President's Counseler Mr. Desmond Fernando writes today to the secretary general of International Commission of Jurists (ICJ) in Geneva about Death Threats to Opposition Parliamentarians in Sri Lanka. The full statement is follows:
I write to bring to your attention the very serious situation in Sri Lanka. Death Threats have been received by Opposition Parliamentarians, particularly by Parliamentarians of the minority Tamil ethnic group.
The Committee of the Human Rights of Parliamentarians of the Inter-Parliamentary Union at its 116th session of January 2007 decided to make this case public and consequently submitted a draft resolution for adoption to the Governing Council of the Inter-Parliamentary Union.
Since independence from 1948, this country has been a vibrant democracy and it is our misfortune that in the last two years there has been a near total collapse of this democracy.
I enclose a copy of the resolution of the Human Rights Committee of the Inter-Parliamentary Union which specifically refers to the death threats to Dr. Jayalath Jayawardena, Mr. G. Ponnambalam, Mr. S. Kajendren, Mr. S. Jayanandamoorthy, Mr. S. Kisshor, Mr. T. Kanagasabai, Mr. K. Pathmanathan, Mr. T. Kathiraman, Mr. P. Ariyanethran and Mr. C. Chandranehru.
It is significant that Dr. Jayawardena's security has been withdrawn, in spite of the fact that official intelligence reports indicated that his life is in danger. Dr. Jayawardena is a Member of the majority Sinhala community who is doing his best to solve the serious ethnic problem in this country. During the Premiership of Mr. Ranil Wickremesinghe who commenced the Peace Process and stopped discrimination against Tamil areas in Sri Lanka, Dr. Jayawardena held the office of Minister of Rehabilitation, Resettlement & Refugees and is highly regarded by the Tamil community. Racist groups who dominate the present government are preventing the government from doing its duty to protect all citizens, particularly Members of Parliament, regardless of race and ethnicity.
I also have credible information that the Government of Sri Lanka in violation of basic democratic norms and humane conduct used para-military groups with whom the government is in close contact to kidnap the son-in-law of Mr. T. Kanagasabai, MP (a Tamil MP), to prevent Mr. Kanagasabai from voting in Parliament against the second reading of the Budget on 19th November, 2007.
Although I am a Sinhalese myself, I am deeply concerned about the manner in which the government is harassing the duly elected representatives of the Tamil people of this country. The working of parliamentary democracy in this country is in serious jeopardy by the use of violence.
With kind regards,
Yours sincerely,
Desmond Fernando
Past Vice President - International Commission of Jurists
I write to bring to your attention the very serious situation in Sri Lanka. Death Threats have been received by Opposition Parliamentarians, particularly by Parliamentarians of the minority Tamil ethnic group.
The Committee of the Human Rights of Parliamentarians of the Inter-Parliamentary Union at its 116th session of January 2007 decided to make this case public and consequently submitted a draft resolution for adoption to the Governing Council of the Inter-Parliamentary Union.
Since independence from 1948, this country has been a vibrant democracy and it is our misfortune that in the last two years there has been a near total collapse of this democracy.
I enclose a copy of the resolution of the Human Rights Committee of the Inter-Parliamentary Union which specifically refers to the death threats to Dr. Jayalath Jayawardena, Mr. G. Ponnambalam, Mr. S. Kajendren, Mr. S. Jayanandamoorthy, Mr. S. Kisshor, Mr. T. Kanagasabai, Mr. K. Pathmanathan, Mr. T. Kathiraman, Mr. P. Ariyanethran and Mr. C. Chandranehru.
It is significant that Dr. Jayawardena's security has been withdrawn, in spite of the fact that official intelligence reports indicated that his life is in danger. Dr. Jayawardena is a Member of the majority Sinhala community who is doing his best to solve the serious ethnic problem in this country. During the Premiership of Mr. Ranil Wickremesinghe who commenced the Peace Process and stopped discrimination against Tamil areas in Sri Lanka, Dr. Jayawardena held the office of Minister of Rehabilitation, Resettlement & Refugees and is highly regarded by the Tamil community. Racist groups who dominate the present government are preventing the government from doing its duty to protect all citizens, particularly Members of Parliament, regardless of race and ethnicity.
I also have credible information that the Government of Sri Lanka in violation of basic democratic norms and humane conduct used para-military groups with whom the government is in close contact to kidnap the son-in-law of Mr. T. Kanagasabai, MP (a Tamil MP), to prevent Mr. Kanagasabai from voting in Parliament against the second reading of the Budget on 19th November, 2007.
Although I am a Sinhalese myself, I am deeply concerned about the manner in which the government is harassing the duly elected representatives of the Tamil people of this country. The working of parliamentary democracy in this country is in serious jeopardy by the use of violence.
With kind regards,
Yours sincerely,
Desmond Fernando
Past Vice President - International Commission of Jurists
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