Sri Lanka's gross violations of Human Rights must stop- Selvy

[TamilNet, Sunday, 11 March 2007, 10:37 GMT]
Humanitarian Spokesperson of the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE), N. Selvy, Saturday expressed dismay at International Community's discourse with Colombo by failing to adopt a humanitarian strategy to end the culture of impunity in Government of Sri Lanka (GoSL) administered territory. Despite expressing reservations on the effectiveness of the International Independent Group of Eminent Persons (IIEGP) according to the terms and reference of Colombo, Selvy said: "if the monitoring system could discipline the Sri Lankan state and bring the culprits to book, it would be worthwhile."

Amnesty International and the International Commission of Jurists had expressed reservations on the Sri Lankan excercise, she said.

Selvy added that she is suspicious of the real agenda of the Sri Lankan Government on its recent Commission of Investigations (CoI). "Past experience demonstrates that these types of Commissions had never allowed full investigations into the crimes or prosecution of the real criminals.

"The violations of human rights and humanitarian law in the Tamil homeland and other parts of the island against Tamil people have taken on such proportions as to be categorized as crimes of genocide," Ms. Selvy said.

In a statement sent to media, she said: “In the past 15 months, over 1400 Tamil civilians were arbitrarily executed by the Sri Lankan armed forces and their para-military groups; over 500 Tamil civilians have been made victims of enforced disappearance – Journalists have been killed and Tamil media organizations threatened.

"The international human rights community is well aware of the gross breaches to the International Humanitarian Laws (IHL) by the Sri Lankan Armed Forces in their military offensives including the attack on Trincomalee/Vaharai. In this situation, acting against the perpetrator of these crimes, the Sri Lankan state and its armed forces, is of utmost importance for re-enforcing the core values of the newly formed UN human rights body, the HRC."

Responding to LTTE's commitment to Human Rights standards, she said: "as a liberation movement which has to face the aggressions thrust upon our people, we have demonstrated our commitment and systematic improvement, excelling within the limitations of the environment of war, created by Colombo which attacks civilian targets, imposes an inhumane economic blockade and restricts the freedom of movement of the civilian population."

The LTTE's de-facto administration in the territories it controls further maintains order and safety for our people Tamileelam Judiciary, Police and Prison Administration. The institutions are interacting with UN bodies and International Humanitarian agencies.

"We have recently included the Child Protection Act (CPA) in the evolutionary process to improve the Tamileelam judiciary."