South Africa calls for investigations into violations of Geneva Conventions
[TamilNet, Thursday, 21 May 2009, 10:41 GMT]
Ref:  http://www.tamilnet.com/art.html?catid=13&artid=29427

Noting that "the military offensive conducted by the Sri Lankan government has exacerbated the humanitarian crisis in the north of the country and resulted in the deaths of thousands of civilians and the displacement of many hundreds of thousands of citizens," South Africa's Deputy Foreign Minister Ehrahim Ebrahim in a press release issued today, urged the UN to "to urgently investigate possible violations of international human rights law and contraventions of the Geneva Convention," and called for "peaceful dialogue with all minorities to address their long standing grievances."

Full text of the press release follows:

South African Government calls for Dialogue in Sri Lanka

Pretoria – The South African government today Thursday 21 May 2009 expressed deep concern over developments at the weekend in Sri Lanka. The military offensive conducted by the Sri Lankan government has exacerbated the humanitarian crisis in the north of the country and resulted in the deaths of thousands of civilians and the displacement of many hundreds of thousands of citizens.

Deputy Foreign Minister Ehrahim Ebrahim said, "The South African government
expresses grave regret at the manner in which the military offensive was conducted and urges the United Nations Human Rights Commission to urgently investigate possible violations of international human rights law and contraventions of the Geneva Convention."

"The South African government calls on the Sri Lankan government to urgently allow humanitarian aid into the affected areas as well as access to international media," continued Deputy Minister Ebrahim.

"The South African government has noted the conciliatory tone in the speech of President Mahinda Rajapaksa on 19 May 2009 and express our hope that the end of
the military campaign will result in a peaceful dialogue with all minorities to address their long standing grievances. We will continue to support any efforts aimed at bringing about peace and reconciliation between the parties," concluded Deputy Minister Ebrahim.
[end]

Further comment:
Yesturday, three days after the conflict ended in Mullaivaikal - northern Sri Lanka, there were reports coming out of Sri Lanka overnight that over 1000 Tamils were shot on sight in the enclave where civilians & LTTE forces had been confined in the last few weeks. There were also reports that Sri Lankan soldiers were using mechanical diggers to dig large holes in the same region (Mullaivaikal). An estimated 25,000 people are dead since January this year and 30,000 injured. This figure is expected to rise dramatically if the whereabouts of 25 to 50 thousand civilians who were left in the enclave and still confirmed to have been there last Sunday can no longer be verified.

The Sri Lankan Army has killed many thousands of innocent Tamils this year, several thousand in the last couple of weeks. This is the most extreme violence that has occurred during the entire 3 decade long conflict. There are allegations of atrocities having being carried out on both sides - the Sri Lankan army and the Tamil Tigers. Evidence of the use of chemical weapons by SLA forces in the conflict, however, have STILL not been corroborated. One must question WHY UN observers and international media are STILL excluded from visiting the area (or rather how the UN is allowing itself to be excluded from monitoring what is going on). The whole episode paints a shoddy picture regarding the international community's non-intervention in the whole matter. On Wednesday 13th May, US President Obama denounced the "indiscriminate shelling of civilians trapped with the remnants of the country's Tamil Tiger rebels" in a speech he made about Sri Lanka. Why is Ban Ki-moon' only visiting Colombo on Friday (tomorrow). Where is the international moves in place to press on the government to observe what is going on in the area, one might ask. It appears that the international community has been directly culpable in the human rights abuse, it seems.

Foreign ministers from the 27-nation EU have already said allegations that international humanitarian and human rights laws were violated and had to be investigated, but so far, there have been no further moves by any member state. British Foreign Secretary David Milliband and Prime Minister Gordon Brown remains silent.

Yet, there are reports that Sri Lankan soldiers were using mechanical diggers to dig large holes in the same region (Mullaivaikal - northern Sri Lanka). An estimated 25,000 people are dead since January this year and 30,000 injured. This figure is expected to rise dramatically if the whereabouts of 25 to 50 thousand civilians who were left in the enclave and still confirmed to have been there last Sunday can no longer be verified.

There is a desperate humanitarian crisis facing tens of thousands of people in the country at this time and evidence of the use of chemical weapons by the Sri Lankan Army in the recent conflict. International aid agencies are now being allowed back into the northern Mullaivaikal region, but are said to be overwhelmed by the sheer scale of the human tragedy.

Ban Ki-moon's chief of staff Vijay Nambiar was sent to Sri Lanka to organise a cease fire. He failed to secure a ceasefire and returned back after meeting the Sri Lankan and Indian officials. Ban Ki-moon's chief of staff and Special Envoy for the UN Secretary General - Vijay Nambiar - was sent to Sri Lanka to organise a cease fire. He failed to secure a ceasefire and returned back after meeting the Sri Lankan and Indian officials. There is a potential conflict of interest in that Vijay Nambiar's brother Satish Nambiar is a paid consultant for the Sri Lankan government.

And where are the witnesses? Of the civilians who are already in the government's custody, the cases of three doctors in particular need to be highlighted. They were government-employed health workers in the conflict zone trying heroically to help treat the wounded to the very end.

Whereabouts of Medical Superintendent Dr. Shanmugarajah who was attending the wounded at the makeshift hospital at Mu'l'li-vaaykkaal junior school, Regional Director of Health Services (RDHS) doctors, Dr. Varatharajah and Dr Sathiyamoorthy, arrested by the Sri Lanka Army (SLA) after fleeing the Safety Zone Saturday, are still unknown, and several Rights groups feared for doctors' lives, sources in Colombo said. The same applies to 12 ICRC workers who tirelessly served the wounded civilians including hundreds of children with the very minimal medical help and medicines and under continuous bombardment.

"Amnesty International said it was concerned for the safety of the doctors and that it had received reports that Dr. Sathiyamoorthy and Dr. Shanmugarajah may be detained at the Terrorist Investigation Division (TID) in the capital, Colombo," a BBC report said.

Appeal to World Leaders for release of Dr. Shanmugarajah, Dr. Varatharajah and Dr Sathiyamoorthy
Ref:  http://voiceagainstgenocide.org/vag/node/106

Ref:  http://www.amnesty.org/en/news-and-updates/news/humanitarian-crisis-continues-sri-lanka-20090518

Further info:

www.act-now.info
 http://www.opendemocracy.net/www.srilankademocracy.org
 http://experts.foreignpolicy.com/blog/7184
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