26.10.15 Media Release
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- Wednesday, 28 October 2015
DEAL WITH MUSLIM EXPULSION ALSO THROUGH GENEVA PROCESS
The 25th year of the mass expulsion of Muslim people resident in the north by the LTTE falls this October. The eviction of the 90,000 strong northern Muslim population continues to be a humanitarian and political problem of national proportions. An estimated 80 percent of them continue to live outside their original places of residence. However, the problems faced by this section of the Sri Lankan population and finding a just solution have not been given either the public attention or priority that it deserves. The government’s decision to co-sponsor the UN Human Rights Council resolution on Promoting Reconciliation, Accountability and Human Rights in Sri Lanka provides an opportunity for the country, and the international human rights community, to come to terms with this problem and find a just solution.
The National Peace Council welcomes, and appreciates, the introspective and self critical statement of the Tamil National Alliance which was chosen by a large majority of Tamil people in the north and east at the recent general elections. The TNA stated in its response to the UN Human Rights Council investigation report that "We also accept and undertake to carry out our responsibility to lead the Tamil people in reflecting on the past, and use this moment as a moment of introspection into our own community’s failures and the unspeakable crimes committed in our name, so as to create an enabling culture and atmosphere in which we could live with dignity and self-respect, as equal citizens of Sri Lanka." The National Peace Council believes that this call needs to be appreciated, emulated, and taken on by the government, other political parties, by opinion formers and leaders of each of the Sri Lankan ethnic and religious communities and the international human rights community also.
ADDRESSING MUSLIM ISSUES THROUGH GENEVA PROCESS--Jehan Perera
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- Monday, 26 October 2015
This week marks 25 years since the Muslim people inhabiting the north were evicted by the LTTE in a matter of hours that ranged from two hours to two days. Their treatment in Jaffna, the seat of Tamil civilization, was particularly harsh as there they were given only two hours to leave. Those who tried to take their valuable possessions with them, such as deeds to their land, jewellery and money, were stripped of them at the LTTE checkpoints. In many places their Tamil neighbours intervened on their behalf but to no avail. The LTTE was not a democratic organization that heeded the voice of the people when it differed from their purposes. Five years later, in 1995, the Tamil people living in the Jaffna peninsula suffered a similar fate at the hands of the LTTE when they were ordered by them to evacuate rather than come under the Sri Lankan military who recaptured the peninsula.
Today about 80 percent of those Muslim families who were evicted from the north continue to live outside it. Many have successfully rebuilt their lives. Despite the ruthless nature of their displacement only a few of them lost their lives so that the family units, the greatest long term strength of any community, remained intact. But in every other aspect they lost heavily, their moveable properties, their jewellery and their traditional homes and villages. There are complications attached to their return although six years have passed since the end of the LTTE. As a result the majority of the Muslim people who were displaced remain in a state of frustration and distress over their fate, which spills over into the larger Muslim community of being unjustly treated. The problems faced by this section of the Sri Lankan population and finding a just solution have not been given either the governmental attention or priority that it deserves.
INTERNATIONAL COMMUNITY CAN LEARN FROM SRI LANKAN EXPERIENCE--Jehan Perera
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- Monday, 19 October 2015
In October the final consultation of the World Humanitarian Summit (WHS) took place in Geneva and brought together nearly one thousand humanitarian workers from all parts of the globe. The holding of the consultation came with the severe crisis that the world faces due to humanitarian catastrophes taking place today which has seen millions of people displaced and on the move. The most violent manifestations of this crisis have come primarily from the Middle East, where a group that uses terror and operates outside of international law, the ISIS is causing havoc and taking over large chunks of territory of formerly sovereign countries and is establishing state-like structures in them.
The consequences of these conflicts in the Middle East have led to a massive wave of migration last seen over seven decades ago during the Second World War with people from formerly prosperous countries such as Iraq, Libya and Syria fleeing their countries by the millions. The media images of people who never thought that their ordered lives would be turned upside down on the run to safety are haunting ones, and have prompted many countries, especially in Europe which had restrictive immigration policies to open up their borders to cope with the humanitarian crisis.
10.10.15--Media Release
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- Wednesday, 14 October 2015
PEOPLE MUST BECOME BENEFICIARIES OF GENEVA PROCESS
On October 1 the United Nations Human Rights Council in Geneva passed a resolution on Sri Lanka titled Promoting Reconciliation, Accountability and Human Rights in Sri Lanka. The resolution was co-sponsored by Sri Lanka and passed unanimously which was in contrast to the four previous resolutions of the UNHRC on Sri Lanka since 2009. The focus of the resolution is on taking forward the accountability process with regard to human rights violations during the course of the war. Accordingly it will be necessary for the government to initiate the process of accountability without delay. The government needs to set up the envisaged judicial mechanism which will hold formal trials into complaints of human rights violations with international participation.
The co-sponsored resolution also calls on the international community to assist the Sri Lankan government in furthering its efforts in rebuilding infrastructure and resettling internally displaced persons. The National Peace Council notes that the main Tamil political party, the Tamil National Alliance, has also welcomed the co-sponsored resolution. These are positive indications of the evolution of a spirit of partnership and joint problem-solving at the highest levels of national and international decision making that is necessary for promoting Reconciliation, Accountability and Human Rights in Sri Lanka. This goodwill needs to be seen in practical terms at the ground level too in which people become the direct and immediate beneficiaries.
The release of lands held as high security zones back to their owners, and the release of prisoners held under the Prevention of Terrorism Act without charge for many years are priority requirements in this regard. As recommended in the co-sponsored resolution government should take steps to review the Public Security Ordinance Act and review and repeal the Prevention of Terrorism Act and replace it with anti-terrorism legislation in line with contemporary international best practices. It should also release the prisoners who are kept without trial in prison for a long period. The release of a woman who was held in prison for 15 years without charge, and who suffered torture, illustrates the urgency of the need for action on the ground, and for compensation and reparation.
