On 5th March 2013 the
family members, who were travelling to Colombo to participate in a protest
campaign and to hand over a petition to UN regarding their disappeared
relatives, were blocked in Vavuniya by a joint operation of the police and the
military. This is a clear attempt to create a fear-psychosis among the Tamil
people demanding accountability and justice for the disappeared.
The pretext given for the blockade
was that the police is not in a position to guarantee the safety of the
travellers in the night. This is in complete contrast to the picture the GoSL is
otherwise painting saying that normalcy has returned, including the freedom to
travel at any time any where in the country.
NfR views this open intimidation
of family members of the disappeared and blatant violation of people's basic
right to peaceful protest as an escalation of the militarization in the North
and the suppression of Tamil people in Sri Lanka.
Reports reaching NfR from
Colombo indicate
that nearly about 800 people had been stranded as a result of this unlawful
police action. When the political party leaders from the South intervened, an
assurance was given that those people could start their journey on the next
morning (6th March 2013). The family members of the disappeared were
surrounded by the police and they were not allowed to leave the buses. It was
only after 3 hours and intense negotiations that the people were allowed to move
to places where they could have a rest in the night.
In the meanwhile, the police has
threatened the bus drivers for carrying the family members of the disappeared to
Colombo and the
drivers have reported the threats to the organizers. They were told that if they
travel to Colombo with the family members that they will
have to face problems when they come back to the Vanni. After the threats 8 out
of 10 buses have gone back leaving the people behind. Consequently, there were
only two buses for 600 people to travel to the UN office in Colombo. This also means
that the Government of Sri Lanka has effectively blocked hundreds of family
members of the disappeared to reach Colombo and to hand their petition to the
United Nations.
This inhumane and autocratic act
of the Government of Sri Lanka, at a time when the UN Human Rights Council in
Geneva is scheduled to discuss the human rights situation in the country and the
GoSL is promising to uphold rule of law and human rights as a response to the
HRC deliberations, shows that all promises of the GoSL are mere words.
NfR calls on members of the United
Nations Human Rights Council to consider this openly undemocratic behaviour of
the GoSL as a direct challenge to the world's human rights body they represent
and to act accordingly.
NfR calls on the UN Human Rights
High Commissioner to take up this issue - of blocking the family members of the
disappeared coming to the UN office in Sri Lanka expecting some kind of
redress - with all relevant authorities, including the representatives of the
GoSL.
NfR urges the international human
rights community to show their solidarity with these families of the disappeared
and to make a representation to the Government of Sri Lanka in the strongest
possible terms.
Steering Committee, NfR Sri Lanka @ http://www.nfrsrilanka.org/
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