Emowerin Communitiesfor Justice Eualit and Human Rihts

Month:November/December2009 Volume 1, Issue 3

TLAP Newsletter

Special Interest Articles:

•

“Authenticity ofEvidences”.• “New Sri LankaWar CrimeRevelations”.• “ContinuingHuman Rightsviolations”.

•

“Refugeesplight”.

Highlights:

IDP Camps 2Voices for HR 3Refugee plights 4War Crimes 5Injustice 6Genocide 7Editorial 7About TLAP 8

Tamil Legal Advocacy Project

Video footage thatappears to show SriLankan troops committingwar crimes by summarilyexecuting captured TamilTiger Fighters on thebattlefield was notfabricated, as claimed bythe Sri LankanGovernment, aninvestigation by TheTimes has found.The video of the allegedbattlefield executions,

EU to suspend the GSP+ Tradeconcessions to Sri Lanka

Following the adoption ofa Commission proposalon Sri Lanka and GSP+treatment, ChristianeHohmann, EuropeanCommissionSpokesperson for Tradesaid: "The Commissioncompleted a thoroughinvestigation into thehuman rights situation inSri Lanka and in particularwhether Sri Lanka is livingup to the commitments itmade to respectinternational human rightsstandards when it becamea beneficiary of the

Sri Lanka Execution Video Clips

whichwas aired onChannel 4 in August,

shows a naked man,bound and blindfolded,being made to kneel.An analysis for The Timesby Grant Fredericks, anindependent forensicvideo specialist who isalso an instructor at theFBI National Academy,suggests

otherwise. Hefound no evidence ofdigital manipulation,editing or any otherspecial effects. However,subtle details consistentwith a real shooting, suchas a discharge of gas fromthe barrel of the weaponused, were visible.“This level of subtle detailcannot be virtuallyreproduced. This is clearlyan original recording,” saidMr Fredericks, who waspreviously the head of theVancouver police forensicvideo unit in Canada.European Union's GSP+trade incentive schemewhich provides foradditional trade benefits.

Sri Lankan war crimes video is authentic - Timesinvestigation finds

Source: Times Online For Full Report: http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/news/world/asia/article6956569.ece

The report came to theconclusion that thereare significantshortcomings in thisarea and that Sri Lankais in breach of its GSP+commitments

.After consulting withMember States, theCommission has adoptedtoday a proposal with aview to temporarilysuspending theseadditional trade benefits.EU Member States willhave two months in whichto decide on it."GSP+ relies onbeneficiary countries'continuing to respect thesubstantive eligibilitycriteria for the scheme. Inlight of the findings of theinvestigation adopted bythe Commission on 19October 2009, theCommission hasproposed a temporarywithdrawal of some or allof Sri Lanka's benefitsunder GSP+ to EUMember States in theCouncil.

Source: European Commission For Full Report: http://trade.ec.europa.eu/doclib/docs/2009/december/tradoc_145604.pdf

TLAP Newsletter

Page 2 of 8

“Tamils feel like inmates in their own country. The irony is that the root causes o f this conflict are being ignored yet again” – Mano Ganeshan, MP

Nearly 150,000 refugeesfrom Sri Lanka's civil warremain detained in SriLankan governmentinternment camps,according to the UN'schief humanitarian affairsofficial, John Holmes.Holmes expressedconcern over the quality ofthe Sri Lankangovernment's recent

“Humanitarian catastrophe” Continues

actions on the camps. TheSri Lankan governmenthad previously promisedto release all of itsinternally displaced people(IDPs) from the campswithin a 180-day windowafter the end of the war inMay, but missed itsdeadline earlier thismonth."What we need to keepfocusing on isaccountability forviolations for internationalhuman rights law for bothsides during the conflict,"Holmes advised. "We'realso very keen toencourage the process ofpolitical reconciliation,which is fundamental tomake sure the opportunityposed by the end of thewar is not missed."Thousands of people havestarted leaving refugeecamps in northern SriLanka, six months afterthe civil war with the Tamilrebels ended, but remainstranded without anymeans of getting home,aid workers in the areasaid. One of the concerns“is the lack of assistancefor those who have beenreleased so far,” AmnestyInternational said in astatement“A church group hasreported that people havebeen bussed from ManikFarm camp and simply‘dumped, left on the road’at Adampan in Mannar (atown on the north-westerncoast),” AmnestyInternational said.The human rights groupcalled on the Sri Lankangovernment topermanently releasecivilians whom they saidhave been “illegallydetained”incams.

U.N.: 150,000 still in Sri Lankan campsTamil IDPs were “dumped on the road” and remain stranded

Source: CNN

Source: CNN For Full Report: http://edition.cnn.com/2009/WORLD/asiapcf/11/24/un.srilanka/ Source: Gulf Times For Full Report: http://www.gulf- times.com/site/topics/article.asp?cu_no=2&item_no=329593&version=1&template_id=44&parent_id=24

The Sri Lankan governmenthas failed to makeadequate welfare provisionfor the 136,000 Tamilcivilians it plans to releasefrom internment camps,rights activists andopposition parties said.Many observers warned thegovernment that it mustorganise a structuredresettlement programme."We are insisting that theInternational Committee ofthe Red Cross or theUNHCR should be presentwhen people are resettled,"said Nimalka Fernando,spokeswoman for theDemocratic People'sMovement. She said thegovernment's plan to"haphazardly" send thecivilians back to theirvillages was "seriouslyflawed".

'Sri Lanka failed to provide a “resettlement plan” for IDPs

Source: Reuters

A large international NGOworking in Sri Lanka wastold by Basil Rajapaksa todeal only with thegovernment, and to stopcomplaining to the UN.Inner City Press askedHolmes about this, and hesaid he is "not sure that isa hugely important point."But to some, agovernment telling NGOsnot to complain to the UNis not a small thing.It was the UN's quiet pullout from Kilinochchi thatpresaged the killing ofcivilians that would occur.So for the UN to be lessthan concerned with thegovernment tries to cutoff the flow ofinformation to theoutside world is not agood sign.

NGOs Told Not to Complain to UN by President’s Brother

Source: AFP For Full Report:

http://news.yahoo.com/s/afp/20091122/wl_afp/srilankaunrestrightsrefugee_20091122153834

Source: Sunday Times

Source: Innercitypress

For Full Report:

http://www.innercitypress.com/lanka1sri1elections112309.html

TLAP Newsletter

Page 3 of 8“Sri Lanka Violation of International Laws Continues”

The Elders call to protect rights of Tamil Civilians

Archbishop DesmondTutu, signed the letter onbehalf of his fellow Elders,Martti Ahtisaari, KofiAnnan, Ela Bhatt, LakhdarBrahimi, Gro Brundtland,Fernando HenriqueCardoso, Jimmy Carter,Graça Machel and MaryRobinson.The Elders – a group ofeminent global leadersbrought together byNelson Mandela – havemade a direct appeal tothe President of Sri Lankato protect the rights ofcivilians displaced. Theyhave written to PresidentRajapaksa to say that theyare “deeply worried” aboutthe humanitarian situationfaced by the largely Tamilcivilian population who fledfighting in the north of thecountry, and warn that thiscould squander hopes fornational reconciliation.The Elders say thecontinued confinement is a“clear violation ofinternational law” and thatthese people are beingdenied basic human rights,including the right to libertyand freedom of movement.The Elders also relayedtheir serious concernsabout the way in which theSri Lankan government isattempting to meet itsresettlement objectives.They are particularlyconcerned that theinternational NGOs havehad too limited a role inmonitoring the movementof people, and have nothad access to all the areaswhere people have beenreturned. Equally worryingare reports that some ofthose released have beenplaced in new, closedcamps in their district oforigin by local authorities.Chair of The Elders,

“The most worrying part of the transit camps is that nobody is allowed to even meet them inside, not even religious leaders or desperate relatives- Consortium of Humanitarian

Anger over Tamil Detainees' Fate

ones and are being heldagainst their will. Othershave been released, onlyto be taken from theirhomes days later with noindication of where theyhave gone.U.S. official, who spoke onthe condition of anonymity,said that they have so farbeen unable to trackwhere exactly IDPs aregoing. He said they arehoping to see evidencesoon that they haveactually been resettled.Facing pressure from theObama administration andthe European Union, theSri Lankan governmentlast month launched acampaign to resettle tensof thousands of theminority Tamil detainees.But interviews in thecountry's war-ravagednorth reveal that manycivilians have merely beenshuffled from the largecamps to smaller transit"One of the majorproblems with the campsis that the government isnot telling people when orwhy they are arrestingrelatives," said GordonWeiss, a spokesman forthe United Nations in SriLanka. "In a country with along history ofdisappearances, justsnatching people createsan incredible atmosphereof fear

Source: The Elders For Full Report: http://theelders.org/media/mediareleases/elders-call-sri-lankan-government-protect-rights- civilians-displaced-conflict-do

Source: Amnesty International For Full Report: http://www.amnesty.org/en/news-and-updates/news/sri-lankan-army-clashes-detainees- 20090924

Media and ICRC ban continues on war refugees

SRI Lanka has maintainedits ban on journalistsreporting the plight of war-displaced civilians whohave been allowed out oftheir internment camps.Restrictions on visits to thenorthern district ofVavuniya where thegovernment maintains itscamp complex remained inplace despite them beingdeclared open. The fewvisits that have beenallowed have been understrict military supervision.The InternationalCommittee of the RedCross said they had alsobeen denied access to thecamps and there had beenno relaxation of therestrictions.

Source: Washington Post

Source: AFP For Full Report: http://www.news.com.au/adelaidenow/story/0,22606,26443362-5005962,00.html