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Report to UN Human Rights Councilby Tamil Centre for Human Rights, Paris, September 9, 2007
http://www.tchr.net/reports_commission_2007-6-session.htm WHYis the International Community Silent about TheseCrimes against Humanity and War Crimes?
Wake up call Appel à la prise de conscience du Llamado para reacción urgente del Website : www.tchr.net 6th session / 6ème session / 6° período de sesiones 10/09/2007 -- 28/09/2007
Tamil Centre for Human Rights - TCHR (Established in 1990) Head Office Branches
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Fact finding missions to the North East of the Island of Sri Lanka
Appeal (see below) Chronology - History in a Nutshell
Killed, attacked and harassed
Killing of religious dignitaries and laymen
Recent killing of academics and parliamentarians
Massacres and killings of Tamils Killings by the IPFK in the North East
Military occupation of
Christian Churches damaged/destroyed by aerial bombing and shelling in the North Hindu Temples / Kovils damaged/destroyed by aerial bombing and shelling
Annexes NGOs Intervention in the UN Human Rights Forum
Government hand in abductions racket bared Cafe d’ APRC The APC smokescreen Long walk to freedom TCHR summary, March 2007 – August 2007
----------------------------------------------------------------------------- Controversey between the UN and Sri Lanka
"34 humanitarian staff killed in Sri Lanka since January 2006" Sir John Holmes, United Nations Emergency Relief Coordinator and Under Secretary General of Humanitarian Affairs "Aid agencies say 34 humanitarian staff have been killed in Sri Lanka since January 2006, including 17 local staff of Action Contre La Faim shot dead in the restive northeast a year ago in a massacre Nordic truce monitors blamed on security forces. There is a concern ... about the safety of humanitarian workers themselves and the record here is one of the worst in the world from that point of view." (Reuters in an interview on 8 August 2007) * * * * * "I would say Holmes is completely a terrorist,......" Chief Government Whip and a Minister, Jeyaraj Fernandopulle "I would say Holmes is completely a terrorist, a terrorist who supports terrorism. We consider people who support terrorists also terrorists. So Holmes, who supports the LTTE (Tamil Tigers), is also a terrorist. This person tries to tarnish the image of Sri Lanka internationally." He added. "I think the LTTE has bribed Holmes." (Reuters, 15 August 2007). * * * * *
UN Secretary General's Spokesperson Michèle Montas "....There was a statement made in the press and, you know, giving accusations against Mr. Holmes. We believe them to be unwarranted and unacceptable. The Secretary-General fully supports the work of his Emergency Relief Coordinator, John Holmes. So that’s what I can say at this point concerning those comments." (Daily press briefing - 16 August 2007) * * * * *
"I don’t give a damn about what this UN boss has to tell me or Sri Lanka" Chief Government Whip and a Minister, Jeyaraj Fernandopulle I don’t give a damn about what this UN boss has to tell me or Sri Lanka. He can say whatever he wants, but I will still go by what I said and that is, John Homes is a terrorist who takes bribes from the LTTE.... I do not care what the UN Secretary General says. We cannot allow any foreigner to come to our country and work against us" (The Nation - August 19, 2007)
----------------------------------------------------------------------------- TCHR participation in the United NationsWorld conferences and other meetings
* The Tamil Centre for Human Rights (TCHR) officially participated in the United Nations 7th Global Forum, Re-instating good governance, in Vienna, Austria 26-29 June 2007. * Members of TCHR participated in the World Federation of United Nations Associations (WFUNA) seminar in Geneva, Switzerland, 29-31 July 2007. * TCHR officially accredited to participate in the United Nations Conference on Anti-corruption Measures, Good Governance and Human Rights, in Warsaw, Poland 8–9 November 2006. * A meeting was held on 7 March 2006, in the European Parliament – titled "EU contribution to the peace process in Sri Lanka". This was jointly organised by TCHR and Mr. Robert Evans, a member of European Parliament of Labour Party in UK. * Accredited by the United Nations to participate in the World Summit on the Information Society – WSIS in Tunisia, 16 – 18 November 2005. * Officially participated in the NGO forum of the UN World Conference Against Racism – WCAR in Durban, South Africa, from 28 August to 1 September 2001. TCHR held an information stall including an exhibition at the forum. The TCHR representatives also attended the main WCAR conference held in Durban, 31 August to 7 September 2001. (http://www.tchr.net/reports_wcar_detail.htm) * A meeting was held on 14 October 1998, in the European Parliament – titled "Press censorship in Sri Lanka". This was jointly organised by the Tamil Centre for Human Rights (TCHR) and Ms. Anita Pollack, a member of European Parliament of Labour Party in UK. * In 1993, held an information stall and a photo exhibition on human rights violations, in the United Nations 2nd World Conference on Human Rights held in Vienna, Austria, from 14-25 June. * TCHR participates in meetings of Treaty bodies and submits reports to the same.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------- 10 September 2007 The President United Nations
Distinguished Sirs / Mesdames, First of all, we extend our congratulations to you for your appointment as the Chairperson of the 6th session. We regularly report on the human rights violations taking place in the Island of Sri Lanka. Our reporting is based on indisputable facts, the authentic details of which we receive from our sources directly from the North East and other parts of the Island. The United Nations human rights monitoring bodies have appreciated the veracity of our reporting. In our submission to the 6th session, we will be high-lighting the human rights violations perpetrated against the people in the North East and other parts by successive governments that ruled the island since independence in 1948. Our report includes the history in a nutshell, colonisation & ethnic cleansing in the East, recorded figures of violations from 1956 to 2007, killing and harrassment of journalists, humanitarian workers, religious dignitaries, academics, parliamenterians - and major massacres and killings. Also the report includes details of military occupation of civilian dwellings/land, schools, places of worship and public buildings. We have also included details of cultural genocide in the North East with a list of 299 Christian churches and 1348 Hindu/Saiva temples/kovils which were fully or partially damaged by aerial bombing and shelling in the North East. The incidents we have mentioned in our report since 1956, have never been subject to an independent inquiry - nor have the perpetrators been arrested and punished nor have the victims been compensated. There are many more incidents to be added to those we have in this report. Impunity is a very serious problem in Sri Lanka. Many notorious human rights violators in the Security forces especially in the Army, Police and the Paramilitary have received the best promotions and appointments as Ministers and to high profile jobs in the government. The government of Sri Lanka encourages and allows the perpertrators to move freely in society - and the violations continue. In the Northeast the human rights situation has been deteriorating for many long years. Genocide, cultural genocide, multiple displacements are occuring and a systematic economic embargo to the North East is starving the people. First hand witnesses to these Crimes against humanity - cemeteries full of murdered bodies, hospitals full of child and adult casualties, camps full of displaced people, people starving due to the economic embargo and buildings destroyed in all parts of North East. The security forces have created “High Security Zones” in the densily populated residential areas of the Northeast and are occupying civilian homes and public buildings. Sirs / Mesdames, The Sinhala constitution denies fundamental and political rights to the Tamil people. The introduction of the Prevention of Terrorism Act (PTA) in 1979 and 27years of emergency rule (ER) have inflicted terror upon the Tamil people in the island. ER and the PTA permit the Sri Lanka security forces to arrest, torture, rape and kill the Tamils with impunity. Only a few cases have attracted international news coverage - and international human rights and humanitarian organisations are paying attention to these. Press freedom and freedom of expression are in peril in Sri Lanka. Journalists are arrested, tortured, abducted, disappeared and killed over-night. Misinformation is heavily used internally and internationally by the government of Sri Lanka to distort the real picture of what is happening in the conflict areas. Ethnic cleansing of Tamils and Singhalisation in the North East continues with foreign help. As part of the ethnic cleansing, the murdering of religious leaders and laymen inside and outside places of worship has also been taking place over the years. So far more than 100,000 Tamils have been killed and more than 200,000 have been multiply internally displaced. Another 600,000 or more Tamils have sought asylum in foreign countries. Sirs / Mesdames, If we analyse respect for human rights by the government of Sri Lanka, the following truth becomes crystal clear - Sri Lanka has a regular habit of pretending to take some action on the massive human violations only a month before the beginning of the UN Human Rights' forums. These hollow promises of action are intended to avoid or counter any criticism that may be made by these forums, rather than to vigorously promote and protect human rights in real and effective terms. Typical examples of this are the establishment of a Commission of Inquiry and an International Independent Group of Eminent Persons (IIGEP) in September 2006. We predicted the fate of the IIGEP in our earlier reports. It is well known that for the last twenty four years, the LTTE has been engaged in an armed struggle with the support of the Tamils in exercise of their right to self-determination in the Tamil hereditary regions. After nearly a quarter century of armed conflict, there is a de-facto government in the Tamils' hereditary region under the LTTE administration. It has been in existence for more than 15 years and it has its own infrastructures - police and judiciary, Law College, Banking and Educational institutions, as well as welfare centres for children, disabled people, elders and war victims. This has been well witnessed by diplomats, dignitaries and VIPs. Sirs / Mesdames, the reports of the UN Special rapporteurs, Special representatives of the UN Secretary General and the Working groups and furthermore the statements by international NGOs to every UN Human Rights forum clearly indicate that the human rights situation in Sri Lanka is far from improving - in fact it is rapidly deteriorating. As Sri Lanka is a signatory to various UN covenants and conventions, it has an obligation to maintain international standards and to abide by iternational law. In the past, UN action on various other country situations reminded us that "Naming and Shaming" is one of the preventive techniques in the protection of human rights. Therefore the reports of the UN dignitaries and other appeals, reports, joint-statements, interventions, written statements by various NGOs to the UN Human rights forums must all be taken into consideration in this period to apply UN action on Sri Lanka. At this crucial situation, there is no doubt that International human rights law and international humanitarian law are severely and massively violated by Sri Lanka. Considering these facts, the best mechanism in hand which can be used, is to charge the President of Sri Lanka, the Commander-in-Chief of the Sri Lanka Security Forces and other Military officials with War Crimes and Crimes against Humanity. In addition, we urge this session to take immediate steps to alleviate the humanitarian catastrophe that is being deliberately inflicted by the government of Sri Lanka on civilians in the North East. Sir, being the President of the 6th session of the Human Rights Council, you can see that the international community is failing in its duties regarding Sri Lanka and that it is backing an aggressor which is perpetrating war crimes and crimes against humanity against a people who have been struggling for their Right to Self-determination for many decades. We appeal to you to take immediate action during this session of the Human Rights Council. Thank you, Yours sincerely S. V. Kirubaharan General Secretary
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