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.
We are gratified for the acknowledgement by the Hague Appeal for Peace Conference that peace is a human right. Peace is threatened when human rights are violated. Where there is injustice, there is a seed for conflict. The protection of rights of individuals to think freely, to express themselves without fear, to associate freely with others, to disseminate their thoughts freely and to determine their own destiny is essential to the preservation of world peace.
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.
The Tamil Information Centre (TIC) welcomes the proposed visit of the UN Committee against Torture established under the Convention against Torture to Sri Lanka in January 2000 to investigate allegations of torture. This is undoubtedly the outcome of the tireless work of human rights NGOs and lawyers and representations by them to the Committee against torture in the face of challenge and counter-lobbies.
Internally Displaced People: Sri Lankan military operations Jayasikurui involving 40,000 troops, launched on 13 May to open a land-route from Vavuniya to Jaffna is nearing twelve months and has created over 90,000 newly displaced people, adding to the 300,000 Internally Displaced People (IDPs) who were already in the Vanni making a total of 390,000 in late April 1998.
