Stop Rape of Unarmed Women in Sri Lanka

The global community is anguished that, in the latest outbreak of violence in Sri Lanka, the Sri Lankan Armed Forces as well as the LTTE are targeting unarmed civilians.

A bomb (June 15th) planted by LTTE on a bus killed 64, including 15 children, while the Sri Lankan Navy attacked a church (on June 17th) packed with refugees in Mannar killing 5 and injuring 44 .

The extent of violence is manifested in the over 3000 refugees who have already fled to India in addition to thousands of displaced persons who wanted to flee to India but have either been captured or kept by force in temporary shelters in Mannar by the Sri Lankan government. From December 2005 to mid June 2006, 519 innocent civilians have been killed and many thousands uprooted from their homes in the north and east.

For more information on the recent events in this conflict:
http://www.uthr.org/SpecialReports/spreport21.htm,
http://www.uthr.org/SpecialReports/spreport20.htm

Additionally, there has been a series of predetermined attacks on women and children. On June 8th 2006, a young mother, Mary Madeline and her husband and two children were brutally tortured and murdered in their home in Vankalai, Mannar. Tamil women in the north, for example, have been raped and murdered by Sri Lankan soldiers in retaliation against attacks by the LTTE. Some women who survived such malicious acts and took their attackers to the courts have been subsequently harassed. Some are missing to this day.

Now the Sri Lankan Army has decided that its soldiers will conduct operations wearing masks – making the victims now unable to even identify the perpetrators of violence.

The global community, by signing this document , expresses solidarity with the Mannar Women for Human Rights and Democracy and supports their demands that:
1. The Sri Lankan government immediately launch a thorough, independent, and impartial investigation into the killing of four innocent civilians, including two children, on 8th June 2006 in Mannar. We demand that such an investigation be conducted with the participation of members of independent human rights organizations.
2. The President of Sri Lanka appoint an independent commission to investigate and effectively prosecute all reported cases of murder, torture and sexual violence committed by the armed forces.
3. International donors provide special support to create a fund that will protect survivors of state sponsored sexual violence and increase the victims' access to the justice system locally and, if necessary, internationally.
4. While strongly condemning all attacks on civilians – Tamils, Muslims or Sinhalese – we call upon all the warring parties in Sri Lanka to immediately stop hostilities and resume peace talks with a genuine commitment to finding a lasting political solution to the conflict.
5. Lastly, we call on the government of Sri Lanka, the LTTE and the international community to ensure the inclusion of women in all delegations for future peace talks.


Related Links
The Irula Struggles
The Case of Missing Millions
Violence in Our Schools
Significance of Women’s Day
Posted by collective at June 25, 2006 12:15 AM