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In January 2007 the military claimed to have found equipment donated by the
international humanitarian organization ZOA Refugee Care at an LTTE-run hospital it
had overrun in Ampara district. The government quickly accused ZOA, a Dutch NGO
that has operated in Ampara since 1997, of supporting the LTTE. “Certain NGOs are
acting against the normal law of the land and have got involved with subversives,”
government defense spokesman Keheliya Rambukwella said. “Some have stooped
down to assisting the terrorists.” 199 ZOA adamantly denied the charges, stating that it
had supported the community by providing, among other aid, reconstruction
material, development loans, and psychosocial support. “Though we received some
requests to support the hospital we declined as the same was run directly by LTTE
and had an LTTE doctor,” ZOA said in a statement. “To the best of our knowledge we
have not provided support of any kind to LTTE in any form. All our assistance was
provided directly to beneficiaries. No assistance was provided to [the LTTE-linked]
TRO [Tamil Rehabilitation Organization] or any other local agency in the area.”
According to ZOA, the organization had stopped all activities as of August 4, 2006,
when the Special Task Force said Ministry of Defence permission was required to
access the LTTE-controlled area. “After this we entered the area on one occasion with
STF permission to remove essential office items and documents,” ZOA said.
“However we were unable to enter the area again to remove other items due to
prevailing situation in the area.” 200
Government security forces have been implicated in violence against NGO workers.
According to the United Nations, 24 aid workers died in Sri Lanka in 2006. 201 The
most serious incident was the execution-style killing of 17 local staff of the Parisbased
NGO Action Contre la Faim in August 2006. The case is currently under
investigation by the Attorney General and the Commission of Inquiry (see Chapter X,
“Impunity for Rights Violations”).
On May 15, 2006, soldiers in Vavuniya shot dead an employee of the Norwegian
Refugee Council, Jeyaruban Gnanapragasam. According to an international
199 Simon Gardner, “Sri Lanka Probes Aid Groups for Suspected Rebel Links,” Reuters, January 11, 2007.
200 ZOA statement, January 10, 2007.
201 Security Council Briefing by Under-Secretary-General for Humanitarian Affairs John Holmes, June 22, 2007.
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Human Rights Watch August 2007