Return to War - Human Rights Watch
Return to War - Human Rights Watch
Return to War - Human Rights Watch
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disappearances. The police released her on March 22, 2007, when a court found<br />
insufficient evidence <strong>to</strong> continue her detention.<br />
On February 27, 2007, the Terrorist Investigation Division arrested the spokesperson<br />
and financial direc<strong>to</strong>r of Standard Newspapers Ltd., which publishes Mawbima and<br />
the English-language weekly Sunday Standard. Under the Emergency Regulations<br />
they detained him for over two months without charge. On March 13, 2007, the<br />
government froze the company’s assets, forcing Mawbima and Sunday Standard <strong>to</strong><br />
s<strong>to</strong>p publication. On May 30, the police arrested the owner of the company under the<br />
Terrorist Financing Act on suspicion of providing material and financial assistance <strong>to</strong><br />
the LTTE.<br />
Over the past year President Rajapaksa has held regular breakfast meetings with<br />
media edi<strong>to</strong>rs. According <strong>to</strong> participants, he has at times admonished edi<strong>to</strong>rs for<br />
their “unpatriotic” writing. His brother the defence secretary has been more direct: in<br />
April 2007 he telephoned the edi<strong>to</strong>r of the Daily Mirror, an English-language daily,<br />
and <strong>to</strong>ld her that he would ”exterminate” a journalist who had written on human<br />
rights issues in the country’s east.<br />
Impunity reigns<br />
Impunity for human rights violations by government security forces, long a problem<br />
in Sri Lanka, remains a disturbing norm. As the conflict intensifies and government<br />
forces are implicated in a longer list of abuses, from arbitrary arrests and<br />
“disappearances” <strong>to</strong> war crimes, the government has displayed a clear<br />
unwillingness <strong>to</strong> hold accountable those responsible for serious violations of<br />
international human rights and humanitarian law. Government institutions have<br />
proved inadequate <strong>to</strong> deal with the scale and intensity of abuse.<br />
One barrier <strong>to</strong> accountability lies in the failure <strong>to</strong> implement the 17th amendment <strong>to</strong><br />
the constitution, which provides for the establishment of a Constitutional Council <strong>to</strong><br />
nominate independent members <strong>to</strong> various government commissions, including the<br />
<strong>Human</strong> <strong>Rights</strong> Commission. Ignoring the amendment, the president has directly<br />
appointed commissioners <strong>to</strong> the bodies that deal with the police, public service, and<br />
human rights, thereby placing their independence in doubt. The 17 th amendment has<br />
<strong>Return</strong> <strong>to</strong> <strong>War</strong> 14