[Human Rights Watch]

The report of the Sri Lankan government’s Lessons Learnt and Reconciliation Commission (LLRC) disregards the worst abuses by government forces, rehashes longstanding recommendations, and fails to advance accountability for victims of Sri Lanka’s civil armed conflict, Human Rights Watch said today. The serious shortcomings of the 388-page report, which was posted on a government website on December 16, 2011, highlight the need for an international investigative mechanism into the conflict as recommended by the United Nations Secretary-General’s Panel of Experts in April.

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[ VoA ]

The United Nations estimates that trapped with the rebels are over 100,000 civilians who are taking refuge in the no-fire zone. According to the U.N., the no-fire area is being shelled by the Sri Lankan military, and the rebels are firing back. Human Rights Watch, a New York-based non-governmental human rights advocacy organization, says that the no-fire zone is so densely packed with civilians and remnants of the LTTE that any shooting or shelling must inevitably cause casualties. “Sri Lanka’s so-called ‘no-fire zone’ is now one of the most dangerous places in the world,” said Brad Adams, Human Rights Watch Asia director.

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[HRW]

President Mahinda Rajapakse should order prosecutors to drop all charges against journalists held on politically motivated charges, Human Rights Watch said in a letter to the president today. J.S. Tissainayagam, a journalist, and N. Jashiharan, a publisher, and his wife, V. Valamathy, have been in detention since March 2008. The letter identified serious violations of due process and the right to a fair trial by the authorities in Tissainayagam’s case. “Tissainayagam’s arrest was politically motivated and his detention has involved a litany of due process violations,” said Brad Adams, Asia director at Human Rights Watch.

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[AFP]

Thousands of Tamils fleeing heavy fighting in the north of Sri Lanka are trapped by the government and being denied basic provisions, Human Rights Watch said Tuesday. People who have fled areas under control of the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam rebels to seek safety in government-controlled regions are detained in army-run camps, the New York-based rights group said in a report. “Civilians are trapped in a war zone with limited aid because the government ordered the U.N. and other aid workers out,” HRW’s Asia director Brad Adams said.

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[ HRW ]

The Sri Lankan government should immediately drop charges and free J.S. Tissainayagam, a prominent Tamil journalist on trial for his writings, Human Rights Watch said today. A Tamil publisher, N. Jasiharan, and his wife, V. Valamathy, who were also arbitrarily arrested, should be freed immediately. “The Sri Lankan government is shamefully using antiterrorism laws to silence peaceful critics in the media,” said Brad Adams, Asia director at Human Rights Watch. “This is no way for a government that claims to be a rights-respecting democracy to act.”

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