TAMILNET reports that gangs of Sinhala youths brandishing Lion flags in the name of victory against the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE), have been on the rampage, day and night, intimidating and harassing Tamil civilians in Colombo and its suburbs for four days running.
Affected Tamil residents have complained to their respective police stations. But the police have failed to take action to stop the harassment, civil sources report.
Sinhala youths extort money by threat from Tamil civilians while they are walking along on main roads.
In some instances they forcibly remove gold jewellery from Tamil women, and even assault them in public.
Mainly Tamil people residing in Wellawatte, Bambalapitya, Kotahena, and Mattakuli and in upcountry areas are subjected to intimidation and humiliation by the Sinhala hoodlums.
Shops and other business establishments run by Tamils are usually opened on Poya and Sunday holidays.
But on Wednesday, which was declared a special holiday to mark the victory against the LTTE Tamils did not open their business establishments and shops.
Meanwhile last Thursday, the Jaffna Magistrates Court, directed by the Sri Lanka Army (SLA), denied protection to a youth from Chaavakachcheari who had sought protection for his life due to death threats by SLA soldiers and SLA-backed paramilitaries.
On the same day, the Jaffna Human Rights Commission (HRC) had also refused an appeal for protection of the above youth’s life.
Earlier, following a meeting between Jaffna district high court judge Mr R T Vignarajah and the SLA Jaffna commander, persons seeking protection of their lives were asked to do so in their local magistrate courts instead of Jaffna HRC.
HRC Jaffna office had been directed by HRC Colombo office not to entertain any appeals for protection of life.
Also, SLA authorities in Jaffna gave 48 hours notice, from last Thursday morning, to LTTE cadres who had come from Vanni and were staying in places other than the SLA detention camps in Jaffna, to surrender themselves.
Though similar warnings had been issued in the recent past no one had surrendered to the SLA.
However, South Africa has called for investigations into violations of Geneva Conventions by the Sri Lankan government
Noting that: ‘The military offensive conducted by the Sri Lankan government has exacerbated the humanitarian crisis in the north of the country and resulted in the deaths of thousands of civilians and the displacement of many hundreds of thousands of citizens,’ South Africa’s Deputy Foreign Minister Ehrahim Ebrahim in a press release issued yesterday, urged the UN ‘to urgently investigate possible violations of international human rights law and contraventions of the Geneva Convention.’
He called for ‘peaceful dialogue with all minorities to address their long standing grievances.’
In a statement issued on Thursday May 21, the South African government expressed deep concern over developments over last weekend in Sri Lanka.
Deputy Foreign Minister Ehrahim Ebrahim said: ‘The South African government expresses grave regret at the manner in which the military offensive was conducted and urges the United Nations Human Rights Commission to urgently investigate possible violations of international human rights law and contraventions of the Geneva Convention.
‘The South African government calls on the Sri Lankan government to urgently allow humanitarian aid into the affected areas as well as access to international media,’ continued Deputy Minister Ebrahim.
‘The South African government has noted the conciliatory tone in the speech of President Mahinda Rajapakse on 19 May 2009 and express our hope that the end of the military campaign will result in a peaceful dialogue with all minorities to address their long standing grievances. We will continue to support any efforts aimed at bringing about peace and reconciliation between the parties,’ concluded Deputy Minister Ebrahim.
International aid agencies have called for greater access to the camps in which hundreds of thousands of Tamil civilians are being held, even as the Sri Lankan government’s restrictions led to the Inetrnational Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) suspending its operations.
The UN and ICRC have expressed concern about the fate of people newly arriving at the camps, which are already overstretched and over-crowded.
Citing the difficulties caused by ‘additional restrictions’ placed upon it by the Sri Lanka government, the ICRC announced Wednesday that it had suspended its aid operations in Sri Lanka.
‘Since last weekend there have been additional restrictions imposed on aid organisations, including the ICRC,’ Paul Castella, the head of the group’s Sri Lanka operations, told Al Jazeera.
‘The authorities have said that because of security they had to restrict access to certain areas,’ he said.
‘What is the take of these civilians and what the conditions are we don’t know because we are not granted access to the area.’
‘Restrictions have led to a temporary standstill in the distribution of aid’ to the main camp holding 130,000 people, Monica Zanarelli, deputy head of operations in South Asia for the ICRC said on its website.
Until last weekend, the ICRC had delivered water, food, personal hygiene kits, baby-care parcels, emergency household items and kitchen utensils to the camp, known as Menik Farm, in the country’s north, which housed more than 130,000 refugees, Zanarelli added.
She continued on the website: ‘The ICRC is not in a position to provide figures or even to know whether all casualties are receiving the care they require.’
Restrictions on access are ‘having a severe effect on the thousands of newly arrived displaced people. The ICRC and other humanitarian aid agencies deplore this unacceptable situation,’ she said.
Meanwhile, the United Nations has also called on the Sri Lankan government to allow unrestricted access to refugee camps near the former conflict zone.
The United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) also reiterated calls for more assistance, citing the lack of services available for aid workers assisting the refugees who have left the former conflict zones.
‘There are several issues that need urgent attention, including overcrowding and the limited services available at the camps,’ said Ron Redmond, the UNHCR spokesman.
‘Civilians coming out of the conflict zone are sick, hungry and suffering from acute malnourishment and dehydration,’ he said in Geneva.
Redmond said he did not know why the authorities were blocking access to the camps.
‘It’s urgent that assistance gets into those camps and that we are able to deliver. We’ve got lots of humanitarian supplies that need to be delivered,’ he told the briefing.
‘The latest massive influx of people, who have endured extreme conditions, will put an even greater strain on the internally displaced people sites in Vavuniya, Jaffna and Trincomalee,’ he said.
The UNHCR is concerned about government restrictions that are hindering the agency’s access and delivery of aid supplies, particularly in Vavuniya district, the UN said on its website.
‘We need to have access, I repeat, total access, without the least let or hindrance, for the UN, for NGOs and for the Red Cross,’ Elisabeth Byrs, spokeswoman for the UN Office for the Co-ordination of Humanitarian Affairs, told a news briefing.
Byrs said NGOs (non-governmental organisations) were encountering difficulties getting into camps for displaced people, even though the military authorities in the Jaffna region had promised them total access.
