Black day for human rights
[TamilNet, Saturday, 05 December 1998, 11:11 GMT]
The Consortium of the Non Governmental Organisations (NGOs) in Jaffna will mark International Human Rights Day as a "Black Day". This will be done as a protest against the Sri Lankan government's attitude towards human rights violations.
In particular, they want to draw attention to the alleged mass graves at Chemmani and those who have been reported missing after they were arrested by the Government forces. School children and employees at private institutions will wear a black band on that day, and black flags will be hoisted at public places and homes in Jaffna, said sources there. The consortium will hand over memorandums to the International Committee of the Red Cross and to the United Nations Development Project (UNDP). The NGO consortium has recently launched a campaign to raise money and food for the displaced people in the Vanni. The consortium has been actively voicing concern over what it considers to be a severe shortage of food in the Vanni. Other anniversary's marked as Black days in Jaffna include the July '83 riots and the burning of Jaffna Library by Sri Lankan police in June 1981.
|