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SRI LANKA: Peace, aid groups deplore being portrayed as rebel agents
"This is a clear attempt to undermine any international scrutiny of the ongoing war in the north and is a gross human rights violation," said Rohan Edrisinha, an Anglican and director of the Centre for Policy Alternatives, in an interview with Ecumenical News International.
Edrisinha, who is the former chairperson of the Justice and Peace Commission of the National Christian Council of Sri Lanka, made his comments on January 23 following the release of a statement by 13 Sri Lankan activist groups.
The statement by the non-governmental organizations follows declarations by Sinhala nationalist forces and those of the government that they are closing in on the Wanni stronghold of the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Elam where the Tamil rebels are running what amounts to a parallel state.
"There has been a concerted effort by sections of the polity and media to discredit international humanitarian organizations and U.N. agencies by accusing some of them of being supporters of the LTTE," the activist groups stated. "These allegations and the manner in which these agencies have been treated, seemed to be aimed at damaging the credibility of these organizations and of other NGOs that have a long track record of service," the statement noted.
More than 7,000 people, mostly Tamil civilians and rebels, have been killed and more than a million people displaced in renewed fighting after Mahinda Rajapakse won the presidential election in late 2005 with the support of Sinhala nationalist parties.
Sri Lankan forces have been accused by some human rights groups of indiscriminate shelling and bombing of the rebel areas, leading to high civilian casualties in their bid to capture the last of the LTTE bastions.
"Any group calling for international negotiation or dialogue are portrayed as traitors and LTTE agents trying to stall the imminent victory of the forces," said Jehan Perera, a Roman Catholic and executive director of the National Peace Council in which major churches are members. Even Sri Lankan nationals like him who "speak up for negotiated settlement of the ethnic conflict are projected as traitors," Perera told ENI. "The atmosphere is very hostile for us too."
The Tamil rebels have been fighting since 1983 for autonomy for ethnic majority Tamil areas in the north and east of the island in a campaign that has so far claimed more than 75,000 lives.
Ethnic Tamils, in official figures, account for around 10 percent of Sri Lanka's 21 million people while Sinhala-speaking people, who are mostly Buddhists, account for 74 percent of the population of the Indian Ocean island.
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