Posted on July 6, 2009 by srilankalawlessness
India’s Home Minister Palaniappan Chidambaram has expressed displeasure at steps taken by the Sri Lankan government to rehabilitate internally displaced Sri Lankan Tamils. Addressing the media in his constituency of Sivakasi in the Indian state of Tamil Nadu recently, he said, “I am not happy over the steps taken so far by Sri Lanka to rehabilitate the Tamils who have become refugees in their own country. The efforts are not enough.”
Meanwhile the People’s Liberation Party, a southern political party with 26 members in Parliament, stated that the conditions of internally displaced persons in camps were unsatisfactory and that the suffering caused in the camps could embitter people who have already suffered under the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam. Read more »
Filed under: IDPs, Sri Lanka, civil society, civil war, corruption, health, human rights, justice, politics, rule of law | Leave a Comment »
Posted on June 22, 2009 by srilankalawlessness
The Attorney General’s Department of Sri Lanka has surprised the legal community by announcing it will defend four police officers accused of torturing a man and filing false charges against him. This appears to be a major policy change, as the department has long refrained from defending the accused in such cases.
The case in question is that of Amarakoon Dissanayake Sarath Kumara, who suffered serious injuries and had to be hospitalized, allegedly after being forcibly taken to a police station in the Ratnapura division and assaulted by police officers. Later he was produced before a Magistrate’s Court where false charges were filed against him.
Following his ordeal he suffered headaches and pain for a considerable time. Like many who complain about torture, Read more »
Filed under: Sri Lanka, Supreme Court, abductions, attorney general, civil society, corruption, human rights, illegal arrest, illegal detention, justice, police, politics, rule of law, torture | Leave a Comment »
Posted on June 15, 2009 by srilankalawlessness
Members of a Sri Lankan family who lost their home in the recent fighting and are now living in a tent camp filed a case with the Supreme Court on Thursday, asking that their rights as citizens be respected, especially the right to movement. The case is pertinent to some 300,000 internally displaced people currently living in tents.
The petitioner claimed that these people had relatives and friends who were willing to take them into their homes, but the Sri Lankan authorities are holding them by force inside the camps.
Living conditions in the camps are very poor; there is hardly room to move inside the tents and poor toilet facilities require people to stand in long queues to use pits. Food is poor and drinking water inadequate. Read more »
Filed under: IDPs, Sri Lanka, child rights, civil society, civil war, health, human rights, illegal detention, justice, politics, rule of law | Leave a Comment »
Posted on June 8, 2009 by srilankalawlessness
The internally displaced people in Sri Lanka are outside the legal jurisdiction of the country, said Chief Justice Sarath N. Silva on Thursday, addressing a gathering on the occasion of the opening of court premises. He further said that the conditions under which these people are living will bring a curse on the authorities.
“We construct massive buildings on our side, but these IDPs live in tent shelters,” the chief justice said, according to the BBC’s Tamil Service. “Ten IDPs live in one tent shelter. They can stand up straight only in the center of the tent shelter. They will break their necks if they move to the sides of the shelters.” Repeating that this is an accursed situation, Silva said he was willing to face the consequences for making this statement.
In a separate statement U.N. High Commissioner for Human Rights Navi Pillay, in addressing the Human Rights Council, urged the government of Sri Lanka to allow free movement in and out of the camps that hold hundreds of thousands of war-displaced people in the northeast of the country. Read more »
Filed under: IDPs, Sri Lanka, Supreme Court, civil society, civil war, human rights, justice, politics, rule of law | Leave a Comment »
Posted on May 29, 2009 by srilankalawlessness
80 persons have died of dengue fever recently. Over 5,000 people are infected and there are fears that of further spread of the virus. The president has asked the authorities to pay more attention to the issue.
Diseases happen in all societies. However, the way diseases are dealt with depends on the efficiency of countries’ political as well as societal systems. In the case of disease it is the country’s overall medical system and the public relations systems which have the task of creating people’s awareness about ways to deal with the problem that make the difference. Read more »
Filed under: Sri Lanka, child rights, civil society, health, human rights, politics, rule of law | Leave a Comment »
Posted on May 25, 2009 by srilankalawlessness
Following the deaths of the entire leadership of the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam as a result of the Sri Lankan government’s military victory, there is a strong feeling among Sri Lankans both inside and outside of the country that their deaths, particularly that of LTTE chief Vellupillai Prabhakaran, should not be a matter for mourning. I beg to differ.
The issue of concern is the extreme violence practiced by the rebels and state forces in the conflict. The fact that Sri Lanka’s political and legal systems cannot handle any conflict, particularly one between ethnic communities, is inseparable from the way all actors in the present conflict have behaved. Read more »
Filed under: IDPs, Sri Lanka, civil society, civil war, crime, human rights, justice, politics, rule of law, violations | 1 Comment »
Posted on May 18, 2009 by srilankalawlessness
Criticism from U.N. agencies and foreign governments has intensified against the Sri Lankan government’s actions in the less than five-square-kilometer territory formerly referred to as the no-fire zone.
Britain, France, Austria and several media channels have accused the government of backtracking on its promise of not using heavy weapons such as artillery and aerial bombardments in the territory, as they have endangered the lives of civilians. Read more »
Filed under: IDPs, Sri Lanka, civil society, civil war, crime, human rights, justice, rule of law, violations | Leave a Comment »
Posted on May 11, 2009 by srilankalawlessness
The world’s attention is on some 192,000 internally displaced persons and another 50,000 to 100,000 civilians trapped in a five-square-kilometer area in northern Sri Lanka that used to be called a no-fire zone. U.N. Secretary General Ban Ki-moon, in a press release issued after a telephone conversation with the Sri Lankan president on Tuesday, stated that this issue is among the highest of priorities internationally.
The civilians are trapped in an internal conflict between the Sri Lankan government and the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam. They are ordinary folk who have lived in the north and the east from time immemorial. They were able to sustain themselves and help others in the past. They naturally deserve the full attention of the government and the international community to escape the conflict and integrate back into their natural habitat as soon as possible. Read more »
Filed under: IDPs, Sri Lanka, child rights, civil society, civil war, health, human rights, justice, politics, rule of law | Leave a Comment »
