• Asylum seekers shifted offshore by Australia

    Sep 13

    30 asylum seekers who arrived from Sri Lanka have been transferred from Christmas Island to Nauru, as Australia restarted its controversial offshore processing scheme.

    The men will remain at a camp in the Pacific island of Nauru in temporary tents until permanent accommodation has been constructed. They will stay on the island until their claims for asylum have been processed.

    The move was criticised by human rights groups including the Australian Human Rights Commission who rebuked the use of five-man tents to house the asylum seekers and their ambiguous legal rights.

    Australian Human Rights Commission president Gillian Triggs expressed "serious concerns” over the move stating,

    "There is no information as to how prepared Nauru is to process the claims, and it is unclear whether those transferred to Nauru will have access to legal advice"

    The controversial offshore processing program was halted in 2008 with the closure of Nauru camp which frequently saw hunger strikes from detainees over the length of their stay and conditions on the island.

    See a report from Al Jazeera on the Nauru camp below.

    Immigration Minister Chris Bowen however defended the move saying,

    "The message is very clear: if you arrive in Australia by boat you can be taken from Australia by aeroplane and processed in another country."

  • UK plans to deport more Tamils ‘to face torture’

    The British Border and Immigration Agency is planning to deport hundreds of Tamils, reported The Independent.

    Three charter planes are reported to have been hired by the British government, with two scheduled to depart Wednesday and one on Thursday next week.

    There have been several instances of Tamil deportees being tortured on their arrival in Sri Lanka.

    The newspaper reported that although there are criminals and visa overstayers, several of those deported are failed asylum seekers.

    The Independent said it has seen a new report which details the cases of 24 individuals from Sri Lanka who returned voluntarily were tortured and interrogated.

    David Mepham, the UK head of Human Rights Watch, said the organisation had also documented several cases of tortured Tamils.

    "Given the very serious risk of torture facing many Tamils returned from this country, the UK should immediately impose a moratorium on these returns, pending a thorough review of UK policy in this area and the introduction of new risk assessment guidelines."

    Freedom from Torture’s CEO Keith Best also urged for a stop in the deportations.

    "The research shows that the Sri Lankan authorities will stop at nothing to extract intelligence about the activities of the Tamil community in the UK,"

    "Forcing Tamils back... in these circumstances is a highly risky affair."

    A UK Border Agency spokesman said,

    "The UK has a proud record of offering sanctuary to those who need it, but people who do not have a genuine need for our protection must return to their home country.

    "We only undertake returns to Sri Lanka when we are satisfied that the individual has no international protection needs. The European court of human rights has ruled that not all Tamil asylum seekers require protection.”

  • Blake reiterates call for accountability and power-sharing talks

    The US Assistant Sectretary of State for South and Central Asia, Robert O'Blake, urged the Sri Lankan government to show "accelerated progress" in ensuring political rights for Tamils in the North-East.

    Speaking to journalists during a three day tour of Sri Lanka and the North-East, Blake said he had "emphasised the importance of progress in reducing the role and profile of the military in the North, and full respect for human rights."

    Reiterating the call to implement the recommendations of the LLRC and National Action Plan, Blake “encouraged an early resumption of talks between the TNA and the government to agree on powers to be devolved to the provinces". However he went on to remark, "I just feel there are a lot of questions on how quickly Sri Lanka is committed to moving ahead on this." 

    “On issues of accountability, it is our hope that three years after the end of the conflict, there can be a credible and transparent accounting, investigation and prosecution of some of the outstanding and serious allegations of human rights violations, as well as progress on the missing."

    Accountability is a "very important part of the reconciliation process", said Blake.

    See here, here and here.  

  • SL an 'uphill battle' for foreign investors - Blake

    Addressing the American Chamber of Commerce on Friday, the US Assistant Secretary of State for South and Central Asia, Robert O'Blake described that foreign investors found Sri Lanka's marketplace an "uphill battle" although it was 3 years after the end of the armed conflict.

    Highlighting "opaque" rules, "unpredictable government regulations" and "corruption" as key causes of poor foreign investment, Blake urged Sri Lanka to open up the market, particularly through the liberalisation of rules for foreign direct investment.

    See here for Blake's address in full. Extracts published below:

    "USAID has established Public-Private Alliances with Sri Lankan companies to expand operations into the North and East to create new opportunities and better livelihoods.  These partnerships are helping to re-activate the local economies of the North and East and laying the groundwork for sustainable economic growth that provides opportunities for all Sri Lankans.  We believe that creating economic opportunity must go hand in hand with political reconciliation."

    "But, in the three years since the end of the conflict, to be frank, we have not seen very many new U.S. companies come to invest in Sri Lanka.  It’s not for lack of trying, but our investors, and investors from many other countries as well, face an uphill battle in Sri Lanka’s marketplace.  The barriers include confusing and opaque rules on bidding for contracts, unpredictable government regulations such as the recent so-called Under-utilised Assets bill, and corruption."

    "The government has made progress in developing ports, aviation, and other infrastructure.  But these are not enough to realise the true potential of the Sri Lankan economy.  The time is right to think about how to help launch in Sri Lanka the type of large-scale economic growth that India experienced through market openings in the early 1990s.  You have the human resources, and you are building the infrastructure.  With more aggressive reduction of tariff and non-tariff barriers, and liberalisation of the rules for foreign direct investment, I am confident that the economy, and our bilateral trade and investment, can grow even more quickly."

  • Tamil politicians highlight ongoing ‘systemic sinhalisation’

    Speaking after an investigatory visit to the former war zones of Mullaitivu, Vadamaradchchi east, Kokkilai and Naayaru areas, the leader of the Tamil National People’s Front (TNPF), Gajendrakumar Ponnambalam said that there is currently a systematic campaign, with a motive to “eliminate the very existence of the traditional Tamil nation as a whole”, reported JDS on Friday.

    Describing an evident mechanism that was decimating the traditional Tamil nation in the area, Ponnambalam said,

    "While preventing the war-affected Tamil people from carrying out fishing livelihood in their native places, the government and the security forces have established systematic Sinhala settlements in these areas and allowed them to carryout fishing at their will with full protection.”

    Noting the damaging settlement of over 300 new fishing Sinhala families in the traditionally Tamil area, Ponnambalam invited all Tamil political forces to jointly fight for the rights of the native Tamils.

    Echoing Ponnambalam’s concerns, Jaffna District Parliamentarian of the Tamil National Alliance (TNA), Suresh Premachandran, agreed that the situation was the same when his party members visited the areas just 2 months ago.

    The Jaffna MP outlined that the Sinhala colonisation, settlement of Sinhala fishing families, land grabs establishment of Buddhist temples on private land and further expanding military cantonments were at its ‘peak’ in the region.

    Commenting on the unmistakable impunity that government personal were acting with, Premachandran said,

    “Last week, a statue of Lord Buddha was unveiled in Kanakarayankum.

    "The military can do anything in these areas and they are not answerable to anybody.

    "Those who highlight these issues in the media or take it up with members of the international community are intimidated and threatened. We don’t see any effort to stop such activities.”

    MP Premachandran described the continued land grabbing in the Tamil north as “open secrets” that the President was well aware of.

    “It is a complete lie to say nothing of that sort is happening. I reiterate here that this government is working hard on eliminating all the historic and traditional Tamil identities systematically.

    "All Tamil forces should work together to stop this while efforts should be made to mount international pressure on this government to arrest this dangerous trend,” he said.

  • A clear mission to destroy all of us because we were Tamil' - witness tells TAG

    Eye witness testimonies of the events of 2009 describe how Tamils were deliberately targeted by the Sri Lankan armed forces during the final stages of the conflict, and how such targetting continues despite the government's claims of victory.

    The testimonies, gathered by researchers at the rights group, Tamils Against Genocide (TAG), are detailed within the group's submission to the UN Human Rights Council's, 2nd cycle Universal Periodic Review (UPR) session on Sri Lanka next month. 

    See here for TAG's UPR submission in full.

    Extracts of eye witness testimonies published below:

    One Tamil survivor told TAG, “I think there was a clear mission to destroy all of us because we were Tamil,” whilst another said, “the Army was deliberately targeting civilians and were hitting them indiscriminatorily (sic), which is why so many more civilians died than actually combatants.”

    Revealing the existence of 'secret detention facilities' where 'Tamils were often subjected to torture', a witness told TAG, "Less than 5 percent of those in secret detention were Sinhala. The majority were Tamil including both LTTE soldiers as well as civilians."

    Commenting on the immediate aftermath of the armed conflict, another witness told TAG, “there were also so many [Tamil] people who surrendered to the Army and went missing ever since. Lots of people I knew personally suffered a fate like this. Around 20 of them disappeared, there were women, young girls, children and elderly."

    See here for summary of all civil society submissions to UPR by the Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights, Navi Pillay.

  • Douglas must come to Tamil Nadu says public prosecutor

    Dismissing Douglas Devananda's recent attempt to fight his Indian arrest warrant through video conferencing from Colombo, the Tamil Nadu's public prosecutor M Prabhavathy, said:

    "The accused Anandan [Devananda's former alias] was arrested in the year 1986, now Douglas Devananda claims that he is the said Anandan who is holding a constitutional seat now."

    "Unless he presents himself before the court and is properly identified, there is every possibility of miscarriage of justice, the police said, adding that Douglas had not stated any valid reason as to what prevented him from appearing before the court all these years."

    There will be a further hearing on the case later this month, reported the Times of India.

  • UK parliament debates human rights violations faced by professionals in Sri Lanka
    The British Parliament debated the challenges of human rights violations faced by professionals on Wednesday, with a Conservative party report naming Sri Lanka as a region of the world where these violations occur.

    Leading the debate, Conservative MP Robert Buckland stated,
    "It is also known that in conflict zones, medical professionals are deliberately targeted by those involved.

    For example, in Sri Lanka, during the final stages of the civil war, the military was accused of intentionally shelling field hospitals, killing doctors and other medical professionals. The United Nations report of the Secretary-General’s panel of experts on accountability in Sri Lanka said:
    “The Government systematically shelled hospitals on the frontlines. All hospitals in the Vanni were hit by mortars and artillery, some of them were hit repeatedly”."
    He also noted the danger faced by media workers in the country, further stating,
    "Among the most dangerous countries for journalists are Pakistan, Sri Lanka, Mexico, the Philippines and Somalia."
    See full text of the debate here.

    The debate comes on the back of a report by the Conservative Party Human Rights Commission entitled “Professionals in the Firing Line”, which examined how professionals around the world “face restrictions, hindrances, discrimination,
    injustice, abuse and physical danger, in the daily  course of their work”.

    See the full report here.


  • Commonwealth urges Canada to drop CHOGM boycott threat

    The Secretary-General of the Commonwealth Kamalesh Sharma has requested Canada to drop the threat to boycott next year’s Commonwealth Head of Government Meeting in Sri Lanka, reported AFP on Thursday.

    "My message to all leaders is to participate at this (Sri Lanka) CHOGM," he told reporters in Colombo on Wednesday, after discussions with President Mahinda Rajapakse at the end of a five day visit to the island.

    "I understand a dialogue is going on between the two countries," he said, saying that he hoped the issue would be "resolved" so that Canada could attend the summit.

    Canadian Prime Minister Stephen Harper warned in September last year that he will not attend the summit if he does not see progress on human rights issues and urged other countries to take a similar position.

    British Prime Minister David Cameron also put pressure on the Sri Lankan government at last year’s CHOGM in Perth, where he said that Sri Lanka needs to show progress so they can “welcome the maximum number of countries."

    See below for some recent news on Sri Lanka’s 'progress':

    Fear and loathing in the Eastern elections (12 Sep 2012)

    Former cadres reveal accounts of continued rape (30 Aug 2012)

    The victor's tutelage (29 Aug 2012)

    Tamil political prisoners attacked in Galle again, one in coma (27 Aug 2012)

    Army constructs camp over LTTE's Mulliavallai cemetery (26 Aug 2012)

  • UPFA says SLMC coalition imminent in East

    As was always expected a UPFA-SLMC coalition appears likely in the Eastern Province.

    Addressing journalists in Colombo the UPFA General Secretary Minister Susil Premjayanth, SLFP General Secretary Minister Maithripala Sirisena and SLFP Treasurer Minister Dallas Alahapperuma, said the SLMC (Sri Lankan Muslim Congress) would join them to form a coalition.

    Sirisena invited the TNA to join, stating that they had no other option left.

  • Douglas attempts to fight Indian arrest warrant

    The infamous paramilitary leader Douglas Devananda has requested the IVth Additional Sessions court in Chennai to recall the arrest warrant issued against him, reports the Express News Service.

    The warrant, which is without bail, was issued in 1990, for his alleged part in a shootout and murder case in Chennai during 1986. He has also been accused of kidnapping a boy in 1988. In 1989, he was arrested and released later on bail.

    He was previously unable to fight the warrant, due to the risk of arrest if he were to land in India. Indeed, during a visit to India last year, a writ petition was filed against him seeking to arrest and prosecute him in relation to the previous and pending criminal case. However, the Indian External Affairs Ministry reportedly informed the Madras High Court that as a cabinet minister of Sri Lanka, Devananda enjoys diplomatic immunity.

    According to the Express News Service, Devananda maybe permitted to appear before the High Commissioner of India in Sri Lanka, and pursue the case via video conferencing.

    See more of Douglas' escapades: 

    The shame of being honoured by Douglas (11 Sep 2012)

    Sri Lankan minister threatens to attack journalists (09 Feb 2012)

    Paramilitaries monopolise Jaffna cable TV through violent intimidation (10 Jan 2012)

    2007 US cable: Sri Lanka killing through Tamil paramilitaries (16 Dec 2010)

  • Fear and loathing in the Eastern elections
    The results from the recently held Eastern provincial council elections have been brandished by Sri Lanka as a sign of wavering Tamil demand for self rule, and more perversely, that Tamils are now content with Sri Lanka’s rule. However, rather than signal a weakening of Tamil aspirations, the elections clearly revealed the true nature of the Sinhala state’s governance in the Tamil homeland; a mixture of violence, threats, intimidation and colonisation.
     
    The elections were a far cry from the free and fair expression of Tamil sentiments that they were trumped up to be. Instead, as became clear through the campaign, they were marked by ongoing incidents of violence against candidates and voters with hundreds of government thugs dispatched to the Tamil homeland for the purpose. The well documented and choking colonisation of the East also served its purpose – providing a reliable Sinhala vote base for Rajapakse’s UPFA.
     
    The brazenness of the intimidation during the campaign even prompted R. Sampanthan, the infamously timid leader of the TNA, to appeal to President Rajapaksa for “free and fair” elections to be allowed to take place. The appeal predictably failed and Sampanthan has recently released a statement slamming the “UPFA campaign of terror” and stating that it "violated all norms of democracy and good governance".
     
    The purpose of the Sinhala state’s violent electoral campaign was very clear. Tamil voters were warned of “unpleasant consequences” if they opposed the UPFA and told in no uncertain terms that they voted for the TNA at their own risk.

    In spite of this, the UPFA barely managed to secure 6,200 votes more than the TNA across the whole province. In these circumstances, each and every Tamil vote for the TNA must be recognised for what it is, an undeterred act of protest.
     
    As recently stated in the open letter sent by Civil Society leaders from across the North-east to the TNA, the Tamil people fully understand that the provincial councils wield no power, with Colombo dictating all meaningful policy in the North-East. Tamil voters do not expect therefore that the TNA will be able to effectively govern through the councils. Rather, as the Civil Society leaders also noted, the elections were used by the Tamil people “as a vehicle through which they could express their anger and frustration against the oppression being meted out against them”.
     
    This message must be heeded by the TNA; the party should now faithfully reflect the mandate that has been bestowed upon it.
     
    In its attempts to find coalition partners the TNA must not betray the Tamil people’s call for justice. The UNP, for example, is hardly a credible partner in the Tamils’ ongoing struggle. For proof one needs  to look no further than the likes of G.L. Peiris and Milinda Moragoda, senior UNP leaders during the Norwegian mediated peace process who are now enthusiastic cheerleaders for Rajapakse’s policies.

    As for the SLMC (Sri Lankan Muslim Congress) - a party in coalition with a regime that has shamelessly overseen the descration of several Muslim shrines and mosques in the past year alone - they are less than reliable to say the least.

    The Tamil people deserve a determined leadership, a demand that has been repeatedly made by Civil Society leaders in the Tamil homeland. The TNA must now step up to the crease and deliver.
     
    On the ground, the elections have changed nothing. Nevertheless, the state’s violent campaign to bolster its legitimacy over the North-East has been revealing. The elections have not only provided a clear reflection of how the Sri Lankan state will continue to rule over the Tamil homeland, including its blueprint for the recently announced Northern Provincial Council elections, but also the tenacity of Tamil aspirations that persist amidst escalating Sinhala oppression.
     
    Moreover, yet again, it reveals the Sinhala state’s obstinate unwillingness to reform. The institutions of Sinhala ethnocracy cannot be changed by simply holding elections.
     
    The state will continue to churn out such facades, in the hope of undermining calls for accountability. But until genuine accountability has been reached and justice served, there will be nothing free or fair about elections in Sri Lanka.
  • More transparency needed over OCHRC funding – Sri Lanka

    The Permanent Representative of Sri Lanka at the UN Human Rights Council a said that there is a need for increased transparency in the funding and staffing of the Office of the High Comissioner for Human Rights.

    Speaking on the opening day of the 21st session of the UNHRC in Geneva, Ravinatha Aryasinha said that most of the funding should come from the OCHRC’s own budget.

    “Sri Lanka is firmly committed to maintaining the independence of the OHCHR, and supports the High Commissioner in her efforts to fulfil her mandate as contained in GA resolution 48/141.#

    "Towards this end, we see constructive engagement by states aimed at increasing transparency in funding and staffing of the OHCHR, as a means of enhancing the institution’s credibility, efficiency and independence.

    “We also encourage special procedures to vigilantly and vigorously observe the provisions as delineated in HRC Resolution 5/2 and the Code of Conduct as annexed, in the execution of their respective mandates, through a professional and impartial assessment of facts, to maintain credibility.

    "For the effective and independent functioning of the OHCHR and the special procedures mandate holders, it is imperative that the majority of funding be derived from the OHCHR’s regular budget,” he said.

    Aryasinha also updated the session on the progress in Sri Lanka.

    “Sri Lanka's democratic credentials were yet again re-asserted 2 days ago with the successful conduct of Provincial Council elections, including in the previously conflict affected Eastern Province.

    "The ruling coalition UPFA returned the highest number of seats in all three Provincial Councils that went to the polls - a clear endorsement by the Sri Lankan people of the policies of the government of President Mahinda Rajapaksa which has sought to meet the aspirations of all communities in the reconciliation process,” he told the council.

  • South Africa calls for “concrete effort” from Sri Lanka
    The South African government has called on Sri Lanka to address the issue of accountability following the end of armed hostilities in May 2009, stating “that there should be demonstrable and concrete effort and movement in that regard”.

    In a press release issued on Monday, South Africa stated that,

    “Since the end of the war in May 2009 and the release of the United Nations (UN) Secretary General's Report of the Panel of Experts in April 2011, as well as the Sri Lankan government's own Lessons Learnt and Reconciliation Commission (LLRC) Report in December 2011, there has been a heightened demand and urgency in the international community for the Sri Lankan government to implement the outcomes of these Reports and other decisions of the UN Human Rights Council, with specific emphasis on the need to address the accountability issues following the events of May 2009.”


    The statement, which also said that there was a “need for the resolution of the outstanding issues following the end in May 2009 of the bloody civil war”, went on to say,
    "In its continued interaction with the Sri Lankan government and its leaders on the issues of reconciliation and nation-building in the post-conflict era, the South African government has always believed that the domestic accountability issues must first and foremost be sought at the national level and that there should be demonstrable and concrete effort and movement in that regard."
    "The South African government has further, and on several occasions, emphasised that a durable and lasting peace would come about in Sri Lanka when the reconciliation process is underscored by a broad and truly inclusive dialogue process that addresses the rights and freedoms of the Tamil community and has the support of the international community and all Sri Lankans within and outside that country."

    The release of the statement comes after Sri Lanka firmly rejected South Africa’s offer to broker talks between the Tamil National Alliance and the Colombo, following South Africa’s Deputy Minister of International Relations and Co-operation Ebrahim Ebrahim ameeting with Sri Lanka's External Affairs Minister G. L. Peiris in Colombo last month.

    See our earlier post: Sri Lanka rejects South Africa offer to mediate talks with Tamils (16 Aug 2012)

    South Africa went on to note in their press release,

    "Deputy Minister's visit to Sri Lanka was his second to that country in a space of eight months, demonstrating the importance and urgency that the South African government attaches to the Sri Lankan situation."
  • TNA on Eastern PC elections

    Condemning the ruling UPFA for having "violated all norms of democracy and good governance" in the lead up to the Eastern Provincial Council elections, the ITAK (Ilankai Thamil Arasu Katchi) President, Sampanthan, and General Secretary Mavai Senathirajah, issued a statement on Sunday as follows:

    The elections to the Eastern Provincial Council have concluded and the results have been announced.

    The ruling UPFA violated all norms of democracy and good governance in a polls campaign that was marked by a well documented pattern of gross abuse of the state apparatus and resources. The UPFA utilized all governmental resources to influence the result. It also intimidated opposition parties’ candidates, bribing, unduly influencing voters and even spreading false propaganda to the effect that the TNA leader had announced the withdrawal of the ITAK from the contest. 

    Despite this UPFA campaign of terror the people of the Eastern province have reiterated their support and confidence in the TNA (ITAK) and we are pleased that we won two of the three districts securing the majority vote in both the Trincomalee and Batticaloa Districts and a substantial vote in the Ampara District.

     The elections took place in an environment where a large number of Tamils yet continue to be displaced and a larger number of Tamils have fled and continue to flee the country due to the policies of the Rajapakse Administration.  We sincerely thank the Tamil speaking people for the support and solidarity that they have demonstrated at this election, despite the ruling UPFA violence and intimidation. The ruling UPFA barely secured 6,200 votes more than TNA in the whole Eastern Province, largely on account of its abuse of state resources.

    The political parties opposed to the UPFA in the EPC have won this election. The Ilankai Tamil Arasu Kadchi (ITAK) has won 11 seats, the Sri Lanka Muslim Congress (SLMC) has won 7 seats and the United National Party (UNP) has won 4 seats. The parties that opposed the United People's Freedom Alliance (UPFA), the governing party at the Provincial Council election have a very clear majority in the new Council, just elected.

    On behalf of those parties opposed to the governing UPFA in the Eastern Province, we TNA (ITAK) stake the claim to form the Eastern Provincial Administration together with the SLMC and UNP. Given the sordid track record of the government and its various activities to disturb the communal peace and harmony in the Eastern Province, the formation of a provincial government by the said three parties would be in the best interests of all the Peoples who live in the Eastern Province.

    We wish to state that the member of the Provincial Council with the best ability to command the support of a majority of the members of the Provincial Council and thereby become Chief Minister should be chosen by the members of the Provincial Council of the said three parties. The choice of such a member will be communicated to the Governor shortly. We wish to point out to the Governor that the UPFA and the National Freedon Front (NFF) together do not and cannot command the support of the majority of the members of the Council.

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