London - Press release of the London- Based Minority Rights Group (MRG) on Friday, heavily criticized Sri Lanka for the deteriorating human rights situations in the country against minorities, especially Tamils and Muslims.

At least 662 people have been killed and 540 people have been disappeared between January to August 2007 proves, the Sri Lankan human rights situations had reached a “crisis point”

The press release also said, at least 3,500 civilians were killed and close to 290,000 were displaced in 2006 and 2007. A vast majority of those killed, disappeared or displaced were Tamils and some were Muslims.

MRG said the government had been responsible for forcibly returning people to their places of origin when the security situation was not conducive for their return.

It had also barred Tamil families from having access to their homes by turning vast areas into special High Security Zones, which Mark Lattimer, director of MRG, described as 'land grabbing'.

"It is clear that on every front it is minorities who are facing the brunt of Sri Lanka's worsening human rights situation. The figures available only represent the reported cases and still the numbers are shocking. The gravity of the situation in Sri Lanka cannot be underestimated. It demands urgent international attention," Lattimer said.

MRG also joined with other respectable international rights groups, the London-Based Amnesty International (AI), New York-Based Human Rights Watch (HRW) and Hong Kong-Based the Asian Human Rights Commission (AHRC) cited the escalation of large scale of human rights violations against civilians such as enforced abductions, disappearances, killings of civilians, severely damaged criminal investigation capacity of the Sri Lankan policing system and called on the UN human rights council to press Sri Lanka for the International monitoring mission in Sri Lanka.

At the sixth session of the UN Human Rights Council in Geneva on Dec 11, High Commissioner for Human Rights Louise Arbour had called for the setting up of an office of a UN human rights monitoring office in Sri Lanka with a “full mandate incorporating technical assistance and public reporting.”

US, EU, France, South Korea, Sweden, Canada and New Zealand all shared the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights, Louise Arbour’s view and supported the called on Sri Lanka to allow the UN filed office to monitor the human rights situations in the country. Meanwhile, the permanent Sri Lankan diplomat, Dayan Jeyatilleke rejected the Arbour’s call.

"We don't want to be preached by countries whose human rights records are far from perfect. We will take suggestions for a UN Human Rights office more seriously when international bodies become far more representative of the world at large, have transparency of funding, and agendas are not donor driven. Western governments need to put their houses in order before they criticize us," he said.

The Sri Lankan Foreign Office in Colombo summoned the envoys of the US, EU, France, South Korea and Sweden to express 'deep concern' over the statements their delegations had made at the Human Rights Council session in Geneva.

Foreign Secretary Palitha Kohona told them that the views expressed by the delegations did not reflect the 'real situation on the ground'.

"The current mood in the country would not accommodate such an outside entity which would be highly disruptive," he said.

Sri Lankan government also expressed its "deep displeasure" to Britain's high commissioner to Sri Lanka, Dominic Chilcott, over comments interpreted as being sympathetic to the rebels' demand for an independent Tamil homeland.

Sri Lanka is pressing for a military victory over the Tamil Tigers and since 1972 the conflict has left at least 80,000 people dead. Sri Lanka has been pronounced by media rights activists and rights groups as the most dangerous place in the world for journalists and aid workers to work.

Link: http://www.tamileelamnews.com/news/publish/tns_9124.shtml

15 December 2007