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C.V. Wigneswaran writes to Bachelet on emergency regulations

07 Sep 2021

  • Predicts crackdown on free speech/assembly
  • List of complains to UN Rights Chief ahead of UNHRC session
BY Pamodi Waravita Ahead of the upcoming United Nations Human Rights Council (UNHRC) session, 5 constituent Parties of the Tamil People’s Alliance (TPA), Led by Thamil Makkal Thesiya Kuttani (TMTK) Parliamentarian C.V. Wigneswaran has written to the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights Michelle Bachelet regarding the recent emergency regulations declared by the Government of Sri Lanka (GoSL) to cope with the supply of essential food items. “The state of emergency declared by the GoSL invoking the provisions of the Public Security Ordinance, ostensibly to deal with the supply and distribution of foods and essential items, could lead to a military rule as experienced by this country many times in the past. Unless it is allowed to lapse at the end of one month, without seeking  Parliamentary approval for its extension beyond that period, it could easily end up with violations of human rights including the freedoms of speech and assembly,” observed the letter. The UNHRC is due to hear the oral update by Bachelet on the human rights situation in Sri Lanka at its upcoming session, which will begin on 13 September. The letter also raised concerns about the allegations leveled against the Government of providing continued impunity for wartime violations, land grabbing in areas where Tamils live, and growing militarisation. “Under the guise of development projects, Government-driven Sinhalese Buddhist settlements are growing in traditionally Tamil areas with the intent of changing the demography and denying the Tamil people access to their lands. Several Government authorities including the Mahaweli Authority, the Archaeology Department, the Forest Department, and the Wildlife Conservation Department are deployed in this initiative,” the letter further observed.  Notably, the letter said that 617 acres of land at Vadduvakal, Mullivaikkal East and Mullaitivu, belonging to local people, are to be acquired to expand the Vadduvakal Gotabaya Naval Base according to letters sent by the Survey Department. It further stated that 44 acres of land at Kokkilai East, Mullaitivu, belonging to the public were acquired by the Lanka Mineral Sands Limited, an arm of the GoSL, despite protests by the people. Furthermore, the Parties highlighted concerns about the tasks carried out by the Archaeological Task Force, appointed by President Gotabaya Rajapaksa last year. “In March 2021, military personnel and Archaeology Department officers, jointly attempted to take over a Tamil historical site called Nilavarai Well, situated within the administrative area of the Valikamam East Pradeshiya Sabha (PS) and install some Buddhist monuments. This move was thwarted by protests from area locals and the PS Chairman Nirosh Thiyagaraja. This issue was inquired at the Atchuvely Police Station and Thiyagaraja was grilled for four hours and later brought to court by the Government authorities on the allegation that he caused an obstruction to public servants in the performance of their duties. Later, he was released on bail,” claimed the letter. The Parties also claimed that recent appointments of ex-military officers to the Office on Missing Persons (OMP) have made Tamil civilians fearful of approaching the Office to seek justice. Criticisms have been levelled by many parties at the Government for appointing former Police Chief Jayantha Wickramaratne as a Member of the OMP. However, the OMP stated last month that it has formulated a new plan to handle the existing complaints on disappearances and to synchronize the related data available in different authorities to better analyse the data on missing persons. Commenting on the protest march that was held in February this year, from Pottuvil to Point Pedro (P2P movement), the letter said that the movement’s leaders are continuously harassed by the State intelligence apparatus. The letter has been signed by the TPA, the Tamil Eelam Liberation Organisation, the Democratic People’s Liberation Front, the Eelam People’s Revolutionary Liberation Front, the Tamil National Party, and Illankai Tamil Arasu Kadchi (ITAK) MP S. Noharathalingam.    


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