1)
Several women admitted to hospitals.
2)
Family members barred from meeting their daughters.
3)
90,000 Tamil war widows facing abuses by the Security forces.
( December
25, 2012, New York City, Sri Lanka Guardian) Transnational Government of Tamil Eelam (TGTE)
condemned the coerced conscription of over 140 young Tamil women by the Sri
Lankan Security forces. TGTE also raised concerns about the behavior of the
Security forces, when they entered women’s hostels of the Jaffna University
on November 27th.
“Even
the family members were barred from visiting them in the hospitals and signals
to their mobile phones were cut. Family members believe that these young Tamil
women may have been sexually assaulted by the Sri Lankan Security forces.”
continued Mrs. Balambihai Murugadas. “Sri Lankan Security forces are almost
exclusively from the Sinhalese community.”
According
to Women’s Action Network (WAN), these young Tamil women were living in
destitute and vulnerable conditions following the end of the war and have
applied for a training believing that this training is related to a local
government agency and would receive Rs. 30,000 per month.
According
to WAN, none of the women or their families were advised that they are being
recruited to join the Sri Lankan Security Forces.
Currently,
there are around 90,000 Tamil war widows facing severe economic hardship and
frequently facing sexual abuses by the Sri Lankan Security Forces.
Tamil
areas of that island are saturated with the Sri Lankan Security forces. Twelve
of the fifteen Sri Lankan military divisions are stationed in Tamil areas.
‘It
is vital that the international community take immediate action to create an
International Protection Mechanism to protect Tamils in that island’ said Mrs.
Balambihai Murugadas. “Tamil students are still in custody and they should be
released’
Mrs.
Balambihai Murugadas also urged the UN Secretary General Ban Ki Moon to appoint
an International Commission of Inquiry on Sri Lanka, under Article 99 of the UN
Charter. According to the recently released UN’s internal investigation report
on Sri Lanka, UN Secretary General’s own legal team recommended this action for
the mass killing that took place in May 2009, when tens of thousands of Tamils
were killed in five months.
As
noted by the UN Internal Review Report given the constraint mandate of the LLRC
coupled with the lack of an enabling environment for judicial follow up the UN
Secretary General need not wait till the exhaustion of the domestic remedies.
Justice delayed is justice denied.
Background:
Tamils
have faced years of abuse by the successive Sri Lankan Governments. Since 1958,
numerous mass killings of Tamils took place in that island and the mass killing
in 2009, prompted the UN Secretary General Ban Ki Moon to appoint a UN Panel of
Experts for a report on the killings.
According
to this UN Panel report, over 40,000 Tamils were killed in five months due to
deliberate and intense carpet bombing of areas designated by the government as
"no-fire zones", where Tamils assembled for safety. The Sri Lankan
Government also restricted food and medicine for Tamils, resulting in large
numbers of people dying from starvation and many of the injured bleeding to
death. The UN Panel also recommended an International Commission of Inquiry.
Channel
4 TV produced two documentaries on these killings titled "Sri Lanka's
Killing Fields”. After the Sri Lankan Government's military offensive, Bishop
Rayappu noted that 146,679 people were still not accounted for in the region.
In
addition to the killings, thousands of Tamils have disappeared, Tamil women
were sexually assaulted and raped, large numbers of Tamils are imprisoned
without trial and abductions are continuing. Tamils are singled out to face
these abuses simply and solely on account of their Tamil nationality. Members
of the Sri Lankan Security forces are almost exclusively from the Sinhalese
community and the victims are all from the Tamil community.
Due
to the sheer number of civilian killings by the Sri Lankan Security forces, the
UN Human Rights Council passed a resolution on accountability for these crimes
and is about to review it in March 2013.
Subscribe Us
 Several women admitted to hospitals. 2) Family members barred from meeting their daughters. 3) 90,000 Tamil war widows facing abus...){kind=link}