Overview of Human Rights Situation in Sri Lanka

OVERVIEW OF HUMAN RIGHTS SITUATION IN SRI LANKA

Abrogation of Ceasefire The year began with the abrogation of the Ceasefire Agreement by the Government of Sri Lanka (GOSL) on 2 January 2008. Pursuant to this, the Sri Lanka Monitoring Mission (SLMM), established to monitor the CFA, terminated its operations in the country by 16 January 2008. Though the CFA had been observed in the breach for the most part, the formal abrogation signalled a return to war and a rapid escalation of the conflict.

Political Assassinations A number of political assassinations took place in the month of January. United National Party (UNP) MP Maheswaran was gunned down in a temple as he was returning after religious observances on New Years day.1 The UNP blamed the government for his assassination citing the downgrading of his security. The Minister of Nation Building D.M. Dassanayake succumbed to injuries suffered due to a roadside claymore attack in Ja-Ela a few days later.2 The LTTE also lost several senior operatives during the first part of 2008. LTTE intelligence Chief Pottu Amman’s deputy Shanmuganathan Ravishankar alias Charles was killed in Mannar by the Army, and the LTTE Eastern leader Shankar who was gunned down by the STF in Batticoloa.3

On 6th April Minister of highways and road development Mr. Jayaraj Fernandopulle was killed with 10 civilians. In October, opposition Leader of the North-Central Provincial Council, Retired Major General Janaka Perera was assassinated in a suspected suicide bombing while he was attending the opening of a new UNP branch office in Anuradhapura.4 24 civilians were killed and over 100 others were injured in this incident.

APRC The All Party Representative Committee (APRC), set up by President Rajapakse to ‘fashion creative options that satisfy the minimum expectations…as well as provide a comprehensive approach to the resolution of the national question”5 produced an interim report recommending the implementation of the relevant provisions in the 13th Amendment to the Sri Lankan constitution 18 months after it was convened. The APRC interim report recommended the full implementation of the entire 13th Amendment despite the inherent flaws and minority demands for substantive and meaningful power sharing.6 The report was disappointing as it was vague and did not propose creative and substantive solutions to the national question.

Amendments to the Constitution The conflict regarding the 17th amendment to the Constitution remains unresolved. In October, the Attorney General informed the Supreme Court that President Mahinda Rajapaksa had agreed to hold discussions with the Opposition leader and the Prime Minister to appoint members to the Constitutional Council.

When the case was last taken up on September 22, the court had observed that the President, Prime Minister and the Leader of the Opposition should reach consensus on the nominations to the

1 The Morning Leader, 2 January 2008. 2Minister D.M. Dassanayake and his bodyguard succumb to injuries’, 8 January 2008, http://www.defence.lk/new.asp?fname=20080108_06 3 Iqbal Athas, ‘Charles: LTTE’s prince of faceless terror, Sunday Times, 13 January 2008. 4‘Janaka Killed’ Daily Mirror, 6 October 2008. 5Seeking a Political and Peaceful Settlement of Conflict, at http://www.peaceinsrilanka.org/peace2005/Insidepage/SCOPPDaily_Report/SCOPP_report130707.asp 6 Don Asoka Wijewardena, ‘Govt assures implementation of the 13th amendment’, The Island, 25 July 2008.

1 Constitutional Council and notify the Court as to what development was made. Thereby, when the case was taken up before the court, the acting Attorney General informed that the Premier and the Opposition had a discussion on October 15 at the Parliament and the President was apprised of the content of the discussion. The court fixed November 14 for hearing of further developments concerning the matter.7

Elections The elections to the Eastern, North Central and Sabaragamuwa Provincial Council, held in 2008, were marred by pre-election violence and intimidation.8 Although the government claimed the elections were mainly free and fair, several election monitoring groups contested this claim, citing several incidents of election malpractice, which included impersonation, aided by lack of proper verification of identification, and lack of designated officials to carry out such checks. The operation of vehicles without number plates engaged in committing election fraud was also noted where the snatching of ID and polling cards from voters was also reported. Persons in civilian clothing carrying arms took place on the day of polling. In some places, monitors had witnessed persons openly distributing ballot papers telling people to vote for a particular party. In certain other stations, the same people were seen voting repeatedly.

There was an increase in trend to misuse public property and resources during the election campaign, with State owned buildings, telephones and vehicles being utilised for the campaign.

Also during the year, the LTTE breakaway faction, the Tamil Makkal Viduthalai Puligal (TMVP) registered as a political party and contested the local and provincial council elections in the Eastern Province under the “boat” symbol. The TMVP has been accused of recruitment of children, abductions and extra-judicial killings.9

Sivanesathurai Chandrakanthan, alias Pillayan, of the Tamil Makkal Viduthalai Puligal (TMVP), a party of former LTTE cadres, was sworn in as the Chief Minister of Sri Lanka’s Eastern Province. The TMVP had fought the elections to the Eastern Provincial Council as a constituent of the United Peoples’ Freedom Alliance (UPFA) headed by President Mahinda Rajapaksa.10 In October, TMVP leader, Vinayagamurthy Muralitharan alias Karuna Amman was sworn in as a UPFA MP before Speaker W.J.M. Lokubandara.11

Attacks against NGOs Attacks against non-governmental organizations, both local and international and United Nations agencies increased in 2008. Several organizations were summoned before the Parliamentary Select Committee on NGOs established to investigate the activities of NGOs, chaired by Janatha Vimukthi Peramuna (JVP) MP Vijitha Herath.12 UN agencies too were subject to criticism and harassment, which ranged from protests in front of the UN compound to accusations that the body was supporting the LTTE in numerous ways.13 The response of the UN to these criticisms was muted and there were no strong statements or refutations issued by the organization.

7 Daily Mirror, 17 October 2008. 8 ‘Provincial Council election- Eastern Province: Third interim report’, PAFFREL, 12 May 2008. 9 ‘CM admits TMVP abductions’, BBCSinhala.com, at http://www.bbc.co.uk/sinhala/news/story/2008/05/080526_pillayan.shtml 10 Orunews 17 May 2008. 11 ‘Former Tiger Sworn in as MP’ 8 October 2008 12 ‘Return to War: Human rights under siege’, Human Rights Watch, August 2007, P. 91. 13 Tharangani Perera, ‘UN acts diplomatically on anti-Arbour JVP protest, Sunday Times, 27 January 2008.

2 Head of the Sri Lankan branch of Transparency International, an international NGO that campaigns against government corruption and human rights lawyer J.C Weliamuna and his family survived a grenade attack on their home in the capital, Colombo, on 27 September.

Freedom of Expression Attacks on the freedom of expression and the media continued unabated. Defence Secretary Gotabaya Rajapakse, summoned two senior journalists, Sanath Balasuriya and Poddala Jayantha to a meeting with Lake House Chairman Bandula Padmakumara and Lakshman Hulugalle, Director of the Media Centre for National Security, where he chastised them for criticizing the government despite being employees of a state run media institution.

Keith Noyahr, Associate Editor and military columnist of the Nation newspaper was abducted, brutally assaulted and dropped off outside his house the following day. Police investigations have not produced any leads on the perpetrators.14 Another journalist, Sirimevan Kasthuriarachchi, of the Sinhala Daily Divaina was warned against reporting on defence matters and the Sri Lankan army by a group of armed men who stormed his house.15

In June, armed men attired in uniforms of the Sri Lankan army visited the headquarters of the Sri Lanka Press Institute (SLPI) and made inquiries about several individuals working at the SLPI. When the issue was publicized and the army was informed of the incident, the Army stated that it had not authorized any member of its force to make any such inquiries and advised the SLPI to make a police complaint.16

J.S. Tissanayagam, senior journalist and Sunday Times freelance columnist was arrested on 7th March 2008 and currently detained by the Terrorism Investigation Department (TID) without formal charges being filed against him.

In response to numerous attacks on media personnel and protests by media organizations and civil society, the government appointed a cabinet Sub-Committee on Journalists Grievances.17

On 22nd October 2008 the Reporters Without Borders released their Index on World Press Freedom, which ranks Sri Lanka to 165th place of a total of 173 countries assessed. This unenviable ranking places Sri Lanka below such beacons of freedom of expression as, Iraq, Israel, Saudi Arabia and Zimbabwe.

Violence against Women Reports indicate that violence against women in the Northern and Eastern Provinces is on the increase. 18 Abductions of young girls have been reported to community organizations though very few families are willing to lodge official complaints due to the prevailing atmosphere of fear. There have been increasing reports of Tamil women being raped, abducted and tortured. Particularly young women who have come out from rebel controlled areas are either taken under custody or gone missing. . Heavy militarization in and around refugee camps and resettlement villages in the north has brought in a situation where young internally displaced women are being forced to submit to armed men’s sexual demand. Many women are forced do sexual

14 Nirmala Kannangara, ‘Barbarism’, Sunday Leader, 25 May 2008. 15 ‘Concern for press in Sri Lanka after army encounters, threats’, Sri Lanka Press Institute at http://www.cpu.org.uk/cpq/news.html 16 Sri Lanka Press Institute visited by armed military inquiring about director, staff’, IFEX Alert, 2 June 2008 at http://egypt.ifex.org/en/content/view/full/94169/ 17 Chathuri Dissanayake, ‘Sub-committee to look into grievances of journalists’, Sunday Times, 29 June 2008. 18 Interviews with rights activists in the Eastern province.

3 favours in order to avoid any harm to their male family members. Besides, men who abuse their women and perpetrators of rape and sexual assault use their connection to various paramilitary groups and block family members seeking any remedial action. Many young girls also enter into early marriages to escape abduction and sexual abuse. Overall, the general break down of law and order in the country has also caused a sharp increase in number of killings, disappearances and rape of women all over the country.

Internal Displacement The escalation of military offensives has resulted in mass displacement of people in the LTTE controlled areas. Further, the order by the government requesting all aid agencies to vacate the Wanni by 27th Sept has placed the provision of humanitarian aid to the IDPs in jeopardy. With the beginning of the monsoon season and the lack of shelter, health and sanitation provisions the physical security and well-being of the IDPs is cause for grave concern. Currently, it is estimated that there are more than 200 to 250,000 IDPs in the Wanni.

In the areas cleared of LTTE presence, returning IDPs face regular threats and occasional violence, including abductions, by both the LTTE and pro-government armed groups. In several instances, government authorities forced IDPs to return to insecure areas. Others are unlikely ever to e able to return to their homes following the government’s announcement in May of the creation of “High Security Zones” that include “special economic areas” on land where thousands of families once lived.

Abductions and Enforced Disappearances While the LTTE has long been responsible for abductions, most recent reported “disappearances” implicate government forces or armed groups acting with government complicity, who target young Tamil men deemed to be part of the LTTE’s civilian support network. A prominent Sri Lankan NGO says that, on average, five persons are either killed or “disappear” each day in Sri Lanka. In the lawlessness that has grown since the return to conflict, Tamil armed groups and criminal elements have committed numerous abductions for ransom. The victims were mostly businesspersons from the Tamil community in Colombo.

Vavuniya: New site of increasing human rights violations With the theatre of conflict shifting to the North, Vavuniya, which is situated adjacent to the active conflict area, has become a site of increasing human rights violation. In a climate of rising impunity, increased abductions and extra-judicial killings, violence against women and children are reported by human rights groups. The breakdown of the rule of law, particularly due to the activities of several politico-armed groups who act with the acquiescence or tacit approval of the state complicates the situation and makes it difficult to bring perpetrators to justice. This has not only heightened insecurity in the area but has also placed human rights defenders at great risk. The most problematic aspect of this situation is the lack of mechanisms and institutions that offer redress and protection to the complainants/victims.