Civil groups demand action against sex assaults

[TamilNet, Monday, 21 February 2005, 15:16 GMT]
Citizens Committee, Justice and Peace Commission, Peoples Forum and Traders Association of Mannar district Monday appealed to Sri Lanka's President Ms Chandrika Kumaratunge to take stern action against errand policemen who are involved in sexual assaults on students and women in Mannar, sources said.

"We request you to consider gradually removing the security forces camps from residential areas where Tamils live, as a goodwill gesture at a time when there is peace and when the warring parties are observing the Ceasefire Agreement," the memorandum said.

Four civil groups made this plea in a memorandum to the President with copies to the Ambassadors of Norway, Japan, India, and America, Leader of the Opposition, Inspector General of Police, Deputy Inspector General of Police (DIG), Vavuniya, Bishops of Mannar and Jaffna, Vanni district parliamentarians and UN Secretary General, sources said.

Citing the recent sexual assault on an eighteen-year-old boy in Thalvupadu by a policeman, the memorandum states that people in Mannar district live in fear of such assault by members of security forces.

Students are reluctant to go to school because they are scared for their safety. Violence on civilians in Mannar has become a routine matter during the ceasefire period, the memorandum further said.