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Home | Friday 20th November 2009 | Issue 700

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TAMIL TORTURE

Six months after the end of the Sri Lankan army’s assault on Tamil Tiger-controlled territory in northern Sri Lanka (See SchNEWS 676), over a quarter of a million Tamils remain incarcerated in internment camps.

Conditions in the camps are appalling, with no basic sanitation and chronic shortages of food, drinking water and medical supplies. Although the Sri Lankan government has barred journalists from the camps, reports have leaked out of hundreds dying every day, with the dead often left where they fall. There have also been reports of torture, rape, extortion, extra-judicial murders and child recruitment by government backed paramilitary groups operating in the camps and during ‘screening’ processes.

The government insists it needs more time to root out insurgents amongst the Tamil population through its ‘screening’ of the incarcerated Tamils. Military aged men are frequently taken from the camps and around 13,000 people suspected of links with the Tamil Tigers have disappeared, many sent for ‘rehabilitation’ at secret camps around the country. Hundreds more are being held without charge in prisons.

While thousands have been released from the camps, there have been reports of police taking people from their homes days after release, with no indication of where they have gone. With many returning to homes destroyed in the conflict, official reconstruction efforts have been focusing on the militarisation of the region with the construction of police and army facilities taking precedence over civilian infrastructure.

In Britain, campaign group Act Now are calling for a boycott of Sri Lankan goods, tourism and cricket. On November 8th they staged a London ‘Day of Action’ with pickets focusing on Marks and Spencer due to their heavy investment in Sri Lanka. This Sunday (22nd) the campaign will be rolled out nationwide, with groups already established in Totnes, Bristol and Coventry. The campaign is also set to expand its targets to other stores including Tesco, Top Shop and Next.

* To get involved and for more info see www.act-now.info

Keywords: sri lanka, tamil


 

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