Sri Lanka: when will displaced civilians be released?

Displaced Sri Lankan Tamil civilians watch as unseen French and British Foreign Ministers arrive at camp for talks in the unsuccessful civilian release.

Displaced Sri Lankan Tamil civilians watch as unseen French and British Foreign Ministers arrive at camp for talks in the unsuccessful civilian release. Photo credit goes to Pedro Ugarte/AFP/Getty Images

If you’re interested in getting an update on the displaced civilians held in internment camps in northern Sri Lanka, I’d highly recommend the statement issued by Amnesty International today entitled, “Sri Lanka’s Displaced Face Uncertain Future as Government Begins to Unlock the Camps“.  It’s a good summary of the hurdles the Sri Lankan government is placing in the path of the civilians being able to leave the camps.  (For background on this story, please visit our Sri Lanka page.)

If you’ve been following this story, you know the numbers of the civilians involved can get confusing.  Amnesty issued another statement today, “Counting the Human Cost of Sri Lanka’s Conflict,” which succinctly describes the numbers involved.  I’d highly recommend reading that statement as well.

You may find it instructive as well to read President Rajapaksa’s interview with Le Figaro.  In one spot in the interview, he refuses to say whether the Sri Lankan government will honor its earlier pledge to re-settle 80% of the displaced civilians by the end of this year.  In another place in the interview, it appears that he may be saying that it could take another 6 months or even a year before all the civilians are allowed out of the camps (it’s unclear whether he’s referring to allowing civilians to leave the camps or ending the state of emergency Sri Lanka is currently governed under).

AI’s “Unlock the Camps” campaign continues.  If you haven’t already, please consider participating in our campaign:  fill out a petition, send an online letter, hold a demonstration, so the displaced civilians can finally get the rights they’re entitled to, including freedom of movement.  If you have any constructive suggestions for how best to persuade the Sri Lankan government to grant the displaced civilians their rights, I’d appreciate hearing them.

AIUSA welcomes a lively and courteous discussion that follow our Community Guidelines. Comments are not pre-screened before they post but AIUSA reserves the right to remove any comments violating our guidelines.

245 thoughts on “Sri Lanka: when will displaced civilians be released?

  1. A Sri Lankan official was reported yesterday as saying that the number of displaced civilians held in the internment camps will be reduced to 100,000 by Oct. 31. See http://www.dailymirror.lk/DM_BLOG/Sections/frmNew
    Meanwhile, a local Tamil political leader in Sri Lanka has recently said that some of the civilians who were supposedly resettled are still in the camps. See http://www.bbc.co.uk/sinhala/news/story/2009/09/0
    It'll be interesting to see the government's resettlement plans when they report on them to the UN Human Rights Council – http://www.colombopage.com/archive_091/Sep1252851

  2. A Sri Lankan official was reported yesterday as saying that the number of displaced civilians held in the internment camps will be reduced to 100,000 by Oct. 31. See http://www.dailymirror.lk/DM_BLOG/Sections/frmNew
    Meanwhile, a local Tamil political leader in Sri Lanka has recently said that some of the civilians who were supposedly resettled are still in the camps. See http://www.bbc.co.uk/sinhala/news/story/2009/09/0
    It'll be interesting to see the government's resettlement plans when they report on them to the UN Human Rights Council – http://www.colombopage.com/archive_091/Sep1252851

  3. A Sri Lankan official was reported yesterday as saying that the number of displaced civilians held in the internment camps will be reduced to 100,000 by Oct. 31. See http://www.dailymirror.lk/DM_BLOG/Sections/frmNew
    Meanwhile, a local Tamil political leader in Sri Lanka has recently said that some of the civilians who were supposedly resettled are still in the camps. See http://www.bbc.co.uk/sinhala/news/story/2009/09/0
    It'll be interesting to see the government's resettlement plans when they report on them to the UN Human Rights Council – http://www.colombopage.com/archive_091/Sep1252851

  4. A Sri Lankan official was reported yesterday as saying that the number of displaced civilians held in the internment camps will be reduced to 100,000 by Oct. 31. See http://www.dailymirror.lk/DM_BLOG/Sections/frmNewsDetailView.aspx?ARTID=61313
    Meanwhile, a local Tamil political leader in Sri Lanka has recently said that some of the civilians who were supposedly resettled are still in the camps. See http://www.bbc.co.uk/sinhala/news/story/2009/09/090913_batticaloa_idps.shtml
    It’ll be interesting to see the government’s resettlement plans when they report on them to the UN Human Rights Council – http://www.colombopage.com/archive_091/Sep1252851736CH.html

  5. http://whatholds.blogspot.com/

    For goodness sake let's believe that they will go to their homes as early as possible and most important let's hope that the SL army manages to remove the landmines planted by the Brutal Terrorists so that these people would walk and not crawl inside their homes !

  6. http://whatholds.blogspot.com/

    For goodness sake let's believe that they will go to their homes as early as possible and most important let's hope that the SL army manages to remove the landmines planted by the Brutal Terrorists so that these people would walk and not crawl inside their homes !

  7. Detaining civilians without freedom of movement and this removing landmine is a big lie. Here is a BBC report and what leader of the TULF said:

    Mr Anandasangaree, a well-known critic of the Tamil Tiger rebels, the LTTE, also faulted the government for viewing every Tamil civilian in the camps as a possible Tamil Tiger suspect.
    http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/south_asia/8076407.stm

    "The theory that the area is heavily landmined cannot be accepted because I am in touch with a number of people. So, when I ask them they tell me where the landmines are placed. They are local people. According to them, 75% per cent of the area is not at all landmined," the Tamil leader said.

  8. Detaining civilians without freedom of movement and this removing landmine is a big lie. Here is a BBC report and what leader of the TULF said:

    Mr Anandasangaree, a well-known critic of the Tamil Tiger rebels, the LTTE, also faulted the government for viewing every Tamil civilian in the camps as a possible Tamil Tiger suspect.
    http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/south_asia/8076407.stm

    "The theory that the area is heavily landmined cannot be accepted because I am in touch with a number of people. So, when I ask them they tell me where the landmines are placed. They are local people. According to them, 75% per cent of the area is not at all landmined," the Tamil leader said.

  9. Detaining civilians without freedom of movement and this removing landmine is a big lie. Here is a BBC report and what leader of the TULF said:

    Mr Anandasangaree, a well-known critic of the Tamil Tiger rebels, the LTTE, also faulted the government for viewing every Tamil civilian in the camps as a possible Tamil Tiger suspect.
    http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/south_asia/8076407.stm

    "The theory that the area is heavily landmined cannot be accepted because I am in touch with a number of people. So, when I ask them they tell me where the landmines are placed. They are local people. According to them, 75% per cent of the area is not at all landmined," the Tamil leader said.

  10. http://whatholds.blogspot.com/

    For goodness sake let’s believe that they will go to their homes as early as possible and most important let’s hope that the SL army manages to remove the landmines planted by the Brutal Terrorists so that these people would walk and not crawl inside their homes !

  11. http://warwithoutwitness.com/index.php?option=com

    Institutionalized racism determines the fate of minorities especially Tamils, in this case rape, torture and murder of a little girl.

    Another example, among many, is sufficed to sum up the attitudes of the Sri Lankan army and judiciary which are overwhelmingly made of mono ethnic composition (Sinhalese Majority).

    In Bindunuweewa detention camp 28 Tamil suspects were hacked to death by villagers in front of Sri Lankan army.

    When the case against the perpetrators of the murders and their accomplices went up to the court, a rare occurrence in itself, the judge dismissed the case due to insufficient evidence without any retrial or recourse to justice.

  12. Sri Lanka defeated the Tigers with the help of the international community saying the war was to save the Tamils from the terrorist. The Tamil diaspora pleaded with the world leaders not to help the Sri Lanka government. Now we see the results – Sri Lanka is holding thousands of innocent Tamils in concentration camps and the world is financing to keep them running. Where is justice and why are the upholders of human rights silent?

  13. http://warwithoutwitness.com/index.php?option=com

    Institutionalized racism determines the fate of minorities especially Tamils, in this case rape, torture and murder of a little girl.

    Another example, among many, is sufficed to sum up the attitudes of the Sri Lankan army and judiciary which are overwhelmingly made of mono ethnic composition (Sinhalese Majority).

    In Bindunuweewa detention camp 28 Tamil suspects were hacked to death by villagers in front of Sri Lankan army.

    When the case against the perpetrators of the murders and their accomplices went up to the court, a rare occurrence in itself, the judge dismissed the case due to insufficient evidence without any retrial or recourse to justice.

  14. http://warwithoutwitness.com/index.php?option=com

    Institutionalized racism determines the fate of minorities especially Tamils, in this case rape, torture and murder of a little girl.

    Another example, among many, is sufficed to sum up the attitudes of the Sri Lankan army and judiciary which are overwhelmingly made of mono ethnic composition (Sinhalese Majority).

    In Bindunuweewa detention camp 28 Tamil suspects were hacked to death by villagers in front of Sri Lankan army.

    When the case against the perpetrators of the murders and their accomplices went up to the court, a rare occurrence in itself, the judge dismissed the case due to insufficient evidence without any retrial or recourse to justice.

  15. Detaining civilians without freedom of movement and this removing landmine is a big lie. Here is a BBC report and what leader of the TULF said:

    Mr Anandasangaree, a well-known critic of the Tamil Tiger rebels, the LTTE, also faulted the government for viewing every Tamil civilian in the camps as a possible Tamil Tiger suspect.

    http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/south_asia/8076407.stm

    “The theory that the area is heavily landmined cannot be accepted because I am in touch with a number of people. So, when I ask them they tell me where the landmines are placed. They are local people. According to them, 75% per cent of the area is not at all landmined,” the Tamil leader said.

  16. Killing 17 French Charity workers, Lasantha Wicramathunga and jailing JS Tissanayagam by the brutal regime in a clear evidence of the mentality and intentions of this regime.

    Tamils' struggle was against occupation, regain their independence and freedom. If the Sinhala leaders and masses fail to understand this this struggle will go until they achieve freedom, human rights and independence.

    While the British gave independence in 1948, they should have divided as two nations one for the Tamils and the other for the Sinhala. Tamils had their own kingdom.

    An influential UK Conservative Candidate has said that it was a mistake to have handed over the power to the Sinhala. Sinhalese have proved that they are incompetent, racists, do not understand pluralism, human rights, freedom but only understand genocide and violence.

    According to International Law experts, when there is genocide and state terrorism, there is nothing wrong that the Tamils have taken up arms to fight the invader, killers and criminals.

    Sinhalese who funded the genocide, war crimes and state terrorism may be charged by the victims and their families.

    Sinhala criminals and racists have killed thousands of innocent Tamils, burnt down factories and businesses, destroyed properties including houses and other belongings, Jaffna library and other famous Tamil identities and all of the it are well known to the IC.

    This is an issue between Tamils and the Sinhala and hence, the Sinhala cannot be the judges.

    If you and this regime are civilized, please allow IC, UN to conduct war crimes and genocide investigations. Please don't utter non-sense and no one is interested or believe what a criminal says.

  17. U.N should move fast, Now 10000 IDPs are out , we don't know where they are no information available just relatives took them at this point where are they going to settle in thier palce or live with the relatives? what kind of compansation UN or sl gov going to give them? where is all the IDp's aids are going ? Now UN must step in and find out the IDPs who relese from the camps may be they will come under attack of paramilitary.

    If U.N want to save the Tamils they should roll there sleves and get on the field

  18. Sri Lanka defeated the Tigers with the help of the international community saying the war was to save the Tamils from the terrorist. The Tamil diaspora pleaded with the world leaders not to help the Sri Lanka government. Now we see the results – Sri Lanka is holding thousands of innocent Tamils in concentration camps and the world is financing to keep them running. Where is justice and why are the upholders of human rights silent?

  19. http://warwithoutwitness.com/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=245:on-22nd-june-2009-13-year-old-tamil-girl-mohan-mathuniska-raped-and-killed-in-amparai-sri-lanka&catid=39:by-war-without-witness&Itemid=62

    Institutionalized racism determines the fate of minorities especially Tamils, in this case rape, torture and murder of a little girl.

    Another example, among many, is sufficed to sum up the attitudes of the Sri Lankan army and judiciary which are overwhelmingly made of mono ethnic composition (Sinhalese Majority).

    In Bindunuweewa detention camp 28 Tamil suspects were hacked to death by villagers in front of Sri Lankan army.

    When the case against the perpetrators of the murders and their accomplices went up to the court, a rare occurrence in itself, the judge dismissed the case due to insufficient evidence without any retrial or recourse to justice.

  20. Starvation, rape, killings, torture in Sri Lanka camps, Murphy tells Australia parliament
    [TamilNet, Monday, 14 September 2009, 12:04 GMT]
    Noting that "hundreds of thousands of innocent Tamils displaced by the military offensive are living in camps in appalling conditions. Moreover, foreign media channels have reported horrifying evidence of the worst violations of human rights, including starvation, rape, killings and torture. International agencies are calling for full access to these camps in order to provide life-saving treatment and medical supplies and to allow free and independent media access," parliamentarian, John Murphy, appealed at the House of Representatives Thursday, "to all governments of the world who have respect for human rights, the rule of law and free speech to join together and call on the government of Sri Lanka to right the wrongs forthwith." http://www.tamilnet.com/art.html?catid=13&art

  21. 'Prabhakaran was a good weapon to use'
    India gave them MI-17 helicopters, but told them to fly those in their colours. The Indian Navy also played an active part in the LTTE's defeat. And we gave them intelligence. India said 'Go ahead with your operations', but was very clear in telling Sri Lanka not to harm civilians. China's role is mostly commercial. They gave out weapons at a discounted rate and also gave them a line of credit. Pakistan mostly gave them training because India expressed its inability to do that. http://news.rediff.com/interview/2009/sep/14/prab

  22. Doctors in the main hospital in Vavuniya, the largest town near the camp, say that more 1,000 people have died since May, mainly due to "malnutrition-related complications", and warn of an impending disaster if conditions do not improve. "The problem is that the camp lies on a flood-prone area. We'll have malaria, sewage and dengue fever. It will be very bad unless [people] are moved." "I traced my other children to Manik Farm," the 42-year-old said. "Because I lived in LTTE territory and all my possessions are lost I have no record to say my children are mine. Their mother is dead. How do I get them out?"
    Harrassed Tamils languish in prison-like camps in Sri Lanka http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2009/sep/13/tamil

  23. Starvation, rape, killings, torture in Sri Lanka camps, Murphy tells Australia parliament
    [TamilNet, Monday, 14 September 2009, 12:04 GMT]
    Noting that "hundreds of thousands of innocent Tamils displaced by the military offensive are living in camps in appalling conditions. Moreover, foreign media channels have reported horrifying evidence of the worst violations of human rights, including starvation, rape, killings and torture. International agencies are calling for full access to these camps in order to provide life-saving treatment and medical supplies and to allow free and independent media access," parliamentarian, John Murphy, appealed at the House of Representatives Thursday, "to all governments of the world who have respect for human rights, the rule of law and free speech to join together and call on the government of Sri Lanka to right the wrongs forthwith." http://www.tamilnet.com/art.html?catid=13&art

  24. Starvation, rape, killings, torture in Sri Lanka camps, Murphy tells Australia parliament
    [TamilNet, Monday, 14 September 2009, 12:04 GMT]
    Noting that "hundreds of thousands of innocent Tamils displaced by the military offensive are living in camps in appalling conditions. Moreover, foreign media channels have reported horrifying evidence of the worst violations of human rights, including starvation, rape, killings and torture. International agencies are calling for full access to these camps in order to provide life-saving treatment and medical supplies and to allow free and independent media access," parliamentarian, John Murphy, appealed at the House of Representatives Thursday, "to all governments of the world who have respect for human rights, the rule of law and free speech to join together and call on the government of Sri Lanka to right the wrongs forthwith." http://www.tamilnet.com/art.html?catid=13&art

  25. 'Prabhakaran was a good weapon to use'
    India gave them MI-17 helicopters, but told them to fly those in their colours. The Indian Navy also played an active part in the LTTE's defeat. And we gave them intelligence. India said 'Go ahead with your operations', but was very clear in telling Sri Lanka not to harm civilians. China's role is mostly commercial. They gave out weapons at a discounted rate and also gave them a line of credit. Pakistan mostly gave them training because India expressed its inability to do that. http://news.rediff.com/interview/2009/sep/14/prab

  26. 'Prabhakaran was a good weapon to use'
    India gave them MI-17 helicopters, but told them to fly those in their colours. The Indian Navy also played an active part in the LTTE's defeat. And we gave them intelligence. India said 'Go ahead with your operations', but was very clear in telling Sri Lanka not to harm civilians. China's role is mostly commercial. They gave out weapons at a discounted rate and also gave them a line of credit. Pakistan mostly gave them training because India expressed its inability to do that. http://news.rediff.com/interview/2009/sep/14/prab

  27. Doctors in the main hospital in Vavuniya, the largest town near the camp, say that more 1,000 people have died since May, mainly due to "malnutrition-related complications", and warn of an impending disaster if conditions do not improve. "The problem is that the camp lies on a flood-prone area. We'll have malaria, sewage and dengue fever. It will be very bad unless [people] are moved." "I traced my other children to Manik Farm," the 42-year-old said. "Because I lived in LTTE territory and all my possessions are lost I have no record to say my children are mine. Their mother is dead. How do I get them out?"
    Harrassed Tamils languish in prison-like camps in Sri Lanka http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2009/sep/13/tamil

  28. Doctors in the main hospital in Vavuniya, the largest town near the camp, say that more 1,000 people have died since May, mainly due to "malnutrition-related complications", and warn of an impending disaster if conditions do not improve. "The problem is that the camp lies on a flood-prone area. We'll have malaria, sewage and dengue fever. It will be very bad unless [people] are moved." "I traced my other children to Manik Farm," the 42-year-old said. "Because I lived in LTTE territory and all my possessions are lost I have no record to say my children are mine. Their mother is dead. How do I get them out?"
    Harrassed Tamils languish in prison-like camps in Sri Lanka http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2009/sep/13/tamil

  29. Killing 17 French Charity workers, Lasantha Wicramathunga and jailing JS Tissanayagam by the brutal regime in a clear evidence of the mentality and intentions of this regime.

    Tamils’ struggle was against occupation, regain their independence and freedom. If the Sinhala leaders and masses fail to understand this this struggle will go until they achieve freedom, human rights and independence.

    While the British gave independence in 1948, they should have divided as two nations one for the Tamils and the other for the Sinhala. Tamils had their own kingdom.

    An influential UK Conservative Candidate has said that it was a mistake to have handed over the power to the Sinhala. Sinhalese have proved that they are incompetent, racists, do not understand pluralism, human rights, freedom but only understand genocide and violence.

    According to International Law experts, when there is genocide and state terrorism, there is nothing wrong that the Tamils have taken up arms to fight the invader, killers and criminals.

    Sinhalese who funded the genocide, war crimes and state terrorism may be charged by the victims and their families.

    Sinhala criminals and racists have killed thousands of innocent Tamils, burnt down factories and businesses, destroyed properties including houses and other belongings, Jaffna library and other famous Tamil identities and all of the it are well known to the IC.

    This is an issue between Tamils and the Sinhala and hence, the Sinhala cannot be the judges.

    If you and this regime are civilized, please allow IC, UN to conduct war crimes and genocide investigations. Please don’t utter non-sense and no one is interested or believe what a criminal says.

  30. U.N should move fast, Now 10000 IDPs are out , we don’t know where they are no information available just relatives took them at this point where are they going to settle in thier palce or live with the relatives? what kind of compansation UN or sl gov going to give them? where is all the IDp’s aids are going ? Now UN must step in and find out the IDPs who relese from the camps may be they will come under attack of paramilitary.

    If U.N want to save the Tamils they should roll there sleves and get on the field

  31. Starvation, rape, killings, torture in Sri Lanka camps, Murphy tells Australia parliament
    [TamilNet, Monday, 14 September 2009, 12:04 GMT]
    Noting that “hundreds of thousands of innocent Tamils displaced by the military offensive are living in camps in appalling conditions. Moreover, foreign media channels have reported horrifying evidence of the worst violations of human rights, including starvation, rape, killings and torture. International agencies are calling for full access to these camps in order to provide life-saving treatment and medical supplies and to allow free and independent media access,” parliamentarian, John Murphy, appealed at the House of Representatives Thursday, “to all governments of the world who have respect for human rights, the rule of law and free speech to join together and call on the government of Sri Lanka to right the wrongs forthwith.”
    http://www.tamilnet.com/art.html?catid=13&artid=30230

  32. ‘Prabhakaran was a good weapon to use’
    India gave them MI-17 helicopters, but told them to fly those in their colours. The Indian Navy also played an active part in the LTTE’s defeat. And we gave them intelligence. India said ‘Go ahead with your operations’, but was very clear in telling Sri Lanka not to harm civilians. China’s role is mostly commercial. They gave out weapons at a discounted rate and also gave them a line of credit. Pakistan mostly gave them training because India expressed its inability to do that.
    http://news.rediff.com/interview/2009/sep/14/prabhakaran-was-a-good-weapon-to-use.htm

  33. Doctors in the main hospital in Vavuniya, the largest town near the camp, say that more 1,000 people have died since May, mainly due to “malnutrition-related complications”, and warn of an impending disaster if conditions do not improve. “The problem is that the camp lies on a flood-prone area. We’ll have malaria, sewage and dengue fever. It will be very bad unless [people] are moved.” “I traced my other children to Manik Farm,” the 42-year-old said. “Because I lived in LTTE territory and all my possessions are lost I have no record to say my children are mine. Their mother is dead. How do I get them out?”
    Harrassed Tamils languish in prison-like camps in Sri Lanka
    http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2009/sep/13/tamils-camps-sri-lanka

  34. THE Sri Lankan Government is trying to siphon off millions of dollars of humanitarian aid by imposing a 0.9 per cent tax on all funding for aid groups,
    Victims of Tamil Tiger war hit by Sri Lanka tax on aid workers
    http://www.theaustralian.news.com.au/story/0,25197,25739296-25837,00.html

    Sampur IDPs ‘still in camps’
    http://www.bbc.co.uk/sinhala/news/story/2009/09/090908_sampur_idps.shtml

    In all HSZ and around, over 20 years, still homeless at Home

  35. Tragedy is a norm in Sri Lankan Concentration camps….

    A malnourished IDP child slowly dying.. http://transcurrents.com/tc/2009/09/govt_violates

    It troubles me deeply when many Sinhalese say that Buddhism is the most peaceful religion and Sinhalese Buddhists are nice people. I don’t doubt that.

    Yet how can they ignore the plights of 300,000 of their own countrymen?

    The Buddhist teachings say there is a peaceful co-habitation and compassion for the fellow human being, but why is this not practiced with the Tamil in Sri Lanka.

    Their land is being stolen while they are forced to live in terrifying conditions in the concentration camps. Abused, beaten and killed, could you imagine living like this? When 300,000 innocent people eventually will be lucky enough to leave the camps ( I guess ,5 years from now) where are they to go?

    After the ‘helpful, caring’ Sri Lankan government has taken all that belongs to them (their homes, their land, their businesses – colonization), what is left except the constant fear, despair and struggle for life?

    What kind of life is it?

    A life of a slave!!

  36. Tragedy is a norm in Sri Lankan Concentration camps….

    A malnourished IDP child slowly dying.. http://transcurrents.com/tc/2009/09/govt_violates

    It troubles me deeply when many Sinhalese say that Buddhism is the most peaceful religion and Sinhalese Buddhists are nice people. I don’t doubt that.

    Yet how can they ignore the plights of 300,000 of their own countrymen?

    The Buddhist teachings say there is a peaceful co-habitation and compassion for the fellow human being, but why is this not practiced with the Tamil in Sri Lanka.

    Their land is being stolen while they are forced to live in terrifying conditions in the concentration camps. Abused, beaten and killed, could you imagine living like this? When 300,000 innocent people eventually will be lucky enough to leave the camps ( I guess ,5 years from now) where are they to go?

    After the ‘helpful, caring’ Sri Lankan government has taken all that belongs to them (their homes, their land, their businesses – colonization), what is left except the constant fear, despair and struggle for life?

    What kind of life is it?

    A life of a slave!!

  37. Tragedy is a norm in Sri Lankan Concentration camps….

    A malnourished IDP child slowly dying.. http://transcurrents.com/tc/2009/09/govt_violates

    It troubles me deeply when many Sinhalese say that Buddhism is the most peaceful religion and Sinhalese Buddhists are nice people. I don’t doubt that.

    Yet how can they ignore the plights of 300,000 of their own countrymen?

    The Buddhist teachings say there is a peaceful co-habitation and compassion for the fellow human being, but why is this not practiced with the Tamil in Sri Lanka.

    Their land is being stolen while they are forced to live in terrifying conditions in the concentration camps. Abused, beaten and killed, could you imagine living like this? When 300,000 innocent people eventually will be lucky enough to leave the camps ( I guess ,5 years from now) where are they to go?

    After the ‘helpful, caring’ Sri Lankan government has taken all that belongs to them (their homes, their land, their businesses – colonization), what is left except the constant fear, despair and struggle for life?

    What kind of life is it?

    A life of a slave!!

  38. Tragedy is a norm in Sri Lankan Concentration camps….

    A malnourished IDP child slowly dying..
    http://transcurrents.com/tc/2009/09/govt_violates_constitution_by.html

    It troubles me deeply when many Sinhalese say that Buddhism is the most peaceful religion and Sinhalese Buddhists are nice people. I don’t doubt that.

    Yet how can they ignore the plights of 300,000 of their own countrymen?

    The Buddhist teachings say there is a peaceful co-habitation and compassion for the fellow human being, but why is this not practiced with the Tamil in Sri Lanka.

    Their land is being stolen while they are forced to live in terrifying conditions in the concentration camps. Abused, beaten and killed, could you imagine living like this? When 300,000 innocent people eventually will be lucky enough to leave the camps ( I guess ,5 years from now) where are they to go?

    After the ‘helpful, caring’ Sri Lankan government has taken all that belongs to them (their homes, their land, their businesses – colonization), what is left except the constant fear, despair and struggle for life?

    What kind of life is it?

    A life of a slave!!

  39. Colombo's paranoid secrecy
    [TamilNet, Tuesday, 15 September 2009, 16:20 GMT]
    "Why must the military be in control of the camps, why not civilian agencies? Why can't visitors enter the camps? Why are journalists barred? Why are international agencies kept out? Why is it taking the courts so long to make a straightforward order to allow members of parliament to visit the camps?" and quoting Mangala Samaraweera, "I can walk into any prison at will and meet any criminal, but I am not allowed to meet these people held in detention for no reason," Prof Kumar David, in an opinion column in Sunday's Lakbima, writes, "[t]he reasons offered for this paranoid secrecy varied from the need to hide human rights violations to calculations relating to the upcoming elections. I think it will be some time before the real reason comes seeping out."
    Colombo's paranoid secrecy http://www.tamilnet.com/art.html?catid=13&art

  40. English Bishops condemn conditions in Sri Lanka camps
    [TamilNet, Wednesday, 16 September 2009, 02:31 GMT]
    Two English Catholic bishops who recently returned from Sri Lanka are calling for the end of forced confinement of nearly 300,000 Tamil survivors of the government’s final offensive against the Tamil Tigers. Bishop John Rawsthorne of Sheffield and Bishop John Arnold of Westminster have just returned from an eight day tour of the country, where they were looking at work of CAFOD with partner Caritas Sri Lanka. A report by the Independent Catholic News (ICN) quoted the Bishops noting the “serious overcrowding and inadequate food and health services” in the camps and the need to hold the Sri Lankan government to account. http://www.tamilnet.com/art.html?catid=13&art

  41. Accounts circulated of rapes and murders, of people disappearing. Some people committed suicide: a teacher was found hanging from a tree. "I was there when the UN secretary Ban Ki-moon came in … He stayed there for about 10 minutes and just went. Why didn't he go into the camp and talk to the people and spend some time asking them what their problems were? I thought he has a responsibility and people were expecting something from him. They expected much from him and he just spent 10 minutes and that's it." 'What have the people done wrong? Why are they going through this, why is the international government not speaking up for them? I'm still asking." http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2009/sep/15/sri-l

  42. There is an atmosphere of fear and lack of freedom in Sri Lanka even after the end of LTTE, the country's former President Chandrika Kumaratunga, who survived an assassination attempt by the group, said today. "Even I care for my life. It is a government of my party (Sri Lanka Freedom Party) that is in power. Still even I don't feel safe," Kumaratunga, who was on a personal visit to Kerala, told reporters here. "Overall there is lack of freedom and an atmosphere of fear is prevailing in the country. Basic rights of the people and media freedom are restricted in Sri Lanka," she said.
    Atmosphere of fear continue to stalk Lanka: Chandrika http://www.ptinews.com/news/284067_Atmosphere-of-

  43. Colombo's paranoid secrecy
    [TamilNet, Tuesday, 15 September 2009, 16:20 GMT]
    "Why must the military be in control of the camps, why not civilian agencies? Why can't visitors enter the camps? Why are journalists barred? Why are international agencies kept out? Why is it taking the courts so long to make a straightforward order to allow members of parliament to visit the camps?" and quoting Mangala Samaraweera, "I can walk into any prison at will and meet any criminal, but I am not allowed to meet these people held in detention for no reason," Prof Kumar David, in an opinion column in Sunday's Lakbima, writes, "[t]he reasons offered for this paranoid secrecy varied from the need to hide human rights violations to calculations relating to the upcoming elections. I think it will be some time before the real reason comes seeping out."
    Colombo's paranoid secrecy http://www.tamilnet.com/art.html?catid=13&art

  44. Colombo's paranoid secrecy
    [TamilNet, Tuesday, 15 September 2009, 16:20 GMT]
    "Why must the military be in control of the camps, why not civilian agencies? Why can't visitors enter the camps? Why are journalists barred? Why are international agencies kept out? Why is it taking the courts so long to make a straightforward order to allow members of parliament to visit the camps?" and quoting Mangala Samaraweera, "I can walk into any prison at will and meet any criminal, but I am not allowed to meet these people held in detention for no reason," Prof Kumar David, in an opinion column in Sunday's Lakbima, writes, "[t]he reasons offered for this paranoid secrecy varied from the need to hide human rights violations to calculations relating to the upcoming elections. I think it will be some time before the real reason comes seeping out."
    Colombo's paranoid secrecy http://www.tamilnet.com/art.html?catid=13&art

  45. English Bishops condemn conditions in Sri Lanka camps
    [TamilNet, Wednesday, 16 September 2009, 02:31 GMT]
    Two English Catholic bishops who recently returned from Sri Lanka are calling for the end of forced confinement of nearly 300,000 Tamil survivors of the government’s final offensive against the Tamil Tigers. Bishop John Rawsthorne of Sheffield and Bishop John Arnold of Westminster have just returned from an eight day tour of the country, where they were looking at work of CAFOD with partner Caritas Sri Lanka. A report by the Independent Catholic News (ICN) quoted the Bishops noting the “serious overcrowding and inadequate food and health services” in the camps and the need to hold the Sri Lankan government to account. http://www.tamilnet.com/art.html?catid=13&art

  46. English Bishops condemn conditions in Sri Lanka camps
    [TamilNet, Wednesday, 16 September 2009, 02:31 GMT]
    Two English Catholic bishops who recently returned from Sri Lanka are calling for the end of forced confinement of nearly 300,000 Tamil survivors of the government’s final offensive against the Tamil Tigers. Bishop John Rawsthorne of Sheffield and Bishop John Arnold of Westminster have just returned from an eight day tour of the country, where they were looking at work of CAFOD with partner Caritas Sri Lanka. A report by the Independent Catholic News (ICN) quoted the Bishops noting the “serious overcrowding and inadequate food and health services” in the camps and the need to hold the Sri Lankan government to account. http://www.tamilnet.com/art.html?catid=13&art

  47. Accounts circulated of rapes and murders, of people disappearing. Some people committed suicide: a teacher was found hanging from a tree. "I was there when the UN secretary Ban Ki-moon came in … He stayed there for about 10 minutes and just went. Why didn't he go into the camp and talk to the people and spend some time asking them what their problems were? I thought he has a responsibility and people were expecting something from him. They expected much from him and he just spent 10 minutes and that's it." 'What have the people done wrong? Why are they going through this, why is the international government not speaking up for them? I'm still asking." http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2009/sep/15/sri-l

  48. Accounts circulated of rapes and murders, of people disappearing. Some people committed suicide: a teacher was found hanging from a tree. "I was there when the UN secretary Ban Ki-moon came in … He stayed there for about 10 minutes and just went. Why didn't he go into the camp and talk to the people and spend some time asking them what their problems were? I thought he has a responsibility and people were expecting something from him. They expected much from him and he just spent 10 minutes and that's it." 'What have the people done wrong? Why are they going through this, why is the international government not speaking up for them? I'm still asking." http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2009/sep/15/sri-l

  49. There is an atmosphere of fear and lack of freedom in Sri Lanka even after the end of LTTE, the country's former President Chandrika Kumaratunga, who survived an assassination attempt by the group, said today. "Even I care for my life. It is a government of my party (Sri Lanka Freedom Party) that is in power. Still even I don't feel safe," Kumaratunga, who was on a personal visit to Kerala, told reporters here. "Overall there is lack of freedom and an atmosphere of fear is prevailing in the country. Basic rights of the people and media freedom are restricted in Sri Lanka," she said.
    Atmosphere of fear continue to stalk Lanka: Chandrika http://www.ptinews.com/news/284067_Atmosphere-of-

  50. There is an atmosphere of fear and lack of freedom in Sri Lanka even after the end of LTTE, the country's former President Chandrika Kumaratunga, who survived an assassination attempt by the group, said today. "Even I care for my life. It is a government of my party (Sri Lanka Freedom Party) that is in power. Still even I don't feel safe," Kumaratunga, who was on a personal visit to Kerala, told reporters here. "Overall there is lack of freedom and an atmosphere of fear is prevailing in the country. Basic rights of the people and media freedom are restricted in Sri Lanka," she said.
    Atmosphere of fear continue to stalk Lanka: Chandrika http://www.ptinews.com/news/284067_Atmosphere-of-

  51. Colombo’s paranoid secrecy
    [TamilNet, Tuesday, 15 September 2009, 16:20 GMT]
    “Why must the military be in control of the camps, why not civilian agencies? Why can’t visitors enter the camps? Why are journalists barred? Why are international agencies kept out? Why is it taking the courts so long to make a straightforward order to allow members of parliament to visit the camps?” and quoting Mangala Samaraweera, “I can walk into any prison at will and meet any criminal, but I am not allowed to meet these people held in detention for no reason,” Prof Kumar David, in an opinion column in Sunday’s Lakbima, writes, “[t]he reasons offered for this paranoid secrecy varied from the need to hide human rights violations to calculations relating to the upcoming elections. I think it will be some time before the real reason comes seeping out.”
    Colombo’s paranoid secrecy
    http://www.tamilnet.com/art.html?catid=13&artid=30239

  52. English Bishops condemn conditions in Sri Lanka camps
    [TamilNet, Wednesday, 16 September 2009, 02:31 GMT]
    Two English Catholic bishops who recently returned from Sri Lanka are calling for the end of forced confinement of nearly 300,000 Tamil survivors of the government’s final offensive against the Tamil Tigers. Bishop John Rawsthorne of Sheffield and Bishop John Arnold of Westminster have just returned from an eight day tour of the country, where they were looking at work of CAFOD with partner Caritas Sri Lanka. A report by the Independent Catholic News (ICN) quoted the Bishops noting the “serious overcrowding and inadequate food and health services” in the camps and the need to hold the Sri Lankan government to account.
    http://www.tamilnet.com/art.html?catid=13&artid=30240

  53. Accounts circulated of rapes and murders, of people disappearing. Some people committed suicide: a teacher was found hanging from a tree. “I was there when the UN secretary Ban Ki-moon came in … He stayed there for about 10 minutes and just went. Why didn’t he go into the camp and talk to the people and spend some time asking them what their problems were? I thought he has a responsibility and people were expecting something from him. They expected much from him and he just spent 10 minutes and that’s it.” ‘What have the people done wrong? Why are they going through this, why is the international government not speaking up for them? I’m still asking.”
    http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2009/sep/15/sri-lanka-war-on-tamil-tigers

  54. There is an atmosphere of fear and lack of freedom in Sri Lanka even after the end of LTTE, the country’s former President Chandrika Kumaratunga, who survived an assassination attempt by the group, said today. “Even I care for my life. It is a government of my party (Sri Lanka Freedom Party) that is in power. Still even I don’t feel safe,” Kumaratunga, who was on a personal visit to Kerala, told reporters here. “Overall there is lack of freedom and an atmosphere of fear is prevailing in the country. Basic rights of the people and media freedom are restricted in Sri Lanka,” she said.
    Atmosphere of fear continue to stalk Lanka: Chandrika
    http://www.ptinews.com/news/284067_Atmosphere-of-fear-continue-to-stalk-Lanka–Chandrika

  55. The Monsoon is expected soon…
    The flimsy tents in concentration camps dont stand a chance…
    http://www.tamileelamnews.com/news/publish/tns_11

    We should do something to help those who cannot help themselves. Being proactive about this problem is the only way we will ever overcome it.

    We should choose to boycott Sri Lankan products, tourism, tea, cricket. We must also campaign against favorable GPS+. With the GPS plus these trade benefits, the Sri Lankan Army and GOSL are continuing to mistreat the Tamil, keeping them malnourished in concentration camps. Rather than using the in donations for IDPs- in a positive and productive way, Sri Lankan Government are choosing to line their own pockets with the internationally acquired money, splurging on multi million pound houses, cars and other luxuries, rather than food, water and sanitation for the incarcerated.

    The EU, the worldwide communities and UN as well as other independent organizations have contributed millions of pounds to this problem. They all are paying for the Racists Sri Lankan regime to imprison 300,000 innocent civilians!!!

    This should stop immediately!!!

  56. The Monsoon is expected soon…
    The flimsy tents in concentration camps dont stand a chance…
    http://www.tamileelamnews.com/news/publish/tns_11

    We should do something to help those who cannot help themselves. Being proactive about this problem is the only way we will ever overcome it.

    We should choose to boycott Sri Lankan products, tourism, tea, cricket. We must also campaign against favorable GPS+. With the GPS plus these trade benefits, the Sri Lankan Army and GOSL are continuing to mistreat the Tamil, keeping them malnourished in concentration camps. Rather than using the in donations for IDPs- in a positive and productive way, Sri Lankan Government are choosing to line their own pockets with the internationally acquired money, splurging on multi million pound houses, cars and other luxuries, rather than food, water and sanitation for the incarcerated.

    The EU, the worldwide communities and UN as well as other independent organizations have contributed millions of pounds to this problem. They all are paying for the Racists Sri Lankan regime to imprison 300,000 innocent civilians!!!

    This should stop immediately!!!

  57. The Monsoon is expected soon…
    The flimsy tents in concentration camps dont stand a chance…
    http://www.tamileelamnews.com/news/publish/tns_11

    We should do something to help those who cannot help themselves. Being proactive about this problem is the only way we will ever overcome it.

    We should choose to boycott Sri Lankan products, tourism, tea, cricket. We must also campaign against favorable GPS+. With the GPS plus these trade benefits, the Sri Lankan Army and GOSL are continuing to mistreat the Tamil, keeping them malnourished in concentration camps. Rather than using the in donations for IDPs- in a positive and productive way, Sri Lankan Government are choosing to line their own pockets with the internationally acquired money, splurging on multi million pound houses, cars and other luxuries, rather than food, water and sanitation for the incarcerated.

    The EU, the worldwide communities and UN as well as other independent organizations have contributed millions of pounds to this problem. They all are paying for the Racists Sri Lankan regime to imprison 300,000 innocent civilians!!!

    This should stop immediately!!!

  58. Flimsy tents filled with the torrential rain downpour in Sri Lanka Concentration camps http://warwithoutwitness.com/index.php?option=com

    The monsoon season is approaching, which will inevitably contribute even more devastating effect on the Tamil people’s way of life.

    Already they are living in squalor, mud pits, dirty drinking water, unsanitary lavatories and sewerage.

    With the addition of the torrential rain, there will be no clear definition between the ‘clean ‘and dirty water. In fact, it has been reported that many thousands have had to stand in their own waste for days at a time as their flimsy tents filled with this downpour.

    We need to double our efforts to free the Tamil from the concentration camps. We can start by persuading the donor organizations, including the UN (who have paid 188 million pounds not to continue to shower the Sri Lankan government with money or else they will keep the 300,000 innocent civilians imprisoned indefinitely.

    We need to boycott Sri Lankan products, tea, and tourism and write many emails to all of the relevant organizations campaigning against this action, and it should be done soon

  59. The Monsoon is expected soon…
    The flimsy tents in concentration camps dont stand a chance…
    http://www.tamileelamnews.com/news/publish/tns_11803.shtml

    We should do something to help those who cannot help themselves. Being proactive about this problem is the only way we will ever overcome it.

    We should choose to boycott Sri Lankan products, tourism, tea, cricket. We must also campaign against favorable GPS+. With the GPS plus these trade benefits, the Sri Lankan Army and GOSL are continuing to mistreat the Tamil, keeping them malnourished in concentration camps. Rather than using the in donations for IDPs- in a positive and productive way, Sri Lankan Government are choosing to line their own pockets with the internationally acquired money, splurging on multi million pound houses, cars and other luxuries, rather than food, water and sanitation for the incarcerated.

    The EU, the worldwide communities and UN as well as other independent organizations have contributed millions of pounds to this problem. They all are paying for the Racists Sri Lankan regime to imprison 300,000 innocent civilians!!!

    This should stop immediately!!!

  60. Flimsy tents filled with the torrential rain downpour in Sri Lanka Concentration camps http://warwithoutwitness.com/index.php?option=com

    The monsoon season is approaching, which will inevitably contribute even more devastating effect on the Tamil people’s way of life.

    Already they are living in squalor, mud pits, dirty drinking water, unsanitary lavatories and sewerage.

    With the addition of the torrential rain, there will be no clear definition between the ‘clean ‘and dirty water. In fact, it has been reported that many thousands have had to stand in their own waste for days at a time as their flimsy tents filled with this downpour.

    We need to double our efforts to free the Tamil from the concentration camps. We can start by persuading the donor organizations, including the UN (who have paid 188 million pounds not to continue to shower the Sri Lankan government with money or else they will keep the 300,000 innocent civilians imprisoned indefinitely.

    We need to boycott Sri Lankan products, tea, and tourism and write many emails to all of the relevant organizations campaigning against this action, and it should be done soon

  61. Flimsy tents filled with the torrential rain downpour in Sri Lanka Concentration camps http://warwithoutwitness.com/index.php?option=com

    The monsoon season is approaching, which will inevitably contribute even more devastating effect on the Tamil people’s way of life.

    Already they are living in squalor, mud pits, dirty drinking water, unsanitary lavatories and sewerage.

    With the addition of the torrential rain, there will be no clear definition between the ‘clean ‘and dirty water. In fact, it has been reported that many thousands have had to stand in their own waste for days at a time as their flimsy tents filled with this downpour.

    We need to double our efforts to free the Tamil from the concentration camps. We can start by persuading the donor organizations, including the UN (who have paid 188 million pounds not to continue to shower the Sri Lankan government with money or else they will keep the 300,000 innocent civilians imprisoned indefinitely.

    We need to boycott Sri Lankan products, tea, and tourism and write many emails to all of the relevant organizations campaigning against this action, and it should be done soon

  62. Flimsy tents filled with the torrential rain downpour in Sri Lanka Concentration camps
    http://warwithoutwitness.com/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=254:flooding-of-sri-lankan-idp-camps-detaining-300000-tamils-possible-outbreak-of-epidemics&catid=39:by-war-without-witness&Itemid=62

    The monsoon season is approaching, which will inevitably contribute even more devastating effect on the Tamil people’s way of life.

    Already they are living in squalor, mud pits, dirty drinking water, unsanitary lavatories and sewerage.

    With the addition of the torrential rain, there will be no clear definition between the ‘clean ‘and dirty water. In fact, it has been reported that many thousands have had to stand in their own waste for days at a time as their flimsy tents filled with this downpour.

    We need to double our efforts to free the Tamil from the concentration camps. We can start by persuading the donor organizations, including the UN (who have paid 188 million pounds not to continue to shower the Sri Lankan government with money or else they will keep the 300,000 innocent civilians imprisoned indefinitely.

    We need to boycott Sri Lankan products, tea, and tourism and write many emails to all of the relevant organizations campaigning against this action, and it should be done soon

  63. Vanni IDP detainees sent to Ampaa’rai detained again
    [TamilNet, Wednesday, 16 September 2009, 14:01 GMT]
    Sri Lanka Army (SLA), instructed by higher authorities, is constructing new detention centres to hold the Vanni Internally Displaced Persons (IDPs) sent to Ampaa’rai district recently from Vavuniyaa SLA detention camps while the IDPs are being detained in the SLA camp located on Poththuvil road in Akkaraippattu, sources in Ampaa’rai said. The efforts made by Aalayadiveampu Pratheasa Chapai Secretary to handover the said IDPs to their relatives failed as the local SLA officer refused their release citing orders from above, the sources added.
    SLA officials did not permit the relatives of the IDPs who wanted to meet them and even the Village Officers were not allowed to see them.

    The IDPs, specially the women, are facing various difficulties and harassment being held in the SLA camp.

    The government, in order to escape international condemnation of the conditions of the IDPs detained indefinitely behind barbed wires and subjected to untold difficulties, is trying to show off that it is releasing some of the IDPs from the detention camps in Vavuniyaa, civil society sources in Ampaa’rai pointed out.

    The truth is that the government is determined in detaining the IDPs indefinitely under the control of SLA and it is engaged in constructing permanent detention centres in the North and East, they added.

  64. The Internment – A Collective Punishment?
    The widespread indifference to the continuing misery of 280,000 interned IDPs, most of them already unlawfully detained for about four months without any charges, is a sad reflection on the moral values of our society. The reported release of a few thousand is most welcome, but what of the remaining 270,000? Attempts made to justify the internment on the grounds that some of the areas from which they were displaced may yet be land-mined is patently false, in that these internees could then be permitted to move temporarily to other areas to live with relatives or friends, or in accommodation provided by organisations that have already indicated a willingness to help. As in the case of other IDPs, the state could establish a few welfare (not detention) camps to accommodate the few who cannot find accommodation on their own. Any decision to move out should be taken by the IDPs solely on their own responsibility. Concern for the welfare of IDPs cannot possibly be a reason to detain anyone or to restrict their movements or to prevent access to them. If, on the other hand, the IDPs are being held on suspicion of being responsible for criminal activity, and if evidence is available, they should be duly arrested and charged. If, four months after the commencement of their detention, there is no evidence found to charge them, they should be freed forthwith. http://www.groundviews.org/2009/09/17/the-internm

  65. The Internment – A Collective Punishment?
    The widespread indifference to the continuing misery of 280,000 interned IDPs, most of them already unlawfully detained for about four months without any charges, is a sad reflection on the moral values of our society. The reported release of a few thousand is most welcome, but what of the remaining 270,000? Attempts made to justify the internment on the grounds that some of the areas from which they were displaced may yet be land-mined is patently false, in that these internees could then be permitted to move temporarily to other areas to live with relatives or friends, or in accommodation provided by organisations that have already indicated a willingness to help. As in the case of other IDPs, the state could establish a few welfare (not detention) camps to accommodate the few who cannot find accommodation on their own. Any decision to move out should be taken by the IDPs solely on their own responsibility. Concern for the welfare of IDPs cannot possibly be a reason to detain anyone or to restrict their movements or to prevent access to them. If, on the other hand, the IDPs are being held on suspicion of being responsible for criminal activity, and if evidence is available, they should be duly arrested and charged. If, four months after the commencement of their detention, there is no evidence found to charge them, they should be freed forthwith. http://www.groundviews.org/2009/09/17/the-internm

  66. The Internment – A Collective Punishment?
    The widespread indifference to the continuing misery of 280,000 interned IDPs, most of them already unlawfully detained for about four months without any charges, is a sad reflection on the moral values of our society. The reported release of a few thousand is most welcome, but what of the remaining 270,000? Attempts made to justify the internment on the grounds that some of the areas from which they were displaced may yet be land-mined is patently false, in that these internees could then be permitted to move temporarily to other areas to live with relatives or friends, or in accommodation provided by organisations that have already indicated a willingness to help. As in the case of other IDPs, the state could establish a few welfare (not detention) camps to accommodate the few who cannot find accommodation on their own. Any decision to move out should be taken by the IDPs solely on their own responsibility. Concern for the welfare of IDPs cannot possibly be a reason to detain anyone or to restrict their movements or to prevent access to them. If, on the other hand, the IDPs are being held on suspicion of being responsible for criminal activity, and if evidence is available, they should be duly arrested and charged. If, four months after the commencement of their detention, there is no evidence found to charge them, they should be freed forthwith. http://www.groundviews.org/2009/09/17/the-internm

  67. Vanni IDP detainees sent to Ampaa’rai detained again
    [TamilNet, Wednesday, 16 September 2009, 14:01 GMT]
    Sri Lanka Army (SLA), instructed by higher authorities, is constructing new detention centres to hold the Vanni Internally Displaced Persons (IDPs) sent to Ampaa’rai district recently from Vavuniyaa SLA detention camps while the IDPs are being detained in the SLA camp located on Poththuvil road in Akkaraippattu, sources in Ampaa’rai said. The efforts made by Aalayadiveampu Pratheasa Chapai Secretary to handover the said IDPs to their relatives failed as the local SLA officer refused their release citing orders from above, the sources added.
    SLA officials did not permit the relatives of the IDPs who wanted to meet them and even the Village Officers were not allowed to see them.

    The IDPs, specially the women, are facing various difficulties and harassment being held in the SLA camp.

    The government, in order to escape international condemnation of the conditions of the IDPs detained indefinitely behind barbed wires and subjected to untold difficulties, is trying to show off that it is releasing some of the IDPs from the detention camps in Vavuniyaa, civil society sources in Ampaa’rai pointed out.

    The truth is that the government is determined in detaining the IDPs indefinitely under the control of SLA and it is engaged in constructing permanent detention centres in the North and East, they added.

  68. The Internment – A Collective Punishment?
    The widespread indifference to the continuing misery of 280,000 interned IDPs, most of them already unlawfully detained for about four months without any charges, is a sad reflection on the moral values of our society. The reported release of a few thousand is most welcome, but what of the remaining 270,000? Attempts made to justify the internment on the grounds that some of the areas from which they were displaced may yet be land-mined is patently false, in that these internees could then be permitted to move temporarily to other areas to live with relatives or friends, or in accommodation provided by organisations that have already indicated a willingness to help. As in the case of other IDPs, the state could establish a few welfare (not detention) camps to accommodate the few who cannot find accommodation on their own. Any decision to move out should be taken by the IDPs solely on their own responsibility. Concern for the welfare of IDPs cannot possibly be a reason to detain anyone or to restrict their movements or to prevent access to them. If, on the other hand, the IDPs are being held on suspicion of being responsible for criminal activity, and if evidence is available, they should be duly arrested and charged. If, four months after the commencement of their detention, there is no evidence found to charge them, they should be freed forthwith.
    http://www.groundviews.org/2009/09/17/the-internment-%E2%80%93-a-collective-punishment/

  69. Hundreds of relatives of Sri Lankan Tamil civilians who were arrested or disappeared after being abducted gathered in the capital and demanded the Sri Lankan government provide information about their loved ones.
    ***************************************

    6,000 IDPs promised release last week , but only 580 arrived in the area and all of them were immediately sent to another camp, where they continue to be detained.

    There is no resettlement. They are being sent from one prison to another.

    "There is no way it can happen. We select the people carefully for
    resettlement, and these people were sent nowhere else," Media Minister Lakshman Yapa Abeywardena said.

    But a government official in Ampara confirmed about 130 people who had been released from a camp in the north were being held until they received security clearances and their homes were repaired. The official spoke on condition of anonymity because he was not authorized to speak to journalists.

    It’s a bit confusing …
    basically IDPs pushed from one camp to another..
    Strange ???? The IDPs were check and recheck for nearly 5 months in concentration camps…
    now they are freed and imprisoned again until yet another security clearance ????
    or better yet … to be imprisoned until their homes repaired ????
    Last week , it was the mines

  70. Are you unaware of the fact the Americans have thus far refuse to apologize for the massacre of over 200,000 civilians by atomic bombing of Hiroshima and Nagasaki? Or US invade Iraq ?

    Ahhhhh … the Hiroshima, the Iraq or many, many others excuses !!!

    Why is it that whenever the topic of the 300, 000 people imprisoned within the Sri Lankan concentration camps is brought to attention, narrow minded people choose to dig up the past.

    Just because the Americans may have killed thousands of people with the Hiroshima bombings, does not justify the actions of the Sri Lankan Army( SLA.).

    Although many terrible things have happened in the past, there is no justification for the treatment of the Tamil people.

    The Sri Lankan government says the Tamil Tigers have been wiped out, the war is over, and Sri Lanka is free from conflict.

    But if this is true, why there are so many innocents still imprisoned, raped, murdered.

    Is the war against the Tamil Tigers, or against the Tamil people?

    I hope you remember when the Sri Lankan military said they conducted the biggest hostage rescue operation.

    Tell me why these people are still living like hostages inside their concentration camps.

    What are they being ‘protected from if the government has already defeated the Tamil rebels?

    The Sri Lankan government said they had liberated the Tamil people as well as the whole N-E side of the land from the Tamil Tigers

    Are the people inside the walls of the concentration camp liberated?

    This is a peculiar concept of liberation.

    In my opinion the Sri Lankan ‘liberators are in fact occupiers.
    Colonizing all of the Tamil Homelands, ethnically cleansing and enslaving the civilians which is below the law, nationally and internationally.

    Sri Lanka depends on outside, international help.

    If they continue to need this help, the organizations supporting them have an upper hand in a way.

    Letting them know their help will discontinue if the state of affairs does not improve may just be the way to end the mistreatment of the minority.

  71. Hundreds of relatives of Sri Lankan Tamil civilians who were arrested or disappeared after being abducted gathered in the capital and demanded the Sri Lankan government provide information about their loved ones.
    ***************************************

    6,000 IDPs promised release last week , but only 580 arrived in the area and all of them were immediately sent to another camp, where they continue to be detained.

    There is no resettlement. They are being sent from one prison to another.

    “There is no way it can happen. We select the people carefully for
    resettlement, and these people were sent nowhere else,” Media Minister Lakshman Yapa Abeywardena said.

    But a government official in Ampara confirmed about 130 people who had been released from a camp in the north were being held until they received security clearances and their homes were repaired. The official spoke on condition of anonymity because he was not authorized to speak to journalists.

    It’s a bit confusing …
    basically IDPs pushed from one camp to another..
    Strange ???? The IDPs were check and recheck for nearly 5 months in concentration camps…
    now they are freed and imprisoned again until yet another security clearance ????
    or better yet … to be imprisoned until their homes repaired ????
    Last week , it was the mines

  72. Are you unaware of the fact the Americans have thus far refuse to apologize for the massacre of over 200,000 civilians by atomic bombing of Hiroshima and Nagasaki? Or US invade Iraq ?

    Ahhhhh … the Hiroshima, the Iraq or many, many others excuses !!!

    Why is it that whenever the topic of the 300, 000 people imprisoned within the Sri Lankan concentration camps is brought to attention, narrow minded people choose to dig up the past.

    Just because the Americans may have killed thousands of people with the Hiroshima bombings, does not justify the actions of the Sri Lankan Army( SLA.).

    Although many terrible things have happened in the past, there is no justification for the treatment of the Tamil people.

    The Sri Lankan government says the Tamil Tigers have been wiped out, the war is over, and Sri Lanka is free from conflict.

    But if this is true, why there are so many innocents still imprisoned, raped, murdered.

    Is the war against the Tamil Tigers, or against the Tamil people?

    I hope you remember when the Sri Lankan military said they conducted the biggest hostage rescue operation.

    Tell me why these people are still living like hostages inside their concentration camps.

    What are they being ‘protected from if the government has already defeated the Tamil rebels?

    The Sri Lankan government said they had liberated the Tamil people as well as the whole N-E side of the land from the Tamil Tigers

    Are the people inside the walls of the concentration camp liberated?

    This is a peculiar concept of liberation.

    In my opinion the Sri Lankan ‘liberators are in fact occupiers.
    Colonizing all of the Tamil Homelands, ethnically cleansing and enslaving the civilians which is below the law, nationally and internationally.

    Sri Lanka depends on outside, international help.

    If they continue to need this help, the organizations supporting them have an upper hand in a way.

    Letting them know their help will discontinue if the state of affairs does not improve may just be the way to end the mistreatment of the minority.

  73. 1600 political prisoners are languishing in Sri Lanka for many years without trial

    1600 political prisoners arrested on suspicion under Emergency Regulations (ER) and Prevention of Terrorism Act (PTA), languishing in various prisons in Sri Lanka for many years without being produced in the courts.

    They launched a hunger strike as their requests placed in previous hunger strikes had not been taken into consideration despite promises by legal authorities that their cases will be taken for trial in two months time, sources in Colombo said.

    The protesting prisoners further said that they believe that all are equal before the law and that they request the Sri Lanka President to at least allow them on bail as persons under normal court procedure

    The political prisoners who had earlier staged hunger strikes 2 to 3 times in the period between 27th to 31st July 2009 had given up the strike on assurances given by legal authorities that their cases will be taken to trial within two months but they had not kept their word and this has forced them to go on hunger strike, they said.

    They further pointed out that it is an outright violation of human rights to keep them in the prison, who had been arrested merely on suspicion under ER and PTA, without legal action against them for many years.

  74. 1600 political prisoners are languishing in Sri Lanka for many years without trial

    1600 political prisoners arrested on suspicion under Emergency Regulations (ER) and Prevention of Terrorism Act (PTA), languishing in various prisons in Sri Lanka for many years without being produced in the courts.

    They launched a hunger strike as their requests placed in previous hunger strikes had not been taken into consideration despite promises by legal authorities that their cases will be taken for trial in two months time, sources in Colombo said.

    The protesting prisoners further said that they believe that all are equal before the law and that they request the Sri Lanka President to at least allow them on bail as persons under normal court procedure

    The political prisoners who had earlier staged hunger strikes 2 to 3 times in the period between 27th to 31st July 2009 had given up the strike on assurances given by legal authorities that their cases will be taken to trial within two months but they had not kept their word and this has forced them to go on hunger strike, they said.

    They further pointed out that it is an outright violation of human rights to keep them in the prison, who had been arrested merely on suspicion under ER and PTA, without legal action against them for many years.

  75. Prison guards assault hunger striking detainees in Colombo
    [TamilNet, Friday, 18 September 2009, 10:00 GMT]
    At least 36 Tamil political prisoners who were part of a fast unto death hunger strike at the central jail in Welikada Colombo are alleged to have been severely assaulted by guards and jailers on early Friday, informed sources told TamilNet. 32 of the political prisoners who were being held in Cell Block G were transferred to the Block M, and some of them had sustained injuries in the episode, according to the sources. The detainees have been forced to stop their hunger strike. http://www.tamilnet.com/art.html?catid=13&art

  76. Prison guards assault hunger striking detainees in Colombo
    [TamilNet, Friday, 18 September 2009, 10:00 GMT]
    At least 36 Tamil political prisoners who were part of a fast unto death hunger strike at the central jail in Welikada Colombo are alleged to have been severely assaulted by guards and jailers on early Friday, informed sources told TamilNet. 32 of the political prisoners who were being held in Cell Block G were transferred to the Block M, and some of them had sustained injuries in the episode, according to the sources. The detainees have been forced to stop their hunger strike. http://www.tamilnet.com/art.html?catid=13&art

  77. Prison guards assault hunger striking detainees in Colombo
    [TamilNet, Friday, 18 September 2009, 10:00 GMT]
    At least 36 Tamil political prisoners who were part of a fast unto death hunger strike at the central jail in Welikada Colombo are alleged to have been severely assaulted by guards and jailers on early Friday, informed sources told TamilNet. 32 of the political prisoners who were being held in Cell Block G were transferred to the Block M, and some of them had sustained injuries in the episode, according to the sources. The detainees have been forced to stop their hunger strike. http://www.tamilnet.com/art.html?catid=13&art

  78. Prison guards assault hunger striking detainees in Colombo
    [TamilNet, Friday, 18 September 2009, 10:00 GMT]
    At least 36 Tamil political prisoners who were part of a fast unto death hunger strike at the central jail in Welikada Colombo are alleged to have been severely assaulted by guards and jailers on early Friday, informed sources told TamilNet. 32 of the political prisoners who were being held in Cell Block G were transferred to the Block M, and some of them had sustained injuries in the episode, according to the sources. The detainees have been forced to stop their hunger strike.
    http://www.tamilnet.com/art.html?catid=13&artid=30265

  79. Horrific pictures of torture, rape and murder of female combatants who surrendered to brutal Sri Lankan Army http://www.warwithoutwitness.com/index.php?option

    SriLankan Army Sexually Abusing Tamil Female Combatants during bloody blood bath on vanni beaches on mid may 2009. These photos have been shot by Sri Lankan Army soldiers by Mobile Cameras ( K310i , W2001 and 5300 ) and released in a local sri lankan website as part of Sri Lankan Army Victory Campaign. These collection of photographs & Videos covers different incidents and different victims. The common thread among them is the sexual violence that had been practiced as a war strategy by Sri Lankan Government. It is clear evidence that sexual violence was a tool in the genocidal war and constitutes a war crime.

  80. Horrific pictures of torture, rape and murder of female combatants who surrendered to brutal Sri Lankan Army http://www.warwithoutwitness.com/index.php?option

    SriLankan Army Sexually Abusing Tamil Female Combatants during bloody blood bath on vanni beaches on mid may 2009. These photos have been shot by Sri Lankan Army soldiers by Mobile Cameras ( K310i , W2001 and 5300 ) and released in a local sri lankan website as part of Sri Lankan Army Victory Campaign. These collection of photographs & Videos covers different incidents and different victims. The common thread among them is the sexual violence that had been practiced as a war strategy by Sri Lankan Government. It is clear evidence that sexual violence was a tool in the genocidal war and constitutes a war crime.

  81. Horrific pictures of torture, rape and murder of female combatants who surrendered to brutal Sri Lankan Army http://www.warwithoutwitness.com/index.php?option

    SriLankan Army Sexually Abusing Tamil Female Combatants during bloody blood bath on vanni beaches on mid may 2009. These photos have been shot by Sri Lankan Army soldiers by Mobile Cameras ( K310i , W2001 and 5300 ) and released in a local sri lankan website as part of Sri Lankan Army Victory Campaign. These collection of photographs & Videos covers different incidents and different victims. The common thread among them is the sexual violence that had been practiced as a war strategy by Sri Lankan Government. It is clear evidence that sexual violence was a tool in the genocidal war and constitutes a war crime.

  82. Horrific pictures of torture, rape and murder of female combatants who surrendered to brutal Sri Lankan Army
    http://www.warwithoutwitness.com/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=226:sri-lankan-army-war-crime-evidence-photo-srilankan-army-sexually-abusing-tamil-female-combatants-during-bloody-blood-bath-on-vanni-beaches&catid=40:photo

    SriLankan Army Sexually Abusing Tamil Female Combatants during bloody blood bath on vanni beaches on mid may 2009. These photos have been shot by Sri Lankan Army soldiers by Mobile Cameras ( K310i , W2001 and 5300 ) and released in a local sri lankan website as part of Sri Lankan Army Victory Campaign. These collection of photographs & Videos covers different incidents and different victims. The common thread among them is the sexual violence that had been practiced as a war strategy by Sri Lankan Government. It is clear evidence that sexual violence was a tool in the genocidal war and constitutes a war crime.

  83. Sri Lanka: World Leaders Should Demand End to Detention Camps
    Delay in Returns No Excuse for Rights Violations http://www.hrw.org/en/news/2009/09/22/sri-lanka-w

    The civilians locked up in these detention camps have a right to liberty now, not when the government gets around to it. World leaders should support calls from the UN to restore full freedom of movement to these people, who already have suffered mightily from war and displacement.
    Brad Adams, Asia director

    New York) – World leaders in New York for the United Nations General Assembly and the G-20 economic summit in Pittsburgh should call on the Sri Lankan government to immediately release more than 260,000 displaced persons illegally confined in detention camps, Human Rights Watch said today.

    Human Rights Watch said it was concerned about a lack of protection mechanisms in the camps and the secret, incommunicado detention – and possible enforced disappearance – of suspected combatants. Poor conditions,

    overcrowding, and inadequate medical care increases the risk of serious health problems during the coming monsoon season. Human Rights Watch also said that the authorities are not being open and honest with camp residents about
    when they may go home, keeping them in a state of uncertainty and anxiety.

    "Demining is crucial, but the presence of landmines is not a valid basis for keeping people locked up," said Adams. "Many of the displaced can stay with relatives and host families far from any mined areas."

    "Sadly, the Sri Lankan government has a track record of lying, deceiving and breaking promises to civilians displaced by the conflict," said Adams. "The UN, donors, and bilateral partners should demand immediate, concrete progress and not let themselves be fooled again by empty government promises."

  84. Sri Lanka: World Leaders Should Demand End to Detention Camps
    Delay in Returns No Excuse for Rights Violations http://www.hrw.org/en/news/2009/09/22/sri-lanka-w

    The civilians locked up in these detention camps have a right to liberty now, not when the government gets around to it. World leaders should support calls from the UN to restore full freedom of movement to these people, who already have suffered mightily from war and displacement.
    Brad Adams, Asia director

    New York) – World leaders in New York for the United Nations General Assembly and the G-20 economic summit in Pittsburgh should call on the Sri Lankan government to immediately release more than 260,000 displaced persons illegally confined in detention camps, Human Rights Watch said today.

    Human Rights Watch said it was concerned about a lack of protection mechanisms in the camps and the secret, incommunicado detention – and possible enforced disappearance – of suspected combatants. Poor conditions,

    overcrowding, and inadequate medical care increases the risk of serious health problems during the coming monsoon season. Human Rights Watch also said that the authorities are not being open and honest with camp residents about
    when they may go home, keeping them in a state of uncertainty and anxiety.

    "Demining is crucial, but the presence of landmines is not a valid basis for keeping people locked up," said Adams. "Many of the displaced can stay with relatives and host families far from any mined areas."

    "Sadly, the Sri Lankan government has a track record of lying, deceiving and breaking promises to civilians displaced by the conflict," said Adams. "The UN, donors, and bilateral partners should demand immediate, concrete progress and not let themselves be fooled again by empty government promises."

  85. Sri Lanka: World Leaders Should Demand End to Detention Camps
    Delay in Returns No Excuse for Rights Violations http://www.hrw.org/en/news/2009/09/22/sri-lanka-w

    The civilians locked up in these detention camps have a right to liberty now, not when the government gets around to it. World leaders should support calls from the UN to restore full freedom of movement to these people, who already have suffered mightily from war and displacement.
    Brad Adams, Asia director

    New York) – World leaders in New York for the United Nations General Assembly and the G-20 economic summit in Pittsburgh should call on the Sri Lankan government to immediately release more than 260,000 displaced persons illegally confined in detention camps, Human Rights Watch said today.

    Human Rights Watch said it was concerned about a lack of protection mechanisms in the camps and the secret, incommunicado detention – and possible enforced disappearance – of suspected combatants. Poor conditions,

    overcrowding, and inadequate medical care increases the risk of serious health problems during the coming monsoon season. Human Rights Watch also said that the authorities are not being open and honest with camp residents about
    when they may go home, keeping them in a state of uncertainty and anxiety.

    "Demining is crucial, but the presence of landmines is not a valid basis for keeping people locked up," said Adams. "Many of the displaced can stay with relatives and host families far from any mined areas."

    "Sadly, the Sri Lankan government has a track record of lying, deceiving and breaking promises to civilians displaced by the conflict," said Adams. "The UN, donors, and bilateral partners should demand immediate, concrete progress and not let themselves be fooled again by empty government promises."

  86. Sri Lanka: World Leaders Should Demand End to Detention Camps
    Delay in Returns No Excuse for Rights Violations
    http://www.hrw.org/en/news/2009/09/22/sri-lanka-world-leaders-should-demand-end-detention-camps

    The civilians locked up in these detention camps have a right to liberty now, not when the government gets around to it. World leaders should support calls from the UN to restore full freedom of movement to these people, who already have suffered mightily from war and displacement.
    Brad Adams, Asia director

    New York) – World leaders in New York for the United Nations General Assembly and the G-20 economic summit in Pittsburgh should call on the Sri Lankan government to immediately release more than 260,000 displaced persons illegally confined in detention camps, Human Rights Watch said today.

    Human Rights Watch said it was concerned about a lack of protection mechanisms in the camps and the secret, incommunicado detention – and possible enforced disappearance – of suspected combatants. Poor conditions,

    overcrowding, and inadequate medical care increases the risk of serious health problems during the coming monsoon season. Human Rights Watch also said that the authorities are not being open and honest with camp residents about
    when they may go home, keeping them in a state of uncertainty and anxiety.

    “Demining is crucial, but the presence of landmines is not a valid basis for keeping people locked up,” said Adams. “Many of the displaced can stay with relatives and host families far from any mined areas.”

    “Sadly, the Sri Lankan government has a track record of lying, deceiving and breaking promises to civilians displaced by the conflict,” said Adams. “The UN, donors, and bilateral partners should demand immediate, concrete progress and not let themselves be fooled again by empty government promises.”

  87. Mango, you are as peace-loving Mahawamsa Buddhist, who supports Unitary Sri Lanka where all ethnicities can live in peace.

    But what about the 300,000 people who are still suffering within the confines of the concentration camps? I don’t think they would agree on this kind of peaceful, unified state or appreciate your twisted understanding of a “peaceful life”. Why are you choosing to ignore this fact?

    The 300,000 people still imprisoned even though the war is ended of the few months ago, so tell me, why are the Tamil people still being treated as slaves? This is not a peaceful coexistence. Imagine if it were your children, wife or mother imprisoned and they endure daily torture, rape and murder. Would you be ok with that knowledge? Or would you be hoping there was someone out there trying to fight for the rights of your oppressed relatives?

    Your support of the Government of Sri Lanka (GOSL) and the Sri Lanka Army (SLA) may in fact make you as bad as they are, with their actions towards the Tamil people. I am not going to sink to your level and brand you a terrorist supporter of the Sri Lanka Terror state of but maybe you should ponder your ideas and see where it leads you.

  88. Ireland embassy in New Delhi in India has refused visas to thirteen competitors from Sri Lanka for the cycling event at the World Military Games 2009 in Ireland. A number of reasons for the refusal had been given by the embassy officials, sources in Colombo said.

  89. Mango, you are as peace-loving Mahawamsa Buddhist, who supports Unitary Sri Lanka where all ethnicities can live in peace.

    But what about the 300,000 people who are still suffering within the confines of the concentration camps? I don’t think they would agree on this kind of peaceful, unified state or appreciate your twisted understanding of a “peaceful life”. Why are you choosing to ignore this fact?

    The 300,000 people still imprisoned even though the war is ended of the few months ago, so tell me, why are the Tamil people still being treated as slaves? This is not a peaceful coexistence. Imagine if it were your children, wife or mother imprisoned and they endure daily torture, rape and murder. Would you be ok with that knowledge? Or would you be hoping there was someone out there trying to fight for the rights of your oppressed relatives?

    Your support of the Government of Sri Lanka (GOSL) and the Sri Lanka Army (SLA) may in fact make you as bad as they are, with their actions towards the Tamil people. I am not going to sink to your level and brand you a terrorist supporter of the Sri Lanka Terror state of but maybe you should ponder your ideas and see where it leads you.

  90. Ireland embassy in New Delhi in India has refused visas to thirteen competitors from Sri Lanka for the cycling event at the World Military Games 2009 in Ireland. A number of reasons for the refusal had been given by the embassy officials, sources in Colombo said.

  91. The Sri Lankan GSP+ trade concession was based on the ratification and effective implementation many international human rights principles. Some of them are the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights (ICCPR), the Convention against Torture (CAT) and the Convention on the Rights of the Child (CRC).

    Media reports indicate that the EU Trade Concessions will be negative and that the crux of the issue is human rights. They are stubborn ones. They will not go away. They cannot be dealt with by denial, bravado, defiance, conspiracy theories or neglect. Moreover they are indubitably in the national interest and to the detriment of no one other than the perpetrators of violations.

    The Good governance cannot be served or sustained by conflict and conspiracy, fear, paranoia and insecurity. Sri Lanka is a part of an international community. Human rights and the international community have to be dealt with maturely, responsibly, constructively.

  92. The Sri Lankan GSP+ trade concession was based on the ratification and effective implementation many international human rights principles. Some of them are the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights (ICCPR), the Convention against Torture (CAT) and the Convention on the Rights of the Child (CRC).

    Media reports indicate that the EU Trade Concessions will be negative and that the crux of the issue is human rights. They are stubborn ones. They will not go away. They cannot be dealt with by denial, bravado, defiance, conspiracy theories or neglect. Moreover they are indubitably in the national interest and to the detriment of no one other than the perpetrators of violations.

    The Good governance cannot be served or sustained by conflict and conspiracy, fear, paranoia and insecurity. Sri Lanka is a part of an international community. Human rights and the international community have to be dealt with maturely, responsibly, constructively.

  93. The visa application of the Sri Lanka Minister Keheliya Rambukwella was rejected by the Canadian High Commission.

    The British High Commission in Colombo also refused visa recently to top SL diplomat and former Sri Lanka Foreign Secretary Palitha Kohona

    UK introduces war crime clause in visa applications of Sri Lankans. In future, all SL visa applicants to UK have to fill a column on war crime involvements.

    This means that the applicant has to declare his involvements, if any, in war crimes. This is a sequel to allegations of human rights violations leveled against the Sri Lanka Armed Forces and Sri Lanka Government.

    Sources also pointed out that it was significant to note that in the recent past, visa applications of many Sri Lankan government politicos, including their family members.

    The new UN Permanent Representative to Sri Lanka, Dr. Palitha Kohona, had submitted his passport to the British High Commission for a visa to London but to his surprise the passport was returned without any valid reason for turning down his visa application. He later sought an explanation from the British High Commission on the incident.

    The SL diplomat Palitha Kohona had later again sought a visa to London, UK, but the second attempt too was rejected with the UK High Commission.

    An angry UN Permanent Representative to Sri Lanka Dr. Palitha Kohona had made several attempts to contact the British High Commissioner and his Deputy to seek their intervention but they could not be contacted over the telephone.

    The Sri Lankan government is of the view that the British High Commission had violated diplomatic protocols by rejecting a visa for the former Foreign Secretary and felt this had further strained relations between Britain and Sri Lanka.
    Also, Ireland embassy in New Delhi in India has refused visas to 13 competitors from Sri Lanka Armed Forces for the cycling event at the World Military Games 2009 in Ireland.

  94. I do admire the PROFESSIONALISM of many journalists of the leading media AND THE EXPERTS who reviewed the GSP+ for Sri Lanka. The underestimation of the barbarism of Sri Lankan State Terrorism is also quite understandable since neither independent media nor independent aid agencies are allowed to the war zone even after many months of the "victorious ending " of the war. Knowing the environment of these journalists and experts, one cannot expect even their imaginative minds to extrapolate and reach the conditions in Sri Lanka unlike those of us who suffered at the hands of GOSL. So I salute the journalists and experts for saying the truth as they see it and my feelings are like the praise by Karl Marx of the British Professional Class of his times. I have reasons to believe that the Professional Class of UK in particular and the West in general continue to exercise their independence. BUT LIKE MARX, I am not an apologist of the RULING CIRCLES. For that matter, the ruling circles of Sri Lanka's new friends are no better. Who would expect China to follow Mao's Thinking? The Ruling circles of the world believe that the continuation of the PRESENT WORLD ORDER is in their interests AND DO NOT CARE ABOUT HUMAN RIGHTS, NOR ABOUT THE WELFARE OF THE PEOPLES, and NOR ABOUT THE WORSENING PHYSICAL ENVIRONMENT. The GSP+ was to have been reviewed long before the war against LTTE was scorching up BUT the ruling circles of Europe who preferred the destruction of the LTTE (not because it was a terrorist organization but because it was a liberation force) continued with the GSP+ PENDING REVIEW while banning the LTTE and coercing the Tamil Diaspora in so many ways. The story is same with all the Western governments. I know of a Foreign Minister who would not open his mouth against Sri Lanka but demanding that the Diaspora to restrain the LTTE! I will not be surprised if the GSP+ follows the same route as the IMF loan. Now what is happening in Sri Lanka is a scramble to share the spoils by the powers of the WORLD and IMF loans, GSP+ and the like are tools in this game. None of these powers are concerned about the human rights of the prisoners of war behind neither the barbed wires nor the Tamils living in the open prisons of the Tamil homeland

  95. The AIADMK(India) threatened to launch a mass agitation along with like-minded parties if the Union ( Indian) government failed to press the international community to force the Sri Lankan government to put an end to the (Human) rights violations against Tamils on its land.

    In a statement here, party general secretary J Jayalalithaa said that the AIADMK and people of Tamil Nadu expect the Centre to raise its voice against the human rights violations in the refugee camps in Sri Lanka.

    If the Centre does not act immediately, “the AIADMK, along with like-minded political parties, will be forced to launch a mass agitation to focus world vision on the brutal civil liberties violations in Sri Lanka.”

    The former chief minister said “The gruesome footage, reportedly filmed by a soldier on a mobile phone camera, reinforces my earlier claim that civil liberties are non-existent in Sri Lanka and that the Tamil population there is subject to barbaric atrocities at the hands of the Sri Lankan Army.”

    “Sri Lanka claims to be a democratic country, where the rule of law prevails. No democracy sanctions this sort of summary mass execution, where human dignity is wantonly trampled upon,” she added.

    “Even assuming that the persons being shot dead in the footage telecast were LTTE activists, executing them summarily without a trial is barbaric, inhuman and contrary to civilized norms. It also violates international law relating to treatment of prisoners of war.”

    Slamming the DMK government, she said “As such, the AIADMK does not expect the DMK government to even make a whimper of protest against the atrocities being perpetrated upon the Tamil people.”
    http://www.expressbuzz.com/edition/story.aspx?Tit

  96. The visa application of the Sri Lanka Minister Keheliya Rambukwella was rejected by the Canadian High Commission.

    The British High Commission in Colombo also refused visa recently to top SL diplomat and former Sri Lanka Foreign Secretary Palitha Kohona

    UK introduces war crime clause in visa applications of Sri Lankans. In future, all SL visa applicants to UK have to fill a column on war crime involvements.

    This means that the applicant has to declare his involvements, if any, in war crimes. This is a sequel to allegations of human rights violations leveled against the Sri Lanka Armed Forces and Sri Lanka Government.

    Sources also pointed out that it was significant to note that in the recent past, visa applications of many Sri Lankan government politicos, including their family members.

    The new UN Permanent Representative to Sri Lanka, Dr. Palitha Kohona, had submitted his passport to the British High Commission for a visa to London but to his surprise the passport was returned without any valid reason for turning down his visa application. He later sought an explanation from the British High Commission on the incident.

    The SL diplomat Palitha Kohona had later again sought a visa to London, UK, but the second attempt too was rejected with the UK High Commission.

    An angry UN Permanent Representative to Sri Lanka Dr. Palitha Kohona had made several attempts to contact the British High Commissioner and his Deputy to seek their intervention but they could not be contacted over the telephone.

    The Sri Lankan government is of the view that the British High Commission had violated diplomatic protocols by rejecting a visa for the former Foreign Secretary and felt this had further strained relations between Britain and Sri Lanka.
    Also, Ireland embassy in New Delhi in India has refused visas to 13 competitors from Sri Lanka Armed Forces for the cycling event at the World Military Games 2009 in Ireland.

  97. I do admire the PROFESSIONALISM of many journalists of the leading media AND THE EXPERTS who reviewed the GSP+ for Sri Lanka. The underestimation of the barbarism of Sri Lankan State Terrorism is also quite understandable since neither independent media nor independent aid agencies are allowed to the war zone even after many months of the “victorious ending ” of the war. Knowing the environment of these journalists and experts, one cannot expect even their imaginative minds to extrapolate and reach the conditions in Sri Lanka unlike those of us who suffered at the hands of GOSL. So I salute the journalists and experts for saying the truth as they see it and my feelings are like the praise by Karl Marx of the British Professional Class of his times. I have reasons to believe that the Professional Class of UK in particular and the West in general continue to exercise their independence. BUT LIKE MARX, I am not an apologist of the RULING CIRCLES. For that matter, the ruling circles of Sri Lanka’s new friends are no better. Who would expect China to follow Mao’s Thinking? The Ruling circles of the world believe that the continuation of the PRESENT WORLD ORDER is in their interests AND DO NOT CARE ABOUT HUMAN RIGHTS, NOR ABOUT THE WELFARE OF THE PEOPLES, and NOR ABOUT THE WORSENING PHYSICAL ENVIRONMENT. The GSP+ was to have been reviewed long before the war against LTTE was scorching up BUT the ruling circles of Europe who preferred the destruction of the LTTE (not because it was a terrorist organization but because it was a liberation force) continued with the GSP+ PENDING REVIEW while banning the LTTE and coercing the Tamil Diaspora in so many ways. The story is same with all the Western governments. I know of a Foreign Minister who would not open his mouth against Sri Lanka but demanding that the Diaspora to restrain the LTTE! I will not be surprised if the GSP+ follows the same route as the IMF loan. Now what is happening in Sri Lanka is a scramble to share the spoils by the powers of the WORLD and IMF loans, GSP+ and the like are tools in this game. None of these powers are concerned about the human rights of the prisoners of war behind neither the barbed wires nor the Tamils living in the open prisons of the Tamil homeland

  98. The AIADMK(India) threatened to launch a mass agitation along with like-minded parties if the Union ( Indian) government failed to press the international community to force the Sri Lankan government to put an end to the (Human) rights violations against Tamils on its land.

    In a statement here, party general secretary J Jayalalithaa said that the AIADMK and people of Tamil Nadu expect the Centre to raise its voice against the human rights violations in the refugee camps in Sri Lanka.

    If the Centre does not act immediately, “the AIADMK, along with like-minded political parties, will be forced to launch a mass agitation to focus world vision on the brutal civil liberties violations in Sri Lanka.”

    The former chief minister said “The gruesome footage, reportedly filmed by a soldier on a mobile phone camera, reinforces my earlier claim that civil liberties are non-existent in Sri Lanka and that the Tamil population there is subject to barbaric atrocities at the hands of the Sri Lankan Army.”

    “Sri Lanka claims to be a democratic country, where the rule of law prevails. No democracy sanctions this sort of summary mass execution, where human dignity is wantonly trampled upon,” she added.

    “Even assuming that the persons being shot dead in the footage telecast were LTTE activists, executing them summarily without a trial is barbaric, inhuman and contrary to civilized norms. It also violates international law relating to treatment of prisoners of war.”

    Slamming the DMK government, she said “As such, the AIADMK does not expect the DMK government to even make a whimper of protest against the atrocities being perpetrated upon the Tamil people.”
    http://www.expressbuzz.com/edition/story.aspx?Tit

  99. The AIADMK(India) threatened to launch a mass agitation along with like-minded parties if the Union ( Indian) government failed to press the international community to force the Sri Lankan government to put an end to the (Human) rights violations against Tamils on its land.

    In a statement here, party general secretary J Jayalalithaa said that the AIADMK and people of Tamil Nadu expect the Centre to raise its voice against the human rights violations in the refugee camps in Sri Lanka.

    If the Centre does not act immediately, “the AIADMK, along with like-minded political parties, will be forced to launch a mass agitation to focus world vision on the brutal civil liberties violations in Sri Lanka.”

    The former chief minister said “The gruesome footage, reportedly filmed by a soldier on a mobile phone camera, reinforces my earlier claim that civil liberties are non-existent in Sri Lanka and that the Tamil population there is subject to barbaric atrocities at the hands of the Sri Lankan Army.”

    “Sri Lanka claims to be a democratic country, where the rule of law prevails. No democracy sanctions this sort of summary mass execution, where human dignity is wantonly trampled upon,” she added.

    “Even assuming that the persons being shot dead in the footage telecast were LTTE activists, executing them summarily without a trial is barbaric, inhuman and contrary to civilized norms. It also violates international law relating to treatment of prisoners of war.”

    Slamming the DMK government, she said “As such, the AIADMK does not expect the DMK government to even make a whimper of protest against the atrocities being perpetrated upon the Tamil people.”
    http://www.expressbuzz.com/edition/story.aspx?Tit

  100. The AIADMK(India) threatened to launch a mass agitation along with like-minded parties if the Union ( Indian) government failed to press the international community to force the Sri Lankan government to put an end to the (Human) rights violations against Tamils on its land.

    In a statement here, party general secretary J Jayalalithaa said that the AIADMK and people of Tamil Nadu expect the Centre to raise its voice against the human rights violations in the refugee camps in Sri Lanka.

    If the Centre does not act immediately, “the AIADMK, along with like-minded political parties, will be forced to launch a mass agitation to focus world vision on the brutal civil liberties violations in Sri Lanka.”

    The former chief minister said “The gruesome footage, reportedly filmed by a soldier on a mobile phone camera, reinforces my earlier claim that civil liberties are non-existent in Sri Lanka and that the Tamil population there is subject to barbaric atrocities at the hands of the Sri Lankan Army.”

    “Sri Lanka claims to be a democratic country, where the rule of law prevails. No democracy sanctions this sort of summary mass execution, where human dignity is wantonly trampled upon,” she added.

    “Even assuming that the persons being shot dead in the footage telecast were LTTE activists, executing them summarily without a trial is barbaric, inhuman and contrary to civilized norms. It also violates international law relating to treatment of prisoners of war.”

    Slamming the DMK government, she said “As such, the AIADMK does not expect the DMK government to even make a whimper of protest against the atrocities being perpetrated upon the Tamil people.”

    http://www.expressbuzz.com/edition/story.aspx?Title=Jaya+threatens+massive+agitation&artid=ux2vdQtiHc4=&SectionID=lifojHIWDUU=&MainSectionID=wIcBMLGbUJI=&SectionName=EL7znOtxBM3qzgMyXZKtxw==&SEO=AIADMK+general+secretary+J+Jayalalithaa

  101. when the total tamil population over 350,000 in the death zone, the government said only 65,000 people in safe zone,india said 70,000. They murdered and maimed over 25,000 civilians in safe zone, brought 192,000 people from death zone to concentration camps. again 165,000 civilians in the fire only zone. Again over 25,000 people were killed & several were buried alive in the bungers on final day. They used bull dozer to collect remains with injured & uesd chemical to destroy the witness.

    Many Sri Lanka War Refugees Languish in Camps http://www.nytimes.com/2009/07/11/world/asia/11la

    GOSL plan to bring the total population in the camps to its original numbers 65,000….. GOSL also said only 200 LTTE remaining, now say 15,000 in their hand…, they may change from 15,000 to 200 by killing daily basis.

    Tamil death toll ‘is 1,400 a week’ at Manik Farm camp in Sri Lanka http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/news/world/asia/

  102. when the total tamil population over 350,000 in the death zone, the government said only 65,000 people in safe zone,india said 70,000. They murdered and maimed over 25,000 civilians in safe zone, brought 192,000 people from death zone to concentration camps. again 165,000 civilians in the fire only zone. Again over 25,000 people were killed & several were buried alive in the bungers on final day. They used bull dozer to collect remains with injured & uesd chemical to destroy the witness.

    Many Sri Lanka War Refugees Languish in Camps http://www.nytimes.com/2009/07/11/world/asia/11la

    GOSL plan to bring the total population in the camps to its original numbers 65,000….. GOSL also said only 200 LTTE remaining, now say 15,000 in their hand…, they may change from 15,000 to 200 by killing daily basis.

    Tamil death toll ‘is 1,400 a week’ at Manik Farm camp in Sri Lanka http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/news/world/asia/

  103. when the total tamil population over 350,000 in the death zone, the government said only 65,000 people in safe zone,india said 70,000. They murdered and maimed over 25,000 civilians in safe zone, brought 192,000 people from death zone to concentration camps. again 165,000 civilians in the fire only zone. Again over 25,000 people were killed & several were buried alive in the bungers on final day. They used bull dozer to collect remains with injured & uesd chemical to destroy the witness.

    Many Sri Lanka War Refugees Languish in Camps http://www.nytimes.com/2009/07/11/world/asia/11la

    GOSL plan to bring the total population in the camps to its original numbers 65,000….. GOSL also said only 200 LTTE remaining, now say 15,000 in their hand…, they may change from 15,000 to 200 by killing daily basis.

    Tamil death toll ‘is 1,400 a week’ at Manik Farm camp in Sri Lanka http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/news/world/asia/

  104. Sri Lankan Tamils Dying of Hunger, Say Indian Christians
    [ Christian Post ][ Sep 26 01:12 GMT ]
    Tamil Christians in India are making a solidarity call and support for nearly 300,000 Tamil refugees in Sri Lanka; who are still languishing in temporary camps for the past six months. Tamil refugees, many of them Christians were displaced by the last stages of the past 26 years of bitter civil war in the country – between Sri Lankan army and the Tamil militants, the Liberation Tamil Tiger Eelam (LTTE); that came to an end in May this year with the defeat of the LTTE. In a memorandum submitted to the government of India, Tamil Christians in India said, “Thousands are dying of hunger and difficulties in the refugee camps”;

    Life as a Sri Lankan war refugee http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/south_asia/8273575.stm

  105. Horror camps for the Tamil civilians
    Sri Lankan forces bombed and killed more than fifty thousands. Now they have locked three hundred thousands up in Nazi style concentration camps.

  106. Time Running Out for Sri Lanka's IDPs http://worldpoliticsreview.com/article.aspx?id=43

    COLOMBO, Sri Lanka — Everywhere in the Sri Lankan capital of Colombo, posters featuring smiling soldiers holding rocket launchers and machine guns celebrate the recent end to the nation's 26-year civil war. But in the government-run camps that still house more than 250,000 ethnic Tamils displaced by the war's fighting, the mood is far from celebratory.

    In late August, heavy rains at the largest camp, Manik, flooded tents and led to unsanitary conditions. According to aid worker K Thampu, "The situation was heartbreaking. Tents were flooded and mothers, desperate to keep their children dry during the night, took chairs and tables from school facilities for them to sleep on."

  107. Sri Lankan Tamils Dying of Hunger, Say Indian Christians
    [ Christian Post ][ Sep 26 01:12 GMT ]
    Tamil Christians in India are making a solidarity call and support for nearly 300,000 Tamil refugees in Sri Lanka; who are still languishing in temporary camps for the past six months. Tamil refugees, many of them Christians were displaced by the last stages of the past 26 years of bitter civil war in the country – between Sri Lankan army and the Tamil militants, the Liberation Tamil Tiger Eelam (LTTE); that came to an end in May this year with the defeat of the LTTE. In a memorandum submitted to the government of India, Tamil Christians in India said, “Thousands are dying of hunger and difficulties in the refugee camps”;

    Life as a Sri Lankan war refugee http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/south_asia/8273575.stm

  108. Sri Lankan Tamils Dying of Hunger, Say Indian Christians
    [ Christian Post ][ Sep 26 01:12 GMT ]
    Tamil Christians in India are making a solidarity call and support for nearly 300,000 Tamil refugees in Sri Lanka; who are still languishing in temporary camps for the past six months. Tamil refugees, many of them Christians were displaced by the last stages of the past 26 years of bitter civil war in the country – between Sri Lankan army and the Tamil militants, the Liberation Tamil Tiger Eelam (LTTE); that came to an end in May this year with the defeat of the LTTE. In a memorandum submitted to the government of India, Tamil Christians in India said, “Thousands are dying of hunger and difficulties in the refugee camps”;

    Life as a Sri Lankan war refugee http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/south_asia/8273575.stm

  109. Time Running Out for Sri Lanka's IDPs http://worldpoliticsreview.com/article.aspx?id=43

    COLOMBO, Sri Lanka — Everywhere in the Sri Lankan capital of Colombo, posters featuring smiling soldiers holding rocket launchers and machine guns celebrate the recent end to the nation's 26-year civil war. But in the government-run camps that still house more than 250,000 ethnic Tamils displaced by the war's fighting, the mood is far from celebratory.

    In late August, heavy rains at the largest camp, Manik, flooded tents and led to unsanitary conditions. According to aid worker K Thampu, "The situation was heartbreaking. Tents were flooded and mothers, desperate to keep their children dry during the night, took chairs and tables from school facilities for them to sleep on."

  110. Time Running Out for Sri Lanka's IDPs http://worldpoliticsreview.com/article.aspx?id=43

    COLOMBO, Sri Lanka — Everywhere in the Sri Lankan capital of Colombo, posters featuring smiling soldiers holding rocket launchers and machine guns celebrate the recent end to the nation's 26-year civil war. But in the government-run camps that still house more than 250,000 ethnic Tamils displaced by the war's fighting, the mood is far from celebratory.

    In late August, heavy rains at the largest camp, Manik, flooded tents and led to unsanitary conditions. According to aid worker K Thampu, "The situation was heartbreaking. Tents were flooded and mothers, desperate to keep their children dry during the night, took chairs and tables from school facilities for them to sleep on."

  111. when the total tamil population over 350,000 in the death zone, the government said only 65,000 people in safe zone,india said 70,000. They murdered and maimed over 25,000 civilians in safe zone, brought 192,000 people from death zone to concentration camps. again 165,000 civilians in the fire only zone. Again over 25,000 people were killed & several were buried alive in the bungers on final day. They used bull dozer to collect remains with injured & uesd chemical to destroy the witness.

    Many Sri Lanka War Refugees Languish in Camps
    http://www.nytimes.com/2009/07/11/world/asia/11lanka.html?_r=1

    GOSL plan to bring the total population in the camps to its original numbers 65,000….. GOSL also said only 200 LTTE remaining, now say 15,000 in their hand…, they may change from 15,000 to 200 by killing daily basis.

    Tamil death toll ‘is 1,400 a week’ at Manik Farm camp in Sri Lanka
    http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/news/world/asia/article6676792.ece#cid=OTC-RSS&attr=797093

  112. Horror camps for the Tamil civilians
    Sri Lankan forces bombed and killed more than fifty thousands. Now they have locked three hundred thousands up in Nazi style concentration camps.

  113. Sri Lankan Tamils Dying of Hunger, Say Indian Christians
    [ Christian Post ][ Sep 26 01:12 GMT ]
    Tamil Christians in India are making a solidarity call and support for nearly 300,000 Tamil refugees in Sri Lanka; who are still languishing in temporary camps for the past six months. Tamil refugees, many of them Christians were displaced by the last stages of the past 26 years of bitter civil war in the country – between Sri Lankan army and the Tamil militants, the Liberation Tamil Tiger Eelam (LTTE); that came to an end in May this year with the defeat of the LTTE. In a memorandum submitted to the government of India, Tamil Christians in India said, “Thousands are dying of hunger and difficulties in the refugee camps”;

    Life as a Sri Lankan war refugee
    http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/south_asia/8273575.stm

  114. Time Running Out for Sri Lanka’s IDPs
    http://worldpoliticsreview.com/article.aspx?id=4354

    COLOMBO, Sri Lanka — Everywhere in the Sri Lankan capital of Colombo, posters featuring smiling soldiers holding rocket launchers and machine guns celebrate the recent end to the nation’s 26-year civil war. But in the government-run camps that still house more than 250,000 ethnic Tamils displaced by the war’s fighting, the mood is far from celebratory.

    In late August, heavy rains at the largest camp, Manik, flooded tents and led to unsanitary conditions. According to aid worker K Thampu, “The situation was heartbreaking. Tents were flooded and mothers, desperate to keep their children dry during the night, took chairs and tables from school facilities for them to sleep on.”

  115. Wanni IDPs: The scam continues
    [ Sunday Times ][ Sep 27 01:12 GMT ]
    The whole issue of ’screening’, which has dragged on for more than four months, should be stopped. The best proof that the LTTE is no longer a threat in Sri Lanka is the release of top LTTE cadres Daya Master and George Master, who were with Prabakaran almost to the very end. Would the authorities have released them on bail if there were any danger from the LTTE? Hardly. If they can be released, why are lakhs of innocent civilians being detained? Did the President avoid the UN General Assembly because he was unable to answer these questions?

    Wanni IDPs: The scam continues http://www.sundaytimes.lk/090927/News/news_03.htm

    A case of detaining Tamils http://www.thesundayleader.lk/20090927/spotlight….

  116. Wanni IDPs: The scam continues
    [ Sunday Times ][ Sep 27 01:12 GMT ]
    The whole issue of ’screening’, which has dragged on for more than four months, should be stopped. The best proof that the LTTE is no longer a threat in Sri Lanka is the release of top LTTE cadres Daya Master and George Master, who were with Prabakaran almost to the very end. Would the authorities have released them on bail if there were any danger from the LTTE? Hardly. If they can be released, why are lakhs of innocent civilians being detained? Did the President avoid the UN General Assembly because he was unable to answer these questions?

    Wanni IDPs: The scam continues http://www.sundaytimes.lk/090927/News/news_03.htm

    A case of detaining Tamils http://www.thesundayleader.lk/20090927/spotlight….

  117. Wanni IDPs: The scam continues
    [ Sunday Times ][ Sep 27 01:12 GMT ]
    The whole issue of ’screening’, which has dragged on for more than four months, should be stopped. The best proof that the LTTE is no longer a threat in Sri Lanka is the release of top LTTE cadres Daya Master and George Master, who were with Prabakaran almost to the very end. Would the authorities have released them on bail if there were any danger from the LTTE? Hardly. If they can be released, why are lakhs of innocent civilians being detained? Did the President avoid the UN General Assembly because he was unable to answer these questions?

    Wanni IDPs: The scam continues http://www.sundaytimes.lk/090927/News/news_03.htm

    A case of detaining Tamils http://www.thesundayleader.lk/20090927/spotlight….

  118. Please see the online petition at:
    http://campaigns.ahrchk.net/repealpta/

    There is no longer any reason for the Prevention of Terrorism Act in Sri Lanka; on the contrary, there are many compelling reasons as to why it should immediately be repealed. It was the existence of the LTTE that the government used to justify the promulgation and maintenance of the PTA.

    Now, by the very admission of the government this threat has ceased to exist.
    Even at a time of grave danger the PTA was too draconian and many of the provisions in the act could not have been justified. This has been pointed out by local legal opinion, local human rights groups and governments around the world, as well as international human rights agencies and several United Nations agencies and experts.

    After the defeat of the LTTE the government said that elements associated with it could remain, and that some new elements may emerge; yet every country faces this possibility all the time. If this reasoning is used to suspend the operation of a normal legal system then this would need to apply everywhere, forever. Terrorism – even war – is always possible, but if people are willing to abandon their freedoms and their normal legal rights to preempt these possibilities, draconian law will reign indefinitely.

    As long as the PTA remains in operation there is reason to suspect that it is being used by the government for political advantage, as an instrument to perpetuate its own power. Complaints of oppression by the opposition and other dissenting voices will have legitimate weight.

    The Act has effectively aided the destruction of the normal rule of law within Sri Lanka and undermined the independence of its judiciary; indeed litigants, lawyers and even the judges may have started to forget what a strong, functioning legal system is like. To maintain the PTA is to continue destroying what is left. The disadvantages far outweigh the advantage that the government spokesperson may claim that it has.

    An enduring PTA will continue to place the Criminal Investigation Division and the Terrorism Investigation Division beyond the control of the law, with no checks or balances against its abuse of power. Tales of torture being used, charges being fabricated and deaths occurring in places of detention are heard constantly, yet while the PTA exists there is no way to even investigate such allegations, let alone avoid them.

    Sri Lanka’s policing system has collapsed; this is now a fact acknowledged by all. Yet no reform process can be set in motion, and under the protection of the PTA Sri Lanka’s police force will continue to degenerate, its people given no option but to live under its oppression, corruption and arbitrary violence.
    What this means is that literally hundreds of thousands of people will suffer without any legal recourse, and large numbers will continue to live outside the protection of the law. The entire population will be affected.

    It is time for everyone in Sri Lanka and beyond to earnestly request the immediate repeal of the Prevention of Terrorism Act by the Sri Lankan government. The judiciary must no longer be undermined by those with extraordinary power, the rule of law must be revived and all people must be given its protection.

  119. Wanni IDPs: The scam continues
    [ Sunday Times ][ Sep 27 01:12 GMT ]
    The whole issue of ’screening’, which has dragged on for more than four months, should be stopped. The best proof that the LTTE is no longer a threat in Sri Lanka is the release of top LTTE cadres Daya Master and George Master, who were with Prabakaran almost to the very end. Would the authorities have released them on bail if there were any danger from the LTTE? Hardly. If they can be released, why are lakhs of innocent civilians being detained? Did the President avoid the UN General Assembly because he was unable to answer these questions?

    Wanni IDPs: The scam continues
    http://www.sundaytimes.lk/090927/News/news_03.html

    A case of detaining Tamils
    http://www.thesundayleader.lk/20090927/spotlight.htm

  120. Please see the online petition at:
    http://campaigns.ahrchk.net/repealpta/

    There is no longer any reason for the Prevention of Terrorism Act in Sri Lanka; on the contrary, there are many compelling reasons as to why it should immediately be repealed. It was the existence of the LTTE that the government used to justify the promulgation and maintenance of the PTA.

    Now, by the very admission of the government this threat has ceased to exist.
    Even at a time of grave danger the PTA was too draconian and many of the provisions in the act could not have been justified. This has been pointed out by local legal opinion, local human rights groups and governments around the world, as well as international human rights agencies and several United Nations agencies and experts.

    After the defeat of the LTTE the government said that elements associated with it could remain, and that some new elements may emerge; yet every country faces this possibility all the time. If this reasoning is used to suspend the operation of a normal legal system then this would need to apply everywhere, forever. Terrorism – even war – is always possible, but if people are willing to abandon their freedoms and their normal legal rights to preempt these possibilities, draconian law will reign indefinitely.

    As long as the PTA remains in operation there is reason to suspect that it is being used by the government for political advantage, as an instrument to perpetuate its own power. Complaints of oppression by the opposition and other dissenting voices will have legitimate weight.

    The Act has effectively aided the destruction of the normal rule of law within Sri Lanka and undermined the independence of its judiciary; indeed litigants, lawyers and even the judges may have started to forget what a strong, functioning legal system is like. To maintain the PTA is to continue destroying what is left. The disadvantages far outweigh the advantage that the government spokesperson may claim that it has.

    An enduring PTA will continue to place the Criminal Investigation Division and the Terrorism Investigation Division beyond the control of the law, with no checks or balances against its abuse of power. Tales of torture being used, charges being fabricated and deaths occurring in places of detention are heard constantly, yet while the PTA exists there is no way to even investigate such allegations, let alone avoid them.

    Sri Lanka’s policing system has collapsed; this is now a fact acknowledged by all. Yet no reform process can be set in motion, and under the protection of the PTA Sri Lanka’s police force will continue to degenerate, its people given no option but to live under its oppression, corruption and arbitrary violence.
    What this means is that literally hundreds of thousands of people will suffer without any legal recourse, and large numbers will continue to live outside the protection of the law. The entire population will be affected.

    It is time for everyone in Sri Lanka and beyond to earnestly request the immediate repeal of the Prevention of Terrorism Act by the Sri Lankan government. The judiciary must no longer be undermined by those with extraordinary power, the rule of law must be revived and all people must be given its protection.

  121. Please see the online petition at:
    http://campaigns.ahrchk.net/repealpta/

    There is no longer any reason for the Prevention of Terrorism Act in Sri Lanka; on the contrary, there are many compelling reasons as to why it should immediately be repealed. It was the existence of the LTTE that the government used to justify the promulgation and maintenance of the PTA.

    Now, by the very admission of the government this threat has ceased to exist.
    Even at a time of grave danger the PTA was too draconian and many of the provisions in the act could not have been justified. This has been pointed out by local legal opinion, local human rights groups and governments around the world, as well as international human rights agencies and several United Nations agencies and experts.

    After the defeat of the LTTE the government said that elements associated with it could remain, and that some new elements may emerge; yet every country faces this possibility all the time. If this reasoning is used to suspend the operation of a normal legal system then this would need to apply everywhere, forever. Terrorism – even war – is always possible, but if people are willing to abandon their freedoms and their normal legal rights to preempt these possibilities, draconian law will reign indefinitely.

    As long as the PTA remains in operation there is reason to suspect that it is being used by the government for political advantage, as an instrument to perpetuate its own power. Complaints of oppression by the opposition and other dissenting voices will have legitimate weight.

    The Act has effectively aided the destruction of the normal rule of law within Sri Lanka and undermined the independence of its judiciary; indeed litigants, lawyers and even the judges may have started to forget what a strong, functioning legal system is like. To maintain the PTA is to continue destroying what is left. The disadvantages far outweigh the advantage that the government spokesperson may claim that it has.

    An enduring PTA will continue to place the Criminal Investigation Division and the Terrorism Investigation Division beyond the control of the law, with no checks or balances against its abuse of power. Tales of torture being used, charges being fabricated and deaths occurring in places of detention are heard constantly, yet while the PTA exists there is no way to even investigate such allegations, let alone avoid them.

    Sri Lanka’s policing system has collapsed; this is now a fact acknowledged by all. Yet no reform process can be set in motion, and under the protection of the PTA Sri Lanka’s police force will continue to degenerate, its people given no option but to live under its oppression, corruption and arbitrary violence.
    What this means is that literally hundreds of thousands of people will suffer without any legal recourse, and large numbers will continue to live outside the protection of the law. The entire population will be affected.

    It is time for everyone in Sri Lanka and beyond to earnestly request the immediate repeal of the Prevention of Terrorism Act by the Sri Lankan government. The judiciary must no longer be undermined by those with extraordinary power, the rule of law must be revived and all people must be given its protection.

  122. Please see the online petition at:

    http://campaigns.ahrchk.net/repealpta/

    There is no longer any reason for the Prevention of Terrorism Act in Sri Lanka; on the contrary, there are many compelling reasons as to why it should immediately be repealed. It was the existence of the LTTE that the government used to justify the promulgation and maintenance of the PTA.

    Now, by the very admission of the government this threat has ceased to exist.
    Even at a time of grave danger the PTA was too draconian and many of the provisions in the act could not have been justified. This has been pointed out by local legal opinion, local human rights groups and governments around the world, as well as international human rights agencies and several United Nations agencies and experts.

    After the defeat of the LTTE the government said that elements associated with it could remain, and that some new elements may emerge; yet every country faces this possibility all the time. If this reasoning is used to suspend the operation of a normal legal system then this would need to apply everywhere, forever. Terrorism – even war – is always possible, but if people are willing to abandon their freedoms and their normal legal rights to preempt these possibilities, draconian law will reign indefinitely.

    As long as the PTA remains in operation there is reason to suspect that it is being used by the government for political advantage, as an instrument to perpetuate its own power. Complaints of oppression by the opposition and other dissenting voices will have legitimate weight.

    The Act has effectively aided the destruction of the normal rule of law within Sri Lanka and undermined the independence of its judiciary; indeed litigants, lawyers and even the judges may have started to forget what a strong, functioning legal system is like. To maintain the PTA is to continue destroying what is left. The disadvantages far outweigh the advantage that the government spokesperson may claim that it has.

    An enduring PTA will continue to place the Criminal Investigation Division and the Terrorism Investigation Division beyond the control of the law, with no checks or balances against its abuse of power. Tales of torture being used, charges being fabricated and deaths occurring in places of detention are heard constantly, yet while the PTA exists there is no way to even investigate such allegations, let alone avoid them.

    Sri Lanka’s policing system has collapsed; this is now a fact acknowledged by all. Yet no reform process can be set in motion, and under the protection of the PTA Sri Lanka’s police force will continue to degenerate, its people given no option but to live under its oppression, corruption and arbitrary violence.
    What this means is that literally hundreds of thousands of people will suffer without any legal recourse, and large numbers will continue to live outside the protection of the law. The entire population will be affected.

    It is time for everyone in Sri Lanka and beyond to earnestly request the immediate repeal of the Prevention of Terrorism Act by the Sri Lankan government. The judiciary must no longer be undermined by those with extraordinary power, the rule of law must be revived and all people must be given its protection.

  123. Danger of Aid items for distribution to camps, getting perished http://www.lankasrinews.com/view.php?2b34OXl4a3cT

    There is a danger of One and half billion rupees worth of aid items, getting perished, which are to be distributed to displaced people at the refugee camps was according to information. It was mentioned the goods sent by Captain Ali ship from Chennai to Sri Lanka is still lying in the Colombo port for the past months.

    Only the AIR is not blocked for IDP's. while the SLA were occuping vanni, they removed any Landmine planted by themself too, Now they have LAND in MIND, ethnic cleaning, colonizing Tamil land.

  124. Danger of Aid items for distribution to camps, getting perished http://www.lankasrinews.com/view.php?2b34OXl4a3cT

    There is a danger of One and half billion rupees worth of aid items, getting perished, which are to be distributed to displaced people at the refugee camps was according to information. It was mentioned the goods sent by Captain Ali ship from Chennai to Sri Lanka is still lying in the Colombo port for the past months.

    Only the AIR is not blocked for IDP's. while the SLA were occuping vanni, they removed any Landmine planted by themself too, Now they have LAND in MIND, ethnic cleaning, colonizing Tamil land.

  125. Danger of Aid items for distribution to camps, getting perished http://www.lankasrinews.com/view.php?2b34OXl4a3cT

    There is a danger of One and half billion rupees worth of aid items, getting perished, which are to be distributed to displaced people at the refugee camps was according to information. It was mentioned the goods sent by Captain Ali ship from Chennai to Sri Lanka is still lying in the Colombo port for the past months.

    Only the AIR is not blocked for IDP's. while the SLA were occuping vanni, they removed any Landmine planted by themself too, Now they have LAND in MIND, ethnic cleaning, colonizing Tamil land.

  126. 61 YEARS OF GENOCIDAL WAR
    ON TAMIL WOMEN HAS:
    • Disproportionately affected them in the context of sexual, physical and psychological violence
    • Inflicted untold sufferings and thousands of deaths
    • Used rape and other forms of sexual violence as a weapon to demoralize, terrorize communities and break families
    • caused the deterioration of essential health structures and has led to higher death counts of pregnant women
    • Increased cases of forced abortions and sterilization
    • Made millions of Tamils refugees, of whom 80 percent are women and children
    • Made 40,000 women war widows who are mostly impoverished and economically vulnerable (United Nations Development Fund for Women)
    • Continued amidst a culture of systemic impunity and has contributed to Sri Lanka being ranked the 3rd worst violator of women`s rights according to South Asia Human Rights Violators Index 2008

  127. • Recent news reports indicate that high ranking Sri Lankan military officials have ordered doctors in Vavuniya hospital to carry out forced abortions on women fleeing the war
    • Reported cases of discrete government- run forced sterilization on upcountry Tamil women since 1997
    • Hundreds of cases of reported rape, sexual assaults, disappearances and torture by Sri Lankan security forces and government backed para-militaries groups. Such acts are used as weapons to demoralize, terrorize communities and break families
    • “On average, a Tamil woman is raped by members of the Sri Lankan security forces every two weeks. The real number is inevitably higher since many cases are unreported. Every two months a Tamil woman is gang-raped and murdered by the Sri Lankan security forces.” NGO, Women Against Rape
    • Embargo on food and water has increased cases of malnutrition and deteriorating health conditions, especially among children and pregnant women
    • Body checks performed at security checkpoints by Sri Lankan male security personnel where Tamil women end up disappearing, being sexually violated, embarrassed or publicly stripped
    • Sri Lankan army videotaped their men violating and stripping bodies of fallen female LTTE fighters in contravention of articles 16 and 17 of First Geneva Convention which outlines the respectful treatment of dead bodies in the battlefield. Given the videos, the perpetrators can be easily prosecuted if the government wills, however no action is being taken.

  128. Over 300,000 Tamils are being held in Holocaust style concentration camps by the Sri Lankan Government. The camps are similar to those employed by Hitler during Nazi Germany. The Sri Lanka Military has been accused of targetting Tamil civilians and indiscriminatly bombing Hospitals during its military offensive. The Government has now banned journalists, media, and diplomats from the conflict region. The United States, United Kingdom, Canada, Israel, Mexico and all the EU nations are pushing for a war crimes probes.. Aid groups have repeatedly said that abductions, disappearances and rape occurs in these camps as the Sri Lankan Government does not allow full access to aid groups and mediators. The Sri Lankan secretary of Defense has told the BBC that Hospitals are ‘legitimate military targets’, however under the Geneva conventions, bombing medical facilities are considered war crimes. Hospitals in the conflict zone are now run in make-shift tents throughout the jungle. The Government has now banned all independent journalists and media outlets from reporting on the conflict zone. State-run media outlet’s report on the conflict using information from the official military sources. NGO’s and worldwide relief organizations see the Government’s ‘War on the Tamil Tigers’ as a disguise for exterminating the entire Tamil race from the island. The Human Rights Watch has labelled the Sri Lankan Government number one for abductions, disappearences and executions.”Those who speak out against the Government either go missing or turn up dead”, says Dr. Anna Neistat who is a senior emergency researcher for the Human Rights Watch. The Government has now even labelled international media outlets such as CNN and BBC as ‘reporting terrorist propoganda’.

  129. Danger of Aid items for distribution to camps, getting perished
    http://www.lankasrinews.com/view.php?2b34OXl4a3cT5AY34deIOog0a03m4BLd4d3BTmA3e0dq0Mmece04cYd52ccaRlYO3e

    There is a danger of One and half billion rupees worth of aid items, getting perished, which are to be distributed to displaced people at the refugee camps was according to information. It was mentioned the goods sent by Captain Ali ship from Chennai to Sri Lanka is still lying in the Colombo port for the past months.

    Only the AIR is not blocked for IDP’s. while the SLA were occuping vanni, they removed any Landmine planted by themself too, Now they have LAND in MIND, ethnic cleaning, colonizing Tamil land.

  130. 61 YEARS OF GENOCIDAL WAR
    ON TAMIL WOMEN HAS:
    • Disproportionately affected them in the context of sexual, physical and psychological violence
    • Inflicted untold sufferings and thousands of deaths
    • Used rape and other forms of sexual violence as a weapon to demoralize, terrorize communities and break families
    • caused the deterioration of essential health structures and has led to higher death counts of pregnant women
    • Increased cases of forced abortions and sterilization
    • Made millions of Tamils refugees, of whom 80 percent are women and children
    • Made 40,000 women war widows who are mostly impoverished and economically vulnerable (United Nations Development Fund for Women)
    • Continued amidst a culture of systemic impunity and has contributed to Sri Lanka being ranked the 3rd worst violator of women`s rights according to South Asia Human Rights Violators Index 2008

  131. • Recent news reports indicate that high ranking Sri Lankan military officials have ordered doctors in Vavuniya hospital to carry out forced abortions on women fleeing the war
    • Reported cases of discrete government- run forced sterilization on upcountry Tamil women since 1997
    • Hundreds of cases of reported rape, sexual assaults, disappearances and torture by Sri Lankan security forces and government backed para-militaries groups. Such acts are used as weapons to demoralize, terrorize communities and break families
    • “On average, a Tamil woman is raped by members of the Sri Lankan security forces every two weeks. The real number is inevitably higher since many cases are unreported. Every two months a Tamil woman is gang-raped and murdered by the Sri Lankan security forces.” NGO, Women Against Rape
    • Embargo on food and water has increased cases of malnutrition and deteriorating health conditions, especially among children and pregnant women
    • Body checks performed at security checkpoints by Sri Lankan male security personnel where Tamil women end up disappearing, being sexually violated, embarrassed or publicly stripped
    • Sri Lankan army videotaped their men violating and stripping bodies of fallen female LTTE fighters in contravention of articles 16 and 17 of First Geneva Convention which outlines the respectful treatment of dead bodies in the battlefield. Given the videos, the perpetrators can be easily prosecuted if the government wills, however no action is being taken.

  132. Over 300,000 Tamils are being held in Holocaust style concentration camps by the Sri Lankan Government. The camps are similar to those employed by Hitler during Nazi Germany. The Sri Lanka Military has been accused of targetting Tamil civilians and indiscriminatly bombing Hospitals during its military offensive. The Government has now banned journalists, media, and diplomats from the conflict region. The United States, United Kingdom, Canada, Israel, Mexico and all the EU nations are pushing for a war crimes probes.. Aid groups have repeatedly said that abductions, disappearances and rape occurs in these camps as the Sri Lankan Government does not allow full access to aid groups and mediators. The Sri Lankan secretary of Defense has told the BBC that Hospitals are ‘legitimate military targets’, however under the Geneva conventions, bombing medical facilities are considered war crimes. Hospitals in the conflict zone are now run in make-shift tents throughout the jungle. The Government has now banned all independent journalists and media outlets from reporting on the conflict zone. State-run media outlet’s report on the conflict using information from the official military sources. NGO’s and worldwide relief organizations see the Government’s ‘War on the Tamil Tigers’ as a disguise for exterminating the entire Tamil race from the island. The Human Rights Watch has labelled the Sri Lankan Government number one for abductions, disappearences and executions.”Those who speak out against the Government either go missing or turn up dead”, says Dr. Anna Neistat who is a senior emergency researcher for the Human Rights Watch. The Government has now even labelled international media outlets such as CNN and BBC as ‘reporting terrorist propoganda’.

  133. Sri Lanka is a Gulag Island

    Unlawful imprisonment of 300 000 innocent Tamil civilians in concentration camps is one of the reasons why i think that Sri Lanka is a gulag island
    The concept of the gulag ever since Alexander Solzhenitsyn used it in his book “Gulag Archipelago” (1918 – 1956), has come to mean a particular system of repression imposed within a whole country which has some definite characteristics. These characteristics may be described thus:

    1.The loss of the meaning of legality within a particular country.
    2.A predominant position played by a security apparatus which can virtually do whatever function relating to life and liberty of citizens without being bound by any rules.
    3.The emergence of a propaganda apparatus which is not bound by any rules relating to truth or falsehood; in fact, the meaning of any distinction between truth and falsehood disappears.
    4.The emergence of a superman controller who manipulates all the three elements mentioned above in any way that he wishes.
    5.A doomed citizenry who keep on believing that nothing has really changed while, in fact, everything has changed and who are unable to control their own destinies in any significant manner. One particular section of citizens may by suffering the worst at a particular time, but, in fact, the entire population of the country is affected more or less with the same degree of intensity but at different times.
    The position on which this article is based is that Sri Lanka is now such a gulag. All the above mentioned characteristics are now quite prominently visible within Sri Lanka. However, a phantom limb complex still continues to exist. The people wish to believe that the old legal system and the social system are still intact despite of some unhappy new aspects that cannot be denied.

  134. Aaaaa… mmmm… Gardin – I think you are still in Wonderland !

    Sri Lankan does not have any of what you have mentioned in your post. It was true about 5 months back in the northern region when it was under LTTE’s Prabhakaran’s control. But now the whole Island is peaceful and ruled by a democratically elected government and an executive president whom the majority of the people love !

    If having 300,000 is illegal, the country’s judiciary system (which is decedent of the English Judiciary) will take necessary steps to prevent having them. It is strong enough to send corrupt Army Officials, Politicians and Policemen to Jail and is an independent body which even ruled against presidential orders.

    The general elections and the presidential elections are on it’s way – few more months. You will definitely realize to yourself whether the country is democratic or not !

    All we know is that we are living in a trouble free country after almost 1/2 of a century !!

  135. Over 300,000 innocent Tamil civilians are imprisoned in concentrations camps in Sri Lanka and a leading human rights defender had received a death threat for his advocacy with the European Union. Against this backdrop, the International Movement Against all Forms of Discrimination and Racism wished to remind the members of the Council, the concerned Member States, the United Nations Secretary-General and other international institutions, of the various commitments and pledges given by the Government of Sri Lanka. It also called on the Sri Lankan Government to facilitate investigations of all allegations that had been revealed by various media institutions regarding extra-judicial killings. Finally, the International Movement Against all Forms of Discrimination and Racism wished to point out that the implementation of the 13th and 17th amendment was still outstanding and national legislation had not come into effect.

  136. Sri Lanka is a Gulag Island

    Unlawful imprisonment of 300 000 innocent Tamil civilians in concentration camps is one of the reasons why i think that Sri Lanka is a gulag island
    The concept of the gulag ever since Alexander Solzhenitsyn used it in his book “Gulag Archipelago” (1918 – 1956), has come to mean a particular system of repression imposed within a whole country which has some definite characteristics. These characteristics may be described thus:

    1.The loss of the meaning of legality within a particular country.
    2.A predominant position played by a security apparatus which can virtually do whatever function relating to life and liberty of citizens without being bound by any rules.
    3.The emergence of a propaganda apparatus which is not bound by any rules relating to truth or falsehood; in fact, the meaning of any distinction between truth and falsehood disappears.
    4.The emergence of a superman controller who manipulates all the three elements mentioned above in any way that he wishes.
    5.A doomed citizenry who keep on believing that nothing has really changed while, in fact, everything has changed and who are unable to control their own destinies in any significant manner. One particular section of citizens may by suffering the worst at a particular time, but, in fact, the entire population of the country is affected more or less with the same degree of intensity but at different times.
    The position on which this article is based is that Sri Lanka is now such a gulag. All the above mentioned characteristics are now quite prominently visible within Sri Lanka. However, a phantom limb complex still continues to exist. The people wish to believe that the old legal system and the social system are still intact despite of some unhappy new aspects that cannot be denied.

  137. Aaaaa… mmmm… Gardin – I think you are still in Wonderland !

    Sri Lankan does not have any of what you have mentioned in your post. It was true about 5 months back in the northern region when it was under LTTE’s Prabhakaran’s control. But now the whole Island is peaceful and ruled by a democratically elected government and an executive president whom the majority of the people love !

    If having 300,000 is illegal, the country’s judiciary system (which is decedent of the English Judiciary) will take necessary steps to prevent having them. It is strong enough to send corrupt Army Officials, Politicians and Policemen to Jail and is an independent body which even ruled against presidential orders.

    The general elections and the presidential elections are on it’s way – few more months. You will definitely realize to yourself whether the country is democratic or not !

    All we know is that we are living in a trouble free country after almost 1/2 of a century !!

  138. Over 300,000 innocent Tamil civilians are imprisoned in concentrations camps in Sri Lanka and a leading human rights defender had received a death threat for his advocacy with the European Union. Against this backdrop, the International Movement Against all Forms of Discrimination and Racism wished to remind the members of the Council, the concerned Member States, the United Nations Secretary-General and other international institutions, of the various commitments and pledges given by the Government of Sri Lanka. It also called on the Sri Lankan Government to facilitate investigations of all allegations that had been revealed by various media institutions regarding extra-judicial killings. Finally, the International Movement Against all Forms of Discrimination and Racism wished to point out that the implementation of the 13th and 17th amendment was still outstanding and national legislation had not come into effect.

  139. Hello Moderator!
    I just put my first comment here and i see "YOUR COMMENT IS AWAITING MODERATION".
    Why is that? Is my English not GOOD enough to put comments here?

  140. Hello Moderator!
    I just put my first comment here and i see “YOUR COMMENT IS AWAITING MODERATION”.
    Why is that? Is my English not GOOD enough to put comments here?

  141. Five Tamil and Muslim party leaders in a joint communique issued Wednesday stated that “the forcible detention of hundreds of thousands of Tamil citizens of Sri Lanka in camps for Internally Displaced Persons is illegal, without basis in the Constitution and in gross violation of international human rights norms,” and called for immediate action to “end to military administration and restrictions placed on civilians, and we urge the restoration of full civilian administration to facilitate return to economic and social normality.”

    Full text of the statement follows:

    Let Our People Free!

    The Tamil speaking peoples of Sri Lanka have suffered great hardships for many decades since Independence. They have faced discrimination and had to suffer ethnic riots, pogroms and ethnic cleansing; in the pogrom in 1983 sections of the state were involved. In the last thirty four years Sri Lanka was consumed by an ethnic civil war in which the Tamil and Muslim people and others in the North and East and elsewhere were victims. The Tamils in particular bore the brunt of the suffering. During the last stages of the war the people of the Vanni suffered traumatic pain which, despite the conclusive end of the war, has still not abated. While we are deeply concerned about the human rights violations everywhere in our island such as death threats, the killing of civilians, and the disappearance of journalists and others, we feel the need to prioritise in this communiqué such collective and unbearable pain of large numbers of our population as compels immediate intervention.

    We the undersigned affirm the following and call for an immediate end to these intolerable conditions, and in particular:
    We state that the forcible detention of hundreds of thousands of Tamil citizens of Sri Lanka in camps for Internally Displaced Persons is illegal, without basis in the Constitution and in gross violation of international human rights norms.
    These people should be released immediately to return to their homes and permitted to resume without hindrance their traditional livelihood activities such as farming and fishing, or to take up residence with friends and relatives, or to exercise their lawful right to abode elsewhere at their discretion. Those likely to face criminal charges should be produced in a court of law without further delay.
    We strongly urge that the camps, for so long as they exist, should be open to relatives, religious functionaries, parliamentarians, provincial councillors, civil society, UN agencies, journalists, and national and international aid and humanitarian organisations.
    We urge that immediate arrangements be made to allow the Muslim people who were evicted from the North and have suffered acute hardships for nearly two decades to return to their homes and to resume their economic and social activities without hindrance.
    Similar arrangements must be made to re-settle in their original homes all those in the East, who remain displaced and continue to suffer greatly.
    The restrictions on movement in and out of the Northern Province and some locations in the East should be lifted and the need for permits to enter or leave should be rescinded forthwith. In particular, any form of quarantine of the Northern Province is a violation of basic rights and should be lifted.
    The curfew and other restrictions on normality in many parts of the Northern Province and elsewhere are unjustified and we demand that normality be returned without delay. People in certain parts of the country live in fear, avoid even essential travel, and are inhibited in employment related and social activities.
    We call for an end to military administration and restrictions placed on civilians, and we urge the restoration of full civilian administration to facilitate return to economic and social normality.
    R. Sampanthan, M.P, Leader, ITAK, Leader, TNA
    Mano Ganesan, M.P., Leader, DPF
    Rauff Hakeem, M.P., Leader, SLMC
    V.Anandasangaree, Leader, TULF
    K. Vigneswaran, Leader, AITUF

  142. Sri Lanka’s failure to rapidly resettle nearly 300,000 Tamils who survived the government’s final onslaught against the Tamil Tigers and their further suffering under harsh conditions in militarised camps could result in growing bitterness, United Nations Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon warned Prime Minister Ratnasiri Wickramanayake Tuesday – the same day, the UN issued its strongest criticism yet of Sri Lanka’s continued internment of the hundreds of thousands of displacedTamils. Mr. Ban also stressed the need to expedite “a serious, independent and impartial accountability process to look into alleged violation of international law during the conflict as a critical part of moving forward and building peace in Sri Lanka,” a UN statement said.

    In a statement following his meeting with the Sri Lankan Premier, Mr. Ban noted that he had repeatedly brought up the issue of internally displaced persons (IDPs), the political process and reconciliation, and accountability for alleged violations during the long ethnic war in his various telephone conversations with President Mahinda Rajapaksa and messages conveyed through visits by senior UN officials.

    Mr. Ban underlined the importance of winning the trust and confidence of the population in the North, especially those in the IDP camps, as failure to do so could undermine the prospects for reconciliation.

    Prime Minister Wickramanayake assured Mr. Ban that the Government was keen to implement earlier pledges to resettle all IDPs out of the camps by January, but he emphasized that much international aid was needed to facilitate these efforts, especially for de-mining.

    Meanwhile, Mr. Walter Kaelin, a representative of the United Nations secretary-general, said Tuesday that civilians held in tightly-guarded camps should be granted freedom to ensure that Sri Lanka complied with its international obligations.

    "Immediate and substantial progress in restoring freedom of movement for the displaced is an imperative if Sri Lanka is to respect the rights of its citizens and comply with its commitments and obligations under international law," AFP quoted Mr. Kaelin as saying in a statement.

    Mr. Kaelin, UN representative on the human rights of internally displaced persons, criticised the slow screening of people in the camps for suspected Tamil Tigers and called for unhindered humanitarian access to the camps by international and local aid workers.

    Restoring freedom to the displaced "is becoming a matter of urgency,” he said.

    "I remain particularly concerned about the slow pace of identifying those in the camps who do not pose a threat to security and the lack of transparent criteria in this regard," he added.

    Restoring freedom to the displaced "is becoming a matter of urgency, and I remain very concerned about the very slow pace of releases", Mr. Kaelin said, two days after wrapping up a visit to camps in the island's north.

    Mr. Kaelin said a clash over the weekend between troops and people interred in one of the barbed-wire ringed camps underscored the growing tensions and human rights abuses.

    The incident "underscores how interning people in large and overcrowded camps not built for prolonged stays is in itself a factor detrimental to security," Mr. Kaelin said.

    "The use of firearms to control a group of internally displaced persons trying to move from one camp zone to another that resulted in injuries to two persons raises serious human rights issues," he noted.

  143. Vavuniyaa camps meant for detainees, not for IDPs – JVP

    “It is not a refugee camp if inmates are escaping from that in large numbers. Then it should be called a detention or internment camp. IDP families have freedom to move in and out from IDP camps which are established under international norms. It is not so in Vavuniyaa camps, Janatha Vimukthi Peramuna (JVP) parliamentarian Wijitha Herat, said at a press briefing held at JVP headquarters in Battaramulla in Colombo Wednesday to discuss matters about the plight of IDPs in Vavuniyaa camps.

    Wijitha Herat further said at the briefing that the government has been saying that it could not resettle IDPs held in Vavuniyaa camps as their villages in Vanni region are not completely de-mined.

    At that same the government is issuing statements to the effect that it has launched several development projects in Ki’linochchi, Mannaar, Jaffna and Vavuniyaa including restoration of electricity supply under the title “Northern Spring “(Vaddakkin Vasantham).

    “How could the government launch development projects in areas which are still sown with mines. Hence the government’s stand on resettlement is contradictory,” he asked.

    “My party accepts that there are some areas in Vanni infested with mines. But there are vast areas without mines. The government can resettle large numbers IDP families in these mine-free areas. The international community is trying to interfere in the internal affairs of our country under the pretext of safeguarding IDPs in Vavuniyaa. This would be possible once the northeast monsoon commences. Therefore the government should not give room for such interference,” Mr. Wijitha Herat said.

  144. I'd ask people posting comments to stick to the original topic, please. For example, the Prevention of Terrorism Act is a very important issue (and one which I may do a blog entry on at some point in the future), but it's not relevant to the topic at hand. Thanks for your consideration.

  145. Five Tamil and Muslim party leaders in a joint communique issued Wednesday stated that “the forcible detention of hundreds of thousands of Tamil citizens of Sri Lanka in camps for Internally Displaced Persons is illegal, without basis in the Constitution and in gross violation of international human rights norms,” and called for immediate action to “end to military administration and restrictions placed on civilians, and we urge the restoration of full civilian administration to facilitate return to economic and social normality.”

    Full text of the statement follows:

    Let Our People Free!

    The Tamil speaking peoples of Sri Lanka have suffered great hardships for many decades since Independence. They have faced discrimination and had to suffer ethnic riots, pogroms and ethnic cleansing; in the pogrom in 1983 sections of the state were involved. In the last thirty four years Sri Lanka was consumed by an ethnic civil war in which the Tamil and Muslim people and others in the North and East and elsewhere were victims. The Tamils in particular bore the brunt of the suffering. During the last stages of the war the people of the Vanni suffered traumatic pain which, despite the conclusive end of the war, has still not abated. While we are deeply concerned about the human rights violations everywhere in our island such as death threats, the killing of civilians, and the disappearance of journalists and others, we feel the need to prioritise in this communiqué such collective and unbearable pain of large numbers of our population as compels immediate intervention.

    We the undersigned affirm the following and call for an immediate end to these intolerable conditions, and in particular:
    We state that the forcible detention of hundreds of thousands of Tamil citizens of Sri Lanka in camps for Internally Displaced Persons is illegal, without basis in the Constitution and in gross violation of international human rights norms.
    These people should be released immediately to return to their homes and permitted to resume without hindrance their traditional livelihood activities such as farming and fishing, or to take up residence with friends and relatives, or to exercise their lawful right to abode elsewhere at their discretion. Those likely to face criminal charges should be produced in a court of law without further delay.
    We strongly urge that the camps, for so long as they exist, should be open to relatives, religious functionaries, parliamentarians, provincial councillors, civil society, UN agencies, journalists, and national and international aid and humanitarian organisations.
    We urge that immediate arrangements be made to allow the Muslim people who were evicted from the North and have suffered acute hardships for nearly two decades to return to their homes and to resume their economic and social activities without hindrance.
    Similar arrangements must be made to re-settle in their original homes all those in the East, who remain displaced and continue to suffer greatly.
    The restrictions on movement in and out of the Northern Province and some locations in the East should be lifted and the need for permits to enter or leave should be rescinded forthwith. In particular, any form of quarantine of the Northern Province is a violation of basic rights and should be lifted.
    The curfew and other restrictions on normality in many parts of the Northern Province and elsewhere are unjustified and we demand that normality be returned without delay. People in certain parts of the country live in fear, avoid even essential travel, and are inhibited in employment related and social activities.
    We call for an end to military administration and restrictions placed on civilians, and we urge the restoration of full civilian administration to facilitate return to economic and social normality.
    R. Sampanthan, M.P, Leader, ITAK, Leader, TNA
    Mano Ganesan, M.P., Leader, DPF
    Rauff Hakeem, M.P., Leader, SLMC
    V.Anandasangaree, Leader, TULF
    K. Vigneswaran, Leader, AITUF

  146. Sri Lanka’s failure to rapidly resettle nearly 300,000 Tamils who survived the government’s final onslaught against the Tamil Tigers and their further suffering under harsh conditions in militarised camps could result in growing bitterness, United Nations Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon warned Prime Minister Ratnasiri Wickramanayake Tuesday – the same day, the UN issued its strongest criticism yet of Sri Lanka’s continued internment of the hundreds of thousands of displacedTamils. Mr. Ban also stressed the need to expedite “a serious, independent and impartial accountability process to look into alleged violation of international law during the conflict as a critical part of moving forward and building peace in Sri Lanka,” a UN statement said.

    In a statement following his meeting with the Sri Lankan Premier, Mr. Ban noted that he had repeatedly brought up the issue of internally displaced persons (IDPs), the political process and reconciliation, and accountability for alleged violations during the long ethnic war in his various telephone conversations with President Mahinda Rajapaksa and messages conveyed through visits by senior UN officials.

    Mr. Ban underlined the importance of winning the trust and confidence of the population in the North, especially those in the IDP camps, as failure to do so could undermine the prospects for reconciliation.

    Prime Minister Wickramanayake assured Mr. Ban that the Government was keen to implement earlier pledges to resettle all IDPs out of the camps by January, but he emphasized that much international aid was needed to facilitate these efforts, especially for de-mining.

    Meanwhile, Mr. Walter Kaelin, a representative of the United Nations secretary-general, said Tuesday that civilians held in tightly-guarded camps should be granted freedom to ensure that Sri Lanka complied with its international obligations.

    “Immediate and substantial progress in restoring freedom of movement for the displaced is an imperative if Sri Lanka is to respect the rights of its citizens and comply with its commitments and obligations under international law,” AFP quoted Mr. Kaelin as saying in a statement.

    Mr. Kaelin, UN representative on the human rights of internally displaced persons, criticised the slow screening of people in the camps for suspected Tamil Tigers and called for unhindered humanitarian access to the camps by international and local aid workers.

    Restoring freedom to the displaced “is becoming a matter of urgency,” he said.

    “I remain particularly concerned about the slow pace of identifying those in the camps who do not pose a threat to security and the lack of transparent criteria in this regard,” he added.

    Restoring freedom to the displaced “is becoming a matter of urgency, and I remain very concerned about the very slow pace of releases”, Mr. Kaelin said, two days after wrapping up a visit to camps in the island’s north.

    Mr. Kaelin said a clash over the weekend between troops and people interred in one of the barbed-wire ringed camps underscored the growing tensions and human rights abuses.

    The incident “underscores how interning people in large and overcrowded camps not built for prolonged stays is in itself a factor detrimental to security,” Mr. Kaelin said.

    “The use of firearms to control a group of internally displaced persons trying to move from one camp zone to another that resulted in injuries to two persons raises serious human rights issues,” he noted.

  147. Vavuniyaa camps meant for detainees, not for IDPs – JVP

    “It is not a refugee camp if inmates are escaping from that in large numbers. Then it should be called a detention or internment camp. IDP families have freedom to move in and out from IDP camps which are established under international norms. It is not so in Vavuniyaa camps, Janatha Vimukthi Peramuna (JVP) parliamentarian Wijitha Herat, said at a press briefing held at JVP headquarters in Battaramulla in Colombo Wednesday to discuss matters about the plight of IDPs in Vavuniyaa camps.

    Wijitha Herat further said at the briefing that the government has been saying that it could not resettle IDPs held in Vavuniyaa camps as their villages in Vanni region are not completely de-mined.

    At that same the government is issuing statements to the effect that it has launched several development projects in Ki’linochchi, Mannaar, Jaffna and Vavuniyaa including restoration of electricity supply under the title “Northern Spring “(Vaddakkin Vasantham).

    “How could the government launch development projects in areas which are still sown with mines. Hence the government’s stand on resettlement is contradictory,” he asked.

    “My party accepts that there are some areas in Vanni infested with mines. But there are vast areas without mines. The government can resettle large numbers IDP families in these mine-free areas. The international community is trying to interfere in the internal affairs of our country under the pretext of safeguarding IDPs in Vavuniyaa. This would be possible once the northeast monsoon commences. Therefore the government should not give room for such interference,” Mr. Wijitha Herat said.

  148. I’d ask people posting comments to stick to the original topic, please. For example, the Prevention of Terrorism Act is a very important issue (and one which I may do a blog entry on at some point in the future), but it’s not relevant to the topic at hand. Thanks for your consideration.

  149. Alfonso,
    Dear friend, please obey the rules of the Terms of Use. Do not post the same comment on multiple threads. I await your visits with anticipation. Nanri

    ___________________________________________________________

    The widespread indifference in Sri Lanka to the continuing misery of 300,000 interned IDPs, most of them already unlawfully detained for many months without any charges, is a sad reflection on the moral values on the island. The reported release of a few thousand is most welcome, but what of the remaining 300,000? Attempts made to justify the internment on the grounds that some of the areas from which they were displaced may yet be land-mined are patently false, in that these prisoners could then be permitted to move temporarily to other areas to live with relatives or friends, or in accommodation provided by organizations that have already indicated a willingness to help.

  150. Alfonso,
    Dear friend, please obey the rules of the Terms of Use. Do not post the same comment on multiple threads. I await your visits with anticipation. Nanri

    ___________________________________________________________

    The widespread indifference in Sri Lanka to the continuing misery of 300,000 interned IDPs, most of them already unlawfully detained for many months without any charges, is a sad reflection on the moral values on the island. The reported release of a few thousand is most welcome, but what of the remaining 300,000? Attempts made to justify the internment on the grounds that some of the areas from which they were displaced may yet be land-mined are patently false, in that these prisoners could then be permitted to move temporarily to other areas to live with relatives or friends, or in accommodation provided by organizations that have already indicated a willingness to help.

  151. Duplicitous Colombo bereft of excuses on holding internees – ICG

    Andrew Stroehlein, International Crisis Group's Communications Director, during his testimony to the European Parliament Subcommittee on Human Rights on the situation in Sri Lanka Thursday, noted the poor and deteriorating conditions in the internment camps where more than 264,000 Tamils are being held by Colombo, and said, "[t]he worst kind of duplicity was seen just a few weeks ago, when the [Sri Lanka] government announced it had released 10,000 displaced persons. In fact, we know at least 3,300 people had been moved from an internment camp to another detention facility," and added, "Sri Lankan government has run out of excuses for continuing to keep these hundreds of thousands of innocent people prisoner."

  152. Duplicitous Colombo bereft of excuses on holding internees – ICG

    Andrew Stroehlein, International Crisis Group’s Communications Director, during his testimony to the European Parliament Subcommittee on Human Rights on the situation in Sri Lanka Thursday, noted the poor and deteriorating conditions in the internment camps where more than 264,000 Tamils are being held by Colombo, and said, “[t]he worst kind of duplicity was seen just a few weeks ago, when the [Sri Lanka] government announced it had released 10,000 displaced persons. In fact, we know at least 3,300 people had been moved from an internment camp to another detention facility,” and added, “Sri Lankan government has run out of excuses for continuing to keep these hundreds of thousands of innocent people prisoner.”

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