Human rights activists protest again Sri Lanka government

Followup

Several hundred human rights activists participated in a protest event "Get On The Bus (GOTB)" sponsored by Amnesty International, in New York Friday afternoon outside the Sri Lanka consulate in midtown, protesting against violence against media in Sri Lanka, attendees to the event said.

SRI LANKAN SUICIDE ATTACK CONDEMNED BY UN HUMAN RIGHTS CHIEF

New York,
Apr 11 2008 5:00PM
The United Nations’ top human rights official has deplored the suicide bombing last weekend at the start of a marathon in Sri Lanka that claimed the lives of at least 15 people, including a minister in the national Government.

Louise Arbour, the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights, issued a statement yesterday in which she also extended her condolences to the families of the victims.

“Such violence shows a complete disregard for the right to life and security of Sri Lankans, and breaches the most fundamental principles of international law,” she said.

Last Sunday’s bombing killed Highways Minister Jeyaraj Fernandopulle, the national athletics coach and a former top marathoner among others as they waited to see off runners in Weliweriya. It also injured dozens of athletes and onlookers.

Ms. Arbour said the attack is alleged to have been committed by the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE), which has been fighting a decades-long civil conflict with the Government. The rebel group is also accused of other recent attacks, including the bombings of public transport and other public places.“

I remind the LTTE and other armed groups that attacks which directly or indiscriminately target civilians are crimes under international law. Violent attacks on people taking no active part in hostilities are strictly prohibited.”

The High Commissioner noted that the violence also undermined efforts to develop “a meaningful dialogue on improving the situation” of Sri Lanka’s Tamil minority

Sri Lanka: mounting civilian casualties as conflict persists

AMNESTY INTERNATIONAL
PUBLIC STATEMENT

AI Index: ASA 37/017/2008 (Public)
Date: 09 April 2008

Sri Lanka: mounting civilian casualties as conflict persists

Amnesty International condemns the suicide bomb attack of 6 April 2008 in Gampaha district,
Weliveriya, near Colombo. The bomb blast killed at least 12 people, including Jeyaraj
Fernandopulle, a senior government minister, and injured over 90 people including children. The
Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE) has been blamed for the bomb attack that targeted a local sports event. Amnesty International reiterates that attacks targeting civilians and indiscriminate attacks violate international humanitarian law which binds all sides to the conflict and constitute war crimes. All such attacks must cease immediately and unconditionally, and perpetrators must be brought to justice.

The organisation is alarmed that since the abrogation of the ceasefire agreement in Sri
Lanka on 16 January 2008,1 the conflict continues to involve the intentional targeting of civilians
and indiscriminate attacks. According to the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC),
180 civilians died in the first six weeks of 2008, and nearly 270 more were injured in a series of
attacks on civilian buses, railway stations and individuals in Colombo, Dambulla, Kebhitigollewa,
Madhu, Okkampitiya and Welli Oya.2 The ICRC has expressed concern that “since the start of the year civilian casualties had gone up as the number of indiscriminate attacks had grown in the
north, east and south of the country.”3

Since 2006, the conflict in Sri Lanka between government forces, the LTTE and other
armed groups has escalated and has continued to be marked by widespread human rights abuses and violations of international humanitarian law.4 These have included unlawful killings; torture and other ill-treatment; recruitment of child soldiers; abductions and enforced disappearances.

There are reports of both sides bombing and shelling schools and hospitals5. Hundreds of civilians have been killed; hundreds others injured and more than 200,000 people have been displaced.

Abuses by the LTTE

The LTTE has attracted increasing criticism since the 1980s for its use of child soldiers, targeting
of civilians and indiscriminate attacks, including using suicide bombers. During the conflict the
LTTE has also endangered civilians by sheltering among them and by launching attacks from
civilian areas. Its members have also abducted and killed civilians.

1 With the abrogation of the CFA the mission responsible for monitoring its implementation, the Sri Lankan Monitoring Mission (SLMM) has terminated.

2 ‘Sri Lanka: Civilian casualties reaching appalling levels’ Geneva, Colombo – The International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC), News Release, 13 February 2008.

3 ‘Sri Lanka: Civilians bear the brunt of surge in violence’, ICRC statement, 8 February 2008.

4 AI Media Briefing, ‘Sri Lanka: urgent need for effective protection of civilians as conflict intensifies’, AI Index: ASA 37/009/2007; AI News Service No: 068, 5 April 2007.

5 Sri Lanka’s Human Rights Crisis, Asia Report N°135 – 14 June 2007, International Crisis Group.

Whilst armed opposition groups are not themselves parties to international treaties, they
are nevertheless bound to observe the provisions of Article 3 common to the four Geneva
Conventions of 1949 which apply to internal (non-international) armed conflict such as the
situation in Sri Lanka, as well as customary international rules applicable to such conflicts.

More recently, the LTTE has been deliberately targeting civilians in an extended series of
attacks.6 It is a basic principle of international humanitarian law that persons fighting in armed
conflict must, at all times, distinguish between civilians and combatants and between civilian
objects and military objectives. The "principle of distinction", as this rule is known, is one of the
cornerstones of international humanitarian law. It is a rule of customary international humanitarian law, binding on all parties to armed conflicts, whether international or non-international.

It is not unlawful to target combatants for attack, where legal means and methods are
used; however specific rules aim at protecting civilians and other non-combatants. They must not be the object of attack. Indiscriminate attacks, including attacks on military objectives that are expected to cause excessive loss of civilian lives or damage to civilian objects (the principle of
proportionality) are similarly prohibited, as is the use of civilians as "human shields".

Civilians caught in the crossfire; ongoing hostilities around Madhu Church

As suicide bombs kill and injure civilians in the south of Sri Lanka, ongoing offensives in the north
and east continue to affect families in conflict-affected areas. One continuing example is the
situation near Madhu Church in Mannar District in the north of Sri Lanka. Civilians living in the
vicinity have been caught up in hostilities between the government and the LTTE and normal life has been disrupted on several occasions during 2007 and during 2008. Part of the district is
under the control of the government and part under the control of the LTTE.

As a result of intensifying fighting, a historic statue of the Virgin Mary has been removed
for safety from the Madhu shrine.7 The LTTE is reported to have used communities around the
Church as ‘human shields’ and Amnesty International has in the past raised concerns about the
recruitment of children by the LTTE from families living in the locality. The government for its part in April 2008 reportedly shelled civilian areas around the Church in April 2008. The Bishop of Mannar, Rayappu Joseph has repeatedly appealed to both sides to respect the Madhu area as a no-conflict zone.

Under international humanitarian law, parties to armed conflicts, including noninternational
ones such as in Sri Lanka, must take special care to protect cultural property,
including buildings dedicated to religion, from damage (unless there is imperative military
necessity to do otherwise).

Civilians are in dire need of strengthened protection. The escalation of the conflict has
resulted in a spiral of civilian causalities. Both the government and the LTTE are believed
responsible for serious human rights abuses and violations of international humanitarian law. All
parties must respect their international legal obligations and immediately stop all such violations,
and in particular indiscriminate attacks.

6 See, ‘Sri Lanka: Amnesty International condemns civilian killings’, 28 November 2007, AI Index: ASA 37/020/2007, http://www.amnesty.org/en/library/asset/ASA37/020/2007/en/dom-
ASA370202007en.html and http://www.amnesty.org/en/for-media/press-releases/sri-lanka-rightlife- civilians-disregarded-conflict-intensifies-20080204

7 ‘Madhu Matha moved to LTTE area’, 3 April 2008, BBC Sinhala,
http://www.bbc.co.uk/sinhala/news/story/2008/04/080403_madhushrine.shtml.

Recommendations To the LTTE and other armed groups

· To stop immediately any direct or indiscriminate attacks on civilians, condemn all such
acts publicly and state that they would not be tolerated;

· To immediately suspend any persons suspected of participating in (including ordering)
violations of international law from any position or placement in which they may commit
additional violations;

· To ensure that their forces take special care to avoid damage to cultural property,
including buildings dedicated to religion.

To the Sri Lankan government

· To ensure that all security force personnel respect obligations under international human
rights humanitarian law

· To ensure that its armed forces take special care to avoid damage to cultural property,
including buildings dedicated to religion;

To allow the establishment of an independent, international human rights monitoring presence on the ground without delay.

Illankai Tamil Arasu Kadchi will not contest the Eastern Elections

Statement issued By Illankai Tamil Arasu Kadchi (I.T.A.K) Tamil National Alliance (T.N.A) regarding the Eastern Elections.

President Mahinda Rajapakse who was elected to office in November 2005 by a wafer thin majority with the support of the Jathika Hela Urumaya, (J.H.U) the Mahajana Eksath Peramuna, (M.E.P) and Janatha Vimukthi Peramuna, (J.V.P) has adopted an ultra Sinhala nationalist role and every decision that he has made whether it be political military or humanitarian has had as it's objective the fostering of ultra Sinhala nationalism. He has projected himself too, as an ultra Sinhala nationalist leader.

So called efforts, to evolve a political solution to the national conflict, have been merely a charade, as has been clearly demonstrated with the proposal after eighteen months of deliberations, to implement provisions which have existed in the Sri Lankan Constitution for more than 19 years. What is proposed to be implemented is less than what the existing provisions provided for; a bifurcated North - East as opposed to the original merged North - East - with no police nor land powers, and even the original provisions vastly diluted by judicial interpretation.

The preponderantly Tamil linguistic contiguous Northern and Eastern Provinces were merged following the 1987 International treaty between India and Sri Lanka. The merged territory existed for eighteen years and was accepted by four successive Presidents of Sri Lanka. The J.V.P was able to obtain in a fundamental rights application, a judicial declaration, after a period of eighteen years, that there was a procedural flaw in effecting the merger. The historical Tamil inhabitants of the East who sought to intervene were denied the right to intervene and fully and effectively state their case. President Mahinda Rajapakse was offered the required support to legislatively remedy the alleged procedural flaw, and thereby uphold an international treaty, which had been upheld by all four of his predecessors. He was cautioned by the International Community that the existing territorial arrangement pertaining to the merged North - East was the corner stone of the peace process, and that it should not be disturbed. President Rajapakse chose to follow the ultra Sinhala nationalist path, and protect his image as an ultra Sinhala nationalist leader. He thereby denied the historical Tamil speaking inhabitants, the benefits of the Indo – Sri Lanka international treaty.

The Mahinda Rajapakse Government commenced intense Military attacks in the preponderantly Tamil linguistic contiguous North – East accompanied by severe aerial bombardment of and the firing of multi barrel rocket launchers into civilian populated villages. Though it was claimed that the Military attacks were aimed at the L.T.T.E, the victims were largely Tamil and also in some instances Muslim civilians. Very many hundreds of civilians were killed. Several hundreds of civilians were maimed and seriously injured. Civilian property inclusive of houses, plantations, crops, livestock, farming and fishing equipment, were destroyed. Over 500,000 Tamil Civilians have been displaced, rendered destitute and impoverished. Public buildings such as places of worship and school buildings have been destroyed. Meanwhile, extra judicial killings and enforced disappearances of individual Tamils, particularly in the North – East and also in other parts of the country, by sections of the Sri Lankan armed forces and para military groups collaborating with the Sri Lankan armed forces is a regular occurrence. This is done to terrorise the Tamils and compel them to flee the country.

The military attacks of the Rajapakse Government are continuing and the ultimate objective of the Rajapakse Government is to militarily subdue and subjugate the Tamil speaking civilian population. Not being willing nor able to evolve an acceptable political solution, the Rajapakse Government would attempt to impose on the Tamil Speaking people in the North East some worthless political arrangement.

Hurriedly holding an election in the bifurcated East is a diabolical step in this direction.

As a smokescreen for all its misdeeds against the Tamil People, the Rajapakse Government has entered into an alliance with a Tamil para military group the T.M.V.P, and is using the said group to achieve it's ulterior objectives.

The Rajapakse Government's clear aim is to rebut the legitimate political goals of the Tamil speaking people, for the right to substantial self rule based upon the principle of internal self determination in the areas that they have historically inhabited, and to reverse whatever progress has been made in that direction. It is also the objective of the Rajapakse Government to Sinhalasise the Eastern sector of the North Eastern region, in the guise of development, and to achieve this purpose, have declared certain parts of the Eastern sector as High Security Zones, Industrial Zones, Environmental Zones and so on. The Government which needs funds to fulfill this objective of Sinhalasising the Eastern sector needs a Tamil lackey as a front to raise funds for development.

The T.M.V.P which is at the mercy of the Rajapakse Government is prepared to follow the directives of the Rajapakse Government. The Rajapakse Government is also using the T.M.V.P to compel and coerce the Tamil people to vote for the T.M.V.P, which the Rajapakse Government would claim as support by the Tamil people for the policies of his Government. The Government expects the Tamil people who have suffered immensely by reason of the military attacks and who live in a military environment, to be submissive to the demands of the armed T.M.V.P. The T.M.V.P is a Para-military group well armed and with the license to punish the Tamil people defying their demands after the elections. The law enforcement machinery has never taken any action against the T.M.V.P despite their frequent transgressions of the law. Both the T.M.V.P and the Tamil people are aware of this.

No other Government since independence has inflicted such immense harm on the Tamil people as this Government has done in the past two years. The Tamil speaking people should not fall into the dangerous trap that is being laid to bring about their downfall in their areas of historical habitation. This is an election at which through the visible or invisible fire and muscle power of the T.M.V.P and Government armed forces, President Rajapakse hopes to implement his insidious political agenda.

The Illankai Tamil Arasu Kadchi (I.T.A.K) after very careful consideration has taken the decision that it should not compromise on its fundamental political principles and be seen as being a participant in an electoral process the objective of which is diametrically opposed to such fundamental principles and a reversal of what the Tamil people have stood for, during more than the past half a century. For these reasons the I.T.A.K will not contest the Eastern Elections.

Mavai S.Senathirajah

General Secretary

Illankai Tamil Arasu Kadchi

R.Sampanthan
Parliamentary Group Leader
Illankai Tamil Arasu Kadchi ( Tamil National Alliance )

1,200 Activists Descend on NYC to Demand Protection of Journalists in Sri Lanka

Human Rights Demonstrations Planned Outside NYC Offices of Governments of Sri Lanka

(New York) -- More than 1000 Amnesty International activists, primarily students, from more than 10 states will converge in New York City on April 11 for a series of demonstrations at foreign consulates and United Nations (UN) missions to protest human rights abuses in Sri Lanka. The demonstrations are part of the 13th annual "Get on the Bus" (GOTB), organized by Amnesty International USA Group 133, of Somerville, MA.

Activists will call for Sri Lankan government to investigate and prosecute those responsible for the 2006 murder of journalist Subramaniyam Sugirdharajan. At least 10 media workers have been killed in Sri Lanka since the beginning of 2006

Get on the Bus is the largest volunteer-organized Amnesty International event in the country. The first event, in 1996, had 30 people; this year's demonstrations are expected to be the largest ever. For more information about Get On The Bus, please see: http://www.gotb.org/

WHO: Amnesty International activists from across the Northeast

WHEN: Friday, April 11, 2008

WHAT: Speakers Panel: St. Bartholomew' s Church, 109 E. 50th St, 11:00am-12:45pm

Demonstrations at:The Sri Lankan Mission to the UN: 41st St and 3rd Ave, 4:25pm-5:00pmSide Action: Indian Consulate: 64th St and 5th Ave, 1:05pm-1:40pm