The prolonged course of agony imposed on the Tamils

By Visuvanathan Rudrakumaran

(September 14, Washington, Sri Lanka Guardian) The conviction of the journalist J.S. Tissainayagam is the latest event in a long history of repression of Tamil views as well as the Tamil people

The Committee for the formation of the Provisional Transnational Government of Tamil Eelam notes that the Sri Lankan governmentcontinues with the gross violation of human rights in a multiplicity of ways despite the condemnation of the international commnity.

It continues to hold nearly 300,000 Tamils who were displaced as a result of the war in internment camps, in violation of Principle 14 of the Guiding Principle on Internally Displaced People which guarantees “liberty of movement and freedom to choose his or her residence.” In addition the people in the camps are being held without access to adequate food, water, shelter, clothing and basic medical services in violation of Principle 18. The Guiding Principles on Internally Displaced People is considered as customary international law. Many, particularly the young, disappear from these camps, never to be seen again, giving rise to the suspicion that they are executed. The Channel 4 video confirms the brutality that the Sri Lankan government is capable of and attests to the fact that serious volations of the Geneva Conventions have been committed which require the prosecution of those responsible. Command responsibility imputes liability for these violations on all responsible for the government of Sri Lanka. The prolonged course of agony imposed on the Tamil people in the island is a continuation of the brutal suppression that has caracterized the policy of the Sri Lankan government to the Tamil People. .

The Committee sees the conviction of the journalist JS Tissainayagam as the latest event in a long history of repression of Taml views as well as the Tamil people by the government dominated overwhelmingly and permanently by the Sinhala People. The conviction not only serves to punish peaceful forms of dissent but also serves as a warning against future expression by amil journalists, politicians and the wider community. The PTA has been described as “an ugly blot on the statute book of any civilized country” by the International Commission of Jurists. The selective enforcement of the PTA is an example of how the law has been used not only to stifle the Tamil voice but also a a tool for repression. The arrest and conviction of J.S. Tissainayagam not only highlights the fact that the Tamils in the island of Sri Lanka lack the political space to obtain theirdemocratic entitlements but also the lack of space to tell the Tamil side of the story.

The prosecution and conviction have been condemned uniformly by the international community. President Barak Obama, in his statement honoring World Press Freedom Day singled out J.S

Tissainayagam as someone who is a “tragic figure who faces intimidation, censorship, and arbitrary arrest – guilty of nothing more than a passion for truth and a tenacious belief that a free society depends on an informed citizenry.” He went on to say that J.S. Tissainayagam is emblematic of journalists in jail or being actively harassed. Reporters Sans Frontiers said, “The imposition of this extremely severe sentence on Tissainayagam suggests that some Sri Lanka judges confuse justice with revege”. RSF went on to announce that Tissainayagam will be the first winner of the Peter Mackler Prize, a newly‐created award for journalists who display great courage and professional integrity in countries where press freedom is not respcted. The Committee to Protect Journalists also announced they would honor J.S. Tissainayagam with a 2009 International Press Freedom Award.

Despite these ripostes by the international community the Sri Lankan government seems bent on its racist and chauvinistic polic of the brutal suppression of Tamil opinion as well of the Tamil people. It is necessary for the international community to act through measures that would more meaningfully demonstrate its commitmen to justice. If a government and its leaders can act with impunity in the face of global protests, then, the whole system of human rights so carefully built up over the years from events such as the holocaust will crumble. The Committees urges the international community to act with urgency and provide relief to Mr Tissainayagam and the displaced amil people who are kept in internment camps.

-Sri Lanka Guardian