Empowering Communities for Justice, Equality and Human Rights

TLAP Newsletter
Tamil Legal Advocacy Project Month: September 2009 Volume 1, Issue 1

Our Vision – Justice, Equality and Peace

Special Interest
Articles: Tamil Legal Advocacy
Project (TLAP) is an
independent, non-political,
• “Sri Lanka
non-profit making
Detention
Camps”. organisation based in the UK
to uphold justice and
• “War Crimes promote and protect human
and Need for rights for the Tamil people of
Sri Lanka and the Tamil
Inquiry”.
Diaspora.
• “Media
Suppression The legitimate aspirations of
and Threat to Tamils in Sri Lanka have
Journalists”. been suppressed and their
plight has not been heard by
the International community.
TLAP will explore legal and
other mechanisms at the
local and international levels
to promote and protect their
human rights and well being.
We believe that empowering
the community is an
important step towards
achieving sustainable peace.
Highlights:
Justice is dead in Sri Lanka - AHRC
IDP Camps 2 The Asian Human Rights
Commission is saddened,
HR Bodies 3
disappointed and shocked
Local Stories 4 The greatest loser in this
at the sentencing of J.S.
War Crimes 5 Tisssainayagam to 20
years of rigorous
Free Press 6 justice system and the
imprisonment for a simple
International 7 piece of writing. The
AHRC is not surprised by
Editorial 7 loss which would be hard
this judgment because at
About TLAP 8 the very inception of this
case the AHRC pointed
out that this is purely a
political case. It is the sort
of prosecution that could
have happened under the
regime of Joseph Stalin
Source: Asian Human Rights Commission (AHRC)
For Full Report: http://www.ahrchk.net/statements/mainfile.php/2009statements/2200/
Together, we can make a difference
Our experienced team will
also work with all local and
international organisations to
empower the community to
excel socially and
economically for their long
term peace.
TLAP envisions that all will
have access to justice and
human rights. We also
believe as a result of this
process, many communities
around the world will also
benefit.
through the prosecutor,
Andrei Vyshinsky.
case is not J.S.
Tisssainayagam but the
judiciary in Sri Lanka that
has suffered the greatest
for it to overcome. Even
this is not a huge surprise
for most people in Sri
Lanka. They know that
justice has been dead for
a long time in their
country.
Our Message
TLAP launches a Monthly
Newsletter project
starting from September
2009 with the objective of
creating awareness of
inequality, injustice, and
human rights violations
against the Tamil
Community in Sri Lanka
and other communities
around the world.
TLAP believes, the
violations in Sri Lanka
have become a major
challenge to the world
and the world
organisation and is
unacceptable in the 21st
century world.
We sincerely hope that
TLAP Newsletter will
provide up-to-date
summarized information
of the current situation
especially in Sri Lanka so
that you and your
organisation can take an
informed decision for a
fair and better world.
Thank You
TLAP
 TLAP Newsletter Page 2 of 8

Inside Stories from Sri Lankan “Detention Camps”

Abduction Scare in Vavuniya Camps
It has emerged that the
white van disappearances
have been taking place in
the IDP camps. An
eyewitness living in one of
the camps in Vuvaniya
has told BBC Sandeshaya
how the IDPs try to hide in
Source: BBC Sinhala
For Full Report: http://www.bbc.co.uk/sinhala/news/story/2009/08/090824_idp_vans.shtml
Source: Local sources
Tamil IDP Camps flooded with human excreta
“Sri Lanka Camps -
Torrential rains in
Tamil IDPs at Vavuniya on Friday burst
drowning point by temporary sewage pipes,
floods” destroyed make-shift
shelters and trapped
thousands of Internally
Displaced Persons (IDPs)
interned in Menik Farm in
their tents when the vans
arrive at the camp. The
internally displaced
person also spoke of how
he suspects the
authorities are allowing
people to leave in
exchange for payment.
Vavuniya causing many of
them to undergo severe
difficulties as rain water
filled with sewage matter,
maggots and human
excreta rose in tents
sheltering some 20,000
IDPs.Government officials
Relatives may visit but
have to remain five metres
away from the barbed wire
fence. The lavatories have
over flown from
floodwaters as the
monsoon season kicks in,
causing the situation to
worsen.
yesterday confirmed that
of some 20,000 IDPs
facing this horrendous
situation only around
1,000 had been relocated
to other locations within
Menik Farm.

Source: Sunday Leader

For Full Report: http://www.thesundayleader.lk/20090816/NEWS.HTM

Forcible Resettlements in Eastern Jungles

Source: Local sources
Around 300,000 Tamil
IDPs in Detention
It has come to light that the
Government has started to
forcefully abandon the
displaced people in the
North to remote areas of
the jungle that are far from
safe to reside in. Sri
Lanka’s Divisional secretary
(DS), its police force and its
military worked together in
Source: Groundviews.com
For Full Report: http://www.groundviews.org/2009/08/01/forcible-resettlements-in-east/
this forced resettlement to
the Pullumalai area. Elderly
people have been ruthlessly
pushed onto buses along
with youths and many
parents were forced to
leave their children behind
at school against their
wishes. Those that refused
to resettle have been
without humanitarian relief
ever since. Government
officials promised to
provide land and assist
with housing but these
people soon realised that
it was not the case after
they were dumped on the
roadside surrounded by
jungles and three weeks
later, they were still
waiting.

Camps –
Sri Lanka has ‘Rebellion or mass suicide only outcome if this continues’
imposed iron curtain that these ‘internally
An eyewitness report patients who require the
on refugee camps warns of the displaced persons are in most medical attention.
consequences of the actual fact, ‘Internally There is a growing
terrible conditions faced displaced Prisoners’. The concern that these
by the 300,000 detainees eyewitness continues to people are likely to
in the Vuvaniya camps. speak of the atrocious commit mass suicides if
The account confirms rape incidences that occur this ill treatment
worldwide speculations regularly along with the continues.
disappearances of
Source: Tamil Guardian
For Full Report: http://www.tamilguardian.com/article.asp?articleid=2460
Page 3 of 8 TLAP Newsletter

“Criticisms” from Human Rights Bodies

Sri Lanka Camps “illegal, dangerous, and inhumane.” – HRW

“The government has
detained people in these
camps and is threatening
their health and even their
lives by keeping them
there during the rainy
season floods,” said Brad
Adams, Asia director at
Human Rights Watch.
“This is illegal, dangerous,
and inhumane.”
Source: Human Rights Watch
For Full Report: http://www.hrw.org/en/news/2009/08/17/sri-lanka-floods-threaten-camp-detainees
“Sri Lankan refugee camps worst in history” – HR Activists
Internally displaced
persons (IDPs) in refugee
camps in the island nation
were torn asunder and
young women were forced
to stay with strange men in
make-shift tents. The
Tamils were not treated
like victims of war, but as
war criminals by the
authorities. shelling of
Tamil areas was
“Aanathi,” a 30-year-old
woman living in zone 2
with her 1-year-old son,
told Human Rights Watch:
“Within seconds, the water
was pouring into our tents.
… After a couple of
minutes, everything was
flooded. We lost all of our
things. We had no place to
cook. We couldn’t get help
intensified to make people
starve and to force them to
reach the refugee camps,
Nimalka Fernando, human
rights activist and a lawyer
alleged and added that the
Lankan military had been
sweeping the shelled
areas and dumping the
bodies into the sea
obliterating all evidences
of war crime.
from anybody, because
everybody was in the
same situation. It was
terrible. We were already
frightened, and this made
it worse.” In violation of
international law, the
government has since
March 2008 confined
virtually all civilians
Source: Local sources
displaced by the fighting in
detention camps,
“International
Community neglect
key human rights
issues where Sri
Shelling of Tamil areas Lanka’s displaced
was intensified to make
people are
people starve and to force
them to reach the refugee concerned.” - AI
camps, she alleged and
added the Lankan military
had been sweeping the
shelled areas and
dumping the bodies into
the sea obliterating all
evidences of war crime.

Source: Exclusive Interview to Express

For Full Report: http://www.expressbuzz.com/

Unlock the Camps in Sri Lanka: Safety and dignity for the
displaced now – Amnesty International
“Join the Amnesty
By the end of May 2009 an people are not permitted to internally displaced International
additional 300,000 leave – they are in fact people.
Campaign to Free
displaced people had fled detained without charge or
Join Amnesty’s Campaign: 300,000 People from
fighting and were detained trial. Amnesty International
in camps: these internally is calling for the release of Visit: the Detention Camps.”
displaced persons’ camps all displaced people http://takeaction.amnestyu
remain overcrowded and wishing to leave the sa.org/
unsanitary. Management camps and for the
of the camps is supervised immediate cessation of
by the military. Displaced arbitrary detention of .

Source: Amnesty International

For Full Report: http://www.amnesty.org/en/library/info/ASA37/016/2009/en

Source: Local sources Protection Authority. “The
“Camp children at risk
of sexual abuse,
trafficking – Child
Fund International.”
TLAP Newsletter Page 4 of 8
Local Stories from Sri Lankan News Sources
Children up for sale in Sri Lanka
“The big problem with hard on persons involved families in European
child labour and child in child trafficking. We are countries, and that these
trafficking is that it is aware of a rapid increase children were first taken to
hidden and invisible, in the number of illegal Singapore and Malaysia.
although the problem is adoptions, sale of “There was a case of 10
widespread,” says Jagath children, and recruitment boys who had been
Wellawatte, chairman of of child labour.” He said smuggled out of the
the National Child many children from the country but we were not
North, especially able to trace the
National Child Protection Mullaitivu and Kilinochchi, traffickers,” he said
Authority is cracking down have been sold illegally to
Source: Sunday Times
For Full Report: http://www.sundaytimes.lk/090823/News/nws_23.html

A tale of truth silenced in Sri Lanka

The family of a Sri Lankan
human rights activist, who
was shot dead last year, is
living in constant fear in
an NGO in Kerala’s
Thrissur district. Sugath
Nishanth Fenando’s
widow Surangi Sandamali,
daughter Kalpani Dilrukshi
(17) and son Saneesh
Anjana (13) are wary of an
action from the Sri Lankan
police. The family has
been living in India for the
past two months after the
Asian Human rights
organization directed them
to Thrissur-based
‘Nervazhi’.
Surangi told rediff.com the
Sri Lankan police hated
Sugath as he constantly
opposed the alleged
human rights violations by
the Sri Lankan police
throughout the Island
nation under the guise of
hunting the Liberation
Tigers of Tamil Eelam
and other Tamil militant
organizations.
Sugath was shot dead
by two unidentified
youths on a motorbike
on September 20, 2008

Source: NY Times Source: Rediff

For Full Report: http://news.rediff.com/report/2009/aug/21/a-tale-of-truth-silenced-in-sri-lanka.htm

“..It is time that the donor

nations and the agencies
formed a united front to
resist this unreasonable
and ungrateful attitude” -
Guardian
Sri Lanka’s “disappearances” still unsolved
In Sri Lanka,
“disappearance” means
one is killed after being
arrested. Police or military
personnel have taken
many young persons from
their homes and promised
their families that they
would be safely returned
after their statements
were recorded. However,
they were never returned.
In many instances, within
a short period their dead
bodies were found on the
streets.
Of course it is a crime,
both under Sri Lankan and
international law, to arrest
and then kill a person.
This is different from
killing in combat between
rebels and armed forces.
Even in that instance, if
someone surrenders or is
taken into custody after
being wounded, the
captors have an obligation
to protect the person’s life
and, if necessary, bring
him to justice. However, in
Sri Lanka the killing of
arrested persons has
taken place on a large
scale.

Source: UPI Asia

For Full Report:
http://www.upiasia.com/Human_Rights/2009/08/28/sri_lankas_disappearances_still_unsolved/5941/
 Page 5 of 8 TLAP Newsletter
Sri Lanka - War Crimes and calls for “Inquiry”
Execution video sparks Tamil outrage – Sri Lankan soldiers
allegedly shot naked, blindfolded victims
A naked, blindfolded man disturbing scenes.” It blindfolded individuals
crouches on the ground, shows alleged killings of whose hands were tied.
as a uniformed soldier unarmed Tamils by Sri The fact that they were
kicks him in the head then Lankan soldiers during naked males makes it
abruptly ends his life with their military assault on unlikely that they were
a point- blank rifle shot. Tiger-held areas last combat deaths.” And, he
Other bodies lie nearby, January. added, the journalists’
their blood staining the group that relayed the
In New York, Human
earth around them. video is “not a Tamil
Rights Watch’s legal and
group, but a multi-ethnic
The video, aired by policy director, James
group of exiled journalists. Source: JDS
Britain’s Channel 4 news, Ross, said the original
They are new, but well
comes with a warning to version of the video was
regarded.” “Sri Lanka: Execution
viewers of “extremely more graphic. “These were
Video Shows Need for
Source: The Star
For Full Report: http://www.thestar.com/article/687092 International Inquiry –
No Action on
Government Promises
SLA war crimes eerily similar to Srebrenica Scorpions’ terror - Prof of Investigations to
Summary executions Conventions are war same being done to United Nations” -
violate Common Article 3 crimes, said Professor Bosnians at Srebrenica by HRW
to the Four Geneva Francis Boyle, after Serbia’s ‘Scorpions,’ which
Conventions of 1949, to watching the video on the I viewed with one of the
which Sri Lanka is a cold-blooded extra-judicial few male survivors while in
contracting Party, killings carried out by the the killing fields of
prohibiting in subsection Sri Lanka Army (SLA) Srebrenica itself,” Boyle
I(d) “… the carrying out of soldiers, published by a added, continuing: ”Of
executions without German-based group course the Scorpion
previous judgment ‘Journalists for Democracy executions were just a
pronounced by a regularly in Sri Lanka (JDS)’ small element of the
constituted court….” Tuesday. Serbian genocide at
Violations of the Geneva Srebrenica.”
“We have a video of the

Source: Tamilnet Quoting Prof. Boyle

For Full Report: http://www.tamilnet.com/art.html?catid=13&artid=30081

UN rights expert calls for probe into video of alleged executions Source: AAAS

A United Nations human prior executions of others. images are horrendous

rights expert today called and, if authentic, would “Satellite Image
Philip Alston, the UN Analysis Points to
for the immediate indicate a serious violation
Special Rapporteur on
establishment of an of international law,” New Graves, Shelling,
extrajudicial, summary or
independent inquiry into Professor Alston said in a and Human
arbitrary executions, said
the authenticity of a video statement, noting that the Displacement in Sri
he was aware that the Sri
which purportedly depicts Government’s denial
Lankan Government had Lanka.”- AAAS
the extrajudicial execution “makes it all the more
categorically denied the
of two naked and helpless important for an
allegations raised by the
men by the Sri Lankan independent investigation
video, which has been
military and the presumed to be set up.
aired this week. “These

Source: UN News
For Full Report: http://www.un.org/apps/news/story.asp?NewsID=31881&Cr=sri+lanka&Cr1=
 TLAP Newsletter Page 6 of 8

Stories on Press and Speech Freedom in Sri Lanka

Source: Tamilnet
“Press Freedom Index
- Sri Lanka Ranked
165th out of the total
173 Countries ranked
by Reporters Without
Boarders.”
Sri Lanka: Attacks on free media put displaced civilians at risk
Attacks on journalists,
relentless intimidation,
and government-imposed
restrictions on reporting
threaten freedom of
expression in Sri Lanka
and jeopardize the safety
and dignity of civilians
displaced by war. The
government continues to
deny journalists and
media workers
unrestricted access to
hundreds and thousands
of displaced people living
in camps, hindering
Source: Amnesty International
For Full Report: http://www.amnestyusa.org/document.php?id=ENGNAU2009081411797&lang=e
reporting on their war
experiences and on
conditions in the camps
themselves.
“Human rights violations
of all types have the
potential to be ignored by
the authorities when
access to the camps and
their inhabitants is
restricted,” said Yolanda
Foster, Amnesty
International’s Sri Lanka
expert.”Of particular
concern is the potential for
abuse against the most
vulnerable people in the
camps, those needing the
most urgent protection
such as unaccompanied
minors, women, the
elderly and people with
disabilities. ”Exploitation of
vulnerable individuals by
government forces has
been a longstanding
problem in conflict areas
and among the displaced;
social stigma and Sri
Lanka’s pervasive culture
of impunity further
compound the problem.”

Tamil journalist gets “shameful” 20-year sentence on terrorism

charges articles.
Reporters Without
Borders is appalled by the
“shameful” 20-year jail
sentence which a
Colombo high court
passed today on journalist
J.S. Tissainayagam on
charges of supporting
terrorism and inciting
Source: BBC racial hatred in his
Source: Reporters Without Borders
“…at least 20 For Full Report: http://www.rsf.org/Tamil-journalist-gets-shameful-20.html
journalists critical of
Colombo disappeared
“We want to be treated with dignity, not live like second-class
in a practice that citizens” – Tamil Residents
became known as “It is a long way before
“white vanning..” – people will get their
National Post freedom and peace. We
want to be treated with
dignity, not live like
second-class citizens,”
said a retired lawyer who,
like many others who
spoke to The National, did
not want to be named.
From journalists, public
officials and businessmen
Source: The National
For Full Report:
http://www.thenational.ae/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20090817/FOREIGN/708169892/1103/rss
was false or distorted, the
“The imposition of this
extremely severe
sentence on
Tissainayagam suggests
that some Sri Lanka
judges confuse justice
with revenge,” Reporters
Without Borders said.
“With the help of
confessions extracted by
force and information that
to the ordinary man on the
street, residents of this
town, once the seat of
Tamil nationalism and the
cry for a separate
homeland, are reluctant to
speak to the media for
fear of upsetting the
authorities.
While the end of the war
in May this year brought
relief to many Sri
court has used an anti-
terrorism law that was
intended for terrorists, not
for journalists and human
rights activists.” The press
freedom organisation
added: “We strongly hope
that the appeal process
adheres to the facts of the
case and the spirit of the
law.”
Lankans, the life of the
Jaffna resident has not
changed much apart from
the end of food shortages.
Hundreds of troops are
spread across the
northern region, there are
some items still banned in
Jaffna, and going to
Colombo, about 400
kilometres to the south, is
a bureaucratic nightmare.
 Page 7 of 8
The case of Aung San Suu Kyi of Burma and J.S. Tissainayagam of Sri Lanka – Asian Human Rights
The recent case against
Aung San Suu Kyi by the
Burmese junta is
internationally well known.
The case and the verdict
were condemned all over
the world as one more
demonstration of a
completely fake trial
merely orchestrated to
silence Burma’s
opposition leader. She
has already been under
house arrest for two
decades. Aung San Suu
Kyi was charged with
violating the rules relating
to detention. The court
sentenced her to five
years of rigorous
imprisonment. Within
hours the Burmese junta,
which was aware of the
tremendous adverse
impact of their decision
Source: Asian Human Rights Commission (AHRC)
For Full Report: http://www.ahrchk.net/statements/mainfile.php/2009statements/2206/
EDITORIAL OPINION
World's respected Human
Rights organisations have
consistently raised their voices
to create awareness of the
violations of Human Rights of
Tamils by the Sri Lankan
regime. The world's renowned
media institutions slammed the
freedom of press, threats
against journalists and the
repression of media by the
Government of Sri Lanka
(GoSL). Genocide Prevention
Project, a US based NGO
placed Sri Lanka on Red Alert
together with Sudan and
Pakistan. Sri Lanka has been
classified as a "Failed State" for
the last few years for its failed
policies and absence of rule of
law. Many HR organisations
criticised Sri Lanka's judiciary
and its mechanisms for witness
protection. So far, all
international mechanisms have
failed to stop the unabated
culture of impunity against
Tamils.
TLAP Newsletter
throughout the world,
reduced the sentence to
18 months of detention in
her own home. The sole
exercise of the trial was to
give a semblance of
legality and legitimacy for
further imprisonment of
this lady in a way so that
she could not participate
in any events relating to
proposed elections in the
country.
J.S. Tissainayagam’s
case from Sri Lanka,
though not as well known
as Aung San Suu Kyi
case, is also quite well
known internationally. The
arrest, detention and the
trial against this man, a
well known journalist and
a human rights activist,
received the attention of
many governments. The
American president,
Even the condemnations by US
President Obama and
criticisms by UN Secretary
General Ban Ki-Moon could not
turn a single stone in the
ground. Sri Lanka has become
immune to verbal warnings.
Any condemnation with fiscal
support is good enough for
GoSL’s “status quo”.
The world has witnessed the
mass atrocities, crimes against
humanity and war crimes in Sri
Lanka in the name of "war on
terror" and it still continues. As
of now, around 300,000 Tamil
uprooted civilians are in the
"detention camps" under the
same climate of impunity and
without outside contacts. Sri
Lanka disregards International
law, negates UN obligation and
violates its basic mandatory
responsibilities. If this culture of
impunity is tolerated by the
International community and
UN, it would undermine the
basis of International Human
Barrack Obama himself
mentioned this case as an
example of the repression
of journalists throughout
the world. All leading
media organizations
worldwide condemned the
arrest, detention and trial
and repeatedly called on
the government for
Tissainayagam’s
unconditional release.
These regulations
themselves were made in
order to give enormous
powers of harassment
over dissidents and
anyone who holds any
form of opinion that is
opposed to that of the
regime in power. Both
courts proceeded on the “Both courts
basis of these bloated proceeded on the
charges and found the two basis of these bloated
persons guilty.
charges and found the
two persons guilty.” -
AHRC
Rights principles and shake the
UN’s foundations.
There are already signs that the
Sri Lankan culture of "impunity",
"media threat and censorship",
"failed judiciary and witness
protection" and "insensitivity to
international verbal pressures"
spreading across other countries
like Burma. TLAP believes that
the International community and
International Organisations have
to act in a concerted and “He who passively
concrete way to show that this accepts evil is as much
behaviour and culture is neither
tolerable nor acceptable in the involved in it as he who
21st Century world. There is an helps to perpetrate it. He
urgent need to turn the trend who accepts evil without
valuing the basic international
principles. protesting against it is
really cooperating with it.”
TLAP wants to work with
interested local and international - Martin Luther King, Jr.
communities and organisations to
promote and protect equality,
justice and human rights. We are
looking for your support to
achieve a greater and noble
vision for justice and peace.
 TLAP EVENT HIGHLIGHTS
September / October TLAP forth coming
2009 events will be updated
Seminar on Human Rights in the TLAP website.
and Democracy in Sri Your participation and
Lanka (More information support will be much
will be updated in our appreciated.
website)

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Tamil Legal Advocacy Kingdom to protect and justice and human rights as
Project (TLAP) is an promote justice, equality and per internationally agreed
independent, non-profit human rights for the Tamil principles. TLAP also
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