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Amnesty International, 03 07 2008
Amnesty International today expressed disappointment at the deportation from the UK of Sri Lankan national Vinayagamoorthi Muralitharan, known as Colonel Karuna.
Colonel Karuna has been accused of torture, hostage-taking, and the recruitment and use of children as soldiers in combat.
Amnesty International wrote to the Metropolitan Police raising concerns about the investigation on 14 May and again on 4 June 2008 but has not yet received any replies to these letters.
Together with a number of organisations, Amnesty presented information to the Metropolitan Police relating to grave allegations of human rights abuses committed by Colonel Karuna.
These included statements by victims and witnesses, and names of witnesses who were prepared to provide relevant details about Colonel Karuna's alleged crimes.
Amnesty International has received testimonies from potential witnesses who felt afraid to testify for fear of reprisals in the UK and in Sri Lanka. The organisation is also aware of at least one witness in Sri Lanka who provided information to the Metropolitan Police and is still in Sri Lanka, without having been given any protection in that country, or having been given the choice of being relocated elsewhere. Amnesty International is concerned that this witness may now face a real risk of reprisals for having given information to the police investigation into Colonel Karuna.
Amnesty International said:
'We have expressed our concerns to the Metropolitan Police that not enough may have been done to protect witnesses as they conducted their investigation. The deportation of Colonel Karuna means that the investigation by the UK authorities has come to an end.
'Colonel Karuna is entitled to be presumed innocent, until and unless guilt can be proved beyond reasonable doubt in a fair trial. We will be writing to the authorities of Sri Lanka to ask for an investigation to be started there into these allegations.'
Amnesty International calls on the UK authorities to establish effective witness protection programmes for investigations into allegations such as these, modelled on the witness protection programmes of the International Criminal Tribunal for the former Yugoslavia, the International Criminal Tribunal for Rwanda, the Special Court for Sierra Leone and the International Criminal Court. The organisation also calls on the UK authorities to set up an independent and specialised police and prosecution unit with sufficient resources to deal with crimes against humanity, torture and war crimes.
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| | AHRC, 03 07 2008
| | At least for names sake, there is a Ministry of Disaster Management and Human Rights. This appears quite fitting as the human rights situation in the country has reached a disaster level, particularly in terms of media freedoms. This ministry has not shown any will to condemn any of the attacks on the media and do all it can to activate the government machinery to investigate such crimes. Instead the spokesman for this ministry makes it appear that it is the media that may well be a threat to the defense of the country. Meanwhile, from the highest levels of the government there is a claim that the complaints about the attacks on the media are simply a ploy to discredit the country. If this be so then the government could easily disprove it by making its investigative machinery effectively probe crimes and thus demolish such ploys. The hypocritical speeches about the political will to eradicate human rights violations is seriously exposed in the face of the lack of any visible signs by the government to take the usual steps that are taken anywhere in the world to get information about crime.
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| | HRW, 02 07 2008
| | (New York, July 2, 2008) – The Sri Lankan government should end the arbitrary detention of more than 400 civilians displaced by recent fighting at a newly established camp in northern Sri Lanka, Human Rights Watch said today.
Since March 2008, the government of Sri Lanka has detained civilians fleeing areas controlled by the rebel Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE) at a so-called welfare center in Kalimoddai, Mannar district. The Sri Lankan armed forces have imposed severe restrictions on freedom of movement, instituting a daily pass system that limits to 30 the number of people who can leave the camp each day, and only if a family member remains behind to guarantee the detainees return in the evening. No court has authorized their detention and no charges have been filed against any of the camp's occupants, in violation of international human rights law.
"The Sri Lankan government shouldn’t treat civilians as criminals just because they’re fleeing a conflict area," said Brad Adams, Asia director at Human Rights Watch. "Valid security concerns should be addressed on a case-by-case basis, not with wholesale restrictions on freedom of movement."
HRW calls on GoSL to end illegal internment of IDPs in Mannaar - TamilNet, Wednesday, 02 July 2008
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| | TamilNet, Wednesday, 02 July 2008
| | Australian parliamentarian for federal state of Lowe, Mr John Murphy, submitted to the House of Representatives Wednesday, a petition signed by more than 4000 Australians calling the Australian Government "to do everything in its power to get a peaceful resolution" to Sri Lanka's conflict, and pressed for the "proper implementation of the 2002 ceasefire agreement" that brought optimism for all Sri Lankans that there would be an end to the needless death and displacement of innocent people.
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| | Hindu, Jul 01, 2008
| | RAMANATHAPURAM: The Communist Party of India (CPI) has urged Prime Minister Manmohan Singh to raise the issue of killing of innocent Tamil Nadu fishermen in the forthcoming South Asian Association for Regional Cooperation (SAARC) summit in Sri Lanka. "It is a fittest case to raise the issue in the forum, as more than 400 fishermen of Tamil Nadu were killed by Sri Lankan Navy since 1983. No other country in the world is killing the fishermen of other countries whatever may be the reasons except Sri Lanka," said D. Pandian, State secretary, CPI.
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NewIndPress, Monday June 30 2008
CHENNAI: The coordinator of Tamil Eelam Liberation Supporter’s Co-ordination Committee, Pazha Nedumaran, on Sunday expressed dismay over the union government allegedly mobilising troops to Sri Lanka in the pretext of employing them for the safety of Prime Minister Manmohan Singh, who will be visiting the island nation for the SAARC conference soon.
No nation hosting such a conference would approve of the arrival of troops en masse from other countries, Nedumaran said in a statement, adding that troop mobilisation was done with the intent to assist the Lankan army in decimating ethnic Tamils.
So far, about 1,500 troops had already been moved to Sri Lanka and a like number was in the offing to be moved there, Nedumaran asserted, flaying the Centre and appealing to Tamils world over to unite against the plan.
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justiceformuttur.org, 28 06 2008
On August 4th 2006, 17 ACF aid workers were murdered in the town of Muttur, located in the North East of Sri Lanka. This slaughter accounts for the most dramatic crime ever committed against a non-governmental organization. Shortly after, three investigation proceedings were launched in Sri Lanka and none came to an answer. Today, ACF wishes the opening of an international investigation in order to shed light on the circumstances and the criminals responsible of the Muttur slaughter.
Why signing this petition?
Because 17 people are dead and the culprits haven’t been identified yet.
For the relatives and the victims’ families.
Because considering the failure assessment of Sri Lankan judicial proceedings, only an international inquiry will lead to the truth.
Because when an aid worker is killed, it is humanitarian principles which are reconsidered and as much vulnerable people who will not receive help anymore.
Because too much aid workers are killed each year, in Sri Lanka and in the world, and because we have to do everything possible to end this impunity.
Because the international solidarity should not be hostage of the violence.
France backs ACF call for int'l probe on Muttur massacre - The Sunday Leader, 29 06 2008
"As the event on the 17th was the official launching of the campaign aimed at obtaining an international inquiry, ACF requests the support of France, European Union, Co-chairs of the Tokyo conference at this specific moment. We decided to go step by step asking first for the support of France," Lucile Grosjean, head of ACF's communications officer said adding that the French government had reacted positively. "As requested by ACF, we are going to explore with our international partners the possibility of setting up an international commission of inquiry," French Foreign Minister Bernard Kouchner said in Paris on June 17 according to transcripts made available by the French Foreign Ministry.
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IFT Press release, Geneva, 26th June 2008
The International Federation of Tamils (IFT) is
disappointed that the anti-terrorist
legislation has been misused to suppress the voice of the Canadian Tamil
Diaspora by listing the World Tamil Movement
(WTM) as a 'terrorist' organization. This comes in the wake of the arrests
of Tamils in Europe, the USA and Australia
on similar charges.
The rationale for these actions is clearly based on the Tamil Diaspora's
support for the Liberation Tigers of Tamil
Eelam (LTTE), which has been listed as a terrorist organization by these
countries. The Tamil Diaspora's support for
the LTTE stems from its unswerving commitment to the democratic verdict
delivered by the Tamil people in 1977 at a free
and fair election for independence from Sinhala rule.
Tamils are mindful that it was the Sinhala State's oppression of Tamils
through state orchestrated pogroms and
draconian 'anti-terrorism' legislation that caused thousands of Tamils to
flee the island in search of refuge.
Tamils are also mindful that it is the LTTE that has since then defended them
from this brutal oppression and it is
the LTTE which has on behalf of the Tamil people entered into negotiations and
signed Cease Fire Agreements. Nor are
Tamils unaware that it is the LTTE which administers the defacto Tamil state.
It is ironical that those very governments, which, over the years have provided
refuge for Tamils fleeing persecution
by successive Sri Lankan regimes, should cause Tamils fear persecution for
voicing their political views!
IFT denounces the measures undertaken by these governments as plainly unhelpful
and clearly counter productive.
Instead of criminalizing the Diaspora's support for the LTTE, IFT calls for
actions to address the root cause of a
conflict which has driven hundreds of thousands of Tamils out of Sri Lanka
and forced tens of thousands resort
to an armed struggle.
Indeed by engaging with the Tamil Diaspora communities, the international
community can help forge an enduring peace
in the island of Sri Lanka.
IFT will support all initiatives by international governments for engagement
with the Tamil Diaspora to;
Understand the Diaspora's motives for supporting the Tamileelam struggle
for self-determination spearheaded by the
LTTE.
Consider the Diaspora's views on structures for the Tamil and Sinhala
people to coexist as equals within the island
of Sri Lanka.
Enhance the Diaspora's capacity to promote democracy and build the economy
of the Tamil state.
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| | TamilNet, 25 Jun 2008
| | Welcoming the reiterated stand of the International Community (IC) that there is no military solution to the conflict in Sri Lanka, a Norwegian Tamil organisation urged Tuesday global mediators to adopt a principled approach to the conflict in Sri Lanka. The organisation called on the IC to recognise the historical realities that there is a legacy of oppression by the Sri Lankan state against the Tamils and that the constitution of Sri Lanka has been a major hurdle in implementing agreed arrangements under the ethnic-majoritarian rule. The appeal further urged the IC to affirm that the Tamil people have a justifiable concern to safeguard the territorial integrity of their homeland.
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