Action Alert ArchiveAttacks on Aid Workers ContinueAugust 1, 2007 A member of the Danish Refugee Council was murdered on the morning of July 23, 2007 on his way to work in the Sri Lankan Military-occupied Jaffna Peninsula, the northern tip of Sri Lanka. This highly-publicized murder of Mr. Mariyanayagam Aloysius comes merely weeks after the bodies of two Tamil Red Cross workers were abducted from a railway station in Colombo, their bodies found brutally murdered only a few hours later. Other attacks upon humanitarian aid workers have been reported since fighting started again in late 2004 between the Tamil rebels and the Sri Lankan government. Last year Nordic Truce Monitors and Amnesty International both found evidence that the Sri Lankan Military was responsible for the August 5 execution-style murders of 17 French NGO Action Contre Le Faim (ACF) staff in the East. This was decried as the worst attack against humanitarian workers since the 2003 bombing of the United Nations headquarters in Iraq. The International Committee of Jurists (ICJ) strongly urged the Sri Lankan government to allow independent, international human rights workers to investigate this attack, but were flatly denied. The Sri Lankan government went so far as to deny entry to the ICJ's official representative attempting to observe the inquest into the ACF killings. Residents and family members said the Sri Lankan Armed Forces were likely behind the murders: "We believe it was the army," 50-year-old Richard Arulrajah told Reuters. His 24 year-old son was among the murdered ACF workers. "On Friday he phoned and said he would be back by Saturday. After that, we heard the military personnel came and shot them." With the number of Internally Displaced Peoples (IDPs) mounting higher than 500,000, the need for humanitarian relief grows daily. Unfortunately, as Sri Lanka's conflict escalates, the distinction between Tamil civilians and the Tamil rebels blurs as indiscriminate attacks against Tamil villages and aid workers intensify. As a Co-Chair to Sri Lanka's Peace Process, the United States is uniquely positioned to offer leadership in stemming these egregious human rights violations against Tamils in Sri Lanka. |
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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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