TRO honors ACF humanitarian workers on death anniversary

[TamilNet, Wednesday, 08 August 2007, 17:17 GMT]
Tamils Rehabilitation Organization (TRO), an NGO registered in Sri Lanka, in a press release issued Monday, expressed its condolences to the families of the seventeen workers of the French Action Contre La Faim (ACF) who were killed execution style on 6 August 2007 during Colombo's military offensives on Moothoor. Nordic Monitors accused Sri Lanka Government security forces as responsible for the killings.

Full text of the TRO press release follows:

One Year Later - Massacre of 17 Action Contre La Faim Staff

TRO staff, volunteers and supporters worldwide join the humanitarian community in the honouring the memory of the 17 Action Contre La Faim (ACF) humanitarian workers executed in Muthur in August 2006 and call on the Government of Sri Lanka (GoSL) to end the culture of impunity in Sri Lanka by fully investigating this crime against humanity and bringing the perpetrators to justice. One year after the executions there has still been no progress in the "investigation" of this massacre.

The TRO family also wishes to convey its deepest sympathies to the family, friends and colleagues of the 17 who were so brutally executed a year ago.

Over the past 18 months 34 humanitarian workers have been killed in Sri Lanka in GoSL controlled areas. To date no one has been arrested or convicted of any of these killings.

The killings began with the abduction, torture, rape and execution of the 7 TRO humanitarian workers in January 2006, allegedly by paramilitary forces affiliated to the GoSL. The "investigations" by Sri Lankan authorities have thus far produced no arrests, convictions or public reports and the attacks on and harassment of humanitarian organizations and workers has escalated.

This lack of respect of the principles of the independence and neutrality of humanitarian organizations has negatively affected the humanitarian community's ability to provide relief and assistance to the tsunami and war affected persons in the Northeast.

TRO calls on the international community to pressure the GoSL to fully investigate all attacks on humanitarian organizations and their staff and ensure that these organizations are able to access those affected by the tsunami and war.

arjunan ethirveerasingam
Media Relations TRO (Colombo)