The escalating crisis in Sri Lanka, for example, a suicide bomb that killed nearly 100 people in the central provinces and subsequent vicious retaliatory measures by the government, demonstrate that those involved in the conflict will not be able to achieve peace by their own means, and makes the need for an international human rights monitoring mission more urgent than ever.The current crisis in Sri Lanka is becoming dramatically worse and the need for an international human rights monitoring mission is more dire than ever, says Sunil Abeysekera , Executive Director of INFORM Human Rights Documentation Centre in Colombo, Sri Lanka.
Recent events in Sri Lanka, for example, a suicide bomb that killed nearly 100 people in the central provinces and subsequent vicious retaliatory measures by the government, demonstrate that those involved in the conflict will not be able to achieve peace by their own means.
Sunila was speaking on the current situation in Sri Lanka, at a press conference organised by FORUM-ASIA, at the Foreign Correspondence Club of Thailand. Others speakers include Dr Mike Hayes from Mahidol University Bangkok, and Ruki Fernando of FORUM-ASIA.
Dr. Hayes, faculty member from Mahidol University, Bangkok, said that increased international human rights monitoring is crucial if peace is to be achieved in Sri Lanka.
He added that monitoring was a preventative mechanism, for “when nations are being watched they don’t undertake systematic violations”.
Indeed, this demand cannot be taken lightly. Sri Lanka is one of the most dangerous place in the world today for civilians caught in conflict.
“Never before in the history of the conflict” says Abeysekera, “have the human rights violations taken place at the same time as the conflict displaces people and creates a humanitarian crisis”.
According to Fernando, Coordinator for Forum-Asia’s Human Rights Defenders programme, NGOs, journalists and peace activists are increasingly becoming the target of attacks.
He assessed the situation in Sri Lanka as a case of “NGO-cleansing”, due to the systematic attempt by both government and Liberation Tamil Tigers Elam forces to remove the presence of international humanitarian organizations.
A resolution on Sri Lanka has been tabled by the European Union at the second session of the Human Rights Council.
Decisions on resolutions have been deferred until 27 November and when the Council starts its work again, the fate of the Sri Lanka crisis, balancing on whether states will agree to send an international monitoring mission, will be decided.
