State Terrorism

Who is to Bell the Cat?

by Uthayan, Jaffna, translation by Sibernews.com, date unspecified

Amnesty International has pointed out that measures taken by state sectors under the pretext of dealing with terrorism have led to new problems of state terrorism. New laws framed to deal with terrorism have given wider powers to the security establishments. Such wider powers conferred on security forces by legitimate governments have been abused. There are inroads into the liberty of the subjects.

It has been brought to light that missing persons who disappeared in Pakistan were found to be detained by American forces. Later there was shocking news that those missing persons were not found at all.

Amnesty International has pointed out that such abuses of powers by security forces take place in Sri Lanka as well. Under a state of emergency, security forces are given wide powers. Under the pretext of action against terrorism, such powers are abused by the security forces in Sri Lanka. There are abductions, illegal arrests and detentions.

AI points out that such abductions and disappearances are due to the abuse of special laws of the land. The relatives of the missing persons are also very badly affected by such abuses. AI has pointed out that due to the abuse of such powers, suspects are arrested without any reasons being given.

It is unfortunate that the International community that shows great concern for any violations of human rights by non-state sectors is quite insensitive to state terrorism. In fact, it must be realized that state sectors have a greater responsibility and accountability for their activities because they are elected, legitimate bodies.

We reiterate: by such apathy in the face of state terrorism, the international community gives recognition and approval to such excesses by security forces of state sectors. The calculated silence by the international community over state terrorism is a signal that can encourage perpetrators of violence against the subjects of the country.

It is important for the international community to realize that the peace-loving Tamil people have been compelled to engage in an armed conflict because of the state terrorism unleashed by the chauvinistic Sinhala government on innocent Tamil civilians.

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