TIC has issued a number of news releases, memos, appreciation of human rights, social and cultural activists and published a number of documents on human rights and humanitarian issues to help create awareness on the situation in Sri Lanka, all of which are available for download here free.
The Tamil Information Centre (TIC) expresses 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 callus murders of Kumar Ponnambalam and chief editor of Tamil weekly, Thinamurasu and Tamil Member of Parliament Ramesh Nadarajah on 2 November l999 have posed further threats to the freedoms of expression, assembly and association.
The capture of the strategic military complex Iyakachchi and Elephant Pass bases – in Jaffna by the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE) on 22 April has generated widespread debate within and outside Sri Lanka on the current peace initiatives and the future of the island. The Sri Lankan government, led by President Chandrika Kumaratunge has failed to win the confidence of the people to achieve peace. Its cavalier attitude towards Tamil rights and peace negotiations in 1995 and the importance given to military aspects, led to the collapse of the peace talks, resulting in a drawn out war, causing heavy destruction of life and waste of human and economic resources.
The international human rights community is shocked and distressed over the massacre of 31 young Tamils in the Bindunuwewa Rehabilitation Centre situated three miles north-east of Bandarawela in Sri Lanka on 25 October. The gruesome massacre has shattered the feeling of security of the Tamil people in Sri Lanka. UN Secretary General Kofi Annan and Amnesty International have called on the Sri Lankan authorities to conduct an impartial inquiry to bring those responsible to justice. In a statement issued through his spokesman Manoel De Almediae Silva, says he is “profoundly distressed†over the massacre and has appealed to everyone in Sri Lanka to refrain from any escalation of violence.
The Congress (I) spokesman, Mr. Ajit Jogi has revealed to the Indian press on 18 November that Mrs. Gandhi during a private meeting with Indian President K R Narayanan had conveyed to him her feelings, as well as those of her son and daughter, that the life of Nalini, one of the accused in the assassination of her late husband and former Indian Prime Minister Rajiv Gandhi, be spared as she was the mother of a child.
On 3 July 1998, five Sri Lankan soldiers were convicted of the rape and murder of 18 year-old Tamil schoolgirl, Krishanthy Kumarasamy, her mother, 16 year-old brother and a neighbor on 7 September 1996. They were sentenced to death. The judgment, which has been referred to as a "Landmark Judgment", by human rights organizations, came in the wake of constant pressure on the Sri Lankan government by the international community to protect human rights and end the climate of impunity widely enjoyed by the security forces.
The tragic death of Dr Neelan Tiruchelvam in Colombo has caused great shock, dismay and concern at the Tamil Information Centre. Those responsible for the brutal murder are yet to be identified but with the passing of time the truth may be revealed. This is yet another incident which underscores the facts that an urgent political solution to the conflict and an immediate end to the war in Sri Lanka are absolutely essential for eliminating violence from the Sri Lankan political system.
The Tamil Information Centre (TIC) learns that the Sri Lankan government Army is planning a major offensive in the Vanni, an area where over 457,000 people live under miserable conditions, 90% of whom are displaced people, including women, elderly and children. People in Vanni have been subjected to severe hardship for many years as a result of government restrictions on food, medicine and fuel and other essential needs.
Tamil Nadu Chief Minister Dr M Karunanidhi, answering questions at a press conference to day expressed the view that clemency and commutation of the death sentence to life-imprisonment to the four Tamils in the Rajiv Gandhi assassination case were appropriate. He said that international opinion is increasingly against the death penalty and it is appropriate that consideration is given to this concern of the international community even to this case. He also has expressed the opinion that life sentence to the accused instead of the death sentence would enable offenders to repent and realise the wrongfulness of their actions.
The Tamil Information Centre (TIC) made an appeal on 8 October, for clemency and commutation of the death sentence on four people in the Rajiv Gandhi murder case. The TIC’s appeal for clemency was in furtherance of a commitment to the value and dignity of human life and the belief that human life is sacred. In this respect, the killing of the former Prime Minister Rajiv Gandhi and 16 others including nine police officers in Sriperumpudur in Tamil Nadu in India on 21 May 1991 was equally callous and cruel and the offenders deserve to be punished.
As the new Millennium dawns there is optimism and hope for a fresh beginning transcending the barriers causing human suffering. It is wonderful to affirm - "Let there be peace on earth and let it begin with me." Bur resolutions are not enough. Peace requires active engagement, strength and determination in expressing compassion and civility whether as an individual a community or a nation. It rarely depends on external circumstances. Peace begins within us. It appears in simple ways and in ordinary places.
