Sri Lanka Tamil minority still being victimised

K Pragalath | July 3, 2011
Malaysian parliamentarians who visited Sri Lanka recently say no efforts have been made at reconciliation or improving the living standard of the minority Tamils.

KUALA LUMPUR: It has been two years since the civil war ended in Sri Lanka but there has been little effort made in reconciliation and helping the Tamil minority who were the main victims of the conflict.
Teluk Intan MP M Manogaran, Sungai Petani MP Johari Abdul, Selangor Senator S Ramakrishnan and two NGO members made a five day field trip to the island last month and their conclusion is that nothing much has been done to help the victims of the war.
They visited Colombo, Puttalam, Vavuniya, the north and northeast region of Sri Lanka.
“We expected to see some semblance of normalcy but there was none,” Manogaran said when relating his experience in Sri Lanka to FMT .
“Access to the many areas in the northern region which was formerly held by Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE) is controlled by the military.
“Every civil action must receive military approval. Application has to be made via general agent,” said Manogaran .
A general agent is like a district officer.                . More»      
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UN report: 1,00,000 Tamilians killed in war

 

Jul 3, 2011BANGALORE: Nearly 1,00,000 Tamil civilians were killed in the war in Sri Lanka during the final stages of civil war against the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam, a report by a committee of the United Nations said.

The International Committee of the Red Cross ( ICRC) has estimated that nearly 14,000 wounded Tamil civilians were evacuated by ship from a no-fire zone in Sri Lanka during the end of war. Of which, the Committee said, 5,000 civilians were amputated and nearly 70,000 children died of starvation during the war in 2008.

Political Science professor Paul Newman from Bangalore University on Saturday presented these statistics quoting from a UN panel report headed by Marzuki Darusman, Steven Ratner and Yasmin Sooka.

In his presentation on the War Crimes and Genocide Investigation: Brief on Permanent People's Tribunal report and UN Experts Panel Report on Sri Lanka, Paul Newman underlined that reports show hospitals and schools were targeted by the military. Besides, even the LTTE had used civilians as human shields.

During the seminar on war crimes and genocide of Tamils in Sri Lanka organized by Forum Against War Crimes and Genocide, human rights activists in the city called on the international community to act swiftly and protect the rights of people.

Nagaragare Ramesh of People's Democratic Forum emphasized the need for an independent enquiry by UN. "The human rights abuse during the war is disturbing. It is not just the Tamils but everyone should raise their voice against the human rights violation in Sri Lanka," he said.

Writer G Ramakrishna urged for an immediate relief to the Sri Lankan Tamils. "The war has only devastated the lives of civilians in our neighbouring country. The people responsible for this disaster should be punished," he said.