Pannalai resettled complain of SLA harassment

[TamilNet, Sunday, 18 April 2004, 09:55 GMT]
Eight Internally Displaced (IDP) families now resettled in no man zones located beyond 600 meter of the High Security Zones (HSZs) in Pannalai, Valigamam north in the Jaffna district Sunday complained that the soldiers of the Sri Lanka Army (SLA) manning checkpoints and camps in the area have started harassing them with an intention of ousting them from their dwellings, civil society sources in Jaffna said.

SLA soldiers have ordered the resettled IDP families not to accommodate guests during nights in their houses, sources said.

SLA says that these families have not obtained permission to resettle in the no man zones near the boundary of the high security zone.

However, the IDPs welfare organization spokesman said the SLA has no right to ask the resettled IDP families to vacate their land, which is outside the high security zone.

Furthermore, he pointed out that there is no purpose served in maintaining an area as no man zone when the LTTE has no camps or any other installation close to the HSZ.

Officials of the Jaffna regional office of the Human Rights of Sri Lanka have contacted the Jaffna command of the Sri Lanka Army in this regard, civil sources said.