Sri Lanka this week implemented new security measures in the capital, Colombo, this week, raising anxieties amongst the Tamil residents, reports said.
Security in Colombo and its suburbs has been strengthened following warning by government intelligence agencies warned of imminent “terrorist” attacks on government strategic installations, reports said.
Additional Sri Lanka Air Force (SLAF) soldiers have been deployed at the Katunayake international airport while more army sentry points points have been set up in the beach road from Bambalapitya to Wellawatte parallel to Galle Road. Wellawatte is populated mainly by Tamil speakers.
More SLAF personnel have been deployed surrounding the Katunayake International Airport and all vehicles going to the airport are stopped and meticulously checked by security forces. Passengers of these vehicles are asked to produce their national identity cards and other valid documents before entering airport area, reports said.
Heavily-armed troops and police have been visible in the city in recent weeks as tension has risen following increased clashes between Sri Lankan security forces and suspected Tamil Tigers in the island’s northeast.
Deputy inspector-general of police, Pujith Jayasundara, says his department is in the process of creating a specially-trained unit of a few hundred men to deal with an emergency.
But, he rejected press reports claiming that the Tigers are planning a suicide bomb attack in Colombo.
DIG Jayasundera, said there was no specific threat against any economic target and the authorities are maintaining the same level of security they had in place several weeks ago.
However troops and police would continue search operations against ‘criminal elements,’ he said.
The Anglican Bishop of Colombo, Rt. Rev. Duleep Chickera has called on the law enforcement authorities to carry out house-to-house search operations with utmost care and politeness.
On New Year’s eve, heavily armed troops and police cordoned off parts of Colombo populated mainly by Tamils and search homes. Over 900 people were taken in for questioning.
The detainees – those who could not give ‘a valid reason’ for being in Colombo – were photographed, video taped and finger printed. Though most were released, fifty people are still being detained, human rights groups say.
Criticising the operation – codename Operation ‘Strangers Night’ – the Sunday Times’ defence column described the
“Though it was claimed to be a routine exercise, large number of Tamil civilians including women, to say the least, were both badly humiliated and inconvenienced,” the paper said.
“The worst moments came when they were paraded before cameramen in the compounds of city police stations. Some men and women were in their night clothes.”
“Some Tamil groups made representations to the Indian High Commission in Colombo only to be reminded that it was an internal matter.”
The Jaffna daily, Uthayan, protested in an editorial that “[the forces’] methods of, taking Tamils away from their sleep to police stations, conducting investigations that treats the Tamils without dignity like herds, and treating the Tamils as criminals, give a loud and clear message to the Tamils that they are second class citizens.”
Meanwhile, Tamil journalists have protested heightened harassment by the security forces. Reporters working with Sudar Oli, Thinakural, and Veerakesari – Sri Lanka’s leading Tamil daily newspapers – and the local television channel MTV have been attacked in Colombo, press associations protest.
Security in Colombo and its suburbs has been strengthened following warning by government intelligence agencies warned of imminent “terrorist” attacks on government strategic installations, reports said.
Additional Sri Lanka Air Force (SLAF) soldiers have been deployed at the Katunayake international airport while more army sentry points points have been set up in the beach road from Bambalapitya to Wellawatte parallel to Galle Road. Wellawatte is populated mainly by Tamil speakers.
More SLAF personnel have been deployed surrounding the Katunayake International Airport and all vehicles going to the airport are stopped and meticulously checked by security forces. Passengers of these vehicles are asked to produce their national identity cards and other valid documents before entering airport area, reports said.
Heavily-armed troops and police have been visible in the city in recent weeks as tension has risen following increased clashes between Sri Lankan security forces and suspected Tamil Tigers in the island’s northeast.
Deputy inspector-general of police, Pujith Jayasundara, says his department is in the process of creating a specially-trained unit of a few hundred men to deal with an emergency.
But, he rejected press reports claiming that the Tigers are planning a suicide bomb attack in Colombo.
DIG Jayasundera, said there was no specific threat against any economic target and the authorities are maintaining the same level of security they had in place several weeks ago.
However troops and police would continue search operations against ‘criminal elements,’ he said.
The Anglican Bishop of Colombo, Rt. Rev. Duleep Chickera has called on the law enforcement authorities to carry out house-to-house search operations with utmost care and politeness.
On New Year’s eve, heavily armed troops and police cordoned off parts of Colombo populated mainly by Tamils and search homes. Over 900 people were taken in for questioning.
The detainees – those who could not give ‘a valid reason’ for being in Colombo – were photographed, video taped and finger printed. Though most were released, fifty people are still being detained, human rights groups say.
Criticising the operation – codename Operation ‘Strangers Night’ – the Sunday Times’ defence column described the
“Though it was claimed to be a routine exercise, large number of Tamil civilians including women, to say the least, were both badly humiliated and inconvenienced,” the paper said.
“The worst moments came when they were paraded before cameramen in the compounds of city police stations. Some men and women were in their night clothes.”
“Some Tamil groups made representations to the Indian High Commission in Colombo only to be reminded that it was an internal matter.”
The Jaffna daily, Uthayan, protested in an editorial that “[the forces’] methods of, taking Tamils away from their sleep to police stations, conducting investigations that treats the Tamils without dignity like herds, and treating the Tamils as criminals, give a loud and clear message to the Tamils that they are second class citizens.”
Meanwhile, Tamil journalists have protested heightened harassment by the security forces. Reporters working with Sudar Oli, Thinakural, and Veerakesari – Sri Lanka’s leading Tamil daily newspapers – and the local television channel MTV have been attacked in Colombo, press associations protest.
