Internasjonale organisasjoner krever slutt på politiske drap i Sri Lanka

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Sri Lanka: International Non-Governmental Organisations urge the Government of Sri Lanka and Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam to end killings in Sri Lanka

We, as International Non-Governmental Organisations with long-standing partnerships and programmes in Sri Lanka call upon the Government of Sri Lanka (GoSL) Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE) to bring an immediate end to extra-judicial, summary and arbitrary killings. We call upon the GoSL and LTTE to fulfil their commitments to respect international humanitarian standards and human rights law and to provide security and protection for all the people of Sri Lanka.

Killings have taken place with apparent impunity throughout the current cease-fire between GoSL and LTTE agreed in February 2002 and which explicitly provides for “a total cessation of all military activity”. During 2004 we have witnessed a serious escalation in the number of killings and in recent months these have risen to the point that questions the integrity of the cease-fire and the credibility of the entire peace-process.

Those targeted have included members of the Karuna faction, those accused by the LTTE of working with military intelligence, political and social activists with Tamil political parties opposed to the LTTE, LTTE cadres and supporters and members of the Sinhalese and Moslem communities. Some of those killed appear to have no or minimal political affiliation. High profile killings have taken place in Batticaloa, Amparai, Colombo and Jaffna. Local partner organisations have reported to us less publicised killings, violence, threats of violence and a terrible climate of fear in towns and villages throughout the north and east of Sri Lanka.

The LTTE does not acknowledge responsibility for the killings and accuses rival Tamil para-militaries of working in collusion with the Sri Lankan army. On 28 September, in a meeting with the Norwegian Ambassador, the head of the LTTE’s political wing SP Tamilselvan stated that the LTTE leadership was “equally concerned” about the killings. On 6 October, during the recent visit of an LTTE delegation to Europe, Tamilselvan further stated the LTTE’s commitment to developing confidence-building measures to end the killings.

We commend the LTTE for its expressions of concern and we remind it of its commitments under the ceasefire agreement and universal principles of international humanitarian and human rights law that its forces do not commit or collude in such killings. We call upon all Tamil para-military forces, including those loyal to Karuna, to adhere to the same principles.

The Sri Lankan government has issued several statements condemning the killings. On September 29, President Chandrika Kumaratunge said that the government “cannot tolerate the continuous murders of members of unarmed democratic Tamil political parties by the LTTE.”

We commend the statements of the GoSL and would like to remind it of its obligations to protect all citizens throughout the country, to prevent killings, to investigate killings with the full vigour of the law, to bring the perpetrators to justice and to ensure that its own forces do not commit or collude in such acts.

Sri Lankan civil society, international human-right organisations, religious leaders, the European Union, the United States and Canadian missions have condemned the killings and have made statements or demarches to GoSL and LTTE expressing their strong concern. The Norwegian facilitators and Sri Lankan Monitoring Mission (SLMM) have raised the issue with the parties on many occasions.

Despite these commitments and calls for action the killings have continued unabated. We have seen no serious steps taken by the parties to bring them to an end. Since the start of November we have received the following confirmed reports of killings. This list may not be exhaustive;

3 November 2004 – Kumaravel Pathmanathan, 27, was shot dead in Negombo.

4 November 2004 – Colombo businessman Velayutham Dayalakumar, 44, was shot dead around 7.30 pm while having tea at Sumihiri Hotel at the Colombo suburb of Dehiwela. A man identified as Jayasinghe was seriously wounded. Mr Dayalakumar was a former member of the People’s Liberation Organisation of Tamil Eelam (PLOTE).

9 November 2004 – Mohamed Thayudeen, 26, was killed by gunmen at his home at Kadduvanvillu in Polonnaruwa District.

13 November 2004 - The body of Thommai Yesudasan, 38, of Nochchikulam in Mannar District was found. He had been shot in the head. A note purported to be from Ellalan Padai (Ellalan Army) was found near the body.

13 November 2004 – Sugumar Sutharsan, 23, was abducted allegedly by the LTTE at Neriyakulam in Vavuniya.

16 November 2004 - Foreign employment agent Krishnapillai Thanikasalam, 49, of Kondaiyankerni in Batticaloa District was shot dead near Valaichenai in Batticaloa District.

17 November 2004 – Kannan Kiramam resident and LTTE’s political activist Maheswaran Rusangan was shot dead at night by gunmen at Murugankovil Road at Valaichenai in Batticaloa.District.

18 November 2004 - Army corporal Ajith Dassanayake of the Directorate of Military Intelligence (DMI) and Tamil civilian Vasanthanayagam Prabhakaran, were shot dead while riding a motorcycle at Kaduruwela in Polonnaruwa town. The latter is said to belong to the Karuna faction.

19 November 2004 - Gunmen on a motorcycle fired on people playing football near Sithambara College at Valvettithurai, in Jaffna District killing two Tamils and wounding another. The dead were Sathasivam Kumaran, 21 and Rajendram Sureshkumar, 21. Ponnuthurai Theiventhiram was wounded.

19 November 2004 – LTTE officer for Kalkudah, Maheswaran Pulendran or Roshan, 24, was shot dead at Pethalai in Batticaloa District.

20 November 2004 – A Tamil youth said to be linked to military intelligence was killed in Trincomalee.

24 November 2004 – Two people Shanmugam Thayaparan and Sambunathan Manoharan, who were involved in decorations for LTTE’s Great Heroes Day, were shot dead at Vantharumoolai in Batticaloa District, by gunmen on a motorcycle.

25 November 2004 – LTTE’s political activist Samithamby Umakanthan was shot and wounded at Akkaraipatru in Amparai District and later died in hospital.

25 November 2004 – Eelam National Democratic Liberation Front’s (ENDLF) Augustus Anneston or Rangappa was gunned down in the Colombo suburb of Dematagoda.

25 November 2004 – It is alleged that another ENDLF member Pakiyanathan Rajaratnam, who lived in the Colombo suburb of Maligawatte, was abducted by the LTTE.

26 November 2004 – Ramanathan Paramsothynathan was shot dead by gunmen at his home in Vantharumoolai, Batticaloa District.

30 November 2004 - A grenade was thrown into Sunshine bakery on the main Trincomalee Raod in Batticaloa town. No one was hurt in this incident.

3 December 2004 – Former police officer, Mr. Johnpillai Chandramohan, aged 33, and believed to be an LTTE supporter was killed by unidentified gunmen at a guesthouse in Batticaloa town.


The killings threaten to destabilise the entire peace process. They prevent effective relief and rehabilitation, the return and resettlement of IDPs and the provision of education, vocational training, health services and food security for those people who have been most affected by the war. The killings further undermine long-term initiatives for social, political and economic investment, redevelopment and reconciliation between communities. The killings pose a serious threat to the rule of law, diversity, freedom of expression and pluralism in the north and east of Sri Lanka.

The violence and counter-violence creates a climate that is not conducive to a return to negotiations and if not addressed immediately could lead to a full return to war.

In light of the concerns and commitments expressed by the LTTE, the GoSL, civil society and foreign governments we, as humanitarian non-governmental organisations, believe that there exists an opportunity to provide assistance and support to the parties to take clear and specific steps to end the cycle of violence.

We call upon :

• The GoSL to give a clear and public command to its security forces that they must not commit or collude in killings and to make a commitment to investigate all killings that take place and bring the perpetrators to justice;
  
• The LTTE leadership to give a clear and public command to all its cadres that they must not commit or collude in killings and to make a commitment to support full and proper investigation of all killings and to bring the perpetrators to justice;
  
• The leadership of all para-military organisations including those loyal to Karuna to give a clear and public command to their cadres that they must not commit or collude in killings and to make a commitment to support full and proper investigation of all killings and to bring the perpetrators to justice;
  
• The LTTE and GoSL, with the assistance of the Royal Norwegian Government as facilitator of the peace process, to develop and implement joint measures for an immediate de-escalation of violence, to enhance the monitoring and investigation of all ceasefire violations including extrajudical killings and to address all security concerns that undermine a functional return to negotiations including violence by para-military organisations;
  
• The LTTE and GoSL to invite an independent human-rights expert to visit Sri Lanka immediately in order to develop recommendations and advise the parties on measures aimed at a de-escalation, to bring an end to the killings, to enhance capacities for the investigation of ceasefire violations including extrajudical killings and to prevent further violence. The human-rights expert should be supported in this task by security experts with experience in comparable situations;
  
• The GoSL and LTTE to welcome and cooperate with the United Nations Special Rapporteur on extra-judicial summary and arbitrary executions to visit Sri Lanka so that he may also advise on measures to prevent killings;
  
• The LTTE and GoSL, with the assistance of the Royal Norwegian Government and international expertise to develop long-term and sustainable structures through which human security and human rights concerns may be addressed, monitoring and investigation of ceasefire violations enhanced and further violations prevented throughout what will inevitably be a long and difficult peace-process;
  
• The LTTE and GoSL, with the human-rights advisor to the peace-process, to develop and make a public commitment to a human rights charter, based upon international standards, that will govern the full period of the peace-process. The human-rights charter must include full and effective investigatory and monitoring mechanisms rooted in civil-society structures and with international support and participation;
  
• The Sri Lanka Monitoring Mission (SLMM) to seek international expertise and technical advice on aspects of monitoring and investigating ceasefire violations that have a particular human-rights dimension, such as extra-judicial killings. The capacity of the SLMM should be augmented to include personnel with criminal and human rights investigative expertise;
  
• The governments of the international community to express their concerns to the parties to the conflict, to make a clear and public request to the parties to develop and commit to the specific measures outlined above and to offer their practical support for those measures to be implemented in a clear, open, transparent and accountable manner.

This appeal is supported by the following humanitarian organisations;
ACFID - Australian Council for International Development, Australia
AUSTCARE – Australians Caring for Refugees, Australia
Bischöfliches Hilfswerk Misereor, Germany
CAFOD- Catholic Agency for Overseas Development, United Kingdom
Caritas Australia, Australia
Caritas Switzerland, Switzerland
Christian Aid, United Kingdom
Christian World Service, National Council of Churches in Australia, Australia
CORDAID, Netherlands
DKA - Dreikönigsaktion der Katholischen Jungschar, Austria
FORUT - Campaign for Development and Solidarity, Norway
HIVOS, Netherlands
KFB - Catholic Womens Movement, Austria
US NGO Forum on Sri Lanka, Washington DC