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seen as using the same tactics as a terror group. The rule of law must always be respected by all arms of the government.” 3 Ironically, the serious deterioration in the government’s human rights record is taking place under a president who was once a human rights activist, known for getting dossiers of the “disappeared” out of the country to the United Nations (UN) Commission on Human Rights in 1990. President Rajapaksa’s official biography trumpets him as a “champion of human rights,” 4 but he has failed to demonstrate those qualities during his presidential term. Abuses during armed conflict Some of the most serious international law violations have taken place during armed hostilities, when civilians have died in unlawful attacks and others were displaced. Both the government and the LTTE have shown a brazen disregard for the well-being of non-combatants. In one of the most deadly incidents of recent years, government shelling in the eastern Vaharai area on November 8, 2006, hit school grounds that were housing thousands of displaced civilians, killing 62 and wounding 47. Government forces failed to distinguish between combatants and civilians and may have purposely targeted the school. Based on interviews with a dozen witnesses and other information, Human Rights Watch found no evidence to support government claims that the LTTE had fired that morning at government forces from the vicinity of the school or had used civilians as “human shields” to protect themselves from attack. The treatment of internally displaced persons remains a paramount concern. Some 315,000 people have had to flee their homes due to fighting since August 2006; 100,000 fled in March 2007 alone. This comes atop the 200,000-250,000 people made homeless by the December 2004 tsunami—many from the same areas as the recent fighting—and the approximately 315,000 displaced by the conflict prior to 3 The Sunday Times Online, vol. 41-no. 39, February 25, 2007, http://sundaytimes.lk/070225/News/102news.html (accessed July 2, 2007). 4 Official website of the President of Sri Lanka, http://www.presidentsl.org/data/about.htm (accessed May 21, 2007). 5 Human Rights Watch August 2007
2002. Since January 2006 more than 18,000 Sri Lankans have fled to India, often on rickety boats, as refugees. Both the LTTE and the government have failed adequately to provide for the needs of the displaced. The LTTE has at times blocked civilians from leaving areas of conflict, while the government through its indiscriminate shelling and restrictions on humanitarian aid has compelled civilians to flee. The government has forcibly returned displaced persons after it deemed their home areas “cleared” of the LTTE, often without adequate security or humanitarian assistance in place. Internally displaced Tamils collect their temporary identity cards from the Sri Lankan police at Aryampathy refugee camp in Batticaloa in May 2007. © 2007 Reuters/Buddhika Weerasinghe Return to War 6
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: extrajudicial killings to unlawful
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 and 36: In mid-May the government began a n
Page 37 and 38: On May 29, UNHCR commented on the g
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
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wife tried his cell phone several t
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then that his brother had paid, alt
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as the disseminators of “LTTE pro
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It is evident that many of the [dis
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The government’s lack of commitme
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A lodge-owner who had 29 out of 36
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arguing that evicting Tamils from C
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VII. Emergency Regulations In Augus
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Given the wide ranging powers provi
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Large-scale arrests of Tamil youth
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held, how many had been charged wit
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Various United Nations principles i
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In addition, the regulations establ
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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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