The Sri Lankan Government continuing its 60 year history of brutality, discrimination and disenfranchisement towards the its own Tamil citizens has now in violation of all international standards and laws, imprisoned more than 10% of the Tamil population in barbed wired concentration camps. (I had written about this last week..)
UN officials concealed carnage to keep Sri Lanka goodwill http://www.dailykos.com/...
Now Sarath Silva the Sri Lankan Chief Justice, a Sinhalese has blasted the Sri Lankan Government for Human Rights Violations.
Sri Lanka’s Chief Justice has lambasted the Government publicly for holding more than 280,000 Tamil civilians against their will in military-run camps, questioning the legality of their detention. Sarath Nanda Silva, who retires at the end of the month, chose the opening of a new court complex for his attack on the policy of interning Tamil civilians."They live outside the protection of the law of the country," the country’s top jurist, an ethnic Sinhalese, said of the camp dwellers. "I am saying this in public, and ready to face any consequences. We are doing a great wrong to these people." Mr Silva’s remarks reflected the intimidation directed at those who criticize the Government, including at least 14 local journalists who have been murdered in mysterious circumstances since the beginning of the final offensive against the Tamil Tigers.
http://www.timesonline.co.uk/...
The top judge, who is about to retire, said in a speech on Wednesday that there were no words to describe the displaced people's suffering and grief, as he put it, and their pathetic situation."I was unable to console them," he said. He said there were queues of 50 to 100 yards (metres) for the toilet, and people living 10 to a tent.The judge said that people were beyond the protection of the law.
And what is the Sri Lankan Government's response? (to those of us, who are familiar with the 60 year history of dealing with this brutal regime, the response is no surprise)
But Mr Samarasinghe said this was not the case and that anyone, even those in the camps, had access to free legal counsel.He said he agreed with some of the chief justice's criticisms of toilets and tents - facilities which, he said, were the responsibility of the UN children's fund (Unicef) and its refugee agency (UNHCR).
But a Unicef spokesman, James Elder, rebuffed the minister's allegation.
He said that ultimate responsibility for the camps rested with the government, and that the UN's support had been greatly hindered by the government's restrictions on access to the camps.
Mr Elder said that if the government would let more of the camp occupants leave to stay with host families, many congestion problems would be instantly solved. .
http://news.bbc.co.uk/...
Sri Lankan Government will not allow the UN or any of the relief agencies to go in to care for these "displaced people" but but blame the very same agencies for the suffering.
The excuse for not allowing the Aid agencies?????
Geneva - A Sri Lankan official said Tuesday that aid workers
were being restricted access to displaced persons camps at the Asian island as they refused to use bicycles as their means of transport.
Rajiva Wijesinha, from the Ministry of Disaster Relief and Human Rights, said organisations like the International Committee of the Red Cross and United Nations agencies have insisted on using their 'luxury vehicles', which generated dust inside the camps.
http://www.monstersandcritics.com/...
And now this...
Congressman Heath Shuler plays useful idiot after an all expenses paid trip to Sri Lanka!
Mainly I'm saying that because I sent Shuler's chief of staff, Hayden Rogers, a list of questions about the trip May 27 and still have gotten no response. Now, human rights groups are saying Shuler simply "got used" by a Sri Lankan government hoping to prove that they're not abusing refugees in the aftermath of victory over the Tamil Tigers rebel group.
I've got to say Shuler's trip is a little mystifying. He's not on the House Foreign Relations Committee, and I can't imagine mountain residents were exerting intense pressure for him to get to the bottom of that whole mess.
The Sri Lankan government paid for the trip, so at least he wasn't foolish enough to have our government pick up the tab. But it still makes me wonder what he hoped to accomplish.
http://citizen-times.com/...
Heath Shuler (D-Dupe) Goes on Junket, Flaks for Sri Lanka
by jhutson
Sat Jun 06, 2009 at 06:55:38 AM PDT
Rep. Heath Shuler (D-NC) has been played for a fool. He accepted Sri Lanka's offer of an expenses-paid, whirlwind p.r. tour and then came out flaking for a government that has reportedly shelled hospitals, detained doctors for reporting on the shelling of hospitals, confined civilians in deplorable conditions, denied reporters access, and blocked humanitarian aid.
The second term Congressman's reports, which follow in the wake of his Sri Lanka Embassy funded two-day jaunt to Sri Lanka last week, commend the Sri Lankan government on the conditions in the internment camps. However, the Congressman's statements fly in the face of reports from Human Rights Watch, Amnesty International, and Physicians for Human Rights, which have all criticized the government for intentionally shelling its civilian population and denying foreign media and non-governmental aid organizations access to the camps, where conditions are reportedly deplorable and inhuman.
After his government-led quickie p.r. tour, in which he met President Mahinda Rajapaksa, Shuler proclaimed in Huffington Post, "I have had full access to this country and its people, in the camps, on the streets. It is this openness and transparency for the international community to see the progress being made in the refugee camps.
"
http://watchingthewatchers.org/...