• Verena Graf, Secrétaire générale,  International League for the Rights & Liberation of Peoples writes to  Ms. Louise ARBOUR, High Commissioner of Human Rights, Geneva, 19 May 2006 [also in Word]

"...we are under no illusion that the international institutions have largely remained a forum for governments for whom political considerations typically count more than those of justice and morality. We, therefore, appeal to you to lend your voice to the suffering people in the North and East of Sri Lanka, Tamils and Muslims alike, who have no voice. The then government of Sri Lanka could prevent Mr. Kofi Annan from visiting the tsunami affected areas in the Northeast of the country back in January 2005; there is no govenment today that can hinder you, High Commissioner, to express your concern about the killings, the involuntary disappearances, the bombardment of civilians.  .."

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19 May 2006

Re: The worsening situation in Sri Lanka

Dear High Commissioner,

As an NGO accredited to the UN Human Rights Commission for many years, we follow with great concern the developments in Sri Lanka. The cease-fire of February 2002 is valid only in name, while the situation on the ground is worsening day by day. Not surprisingly, it is the civilians who suffer the most of the renewed warfare. Thus, according to the Nordic truce monitors 191 people were killed in April alone, the vast majority of them civilians. It was the bloodiest month since the cease-fire was signed over four years ago. On May 12th, the International Herald Tribune wrote about the situation in Trincomalee under the headline ’Savagery replaces Sri Lanka’s eroded cease-fire’ about the spectre of a repeat of the anti-Tamil pogrom of 1983 that started the civil war which cost more than 65.000 lives, lead to 800.000 internally displaced persons most of them still languishing in camps and more than half a million of expatriates. The government of Sri Lanka talks of peace but going by the increase of the military budget this year of 23 per cent prepares for war.

Against this background we are particularly concerned about the role of the international community, including the UN, because we belive that it has not utilized its influence in order to reign in the violence and back the process for a negotiated just peace.

(1) All the indicators of 1983 are there: the mob violence, the massive exodus of civilians, the ethnic division, the indifference, if not the involvement of the security forces. Therefore, the hopes for peace and a negotiated settlement along the Oslo guidelines on internal self-determination have largely disappeared. The Sinhalese majority and the governments dominated by it have not been able to arrive at a common position vital for the necessary concessions. Unfortunately, the international community has not thrown its weight into the balance in the inherently systemic asymmetry between the LTTE as non-state actor and the government. On the contrary, ever ready to blame the LTTE, little has been done to put pressure on the government. The consecutive listing of the LTTE as a terrorist organization by a number of important UN members has certainly not advanced the cause of peace. Ignoring their grievances it has criminalized the insurgents, while it has strenghtened the hardliners in Colombo.

(2) Since the elections at the end of 2005 the cease-fire has become ever more fragile. The assassination of the Tamil MP Pararajasingam in church at Christmas mass, the recent killings of the eight young Tamils guarding a temple, the silent war being waged by the paramilitaries against the Tamils, not least by the brake-away Karuna faction, supported as it were by the army, the refusal to disarm them, the recent air-strikes, all are measures that violate the CFA. While there may be arguments to attribute blame to both parties, it is the government and the security forces of the country who are primarily responsible to guarantee the physical safety of its citizens, to met out justice, to regain legitimacy by presenting itself as guardian of the welfare of all the peoples on the island.

(3) Dear High Commissioner, it is the UN that has recognized the importance of civil society and given it a voice in international fora. While we certainly appreciate this development, we are under no illusion that the international institutions have largely remained a forum for governments for whom political considerations typically count more than those of justice and morality. We, therefore, appeal to you to lend your voice to the suffering people in the North and East of Sri Lanka, Tamils and Muslims alike, who have no voice. The then government of Sri Lanka could prevent Mr. Kofi Annan from visiting the tsunami affected areas in the Northeast of the country back in January 2005; there is no govenment today that can hinder you, High Commissioner, to express your concern about the killings, the unvoluntary disappearances, the bombardment of civilians.

The outbreak of full-scale war can still be prevented. But it requires action – Now! Please make the long suffering Tamil people your public concern. You will lend moral support to them while hopefully encourage the government to pursue the path of peace even at this late hour.

Thanking you for your consideration and your efforts, I remain,

yours sincerely,

Verena Graf
Secretary General


cc: - Mr. Philip Alston, Special Raporteur on Extra-judicial, summary or arbitrary executions
- Ms. Aida Nejad, Office of High Commissioner for Human Rights