Sri Lankan Foreign Affairs Minister, Rohitha Bogollagama has said that kidnappings are normal in society and no one should make an undue fuss about such incidents.

He made this statement in reply to a question posed by a journalist at a news conference last Wednesday, when a journalist asked for his comments on the kidnapping of two women, one Sinhala and one Tamil, in Batticaloa on March 10.

Stating that investigations are underway, the Minister said it was unlikely that there would be a link between the kidnapping and the Batticaloa local council elections.

“Kidnapping is something very common and therefore there is no need to fuss about it,” he asserted.

He also said that it was not the first time that a kidnapping had taken place in the country and therefore, there was no reason to be excited about it.

The Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE) “is eliminating the recruitment and use of child soldiers,” the US State Department said this week in its annual human rights report. The LTTE had not complied with its promise to end the practice by end of 2007, but its policy of recruiting one person from each family targeted those 18 years or older, the report said. Sri Lankan government forces were complicit in conscripting children for the TMVP (Karuna Group), “which used coercion, extortion, rape, and murder to force children and adults to join their ranks,” the report said.

The text of the ‘Child Soldiers’ section of the State Department’s Country Report on Human Rights for Sri Lanka follows:

“Both the LTTE and the Karuna group (also known as TMVP, or Pillaiyan group) used minors in battle. The Karuna group and the LTTE also continued to recruit child soldiers forcibly, while intimidating and using violence against civilians.

“The LTTE instituted a "one family, one fighter" policy, forcing each family to provide at least one member, including children, to the LTTE. By year's end most sources indicated that the "one family, one fighter" policy targeted those 18 years or older. The UN Children's Fund (UNICEF) noted a significant reduction in reported child recruitment by the LTTE. While the trend indicated that the LTTE was eliminating the recruitment and use of child soldiers, it had not complied with the promise to end the use of all minors by year's end. UNICEF reported that the LTTE forcibly recruited (or rerecruited) 160 children during the year with an average age of 16 years. At year's end 205 children remained in LTTE custody, including 1,224 who were recruited as children but were over 18 at year's end.

“According to UN sources, there was limited progress during the year in the release of children recruited by both groups. A UNICEF supported action plan sought to rehabilitate former LTTE child soldiers through release and reintegration. Under this program there were to be three UNICEF-supported transit centers. Two of the transit centers, in Batticaloa and Trincomalee, never opened because of a lack of releases by the LTTE. By mid-year the LTTE no longer controlled these areas. UNICEF supported the establishment of a transit center in Kilinochchi for child recruits released by the LTTE, which remained open, but UNICEF noted that its use was limited and declining.

“The Karuna group continued to recruit children, some forcibly after abduction. Karuna cadres used coercion, extortion, rape, and murder to force children and adults to join their ranks. Karuna operatives often bribed parents to allow their children to join the Karuna group, and punished parents or children if they resisted.

‘Unlike the LTTE, UNICEF statistics indicated that child recruitment by the pro-government Karuna group did not decline. The UN Special Rapporteur (UNSR) on Children and Armed Conflict reported and cited evidence that government forces were at times complicit in the recruitment of children. During the year, UNICEF reported that the Karuna group recruited and rerecruited children for use as child soldiers, especially in Batticaloa district for a total of 251. This was more than in 2006, although the rate of recruitment was down from its peak in late 2005. Some previously recruited child soldiers reached 18 years of age while continuing to serve in the Karuna group. UNICEF figures show that at the end of the year, 160 children were still serving in the Karuna forces, and 69 who were recruited as children were now over age 18.”

The International Red Cross has angrily accused Sri Lanka's government of releasing confidential communications and manipulating information from the organisation to defend its rights record.

In rare public criticism of a government, the Geneva-based International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) said Colombo has been "misrepresenting its findings" to stave off allegations it was behind abductions and disappearances.

The row surrounds Sri Lanka's use of a confidential report by the ICRC, which did not give a figure for disappearances on the war-torn island, to dispute ongoing allegations that hundreds of people had gone missing on the island.

The Sri Lankan government is locked in a bitter war with the Tamil Tigers, and is under increasing international criticism over a spate of murders, abductions and disappearances.

The ICRC, known for its strict rules of confidentiality and neutrality, said it "deplores" Sri Lanka's "publication and sharing of confidential reports submitted exclusively to the Sri Lankan authorities."

Turning the tables on the Sri Lankan government, the organisation also said extra-judicial killings and disappearances were part of a pattern of abuses in Sri Lanka that need to be stopped.

"The ICRC strives to bring this about through its confidential and direct dialogue with the authorities concerned. For this reason, we prefer not to enter into a public debate on the number of disappeared in Sri Lanka," said Jacques de Malo, ICRC's head of operations in South Asia, on Wednesday.

Colombo has come under fire for its rights record, with Human Rights Watch saying recently that at least 1,500 people "disappeared" between 2006 and 2007 -- mostly ethnic Tamils living in the island's restive north and east.
The New York-based rights group said Sri Lanka was one of the world's worst perpetrators of "disappearances" and abductions and described the situation as a "national crisis."

International and local media rights organizations last week, expressed deep concern at the attacks on journalists and militarization of state television by the Sri Lankan state.

In the past three months staff members of the Sri Lanka Rupavahini Corporation (SLRC) have been hunted and attacked on the roads of Colombo as well as in their homes.

The attacks began after Labour Minister Mervin Silva and several of his bodyguards forced their way into the organisation last December and assaulted senior members of the SLRC for not telecasting a speech the minister had made at a public function.

Events took a turn for the worse last week when, on Monday March 17, the army seized control of the SLRC after workers who threatened to strike unless the violence against them stopped were sent off on ‘holiday’.

The Sri Lankan government then announced the appointment of a retired military officer Major General Sunil Silva as deputy director general of SLRC, the most widely watched TV station in the country.

Local media rights organisation, the Free Media Movement, said the move would give the government more control over the station during a crisis.

"It's very clear, the government wants to control the media and journalists,"said Sunanda Deshapriya of the Free Media Movement commenting on the attacks and intimidation of journalists.

Deshapriya added that Maj. Gen. Silva's appointment was "part of the general militarization of the country".

"This is unprecedented," he said. "No retired military person has been appointed for the top post in the last 20 years."

The International Federation of Journalists (IFJ), in a statement released last week said it is “deeply concerned that Sri Lanka’s Government has appointed a recently retired army Major General to a senior position at the troubled state broadcaster, SLRC”.

“The IFJ is also very concerned for the safety of all journalists in Sri Lanka. For example, the series of attacks and threats against SLRC staff since December have been permitted to continue without any intervention by authorities”, IFJ Asia-Pacific Director Jacqueline Park said.

“In times of conflict and insecurity, a military appointment to the state broadcaster raises concerns about restrictions on freedom of expression and association at the state broadcaster.

“The appointment of Maj. Gen. Sunil Silva to the SLRC does nothing to allay concerns for the well-being of SLRC staff and press freedom in general in Sri Lanka. Rather, the IFJ is disturbed that the appointment of someone closely associated with the military has been made immediately following the in-house union’s demands that staff be protected, as is their right.”

Reporters Without Borders in a statement called for an explanation from President Mahinda Rajapakse after the military takeover of the state television.

“The head of state should immediately order the army to withdraw from the station. This is in no way a good solution for ending escalating violence against SLRC staff since December 2007,” the international press freedom organisation said.

“Right now, working at the Rupavahini Corporation means that we are not sure of our lives. There is an organised witch-hunt and it is no secret that Minister Mervin Silva’s henchmen are behind it,” a senior member of organisation told Inter Press Service on condition of anonymity fearing retribution if he is named.

Minister Silva has denied having any part in the attacks.

Among the SLRC staff members, who were assaulted, were assistant director of supplies, Arunasiri Hettige, who was beaten with iron rods on March 14 and the TV station’s librarian, Ranjani Aluthge, who was slashed with a razor blade as she returned home from work by bus on March 5.

Lal Hemantha Mawalage, a journalist, was attacked by two men on a motorbike as he travelled home from work late on January 25 and another journalist Priyal Ranjith Perera was stabbed a month later.

Sunethra Athugalpura, a female reporter with the Lakbima Sinhala newspaper had her house ransacked on March 16 days after she interviewed Minister Silva. The attacks come amidst a background where police have arrested and interrogated several media personnel for being suspected ‘supporters’ of the LTTE.

“All these incidents are linked to what happened on December 27,” Poddala Jayantha, secretary of the working journalists association, told IPS.

“The attacks on Rupavahini employees continue because authorities have been slow to go after those responsible… instead Rupavahini workers are being questioned on the December 27 incident.”

Jayantha, too, was threatened by unidentified men, who had come to his house in the middle night soon after the Rupavahini incident. He was present in the Rupavahini compound when Silva was escorted out and spoke out against the government minister for trying to intimidate media.

“Sri Lanka's government must take concrete steps to ensure the safety and protection of journalists in the conduct of their work, starting with public reprimands for government members who verbally and physically attack the media, and give directives to local authorities to investigate and act on attacks against journalists across the island, including the attacks on Rupavahini staff,” Jacqueline Park, Asia Pacific director of the International Federation of Journalists (IFJ), said in a statement soon after the latest attack.

In addition intimidating and attacking journalists, the Sri Lankan police has also been arresting and detaining journalists and media persons without any charges.

In the latest disturbing incident for the local media was the arrest of five media workers, both from the Sinhalese and Tamil communities, for their links with ‘Outreachsl.com’ a recently launched website focusing on current affairs related to the on-going ethnic conflict.

Among those detained by the Terrorism Investigation Divion (TID) is Jayaprakash Tissanayagam, a columnist for the ‘Sunday Times,’ a respected independent English-language weekly, and the editor of ‘Outreachsl.com’.

Tissanayagam has been held by the TID since March 7, along with four others who were involved with the website.

No formal charges have been pressed and access to legal representation has been denied.

Whilst three persons have been released in the last week, Tissainayagam and N. Jasiharan, the owner of E-Kwality Printers and a writer for the website, are still detained.

Jasiharan was arrested by TID officers on March 6. His laptop computer and printed material from the printing press were also confiscated.

IFJ demanded “authorities make transparent the reasons for the arrests and follow due legal process in the cases of Tissainayagam and Jasiharan”.

The current attacks on media freedom in the country will only add to Sri Lanka’s worsening rights record.

In 2006, for instance, the island had dropped to 141st in the annual media freedom rankings published by Reporters Without Borders, from an impressive 51st ranking in 2002, when there was a ceasefire in operation.

The government, however, sees the reality in different light.

“President Mahinda Rajapakse … asserted that there was absolute media freedom in the country and the government is not bound to be answerable for isolated incidents as and when they occur,” said a front-page story in Saturday’s edition of the ‘Daily News, a state-run English-language paper.

The US State Department accused the Sri Lankan government of abuses including unlawful killings, abductions, arbitrary arrests and the denial of fair public trials in its latest Country Report on Human Rights Practices in Sri Lanka released last week.

The Sri Lankan government, however, rejected the US report and claimed it presented a distorted and exaggerated view of the situation, triggering a diplomatic row.

The US Human Rights Report published on March 11 cited "numerous reports" that the army, police, and pro-government paramilitary groups had "participated in armed attacks against civilians and practiced torture, kidnapping, hostage-taking, and extortion with impunity."

"The government's respect for human rights continued to decline due in part to the escalation of the armed conflict," the report said.

The annual US report further added that more than 1,000 civilians had been killed in Sri Lanka last year as the government stepped up attacks against the LTTE.

The United States also blamed the government for making slow progress in investigating alleged serious human rights abuses.

Irritated by the accusations, Foreign Minister Rohitha Bogollagama called US envoy to Sri Lanka Robert Blake to the foreign ministry office to "strongly protest" the allegations of abuses in the State Department's human rights report, a government statement said

"The report presents a distorted view of the actual situation in Sri Lanka during the year 2007 and is unfortunately a litany of unsubstantiated allegations, innuendo and vituperative exaggerations," it statement added.

"The report presents a distorted view of the actual situation in Sri Lanka during the year 2007 and is unfortunately a litany of unsubstantiated allegations, innuendo and vituperative exaggerations".

"It is indeed a matter of concern that the report, based on hearsay ... has resulted in throwing a lifeline to the LTTE (Tigers) at a time when it is struggling to maintain its position both militarily on the ground and internationally."

However, the U.S. Embassy responded to the government statement with its own statement.

The US statement said: "Our goal ... is always to be fair and objective," and added that the U.S. government stands by the Human Rights report.

This is not the first time the Mahinda Rajapakse regime has rowed with foreign diplomats over the country’s human rights record.

Last December, Sri Lanka summoned a number of Colombo-based Western and Asian diplomats and faulted them for criticising the country's human rights record.

The government has in the past accused international diplomats who raised rights concerns of being "terrorists" and supporters of LTTE.

Tamil Diaspora organisations Friday condemned the killing of Tamil parliamentarian K. Sivanesan Thursday in a fragmentation mine attack blamed on Sri Lankan commandos and called for international action against the Colombo government.

Pointing out that Mr. Sivanesan is the latest Tamil MP to be murdered by suspected Army-backed paramilitaries or members of the security forces in recent years, expatriate organisations from Australia, Canada and Britain called for the Sri Lankan government to be held accountable and for international sanctions to be imposed.

Mr. Sivanesan, killed when four mines were detonated against his vehicle on Thursday, is the latest MP from the Tamil National Alliance (TNA) to be assassinated. MP Joseph Pararajasingham was killed in December 2005 and Mr. Raviraj was killed in November 2006. Army-backed paramilitaries or security forces were blamed in both cases.

Several TNA candidates, party workers and former Parliamentarians, as well as relatives of TNA members have been murdered or abducted and ‘disappeared’ by Army-backed paramilitaries or security forces in recent years.

Tamil Parliamentarians from other parties who have been critical of the Sri Lankan governments have also been murdered by suspected security forces’ members.

“Mr. Sivanesan has become one among the many Tamil MPs assassinated for voicing the plight of Tamil people to the world,” the Tamil Canadian Congress (CTC) said Friday.

“The Sri Lankan government must be held accountable for these killings, disappearances and other serious human rights abuses occurring under its nose and in many cases with its complicity,” CTC said.

“We look to the Canadian government to provide leadership in the international community to pressure Sri Lanka to conform to international human rights standards,” the CTC said.

“We have heard countless stories of abductions, disappearances, and killings by agents of the Sri Lankan government,” said David Poopalapillai, national spokesperson for CTC.

“Sri Lanka has turned into a lawless state and the situation will only get worse now that the ceasefire agreement has been broken by the Sri Lankan government and peace monitors have left,” he said.

“The Canadian government should consider the recommendation from the HRW report and impose trade and aid restrictions on the Sri Lankan government if its human rights record does not improve,” CTC said.

The British Tamil Forum meanwhile said “along with rest of the Tamil community members we denounce the assassination of MP Sivanesan by Sri Lankan government forces.”

“The [security forces] are terrorising the Tamil community by targeting those people who are at the front seeking a peaceful settlement for the ethnic strife,” the BTF, which represents a coalition of 88 Tamil community organisations in the UK, said.

“In condemning this atrocious action, we yearn for the well-meaning Governments of other countries and the United Nations to take note of this Government’s terrorism which continues unabated,” BTF said.

The BTF pointed out that the much vaunted International Independent Group of Eminent Persons (IIGEP) which was to oversee Sri Lanka’s investigations into human rights abuses, “are leaving the country without achieving anything after more than two years because of non co-operation by the Government officials.”

Last week the BTF met Britain’s Foreign minister to stress the need for the international community to make support for Sri Lank’a sovereignty conditional on its coming to lasting solution that would satisfy Tamil political aspirations.

Saying, “We, the Tamil Diaspora, mourn the death of another son of our soil,” another London-based organisation, the North East Tamil Association (NETA), urged the international community “to act decisively to stop the Sri Lankan state terrorism.”

“The Sri Lankan government is not going to respond to the kind of toothless statements, empty utterances of concerns or hollow condemnations, from individual countries and multilateral organisations.”

“We therefore urge the British and the international community to intervene urgently, by imposing trade sanctions against Sri Lanka and by suspending all foreign aids to Sri Lanka with immediate effect,” NETA said.

“Mr Sivanesan is the latest victim in a long list of Tamil intellectuals who had chosen to counter Sinhala state aggression through democratic means, at the behest of the international community, and have paid the ultimate sacrifice for it,” the Tamil Youth Organisation (TYO) said in a statement in UK.

“Tamil MPs who have been democratically elected by the Tamils to voice their concerns in parliament have been brutally silenced, so what chance do ordinary Tamils have against the Sri Lankan state?”

“We would like to ask the International Community what hope the Tamils can place on the democratic process in Sri Lanka?” the TYO, a Diaspora-wide network of youth groups, asked.

The Australian Federation of Tamil Associations (AFTA) also condemned the assassination in a press statement titled “Sri Lanka kills another Tamil parliamentarian with impunity.”

“The Australian Tamils ask the Rudd Labor Government what diplomatic action it intends taking to pressure the Sri Lankan State to comply with international norms and negotiate with the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam, a just political solution to the ethnic conflict in Sri Lanka,” AFTA said.

Apart from Norway, which condemned the assassination of Mr. Sivanesan, there has been no reaction by the international community to the slaying, which came as the 7th UN Human Rights Council began deliberations in Geneva.

While in the rest of Sri Lanka nationalism means rejection of the English language, in the areas controlled by the Tamil Tiger rebels, virulent Tamil nationalism coexists with an eagerness to promote English education.

The Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE), which survives on global links, is pushing English education with a view to equipping the Tamils to face the challenges of the modern world. The rest of Sri Lanka too depends heavily on foreign links, like international trade, foreign aid and overseas employment. But it has determinedly shut out the English language in its educational system out of a sense of nationalism.

The LTTE established an English Language College (ELC) in Kilinochchi in 2004 to train English teachers, and its fourth convocation was held December 17, 2007 reports Tamilnet.com.

Stressing the strategic importance of English in his convocation address, the LTTE's political wing leader, B Nadesan, said: "For our people to acquire skills and knowledge at the global level, opportunity and facilities to attain high levels of proficiency in English is critical.

"Historically, Sri Lankan governments have created educational hurdles with a view to curtailing the development of the Tamils and scuttling their progress. The English Language College is symbolic of the Tamils' resistance to such moves," Nadesan said.

Contrasting the LTTE's policy with that of successive Sri Lankan governments, which denied an English education to the masses but winked at the elite learning the language, Nadesan said that Tiger chief Velupillai Prabhakaran wanted English to be taught to all.

In south Sri Lanka, home to the majority Sinhalese, there has been a rigid adherence to the "swabhasha policy" (involving the use of the mother tongue only for study and work), though this has resulted in the rise of conflicting and violent nationalism based on ethnicity and religion.

Up to the mid 1950s, Sinhalese, Tamils and Muslims went to the same schools and learnt through a common medium, English. They developed a fellow feeling of being "Ceylonese" as Sri Lankans were called then.

But post-independence, Sinhalese nationalist governments did away with English and created separate schools for Sinhalese and Tamil speakers. Later, Muslims got their own schools, adding a religious dimension to the problem.

With the children of various ethnic groups not studying and playing together, ethnic stereotypes got enforced and xenophobia increased.

The language policy also reinforced existing class distinctions. While the rich taught their children English, sent them abroad and got them the best jobs in the private sector, the Sinhalese or Tamil-educated underprivileged majority languished, employable only in the unproductive government sector.

Attempts by individual leaders to promote English education at a mass level were opposed tooth and nail by the radical Janatha Vimukthi Peramuna (JVP) and university students with vested interests.

And the governments always succumbed to such pressures because no politician wanted to be branded "anti-national".

The language policy has adversely affected the economy also. Foreign investors are shying away from Sri Lanka not only because of the war and terrorism, but also because of lack of skills, including English language skills.

The envoys of Britain and the US have publicly urged the adoption of English to open a window to the world, and break the ethnic gridlock that has resulted in the death of over 70,000 people and displacement of millions in the last 25 years.

But any such suggestion would immediately draw flak from Sinhalese nationalists, who would denounce it as a nefarious plan to bring the British Empire through the backdoor.

However, there is a subtle change for the better now, says Gamini Samaranayake, chairman of the University Grants Commission.

"Today, students as well as parents are seeking proficiency in English," he said.

"Science and technical students in the universities have to go through a three- month course in English. In the arts faculty, at the post graduate level, some lectures are in English, though the students are allowed to write their exams in any language they like," he said.

"I believe that English should be taught from an early level in schools, as children have the capacity to learn many languages, but Sri Lankan educational experts disagree," Samaranayake lamented.

The Canadian Parliament’s Bill C-3 came into force February 22, amending the Immigration and Refugee Protection Act 2000, just one day before a Supreme Court deadline expired.

The 2000 Act enabled the Government to detain and deport non-nationals it deemed inadmissible. Bill C-3 is in response to Supreme Court criticism that the security certificate regime was unconstitutional because it deprived concerned individuals of the opportunity to defend themselves because evidence cited for the government’s decision to detain or deport could be withheld from the individuals, their legal representatives and the public under terms of national security.

There are five North African and Arab men and one Sri Lankan Tamil currently under the (old) IRPA legislation.

The new Act incorporates a ‘Special Advocate’ role for lawyers selected by the government, similar to the scheme in the United Kingdom. The Special Advocates may see classified information and cross-examine witnesses on whose testimony ministers could issue security certificates against individuals.

However, leading barristers, including former Government Counsel on the Maher Arar Inquiry, Mr Paul Carvalluzzo, have stated the Government hasn’t done enough with its revised legislation to adequately protect the Charter Rights of those facing deportation under the security certificate process.

Whilst Special Advocates may have as much contact with the detainees and their legal team before seeing the secret information, afterwards, when critics say such contact is most crucial to challenging the Government’s contentions, the Special Advocates may only communicate in writing with the person concerned and then only with the permission of the Court and subjecting their letter to vetting by the Government.

Mr Carvalluzzo believes the Bill fails to give Special Advocates sufficient leeway to meet with the accused after having seen the government’s secret evidence. “Someone who is subject to deportation and possibly torture in another country should have access to as much information as possible to defend their liberty,” he says.

At a minimum the accused individual should be allowed to discuss the case in confidence with the Special Advocate, whom the Government has already vetted, so as to be able adequately defend the case.

Moreover, whilst the process of Special Advocates seeking permission for contact and their letters being vetted is ostensibly to prevent sensitive information being leaked, the logic fails, critics say, on two points.

Firstly, the Special Advocates themselves have already been vetted and, indeed, selected by the government itself and are thus presumably held to be responsible and competent persons.

Secondly, the process of Special Advocates submitting their communications with the accused person for government vetting will inevitably undermine their relationship with the accused who will not be able to discuss their case in confidence. It also provides the Government’s legal team with advanced warning of the accused person’s proposed line of argument.

Some civil liberties activists say the Canadian government’s reaction to the Supreme Court ruling last February that aspects of the IRPA were unconstitutional has been tardy.

The Supreme Court gave the government a full year to amend the IRPA. The individuals concerned were still, however, subject to the Act.

However, it was eight months later – just four months before the deadline – that the amendment was tabled. Bill C-3 spent seven days in the House of Commons and passed through the liberal-dominated Canadian Senate with only two days of debate and a single day of committee hearings.

The bill passed the lower house by a 196-71 vote, with most Liberals supporting the Conservative government while the NDP and Bloc Québécois were opposed.

At the Commons committee stage, MPs heard on five occasions from Public Safety Minister, Stockwell Day or one of his staff and, after some pressure on the government, from two of the men under the security certificate regime.

The Government is accused of scaremongering to ensure the Bill passed without real scrutiny; MPs, Senators and opposition parties were warned that if the legislation was not passed they would be perceived as “soft on terrorism” and of jeopardizing Canadians by allowing ‘dangerous’ men to be freed.

Canada’s previous security certificate processes were criticised by right-wing politicians and journalists for what they said were unnecessary delays generated by accused persons being able to appeal against judgments at the certificate and deportation hearings sequentially.

The effect of Bill C-3, the Government therefore argues, will be to simplify the deportation process by running both appeal hearings against the certificates and deportation hearings concurrently.

Meanwhile, in Britain, the Special Advocate system has been criticised as legal window-dressing that doesn't really protect civil liberties as the advocates lack adequate resources, have a restricted legal mandate and can't get access to all the material put forward by the government against the accused.

Dear Friends,

I want to share my experience at the Hillary Clinton campaign speech in Houston, Texas on March 3rd.

It was a very well attended event. President Clinton gave a half hour speech mainly on the economy and the future of the country. My husband and I displayed placards that we prepared and took to the event.

We were at a vantage point from where the President could easily spot us and as he was being introduced by a fellow politician, Bill Clinton looked toward us, read the messege on the placard and gave a "thumbs-up".

The letter that was carried by me with some devastating pictures of the violence in North & East, could not be delivered as the secret service agents refused to accept any envelopes.

As President Clinton got into his vehicle ready to leave, we still continued to hold the placards and the person who sat next to President Clinton, got out of the vehicle, prompted by Mr Clinton, requested one of the secret service agents to collect both our (only our) placards.

To our utter surprise, the Agent came up to me and picked up the placard I was carrying and then gestured to my husband to hand over his as well and took it to the President who was inside the vehicle.

A few minutes later, the Agent brought the placards back to us with Bill Clinton's autograph!

Afterwards, some people came and asked us to show them the message on the placards that attracted Mr President, out of the hundreds of other slogans!

This shows that President Clinton recognises the plight of Sri Lankan Tamils and all the credit goes out to you all for having done a great job in exposing the situation in Sri Lanka!

The author identified four dominant themes that seriously impact on the sustainability of resettlement in the Batticaloa district. These are:

1. Lack of consultation and clarity
2. Lack of Preparedness and Planning
3. Restriction of Access and Mobility
4. Protection Concerns of the Displaced and Resettled Communities
Having looked at the first three themes in the first part of this article and started to look at the fourth theme (published in the last issues), the author now continues on other aspects of the fourth theme.

4. Protection Concerns of the Displaced and Resettled Communities (cont.)

Resettlement concerns in Vaharai and Batticaloa West
It is evident that the government is completely unprepared and under resourced to meet the daunting task of sustaining the returns and ensuring the long-term stability of communities affected by conflict. The government at the field level is very dependent on agencies to assist with the returnees’ shelter requirements, along with food, supplementary goods, livelihood assistance etc and most assistance given (especially in West Batticaloa) is largely donor-funded. Food security, livelihood stability, permanent shelter and security is in urgent need and should have been in place before the displaced were returned to the ‘liberated’ areas. There have been several plans presented in the forums in Colombo, but it appears as if the government has not backed it up with the required resources on time to translate them into action. People are left to fend for themselves with little government assistance and some NGO assistance which is inconsistent across areas.

Other than the protection concerns [discussed in the previous part of this series], several other issues plague the resettlement process. In brief –

• Livelihood Vulnerability
In Vaharai, long-term livelihood stability is a pressing concern. Communities rely heavily on the surrounding jungle areas for their economic survival. But this proves difficult – people are scared to move about alone and most jungle areas have restricted access. Farmers who have received seed paddy by agencies have either received it too late (and have missed the cultivating season) or are denied access to their paddy fields and now rely on subsistence farming as a means of survival.

The military has now banned all women under 20 from prawn farming. In one village, women have been asked to bring Rs. 100, a princely sum for many in the area, for a photo ID for prawn fishing – or else they will be denied fishing permits. Furthermore, areas previously known for good catches of fish now fall as ‘restricted areas’. In Arthuvaai at least a hundred to 150 families are completely dependent on fishing for their livelihoods but due to a navy checkpoint access is restricted. Even when permits are granted – the arbitrary way it is administered and the infeasible timing – makes it a struggle for the fishermen. The general uncertainty of a fisherman’s livelihood is further compounded by such measures.

The recent spate of resettlements in Batticaloa West took place on the 20th of November – just short of the paddy cultivating season. This also means that even small-scale cultivation or subsistence farming is impossible and this is made worse by the rains. As a result, income generating activities is at the standstill. Families that stored paddy before their displacement have returned to find it looted and cattle and livestock have all gone missing. Those who worked as labourers in paddy fields cannot return due to restricted access. The widespread shortage of rice in the district is taking its toll on the newly resettled – food is scarce and the general sentiment is that the situation is going to get much worse.

Of the 375 families resettled in Kittul, at least half rely on fishing as a means of survival. Local shop owners have supplied them with nets on condition that they sell their fish to them at a fixed price making it even harder for the families to make ends meet. Fixing the price of fish and even implementing a tax on fish is a frequent occurrence in Batticaloa West. There have also been repeated reports of the STF ‘borrowing’ the families’ motorbike or bicycle. Given the wide expanse of area and the need for people to now travel great distances to work/find work, this is severely delaying and hampering any means of income generation.

The sentiment among agencies is that livelihood assistance will have to continue for at least another 8 months or so – a daunting task given the increasing donor reluctance to fund conflict-prone areas. But it is clear that the security situation is not conducive for livelihood sustainability which means that the resettled have no choice but to wait. Livelihood restoration in the district is more than mere infusion of capital and resources – it requires stability, mobility and certainty.

• Housing needs
In Batticaloa West, the people were resettled before making any assessment or preparation for shelter. Most of their original shelters had been damaged, vandalised and looted. As a result when people were sent back a majority of them had to move into tents and temporary shelters. Their original houses of clay and Cajan have either fallen into disrepair due to the rains, or have been looted. The frequent rains have caused delays in construction work on transitional and permanent shelters.

UN and international agencies, who were not allowed to go in until recently, now are scampering to cover the communities’ immediate shelter needs (Cajan roofing, pipes, tents and ropes) on Government’s last minute request. But long housing needs and household necessities (like saucepans and other utensils) are still in dire need. The government has recently started to distribute Cajan roofing (as distribution was on the 12th of December) which is a positive sign.

In Vaaharai, where again people went back to looted and damaged houses (the damage due to shelling and artillery attack was heavy here) the situation has improved with the different agencies stepping into provide transitional shelters. The quality is mixed. While some meet the minimum standards, others are too fragile.

In some parts of the district under the government’s housing scheme, the North-East Housing Reconstruction Program (NEHRP), one scheme permits the newly resettled to receive grants in three instalments. The first two instalments of Rs. 50,000 and 60,000 have been paid and construction work has been completed up to a certain level. However, despite repeated requests for the third instalment, families have not yet received it. Complaints have been made to both the DS and the police but nothing has been done about it.

Under another scheme of the same program, the government has pledged to supply the building materials and bear the cost of labour. According to community members, the timber (coconut) and the tiles given are of very pure quality. The DS has promised to follow up on this but to date, no action has been taken.

In Vatavandi, a scheme of houses was handed over by the government to beneficiaries in a much-publicised ceremony. What has not been publicised however was that many of these houses are incomplete. Some houses have incomplete roofing, flooring and some even lack toilets, doors and windows. Again, complaints have been made repeatedly only to be met with excuses by the relevant government agents.

Sustainable returns and livelihood stability remains only a hope in Batticaloa West. People are far from settling into stability. In areas of Cenkaladi and Marapalaam returnees still live in schools and community buildings which have been damaged due to the conflict.

• Food security in Vaharai
The food situation in Vaharai is worsening. Families have been living on rations for over a year now and although these rations fulfil their calorie requirements, they by no way fulfil their nutritional requirements. . The Government initially is supposed to have promised 6 months of rations. But soon after resettlement in April 2007, the people only received rations for two weeks.

After prolonged gaps, some agencies stepped into fill the breach. The rice shortages have resulted in increased prices. The inability of fishermen to seek out their living has also resulted in exorbitant prices of fish. A coconut is Rs. 35 (as of December 2008); a kilo of rice is Rs. 80. Due to access restrictions, the rain and late cultivation, families struggle to make a living and the Rs 600 (which ends in January) a month given by SLRC is clearly not enough to survive with dignity.

According to the WFP-Government rationing system, resettled communities must be given 6 months worth of rations. However, given the shortage of rice in this country, the returnees in West Batticaloa have been given been compensated with wheat flour instead. The distribution mechanism is very erratic and leaves large gaps. 70% of the resettled villages are not receiving complimentary food and only 30% are receiving complimentary food. The timing of the return has meant that the communities have not been able to fully capitalise on the cultivation season. Thousands of families have missed out on the season and hence the region as a whole is entering into a situation of food scarcity.

Despite the much-publicised claims of liberating the East, stability in Batticaloa is a long-way away. As armed political parties fight for control, civilians are once again caught up in the ensuing political turmoil. The displaced and resettled suffer in the name of ‘security’ and it will be a long while before they begin to lead their lives with some degree of normalcy. The culture of impunity has widened and the sense of lawlessness palpable as violence, disappearances, round-ups and armed cadres are a way of life in the District. The issues discussed in this paper need to be advocated on – at international, national and district levels.

Despite the biblical injunction not to answer fools, an exception can be made for you, Mr. Ambassador.

You may deny it for all you are worth, the Tamils of Sri Lanka comprise a nation. There is ample evidence to show that the Tamils have lived in the island for centuries. The Tamils have preserved a language, religion and culture with which they are identified. It is a fact of history that there are two nations in the island – the Tamils and the Sinhalese.

Prime Minister SWRD Bandaranaike, has to bear the brunt for the deterioration of relations between the two peoples. His attempt to ram the Sinhala language down the throats of the Tamil people evoked the strongest resentment. This has a direct impact on the integrity of the island and its bifurcation.

The collapse of law and order begins with him. He is the progenitor of the series of anti- Tamil riots and pogroms which started with his infamous Sinhala Only Act of 1956. The riots of 1956, 1958, 1961, 1974, 1977, 1979, 1981, 1983, resulted in the destruction of Tamil lives and property.

Can you think of another South Asian country with a record like this? Can you blame the Tamil people for their urge to be free of the Sinhala yoke at any cost?

The Banaranaikes are the initiators of the state policies which precipitated and aggravated the island conflict. Language, anti-Tamil riots, colonization of Tamil lands, unleashing the military and the police on unarmed citizens and standardization of marks. Standardization is the euphemism for adding points to Sinhalese examination grades.

You are the only person in living memory to justify this evil. That Tamil students benefited from standardization is a blatant lie. Standardization is a nefarious education policy loaded against the Tamils.

The so-called father of the nation, D.S. Senanayaike, Sri Lanka’s first Prime Minister is the worst culprit. He disenfranchised a sizeable section of the Tamil people and started his policy of settling Sinhala colonists in Tamil lands calling it dry zone development.

There is no let up, colonization is still going on with military patronage. Colonization is a wedge in Sinhala hands for parceling Tamils into isolated villages for eventual annihilation.

You talk of Sri Lanka as a democracy. It is an ethnocracy fast descending into a theocracy.

Sinhala Buddhist priests hold the whip handle and of recent date they have set foot in the Parliament also. The constitution of 1978 has given expression to Sinhala Buddhist fundamentalism by giving the “foremost place to Buddhism”. What is more the priests and the all Sinhala military are busy installing Buddha statues in the Tamil and Muslim lands of the North and the East.

What type of democracy is this? What permeates the Sinhala consciousness is the pervasive belief that the Buddha bequeathed Sri Lanka exclusively to the Sinhalese people as their home and the home of Buddhism. This belief is set out clearly in Chapter 6 of the Mahavamsa.

We will come to the business of official languages. Tamil is an official language in name only. The 13th Amendment to the constitution adopted in 1987 declared Tamil as the other official language. The Amendment itself is as dead as the Dodo though some attempts are made to revitalize it.

Twenty years after Tamil was so enshrined the constitution guarantee of language parity is not implemented. In government offices, hospitals, police stations, and courts of law Tamil language has no official status. In government administered institutions from the highest to the lowest levels including Parliament down to the local councils including the grass root Grama Sevaka level Tamil is observed in the breach.

Can you digest this instance of a callous disregard of the Tamil people’s language rights? Nuwara Eliya district with an 80% Tamil population has the largest concentration of Tamils outside the North-East.

It does not have a single Tamil Administrative officer. The posts f District Secretary, Additional District Secretary, Assistant District Secretary are held by Sinhalese. All five Regional Secretaries and their assistants are also Sinhalese.

It is the same with Hatton, Diekoya and Talawakelle where a large concentration of Tamils are found. Even the electoral lists on the basis of which parliamentary elections are held in these districts are in Sinhala only.

Mr. Ambassador you have a big faith in the Sri Lankan judiciary. The Tamils have lost that faith long ago. The Sri Lanka Judiciary is part and parcel of the Sinhala monolith. If it grants justice to the Tamils occasionally it is a deviation.

The landmark case of the eviction of Tamil lodgers in Colombo is a rare instance where the Supreme Court has driven to mete out justice because the international community was appalled at this violation of human rights.

When the Tamils of Muthur East filed a judicial application in the same court for the restoration of their lands seized by the Sinhala military, what did this institution do? They refused to entertain this application on the grounds “that it is an emotional issue”. It is clear that the Supreme Court is on the side of the military. The courts show a marked reluctance to decide against the military or the police.

Have you heard of the Bindinuwewa rehabilitation centre massacre of October 25, 2000? More than 27 young Tamil detainees of this centre were killed by Sinhala thugs ably assisted by the Sinhala police. 41 persons were charged with murder. Gradually all had been released by the courts on the grounds of lack of evidence. The last 4 accused were released by the Supreme Court on 27 May 2005 on the same grounds of lack of evidence.

The Sri Lankan system of justice gives immunity to offenders in police or military uniform. This has occurred umpteen times with an occasional deviation from the norm.

You say that Tamils are living in safety and peace among the Sinhalese. That is a cliché handed out by the government propaganda machine. Those who can afford it have fled the country and that applies to Muslims and even affluent Sinhalese.

Do you know that an extortion gang is operating in Colombo with the blessings of the triumvirate led by the President himself? Have you heard about the death squads roaming the streets in so-called white motor vans for abducting innocent Tamils? The abductions, disappearances and unsolved murder rate in the city is a crying shame.

The Tamils of Colombo have no choice, if they get the chance they will sell their property and seek safety in distant lands.

Sri Lankan is a basket case. It is a failed state. It is Sinhala mob rule and every facet of life is dominated by ethnicity.

The underlying root of the conflict in Sri Lanka is the Tamil perception that they had been denied their rightful place right from the days of independence. The Tamil struggle for self-determination boils down to egalitarianism, justice, honour, democracy, pluralism, human rights and dignity.

You may wonder why separatism refuses to die in Sri Lanka. The Sinhalese refuse to let it, they want to subdue the Tamils militarily. Accommodation is not their books. These is no conscious effort to remove Tamil insecurity and to demonstrate that they are equal citizens. The Sinhala state continues to alienate the Tamils by bombing and shelling them and carrying out a deliberate scorching earth policy.

Look Mr. Ambassador you have your Sinhala army, police and government machinery. We have our Tamil apparatus too. The lines are drawn and the twain shall never meet.

Sri Lanka was hit by scathing criticism over its human rights record last week, with its government fingered over hundreds of "disappearances" and an influential international panel of observers storming off the island.

A team of top foreign judicial and forensic experts said it was quitting the war-torn nation because Colombo had failed to seriously investigate a string of high-profile cases including the massacre of aid workers.

The International Independent Group of Eminent Persons (IIGEP), comprising experts from Australia, Britain, Canada, India, Japan, France, The Netherlands, and the United States as well as the European Union and UN High Commissioner for Human Rights, said a government probe into abuses did not meet even basic minimum standards.

"There has been and continues to be a lack of political and institutional will to investigate and inquire into the cases before the (government) commission," the IIGEP said in a statement.

The panel was created two years ago by President Mahinda Rajapaksa to oversee the government's official investigation into 16 cases involving abuses in the war between government troops and Tamil Tigers.

The existence of the group has helped the government allay international concern over the killings, abductions and forcible disappearances plaguing the country and its resignation will almost certainly increase calls for the creation of a UN human rights monitoring group, AP reported.

The international panel has repeatedly accused the government commission of moving slowly, failing to protect witnesses and operating without transparency. It has also accused the attorney general's office, which functions as the commission's legal counsel, of "serious conflicts of interest."

In a harshly worded statement Thursday, the 11-member panel said its suggestions had been ignored or rejected. Government correspondence with the group was "characterized by a lack of respect and civility," and officials accused the panel of exceeding its mandate and interfering with Sri Lanka's sovereignty, the statement said.

In a written response to the panel's resignation letter, Attorney General C.R. De Silva accused the group of working against Sri Lanka's interests.

"What the eminent persons appear to be interested in is to ensure an international condemnation of Sri Lanka through the expression of certain views prejudicial to the interests of Sri Lanka based on certain untested hypothesis and distorted facts and circumstances," he said.

He also denied the panel had the right to disband itself, and said Rajapaksa would simply appoint new foreign experts to the group "who are likely to work according to the mandate of the (panel) and in constructive partnership with the commission of inquiry."

In their statement, the international group harshly criticized the conduct of the government's probe, saying it has "fallen far short of the transparency and compliance with basic international norms and standards pertaining to investigations and inquiries."

"There is a climate of threat, direct and indirect, to the lives of anyone who might identify persons responsible for human rights violations, including those who are likely to have been committed by the security forces," it said.

The move is a major blow to the image of the island's government, which pulled out of a truce with Tamil Tigers in January and is locked into an escalating battle with them across the north.

In addition, a report from New York-based Human Rights Watch (HRW) - entitled "Recurring Nightmare: State Responsibility for 'Disappearances' and Abductions in Sri Lanka" - added weight to calls for tough international monitoring.

The watchdog said United Nations rights monitoring was desperately needed following more than 1,500 cases of abductions in the past two years.

Most of the victims were ethnic minority Tamils from the island's restive north and east, Human Rights Watch said, describing the situation as a "national crisis."

HRW's deputy Asia director Elaine Pearson said President Rajapakse, "once a rights advocate, has now led his government to become one of the world's worst perpetrators of enforced disappearances."

There was no direct reaction from the government, which has consistently and furiously rejected calls to allow foreign rights monitors to set up shop in Sri Lanka.

However, Sri Lanka's minister for human rights, Mahinda Samarasinghe, said Colombo was an example to other nations battling "terrorism."

"We are proud of our record in dealing with terrorism, whilst minimising harm to civilians," Samarasinghe was quoted as saying in Geneva, where he is attending a meeting of the UN Human Rights Council.

"We hope that... when dealing with terrorism in other countries, our circumspection in this regard should be emulated," he was quoted as saying.

Sri Lanka has in the past accused international diplomats raising rights concerns as "terrorists" and supporters of the Tamil Tigers, who are leading a drawn out campaign for independence for the island's Tamils.

Since fighting between the government and the rebel Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE) escalated in 2006, Human Rights Watch said the military and pro-government armed groups had abducted and killed hundreds.

In 2006 and 2007, the UN Working Group on Enforced and Involuntary Disappearances recorded more new "disappearance" cases from Sri Lanka than from any other country in the world, the report said.

"Disappeared" persons are commonly subjected to torture or extra-judicial execution, HRW said, adding that the vast majority of cases it documented indicated the involvement of state security forces.

In many cases, the group said, security forces made individuals "disappear" because of their alleged links with the LTTE.

Clergy, teachers, humanitarian aid workers, and journalists also were targeted, the report alleged.

Colombo pulled out of a tattered 2002 truce with the LTTE in January in the belief that it would be able to crush the guerrillas and regain areas under their control.

But HRW's Pearson, calling for a UN mission to monitor abuses, said: "The end of the ceasefire means this crisis will continue until the government starts taking serious measures."

The conflict in Sri Lanka is inextricably linked with the demand for secession, deceptively designed to wrench the sympathy of the international community. Last month, the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE), urged the United Nations to recognize "Tamil sovereignty" and end the conflict in Sri Lanka.

The international community must be told that, beneath a plausible veneer, the demand for a separate state for Tamils of Sri Lanka is rooted in fiction. There never was at any time in Sri Lankan history "a traditional Tamil homeland" in the north and east of Sri Lanka, as claimed by the LTTE.

If historically, the LTTE demand for a separate state is a downright fabrication, what is the case they can make to justify a separate state? The claim of discrimination is made in relation to language, standardization in education, justice, etc., for Tamils.

Standardization or statistical weighting was designed to help disadvantaged students from rural districts irrespective of their race and was never designed to discriminate against Tamils. Such positive discrimination exists in other countries too, to grant relief to the underprivileged.

Thus, rural Tamils along with others, benefited from standardization, which is not what the Tigers would have you believe. Consequently, the urban students, with access to better educational facilities, were disadvantaged through standardization, among whom were Sinhalese and Tamils.

Sinhala and Tamil are official languages today and English is a link language. One cannot fault the administration, which came to office in 1956 with an election pledge to make Sinhala, spoken by nearly 70 percent of the population, the official language. The mistake, one can argue, was not to have the foresight to recognize Tamil as an official language as well. Remember, in 1950, the Indian Constitution declared Hindi the official language of the union and think of the ethnic diversity of India.

If anyone says that Tamils cannot seek justice through courts, it is a downright fabrication. Take the landmark Supreme Court judgment in June 2007 on eviction of Tamil lodgers from Colombo. Many are the examples in which Tamils have vindicated their rights guaranteed under the constitution. Other examples are the case of Ramupillai v. Ministry of Public Administration (1991) and Vinyagamoorthy v. Army Commander (1997).

True, the majority of today's Sinhala community comprising 74.5 percent, is Buddhist. However, the multiethnic, multireligious tapestry of Sri Lankan society, older than 2,500 years, has been enriched by the threads of racial amity and tolerance. The Sinhalese, Tamils, Muslims, Burghers, Malays and others share a strong sense of harmony unique to Sri Lanka.

Furthermore, even though the LTTE is attempting to establish a mono-ethnic separate state for about 12 percent of "Sri Lankan Tamils" in the north and east, ("Indian Tamils" comprising 4.6 percent of the population are part of our democratic fabric), more than half of that population now lives in safety and peace among the Sinhalese and other communities in the south.

If Tamils are being discriminated against as alleged, why would they prefer to live among the Sinhalese than under the LTTE?

Last month, an FBI announcement said "No, it's not al Qaeda or Hezbollah or even Hamas.... The Tamil Tigers are among the most dangerous and deadly extremists in the world."

No one knows this claim better than Sri Lankans, Tamils included, which is why the government is continuing military operations against Tigers, to free the people and wrest the land away from this terrorist group. President Mahinda Rajapaksa has consistently said the answer to the conflict will be a negotiated political solution that is fair to all communities. The dilemma is with whom is he going to negotiate? Can it be the LTTE, "the most dangerous and deadly extremists in the world," for the seventh time since 1985?

Sri Lanka is one of the oldest democracies in South Asia, and despite the relentless onslaught of terror unleashed by Tigers, democracy still survives in our island. While the United States pursues new horizons to nurture democracy, it needs to be alert to the anti-democratic forces that stalk vulnerable democracies like Sri Lanka.

Sri Lanka has no Pledge of Allegiance to its flag. If it had one, it would be no different than that of the United States: "One nation indivisible, with liberty and justice for all." The United States needs to afford Sri Lanka the strength to remain "one nation indivisible."

The Army-backed paramilitary group, the Tamil Makkal Viduthalai Pulikal party (TMVP), has won a landslide victory in the first elections to be held in eastern Sri Lanka for more than 10 years.

The TMVP or Karuna Group, set up by renegade Tamil Tiger leader, Karuna, won every local council in and around Batticaloa city, officials said.

Human rights groups and opposition politicians say that a climate of violence and chaos has tainted the election and have accused the TMVP of waging a campaign of violence ahead of the voting.

Much of the violence has been blamed on the TMVP, who have been accused of demanding protection money from businessmen and routinely killing people.

Rasiah Thurairatnam, who ran as an independent candidate in Batticaloa, told the AFP news agency that people "voted out of fear" for the TMVP.

He alleged serious irregularities by the TMVP at many polling stations.

"This is a victory for violence, and it will elicit serious repercussions from the people," he said. "I see this as a license for extortion and child abduction."

The main opposition UNP and the Tamil National Alliance (TNA), a coalition of Sri Lanka’s four largest Tamil parties, boycotted the election for control of eight local government bodies and Batticaloa municipal council.

“The elections are conducted in an atmosphere of terror, intimidation, displacement, disappearances, non-participation of mainstream Tamil political parties and the persecution of media,” Batticaloa District TNA MP, S. Jeyanandamoorthy told reporters.

“The Tamil National Alliance is totally boycotting these polls. Had our party fielded candidates, they would have been brutally murdered by the paramilitary groups.”

“The Sri Lanka government is conducting these elections as a prelude for permanent separation of East from the North; to institutionalise the forcibly altered ethnic composition of the East; to legitimise its genocidal agenda to the outside world and to get foreign funds for the oppression of Tamils in the name of their development.”

“The Batticaloa election has ignored the people’s rights completely,” UNP leader Ranil Wickremesinghe said.

He described it as an election through which the Government has handed over the East to a terrorist group after taking it over from another terrorist group, he added, referring to the TMVP and the LTTE respectively.

“This is nothing but State terrorism,” Mr. Wickremesinghe said.

The TMVP helped Sri Lankan government forces force the LTTE out of the region last year.

In the elections in Batticaloa town, the TMVP ran under the banner of the ruling alliance of President Mahinda Rajapakse.

Rights groups and diplomats have questioned the government's decision to endorse the TMVP, which the United States this week said “used coercion, extortion, rape, and murder to force children and adults to join their ranks,.”

The local elections are seen as a dry run for a wider provincial vote in the north and east -- the government's blueprint for devolution in minority Tamil areas it says will go hand-in-hand with its push to crush the Tamil Tigers militarily.

The government, itself increasingly isolated over its human rights record as a 25-year civil war escalates, gave the armed faction free rein in the eastern Batticaloa district for months as the military battled the rebels.

President Rajapaksa's administration has long refused to disarm the TMVP, arguing it could not find anyone carrying guns to disarm -- despite the fact residents and aid workers could until a few months ago.

The TMVP reportedly ‘won’ more than 70% of the vote on Monday. The lection commissioner said overall voter turnout was more than 60 percent.

TMVP personnel were actively engaged in transporting voters to the booths and were also seen visiting households checking civilians' participation in the election, reports said.

At most of the voting booths, Police was strictly checking identity cards between 7:00 a.m. and 9:30 a.m. However, the checking was relaxed later. A number males who turned out to vote at Kalkudaa were drunk, according to eyewitness reports.

The TMVP’s founder, Karuna, a former Colonel in the LTTE, was sentenced to nine months' imprisonment by a British court in January, on charges of identity fraud. Reports say that nominally he still leads the party, although it is reported to be divided as to whether he should remain in place.

The TMVP president, who goes by the nom de guerre of Pillaiyan, told reporters that his group still has guns for security.

A host of other former militant groups who joined the democratic mainstream in the 1980s also took part in the poll, as well as the island's main Muslim party.

"In Batticaloa, not only TMVP, many other armed groups are also there. Some of the Muslims also have arms," said Kingsley Rodrigo, chairman of the People's Alliance for Free and Fair Elections, the island's main election monitoring body.

"They have been keeping the arms with them. So I am not going to say this election is a free and fair one."