Demonstration against the war in Colombo
ASYLUMSEEKER KILLED IN CUSTODY
(The Srilanka Monitor)
Reports say that Operation Command Colombo (OCC) is authorised to carry out secret investigations
and search operations without any notice to the local police.
SOURCES say that a Tamil killed in police custody in Colombo in 1995 was an asylum-seeker
in Denmark and Sweden and had been deported. In 1995, some 30 bodies were found in Bolgoda Lake,
10 miles south of Colombo, and other lakes.
Twenty one of the dead were identified as Tamils, killed in the custody of the Special Task Force (STF)
at its headquarters in the capital. Twenty two STF officers were charged, but the case was dismissed
in March 1997, after the accused and the Attorney General failed to appear in court.
Three STF members are now said to be facing charges of abduction and illegal
detention.
Ratnam Suresh was deported to Sri Lanka in March 1994 from Sweden after his attempt to enter
Denmark failed and the Danish authorities returned him to Sweden. The Swedish authorities issued
Mr Suresh an Emergency Identity Document to enable deportation. The Sri Lankan police have notified
the ICRC that Mr Suresh was among those killed in the Bolgoda Lake
cases.
In Colombo, arrest and detention of Tamils continue. The US State Department in its Sri Lanka Country
Report on Human Rights Practices for 1998, says that arrest and detention by police took place in violation
of the legal safeguards built into the Emergency regulations and other legislation, particularly regarding
requirements that receipts be issued and that the Sri Lankan Human Rights Commission be notified of any
arrest within 48 hours. The State Department also says that impunity for those
responsible for human rights abuses remained as a serious problem.
TAMILS FROM EUROPE HARASSED
[TamilNet, September 24, 1998]
The friends and relatives of Kalirajah Thirugnanaseelan, 31, a Danish citizen
appealed to Tamil Parliamentarians today that he was being
unduly detained by the Sri Lankan Police since his arrival in Colombo on Sunday
September 20. They said Kalirajah is from Mutur, south of Trincomalee in the
eastern province and had settled down in Denmark ten years ago.
He had arrived in Colombo by Balkan Airlines flight LZ 2581 on Sunday around 11.30 a.m.
He had been detained, according to his relatives, by the Terrorism Investigation Department (TID).
The detaining authorities had sought a bribe of seventy five thousand
Sri Lankan rupees from the relatives who were at the airport to receive Kalirajah,
alleged one of his friends this afternoon.
They charged that Kalirajah is being detained illegally.
Meanwhile an immigration officer at the Colombo International airport is reported
to have torn the passport of a Tamil passenger for not 'donating' to a television
to him as he had demanded, said sources.
The incident occurred when Mr. Sinnathmaby Muthulingm, a Tamil living in Switzerland,
arrived at the Colombo airport on September 19.
MASS GRAVES FOUND IN SRILANKA
[TamilNet, July 13, 1998]
Between 300 and 400 of the 700 civilians who were reported missing soon after the Sri Lankan
government forces took control of the Jaffna peninsula three years ago, are buried in the paddy
fields surrounding the main road near Chemmani checkpoint said this week's issue of Yukthiya, a
Sinhala weekly. The paper has also published a map of the area, marking the location where the
bodies are buried.
The Yukthiya's article follows revelations made by one of the accused in the 'Krishanthy
Kumaraswamy' trial, about the existence of mass graves of civilians in the Jaffna peninsula.
Folowing is the translated extracts of the article:
When travelling to Jaffna from the south of the island, you will find a
concrete structure built in an arch form, 3 km. from Jaffna town, on
which it is written Jaffna welcomes you. Chemmani check posts are
situated between this welcome board and Navatkuli bridge. There
are no other buildings in the area, except the structures of check
posts.
After the completion of 'Operation Riviresa' security personnel
manning the Chemmani check posts received dead bodies with
specific orders to bury them. They also received some living
prisoners to be killed and buried the paper reports.
All these killings took place on the instructions of the senior
commanding officers in Jaffna at that time reports the paper.
We feel that there is no need for secrecy this time since the present
government has an International reputation for Human Rights.
According to our sources, these mass graves are quite close to the
location where Krishanthy was buried after being repeatedly raped
and in the map we published, we pinpointed where these graves are
located, to make them easy to detect.
There is absolutely no way that so many civilians could have been
killed and buried without the knowledge of these officers.
If an inquiry is ever launched in to this affair, the parts played by
these officers should also be exposed to protect the true image of
Human Rights in Sri Lanka.
POLITICAL DETAINEES TO BEGIN PROTEST FAST
[TamilNet, June 22, 1998]
Forty-seven Tamil political prisoners held at the Kalutura prison, 43 km south of capital Colombo,
have warned that they will begin a fast unto death from Tuesday, June 23, demanding that the
authorities either begin legal proceedings against them or release them.
The detainees are reported to have sent requests to the diplomatic missions of India, Briton, USA,
Canada, France, Switzerland, Australia, Germany and Italy in Colombo urging them to secure their
release. In the message they have also requested the
diplomatic missions to put pressure on the SriLankan Government to find a political solution to
the burning issue of the island, the ongoing war.
GUNMEN FIRE AT SRILANKA EDITOR'S HOME
(Reuters,June 18)
Unidentified gunmen fired at the home of the editor of a Sri Lanka weekly newspaper, damaging
vehicles but injuring no one, police said on Thursday. They said the gunmen had opened fire at
the home of Lasantha Wickrematunge late on Wednesday. Wickerematunge edits the independent
Sunday Leader, which has been critical of the ruling People's Alliance government.
Damaged buildings in Jaffna"
REPORT ON DISAPPEARANCES
[TamilNet, June 14, 1998]
The Bishop of Mannar(North-Srilanka) has written a detailed report of the disappearance of 4 civilians on 26 May 98,
and the subsequent discovery of their bodies in a remote area. All 4 had been shot,
and evidence indicating SriLankan soldiers may have been involved was found,
says the report.
INFO ON LTTE TRAINING UNIT IN KANDY
(The Sunday Times)
A LTTEer arrested at an Institute in Talatuoya(Hill country) who has foreign connections confessed
to the special police group that apprehended him, that the LTTE sends Tamil youth
for training, and they collect information on important places in Kandy town.
CIVIL RULE IN JAFFNA CRUMBLES
(The Midweek Mirror,june1998)
In another shattering blow to civil administration in the northern capital, all courts of law
in the Jaffna peninsula have been closed down indefinitely following threats by the LTTE.
Five courts operating in the peninsula and the Kayts island on Monday put up notices
signed by the respective registrars that courts will not function until further notice.
The notice did not give reasons for the sudden closure, but it is believed that threats
from the LTTE to the Judges and court officials had led to the closure.
Accordingly the Jaffna, Mallakam, Chavakachcheri, Point Pedro courts have been closed down
and their cases all postponed.
CENSORSHIP ON WAR REPORTS
COLOMBO, June 7 (Reuters) - Sri Lankan newspapers left columns blank on
Sunday and the main opposition criticised the government for imposing censorship
on war reports by local and foreign media.
`The war is the single most important issue in the country today, but the
government apparently does not want the people to know too much of what is
going on,'' the independent Sunday Times said in an editorial.
"Censored," screamed the page which every Sunday carries a widely-read
column by the newspaper's military analyst Iqbal Athas. The page was mostly
blank and had a note saying that all but two paragraphs had been censored.
A front-page headline of the independent Sunday Leader simply said: ``Killed,''
referring to a war report that had not escaped the military censor.
Sri Lanka on Friday imposed censorship on news reports on the war between
government troops and the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam separatist group.
A Defence Ministry statement said print and electronic media were prohibited
from carrying news about operations by the military, police and the special task
force. They also cannot report deployment of troops and naval vessels and aircraft or
``any statement pertaining to the official conduct or the performance of the head
or any member of any of the armed forces or the police force,'' the statement said.
It did not say why the censorship, which applies to both local and foreign media,
was being imposed. The ministry said on Saturday all photographs, news reports and television
material on the war should be submitted to a special cell for screening.
It was the first time that a military censor has been appointed by the government,
the Sunday Times said.
``We hope this is not the first step towards martial law,'' the newspaper added.
The local MTV radio station quoted Ranil Wickremasinghe, leader of the main
opposition United National Party (UNP), as telling a public meeting that he was
baffled by the decision at a time when the government was claiming victories on
the battlefield.
The Foundation for Freedom of Expression said in a statement the censorship
would deprive the public of its right to know the actual situation in the country.
The Foreign Correspondent's Association of Sri Lanka (FCA) said in a
statement censorship was highly regrettable as it ran contrary to the government's
commitment to a free media.
``Suppression of news is counter-productive and can lead to a situation in which
news gives way to rumours, falsehoods replace facts and information is
supplemented by indoctrination,'' the FCA said, while asking the government to
lift the restrictions.
TRANSPORT RESTRICTION
[TamilNet, June 04, 1998]
The army announced today that transport between the Sri Lankan Army (SLA) controlled and
the LTTE controlled areas in the Vanni, through Madhu junction, 30 km west of Vavuniya
on the avuniya-Mannar road, will not be permitted until further notice.
The Army has also asked NGOs operating in the Vanni to restrict
their movements to within the areas under its control.
TROUBLE IN SOUTH AGAIN
[TamilNet, June 02, 1998]
A Sri Lankan Army (SLA) sergeant was killed and 7 other soldiers were wounded when
unidentified gunmen opened fire at an army vehicle, near Yale
sanctuary on the Puttalm-Kadhirgamam road in the southern Sri Lanka, today said
SLA sources. The dead SLA soldier has been identified as Pathirirane,
said sources. The Yala sanctuary which is one of the island's main tourist
attractions lies on the southern end of the Ampara district. The southern edge
of the Yala park is contiguous with the southern province.
BOMB BLAST IN TEA PLANT
[TamilNet, June 01, 1998]
A tea factory in Hatton in the Central Province was heavily damaged in a bomb explosion around 2 a.m.
today said sources. Several hundred thousand rupees worth of machinery were also damaged in the
blast, they added.
REFUGEES PROTEST AGAINST DETAINTION
[TamilNet, May 22, 1998]
142 Tamil refugees being held at the Glass factory detention centre in Trincomalee
staged a token protest this morning urging the authorities to send them back to their
homes in the Jaffna peninsula said sources in the eastern town.
HUMAN RIGHTS GROUP LEFT SRILANKA OVER CENSORSHIP
COLOMBO, May 6 (Reuters) - A London-based human rights group on Wednesday said its work
in Sri Lanka was brought to an abrupt end recently when the government demanded the right
to censor the organisation's reports. Peace Brigades International (PBI) said it had \
officially pulled out of the country after being told it must submit reports to authorities
before publication if it wished to remain working in Sri Lanka. It said it was given the order
during a meeting on March 4 with officials from the ministries of defence, foreign affairs and
other departments. ``PBI believes that placing such restrictions on local and international
human rights observers is unacceptable,'' said a PBI statement released by its London office.
``When such measures are applied to non-partisan NGO (non-governmental organisation) witnesses
whose presence can increase respect for human rights, the result is counterproductive:
these measures undermine trust in the government, and weaken the possibilities for achieving
true democracy and respect for human rights,'' the statement said.
PBI, which has had a presence in Sri Lanka since 1989, said as a result its representatives
had been unable to receive the residence visas necessary to work in the country. It said its
work in the east of the country, scene of much of the fighting in SriLanka's long-running
ethnic separatist war, was also ``noticeably hindered by the limitations on access to the region''
imposed by the government.``Under these circumstances we were forced to withdraw much more abruptly
than we had planned,'' Anne Harrison, chair of PBI's International Council, said in a letter to
President Chandrika Kumaratunga. Senior foreign ministry officials contacted by Reuters declined to comment.
It said since PBI's arrival it had published regular reports on the human rights situation and distributed
them internationally. Ethnic Tamil rebels have been fighting the Sinhalese-dominated government for a
separate homeland in the island's north and east since 1983.
PARENTS FURY
[TamilNet, April 26, 1998]
Parents of those who 'disappeared' in the Jaffna whilst in SriLankan army custody, accused A.T. Ariyaratne,
a member of the Human Rights Commission, and founder of the NGO Sarvodaya,of also violating human rights,
when he met them in Jaffna to convey that the Board of Investigation (BoI) appointed by SriLanka President
to look into the disappearances had only listed 16 persons as having 'disappeared' during that time, said
sources in Jaffna. The MPGA and international human rights organisations put the disappearances in Jaffna
at around 600. Parents who had gathered at the office of the Missing Persons Guardian Association (MPGA)
at Stanley Road in Jaffna town complained that Mr.Ariyaratne was violating the rights of the parents of
the disappeared when he uttered such statements, despite knowing the truth about the disappearances in
Jaffna. The parents said they had met Sri Lanka President Chandrika Kumaratunga on January 16 this year
and that she had acknowledged that large scale disappearances had taken place in Jaffna since the Sri Lankan
army captured it. But the BoI's report and Mr. Ariyaratne's statement diluted the horror of what
had taken place in Jaffna since late 1996 said the parents.
The Chairman of the MPGA, S.Paramantham said that the BoI's statement left the parents in a dilemma as to what
they should do in the future. Sources in Jaffna said that Mr.Ariyaratne, despite being a member of the
non-partisan Human Rights Commission, was seen travelling in vehicles of the Relief and Rehabilitation Authority
of the North (RRAN), which is a Sri Lankan Government body.
Meanwhile, back in Colombo, Mr. Ariyaratne claimed in an interview to the SriLankan Government controlled
Daily News that 500,000 citizens of Jaffna had placed their confidence in a sole individual - President Kumaratunga -
to establish peace. A.T.Ariyaratne, is used to a hostile reception. A few weeks ago, the Jaffna NGO
Consortium reacted with scorn at his proposed visit to the peninsula, in his capacity as leader of Sarvodaya,
which is the largest NGO in Sri Lanka. His harsher critics say he is a manipulative charlatan keen on amassing political
power and wealth via the expansion of his NGO. Ariyaratne was once perceived as a rival of President Premadasa which
allegedly led to the harassment of Sarvodaya by the Government of that time.
The Board of Investigation was appointed by the President to counter widespread domestic and international condemnation
of the disappearances which occurred in Jaffna after it came under the control of the SLA.
However, the BoI, which was headed by a senior officer of the Sri Lanka Administrative Service (SLAS) and comprising
four senior, serving members of the security forces and the police, was criticised because it was largely seen as
tantamount to an attempt by a criminal to act as the judge in his own case.
GIANT REFUGEE(CONCENTRATION) CAMP PLANNED
[TamilNet, April 01, 1998]
The PLOTE's deputy leader, Manikkam Daasan,objected strongly today
to the Sri Lankan government's proposal to establish a giant refugee
camp in Vavuniya to house refugees from the areas of the Vanni which
do not come under the control of the Sri Lanka Army (SLA) and who are
awaiting transport to the Jaffna peninsula, said sources in Vavuniya.
The camp is to be capable of accommodating more than 200,000 people.
The decision to set up the camp was taken at a high level security
meeting held in Vavuniya on Monday under the chairmanship of Deputy Minister
of Defence, General Anuruddha Ratwatte at which the Sri Lankan military
top brass and senior government officials were present.
SRILANKAN ARMY SPEARHEADS SINHALA COLONISATION
[TamilNet, March 25, 1998]
The Sri Lankan army is continuing to forcibly remove Tamil civilians
from their villages in the Muthur area, south of Trincomalee despite
protests by Tamil Parliamentarians, said ex-militant Tamil groups in the
eastern port town today. In its latest move, the SLA has ordered the people
of Iththikkulam, southeast of Muthur, to leave their village by today.
Fearing the consequences of refusal, 175 families from Iththikkulam have
already sought refuge in the government school building at Pallikkudyiruppu.
The forcible evacuation of the Tamils in Iththikkulam comes on the
heels of the army's action last week, when it drove out Tamils and
Muslims from several villages in the Upparu region between Muthur
and Trincomalee. An EPDP Parliamentarian, Mr. M. Chandrakumar has protested
to the government about the forcible evacuation Tamil and Muslim
civilians from their traditional villages in Muthur. He said that this
an attempt to settle Sinhalese in these traditional Tamil villages.
The Sri Lankan army has created and sustained many Sinhala colonies
in several parts of the predominantly Tamil eastern province, particularly
in the Trincomalee district, since 1983 by driving out Tamils from their
traditional villages in those areas. The largest network of such Sinhala
settlements established by the Sri Lankan army is in Manalaaru
(renamed in Sinhala as Weli Oya),south of Mullaithivu and in Thennamaravaadi,
in the northern end of the Trincomalee district. Thousands of Tamil residents
were forcibly driven out of eighteen traditional villages in Manalaaru and
from the large old village of Thennamaravaadi almost overnight by the Sri Lankan army
in 1984. More than ten Tamil villages were also destroyed later as part of the
Sri Lankan army strategy to secure the Sinhala colonies which were
established in Manalaaru. Army's action in Muthur is aimed at undermining the Tamil and
Muslim population in the region.
TAMIL PRISONERS BEGIN FAST UNTO DEATH
[TamilNet, March 23, 1998]
Five political prisoners in Sri Lanka's high security Kalutara jail,
43 kilometers south of Colombo, began a fast unto death today
demanding that the government should begin legal proceedings against
them or release them from the prolonged incarceration.
All Tamil and Muslim political prisoners who were held in the
Welikada jail in Colombo were transferred to Kalutara last year
after they began a fast unto death there which was brutally crushed
by Sri Lankan Police. Three were massacred on December 12 when Sinhala
prisoners attacked these Tamil and Muslim political prisoners in the
Kalutara jail.
SRILANKAN ARMY DESTROY TEMPLES
(Tamilnet March 24, 1998)
The Union of Hindu Priests from the Northeast of SriLanka has sent a
memorandum to the UNESCO and the leaders of the ruling Bharatiya Janata
Party (BJP) in India,charging that more than 1800 Hindu temples in the
Tamil areas have been completely or partially destroyed by the Sri Lankan
security forces.
1500 TAMILS ARRESTED IN COLOMBO
[TamilNet, March 22, 1998]
More than 1500 Tamils were arrested in Colombo during a simultaneous
cordon and search operation by the Sri Lankan army and Police which was
launched last night. Hundreds of Tamils in Kotahena, the foreshore and
Bambalapitiya were rounded up and hauled off to local Police stations.
A journalist and the photographer of the Tamil daily Thinakkural
were arrested by the Sri Lankan Navy while they were covering
last night's mass arrests. Very few were released until this evening
said Police sources in Colombo.
JAPAN ADVISORY HIT TOURISM
(Mar 08, 1998,Reuters)
Tourist arrivals from Japan have been falling and Sri Lankan travel industry
officials fear recent advisories by the Japanese government will lead to
further declines, the independent Sunday Times reported.
The Japanese Foreign Ministry issued a travel advisory in January after a Tamil
Tiger rebel bomb attack in Sri Lanka's central Kandy town killed 16 people and
badly damaged the country's most sacred Buddhist shrine, which is also a popular
tourist attraction. `This is the first time that we got something (travel advisory)
so serious involving Colombo and the surrounding areas,'' the newspaper quoted
a Ceylon Tourist Board official as saying.
The newspaper said the Japanese advisory was fairly comprehensive and included
a map of Sri Lanka indicating danger areas. ``A quick glance at the map would
scare people away,'' the official was quoted as saying. Japan also issued
a similar notice last October after Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE)
exploded a truck bomb in the capital's business district, killing 18 and damaging
several buildings including three five-star hotels.
"WE EXPECT MORE BOMBS"
(March 8 Reuters)
Sri Lanka's Tamil Tiger rebels, blamed for a deadly bomb blast in Colombo last week,
could resort to more attacks on the capital as a government military campaign
in the country's north grinds on,diplomats and analysts said. A powerful bomb
in a mini-bus ripped through a busy intersection in Colombo's Maradana district
on Thursday, killing 37 people and wounding more than 250.
Military officials said they were expecting more explosions.
POLICE STATE
(March, Reuters)
Sri Lankan editors have expressed concern over a spate of recent attacks
on journalists, saying the strong-arm tactics indicated a drift towards
a police state. The Editors Guild of Sri Lanka said in a statement
seen by Reuters on Sunday that an escalation in incidents against journalists
was stifling the climate for a free media. Last month a group of armed men
stormed the house of a senior local journalist,Iqbal Athas, and threatened
him and his family. Athas, a defence correspondent with the independent
Sunday Times newspaper,writes a weekly column where he has often criticised
the military fighting the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE) rebels
in northern Sri Lanka.
NO SECURITY FOR U.S.PEACE CORPS
(march,Reuters)
U.S. Peace Corps volunteers are likely to pull out of Sri Lanka because of
security fears, local newspapers reported Sunday. The independent Sunday Times
said some 48 volunteers were being recalled by the United States, which is worried
about their security after a recent spate of bomb blasts in Sri Lanka.
ARMY BANS CIVILIANS FROM LEAVING VANNI
[TamilNet, January 28 , 1998]
The government decided to completely ban civilians from the
LTTE controlled parts of the Vanni unless for very special
reasons according to new strict regulations which came into
affect from today. No civilians from the LTTE controlled parts
of the Vanni will henceforth be permitted to enter Vavuniya.
CHINESE JOURNALIST ARRESTED IN SRILANKA
(Feb 28, 1998 Reuters)
Sri Lankan authorities have arrested a Chinese
journalist for misreporting a Tamil Tiger rebel attack on a navy convoy
off the northern coast earlier this week and police said on Saturday
he was likely to be deported. They said the Colombo correspondent
of Xinhua news agency, Jin Hui, was arrested at his home late on Friday
after he apparently reported that the SriLankan naval commander had been
killed in the attack in which two ships were sunk.
650 TAMILS EXPELLED FROM COLOMBO
(Tamilnet,feb.7,1998)
The Srilankan Police closed down three lodging houses in downtown Colombo
leaving about 650 Tamils from the north-east stranded on the roads.
The Police told them to leave immediately to the north or east.
Sources said that the Police was reacting to unconfirmed information
that the female suicide bomber responsible for bomb explosion near an
airforce checkpoint in downtown Colombo is said to have stayed in
one of the lodges.
DEMONSTRATIONS AT POKUNNI, DENOUNCING POLICE AND HOME GUARDS.
demonstrations of the public took place in Pokkunni village where
15 youths were murdered by the Police and Home guards
after arresting them on suspicion. They also handed over a memo to the
Army Brigadier and SP of Police in Trincomalee
demanding home guards and police to be replaced by the army.
(Virakesari feb.3,1998)
KILLINGS AT TAMBALAKAMAM.
The innocent civilians are highly worried about the violence
that is prevalent in this country, though that is one thing all wants to
be without. In this country mean while, the tamil people are forced
to go through immense torture and suffering continually and no
constructive action is being taken to remedy it. To ad to their miseries,
their children are being killed after being arrested on
suspicion. Recently 15 youth were thus killed at Parathipuram by
the police and home guards. The Press Media too play such
events down deliberately and up to now no one knows the fate of
600 such Youth arrested in Jaffna during post-Sathjaya
Operation days. Such acts, that creates a considerable void between communities,
should be stopped immediately by the govt and the govt should arrest
all those responsible and punish them fittingly. Other wise such acts
will continue to occur bringing additional disrepute to the country Internationally.
(Virakesari feb. 3,1998)
DETAINEES FACE MORE SEVERE CONDITIONS
(Tamilnet,Jan.15,1998 & Sarinihar)
President Chandrika Bandaranaike Kumaratunga promulgated under the public Security
Ordinance on December 6 1997,that visits to persons detained or remanded under Emergency
Regulations or the PTA had to be limited to one a week. Only one person would be
permitted to visit the detainee and that the visits had to be at a time specified
by the prison authourities.Furthermore,visits are only permitted if the visitor
produced a letter from the officer-in-charge of the police station in the area
where he or she resides. The letter must state that the Police had no objection
to the visits. This letter has to be handed over to the prison official on each visit.
The Justice Minister informed that he was unaware of these new regulations.
EelamWeb Postcard
