FORUM-ASIA expresses deep concern about the escalating violence in Sri Lanka, including the recent suicide bombing in Colombo and retaliatory aerial bombings in the East. War inevitably violates human rights and destroys human lives and this must be avoided at all costs. FORUM-ASIA callS on the Sri Lankan Government and the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE) to immediately halt all acts of violence and resume dialogue, through their respective Peace Secretariats, with the support of civil society groups and international community.

FORUM-ASIA expresses its deep concern about the escalating violence in Sri Lanka, including yesterday’s suicide bombing in Colombo and retaliatory aerial bombings in the East. War inevitably violates human rights and destroys human lives and this must be avoided at all costs. Civilians in the North and East as well as other parts of the country, particularly women and children, will bear the brunt of violence.

We call on the Sri Lankan Government and the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE) to immediately halt all acts of violence and resume dialogue, through their respective Peace Secretariats, with the support of civil society groups and international community. As the two parties that yield considerable political and military influence, particularly in the North and East, their joint political will is essential to stop the violence.

In addition to heavy toll on human lives, we are extremely concerned about the negative impact the violence will have on confidence building between the government and LTTE, as well as amongst Sinhalese, Tamil and Muslim communities. Years of work on reconciliation between various communities by civil society groups are in danger of being shattered by the violence.

The Government has the prime responsibility to ensure the rule of law and protection of all Sri Lankan peoples. Thus, we strongly condemn the security forces complicity in the killings and destruction of property that happened in Trincomalee earlier this month. It is totally unacceptable that state security forces stand by and watch premeditated ethnic rioting. Alleged aerial bombings and shelling in the East resulting in civilian causalities, in the aftermath of the suicide bombing in Colombo shows that this trend of retaliation by security forces continues.

We also condemn the violence attributed to the LTTE – particularly the use of claymore mines, killings of Sinhalese civilians and suicide bombing, which have taken a heavy toll of lives.

We stress that retaliatory violence will only breed further violence, and can never bring about a peaceful resolution of the conflict. If the LTTE hopes to gain recognition as a legitimate organization representing Tamil peoples, they could only do so by renouncing violence. If the Sri Lankan government expects the international community to recognize it as a government that respects human rights, in particular, at this time support its candidature at the elections to the UN Human Rights Council, its security forces should focus on protecting all civilians, irrespective of their ethnicity, instead of engaging in indiscriminate and arbitrary retaliatory attacks.

For further details, please contact Ruki Fernando (+66-4-0991538 / [email protected])

Anselmo Lee
Executive Director