Demanding justice in Sri Lanka

While hundreds rallied outside during our 2014 Get On The Bus action on Sri Lanka on April 11, four Amnesty International USA activists met at the Sri Lankan UN mission with Deputy Permanent Representative Ambassador Major General Shavendra Silva. We presented around 400 letters participants had signed demanding justice for the “Trinco Five”: Ragihar Manoharan and four other Tamil students who were gunned down by police in Trincomalee on January 2, 2006. (12 Special Task Force members were detained and later released without being charged.)

We demanded that the government: 

1. Conduct an effective, impartial investigation into the murders of Ragihar Manoharan and the “Trinco Five.” 
2. Publish the 2006 Presidential Commission of Inquiry report without further delay. 
3. Promptly transfer the case to a higher court. 
4. Prosecute those who are responsible for the murders, and bring them to justice in a manner consistent with international human rights standards.

 The families of these students deserve no less than this.

We also expressed concern about the arrest and detention under the Prevention of Terrorism Act (PTA) of Balendran Jeyakumari, an advocate for families of people “disappeared” in the military conflict in Sri Lanka, and her 13-year-old daughter Vibooshika. We called for them to be released, or else to be charged with a recognizable offense under ordinary criminal law, and to receive due process and private attorney visits. Ambassador Silva agreed to follow up with us about these cases. We will not give up until justice has been served, for the “Trinco Five” and for all who have been arbitrarily detained in Sri Lanka under the PTA.

Presenting letters to Sri Lankan Deputy UN Ambassador
Photo by Steve Latimer, AI 9/280

Case Update: Sri Lanka

From the Christian Science Monitor:

UN report faults Sri Lanka, Tamil Tigers over war conduct

A UN panel has found 'credible allegations' of war crimes committed by both sides as the long-running civil war drew to a close in May 2009.

April 19, 2011
Bangkok, Thailand

Sri Lanka’s civil war, which ended nearly two years ago with the battlefield defeat of the Tamil Tigers.
  The panel’s findings contradict many of Sri Lanka’s assertions about the conduct of its troops, who are accused of deliberately shelling civilians caught in the war zone. The Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE), whose leadership was wiped out at the end of the war in May 2009, is also cited for violations such as child recruitment and using civilians as human shields. Tens of thousands of Tamil civilians trapped behind enemy lines may have died during the fighting.
  Sri Lanka’s government, which refused to cooperate with the panel, has already criticized its findings as “fundamentally flawed” and based on unverified claims. An executive summary of the report was leaked last week to a Sri Lankan newspaper after the UN sent a copy to the government.The panel’s findings contradict many of Sri Lanka’s assertions about the conduct of its troops, who are accused of deliberately shelling civilians caught in the war zone. The Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE), whose leadership was wiped out at the end of the war in May 2009, is also cited for violations such as child recruitment and using civilians as human shields. Tens of thousands of Tamil civilians trapped behind enemy lines may have died during the fighting.

Read the rest of the story here.

GOTB Celebrates Sweet 16! Part 2

After the morning speaker's panel, we broke for lunch and then reconvened outside of the Chad Mission to the United Nations to call on the Chadian government to protect Darfur refugees and IDPs living within their borders. The energy that students brought to the demonstrations was striking.

Photo: Scott Langley Photography.

From there, we moved to the Sri Lankan Mission to the UN to call for independent investigation of war crimes committed by both sides during the Sri Lankan Civil War. A number of passers-by seemed intrigued by the goings-on, and our student activists handed out flyers and information.

Photo: Kelly Turley.

Our Filep Karma action was an interesting one, as Dag Hammarskjold Plaza is apparently a popular demonstration spot on a Friday afternoon.

From Demotix.com:

New York -- three separate rallies, for three separate causes, came together at Dag Hammarskjöld Plaza on Friday afternoon. 

Dozens of supporters showed up at 3pm for the Yemen/Libya rally, to show solidarity with the uprisings in those countries. An hour later, more than a hundred high school and college students marched in, part of Amnesty International's "Get on the Bus For Human Rights" program, supporting Filep Karma, a prisoner of conscience in Indonesia. These younger protesters had been bussed in from New England. 

Mixed in with the crowd, were 4 protesters who comprised a 'flash mob', rallying in support of the Goldstone Report, against Shimon Peres appearance at the UN. 

All three causes stood side by side, shared the space and the microphone and the media attention. There must be something in the air this spring.

The day concluded at the Chinese Mission to the UN, and through the rain, our demonstrators kept up their tireless energy, calling for the immediate and unconditional release of Tibetan filmmaker Dhondup Wangchen.

This was my first Get On The Bus, I've been looking forward to the event since November when I started working with Group 133. And although I woke up terribly sick on Saturday morning, I can say now (after a few days of antibiotics), that the experience was well worth all the work and even the maladies. The coordination team is an amazing group of people, taking time out of busy personal lives to pull this event together. The students and participants are equally inspiring with their creativity and energy during the event. And of course, the expert speakers and the success stories make the event well worth all the work.

Thanks to everyone who worked and participated to make Get On The Bus's Sweet Sixteen a smashing success!

GOTB Celebrates Sweet 16! Part 1

Last Friday, April 8 students and activists from throughout the Northeast region collected in New York City for Get On The Bus for Human Rights' Sweet 16th. Although the weather was soupy and unpleasant, the energy the activists brought to the day's demonstrations was inspiring.

Photo: Scott Langley Photography.

We began at the Great Hall at the Cooper Union with our speaker's panel. We were delighted to have Josh Rubinstein, director of the AI-USA Northeast Office, discuss recent uprisings in North Africa and the Middle East. We also welcomed Sarah Milburn, AI-USA Chad country specialist, Jim McDonald, Sri Lanka country specialist, Tenzin Dolkar of Students for a Free Tibet, and John M. Miller of the East Timor and Indonesia Action Network (ETAN) to speak on the issues of the day. We also watched a brief video message from Lhamo Tso, wife of imprisoned Tibetan filmmaker, Dhondup Wangchen. (You can watch the full interview, conducted by Group 133 members and interns Lisa and Megan, on YouTube here.)

Tenzin Dolkar speaking in front of Lhamo Tso's image at Get On The Bus 2011. Photo: Kelly Turley.

March Group 133 Meeting and International Women's Day

On Tuesday, Group 133 had a very eventful March meeting. The evening began with a vigil and petition-signing outside the Davis Square T stop, in honor of International Women's Day.

Thank you, Gualitiero, for organizing the vigil!

We also enjoyed a delicious home-cooked Sri Lankan meal, in "taste-bud solidarity"for our Get On The Bus 2011 Sri Lanka action. The meal was a wonderful (and vegan-friendly) treat.

Focus on: Tibet

We also discussed the case of Dhondup Wangchen, who will be the focus of a GOTB 2011 action. Dhondup Wangchen is a Tibetan filmmaker who was detained on March 26, 2008, shortly after completing his documentary Leaving Fear Behind. Police held him at Gongshan Hotel, an unofficial place of detention or "black jail," for part of his detention period.  Police tied him to a chair, beat and punched him in the head and frequently deprived him of food and sleep during interrogations. Dhondup Wangchen suffers from Hepatitis B, for which he has not received any medical treatment.

The documentary features ordinary Tibetans talking about the Beijing Olympics, the current situation in Tibet and the Dalai Lama. Wangchen was formally arrested in July 2008 under suspicion of "inciting separatism and stealing, secretly gathering, purchasing, and illegally providing intelligence for an organisation, institution, or personnel outside the country."

After a secret trial, he was sentenced on December 28, 2009 to six years at Xichuan Labor Camp in Qinghai Province. Amnesty International considers Dhondup Wangchen a prisoner of conscience.

For Get On The Bus 2011, Danielle and Megan - local high school students who have become actively involved in the GOTB action team - will be interviewing Lhamo Tso, Dhondup Wangchen's wife who lives in exile in India, via Skype. This interview will be shown during the speaker's panel portion of Get On The Bus 2011 in April.

Leaving Fear Behind
Google Video (Filming for Tibet)





Lhamo Tso: Behind the Sea
Vimeo (FreeTibet.org uploaded by Jon Lister)



Lhamo Tso: Behind the Sea from Jon Lister on Vimeo.

More information:

• Filming for Tibet
• Amnesty International: China must release Tibetan filmmaker
• Human Rights Watch: China: Ensure fair trial for Tibetan filmmaker
• Reporters without Borders: Dhondup Wangchen
• International Campaign for Tibet: Dhondup Wangchen faces trial
• FreeTibet.org: Free Dhondup Wangchen
• Students for a Free Tibet: Spotlight Film: Leaving Fear Behind

Case Update: Sri Lanka

From amnestyusa.org:

US should investigate alleged war crimes by Sri Lankan President

20 January 2011

The United States should investigate Sri Lankan President Mahinda Rajapaksa, on a surprise visit to the US this week, for his alleged role in perpetrating torture and war crimes, Amnesty International said on Wednesday.

Mahinda Rajapaksa reportedly left Sri Lanka early Wednesday morning with a delegation of 20 bound for the US.

"The US has an obligation under international law to investigate and prosecute people who perpetrated war crimes and grave human rights violations such as extrajudicial executions, torture and enforced disappearances," said Sam Zarifi, Amnesty International's Asia-Pacific director.

Mahinda Rajapaksa is commander in chief of Sri Lanka's armed forces, which face numerous allegations of war crimes, enforced disappearances, and torture.

Under international law, military commanders may face criminal responsibility if they knew, or should have known, of such crimes being committed by their subordinates.

The President's visit comes as a Panel of Experts appointed by UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon works on a report advising him on accountability issues in Sri Lanka.

Both Sri Lankan government forces and members of the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam are accused of having committed war crimes in the final phase of the decades-long conflict.

Amnesty International has called for the UN to initiate an international investigation.

"Thousands of victims in Sri Lanka demand accountability for the abuses they've suffered from the Sri Lankan security forces as well as armed groups such as the LTTE," Sam Zarifi said.

In December Wikileaks exposed a secret US Embassy cable sent by Ambassador Patricia Butenis from Colombo in which she noted the difficulty of bring perpetrators of alleged crimes to justice when "responsibility for many of the alleged crimes rests with the country's senior civilian and military leadership, including President Rajapaksa and his brothers ...."

Amnesty International said the US should further investigate these allegations and support calls for an international investigation into Sri Lanka's role in war crimes.

Focus on Sri Lanka Action

At last night's Group 133 meeting a Group 133 member and GOTB coordinator gave a presentation detailing the GOTB 2011 Sri Lanka action, including the actions "asks," the current situation in Sri Lanka and background and history regarding the 30 year civil war.

Some History:

Sri Lanka is an island nation off the southeastern coast of India. The island was occupied for some 2,000 years by the neighboring Sinhalese and Tamil kingdoms, but like many of the island's neighbors, Sri Lanka (or Ceylon, as it was then known), eventually came under the influence of European colonial powers. The Portuguese arrived in the early 1500s, then the Dutch in the 17th Century, and eventually the British annexed the territory in the 1800s. After World War II, during the decline of colonialism, Sri Lanka gained independence in 1948, however, the island which had traditionally been ruled by separate kingdoms, was now under one government, the majority of which was Sinhalese.

Independence:
A pattern of Sinhalese discrimination against the Tamil majority began early in the newly independent nation. In 1949, Sinhalese began colonization of Tamil territories in the north and east of the island, in 1956, the government named Sinhalese the sole, official language of the country. In 1970, the government began a policy of "ethnic standardization," severely limiting access to higher education for Tamil students. By this time, peaceful protests and demonstrations of Tamil people were met with violence by the government. During the 1970s and 80s, Tamil militant groups began forming, most notably, the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE) or "Tamil Tigers." While the Tamil Tigers primarily targeted Sinhalese military targets, they also conducted targeted political killings, even killing Tamil government officials or academics they considered to be "traitors" to the Tamil cause.

Civil War:
Between 1983 and 2009, the Tamil Tigers and the Sri Lankan government battled while civilians were often caught in the crossfire. Both sides are accused of committed war crimes, particularly during the final stages of the war in 2009. These include the use of child soldiers and attacks on civilians by the Tamil Tigers, and extra-judicial executions, carpet bombing and indiscriminate massacres of civilians and Tamil fighters by the Sri Lankan government. Ultimately, the war left up to 40,000 civilians dead and some 300,000 people displaced.

"The war has ended - not the conflict."
Although the Sri Lankan government militarily defeated the Tamil Tigers in 2009, troubles continue for the Sri Lankan people.  A climate of repression continues in the country, particularly for journalists; politically motivated killings continue with no investigations. Humanitarian NGOs are very restricted in their work: the Red Cross is restricted from working in the north, and other NGOs are allowed only to deliver material goods and restricted from provided psychological support, community rebuilding, addressing women's needs or searching for missing persons.

GOTB 2011 Sri Lanka Action:
The 2011 Get On The Bus Sri Lanka Action will call on the UN to launch an investigation into war crimes committed during the civil war by both the Sri Lankan government and the Tamil Tigers (LTTE).

The pressure for an investigation into war crimes is high right now, making a GOTB action on this issue all the more relevant. Pressure is especially high after the release of an execution video in November of last year.

As I posted in my December 28 post, there is currently a three-person panel investigating alleged violations of international human rights and humanitarian law during the final stages of the war. This panel will report back to UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon with their recommendations for possible future actions.

For more information:

• International Crisi Group - Sri Lanka
• Amnesty International USA - Sri Lanka (lots of resources and action information)
• Human Rights Watch - Sri Lanka (news and downloadable PDF reports)
• UNHCR - Sri Lanka country profile
• UN Human Rights Commission - Sri Lanka
• The ICRC in Sri Lanka
• WFP - Sri Lanka
• BBC News - Country Profile: Sri Lanka
• CBC News - The History of Sri Lanka 
• Reporters without Borders | Reporters Sans Frontières - Sri Lanka
• Committee to Protect Journalists - Sri Lanka

GOTB Action 2011: Sri Lanka

At our upcoming Group 133 meeting, one of our members will be providing more information about our Get On The Bus 2011 Sri Lanka action. The planned action will have activists demonstrating outside the UN building in New York, calling on the United Nations and Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon to conduct an independent investigation into war crimes committed during the Sri Lankan civil war by both the Sri Lankan security forces and the Tamil Tigers.

If you saw my December 28 post, or follow this issue closely, you know that there is a possibility the UN may decide to conduct an investigation on their own, before the April 8 event. Naturally, we'll be very pleased if this happens, but it will also mean that we'll have to shift our focus for Get On The Bus. Should this be the case, we will demonstrate outside the Sri Lankan Mission to the UN and call on the government of Sri Lanka to protect the freedom of expression of journalists working in the country.

From the AI USA Sri Lanka country page:

In recent years, outside the conflict zone, journalists and other media workers have been attacked. At least 14 media workers have been the victims of unlawful killings since the beginning of 2006; one has allegedly disappeared in the custody of the security forces, while others have been tortured and arbitrarily detained. Emergency regulations issued by the Sri Lankan President have been used to silence critical media and generally violate freedom of expression in Sri Lanka, including through detention without charge or trial for periods lasting up to 18 months.

One of 2010's GOTB actions - and subsequent successes! - included calling for the immediate and unconditional release of J.S. Tissainayagam, or "Tissa," a Sri Lankan journalist who was arrested in 2008 for writing two articles which criticized the Sri Lankan governments conduct during the war with the Tamil Tigers.

Sri Lanka's Ghosts
from Human Rights Watch on YouTube:
(a bit dated, but gives a good sense of the human rights situation in Sri Lanka)




Refugees flee Sri Lanka "safe zone" - May 2009
Al Jazeera English on YouTube




More information:

• AI USA - Sri Lanka (lots of great resources and introductory information)
• Human Rights Watch - Sri Lanka (several downloadable PDF reports and other resources)
• International Crisis Group - Sri Lanka (information about war crimes committed in Sri Lanka)
• Reporters without Borders | Reporters Sans Frontières - Sri Lanka

The next AI Local Group 133 meeting will be Tuesday, January 11 at 7p.m. at the AI Northeast Regional Office in Davis Square at 58 Day Street, Suite 409.

Case Update

From BBC News:

18 December 2010 Last updated at 09:40 ET

Sri Lanka ends ban on UN war crimes probe team

Sri Lanka's government says it will now allow a team of UN investigators to visit the island, reversing an earlier refusal to grant visas.

The three-man panel was appointed in June by the UN secretary general to look into alleged war crimes in the final stage of the government's war with Tamil Tiger rebels in 2009.

Sri Lanka angrily opposed the move and set up its own internal commission.

Colombo now says the panel may visit and share evidence with its inquiry.

Sri Lanka consistently denies its forces violated international humanitarian law during the long conflict, maintaining that only the Tamil Tigers did.

People suggesting otherwise are often labelled as traitors in Sri Lanka.

The fact that Colombo has changed its mind and will now admit to the country the panel is something of a concession, says the BBC's Charles Haviland, in Sri Lanka.

'Enemy objectives'

Announcing the relaxation of the ban, Sri Lanka's foreign ministry confirmed on Saturday what UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon told reporters a day earlier: that his panel - an Indonesian, and American and a South African - would visit the island.

The ministry said they would be admitted so that they could make a presentation to Sri Lanka's own domestic commission investigating the war's final years. No date has been set.

However, our correspondent says it is unlikely that the UN experts will be given free rein to go around making investigations.

Six months ago the Sri Lankan foreign minister said the members of the UN panel would not be granted visas and described the initiative as "unwarranted interference".

In July another government minister, Wimal Weerawansa, led a cabinet-backed hunger strike and protest against the panel outside the UN's local compound.

Our correspondent says that same minister - a maverick, ardently nationalist lawmaker - is still insisting that the panel be "given no space" to visit Sri Lanka.

The panel's visit would help "accomplish enemy objectives", Mr Weerawansa recently said, urging all Sri Lankan people to protest against their presence in the country.

The UN estimates that Sri Lanka's conflict killed up to 100,000 people, displaced hundreds of thousands more and held back the island's growth and economic development.

A Get On The Bus Success Story

One of the actions of the 2010 Get On The Bus event included demonstrating outside the Sri Lankan Mission to the United Nations and calling for the immediate and unconditional release of J.S. Tissainayagam.

J.S. Tissainayagam, or "Tissa," a Sri Lankan journalist, was arbitrarily detained by the police in Colombo on March 7, 2008 and subsequently indicted five months later. Under the Prevention of Terrorism Act, two articles written by Tissa which criticized the government's conduct in war against the Tamil Tigers, were used to convict and sentence him to 30 years hard labor. In May of 2009, President Barack Obama specified Tissa as an "emblematic example" of the unfortunate truth of mistreatment of journalists.

On August 31, 2009, he was convicted and sentenced to 30 years rigorous imprisonment, but Tissa appealed his conviction. On January 11, 2010, the court granted his request to be released on bail while his appeal was pending. Amnesty International considered him to be a prisoner of conscience, imprisoned solely in connection with his journalistic activities.

On May 3, 2010, the Sri Lankan government announced that President Rajapaksa had planned to grant him a pardon, but the pardon had not yet been issued. The long-awaited presidential pardon was finally issued in mid-June. J.S. Tissainayagam left Sri Lanka and entered the United States on June 19, 2010. Thanks to those who took action on his behalf.

(Tissa speaking at the 2010 Amnesty International Northeast Regional Conference in November at Boston University.)

You can read about more Get On The Bus success stories and history on the GOTB web site.

Get On The Bus 2011

Group 133 and other Get On The Bus supporters have begun planning for next year's Get On The Bus (for human rights) event!

Last night Group 133 members voted for four actions to be included in the April '11 event:

• Calling for the immediate and unconditional release of Dhondup Wangchen, a Tibetan filmmaker and prisoner of conscience and Group 133's special focus case.
• Calling for the immediate and unconditional release of Filep Karma, a West Papuan activist who was arrested by Indonesian authorities in 2004 for raising the outlawed Morning Star flag. Karma is the AI-USA Mid-Atlantic region's special focus case.
  
• Calling on UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon to establish an independent international investigation into war crimes committed by both the Sri Lankan government and Tamil Tigers during the Sri Lankan civil war.
• Urge the government of Chad to protect refugees from Darfur and internally displaced persons from Chad, particularly women and girls.

Of course, these may change or be tweaked as the event draws closer. We're really excited this year because our friends in the Washington DC and Mid-Atlantic region will be holding their own Get On The Bus solidarity actions in the Capital.

Watch here for more information about Get On The Bus '11, the cases mentioned above and other details about the event. For more information visit the Get On The Bus web site at www.gotb.org or the Group 133 web site at www.amnesty133.org.

Movie showing at Brandeis: "No More Tears Sister"

Hello All,

I was asked to write for the blog in order to inform everyone about what is going on with the Brandeis Chapter in terms of getting ready for GOTB and hopefully to share some successful ways to get the word out about GOTB. And this just happens to be my first blog ever...so here goes!

In order to inform fellow students about the issues we are focusing on with GOTB and to get out the word about GOTB in general our chapter decided to hold a movie showing on one of the focus cases. Anna, the GOTB'09 Coordinator, helped us get our hands on a copy of the film "No More Tears Sister," which recounts the life of renowned human rights activist Dr. Rajani Thiranagama and her work for human rights in the midst of the conflict in Sri Lanka. Before the film we talked a bit about GOTB and this year's focus cases then played the video posted on www.gotb.org to show students exactly what this event is. We also had two letters for people to sign and send to the president of Sri Lanka, one demanding protection of civilians, the other demanding freedom for political prisoners.

In terms of logistics, it was very easy (not to mention free!) to get the rights to show the film publicly. If you want to show this movie with your group contact the GOTB Coordinator (gotb_AT_amnesty133.org) to get the film and then go to www.amdoc.org/outreach/events/register.php/ to register your group with American Documentary Inc. and then register the event.

Good luck!