Hold the government of Sri Lanka to account

The Sri Lankan government declared victory over the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE) in May 2009. By the end of that month, about 300,000 civilians were languishing in detainment camps supervised by the military.

Predominantly Tamils from the north of the country, these people had fled fierce fighting – an estimated 20,000 civilians were killed in the last days of hostilities and gross human rights violations carried out by both parties to the conflict. Used by the LTTE as human shields and callously shelled by the government, they survived entrapment on the battleground only to be trapped again in camps.

Health and sanitation facilities have been described as ‘woeful’ and ill-equipped to deal with large numbers of wounded, sick, traumatised and malnourished. Food and water have also been in short supply at the overcrowded camps. Humanitarian law stipulates minimum standards for medical care, food, shelter and sanitation.

During the past six months, the UN and international NGOs such as the Red Cross have been denied humanitarian access. The displaced have been prevented from communicating with the outside world – even family reunification has been obstructed – and were given little information about their fate. International law prohibits arbitrary detention and unnecessary restrictions on the right to freedom of movement.

Although the rate of return has significantly increased since August 2009, between 120,000 and 140,000 people still remain in the camps. After months of sustained pressure and with an election looming in early 2010, the Sri Lankan government announced last month that those still confined will be able to move in and out of the camps freely from 1 December 2009. The government also set a new date for full resettlement: January 2010.

Despite these steps, serious concerns remain. Several reports have raised questions about the manner of returns.

Human Rights Watch has voiced concern about continuing government restrictions on access to the return areas: “while the government has granted UN agencies access to Mullaitivu and Kilinochchi districts, it has barred access for other international humanitarian organizations even though the infrastructure is shattered and there is a great need for basic support such as food, water, shelter and health facilities”.

In a letter to Sri Lankan President Mahinda Rajapaksa, The Elders made reference to reports that some of those released have been placed in new, closed camps in their district of origin.

Amnesty International says it has received information suggesting that freedom of movement is still being restricted, with camp inmates required to come back to the camps after just a few days. It also stated that local groups have witnessed returnees being ‘dumped, left on the road’.

Equally worrying is the detention without charge of between 10,000 and 12,000 persons on suspicion of LTTE involvement in so-called ‘rehabilitation centres’. The treatment of these detainees is even less transparent and their fate even more uncertain.

At its Annual Conference in June 2009, UNA-UK noted that a military solution was not enough to solve the conflict in Sri Lanka, and expressed deep concern at the plight of the hundreds of thousands of innocent people who had been displaced. Six months later, UNA-UK is calling on its members to write to the current President of Sri Lanka and urge him to:

1. ensure that the UN and its humanitarian partners such as the International Committee of the Red Cross are allowed full access to the displaced, in the camps and in the areas to which they have been released
2. provide the displaced with clear information about their future, rights, legal status and procedures for tracing their families; and allow them to be resettled in places of their own choosing
3. allow international access to and ensure that those held on suspicion of involvement with the LTTE are treated in a manner appropriate to Sri Lanka’s human rights and humanitarian obligations, including through charging those against whom the government can bring a case and releasing those against whom it cannot
4. take concrete steps to ensure that all Tamils, including in particular the displaced, are treated as full citizens and not subjected to any acts of retribution, remembering that the LTTE forcibly recruited many in its ranks
5. do all it can to achieve reconciliation and to honour its stated commitment to a just political solution that is acceptable to all communities, including through undertaking a credible war crimes investigation process and the disbanding of pro-government militias
6. take measures against ongoing human rights violations, such as serious and deadly attacks on parliamentarians, aid workers and journalists who have been critical of government policies, and on lawyers representing victims

You can send your letter by post to:

President Mahinda Rajapaksa
President of the Democratic Socialist Republic of Sri Lanka
Presidential Secretariat
Colombo 1
Sri Lanka
Or by email to: gosl@presidentsl.org

You can also sign this Amnesty International petition to Basil Rajapaksa, brother of and Senior Advisor to the President of Sri Lanka. He is responsible for the management of the camps. Help demand freedom of movement, family reunification and consultation.

Click here to read to read a letter from UNA-UK Chair Lord Hannay to the Foreign Secretary calling on the British government to reconsider the EU's preferential trade agreement with Sri Lanka in light of the continued plight of many thousands of internally displaced persons in Sri Lanka.

Click here to read an article in New World Autumn 2007