HUMAN RIGHTS WATCH CHALLENGES THE LTTE TO SHOW ITS EFFECTIVENESS IN MAINTAINING HUMAN RIGHTS
By Walter Jayawardhana reporting from Los Angeles
July 28 10.30AM The New York based Human rights Watch said , In the midst of an upsurge in violence, that killed many in the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE) controlled areas the rebel group recently organized the North East Secretariat on Human Rights (NESHOR), a body intended to promote respect for human rights and it was essential that they quickly demonstrated their effectiveness in protecting human rights.
The statement came immediately after the LTTE allegedly killed eight Karuna supporters near the Sri Lankan capital of Colombo.
Unfortunately, the renewed violence makes it essential that the LTTE's new human rights secretariat quickly demonstrates its effectiveness in protecting the rights of people in LTTE areas," said the Senior Legal Advisor of Human Rights Watch James Ross.
Going by the LTTE statement that an internal conflict within the Karuna group led to the killing of the eight Karuna loyalists while they slept, the Human Rights Watch statement said, “Even before the police were notified of the killings, the LTTE announced that these victims had been killed by "dissidents" within Karuna's own faction, and stated further that the killers had sought and received refuge with the LTTE.”
"Regardless of who perpetrated the killings, the LTTE's open protection
of criminal suspects is an affront to the rule of law and the ceasefire
agreement," said Ross. "Human Rights Watch calls on the LTTE to
immediately turn them over to Sri Lankan authorities."
The following is the full statement of the Human Rights Watch:
A spate of killings between factions of the
separatist Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE) threatens Sri Lanka's
ceasefire, Human Rights Watch warned today. More than a dozen people
have been murdered over the last month in apparently politically
motivated killings attributed either to the LTTE or a faction led by the
LTTE's former eastern commander, Colonel Karuna, who broke away
from the LTTE in March 2004.
"These targeted killings sadly show that the ceasefire has not meant an end
to the violence that has plagued Sri Lanka," said James Ross, senior legal
advisor for Human Rights Watch. "The LTTE and pro-Karuna forces
should immediately halt these killings.
The violence between the LTTE and Karuna's group has spiraled in recent
days. On July 25, police found the bodies of eight persons, most of whom
were believed to be senior aides to Karuna, in a house outside the capital
Colombo. They were apparently shot and killed while asleep. Police
investigating the killings said that there was no evidence of crossfire or a
gunfight, and that the killings appeared to have been committed by
someone within the house.
Even before the police were notified of the killings, the LTTE announced
that these victims had been killed by "dissidents" within Karuna's own
faction, and stated further that the killers had sought and received refuge
with the LTTE.
"Regardless of who perpetrated the killings, the LTTE's open protection
of criminal suspects is an affront to the rule of law and the ceasefire
agreement," said Ross. "Human Rights Watch calls on the LTTE to
immediately turn them over to Sri Lankan authorities."
Human Rights Watch expressed serious concern at the recent spate of
unlawful killings in and around Batticaloa, in eastern Sri Lanka.
Kunjithamby Sivarasa, a local government official, was shot dead by
LTTE cadres on July 9 at his home in the village of Ariyampathy.
Velayutham Raveendran, a senior Eelam Peoples Democratic Party
(EPDP) member, a political party opposed to the LTTE, was shot by
armed gunmen on a motorbike at a bus stop in Akkaraipattu town, south of
Batticaloa, on July 21. More than 100 EPDP members have been killed
since the February 2002 ceasefire agreement.
The LTTE has claimed responsibility for the public executions of
Balasuntaram Sritharan and Thillaiampalam Suntararajan on July 8 at
Illupadichchai junction. Their dead bodies were found by the side of a
road, blindfolded, with manacles around their ankles. The LTTE publicly
stated that the two men had been sentenced to death as pro-Karuna
"traitors" and called on all Sri Lankan Tamils to identify any other such
"traitors." Aiyathurai Nadesan, a Tamil journalist, was shot in Batticaloa
on May 31. On May 24, Eastern University lecturer Kumaravel
Thambaiah was shot and killed at his home in Batticaloa. The Karuna
group is suspected in both killings. The apparent intention of such
executions is to terrorize the local population and prevent the exercise of
the basic rights of free association and expression.
Kanapathipillai Mahendran, known as "Satchi Master," and Sarvanamuttu
Shanthakumar, were killed in Batticaloa prison by a fellow inmate and
LTTE cadre on July 14. The LTTE claimed that "Satchi Master" had been
campaigning for Colonel Karuna and his supporters from within the
prison. The killings raise serious questions over the security and
management of the prison, particularly when authorities know that
members of rival groups are being held within the same building. Human
Rights Watch called on the Sri Lankan authorities to explain how lethal
weapons were allowed inside the prison, and to ensure that known rival
factions are kept securely away from each other.
In the midst of this upsurge in violence, the LTTE recently organized the
NorthEast Secretariat on Human Rights (NESHOR), a body intended to
promote respect for human rights.
"Unfortunately, the renewed violence makes it essential that the LTTE's
new human rights secretariat quickly demonstrates its effectiveness in
protecting the rights of people in LTTE areas," said Ross.
