Reply to thread

Message: <blockquote data-quote="ramarajan" data-source="post: 1603360" data-attributes="member: 86701">RESPECT FOR HUMAN RIGHTSSection 1 Respect for the Integrity of the Person, Including Freedom From:a. Arbitrary or Unlawful Deprivation of LifeThere were numerous, credible reports that the government or its agents committed arbitrary or unlawful killings.During the year approximately 1,000 of the estimated 3,200 deaths associated with the hostilities between government security forces and the LTTE were civilians, according to public sources. International organizations have documented approximately one-third of these. The casualties occurred in part as a result of artillery fire into populated areas, aerial bombings, land mines, and other military action, but international organizations noted that most of the civilian casualties occurred in "individual incidents," such as extrajudicial killings. Reliable statistics on such killings were not available, since this crime often goes unreported by families who fear reprisals if they file complaints. The numbers reported by different organizations therefore vary widely. In addition, it is likely that the majority of those reported as "disappeared," about whom there has been no further information, died.The Consortium of Humanitarian Organizations (CHA), an umbrella group of indigenous nongovernmental organizations (NGOs), reported that the killings occurred disproportionately in predominantly Tamil areas. For example, CHA recorded 35 civilian conflict-related deaths in Colombo, which comprises approximately eight percent of the country's population with roughly equal numbers of Sinhalese, Tamils, and Muslims. In comparison, there were an estimated 200 such deaths in Tamil‑dominated Jaffna, which accounts for only 3.5 percent of the population.There were numerous killings of those employed by NGOs and other humanitarian assistance workers. UN Under-Secretary-General for Humanitarian Affairs John Holmes estimated that approximately 30 NGO workers died in the past two years, although NGO sources estimated the figure to be approximately 44. On June 3, for example, men dressed in police uniforms abducted two Tamil employees of the Sri Lanka Red Cross from the Colombo train station, a high security area. The Red Cross employees' bodies were discovered the following day approximately 100 kilometers away in Ratnapura. The Criminal Investigation Department (CID) arrested Nishantha Gajanayake, a retired Air Force squadron wing commander and former executive assistant of former Air Force commander (and current chief of defense staff) Donald Perera. As Sri Lankan media widely reported, opposition politicians alleged in parliament that Gajanayake acted under the direction of Defense Secretary Gothabaya Rajapaksa and Colombo Police Deputy Inspector General (DIG) Abeywardena. Gajanayake's arrest led to the arrests of several others, including four police officers and two military officers. The government charged Gajanayake and the others with conducting political abduction, kidnapping‑for‑ransom, and murder. There was no government investigation of the allegations against involvement by senior officials. At year's end there was no progress towards a trial. On December 14, unidentified gunmen abducted and killed a 43-year old Sri Lanka Red Cross member Sooriyakanthy Thavarajah in Jaffna. On December 16, his decapitated body was found.The government used paramilitary groups to assist its military forces in fighting the LTTE and intimidate its critics in the media and in parliament. The Tamil Makkal Viduthalai Pulikal (TMVP or Karuna group), led by breakaway‑LTTE eastern commanders Karuna Amman and Pillaiyan, operated mostly in the east. The Eelam People's Democratic Party (EPDP), led by government Minister of Social Services and Social Welfare Douglas Devananda, operated in Jaffna. In September the government allegedly provided Karuna Amman with false identity documents to facilitate his entry into the United Kingdom, where he was arrested for illegal immigration on November 2. The government denied involvement in the episode. Reports indicated that in Karuna Amman's absence, his deputy Pillaiyan assumed operational control of the Karuna group. On November 18, the government withdrew police security from the homes of several opposition Tamil members of parliament (MPs) from the east, while cadres loyal to Pillaiyan broke into their homes, abducted a relative of an MP, and threatened to kill the hostage if the MP voted against the government's budget. Pillaiyan reportedly personally telephoned one of the MPs and repeated the death threats hours before the budget vote. On December 11, the Pillaiyan group abducted three family members and associates of Tamil MPs in Batticaloa, again threatening to kill the hostages if the MPs voted against the budget. The three MPs concerned abstained in the budget vote, in which the government's survival was at stake, and the hostages were later released. However, the government publicly denied its involvement with paramilitary groups. A culture of impunity enabled paramilitaries to operate, often against civilians suspected of being LTTE sympathizers.During the year there were numerous killings of civilians by unknown actors suspected of association with the Karuna group or the EPDP.On April 1, Karuna cadres, according to press accounts, killed six Sinhalese aid workers building an orphanage near Batticaloa. The Karuna group denied involvement. The government did not conduct a formal investigation.On July 23, unknown gunmen believed to be associated with the paramilitary group EPDP shot 16-year‑old Mariyanayagum Aloysius, a Tamil employee of the international NGO the Danish Refugee Council. EPDP denied involvement in the killing. No investigation ensued into Aloysius' death.Politically motivated killings targeted the pro‑LTTE Tamil National Alliance (TNA). On June 28, unknown assailants killed TNA Party Chairman for Ampara district Thillainathan Uthayakumar with a grenade. Ampara TNA MP Chandranehru told the media that two weeks earlier Karuna cadres threatened him at gunpoint if he did not resign his seat in parliament. Chandranehru asserted that Karuna cadres killed Uthayakumar, who was also Chandranehru's campaign manager, in retaliation for Chandranehru’s unwillingness to abandon his seat. On August 20, unknown gunman believed to be associated with the Karuna group killed S. Thiyagachandran, the brother of TNA Member of Parliament Jeyananthamoorthy, in Oddamaavadi, Batticaloa District. No witnesses came forward, and the police did not conduct investigations into either killing.In September 2006 President Rajapaksa established a Commission of Inquiry (CoI) led by the president's associate and retired high court judge Mahanama Tilakaratne to investigate "abductions, disappearances, extrajudicial killings, and unexplained killings." The 2006 Tilakaratne CoI released two interim reports and a final report in May, concluding that the majority of the reported human rights abuses were false. In May this CoI was disbanded.</blockquote>

Verification: Hathara warak wissa keeyada? (Hathara wadi karanna 20)

Top Bottom