War needs to continue, dependancy on the West bypassed - President Rajapaksa

War needs to continue, dependancy on the West bypassed - Rajapaksa

Friday, 15 August 2008, 10:16 GMT]
"The war against the LTTE will continue without a break until the capture of the Ki'linochchi and Mullaiththeevu", declared Sri Lankan President Mahinda Rajapaksa on Thursday while addressing a public meeting following the inauguration of an irrigation project in Polonnaruwa in the North Central Province. Mr. Rajapaksa also proclaimed that the era of rulers who were dependent on the West was over with his regime in Sri Lanka. Meanwhile, Somawanse Amarasinghe, the leader of the Sinhala extreme nationalist JVP, charged that Mr. Rajapaksa has 'surrendered the sovereignty of Sri Lanka' to India.

Rajapaksa's statement on Thursday has come as Sri Lankan forces claimed to have brought Muzhangkaavil, a key village in the Poonakari division of the Ki'linochchi district, under their control. Civilians in the village had displaced from the entire village, a few days ago.

"I will not allow division of the country under my regime. My government will not budge an inch from the ongoing military operation to capture the districts under the control of LTTE," said Mahinda Rajapaksa in Polonnaruwa.

In a contrasting speech, Mr. Somawanse Amarasinghe, who addressed a conference at the Mahaweli Centre on Thursday charged that the Indian officials were intervening in the affairs of the country as if Sri Lanka was another state of India.

"Unlike the previous rulers of Sri Lanka, who were at least concerned of the sovereignty of Sri Lanka, the current president, Mahinda Rajapaksa, while wearing a banner of patriotism around his neck, has sacrificed the sovereignty of the country to India," Mr. Amarasinghe said.

Admitting that his party was being referred as 'anti-India party,' the JVP leader blamed the foreign policy of India for such perception. The JVP leader said Rajapaksa was meeting Indian envoys every week.

Meanwhile, Divaina, a Sinhala extremist paper run by Upali Group which publishes the Island paper, reported Friday to its Sinhala readership that the Indian intelligence agency, RAW, had recently submitted a report to the Indian government indicating that the Tigers were losing on the war front. Sri Lankan air attacks and 'scarcity of military supplies' to the Tigers were cited as the main causes for the 'defeat' in the report, according to the paper, which said that the RAW assessment was based on its own satellite-surveillance and intelligence network.

London - London-Based Rights groups Amnesty International (AI) says, Warring parties in Sri Lanka must allow affected people in the fighting area to move to safer areas and to receive necessary humanitarian assistance.

Amnesty International further stated that it has established that around a third of these families are living in the open air with no shelter. Many cannot receive food, tarpaulin for temporary shelters and fuel because of a lack of access into LTTE-controlled areas and restrictions on goods going through Omanthai - the crossing point between government-controlled territory and that held by the LTTE. Some families have been forced to move several times.

Mannar Displaced People including Children are living under Trees

Full Text of the AI report on the Vanni Situation in Sri Lanka:

Thousands of families who fled the recent fighting between Sri Lankan forces and the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE) must be allowed to move to safer areas and to receive necessary humanitarian assistance, Amnesty International said today (14 August 2008).

'These people are running out of places to go and basic necessities,' said Yolanda Foster, Amnesty International's Sri Lanka researcher. 'The Tigers are keeping them in harm's way and the government is not doing enough to ensure they receive essential assistance.'

Government aerial bombardment and artillery shelling since May has forced more than 70,000 people to flee their homes, primarily in Kilinochchi and Mulaitivu districts.

Amnesty International has established that around a third of these families are living in the open air with no shelter. Many cannot receive food, tarpaulin for temporary shelters and fuel because of a lack of access into LTTE-controlled areas and restrictions on goods going through Omanthai - the crossing point between government-controlled territory and that held by the LTTE. Some families have been forced to move several times.

In the LTTE-controlled Wanni area, the Tigers have hindered thousands of families from moving to safer places by imposing a strict pass system and, in some instances, forcing some family members to stay behind to ensure the return of the rest of the family. These measures seem designed in part to use civilians as a buffer against government forces - a serious violation of international humanitarian law. The LTTE has also engaged in forced recruitment.

Lack of cement to build adequate toilets and washrooms has forced people to use open bathing facilities. The lack of adequate privacy for women and girls has led to a notable increase in reports of sexual and gender based violence.

Amnesty International has also received reports that the government is housing those who have been able to leave LTTE areas in temporary shelters that often operate as de facto detention centres. Witnesses from Kalimoddai camp in Mannar district told Amnesty International that more than 200 families who are held there cannot exit the camp for any reason (except to go to school) without obtaining a pass from the government's security forces.

'Both sides to this long conflict have again shown that they will jeopardise the lives of thousands of ordinary people in the pursuit of military objectives,' said Yolanda Foster. 'In the absence of independent international monitors, Sri Lankan civilians lack protection and remain at the mercy of two forces with long records of abuse.'

Background

The Sri Lankan military has launched a major offensive to reclaim areas of the north and east previously controlled by the LTTE. Families have been multiply displaced. According to UNHCR, as of 30 June, there are some 467,000 individuals displaced by conflict in Sri Lanka's north and east. This figure includes an estimated 194,900 persons who were displaced after fighting intensified in April 2006.