Harassement of Tamils in Colombo

Tamils - a Trans State Nation..

"To us all towns are one, all men our kin.
Life's good comes not from others' gift, nor ill
Man's pains and pains' relief are from within.
Thus have we seen in visions of the wise !."
- Tamil Poem in Purananuru, circa 500 B.C

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INDICTMENT AGAINST SRI LANKA

Harassment of Tamils in Colombo...

"...Tamils in Colombo complain that they are continuing to be harassed by the security forces despite the instructions of the Committee into Undue Arrest and Harassment (CIUAH). Under Emergency regulations only the householder is required to register with the police. In some police areas, particularly Colombo North, all residents are being forced to be present at police stations for registration. Even where a landlord and a tenant have agreed upon the period of tenancy, the police are forcing them to reduce the period, sometimes by an year.

The security forces continue to demand proof of registration outside their homes against the Attorney General�s advice that people need not carry the registration document when travelling. The police are also expecting the registration to be renewed every month. Tenants are being forced to visit police stations every month with their National Identity Cards. At police stations, Tamils are expected to wait for many hours and sometimes they are asked to return the next day. Many permanent residents of the capital have also been ordered by police to follow this procedure. Provincial councillor M Sivagnanam has complained to the CIUAH that police in Rattota area are demanding photographs of all family members for registration.

The security forces carried out cordon and search operations in Wattala and Elakanda, south of Negombo, on 16 February and rounded-up 450 Tamils. Seventeen of them were detained after interrogation. The police arrested 15 Tamils in Colombo�s Wellawatte suburb on 21 February. They were returning from a temple after prayers in connection with the Hindu Mahasivarathiri festival. The police also detained 17 Tamil youths from the north-east, who were scheduled to leave for employment abroad, in Negombo on 24 February..." (British Refugee Council, Sri Lanka Monitor, February 2001)