Amnesty International has released another Report expressing concern over the violations of human rights in Sri Lanka. Although AI has accused the government, the LTTE and other armed groups for human rights violations, its criticism weighs heavily on the Sri Lankan State for it is an elected and legally established government.

Quoting the figure of displaced persons living in refugee camps as six million, it has pointed out that this is because the government whose duty it is to maintain law and order has failed to provide protection to the people.

The Report clearly portrays the worse plight of people having to flee from their homes and villages after every major incident of violence. According to the statistics compiled by the United Nations, forty thousand people have fled from their homes consequent to incidents of violence after the month of May.

It has also been brought to light through the Report that the reason for this plight is the irresponsible conduct of the government in that the people do not feel that their life is secure because the government does not bring the culprit of such violence to book.

The AI Report further reveals that there had been a grenade attack on thousands of innocent people who sought refuge in Pesalai Church following clashes between the security forces and the LTTE, that one woman was killed and forty four others had been injured as a result of the said attack and that there was concrete evidence of involvement of security forces in the attack.

No lawful action has been taken against the perpetrators of violence despite the availability of clear and concrete testimony.

Another statistics indicate that the number of disappeared persons has been 500 in the Army controlled areas of the peninsula since December. This is the plight of the Tamils not only in the Tamil homeland, the theatre of confrontation, but also in the south. Nine Tamil undergraduates of the Moratuwa University who lived in a rented out house in that locality have been taken into custody over a telephone call given by someone and remanded without any reason. This is an index of the plight in the south.

This tragedy will be inevitable as long as the government is earnestly committed to give up oppressive measures and human rights violation under the pretext of taming the LTTE!

An English translation of the Editorial of Sudar Oli, a Tamil National daily, based in Colombo

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