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pushing some people to return despite a lack of information and their fears of unsafe conditions. A displaced person in Alamkalam camp, Batticaloa district in February 2007. © 2007 Fred Abrahams/Human Rights Watch 33 Human Rights Watch August 2007
On May 29, UNHCR commented on the government’s resettlement program, which it said had been in operation for the previous two weeks, involving the return of some 30,000 displaced persons to their homes in Vellavelly DS division, with 90,000 more returns planned in the coming months. “Our staff have made several assessment missions and generally have seen that conditions are conductive for return,” a spokesperson said. “Most of the returnees seem happy to be home but had received little prior information about the conditions in the areas of return.” 47 Aid workers on the ground told Human Rights Watch that the return process, coordinated by the Ministry of Resettlement and the STF, was much improved from the forced returns in March, with no reported cases of physical abuse. However, many displaced persons were not properly informed of the return process and their rights, and some complained of intimidation from government security forces. High Security Zones The Sri Lankan military captured the Sampur area in Trincomalee district in September 2006. “Our armed forces have captured Sampur for the welfare and benefit of the people living there,” President Rajapaksa declared on September 4. 48 Eight months later, on May 30, 2007, the president established a so-called High Security Zone in the areas of Sampur and East Mutur, encompassing approximately 90 square kilometers. 49 Government regulations forbid any person, including local residents, from entering or remaining in the newly designated area without written permission from the competent authority, currently Maj. Gen. Parakrama Pannipitiya. In the past, the government has established High Security Zones to protect military camps and strategic installations from LTTE attack. 47 UNHCR press briefing, May 29, 2007. 48 Speech of President Mahinda Rajapaksa at the 55 th Annual Convention of the Sri Lanka Freedom Party, September 4, 2006, http://www.presidentsl.org/data/html/news/200609/20060904news-1.htm (accessed July 16, 2007). 49 The High Security Zone was established under Emergency Regulations (section 5 of the Public Security Ordinance) published in Gazette Extraordinary No.1499/25. Return to War 34
Page 1 and 2: Sri Lanka Return to War Human Right
Page 3 and 4: Karuna group ......................
Page 5 and 6: I. Summary What I am saying is, if
Page 7 and 8: extrajudicial killings to unlawful
Page 9 and 10: 2002. Since January 2006 more than
Page 11 and 12: against them, and list the location
Page 13 and 14: Emergency Regulations (372 Tamils,
Page 15 and 16: The mother of an abducted boy from
Page 17 and 18: disappearances. The police released
Page 19 and 20: commission, highlighting examples o
Page 21 and 22: Methodology This report is based pr
Page 23 and 24: discriminating against Tamils in th
Page 25 and 26: intimidation to force civilians who
Page 27 and 28: International humanitarian law proh
Page 29 and 30: in which an LTTE cadre shot and kil
Page 31 and 32: the Savukady camp in Batticaloa to
Page 33 and 34: they would no longer be responsible
Page 35: In mid-May the government began a n
Page 39 and 40: Grama Niladari Divisions (the small
Page 41 and 42: The salvos landed in and around the
Page 43 and 44: didn’t take him to the hospital b
Page 45 and 46: While describing the loss of civili
Page 47 and 48: saw no weapons, no bunkers or artil
Page 49 and 50: V. Enforced Disappearances and Abdu
Page 51 and 52: months of 2007. 84 A government com
Page 53 and 54: In one illustrative case documented
Page 55 and 56: The Valvettiturai police registered
Page 57 and 58: would send him by bus or train to T
Page 59 and 60: wife tried his cell phone several t
Page 61 and 62: then that his brother had paid, alt
Page 63 and 64: as the disseminators of “LTTE pro
Page 65 and 66: It is evident that many of the [dis
Page 67 and 68: The government’s lack of commitme
Page 69 and 70: A lodge-owner who had 29 out of 36
Page 71 and 72: arguing that evicting Tamils from C
Page 73 and 74: VII. Emergency Regulations In Augus
Page 75 and 76: Given the wide ranging powers provi
Page 77 and 78: Large-scale arrests of Tamil youth
Page 79 and 80: held, how many had been charged wit
Page 81 and 82: Various United Nations principles i
Page 83 and 84: In addition, the regulations establ
Page 85 and 86: individuals and groups working to r
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At a public meeting on April 6, 200
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On April 30, 2007, unidentified gun
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“We have blocked it as per a gove
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conference said they had already ca
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astards with the law we need to use
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humanitarian worker with direct kno
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The government dismissed the allega
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With the change of administration i
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IX. Karuna Group and State Complici
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stating that it “has no complicit
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of the government commission lookin
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Over the past 18 months, the govern
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Lack of witness protection A key pr
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president cannot appoint any commis
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Watch asked the Sri Lankan governme
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persons and refugees, and SLMM in r
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7. Death of 51 persons in Naddalamo
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Members of the IIGEP have also expr
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In the current context, in particul
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domestic and international criticis
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To the Liberation Tigers of Tamil E
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• Urge the Sri Lankan government
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H UMAN R I GHTS WATCH 350 Fifth Ave
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