COI Report March 2012 - UK Border Agency - Home Office

SRI LANKA 7 MARCH 2012
also forcibly recruited many civilians to fight or serve as labourers and beat some
family members who protested the recruitment.‖
The SATP list of LTTE leaders killed during encounters with security forces in Sri Lanka,
2001-2009 provides comprehensive information on the LTTE leaders killed during the
last weeks of the war. The Sri Lankan government‘s, Media Centre for National Security
(MCNS)/Defence News has a series of maps that chart the gradual contraction of the
area controlled by the LTTE between November 2005 and the rebels‘ defeat in May
2009.
3.30 The UN Concluding observations of the Committee on Economic, Social and Cultural
Rights 40 , dated 9 December 2010, expressed ―… deep concern about allegations
according to which during the last months of the armed conflict in 2009, civilians were
deliberately deprived of food, medical care and humanitarian assistance which
constitute violations of article 11 of the Covenant as well as of the international
humanitarian prohibition of starvation and may amount to a war crime.‖
3.31 The Minority Rights Group International (MRGI) report, No war, no peace: the denial of
minority rights and justice in Sri Lanka 41 , released on 19 January 2011 observed that:
―With the end of the conflict between Sri Lankan government forces and the Liberation
Tigers for Tamil Eelam (LTTE or ‗Tamil Tigers‘) in 2009, normality has returned for
much of the population of Sri Lanka. But for members of the country‘s two main minority
groups – Tamils and Muslims – living in the north and east of the country, harsh
material conditions, economic marginalisation, and militarism remain prevalent.‖
See also Humanitarian issues and Internally Displaced Persons (IDPs) and The
conflict‘s legacy
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GOVERNMENT TREATMENT OF (SUSPECTED) MEMBERS OF THE LTTE (UP TO DECEMBER
2010)
3.32 The International Commission of Jurists (ICJ) Briefing Note, Beyond Lawful Constraints:
Sri Lanka‘s Mass Detention of LTTE Suspects 42 , of September 2010 reported:
―As the military conflict culminated at grave cost to civilian life and security in
May 2009, many current detainees were separated from their families by the
Sri Lanka Army (SLA) at reception points as they fled into government-controlled areas.
Others were arrested after arrival to the militarized internment camps for the internally
40
UN Concluding observations of the Committee on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights , dated 9
December 2010 http://www2.ohchr.org/english/bodies/cescr/docs/co/E.C.12.LKA.CO.2-4.doc date
accessed 25 May 2011, p8
41
Minority Rights Group International (MRGI), No war, no peace: the denial of minority rights and
justice in Sri Lanka, released on 19 January 2011 http://www.minorityrights.org/10458/reports/no-warno-peace-the-denial-of-minority-rights-and-justice-in-sri-lanka.html
date accessed 20 May 2011,
Executive Summary
42
International Commission of Jurists (ICJ) Briefing Note Beyond Lawful Constraints: Sri Lanka’s Mass
Detention of LTTE Suspects, September 2010
http://www.icj.org/dwn/database/BeyondLawfulConstraints-SLreport-Sept2010.pdf date accessed 31
May 2011, p8-9
28 The main text of this COI Report contains the most up to date publicly available information as at 3 February 2012.
Further brief information on recent events and reports has been provided in the Latest News section
to 2 March 2012.