Amnesty International said the human rights situation in Sri Lanka has ‘deteriorated dramatically’, as it also warned of a 'human rights meltdown' across the world.
In its 2007 report on human rights released in the last week of May, Amnesty said of Sri Lanka: “Unlawful killings, recruitment of child soldiers, abductions, enforced disappearances and other human rights violations and war crimes increased...Hundreds of civilians were killed and injured and more than 215,000 people displaced by the end of 2006...A pattern of enforced disappearances in the north and east re-emerged. There were reports of torture in police custody; perpetrators continued to benefit from impunity.”
On the issue of child soldiers, Amnesty said: "At least 50 children a month were recruited as soldiers in the north and east. According to UNICEF, the UN Children's Agency, by mid-2006 there were still 1,545 under-age fighters in LTTE forces.
"In June over 100 children were reportedly recruited in government-controlled areas in the east by the Karuna group. In November, a special adviser to the UN Special Representative for Children and Armed Conflict reported that government forces had been actively involved in forcibly recruiting children to the group."
The report said the Human Rights Commission "reported 419 enforced disappearances in Jaffna for the first half of 2006. A local non-governmental organization recorded 277 abductions from April to September. Disappearances and abductions were attributed to several forces, including the security forces, the LTTE and the Karuna group."
The disappeared list included, Father Thiruchchelvan Nihal Jim Brown, a Catholic priest from Allaipiddy, and Wenceslaus Vinces Vimalathas who went missing after crossing a navy checkpoint in August on Kayts Island.
It was feared they had been taken into custody by navy personnel, Amnesty said. Recently a body discovered in the seas north of Jaffna has been positively identified as that of Father Brown.
Over 215,000 people were displaced in the north and east as a result of renewed fighting, and at least 10,000 fled to India, Amnesty said.
The report added that although camps of tsunami affected people were well funded, "people displaced by the conflict often lacked electricity, transport and proper sanitation. Concerns remained about this disparity of treatment."
Amnesty also warned of a global 'human rights meltdown' as powerful governments and armed groups were deliberately fomenting fear to create an increasingly polarized and dangerous world.
Amnesty called on governments to reject the 'politics of fear' and invest in human rights institutions to maintain the rule of law at national and international level, as it present the report in London.
'Just as global warming requires global action based on international cooperation, the human rights meltdown can only be tackled through global solidarity and respect for international law,' Amnesty's secretary-general, Irene Khan said.
'Through short sighted, fear-mongering and divisive policies, governments are undermining the rule of law and human rights, feeding racism and xenophobia, dividing communities, intensifying inequalities and sowing the seeds for more violence and conflict,' said Khan.
'The politics of fear is fuelling a downward spiral of human rights abuse in which no right is sacrosanct and no person safe.'
The report singled out that so-called war on terror and the invasion of Iraq, with their 'catalogue of human rights abuses,' as having created deep divisions that cast a shadow on international relations.
Scarred by distrust and division, the international community was too often impotent or weak-willed in the face of major human rights crises in 2006, whether in forgotten conflicts like Chechnya, Colombia and Sri Lanka or high profiles ones in the Middle East, the report said.
In its 2007 report on human rights released in the last week of May, Amnesty said of Sri Lanka: “Unlawful killings, recruitment of child soldiers, abductions, enforced disappearances and other human rights violations and war crimes increased...Hundreds of civilians were killed and injured and more than 215,000 people displaced by the end of 2006...A pattern of enforced disappearances in the north and east re-emerged. There were reports of torture in police custody; perpetrators continued to benefit from impunity.”
On the issue of child soldiers, Amnesty said: "At least 50 children a month were recruited as soldiers in the north and east. According to UNICEF, the UN Children's Agency, by mid-2006 there were still 1,545 under-age fighters in LTTE forces.
"In June over 100 children were reportedly recruited in government-controlled areas in the east by the Karuna group. In November, a special adviser to the UN Special Representative for Children and Armed Conflict reported that government forces had been actively involved in forcibly recruiting children to the group."
The report said the Human Rights Commission "reported 419 enforced disappearances in Jaffna for the first half of 2006. A local non-governmental organization recorded 277 abductions from April to September. Disappearances and abductions were attributed to several forces, including the security forces, the LTTE and the Karuna group."
The disappeared list included, Father Thiruchchelvan Nihal Jim Brown, a Catholic priest from Allaipiddy, and Wenceslaus Vinces Vimalathas who went missing after crossing a navy checkpoint in August on Kayts Island.
It was feared they had been taken into custody by navy personnel, Amnesty said. Recently a body discovered in the seas north of Jaffna has been positively identified as that of Father Brown.
Over 215,000 people were displaced in the north and east as a result of renewed fighting, and at least 10,000 fled to India, Amnesty said.
The report added that although camps of tsunami affected people were well funded, "people displaced by the conflict often lacked electricity, transport and proper sanitation. Concerns remained about this disparity of treatment."
Amnesty also warned of a global 'human rights meltdown' as powerful governments and armed groups were deliberately fomenting fear to create an increasingly polarized and dangerous world.
Amnesty called on governments to reject the 'politics of fear' and invest in human rights institutions to maintain the rule of law at national and international level, as it present the report in London.
'Just as global warming requires global action based on international cooperation, the human rights meltdown can only be tackled through global solidarity and respect for international law,' Amnesty's secretary-general, Irene Khan said.
'Through short sighted, fear-mongering and divisive policies, governments are undermining the rule of law and human rights, feeding racism and xenophobia, dividing communities, intensifying inequalities and sowing the seeds for more violence and conflict,' said Khan.
'The politics of fear is fuelling a downward spiral of human rights abuse in which no right is sacrosanct and no person safe.'
The report singled out that so-called war on terror and the invasion of Iraq, with their 'catalogue of human rights abuses,' as having created deep divisions that cast a shadow on international relations.
Scarred by distrust and division, the international community was too often impotent or weak-willed in the face of major human rights crises in 2006, whether in forgotten conflicts like Chechnya, Colombia and Sri Lanka or high profiles ones in the Middle East, the report said.
