By Daya Gamage
09/22/2006

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Below is an excerpt of an article from Asian Tribune:

As shocking as the nature and scale of the crime is that it took place in Sri Lanka. Sri Lanka is not a rogue state. The country has a long history of engagement with the international humanitarian community and respect for humanitarian principles. Even in the midst of the long civil war, the government made a genuine attempt to maintain public services in the (separatist) LTTE-controlled areas and allowed humanitarian agencies to access them.

United States-based Refugee International (RI) makes the above testimony in favor of the Sri Lankan nation in its September 18, 2006 issued statement on the "critical" situation in Sri Lanka reporting obstructions to the operations of international humanitarian organizations.

RI has the reputation of advocating assess humanitarian problems, identifying the most urgent needs and moving quickly to develop immediate solutions to those needs. Its contribution to the humanitarian field lies in its unique combination of advocacy and action, both with hands-on expertise in crisis situations and with policymakers in Washington, New York, Geneva and other centers.

RI gives an equally good testimony to the separatist Tamil Tigers or LTTE: "For its part, while it exercises tight control over agencies working in its zones, the LTTE has welcomed international assistance and established long-term partnership with number of credible international agencies; the response of its relief arm to the tsunami emergency was effective." 

[...] "In addition, one of the most moving and inspiring aspects of any trip to Sri Lanka to assess the humanitarian situation is the heartfelt belief of the Sri Lankan people, regardless of ethnicity, that their government has the responsibility to meet their basic needs, even in the midst of war and natural disaster."

With those warm words, RI paints this dismal picture in its 18 September report simultaneously released in many world capitals including Geneva where the United Nations Human Rights Council is now in session: "But this record cannot hide the fact that humanitarian work and international humanitarian law in Sri Lanka are now under relentless attack from both parties to the conflict. Especially in the east (of the country) and in the area around (northern) Jaffna, the LTTE is restricting humanitarian access. Their local cadres in the east have threatened (minority ethnic) Tamils who seek employment with international aid agencies."

"During the battle for Muttur (in Aug/Sept 2006), the LTTE held up fleeing civilians and hid in civilian locations, inviting damaging government shelling. As the residents of Muttur fled, the LTTE reneged on its promises of safe passage and targeted young Muslim men for execution." 

RI then turns its wrath on the Government of Sri Lanka: "As for the government, it is allowing the military in the east to harass and obstruct the work of international and local humanitarian aid organizations. The harassment consist of stopping the marked vehicles of aid organizations at numerous checkpoints and asking staff for individual and organizations work permits, neither of which is required under Sri Lankan government regulations; forcing the off-loading and inspection of humanitarian supplies; targeting aid workers of Tamil ethnicity in particular, blocking their passage through checkpoints and conducting strip searches."

RI, which maintains very close contacts with United States officials in the State Department and human rights officials in the United Nations, makes the Government of Sri Lanka responsible for the killing of 17 aid workers attached to the French aid agency Action Contre la Faim (Action Against Hunger, or ACF) in its September 18 report: "At the time of the murders, Muttur had been the scene of fighting between government troops and the LTTE, which resulted in the forced displacement of more than 50,000 residents of the town and the surrounding area. Both parties denied responsibility and accused the other side of carrying out the executions. It has now been established, however, that government forces had re-taken control of Mutur at the time of the executions. Government commanders prevented ACF staff from accessing the area to retrieve the bodies. And the government, while extending an invitation to an Australian forensic team to assist with the investigation, has refused to allow the team to visit the site of the killings."

On August 6, the bodies of 15 workers from the ACF were found lined up and lying face down in the ACF compound in the embattled town of Mutur in eastern Sri Lanka. The RI says in its report that they all had wounds indicating that they had been executed at close range. Two days later the bodies of two more workers were found in a car nearby, suggesting that they may have been killed while trying to escape. There could be no mistake of their identity, says the report; the aid workers, 16 Tamils and one Muslim, including four women, were all wearing ACF T-shirts.

RI charges that the donor community’s response to the disturbing assault on humanitarian work in Sri Lanka has been weak and suggests that "high-level public engagement is essential to restore the morale and confidence of the aid community in Sri Lanka and, most importantly, the embattled civilians of the northern and eastern Sri Lanka."