Posts Tagged ‘HRW’
Besieged, Displaced, and Detained: The Plight of Civilians in Sri Lanka’s Vanni Region
[HRW] “This 49-page report documents the Sri Lankan government’s responsibility for the plight of the 230,000 to 300,000 displaced persons trapped in the Vanni conflict zone. They face severe shortages of food and other essentials because of government restrictions on humanitarian assistance. Individuals and families who have managed to flee areas controlled by the separatist…
Read MoreSri Lanka: Free Journalists Unfairly Held
[ HRW ] The Sri Lankan government should immediately drop charges and free J.S. Tissainayagam, a prominent Tamil journalist on trial for his writings, Human Rights Watch said today. A Tamil publisher, N. Jasiharan, and his wife, V. Valamathy, who were also arbitrarily arrested, should be freed immediately. “The Sri Lankan government is shamefully using…
Read MoreSri Lanka: Allow Aid Groups to Help Cyclone Victims
[ HRW ] The Sri Lankan government should immediately lift its September order barring humanitarian agencies from the Vanni conflict area in northern Sri Lanka so they can assist thousands of persons displaced by flooding from Cyclone Nisha. Experienced and impartial humanitarian agencies have offered to respond to the crisis, but face government obstruction. Only…
Read MoreSri Lanka: Human Rights Situation Deteriorating in the East
[ HRW ] The TMVP was originally the political wing of the armed faction earlier known as the Karuna group. It enjoys the strong backing of the government of President Mahinda Rajapakse. “The Sri Lankan government says that the ‘liberated’ East is an example of democracy in action and a model for areas recaptured from…
Read MoreEU warns Sri Lanka rights abuses threaten trade concessions
[AFP] The European Union threatened on Tuesday to withhold trade concessions from Sri Lanka due to the island’s worsening human rights record. Colombo has come under fire for its rights record, with Human Rights Watch saying recently at least 1,500 people “disappeared” between 2006 and 2007 — mostly ethnic Tamils living in the island’s restive…
Read More