Action Alert ArchiveA Call to Impose Sanctions on the Government of Sri LankaDecember 5, 2005 We are angry and deeply saddened by escalating attacks on innocent civilians throughout Northeast Sri Lanka, specifically targeting minority Tamils. We are especially alarmed at the egregious murder of Joseph Pararajasingham, Tamil Member of Parliament and an outspoken human rights activist. He was shot to death in St. Mary’s Church, immediately after Honorable Pararajasingham received communion while attending midnight mass for Christmas. Seven others, including his wife, were injured and hospitalized after this attack. St. Mary’s church is in a Sri Lankan Army-controlled High Security Zone in Eastern Sri Lanka, where the police and Army maintain a heavily armed presence, suggesting this murder was executed by the Sri Lankan armed forces or by paramilitary forces acting in collusion with Sri Lankan military intelligence. Honorable Pararajasingham’s murder comes at a time of escalating violence against Tamil noncombatants across the Northeast. On December 20th, 20-year old Ilayathamby Tharshini was raped before being strangled to death by the Sri Lankan Navy during a cordon and search operation. A post-mortem medical report revealed bite marks on her breasts and showed that Tharsini was gang raped prior to her death. A civilian protest the following day against this brutal attack met with further violence when Sri Lanka Army troopers opened fire at a peaceful march by University of Jaffna students and staff, gravely wounding innocent demonstrators. Attacks on Army personnel have met with indiscriminate, retaliatory violence against unarmed civilians, in cruel defiance of the Ceasefire Agreement and all international norms of conflict situations. Throughout the last two weeks, attacks on civilians have escalated in scope and frequency. These have ranged from arson attacks which left children burned to death, to Navy soldiers assaulting a settlement of Internally Displaced Peoples with batons and bike-chains, forcing dozens to be hospitalized. Countless civilians have been arbitrarily massacred, ranging from truck drivers to teenagers, and while witnesses hold government soldiers responsible for the attacks, a prevailing culture of impunity only encourages further attacks. Thus the international community must take concrete action to stop State terrorism in Sri Lanka. We call upon you to urge the Sri Lankan government to immediately disarm paramilitary groups and cease all hostilities against civilians, pursuant to Clauses 1.8 and 2.1 of the Ceasefire Agreement. Government troops are also mandated to vacate schools, places of worship, and civilian homes according to Article 2 of the CFA, but this too remains a shattered promise as sacrilegious attacks occur even within church walls. The Sri Lankan government should take full responsibility to hold all soldiers and officials accountable for these killings. We call upon you to show political and moral courage and call for sanctions on the government of Sri Lanka to immediately end this deliberate and calculated violence. This would restore confidence in Sri Lanka’s peace process and bring justice for the dozens of stolen lives. |
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Jun 20, 2008 - Aftenposten
Peace brokers from around the world will once again gather for the annual Oslo Forum next week, to swap experience in conflict mediation. Participants include Mohammad Khatami, former president of Iran; Jonathan Powell, former chief of staff for ex-British Prime Minister Tony Blair, and Gareth Evans, president of the International Crisis Group. Read this article
As Sri Lanka's civil war escalates, so do attacks on its journalists
Jun 19, 2008 - AP
With civil war raging in Sri Lanka, the journalists trying to cover the conflict find themselves increasingly under siege. They have been hounded by the government, attacked by unknown assailants and accused of aiding the rebels. Many reporters have been arrested or fled the country, while others have resorted to self-censorship, journalists said.Read this article
Review of Sri Lanka under the Universal Periodic Review
Jun 14, 2008 - Amnesty International
Themes raised by member states participating in the review of Sri Lanka under the UPR dialogue included concerns related to the lack of protection of civilians caught in the internal conflict; enforced disappearances, unlawful/extrajudicial killings; torture and other forms of ill treatment, threats to freedom of expression, the need to strengthen national human rights institutions, attacks on dissent and ongoing impunity for human rights violations.
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Press freedom in Sri Lanka continues to deteriorate
Jun 13, 2008 - CPJ
The Committee to Protect Journalists is alarmed by government’s policies toward journalists who write critically about the conflict between Sri Lanka’s military forces and Tamil secessionists. We have seen an increase in harassment, intimidation, and detention of reporters, many of whom are columnists in senior positions with well-established careers.
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S.Lanka says peace brokers can't visit rebel area
Jun 12, 2008 - Reuters
Sri Lanka has refused requests by Norwegian peace mediators to visit rebel territory, and said fresh peace talks hinged on Tamil Tiger guarantees to lay down arms and stick to a negotiation timetable. Nordic ceasefire monitors quit the country this year after the six-year Norway brokered truce disintegrated.
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