The State Is Being Over-Represented By Its Security ArmThe State Is Being Over-Represented By Its Security Arm
Jehan Perera
The sudden deterioration in the climate in the north is unfortunate. When I visited North last week it seemed that the sense of normalcy in the North was getting stronger. The military posts and uniformed sentries on duty at short and regular intervals on the roads are no longer there. Most of the people I spoke to in Jaffna told me that the military personnel in Jaffna behaved well and they encountered few or no problems with them. However, they also said they could not speak with assurance about how the military was behaving in the Wanni, which is a much poorer and less densely inhabited part of the North. When I spoke to people in Kilinochchi gave answers that they were no different From those of the people of Jaffna. They even said that the military was helpful to the extent that if a household had a problem they would even go sometimes to the army rather than to the grama sevaka or village official, as the army could do more to help them.
However, the arrest and Detention of Recent Balendran Jeyakumari , One of the leading activist organization of Members of the Families of the disappeared May be a indication of Things to Come. She was arrested in the northern district of Kilinochchi after a policeman was shot in that area. The government's police spokesperson stated that a shooting incident took place in the north and they have identified a house where the suspect has been hiding and that two women are being investigated. Human rights defenders in the area report lots of checkpoints, raids, questioning, fear and surveillance. Jayakumari is reported to have been detained under the Prevention of Terrorism Act for 16 days by a court order and sent to the Boosa detention centre which is at the other southern corner of the country. This has been followed by the arrest and interrogation of two human rights defenders, Ruki Fernando and Fr Praveen Selvadurai who were in Kilinochchi to see to the welfare of other families of disappeared in the aftermath of the arrest of Jayakumari. Read More
