 UN SUB COMMISSION ON
THE
PROMOTION & PROTECTION OF HUMAN RIGHTS
58th SESSIONS: AUGUST 2006
Statement by
International Educational Development
[also in PDF]
HUMANITARIAN LAW PROJECT
International Educational Development 8124 West Third Street,
Suite 105 Los Angeles, California 90048
Email: ied@igc.org
General Assembly
Human Rights Council
Sub-Commission on the Promotion and Protection of Human Rights
Fifty-eighth session
Agenda item 2
Statement of International Educational Development, Inc.,
A non-governmental organization on the Roster
(Secretary-General’s list)
International Educational Development is pleased by the
attention by the Sub-Commission to military operations directed
at medical facilities, transport and personnel entitled to
protection as expressed in its resolution 2005/2. We are also
pleased by the attention to other persons entitled to protection
from military operations as expressed in its resolution 2005/12.
The widespread attacks on medical facilities in Falluja Iraq
in November 2004 invoked strong condemnation by the High
Commissioner and prompted the head of the British Red Cross to
comment on the potential demise of the Geneva Conventions and
humanitarian law. Due to the utter contempt of the Geneva
Conventions and human rights law shown by these attacks, our
organization joined the Association of Humanitarian Lawyers in
submitting a Petition against the United States to the
Inter-American Commission on Human Rights of the Organization of
American States. Unfortunately, the United States does not seem
to be deterred by international condemnation of these attacks
and continues to target protected medical facilities and
personnel in Iraq. This needs to be condemned by the
Sub-Commission.
While we welcome the action undertaken by the Human Rights
Council in regards to attacks on protected facilities and
persons under the Geneva Conventions and humanitarian law as a
whole in Lebanon, the Council has not called for action
regarding several other conflicts in which targeting of
protected facilities and persons is equally serious. One of
these is the conflict in Sri Lanka, where since the elections in
November there has been the worst levels of fighting since the
2002 Cease Fire Agreement. In the past few weeks, the level of
fighting has increased dramatically, as have the numbers of
military operations of the government armed forces flagrantly
targeting protected facilities and persons.
For example, on 6 August 2006 17 humanitarian aid workers
from the French NGO Action Contre le Faim were brutally
massacred in the government-controlled areas in Trincomalee,
prompting 3 independent experts of the Council (H.Jilani, human
rights defenders; P. Alston, extrajudicial, arbitrary and
summary executions; J. Ziegler, the right to food) to issue a
press release on 11 August 2006 in which they state: “the
deliberate targeting of humanitarian workers is a serious
violation of the basic principles of international and
humanitarian law and the Declaration of Human Rights Defenders.”
Also on 6 August 2006, several members of the Sri Lanka
Monitoring Mission narrowly escaped attacks from the government
forces in Maavil Aaru. On 9 August 2006 government forces
attacked an ambulance belonging to Nedunkerni hospital killing a
doctor, 2 nurses and the driver. On 14th of August, the government
forces deliberately bombed a girl’s orphanage killing 60 girls
and wounding 120 who were between the ages of 15 and 18. An
attack on St. Philip Mary church in Allaipiddy left 15 dead and
more than 100 injured.
Since the renewed fighting, there are more than 100,000 newly
displaced, many without food or water. UNICEF and the UNHRC
report the continued blockage by the government forces of
urgently needed aid to the rapidly increasing numbers of
displaced, prompting the UN officer in Sri Lanka to express
concern. UNHCR reports that of the over 40,000 newly displaced
in Muttar, more than half are women and children, but in a
statement on 8 August 2004 indicated they were not allowed
access.
The situation of Tamil civilians is made much worse because
so many Tamils are still displaced by the Tsunami and because
most of the international aid raised on their behalf was not
allowed to be delivered. For example, the American Red Cross,
that received hundreds of thousands of $$US for Tsunami victims
in Sri Lanka, was told by US authorities that they could not
distribute it in the Tamil areas.
The Sri Lankan government also severely restricted aid to the
Tamil Tsunami victims, only allowing aid raised by the Tamil
diaspora and then restricting that as well. In addition to the
hundreds of thousands of Tamil refugees who have sought and
obtained asylum outside of Sri Lanka, the current figures of
internally displaced indicates nearly 1/3 of the entire Tamil
population is displaced or in exile.
We have long indicated to the Sub-Commission that the United
States geopolitical interests in ports and airfields in the
Tamil areas has been a major impediment to resolving this long
conflict and we invite you to consult our written statements in
this regard that we submitted to both the Sub-Commission and the
Commission. In light of this we were alarmed by recent
pronouncements in Colombo and elsewhere by high State Department
officials: in our view the US has given the government of Sri
Lanka a “green light” to undertake actions that violate
humanitarian law under the pretext that due to the unabated
demonization of the Tamils by Sri Lankan and US authorities, no
one will dare defend them, and in any case, no one will be able
to do anything about it.
However, because now the UN independent experts, UNICEF
and UNHCR have spoken up, and because the UN is in a process to
reform its work, we hope that the Sub-Commission, which as
rightly undertaken to address attacks against medical and other
protected persons in time of war, will inform the Council of its
concerns regarding Sri Lanka and the situation of the Tamil
people and will request that the Council act.
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Intervention by Deirdre McConnell,
Interfaith International, Geneva, Switzerland
- Agenda item 5(a) Racism, racial discrimination and
xenophobia
Mr Chairperson,
Interfaith International is happy to note that the Sub Commission
has prevention of discrimination as one of its agenda items,
especially at a crucial time of this august forum.
In today’s world various types of discrimination have paved the way
towards Civil war, Ethnic Conflict, Armed conflict, and so on. Many
of these conflicts, fought in exercise of the Right to
self-determination, have as their ultimate goal, a durable solution
to the political problems which are based on discrimination and
xenophobia.
In the past, this august forum has heard much about the
discriminatory application of law and practise of the Sri Lanka
government against the Tamil people, therefore we do not need to go
into much detail.
Since Independence, Sinhala dominated governments brought much
systematic discriminative legislation against Tamil people.
As soon as Sinhala leaders obtained power in 1948, the Tamils
working on the tea plantations were disfranchised and their
citizenship was denied. A one language Act (Sinhala only) was
forcefully introduced by the Sinhala politicians and nine (1956,
1958, 1961, 1974, 1976, 1977, 1981, 1982 and 1983) state sponsored
anti-Tamil pogroms destroyed the economy and the cultural heritage
of the Tamil people. In the meantime, the Tamil politicians of the
day protested - against these denials of political rights, Sinhala
colonisation in the Tamil regions and destruction of Tamils
properties, demanding justice, by non-violent methods, for nearly
thirty-five years.
However these struggles in and outside of the parliament were
continuously suppressed by the Sri Lankan security forces made up of
95% Singhalese. In 1972, discrimination in the education system
(standardisation) where Tamil students had to gain more marks than
the Singhalese students for University entrance, gave birth to the
Tamils’ militancy in the island.
During this period, in the 1977 general elections, the Tamil people
in the North East overwhelmingly voted to exercise their right to
self-determination. As the Singhala dominated government ignored
this democratic mandate and continued to implement their racist
policies, an armed conflict was born in the island in 1983.
After a long struggle and massive civilian casualties, a defacto
government covering 70% of the Tamil hereditary land has been in
existence, that is, for the last 15 years. Since 2002, this has been
well acknowledged by many foreign dignitaries and diplomats who have
visited the NorthEast.
The Tsunami natural disaster which struck mostly the Tamils areas,
caused severe casualties to the Tamil people. Again the people in
the North East received discriminatory treatment by the Sri Lankan
government. The aid which was sent by the international community
was never distributed equally and even the P-TOMS Post-Tsunami
agreement for reconstruction of the Tsunami affected areas was
blocked by the Sinhala judges in the South.
Mr Chairperson,
It is now four and a half years since the Ceasefire Agreement was
signed between the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam - LTTE and the
government of Sri Lanka. There are still 800,000 internally
displaced people who are prevented from resettling due to the Sri
Lankan military occupation of their land.
The current situation in the island is alarming, human rights
violations over the last 10 months have increased disturbingly. A
further 60,000 displaced people in the Trincomalee area are being
denied food and aid in an embargo imposed by the government. More
than 700 Tamil civilians have been killed by the security forces and
the paramilitaries working with them since November 2005. In the
last week it appears that once again the government has declared war
on the Tamil people. The ceasefire agreement has been violated
several times, especially since last April with the beginning of
Aerial bombardment of Tamil areas by the Sri Lankan air force.
On Monday 14 August 2006, sixty-one school girls were killed and 129
seriously injured in the brutal and callous deliberate bombing of a
children’s home in Mullaitivu in broad daylight, by the Sri Lanka
Air Force. Soon after this bombing the Sri Lanka Monitoring Mission
(SLMM), and UNICEF personnel, visited the spot and confirmed that it
is a children’s home known as Sencholai and not a military
installation as claimed by the Sri Lanka Government.
The shelling and bombings from land, air and sea by the Sri Lankan
security forces in the Tamil regions have caused severe destruction
to Tamil homes and lives, property, public buildings, and cultural
places. These and many other actions of the Sri Lanka government are
persistently in serious breach of the Geneva Conventions.
On Saturday 5th August, 17 Tamil humanitarian workers, from the
French International Non-Governmental Organisation Action Contre la
Faim, were massacred at point blank range by government security
forces. UN VIPs in the field of human rights, the Special
Representative of the Secretary General on Human Rights Defenders,
Hina Jilani; the Special Rapporteur on extra-judicial, arbitrary and
summary executions, Prof Philip Alston and the Special Rapporteur on
the Right to Food, Jean Ziegler, jointly made a statement on 11
August, expressing serious concerns and calling for a vigorous
independent investigation to be held and the perpetrators to be
brought to justice. They urged the government to render the findings
public.
Attacks on Tamil journalists, parliamentarians and human rights
defenders have escalated. Journalists following up human rights
violations have been killed with impunity, by the security forces.
Those defending Civil and Political rights and those defending
Economic, Social and cultural Rights are also being killed by the
Sri Lanka armed forces.
In a stark incident on 06 August 2006 the SLMM was nearly bombed by
the government Air Force which attacked, despite an agreement being
in progress concerning the irrigation issue in Trincomalee. This
shows how the international monitors are being treated.
When speaking from Colombo about the killing of the 17 humanitarian
workers, the SLMM Head, Maj. Gen. Ulf Henricsson, told Reuters on 11
August:
"I have experienced this in the Balkans before. When you're not let
in, it's a sign that there's something they want to hide. You have a
lot of time to clear it up"……….."They are denying us access to the
whole area, so we cannot monitor. There were journalist trips
arranged to Muttur last Saturday and Sunday. That was possible, but
we had no access. Why? For security reasons? Of course not. There
are other reasons. I have recommended to the facilitator -(Norway)
to at least consider a withdrawal."
SLMM’s monitors say there is evidence that Sri Lankan troops have
been involved in extrajudicial killings of Tamils in the North and
East. According to information coming out of the latest fighting in
Jaffna, the Tamil people are being prevented from fleeing to safety,
by the Sri Lanka security forces.
Mr. Chairperson,
The ethnic conflict in Sri Lanka started because of the Sri Lankan
government’s discriminatory policies and refusal to accept the
Tamils as equal citizens of the island.
The present attitude of the Sri Lanka government clearly indicates
that this is a war of aggression with destructive and genocidal
intent against the Tamil people in the island.
We appeal to the dignitaries and members of civil society
internationally to monitor and pressurise the Sri Lankan government
not to carry out genocidal attacks on the Tamil people.
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