Despite the Sri Lanka government and the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam meeting for talks in Geneva, Switzerland this week, the fate of seven humanitarian aid workers abducted by Army-backed paramilitaries last month remains unknown.
The Tamil Rehabilitation Organisation (TRO) has meanwhile expressed “dismay and concern” over allegations made by Sri Lanka’s Foreign Minister, Mangala Samaraweera, and Cabinet spokesperson Anura Priyadharsana Yapa, that TRO was “not helping” with ongoing investigations.
The TRO refuted the allegations as politically motivated propaganda by the Sri Lanka government aimed at discrediting the TRO to avoid taking action against the abductors.
TRO said in a press release Friday from Colombo that it is in fact fully cooperating with the investigations, and has provided detailed accounts of its actions with regards the abductions and events thereafter.
TRO project co-ordinator Arjunan Ethiriweerasingham meanwhile told the Daily Mirror newspaper that any attempt he made to get information from the Batticaloa police officer supervising the search have also proved futile.
“I called the DIG the other day to get some information about the abduction case. The DIG told me not to get involved in police operations and cut the line,” he said.
Two groups of five TRO staff members went missing on 30 January. One group was abducted while travelling on the A11 Batticaloa - Polonnaruwa road, the main supply route of the Sri Lanka Army. Three women from that group were released in the subsequent days, but the whereabouts of the remaining seven are not known and there are growing fears for their safety.
The TRO has accused paramilitary organisations working with the Sri Lanka Army of being behind the abductions. The paramilitaries are also blamed for a string of gun and grenade attacks on TRO offices amid other violence in the eastern province in the past few months.
There had been fears, soon after the abductions were reported, that the LTTE might withdraw from talks with the government on stabilizing the fraying February 2002 ceasefire. However, LTTE officials say that matter would be taken up in Geneva.
On February 10, a forum of international and local Non Governmental Organisations (NGOs) passed a resolution appealing to the Sri Lanka government to fully investigate and secure the release of the seven remaining TRO personnel.
The signatories included the Norwegian FORUT, Berghof Foundation, INFORM, Inpact, the Consortium of Humanitarian Agencies (CHA) and the TRO itself.
They extended their support to the families of those abducted and expressed the wish that their loves ones be returned to them soon.
The forum was organized to address the issues and implications of the abduction of humanitarian personnel, the delivery of humanitarian aid and to update civil society on the developments regarding the abduction.
A week earlier, the entire Batticaloa district observed a shut down in protest at the continuing lack of action on behalf of missing TRO staffers.
The protest, called by the employees of local and foreign NGOs who abstained from work, also drew support from private businesses and public services. Shops and banks were closed, while public offices and schools wore a deserted look.
The NGO Workers Forum in Batticaloa district has urged the Sri Lankan authorities to take ‘meaningful steps’ to secure the immediate release of the humanitarian workers.
The Forum also urged the International Community to use its influence in not allowing the authorities in Sri Lanka to politicise the issue of abducted humanitarian workers.
The Kilinochchi Federation of NGOs also staged a peace protest march last Friday, demanding their release.
The Tamil Rehabilitation Organisation (TRO) has meanwhile expressed “dismay and concern” over allegations made by Sri Lanka’s Foreign Minister, Mangala Samaraweera, and Cabinet spokesperson Anura Priyadharsana Yapa, that TRO was “not helping” with ongoing investigations.
The TRO refuted the allegations as politically motivated propaganda by the Sri Lanka government aimed at discrediting the TRO to avoid taking action against the abductors.
TRO said in a press release Friday from Colombo that it is in fact fully cooperating with the investigations, and has provided detailed accounts of its actions with regards the abductions and events thereafter.
TRO project co-ordinator Arjunan Ethiriweerasingham meanwhile told the Daily Mirror newspaper that any attempt he made to get information from the Batticaloa police officer supervising the search have also proved futile.
“I called the DIG the other day to get some information about the abduction case. The DIG told me not to get involved in police operations and cut the line,” he said.
Two groups of five TRO staff members went missing on 30 January. One group was abducted while travelling on the A11 Batticaloa - Polonnaruwa road, the main supply route of the Sri Lanka Army. Three women from that group were released in the subsequent days, but the whereabouts of the remaining seven are not known and there are growing fears for their safety.
The TRO has accused paramilitary organisations working with the Sri Lanka Army of being behind the abductions. The paramilitaries are also blamed for a string of gun and grenade attacks on TRO offices amid other violence in the eastern province in the past few months.
There had been fears, soon after the abductions were reported, that the LTTE might withdraw from talks with the government on stabilizing the fraying February 2002 ceasefire. However, LTTE officials say that matter would be taken up in Geneva.
On February 10, a forum of international and local Non Governmental Organisations (NGOs) passed a resolution appealing to the Sri Lanka government to fully investigate and secure the release of the seven remaining TRO personnel.
The signatories included the Norwegian FORUT, Berghof Foundation, INFORM, Inpact, the Consortium of Humanitarian Agencies (CHA) and the TRO itself.
They extended their support to the families of those abducted and expressed the wish that their loves ones be returned to them soon.
The forum was organized to address the issues and implications of the abduction of humanitarian personnel, the delivery of humanitarian aid and to update civil society on the developments regarding the abduction.
A week earlier, the entire Batticaloa district observed a shut down in protest at the continuing lack of action on behalf of missing TRO staffers.
The protest, called by the employees of local and foreign NGOs who abstained from work, also drew support from private businesses and public services. Shops and banks were closed, while public offices and schools wore a deserted look.
The NGO Workers Forum in Batticaloa district has urged the Sri Lankan authorities to take ‘meaningful steps’ to secure the immediate release of the humanitarian workers.
The Forum also urged the International Community to use its influence in not allowing the authorities in Sri Lanka to politicise the issue of abducted humanitarian workers.
The Kilinochchi Federation of NGOs also staged a peace protest march last Friday, demanding their release.
