Citizendia

Sri Lankan Conflict
Background
Sri Lanka • History of Sri Lanka
Origins of the Civil War
Origins of the Civil War
Black July • Riots and pogroms
Human rights • Allegations of state terror
Tamil militant groups
LTTE
LTTE • Attacks • Expulsion of Muslims from Jaffna
Current major figures
Mahinda Rajapaksa
Velupillai Prabhakaran
Karuna Amman
Gotabaya Rajapaksa
Sarath Fonseka
Indian Involvement
Operation Poomalai
Indo-Sri Lanka Accord
Indian Peace Keeping Force
Rajiv Gandhi • RAW
See also
Military of Sri Lanka
TMVP • EPDP
Notable assassinations • Child soldiers
This box: view • talk • edit

Major human rights groups such as Amnesty International and Human Rights Watch,[1] as well as the United States Department of State[1] and the European Union,[2] have expressed concern about the state of human rights in Sri Lanka. The Sri Lankan Civil War is an Ongoing conflict on the Island -nation of Sri Lanka. Sri Lanka, officially the Democratic Socialist Republic of Sri Lanka ( Sinhalese:, இலங்கை known as Ceylon before 1972 is an Island Traditionally the recorded History of Sri Lanka boasts of 25 chronicled centuries Origins of the Sri lankan civil war is highlighted by the continuous political rancor between the majority Sinhalese and the minority Tamils Black July is the commonly used name for the Pogroms starting in Sri Lanka on July 23 1983. Following is a List of riots and pogroms in Sri Lanka 1915 riots The first reported organized riots in Sri Lanka were against the minority Sri Lankan Muslims Various Non-governmental organizations and individuals have accused the Sri Lankan government of committing state terrorism Sri Lankan Tamil militant groups rose to prominence in the 1970s to fight the state of Sri Lanka to create an independent Tamil Eelam. "LTTE" redirects here For the Led Zeppelin bootleg see Listen to This Eddie. The following is a list of attacks attributed to the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE commonly known as the Tamil Tigers The expulsion of the Muslims from the Northern province was an act of Ethnic cleansing carried out by the Tamil militant Liberation Tigers of Tamil Percy Mahinda Rajapaksa (commonly known as Mahinda Rajapaksa, Sinhala මහින්ද රාජපක්ෂ; maˈhində ˈraːjəˌpakʂə born November Velupillai Prabhakaran (வேலுப்பிள்ளை பிரபாகரன் born November 26, 1954) also known informally as Thambi (தம்பி Colonel Karuna Amman is the Nom de guerre of Vinayagamoorthi Muralitharan (born 1966 the President of the TMVP ( TamilEela Makkal Viduthalai Pulikal Lieutenant Colonel (Ret Nandasena Gotabhaya Rajapaksa RWP, RSP, GR is the current Permanent Lt Gen Sarath Fonseka RWP, RSP, VSV, USP, rcds psc, SLSR is a Sri Lankan Army officer who has served throughout Operation Poomalai or Eagle Mission 4 was the codename assigned to a mission undertaken by the Indian Air Force to airdrop supplies over the besieged town of Sri Lankan Civil War See also Sri Lankan Civil War Sri Lanka, from the early part of the 1980s was facing an increasingly violent ethnic strife Indian Peace Keeping Force ( IPKF; Hindi: भारतीय शान्ति सेना was the Indian military contingent performing a Peacekeeping Rajiv Gandhi राजीव गांधी (raːdʒiːv gaːnd̪ʰiː born in Bombay, (20 August 1944 – 21 May 1991 the elder son of Indira and Feroze Research and Analysis Wing ( RAW or R&AW) is India 's external Intelligence agency. The Military of Sri Lanka consists of Three Branches which are the Army, Navy, Air Force which comes under the Ministry of Defence. Tamil Makkal Viduthalai Pulikal (TMVP ( தமிழ் மக்கள் விடுதலைப்புலிகள், Tamil Peoples Liberation Tigers) also The Eelam People's Democratic Party is a Political party and a Paramilitary organization in Sri Lanka. Since the onset of the Sri Lankan Civil War in 1983 militant and paramilitary groups have assassinated many Public figures on suspicion of being sympathizers or informants Military use of children in Sri Lanka has been an internationally recognized problem since the inception of the Sri Lankan civil war in 1983. Amnesty International (commonly known as Amnesty or AI) is a Western based international Non-governmental organization which defines its mission as "to Human Rights Watch is a United States -based international Non-governmental organization that conducts research and advocacy on Human rights. The European Union ( EU) is a political and economic union of twenty-seven member states, located primarily in Both the government of Sri Lanka and the separatist Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE) are accused of violating human rights. TemplatePolitics of Sri Lanka Politics of Sri Lanka takes place in a framework of a presidential representative democratic Republic, whereby the President Sri Lanka, officially the Democratic Socialist Republic of Sri Lanka ( Sinhalese:, இலங்கை known as Ceylon before 1972 is an Island "LTTE" redirects here For the Led Zeppelin bootleg see Listen to This Eddie. Human rights refers to the "basic Rights and freedoms to which all humans are entitled Amnesty International stated in 2003 that there was a considerable improvement in the human rights situation attributed to the peaceful context of a ceasefire and peace talks between the government and the LTTE. [3] In its 2007 report, however, they stated that "escalating political killings, child recruitment, abductions and armed clashes created a climate of fear in the east, spreading to the north by the end of the year", whilst also outlining concerns with violence against women, the death penalty and "numerous reports of torture in police custody". However, Sri Lanka has not practiced the death penalty since 1976[4]

Contents

Background

Sri Lanka has been embroiled in a civil war for more than two decades. Sri Lanka, officially the Democratic Socialist Republic of Sri Lanka ( Sinhalese:, இலங்கை known as Ceylon before 1972 is an Island The Sri Lankan Civil War is an Ongoing conflict on the Island -nation of Sri Lanka. More than 64,000 people have been killed and more than one million have been displaced since 1983. In July 1983, the most savage anti-minority pogrom in Sri Lanka's history, known as the Black July riots, erupted. Black July is the commonly used name for the Pogroms starting in Sri Lanka on July 23 1983. Government appointed commission's estimates put the death toll at nearly 1,000 whereas other groups have put the death toll at 2,000 - 3,000,[5][6][7][8] mostly minority Sri Lankan Tamils. Sri Lankan Tamil people ( or Ceylon Tamils, are an Ethnic group native to the South Asian island state of Sri Lanka who predominantly speak At least 150,000 Tamils fled the island. Another major event was the repression of Marxist revolutionaries known as the JVP in Southern Sri Lanka by government security forces. 10,000 - 60,000 Sinhalese, including many students,[9] died or 'disappeared' over the course of the three-year government crackdown. [10]

Abuses by the government

There have been numerous massacres of civilians and political prisoners since 1983. Prison massacres in Sri Lanka have occurred in regular intervals since the inception of the civil conflict from 1983.

1990

The Eastern province of Sri Lanka was taken over by Sri Lankan Forces after heavy fighting in 1990. Since government forces moved in early 1990 large number of disappearance and extrajudicial execution were reported. For extrajudicial executions see also Assassination Extra-judicial killings are the illegal killing of leading political trades union dissidents By October 1990, 3,000 Tamil people were estimated to have been killed or to have disappeared in Amparai district. Ampara (Tamil அம்பாறை Sinhala අමිපාර is a remote city on the East Coast of Sri Lanka, about 200 km from the capital city of Colombo. Further Many of the disappeared people were believed to have been killed as a result of extrajudicial execution. For extrajudicial executions see also Assassination Extra-judicial killings are the illegal killing of leading political trades union dissidents Likewise in Batticaloa another 1,500 Tamil people were reported to have disappeared. Batticaloa (மட்டக்களப்பு in Tamil මඩකළපුව in Sinhala) is the provincial capital of the eastern province of Sri Lanka [11] How ever the true perpetrators of the dispearances are yet to be determined with the Sri Lankan government and the rebels both accusing each other

2000

Sri Lanka has the second highest number of disappearances in the world, ranking only behind Iraq, according to the United Nations Working Group on Enforced or Involuntary Disappearances in 1999. For a topic outline on this subject see List of basic Iraq topics. [12] The report states that across the country since 1980, 12,000 people have gone missing after being detained by Sri Lankan security forces, only Iraq having more, with 16,384 missing people. [13] The United States government has also raised concerns over the level of disappeared people in Sri Lanka with concerns over an increase due to an escalation in fighting. [14] This is in addition to the US State Department's publication in 2001 on human rights practices, wherein disappearances are outlined as a problem. [15]

In the January 2002 Amnesty International Report stated, "frequently reported torture in police custody. Lack of accountability for the perpetrators of human rights violations, including “disappearances” and torture" were cited as "serious human rights concerns". [16]

Torture, including rape, in police custody continued to be reported frequently. Among the victims were women and children. In late October, the UN Committee against Torture submitted the findings of its visit to Sri Lanka in 2000 to the UN General Assembly. The Committee reported that it found a “disturbing number of cases of torture and ill-treatment”, the two cases presented to the U. N were that of Nandini Herat, a young woman, who was sexually assaulted by police at Wariyapola police station, Kurunegala district, in March and ten-year-old T. K. Hiran Rasika and 12-year-old E. A. who was tortured at Hiniduma police station in July while being questioned about a theft. Both required hospital treatment as a result. [17]

The European Union also condemned Sri Lankan security forces in the year 2000 concerning human rights, after fighting displaced 12,000 civilians. [18]

The US State Department has stated that "The civilian authorities generally maintained effective control of the security forces, although some members of the security forces committed serious human right abuses". [19]

Human Rights Watch has accused the Sri Lankan government of being "responsible for unlawful killings, enforced disappearances and other serious human rights violations since the resumption of major hostilities with the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam", in a report released on August the 6th 2007 entitled "Killings, Abductions and Displacement Soar as Impunity Reigns". Human Rights Watch is a United States -based international Non-governmental organization that conducts research and advocacy on Human rights. [20] Brad Adams, Asia Director, Human Rights Watch later added, "The Sri Lankan government has apparently given its security forces a green light to use ‘dirty war’ tactics". This article refers to the Argentine Dirty War for the British film of the same name see Dirty War (film. [21]

Human Rights Watch also released the 129 page dossier "Human Rights under Siege" in which it outlines through the "use (of) accounts by victims and eyewitnesses to document the shocking increase in violations by government forces. " The report states "Ethnic Tamils have borne the brunt of these violations" but also mentions that "members of the Muslim and majority Sinhalese population are not immune to government abuse". [22]

Attack on Indian Fisherman

The Sri Lankan navy has killed at least 150 Indian fishermen and further has injured another 300 since Start of the Sri Lankan Civil war. [23]

Abuses by the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE)

The Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam have repeatedly been accused of attacks on civilians during their separatist guerrilla campaign. "LTTE" redirects here For the Led Zeppelin bootleg see Listen to This Eddie. The following is a list of attacks attributed to the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE commonly known as the Tamil Tigers The US State Department reported several human rights abuses in 2005, but it specifically states that there were no confirmed reports of politically motivated killings by the government. The report states that, "they [LTTE] continued to control large sections of the north and east and engaged in politically motivated killings, disappearances, torture, arbitrary arrest and detention, denial of fair public trial, arbitrary interference with privacy, denial of freedom of speech, press, of assembly and association, and the recruitment of child soldiers". The report further accused the LTTE of extra-judicial killings in the North and East. [24] . Several members of the Eelam People's Revolutionary Liberation Front (EPRLF) and the Eelam People's Democratic Party (EPDP) were illegally detained by the LTTE. The Eelam People's Revolutionary Liberation Front is a Political party in Sri Lanka. The Eelam People's Democratic Party is a Political party and a Paramilitary organization in Sri Lanka.

The LTTE committed massacres in the Northern and Eastern provinces of Sri Lanka. Northern Province ( Sinhala: Uturu Palata) is a province of Sri Lanka. Eastern Province ( Tamil: கிழக்கு மாகாணம் Sinhala: Negenahira Palata) is a province of Sri Lanka. The number of civilians massacred were as high as 144 (Anuradhapura massacre). The Anuradhapura massacre occurred in Sri Lanka in 1985 and was carried out by the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam. Some of the major attacks resulting in civilian deaths include the Kebithigollewa massacre, the Gonagala massacre (54 dead), the Dehiwala train bombing (56 dead),[25] the Palliyagodella massacre (109 dead) and the bombing of Sri Lanka's Central Bank (102 dead). See also List of attacks attributed to the LTTE The Kebithigollewa massacre occurred on June 15, 2006 when 60 people were killed as a result of The Gongala Massacre was a massacre that occurred on September 18, 1999, in the small village of Gonagala, located in the Ampara District of The Dehiwala train bombing was carried out on July 24, 1996, by the LTTE, was condemned by the International community including USA and The Palliyagodella massacre was carried out by the LTTE, an organization which has been banned in 33 countries including the US Australia EU India and Canada due The Central Bank bombing was one of the deadliest terrorist attacks carried out by the LTTE during the Separatist civil war in Sri Lanka between Further a claymore antipersonnel mine attack by the LTTE on June 15, 2006 on a bus carrying 140 civilians killed 68 people including 15 children, and injured 60 others. The M18A1 Claymore is a directional Anti-personnel mine used by the U Events 763 BC - Assyrians record a Solar eclipse that will be used to fix the Chronology of Mesopotamian history Year 2006 ( MMVI) was a Common year starting on Sunday of the Gregorian calendar. [26]

Abuses by other groups

During the 1980s, the Janatha Vimukthi Peramuna was regularly accused of arbitrary attacks on civilians during its uprising of that period. The Janatha Vimukthi Peramuna ( Sinhala janatā vimukti peramuṇa, "People's Liberation Front" is a nationalist Marxist Political

Further, the TamilEela Makkal Viduthalai Pulikal (TMVP), an armed organization led by Colonel Karuna, has been accused by many human rights and non-governmental organizations of recruiting children, torture, assassinations and engaging in extortion in its war against the LTTE. Tamil Makkal Viduthalai Pulikal (TMVP ( தமிழ் மக்கள் விடுதலைப்புலிகள், Tamil Peoples Liberation Tigers) also Karuṇā ( Sanskrit; Pāli) is generally translated as " Compassion " or "pity [27][28][29] The TMVP was also involved in kidnappings for ransom of wealthy, predominantly Tamil, businessmen to raise money in Colombo and other towns. Some businessmen were killed because their family could not pay the ransom. [30] The TMVP is believed to be working with the Sri Lankan Army. The Sri Lanka Army is the oldest and largest of the three armed services of Sri Lanka and is responsible for overseeing land-based military and [31][32][33][34]

See also

References and further reading

  1. ^ Sri Lanka
  2. ^ The EU's relations with Sri Lanka - Overview
  3. ^ Amnesty International
  4. ^ Ste's Site - Death penalty in Sri Lanka
  5. ^ Welcome to UTHR, Sri Lanka
  6. ^ Green Left - SRI LANKA: Remembering Black July
  7. ^ Gulfnews: The end game
  8. ^ President Kumaratunga's speech on the 21st Anniversary of 'Black July'
  9. ^ Amnesty International Canada || News Release
  10. ^ Asia Times: Sri Lanka: New rulers have bloody past
  11. ^ Sri Lanka: The Northeast: Human rights violations in a context of armed conflict
  12. ^ BBC News | South Asia | Sri Lanka's disappeared thousands
  13. ^ BBC News | South Asia | Sri Lanka's disappeared thousands
  14. ^ The Raw Story | US voices concern over 350 people 'disappeared' in Sri Lanka
  15. ^ Sri Lanka
  16. ^ Amnesty International
  17. ^ Amnesty International
  18. ^ BBC News | SOUTH ASIA | Sri Lanka rapped over human rights
  19. ^ Line 5 http://www.state.gov/g/drl/rls/hrrpt/2005/61711.htm
  20. ^ Sri Lanka: Government Abuses Intensify (Human Rights Watch, 6-8-2007)
  21. ^ Sri Lanka: Government Abuses Intensify (Human Rights Watch, 6-8-2007)
  22. ^ Return to War: Human Rights Under Siege
  23. ^ Karunanidhi urges Centre to save fishermen from Lankan navy (html). Various Non-governmental organizations and individuals have accused the Sri Lankan government of committing state terrorism Black July is the commonly used name for the Pogroms starting in Sri Lanka on July 23 1983. The following is a list of attacks attributed to the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE commonly known as the Tamil Tigers Military use of children in Sri Lanka has been an internationally recognized problem since the inception of the Sri Lankan civil war in 1983. The Sri Lankan Civil War is an Ongoing conflict on the Island -nation of Sri Lanka. IANS. Retrieved on 2008-02-10. 2008 ( MMVIII) is the current year in accordance with the Gregorian calendar, a Leap year that started on Tuesday of the Common Events 1355 - The St Scholastica's Day riot breaks out in Oxford, England, leaving 63 scholars and perhaps 30 locals dead
  24. ^ Sri Lanka
  25. ^ Timeline of the Tamil conflict. BBC News (September 4, 2000). Events 476 - Romulus Augustus, last emperor of the Western Roman Empire, is deposed when Odoacer proclaims himself 2000 ( MM) was a Leap year that started on Saturday of the Common Era, in accordance with the Gregorian calendar.
  26. ^ United States Condemns Terrorist Attack on Sri Lankan Bus. US State Department.
  27. ^ “Sri Lanka”, Human Rights Watch, August 9, 2007, <http://hrw.org/englishwr2k7/docs/2007/01/11/slanka14837.htm> 
  28. ^ “Complicit in Crime: State Collusion in Abductions and Child Recruitment by the Karuna Group”, Human Rights Watch 19, January 2007, <http://www.hrw.org/reports/2007/srilanka0107/> 
  29. ^ “Sri Lanka: Armed groups infiltrating refugee camps”, Amnesty International, August 9, 2007, <http://news.amnesty.org/index/ENGASA370072007> 
  30. ^ “Impunity reigns”, Human Rights Watch (no. Human Rights Watch is a United States -based international Non-governmental organization that conducts research and advocacy on Human rights. Amnesty International (commonly known as Amnesty or AI) is a Western based international Non-governmental organization which defines its mission as "to Human Rights Watch is a United States -based international Non-governmental organization that conducts research and advocacy on Human rights. 1(C)), August 9, 2007, <http://hrw.org/reports/2007/srilanka0807/1.htm#_Toc173322236> 
  31. ^ Government Complicit in Forced Recruitment of Young Tamils
  32. ^ Sri Lanka: Letter to Pope Benedict XVI on the Situation In Sri Lanka
  33. ^ SLMM report exposes Sri Lankan military’s complicity in violence and murder
  34. ^ Sri Lanka: Karuna Group and LTTE Continue Abducting and Recruiting Children

Books

Websites

© 2009 citizendia.org; parts available under the terms of GNU Free Documentation License, from http://en.wikipedia.org