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 

Tamil Centre for Human Rights (TCHR)
Centre Tamoul pour les droits de l'Homme - CTDH
Centro Tamil para los Derechos Humanos
website : www.tchr.net 

HEAD OFFICE:
Tamil Centre for Human Rights - TCHR/CTDH
9, rue des Peupliers - 95140 Garge les Gonesse - FRANCE
Contact person : S. V. Kirubaharan – General Secretary
Tel/Fax: + 33 1 42 67 54 36 - Email: [email protected]  / [email protected]

TCHR-UK
Tamil Centre for Human Rights - TCHR/CTDH
PO Box 182, Manchester M16 8ED, UNITED KINGDOM
Contact person : Deirdre McConnell – Director International Programme
Fax: + 44 161 860 4609 - Email: [email protected]  / [email protected]

TCHR-NETHERLANDS
Tamil Centrum voor Mensenrechten- TCHR
Steelingmolen 43
1703 TE Heerhugowaard, THE NETHERLANDS
Contact person : Sinniah Indiran
Fax : + 31 - 72 - 57 15 801
Email : [email protected] 

TCHR-SWITZERLAND
Tamilen Zentrum fur Mensenrechten - TCHR
P. o. Box : 319
8172 – Niederglatt, SWITZERLAND
Contact person : Thambirajah Genegatharan
Email : [email protected]

"Human rights and humanitarian law have acquired a special significance for the Tamil people. The Tamils are a Fourth World nation - a nation without a state. Existing states do not readily surrender control of territory which they claim as their own - in addition, they often find common cause in securing each other's territorial boundaries. Unsurprisingly, the Tamil people, like many other peoples of the Fourth World, have often turned to the growing body of international human rights law and humanitarian law, and to non governmental organisations for support for their struggle against alien rule and for recognition as a people with the right to freely determine their political status."

"Mr. Ariyanayagam Chandra Nehru, founder member of North East Secretariat on Human Rights (NESOHR), Mr. E Kousalyan, political head of Batticaloa-Amparai district of the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE) and four others were shot dead while travelling in a vehicle near Polonnaruwa..." more

"...TCHR sources have so far confirmed the death toll in the North East as 12,200 and the injured as more than 11,100. The death figure is likely to increase as the rescue and recovery operations are still underway in the affected villages in the North, East....the devastation and loss of life caused by the tidal waves in the North East have not received much media coverage. The Colombo media, especially TV and daily newspapers in English and Singhalese have failed to give a breakdown of the casualty and fatality figures, thus in effect putting a news block on the tragic reality as experienced in the North East. They also pointed out that the international help rendered to Sri Lanka has not reached the affected people in the North East... As the government help failed to reach the North East areas, the Tamil Rehabilitation Organisation – TRO, which is presently helping the victims round the clock, is appealing for international help.Their urgent requirements to attend to the immediate phase are : Food items including milk powder, precooked for 80,000 families - 3 meals for two weeks; clothing for women and children; medicine -paracetamol, anti biotics, dressings, suture material, disposable syringes etc; water purification tablets and water containers; 25,000 temporary shelters and 50 medical tents; non food items includes kitchen utensils, a hundred thousand mats and portable generators..."

"During the twenty years of bloody war in the NorthEast, more than 70,000 Tamils have been killed, thousands have disappeared, thousands have been raped, billions worth of properties have been destroyed and damaged...The Sri Lankan Government's justification is that these happenings are inevitable in a theatre of war. Does the international community accept the stand taken by Sri Lanka? In a theatre of war, does International Humanitarian Law allow attack on public places like Universities, Schools, Libraries, Hospitals, Churches, Temples, Market places, etc? International Humanitarian Law describes such attacks as War Crimes and Crimes against Humanity..." more

"During the twenty years of bloody war in the NorthEast, more than 70,000 Tamils have been killed, thousands have disappeared, thousands have been raped, billions worth of properties have been destroyed and damaged...The Sri Lankan Government's justification is that these happenings are inevitable in a theatre of war. Does the international community accept the stand taken by Sri Lanka? In a theatre of war, does International Humanitarian Law allow attack on public places like Universities, Schools, Libraries, Hospitals, Churches, Temples, Market places, etc? International Humanitarian Law describes such attacks as War Crimes and Crimes against Humanity..."

"A memorial meeting was held on 9 June 2004 under the auspices of the Tamil Centre for Human Rights – TCHR, for senior journalist A. Nadesan who was brutally killed in Batticaloa, Sri Lanka. The meeting was held in the Temple Hall in Paris. Several journalists, members of civil society including a representative from Rapporteurs Sans Frontieres – RSF and the hall packed full of people attended this ceremony to pay their respects to Mr. Nadesan."

"TCHR has collected information on 89 attacks and arson attacks on Christian Churches in Sri Lanka. (List attached) These attacks on Christian Churches and worshippers were well organised by politicised Buddhist Monks. The Police and other government security forces are turning a blind eye. There have been occasions when attacks have even taken place in the presence of Police and Army personnel. There have been very few incidents where the Police have taken action against mobs and Buddhist Monks."

" On average, a Tamil woman is raped by members of the Sri Lankan security forces every two weeks. The real number is inevitably higher since many cases are unreported. Every two months a Tamil woman is gang-raped and murdered by the Sri Lankan security forces..."

"Violations of human rights started in Sri Lanka a long time ago. We are witnesses to the fact that the UDHR and subsequent Covenants and Conventions are seriously violated by the government of Sri Lanka and its allies.The new phenomenon of aggressive states is that they label any action other than non-violent struggle, as "terrorism" and "terrorist". Undoubtedly the task of Human Rights defenders is a purely non-violent one - organising meetings, seminars, producing reports and lobbying locally and internationally. However, another phenomenon of State terrorism and its propagandists, is to call Human Rights organisations "Front Organisations" and "Outfits"!"

"This morning at 5.00a.m. local time, around 2000 Sinhala thugs stormed a rehabilitation centre in Bindunuwewa, housing more than 50 Tamil detainees, wielding knives, machetes, axes and iron rods. They hacked to death 24 defenceless Tamil political detainees and then set fire to the whole centre. 16 detainees were seriously wounded and a further seven were injured. 20 detainees are still missing! Bindunuwewa is in Bandarawela district, in the central part of Sri Lanka."

"On 19th October Mylvaganam Nimalraja, aged 38, well-known journalist and father of three, was shot dead in his own home, through the window of his room, as he wrote a news report. He was the Jaffna correspondent for the Tamil daily Virakesari, the independent Tamil radio station, Sooriyan FM, the popular Sinhala political weekly, Ravaya, the Tamil and Sinhala services of the BBC. He was also the secretary of the Northern Journalists' Association."

"According to our sources in Jaffna, within the last ten days more than a 100 civilians have been killed and 400 wounded in the Jaffna peninsula, due to Kfir aerial bombing and artillery shelling. Included in these were the killing of four civilians when the Sri Lankan army shelled the village of Kallikaadu on 21st May and a young mother and her infant son killed in their home by army shelling on 26th May. The ratio of Tamil people killed in the island of Sri Lanka is very high compared to its total population. This abhorrent ethnic cleansing by the government of Sri Lanka should be taken seriously and the earliest possible action should be taken to stop it."

"In 1833 the Colebrook-Cameron Commission allocated approximately 26,500 sq.km as the Tamil People's Ancestral Motherland.  In 1901 when the nine provinces came into being, the Tamil administration of the Northern and Eastern Provinces measured approximately 19,100 sq.km Due to some of the area being incorporated into the Sinhalese provinces the Tamil area had been reduced by approximately 7,500 sq.km. After 1948 the government's settlement plan deprived the Tamils of 7,000 sq.km. in the Eastern Province and 500 sq.km. in the Northern Province. Although the Tamils protested, the Colombo administration ignored the Tamils and settled Sinhalese in these regions. Approximately 7,500 sq.km of Tamil land was plundered by the Sinhala Government's Demarcation and Resettlement Plan when it came into operation. This has been taking place over the last forty years. Before 1833, 25% of Tamil speaking people occupied 35% of land, which was in their administration as Tamil ancestral homeland. In 1901 this area shrunk from 35% to 29%. Within 162 years the Sinhalese government under its   Demarcation and Resettlement Plan has plundered 50% of the Tamil ancestral homeland and is still attempting to colonise more and more!"

"One of the bravest human rights defenders, Mr. Kumar Ponnambalam who attended the Commission on Human Rights for the last few years from Sri Lanka, is no more with us. He was killed by so-called unknown gunmen in cold blood in Colombo, on 5th January. He made his last intervention during the 55th session. He had several meetings with many members of the Commission, Special Rapporteurs and Senior Personnel of the OHCHR. During his last visit to Geneva, Mr. Ponnambalam stated clearly to everyone that he could be murdered at anytime by the Sri Lankan government. Now this has become a tragic reality. Who killed him? The answer is quite simple - who is benefiting from his absence?"

"The Sri Lankan security forces are still using gang-rape and murder of Tamil women and girls, with chilling and systematic regularity, to subjugate and terrorise the Tamil people. Rape is being used as a weapon of war. The Sri Lankan government is in grave breach of its obligations as signatory to the Geneva conventions, including Common Article 3. TCHR has records of catalogues of rape and murder cases of Tamil women by Sri Lankan security forces in Sri Lankan army occupied Jaffna, in the North, and in the East of the island, including Amparai. The actual number of rape cases is far higher than recorded. Many Tamil women who survive the trauma want to remain unidentified due to cultural sensitivities within the community."