International bias contributes to 'vicious cycle of violence', says Jaffna MP

[TamilNet, Saturday, 23 February 2008, 02:37 GMT]
“The International Community and India, which provide tacit support to Sri Lanka's belligerency, fail to stop or condemn attacks on civilians by Sri Lanka armed forces. But, whenever an attack takes place in the South it gets the prominence of news and International response is prompt. Then, as an occasional passing reference, the antecedents are cited. There is a definite pattern in the international behaviour related to events in Sri Lanka. By such one sided approach, do they encourage retaliations to take place in the South?” asks Jaffna district parliamentarian K. Sivanesan.

After a little break the Sri Lanka Air Force (SLAF) has again started attacking civilians. In the latest air strike that deployed 20 bombs, 8 died and 14 injured. All the casualties were civilians, which included a number of children.

Apart from air strikes, every day, a good number of Tamil civilians are either put to death, arrested, kidnapped or disappear in different parts of Sri Lanka.

"The international supporters of Sri Lanka government may perform lip service to uphold human rights in the island, but it has no impact on the surging human rights violations and harassments faced by Tamil civilians," the TNA parliamentarian further said.

The Jaffna district MP Mr. Sivanesan on Thursday raised a privilege issue in Sri Lanka parliament citing his personal encounter with rights violations. The MP was intimidated by the "menacing deployment of dogs" by the security personnel who checked his vehicle at Madawachchi while he was coming to Colombo on Monday.

Chronology: