The central government of Sri Lanka has won a few months ago, apparently permanently, a decades old civil war against Tamil separatists living in the north of the island, or rather against Tamil Tigers, the armed political organization that has long dominated the area. After the victory it was hoped that the Sri Lankan Government would abandon the policy of repression against all forms of opposition that has always carried with the convenient excuse of fighting terrorism. But nothing like that happened.
Sri Lanka remains one of the less democratic nations in the world, where respect for freedom of the press is below zero. A Tamil journalist, Jayaprakash Sittampalam Tissainayagam, has just been sentenced to 20 years in prison for "support of terrorism and incitement to racial hatred". In fact, the journalist worked for the Sunday Times, whose editor Lasantha Wickrematunge was assassinated in January, and simply criticized the war against Tamils. He worked also for a tamil website that according to the ruling was "paid by terrorists." But the site was actually paid by a German humanitarian organization.
Francesco Defferrari
Humanitarian organizations cannot go to northern Sri Lanka, probably because the government doesn't wants them to see the systematic human rights violations against the Tamil minority. A video that has just gone around the world shows Sri Lankan troops killing Tamil prisoners. In the style of the best bloody dictatorships. The Sri Lankan Government claims that the video is fake, but it's impossible to believe a government that despises press freedom, kills and imprisons journalists and denies access to humanitarian organizations. Also back in May it was discovered that some political leaders of the Tamil Tigers who were trying to surrender were killed in cold blood by the Sinhalese army.
Indeed Humans Rights Watch, Amnesty International and other groups have asked the UN to create an independent commission of inquiry on war crimes. The President of Sri Lanka said that during the fighting against the Tamil Tigers there were no violations of human rights and neither civilian casualties. But it is the same government that says that the country has press freedom and democracy, so it's completely devoid of credibility. Meanwhile, 300,000 Tamil refugees are still imprisoned in displaced people camps after the war and the bombings.
The government has promised that at least 75,000 would be returned to their homes by the end of August, but it is unclear whether this has happened. The problem is that Tamils don't have many friends internationally. India, Japan and China do business with the Sri Lanka government, the America of Bush encouraged its "fight against terrorism" without asking questions, Obama and Europe for now feebly protested against the treatment of the Tamil minority in Sri Lanka. But the economic cooperation continues as if nothing had happened.
The government has promised that at least 75,000 would be returned to their homes by the end of August, but it is unclear whether this has happened. The problem is that Tamils don't have many friends internationally. India, Japan and China do business with the Sri Lanka government, the America of Bush encouraged its "fight against terrorism" without asking questions, Obama and Europe for now feebly protested against the treatment of the Tamil minority in Sri Lanka. But the economic cooperation continues as if nothing had happened.
In this situation, hopes that the Sri Lankan government will ever answer for its crimes, or at least allow the Tamil minority to return to their homes and live in peace, are very faint.
Francesco Defferrari
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