Commission on Human
Rights
An appeal to
The United Nations
Commission on Human Rights
Fifty-sixth Session
20 March 28 April 2000
Contents
Page
TCHR appeal to the 56th
session 5
Reports :
1 - Assassination of a Human rights defender
Kumar
Ponnambalam
Extracts from TCHR report to 55th session 7
Travel to Jaffna refused 8
Open letter to President
Chandrika Kumaratunga
Shot dead -
10
Killing claimed - Son gave evidence 11
Urgent action of TCHR
Member
European Parliament statement
12
Sri Lanka government accused
13
Ponnambalam honored
14
If killing not by LTTE - no investigation!
President Chrdrika’s
condolence
Why was “Shantha” in the
PSD not questioned?
Urgent Action of TCHR on
cover-up and manipulations 15
So far no-one identified
by eyewitnesses 16
2 - Economic, Social and Cultural Rights
Right to Food 17 Starvation
in the Vanni
Government
Agents appeal for food
Right to Education 18 Council of NGOs statement
Pre-school education
Sinhala text book humiliating Tamils
Hindu school with Buddhist priest 19
Police block University students protest
Muslim admission opposed one teacher for 70 students 20
UNICEF Colombo (September
1999)
Right to Health 21
Drug
shortage NGOs council report - UNICEF
Rights to work 22
NGOs council report Discrimination in selection 23
Fishermen protest over withdrawal UN aid
Plantation
workers
Colonisation 23
Ref. to “Sinhala
Colonisation”- addendum to this appeal
3 - Civil and political rights
Arbitrary
arrest and detention 24
Council of NGOs situation report
Released and re-arrested
Detention order on Government Agent
3000 Tamils arrested
Tamils arrested in Colombo (since July 1999) 25
Torture
Head covered with petrol and chilli fumes 26
Judge rules on excessive torture
Woman tortured in custody
Nail and teeth removed - JMO 27
Student tortured
Disappearances 28 Three missing in Amparai Amnesty appeal
Missing
“can’t be traced” says Ministry of Defence
Ministry of
Defence on disappearances in Jaffna
Amnesty calls for independent inquiry 29
Fate of missing in Jaffna unknown!
Summary
executions UNDP says 55,000 killed in Sri Lanka
30
Skulls and skeletons found
Neelan Thiruchelvam killed 32
Ten killed in election rally
Massacres 33 Puthukudyiruppu
ICRC confirmation Amnesty express concern
Fifty-six killed in Amparai - Sinhala veera vithana
Madhu Church 34
ICRC Amnesty
Urgent Action of the TCHR 35
No action on Batticaloa massacres
36
Early exhumation Government investigators visit 38
Skull unearthed Names of Army officials available 39
Kumar
Ponnambalam denied travel to Jaffna
Many locations identified Rape/murder home found
40
Rajapakse seeks legal advice 41
AG department on Chemmani exhumation
Filled up pit 42
Army commanders intefering with investigation
President of MPGA arrested by the army
Skeletons
found in Chemmani (in date sequence)
Magistrate instructs government to complete investigation 44
Extracts
from TCHR report to 55th Session
Chemmani
Road closed Smoke visible Rajapakse
assaulted by prison guards
TCHR raises questions 45
Prison killings since 1983 46
Protest of political detainees more joins the fast
One murdered, 33 injured
- More violence -
Second death ICRC Rep.
Injured 47
Detainees in Welikada
prison assaulted
Prisoners died of gun
shot, Magistrate
Freedom of Expression
Priest threatened New ID cards for Trincomalee 48
Pass system
in Batticaloa
Journalist
demonstration stopped by police
Editor
questioned
Member of
Parliament killed - Censorship imposed 49
Editor and sub editor interrogated
Presidential
Security Division threatens Editor 50
Call for Buddhists
to “Gun Down” Dr. Jayalath
Election
violence and Executive Presidency
277 Complaints recorded during the election 52
President
can kill, steal and sell
Demonstration
against Executive Presidency
Presidential
election challenged in Courts 53
Independence of judiciary, administration of justice
Bail application by detainees 54
1641
Fundamental rights cases in five years
Impunity 55
Religious
intolerance
Hindu Priest arrested 56
Historic
Hindu Temple land for Army camp
Emergency regulations and Prevention of Terrorism Act
57
4 - Violence against women
TCHR statistics on rape
59
Raped and shot at genitals
Raped body exhumed
Widowed mother gang
raped 60
Mother and daughter sexually harassed
Mother gang raped and
murdered 61
Urgent Action of the TCHR
5 - Rights of the child
Two children killed in Puthukudiyiruppu 62
School can be place of
danger 63
Sexual harassment
13 year old girl gang
raped
6 - Displaced persons
Displaced by recent military operations 64
Relief cut since 1997
Arbitrary
arrest / Detention 65
Extra judicial killings / Summary
executions 73
Enforced or involuntary
disappearances 82
Rape / Torture and others 84
Summary of
fishermen killed and seriously injured in recent years
Killed 93
Seriously injured 98
Equipment and property damage 99
ANNEXES :
Press
release of the TCHR on Human Rights Day 102
Human
Rights Watch - 2000 103
Catholics
Appeal to Pope and UN Secretary General 106
Human Rights agencies appeal to UN for peace
Press release by Mr. A.
Vinayagamoorthy - Human Rights Lawyer 107
UNICEF report September 1999 108
It’s time for action
Norwegian
mediation Sinhala point of view 109
Peace with war by Mr. S. Sivanayagam
111
Report of the U.S. Department of
State February 25, 2000 112
20
March 2000
The
Chairperson and Members
56th
Session of the
Commission
on Human Rights
United
Nations
1211
Geneva 10
Switzerland
Honoured Sirs / Mesdames,
First of all, we extend our congratulations to you for
your appointment as the Chairperson of the 56th session. Unlike the past years,
this year marks the birth of the new millennium - we, the Tamil Centre for
Human Rights would like to submit our appeal to you, with deep sorrow which
comes from the bottom of our hearts!
One of the bravest human rights defenders, Mr. Kumar
Ponnambalam who attended the Commission on Human Rights for the last few years
from Sri Lanka, is no more with us. He was killed by so-called unknown gunmen
in cold blood in Colombo, on 5th January. He made his last intervention during the 55th
session. He had several meetings with many members of the Commission,
Special Rapporteurs and Senior Personnel of the OHCHR. During his last visit to Geneva,
Mr. Ponnambalam stated clearly to everyone that he could be murdered at anytime
by the Sri Lankan government. Now this has become a tragic reality. WHO KILLED HIM? The answer is quite
simple - who is benefiting from his absence?
Sirs/Mesdames, the details of this assassination are
given in sequence in this appeal to you. Being neutral and high-ranking persons
of this human rights forum, you have the right to come to a conclusion
as to WHO WAS THE KILLER? From this assassination what we all can learn
is that
the lives of any one of us - who presents the human rights situation in Sri
Lanka, may not be spared! There is no guarantee that we will attend the
future session of this Commission.
The assassination of Mr. Kumar Ponnambalam has many
clues but no proper investigation has taken place. There are serious cover-ups
and manipulations going on in this case. Nothing has emerged so far, other
than a few eye-wash statements by the investigators! Until the present
day, not a single person has been identified by the eyewitnesses, but the
investigators issued a press release saying that the killer had been
identified. This makes us consider the possibility that the investigators may know
the real killers and are protecting them!
The TCHR brought the danger faced by Mr Kumar
Ponnambalam to the notice of the OHCHR in December 1998. Subsequently, during his visit last year in April he
met with several officials responsible for certain sections and gave
them an affidavit regarding the threat to his life.
Furthermore, on 9 September 1998, TCHR brought a very confidential
matter to the notice of the High Commissioner for Human Rights. Later this
was transferred to another section for a follow up. Now, it is plain for all to see
that what we predicted on September 9, 1998, is gradually materialising at the
hands of the party concerned.
The human rights situation for Tamils in the island of
Sri Lanka continues to be horrendous. Aerial bombing of civilian targets, such
as places of worship, hospitals and schools, continues. Last December, 42 Tamil
refugees were massacred by the Sri Lankan Army as they sought refuge in the
chapel of Madhu church in Mannar.
The 600 persons who "disappeared" by Sri
Lankan army, during 1996 in Jaffna, are still unaccounted for. The callous
letters to relatives of the two disappeared persons whose skeletons were
identified in the mass graves at Chemmani, stating that the whereabouts of
these persons are still unknown, displays the brutal inhumanity and disregard
of the Sri Lankan government for Tamil lives. Torture, rape, arbitrary
detention and extra-judicial killings of Tamils by the Sri Lankan government
armed forces continue.
The food, health, education and employment situation
has been severely affected in the North and East of the Island. The People in
the Vanni region are starving and suffering due to ten years of economic
embargo. Reports released by the U.S. Department of State, Human Rights
Watch, UNICEF and other bodies have described the humanitarian
situation in the North and East.
In Colombo, the Tamils are simply arrested because
they are Tamils. In January alone more than 3000 Tamils were arrested in Colombo
because they are Tamils.
Impunity is a serious problem in Sri Lanka. The security forces are given a
free hand under the Emergency Regulations and the Prevention of Terrorism Act
(PTA). They arrest, torture, kill and dispose of bodies as they wish. Many
notorious human rights violators in the Security forces especially in the Army
and the Police have got the best promotions and special awards from the head of
state! This is the only sort of improvement you can see
in the context of human rights in Sri Lanka!
Mr/Madame Chairperson, TCHR kindly requests the 56th
session of the Human Rights Commission to demand that the Sri Lankan government
appoint
an independent public inquiry into the assassination of Mr. Kumar Ponnambalam
with observers from the OHCHR.
We also request the 56th Session of the Commission on
Human Rights to intervene directly to prevent the continuing gross human rights
violations in Sri Lanka, in particular to : Call upon Sri Lanka to lift the
economic embargo which is in force for the last ten years in Tamils regions;
Call upon Sri Lanka to respect the Right to Life and the Right to Liberty;
Appoint an independent committee to investigate into the mass graves in
Chemmani in the Jaffna peninsula; Call upon Sri Lanka to lift press censorship
immediately; Call upon Sri Lanka to free all political prisoners; Call upon Sri
Lanka to repeal the draconian Prevention of Terrorism Act (PTA) ; Call for
the removal of thoroughly undisciplined Sri Lankan army from the North East of
the Island of Sri Lanka, thereby ensuring the right to personal security of the
Tamils in their homeland.
We take this opportunity to request the 56th session
of the Commission on Human Rights to appoint a country Rapporteur on Sri Lanka.
This could facilitate the UN recording acts of violence, humanitarian
violations, ethnic and cultural genocide, etc that are taking place in Sri
Lanka especially in the North East.
We hope that as we move into a new century and millennium
more voices will join the fervent call for the human rights of the Tamil people
and of all peoples to be restored, so that human dignity will prevail.
We place our hope in the hands of this Session. More
than pity, we hope for concrete action. To halt the genocide requires an act of
will, individual and collective. If this Commission does not find such will to
act -then what hope can we give to those whose wounds are being cut deeper and
deeper? We believe that this Commission CAN be a vehicle for an expression of
the noble values and aspirations for humanity that underpin the UDHR and all
the Covenants and Conventions which we stand by. We appeal to you from the
depth of our hearts and in the name of humanity, to take action.
Thanking you. Yours sincerely
S. V. Kirubaharan
General
Secretary TCHR
ASSASSINATION OF A HUMAN RIGHTS DEFENDER
MR. KUMAR PONNAMBALAM
JANUARY 5, 2000
Mr. Ponnambalam presented
the human rights situation in Sri Lanka in the last (55th Session) of
the UN Commission on Human Rights
Mr
G.G. Ponnambalam Jnr. (known to everyone as Kumar Ponnambalam) was
involved in human rights for many years. He was a leading lawyer in Colombo.
Gunmen assassinated him in cold blood on 5th January in Wellawatta
in Colombo.
Mr
Ponnambalam, as a prominent expert and able criminal lawyer defended
thousands of Tamil people, over many years, who suffered gross and systematic
violations of human rights at the hands of the Sri Lankan government security
forces - the Special Task Force, the Army and the Navy. The Attorney-General
Department has stated that Mr Ponnambalam held 98% of the (PTA) cases, which
went
through their department, which is virtually equivalent to the entire number
of cases fought by the Crown Prosecution Service.
Mr
Ponnambalam filed many reports on important human rights cases. These include the internationally known case of
gang-rape and murder of Krishanthi
Kumaraswamy, which led to the eventual revelation of the eighteen mass
graves, including Chemmani, in the Jaffna Peninsula.
His work became a challenge to the Sri Lankan government, which with its
record of massive human rights violations amounting to genocide, met in him a
force
to be reckoned with.
Mr
Ponnambalam was a brave and tireless champion of civil and political
rights, and fundamental human rights. He was not afraid to speak out on Human
rights and this has cost him his life. His assassination marks a tragic
loss for all
who strive for the cause of justice and human rights.
( Incidents are quoted in date sequence)
Freedom of Expression (TCHR report to the 55th Session)
In March 1997,
Mr. G. G. Ponnambalam was requested by certain NGOs to make representations on
behalf of the Tamils, at the 53rd Session of Commission on Human Rights. On his
departure from the international airport in Sri Lanka, an army of customs and police officers rummaged through
his personal belongings, as if in search of a rat, to get at his papers.
Harassment of a Lawyer (TCHR report to the 55th session)
Mr. Kumar Ponnambalam, a leading Criminal Lawyer and
General Secretary of the All Ceylon Tamil Congress, the first Tamil Party in
Sri Lanka was interrogated by the Criminal Investigation Department (CID) on 13
January and 20 January 99.
According to the CID, Mr. Ponnambalam was deemed to
have committed a crime under section 2 (1)(h) of the PTA during his interview
with the Swarnawahini TV channel. Mr. Ponnambalam stated that nowhere in the
Swanavahini interview did he say anything to offend that section 2 (1)(h) of
the PTA.
This is considered as political revenge by the
Government on Mr. Kumar Ponnambalam for exposing the fallacies in Sri Lankan
President Chandrika's interview to the South African Television. In this TV
interview, President Chandrika Kumaratunga had said : "They are wanting a separate
state - the minority Tamils who are not the original habitants of the
country".
Kumar Ponnambalam denied travel to Jaffna
Mr. Kumar Ponnambalam was denied an air
ticket to Jaffna on August 27th 1999 because he had not obtained
permission from the Ministry of Defence for visiting the north.
Mr.
Ponnambalam had pointed out to officials at Heli-Tours, the firm that currently
operates civilian flights between Jaffna and Colombo, that he as a Sri
Lankan citizen does not need any permission or clearance to travel to any part
of the country.
Mr. Kumar Ponnambalam then contacted an
Army officer at the Ministry of Defence and explained to him that it was not
necessary for him under Sri Lankan law to obtain the army's permission to visit
Jaffna or any other part of the country.
Mr. Kumar Ponnambalam wanted to participate in the court proceedings on
Chemmani on August 30th 1999.
AN OPEN LETTER TO PRESIDENT KUMARATUNGA BY
THE LATE KUMAR PONNAMBALAM
I refer to your
Victory Speech of 22-12-99 on your election, once again, as President.
I write as a Tamil Eelavan. But more importantly, I write as an unalloyed and
unrepentant supporter of the political philosophy of the LTTE and as one who,
with that conviction, lives in the South. I write as one who has publicly
stated this position of mine not only within this island but also without, and
both verbally and in writing. I write as one whom you have recognized in your
speech. And, I write as one who refuses to be deterred by the naked threats
that dot your speech.
Permit me to
tell you that your speech reflects the hatred that you have, only too readily,
recognized in others.
Your speech is
nauseatingly replete with one word - "peace". But the tenor of your
speech is anything but one that is, in any way, conciliatory or given to peace.
You have sent a
clarion call to all your "Tamil brothers and sisters" with
outstretched hands of friendship. This shows your stark insincerity if one only
recalls your speech made many moons ago when you inaugurated the Sama Tawalama
at Anuradhapura with the unacceptable posture that this island is Sinhala land
and Buddhist country.
You refer to
18th December 1999 as "the night that will go down in history as the night
this land was touched by the hand of darkness one too many times". You
indulge in this rhetoric because it happens to concern you. Do you not realize
that there are thousands of widows in Tamil Eelam to whom certain nights have
gone down, in their own lives, as nights that have been touched by the hand of
darkness caused by your machinations as Commander-in-Chief of your armed
forces?
You have challenged "those who doubt (your) resolve to lift the curse of
hatred and death that has fallen upon (this) land" to look you in the face
now and voice our doubts about the sincerity of the desire to forge permanent
peace. I hasten, with this letter, to say just that to you with all the
vehemence I command. I am fortified in this statement by your victory speech
itself.
You want to
finish the LTTE. Please do so, if you can. With that will go, for all times,
any prospect of permanent peace in this island. Your election results shows
ruthlessly that all Tamils, not only Tamil Eelavar but also the Upcountry
Tamils, not only do not want you because they do not trust you anymore, but
also do not want a political solution from you. This is an indictment on all
your postulations of wanting to forge permanent peace.
Just take your
peace packages. There were three in as many years, during the first three years
after the commencement of your tenure. For the next two years, there was not a
murmur about those packages. Even those three packages were diluted with each
subsequent appearance! Surely, anyone who has a genuine desire to bring about a
political solution will not trifle with packages every summer? One stands or
falls with just one.
You say that
you see very clearly "the enemy that walks so freely" in this island,
and you identify that enemy as "hatred". No, the enemy you see are the
Tamils in this island. Thank God this is reciprocated by every Tamil worth his
salt. This has also been evidenced by the election results.
You boast that
"the entire LTTE terrorist enterprise will fail" against you but, in
the same breath, you contradict yourself pathetically by wanting the Tamils to
bring Prabakaran to the negotiating table. You have played ducks and drakes for
far too long about whether you want to talk to the LTTE or not. Political
maturity demands that you and your Government finally state whether you want to
talk to the LTTE, unconditionally, or not. It is only when this is known
definitely will anybody move in this matter.
If talking to
the LTTE at the negotiating table is your honest position, then your outburst
about "cowards of the LTTE" and "terrorist cowards" or your
urge to wipe out the LTTE, must surely be counter productive.
By all means
"clear away the culture of terror and death", which has become the
way of life in this island thanks to the Sinhalese who first showed everybody
the way in June 1956. But you will realize immediately, as everybody in this
island realizes, that you will have to start doing so at your very own doorstep
in the first instance, before you decide to go anywhere near the LTTE!
May I close by
referring to your constant refrain about bringing about peace. If you are
hoping to bring about peace through any one of your packages, please forget it.
The Tamils have shown unmistakably that they are not interested in you or in
your peace packages.
In fact, if the
Tamils are worth their salt, they will not want anything dished out by you, or
for that matter, by your adversary. Why should we? We Tamils were not born to
depend on the "benevolence" of the Sinhalese or on what they choose
to dish out to us. A part of this island rightfully belongs to the Tamils, in
as much as the other part rightfully belongs to the Sinhalese. This must be
appreciated by the Sinhalese.
As far as the
Tamils are concerned, they in turn, must appreciate that if their aspirations
hold that as a Nation they have the right to self-determination and that that
right is inalienable in that it is born with them, then they must have the
political wisdom, strength and sagacity to exercise that right and decide their
own political future themselves. They have, for far too long, looked to peace
packages, negotiating tables and anything offered or dished out by the
Sinhalese. This beggarly attitude must go. The sooner it goes, the better it is
for the Tamils.
The Tamil
Nation has, through the Delegation of the Tamil People, solemnly informed the
world about its aspirations in August 1985 at Thimpu. To go back on that
position will be tantamount to compromising future generations of Tamils yet
unborn. The present generation does not have the right to compromise future
generations. Any signal that would give the Sinhalese the idea that the Tamils
are not serious about their aspirations, or that they are climbing down, will
be an act of treachery. The present generation does not seem to tolerate such
treachery or to take kindly to traitors.
May I end by
saying that, on the basis of what I have just stated I, personally, have got
disgusted and tired of talks, third party intervention, etc. My considered
conviction is that a political solution to the Tamil Problem is in the hands of
the Tamils themselves and only in their hands and that the Sinhalese and Tamils
can continue to live in this island and in peace only if they live in two
definite and distinct compartments each minding their own business unfettered
by the other. Only such an arrangement will prove relevant that great quotation
on peace you have used in your speech:
"Peace is
a battle. Peace is never given freely, never acquired. Its conquest is the
result of courage and of respect for others. It demands awareness and
commitment from everyone. Peace is not the law imposed by the mighty, but that
which is founded on equality and dignity of all peoples."
G. G.
Ponnambalam Jnr. 23rd December 1999
Kumar Ponnambalam shot dead
A Criminal Lawyer and the President of the All Ceylon Tamil Congress Mr. Kumar Ponnambalam was shot dead while
driving his car at Wellawatte by an unknown gunman.
Police sources said that Ponnambalam had been shot with a revolver while he was
driving his blue Benz car at a by-lane
off Ramakrishna Road. Police suspect that an unidentified man who was riding in
Ponnambalam's car was responsible for the shooting.
According to information received
by the police the suspect gunman had visited
Ponnambalam at his home at Queen's Road earlier in the morning.
After a brief talk both Ponnambalam and the suspect had got into the Benz and
while Mr. Ponnambalam took the wheel the other man rode beside him. Ponnambalam
was found dead in the car with gun shot wounds in his head and neck. He had
died instantly.
Police said the man who rode with Ponnambalam is missing and they are looking
for him. At the time of writing police were unable to say why Ponnambalam who
was driving
down Ramakrishna Road had turned into Ramakrishna Lane where he was shot. (The
Island 6 January 2000)
Killing claimed
6 January 2000 - An organisation
calling itself 'National Front Against Tigers' claimed responsibility for the
killing of Kumar Ponnambalam, the president of the All Ceylon Tamil Congress.
In a note in Sinhala faxed to leading media institutions in Colombo
the group said it is warning all those who support and help the Liberation
Tigers. Such people were "traitors" the group said. The note was signed "Wijayaranabahu,
Commanding Officer". This organisation is considered to be the
front organisation of the Sri Lanka government.
Son Mr. Gajendra Kumar gives evidence
14 January 2000 - "My father Kumar Ponnambalam, wearing black trousers and
a white T-shirt with black stripes, left the house on that fateful morning with
one 'Shantha' saying that he would proceed to Wellawatte and return within half
an hour. "But that was not to be. He thereafter never came back home
alive. We only saw him lying dead at the wheel of his blue Mercedes Benz."
Thus stated Barrister Gajendra Kumar the only son of All Ceylon Tamil Congress
leader Kumar Ponnambalam at the Magisterial inquiry into the death of Kumar
Ponnambalam before Mount-Lavenia Magistrate K.H.Sumathipala.
Witness Gajendra Kumar continued that his father had left home that day around
10 a.m. He and his father were to bring a vehicle from the garage. But on
hearing that there was a bomb blast at Flower Road, they changed their plans
and his father went to Wellaaatte saying he would get back in half an hour.
He said he wanted to advise his father not to go out because of the bomb blast
but before he could do that, his father had driven out. He also believed
another person was in the car.
Referring to the mysterious 'Shantha', Mr. Gajendra Kumar said he had come to
the residence that morning and had also called several times earlier. Shantha
spoke in Sinhala and he believed he was a Shinhalese.
He said after he received the call from the Sun FM Station, he had telephoned
his father on the cellphone but had got only a recorded answer. Later when he
went to the scene, with Mr.Thomas, he saw his father fallen inside the vehicle.
Both windows of the air-conditioned Benz were open and the automatic gear was
at parked position. The cellphone number 077311922 was missing.
ASSASSINATION
OF A HUMAN RIGHTS DEFENDER IN COLOMBO - TCHR
On
5th January 2000, the Tamil Centre for Human Rights TCHR issued an
Urgent Press release, which read as follows :
Mr
G.G. Ponnambalam Jnr. (known to everyone as Kumar Ponnambalam) was
involved in human rights for many years. He was a leading lawyer in Colombo.
Gunmen
assassinated him in cold blood this morning in Wellawatta in Colombo. The
post-mortem carried out tonight revealed five revolver shots behind his right eye and one bullet in his shoulder.
According to his family members and friends, Mr Ponnambalam had been
contacted by a Sinhalese person in recent times, who had arranged to meet him
today.
He had told the person that he would be at home and would not be going to the
Courts, so the person came to his home at 10.00am this morning. They both went
to Wellawatta. He never returned.
Mr Ponnambalam, as a prominent expert and able criminal lawyer defended
thousands of Tamil people, over many years, who suffered gross and systematic
violations of human rights at the hands of the Sri Lankan government security
forces - the Special Task Force, the Army and the Navy. The Attorney-General
Department has stated that Mr Ponnambalam held 98% of the (PTA) cases which
went
through their department, which is virtually equivalent to the entire number
of cases fought by the Crown Prosecution Service.
Mr Ponnambalam filed many reports on important human rights cases. These
include the internationally known case of gang-rape and murder of Krishanthi
Kumaraswamy which led to the eventual revelation of the eighteen mass graves,
including Chemmani, in the Jaffna Peninsula.
His work became a challenge to the Sri Lankan government, which with its
record of massive human rights violations amounting to genocide, met in him a
force
to be reckoned with.
Mr Ponnambalam spoke out for human rights also in the international arena.
He denounced the torture, arbitrary detention, disappearances and
extra-judicial killings of Tamil people at the hands of the Sri Lankan
government's
security forces, in the United Nations Commission on Human Rights in 1997 and
1999.
Amongst many important international bodies, he addressed members of the
European Parliament in Brussels and the Royal Institute in London-U.K
In December 1998 Mr Ponnambalam was threatened with being arrested by the
present government of Sri Lanka. The Tamil Centre for Human Rights brought
this to the notice of human rights organisations and international bodies.
Eventually, he was interrogated by the Sri Lankan Police in his home.
Everyone knew that Mr Ponnambalam had been facing a threat by the Chandrika
government for a long time. On certain International platforms Mr Ponnambalam
stated openly that President Chandrika Kumaratunga was "after his
blood".
Recently he stated that the government was "looking for his blood".
Today
this has become a tragic and sad reality.
Mr Ponnambalam was also a devoted husband and father. He leaves his wife Dr.
Yogi, his daughter Mrinalini aged 27 and his son Gajendrakumar aged 26.
Mr Ponnambalam was a brave and tireless champion of civil and political
rights, and fundamental human rights. He was not afraid to speak out on Human
rights
and this has cost him his life. His assassination marks a tragic loss for all
who strive for the cause of justice and human rights. We appeal to all
individuals and human rights organisations to strongly condemn this callous and
heinous act.
TAMIL ASSASSINATION A TRAGEDY
SAYS MEP
7 January 2000 -
Labour Member of the European Parliament Robert Evans said that the death of
Kumar Ponnambalam was a tragic loss for
Sri Lanka and the Tamil community. Mr Ponnambalam, a Tamil lawyer, was
assassinated in Colombo yesterday.
Speaking in London Robert Evans MEP, said 'I considered Kumar Ponnambalam a
friend of mine. I had met him several times and visited him only a few months
ago in his house in Colombo. I am devastated that he should have died in this
way.
'Mr
Ponnambalam was never afraid to speak out and was always conscious of the
safety of others. His personal courage was such that he knew he would always be
a possible target but his concern was always for other people. This was
especially so when I went to his home.'
'Kumar was also a realist,' said Robert Evans. ' He knew from years of personal
experience that the freedom struggle of the Tamil people could not rely solely
on the democratic process. He was also
prepared to point a finger of blame for atrocities at the Sri Lankan military
and the Sri Lankan government. ''Above all he recognised, like me, that the
only lasting solution to the war would come from discussion and dialogue
between the two parties to the conflict with international mediation.’’
As a human rights' lawyer Kumar Ponnambalam spoke of the situation in Sri Lanka
at forums around the world. 'Only recently he was in Brussels meeting with
MEPs. He drew attention to the amazing lack of coverage of the Sri Lankan civil
war in the European and world press.'
'The contrast' commented Robert Evans, ' between the lack of coverage of the
situation in Sri Lanka and Chechnya is very stark. The war in Sri Lanka is
different but equally violent. The Sri Lankan government suppresses the
coverage and Kumar was exposing this and many other aspects of the Tamil case.'
'His loss is a devastating blow to the whole Tamil community. Our thoughts
today must surely be with his family. The best lasting tribute to Kumar
Ponnambalam will be if the struggle for peace in Sri Lanka continues in the
wake of his tragic death.
SRI LANKA GOVERNMENT ACCUSED OF
THE ASSASSINATION
LTTE
Headquarters Tamil Eelam 6 January 2000 - The Liberation Tigers of Tamil
Eelam (LTTE) wishes to express its deep shock and profound grief over the
brutal killing of Mr. Kumar Ponnambalam, a courageous Tamil leader who
fearlessly exposed the hypocrisy of the Sinhala state and audaciously championed
the cause of the Tamil nation.
We
accuse the Sri Lanka government and the Tamil quisling groups of masterminding
and executing this heinous crime to silence a brave, daring voice of reason
that defended the rights of the Tamils. Mr. Ponnambalam's sudden death is a
great and irreparable loss to the Tamils, a monumental tragedy that has
befallen the Tamil nation at a critical historical time.
Faced with constant threat to his life and property, Mr. Ponnambalam lived in
the heart of the Sri Lankan capital and boldly challenged his racist
adversaries. His speeches and writings, which touched on extremely
controversial issues, expressed his truthfulness, genuiness, uprightness and indomitable spirit for justice.
He pleaded for the rights and liberties of thousands of innocent Tamils in
Colombo who were subjected to constant persecution at the hands of the
tyrannical Sinhala state. He also voiced for the Tamils rights at international
forums.
Mr. Ponnambalam was the only Tamil leader who openly and fearlessly supported
the armed freedom struggle of the Liberation Tigers. He endorsed the policy of
the LTTE as the authentic political project based on the right to
self-determination of the Tamil people. By his gallant and heroic life in
advancing the legitimate cause of the Tamils amidst all dangers, Mr.
Ponnambalam has earned the respect and admiration of his people as a true Tamil
patriot. (Released by the International Secretariat of LTTE, 211 Katherine Rd,
London E6 1BU, United Kingdom.)
PONNAMBALAM HONOURED
COLOMBO: Prominent
Tamil leader Kumar Ponnambalam, 61, assassinated by an unknown gunman, last
Wednesday, was cremated in a heavily attended ceremony at the Colombo general
cemetery on Sunday. While the police has so far been unable to crack the
mystery behind the killing, it has become the centre of a political controversy
here.
The Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam
(LTTE) in an unprecedented
development on Sunday posthumously bestowed the outspoken Ponnambalam,
with an award of “the most eminent person” - Mamanithan. Commending
him on his ”leadership, dedicated patriotism and outstanding
contribution to the cause of Tamil liberation.” (by Charu Lata Joshi 9 January 2000)
IF
IT WAS NOT DONE BY THE LTTE
POLICE WOULD NOT SPEND TIME IN
INVESTIGATING - TIC
6 January 2000 - The
Tamil Information Centre (TIC) espresses deep concern over the rapidly
deteriorating human rights situation in Sri Lanka. Insecurity and violence are spreading
fast. The Killing of Kumar Ponnambalam, president of the All Ceylon Tamil
Congress and a leading human rights lawyer on 5 January 2000 has shocked the
Tamil community. The brutal and callous murders of Kumar Ponnambalam and chief
editor of Tamil weekly, Thinamurasu and Tamil Member of Parliament Ramesh
Nadarajah on 2 November 1999 have posed further threats to the freedoms of
expression, assembly and association. The government is unable to prevent
deliberate killings. Its believed that "deaths squads" freely
operating in the capital Colombo are responsible for these killings.
The TIC calls upon the international community to monitor the situation in Sri
Lanka, urging the government to conduct a public inquiry into the killings of
Kumar Ponnambalam and Ramesh Nadarajah. The
Tamil Information Centre understands that Police Officers who came to the scene
of the killing of Ramesh Nadarajah had told concerned MPs that they would not
spend time in investigating the case as it was not done by the LTTE and that
they have no interest in the case.
Politics of the gun
The
brutal killing of the leader of the All Ceylon Tamil Congress Kumar Ponnambalam
in Colombo yesterday is a pointer that the politics of the gun has gained
precedence over democracy. It is no doubt condemned by all those who believe in
democracy. A member of an influential political family and lawyer, Mr.
Ponnambalam was a well known personality and had a large number of personal
friends belonging to all communities. In keeping with the dynastic politics of
the country he was carrying his father's mantle as the leader of his political
party.
(
Extracted from the Editorial “The Island”
6 January 2000)
KUMAR WAS KILLED ON 5 JANUARY
2000
The
assassination on January 5 of Kumar Ponnambalam, might have been planned by the
Sri Lankan government “eight months previously”! A
condolence letter by President Chandrika Kumaratunga was sent to Ponnambalam's
widow, dated May 6th 1999.
According to Mrs. Yogi Ponnambalam, the President sent the condolence
letter through one of her security officers on the evening of January 7th.
It has raised suspicions as to whether President Kumaratunga's letter has been
dated May 6th 1999 by
mistake or the assassination had already been planned last year.
The date was not a mistake as the chances are minimal for such an error to
happen in a letter, especially a condolence message, from the country's highest
administrative office, the Presidential Secretariat. Mrs.Ponnambalam and other
family members consider that the letter appears to be deliberately intended as
an insult.
WHY WAS
“SHANTHA” IN THE PSD NOT QUESTIONED?
The media in recent times has been full of allegations
about an individual call “Shantha” who is allegedly a member of the
Presidential security Division. He has been “credited” with several acts of
violence against civilians considered as enemies of this government. But the
police so far have not interviewed this gentlemen in this regard! (“The
Sunday Leader February 13, 2000)
ASSASSINATION OF KUMAR
PONNAMBALAM HAS CLUES,
BUT NO PROPER INVESTIGATIONS -
TCHR
With
reference to our Urgent Action - Ref. No. AE/02/01 of 5 January 2000, we would
like to bring the following matters to the concern of all human rights
organisations, human rights activists and persons committed to promoting values
of human dignity and worth.
Our
observations on information that TCHR has received since the assassination of
the human rights defender Mr. Kumar Ponnambalam, strongly indicate that a
serious cover-up and manipulation by the investigators are taking place.
So
far, no proper and serious inquiry has been carried out regarding this
assassination! We would like to draw your attention to the press release of the
Tamil Information Centre (TIC), in London, dated January 06, 2000. This
states that "The Tamil Information Centre understands that Police Officers who came to the
scene of the killing of Ramesh Nadarajah (Editor of a weekly Tamil news paper)
had told concerned MPs that they would not spend time in investigating the case
as it was not done by the LTTE and that they have no interest in the
case!"
When
a crime is reported in Sri Lanka it is the local police in whose jurisdiction the
incident occurred that investigates along with the Criminal Investigation
Department (CID). In the case of Mr Ponnambalam's assassination, it is the
Wellawatte police along with the CID that ought to be investigating the crime.
However, on the 3rd day after the murder, this case was handed over to the
Colombo Detective Bureau (CDB) on the instruction of the President and the
Inspector General of Police. This is highly irregular.
Even
though the person named "Shantha", referred to in our previous Urgent
Action had come to the family home, had sat and spoken with Mr Ponnambalam
before going in the car with him, and even though the CID had been informed of
this, no attempt was made to find out where he sat in the house, which chair he
sat on, or to take finger-prints anywhere in Mr Ponnambalam's home.
According
to a human rights lawyer and a good friend of Mr. Kumar Ponnambalam, there was
an eyewitness to this assassination! He is Mr. "X", a businessman in
Colombo. Mr "X" had gone in a trishaw to Ramakrishna Terrace via
Marine Drive and Ramakrishna road. As the trishaw turned into Ramakrishna Road
he had seen a jet-black Isuzu Trooper jeep with dark tinted windows parked at
the bottom of Ramakrishna Road. He had proceeded up the Road and turned into
Ramakrishna Terrace where he had seen Mr Ponnambalam's car parked on one side
to the left.
He
had noted a man seated in the left-hand front seat of the car and another man
standing outside the window closest to Mr Ponammbalam. He had driven past them
and had got off opposite No. 7 Ramakrishna Terrace and had rung the
bell/knocked on the gate. There had been no reply from the house.
At
that point he heard what he described as fire-crackers. He had not taken
special note of this, as it was the festive season. Since there was still no
response from the house he had turned to go back towards Ramakrishna Road when
he saw the indiviiual standing outside the window where Mr Ponnambalam was
seated, tuck a gun that seemed like a revolver /pistol into his waist and pull
the shirt over it. The other man had got out of the car by this time and they
were both "casually" walking towards Mr "X", that is,
towards Vivekananda Road. Then he found that a person had been shot dead inside
that particular car.
Immediately
he brought this fact to the notice of two policemen who were nearby at the
time. When he told these policemen about the killing, they said that they had
come to that area because they had received information that there was a
suspicious vehicle parked and it had been there for some time. In fact, even
the policemen were referring to the same "Isuzu Trooper Jeep" which
the businessman had seen.
In Sri Lanka, the vehicle referred to above, is only used by the Security forces, especially by the Sri Lanka Army, Ministerial Security Division (MSD) and the Presidential Security Division(PSD).
Furthermore,
we feel it important to note that the Government Analyst Department who
examined the car in which Mr. Ponnambalam was killed could not find any
fingerprints anywhere on this car. Even Mr. Kumar Ponnambalam's finger-prints
could not be found on the driver's wheel, or anywhere else! The Government
Analyst Department checked the car on three separate occasions yet could not
recover any evidence whatsoever, and could not find any bullets in this car.
Whereas later, two bullets were found in this car by others.
A
columnist of the Sunday leader of February 13th 2000 has said in his article
"It is indeed frightening that anyone called Shantha could become an
automatic suspect in the Kumar Ponnambalam case. But then again there are
reservations. The media in recent times has been full of allegations about an
individual called 'Shantha' who is allegedly a member of the Presidential
Security Division. He has been 'credited' with several acts of violence against
civilians considered as enemies of this government. But the police so far have
not interviewed this gentleman so far in this regard."
It
is a well-known fact that that Mr. Kumar Ponnambalam was an able Criminal
Lawyer in Sri Lanka, who had seen many criminals and murderers in his
life-time. Therefore, anyone with bogus information such as a false name,
address, profession, etc could not have approached him. The talk in Colombo is that the
organisation which claimed this assassination is not a fake one, but it is
considered a front organisation of the Government.
In
the light of the above information, we kindly request you to send letters /
faxes of protest to the President of Sri Lanka and the Inspector General of
Police, urging a genuine, rigorous and serious inquiry into this matter and to
follow up every suspect whatever sector they belong to or work in. TCHR
recommends that the Sri Lanka government should conduct a public inquiry into
the brutal assassination of Kumar Ponnambalam. (28th February 2000)
NO ONE HAS YET BEEN IDENTIFIED BY THE EYE
WITNESSES!
Between January 5, 2000 and the present day no one has yet been identified by
the eye witnesses who saw “Shantha” on the day of the assassination nor
by the Colombo businessman who heard the firing and saw the killers.
But there have been two statements by the Police investigators that the killers
have been identified! This is considered to be the routine “Eye wash”, given
to the outside world by the investigators and the government. <More>
According
to the UNICEF report of September 99, there needs to be a community development
approach which ensures that the multiple stresses of poverty, malnutrition, poor
education and social dislocation are alleviated and the social fabric of the
community and family life restored.
On July 17th 1999 the Government
Agents of Mullaithivu and Kilinochchi appealed to the government to take
immediate action to send relief food and essential commodities to the civilian
population.
The appeal has been sent to the Commissioner General of Essential Services with
a copy to the Government Agent in Vavuniya.
The contents of this appeal said that the multi-purpose co-operative and shops
are without food as the road to the Vanni has been closed since June 26th
1999.
There is an acute shortage of sugar, flour, dhal and kerosene oil in the
Mullaithivu and Kilinochchi districts.
Both Government Agents have informed the government that "starvation among
the population is identified and acute shortage of essential drugs is also
experienced.
Rt.
Rev.Rajappu Joseph, the Bishop of Mannar has said that 4000 people belonging to
900 displaced families from the Vidaththalthivu and Pallamadu areas, who have
sought refuge under trees along roadsides in Thevanpiddy, in the western
coastal areas of the Mannar district, are suffering without proper food,
drinking water and relief assistance.
He has appealed to the government to rush food and kerosene and to supply
drinking water in bousers to the displaced population. As usual the government
has ignored this request.
Government Agents appeal for food
In September 1999 the Government Agents
(GA) of Kilinochchi, Mullaithivu and Vavuniya made a request to the government
officials in Vavuniya to make arrangements to dispatch the required quantity of
relief food items to the displaced population in the Vanni areas.
The
GAs pointed out to the government officials that 5 kg of rice, 4 kg of wheat
flour 1.5 kg of sugar and a half a kilo of dhal are required for a person for a
month and this amount of foodstuff should be transported every month. However
no positive responses were given. <More Details>
In
Vanni, education facilities are lacking, not enough equipment and resources to
engage motivate and stimulate pupils in the learning process. Other factors
outside the family mitigate against them becoming more involved needing to
help their families survive, looking after elderly or injured relatives,
needing to find basic essentials for living.
The
main asset of the Jaffna population which was education has received a colossal
set-back due to the war over the last 16 years. Earlier the percentage of
literacy was very high but the adverse impact of the conflict has been
identified even in the field of pre school education.
According
to recent information, there are 505 pre-schools in the Jaffna peninsula with a
total strength of 611 teachers and 11,854 children. Though the training
programme for the teachers is conducted by various organisations both
governmental and non- governmental, it has been noted that more than 30 percent
of the pre-school teachers have not undergone any type of training. It is also
learnt that 28 percent of the pre-school teachers do not receive any allowance
or salary for the services rendered.
Other relevant information reveals that 163 of the
pre-schools do not posses water supplies, 315 are without proper sanitary
facilities and 342 are without any furniture for the use of both teachers and
children. (an extract from “The Weekend Express” of January 15-16, 2000)
The World Bank and the Department for International Development (DFID) of the
United Kingdom jointly organised a two day workshop in July 1999. At this
workshop the Samshakthi Teachers' Forum presented its report on the role of
school textbooks for multi social reconciliation in Sri Lanka. The Samshakthi
Teachers' Forum pointed out in its reports that several portions from the Year
7 Sinhala textbook on Buddhism, were humiliating to the Tamil community in the
island.
In page 74 of the book it had been wrongly stated that when a Tamil king Elara
captured Anurdhapura, Tamils started destroying Buddhist temples and harassing
monks. This is factually untrue and blatantly incorrect. These Sinhala text
books, prepared by the National Institute of Education have been published by the
Ministry of Education and Higher Education.
The following are some points
raised by Samshakthi Teachers' Forum:
1
- "It is a great tragedy that
the curriculum developers of the current textbooks have failed to take into
consideration, the national needs of the country. They have not taken into
consideration the educational policies and their objectives.
2
- "The Sri Lankan text book
writers have not considered this country is a multi-racial and multi-religious
one.
3 - "The most lamentable issue
is that the majority of the Sinhala medium textbooks seem to have taken great
pains to highlight the Sinhala- Buddhist attitudes.
4 - "One other interesting
issue is that of the use of maps. They are so distorted that one would wonder
whether the original maps of Sri Lanka had no North and Eastern provinces. The
text book writers have ignored these two regions in their references.
5 - "When one analyses these
facts, one wonders how a unitary or united country could be maintained under
such hostile conditions. It is the minority that has been hurt and crushed most
in the hostile attitude adopted by the Sinhala text book writers.
6 - "Even in studying art, the Tamil learner is forced to study only
the Buddhist and the Sinhala aspects of the history of art of Sri Lanka.
7 - "In Year 7 text book on
Buddhism, it is said " I shall refraining from killing". This
explanation has been limited only to the killing of animals. It is known that
some Buddhists extend their sympathies only towards animals.
8 - "The words of Lord Buddha
teaches the humans to condemn war and uphold peace and equality. Yet it is sad
to realise that such truths have been neglected in the text books on Buddhism.
"In examining the text books used in Sri Lanka, we find that they encourage
our students to be racial and sectarian, cutting off all chances of
socialisation in a meaningful manner”.
July 1999 A Buddhist is functioning as the Principal in the Kurunegala Hindu Maha
Vidyalayam. Kurunegala is an important town in the north western province.
When a deputation of the All Ceylon Young Hindu Federation led by its General
Secretary recently visited Kurunegala, Hindu residents in Kurunegala brought to
the notice of the General Secretary the fact that a Buddhist principal was
running the administration of the Hindu Maha Vidyalayam. Several Hindu
residents expressed that the welfare of their children was not properly looked
after by the school administration.
The general secretary of the ACYHF has written to the Minister of Education and
Higher Education to appoint a Hindu principal to the school. He has also sent a
letter to the provincial Minister of Education requesting him to transfer the
Buddhist principal from the Hindu Maha Vidyalayam in Kurunegala.
On July 26, 1999 - A march organised by Jaffna University students, demanding
that the government open a route into the Vanni, was blocked by the Sri Lanka
Army and Police at Parameswara college junction.
The
march started from the University and was heading towards the Jaffna Kachcheri
(Government Agent’s secretariat) where the students were to hand the Government
Agent a letter addressed to the Sri Lankan president. The organisers of the rally said that even though they had
obtained permission from the Jaffna police, the police at the scene had blocked
this march saying that permission had not been granted!
Shortage
of school furniture in Vanni
Type of
Furniture Killinochi Mullaitivu Mannar Vavuniya
Secondary - desks 10,206 17,010 3,402 6,810
Secondary - chairs 10,403 17,340 3,468 6,930
Primary - desks 5,058 8,430 1,686 3,370
Primary - chairs 7,415 12,355 2,472 4,940
Total
required 33,082 55,135 11,028 22,050
Muslim admissions opposed by
Buddhist monks and Sinhala students
October 7, 1999 - More than 3000 students of Ananda and Nalanda Colleges and
Buddhist monks demonstrated in Colombo protesting against a demand by the
leader of the Sri Lanka Muslim Congress, stating that 20 percent of the seats
at Ananda College be allocated to Muslim students. Ananda and Nalanda Colleges are leading Buddhist schools in
Colombo.
According
to a statement issued by the Ceylon Tamil Teachers’ Union, there is an acute
shortage of Tamil medium teachers prevailing in schools in the Tamil areas. The
union said that the ratio is one teacher for 70 students in these areas while
in rest of the island there is one teacher for 22 children.
The
General Secretary of the CTTU said the Government could not ensure equal
opportunity of education to Tamils until the existing vacancies for about
10,000 Tamil medium teachers in the country are filled.
The statement added that on an island-wide basis there was a surplus of about
14 thousand Sinhala teachers. 600 of these surplus Sinhalese teachers are in
schools in the East of the island. But
in the whole country over 10 thousand vacancies remain to be filled by Tamil
medium teachers.
In the north east schools, over five thousand vacancies exist for Tamil medium
teachers.
UNICEF
- Colombo, Sri Lanka - September 1999
Literacy
levels which were higher than 80% have fallen due to the deterioration of
educational facilities. Schools in host communities attended by displaced
children have their limited material and human resources stretched.
The prolonged conflict has led to
extreme vulnerabilities for children and women. <More
Details>
In
the Vanni, children suffer from respiratory infections, diarrhoea and malaria.
The most easily preventable diseases are the greatest cause of morbidity and
mortality. More than half of the allocated posts for medical officers are
vacant, resulting in a reduced service.
Essential
service delivery a problem.
Two
medical officers attached to the hospital prescribe drugs to patients to buy
from pharmacies in the village. But pharmacies in Pulmoddai do not have enough
stock drugs due to the restriction imposed by the military authorities.
As a result, people of the area were forced to travel to Kebettigollawa, about
50 km. from Pulmoddai, to buy medicines prescribed by doctors. Over 18 thousand
people live in the traditional Muslim village, Pulmoddai.
Medical
reports pinpoint a shortage of medical staff and drugs. Certain units are not
even manned by an Assistant Medical Practitioner. In the absence of ambulance
services to these units, seriously ill patients find difficulty in gaining
admission to the district hospitals or the Jaffna Teaching Hospital. These
shortcomings need to be rectified for a better health service in Jaffna.
UNICEF
- Colombo, Sri Lanka - September 1999
Morbidity
and mortality for infants and under five year old children are mainly related
to the poor health of mothers. 58 percent of all infant and under five deaths
in the areas are due to short gestation period and low birth weights.
The
report states that awareness programmes bombastic in scope but without
substance, were the main reason for the problems not being tackled. For example
the awareness programme on malnutrition was irrelevant as the main cause of
poverty was due to acute unemployment and under-employment created by various
restrictions on income generating activities.
Due
to heavy rains (more than 20 millimetres) during October and the consequent
floods, the paddy crops which were at the germination stage have been affected.
Discrimination in
selection
The Tamil language candidates sitting for the competitive
examination for selection to the Sri Lanka Accountant Service and the Sri Lanka
Administrative Service are subjected to discrimination in appointments.
In the competitive examination held for selection to the Sri Lanka
Accountants Service in 1993, 1994, 1996 and 1998, only one Tamil in each
examination was selected for appointment which was far below the ethnic ratio
of the Tamils in this country.
In the meantime there are over 40 vacant posts for Accountants in
the North East Provincial Council which have not yet been filled for the past
several years.
In the competitive Examination for the selection of candidates for
Sri Lanka Accountants service held in 1999, 38 Sinhalese and 2 Tamils were
selected. (In the competitive Examination held in 1998 for selection of
Accountants, 15 Sinhalese and only one Tamil were appointed.)
In the competitive Examination held in 1999 for selection of
candidates for the Sri Lankan Administrative Service, 151 Sinhalese and only 2
Tamils were summoned for the interview. (an extracted from “The Weekend Express” of
January 22-23, 2000)
Fishermen protest
over withdrawal of UN aid
Fishermen on the coast of Vadamaradchi north in Jaffna have been affected by
the withdrawal of aid from the United Nations Development Program (UNDP).
Officials of the Vadamaradchi North Fishermen's Federation accused the Jaffna
Kachcheri for the cancellation of eight hundred and twenty thousand rupees
granted by the UNDP for making sea going rafts and fishing boats.
(Please see summary report of fishermen killed, etc)
There
are approximately 1 million Tamils of comparatively recent Indian origin, the
so-called ‘’hill Tamils’’ or ‘’Indian Tamils’’, whose ancestors originally
were brought to Sri Lanka in the 19th century to work on
plantations. About 75,000 of these persons do not qualify for either Indian or
Sri Lankan citizenship and face discrimination, especially in the allocation of
Government funds for education. Without national identity cards, they are also
vulnerable to arrest by the security forces.
Over
70% of the plantation work force, whist is overwhelmingly ‘’Indian’’ Tamil,
is unionised. In total there are over 900,000 union members, 650,000 of who are
women. (Excerpts from the 1999 Country
reports on H/R - U.S. Department of State - February 25, 2000)
Summary of fishermen killed, seriously
injured and equipemnt damage in recent years, is available in the summary
report . This was prepared by the
Mullaitivu District Fishermen’s Co-operative Societies Union.
COLONISATION
The golden jubilee celebrations of the Gal Oya development scheme was held in
Ampara district on August 28th and 29th 1999.
The Deputy Minister of Defence Mr. Anurudha Ratwatte was the chief guest and the Leader of the Opposition and the President
of the United National Party Mr.Ranil Wickremesinghe was the distinguished
guest at the celebrations.
The
Gal Oya development scheme was inaugurated in 1949 by the first Prime Minister
of the country. This was the first state-sponsored colonisation scheme where
majority lands were distributed to Sinhala peasants living in other districts
outside the eastern province.
This colonisation scheme paved way for
the creation of a new electorate called Ampara, now Digamadulla, in the east
dominated by the Sinhalese community.
In effect, the government is to celebrate the successful implementation of the
state-sponsored Sinhala colonisation schemes in the traditional homelands of
the Tamils and Muslim communities in the east over the last fifty years.
(Please refer to the TCHR
addendum on “Sinhala Colonisation” to
this appeal)
CIVIL AND POLITICAL
RIGHTS
Arrests
on suspicion are on the increase and youths are living in fear. After
questioning some are released while others are detained in the Kankesanthurai
Detention Camp. Some others are taken to Anuradhapura for trial before the High
Court Judge. In the absence of a Court in Jaffna, parents and guardians face
the hazardous problem of travelling out of Jaffna.
Released after 5 years sentence and re-arrested
Amnesty
International is concerned for the safety of Chitravel Manivannan, who
has reportedly been repeatedly tortured during interrogation by the police
Counter Subversive Unit (CSU) in Vavuniya. He is reported to be in need of
medical attention.
He has allegedly been repeatedly beaten with batons, and had a plastic bag
filled with petrol tied over his head until he nearly suffocated. He now has difficulty
walking.
Chitravel Manivannan was arrested on January 10th 2000 at a lodge in
Vavuniya. He had just served a five-year sentence in Kalutara prison, and had
travelled to Vavuniya to have the detention order lifted by the court that
issued it. He had done this, and was waiting for a pass from the security
forces to leave Vavuniya for Colombo when he was arrested. He is being held
under a 60-day detention order.
On
September 4th 1999 The Government agent of Mannar was issued with a
Detention Order (D.O) for seven days under emergency regulations. The detention
order can be extended to three weeks at the discretion of the defence
authorities under the emergency regulations.
Up to 3,000 men and women from
the Tamil community were arrested in a massive house-to-house search conducted
under cover of a curfew in the Sri Lankan capital Colombo, officials said.
"About 3,000 people had been taken in for questioning during a 12-hour
period," a military official here said, adding most of them were being
freed after establishing their bona fides. As the men and women were brought to
several police stations, anxious parents and relatives were seen gathering
outside waiting for their release.
Tamil politicians complained those arrested had been subjected to video filming
as well as photography violating an earlier undertaking given by the
authorities. "These people are not criminals to be treated like
this," said Tamil legislator, R. Yogarajan, complaining against the
treatment of the detainees.
With
Colombo paralysed by the curfew, anyone unable to explain their presence in the
city was detained, police said, as the search targeted areas where Tamils are
concentrated. Offices, shops, banks and schools were shut as state radio and
television said the curfew was being strictly enforced. Search operations were
conducted in the adjoining Dehiwala-Mount Lavinia area which is popular with
tourists. (AFP Jan 7th 2000)
On
January 22nd 2000 - More than 2000 Tamils were arrested in a massive
cordon and search operation in Kolonnawa, a suburb of Colombo, and in Gampaha
district. The combined operation by the Sri Lanka Army and Police began in the
early hours of the morning after enforcing a ten-hour curfew.
A large number of people, the kith and kin of the detained, flocked to
different police stations soon after the curfew was relaxed at 2 p.m.
Tamils arrested in Colombo since
July 1999
July
1999 152
August
275
September
80
October 560
November 60
December 49
January
2000-02-26 3246
February 90
-------------
Total arrest 4512
-------------
Shanmugam Manogaran (23), a resident of Maamangam, a suburb of Batticaloa
town, was arrested by the Sri Lanka Army on June 12th 1996. Three
separate cases under the PTA (Prevention of Terrorism Act) were filed against
him earlier last year by the Police in the Batticaloa high court. He was
detained at the camp of the Batticaloa unit of the Sri Lanka Army military
intelligence at Lake Road One and at the office of the Counter Subversive Unit
at Pioneer road in Batticaloa town.
Later he was transferred to the Batticaloa jail. A fundamental rights case was
filed on behalf of Manogaran in the supreme court that he was tortured during
his detention and interrogation. A three-member bench of the supreme court
which heard his case, ordered the judicial medical officer of Batticaloa, Dr. S CCandrapalan, to
examine Manogaran.
The JMO in his report to the supreme
court observed that Manogaran had been tied upside down by his toes and
severely assaulted with plastic pipes, blunt weapons and sticks and that his
eardrums were affected by internal bleeding due to heavy blows on his ears.
Manogaran's hand, according to the JMO, was fractured when he was beaten while
trying to remove a bag that had been pulled over his head filled with petrol
and chilli fumes.
The supreme court held that the state should pay Manogaran 30000 rupees in
damages as well as his legal costs amounting to 5000 rupees.
When the cases against Manogaran were taken up for hearing in the Batticaloa
high court on July 26th 1999, his attorney Perinpam Premnath argued
that he should be acquitted in all the cases in view of the supreme court's
verdict.
July 1999 - In the hearing into the mysterious death
of a youth from Gurunakar in the Jaffna peninsula, the extra Jaffna District judge,
Mr. A. S. E. Ekanathan, identified torture as the cause of death.
The youth, Gnanasingam Anton Kulasingam, was arrested by troops of the Sri
Lanka Army on September 9th
1998. His body was handed over to his relatives three days later.
The Judge came to his conclusion on the basis of post-mortem reports, which
indicate that the youth had been subjected to excessive torture and that he had
been bleeding profusely while undergoing shocks and pressure.
The Judge said that the three Army personnel responsible, including a captain,
are being investigated.
Antony Krishnaveni (22) who had been tortured in military custody was released
on bail on July 30th 1999 by
the Batticaloa courts. She had been arrested by paramilitary gunmen from the
Razeek group whilst on her way to Batticaloa from her village Kaluvankerni
before being handed over to the Sri Lanka Army.
She was charged under the PTA. Her lawyer,
Perinpam Premnath, argued that she had been severely tortured and thus
requested the judge to order a medical examination of the accused.
The
medical report by the district doctor documented the torture and psychological
pressure applied. The judge granted bail to the accused and instructed her to
remain within the town limits until further notice.
Nail and teeth removed and burn
marks - JMO
Kalithas Selvam, 49,
who was detained under the Prevention of Terrorism Act had been tortured in the
police custody said the Judicial Medical Officer while testifying at the Batticaloa
High Courts in October 99.
Kalithas of Eravur
was arrested by the Sri Lankan Army on March 5th 1998. He was later handed
over to the Counter Subversive Unit of the Sri Lankan Police.
Mr. Premnath, the lawyer who
appeared on behalf of the accused said that the police had filed charges
against his client on the basis of a confession obtained under duress. He said
that his client had been asked to sign a confession written in Sinhala. The
lawyer argued that the JMO’s report provides substantial evidence for his claim
of torture.
The JMO, in his report submitted at the courts, said Kalithas had been
severally beaten, with injuries all over the body. He further stated that a
nail had been removed and that there were burn marks caused by cigarette being
put out all over his body. According to the JMO, Kalithas had teeth removed
from upper jaw and cannot function normally in future due to injuries he had
sustained under the torture. The lawyer urged the courts to release his client
on bail as he had been detained for more than a year and was in need of medical
care. The judge, on the basis of the medical report accepted the bail
application and released Kalithas.
October 21st 1999 - The
Kalmunai Magistrate returned a verdict of homicide in the death of Sathasivam
Sanjeevan, 19, a student of Wesley College in the eastern town. Sanjeevan was
shot dead on October 15th 1998, while being held under the detention
of Kalmunai police.
The court ruled that the student had been tortured and died of gun shot
injuries. Sanjeevan was arrested by the Kalmunai Police during a search
operation in Paandiruppu on October 13th 1998. The police later
handed over his body to the Ampara Hospital.
Following a hospital inquest, the police handed over the body to his parents,
and ordered them to bury it immediately.
The body of Sanjeevan was exhumed on October 22nd 1998, on orders by
the Kalmunai Court, and an autopsy was done by the Judicial Medical Officer for
the Batticaloa District. The JMO's
report revealed that the student had been tortured and shot dead at close range
either by AK-47 or T-56 type riffle.
Three villagers were reported missing
in the south-eastern Ampara districts after being arrested by Sinhala home
guards on October 8th 1999.
Three Tamil villagers - Seenithamby Sathasivam (42), Somanathan
Panchchadcharam (51) and S.Velautham (56) of Malayarkaddu were arrested by home
guards near Sinnawatte in Konagala when they were on their way to collect milk.
Thereafter, whereabouts of the three persons were not known. It is believed
that they have been murdered in the Eastern province.
Amnesty International on three
disappeared in Amparai
In
a communiqué released by Amnesty International on October 29th 1999,
the organisation said that it is concerned for the safety of three men arrested
by Sinhalese home guards on October 8th 1999, who have since
"disappeared".
Witnesses report that Seenithamby Sathasivam (42), Somanathan Panchchadcharam
(51) and S. Velautham (56) were handed over to security forces personnel,
possibly the Army, but the Army denies they are in their custody.
The arrests took place at Sinnawathai, a Tamil border village in the eastern
Battialoa district where the men had been living there with a number of other
Tamil families after being displaced from the village of Malayarkaddu following
tension between the Sinhalese and Tamil communities in the area.
Amnesty is urging that "an independent and impartial investigation into
the missing people’s whereabouts be undertaken, that the findings be made
public and those responsible be brought to justice and that, if the missing are
in detention, they be promptly charged with a recognisable criminal offence, or
immediately released".
In November last year, letters of regret from Ministry of Defence officials
were sent to 355 parents and relatives of persons who disappeared in the Jaffna
peninsula in 1995 and 1996. These 355 persons are members of an association of relatives
and parents of persons missing in Jaffna peninsula. The letters were sent by
the Ministry officials to the Human Rights Commission branch in Jaffna.
The defence ministry officials have in those letters expressed regret that they
were unable to trace relatives or children “disappeared” during the military
operation. This standard letter was even sent to the families of the two
persons whose skeletons were exhumed and identified in the Chemmani mass
graves!
Ministry of Defence on disappearances in Jaffna
December 2, 1999 - The Ministry of Defence in Sri Lanka said that in the final
analysis regarding complaints of disappearances in the Jaffna peninsula, 16
people were ascertained as dead, 201 were found in prisons and there was no
evidence at all in respect of 174, even to commence inquiries.
A press release issued by the Ministry of Defence said "inquiries in
respect of 374 cases commenced with available evidence, but could not proceed due to
inadequacy of such evidence" and added that their "relatives have
been informed of this position". The Government appointed a Board of
Investigations into complaints of disappearances in Jaffna in November 1996. Over
2600 complaints were made to this board.
The statement further said, "after detailed comparison of the names the
Board decided that the allegations continued only 765 names."
"On examination of lists and
information obtained from the Police stations, remand prisons and detention
centres and later visits to various prisons, the Board was able to trace 201 persons in custody", the
defence ministry statement said. It
further said "legal action has been initiated in the case of 14 deaths
alleged to have occurred at the hands of security forces".
(Human
rights activist say that this statement does not have any true information and
it was purely produced for the purpose of eye washing the International
community)
On December 7th 1999,
Amnesty International said that an independent commission was needed to
investigate the "disappearance" of hundreds of people arrested by the
Sri Lanka Army in Jaffna in 1996, commenting on the Sri Lankan military's own
investigations into the matter.
"The international community is waiting to see how the government deals
with human rights violations, committed under both the previous regime and the
present one," Amnesty International's Secretary General Pierre Sane said,
in a letter to President Chandrika Kumaratunge, asking her to set up such a
commission.
"As a preliminary step, the government should make public the findings of
an internal investigation by the Ministry of Defence into
"disappearances" in Jaffna in mid-1996," Mr Sane was quoted as
saying in a press release.
Relatives
have been told that the fate of at least two of the "disappeared" is
not known, even though their bodies were among those exhumed and identified in
June last year at Chemmani in Jaffna, the organisation pointed out.
Amnesty International also urged the Sri Lankan government to seek
international expertise in forensic criminal investigation to help bring to
justice the killers of those whose remains have recently been exhumed by the
authorities.
Experts from Amnesty International who were present during the exhumations of
the remains of 15 people in September last year in Chemmani, "concluded
that a pattern of injuries had emerged, making it easier to identify the
perpetrators of these crimes,"
According to the National Human
Rights Commission, the fate of about 50 percent of the 147 persons, who were
reported missing in the Jaffna District, in 1999, are not known.
The
bodies of only seven missing persons were recovered. According to the
preliminary investigations conducted in this regard, the Sri Lanka Army's
involvement was ruled out.
There was no information about other missing persons. During the year 1999, the
Jaffna branch of the NHRC received complaints of 526 arrests in the district.
The report 'Human Development in South Asia 1999' prepared and released by the
United Nations Development Program (UNDP), says that "around fifty five thousand people have died so far in the civil war
in Sri Lanka" far more than those killed in political and communal
violence in Pakistan (since 1995) and India (1954-94).
"Ethnic and religious minorities are often faced with limited
opportunities for economic and political empowerment (In south Asia). More than
three thousand people have been killed in politically motivated violence in
Karachi since 1995. Between 1954 and 1994, there were approximately fifteen
thousand communal riots in India which resulted in 13301 casualties. Around
fifty five thousand people have died so far in the civil war in Sri Lanka.
Unless there is a new compact between the citizen and the state, underpinned by
humane governance, the majority of people in South Asia will continue to be
shut into a downward spiral of deprivation and distress" says the UNDP
report.
(Various human rights organisations figures shows that the number of people killed in the North-east conflict is more than 65,000)
SKULLS AND SKELETONS FOUND
A family from Piththanai, a hamlet in Velanai, an island off the Jaffna
peninsula, had found a skeleton when
they were cleaning out their well on July 19, 1999.
The skeleton is thought to be that of a woman because a green sari and violet
blouse were also found in the well.
In Pandivirichchan
The decapitated body of a female and a body of a male were handed over to the
Mannar hospital on July 31st 1999 by the Sri Lankan Army .
The Sri Lanka army claimed that the bodies were found in the shrub at Chinna
Pandivirichchan near Madhu. But accusation is being pointed at the Army by the
villagers.
Mannar hospital sources said that the dead persons appeared to be around 25
years old and that they had been shot and knifed.
The two appeared to have been killed on July 29th 1999. According to the hospital sources the
female had been raped.
A human skull was found by diggers in the village of Munai on the coast of
Pt.Pedro in Jaffna on August 10th 1999. According to the residents
there was a Sri Lanka army camp at the spot where the skull was discovered.
They said that Anthony Vincent Mariyanayagam was digging a well in his compound
when the skull was found at the depth of about ten feet.
The digging was stopped as a consequence. Neighbours said that Mariyanayagam
has not reported the matter to the authorities out of fear but has left the
skull at the local cemetery.
Villagers of Katkadanthakulam in the Cheddikulam about 25 km. north west of
Vavuniya found two human skeletons in the jungle on October 1st
1999.
The skeletons are believed to be of S.Suthagar (22) and S.Gopikumarahaath (34),
who went missing after they went hunting on 15 February last year, the
villagers informed the local authorities.
Sources said the villagers have found the axes and knives which they
took with them.
In Suruvil
October
6th 1999 - A skeleton was found in a well in Suruvil in Jaffna
district when a family who were
cleaning out a well. The skeleton is being kept at the Kayts Police.
October 16th 1999 - The body of a young man, with hands and legs
tied, was found in a well belonging to Puttralai Sithivinayagar Temple, in
Pt.Pedro on the Jaffna peninsula. The body was identified as that of Kanapathipillai
Pathmanathan, 27, of Puloli.
The man had been beaten and there were injuries on his head. The man was seen
at the temple, talking to two of his friends, according to witnesses. His
relatives went in search of him, as he had not returned home. Local residents found the body in the well,
and his bicycle and identity card near the well.
On November 24th 1999, two human skulls were recovered from a pit in
a compound behind the Kopay Christian College in Jaffna.
The two skulls were recovered when the owner was digging a pit to plant a
coconut seedling. The Sri Lanka Army has a camp at this college compound. The
environs of the college are now declared as mined areas.
In Pallimunai
On December 8th 1999 - The body of Christy Jesuthsan, 25, was found
washed ashore at Pallimunai, a suburb of Mannar town. He had been arrested by
the Counter Subversive Unit of the Police and later released by the Mannar
Magistrate on October 14th.
An inquest was held by Additional Magistrate for Mannar district. Jesuthsan's
relatives testifying at the inquest said the youth had gone fishing three days
previously and had not returned since.
It was revealed at the inquest that the youth had suffered several blows
to the head.
In Kuppilan
January 12th 2000 - Two human skeletons have been recovered from the
compound of Vigneswara Vidyalayam - school in Kuppilan in the Jaffna District.
A skeleton was found by students who were clearing the school compound. Police said the skeleton was about five
years old and of a male.
On
29 July 99 Mr. Neelan Thiruchelvam was killed in bomb blast while he was on
his way to his office at Kynsey road in Colombo.
The
driver, the body guards an inspector and four policemen who were also
travelling with Mr. Thiruchelvam were injured. The blast was caused by a person
who was seated on the back seat of a motorbike that came from Ward Place road.
Mr. Thiruchlevam became a member of parliament in 1994 when he was nominated
from the TULF's national list.
Amnesty condemns Thiruchelvam killing
Amnesty
International, strongly condemned the assassination of Neelan Thiruchelvam on
July 29th 1999 in the Sri Lankan capital Colombo, and paid tribute
to him as "a politician who contributed greatly to his country".
In
a statement issued by, Amnesty International said Thiruchelvam, a member of
Tamil United Liberation Front (TULF) part of Sri Lanka's ruling coalition, was
killed on his way to work at the International Centre for Ethnic Studies.
"The nature of the attack suggests it could be linked with the Liberation
Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE), in which case it constitutes a clear breach of
international humanitarian standards," said Amnesty.
10 killed and President
Chandrika wounded at election rally
December
19, 1999 - A bomb blast at an election meeting of Sri Lanka's ruling People's
Alliance killed ten people and wounded several others, including the President
and three cabinet ministers.
A statement issued from the Presidential Secretariat said that President
Kumaratunga is safe and that Sri Lankan President Chandrika Kumaratunga was
wounded in the blast at Town hall grounds in Colombo. The statement said 104
people were wounded and admitted to the National hospital in Colombo.
MASSACRES
On September 15 1999 - More than twenty two civilians, including school
children and women were killed and more than forty seriously wounded when two
Kfir jets of the Sri Lanka Air Force bombed a crowded public place in
Puthukkudiyiruppu in Mullaithivu.
The Puthukkudiyiruppu market and a many houses and buildings nearby were
destroyed in the Sri Lanka Air Force bombing.
ICRC confirms Puthukkudiyiruppu
massacre
A spokesman for the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) said that
sixteen civilians were killed on the spot and six who were seriously wounded
died in the hospital when Sri Lanka Air Force jets bombed a busy market place
in Puthukkudiyiruppu.
"It is with deep regret and concern that we confirm the death of 21
civilians consequent to the air strike in Puthukkudiyiruppu. We deplore the
fact that the air strike was in a civilian area."
The sub-delegation of the ICRC in Puthukkudiyiruppu is less than two kilometres
from the market place which was bombed.
Amnesty expressed
concern over bombing in Puthukkudiyiruppu
September
17, 1999 - Amnesty International said that the explanation proffered by the Sri
Lanka Air Force for the bombing of the Puthukkudiyiruppu market "does not
absolve it from its responsibility under international humanitarian law to take
all possible precautions to avoid harming civilians"
Amnesty, in a statement expressing
concern over the bombing, said a Sri Lankan military spokesperson had denied
the raid, which killed at least 21 refugees in a crowded market place, had been
a deliberate attack on civilians.
Amnesty
said that the reported high number of civilian casualties and the significant
distance between the intended objective of the air strike and the actual place
where the civilians were killed, raise serious doubts about the quality of the
intelligence used before the bombing raid.
It also raises questions as to whether the alleged military value of this
attack was proportionate to the risk it posed to civilians, said Amnesty.
Amnesty International has written to
President Chandrika Bandaranaike Kumaratunga expressing concern as to whether
this may have been an unlawful attack.
Gunmen killed 56 in
Ampara district
More than 56 villagers were killed by gunmen who attacked three border villages
in the Ampara district in south-eastern Sri Lanka on September 18, 1999. Houses
were also set on fire by the attackers.
The gunmen had killed civilians in the villages of Borapola in Uhana, Bedi
Rekka in Mahara Oya and Sinnawatta near the Batticaloa district.
The Police said the Liberation Tigers had carried out these attacks in
retaliation to the Sri Lanka Air Force bombing of a crowded market place in
Puthukuddiyrupu in Mullaitivu district.
Sinhala
Veera Vithane contributed to inflaming
communal tensions Bishop
The
anti-Tamil and Muslim propaganda conducted by the Sinhala Veera Vithane, a Sinhala extremist organisation in the
Ampara district could have contributed to inflaming communal tensions ahead of
the massacre of civilians in the border villages, the Bishop of Trincomalee and
Batticaloa, Rt. Rev. Kingsley Swampillai said on September 24th 1999.
He added that it was imperative the Sri Lankan government takes steps to curb
the activities of the Sinhala Veera Vithane.
The Bishop said that a few days before
the Ampara massacre, the Sinhala Veera Vithane propagandists visited the Ampara
district and addressed meetings at which they whipped up sentiment against the
Tamil and Muslim communities. The Sinhala Veera Vithane wanted that Tamils and
Muslims be ousted from the Ampara district.
Massacre
of 42 civilians at Madhu church
November 20th 1999 - Thirty seven civilians were killed and sixty
four wounded when shells fired by the Sri Lankan Army hit Madhu church.
The
civilians were killed when shells hit the revered Catholic shrine at Madhu.
Thirty three refugees who had sought shelter in the precincts of the Church
were killed on the spot by shells. Four died on the way to Vavuniya hospital.
Church sources quoted refugees as saying Sri Lanka Army troops had turned a
tank gun and fired three shells into the church. More than 3000 refugees had
sought safety in the precincts of the Madhu shrine when the Army advance had
begun.
The bodies of 37 civilians who were killed at the Madhu Church were later
brought to the Mannar hospital.
The International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) in Geneva issued a
statement, expressing deep shock over the killings of 37 civilians at Madhu
church and has called on the warring parties to spare civilians and places of
worship.
The ICRC statement says:
"On
20 November fighting between the Sri Lankan army and the Liberation Tigers of Tamil
Eelam left 37 civilians dead and 56 others wounded. Thirteen children were
among the dead.” “The victims had taken refuge in the compound of a Roman
Catholic church in Madhu, between Mannar and Vavuniya
in the north of the island.”
“The International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC), deeply shocked by this
event, has once again called on the warring parties to spare civilians and
places of worship”
“Since the upsurge in fighting at the beginning of November, the ICRC has
repeatedly reminded the parties to the conflict of their obligation to comply
with international humanitarian law.”
“It urgently appeals to the parties to take the necessary measures at all times
to prevent casualties among the civilian population during military
operations.”
Amnesty International, said it was "gravely concerned about the killing of
37 civilians in Madhu church on November 20, 1999 and urged the Sri Lanka Army
and the Liberation Tigers to "to take all necessary measures to prevent
civilian casualties".
"These tragic deaths underscore the need for both sides to the conflict to
recommit themselves to upholding principles of international humanitarian
law," Amnesty International said. " They must issue clear orders to
their personnel to ensure the protection of civilians at all times."
"Under international humanitarian law, civilians must not be deliberately exposed
to bombing or shelling. All parties must refrain from direct attacks on
civilians or indiscriminate attacks," Amnesty said.
MADHU CHURCH BOMBED BY SRI LANKA ARMY
NEARLY 40 REFUGEES MASSACRED, 64 WOUNDED - TCHR
The Tamil Centre for Human Rights strongly condemns the heinous atrocity and
gratuitous act of hostility, which has caused such a massive loss of innocent
life at Madhu Church in the North of the island of Sri Lanka. At 10.00pm local
time, on Saturday 20th November, an armoured column of Sri Lanka Army tanks
opened fire on Madhu Church Shrine. Dead bodies and injured people were strewn
everywhere on the spot, following the massacre, according to a wounded refugee
who was admitted to Vavuniya hospital.
It appears that the Sri Lanka Army has a habit of killing people who are
sheltering in temples and churches. The Sri Lanka Air Force deliberately bombed
St. Peter’s Church and School in Navaly, on 9th.July 1995. Having dropped
leaflets asking the people to move to places of worship the Sri Lanka Air Force
had then bombed the places of worship where Tamil civilians had sought refuge.
St Peter’s Church in Navaly was far from the battle line and hundreds had
sought refuge there. The church was deliberately bombed, killing 120 people, 13
babies died in their mothers arms. The bombing was condemned by the ICRC and
the Vatican.
We urgently request world bodies and human rights organisations to take serious
action regarding this latest massacre in the island of Sri Lanka.
On September 5th 1990, in Batticaloa district 158 Tamil refugees
went missing after they were arrested and dragged away by the Sri Lanka Army
from the Eastern University campus at Vanthaarumoolai.
The
Human Rights Task Force (HRTF) appointed by the UNP regime in 1993 under
international pressure and the Human Rights Commission (HRC) established by the
PA government in November 1994 have both investigated the massacres of innocent
civilians and clearly named the Sri Lanka Army officers and paramilitary
leaders.
"But
nine years have gone by and none of these have been brought to book. No action
has been taken, despite the two commission's findings, to determine what came
of the people who were arrested by the SLA and have gone missing. We intend to
agitate for the identification and exhumation of the mass graves that are said
to be at Navalady and Saththurukkondaan where many of them are buried", a
representative of local citizens in Batticaloa said. <More
Detail>
174
Arrested in Vanthaarumoolai
In
the final report of the commissions findings published in September 1997 by the
government, it is stated that:
"The arrest from the Vanthaarumoolai eastern university refugees camp was
the biggest group arrest of Batticaloa district. The arrests took place on 5
September and 23 September 1990. Hundred and fifty eight persons were arrested
on the first day, while sixteen were taken into custody on the second day.
A list containing the names of hundred and fifty eight persons who were reported
to have
disappeared was produced before this commission and eighty-three witnesses
testified to the disappearances of 92 persons out of the 158 reported above.
Also evidence was given regarding ten of the sixteen persons who disappeared
on subsequent arrest. According to the
evidence, nearly 40 thousand people had taken refuge since July 1990 following
the outbreak of violence in the vicinity of the university."
On 5 September 1990 by about six o'clock in the morning army men from the
Kommathurai army camp along with personnel from some other army camps came in a
SLTB (Sri Lanka Transport Board) bus and entered the premises of the eastern
University.
White
Van
This was followed by an announcement by an amplifier fitted to a white coloured
van asking the refugees to form into three different queues- persons of the age
group of 12-25 in the first row, persons of the age group of 26-40 in the
second row and persons over forty years in the third row.
People in the three queues were asked to pass through a point where five
persons in masks clad in army uniform were seated in chairs along with seven
Muslims standing behind those in masks.
Whenever the persons in the masks gave a signal, the people who were in the queues
were taken away from the queue to a side. When this operation was completed,
158 persons who were pulled out from the queues were taken away by the army
despite the protests by their kith and kin.
Army officials responsible for the
disappearances
There
was evidence to show that the arrests were done by the Kommathurai army camp
with the assistance of personnel from other army camps as well, and that the
following army officers were directing the operations. Captain Munaz, Captain Palitha, Capt.Gunaratna, Major Majeed and Major
Mohan."
"There
was also evidence to show that Gerry de Silva - former Army commander had
visited the refugees camp on the 8 September 1990 and had told the officers
responsible for the administration of the refugees camp that all the 158
persons who were taken into custody on 5 September 1990 were found guilty.
However, he had declined to say what had happened to them after they were found
guilty."
"There was further evidence to say that one of the officers who were in
charge of the refugee camp made a request to the Army personnel in charge of
the operation to give a list of persons arrested for which there was no
response.
Letter
from Secretary to MSD
It
also transpired in evidence that Thalayasingham Arunagirinathan, the chairman
of the (Batticaloa) peace committee, had received a letter in October 1990 from
A.W Fernando, Air Chief Marshal, who was then the secretary to the Hon.
Minister of State for Defence, wherein it was stated that on 5 September 1990
only 32 persons were taken into custody from the Eastern University refugees
camp and that all had been released within 24 hours of arrest.
The letter contained a list of 32 names who were alleged to have been released.
However the commission was
informed that none of those who were arrested had returned either to the said
refugee camp or to their homes but still remain missing. (p. 31 - 32 of the
Commission's final report)
One of the commissioners, retired judge Krishnapillai Palakidnar, heard
evidence in Batticaloa.
More than 2400 Tamils went missing during this period due to the activities of
the Army and paramilitaries operating with it, mostly from the northern coastal
parts of the Batticaloa district, according to the findings of the human rights
commission.
( Incidents are quoted in date sequence)
In
September 1996, Krishanthi Kumaraswamy, a student at the Chundikuli Girls
School was attacked by Sri Lanka Army and police personnel at a military
checkpoint in Jaffna. She is said to have been gang raped by up to 11 security
forces personnel, before being murdered.
This
incident brought widespread local and international condemnation which
eventually led to government taking steps to search for the missing
people. Finally their bodies were found
in a shallow graves several weeks later. Krishanthi's body had been
dismembered. On the orders of the Government, the bodies were flown to Colombo
Krishanthi's family was told to dispose of the bodies within two hours.
The
Sri Lankan government ordered the arrest of the suspected soldiers and police
personnel. However the trial took nearly two years leading to accusations that
the government has been dragging its feet. On July 3rd 1998, the
Colombo High Court sentenced five Sri Lanka army soldiers and a policemen
charged with abduction, rape and murder in the Krishanthy Kumaraswamy case
to death.
Ironically,
an admission by one of the soldiers accused in the Krishanthi case has
highlighted the magnitude of the problem. On being asked why he should not get
the death sentence, the first accused in this case, Corporal R.D. Somaratna
Rajapakse, reportedly denied murder and said in court "We only buried
bodies. We can show you where 300 to 400 bodies have been buried". He also
reportedly said, "almost every evening, dead bodies were brought there and
the soldiers were asked to bury them".
The
whole world was alarmed with Corporal Rajapakse's statement in Court and the
Government kept silent about it. Expectations of finding the bodies of the 'disappeared'
have risen in the minds of the public since July 3rd 1998.
Jaffna
additional magistrate, M. Ilancheliyan, instructed the CID and the attorney
general's department on July 15th 1999 to begin examination of the
alleged mass graves of Tamil civilians in Chemmani in Jaffna on August 30th,
31st and September 1st.
He ordered the CID and the Police to bring the five Sri Lanka Army personnel who
were convicted in the rape and murder of the Jaffna school girl Krishanthy
Kumaraswamy to identify the areas where civilians allegedly killed by the Sri
Lanka Army are said to be buried in Chemmani and nearby areas.
The
judge further instructed the Police and the Attorney General's (AG) department
to exhume the grave sites from September 6 to September 30. The counsel from
the AG department pleaded that it was not possible at this juncture to begin
examination or exhumation of the alleged grave sites of civilians arrested and
killed by the Army in Ariyalai near Jaffna town as there are bunkers and
defence positions of the government security forces in the area.
A team of government investigators arrived in Jaffna on 13 August 99, to examine the sites of the alleged mass graves in Jaffna.
The team also studied conditions in Ariyalai
and Chemmani for possible exhumation work and for setting up a field laboratory
in these places.
August 19, 1999 - A part of a human
skull and a grenade were unearthed in Ariyalai West, a suburb of Jaffna, by two woodcutters who were attempting to
dislodge a tree stump by digging around.
The
Chairman of the Human Rights Commission in Jaffna, and the Divisional Secretary subsequently visited the scene.
The officials' visit may have been prompted by statements made by witnesses in
the Chemmani case about further graves of civilians being located in Ariyalai.
Investigators failed to record the names of Army officials
On 30 August 1999 - Somaratna
Rajapakse, the Sri Lanka Army corporal
and four others convicted in the rape and murder told the district judge in
Jaffna that Police investigators who questioned them on the alleged mass graves
in Chemmani did not record the names of Sri Lanka Army officials who, according
to him, were involved in the arrest and killing of more than six hundred
civilians in the peninsula in 1996-97.
He said that his life has been further threatened following the publication of
a report in the Sinhala daily Divaina in which his evidence had been distorted.
The
state counsel, Mr. Yasantha Kothagoda, told the court that Somaratna Rajapakse
would be taken to Chemmani and Ariyalai to identify the nine mass graves in
which, according to the ex-Army corporal, scores of Jaffna civilians arrested
and killed by the army were buried.
The
soldier had alleged that there were ten graves in the general area of Chemmani
and Ariyalai. He identified one at Chemmani on June 16. The bodies of two civilians
were discovered by investigators here.
Mr. Kumar Ponnambalam wanted to
participate in the court proceedings in Chemmani on August 30th
1999. He was denied an air ticket to Jaffna on August 27th 1999
because he had not obtained permission from the Ministry of Defence for
visiting the north.
Mr.Ponnambalam,
a leading lawyer in Colombo was representing the interests of the kith and kin of
the persons who went missing in Jaffna in 1995 and 1996 after being arrested by
the Sri Lanka Army.
Mr. Ponnambalam had pointed out to officials at Heli-Tours, the firm that
currently operates civilian flights between Jaffna and Colombo, that he as a Sri
Lankan citizen does not need any permission or clearance to travel to any part
of the country. Heli-Tours, however, told Mr.Ponnambalam that no one could be
issued a ticket to Jaffna without the necessary clearance from the ministry of
defence.
Mr. Kumar Ponnambalam then contacted an Army officer at the Ministry of Defence
and explained to him that it was not necessary for him under Sri Lankan law to
obtain the army's permission to visit Jaffna or any other part of the country.
One
of the fundamental rights entrenched in Sri Lanka's constitution is the
inalienable right of any of its citizen to travel to any part of the island.
Ex-soldier identifies many locations
August 30th 1999 - Nineteen places where scores of arrested Tamil civilians
were allegedly killed and buried by the Army in and around Chemmani near Jaffna
town in 1996 and 1997 were identified by ex-soldier Somaratna Rajapakse
convicted in the rape and murder of the Jaffna school girl Krishanthy
Kumarasamy.
Five
places at Chemmani in Jaffna were identified, in which, according to
him, about forty-three Tamil civilians, arrested and killed by Sri Lankan
Security forces lie buried.
Rajapakse showed investigators a gravesite at 'Kerniyadi', the first of
the five sites, on the road from Chemmani junction to Nallur where he said the
bodies of ten to fifteen civilians were buried by the Army.
Two of the civilians killed and buried here, according to Rajapakse, were a
husband and wife who were arrested at Ariyalai while watching a movie. 'Kerniyadi' is about hundred yards from the Army checkpoint
at the Chemmani junction. Rajapakse identified the second grave site at the
'Uppalam' (old saltern) in Chemmani. He said that twenty to twenty-five civilians
were buried in an abandoned bunker of the Liberation Tigers.
His colleagues had brought the bodies
in tractors from Atchuvely and Kaithady; and as there had been not enough sand
to cover the pit, according to Rajapakse, it had to be brought from another
area. Most of the bodies were naked and a few had underwear. He told
investigators that a government officer called Mr. S.Gunaratnam who had close
relations with Army at the time was also aware of this. Mr. Gunaratnam was the
Director of Agrarian Services in the peninsula at the time and is currently
employed by the Food and Agricultural Organisation in Jaffna.
The
third grave site shown to investigators by Rajapakse lies between a
small water tank by a 'Poovarasu' tree and the
'Theruvalippillaiyar' temple on Kandy road in the Chemmani area.
Here, according to the ex-corporal, a Hindu priest and his assistant who
had come on a Charlie motorcycle
were killed and buried. The motorcycle was also buried with the two bodies
said Rajapakse.
The
fourth grave site was identified by the 'Theruvalippillaiyar' temple
(Now known as the Nulaivayil Pilliyar). Three bodies, according to Rajapakse
are buried here. He identified a grave under the plastic water tank by the 'Poovarasu'
tree where two bodies had been buried.
Rajapakse
said that there is another grave site at the spot where investigators
and the Jaffna courts set up a tent on that particular day on the Kandy road in
front of the spot where the Hindu priest and his assistant were allegedly
killed and buried. He said there were many bodies here.
Rape and murder house
identified
August
30th 1999 - Somaratna Rajapakse showed investigators the
house of the couple who were dragged from their home and allegedly murdered by
the soldiers while watching a video movie with their two children at Mulli in
Ariyalai.
The
woman according to evidence, was stripped naked and raped.
According to Rajapakse the couple had been beaten to death with mammoties (a
spade like instrument used for digging sand). The children have been orphaned.
Rajapakse seeks legal
advice
August 31st 1999 - Somaratna Rajapakse
said that under military aggression and interference he was not in a position
to further identify places where the bodies of Jaffna civilians are buried in
the Chemmani area. Rajapakse asked the court to allow him to seek legal advice
and assistance.
Rajapakse appealed to court that it was not right to keep him separated from
the other witnesses in the case as he was unable to consult and discuss with
them about the location and details of the alleged grave sites in Chemmani. The
judge allowed his application and instructed the Police to keep him with the
other witnesses. The ex-corporal was then taken away from the special temporary
court.
The other witnesses in the case, ex-soldiers Mudiyansalage Jayasingha, D.M
Jayatilaka, S.A Perera and Gunasekera Priyadharshana, were meanwhile brought to
Chemmani to show investigators places where bodies of civilians killed by the
army in 96-97 were buried. Jayasingha
identified 4 places, Perera showed 5 and Priyadarshana 2 where the Army had
allegedly killed and buried Jaffna civilians.
D.M Jayatilaka showed investigators a place by the Kottukinaththady Pillaiyar
shrine in Chemmani where he had seen 50 bodies of civilians in a bunker used by
the Liberation Tigers. He told them he had put six bodies into the bunker.
Thereafter, Rajapakse was brought to Chemmani and he showed a spot where
he and Perera had buried three bodies, including that of a civilian named Yogeswaran who had been tied upside
down and tortured before being murdered. Another grave-site was shown
by him near this spot. Investigators found the area mined.
Sri
Lanka's Attorney General's Department said in a news release issued on August
30th 1999, that the
exhumations of alleged graves in Chemmani, Jaffna, of civilians murdered by Sri
Lanka Army troops would recommence on
September 6th 1999.
The Attorney General's press release as follows: "Prior to the commencement
of field investigations, the connected case was taken up in the Jaffna
Magistrates Court before the Additional Magistrate Mr. M. Illancheliyan.
"At the outset of the case, State Counsel Yasantha Kodagoda, informed
court that the Criminal Investigations Department and the Forensic scientists
had made all arrangements with the assistance of the Jaffna Police and the
security forces of the Jaffna peninsula, to conduct excavation of all graves
alleged to be in Chemmani and that for the purpose of identifying the locations
of all the graves, the co-operation of the convicts of the Krishanthy
Kumaraswamy rape and murder case have to be obtained.
"For that purpose, all 5 prisoners had been brought to Jaffna. "Later, court adjourned and reconvened
in Chemmani. Initially prisoner Somaratne Rajapakse was asked to point out the
locations of all the graves he knew. Accordingly, he pointed out the alleged
locations of 7 graves.
"At each location, the prisoner was questioned at length by the
magistrate, the state counsel and Chief Forensic Pathologist Prof. Nirielige
Chandrasiri. The remaining prisoners D.
M. Jayasinghe, G. Pradeep Priyadarshana, A.S.Priyashantha Perera and
D.M.Jayatilake were asked to point out the locations of the remaining graves.
"The prisoners pointed out a total
of 19 locations and some of the locations overlapped. In the circumstances, the
total number of graves may be around 14.
"Based
on information provided by the prisoners, excavation work with the objective of
exhuming human remains will commence on the 6th of September.
Filled up pit in Chemmani
September 6, 1999 - No bodies or human skeletal remains were found by
investigators who cleared and dug the area in Chemmani where Somaratna
Rajapkshe had earlier claimed were four graves in which eight bodies of
civilians arrested and allegedly killed by the Sri Lankan army were buried.
Investigators identified a spot near the Theruvalipillaiyar temple in Chemmani
after the general area near the temple identified by Rajapakse was cleared which appeared to be a filled-up pit. It
was dug up, to a depth of about 5-6 feet. Nothing was found.
Army commanders interfering
in investigation
September 6, 1999 - The Jaffna
district judge Manikkavasagam Ilancheliyan severely reprimanded the Jaffna Sri Lanka Army Commander Lohan
Gunawardana and the Sri Lankan Army's 51 division General Officer
Commanding Maj.Gen.Nihal Marambe for interfering in the Chemmmani court
proceedings and investigations
MPGA President arrested by Army
Army
personnel who came to Chemmani at the
spot where investigators were clearing and digging the place identified by the
ex-corporal, arrested P. Selvarajah, the president of the Jaffna Missing
Persons Guardian Association, who was at Chemmani to observe the proceedings. Selvarajah was taken away to the 51 division
headquarters for interrogation.
The
lawyer representing the interests of the MPGA, S. Paramarajah, told the judge
that the president was arrested on suspicion for a bomb allegedly found in the
compound of his house on September 1st 1999. The judge said that this was a conspiracy to disrupt the
investigations.
Skeletons
found in Chemmani
September 7th
1999 -
Investigators digging the graves at Chemmani found two human skeletons at a
spot. However, no bodies or human skeletal remains were found at the site
identified by the main witness in the case.
September 8th 1999 - A human skull was dug by investigators from a pit in the
general area identified near the Chemmani Sri Lankan army checkpoint. The skull
was found about five feet from the spot where two human skeletons were
found by investigators.
Army commander promoted
September 9th
1999 -
Three human skeletons, including one suspected to be that of a woman
allegedly raped and beaten to death by an Army officer, were found in a grave
pointed out by ex-corporal Somaratna Rajapakse.
Investigators
dug near the Chemmani road junction Army sentry which Rajapakse had
specifically identified as the spot where a man and his wife who were dragged
out by the soldiers from their home at Mulli in Ariyalai and murdered had been
buried along with another civilian.
A piece of a woman's clothing, an ear stud and the waist band of a male's underwear
were also found in the pit near the skeletons. The skull of one of the bodies
in the grave was pulled out earlier in the day when a bulldozer was removing
the upper soil at the spot.
According
to a convicted soldier turned state witness, the man and his wife had been
watching TV with their two children in their house at Mulli when they had been
dragged away to the Army camp in the area. He had later found the woman
standing naked near Lt.Dunuwila, an
Army officer at the camp. Her husband
had also been standing nearby. The woman had been raped according to the
witness. Lt.Dunuwila had ordered the soldier to bring a mammoty (spade like
implement) and with it, he had beaten the woman and her husband to death.
The children were orphaned and are growing up with relatives in Tellipalai in
Jaffna. Lt.Dunuwila was later promoted
and deployed elsewhere.
September 11th 1999 - A skeleton believed to be of a woman was found by the investigators at the mass grave site. The skeleton was found at a site behind a Sri Lanka Army sentry near the Chemmani junction. Excavation of the site, identified by the courts as 'site B,'. Five skeletons have been found at this site during the past few days. Investigators have found 10 skeletons at Chemmani and Ariyalai.
24 bodies buried behind rice mill
- MPGA
The
Missing Persons' Guardian Association (MPGA) said 24 civilians who were
arrested on July 19th 1996 at Kaithady, Navatkullu and Maravanpulum
are believed to have been buried behind a rice mill at Navatkuli and not at
Chemmani. Some bodies are believed to have been disposed in wells.
September 13th 1999 - Investigators found a finger bone and a red hat while
removing the upper soil at a depth of 1.5 feet in the general area near the
Chemmani junction Sri Lanka Army checkpoint. The skeleton of a man was found
when the spot was dug further.
Several bunkers filled up
Meanwhile,
the lawyers representing the interests of the Missing Persons Guardian
Association (Jaffna) informed the Judge Manikkavasagam Ilancheliyan that
workers at the Chemmani saltern had told them that they had found several
bunkers around the saltern bed filled up in March 1997.
September 14th 1999 It
was suggested by the investigators that ex-corporal Somaratna Rajapakse, will
have to be flown to Jaffna again to identify graves sites there. Some
of the grave sites identified earlier by Rajapakse could not be located, and it
has been suggested to the authorities to bring back him to Jaffna.
Investigators
have found 11 skeletons at these sites.
September 16th 1999 - Fourteen human skeletons have so far been
dug up in the Chemmani area by investigators, according to officials in
Jaffna. Three skeletons were found near the Kottukkinattady Pillaiyar temple.
Two were found in the place identified by D.M Jakatilaka, one of the former
Army soldiers convicted in the rape and murder.
Jayatilaka told investigators that fifty
civilians were killed and buried at this place.
Another skeleton was found in front of the temple.
September 17th 1999 - A complete skeleton was found when
investigators dug a place pointed out by Somaratna Rajapakse, west of the
Kottukinattady Pillaiyar shrine in Chemmani.
It
hands were tied up. The forehead of the skeleton's skull was crushed on the
left side. A piece of yellow cloth was found under it.
Investigators said the person may have been tortured in the
abandoned house near this grave. Ropes were found hanging from its beams. A
pair of army boots were also in the house.
Fifteen
human skeletons have so far been dug up in the Chemmani area by investigators.
January 24th 2000 - The
Jaffna Additional Magistrate has instructed the government to complete the investigations and the identification of human
skeletons recovered from Chemmani grave as early as possible.
Mr
M. Ilancheliyan called for a speedy resumption of the Chemmani probe when the
State Counsel Yasantha Kottegoda made an application to postpone the inquiry
for another six weeks. Attorneys appearing on behalf of the missing persons
objected to the application made by the State asking for six weeks to complete
the investigations in the Chemmani massacre.
Refusing the application made by the State, the Additional Magistrate said that
he would allow only one month's time for the police to complete the
investigation and to identify the human skeletons recovered from Chemmani
grave. The Additional Magistrate ordered the State to complete the
investigation and the identification of the human skeletons recovered before
February 21st.
In support of his application for an extension to complete the investigation,
the State Counsel argued that due to the present unsettled condition in Jaffna
district people were displaced and living in other areas. Therefore, it could
take longer to complete the investigations.
Furthermore, it was unable to
take steps to arrest the suspects. The
State Counsel further said that up to November 1999 statements from about 336
persons were recorded.
SOME
EXTRACTS REGARDING CHEMMANI MASS GRAVES FROM THE TCHR REPORT SUBMITTED TO THE
UN 55TH SESSION OF THE
COMMISSION
ON HUMAN RIGHTS IN 1999
Chemmani road closed by the Army
During
the third week of July 1998, the Sri Lanka Army kept the Kaithady-Nallur road
passing through Chemmani closed. This has led to suspicion and unease in the
minds of the Jaffna public.
With
the closure of the Kaithady-Nallur road there is no movement of civilians in
the Chemmani area. On August 2nd 1998 - the People's Power Forum
(PPF), a civic organisation in Jaffna had passed a resolution demanding that
Sri Lanka Army should take steps to open the
Chemmani road as early as possible.
Smoke rising and
bulldozers working in the Chemmani area - TCHR
TCHR press release of August
29th 1998, stated that "reports from the Jaffna peninsula say that, on
occasion, smoke has been seen rising from the direction of Chemmani since the
area was sealed off. This contributed to concerns that Sri Lankan soldiers who
might have been responsible for 'disappearances' may currently be deployed to
destroy the evidence at the site."
In
the meantime various other organisations have said that there are allegations from
the people of the area that there are nefarious activities at night with spot
lights burning, bull dozers feverishly working, helicopters descending and
smoke emanating at Chemmani.
Smoke and vehicles moving in the Chemmani area
On September 8th 1998, the Missing Person's
Guardian Association - Jaffna (MPGA) sent a letter to the National Human Rights
Commission urging it to take action on the Chemmani mass grave issue without
delay in view of reports that there are secret moves to destroy evidence on the
Chemmani mass graves.
The
MPGA expressed fear that evidence might be damaged due to the monsoon rains
that are expected to start next month. The MPGA letter further states that
there are complaints from civilians that they had seen smoke and vehicles
moving about in the Chemmani area after dark.
Corporal Rajapakse attacked by prison guards
On August 23rd
1998,
Corporal Somaratne Rajapakse was attacked by Welikade prison guards and admitted
to the prison hospital for treatment for injuries he sustained.
This attack is believed to
have been carried out on the instruction of the Army commanders responsible for
the Chemmani mass graves. It was an attempted murder on Corporal Rajapkse. He was released from
hospital on 28 August 98.
TCHR NOW RAISES THE FOLLOWING POINTS :
1 On August
23rd 1998, There was an attempted murder on Corporal Somaratne
Rajapakse, in the Welikade prison. He is the one who disclosed the fact about
the Chemmani mass graves. This attack was carried out on the
instruction of the Army commanders responsible for the Chemmani mass graves.
2- On August 27th 1999, Mr.
Kumar Ponnambalam was denied travel to Jaffna on August 27, 1999 because he had
not obtained permission from the Ministry of Defence for visiting the north!
Mr.Ponnambalam,
was the main lawyer in the Krishanthy Kumaraswany case in which ex-coporal
Somaratne and four others were convicted to death sentence and in which
Somaratne Rajapksa disclose the fact about Chemmani mass graves.
3- August 31st 1999 -
Somaratna Rajapakse said that under military interference he was not in
a position to further identify places where the bodies of Jaffna civilians are
buried in the Chemmani area. Rajapksa asked the court to allow him to seek
legal advice and assistance.
4-
December 1999 Somaratna Rajapakse wanted to meet Mr. Kumar
Ponnambalam and sent a letter of request written in Sinhalese to Mr
Ponnambalam. As Mr Kumar Ponnambalam was the lawyer in the Krishanthy Kumaraswamy
case, he sent a letter to the Judge, seeking permission from him to meet with
Rajapakse.
5-
January 5th 2000 Mr. Kumar Ponnambalam was
killed by an unknown gunmen in Colombo!!
(In date sequence)
The
Tamil political detainees are kept in prisons alongside hardened Sinhala
criminals and drug addicts who illiterate them in various ways. There were
incidents when convicted Sinhala prisoners, with the connivance of prison
guards and soldiers attacked the Tamil detainees.
In
July (25 & 27) 1983,
the Sinhala convicts in Welikade prison butchered to death fifty-three
Tamil political prisoners. In February 1996 the Tamil detainees
in Magazine
prison were seriously assaulted with metal rods, clubs and cricket bats by
prison guards. On 22nd April 1987 Sinhala prisoners attacked
Tamil detainees who were on hunger strike. On 12th
December 1997 three Tamil political detainees were hacked to death by
Sinhala convicts while prison staff and members of the armed forces stood by
and watched. Several other detainees were injured. (Hot Spring, January-February 2000)
According
to officials more than 700 Tamil political prisoners are held at the Kalutara prison.
A large number of them have been detained for several years without any legal
charges against them.
September
14th 1999 - Twenty five Tamil political prisoners got on the roof of
the Kalutara maximum security prison in support of twelve of their colleagues
who have been on a protest fast from September 14th 1999.
Tamil
political prisoners at this maximum security prison south of Colombo have
protested many times in the past against being incarcerated indefinitely
without being charged in court for anything.
"File the case or release" is the slogan of the Tamil political
prisoners held at Kalutara who say that they have been denied the due judicial
processes. (See summary report for list of names).
More
join the fast
January 6th 1999 Thirty four Tamil political
detainees who were staging a hunger strike were attacked by Sinhala prisoners
and guards. The wounded have been taken to Nagoda hospital. The prisoners have staged hunger strikes several times earlier
appealing for their release or for legal action to be taken against them.
One of the 34 wounded Tamil detainees
admitted to hospital following violence died later.
Four of the wounded have been transferred to the National Hospital in Colombo
while the others are being kept at Nagoda Hospital. The detainee who died is
Mr. Jesudasan.
More violence at Kalutara prison
January
7th 1999 - Fifteen Tamil political prisoners were wounded in further
violence at the Kalutara Prison. Three of them have been admitted to the Nagoda
hospital, where 33 others were warded before.
Second prisoner dies ICRC
representative injured
January 7th 1999 - Another Tamil political detainee, Srikumar of
Jaffna, who was injured in violence at Kalutara Prison succumbed to his injuries
and later died. Several others, including Vavuniya Red Cross Co-ordinator,
Mr.Kishore and a fisherman from India, were among the injured
Welikade
Tamil detainees assaulted
January 28th 2000 - Three Tamil political detainees at the Welikade
prison in Colombo were beaten up by the Sinhala prisoners and prison guards.
They have been warded at the prison hospital.
Three women prisoners were injured following a brawl with Sinhala women
prisoners. Tamil prisoners were later beaten up by the prison guards when they
complained about the incident.
Mr.A.Vinayakamoorthy,
a human rights lawyer in Colombo has informed the Chairman of the Human Rights
Commission of the details of the incident.
PRISONER DIED OF GUNSHOT WOUND
STATES MAGISTRATE
(The
Sunday Leader - February 7, 2000)
The
police is yet to take action against the jail guards attached to the maximum
security prison at Kalutara despite evidence in assaulting prisoners detained
with suspected links with the LTTE.
In
the clashes that took place at the prison on January 6 and 7, 2000, two
prisoners died. The inquest into the death of one prisoner was certified as due
to gunshot injuries by the magistrate.
Despite
a court case that had witnesses testifying that they were attacked by jail
guards of the prison while they were unarmed and helpless, no action has been
taken against the assailants, except for the superintendent of this prison who
was transferred after the incident, said sources.
October
19th 1999 - The Parish Priest of the Vankalai St. Ann's Church, Rev.
Thevasagayampillai who had complained to authorities about the army rampage in
the village has been intimidated by the Sri Lankan Police.
A group of policemen had gone to the church on 21 October 21st 1999
and threatened to assault the Parish Priest.
The policemen had also warned him not to get involved in the incidents
in the village.
The
Sri Lankan government has decided to issue a new identity card to all persons
above the age of 12 years, residing in the Trincomalee district. The Sri Lanka
Army is distributing the necessary application forms to the people of the
district through the police.
Pass system in Batticaloa
district
The
Tamil United Liberation Front (TULF) Batticaloa district MP, Joseph
Pararajasingham in a letter to President Kumaratunga has said that he was
alarmed to hear of a proposal by the defence ministry to introduce a pass
system to the Batticaloa district. He has said this would prevent the free
movement of people within the island and that the government has created a de
facto separation of the north east from the rest of the country.
In
a letter addressed to the president he said that the number of security check
points which people have to pass while travelling and transporting goods from
Batticaloa subject them to much hardship.(an
extract from the “Sunday Leader” January 30th 2000)
Journalists
demonstration stopped
A large number of journalists demonstrated in Colombo on July 21st
1999, protesting against several of their colleges being assaulted, allegedly
by personnel from the Presidential Security Division (PSD).
The journalists and media photographers were assaulted during a picketing
organised by the main opposition party, the UNP on July 15th
1999. The demonstrators marched from
Kollupitiya towards 'Temple Tress', the official residence of the President, to
hand over a memorandum to the President.
However, they were stopped on the way by police who had barricaded all
the roads leading to the Presidential Secretariat.
Sunday Leader Editor questioned by the CID
Lasantha
Wickrematunge, the editor of the independently owned Sunday Leader, an English
weekly, was questioned in Colombo by officials from the Criminal Investigations
Department, on August 20th 1999.
He was accompanied by his lawyers who reportedly waited outside the offices of
the CID. Mr. Lasantha Wickrematunge was
interrogated with regard to the 'Channel 9' controversy said his lawyers. The
matter concerns an article in the paper, which exposed alleged government
corruption over the Channel 9 Television deal.
The Sri Lanka President Chandrika Kumaratunga and her Media Advisor
Sanath Gunathileke have been implicated in the article.
Journalists file
fundamental rights cases
October 13th 1999 - The Fundamental Rights applications of five
media photographers complaining against the assault on them by the Presidential
Security Division whilst they were covering the UNP protest rally on
July 15th last year, were granted leave to proceed by the Supreme
Court.
Ajith
Samaranayaka, (Ravaya) Janapriya Samarajeewa (Yukthiya) Buddhika Weerasinghe (
Lakbima), M.A Pushpakumara (Sunday Times) and Sanjeeva Chinthaka (Sunday Times)
are the five media photographers who filed the Fundamental Rights Applications
in the Supreme Court.
They have alleged that they were subjected to assault while they were
performing their professional duties covering the rally on a directive by their
employers. Their expensive cameras and equipment were smashed by the
Presidential Security Division.
On September 7th 1999, Rohana Kumara, the editor
of Satana (Battle), newspaper, was
killed by unidentified gunmen in a Colombo suburb. He was shot on his way home
in a taxi after receiving a call that his house was being attacked. United
National Party blamed the ruling party for the killing and demanded an
immediate investigation. The government did not take any serious action.
Member of Parliament / Editor killed in Colombo
November
2nd 1999, unidentified gunman shot and killed the chief editor of
the Tamil weekly tabloid, 'Thinamurasu', Atputharajah Nadarajah, 38, in
Colombo. Atputharajah Nadarajah, sometimes known as Ramesh, was also Member of
Parliament for the Jaffna district. He was travelling in a car in Wellawatte
when the gunman open fire. His driver was killed on the spot.
The Sri Lankan President imposed censorship on the local and
foreign press under the Public Security Ordinance (Chapter 40) with effect from
November 6th 1999. The new
regulations preclude the publication, broadcast or transmitting of any material
pertaining to any matter inclusive of military operation carried out or being
carried out or proposed to be carried out in the Northern and Eastern Province
except with the permission of the Competent Authority.
Following is the full text of the
censorship proclamation:
The
Emergency (Prohibition on Publication and Transmission of Sensitive Military
Information) Regulation No.1 of 1998
"No editor or publisher of a newspaper or any person authorised by or
under law to establish and operate a broadcasting section or a television station
channel except with the permission of the competent authority print, publish,
distribute of transmit whether by means of electronic device or otherwise or
cause to be printed, published distributed or transmitted any material
(inclusive of documents, pictorial, representations, photographs or
cinematography films) containing any matter pertaining to military operation in
the northern and eastern province including any operation carried out or being
carried out or proposed to be carried out by the armed forces or by Police
force (Including the Special Task Force) the development of troops or personnel
or the development or use of equipment including Aircraft or Naval Vessel by
any such forces or any statement pertaining to the official conduct moral or
performance of the lead or of any member of the armed forces or the Police
force or of any person authorised by the Commander in Chief of the Armed Forces
for the purpose of rendering assistance in the preservation of national
security."
Editor and the sub
editor interrogated by Police
The Editor A.Sivanesachelvan and sub editor, Mr.T.Sivaganeshan of the widely
circulated Tamil daily 'Thinakkural', published in Colombo had been summoned
for an interrogation at the Head Quarters of the Criminal Investigation
Department on November 24, 1999.
The editors had been taken in for interrogation about news items appeared in
the paper regarding the massacre of refugees seeking safety Madhu church .
The
chief editor A.Sivanesachelvan was taken in for interrogation from his office
and the sub editor T.Sivaganeshan was taken in from his home.
Presidential Security Division
threatens RAVAYA Editor and two others
Threatening
media personnel has apparently become a pastime of some Presidential Security
Division members now that the PA has won the Presidential Election. The
latest involves threats made against three journalists for criticising the PSD.
“Ravaya”
Editor Victor Ivan has complained to
the Free Media Movement that PSD Chief Nihal Karunaratne had threatened him
over a “Ravaya” report on the alleged attempt to get the bodies of the PSD
(killed in the Dec. 18 Town hall bomb blast) released without the magistrate’s
permission.
In
his complaint, Mr. Ivan has stated that Mr. Karunaratne, on December 24 had
questioned him over the phone on the news report concerned. The editor has then
asked Mr. Karunaratne whether the report was inaccurate and if so to make a
clarification. It was at this stage that the PSD boss had adopted a menacing
tone. According to Mr. Ivan, the security chief, before replacing the receiver
had said :
“You
mean you want us to speak in the language we know? Okay, I’ll do it”.
“Laskbima”
journalist Buddhika Weerasinghe alleges that on December 22, a suspected PSD
member threatened to assault two of his colleagues who visited the home of
Police Sergeant Dayaratne President Chandrika Kumaratunga’s chauffeur who
died in the bomb blast.
(an
extract from “The Weekend Express” of 1st 2nd January 2000)
CALL ON FAITHFUL BUDDHISTS TO “GUN
DOWN” DR. JAYALATH!
Dr. Jayalath Jeyawardena, a Member of Parliament of the opposition United
National Party in Sri Lanka has visited the Vanni and is eye-witness to the
desperate plight of the displaced people. He has organised free medical camps
in the North and eastern Provinces. On his visit to Madhu Church, May 29 to
June 1st 1998, where there were 30,000 refugees suffering from lack of food and
medicine, he noted that water too, they lacked. He made arrangements to rebuild
the water tank because he was so moved by the appeals and requests made by the
people for help. His work is purely humanitarian.
After this visit, President Kumaratunga made allegations against Dr Jayalath
that he had met LTTE leaders in Madhu. He believed that the government wished
to arrest him under the Prevention of Terrorism Act (PTA). The Criminal
Investigation Division of the Sri Lanka Police arrested the Sri Lanka Red Cross
driver who drove him to Madhu in May 98, and tortured him to make him say he
had taken Dr. Jayalath to meet a member of the LTTE in Madhu. Mr
D Pathmanathan, the SLRC driver, did not comply, despite the torture, was
detained for seven months, and then was released without charge!
On January 3rd 2000 the President appeared on Sri Lankan state Television for a
three hour interview. In this interview she named Dr Jayalath as someone who
had had contact with the LTTE. She insisted-indirectly that all people with
contact with the LTTE would be destroyed. On 6th January a number of Ministers
spoke openly, in Parliament against Dr Jayalath Jayawardena, emboldened by the
President’s reference.
Deputy Defence Minister, Mr Anurudu Ratwatte, said that he had tape
recording evidence of conversations between Dr. Jayalath and a senior
LTTE member but according to Dr. Jayalath this is an utter lie and manipulation.
Secondly the Minister of Buddhist Religious Affairs, Mr Premaratne Ediriveera,
spoke, calling on faithful Buddhist people to “gun Down” Dr Jayalath.
It should be noted that Dr. Jayalath Jeyawardena is a born Catholic.
Thirdly, the Minister in charge of Special Task, Dr Sarat Amunugama, (who has
responsibility in the Central Province) said he would bring before Parliament
a motion to expel Dr Jayalath for violating oaths he had taken to
protect the territorial integrity of Sri Lanka. This was published in the Daily
News of January 7th 2000. The state owned media gave much publicity to these
happenings, and Dr. Jayalath felt the president was trying to condition the
mind of the people to destroy him.
He has received many anonymous calls and has been followed by unidentified
motor-cyclists, resulting in a well-founded fear of threat to his life.
Dr. Jayalath Jeyawardena is married and a father of three children. TCHR and
other international human rights organisations fear for his safety.
The United Nations Human Rights Committee has accepted a complaint made against
President Chandrika Kumaratunga by UNP national list MP, Dr. Jayalath Jayawardena
alleging the President has endangered his life and that of his family.
Dr.
Jayawardene made his complaint to the UN Human Rights Committee under the
optional protocol and article 86 of the rules of procedures of the Human Rights
Committee. The United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights in Geneva on
February 24 informed Dr: Jayawardena in writing that his complaint was
registered under the optional protocol to the International Convenant on Civil
and Political Rights - ICCPR.
The
complaint has been registered as communication No. 916/2000. In accordance with rule 91 of the
committee's rules of procedure, a copy of the communication has been sent to
President Kumaratunga with a request that any information or observations in
respect of admissibility and merits of the communication be made to the
committee within six months.
The
failure on the part of President Kumaratunga to respond will result in an
exparte hearing of the complaint. Dr.
Jayawardene in written complaint to the Human Rights committee had said he was
making the complaint because domestic remedies cannot be exhausted under the
constitution of Sri Lanka.
The
MP in his complaint also states, the state media, both print and electronic
have given wide publicity to President Kumaratunga's provocative statements. Alleging
President Kumaratunga should be held solely responsible in the event of any
harm befalling him or his family, Jayawardene in his complaint accuses
the President of violating his political and civil rights. (Extracted from The Sunday Leader - 27th
February 2000) <More
Details>
Election Violence and Executive Presidency
277 complaints during
Presidential election
Two hundred and seventy seven incidents of violence relating to the Presidential
elections in December 1999 have been reported to the Special Election
Secretariat.
According
to the Police the ruling PA has made 110 complaints and the UNP 133, while the
JVP has made 20. Other parties have lodged 14 complaints.
Meanwhile the government press is reported to have printed 686,000 voting cards for polling in the Jaffna peninsula, where, according to official statistics, 555,975 people live, with only 370,000 eligible voters.
A President can kill, steal, and
sell everything for a song
Former
Finance Minster Ronnie de Mel made a strong case for the abolition of the
Executive Presidency at a joint meeting of the United National Party (UNP)
Parliamentary group and working committee on February 7th 1999 with
the leader of Opposition Ranil Wickremesinghe presiding. He said “the Executive
Presidency was created by the 1978 Constitution, with sincere intention that it
would be good for the quick economic development of a poor third world country
like Sri Lanka. But it has become a ‘Frankenstein Monster’.
Article
35 of the Constitution gives the President complete legal immunity and he is
above the law, above courts of law and not subjected to the rule of law.
A
President can kill, can steal and can sell everything in this country for a
song. He can even rig any election and defame anybody, but there is no remedy
till the term of office of the President ends.
Unlike
in France or in the United States of America the President can take over and run all ministries including Finance.
Parliamentary control of finance is the foundation of Parliamentary Government.
The Minister of Finance must be in parliament, must be responsible to
parliament, must be answerable to parliament and must present the budget to
parliament. This is not so today. (an extract from “Sunday Observer” of
February 13th 2000)
Demonstrators against
Executive Presidency get tear gas
Sri Lankan riot police fired tear gas to disperse thousands of demonstrators
who participated in a procession on July 15th 1999, demanding the
government to abolish the Presidential system in the country.
The demonstrators
were protesting the government's inability to deliver on a promise to scrap the
executive presidency by Thursday July 15th 1995 as pledged by
Kumaratunga just before she became president in November 1994.
Sources
said that it is feared that several demonstrators including UNP
parliamentarians were wounded in the incident.
About 6000 people participated in the procession.
January 2000 - The legality and the propriety of the recent Sri Lankan
Presidential election has been challenged in the Supreme Court of Sri Lanka by
the opposition United National Party. The
petition sought a directive ordering a fresh Presidential Election. It also
sought a declaration that the election of Chandrika was void in law.
The petition said that the first Respondent President address to the electors
exceeding the time allotted to her by law. She even addressed the voters on
days when such addresses by presidential candidates were prohibited by law.
Acting
Commissioner of Elections had issued six hundred thousand of ballot papers to
the Jaffna District Returning Officer while the total number of residents was
in fact only three hundred thousand. It must be noted that this was brought to
the notice of the Acting Elections Commissioner at the relevant time.
Thirty thousand workers who are not entitled place postal votes were extended
the facility of postal voting in violation of the law. The Acting Commissioner
of Elections had issued one hundred thousand extra ballot papers in addition to
the number of registered voters to the Returning Officer Gampaha. There had
been an overall failure to comply with the Presidential Election Act, the
petition concluded.
INDEPENDENCE OF THE JUDICIARY AND ADMINISTRAION OF JUSTICE
Bail application by
detainees
December 4th 1999 -
Forty eight Tamil women who are on remand under the Emergency Regulations,
allegedly for travelling from India to Sri Lanka on an emergency passport, made
an application to Court to release them on bail.
Attorney at law Joseph Charles who supported the bail application in Court
argued that the suspects did not violate any Emergency Regulations and that
they could not be remanded under the Emergency Regulations. It was pointed out
that it was not possible to grant bail in cases filed under the PTA because
there was no provision in the law.
1641 Fundamental rights cases
filed in five years (1994-1999)
POLICE
FOUND COMPENSATION TO
YEAR CASES FILED GUILTY VICTIMS
ORDERED
1990-93 210 --- 39,33,850
1994 253 39 11,60,700
1995 144 23 5,90,550
1996 199 20 3,57,125
1997 383 21 16,18,500
1998 314 45 17,36,500
1999 348 47 15,66,500
------- -----
1851 195
------- -----
Between
1994 and 1999 courts found police guilty in 195 fundamental rights violations
cases. Forty-five percent of the fundamental rights violation cases during this
period were filed by Tamil people. It is worth remarking that nearly 1446 cases
were rejected in the courts due to lack of evidence. Security forces always
threaten people who give evidence against them. Not every victims of fundamental rights violations files a case!
Even
though the compensation is ordered to be paid to victims by the courts, the
victims hardly get any compensation. In a way, this is also another eye wash to
the International community and other human rights institutions.
Impunity
remains a serious concern, and has been consistently noted in reports on human
rights fact finding missions to Sri Lanka over many years.
The 1998 report of the then Special Rapporteur
on Extra-judicial, summary or arbitrary executions, after his visit to Sri
Lanka continues to be highly relevant to the situation today. To quote from Mr Bacre Ndiaye’s report
E/CN.4/1998/Add.2, “Impunity encourages political violence and is a serious
de-stabilising element in all contexts of the Sri Lankan socio-political
system”, “Impunity perpetuates the mass violation of human rights”, “This
culture of impunity has led to arbitrary killings and has contributed to the
uncontrollable spiralling of violence.” He further stated that the systematic
absence of investigations into violations of the right to life facilitates
impunity. Investigations are rarely conducted and when they are, they do not
lead to the appropriate convictions or penalties.
The world report 2000 of Human Rights Watch, states that in Sri Lanka impunity is a
“critical problem, with few prosecutions for human rights violations, and
torture is prevalent both in the context of armed conflict and in day-to-day
policing. Discrimination against Tamils by members of the security
forces…continued throughout the country and especially in the capital city of
Colombo and in army-controlled areas of the north and east.”
Some of the murder cases of Tamils drag on
and on or are abandoned. Human Rights Watch states that, “There has been no
progress in reopening the notorious
Bolgoda Lake case which implicated Special Task force (STF) commanders in
the 1995 murders of 23 Tamil youth whose bodies were found floating in bodies
of water near Colombo.” These Tamils were murdered in custody at the Colombo
STF Headquarters.
“The
second factor lies in an unsavoury precedent during Kumaratunga’s first term.
In 1995 there was a phenomenon of young Tamils being killed and dumped in
rivers, lakes and brooks in the Colombo suburbs. A total of 27 bodies were
found. Twenty-two persons belonging to the military and special task force were
arrested. An indictment was filed on September 15, 1995 and the accused were
released on bail. There after the country witnessed a disgraceful abdication of
duty by the Attorney Generals Department. No one from the AG’s department
attended court when the case was heard. This happened on February 16, 1996,
August 2, 1996, September 12, 1996 and December 12, 1996. This was not a case
of the prosecution withdrawing or not proceeding further through adopting
correct procedure but an exercise of letting it lapse through default. This
could not have been possible without upper echelon sanction”. (The Sunday Leader, February 13, 2000)
The
massacres of Tamils, at St Peter and St
Paul’s Church, Navaly July 1995; at Nagerkovil
school in September 1995; at Kumarapuram 1996, at Nachchikuda 1997,
Suthanthirapuram 1998, Puththikuddiyuruppu 1999 and Madhu church 1999 and
many more, have never been investigated or even condemned by the Sri Lankan
government. Calls for independent inquiries have been ignored. The Wellikada Prison killings of 1983, the
Kalutara prison killings of 1997 and now of 1999, and other incidents, have
never been independently investigated, despite appeals from Amnesty
International.
On September 5th 1999 prayers and
fasts were held, as local Tamils gathered in memory of 158 persons from Vanthaarumoolai eastern university refugee camp
massacred by the Sri Lankan Army in 1990. They had been taken into custody
on 5th September 1990 by Kommathurai army camp officers. Their bodies are
believed to be in the reported mass graves at Navalady and Saththurukkondaan in
Batticaloa District. Sri Lankan Army officers and paramilitary leaders have
been clearly named in initial investigations done by the government-funded
Human rights Task Force (HRTF) and Human Rights Commission (HRC), yet nine
years have passed and none of the named persons have been brought to book and
no action has been taken. Captain Munaz,
Captain Palitha, Captain Gunaratna, Major Majeed and Major Mohan had been in
charge of operations.
The Sunday Leader of June 20th 1999 wrote that Rajapakse, one of the soldiers convicted in the
Krishanthy Kumaraswamy rape and murder case, and sentenced to death had stated
in Jaffna Court that Captain Lalith
Hewa, Lt. Wijesiriwardene, Lt. Thudugala, Captain Jayawardena, Major Weerakody
and Major Gunasekera were involved in torture and killing in Ariyalai.
Rajapakse, had denied involvement in Krishanthi’s murder, stating “We only
buried bodies. We can show you where 300 to 400 bodies have been buried. Almost
every evening dead bodies were brought there and the soldiers were asked to
bury them”.
In the gang-rape
and murder case of Sarathambal on 28th December, her brother identified the
Sri Lankan Naval officers involved, yet they were immediately transferred. This
appears to be routine practice.
Impunity
reigns, cutting deeper and deeper wounds into the Tamil people in the Island of
Sri Lanka. The Sri Lankan security forces continue to arrest, torture, rape,
murder and dispose of bodies with impunity.
The
chief priest of the Alaiyadivemby Maruthayadi Manikkapillaiyar Temple, Sri
Arasaretnam Senthinathakurukkal, was arrested on July 23, 99 by a team of police personnel who came in a
white van.
The
temple situated in the Akkaraipattu area of the eastern province is now closed
as there is no priest to perform the daily services, sources said. The police
personnel arrived in a white van, entered the temple with their shoes and then
arrested the priest who was in his underwear.
The temple vice president, Assistant Secretary, and an employee went to the Akkaraipattu Special Task
Force-STF camp in search of chief priest. At the camp the three were also
arrested and kept in a cell for two hours.
Representations were also made to International Committee of Red Cross in
Akkaraipattu. When ICRC representative contacted the security forces it came to
light that the arrested chief priest had been handed over to the Deputy
Inspector General of Police in Kandy.
A gazette notification by the Sri Lankan President on August
31st 1999 stated the government’s intention to acquire the
Keerimalai Naguleswarar temple and the Maviddapuram Kandaswamy temple for the
expansion of the Palaly army base in Jaffna peninsula. Lands belonging to
thousands of civilians in the northern part of the Valikamam division of Jaffna
along with the two temples and numerous Hindu shrines were to be acquired under
Gazette Extraordinary No.1083/9 of June 8, 1999.
The All Ceylon Hindu Congress sought an urgent appointment with the President
to discuss the matter and in another letter faxed to her urged her to suspend
any action in this regard. The Hindu Congress stated in its letter: "The two historic temples are important
places of Hindu worship. Keerimalai Naguleswarar Kovil is a place where 'Aadi
Amavasai' is observed by the Hindus of this country. Acquisition by the
government of the area, including these two temples will amount to the denial
of the fundamental rights guaranteed by the Constitution".
EMERGENCY REGULATIONS AND PTA ACT
(A.
Vinayagamoorthy Attorney at Law, Colombo, Sri Lanka, January 2000)
In
Sri Lanka the Government has given wide powers under the Prevention of
Terrorism Act (PTA) and Emergency Regulations (ERs) to police officers and
other members of the security forces which are used for the arrest and
detention of Tamils.
More
than two thousand Tamils have been arrested and are detained in various prisons
and police stations.
The
prevention of Terrorism (Temprorary provision) Act No. 48 of 1979 gives wide powers
to the police and the Minister of Defence to arrest and detain Tamils for a
period of 18 months at a stretch. The Emergency Regulations published in
Government Gazette No. 843/12 of 4th November 1994 enable the security
forces to arbitrarily arrest innocent Tamils and detain him.
Under
Section (2) of the PTA a Magistrate can remand a person indefinitely until his
trial is over in the High Court.
Under
Regulation 18 (1) of the ERs a person arrested in the Northern or Eastern Province
by a police officer or a member of the security forces can be detained for a period of
60 days. If the arrest takes place outside the Northern or Eastern Province
then he or she could be detained for a period of 21 days. If a detention order is issued by the
Ministry of Defence under Regulation 17 (1) of the ERs, a detainee can be held
for
another period of three months.
If
they are successful in extracting a confession from detainee, then they change
the case midway and produce the person originally arrested under ER 18 (1)
before Magistrate, and get him remanded indefinitely under Section 7 (2) of the
PTA. The police misuse both these special laws to keep a Tamil person in
detention.
I
visit these prisons every Saturday, as a human right activist. In new Remand Prison Kalutara alone there are about 800
Tamil detainees. There are almost every Tamil detainee complains that he has
been arrested
for no reason just because he is Tamil, and that he has been assaulted
and tortured and that he was forced to sign a self-incriminating
statement written in Sinhala, a language not known to him. Thereafter
he has been detained indefinitely until a trial comes up in the High Court.
Recently because of the delay in bringing them to court the detainees went on
hunger strike and we persuaded them to give up their fast.
Section
6 of the PTA enables a police officer not below the rank of a Superintendent of
Police or a police officer not below the rank of a Sub-Inspector with written
authority from a Superintendent of Police to arrest a Tamil. But normally no
one is arrested under PTA. What the police do is to first arrest a person under
ERs, then at the end of the 21 days or the 60 days or the 3months, they change
the case and file it under the PTA to get the person remanded indefinitely.
The
PTA gives the security forces extraordinary powers. No legislation conferring
even remotely comparable powers is in force in any other democracy operating
under the rule of law.
Under
Section 16 (1) of the said Act statement made to the police are admissible as
evidence in court, contrary to normal rule of evidence laid down in Section 25
and 26 of the Evidence Ordinance which exclude confessions made to the police
as evidence in future trials. Similar provisions regarding admissibility of
confessions are also found in Regulation 49 of the ERs.
Amnesty
International is of the opinion that such provisions regarding confessions
constitute a direct incentive to interrogating officers to obtain information
or “confessions” by any means, including torture. The situation is particularly
dire because the burden of proof, that a confession was extracted under
torture, is on the victim.
Mr.
Paul Sieghart, from the International Commission of Jurists has stated that PTA
is an ugly blot in the statut book of any civilised country.
Almost
every Tamil arrested is assaulted, tortured and a self-incriminating statement
is extracted from him or her.
In almost all the cases filed in the High Court against Tamils the extracted
confession is the only evidence available for the prosecution to prove their
case. In two of these cases where the only evidence produced were the
confessions, one person was sentenced to 70 years rigorous imprisonment and the
other person was sentenced to 50 years rigorous imprisonment. We have
appealed against the convictions and sentence.
Amnesty
International has on several occasions requested the Sri Lankan Government to
repeal these draconian laws, or at least to abolish the provisions regarding
the admissibility of confessions as evidence and to restore the normal rules
relating to confessions as laid down in the Evidence Ordinance. Their requests
have fallen on deaf ears.
The
international community need to bring more pressure on the Sri Lankan Government
to abolish the PTA, or at least remove the provisions regarding the
admissibility of confessions in the PTA and ERs. The terrible powers contained in
these two special laws have ‘legalised’ the persecution of Tamils.
(Courtesy “Tamil Detainees Support Group” United Kingdom)
TCHR STATISTICS ON RAPE
The
Tamil Centre for Human Rights-TCHR has documented catalogues of rape cases of
Tamil women raped by Sri Lankan armed forces, in the North East of the Island.
Taken as an average over the last four years a Tamil woman is raped every 16
days. This is with respect to documented cases. The real number is much higher.
Every
two months a Tamil woman is gang-raped and murdered by the Sri Lankan
armed forces - again this is only taking documented figures into account.
Therefore, even if we saw a Court case for only the gang rape and murder cases,
and not the gang-rapes and rapes where
the women survive - we would be looking at 24 court cases over the last four years!
Again, dealing
with documented cases alone, over the last four years, a girl child is
gang-raped by Sri Lankan army personnel every three months, a
woman is brutally killed because she resisted the sexual advances of
soldiers every six months, and there are many attempted suicides after
the ordeal experienced. None of these
cases have been investigated.
Each of the incidents above carries its
shock waves of ghastly horror to other members of the community, terrorising
both women and men, and of course children, who have at times been forced to
witness the gang-raping and murdering of their mother as in the Koneswary case.
There are many cases of relatives, brothers,
fathers, husbands and mothers who have been murdered as they try to protect their
daughters, wives and sisters. The latest documented gang rape and murder case
was only a few weeks ago. When will the next one be? Later today?
Tomorrow? Next week? Unfortunately, our statistics point to the fact
that it will happen soon, if we don't act now to prevent it happening again.
According to the Sri Lanka Police statistics, the crime against women has
increased in recent months. The below given figures includes complaints of rape
as well. North and Eastern province were not included in these figures.
Period Recorded
cases
January
June1998 26,565
January July
1999 26,660
Raped
and shot at genitals
On
July 13th 1999, Ida Hamilitta (21)
was shot dead in her home in Pullimunai in Mannar district.
Kesavan
Rajah, a 63 year old shop keeper, said while testifying at the inquest into the
death of Ida Hamilitta, 21, that the woman was shot dead by Sri Lanka Army
personnel from the Pallimunai Army camp. Kesavan Raja, who owns a shop in front
of Ida Hamilitta's home, said that he could identify the gunmen as they had
been into his shop several times.
"On the particular night some one knocked on the door of my shop. When I
opened I saw two people. I recognised that they were from the army sentry at
Pallimunai. Two others were hiding nearby, but I could not identify them.
"They took me to Ida's house and wanted me to wake her up. When I knocked
on the door, Ida's mother came. One of them hit on my face and I fell down.
Then they took off my sarong and tied my hand and face.
"Then they went into the house and pulled out everyone inside. But Ida was
not among them. I was lying down and saw what was happening. They took me
inside the house and I found Ida was inside a room. Then they went out with Ida
and ordered the rest to go into the house.
"I think Ida was raped. We heard
her screaming “help, help”. I heard her crying.
"Then I heard sounds of firing and it was silent after a while. When we
went out we found Ida lying in a pool of blood, half-naked.
"I went to the Pallimunai Police to lodge an entry in the morning. The
police refused to record my statement. The police threatened me that I should
not tell others about what had happened."
On July 21st 1999 - The body of Ida Hamilitta was taken to Colombo
by a CID team for further investigation. The CID officials also took 11 weapons
that were used by the eleven soldiers who were on duty on the night of the
incident, Mannar court sources said. The body of the young woman was exhumed by
the Mannar Police on the orders of the District Magistrate, M. Ilancheliyan,
for further post-mortem and analytical investigations.
The Magistrate made the special order for exhumation of the body on an
application made by head of the special CID team appointed by the Police to
investigate into the case. The Judicial Medical Officer in Mannar, Dr. E.
Emmanual Peiris, who carried the post-mortem, said in his testimony that Ida
had been raped and that she had been shot at her genitals.
He said there were 18 injuries on her body caused by gunshot and biting. She
had also been stabbed on the abdomen the JMO added.
On
September 29,1999 - Rajeswary Krishnarajah, 35, mother of three was gang raped
by the Sri Lanka Army soldiers at Vaalaithottam in Varani in the Thenmaradchi
Division of the Jaffna Peninsula.
Rajeswaray Krishnarajah, a widow, was sleeping with her children at her house
when three Army soldiers had come home and knocked at the door around 11 p.m.
The soldiers had told that they had come to search the house. Her father and
brother were also at her house at the time.
When the mother opened the door the soldiers had blind folded the father
and brother, and then took her away to a nearby coconut plantation and raped
her. She was raped by two soldiers.
While the soldiers were taking turns in raping her, she managed to escape from
the grips of the third soldier, ran into her room and locked herself up. The
following morning the woman had gone to the Chavakachcheri hospital, where the
doctor who examined her had confirmed she had been raped.
MOTHER AND DAUGHTER SEXUALLY HARASSED BY SOLDIERS
September
30th 1999 - Mr. Joseph Pararajasingham, MP for the Batticaloa
District appealed to the Sri Lankan government authorities, to safeguard a
Tamil widow and her teenage daughter of Peithalai in the Valachchenai area from
being sexually harassed by Sri Lanka Army soldiers.
Mr.
Pararajasingham informed the government's Anti-Harassment Committee (this
committee is financed by the government) in writing, stating that Mrs
Ponnambalam a widow and was living with her teenage son and a daughter.
On
September 19th, the Army arrested her son. Thereafter, some soldiers
had gone to her house and tried to harass her and her teenage daughter
sexually. Mr. Parajasingham says the
soldiers now harass the woman and her daughter whenever they go out to buy
provisions. The son of the woman is
still in the army's custody.
The MP says the soldiers had separated the son from his mother in order to
pressure her and her daughter, sexually. Mr. Parajasingham, in his letter,
called on the Anti-Harassment Committee to take immediate steps to safeguard
the mother and the daughter from the activities of the soldiers.
December
28th 1999 - A young woman was gang-raped and murdered by the Navy
personal near Kannakai Amman Temple in Punguduthivu, an island off Jaffna
peninsula. Her body, covered with Palmyrah leaves, was found about 100 metres
from her house.
The
victim, Sarathambal Saravanbavanantha kurukal, was in her house with her child
and her brother. The gunmen suddenly entered the house, raped the young mother,
after forcibly removing her brother from the house. The body was found the
following morning, with clothes stuffed in her mouth. A Sri Lanka Naval
detachment is based in Pungudutivu. People of the area confirmed that some Navy
personnel were involved in this crime.
In this gang-rape and murder, Sarathambal’s brother
identified the Sri Lankan Naval officers involved, yet they were immediately
transferred to a different location. On January 8th 1999 - Jaffna's acting
Magistrate confirmed that Sarathambal was raped and murdered, according to the
medical report furnished by the Colombo's Judicial Medical Officer. According to the medical report, there was
evidence on the body to show that she had been raped had died due to
suffocation caused by stuffing clothes into her mouth.
BRUTAL GANG-RAPE AND MURDER OF
YOUNG WOMAN
BY SRI LANKA NAVY - TCHR
On
4th January 2000, the Tamil Centre for Human Rights TCHR has
called for Urgent Action. It read as follows : On the evening of Tuesday 28th
December 1999, Sarathambal Saravanbavanantha kurukal, of a Hindu Brahmin
family, was forcibly dragged from her
home, in Pungudutivu, near Jaffna Peninsula, by Sri Lankan Navy soldiers. They then gang-raped and murdered
her in cold blood. The body of the 29
year-old mother was found the following morning, under leaves, not far from her home near Kannaki Amman Temple.
As the news of yet another horrific rape and murder case of a Tamil woman
by Sri Lankan security forces reaches
the world outside the island of Sri
Lanka, President Chandrika Kumaratunga was reported to have ordered
an immediate investigation on 30th
December 1999. The Sri Lankan government, it
appears, wishes to act speedily to avoid the involvement of human
rights organisations in the matter.
According to the witness of Sarathambal's neighbours the real suspects have already been transferred from the area to
prevent action being taken against
them. This is a familiar method used by the Sri Lankan government to
avoid scrutiny.
TCHR has records of catalogues of rape
and murder cases of Tamil women by Sri Lankan
security forces in Sri Lankan army occupied Jaffna, in the North, and in the East of the island, including
Amparai. The actual number of rape
cases is far higher than recorded.
Many
Tamil women who survive the trauma want
to remain unidentified due to cultural sensitivities within the community. TCHR urges all human rights
organisations and bodies of the international
community to express outrage at this latest odious case of gang-rape
and murder, in order to help prevent
further atrocities and violence against Tamil women. <More
Details>
The
survival, development and protection of Tamil children in the North and East of
the island of Sri Lanka continues to be a matter of critical concern.
The
fundamental and basic rights of food, health and shelter are also denied to
children as well as the right to freedom from torture or any other form of
cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment or punishment. In the Vanni area in the
North where the Sri Lankan government has imposed an embargo on food and
medicine the situation is dire. In addition to malnutrition and disease the
children also constantly witness shelling and aerial bombings, and the
consequent deaths and maiming. There is a rate of 30% non-attendance in schools
according to the latest UNICEF report.
The
heath, self-respect and dignity of children needs urgently addressing by
agencies concerned with human rights and children’s rights. UNICEF states that
for this,“ there has to be a sound assessment and analysis, which is always the
cornerstone of effective planning and programming. In 2000 2001 UNICEF will
undertake in-depth and comprehensive studies on the impact of the war on
children’s lives, both socially and psychologically. UNICEF recognises the
necessity to set up regional and international mechanisms with thorough
regional offices and international lobbying to create an increased momentum
both regionally and internationally in the service of children’s rights.
The Right to Life itself, referred to in Article 6 of the Convention on
the Rights of the Child (CRC), and the Right to protection in times of armed
conflict, Article 38 of the CRC, are by
no means guaranteed for Tamil children.
According
to the UN International Labour office, there are about 20000 to 30,000 child
prostitutes in Sri Lanka.
Children
have been killed in bombings when the Sri Lankan air force has attacked
civilian places of residence and markets (the bombing on 15th
September 1999 of Puthukkudiyiruppu included two children in the massacre, 12
year-old Ariyanayagam Gajanthini and 15 year-old Patmarasa Jenitta) and places
of worship where civilians took refuge believing they would be safe 13
children were massacred when Madhu Church was bombed on November 20th by the
Sri Lankan Army.
In
Vavuniya two-year old Dinesh Rasalingam was killed on 25th August 99
by Sri lankan Army gunshot wounds to her head, as she was sleeping. V.
Nageswary aged 14 and her mother were killed on 28th September 99 by
fire from the Sri Lankan Army and the pro-government paramilitary Razeek group.
One-year-old Gajenthini and her mother were killed by Sri Lankan shell attack
on 18th November 99. Ramachandran Sunan, aged 17 was shot dead by
Sri Lankan Army on 23rd November 99. On 23rd January
2000, a 14 year-old boy, Sinnathamby Vijeyan was shot and killed by Sri Lankan
army, his death followed later that evening by that of Sellathamby Pushpalatha,
a little girl aged ten, who had also been shot by the Sri Lankan army. She died
in hospital from shots fired by the Sri Lankan Army.
These
are some, not all of the cases of children being callously murdered by the
armed security forces. The list of children injured by the Sri Lankan army, and
subjected to cruel and degrading treatment is long.
Even
in school the children are not safe when there are Sri Lankan soldiers
patrolling in the roads near their classrooms. Eight-year-old S. Rusaathan of Sungaankerni
village in Batticaloa District was shot, and seriously injured while in class
at school, by Sri Lankan police as they patrolled through the village firing
indiscriminately in all directions. He was shot in his abdomen and bleeding
profusely was taken to Valaichenai hospital but needed emergency surgery, only
available at Batticaloa hospital. Since there was no ambulance his parents had
to hire a rick-shaw themselves. The authorities did not help procure an
ambulance.
Three
year old Jenitta was hit by shells fired by the Sri Lankan Army from the
Kumichchai army camp. A shell exploded in the hut entrance, injuring the
child’s head . Subsequently the child was admitted to Batticaloa hospital.
Young
Tamil girls continue to be sexually harassed, molested and raped by the Sri
Lankan army. It is not only grown women who are gang-raped but also girls as we
have reported many times before.
13 YEAR OLD GIRL GANG RAPED
December 14th 1999 - A group of 5 gangsters suspected to be Sri Lanka
Army soldiers, including an Army deserter, sexually assaulted a 13 year old
school girl, in Mawanella east of Colombo on the Kandy road.
Identifying themselves as CID police, the group entered a house in Mawanella
and threatened the parents at gunpoint. They then took the young girl to the
kitchen, where she was molested.
So far only the deserter has been arrested in connection with this assault!
Boys
as well as girls are subjected to cruel and degrading treatment at the hands of
Sri Lankan security forces. A Sri Lankan Army Corporal forcibly stripped
teenage Tamil boy, Tharmakulasingham Gajanthan and sexually assaulted him,
having forced him to go with him to a secluded place. He warned the boy not to
recount his ordeal, but the boy escaped and told parents. He was admitted to
hospital with injuries. <More
Details>
Internal displaced
people (IDPs) are amongst the most vulnerable people in conflict area. They
suffer multiple human rights violations.
The Government officials in Vavuniya say there are
9561 persons belonging to 2333 displaced families, in 8 Divisions of the
welfare centre.
Population displaced by
Military operations in North of the Island
(In
between there were many massacres and displacements)
Name of Operation Ope. Started Families displaced
Leap Forward 09/07/1995
48,345
Dragon Fire 21/08/1995 1,582
Shake Hands 12/09/1995 7 ,918
Thunder 01/10/1995 16,500
Sunshine 17/10/1995 125,779
Sath Jeya 26/07/1996 51,820
Edi Bala 04/02/1997 6,121
Jeya Sikuru 13/05/1997 16,208
Rivi Bala 03/12/1998 2,518
Relief cuts by the government
since 1997
Relief Relief Subsequent
District granted provided cut
Killinochchi
Families 46,557 25,000 21,557
Individuals 188,008 100,000 88,008
Mullaitiuv
Families 25,926 12,500 13,426
Individuals 103,305 50,000 53,305
Mannar
Families 19,651 5,000 14,651
Individuals 80,580 20,000 60,580
Vavuniya
Families 12,776 3,750 9,026
Individuals 49,559 15,000 34,559
Total
Families 104,910 46,250 58,660
Individuals 421,462 185,000 236,462
ANNEXES
International Human Rights Day, December
10th, is a day to reflect collectively on human rights violations all around
the world, and to continue to seek new ways to expose them. TCHR holds an event
annually on this day, and this year it is particularly significant
since it is also the 10th anniversary of TCHR. During the last ten
years TCHR has been working hard to expose human rights violations, by
organising events, seminars, interventions in human rights conferences and
other activities and by disseminating information widely through monthly
bulletins. Last year TCHR along with human rights organisations round the world
commemorated the 50th anniversary of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights.
Today, as we approach the end of this millennium, acutely aware that the
gravest violations of fundamental human rights are still occurring, we held two
events, one in France and one in the United Kingdom.
In Paris, the commemoration started with the
opening of a photographic exhibition. This was followed by speeches by several
prominent lawyers, academics and representatives of several other solidarity
organizations. The exhibition was comprised of photographs of massacres,
cultural genocide and displacement of refugees caused by the Sri Lankan
security forces. Many spectators were shocked by some of the photographs in the
exhibition. The speeches started with Mr. S. V. Kirubaharan, General Secretary
of the Tamil Centre for Human Rights. He gave a brief history and explained to
the audience the general task of TCHR. Today the TCHR has became challenging force
to the Sri Lankan government in the International human rights arena, he
said. Mr. Jean Mari-Julia,
retired Principal and the French President’s National award
“Chevallier” winner, delivered a long speech which touch the heart of
the audience. He condemned the Sri Lankan government for its extremely bad
record on human rights.
In the city of Manchester, in the North of
the United Kingdom, a vigil was held in the Peace Gardens near the Town Hall.
TCHR and another human rights organisation organised the vigil, which was
attended by many other human rights activists, organisations and individuals.
Speakers contributed with poems and readings on the human rights of trade
unionists, women, the disabled community, children. Deirdre McConnell, director
of the International programme of TCHR, spoke on the human rights of Tamils
suffering at the hands of the Sri Lankan government armed forces in the island
of Sri Lanka. She condemned the Sri Lankan government for its brutal and callous
genocide of the Tamil people. Councillor, speaking on behalf of Manchester City
Council spoke on the need to respect diversity and all forms of human rights as
we move into the new millennium.
The human rights situation for Tamils in the island of Sri
Lanka continues to be horrendous. Aerial bombing of civilian targets, such as
places of worship, hospitals and schools, continues. Less than three weeks ago
nearly 40 Tamil refugees were massacred by Sri Lankan army bombing, as they
sought refugee in the chapel of Madhu church. The 600 persons “disappeared” by
the Sri Lankan army, during 1996 in Jaffna, are still unaccounted for. The
callous letters to relatives of the two disappeared persons whose skeletons
were identified in the mass graves at Chemmani, stating that the whereabouts of
these persons is still uncertain, displays the brutal inhumanity and disregard
for Tamil lives of the Sri Lankan government. Torture, rape, arbitrary
detention and extra-judicial killings of Tamils, by the Sri Lankan government
armed forces continue. We hope that as we move into a new century and
millennium more voices will join the fervent call for the human rights of the
Tamil people and of all peoples to be restored, so that human dignity will
prevail.
Human Rights Watch
(an extract from World report - 2000)
Human Rights Developments
Impunity
remained a critical problem, with few prosecutions for human rights violations,
and torture prevalent both in the context of
armed conflict and in day-to-day
policing. Discrimination against Tamil
civilians by members of the security
forces attempting to root out the LTTE
continued throughout the country and
especially in the capital city of Colombo
and in army-controlled areas of the
north and east.
On September 15 more than twenty civilians
were reported killed and some forty
injured in an air force bombing of the
Puthukkudiyiruppu market in the northern
district of Mullaithivu; houses and
buildings nearby were also destroyed. Three
days later a suspected LTTE attack on
Sinhalese villagers in the east killed
more than fifty.
In early December1998 the army launched a new offensive and
advanced Northeast-ward into the area
around Oddusuddan, displacing some 12,000 people, some forcibly. In April 1999,
the army overran Madhu camp, an open relief facility established by the UN High
Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR). The camp housed some 10,000 internally
displaced persons (IDPs), some of whom had been there for almost a decade. Half
of the camp's residents-those from
areas under army control-were sent home; those from regions still under LTTE
control were moved to welfare centres in other areas. International relief
agencies criticised the eviction, saying that it led to overcrowding of existing welfare camps in
the north.
Military operations were marked by repeated
closures of access across the
forward defence lines, resulting in the
disruption of delivery of food, medicine
and humanitarian relief to the civilian
population of the Vanni.
The security forces' use of home guards and armed
ex-militant Tamil groups as
auxiliary units to aid in military
operations continued to draw criticism from
human rights defenders. These groups have
engaged in illegal detention, murder,
abduction, extortion, assault, torture,
forced conscription, and forced
eviction. In 1999, fighting between two of
these groups, the People's Liberation
Organisation for Tamil Eelam (PLOTE) and
Tamil Eelam Liberation Organisation
(TELO) also claimed civilian lives.
Arrest
Large-scale arbitrary arrests of Tamils
based almost solely on their ethnicity
continued in many parts of the country. In
the north and east, residents
complained of discrimination at checkpoints,
routine beatings, torture, public
humiliation of persons detained during
searches, and of detainees being used for
forced labour by the army and Special Task
Force.
On September 18, apparently in retaliation
for the deaths of civilians killed in
air force strikes on Puthukudiyiruppu three
days earlier, suspected LTTE members
hacked to death some forty-eight Sinhalese
villagers and shot six others in
attacks on three villages in eastern Sri
Lanka.
Disappearances
Official efforts continued to account for
the tens of thousands of persons who
"disappeared" at the hands of the
security forces since the conflict began. In
January, the Presidential Commission on
Disappearances submitted an interim
report, based on investigations since June
1998. The commission received some
10,135 complaints, mostly from the Central Province, and
460 complaints from
Jaffna district. At the beginning of 1999, there were more than 7,500 complaints
awaiting inquiry, and the term of the
Commission was extended.
The report provided details on about one hundred
court cases filed against
perpetrators of "disappearances."
According to officials of the Relief and
Rehabilitation Authority, more than 18,000
people applied for death certificates
for "disappeared" relatives; death
certificates are a necessary prerequisite to
obtaining government compensation.
Almost a year after a former soldier named
Somaratne Rajapakse alleged that the
army had buried "disappeared"
Tamil civilians in mass graves near Jaffna town,
exhumation began in June on the first site.
The first grave identified by Rajapakse contained two male skeletons. An
investigating team that included Sri Lankan and foreign
forensic experts and human rights observers
said the remains showed signs of
physical assault and murder. The victims, one
with his hands tied with rope and
the other blind-folded, were identified as
two men in their twenties
who "disappeared" in 1996.
In August, Rajapakse and other ex-soldiers
convicted with him identified
twenty-four additional grave sites around
Chemmani village near Jaffna town
which they told a Jaffna district court
contained eighty to one hundred bodies
of persons killed and buried by the army
near Jaffna town in 1996 and 1997.
Exhumations resumed on September 6, and
within days more bodies had been
uncovered.
Rajapakse complained in August that he and
his family had received death
threats, and that police investigators who
questioned him about his allegations
of mass graves failed to record the names of
army officials who he said were
involved.
Impunity
Prosecutions
of abuses by security forces remained rare, but several notable
cases did reach the courts. On July 20 a
Mannar court ordered the detention of
two soldiers from Pallimunai army detachment
accused of raping and murdering Ida
Hamilitta, a twenty-one-year-old former LTTE
member who had surrendered to the
army two months before. A witness told the
court he had tried to report the
killing to the Pallimunai police, but that
they had refused to record his
statement and warned him to keep quiet. The
Mannar medical officer, however,
gave graphic testimony about the results of
the woman's post-mortem, and a
determined magistrate ensured the
prosecution of those responsible.
No progress was made in reopening the
notorious "Bolgoda Lake" case which
implicated Special Task Force (STF)
commandos in the 1995 murders of
twenty-three Tamil youths whose bodies were
found floating in bodies of water
near Colombo.
But in another notorious case in which
twenty-five people, including twenty-four
students between the
ages of fifteen and seventeen, "disappeared" from Sevana
army camp,
Embilipitiya, Ratnapura district between late 1989 and early 1990,
there was some justice done. Six members of
the Sri Lankan security forces and a
high school principal were sentenced to ten
years' imprisonment after having
been found guilty of abduction with intent
to murder and wrongful confinement.
The court was unable to prove murder. The
judgement was the first to address the
enormous number of "disappearances"
linked to the state's counterinsurgency
campaigns against suspected supporters of
the Janatha Vimukti Peramuna (JVP), a
Sinhalese nationalist insurgency, in the
late 1980s.
Press freedom
Independent press coverage of the war remained difficult,
and political
reporting on topics other than the war often
sparked threats and physical
attacks. In mid-July, when police in Colombo
fired rubber bullets, tear gas and
water cannons to disperse a crowd of
supporters of the United Nationalist Party,
the main opposition party, unidentified men
in plainclothes assaulted
protestors, wounding at least thirty people,
including ten journalists. The Free
Media Movement denounced the assaults as
"the worst attack on the media in
recent history," and said that
journalists had identified several attackers to
be from the presidential security division
(PSD). The demonstrators were
protesting the failure of the People's
Alliance government to keep election
promises including the abolition of the
powerful executive presidency. On July
21 journalists held a second demonstration
in Colombo to protest the assaults.
In late August, some two hundred people,
including academics and students,
journalists and local businessmen attended a
demonstration organised by the
North Sri Lanka Journalists' Association in
Jaffna town protesting the August 21
grenade attack on the office of a local
Tamil newspaper, Uthayan . The North Sri
Lanka Journalists' Association, which sent a
memorandum to President
Kumarantunge, said the attack was an effort
to discourage the press from
exposing incidents of extortion and
corruption. They appealed to the Sri Lankan
government to carry out an impartial
inquiry.
On September 7, Rohana Kumara, the editor of
Satana (Battle), a pro-UNP
newspaper, was killed by unidentified gunmen
in a Colombo suburb. He was shot on
his way home in a taxi after receiving a
call that his house was being attacked.
Members of parliament for the UNP blamed the
ruling party for the killing and
demanded an immediate investigation.
Defending Human Rights
Human rights defenders continued to play a
critical role in demanding
accountability for human rights abuses and
working for an end to political
violence in Sri Lanka. But these activities
did not come without substantial
risks. The greatest blow to human rights
advocacy was the killing of Neelan
Tiruchelvam. Seven others were wounded in
the attack, including five policemen.
The three young Tamil men arrested in
connection with Tiruchelvam's murder were
reportedly severely tortured in police
custody in Colombo.
In
September, the United States government announced that it had donated U.S.
$1.3 million to the UNHCR to assist the
agency's efforts on behalf of Sri
Lanka's internally displaced population.
Catholics of Jaffna appeal to UN
and Pope
The
Catholics of the Diocese of Jaffna have appealed to the Secretary-General of
the United Nations and His Holiness, Pope John Paul II, to persuade the Sri Lankan
government and the Liberation of Tigers of Tamil Eelam to call off the war with
immediate effect and commence negotiations.
The Government and the LTTE must be persuaded to work towards bringing about a
mutually acceptable solution to the ethnic conflict which has caused untold
hardships, suffering and losses to the people of the north and east of the
country, the appeals further said.
The
Catholics of the Jaffna Diocese made this appeal in separate memorandums sent
to the UN Secretary-General and His Holiness, Pope John Paul II, in the wake of
the Sri Lankan government artillery attack on the Holy Shrine Madhu in the
Mannar district. According to the Catholic church the attack resulted in the
deaths of 42 innocent civilians including children and women, and injured
several hundred.
HUMAN RIGHTS AGENCIES APPEAL TO
UN FOR PEACE
“We
have been experiencing a steady erosion of our rights over the years. Now under
Emergency rule, most of the rights enshrined in the United Nations Declaration
of Human Rights have been derogated. Even the sacred rights not to be subjected
to torture, which cannot under any circumstances be derogated, is in practice
denied, as evidenced by the forensic experts involved in the exhumation of the
graves at the village of Chemmani.
The
problem of hundreds of disappearances is being treated with utter indifference
by the relevant authorities. For a small nation like ours, the bloodshed has
been too enormous and the violence to human dignity too barbarous”.
This
was stated in a memorandum, addressed to the Secretary General of the United
Nations Organisation, Kofi Annan by the Consortium of Human Rights Agencies in
Jaffna. Copies were also handed to the UNHCR, UNDP and the ICRC in Jaffna
on International Human Rights Day by the
representatives of the Consortium at the respective offices.
The
memorandum further highlighted the present plight of the starving people in the
war-torn areas of the Vanni district without food and medical supplies for over
a month and the fact that they were totally overlooked by the establishment in
the run-up to the forthcoming presidential election. The memorandum further
stated that last month, the LTTE leader had publicly declared his readiness for
peace negotiations through third party mediation.
The
consortium of Human Rights Agencies has stated that they firmly believe that
the United Nations Organisation is the most suitable mediator in the current
crisis. They have added that every member of the international family however
insignificant deserves the concern of the UN in the arena of international
politics.
The
Consortium of Human Rights Agencies also appealed to the UN to prevail on the
warring parties for an agreement on the immediate cessation of hostilities and
the initiation of peace talk.
(an
extract from “The Weekend Express” of December 18-19, 1999)
(Signed)
Colombo, Sri
Lanka.
Children and
Women Affected
by Armed
Conflict by in Sri Lanka
(UNICEF
- Colombo, Sri Lanka - September 1999)
Over 614,000 persons are currently internally displaced in
Sri Lanka today, although it is difficult to give precise estimates due to the
rapidly fluctuating situation. Out of an estimated 900,000 children in the
North and East 300,000 children have been displaced and approximately 270,000
remain displaced to day. Internally displaced persons (IDPs) constitute the most
depressed community group of the conflict.
Jaffna
The population in the Jaffna district has been reduced from
its 1995 figures of 738,788 to the present estimate of 497,347. It is estimated
that approximately 280,000 are under the age of 18.
The region continues to be economically and physically
marginalised from the rest of the country. Fishing affected by security
restrictions. Female-headed households are the worst affected. The number of
registered widows is 19,000.
The Vanni
The population of Vanni in mid 1997 was estimated to be
around half a million. Following several military operations it decreased to
through displacement to 367,367 as at March 1999. This number comprises around
289,779 IDPs. New displacement take place whenever there are military
operations.
According to the education department, non-attendance in
many schools is said to be over 30%.
Although the Government distributes food rations to the
uncleared areas, in 1998 the supply was cut by about 40%, most directly affecting
the displaced populations in Killinochi and Mullaitivu districts. The supply of
food items is also subject to embargoes and manipulation, especially during
periods of active operations between the two parties.
Eastern Province
The three districts of Trincomalee, Batticaloa and Ampara
with a population of around 1.2 million in 1998 are estimated to include around
60,000 IDPs living in 22 welfare centres.
District neighbouring conflict
areas : the ‘border villages’
Puttlam, Mannar and Anuradhapura districts are adjacent to
the conflict areas in the north and east and continually face the threat of
sporadic attacks.
Currently there are around 95,600 displaced persons in and
around these districts. 56,900 persons are in welfare centres and 38,700 persons
live with hose families who have themselves been poverty stricken.
It’s
time for action
(Extracted
from ‘The Sunday Times’ of February 20, 2000)
Child labour and child abuse are serious issues in Sri Lanka
but in the absence of proper data, planners have not been able to ascertain the
extent of the problem to formulate proper and practical strategies to tackle
these issue.
There have been various figures on child labour,
particularly the number of child domestics employed, but these have often been
‘guess estimates’ with figures ranging from the thousands to more than 100,000.
The survey, released to the media on February 8, reveals
that close to a million children between the ages of five and 17 years are
working or are engaged in some form of economic activity. But the survey
carried last year by the Department of Census and Statistics (DCS) has
under-reported the extent of domestic child labour where the majority of child
abuses cases occur.
It estimated that of the 4,344,770 children between the ages
of five to 17, living in Sri Lanka at the time of the survey, 926,038 or 21
percent of them were engaged in some form of economic activity. Sri Lanka’s
population is 18.5 million.
Child rights activist, Mallika Ganasinghe, a former IPEC-ILO
national programme officer in Colombo, described December’s amendment to the
EWYPC Act and ratification of the ILO convention as landmark events in child
labour legislation.
‘This is quite a significant development. In fact the Act
prescribed 14 years as the minimum age at the outset but in 1956 it was lowered
to 12 years through a gazette notification to allow the employment of domestic
servants’ she said.
Much of the child abuse as been reported in urban house
holds in Colombo, whist employ children as servants. Cases of assault, torture,
rape and even death have been reported amongst child domestics who come from
plantation areas where their parents are unable to feed, clothe or send them to
school. The Child Activity Survey of 1999 also found that the number of working
children in the 5-14 years category when they should be at school was 25,533.
Norwegian mediation in Sri Lanka
(Sinhalese point of view by Nalin
de Silva )
Norwegian Foreign Minister, Mr. Knut
Vollebaek is supposed to come to Sri Lanka on the invitation of Mr. Lakshman
Kadirgamar. The president Ms. Chandrika Kumaratunga in her edited version of
the BBC interview in London, soon after the bomb explosion on the eighteenth of
December last year, said that on a previous occasion she had requested Norway
to facilitate talks between the government and the LTTE. It appears that Sri
Lanka is very keen to get Norway involved in talks with the LTTE.
Why should Norway be so much interested in our problems? Why do they want the
Sri Lankan government to have talks with the LTTE? In the house of lords in
Britain one of the members had requested those concerned to persuade
Prabhakaran to come to the negotiating table. Instead of helping the Sri Lankan
government to defeat the LTTE militarily these western European countries want
the government to agree to talks on Prabhakaran’s conditions. One should not
forget that Prabhakaran, the LTTE and the other Tamil racist parties insist
that the Thimpu conditions are non-negotiable. This means that the Sri Lankan
government has to accept that the Tamils are a different nation, northern and
eastern provinces are the traditional homeland of the Tamils and that the
Tamils have the right of self-determination even before they come to the
negotiating table.
The leaders who are the products of a
non-national education given by the British imperialists do not understand the
history and the culture of the country. They are very often token Buddhists who
do not belong to the culture of the people. Most of them are
"thuppahi" in the apt terminology of Mr. Philip Gunawardane, who
introduced Marxism to Sri Lanka and who was instrumental in adopting Trotskyism
by the LSSP.
The
present NGO "intellectuals", are only the inheritors of the
"thuppahi" culture, who can only translate the knowledge, created by
their masters in the west into the "vernacular", like slaves. I am
told that thuppahi is the Sinhalised version of a Portuguese word meaning
translator. Incidentally these NGO’s are financed by countries such as Norway.
According
to the "Irida Divaina" of 13th February, Norway is of the opinion
that after a cease-fire is declared by the government and the LTTE a peace
keeping force similar to that of the united nations should be sent to the north
and the east to monitor any violent activities. Has the government agreed to
this? We have some experience with these peace keeping forces and Sri Lanka can
do without such forces in the future.
The
"Irida Divaina" further states that Norway is already in touch with
the LTTE using satellite communication. According to the Tamil Net Mr. Knut
Vollebaek has already met with Anton Balasingham in London. Apart from
preparing the groundwork with respect to the logistics, which one could argue
is what is expected from a facilitator, (not that we agree to the concept of a
facilitator) as the "Irida Divaina" goes on to reveal, Norway has interfered with our internal
politics. The paper informs us that the Norwegian diplomatic sources
emphasise the need of a "political solution" to fulfil the
aspirations of the Tamils in this country as their rights are not protected by
the existing legislation. Could Mr. Knut Vollebaek, before he leaves the
country, enlighten us on these aspirations and rights, as the minister G. L.
Peiris and his followers have failed to do so
during the last four and half years.
If
the west and the NGO’s are so confident that the Sinhala people are not against
a "political solution" how do they account for the fact that the government
has taken more than four years to introduce the draft constitution to the
parliament. The west and the NGO intellectuals who conduct surveys using
artificial samples asking loaded questions believe that the Sinhala people are
in agreement with the political package. If we are to believe these surveys
then the most widely read book in Sri Lanka is the Koran.
The west and the NGO intellectuals do not understand how the mind of the
Sinhala people works and neither we are going to conduct tuition classes on
that subject. I have very often come across the simplistic argument that the
UNP and the PA together polled some 94% of the valid vote at the last
presidential elections and that means that the overwhelming majority of the
Sinhala people are in agreement with some kind of political solution to the so-called problem of the Tamil people.
This argument is valid only if the people who voted for the PA and the UNP had
only this question in their minds when they went to the polling booths last
December. Leave alone the general public. There are many MPs in the UNP as well
as the PA who are not in agreement with the so-called political solution and I
do not think that they voted for Mr. Harishchandra Wijetunga at the last
presidential election.
Why does Norway act in this
manner? Norway, which got
independence from Sweden only in 1905, is obsessed with the right of
self-determination for nations, a concept that was formulated for them about
hundred years ago. Having got some money from petroleum and minerals in the
last three decades they are acting like a new rich person who has found a cause
to spend money on. Like the other
western countries they are propagating their culture and are interested in
destroying the indigenous cultures in the other regions. They have found
only recently the "Christian zeal" of the other western European
states that came to Asia and Africa in the sixteenth century and thereafter.
While
Norway with their newly found "Christian Zeal" is
"applying" (they may use better words in the jargon of international
diplomacy) pressure on the Sri Lankan government to start negotiations with the
LTTE, on Prabhakaran’s conditions, what
are the Christian European countries doing about the IRA problem? After all
the children of the same God are involved on either side. There was no talk of
unconditional negotiations between the IRA and the government of Mr. Blair.
Aren’t they more concerned about
a problem very close to their homes?
Don’t they have more sympathy towards the Catholic IRA than towards the LTTE?
Or is it that the LTTE, though fighting ostensibly on behalf of the Hindu
Tamils (after all that is how it is presented to the world that the Sinhala
Buddhists are denying the rights of the Tamil Hindus), a Christian organisation
in disguise supported by the Church hierarchy?
The LTTE is only interested in an
Eelam or a confederation that is nothing but a de facto separate state. There
have been many discussions between the Sri Lankan government and the LTTE and
we know what the LTTE is after. Norway
in their so-called facilitation is only helping the LTTE to achieve what
they want. Mr. Knut Vollebaek has apparently no time to meet the Sinhala
organisations. It was a mistake if some Sinhala organisations had asked for an
appointment to meet him. All we have to
say is that Mr. Knut Vollebaek is not welcome in Sri Lanka. He should find more
time to help Britain to find a solution to the Irish problem closer to home.
(extracted from “The Island” of February 15, 2000)
“PEACE WITH WAR”
(S.
Sivanayagam Editor in chief, Hot Spring January/February 2000)
After sixteen
years of war by successive Sinhala governments, in which several war ministers
and several generals have come and gone, have failed to cow down Tamil
resistance, we have at last come to the stage where a serious peace process has
been initiated, thanks to the dogged efforts of the Norwegian government.
President Chandrika has, it appears, adjusted her “War for Peace” strategy to
one of “Peace WITH War”. But if she thinks that the 1-year time-frame for talk
with the LTTE which she negotiated with visiting Norwegian Foreign Minister
Knut Vollebaek,
along with her hefty 728 million dollar war budget for the Year 2000 will give her enough time and resources to
try a final knock-out blow at the LTTE, she must be making a wrong calculation.
SECRET
AGENDA
There is no
doubt at all that Norway is the only country in the world with a proven record
of working for peace. She is also the only country that has to her credit,
peace-time funding for development projects in the north. Foreign Minister
Vollebaek had rightly called for “courage and sacrifices” from both sides to enable him to carry the peace process forward.
Courage and sacrifices are not new to the Tamil Tigers and Tamil people. If,
given the best efforts of Norway, all what President Chandrika is trying to do
is to use that government’s good offices as cover for any secret agenda of
hers, no one should blame the Tigers if they say “NO WAY”.
U.S. Department of State -
February 25, 2000
(Excerpts from the 1999 Country
reports on Human Rights)
Security
forces committed numerous extra-judicial killings, and almost certainly killed
prisoners captured on the battlefield. In addition up to 15 individuals
disappeared from security forces custody in Vavuniya and in the east. In the
past, persons also have disappeared or have been killed after last being seen
near the army’s forward defence lines in the north, areas civilians are ordered
by the military to avoid.
No
arrests were made in connection with the disappearance and presumed killing of
at least 350 civilians whom the security forces suspected were members or
sympathisers of the LTTE in Jaffna in 1996 and 1997.
In
1997 three regional commissions published a report that documented that more
than 16,000 persons had disappeared over the period from 1988 to 1994 after having been removed forcibly by security forces
(including paramilitary organisations) and antigovernment elements, primarily
the leftist Janatha Vimukthi Peramuna (JVP). A fourth commission was
established in May 1998 to investigate the 10,000 cases of disappearance
that the first 3 commissions could not investigate before their mandates
expired.
There
are several former Tamil insurgent organisation that now are aligned with the
Government. These pro-government Tamil militants, who are armed and at times
directed by the security forces, sometimes committed extra-judicial killings
and were responsible for disappearances, torture, detention, extortion and
forced conscription in Vavuniya and the east.
Impunity
remains a serious
problem. Since April 1995 at least 761 persons have been killed
extra-judicially by the security forces or have disappeared after being taken
into security force custody and are presumed dead. With the exception of the
six security force personnel convicted in 1996 killing of Krishanthi
Kumaraswamy, no member of the security forces has been convicted for any of
these crimes. In the vast majority of cases where military personnel may have
committed human rights violations, the Government has not identified these
responsible and brought to justice.
These
who disappeared in 1999 and in previous years are presumed dead. The commander of the army and the Inspector General of
police both have criticised the disappearances and stated that the perpetrators
would be called to account. Nonetheless, there have been very few security
force personnel prosecutions to date.
Prisons
conditions generally are poor and do not meet minimum international standards
because of overcrowding and lack of sanitary facilities. An increase in detentions associated with the war with the
LTTE caused a significant deterioration in already poor standards in short-term
detention centres as well in uncleared detention centres run by pro-government
Tamil groups such as the PLOTE.
The
Government detained more than 1,970 persons under the ER and the PTA during the
year, a slightly higher number than in 1998. The majority of these arrested
were released after periods lasting several day to several months ;
however, the total number of prisoners held under the ER and PTA was
consistently close to 2,000. Hundreds of Tamil who were arrested under PTA were
being held without bail awaiting trial ; some of these persons have been
held for up to 5 years. According to the Attorney General, there are
almost 1,000 cases under the PTA or ER before the high courts. Although over
1,000 cases under the PTA and the ER were before the courts, no cases came to
trial during the year.