Urgent Appeal from Jaffna

Urgent Appeal from Jaffna

nandmana@sltnet.lk to ajeevan

An independent group of Catholic Priest (who wish to remain anonymous) who are working with the people in dire need on a humanitarian basis regardless of the curfew imposed would like to disseminate the following information and would like to place an urgent appeal to the international community especially the European Union, Co-Chairs, and Peace envoys of Norway and Japan.

This urgent appeal comes to the conscience of the world from the war-torn Jaffna city. The present critical situation started on the 11th Friday at 06.45 p.m. Within the last six days the situation deteriorated drastically and the Rule of death has become our fate now.

Within these six days……….

At least 90 civilians are killed by aerial bombing, shelling, shooting and crossfire. More than 150 have been wounded. The number will be double if we include the casualties of the combating parties.

About 25,000 people are internally displaced and are living in churches, schools, common / public building and even under trees on the streets. They are unable to move to secure places due to curfew and restriction imposed on the people by the security forces. Around a thousand people from the islet of Mandaithevu refuse to receive the relief from the humanitarian agencies. Instead their urgent appeal is to locate them in a secure place in the Peninsula. The people from Vadamarachchi and Thenmarachchi are facing a high threat to life due to

01. the forces who stops their mobility

02. incessant and excessive shelling and multi – barrel attacks

03. curfew

04. lack of food and medicine

All the supply roads to Jaffna are cut off and we are dangerously running short of essential goods like food, medicine and fuel. Shops are becoming empty; looting has started and within days starvation will be the destiny to the people of the peninsula.

The security forces continue to impose curfew only with a very short break in rotating manner to different areas which prevents the people from moving towards safer areas. Such curtail on the movement of the people is to use the people as human shields against the LTTE attacks.

It takes hours to take the wounded to near by hospitals that are unable to meet the needs of the injured due to short of staff, lack of medicine and other facilities.

The governmental and the non-governmental organizations are unable to organize themselves because the relaxation of curfew that last for two hours is hardly enough to buy even the essential items for themselves and for their families.

There is only a half an hour of electricity service one after the other day, limited telephone service, no water supply, no removal of garbage and subsequently deterioration of health and hygienic disaster.

The air full of blasting noise due to the heavy firing of artillery and multi barrel shelling from thickly populated civilian areas which are also situated in the close proximity to the Jaffna teaching hospital. As a result a devastating situation is created by which children, women, pregnant women and the sick are affected adversely. This creates a real terrorizing situation and the people are becoming increasingly panicky and tensed.

We are heading towards and isolated, unknown and silent death. Are we going to be a people forgotten? Not cared for? Is the world going to keep silent now and count on our bones from mass graves to sit on judgment? How will the international community especially the European Union, Co-Chairs, and peace envoys of Norway and Japan be indifferent when innocent, unarmed, people are systematically decimated?

Sent By

Fr Nandana Manatunga

H.R Media resource center

Kandy

A Catholic priest disappears in Sri Lanka

- by Danielle Vella

(nandmana@sltnet.lk to ajeevan )

The Church of Jaffna has launched an urgent appeal: the government must intervene to discover where Fr Jim Brown is. There has been no news of the young priest since 20 August; he was last seen at a checkpoint as he was going to his new parish in Allaipiddy.

Colombo (AsiaNews) - The Church in Jaffna in northern Sri Lanka has appealed for immediate action to discover what happened to a Catholic priest who disappeared on 20 August. The priests and people of Jaffna are shocked and seriously concerned about the fate of 34-year-old Fr Jim Brown, who was last seen by a fellow priest at the Allaipiddy military checkpoint. Fr Jim was going to Allaipiddy, his new parish, accompanied by Mr Vimalathas, a father of five. They never returned and efforts to track them down have so far proved useless.

Fr Jim went missing barely a week after more than 20 people were killed in Allaipiddy in crossfire between the security forces and Tamil Tiger troops. The violence was part of fierce fighting across Jaffna peninsula that has now started to die down.

The church-run Centre for Peace and Reconciliation in Jaffna yesterday issued an appeal for swift action: "It is our cry to the international community to pressurize the government to attend to this burning issue immediately. Act in time and save these innocent victims."

Unexplained disappearances are bound to cause concern in Sri Lanka, which has one of the highest rates in the world of unsolved cases of people who have gone missing. So far, requests for information to the authorities have yielded nothing: "The Bishop of Jaffna and the Human Rights Commission have contacted the Navy Commanders of the North. To our shock, they washed their hands, saying they do not know anything about the incident."

Sedec, the national Caritas, has informed the president of Sri Lanka, Mahinda Rajapakse, about the disappearance of the two men and awaits a reply.

Ordained in 2003, Fr Jim was appointed parish priest of Allaipiddy a few weeks ago. His parish church of St Philip Neri came under fire when the Navy and Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE) clashed at Allaipiddy on 12 August. Many civilians were killed as they sought shelter in the church. After this, Fr Jim took his parishioners - about 800 - to shelter in St Mary's Church in neighboring Kayts, literally begging the Navy troops on his knees to be allowed to go there.

Shortly afterwards, he was scolded by the Navy commanding officer of Allaipiddy during a meeting. "The officer shouted at Fr Jim, saying he had helped the LTTE to dig bunkers," said the director of the Centre for Peace and Reconciliation. "Jim told me they had dug bunkers to take shelter from the shelling of the church premises." In fact, Fr Jim survived by jumping into a trench.

On 20 August, at around half past noon, Fr Jim left Kayts on his motorbike with Vimalathas to say Mass in Mandaithevu, where displaced people had sought shelter in a Hindu temple. But navy troops at Mandaithevu did not allow him to say Mass so he left. He met another priest on the road, Fr Peter Thurairatnam, the last man to see him. The priests rode abreast to the Allaipiddy checkpoint and parted ways there. When they did not return to Jaffna or Kayts, a priest went to the checkpoint to ask about them and was reportedly told the two men had left Allaipiddy.

Sent by Fr Nandana

Media Center

26 August, 2006