• Sri Lanka's "bait and switch"

    Sep 10
    Human Rights Watch have strongly criticised Sri Lanka’s detention laws and called upon the international community not to be misled by the apparent end of emergency rule.

    Brad Adams, Asia director of the New York-based body said,
    “The Sri Lankan government announced that the state of emergency is over, but it is holding on to the same draconian powers it had during the war.

    Governments that have called for the repeal of the emergency powers should not be fooled by this cynical "bait and switch."

    The government should repeal all its abusive detention laws and make all laws and regulations related to detention public, instead of engaging in token measures for PR purposes.”
    6,000 people will continue to be detained under new legislation, which was passed to replace the lapsed emergency regulations according to the group.

    They went on to quote Sri Lanka’s previous attorney general, Mohan Peiris who said,
    “No suspects will be released and there is no change even though the emergency has been allowed to lapse.”
    The statement comes ahead of the UN Human Rights Council meeting in Geneva on Monday, where Sri Lanka is preparing to defend itself against growing accusations of war crimes committed against Tamil civilians.

    Stating that, "Sri Lankan officials have touted the lifting of the emergency as important progress toward normalization," the group noted how many of the same powers can be found in the Prevention of Terrorism Act, which has been in place since 1981.

    It was also noted that Peiris mentioned new legislation would include “omnibus empowering provision that enables the secretary of defense or the president to pass regulations as it is deemed necessary.”

    This follows a presidential decree on August the 6th that granted search and arrest powers to the armed forces.

    Human Rights Watch has previously reported on the Sri Lankan authorities illegal detentions and abduction of civilians in their February 2010 report, “Legal Limbo: The Uncertain Fate of Detained LTTE Suspects in Sri Lanka” and in their March 2008 report “Recurring Nightmare: State Responsibility for “Disappearances” and Abductions in Sri Lanka”. 

    See our earlier post: “Sri Lanka replaces lifted powers for military” (Aug 2011)
  • 2010 elections and the kingmaker who never was

    Leaked US embassy cables, created towards the end of 2009, provide an intriguing insight into Tamil National Alliance (TNA) leader R. Sampanthan's thoughts on then upcoming presidential elections. 

    According to a leaked cable dated December 2009, Sampanthan, convinced, despite the widespread Sinhala triumphalism that the Tamil vote still had considerable value, informed US officials that "the best scenario for the Tamil community would be to extract concessions from the presidential candidates".

    Moreover, he hoped that the international and domestic communities could "hold the candidates to their promises after the election."

    The two main candidates were the Sinhala chauvunists, Mahinda Rajapaksa, the incumbent of the SLFP, and the former Army chief, Sarath Fonseka, backed by the other two main Sinhala parties, the UNP and JVP. 

    Seven months after the mass-killings of 40,000 Tamil civilians supervised by the Rajapakse-Fonseko duo, Sampanthan is quoted as asserting he was "looking for the manner in which each candidate would make promises to the Tamil community" before deciding which candidate to endorse.

    Gestures Sampanthan considered desirable from the two included a "public declaration" or at a minimum "campaign promises".

    According to the cable, "Sampanthan divulged that many within the Tamil community had asked him to run as an independent candidate, but he assessed that it made no sense for him to win "a couple of hundred thousand votes and lose."

    A preceding cable dated November 2009 details the US' analysis of the Tamil nation's thoughts on Fonseka's presidential bid:

    "Despite the possibility of a competitive opposition candidate emerging in the upcoming presidential election, Embassy contacts assessed that it would be hard for Tamils to support General Fonseka. 

    All interlocutors noted that Fonseka would have to work hard to overcome his past hard-line comments regarding the Tamil community. 

    CPA's Raheem noted that Fonseka would be hard pressed to formulate a logical response to his comments that Sri Lanka was only for the Sinhalese. Vigneswaran said that a lack of clarity regarding Fonseka's political intentions further complicated matters for Tamils."

    Shortly before the presidential election on the 6th January 2010, Sampanthan announced the TNA's backing of Fonseka's candidacy.

    According to a further cable, US embassy staff believed Fonseka's proposed "Programme of immediate relief measures for war affected persons and areas or peace" sealed the deal.

    As Butenis, the cable's author, notes, "There was no mention in the program of accountability for war crimes."

    The scale of Sampanthan's misreading of the situation was revealed on election day: Rajapaksa trounced Fonseka by millions of votes - and shortly thereafter arrested and imprisoned his putative arch-rival.

    TNA leader Sampanthan leads protest outside UN offices in Colombo, 2006. Protesters condemned the violent campaign led by Rajapakse and Fonseka against the Vanni population.
  • Of those reported missing ...

    File photo: An international ceasefire monitor of the Sri Lankan Monitoring Mission (SLMM) examines two bodies dumped by the roadside in then government controlled Vavuniya town on 13 Oct 2006. Apart from thousands of such extra-judicial killings by Sri Lanka's military, tens of thousands more people have vanished after being taken into custody. Click photo for details. Photo TamilNet.

    From a BBC article last week on a UNICEF project with the Sri Lankan government to reunite families separated during the conflict:

    “At least 582 children remain missing - and that is only those for whom tracing requests have been made.

    “The unit has traced 45 missing children and reunited them with their families; another 57 cases are being verified.

    “Unicef says that according to reports, about two-thirds of the children who have disappeared were recruited by the Tamil Tigers; but 30%were reportedly last seen in government-controlled areas.

    “At the same time, nearly 2,000 cases of adult disappearance have been reported to the tracing unit and their status remains unclear.”

    In 2008, the UN Working Group on Enforced or Involuntary Disappearances warned many disappearances are occurring in Sri Lanka but are not being reported because of fear of reprisals (see here).

    In 2007, this is what then Army commander Sarath Fonseka had to say about disappearances (see report here):

    “[The East] is not a normal area. So people getting killed and some people going missing will happen as far as the anti-terrorist operations are continuing.”

    Human Rights Watch said in Dec. 2010, there have been at least 30,000 disappearances in Sri Lanka since the late 1980s.

    In a 2008 report, Human Rights Watch said: “The Sri Lankan government is responsible for widespread abductions and ‘disappearances’ that are a national crisis.”

    The report, titled ‘Recurring Nightmare: State Responsibility for "Disappearances" and Abductions in Sri Lanka’, is available here.

    In 2003 the Red Cross stated that it had, up to then, received 20,000 complaints of disappearances during the conflict, of which 9,000 had been resolved but the remaining 11,000 were still being investigated. (See BBC’s report here)

    And Sri Lanka accounts for almost 80 per cent of the case backlog of the UN Working Group on Enforced Disappearances, according to the Asian Legal Resources Centre (see here).

    Also, see our earlier posts

    The logic in Sri Lanka's disappearances (Dec 2010)

  • Commonwealth urged to say no to CHOGM Sri Lanka 2013

    In an open letter to Commonwealth Foreign Ministers, ten rights groups from across the world condemned the possibility of Sri Lanka hosting the 2013 Commonwealth Heads of Government Meeting (CHOGM).

    The ten  international, Diaspora and Sri Lanka-based organisations included Human Rights Watch, Sri Lanka Campaign for Peace and Justice, the Commonwealth Human Rights Initiative and Centre for Policy Alternatives (CPA).

    Highlighting the continued human rights violations and pressing need for an international investigation into allegations of war crimes, the authors called the consideration of Sri Lanka as host 'grossly inappropriate'.

    'Awarding the next CHOGM to Sri Lanka would not only undermine the fundamental values on which the Commonwealth is based, but also has the potential to render the Commonwealth’s commitment to human rights and the promise of reforms meaningless.' 

    'The fact that the host country of the CHOGM goes on to hold the chairmanship of the Commonwealth (from 2013 to 2015) is also a serious concern.'

    'Handing over leadership of the Commonwealth to a country with a questionable record in terms of human rights and democracy should not be the outcome of an event that will celebrate the twentieth anniversary of the Harare Declaration.'

    The authors outlined a set of seven benchmarks in order to assess Sri Lanka's suitability as host in 2013.

    Benchmarks included:

    - 'bringing all legislation in line with international human rights standards'

    - 'supporting and cooperating with independent and credible domestic and international investigations'

    - 'Committing to collaborate with the Office of the UN Secretary General to initiate the implementation of the recommendations set out in the report of the UN Secretary General’s Panel of Experts'.

    The Harare Declaration, instituted by Commonwealth nations on 20th October 1991, outlined the Commonwealth's aim as one of promoting democracy and good governance, human rights and the rule of law, gender equality and sustainable economic and social development across member nations.

     

    See letter in full here and list of signatories below:

    Yap Swee Seng, Executive Director
    Asian Forum for Human Rights and Development (FORUM-ASIA)

    Wong Kai Shing, Executive Director  
    Asian Legal Resource Centre

    Dr Paikiasothy Saravanamuttu, Executive Director
    Centre for Policy Alternatives
     
    Maja Daruwala, Director
    Commonwealth Human Rights Initiative

    Brad Adams, Asia Director
    Human Rights Watch

    Sunila Abeysekera, 
    INFORM Human Rights Documentation Centre, Sri Lanka

    Souhayr Belhassen, President
    International Federation for Human Rights

    Ruki Fernando 
    Law and Society Trust

    Chris Chapman
    Minority Rights Group International

    Edward Mortimer CMG, Chair
    Sri Lanka Campaign for Peace & Justice

  • IDPs branded 'squatters on state land'

    Any IDPs who refuse to live on land provided by the government are no longer to be considered 'displaced persons' ordered the Governor of the Eastern Province, Rear Admiral Mohan Jayawickrema, Friday.

    Jayawickrema alleged that under international conventions those provided with land and housing are not 'displaced'.

    “The displaced fall into three categories, namely squatters on state land, land permit holders and owners of private land,” he explained.

    In November 2010, a number of reports emerged of Jayawickrema allegedly ordering the burning of a predominantly Muslim village, Kandalkadu, and a Muslim mosque in the Kinniya district.

    Victims reported that local police had identified Jayawickrema as directly issuing orders to carry out the arson attack. Fifty-four families were forced into homelessness.

    The Internal Displacement Monitoring Centre reported on 1st July 2011 that more than 220,000 civilians remain displaced.

    As the Sri Lankan Armed Forces' indiscriminate aerial bombardment of the North-East escalated during 2009, over 300,000 Tamil civilians were forced from their properties and land. Carrolled into IDP camps and effectively incarcerated many months after the open conflict ceased, civilians remain unable to return to their own homes, over two years later.

    Though the government claims demining necessitates renders the repatriation of civilians to their own homes impossible, the development of army barracks, military housing and commercial enterprise over these very same areas has spiralled.

    See  'Diaspora Tamils have to reapply for land deeds'

  • Jaffna Uni students rise up in protest

    Photo TamilNet

    Over one thousand Jaffna university students walked out of lectures and staged a demonstration on Wednesday, reported Tamilnet.

    See full article by Tamilnet here.

    Protesters condemned what they described as the Sri Lankan government's complicity in the spate of sexual attacks on Tamil women by individuals widely believed to be closely associated with Sri Lanka's security forces.

    Students carried placards openly condemning 'ethnic cleansing' and the security forces for being 'shelters for perpetrators'. Some symbolically tied black cloths over their mouths to protest Sri Lanka's brutal crackdown on freedom of speech and freedom of expression.

    Tamilnet reports this is the first such mass uprising in around two years.

    The ruling regime's determined militarisation of the North-East and the Sri Lankan state's support and endorsement of it, raise significant concerns over the safety of the student protesters.

    Reprisal attacks on Tamil civilians by Sri Lanka's security forces and paramilitary forces are a real concern. Indeed, following previous such protests in recent weeks, 120 Tamil civilians were arrested and detained without charge.

    Despite the flagrant criminality involved in the 'grease-devil' incidents various political and military figures, including the ultra-Sinhala nationalist JHU, have focused their outrage and condemnation on the civilians protesters, are no doubt inciting fear and paranoia amongst the Sinhala masses.

    Indeed, just last week, Sri Lanka's prime minister rallied the Sinhala public to 'protect the government' against such civilian protests, shortly before Sri Lanka's military spokesperson decried such civilian protests a 'terrorist act' and defended the use of the Prevention of Terrorism Act when dealing with civilian protesters. 

    This protest is the latest in a rising tide of resistance amongst Tamils in the North-East. With the militarisation of the North-East showing no signs of abating, the Jaffna students' resistance is no doubt a sign of things to come.

  • Amnesty on Sri Lanka's LLRC
    Amnesty International has released a new report criticising Sri Lanka's Lessons Learnt and Reconciliation Commission as "flawed at every level".

    The report went on to urge the UN to establish a full international independent investigation into war crimes.


    Sam Zarifi, Amnesty's Asia Pacific Director said,
    "The Sri Lankan government has, for almost two years, used the LLRC as its trump card in lobbying against an independent international investigation.
    "Officials described it as a credible accountability mechanism, able to deliver justice and promote reconciliation. In reality it's flawed at every level: in mandate, composition and practice."
    In a 69-page report, the human rights group has said,
    "Amnesty International urges the international community not to be deceived that the Lessons Learnt and Reconciliation Commission -- the latest in a long line of failed domestic mechanisms in Sri Lanka -- will deliver justice, truth and reparations to the tens of thousands of victims of war crimes, crimes against humanity and other crimes committed during the conflict by both sides, particularly during its last bloody few months,"
    Entitled “When Will They Get Justice?” the report called on the UN to establish a credible international, independent investigation into war crimes, calling it “crucial” to “protest the global principle of accountability”.
    "All U.N. member states should fulfill their shared responsibility to investigate and prosecute persons suspected of responsibility for war crimes and crimes against humanity in Sri Lanka by exercising universal jurisdiction."

    Yolanda Foster of Amnesty International said,

    “We’re publishing this report now as a wake up call to UN member states that they must act on the … credible evidence of very serious crimes that happened at the end of the war and (the UN) recommended an independent international investigation”.

    A previous UN panel report also called for an independent international investigation to take place on Sri Lanka's war crimes.


    Amnesty's report comes amid increasing pressure on Sri Lanka, as the UN Human Rights Council is expected take up the issue in three-week meeting in Geneva starting Monday.

    Based on eyewitness testimony, information from aid workers and transcripts from LLRC hearings, the report stated that the LLRC did not have the will to pursue serious allegations of crimes.

    Amongst these were allegations of forced detention, disappearances, extrajudicial killings and widespread shelling of civilians.

    "It (the government) has not attempted to identify government personnel alleged to be responsible for violations of international human rights and humanitarian law committed in the final stages of the armed conflict, let alone initiate steps necessary to ensure that justice is served," the report said.

    "History demonstrates that Sri Lanka lacks the political will to address serious allegations of abuse or to end impunity."

    Mr Zarifi also added,

    "It is the latest in a long line of failed domestic inquiries. Impunity has been the rule rather than the exception, now exacerbated by a post-conflict triumphalism that rejects all responsibility for abuses carried out by government forces."

    Amnesty International has previously reported on Sri Lanka’s commissions of inquiry, in a report entitled “Twenty years of make-believe”.

    Amnesty's latest report concluded that an international investigation is the only way to bring justice “tens of thousands of victims of war crimes”.

    “The UN has a responsibility to investigate allegations of crimes under international law without delay, regardless of Sri Lanka’s domestic efforts. Investigations should be conducted independently and in accordance with international standards and should culminate in the criminal prosecution of individuals found responsible in full conformity with international standards for fair trial.

    Amnesty International is calling for the UN to immediately establish an independent, international investigation. Such a mechanism is crucial for two reasons: (1) to protect the global principle of accountability for international crimes, and prevent the establishment of a negative precedent for other states that may emulate Sri Lanka’s attempt to flout international law so egregiously; and (2) to help the process of reconciliation inside Sri Lanka through findings issued by a neutral outside body free of perceptions of bias, that can establish the truth and provide justice for the crimes committed by all sides to the conflict, including the LTTE, government forces and their affiliates.”

    The LLRC's final report, after repeated delays, is due out in November.

  • US watched shelling of civilians hoping it would cease

    Leaked US embassy cables confirm what has long been speculated, US and Indian intelligence agencies had access to satellite imagery of the shelling of civilians within so-called No-Fire-Zones during the final stages of Sri Lanka's conflict.

    A recently emerged cable confirms that the Sri Lankan president was shown satellite images of new shelling of safe zones, believed to have taken place after the 27th April 2009 - when the president declared an end to the use of heavy weapons.

    According to the leaked cable, despite spiralling casualty figures and warnings against the shelling of civilian areas being ignored by the Sri Lankan government, US officials remained hopeful that the Sri Lankan regime would restrain its onslaught and a "possible change [in] the Sri Lankan Army's conduct".

    The cable's author, Charge d'Affaires, James Moore, states the satellite images were shared with Sri Lanka "in the hope the shelling would stop."

    Extracts reproduced below:

    See full cable here.

    "On May 4, Charge met with Foreign Minister Bogollagama to discuss reports that Government forces were shelling into the Government-designated "safe zone" even after the President's April 27 declaration of the end of combat operations.

    Charge presented two declassified satellite images taken on April 26 and 28 of the civilian "no-fire zone" showing probable artillery impact craters.

    Charge informed the President and Foreign Secretary that he had been instructed to share these satellite images with the Sri Lankan government. These "before and after" satellite images dated April 27 through May 3 document apparent shelling damage in the "safe zone" even after the April 27 declaration by President Rajapaksa, he noted.

    Charge stated that we were sharing the satellite images in the hope the shelling would stop.

    The President remarked at lunch before this meeting that India had satellites and was monitoring the ground situation in Sri Lanka. It will now be equally clear to the Sri Lankan government that we are watching, too.

    Rajapaksa has been known to call individual battlefield commanders in the past to ask for frank assessments when he feels out of touch with ground realities. 

    While the senior officials we spoke with concerning the satellite images conceded nothing, our effort still could lead to the President conducting his own inquiries and a possible change of the Sri Lankan Army's conduct of the battle in progress.

    Below are pictures of Puthukkudiyiruppu (PTK) hospital, one of the targets of Sri Lanka's bombardment of Vanni. Pictures taken on 31 Oct 2008 and 6 March 2009. See full details here.
  • Diaspora Tamils have to reapply for land deeds

    The Sri Lankan Government has asked all Diaspora Tamils who own land in the north of the island to apply for new land deeds.

    Minister for Land and Land Development Janaka Bandara Tenakoon has said that members of the Tamil Diaspora had ‘abandoned’ their properties and gone abroad.

    Once the new forms have been received the application will be authenticated by the Ministry for Land and Land Development and the area surveyed before it is decided whether new deeds are issued to the owners or not.

    The Senior Assistant Secretary to the Ministry of Land and Land Development P. M. P. Udayakantha has said that the government has started to conduct inquiries in each Divisional Secretariat in the districts of the North, including Jaffna, Kilinochi, Mannar, Vavuniya and Mullaithivu.

    "Currently, we are inquiring into lands in the Nallur Divisional Secretariat area in the Jaffna District and forms have been made available at the respective Divisional Secretariat.” he said in The Island.

    Udayakantha also added it would be preferable if the concerned could come in person and hand over the forms.

  • Gotabhaya promotes army to Vietnamese

    Sri Lankan Defence Secretary, Gotabhaya Rajapakse, currently on an official visit to Vietnam, used the opportunity to promote the incorporation of the army into civilian life and the country's wider development.

    Gotabhaya met with President Truong Tan Sang and the Deputy Minister of National Defence, Lieutenant General Nguyen Chi Vinh, Monday.

    President Sang reportedly citing 'cultural similarities' and 'long-lasting traditional relations', said he hoped for deeper cooporation and sharing of experience in development and national construction.

    Gotabhaya, welcoming the President's expressed vision of greater cooperation, stressed his desire to help promote the role of the army in socio-economic development.

    Lieut. Gen. Vinh specifically thanked Sri Lanka for supporting Vietnam's struggle for national independence.

  • Why Sri Lanka matters

    Edward Mortimer, director of communications to UN Secretary-General Kofi Annan from 1998 to 2006, writes in New World magazine's 2011 Autumn edition:

    "Chinese and Russian support for the GoSL is perceived as a major stumbling block. However, we should remember that, in 2005, China allowed the Security Council to refer war crimes in Darfur to the International Criminal Court, despite the two countries' significant oil and economic ties, and this February, both China and Russia voted to do the same with Libya.

    And even if those two countries do remain firm, that should not excuse others' failure to speak out.

    The international community failed to protect Sri Lanka's civilians in 2009. The least it can do now is insist on an international investigation."

    [more]

  • Army defend use of PTA on civilians

    Sri Lanka's military spokesperson, Brig Nihal Hapuarachchi, claimed the civilian protests at the on-going 'grease devil' incidents were a 'terrorist act'.

    He warned the army will take action against them under the infamous Prevention of Terrorism Act (PTA), adding:

    "It is wrong for civilians to attack an army camp or police station. Those who do that are terrorists."

    Over 120 Tamil civilians have been arrested after protesting at Jaffna's military camp.

    "They attacked a joint army-police camp. It is a terrorist act," Brig Hapuarachchi, said about them.

    Civilian protests were stirred by public anger at the security forces' apparant inability or indeed unwillingness to apprehend those responsible for the spate of violent attacks on women by night prowlers - so-called 'grease devils'.

    Public outrage was heightened by the numerous incidents of prowlers escaping pursuing residents by fleeing into police compounds or army barracks. 

    The Sri Lankan government claims the incidents are fabricated to disparage the country's reputation.

    Yet, the government have increased deployment of army officers, particularly in the East, and established further military checkpoints in Tamil areas, citing the need for added security in view of the prowling grease-devils.

    No one has been arrested or charged for any of the reported 'grease-devils' attacks.

    The PTA gives the military a wide range of powers, including the artibitary arrest and detention of civilians without charge.

    See 'Sri Lanka replaces lifted powers for military'

    See also our TGview, 'Terror on cue' 

     

  • EU to stress accountability at UNHRC

    Lulia Costea, press officer to Catherine Ashton, EU High Representative, stressed the European Union's belief in an 'independent process' to establish accountability for allegations of war crimes, during an interview with the Sunday Leader newspaper.

    She warned the EU expected the government of Sri Lanka to 'respond positively' to the findings of the UN panel of experts at the UN Human Rights Council (UNHRC) later this month. 

    “As EU High Representative Catherine Ashton has recalled, the EU believes that an independent process to address the extremely serious allegations contained in the report of the UN Secretary-General’s Panel of Experts should contribute to strengthening the process of reconciliation and ensuring lasting peace and security in Sri Lanka.”

    “Should this matter be discussed at the Human Rights Council, the EU will continue to encourage the Government of Sri Lanka to respond positively to the report and address the issue of accountability as an essential part of the process of national reconciliation and, in this context, to engage with the UNSG on the contents of the report.”

    Catherine Ashton was appointed Vice-President of the European Commission in 2010. Her term ends in 2014.

    On her appointment Ashton reiterated the EU's commitment to 'universality and indivisibility of human rights' as an integral part of EU foreign policy. 

    "I am looking forward to working closely with colleagues in the Council, the Commission, the European Parliament and the Member States to strengthen Europe's foreign policy"

    "We will do this with determination and with full respect for the values that the European Union stands for, above all peace and prosperity, freedom and democracy, the rule of law and the universality and indivisibility of human rights."

    See 'European Parliament also welcomes UN expert panel’s report'

    See our editorial, 27th May 2011, 'One farce too many'

  • Sri Lankans instructed to protect regime

    Sri Lanka's Prime Minister warned the country's citizens to be mindful of 'anti-government elements' and urged them to 'protect the government' against this danger.

    Jayaratne, addressing a crowd gathered to witness new appointments to the Sri Rohana Sanghasabha, went on to state that the import of substandard cement and petrol to the country was also the work of these elements, who he claimed were engaged in a conspiracy to destroy Sri Lanka's economy.

    "When the government is attempting to re-build the war-torn country, the anti-government elements are attempting to create a world opinion against President Mahinda Rajapaksa and his government."

    "The people must understand this danger and protect the government.”

  • Patriotic business

    It seems apparently no one in Sri Lanka - except the Tamils, of course - wants the regime’s mass killings of 2009 investigated.

    This week four of the largest private sector associations in Sri Lanka joined the government in denouncing the report by the UN panel of experts on the final months of the war.

    They are the Ceylon Chamber of Commerce, Federation of Chambers of Commerce and Industry of Sri Lanka, National Chamber of Commerce of Sri Lanka and Joint Apparel Associations Forum.

    See Xinhua’s report here.

    The four released a joint report, titled ‘Sri Lanka Private Sector Assessment’ on what they think of the UN experts’ report.

    It is, apparently, a "deconstruction of the most obvious and blatant sins of omission and commission and rhetoric that put the (UN) advisory into contentious dispute."

Subscribe to Tamil Affairs