SRI LANKA News Overview March 2014

Transcription

SRI LANKA News Overview
March 2014
An overview of the latest news items about
democracy, human rights, press freedom and
freedom of religion
Compiled by Just Now, March 2014
www.just-now.eu
Table of Contents
1
Introduction ..................................................................................................................................... 3
2
Democracy ....................................................................................................................................... 4
3
2.1
Ruled by one Family ................................................................................................................ 4
2.2
Army is in control of the Northern Province ........................................................................... 5
Human Rights .................................................................................................................................. 6
3.1
Disappearances ....................................................................................................................... 6
3.1.1
3.2
5
6
Abduction, Rape and Torture .................................................................................................. 6
3.2.1
Sri Lanka's unanswered questions over human rights .................................................... 6
3.2.2
Tamils 'raped and tortured' by Sri Lankan security forces .............................................. 7
3.2.3
Is Sri Lanka turning into a rogue state? ........................................................................... 7
3.2.4
Scars of Sri Lanka ............................................................................................................. 8
3.3
4
Relatives search for Sri Lanka's missing .......................................................................... 6
"War Crimes" ........................................................................................................................... 9
3.3.1
Sri Lanka’s Northern Council seeks international war crimes probe .............................. 9
3.3.2
Catholic bishops tell US: probe Sri Lanka's alleged use of cluster munitions in civil war 9
3.3.3
The Truth about the Assassination of 17 Humanitarian Aid Workers in Sri Lanka ......... 9
3.3.4
Channel 4: New video evidence of grotesque violations .............................................. 11
3.3.5
Investigating the Sri Lankan civil war: International Crimes Evidence Project ............. 12
3.3.6
Sri Lanka mass grave yields more skeletons.................................................................. 12
3.4
Reports from UN Human Rights Council ............................................................................... 13
3.5
Reports from Amnesty International .................................................................................... 13
3.6
Reports from Human Rights Watch ...................................................................................... 14
Freedom of speech and press freedom......................................................................................... 15
4.1
Journalist's death a sign of Sri Lanka's brutalisation? ........................................................... 15
4.2
Sri Lanka en World Press Freedom Index .............................................................................. 15
Freedom of Religion ...................................................................................................................... 16
5.1
Sri Lanka mosque closes after attack by Buddhist mob ........................................................ 16
5.2
Churches attacked ................................................................................................................. 16
Conclusion ..................................................................................................................................... 17
Sri Lanka news overview March 2014
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1 Introduction
Since May 2009, after the end of the civil war, the Sri Lankan government has managed to
improve infrastructure and to resettle most of the displaced persons.
Despite these positive developments, there are still issues that require the attention of the
international community. In particular, the developments with regard to democracy, human
rights and press freedom are not improved as the government had promised at the UN
Human Rights Council meetings from 2009 onwards.
Another serious development arising around the freedom of religion. Nationalist elements
from the majority community is targeting religion of the minorities. Several serious attacks
on mosques and churches have been carried out recently.
After the end of the civil war in May 2009, European Union has made a case for a resolution
to include an independent investigation into human rights violations and prosecution of the
parties that committed war crimes in Sri Lanka. This resolution was not adopted.
Nearly five years after the end of the civil war, the Sri Lankan government did not provide
any clear explanation for:
- civilian casualties
- missing persons
- Investigations on human rights violations
In the past year several cases of disappearances, torture and rape have been reported by
several human rights organizations and prominent news agencies.
This document contains a compilation of notable developments on these issues and provides
the source to them.
Just Now Foundation, which is committed to support justice and peace in Sri Lanka requests
the governments of the European Union and other countries of the Human rights council to
pay attention to these matters and to take appropriate actions.
On behalf of Just Now Foundation in Maastricht,
M.H.J. Jansen, Chairman
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2
Democracy
2.1 Ruled by one Family
Many family members are part of the Sri Lankan government. The 4 Rajapaksa brothers in
the highest positions and the son of the president is a Member of Parliament.
Mahinda Rajapaksa
President
Gotabaya Rajapaksa (brother of the
president)
Defense secretary
Basil Rajapaksa (brother of de president)
Minister of Economic Development
Chamel Rajapaksa (brother of the president)
Speaker of the parliament
Namal Rajapaksa (son of the president)
Member of parliament
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2.2 Army is in control of the Northern Province
The first ever chief minister for Sri Lanka's Tamil-dominated Northern Province has told the
BBC that the central government should stop viewing the north as a "terrorist area", and
must give the province meaningful political powers.
C. V. Wigneswaran's Tamil National Alliance swept to power in September.
Last month, the Northern Provincial Council passed a motion calling for an international
probe into alleged war crimes in Sri Lanka.
The BBC's Charles Haviland asked Mr Wigneswaran - who is himself Tamil - for his view of
the controversial resolution.
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-asia-26274032
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3
Human Rights
3.1 Disappearances
3.1.1 Relatives search for Sri Lanka's missing
Relatives of missing people in Sri Lanka have flocked to testify at a new commission set up to
examine the issue of the missing. The island has thousands of outstanding unsolved cases of
disappearance, many, though not all, of people suspected of involvement with the Tamil
Tigers.
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-26204397
3.2 Abduction, Rape and Torture
3.2.1 Sri Lanka's unanswered questions over human rights
The BBC has spoken to people in Sri Lanka who say they have been threatened with rape and
tortured at the hands of officials. The group Human Rights Watch says rape and sexual
violence are widely used against detainees, something the government denies. Sri Lanka's
Foreign Minister has said the country's investigations into human rights violations have been
adequate.
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3.2.2 Tamils 'raped and tortured' by Sri Lankan security forces
As David Cameron and other world leaders prepare to meet in Sri Lanka for the
Commonwealth Heads Of Government Meeting, allegations of rape and torture by the
country's security forces have emerged.
3.2.3 Is Sri Lanka turning into a rogue state?
Despite government claims of peace, torture and abductions continue to be used to stifle
ethnic and political dissent.
Every international effort aimed at pressurising the Sri Lankan regime to probe war crime
charges is interpreted by the Rajapaksa regime as an international conspiracy launched
together with pro-LTTE elements in the Tamil Diaspora to defeat the government. And the
people believe him.
Rajapaksa says the war the Sri Lankan troops fought was to protect lives - and as
commander-in-chief, he rejects the war crime charges levelled against them by various
human rights groups, the United Nations, the United States, Canada, Britain and the Channel
4 television. Their reports, which make Sri Lanka appear as though it is a rogue state in the
eyes of the world community, cite eyewitness accounts, videos and photographic evidence.
http://www.aljazeera.com/indepth/opinion/2014/02/sri-lanka-turning-into-rogue-st201427155047672139.html
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3.2.4 Scars of Sri Lanka
Since the end of hostilities four years ago, the government has been keen to prevent a
future Tamil insurgency, and stands accused of continuing to question and detain those
suspected of harbouring LTTE sympathies. Those who do emerge from the detention centres
speak of the routine use of torture and sexual violence against men or women.
In a report earlier this year, Human Rights Watch documented 75 cases of alleged rape and
sexual abuse that occurred from 2006-2012 in both official and secret detention centers
throughout Sri Lanka. Many of these abuses occurred after the hostilities ended in 2009 and
include victims who had returned to their homeland to visit family or rebuild their lives in
the new and peaceful post-war country.
http://www.aljazeera.com/programmes/101east/2013/12/scars-sri-lanka2013122492410187367.html
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3.3 "War Crimes"
3.3.1 Sri Lanka’s Northern Council seeks international war crimes probe
Sri Lanka’s Northern Provincial Council (NPC) passed a resolution calling for an international
probe into the war crimes allegedly committed during the country’s ethnic conflict.
The resolution was proposed by NPC member M.K. Shivajilingam of the Tamil National
Alliance (TNA), which formed the NPC administration after winning the 2013 provincial
elections.
The resolution comes less than two months before United Nations Human Rights
Commissioner Navi Pillay is due to submit a written report to the Human Rights Council in
Geneva on the progress made by Sri Lanka in fixing accountability for alleged war crimes.
http://www.thehindu.com/news/international/sri-lankas-northern-council-seeksinternational-war-crimes-probe/article5623473.ece
3.3.2 Catholic bishops tell US: probe Sri Lanka's alleged use of cluster munitions
in civil war
Roman Catholic bishops in Sri Lanka's former war zone have called for an international war
crimes investigation into the country's civil war including whether government forces used
cluster munitions and chemical weapons in densely populated areas.
Rev. Rayappu Joseph and Rev. Thomas Saundaranayagam made the request during a
meeting with Stephen J. Rapp, an ambassador-at-large with the Office of Global Criminal
Justice of the United States.
Joseph told reporters after the meeting in the northern town of Jaffna that civilians who
survived a bloody final stage of a quarter-century civil war had reported that cluster
munitions and chemical weapons were widely used.
http://www.foxnews.com/us/2014/01/09/catholic-bishops-tell-us-probe-sri-lanka-allegeduse-cluster-munitions-in-civil/
3.3.3 The Truth about the Assassination of 17 Humanitarian Aid Workers in Sri
Lanka
Action Against Hunger | ACF International launches report to disclose the role of Sri Lankan
security forces in the massacre of its seventeen humanitarian colleagues.*
3rd December 2013 – Ahead of International Human Rights Day, observed on 10th
December, humanitarian organisation Action Against Hunger | ACF International reveals
publicly for the first time who is responsible for the assassination of the 17 humanitarian aid
workers killed on 4th August 2006 in the city of Muttur, Sri Lanka, and who protected the
perpetrators of the crime. In one of the most serious crimes ever committed against
humanitarian workers, the 17 aid workers were lined up, forced to their knees and shot in
the head.
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Entitled The Truth about the Assassination of 17 Humanitarian Aid Workers in Sri Lanka, the
report unveils that according to the information ACF holds, the aid workers were
assassinated by members of the Sri Lankan security forces and the criminals were covered
up by Sri Lankan top authorities.
http://www.actionagainsthunger.org.uk/mediaroom/latest-news/the-truth-about-theassassination-of-17-humanitarian-aid-workers-in-sri-lanka/
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3.3.4 Channel 4: New video evidence of grotesque violations
There has been no shortage of distressing images emerging from the final two or three years
of Sri Lanka's awful civil war. But this footage is amongst the worst I have seen, writes
Callum Macrae.
http://www.channel4.com/news/sri-lanka-video-war-sexual-violation-tamil-executionmacrae
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3.3.5 Investigating the Sri Lankan civil war: International Crimes Evidence
Project
The International Crimes Evidence Project (ICEP), a project of PIAC, was established to
conduct objective, independent investigations into serious alleged violations of international
law in the Asia-Pacific region.
ICEP has recently undertaken an investigation into alleged war crimes and other breaches of
international law committed during the final months of the Sri Lankan civil war in 20082009. ICEP aims to contribute to accountability for violations of international law and
achieving justice for victims of alleged crimes committed during the civil war.
ICEP’s investigation is independent and impartial. ICEP’s work has been guided by its
Committee of Experts, comprising some of the world’s leading experts on international
criminal law and war crimes investigations.
A 2013 UN Human Rights Council (HRC) resolution requires the Sri Lankan Government to
report back to the HRC on its alleged violations of international law by March 2014. ICEP has
prepared a report to assist UN HRC member states in their consideration of the final stages
of the civil war and post-conflict accountability and justice.
http://www.piac.asn.au/projects/node/6069/information
3.3.6 Sri Lanka mass grave yields more skeletons
Four more human skulls have been unearthed at a mass grave discovered last month in
northern Sri Lanka. Sofar 55 skeletons have been unearthed.
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3.4 Reports from UN Human Rights Council
Promoting reconciliation and accountability in Sri Lanka - Report of
the Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human
Rights.
http://daccess-ods.un.org/TMP/7100742.45929718.html
A list of documents regarding Sri Lanka available on the UNHCR can
be found by following the link below.
http://ap.ohchr.org/documents/dpage_e.aspx?c=173&su=172
3.5 Reports from Amnesty International
UN report must be call to action on international war crimes
investigation.
"It’s utterly shameful that five years after Sri Lanka’s armed conflict
ended, the victims and family members have yet to see justice. Navi
Pillay’s latest report is another urgent and poignant reminder that
an international investigation into alleged human rights violations
and war crimes cannot wait"
Polly Truscott, Amnesty International’s Deputy Asia-Pacific Director
http://www.amnesty.org/en/news/sri-lanka-un-report-must-be-call-action-internationalwar-crimes-investigation-2014-02-24
The Human Rights Council must help Sri Lankan victims of human rights violations; the
Government is protecting the perpetrators: Amnesty International’s written statement to
the 25th session of the
UN Human Rights Council (3 - 28 March 2014).
http://www.amnesty.org/en/library/asset/ASA37/002/2014/en/424ad30f-1771-45d9-8ea55ce325dbd0dd/asa370022014en.pdf
The international community must keep up pressure on the Sri Lankan government to
address its human rights crisis, Amnesty International said as the Commonwealth Heads of
Government Meeting (CHOGM) in Colombo draws to a close.
http://www.amnesty.nl/nieuwsportaal/pers/sri-lanka-world-must-not-abandon-sri-lanka-svictims-after-chogm
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3.6 Reports from Human Rights Watch
“The Sri Lankan government makes a lot of claims about pursuing
accountability for wartime abuses, but the world is still waiting to see some
results,” said Brad Adams, Asia director at Human Rights Watch. “It’s clearer
than ever that an independent international investigation is needed to
make genuine progress in providing justice for victims.”
http://www.hrw.org/news/2014/01/21/sri-lanka-little-progress-rights
“Does anyone specifically have a question that’s not on Sri Lanka or human rights?” the
spokesman for this weekend’s Commonwealth Heads of Government Meeting pleaded with
reporters, according to a report by Australia’s ABC.
http://www.hrw.org/news/2013/11/17/dispatches-rights-issues-trump-all-chogm-sri-lanka
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Freedom of speech and press freedom
4.1 Journalist's death a sign of Sri Lanka's brutalisation?
One of Sri Lanka's most prominent journalists, Mel Gunasekera, was stabbed to death in her
home. Although this death does not appear to have been politically motivated, Sri Lankans
have reacted by lamenting what they say is the "brutalised" nature of their country.
4.2 Sri Lanka en World Press Freedom Index
Sri Lanka ranks at 162th position from 179 countries from World Freedom Index and belongs
to the group of countries with very serious situation.
http://fr.rsf.org/IMG/pdf/classement_2013_gb-bd.pdf
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Freedom of Religion
5.1 Sri Lanka mosque closes after attack by Buddhist mob
A mosque in the Sri Lankan capital has been closed after an attack by a Buddhist mob over
the weekend sparked clashes in which five people were hurt.
5.2 Churches attacked
Police in Sri Lanka say they have identified and intend to arrest 24 people, including eight
Buddhist monks, allegedly involved in attacks on two churches.
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6 Conclusion
The Sri Lankan government, established the LLRC " Lessons Learnt and Reconciliation
Commission ". Many renowned international human rights organizations questioned the
independence of this committee, because this committee would investigate possible human
rights violations committed by the military.
The LLRC has proposed a number of short-and long-term recommendations . Most of these
recommendations are not followed or implemented. It is hard to imagine that a committee
formed by the government will investigate possible involvement of the Sri Lanka army in
human rights violations independently.
Several human rights organizations from within and outside Sri Lanka have repeatedly called
for an international independent investigation into human rights violations in Sri Lanka
Just Now Foundation calls on the Foreign Ministers of the EU to support an independent
investigation into human rights violations in Sri Lanka via the Human Rights Council of the
United Nations.
------------------For more information please visit: www.just-now.eu
For correspondence: Stichting Just Now, Postbus 500, 6200 AM Maastricht, The Netherlands.
Email: [email protected]
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SRI LANKA News Overview March 2014

Transcription

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