NESHOR delegation meets UN officials in Geneva

[TamilNet, Tuesday, 05 April 2005, 19:05 GMT]
A delegation of the North East Secretariat on Human Rights (NESOHR) led by its Deputy Chairman Mr.K.Sivapalan met with Mr.Miloon Kothari, United Nations Commission on Human Rights and Special Rapporteur to Adequate Housing at the UN headquarters in Geneva Monday, sources in Geneva said.

Other member of the delegation was Mr. Mahasivam, who is the General Secretary of the Ceylon Tamil Teachers Union (CTTU) and a member of NESHOR committee.

Mr Sivapalan told the Special Rapporteur that the eviction of people in North East, forcible take over of lands and declaration of the High Security Zones (HSZ) violate number of International Human Rights Instruments such as the Universal Declaration of Human Rights (UDHR), International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights (ICCPR), International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights (ICESCR),Convention Against all forms of Racial Discrimination (CERD) and Convention on Rights of Child (CRC), sources said.

The delegation also told the UN official that aerial bombing, shelling and planned buldozing by Sri Lanka security forces have destroyed hundreds of houses belonging to civilians. In addition State armed forces removed doors, windows, and roofs for use as firewood and also removed asbestos sheets to reinforce sentry points and bunkers.

The number of houses partially damaged and need major repairs is estimated at about 500,000, the NESHOR delegation told the UN official.

UN Rapporteur of Housing promised the NESHOR delegation that he would take appropriate action regarding matters raised at the discussion, NESHOR sources said.