Free Tamil women from fear of rape- Sithamparanathan

[TamilNet, Tuesday, 03 January 2006, 11:33 GMT]
International community should condemn the acts of sexual harassment and rape by the Sri Lanka security forces on Tamil women and urge the Sri Lanka Government to vacate the military from Jaffna, said Ms Pathmini Sithamparanathan, Tamil National Alliance (TNA) parliamentarian for Jaffna and a social activist, in a letter sent Tuesday to Ambassadors of Co-chairs and other European countries in Colombo.

Full text of the letter follows:

Two young women from Malusandi in Vadamaradchi have lodged complaints with the Sri Lankan Human Rights Commission on 02.01.2006 about attempted rapes by the Sri Lankan armed forces.

The women said that on 01.01.2006 the Sri Lankan armed forces cordoned the area where their home is located and while several soldiers were standing watch outside their home some of the soldiers entered their home and attempted to rape the two women. The two women have fought off the offenders and managed to escape.

Jaffna peninsula has come under severe military atrocities in recent times. Tamils, especially the women and children are pushed into a state of fear. This situation must be condemned by everyone with humanitarian concerns. We urge that they take all actions in their capacity to change this situation.

The rape and murder of Tharshini of Punguduthivu has made a deep wound in the minds of Tamil women. They are struggling to recover from this.

Tamil society is very protective of women folk. Violence and humiliation of Tamil women outrages the entire Tamil society. It also infuriates young Tamil men and pushes them to violence.

In this context tightening the military control will also psychologically affect the Tamil women and will enrage them to seek violent means to respond. I therefore wish to emphasize to the Sri Lankan government to remove the military from Tamil residential areas and bring about normalcy in people’s lives.

International community must become acutely aware of the growing violent environment in Sri Lanka. I hope and expect the international community to urge the Sri Lankan government to remove the military from Tamil residential areas to calm the situation.

Ms Pathmini Sithamparanathan
Member of Parliament
Jaffna District
03 January 2006