complaint on tamil genocide

8/14/2019 Complaint on Tamil Genocide

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Mr. Luis Moreno OcampoPublic ProsecutorOffice of the Public ProsecutorInternational Criminal Court of JusticePost Office Box; 195192500 CM The HagueTHE NETHERLANDS

Respected Sir

Subject: Complaint against Srilankan President Mr.MahindaRajapakshe for war crimes and genocide, urging a probe byyour office regarding.

We are enclosing a book titled: Tamil Genocide under NeoNazism, which charge sheets the Sinhalese Governments forTamil massacres committed from 1956 to 2001 when ceasefire period delivered a short lived peace. The Tamil genocidecould not be buried by keeping international media and UNout of the theatre of war. We Indian Tamils took the decisionto place before UN Security Council that Tamil Genocide is acontinuing crime that had crossed half a century. This bookcontains our appeal to UN Security Council to urge you thePublic Prosecutor of the International Criminal Court ofJustice to start the probe into the Tamil Genocide.

After the lull of Norway brokered Peace, we have yet to

complete compiling the crimes committed by SrilankanGovernment.The usage of chemical weapons in the theatre of war and itssupplier nations which violated international law andconventions should be subjected to probe. We quote therelevant law which fits the definition in each and every wordand word by word all the crimes have been committed bySrilanka

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Crimes against humanity, Art. 7, Rome Statute ofInternational Criminal Code describes these as: Murder,

Extermination, persecution, enforced disappearances,torture, intentionally causing great hurt, great suffering, orserious injury to body or to mental or physical health,deportation or forcible transfer of population.

War Crimes, Art.8, Rome Statute of International CriminalCode describe these as: Bombing of hospitals, civilianhabitations, prevention of supply of basic amenities such asfood, water, medicines.

Apart from committing each and every crime the framers ofRome Statute brought into the definition of crimes, SrilankanPresident Mr.Mahinda Rajapakshe used starvation asweapon of war,

"Article 54(1) of Additional Protocol I to the Four GenevaConventions of 1949 sets forth a rule of customaryinternational humanitarian law that obligates every state in

the world: "Starvation of civilians as a method of warfare isprohibited." Furthermore, starvation of civilians as a methodof warfare can also constitute an act of genocide as definedby Article II (c) of the 1948 Genocide Convention:

It is needless to state that ""the European Union must followup on its call for an investigation of war crimes againstcivilians." The United Nations adopted a resolution in 2005on the "responsibility to protect" populations that are notprotected by their own governments. The massive killing andwounding of civilians on Sri Lanka represents exactly the sortof case that resolution was meant to address."

Hence our appeal is to your office that what we seek isalready finding endorsements in European Union and in UN,and it will be appropriate for you to order for a probe intoTamil Genocide.

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IN THE INTERNATIONALCRIMINAL COURT OF JUSTICE

AT HAGUE

N.NandhivarmanGeneral SecretaryDravida Peravai9 Ramaraja StreetPuducherry 605001

To

Mr. Luis Moreno OcampoPublic ProsecutorOffice of the Public ProsecutorInternational Criminal Court of JusticePost Office Box; 195192500 CM The HagueTHE NETHERLANDS

Respected Sir,

Subject: Complaint against Srilankan President MahindaRajapakshe on the genocide, ethnic cleansing and warcrimes throwing all canons of international law to winds.

The petitioner recalls your words at the outset. "I deeplyhope that the horrors humanity has suffered during the 20thcentury will serve us as a painful lesson, and that thecreation of the International Criminal Court will help us toprevent those atrocities from being repeated in the future."[Statement made by Luis Moreno-Ocampo on the occasionof his election as first Prosecutor of the International CriminalCourt by the Assembly of States Parties in New York on 22

April 2003.]

International Campaign to End Genocide lists out that 1.5million Armenians, 3 million Ukrainians, 6 million Jews,2,50,000 gypsies, 6 million Slavs,1 million Ibos, 200,000

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Guatemalans, 1.7 million Cambodians, 500,000 Indonesians,200,000 East Timorese , 2,50,000 Burundians, 500,000

Ugandans, 2 million Sudanese, 800,000 Rwandans, 2 millionNorth Koreans and 10,000 Kosovo's lost their lives underGenocide during last century.

Awareness on Genocide started in 1944, when a JewishRefugee from Poland who taught in USA coined the wordGenocide in his book Axis Rule in Occupied Europe. Tamilsof Ceylon, currently known as Srilanka started to learn thebitter truth about Genocide from 1956.

Dravida Peravai encloses you a book titled Tamil Genocideunder Neo-Nazism, which is a charge sheet againstSrilankan Governments wherein Tamil massacres since1956 to 2001 are complied by a non-governmentalorganization. Though the language used is not so fluent withmany spelling mistakes on the names of persons and places,we have thanked the first ever effort made, and had attachedthat report to our complaint made to the President of the

Security Council for the month of May, to the GeneralSecretary of the United Nations and to the representatives ofthe Member Nations of the Security Council. In that letter wehave urged the Security Council to direct our complaint toyou urging you to begin the probe into the issue of TamilGenocide since 1956 to till date i.e. 2009. The copy is in thefirst few pages of the enclosed book. We urge TheInternational Criminal Court of Justice probe using all arms ofthe United Nations and non governmental organizations andto compile all the crimes of genocide committed by Srilankangovernments since independence but with emphasis of thecurrent Government of Mr.Mahinda Rajapakhse.

Winston Churchill called genocide, a crime without name,before the word was coined. Now the Srilankan President ispursuing that crime without witness. The War without witnessmay be called a war against terrorism by SrilankanGovernment, but the day when independent observers andnon governmental organizations and international media gets

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free access to the people of Tamil Eelam, you will be gettingall the evidences needed to fix the Srilankan President

Mr.Mahinda Rajapakshe for war crimes and crimes ofgenocide. Further even after declaring victory in the War,The Executive President of Srilanka who executed Tamils inthousands and thousands, is nor stalling access to UN onlyto destroy the evidences against the crime, like burning thecorpses so that numbers killed could get concealed.Beforewe could mail this complaint news from Srilanka once againproves that President wants Peace too to be withoutwitnesses. Boston Globe voices concern.

EU must investigate Sri Lanka war crimes - BostonGlobe

Tuesday, 19 May 2009

"The government of President Mahinda Rajapaksa has beenclaiming a glorious total victory - and denying allegationsfrom doctors on the scene that tens of thousands of innocentcivilians have been the victims of indiscriminate artillery fireand scorched-earth tactics," said Boston Globe in Tuesday'seditorial, adding "the European Union must follow up onits call for an investigation of war crimes againstcivilians." The editorial also said that "the United Nationsadopted a resolution in 2005 on the "responsibility toprotect" populations that are not protected by their owngovernments. The massive killing and wounding ofcivilians on Sri Lanka represents exactly the sort of casethat resolution was meant to address."

Full text of the editorial follows:Sri Lanka, after the war

ONE OF THE WORLD'S bloodiest conflicts has come to aviolent conclusion in the island nation of Sri Lanka. Thegovernment of President Mahinda Rajapaksa has beenclaiming a glorious total victory - and denying allegationsfrom doctors on the scene that tens of thousands of innocent

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civilians have been the victims of indiscriminate artillery fireand scorched-earth tactics.

Rajapaksa must give aid organizations access to hundredsof thousands of uprooted Tamils in the islands northeast.Overwhelmed doctors in overcrowded camps are amputatinglimbs without sufficient drugs and medical supplies. Thepeople in those camps desperately need medical care, food,and water. And they should be allowed to return to theirhomes as soon as possible.

Once the humanitarian crisis is addressed, the EuropeanUnion must follow up on its call for an investigation ofwar crimes against civilians. The Rajapaksa governmenthas tried to draw a screen around its actions, banningindependent journalists and international aid groups from thewar zone. But the United Nations adopted a resolution in2005 on the "responsibility to protect" populations that arenot protected by their own governments. The massive killingand wounding of civilians on Sri Lanka represents exactly the

sort of case that resolution was meant to address. Ultimately,the only way for Sri Lanka to avoid another Tamil rebellion isto grant the Tamils some form of local autonomy in theirregion. Now that the Tigers have been crushed, theSinhalese majority of Sri Lanka has no excuse for notaddressing the legitimate grievances of the Tamil minority.

Srilanka wont heed Boston Globe or even all nations in ourglobe. The purpose in our reproducing the Boston Globeeditorial is to urge you to start investigations into the warcrimes in Srilanka.

Lies, deceptions, hallmark of Sri Lanka war- Telegraph

Monday, 18 May 2009

"Chinese weapons, intelligence, Sinhala Armed personalsand racist Sri Lankan leaders came together to perform oneof the most cruel war that has cost the lives of many

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thousands innocents," says Richard Dixon, a columnist inLondon's Telegraph. While "Tamils all over the world are

mourning the death of their loved ones back home," and"birds have now stopped singing in a land called Vanni,"Dixon writes, "leaders of Sri Lanka and some responsibleofficers in the UN, should be questioned in internationalcourts in order to find out if they were responsible for thedeaths of innocent Tamils."

Full text of the article follows:

The Real Culprits behind Sri Lankan War

Birds have now stopped singing in a land called Vanni. Sun,moon and the stars in the sky have hidden their faces. Angelof death flew over the skies of Vanni and took the lives ofmore than twenty five thousand innocent Tamil men, womenand children in a single day.

Thousands of wounded are still are crying out for help. They

are bleeding to death on the streets. They have touchedneither water nor food for days. Nobody has come to rescuethem. Those who fight for the rights of the animals and thosewho preach about Buddha and Mahatma have nocompassion for the dying Tamils. Chinese weapons, Indianintelligence, Sinhalese Armed personals and racist SriLankan leaders came together to perform one of the mostcruel war that has cost the lives of many thousandsinnocents. While thousands of innocent children and womenare facing painful and slow death, Sinhalese Buddhistextremists are celebrating victory with flags and fire crackersin the south of the country. War that was started with hiddenagendas of local and international forces went on for monthsnot just with the strength of the weapons but with wellorganized false propaganda done by the Sri Lankan officials.

This war was orchestrated and staged with lies anddeceptions from the beginning till the end.

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Sri Lankan leaders are still vomiting out worms of lies

Rulers of Sri Lanka are continuing to vomit out worms of liesto justify their atrocities against innocent lives. They startedwith War on Terror but changed the buzz word toHumanitarian Operation in order to deceive theinternational community. War on Terror was an acceptednorm during the Bush era but lost its validity now. Thereforethey had changed the name of the game to Humanitarianoperation

Why do they lie?

Because they have many hidden agendas behind this dirtywar they want to hide the atrocities that are being committedagainst innocent civilians. They themselves know, what theyare doing is wrong and not acceptable in a civilized world.Above everything they want to protect India who isorchestrating the war in Sri Lanka. Indian intelligent agentsand military experts are working closely with the Sri Lankan

forces in the war zone.

How do they manage to lie?

They simply hide the truth. When the truth is hidden whatcomes out is lie. Foreign journalists and aid workers arebarred from the war zone and IDP camps. Those who try toenter and report about the war are kicked out of the country ifthey are critical of the government. Local journalists areintimidated, tortured and sometime killed. Telling the truth isconsidered a crime in Sri Lanka. Phone lines are tapped.Web sites are blocked. Anybody who talks against thegovernment is considered as Terrorist or Terroristsupporter .In the war front, dead bodies of the civilians isburned to ashes using powerful chemicals. This is to hide thenumber of innocent civilians that have perished in the warsLankan government officials very often organize staged visitsto the IDP camps and force the refugees to lie to the foreigndiplomats.

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What did they lie about?

They lied about the objective of the war, weapons used,number of civilian causalities and military operations.Although they initially claimed that the objective of the warwas to defeat the LTTE, they have in fact killed andwounded several thousands of innocent Tamil civilianswith heavy weapons. They used chemical weapons andcluster bombs on innocents, but they continue to denythe usage of such weapons.

Sri Lankan forces have destroyed Schools, hospitalsand farm lands and made the whole place into agraveyard for the Tamils. This is also regularly denied bythe Sri Lankan authorities. This war has claimed morethan fifty thousands lives just within the last few monthsbut the Sri Lankan government is not going to open theirmouth and tell this truth to the world.

Why didn't the UN intervene?

United Nations, who is supposed to be a guardian for theoppressed people in the world turned out to be a silentspectator of a man made disaster that has taken the lives ofmany thousands. There is a conspiracy behind this wholewar game. China was initially blocking every attempt thatwas made by UK and France to discuss the Sri Lankanissue in the Security Council.What we are witnessing inSri Lanka is neither war on terror nor a Humanitarianoperation. This is simply a racist war against the Tamilsconducted with the help of India and China. Youwouldn't shoot at the passengers and bomb the wholebus, if you had to rescue the hostages.

Sinhalese extremists are already celebrating and they havealso started to intimidate Tamils in the South of the country.India and China have started to work on their hidden

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agendas in Sri Lanka. Tamils all over the world are mourningthe death of their loved ones back home.

What Next?

When the rocket scientists designed highly complexderivatives and greedy traders traded these new emperorscloths, many investment banks collapsed. Pension funds lostmoney. Bankers committed suicide. The whole financialdisaster was caused by greedy and selfish individuals whohad short term hidden agendas. We took action. Greedy

bankers and traders were taken to courts. New rules andregulations are now in place to prevent this happening again.In the same way, the masters of this war in Sri Lanka shouldbe brought to justice.

Sinhalese government with racist agendas, China andIndia with their strategic interests and UN with corruptofficers are the evil ingredients of this dirty war that hascost the lives of many thousandsinnocent

Tamils.Leaders of Sri Lanka and some responsibleofficers in the UN should be questioned in internationalcourts in order to find out if they were responsible forthe deaths of innocent Tamils. If we didn't, we would endup seeing more of such evil games repeated over and overagain.

Richard Dixon [email protected] comments:

[We are baffled at the reporters charge about India, andbeing patriots we are ashamed if such things werehappening and we pray it wont be true, but it is left toInternational Court of Criminal Justice either to takecognizance of the views or to probe the matter further.India should refute these charges and not bury truth,even if some one had bypassed the Government toengage in such crimes. Since pursuit of truth and justicefor Tamils is our goal, amidst biased propaganda

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blitzkrieg of Srilanka, we dont want to censor TheTelegraph, quoted in above paragraphs. N.N]

SINHALESE GOVERNMENTS AND TAMIL GENOCIDE

Convention on the Prevention and Punishment of the crimeof Genocide adopted by Resolution 260[ iii] A of the UNGeneral Assembly on 9th December 1048 is a remarkablemilestone and this came into effect on 12 th January 1951.The Srilankan Government started its first genocide on5.6.1956. People thought it is just ethnic clash but never at

that point Tamils thought ethnic cleansing had started. Weare sending the Charge sheet against SinhaleseGovernments listing out the people who were butchered todeath in the genocidal agenda consistently pursued byalmost all Sinhalese Governments.

The book Journey of Man by Spencer Wells establishes thatall men are from common source. All genes of human beingshave common genes and gene markers. Science had proven

beyond an iota of doubt that race is a myth. But Sinhaleseregard Mahavamsam, their sacred book which inculcates inthem wrong notion of racial supremacy. Even the legend onthe origin of Sinhalese race starts with a lion and a humanprincess, which itself will shatter the very foundation of theorigin of their race, as unscientific fiction. Yet with the sameracial superiority which Adolph Hitler proclaimed to be anAryan, who went to annihilate the inferior Jews according tohis mindset, Sinhalese rulers have been indulging inmassacres of Tamils from 1956.

Though the world woke up to the horrors of genocide in1948, the report on The Genocide Convention: First 50 years[1948-1998] by William Schabas available in the onlinelibrary of the US Institute of Peace fails to mention crimesagainst Tamils. Tamils are the most peace loving people,whose leaders have failed to highlight or bring to the noticeof the UN all these years about the Tamil Genocide inSrilanka since 1956.

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We are now starting to knock the International Criminal

Court of Justice and the Office of the UN Human RightsCommissioner.

The Special Report on first 50 years record with anguishthat in 1994 while 800,000 Tutis died in Rwanda StateDepartment debated whether it was genocide and the UnitedNations Security Council withdrew UN Peace Keeping Forcewho could have saved hundreds of thousands of lives. Butin this century Tamils are placed in a better position because

all over the world Tamil Diaspora relentlessly fought to drawthe attention of the civilized world and we are grateful for thePresident of the United States Mr.Barrack Obama andSecretary of State Ms.Hillary Rodham Clinton, the BritishPrime Minister Gordon Brown and Foreign SecretaryMr.Millind, the Norway Minster Mr. Eric Solheim and toEuropean Parliament for echoing the plight of Tamils ofTamil Eelam crushed under the genocidal war machine ofSrilankan President Mr.Mahinda Rajapakshe.

The Special Report on first 50 years points out that on 2 ndSeptember 1998 only International Tribunal for Rwandaissued first conviction for genocide condemning RwandanMayor Jean Paul Akayesu and justice done to Tutis. Similarlyfrom the theatre of Eelam war obeying the resolution of theUN Security Council, the freedom fighters expressedwillingness to surrender arms to a neutral country, theyannounced that their guns will become silent, they pleadedfor ensuring safe passage for 25000 civilians wounded in thecombat zone. But unmindful of the conscience of thehumanity and comity of nations Srilankan PresidentMr.Mahinda Rajapakshe went ahead in his war of ethniccleansing and committed the gravest crime of genocide. Wehope UN and other bodies will belatedly deliver justice to outTamil kinsmen. After all wars are essential to test newlyinvented weaponry and China with its single minded pursuitto encircle India and to teach India a lesson for itsinvolvement in Tibet, provided all the arms of mass

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destruction and chemical weapons to the blood thirsty warmongers of Srilanka.

India tells UN that it has complied with WeaponsConvention : Chemical Arms Destroyed says a news inEnglish Daily :Deccan Chronicle of 15 th May 2009.Thenews paper says that India has informed the United Nationsthat it has destroyed its stockpile of chemical weapons incompliance with International Chemical WeaponsConvention. Though the Government of India had notified on26th of March 2009 on the fulfillment of its obligation to

completely destroy its declared chemical weapons stockpile,the news was broken a day before the counting of votes inrecently held Indian elections were to begin. If the news hadbroken in March 26th, there would not have arisen doubts inthe minds of Indian Tamils. That is internal matter of India.Here the purpose is to urge the Public Prosecutor to find outhow come and wherefrom Srilanka obtained its chemicalbombs and weapons?

Let me begin my complaint by quoting UN documents itself

Sri Lanka: UN expert on genocide prevention

Calls for end to conflict

Overcrowding remains a problem at the transit/IDP sites inVavuniya, Sri Lanka

15 May 2009 Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon's SpecialAdviseron the prevention of genocide today said that itis not too late for Sri Lanka's Government forces and rebelsto end their brutal conflict, underscoring the toll theclashes are taking on civilians.

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This polarizing conflict is identity-related with ethnicity andreligion as deeply divisive factors, he said. It will not end

with winners and losers and it cannot be ended solelythrough a military victory that may not be sustainable in thelong-run unless legitimate grievances are addressed.

Mr.Deng underscored that women and girls are particularlyvulnerable to excesses of conflict, stressing that theGovernment is legally obligated to give them special

protection. He called on authorities to allow the UN andother agencies full and unfettered access to all

civilians and detainees.

Mr.Klin also expressed his concern over the dire livingconditions in camps for internally displaced persons (IDPs)who escaped the conflict, with the influx of an additional110,000 people during the last 10 days of April posing furtherchallenges for the Government and its humanitarianpartners. Ensuring adequate humanitarian assistance tointernally displaced persons is first and foremost aGovernment responsibility, especially since the Government

decided to intern them in camps, citing securityconcerns, he said, adding that authorities continue tohold nearly 200,000 IDPs in temporary camps.

The Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs(OCHA) today reiterated that the loss of civilian life andthe situation of those trapped in the conflict zone areunacceptable, deploring the use of heavy weapons and ofcivilians as human shields.

The Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights(OHCHR) said today that it believes that an independentcommission of inquiry is needed given the conduct ofthis war and the number of civilians who have beenkilled.

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Patients, medical staff, aid workers, and other witnesseshave provided Human Rights Watch with information aboutat least 30 attacks on permanent and makeshift hospitals inthe combat area since December 2008. One of the deadliesttook place on May 2, when artillery shells struck Mullaivaikalhospital in the government-declared "no-fire zone," killing 68persons and wounding 87.

HRW: List of attacked hospitals

HRW quoted several independent sources as saying thateach time a hospital was established in a new location, thedoctors transmitted GPS coordinates of the facility to the SriLankan government to ensure that the facility would beprotected from military attack. Medical staff said that, onseveral occasions, attacks occurred on the day after the

coordinates had been transmitted. Permanent andmakeshift hospitals within LTTE-controlled territory continueto receive hundreds of patients daily. Many arrive woundedfrom the fighting, while others are sick due to inadequatesanitation, and acute shortages of food and clean water,HRW said.

"Hospitals are supposed to be sanctuaries from shelling, nottargets," Adams said." Repeated Sri Lankan artillery attacks

striking known hospitals is evidence of war crimes," headded. "The government cannot hide behind LTTE atrocitiesto justify their own unlawful acts.HRW has criticized both theSri Lankan armed forces and the Liberation Tigers of TamilEelam (LTTE) for numerous violations of the laws of warduring the recent fighting.

UN experts demand international scrutiny in Sri Lanka

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Four UN Human Rights Council experts on right to health,food, water, and sanitation, in a statement said that "there is

good reason to believe that thousands of civilians have beenkilled in the past three months alone, and yet the Sri LankanGovernment has yet to account for the casualties, or toprovide access to the war zone for journalists andhumanitarian monitors of any type," and that "shipments offood and medicine to the "no fire zone" have been grosslyinsufficient over the past month and the Government hasreportedly delayed or denied timely shipment of life savingmedicines as well as to chlorine tablets," and urged the U.N.

to establish a commission to address the critical humanrights situation, and demand full respect to human rights.

Philip Alston, Professor of Law and Faculty Director of theCenter for Human Rights and Global Justice at New YorkUniversity School of Law, appointed Special Rapporteur in2004 by the United Nations Commission on Human Rights,Mr. Anand Grover, appointed Special Rapporteur in 2008 bythe United Nations Human Rights Council, Mr. Olivier DeSchutter was appointed Special Rapporteur in 2008, and Ms.

Catarina de Albuquerque began her work as IndependentExpert on the issue of human rights obligations related toaccess to safe drinking water and sanitation in November2008, signed the statement. Full text of the statementfollows: current humanitarian crisis in Sri Lanka gives causefor deep concern, not only in terms of the number of civilianswho have been and continue to be killed, but because of adramatic lack of transparency and accountability. "There isgood reason to believe that thousands of civilians have been

killed in the past three months alone, and yet the Sri LankanGovernment has yet to account for the casualties, or toprovide access to the war zone for journalists andhumanitarian monitors of any type", said Philip Alston, theUN expert on summary executions. The continuingcatastrophic situation of civilians in Sri Lanka trapped in themidst of fighting between the Sri Lankan army and the LTTE,in an area measuring less than 10 sq km, must beimmediately addressed. "These civilians do not have

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sufficient access to food, essential medical supplies orservices and safe water and sanitation. Even if they do

escape death or injury at the hands of the hostile parties,their continued presence in this area without access to thesebasic rights is an effective death sentence," declared theExperts of the UN Human Rights Council. "The safety ofcivilians, including their safe passage out of the conflict zone,must be prioritized by all actors involved" said the Experts.While many thousands of civilians have now left this area,the Experts maintained their concern about the safety ofmore than 50,000 estimated by the UN to still remain.

Shipments of food and medicine to the "no fire zone" havebeen grossly insufficient over the past month and theGovernment has reportedly delayed or denied timelyshipment of life saving medicines as well as to chlorinetablets. "As a result of the blackout on independentinformation sources, it is impossible to verify any of theGovernment's claims as to the number of casualties to dateor as to the steps that it says it is taking in order to minimizethe further killing of innocent civilians, and ensure delivery of

humanitarian assistance", said the Experts. "When peoplemanage to escape, they reportedly continue to face scantsupplies, entirely insufficient access to adequate medicaltreatment and severely overcrowded hospitals, providing norelief to the horrors they had been living," remarked AnandGrover, the UN expert on the right to health. "Access to foodhas also been hampered by arduous and lengthy registrationprocedures for the internally displaced persons; thedesperation and chaos witnessed in some cases show thatthe situation is critical," said Olivier De Schutter, the UNexpert on the right to food. Catarina de Albuquerque, the UNexpert on water and sanitation, also expressed concernabout "water shortages reported at Omanthai and at most ofthe transit sites as well as inadequate sanitation facilities,which put the health and lives of the population at furtherrisk." The Government must take urgent measures with theassistance of the international community to ensure thatsecurity concerns do not result in unjustifiable suffering. TheExperts called upon the Sri Lankan Government to provide

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convincing evidence to the international community that it isrespecting its obligations under human rights and

international humanitarian law. It is also clear that the LTTE,for its part, has acted in flagrant violation of the applicablenorms by preventing civilians from leaving the conflict areaand having reportedly shot and killed those trying to flee."There is an urgent need to establish an internationalcommission of inquiry to document the events of recentmonths and to monitor ongoing developments." The Expertscalled upon the UN Human Rights Council to establish sucha commission, as a matter of urgency, to address the critical

situation in Sri Lanka, and demand full respect for all humanrights. Any such inquiry should study the conduct of all sidesto the conflict.

Sri Lanka in "interminable and intractable crisis"- UN

Even before the genocidal war was started by Governmentof Srilanka at the behest of President Mahinda Rajapakshei.e. on Monday, 23 October 2006, Prof. Philip Alston, UnitedNation's Special Rapporteur on extrajudicial, summary or

arbitrary executions, speaking to the United Nations GeneralAssembly, Third Committee, 20 October 2006, said that the"dramatic attacks in recent days and spiraling number ofextrajudicial executions" indicate that "Sri Lanka is not somuch on the brink of a new crisis but, instead, only in themidst of an interminable and intractable crisis that hasalready exhausted its fair share of international attention,"and called upon the United Nations Secretariat to "establisha full-fledged international human rights monitoring mission

in Sri Lanka."

Prof. Alston's address to UN Assembly

Prof. Alston's Report on Extra-judicial killings

"Widespread violence during afaltering ceasefire is not the same asan all-out civil war that costs tens of

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thousands of lives. Real progress has been made over thepast four years, and nothing that has happened in these past

few months has made achieving a sustainable peacefounded on respect for human rights impossible. But there islittle reason to think that the opportunity will be available formuch longer," Prof. Alston warned.

He said although the "issue was placed squarely before theHuman Rights Council last month but the signals are thatany action the Council might take in November will do verylittle to make a difference as this tragic situation swells andthreatens to reach bursting point." The following challengesshould be immediately addressed, Prof. Alston told the UNassembly:

To acknowledge the need for significantly moresustained and high-level international involvement

To accept the fact that there is no national institutioncapable of monitoring human rights throughout SriLanka, and To establish an effective internationalhuman rights monitoring presence.

In the report Prof Alston presented, he said: "The Sri LankaGovernment should not, however, interpret the widespreadproscription of LTTE as a terrorist organization as anendorsement of its own record. Neither its past nor itspresent conduct would justify great faith in its ability torespect equally the rights of all citizens. Indeed, it is anenduring scandal that there have been virtually noconvictions of government officials for killing Tamils,

and many Tamils doubt that the rule of law will protecttheir lives." The warning from Prof.Alston comes in thewake of assurances given by Sri Lanka's President "ofhis intention to invite an international commission toinquire into recent killings, disappearances andabductions in Sri Lanka." Human Rights bodies haveraised serious doubts of the bona fides of Sri LankaGovernment's intentions to set up an independentRights body with international participation.

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"Unless the government has announced something new,

they have been calling for a Local Commission of Inquiry(COI) with international observers. However that is differentfrom a human rights monitoring mission," Senior LegalAdvisor, Human Rights Watch, New York, James Rosstold The Sunday Leader." Just having internationalobservers is insufficient as international monitors needto play a more direct role to ensure that the commissionis independent and impartial and would report itsfindings publicly," Ross said, Sunday Leader reported.

The New York based Human Rights Watch (HRW) sent afact-finding mission to Sri Lanka has also denied governmentclaims that they had decided to send observers to the localcommission, the paper further said. According to Ross, HRWhas not held any discussions with the government on theestablishment of the Commission of Inquiry nor had theterms of reference for such a commission been discussed.The government had earlier in the month said that a eightmember local commission headed by a Supreme Court

judge with international representatives as observers wouldbe set up in order to investigate human rights violations, theLeader reported.

British Parliamentarians call for UK to rein in Sri Lanka

Wednesday, 12 March 2008

A group of Parliamentarians from all of Britains mainpolitical parties condemned the assassination last week

of Tamil National Alliance (TNA) MP K Sivanesan and,lamenting the recent exit of the international paneloverseeing rights abuses probes in Sri Lanka, called onthe UK government to take all possible steps to ensurethat Government of Sri Lanka plays by acceptedinternational rules.

The British All Party Parliamentary Group (APPG) forTamils expressed its serious concern at the decision of

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the International Independent Group of Eminent Persons(IIGEP) - headed by former Indian Chief Justice P N

Bhagwati to terminate its operations in Sri Lanka.Violence in Sri Lanka remains terribly and unacceptablyhigh.

The British APPG for Tamils deplores all killings andassassinations including the assassination of K.Sivanesan, a democratically elected member of the SriLankan parliament, the MPs, said. The decision by theIIGEP to terminate operations raises serious questions

about the claims made by the Government of Sri Lankathat it is taking all efforts to uphold human rights. It isextremely worrying that a reputable body such as theIIGEP has now concluded that there is no further use forit in probing the abductions, disappearances and extra-

judicial killings which the Group was invited toinvestigate in September 2006 The APPG welcomedcomments by British Foreign Minister Lord Malloch-Brown atthe UN Human Rights Council in which he criticized the Sri

Lankan government of President Mahinda Rajapakse. Wewill now be asking the British Foreign Secretary to considerwhat other action is available to the British government andto take all possible steps to ensure that Government of SriLanka plays by accepted international rules, the APPG said.

A political solution to the continuing conflict in Sri Lanka isas vital now as ever. There must be an end to the spiral ofviolence if the seventh decade of an independent Sri Lankais to be one of justice, peace and prosperity. The APPG forTamils includes Parliamentarians from the ruling Labourparty and the main opposition parties, the Conservatives andLiberal Democrats, as well as the Scottish National Party.

SRILANKAN GOVERNMENT LACKS WILL

TO BRING JUSTICE IIGEP

08 March 2008

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A lack of will on the part of the Government of Sri Lanka wasone factor in the International Independent Group of Eminent

Persons (IIGEP) terminating its operations in Sri Lanka, Prof.Sir. Nigel Rodley, representing Britain in the InternationalIndependent Group of Eminent Persons (IIGEP), told BBCTamil service in an interview.

Sir Nigel Rodley (Photo: BBC)

It was I think a lack of will ... they certainly didnthave the money in order to have full servicingfrom the private bar, Sir Nigel Rodley said onbeing asked by the BBC Tamil servicecorrespondent whether it was administrativeproblems or the lack of determination tomaintain law and justice, or disinterest on thepart of GoSL which ended in the termination of theoperations of IIGEP in Sri Lanka.

"We felt that there were shortcomings in the structure of theCommission of Inquiry and the duty of IIGEP was to find

what was wrong in the investigations of Commission and thereason for the perpetrators of the crimes involved escapingthe arms of the law. The Attorney Generals presence in theCommission and the participation of his office in thecommission was a factor that reduced the credibility ofcommission," Sir Nigel Rodley said in his interview."SriLanka was accused yesterday of widespread abductionsin its counter-insurgency operations against the TamilTigers, making the country one of the worst in the world

for 'disappearances,'" said The Guardian, a British daily,in its Friday edition.

"The Presidential Commission was so obviously an eye-wash and the IIGEP was only called upon to giverespectability to a very deliberate design to subvert theprocess of law for which purpose alone thisCommission was appointed," said Asian Human RightsCommission (AHRC), a Hong Kong-based Rights watchdog,

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in a press release issued Friday.Meanwhile, Dr. Manohar, the father of Rajivar, one of the five

university students killed in Trincomalee in January 2006,told BBC Tamil service Thursday,

Sri Lanka Government realized the danger of beingexposed if IIGEP continued to monitor the Commissionof Inquiry (CoI) investigating into the killings and wasworried of the repercussions on the IIGEP's move totake the issue to levels of international standards.Now that I am out of Sri Lanka I am no longer afraid to

state that it was the Sri Lanka Army (SLA) troops whokilled my son, Dr. Manohar added.

The IIGEP monitored the investigation of the Commission ofInquiry and was moving it to international standards whichwere something the Government of Srilanka could not put upwith and that is why it applied pressure on the IIGET forcingit to terminate its service, Dr. Manohar said. GoSL says thatit is unable to continue investigations because witnesses do

not turn up at the trials, the BBC correspondent told Dr.Manohar and sought his response in the interview. No onewill come forward to bear witness because whoever whodared to so had been killed, Dr. Mahohar replied. It wasvery dangerous to speak the truth and I admit that I too wasscared to bear witness that it was the SLA troops who killedmy son and other four youths in Trincomalee, he said. Twoof the students in the group, seriously injured in the grenadeattack which killed the others, had testified in the inquest intodeaths that it was the SLA troops that killed their fivecolleagues. Even though the two are now in countries awayfrom Sri Lanka they will not come forward to bear witnessbecause of the danger to the lives of their parents andsiblings who still are in Sri Lanka, Dr. Manohar told.

There have been many commissions of inquiry appointed toinvestigate into the human rights violation in Sri Lanka butnone of them had been of any use because Sri Lankagovernment will do what it wants, he told BBC. The only way

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to find justice is to take these cases of gross human rightsviolations to the International Courts of Justice and

international agencies like UN should intervene to offerdirection and help to Sri Lanka and the commissions to bring

justice to the Tamils in Sri Lanka

The International Independent Group of Eminent Persons(IIGEP), headed by P N Bhagwati, former Indian ChiefJustice, decided to terminate its operations in Sri Lanka,according to a statement issued by the IIGEP on Thursday."The IIGEP is of the opinion that there has not been the

minimum level of trust necessary for the success of the workof the commission and the IIGEP," an AFP report has quoteda statement by the IIGEP. Trincomalee residents wereshocked and angered over the killing of five old students ofTrincomalee Sri Koneswara Hindu College in a grenadeattack alleged by Sri Lanka Army (SLA) soldiers on 2January at about 7.50 p.m. Two old students, one from SriKoneswara Hindu College and another from St.JosephsCollege in Trincomalee were warded in the intensive care

unit (ICU) of the Trincomalee general hospital. All the deadand injured were identified as Tamils and below the age of20 years. Two of the dead students have gained universityadmission for the current academic year, police sourcessaid.

IIGEP faults Commission of lacking Independence,Timeliness

Monday, 11 June 2007, International Independent Group of

Eminent Persons (IIGEP), in a report released to thePresident of Sri Lanka on 1st June on the PresidentsCommission of Inquiry to Investigate and Inquire into AllegedSerious Violations of Human Rights, said: "We haveidentified and raised a number of concerns with theCommission and the Government of Sri Lanka. Weremain concerned that current measures taken by theGovernment of Sri Lanka and the Commission toaddress issues such as the independence of the

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Commission, timeliness and witness protection are notadequate and do not satisfy international norms and

standards."

Justice P.N. BhagwatiOn the issue on independence, the report signed by P NBhagwati Chairman, IIGEP, said" "The Attorney GeneralsDepartment is the Chief Legal Adviser to the

Government of Sri Lanka. Members of theAttorney Generals Department have beeninvolved in the original investigations intothose cases subject to further investigationby the Commission itself. As such,members of the Attorney Generals

Department may find that they are investigatingthemselves. Furthermore, it is possible that they becalled as material witnesses before the Commission. Weconsider these to be serious conflicts of interest, whichlack transparency and compromise national andinternationalstandards of

independence andimpartiality that arecentral to the credibility and public confidence of theCommission. "The IIGEP accused the Commission of notexecuting the expected investigations in a timelymanner.We are concerned that the Commission did notcommence even preliminary investigations and inquiries untilMay 2007, despite being constituted six months earlier inNovember 2006. To date, internal processes have not been

transparent; no detailed work plan has been announced;essential staff have not yet been fully recruited; investigativeand witness protection units are not functioning; andsignificantly, evidence already known to be in the possessionof Governmental bodies relating to the cases has not beengathered and transmitted to us. Such unnecessary delaysundermine public confidence in the ability of the Commissionto carry out its mandate in a timely manner," the report said.The report also criticized the CoI for not enacting appropriate

IIGEP Report and SL Govt.

Response

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"legislation that accords with international norms andstandards" to protect victims and witnesses.

"The public statements from State officials are creating themisleading impression that the Commission and IIGEP havewide mandates and powers and the resources to addressongoing alleged human rights violations in Sri Lanka. This isnot the case. In the current context, in particular, theapparent renewed systematic practice of enforceddisappearance and the killings of Red Cross workers, it iscritical that the Commission and IIGEP not be portrayed as a

substitute for robust, effective measures including nationaland international human rights monitoring," the report said.According to an announcement made on 6 September 2006,Sri Lanka's President invited an International IndependentGroup of Eminent Persons (IIGEP) to act as observers of theactivities of the Commission [consisting of Sri Lankanationals] which was mandated to investigate allegedabductions, disappearances and extra judicial killings.

COMMISSION OF INQUIRY-

Amnesty INTERNATIONAL EXPOSES

November 2006, Amnesty International saidthat the Commission of Inquiries consisting of8 Sri Lankan nationals, and the International

Independent Group of eminent Persons (IIGEP) offoreign nationals to act as observers, as announced bySri Lanka's President, lack "credibility and confidence of

parties to the conflict and sections of the society to beable to conduct meaningful investigations, obtain criticaltestimony or information from witnesses and gain theacceptance of its recommendations by all relevantparties," in a report issued 17 November, and declinedto nominate an AI member to stand as candidate toIIGEP.

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Contrary to Mr. Rajapakse's announcement on 4 September2006 that Sri Lanka government would "invite an

international independent commission to probe abductions,disappearances and extra-judicial killings," Mr. Rajapakse on6 September 2006, instead announced that "he would invitean International Independent Group of Eminent Persons(IIGEP) to act as observers of the activities of theCommission consisting of Sri Lanka nationals] which willinvestigate alleged abductions, disappearances and extra

judicial killings," Amnestysaid. "In light of decades

of impunity for perpetrators of violations of international human rightsand humanitarian law in Sri Lanka, characterized by thefailure of the authorities to investigate and prosecutesuch perpetrators effectively, only an international andindependent Commission would have the credibility andconfidence of all parties to the conflict and sections ofsociety," Amnesty added. Amnesty expressed seriousconcerns on the functioning of the CoI established

under the Commissions of Inquiry Act No. 17 of 1948.The Act grants the President the power to:

set the terms of reference of the Commission of Inquiryand appoint all its members (sec.2);

add new members at his/her discretion (sec. 3); revokethe warrant establishing the Commission at any time(sec. 4); and

appoint the Commissions secretary (sec. 19) withoutneeding to consult the Commission or its chairperson.

Amnesty said. The Amnesty said further that "The decisionas to whether the inquiry "or any part thereof" is to bepublic also rests solely with the President (sec. 2(2) (d)). Inaddition, there are no provisions in the Act requiring that thereports or recommendations of the Commission are madepublic. "Amnesty International is concerned that these andother provisions, which grant the President a wide discretion,may undermine the independence and impartiality of the

AI's observations on CoI,IIEGP

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COI, as well as the Commissions ability to inspire publicconfidence and interact freely with the public. Accordingly

these factors may undermine the willingness of the public toengage with the COI and to come forward with evidence, thereport said. Amnesty called on Sri Lanka's President to addindependent, impartial and competent international expertsto the proposed COL and to ensure that the COIs work isdeveloped in consultation with a representative profile of civilsociety, including NGOs.

Dravida Peravai had taken pains to quote very fewReports from various sources spanning over past few

years to drive home to the Office of the PublicProsecutor that we Indian Tamils are urging your probe

not as an act of vendetta against the victor SrilankanPresident Mahinda Rajapakshe in the war against

Tamils.

We in fact are producing evidences beyond his term andeven before his arrival in the scene, to emphasize that allSinhalese Governments more or less were adopting thesame policy to ethnic cleanse, and the charges against

current Government is but a continuation of thosecharges, which in overall context must be probed in

totality.

BACKGROUND:

" At the end of July 1983, Sri Lanka witnessed its worstoutburst of ethnic violence since independence, causingsevere loss of life and property to the Tamil minority..... A(Sri Lanka) government spokesman has denied that thedestruction and killing of Tamils amounted to genocide.Under the Convention on the Prevention and Punishment of

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the Crime of Genocide, acts of murder committed with intentto destroy, in whole or in part, a national, ethnical, racial or

religious group as such are considered as acts of genocide.The evidence points clearly to the conclusion that theviolence of the Sinhalese rioters on the Tamils amounted toacts of genocide." - The International Commission ofJurists Review, December 1983

" ..The present conflict has transcended the specialconsideration of minority rights and has reached the pointwhere the basic human rights of the Tamil community - the

rights to life and property, freedom of speech and selfexpression and freedom from arbitrary arrest have in factand in law been subject to gross and continued violations.Tamils of Sri Lanka: Minority Rights Group Report,September 1983

"The ethnic violence which erupted in Sri Lanka in July 1983brought untold misery to the Tamils. They were beaten,hacked and burnt to death in a frenzy of racial hatred. Their

houses and businesses were selectively looted anddestroyed. The Sri Lankan government had admitted that theviolence was pre planned and well organized and that evensections of the security forces joined in the attack against theTamils. . . Yet to date no impartial inquiry into these violentattacks has taken place. Amnesty International (AI) recentlyreported a number of cases of extrajudicial killings andsecret disposal of bodies without inquest or post mortem.The Amnesty International and the International Commissionof Jurists (ICJ) have also reported on a number of cases oftorture and death in custody of persons detainedincommunicado for period up to 18 months under the SriLankan Prevention of Terrorism Act.' No legislationconferring remotely comparable powers is in force in anyother free democracy... such a provision is an ugly blot onthe statute book of any civilized country'(InternationalCommission of Jurists).

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[David Alton MP, Paddy Ashdown MP, Norman Atkinson MP,Tony Banks MP, Prof John Barret, Kevin Barron MP, Alan

Beith MP, Tony Benn MP, Gerry Birmingham M.P., Prof TomBottomore, Sydney Bidwell MP, Malcolm Bruce MP, Dale

Campbell-Savors MP, Dennis Canavan MP, Alex Carlile MP,Tom Clarke MP, Bob Clay MP, Anne Clwyd MP, Harry

Cohan MP, Jeremy Corbyn MP, Ron Davis MP, Eric DeakinsMP, Alf Dubs MP, Professor Michael Dummet, Derek

Fatchett MP, Mark Fisher MP, Martin Flanrcery MP, RoyHattersley MP, MichaelFoot MP, Simon W.H. HughesMP,Lord Jenkins, RusselJohnston MP, Sir David Lane" Robert

Kilroy Silk MP, Archy Kirkwood MP, Ted Knight, Terry LewisMP, Bob Lither land MP, Ken Livingstone,

TonyLloydMP,EddieLoydenMP,MaxMaddenMP,JoanMaynardMP, Willie McKelvy MP, Bill Michael MP, Dr.Paul Noone,Bob Parry MP, Alan Roberts MP, Ernie Roberts MP, Allan

Rogers MP, Aubrey Rose, Ernie Ross MP, Steven Ross MP,Clare Short MP, Dennis Skinner MP, Prof Peter Townsend,Jim Wallace MP, Gareth Wardell MP, Dafydd Wigley MP ,

The Guardian, 28 July 1984]

Srilanka is tying to kill or terrorize as many Tamils aspossible accuses Margaret Trawick, Professor of SocialAnthropology, Massey University Palmerton North, NewZealand 28 April 1996

."I have been reading reports about the SLA's northwardmarch with mounting despair. At first, the reports comingfrom the SL military and from the LTTE appeareddiametrically opposed. The military said that displacedTamils were returning north to their homes voluntarily; theLTTE said they were fleeing across the lagoon to themainland. The military reported that there were bodies layingaround that the LTTE hadn't picked up, and the Tigers werechastised for being so disrespectful of their own dead. TheLTTE responded with a brief silence. Then the reports beganto converge. The LTTE also reported that there were bodieslying around that, indeed, it had not had the capacity to bury

properly. Not only LTTE bodies, but civilian bodies. Now

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according to the Reuters report, the military says it hascaptured the key lagoon crossing, "to halt the flow of

hundreds of Tamil civilians fleeing the peninsula."

The Defense Ministry appears to admit that the peopletraveling north were trapped and forced in that direction bythe advancing army. The LTTE has reported that fleeingTamil civilians have been subject to strafing and shelling bythe army; military officials say that "hundreds of Tamilcivilians are risking being shot at" to flee to safety across thelagoon. One may well ask these military officials who exactly

is shooting at these fleeing civilians. Meanwhile those whotravel north into the Valigamam area are, according to themilitary, "screened to ensure there is no LTTE infiltration,"while the LTTE reports that all young Tamil men and womenentering Valigamam are being arrested and being taken infor questioning, which is the only thing (in this context, and inmy view) that "screening" could mean.

No journalists or outside reporters or observers of any kind

are allowed into the north. No aid of any kind is allowed intoareas that are not "controlled by the military." Such areas arebeing shelled as enemy territory... I have been struggling inmy mind against the conclusion that the SL government istrying to kill or terrorize as many Tamil people as possible;that the government is trying to keep the conditions of thewar unreported internationally, because if those conditionswere reported, the actions of the military would be perceivedas so deplorable that foreign nations would have no choicebut to condemn them. And this would be embarrassing toeverybody. But it seems now that no other conclusion ispossible...

Sri Lanka's Reprisal Killings of Tamil non combatants

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The bullet-ridden bodies of Sivarasa Krishna and PalanivelGunasingham were found at Selvanayagapuram in

Trincomalee on-29 May. The two Tamil youths had beenabducted in a white van the previous night fromAnbuvalipuram. White vans are associated with militarydeath squads and a number of people abducted havedisappeared. Tamil MP M Chandrakumar says in a letter toPresident Chandrika that white vans are creating widespreadfear and has called for immediate inquiry. Observers sayabductions are the Army's response to Tiger attacks. - SriLanka Monitor, published by British Refugee Council,

May 1996

"Police (mostly STF officers) and army personnel committedextrajudicial killings in both Jaffna and the EasternProvince... In February 1996 army troops murdered 24 Tamilvillagers, including 2 children less than 12 years of age, inthe eastern village of Kumarapuram. ... In some cases theseextrajudicial killings were reprisals against civilians for LTTEattacks in which members of the security forces were killed

or injured. Several such reprisals occurred during operationsby the STF. In many cases, the security forces claimed thatthe victims were members of the LTTE. However, humanrights monitors have determined that these victims werecivilians. ... There were also a number of suspicious deathsattributed to the security forces, mostly involvingdetainees..." - U.S. Department of State, Sri LankaCountry Report on Human Rights Practices for 1996,January 1997

"Sri Lankan forces stationed at Elephant Pass have directedartillery shells at the Kilinochi hospital. The attack is thoughtto have been the army's retaliation for the fall of Mullaitivu.The indiscriminate shelling resulted in the deaths of fivecivilians. Another sixteen were wounded. Those injuredincluded the head of the Sri Lankan Red CrossMr.Vinayagamoorthy. Many who had lost their limbs in theattack have been dispatched to the hospital at Vavunya.

Also in retaliation for the fall of Mullativu Sri Lankan soldiers

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stationed at the Thandikulam barrier fired on Tamil civilianswho were waiting to cross the barrier. Mortar shells and

bullets were directed towards the people by the army." -Tamil Monitor, 29 July 1996

All branches of the security forces as well as Muslim andSinhalese home guards and armed cadres of Tamil groupsopposed to the LTTE were cited by survivors and witnessesas responsible for human rights violations, includingextrajudicial executions, "disappearances", torture andarbitrary arrest and detention. Some of the violations

apparently took place in reprisal for attacks by the LTTE... -Amnesty International Report, September 1996

Trial by Fire:

National Geographic Explorer Programme on Sri Lanka,broadcast on TBS on 2 December 1996 PatriciaLawrence, Anthropological Consultant for the Film,Anthropolgy Department, Colorado University.

The film examines a Tamil family's response to thegovernment's practices of arrest and imprisonment underemergency law in the eastern District of Batticaloa. The storyunfolds through the voice of a young Tamil mother whosehusband has "disappeared" and whose brother has beentransferred from a local detention center to Kalutara prison inthe south.

In connection with this program I might mention that I havereceived "hate mail" from Sinhalese viewers, telephone callsfrom the State Dept, and a wheel chair for a Tamil father whohad both hips broken during interrogation-he was held forthree years in a number of prisons and as his fractured hipswere never treated he suffers a permanently frozen pelvicgirdle. There should be a fund for Tamil people who sufferpermanent physical injuries as a result of torture. I would liketo congratulate National Geographic for the recent airing of"Trial by Fire," a documentary which presents a profile of one

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young Tamil mother `s struggle in eastern Sri Lanka, aregion cordoned-off from the rest of the island by

government military forces since 1990. Her husband is listedamong the tens of thousands of Tamil people who have"disappeared" in this Tamil-speaking region. Her brother wasarrested, interrogated and imprisoned without charge underthe government's emergency regulations. She is urgently inneed of employment. The circumstances of her life are notatypical in eastern Sri Lanka, where Tamil families havesuffered 14 years of civil war. National Geographic'sdocumentary has provoked official protest from the Sri

Lankan embassy and a flood of messages from Sri LankanTamil people living in the United States and Canada whoexpressed gratitude for media acknowledgment of thehuman impact of the protracted war-even though, asNational Geographic has stated, "much of the politicalcontent was virtually eliminated."

The transmission of "Trial by Fire" coincides with theUS State Department's approval of the sale of lethal

weaponry to the government of Sri Lanka-even in ahistorical moment when human rights conditions aredeteriorating on the island.

The idea of endeavoring to send a film crew into eastern SriLanka arose at the 1995 American AnthropologicalAssociation meetings in Washington D.C., where a BBC-Granada film director listened to my presentation ofethnographic material about survivors of torture and familiesof the "disappeared" in Batticaloa District. When I agreed towork as anthropological consultant for the film project, I wasfrank about ethical-political problems and my doubts that wecould overcome government censorship on life inside theTamil-speaking areas. Yet we succeeded in carrying out thefilm project in Batticaloa District, under the shadow of dailygovernment intelligence and counter-subversive unitscrutiny, and difficulties of movement under the de factomilitary regime in the eastern coastal plain. The greatestobstacle, however, was finding people who could speak on

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camera in a population so vulnerable to human rightsatrocities. The segments of film aired in "Trial by Fire"

depended largely upon the collaborative effort of five women.We encouraged one another and worked together in the faceof uncertainty about the consequences of our acts. BrianMoser of the "Disappearing Worlds" series directed the filmcrew. The larger film project produced more than 30 timesthe footage transmitted in the National Geographic show.This footage serves as material for several documentaryfilms. An hour-long BBC documentary to be aired earlynext year in the UK incorporates local Tamil people's

narratives on the recent history of retaliation killings andmass extrajudicial executions, indiscriminate shelling,and intense social suffering of Tamil people...

Control over editing, scripts and voice-over was not grantedto me as anthropological consultant, following the usualpolicy. Some important film segments pertinent to this storywere deleted in the editing process. For example, narrativeson the prisoner's experience of torture were cut as were

discussions between the prisoner's sister, wife and thehuman rights lawyer which reveal how abduction, illtreatment, forced confession, incommunicado detention andlong-term detention without charge is facilitated byemergency law and the Prevention of Terrorism act in SriLanka. As an ethnographer, I wished to hear the originalwords of the speakers - for the voices of ordinary Tamilpeople are hardest to hear outside the war zone. The use ofvoice-over instead of subtitles contributes to distortion andmisrepresentation. I regretted the editors' selection oftitillating film segments of "exoticized" local religiouspractices. It is interesting, however, that the writtenresponses of Sri Lankan Tamil viewers lack criticism of theexoticization of Tamil "otherness" portrayed in scenes of theresurgence of local Amman temple ritual. The overwhelmingconcern expressed by Tamil viewers was that in spite of rigidcensorship a message about the desperate plight of Tamilpeople who endure and bear violent repression succeeded inreaching an international audience. Emergency powers have

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been used by successive governments in Sri Lanka to closenewspapers, to prevent camera equipment and journalists

from entering areas of active conflict, enable governmentsecurity forces to destroy evidence of possible extrajudicialexecutions, and to prohibit distribution of academic writingand information about human rights violations. For more than26 of the past 42 years Sri Lanka has been ruled under adeclared state of emergency. From the perspective of manylocal families with whom I have lived in the eastern war zonebetween 1991 and 1996, this is a historical moment whenthere is no room for dissent. These families live in an

uncertain world where the rule is to "keep quiet"(maunamaka irukkavum; amaityaka irukkavum) about brokenconnections in the closest circle of human relationships.

The question I am left with is how can we, as South Asianscholars, follow in the footsteps of this film project andcontribute more effective responses to political silencing ofsevere human rights crises?

Tamil Civilians disappearing says TULF MP

A Tamil MP has alleged that about 300 personsdisappeared" during the last three months while in Armycustody in the Government-controlled Jaffna peninsula. Mr.Joseph Pararajasingham, TULF MP, said in a letter to thePresident, Ms. Chandrika Kumaratunga: "Disappearanceswhile in Army custody are increasing day by day in the Army-controlled peninsula. I am reliably informed that during thelast three months about 300 disappearances while in Armycustody are reported to have taken place in Jaffna."

Mr. Joseph stated in his November 21 letter that six decayedbodies of Tamil civilians had been found on November 18 inthe Tenamarachchi portion of the peninsula. "These arecivilians arrested by the Army in the first week of October1996 and when the relatives inquired from the Armyauthorities immediately after their arrest they were informedthat none of them was taken into custody by the Army. The

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bodies of these unfortunate civilians found in a decomposedstate were discovered by the local residents of the area," Mr.

Joseph alleged in his letter. According to the MP, four of thesix bodies had been identified as Ponnu Alagaretnam (33),Kandiah Thiyagarajah (44), Kandiah Kulendrarajah andThamu Manickam (43). While the first three named wereresidents of Eluthumadduval, Manickam hailed fromMirusuvil. Mr. Joseph, who has given a list of 24"disappeared" persons, said unless immediate action wastaken against the offenders such cases would bring "discreditto the Government". Mr. Joseph called upon the President to

appoint a commission of inquiry into the disappearancesfrom August 1996 in Jaffna and a judicial inquiry into thekilling of the six civilians in Tenamarachchi. [- Hindu Reportfrom Amit Baruah, 23 November1996]

[Mr.Joseph Pararajasingam and Nandhivarman in New Delhi1997]

Article URL: http://www.tamilcanadian.com/page.php?id=503

BACKGROUND INFORMATION

Since the security forces regained control over the Jaffnapeninsula from the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE)in late 1995 - early 1996, there have been continuing reportsof arbitrary arrests and torture, including rape, and'disappearances' in custody. In particular the number ofdisappearances' reported has been of serious concern.Amnesty International has so far submitted more than 200cases of people who were seen taken into custody butwhose detention was subsequently denied by the security

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forces to President Chandrika Bandaranaike Kumaratunga. Ithas urged that an independent and impartial investigation be

instituted to establish their fate or whereabouts. Local humanrights organizations and Tamil members of parliament havealso repeatedly brought cases of 'disappearances' to theattention of the President and other authorities. Article URL:http://www.tamilcanadian.com/page.php?id=505

Human rights agencies say safeguards in the law arebeing circumscribed

British Refugee Council Publication: Sri Lanka Monitor

"SUPREME COURT Judge ARB Amarasinghe says in ajudgment that Sri Lankan authorities often breach laws andregulations relating to arrest and detention. The detention ofJaffna Tamil youth Vijayam Vimalendran for over three yearswas illegal the Court declared on 20 December and orderedRs 25,000 compensation. Although Emergency regulationsgive wide powers to the security forces there must beadequate grounds for arrest. The Court says the DefenseSecretary should have sufficient evidence before signingdetention orders. Even those detained under Regulation 17(i) as posing a threat to national security, should be informedof the reasons for arrest...

Human rights agencies say safeguards in the law are beingcircum- scribed by authorities. In the north-east arrestedpersons are held for 60 days under Emergency regulationsand then under the Prevention of Terror- ism Act (PTA)

which provides for 18 months detention without beingproduced before a court.

In southern areas, including Colombo, suspects aregenerally detained for seven days under Emergencyregulations and then under the PTA on the orders of amagistrate. Agencies say such prolonged detentions areillegal. Twenty three prisoners in Kalutara prison for over two

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years allege that their detention is illegal and say they willfast unto death if they are not released before 19 January...

There is a fear in Colombo that military death squads havereturned. Retired Tamil engineer Mahadeva was abducted inthe dreaded "white van" on 25 December from his residencen Bambalapitiya..."


Torture - including electric shock, burning, beating onsoles of feet, gasoline soaked bags over head...says USState Department Report

"Torture remained a serious problem... Members of thesecurity forces continued to torture and mistreat detaineesand other prisoners, both male and female, particularlyduring interrogation. Although the number of torture reportswas somewhat lower than in previous years in the Colomboarea, the situation in Eastern Province did not improve.Torture also emerged as a problem in the newly recaptured

Jaffna Peninsula. In November a Supreme Court judgestated publicly that torture continued unabated in policestations in spite of a number of judicial pronouncementsagainst its use. Pro-government Tamil militants in the eastand north, directly responsible to the security forces, alsoengaged in torture...

"Methods of torture included electric shock, beatings(especially on the soles of the feet), suspension by the wrists

or feet in contorted positions, burning, near drowning, placingof insecticide, chili powder, or gasoline-soaked bags over thehead, and forced positions. Detainees have reported brokenbones and other serious injuries as a result of theirmistreatment..:' - U.S. Department of State, Sri LankaCountry Report on Human Rights Practices for 1996

"Sri Lanka's minority Tamil community on Saturdaycomplained of human rights abuses as battles raged

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between the predominantly Sinhalese forces and Tamil Tigerrebels near a northern guerrilla stronghold. A pro-

government Tamil party urged President ChandrikaKumaratunga to intervene and stop alleged human rightsabuses against Tamils and make sure those detained by thearmy in the Tamil- dominated Jaffna area were tried fairly. ...Joseph Pararajasingham, parliamentary leader of the TamilUnited Liberation Front (TULF), wrote in the letter toPresident Chandrika Kumaratunga that 76 Tamils, mostlyyouths, were harassed by police after being arrested by thearmy. "The police have them in their custody for over three

months, torture them and obtain confessions under duress,"he said in the letter which was made available to journalists."- Reuter Report, 28 September 1996

"Torture of Tamils is now widespread in Sri Lankan-occupiedparts of the northeast. In Valigamam district last week, Tamilinmates of the Navaly Pulavar refugee camp were takenaway by soldiers to their army base. Witnesses say soldiersforced the young men to hold mouthfuls of stones while they

were beaten senseless. A 21-year old, RasiahSatheeswaran, died during his beating. Half of the refugeeswho were taken have been released, the other half are still inarmy custody. Relatives fear the worst.


Police powers promote torture says Colombo JudgeBritish Refugee Council PublicationSri Lanka Monitor, November 1996

"Supreme Court Judge P Ramanathan says despite judicialorders against law-enforcement officers, torture in policestations continues unabated. Police have powers to recordstatements, investigate and prosecute offenders. Theconcentration of powers allows the police to take short-cutsby torture in custody, says Mr Ramanathan. Human rightsagencies say prolonged detention also leads to ill-treatment.Currently there are over 1,100 Tamils in custody, 300 of

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whom are held for over two years. MPs who met detainees inKalutara prison in early November say six Tamil youths are

held for over five years and another six above the age of 50are detained for over 18 months. Seven had been earlier re-leased, arrested again and held for over two years.

Over 100 Tamil prisoners in Kalutara began a fast on 28November demanding trials or release. Following a fastprotest by detainees in June, the De- fence Ministrypromised to solve the issue within three months. Prisonersbitterly complain that the Ministry has failed to take any

action. Lawyers say the Defense Ministry has failed to act onseveral recommendations for release made by the AttorneyGeneral's Department.

Human rights agencies are concerned about illegaldetentions. Some prisoners continue to languish in prisondespite court orders for their release. In a habeas corpusapplication, Meenatchy Chitrasenan alleges that herdaughter Thirumagal arrested in September is illegally

detained in a police station without being produced before acourt."


150 Tamil women and children raped by law enforcerslast year say rights groups

Human rights activists claim more than 150 women, mostlyminority Tamils, were raped by police and armed forces

personnel last year.

In the past few months the nation has been outraged by aseries of sex offences, followed in some instances by thedeath or disappearance of victims. Security forces areallegedly behind the incidents, which are widespread in thewar-ravaged north and east.

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Rights groups and mainstream Tamil political parties are nowup in arms over the alleged rape of five women by policemen

in Colombo's suburbs. Politicians and rights agencies havemade repeated demands for investigations of the largenumbers of rapes allegedly committed by officials entrustedwith enforcing law and order.

In one of the suburban rape cases, the victim, from theeastern Batticaloa district, had approached a reserve policeconstable for directions to a relative's home in Colombo.

The policeman accompanied the woman to her destinationbut then raped her in a lonely suburban thicket. At least 15soldiers and policemen have been accused of rape sinceJune last year." - South China Morning Post January 11,1997

"Amnesty International has documented several cases ofrape by members of the security forces. Because manywomen are reluctant to give testimony about their treatment

by the security forces, Amnesty International believes thatthese testimonies represent only a fraction of a widespreadpattern of human rights violations. In those cases reported toAmnesty International, the authorities took some initial actionagainst the alleged perpetrators. However, the organizationdoes not know of any member of the security forces who hasbeen brought to justice on charges of rape.

In January 1995, three women were reportedly raped bysoldiers at Poomachcholai and Kayankaddu, Batticaloadistrict, in reprisal for an attack by the LTTE on the nearbyarmy camp at Thandavanveli. In August 1995 Lakshmi Pillaiwas raped at her home in Trincomalee by two armyinformants in front of her two sons. The motive may havebeen revenge as she had spoken out about being rapedbefore at Plantain Point army camp in August 1993. Theinformants were arrested but later released on bail pendingtrial.

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On 7 March 1996, a 45-year-old woman was raped bysoldiers at Thiyavedduwan checkpoint. Her husband was

beaten with rifle butts. Both were admitted to Valaichchenaihospital. Following a complaint by several people ofThiyavedduwan at Valaichchenai army camp, anidentification parade was held and the soldiers wereidentified and taken into custody by the military police. It isnot known whether any further action has been taken againstthem."

- Amnesty International Report, September 1996


Para Military Groups torture & execute Tamils

Shadowy Tamil militant death squads are once again on therise in Batticaloa. The Mohan group aligned to PLOTE hasterrorized Batticaloa for several years and has been linked toformer intelligence officer Richard Dias alias Captain Munas,implicated in the disappearance of 158 Tamils from the

Vantharumoolai refugee camp in 1990. The Raziq groupassociated with EPRLF has recently surfaced. Observersbelieve EPRLF, which kept aloof from military activities forseveral years, has decided to throw in its lot after the fall ofJaffna and the apparent weakening of the LTITE. The Tamilmilitant cadres ostensibly provide translation service to themilitary and act as scouts and spotters during securityoperations. Both EPRLF and PLOTE deny that they havelinks with death squads. But reports from Batticaloa say

these two groups are involved in detention, torture andexecution of people suspected of links with the LTTE.

Observers say that at least ten incidents of torture andexecution in the last three months are known to human rightsgroups.

- Sri Lanka Monitor, published by British RefugeeCouncil, June 1996

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Rapes and Murders in Occupied Jaffna

"Allegations of ill-treatment of women and extra-judicialexecutions are also being made against the security forces.Reports say that three women were raped by soldiers at theirhome in Manthuvil on 1 August."

- British Refugee Council Publication, Sri LankaMonitor, August 1996

-

"Vanni MP S Shanmugnathan says number of women at thePoonthottam school camp have been sexually abused by thepolice. A woman who was raped has been admitted to theVavuniya hospital. Pregnant women have been deniedaccess to the hospital and one woman has died in labour"

-British Refugee Council Publication, Sri Lanka Monitor,November 1996

"Of the numerous arrests, rapes and murders of the girls andboys in Jaffna, one comes to light. Most, however, gounreported because the Sri Lankan army bans independentreporters from traveling to the peninsula, and thegovernment censors news about conditions in Jaffna.

On Saturday Sep. 7, 1996, Krishanthi Kumarasamy, an 18year old student at Chundikuli Girls' High School wentmissing, soon after she had taken her first paper at the GCE

A/L examination. She was seen by a number of witnessesbeing taken into custody by Sinhalese army personnel at theKaithady checkpoint, and she disappeared soon after.

According to a report published later in the Sri Lanka SundayTimes (Nov 3, 1996), "She was stopped at the checkpointand three soldiers allegedly raped her until she fellunconscious. When she revived, according to the

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confessions, police officers and six soldiers further rapedher."

On learning of Krishanthi's detention at the army check-point,her mother, Rasamma (59), who was the vice principal ofKaithady Maha Vithyalayam, accompanied by her son,Pranaban (16), and a neighbor, Kirupakaran Sithamparam(35), went to the army camp, and then they too disappeared.The same Sri Lanka Sunday Times report said, "Her journeywas not only futile but she, her son and neighbor werestrangled, cut into pieces and buried in a little hut within the

gates of the arm camp." y Krishanthi's relatives in Colombo,including her older sister, Prashanthi (21), who was stayingin Colombo at that time, took up the matter with authorities inColombo, including President Kumaratunga, but nothing wasdone as the army headquarters denied the arrests.

On Sep 20th, Amnesty International published an UrgentAction Appeal (UA 222/96), and even at this stage thegovernment remained silent.

On Oct 23, more than 6 weeks after their disappearances,the Colombo-based Tamil daily Virakesari published thestory. Although none of the other newspapers published it,things began to heat up. The matter was raised inParliament, and all of a sudden the four bodies buried in ashallow grave within the army camp were found.

Tip of an iceberg? Tamil Voice has information that thesekinds of atrocities are quite rampant in the Jaffna peninsula,and in other Tamil areas occupied by the Sri Lankan army.This is not an isolated incident... The reason for lack ofpublicity is the unofficial ban on independent reporters andhuman rights organizations from visiting these areas... Arecent Asia Watch report said, "The army only permitsaccess to the state run media." Foreign humanitarianorganizations that are allowed to function in these areas areones who (by charter) do not publish such crimes. They

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consider such silence necessary for them to be able to carryout their primary humanitarian work.

News pertaining to large scale violations, such as those inthe peninsula, however, is difficult to conceal. A Tamil Voiceeditor had an opportunity to meet with a number of newrefugees who had escaped recently to Tamil Nadu by boat.He reports that, their accounts are "horror stories from hell."

A large number of Tamil men and women are reportedlybeing held in the Kankesanthurai police premises in the

army-held Jaffna peninsula. They are reported to have beenarrested between 30 Mar 96 and 29 Aug 96. TheGovernment Agent of the army occupied Jaffna peninsulapublished a list of names and details of only 135 Tamils, outof the 740 who the armed forces admitted to holding at theKankesanthurai police station. He has also reported thatnearly a hundred Tamil girls are missing. Several incidents ofrapes and molestations were also reported.

"On Sep 30 at about 3.20 PM Velauthapillai Rajani, 22, fromUrumpirai North was arrested in Kondavil-Urumpirai Road bythe Sri Lankan army. This arrest was seen by severalpeople. Rajani, who was planning to leave to Canada, wentto see her relatives in Kondavil to say good-bye. On her wayshe was stopped by the Sri Lankan soldiers manning the

Kondavil checkpoint and was dragged into a house wheretwo elderly people were living. The soldiers chased the twooccupants out of the house and Rajani was raped. Hernaked body was found later in the compound."

Another report stated, "Vasuki, a young Tamil girl living inKilner Lane was harassed by Sri Lankan soldiers from thearmy camp next to her house. On Sep 8, Vasuki waswatching TV at her home between 11 PM and 12 PM at nightwhen 4 Sri Lankan soldiers in civil dress and 2 soldiers inarmy uniform came into her house and tried to take her away

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by force. She and her neighbors raised cries and the soldiersfled with Vasuki's National Identity card."

"On Saturday morning August 7, a Sri Lankan military truckrammed into a group of school girls who were cycling to theExamination hall for their GCE (A/L) examinations. Nineteenyear old, Thayananthi Kananathan from Ariyalai, a student ofChundukuli Girls College was killed on the spot."

"On Sep 10, a 55 year old woman employed in theThirunelvely Co-operative Milk Society was gang-raped by

Sri Lankan Army personnel." "In Kachchai a husband whotried to prevent the rape of his wife was cut to death. His wifewas also murdered later."

These are just a few of the hundreds of incidents reported toTamil Voice. The rape and murder of Krishanthi is just one ofthem.

(Tamil Voice, published by the US Based llankai Thamil

Sangam, Fall 1996, edited by Dr.Rajan SriskandarajahM.D.)

WE ARE PREPARING A DETAILED COMPLAINT WHICHWILL BE MAILED SHORTLY. THIS COMPL

complaint on tamil genocide

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