Sri Lanka’s president said earlier today that certain countries are not pleased with Sri Lanka’s independent rise. Speaking at a Buddhist ceremony in Anuradhapura, Mahinda Rajapaksa said that Sri Lanka needs to accept the difficult challenge of protecting their heritage and culture.
More posters have appeared across Jaffna and the South, featuring photographs of those accused by the Sri Lankan military of being LTTE cadre, reported Uthayan . The posters, offering 10 Lakh Rupees to those who give information on the alleged suspects, include a photograph of a man named by the military as 'Gopi'. Photograph Uthayan
The Sri Lankan military has been collecting details of families in the Jaffna district this week, sparking fear amongst locals, reported Uthayan . Using a form with 42 questions since Tuesday, military personnel have already collected details of Tamils in Sangaanai, Siththangeni and Vaddukoddai.
Criticising the Sri Lankan government's proscription of 15 Tamil diaspora organisations earlier this week, the Sri Lanka project director at the International Crisis Group (ICG), Alan Keenan and the Executive Director of the Center for Policy Alternatives (CPA), Paikiasothy Saravanamuttu, said it was designed to prevent the outflow of information on alleged mass atrocities through diaspora networks to the OHCHR, recently charged with conducting an investigation into Sri Lanka. Speaking to UCA News, Mr. Keenan said, “The ban is a very serious and negative development, effectively criminalising legitimate democratic dissent within Sri Lanka and making it harder to challenge government policies from outside the island,” “It appears designed in part to punish those Tamils inside and outside Sri Lanka who organized in support of the UNHRC resolution."
The system requiring Tamil fishermen in the north to acquire passes from military personal before setting out to sea will be reintroduced, reported the Uthayan . The pass system, which was gradually stopped after the end of the armed conflict, caused enormous hardship to families relying on the fishing trade. Local fishermen told the paper that the Sri Lankan army said at a meeting in Mathakal that the measures are being reintroduced for their “own good”, as “terrorists” will infiltrate the area from the sea. The army has increased patrols along the northern shores and has re-established...
Sharing the concerns raised by Tamil diaspora activists over the Sri Lankan state's proscription of 15 Tamil diaspora organisations , Kumaravadivel Guruparan, a lecturer of law at the University of Jaffna, and member of the Tamil Civil Society Forum, told Tamil Guardian, "the overarching goal was to demoralise Tamils in the homeland, given that the diaspora is considered by Tamils in the homeland as a source of strength." Stating that the most immediate goal was to delegitimise the involvement of Tamil diaspora organisations in OHCHR's remote inquiry however, Mr. Guruparan said, "this proscription will make it difficult for the OHCHR to engage with these organisations".
07:12 GMT, updated 23:01 GMT (TGTE, TYO) Tamil diaspora groups, accused of being "LTTE fronts" by the Sri Lankan government and due to be proscribed , condemned the move as an attempt to criminalise and terrorise Tamils overseas, and vowed to continue to struggle for the Tamil people's liberation from Sri Lankan state repression. Speaking to Tamil Guardian, representatives of the Australian Tamil Congress (ATC) , Canadian Tamil Congress , National Council of Canadian Tamils , Tamil Coordinating Committee UK , British Tamils Forum , and the Global Tamil Forum , said the move was an attempt to silence Tamil voices outside the island, and force the homeland to distance itself from the diaspora, for fear of reprisal.
The TNA member and Northern Provincial Council member M.K. Shivajilingham condemned the Sri Lankan government's move to proscribe 15 Tamil diaspora organisations as a deliberate attempt to divide the diaspora and the homeland. "The Sri Lankan government is trying to cut us off from the diaspora, especially trying to stop political parties, such as the TNA and the TNPF, from engaging with diaspora organisations," Mr. Shivajilingham told the Tamil Guardian.
The Australian government today, delivered a patrol vessel to help Sri Lanka to stop people from leaving the North-East to seek asylum in Australia. A spokesman from the Australian Navy, said , “The fully furbished Australian Bay-class patrol vessel will substantially augment the SLN’s capacity as ti is able to cover a large area of Indian Ocean and serve Sri Lanka’s Search and Rescue Area more effectively. The event symbolises the commitment of key partners in enhancing maritime security in the region and the bilateral cooperation that exists between the two governments on combating people smuggling.”
Amnesty International’s representative to the United Nations in Geneva, Peter Splinter, stressed that Sri Lanka’s latest legislation to ban several diaspora organisations, would worsen the climate for NGO staff, journalists and others interacting with Tamil groups. Expressing concern over the likely use of the Sri Lankan Prevention of Terrorism Act (PTA), to enforce the new legislation, Mr. Splinter said to CNN, “The consequence of that is that anyone dealing with those organisations will be subject to accusations of cooperating with terrorism—that brings them within the parameters of a rather draconian piece of legislation, the Prevention of Terrorism Act.”