GoSL waging war against Tamils - Sampanthan

[TamilNet, Saturday, 07 October 2006, 11:04 GMT]
The government of Sri Lanka is not fighting a war against the Liberation Tigers, but in reality is waging a war against the entire Tamil community in Sri Lanka, said R.Sampanthan, Tamil National Alliance (TNA) parliamentarian speaking in the parliament on Thursday during the debate on extending the emergency. Tamil people are under going severe hardship. If either the Interim Self Governing Authority (ISGA) or the Joint Mechanism (JM) had been in place, the current difficult situations would not have arisen, he said.

Mr Sampanthan is also the parliamentary group leader of TNA.

Mr Sampanthan said the International community is concerned of the human right violations and extra judicial killings on the Tamil people by the Government of Sri Lanka. Jayantha Dhanapala's poor performance in the straw polls and the eventual withdrawal of his candidature for the post of U N Secretary General can be attributed to the alarming human rights record of Colombo, Sampanthan said.

JVP staged a demonstrations on Wednesday outside the Norwegian Embassy demanding that Norway should be expelled from Sri Lanka and devolution of power to Tamils was not necessaary. How can genuine peace talks be held when a key ally of Sri Lanka's President is demanding a military solution, asked Mr Sampanthan.

Since Mr. Rajapakse came to power, more than 15,000 people have fled to India as refugees. In Kathiraveli and Vaharai over 40,000 people have been forced live in open space without proper shelter. A large number of houses and public buildings have been completely destroyed by artillery, Sampanthan said.

Monsoon rains will hit East in a few days, and refugees conditions are likely to worsen. ICRC and UNHCR have the materials required to set up the tents and have expressed their readiness to help. But Colombo has refused access to these areas, he said.

The A9 highway has been closed a serious humanitarian crisis has developed in Jaffna. Paramilitaries working with State armed forces and travelling in white vans have been abducting the youth and many of them have disappeared without any trace.

More than 4,000 people have been injured in the North due to army attacks and the people are unable to return to their homes. The safety of these people has become questionable. Even those displaced during the recent violence in Muthur too are unable to resettle in their own areas, said Sampanthan.

Enquiries into the mass graves of Chemmani have been shelved. More than 400 people are buried there. Inquiries into the killings of the five youths in Trincomalee area as well the Bindunuwara massacre has not been conducted properly just because all the victims were Tamils. Mahinda Rajapakse had promised to hold a public enquiry into the killing of 17 workers of the Action Against Hunger (ACF) in the East but that never materialized.

As Sampanthan was speaking, other TNA parliamentarians commenced their sit in protest in the well of the parliament for the fourth successive day.

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