Subject: [fem-women2000 699] FWD: WCAR : THE ETHNIC CONFLICT IN SRI LANKA: A PANEL DISCUSSION
From: Makoto TERANAKA <teramako@jca.apc.org>
Date: Tue, 04 Sep 2001 09:19:52 +0900
Seq: 699
Forward to fem-women2000@jca.apc.org. ------------------------------------------------- Date: Tue, 04 Sep 2001 04:31:51 +0800 To: office@jca.apc.org >From: Kathy Clarin <kathy@isiswomen.org> Subject: WCAR Update 21 from Isis International-Manila THE ETHNIC CONFLICT IN SRI LANKA: A PANEL DISCUSSION It was the last day for the NGO Forum at the World Conference Against Racism, Xenophobia and Related Discrimination (WCAR), with NGOs from around the world still making last ditch efforts to have specific concerns included in the compiled NGO Draft Declaration. The official UN conference of government delegates began simultaneously. And the historical NGO document is ready to be put to the test before the governing parties of the world. Palestinians, Indian dalits, Japanese buraku mins, Falung Gong followers and Romas have found the space to voice their concerns before an international community and as the NGO Forum was about to drop the curtain in the Asia Pacific Caucus, the ethnic conflict in Sri Lanka and the situation of the country's ethnic Tamils and the Muslims were discussed by a panel chaired by a Buddhist monk, the Venerable Baddegama Samitha Thero. Sri Lanka NGO delegate Ratnaval explained that "The struggle for equality which began very peacefully in the 1960s, ended up as an armed conflict because of the merciless suppression and oppression of ethnic Tamils by the Sinhalese Government." The Prevention of Terrorism Act and other 'Emergency' laws are being used to violate civilian rights, including freedom of expression. "The acts of arbitrary arrests under suspicion, detention for prolonged periods ranging >from a month to years without a court hearing, and disappearances are made legitimate under these draconian laws, which have been enforced for almost 20 years and are being supported by powerful countries like the USA, Israel, China and the UK," Ratnaval further stated. Speaking about the discrimination against minority women in Sri Lanka, another NGO delegate, Saroja Sivachandran, said assaults, including sexual assaults and even gang rapes by security forces, against Tamil women were not uncommon, as in the case of Krishanthi Coomaraswami, who was gang raped and murdered by army men. NGO delegate P P Sivapragasam, described how Tamils are subject to basic discrimination in civic matters. "Tamils who originally migrated to Sri Lanka during the British colonial rule in the 1820s and work mainly on the plantations in central Sri Lanka, form a different ethnic group from the Tamils in the north and east who are native to Sri Lanka. The immigrant Tamils are not even after close to two centuries of being resident in the country given full citizenship. They are subject to a 'Pass' identity system and restricted to the plantations, which they cannot leave without special permission," he said. The meeting ended with pledges of support to the struggles of displaced people in Sri Lanka, including Muslims, a severely neglected community in the country. One respondent urged for a coalition of all Muslims and Tamils around the world that could serve to pressurise the government to address their problems. A member of the audience, a supporter of the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE), asked that the international community should not "equate state terrorism to the violence from the freedom fighters. LTTE came into being only after the suppression from the Sri Lankan government." The meeting didn't raise the questions, however, as to why the LTTE turned down offers of peace talks by the government thrice. Also there has been no highlighting the fact that the Sinhalese are one of the endangered races on the globe. And about the Sinhalese victims in the context of the ongoing war. The issue of the Sinhalese people and the Sinhalese language on the verge of extinction, has not been brought up in the NGO Draft Declaration either. Miuru Jayaweera a program producer in Young Asia television, Sri Lanka is alos a team emeber of the ISIS International, women's media team from Durban. _________________________________________________________________________ fem-Women2000@jca.apc.org for Women 2000, UN Special Session on Beijing+5 Searcheable Archive http://www.jca.apc.org/fem/news/women2000/index.shtml visit fem-net HomePage for other mailing lists http://www.jca.apc.org/fem