, we are forced not to allow newspapers that mislead the people. Those who ignore this will be subjected to the death penalty.”
The Sri Lankan armed forces are escorting the vehicles of the UPFA and its allies and they are pasting posters with the photos of Mahinda Rajapaksa and Douglas Devananda. But, the pro-government militants and the armed forces bring down the posters of opponents even in broad daylight. Also, the armed forces as well as paramilitaries are threatening the volunteers who put up the posters of TNA and others with death.
Sri Lanka is a country where at least 14 journalists and staff at news outlets have been killed by suspected government paramilitaries since the beginning of 2006. Others have been detained, tortured, or have disappeared, and 20 more have fled the country because of death threats. The farcical elections made out to be vital to democracy are in serious turmoil because the freedom of expression has been suppressed by the state and the people have no say publically for fear they will be persecuted by the state armed forces. This is the reality on the ground for the Tamils on the island.
The elections to be held on August 8 in Vavuniya and Jaffna are nothing but a means to hoodwink the global community and thereby weaken the political demands of the Tamils, and further to receive aid from foreign donors in the guise that they are making every effort to restoring democracy to the region the LTTE had terrorised. Also, the government will use its electoral victory in the local government elections in the Tamil dominated North as the mandate for the Mahinda Chinthanaya, and that would easily allow the government to deny the political demands of Tamils for which the LTTE was fighting for more than three decades militarily. However, it is unlikely that the global community would recognize Colombo’s sinister plans though they will soon realize the real face of the Sri Lankan government. Rajapaksa and his brothers who run the state would never grant autonomy for the Tamils, even a federalism that exists in India, because Sinhala extremists would not allow it to happen, and the Tamils who have silenced their guns will have no choice but to rise again with the global support.
-- By Satheesan Kumaaran for Tamil National
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