Is it fair?  Filing a complaint about exams being managed unfairly could meant Thushara was abducted and interrogated?

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D.M. Thushara Jayratne – a law student in Sri Lanka – was abducted and interrogated after he made complaints against the Law College Registrar.

He was taken to an unknown location for nearly 12 hours and was questioned about the complaints he made against the Law College Registrar and his statements to international organizations.

After he was released, he filed a complaint about his abduction and threats with the Inspector General of police and the Human Rights Commission (HRC), but HRC refused to pursue the case. Scroll down to read more.

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WHAT HAPPENED TO THUSHARA?

In December 2010, Thushara filed a police report about a Commercial Law II test paper that was leaked and also complained that the Sri Lankan President’s eldest son (also a student at state-run Sri Lanka Law College and Member of the Parliament) was getting special treatment during final exams.

Afterwards, Thushara told the police that the Office Manager of the Law College called him and threatened him with death or abduction if he didn’t withdraw his complaint.

In March 2011, he was taken to an unknown place by two men and was held there for nearly 12 hours. During that time, he was questioned about the complained he made against the Law College Registrar and his statements to international organizations.

After he was released, he filed a complaint about his abduction and threats with the Inspector General of police and the Human Rights Commission (HRC), but HRC refused to pursue the case.

Sri Lanka – Finding the Killers © Amnesty International

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Further information here

One year after the end of the conflict in Sri Lanka, thousands of victims of human rights violations committed by both government forces and the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE) are being denied justice, truth and reparations.

The complete failure of the Sri Lankan government to genuinely address this impunity means that the United Nations must step in and conduct an independent international investigation as a first step towards international justice.

In particular, the truth must be established about the extent of violations that occurred in the final stages of the war, when the government prohibited independent monitoring and reporting by the United Nations and other observers.

Disturbingly, the United Nations has so far failed to take any effective action to establish the truth and demand accountability for violations committed in Sri Lanka.

For lasting peace in Sri Lanka, there must be accountability. Allegations of war crimes and other crimes under international law must be fully investigated and those found to be responsible must be prosecuted before competent, impartial and independent criminal courts.

Survivors and the families of those killed must be provided with full and effective reparations to address their suffering and to help them rebuild their lives.

Impunity will continue in Sri Lanka unless the United Nations establishes an independent international investigation.

Please sign this petition below to the United Nations Secretary-General and circulate it to your friends, families and networks:

I call on the United Nations to establish an independent, international investigation without further delay to investigate human rights abuses in Sri Lanka.

The scale and nature of atrocities escalated in the last stages of the military assault between January and May 2009. Witnesses say, many thousands of civilians died, caught between the warring parties.

The Sri Lankan government’s armed forces and the LTTE completely disregarded protecting civilians through their appalling military actions. This is a blatant violation of international humanitarian law that prohibits indiscriminate or targeted attacks on civilians and hostage taking.

UN silence unacceptable

But where is the outrage? Why is the UN Security Council (UNSC) silent?

Countries like Russia and China have argued that there was no threat to international peace and security since the conflict was contained within Sri Lanka’s borders. But such gross violations of international humanitarian law impact us all if countries are allowed to get away with it. Today, it is Sri Lanka. Tomorrow, it could be another country and then another.

UN General Secretary, Ban Ki-Moon, tried to discuss the situation with the Sri Lankan President directly. But his actions to ensure accountability in Sri Lanka as elsewhere remain weak and fall short of pushing for an international inquiry that is so clearly needed.

The survivors of the conflict have no closure.

In Sri Lanka, they have been offered no recourse to justice, truth and reparations.

It is only international pressure in the form of a UN mandated independent investigation that will ensure that states like Sri Lanka are not allowed to hide from the crimes they commit inside their borders.

Check out this campaign video and support the campaign by signing the petition.

The camps are overcrowded, holding about 280,000 people (including 80,000 children) and the conditions are dire. When U.N. Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon visited the camps on May 23, he described them as “by far the most appalling scenes I have seen.” The camps are under military, not civilian, management. Journalists, human rights observers and aid agencies have not been given full access to the camps. Presidential advisor Basil Rajapaksa said on May 22 that the bulk of the displaced civilians would be re-settled in their home villages in 180 days and almost all the rest by the end of 2009. However, only continuous international pressure can ensure that the Sri Lankan government will follow through on this promise.

The displaced civilians are citizens of Sri Lanka and are entitled to freedom of movement; they have committed no crime and should be allowed to leave the camps if they wish. Without independent monitors in the camps, the displaced civilians are at risk of human rights abuses from the security forces, including torture, executions, enforced disappearances and sexual violence. The media, human rights observers and aid agencies should be given full, unhindered access to the camps to prevent these abuses and the camps should be turned over to civilian management.

Sinhala:

Tamil:

English:

Crisis in Sri Lanka on Google Earth

During the conflict in Sri Lanka, government restrictions and propaganda from both sides led to a lack of access and information, exacerbated by conflicting reports over civilian casualty figures. Using geospatial technologies—like satellite images and Google Earth—allowed us to offer our activists a glimpse of the war zone. Specifically, below is a satellite image of Menik Farm. Run by the military, the image offers a rare glimpse of the massive displacement caused by the conflict. The sheer size of Menik Farm, as captured from space, is a testament to the scale and scope of the crisis.

http://blog.amnestyusa.org/tag/menik-farm

Meanwhile, U.N. aid chief John Holmes says the United Nations is preparing for some half a million people to flee Pakistan’s northwest region of Waziristan if the government mounts a big operation against Taliban militants there. In an interview with AlertNet, he also warned that a slow response from international donors to the U.N.’s appeal is putting the humanitarian response at risk, with some aid agencies saying they can only continue their operations for a few more weeks without further funding. And Brussels-based think tank International Crisis Group warns that unless relief, rehabilitation and reconstruction efforts in Pakistan+IBk-s Northwest Frontier Province are urgently improved, the army+IBk-s offensive risks leaving the extremists the ultimate winners.

SRI LANKA CONFLICT:
Sri Lanka has sent more than 2,000 people back to their home villages in the island nation’s northwest, two years after they were displaced by the war with the Tamil Tiger separatists. The resettlement is only the second to happen since Sri Lanka’s military finished off the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam and declared total victory in a 25-year war on May 18. Sri Lanka now has nearly 300,000 people living in refugee camps, and has pledged to resettle the bulk of them in six months. The United Nations stands ready to support an inquiry into abuses in Sri Lanka’s civil war, U.N. High Commissioner for Human Rights Navi Pillay said while addressing the U.N. Human Rights Council. And Human Rights Watch has asked the Colombo government to ensure the defeat of the Tamil Tigers does not result in new “disappearances”, unlawful killings or the jailing of government critics.

PHILIPPINES-MINDANAO CONFLICT:
The Philippines is discouraging aid agencies from distributing large amounts of food to internally displaced families on the restive southern island of Mindanao to prevent rice supplies being handed to rebels. Separately, Muslim rebels have freed a Sri Lankan aid worker held captive for nearly four months in the southern Philippines, but they continue to hold an Italian Red Cross engineer, a senior navy commander says.

AFGHAN TURMOIL:
Afghan President Hamid Karzai has ordered his government to begin work on plans to control operations by foreign troops in a bid to stop rising numbers of civilian casualties, his office says. The rising civilian death toll as Afghan and foreign troops battle a growing Taliban insurgency has become a politically explosive issue, eroding support for Karzai’s government, its foreign backers and coalition troops.

Take Action Now! Sending letters to show solidarity with civilians who are trapped in the conflict zone!

Who is involved in this conflict?
The conflict between the Sri Lankan government and an armed opposition group called the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE). The conflict has escalated since early 2009 and has been marked by grave violations of human rights law and international humanitarian law.

What sorts of war crimes have been committed in Sri Lanka?
It is a basic rule of international humanitarian law that combatants must at all times distinguish between civilians and those taking part in the fighting, and between civilian objects and military objectives. Civilians must never be the object of attack. Indiscriminate attacks, namely attacks which could be expected to cause loss of civilian lives or damage to civilian objects that is excessive to legitimate military advantage sought, are also prohibited at all times. International humanitarian law applies equally to states’ armed forces and to armed groups such as the LTTE.

Waiting for food in the Sri Lanka 'No Fire Zone' Vanni, April 2009 © Private

Take Action Now! Sending letters to show solidarity with civilians who are trapped in the conflict zone!

Why are there so many civilians trapped in the combat zone?
In recent months government forces have pushed the LTTE out of all the major urban areas that they had held for almost a decade and into a small pocket of land in northern Sri Lanka. More than 50,000 civilians who fled the advancing government troops are trapped in this small area with the LTTE. Aerial and artillery bombardment of the combat zone by the Sri Lankan armed forces since mid-April has killed thousands of civilians and wounded many others.

Why have more civilians not fled from the combat zone?
In many cases the LTTE have prevented civilians from fleeing from the combat zone and some of those who fled were shot at by the LTTE. In recent days thousands of civilians have fled from the combat zone. Some civilians who are trapped in the combat zone are afraid to flee as they fear the consequences they may face from the Sri Lankan armed forces. Amnesty International has reported that civilians fleeing the conflict zone are being held by the Sri Lankan government in de facto detention centers. There is no standard registration process for displaced families entering the ‘reception centers’ and there is limited monitoring by international agencies. Families report cases of young men going missing after being arrested during the initial screening process.

Take Action Now! Sending letters to show solidarity with civilians who are trapped in the conflict zone!