Mostly I’ve been blogging about the internally displaced civilians who are being held in internment camps in northern Sri Lanka. The Sri Lankan government says they can’t be released until they’ve been screened to determine if any are former fighters with the opposition Tamil Tigers. Amnesty International is conducting our “Unlock the Camps” campaign to demand that these displaced civilians get the freedom of movement they’re entitled to.
Today, however, I want to talk about the more than 10,000 suspected Tiger members who are being held, separately from the displaced civilians, by the Sri Lankan government. Amnesty International reported today that one of those detainees, Sri Chandramorgan, was seriously injured last Tuesday when he tried to escape from the teachers training college where he is being held. The college is being used as an unofficial detention center to hold suspected former combatants. It was rumored that Sri Chandramorgan had been killed when he tried to escape; the rumor of his killing sparked a clash between the security forces and the detainees at the college.
Unofficial detention centers, which aren’t officially acknowledged by the government, unfortunately have a long history in Sri Lanka and have been used to facilitate torture, disappearances and political killings by the security forces. The International Committee of the Red Cross has had no access to the suspected Tiger members being held by the government. Many of them have not had contact with anyone outside the detention centers, most of which are not officially acknowledged as places of detention by the government.
Although the Tamil Tigers were responsible for thousands of grave human rights abuses during the war with the Sri Lankan government, that does not mean that former Tiger combatants (or those suspected of links with the Tigers) do not have any rights. They should be treated humanely, in officially recognized places of detention, and not be subjected to torture or other ill-treatment. They should be allowed access to their families, lawyers and doctors and have the right to challenge the lawfulness of their detention in court. They should be promptly charged with a recognizable crime in civilian courts and provided a fair trial in accordance with international standards.
I know some may say that the Tigers didn’t afford any of this to the people they held prisoner during the war, but surely the Sri Lankan government wouldn’t want to use the Tigers as a standard of measurement for adherence to human rights standards?
“Additionally, the Council should establish an independent international investigation into violations of international humanitarian law during the fighting between the government and the LTTE.”
Amnesty International has been calling for such an investigation for some time. Thousands of civilians were killed in the last stages of the fighting between the Sri Lankan government and the opposition Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE). Amnesty has received testimonies that both the Sri Lankan security forces and the LTTE were responsible for severe violations of international human rights and humanitarian law, including war crimes, during the fighting. The Sri Lankan government had promised the UN in a joint statement in late May to investigate those violations, but since then nothing has been done by the Sri Lankan government to fulfill those promises. Yesterday, a UN official said that the UN was concerned about the lack of progess on this issue, among others in Sri Lanka. The UN should establish an international investigation now.
“In Sri Lanka, internally displaced presons are effectively detained under conditions of internment. Humanitarian agencies’ access to these camps remains restricted, and the mandates of relief agencies are increasingly coming under threat.”
In response to the High Commissioner’s statement, Mahinda Samarasinghe, the Sri Lankan Minister of Disaster Management and Human Rights, told the Council that the internally displaced civilians would be allowed to leave the camps once they were screened to ensure that they weren’t members of the opposition Tamil Tigers. The Minister gave no timeframe for when this screening might be completed. So far, 6,490 people are reported to have been released from the camps, out of a total population of about 265,000.
Unfortunately for the Sri Lankan government, arbitrary detention of the displaced civilians isn’t allowed under international law – specifically, the UN Guiding Principles on Internal Displacement. The Principles do say that if in “exceptional circumstances” it is “absolutely necessary” to confine internally displaced civilians in a camp, such confinement can’t “last longer than required by the circumstances” (see Principle 12(2)). The Sri Lankan government claims that members of the Tigers may be hidden among the civilians and that if these members of the Tigers were released, they could resume attacks. If the Sri Lankan government’s logic were correct, the government would be equally justified in rounding up the entire Tamil population throughout the country, and detaining them all until they could prove they weren’t members of the Tigers. The internally displaced civilians shouldn’t have to prove their innocence to win the freedom of movement they’re entitled to.
I hope the UN Human Rights Council takes up again the situation in Sri Lanka and gets the Sri Lankan government to release the internally displaced civilians from the camps as soon as possible.
It was also reported today that UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon was sending the UN’s political chief, B. Lynn Pascoe, to Sri Lanka tomorrow for talks with the Sri Lankan government, including on the issue of getting the internally displaced civilians released from the camps. Even if the UN Human Rights Council doesn’t act, I hope the Secretary-General is able to get the displaced civilians released soon.
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.
Over the weekend, it was reported that Sri Lanka had cancelled the visa of James Elder, the United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF) spokesperson in Sri Lanka, for comments he had made earlier this year during the goverment’s war with the opposition Tamil Tigers. Mr. Elder had regularly expressed concern about civilians caught in the conflict and more recently about issues such as malnutrition among children in the camps for displaced civilians. UNICEF defended Mr. Elder’s earlier comments and said it was very concerned about the Sri Lankan government’s decision. U.N. Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon issued a statement today through his spokesperson expressing regret for the government’s decision and saying that he would personally raise the issue with Sri Lankan President Mahinda Rajapaksa. Yesterday, the Sri Lankan government said that it was reviewing its decision in Mr. Elder’s case.
Amnesty International has reported how freedom of expression has been under severe restriction in Sri Lanka. I hope the Sri Lankan government reconsiders its decision in Mr. Elder’s case, so he doesn’t become one more example of the dangers of speaking out in Sri Lanka.
The British news company, Channel 4, has released another shocking video on Sri Lanka, this time on the terrible conditions facing Sri Lanka’s displaced Tamils in the internment camps they’re currently held in. (For background on this story, see the Sri Lanka page on the AIUSA website.) Like the earlier execution video released by Channel 4, Amnesty International cannot confirm whether the video and pictures reportedly shot inside the camps two weeks ago are authentic. We could do so if the Sri Lankan government would allow aid workers and independent human rights observers full, unimpeded access to the camps and their civilian population.
It’s imperative that conditions in the camps be improved quickly, especially with the monsoon rains coming in the next few weeks. But even more important, the civilians must be allowed to leave the camps if they wish. On that score, we may have gotten some good news today: the Sri Lankan government announced today that civilians in the camps could be released if they had relatives willing to take them. We’ll see whether this is implemented and how many it will apply to. But even those civilians without such relatives are still entitled to freedom of movement. Being caught in a war zone is not a crime; the displaced civilians should not be treated as criminals. Unlock the camps now!
I was shocked this morning when I heard the news that J.S. Tissainayagam, the detained Sri Lankan journalist, was sentenced to 20 years rigorous imprisonment by the Sri Lankan High Court. Tissainayagam has been detained for the last 18 months and was tried under Sri Lanka’s draconian Prevention of Terrorism Act for writing two magazine articles in 2006 critical of the government’s conduct of the war against the opposition Tamil Tigers. Amnesty International considers Tissainayagam to be a prisoner of conscience, detained and prosecuted solely for his legitimate work as a journalist, and has been calling for his immediate, unconditional release.
Today, Aug. 30, is the International Day of the Disappeared, observed by Amnesty International and other human rights groups around the word to remember the disappeared and to press for justice for the victims of enforced disappearance and their families. An “enforced disappearance” occurs when agents of the state arrest a person and the state then denies any knowledge of the person’s status or whereabouts. Over the past several decades, Sri Lanka has experienced tens of thousands of enforced disappearances, most of which remain unresolved. Most of those responsible for these enforced disappearances have never been held accountable. Please remember the disappeared today, especially those in Sri Lanka, and help to get the International Convention for the Protection of All Persons from Enforced Disappearance adopted.
The Sri Lankan government is facing renewed calls for an investigation into human rights abuses after a graphic video was released showing extra-judicial killings.
Journalists for Democracy in Sri Lanka, which obtained the material, said this video was filmed in January – when the international media were prevented by the Sri Lankan government from covering the conflict zone.
The video shows a uniformed soldier shooting a naked man in the head. Eight dead bodies can be seen in the video as well.
Although Amnesty International is not able to verify the footage on this video, it raises important questions about violations committed during the recent conflict.
And the reaction to the video underscores the precarious situation in Sri Lanka, where tensions remain high. In response to the video, the International Secretariat of Amnesty International repeated its call for “an international, independent and credible investigation into what took place during the final days of the conflict.”
The Sri Lankan governmnet has decried the video as “absolutely false”, suggesting that those who put forth the video of supporters of the LTTE.
What remains to be seen is if the video is used–by all parties–to further divisions or to create an important discussion about the violations during the recent conflict.
You may not have been aware of it, but this past Wednesday, Aug. 19, was the first World Humanitarian Day. August 19 was designated by the U.N. General Assembly last December as a day each year to honor aid workers around the world, especially those who have given their lives in the line of duty.
The UN website about the World Humanitarian Day noted that in Sri Lanka, 17 staff of the French aid agency Action contre la Faim (ACF) (Action Against Hunger) were killed in August 2006. While the Sri Lankan government has blamed the opposition Tamil Tigers for the killings, a recent report by the Sri Lankan human rights group, University Teachers for Human Rights (Jaffna), provides evidence pointing to the security forces as the killers. And Amnesty International’s report, “Twenty Years of Make-Believe: Sri Lanka’s Commissions of Inquiry, details serious deficiencies of subsequent government investigations into the massacre.
It’s been more than 3 years, and still the killers of the 17 ACF staff have not been brought to justice. One more example of the continuing impunity enjoyed by the Sri Lankan security forces. I hope that by next year’s World Humanitarian Day, I won’t be able to make the same statement.
Amnesty International works to protect human rights worldwide. We have more than 2.2 million supporters, activists and volunteers in over 150 countries, and are completely independent from government, corporate or national interests.
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Sarah Hager is a volunteer leader at Amnesty International USA, serving as Chair of the Southern Africa Co-Group where she guides the efforts of Country Specialists monitoring human rights in twelve countries. See all »
