Return to War - Human Rights Watch
Return to War - Human Rights Watch Return to War - Human Rights Watch
Thinamurasu. They have seen EPDP cadres demanding that people on the streets and in buses purchase the paper. 195 Pressure on NGOs Relations between local and international NGOs and the Sri Lankan government began to deteriorate after the 2004 tsunami, when dozens of new NGOs entered the country. Many made valuable contributions to reconstruction and rehabilitation, but in the unregulated wave of new organizations, some were ineffectual or engaged in corruption or religious proselytizing. The Sinhalese nationalist JVP political party and its allies in particular grew critical of the presence of a large number of international NGOs. Because Tamils and Muslims were among the hardest groups hit by the tsunami, and thus got much (but by no means all) of the foreign assistance, the JVP and its allies viewed these NGOs with suspicion. Those groups that provided services in LTTE-controlled areas were subjected to greater criticism, and were often accused of supporting the LTTE. As major hostilities between the government and the LTTE resumed in 2006, the government significantly stepped up its verbal attacks on NGOs, increasingly accusing them of undermining the government’s war efforts, if not outright supporting the LTTE. The government has purposely fostered an atmosphere of distrust and dislike that, according to some humanitarian groups, has placed their staff members at risk. Some members of the government have issued direct threats against civil society groups. In February 2007, for example, Minister for Environment and Natural Resources Champika Ranawaka of the Jathika Hela Urumaya (JHU, the Buddhist monk party in the government coalition), advocated extrajudicial methods to deal with human rights groups, journalists, and others who criticize the state’s military strategy. “Those bastards are traitors. We can’t do anything because of wild donkey freedom in this country,” he told the Ravaya newspaper on February 18. “If those can’t be handled with existing laws we know how to do it. If we can’t suppress those 195 Human Rights Watch interviews, Batticaloa, March 2007. 91 Human Rights Watch August 2007
astards with the law we need to use any other ways and means, yes.” To Human Rights Watch’s knowledge, no one in the government has condemned Ranawaka’s words. On March 8, 2007, the government’s peace secretariat vehemently dismissed the growing allegations of government human rights violations as propaganda of the LTTE, suggesting that those who reported such violations were assisting the insurgent group: Any group or organization, falling prey to this malicious propaganda of the LTTE, without prior inquiry, investigation or reliable verification, could as well be accused of complicity in propagating and disseminating the message and motives of the LTTE. 196 When Amnesty International launched a campaign during the 2007 Cricket World Cup to raise awareness about human rights violations in Sri Lanka, the Sri Lankan government suggested that the international human rights organization was linked to the LTTE. A report by Sri Lanka’s peace secretariat condemning the campaign was titled “Amnesty International’s Campaign and LTTE’s Expectations Fail.” 197 At times the government has purposefully spread the message that international humanitarian organizations are assisting the LTTE. Following military operations in Vaharai in January 2007, for example, the military found shelter material from UNHCR left behind by displaced persons, as well as empty food bags from the World Food Programme (WFP). The defense ministry broadcast images of these WFP bags filled with sand in LTTE bunkers on the state-run Rupavahini television channel, insinuating that the relief organization was helping the LTTE. Shortly thereafter, a mob attacked a government warehouse in Trincomalee stocked with WFP supplies. 198 196 SCOPP, “Baseless Allegations of Abductions and Disappearances.” 197 “Amnesty International’s Campaign and LTTE’s Expectations Fail,” SCOPP statement, April 26, 2007, http://www.peaceinsrilanka.org/peace2005/Insidepage/SCOPPDaily_Report/SCOPP_report_WC.asp (accessed July 3, 2007). 198 Human Rights Watch interview with international aid worker, Colombo, February 21, 2007. Return to War 92
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astards with the law we need <strong>to</strong> use any other ways and means, yes.” To <strong>Human</strong><br />
<strong>Rights</strong> <strong>Watch</strong>’s knowledge, no one in the government has condemned Ranawaka’s<br />
words.<br />
On March 8, 2007, the government’s peace secretariat vehemently dismissed the<br />
growing allegations of government human rights violations as propaganda of the<br />
LTTE, suggesting that those who reported such violations were assisting the<br />
insurgent group:<br />
Any group or organization, falling prey <strong>to</strong> this malicious propaganda of<br />
the LTTE, without prior inquiry, investigation or reliable verification,<br />
could as well be accused of complicity in propagating and<br />
disseminating the message and motives of the LTTE. 196<br />
When Amnesty International launched a campaign during the 2007 Cricket World<br />
Cup <strong>to</strong> raise awareness about human rights violations in Sri Lanka, the Sri Lankan<br />
government suggested that the international human rights organization was linked<br />
<strong>to</strong> the LTTE. A report by Sri Lanka’s peace secretariat condemning the campaign was<br />
titled “Amnesty International’s Campaign and LTTE’s Expectations Fail.” 197<br />
At times the government has purposefully spread the message that international<br />
humanitarian organizations are assisting the LTTE. Following military operations in<br />
Vaharai in January 2007, for example, the military found shelter material from UNHCR<br />
left behind by displaced persons, as well as empty food bags from the World Food<br />
Programme (WFP). The defense ministry broadcast images of these WFP bags filled<br />
with sand in LTTE bunkers on the state-run Rupavahini television channel,<br />
insinuating that the relief organization was helping the LTTE. Shortly thereafter, a<br />
mob attacked a government warehouse in Trincomalee s<strong>to</strong>cked with WFP supplies. 198<br />
196 SCOPP, “Baseless Allegations of Abductions and Disappearances.”<br />
197 “Amnesty International’s Campaign and LTTE’s Expectations Fail,” SCOPP statement, April 26, 2007,<br />
http://www.peaceinsrilanka.org/peace2005/Insidepage/SCOPPDaily_Report/SCOPP_report_WC.asp (accessed July 3, 2007).<br />
198 <strong>Human</strong> <strong>Rights</strong> <strong>Watch</strong> interview with international aid worker, Colombo, February 21, 2007.<br />
<strong>Return</strong> <strong>to</strong> <strong>War</strong> 92
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