Sri Lanka: Island Paradise or Island of Tears?

   

What The New York Times thinks of Sri Lanka
The New York Times ranked Sri Lanka as the top destination travel desination in 2010. The article's author callously downplays the still-ongoing violence against the Tamil population in favor of praising Sri Lanka's "natural beauty and cultural splendors" and "gorgeous beaches."
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What the Sri Lankan government thinks of Sri Lanka
The Sri Lankan government lauds its post-war progress, both economically and politically. The government states that its reconciliation efforts with all communities are working, the northern traditional Tamil lands are accessible and safe, and Tamils have human rights.
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What Victoria's Secret thinks of Sri Lanka
Garments constitute 45% of Sri Lanka's exports and Victoria's Secret gets approximately one-third of its lingerie and sleepwear from Sri Lanka. That means around $500 million from lingerie exports props up Sri Lanka's economy, which in turn funds the government's practices of discrimination and abuse against Sri Lanka's Tamils.
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What journalists think of Sri Lanka
Independent journalists are under threat in Sri Lanka. Journalists who oppose the regime are subject to harassment and abuse, and almost all news sources practice self-censorship for fear of retaliation. Sri Lanka has consistently ranked extremely low in press freedom. According to Reporters Without Borders' Press Freedom Index, Sri Lanka currently ranks 163rd out of 179 countries - worse than Afghanistan, Pakistan, Iraq, and Saudi Arabia.
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What human rights organizations think of Sri Lanka
A United Nations panel of experts, the U.S. State Department, and numerous human rights groups have provided extensive reports on the Sri Lankan military's intentional shelling of hospitals and civilians, extrajudicial killings, widespread torture, indefinite detention of prisoners, and other abuses. Human rights organizations such as Amnesty International, Human Rights Watch, and International Crisis Group, have repeatedly denounced the Sri Lankan government's domestic inquiries as feckless smokescreens and called for an international investigation.
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What Sri Lanka is actually like
Sri Lanka's war killed more than 70,000 people and in the final months of the war in 2009, the military massacred tens of thousands of Tamil civilians. Immediately after the war's end, over 250,000 Tamils were imprisoned in highly-militarized internment camps. The situation has only deteriorated: Sri Lanka's constitution was amended to remove term limits for the President, allowing a regime that marginalizes minorities and represses the media to remain in power interminably. Until there is an independent international investigation into the government's crimes, there will be no accountability, justice, or stability on the island.
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For more information, see About Sri Lanka.

To ask Congress to support an international investigation of Sri Lanka’s war crimes, see our Action Alert and click "Take Action!"

Photo Attribution:
What The New York Times thinks of Sri Lanka.
What the Sri Lankan government thinks of Sri Lanka.
What Victoria's Secret thinks of Sri Lanka.
What journalists think of Sri Lanka.
What human rights groups think of Sri Lanka.
What Sri Lanka is actually like.