மனித உரிமை மீறல்களில் இலங்கை அலட்சியம் பாப்பரசருக்கு `ஹியூமன் றைற்ஸ் வோற்ச்' கடிதம்

அமெரிக்காவின் நியூயோர்க்கைத் தளமாகக் கொண்டியங்கும் மனித உரிமைகள் பாதுகாப்பு தொடர்பான முன்னணி சர்வதேச அமைப்பான ஹியூமன் றைற்ஸ் வோற்ச் (Human rights watch) அமைப்பு இலங்கையின் அண்மைக்கால மனித உரிமை மீறல்கள் தொடர்பான விரிவான விபரங்கள் அடங்கிய கடிதமொன்றை பரிசுத்த பாப்பரசருக்கு அனுப்பியுள்ளது.

இலங்கையில் ஆயுதப் பிணக்குகளில் ஈடுபட்டுள்ள தரப்பான அரசாங்கமும் விடுதலைப் புலிகளும் சாதாரண பொதுமக்களின் பாதுகாப்பை புறக்கணித்து அலட்சியப்படுத்தி நடந்து கொள்வதாக இக்கடிதத்தில் இவ்வமைப்பு குற்றஞ்சாட்டியுள்ளது.

மேலும், சர்வதேச மனிதாபிமான சட்டங்களை அலட்சியப்படுத்தி செயற்படுவதாக விடுதலைப் புலிகள் மீது தாம் பல வருட காலங்களாகவே குற்றஞ் சுமத்தியுள்ளபோதிலும் அண்மைக் காலமாக இலங்கை அரசாங்கத்தின் படைகளும் பொலிஸாரும் இவர்களுடன் இணைந்து செயற்படும் ஆயுதக் குழுக்களும் மோசமான மனித உரிமை மீறல்களில் ஈடுபட்டு வருவது தமக்கு பெரும் விசனத்தை ஏற்படுத்தியுள்ளதாகவும் இவ்வமைப்பு பாப்பரசருக்கு அக்கடிதத்தில் தெரிவித்துள்ளது.

இலங்கை அரச படைகளாலும் பொலிஸாராலும் அரசுடன் இணைந்து இயங்கும் ஆயுதக் குழுக்களாலும் மேற்கொள்ளப்படும் மனித உரிமை மீறல்களை தடுத்து நிறுத்துவதற்கும் குற்றவாளிகளை தண்டிப்பதற்கும் இலங்கை அரசாங்கம் இதுவரைக்கும் எந்தவிதமான காத்திரமான நடவடிக்கைகளையும் எடுக்கவில்லை என்றும் பாப்பரசருக்கு இவ்வமைப்பு அக்கடிதத்தில் தெரிவித்துள்ளது.

மேலும், இலங்கை ஜனாதிபதியின் இத்தாலி விஜயத்தின் போது பாப்பரசர் அவரை சந்திக்குமிடத்து இலங்கையில் இடம்பெற்று வரும் பெரும்தொகையான மனித உரிமை மீறல்களுக்குள் மிக முக்கிய சில விடயங்களை தடுத்து நிறுத்துவதற்கு தேவையான உத்தரவாதத்தினை ஜனாதிபதியிடம் பெற்றுக் கொள்ளவோ அல்லது இவை குறித்த பாப்பரசரின் ஆழ்ந்த அவதானத்தை எடுத்துக் கூறவோ முன்வருமாறும் அக்கடிதத்தில் பாப்பரசருக்கு இவ்வமைப்பு கோரிக்கை விடுத்துள்ளது.

இலங்கை ஜனாதிபதியின் கவனத்திற்கு கொண்டு வருமாறு கோரி ஹியூமன் றைற்ஸ் அமைப்பு பாப்பரசருக்கு எழுதியுள்ள கடிதத்தில் முன்வைத்துள்ள முக்கிய ஐந்து விடயங்கள் வருமாறு;

இலங்கை இராணுவம் மற்றும் பொலிஸாருக்குத் தெரிய கிழக்கில் சிறுவர்களை கடத்துவதை இலங்கை அரசாங்கம் தலையிட்டு உடனடியாக நிறுத்த வேண்டும். ஏற்கனவே கடத்தப்பட்ட சிறுவர்களும் இளைஞர்களும் விடுவிக்கப்பட்டு அவர்களின் குடும்பங்களிடம் சேர்பிக்கப்பட வேண்டும்.

அரசாங்கத்தினாலும் அரசாங்கத்தின் அனுசரணையுடன் செயற்படும் ஆயுதக் குழுக்களாலும் மேற்கொள்ளப்படும் கடத்தல், காணாமல்போதல் சம்பவங்கள் நிறுத்தப்பட வேண்டும். இக்குற்றங்களுக்கு காரணமானவர்கள் தண்டிக்கப்பட வேண்டும்.

அவசரகாலச் சட்டம் மற்றும் ஏனைய சட்டங்களின் கீழ் இராணுவத்தினராலும் பொலிஸாராலும் தடுத்து வைக்கப்பட்டவர்கள் பற்றிய விபரங்களை அரசாங்கம் பகிரங்கமாக வெளியிட வேண்டும். இவ்வாறு தடுத்து வைக்கப்பட்டவர்கள் தமது குடும்பத்தினருடன் தொடர்பு கொள்ளவும் ஏனைய சட்ட உதவிகளைப் பெற்றுக் கொள்ளவும் அனுமதிக்கப்பட வேண்டும்.

உள்நாட்டில் இடம்பெயர்ந்துள்ளவர்களை எக்காரணம் கொண்டும் கட்டாயமாக பலவந்தப்படுத்தி சொந்த இடங்களுக்கு செல்ல நிர்ப்பந்திக்கக்கூடாது. இவ்வாறு இடம்பெயர்ந்தவர்கள் தமது சொந்த இடங்களுக்கு பாதுகாப்பாக செல்வதற்கான புறச்சூழ்நிலைகளை நேர்மையாக உருவாக்கிக் கொடுக்க வேண்டும்.

இலங்கை அரசாங்க படைகளாலும் புலிகளாலும் மேற்கொள்ளப்படும் மனித உரிமை மீறல்களை கண்காணிப்பதற்கு ஐக்கிய நாடுகள் சபையின் மனித உரிமை கண்காணிப்பாளர்களை இலங்கைக்கு தருவிக்க இலங்கை அரசாங்கம் அனுமதியளிக்க வேண்டும். ஆகிய மேற்படி ஐந்து விடயங்கள் குறித்து ஜனாதிபதி மகிந்தராஜபக்ஷவுடன் பாப்பரசர் கலந்துரையாட வேண்டும் என அக்கடிதத்தில் மேற்படி அமைப்பு குறிப்பிட்டுள்ளது.

மேலும், தற்பொழுது இடம்பெற்று வரும் மோசமான மனித உரிமை மீறல்களை விசாரிக்கவும் கண்காணிக்கவும் ஐக்கிய நாடுகள் சபையினால் நிறுவப்படும் சர்வதேச கண்காணிப்பாளர்கள் இலங்கைக்கு அவசியம் என்று தெரிவித்துள்ள இவ்வமைப்பு, இவ்வாறான சர்வதேச கண்காணிப்பாளர்களை இலங்கைக்கு அனுப்புவது தொடர்பாக ஐரோப்பிய ஒன்றியத்தினைச் சேர்ந்த பல நாடுகள் தமது ஆதரவினை பகிரங்கமாக தெரிவித்துள்ளதாகவும் குறிப்பிட்டுள்ளது. மேலும், சர்வதேச கண்காணிப்பாளர்களை இலங்கைக்கு அனுப்ப முன்னெடுக்கும் முயற்சிகளுக்கு அமெரிக்க அரசும் தனது ஆதரவை தெரிவிப்பதோடு, இந்தியா போன்ற தனது நட்பு நாடுகளுக்கும் இம்முயற்சிக்கு ஆதரவளிக்க வலியுறுத்தும் என்று தாம் நம்புவதாகவும் அக்கடிதத்தில் தெரிவிக்கப்பட்டுள்ளது.

ஹியூமன் றைற்ஸ் வோற்ச் அமைப்பின் சார்பில் அதன் ஆசிய பிராந்திய இயக்குநர் பிராட் அடம்ஸ் ஐந்து பக்கம் அடங்கிய இக்கடிதத்தினை இலங்கையின் நிலைவரம் எனத் தலைப்பிட்டு பரிசுத்த பாப்பரசருக்கு நேற்று முன்தினம் திங்கட்கிழமை அனுப்பி வைத்துள்ளமை இங்கு குறிப்பிடத்தக்கது.

தினக்குரல்

அருமையான செய்தி எப்படி மகிந்த பாப்பரசரின் முகத்தில் முழிப்பான்.இன்னும் எமது பிரச்சாரத்தை தீவிரப்படுத்த வேண்டும் இத்தருணத்தில் அது எமக்கு உச்ச கட்ட வெற்றியை தேடிட்தரும்

நாமும் எமது கடமையைச் செய்வோம்.

கீழுள்ள திரியிலுள்ள கடிதத்தை மின்னஞ்சல் மூலம் வத்திக்கானுக்கு அனுப்புவோம்.

http://www.yarl.com/forum3/index.php?showtopic=22387

நல்ல விசயம்!

கடிதத்தில் இப்படி எழுதப்பட்டுள்ளது!

HUMAN RIGHTS WATCH

Sri Lanka: Letter to Pope Benedict XVI on the Situation In Sri Lanka

April 16, 2007

Your Holiness,

Please accept our best wishes on your birthday.

Human Rights Watch is writing prior to your meeting with Sri Lankan President Mahinda Rajapakse. We are deeply concerned about the deteriorating human rights environment in Sri Lanka as major hostilities between the government and the armed opposition Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE) take place. We believe international actors have an influential role to play in protecting and promoting human rights, and we urge you to raise these matters with the president during your talks. A list of concrete recommendations comes at the end of the letter.

As the armed conflict in Sri Lanka continues, both the government and LTTE have shown a brazen disregard for the safety and well-being of civilians. By directing artillery fire at military targets and civilians without discrimination, firing artillery from populated areas, summarily executing persons, and unnecessarily preventing the delivery of humanitarian aid, both sides have violated international humanitarian law.

Members of the clergy have been among those targeted. We are particularly troubled by the case of Reverend Fr. Thiruchchelvan Nihal Jim Brown, who “disappeared” after he was stopped at a Sri Lanka Navy checkpoint on Kayts Island near Jaffna on August 20, 2006. He had reportedly been receiving death threats from senior Navy personnel.

Violations of International Humanitarian Law

For many years, Human Rights Watch has criticized the LTTE for its violations of international humanitarian law, including the use of children as combatants. We have called upon the Security Council to impose targeted sanctions against the LTTE for its use of child soldiers over many years. Yet the very disturbing trend of recent months has been the growing involvement of Sri Lankan military and police forces, as well as proxy armed groups, in serious violations of the laws of war and human rights. To date the government has taken no effective action to end these ongoing abuses.

The protection of internally displaced persons by the government remains a paramount concern as civilians continue to flee areas under LTTE control after government offensives. More than 100,000 displaced persons are currently in the eastern district of Batticaloa, and hundreds more are arriving every day as the fighting spreads. Government protection for these people has been very weak despite the presence of UNHCR, with regular threats and occasional violence, including abductions, by both the LTTE and pro-government armed groups.

In recent days the government has begun to return families to the area of Vaharai, which the government “cleared” of the LTTE in January, as well as parts of Trincomalee. In February Human Rights Watch spoke with displaced persons from both these areas who did not want to go home due to security concerns and worries about ways to secure their livelihood. Initial reports coming out of Batticaloa this week strongly suggest that the government is returning some families to Vaharai and Trincomalee against their will.

Child Recruitment and Government Support for Karuna and Other Armed Groups

Of deep concern is the government’s continued support for abusive armed groups. There is now a clear pattern of the state turning a blind eye to abductions, extrajudicial executions, and extortion committed by these groups. In the east, the Karuna group, a breakaway faction of the LTTE, is responsible for ongoing child recruitment, abductions, and targeted killings, as well as intimidation and violence against the internally displaced. Despite widely publicized criticisms of the group’s practices by the UN special advisor to the Special Representative for Children and Armed Conflict, Human Rights Watch, and other nongovernmental human rights organizations, the Karuna group continues to abduct and use children as soldiers, often with blatant complicity of the Sri Lankan military and police.

Although the Sri Lankan government has denied these reports, the evidence that state security forces are aware of, and in some cases working with, the Karuna group is overwhelming. In February Human Rights Watch observed armed children guarding Karuna political offices in plain view of the Sri Lankan army and police. A top Karuna commander was seen riding atop an army personnel carrier. Armed Karuna cadre openly roam the streets in Batticaloa district in sight of security forces, and in some cases they jointly patrol with the police. Despite its denials, the Sri Lankan government knows about the abductions and has apparently done nothing to make them stop.

President Rajapakse and other top government officials have repeatedly promised to investigate allegations that Sri Lankan security forces are complicit in these crimes. To date, no serious investigation has taken place. On the contrary, some parents of abducted children have been threatened not to report their case, or to state that the abductor of their children is unknown.

Enforced Disappearances

Enforced disappearances attributed to state security forces are also on the rise. In the Jaffna peninsula alone, the government’s Human Rights Commission has recorded 707 cases of missing persons since December 2005, 492 of whom are still missing. In the vast majority of reported cases, witnesses and family members allege that security forces were involved or implicated in the abduction. Jaffna residents reported 55 abductions over the past three months during curfew hours, when only security forces are on the streets in this heavily militarized region.

Abductions continue in the capital, Colombo. As of February 7, the Civil Monitoring Committee, an organization documenting disappearances, had recorded 51 abduction cases in and around the city over the previous year. Thirty-four of the people were still missing and six had turned up dead. Most of the others were released after paying a ransom. Human Rights Watch recently interviewed more than one dozen families of persons missing from Colombo and other parts of the country, who were last seen being taken away by the military or police.

Father Jim Brown, a parish priest in the village of Allaipiddy on Kayts Island, and another man, Wenceslaus Vinces Vimalathas, left Allaipiddy in the early afternoon of August 20, 2006, for the nearby village of Mandaithivu. The Sri Lankan military did not allow them men to enter. On the way back to Allaipiddy they were stopped at a navy checkpoint, and they have not been seen again.

Father Jim Brown was known to have helped many civilians to move from Allaipiddy

to the town of Kayts after fighting in the area between the Sri Lankan Navy at the LTTE. In fighting on August 13, at least 54 civilians were injured and 15 lost their lives.

Dangerous Emergency Regulations

Enforced disappearances could be facilitated by the sweeping emergency regulations, reinstated in December 2006, after the LTTE’s attempt to assassinate Defense Secretary Gotabaya Rajapakse, brother of the president. The regulations give the security forces’ expansive powers of search, arrest, detention, and seizure of property, including the right to make arrests without warrants and to hold individuals in unacknowledged detention for up to twelve months. Most of those detained under the emergency regulations are young Tamil men deemed by the security forces to have LTTE ties. Increasingly, however, the regulations are being used against Muslims and Sinhalese who challenge or criticize the state.

The current set of emergency regulations has also reintroduced a provision allowing the disposal of the bodies of persons who die in police custody without public notification. This gives uncontrolled discretionary power to the police in ordering the cremation of bodies, which could lead to the premature destruction of forensic evidence. Given the large numbers of “disappearances,” the prospect for misuse is a deep concern.

Intimidation of Civil Society and Threats to the Media

At the same time, the government is using the “war on terror” paradigm to intimidate the media, non-governmental organizations, and others with independent or dissenting views. Human Rights Watch is deeply concerned that the government, driven by the Sri Lankan defense establishment, is dismissing critics as allies of the LTTE and traitors of the state.

The government has dangerously ratcheted up its criticism of civil society, especially in the media. In February 2007 Minister for Environment and Natural Resources Champika Ranawaka of the Jathika Hela Urumaya (JHU), the Buddhist monk party in the government coalition, advocated extrajudicial methods to deal with human rights groups, journalists, and others who criticize the state’s militaristic aims. “Those bastards are traitors. We can’t do anything because of wild donkey freedom in this country,” he told the Ravaya newspaper on February 18. “If those can’t be handled with existing laws we know how to do it. If we can’t suppress those bastards with the law we need to use any other ways and means, yes.” To Human Rights Watch’s knowledge, no one in the government has condemned the minister’s words.

On March 8 the government’s peace secretariat vehemently dismissed the growing allegations of human rights violations as propaganda of the LTTE, suggesting that those reporting human rights violations were assisting the insurgent group. “Any group or organization, falling prey to this malicious propaganda of the LTTE, without prior inquiry, investigation or reliable verification, could as well be accused of complicity in propagating and disseminating the message and motives of the LTTE,” a statement said. Given Sri Lanka’s new emergency regulations, which criminalize “aiding and abetting the LTTE,” this lumping of human rights groups with the LTTE could silence local and international organizations working to report objectively on human rights.

Human Rights Watch is concerned that these verbal attacks will lead to physical assaults. Nongovernmental organizations have reported an increase in death threats from anonymous people over the phone.

The media has also come under attack. On February 26 officials from the Terrorist Investigation Division (TID) of the police detained Dushyantha Basnayake, Director of the Sinhala newspaper Mawbima. The TID has held another journalist from the paper, Munusamy Parameshawary, without charge for the last three months. On February 5, three trade unionists who write for their union publication were abducted from suburbs around Colombo; three days later the government announced that they had been arrested under the emergency regulations for suspected ties to the LTTE.

Over the past fifteen months nine media workers have lost their lives in varying circumstances, and no one has been charged with the deaths. The Karuna group in the east has issued death threats to the distributors of the Tamil-language newspapers Sudar Oli, Virakesari and Thinakkural. The military has been denying journalists access to LTTE-controlled areas and, as before, those journalists working in LTTE-controlled territories are under pressure not to criticize the LTTE.

Impunity Remains the Norm

Sri Lanka’s law-enforcement authorities have proven woefully incapable of dealing with the abuse. The peace secretariat’s statement of March 8 provides the results of police investigations into nine cases of abductions and “disappearances,” but this represents a small fraction of the total number of cases reported every month. A positive sign came on March 6 when the Inspector General of Police, Victor Perera, announced that the police had arrested over 400 persons since September 2006 on charges of abduction, including “ex-soldiers, serving, soldiers, police officers and underworld gangs and other organized elements.” Perera refused to provide further details and it remains to be seen whether these people will be prosecuted to the fullest extent of the law.

A barrier to accountability lies in the non-implementation of the constitution’s 17th amendment, which provides for the establishment of a Constitutional Council to appoint independent members to various government commissions. By ignoring the amendment, the president has been able to directly appoint commissioners dealing with the police, public service and human rights, thereby robbing these important institutions of their independence and legitimacy.

Sri Lanka’s law-enforcement authorities have proven woefully incapable of dealing with the abuse. The much publicized Commission of Inquiry and its group of international observers, including one US expert, established last year to investigate 15 cases of serious human rights violations may bring results, but Human Rights Watch considers it an inadequate mechanism for addressing the wide spectrum of serious and ongoing abuse. The commission will only investigate a selection of cases, and a broader international mechanism is needed to monitor and ultimately prevent human rights violations in the longer term.

To address the intensifying abuse, Human Rights Watch believes an international human rights monitoring mission under UN auspices is urgently required. Monitors on the ground will help temper the behavior of all parties to the conflict, thereby protecting lives. A number of European Union states have already publicly expressed support for such a monitoring mission. We hope that the US government will back such an initiative and encourage key allies such as India to do the same.

In particular, Human Rights Watch encourages you to raise the following points with President Rajapakse when you meet:

1. The Sri Lankan government should bring an end to child abductions by the Karuna group in the east, which is now done in plain view of the military and police. Abducted children and young men should be released and returned to their families.

2. The government should end the “disappearances” by the state and state-sponsored armed groups, including the Karuna group, EPDP and PLOTE, and prosecute those responsible.

3. The government should make public a list of all persons detained by the military and police under emergency regulations and other laws, and provide these people proper access to their families and legal representation.

4. Under no circumstances should the government forcibly return internally displaced persons and should instead work with displaced communities to provide for genuinely voluntary and safe returns.

5. The Sri Lankan government should accept a United Nations human rights monitoring mission to monitor abuses by both the LTTE and state security forces.

We greatly appreciate your attention to these pressing issues and your consideration of the recommendations above. We hope our proposals will help protect civilians, promote human rights, and assist the development of a lasting political solution.

Sincerely,

Brad Adams

Asia Director

Human Rights Watch

மூலம்: http://hrw.org/english/docs/2007/04/16/slanka15719_txt.htm

இதைவிட இன்னொரு அறிக்கையும் இந்த அமைப்பினால் ஏப்ரல்12, 2007 அன்று வெளிவிடப்பட்டுள்ளது.

கீழே பார்க்கவும் ....

HUMAN RIGHTS WATCH

Sri Lanka: Antiterrorism Laws Used to Muzzle the Press

Government Abuses Legislation to Clamp Down on Criticism

(New York, April 12, 2007) – The Sri Lankan government is abusing antiterrorism legislation to clamp down on journalists who expose human rights abuses, official corruption, or otherwise question the government’s handling of the civil war with the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE), Human Rights Watch said today.

Standard Newspapers Ltd., which publishes a leading Sinhalese-language weekly Mawbima and the English-language weekly Sunday Standard, stopped operations on March 29. Sixteen days earlier, the government froze the company’s assets, citing suspected links to the LTTE.

On February 27, the police’s Terrorist Investigation Division arrested the company’s spokesman and financial director, Dushantha Basnayake, under the Prevention of Terrorism Act, and has detained him without charge since then. The law grants security forces sweeping powers of arrest and provides for detention up to 12 months without charge.

“The government is using antiterrorism legislation to silence the press,” said Sam Zarifi, Asia research director for Human Rights Watch. “As the war heats up, the government is clamping down on criticism and dissent.”

Tamil-language media have often come under government pressure, but the closure of Mawbima is the first time in three decades that Sri Lankan authorities have shut down a Sinhalese-language newspaper.

Over the past year, Mawbima had reported on government corruption and human rights violations. The newspaper’s journalists had questioned the government’s role in the spiraling number of abductions and enforced disappearances as fighting between the government and LTTE escalated.

The owner of Standard Newspapers, Tiran Alles, is a close associate of two former ministers, Foreign Minister Mangala Samaraweera and Ports Development Minister Sripathi Sooriyaarachchi. Both ministers lost their jobs in February after criticizing the government’s human rights violations.

According to press reports, Sri Lankan President Mahinda Rajapakse accused the two sacked ministers of using Mawbima to plot against him during an executive committee meeting of the ruling Sri Lanka Freedom Party on February 11. Two days later, the government froze Standard Newspapers’ assets.

On November 22, agents of the Terrorist Investigation Division arrested Mawbima reporter Munusamy Parameswary, also under the Prevention of Terrorism Act, accusing her of “helping the LTTE and a suspected suicide bomber.” On March 22, the Supreme Court found no reasonable grounds for her detention and ordered her release.

“The government’s moves against Mawbima are a disturbing blow to press freedom in Sri Lanka,” Zarifi said. “Increasingly, critics of government policy are being treated as traitors and enemies of the state.”

The pressure against Mawbima and the Sunday Standard illustrates the deteriorating conditions for media freedom in Sri Lanka. At a press briefing on March 29, Sri Lankan President Mahinda Rajapakse pushed journalists to support the military in its fight against the LTTE. “Media should not highlight the lapses of our security forces which may be advantageous to the enemy,” he said.

On September 20 the Ministry of Defense sent a letter to media institutions requesting that “news gathered should be subjected to clarification and confirmation.” The ministry has not instituted any formal censorship, however. Both the president and his brother Gothabaya Rajapakse, the defense secretary, are known to call newspaper editors directly with complaints about their coverage.

All sides in Sri Lanka’s civil war have interfered with and sought to restrict the exercise of free speech and freedom of the press, Human Rights Watch said. In the areas under its control, the LTTE does not allow a free press. In other areas it has intimidated, attacked and sometimes killed journalists critical of their policies or actions.

The Karuna group, which split from the LTTE in 2004 and has been fighting alongside the government, has also interfered with the media, Human Rights Watch said. Since August, in the areas where it operates in the East, the Karuna group has blocked the sale of the Tamil-language dailies Virakesari, Thinakkural and Sudar Oli, which are critical of the armed group. In Batticaloa district, the only Tamil-language papers available are the state-owned Thinakaran and Thinamurasu, which are run by the Eelam People’s Democratic Party, another Tamil political party that is part of the Sri Lankan government. The Karuna group has issued death threats to newspaper vendors and distributors in Trincomalee, a strategic northeastern city that houses a major government navy base.

மூலம்: http://hrw.org/english/docs/2007/04/12/slanka15681_txt.htm