The Sri Lankan government continues to reject repeated calls by the international community to refrain from seeking a military solution to the Tamil national question and to engage in a political dialogue to resolve the conflict. The TIC urges the government to adopt a violence-reduction strategy that encourages cooperation among the island's embattled communities, rather than continuing to pursue a destructive and divisive military solution in Sri Lanka.
States bear ultimate responsibility as guarantors of democracy, human rights and rule of law. States are obliged under the Charter of the United Nations and other international instruments to promote respect for, and observance of, human rights and freedoms, and ensure that all people enjoy the freedoms without fear. States are also obliged to guarantee human rights and fundamental freedoms without discrimination and subject rights only to such limitations solely for the purpose of promoting the general welfare in a democratic society. States must uphold their human rights obligations during periods of conflict and national emergency, in accordance with international law, the rule of law, and the principles of democracy.
Humanitarian Maheswary Velayutham was brutally gunned down by cowards in Jaffna on 13 May 2008. The killers were probably unaware of her selfless sacrifices in the cause of her community. The Tamil Information Centre (TIC) condemns this appalling act of terrorism which has left many people in Sri Lanka and abroad in despair. This is a dark day for everyone who believes in human rights and the Tamil people's struggle for self-determination.
The year 2008 began in Sri Lanka with horrendous violence in the capital Colombo - the assassination of the opposition United National Party (UNP) MP for Colombo District, T Maheswaran. He faced grave threat to his life following the instruction of the Ministry of Defence to the Inspector General of Police in December 2007 to withdraw personnel from the security units of several parliamentarians, including his security unit. This incident points to a systematic campaign of intimidation and terror aimed at opponents of the Sri Lankan government and human rights defenders.
The rejection of Sri Lanka's application to membership in the UN Human Rights Council (UNHRC) is a clear expression of the international concern over the human rights and humanitarian crisis in Sri Lanka and a definitive call for appropriate and tangible steps to improve human rights in the island. It is also an acknowledgement of the miserable failure on the part of Sri Lanka to discharge its international obligations in relation to human rights and the lack of transparency and accountability in the government-established human rights mechanisms.
The Tamil Information Centre welcomes the decision of the Sri Lankan Ministry of Disaster Management and Human Rights to establish 24-hour telephone hotlines at the Disaster Management Centre in Colombo for a period of eight months with effect from 7 May 2008 for the declared purpose of dealing with requests for information or clarification from family members of persons taken into custody by police or any other government authority or who have been abducted or disappeared.
The Tamil Information Centre (TIC) records with sadness the passing away of Poopalapillai Sangaravel, the prominent personality among the expatriate Sri Lankan Tamil community in the United Kingdom, on 6 June 2008. Mr Sangaravel first came into contact with the TIC in 1991 when the TIC arranged the conference titled "Agony in the East". Since then, the TIC often drew from his vast knowledge and experience on issues relating to Sri Lanka, particularly in relation to the eastern part of the island.
Sri Lanka is faced with a situation of lawlessness of epidemic proportions. Such lawlessness is manifested by the continuing abductions, arbitrary arrests, enforced disappearances and large scale killings. In a climate of relentless violence, entire families have been wiped out. The law enforcement authorities have become dysfunctional and many policemen, including some high ranking officers have become partners in crime. UN officers estimated the number of killings in Sri Lanka in 2005 alone at 500. Between January 2006 and May 2007, human rights agencies estimated that 4,000 people were killed. In Jaffna alone, 13 people were shot dead between 8 July and 31 July 2007.
The people of Sri Lanka have been ruled by Emergency Regulations for almost 30 out of the 58 years of independence and their rights have been systematically crushed. The land is now under Emergency rule, and the current draconian Emergency Regulations, which are primarily used against the Tamil community, have removed every tenet of democratic governance.
In a letter to Secretary General of the International Labour Organization (ILO) Juan Somavia on 11 May 2007, the Tamil Information Centre (TIC) expressed extreme concern over the deterioration in the situation of trade union leaders and other fundamental rights activists in Sri Lanka. The TIC said that trade union representatives increasingly faced threats, intimidation, abduction and disappearance and these indicated the suppression of trade unions, the freedom of expression and the freedom of association. Intimidation, threats, abduction and disappearances have been used to deal with opponents, including political opponents, trade union members and others speaking out justifiably for the rights of the people.
More than 80,000 people have been displaced in fighting following an offensive launched on 16 January 2007 in the Vaharai area of Batticaloa District by the Sri Lankan government forces against the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE). Parliamentarians say that indiscriminate aerial bombardment and shelling, including the continuous use of multi-barrel rocket launchers, by the security forces in populated areas of Vaharai as well as Paduvankarai area has resulted in the death of some 300 civilians. Over 1,000 others have sustained serious injuries. Homes, public buildings and temples have been damaged or destroyed.
The Tamil Information Centre (TIC) is extremely concerned over the plight of human rights defenders in Sri Lanka, who are facing persecution and threats to life from government authorities. In recent years, the number of reported attacks on human rights defenders has increased dramatically in the island, requiring urgent intervention by the international community.
Tamil Information Centre (TIC) strongly condemns the attack on Muddiappa Remedious, the legal officer of the Centre for Human Rights and Development (CHRD) and the legal advisor of the Jaffna Sri Lanka Human Rights Commission (SL-HRC) on Friday, 02 February 2007. Mr Remedious was threatened and assaulted by a group of SLA soldiers near Stanley Road in Jaffna town despite him presenting his credentials as the Legal Officer for the SL-HRC.
The large-scale killings that are taking place in the north-east and southern parts are of grave concern to the people of Sri Lanka. The main concern here is arbitrary execution of Tamil civilians. It also concerns the execution of individuals without a right to trial, and disappearances. The security forces, Tamil paramilitary groups aligned to the security forces and the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE) are accused of carrying out the attacks on civilians. The Sri Lankan government is using the Tamil paramilitary groups to target Tamil civilians whom the intelligence services believe are supporters of the LTTE or have links to the LTTE ((See Annex 1 for details of some the killings from 1 November to 12 December 2006).
The recent decision by the Sub-Committee on Accreditation of the International Co-ordinating Committee of National Human Rights Institutions (ICC) to downgrade the Sri Lanka Human Rights Commission (SLHRC) from Status A to Status B is an unequivocal message to Sri Lanka from the international community that its human rights conduct is unacceptable and if it wishes to remain part of the civilized nations, then it must respect the universal issues of human rights and democracy.
The Tamil information Centre (TIC) is pleased that a joint Press Release issued by the Eelam People's Democratic Party (EPDP) and the Tamil Makkal Viduthalai Puligal (TMVP) on 9 July 2007 states that both parties have agreed to bring an end to their rivalry and work towards a meaningful political solution that benefits the Tamil speaking people.
The Tamil Information Centre (TIC) welcomes the appointment of Ms Selvy as the spokesperson of the LTTE on humanitarian and human rights issues and the announcement of her contact details. This paves the way for effective and productive engagement with the LTTE on human rights and humanitarian issues and concerns.
We are deeply saddened to report the death of Para Kumarasamy in Germany on Sunday, 16 December 2007. We have known Para as a social and human rights activist and a writer. We take this opportunity to mention how greatly he was appreciated in the exiled writers community as a colleague and friend.
M. A. Sisira Priyankara, trade union activist and editor of the monthly newspaper Akuna, Nihal Serasinghe, member of the railway trade union Dumriya Kamkaru Ekathuva and Lalith Seneviratne were abducted on 5 February in Colombo, allegedly by the security forces. These abductions have outraged the Tamil, Sinhala and Muslim intellectuals, journalists, community leaders as well as many ordinary citizens of Sri Lanka. The Tamil Information Centre (TIC) is gravely concerned for their safety. So far, no law enforcement authority has claimed responsibility. We deplore these actions which endanger the lives of journalists and call on the government to launch an immediate impartial investigation into abductions by security forces.
The Sri Lankan government has admitted that the abduction of three Sinhalese journalists was carried out by the army. M. A. Sisira Priyankara, trade union activist and editor of the monthly newspaper Akuna, Nihal Serasinghe, member of the railway trade union Dumriya Kamkaru Ekathuva and Lalith Seneviratne were abducted on 5 February 2007 in Colombo. The Tamil Information Centre (TIC) issued a press release about the abductions on 6 February. We are pleased to hear that they are alive. TIC has repeatedly condemned censorship, and harassment, intimidation, arrest, torture, imprisonment and killing of journalists and writers who had peacefully expressed their views.
