UN SUB COMMISSION ON PREVENTION
OF DISCRIMINATION AND PROTECTION OF MINORITIES
43rd SESSIONS: AUGUST 1991

• Statement by International Educational Development under Agenda Item 10 on Administration of Justice and Human Rights of Detainees
• Statement by International Educational Development under Agenda Item 6 on the Question of Violation of Human Rights
• Statement by International Educational Development under Agenda Item 4 - Review of Further Developments with which the Sub-Commission has been concerned - The Right to Freedom of Opinion and Expression

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Statement by International Educational Development under Agenda Item 10 on Administration of Justice and Human Rights of Detainees

International Educational Development is appalled by arbitrary detention without trial that continues unabated in Sri Lanka. In the past two months alone, more than 2000 Tamils living in Colombo have been detained under the Prevention of Terrorism Act, Some of these persons have disappeared. We are equally appalled that during this same period, the Indian authorities have detained more than 3000 Tamils from Sri Lanka who had sought refuge In Tamil Nadu,

One case is especially distressing - the arrest on July 18, 1991 In Tamil Nadu of Mr. S. Sivanayagam, editor of the newspaper Tamil Nation, printed in Madras and published in the United Kingdom. He was ostensibly charged with staying without valid documents. A diabetic who suffers also from hypertension requiring medication, Mr. Sivanayagam fled Sri Lanka in 1983 because of persecution against hum by the Sri Lankan authorities.

While awaiting decision on his bail application, he was also charged under the National Security Act which allows detention without trial. Apparently, the government did not want him released on bail to continue what they referred to as his "illegal activities" which are that he edits Tamil Nation. Thus his only "crime" has been to asserts his rights to freedom of expression and opinion, freedom of the press and a right to information.

IED is sensitive to India's present national security concerns, especially in light of the recent and tragic assassination of Former Prime Minister Rajiv Gandhi. However national security concerns cannot justify arbitrary detention of more than 3000 Tamil refugees.

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Statement by International Educational Development under Agenda Item 6 on the Question of Violation of Human Rights

.... In Sri Lanka, another long-time concern of IED, the armed conflict between the Tamil people and the Sinhalese government continues unabated. We concur with a statement, attached to this text, prepared by a coalition of Sinhalese and Tamil human rights organizations that

" What is in fact happening is that the Sri Lankan Government is interpreting the failure of every western democracy to censure it for its human rights record, and every item of foreign aid, however reluctantly given, as endorsement of its actions. This in turn has a demoralizing effect on the victims of human rights violations and those working for democracy, human rights and the right of minority nationalities to self- determination."

The present situation in Sri Lanka is the result of a 40 year attempt by a permanent Sinhala majority to impose its rule on the Tamil people. Prior to the colonial period, Ceylon had two separate states, one Tamil and one Sinhala. When the British colonizers left the government in the hands of the Sinhala majority in 1948, the Sinhala government:

1.Disenfranchised the plantation Tamils;
2.Colonized Tamil areas with Sinhala settlers;
3.Made Sinhala the only language;
4.Discriminated against Tamils in employment, education
and resources;
5.Resorted to state violence against Tamil people to intimidate them into submission.

In sum, the government became a racist regime, and enforced its racism through the most oppressive means.

Acts against the Tamil people have been so numerous and costly in terms of life that it seems pointless to recite them here. However, several recent ones, illustrative of the many, merit comment:

1. On 12 June 1991 when 170 Tamil civilians were massacred by Sri Lankan armed forces in Batticaloa. Some were burned alive, others hacked to death.

2 In November, 1990, the Sri Lankan Air Force bombed Jaffna Hospital 2 days after the International Committee of the Red Cross reopened it.

3.In May, 1991, a medical team of Medecins Sans Frontieres (from France) was attacked.

The Sub-Commission needs no reminders of the many statements made by the most credible non-governmental organizations and the reports of numerous high level parliamentary investigatory committees. What is surprising is that, like the Turkish Kurdish situation, the Sub-Commission and the Commission have paid scant attention.

In this case, IED is convinced that the extreme racist nature of the Sinhala government justifies invoking the principle of self-determination of peoples and the application of armed conflict rules governing wars against racist regimes in the exercise of the right to self - determination. Indeed, the international community must invoke self-determination due to persistent non-fulfillment of the rights of minorities who have been subsumed into larger states, because, as a last resort, it is the only means of assuring human rights

The text of the statement by a coalition of human rights organisations reads:

"The scale of political violence in Sri Lanka since 1977 is completely unprecedented in the country's history. Governments have in the past erred seriously on matters of human and democratic rights, but violations of human rights and democratic principles are carried out by the UNP government with no trace of shame or regret.

The violence of 1983 attracted the attention of the world because of its scale and the conduct of the government's armed forces. But the events of 1983 and the endless violence which engulfed the country in subsequent years are the consequences of the systematic erosion of democratic principles and the rule of law in the years following 1977.

Industrial action by the trade unions, political activity by opponents of the government and even legal action against the misdeeds of the government, its supporters or representatives were brutally put down by violence. The army and the police have become the arms of the ruling party, the independence of the judiciary has been violated and the law violated when it finds itself at odds with the interests of those in power.

There is an effort made by the government of Sri Lanka to create the impression that unlawful killings have ceased in the South of the country since the suppression of the JVP. There was a lull in the killings soon after the JVP leadership was slain in 1989 but the killing of JVP suspects continues.

The government has not only turned a large section of the people of the North and East into refugees but also attempts to starve them in its efforts to use them as pawns in its war against the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam with which its negotiations collapsed last year. Bombing of civilians and armed attacks on populated areas in the North have not stopped and the government has done nothing to bring to book the members of the armed forces who in June 1991 massacred over a hundred and thirty civilians in Batticaloa (in the East).

Lawyers who take up the cause of human rights violations are forced to flee the country and the number of refugees is on the increase. These are not symptoms of an improvement in the human rights situation in Sri Lanka.

What in fact is happening is that the Sri Lankan government is interpreting the failure of every western democracy to censure it for its human rights record, and every item of foreign aid, however reluctantly given, as endorsement of its actions. This in turn has a demoralising effect on the victims of human rights violations and those working for democracy, human rights and the right of minority nationalities to self determination

We therefore call upon all members of the Human Rights Sub-Commission and representatives of all governments who are signatories to the Human Rights Charter to censure the Sri Lankan Government severely for its record on human and democratic rights. Al l aid channelled through such governments should be made conditional on the restoration of democracy and human rights within Sri Lanka."

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Statement by International Educational Development under Agenda Item 4 - Review of Further Developments with which the Sub-Commission has been concerned - The Right to Freedom of Opinion and Expression

International Educational Development also is pleased at the decision of the Sub-Commission to address freedom of expression and opinion. …In India, the government has arrested Mr. Sivanayagam, a Tamil refugee from Sri Lanka and the editor of a newspaper called Tamil Nation, published both in India and the United Kingdom. The Indian government calls the publication a "clandestine" one, even though it has been published openly. Indeed, the only case against Mr. Sivanayagam, a fearlessly independent man, appears to be his support for the Tamil people in their struggle in Sri Lanka. Mr. Sivanayagam stated: "Tamil Nation is nobody's mouthpiece and is proud of its individuality and independence. If an Indian newspaper supports the Palestinian cause, it does not become a. mouthpiece for the PLO."

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