(“Injustice anywhere is a threat to justice everywhere “Martin Luther King Jr)

)Date: Mon, Nov 21, 2011 at 12:52 AM

To: Joe.Daniel@parl.gc.ca, Joe.Daniel.c1a@parl.gc.ca, Jo.Daniel.c1@parl.gc.ca

THE TAMIL CANADIAN ELDERS FOR HUMAN RIGHTS

5310 Finch Ave. East, Unit. 10, Scarborough-On. M1S 5E8, Canada.

Phone # 416 613 2787, Efax # 647 247 1010

E-mail: humanrights2611@gmail.com

REG# 1854792

November 21, 2011

Hon. Joe Daniel MP

Don valley East,

House of Commons,

Ottawa.

Dear Mr. Daniel

We, The Tamil Canadian Elders for Human Rights thank you for taking part in the discussion with Madam Elaine Pearson [Deputy Director - Human Rights Watch, Asia Div] on Human Rights in Sri Lanka. We would like to enlighten you with the real situation on Human rights in the North & East [The Traditional and Historical Home land of the Tamils.

Kindly note the following:-

MA Sumanthiran,Tamil National Alliance (TNA) national list MP released a report on the North-eastern situation and tabled it in Parliament on October 21, 2011. This report provided a detail on events in the Northern and Eastern Provinces with particular emphasis on the problems and concerns faced by the Tamil speaking people.

Some of the highlights in the Report are as follows:-

The charges in the report relate primarily to the difficult circumstances of the people's lives and uncaring treatment inflicted upon them that could not be anticipated with the passage of over two and half years from the end of the war. The continuing militarization of the Northern and Eastern provinces demonstrates that the situation is not peaceful in its positive sense. Social hardships include special registration of people, having to keep the security forces informed of guests to their homes, requiring even religious communities to inform the authorities in advance of the meetings they propose to have, and the practice of impunity where there is wrongdoing by government or military officials. With regard to economic hardships, there is the continuing keeping of large tracts of land as high security zones, giving land away to former military personnel and 200,000 people still remaining in transit camps or with relatives and not resettled, although they are out of the main welfare centers.

Some of the charges leveled against the government in the Sumanthiran report are not new ones. An earlier report by the MP was tabled in Parliament in July. But this time there is more detail that gives an indication of the scale of the problem. The report states that "Out of a total land mass of 65,619 sq km, Tamil people inhabited 18,880 sq km of land in the North and East, but after May 2009, the defence forces have occupied more than 7,000 sq km of land owned by Tamil people. There is one member of the armed forces for approximately every ten civilians in the Jaffna Peninsula. The heavy presence of the military continues to be the most serious concern in the North and East."

LARGER DANGER

Another serious concern relates to the continuing military control over people's lives, apart from their physical presence. The report states that "Families must inform the army of the guests they receive, their relationship, and the reason and duration of their visit. Any family gathering to celebrate the birth or naming of a child, attainment of puberty of a girl, a wedding or even a death, requires prior permission from the nearest police post. Every village has a "Civilian Affairs Counter" managed by the armed forces where anyone entering a village is required to register themselves." This is akin to life under a totalitarian regime, not in a democracy that is trying to heal the wounds of war and restore normalcy to the lives of war victims.

The report also makes a serious charge that "Most disturbing are the increasing number of sexual assaults carried out against women and girls in the Jaffna, Mullaitivu and Kilinochchi districts, often by government officials and the military. The brutality with which these assaults are carried out is especially disturbing. Women and girls also face a serious threat due to the labour force from the South being brought in for work on projects taking place in the North. Incidents are reported of women being raped by soldiers, and the victims and their families being too ashamed and afraid to make complaints or file charges. Doctors are being forced by the army to record that perpetrators are 'unknown' or 'unidentified' persons even though complainants have identified perpetrators, often where the involvement of army personnel is alleged."

http://www.freedomfromtorture.org/srilanka-report

*Freedom from Torture has published a new report documenting evidence of torture ongoing in Sri Lanka after the end of the civil war.

Key findings include:

Torture perpetrated by state actors within both the military and police

has continued in Sri Lanka after the conflict ended in May 2009 and is

A variety of different types of torture have been perpetrated in a significant number of locations around Sri Lanka during the post-conflict period. A widerange of different forms of torture have been used, often in combination, to inflict severe suffering on victims of torture with devastating psychologicaland physical consequences. Many Sri Lankan torture victims are left withvisible scarring attributable to both blunt force trauma and burns whichsuggests impunity for perpetrators of torture in Sri Lanka

Freedom from Torture has presented these findings to the UN Committee Against Torture in Geneva who will be examining Sri Lanka in its current session.

To read the document please download the PDF below:

Out of the Silence: New Evidence of Ongoing Torture in Sri Lanka

Sri Lanka's Killing Fields

1.http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_6uSypDgXJ4&feature=player_embedded

2.http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1YObjM7FLuw&feature=player_embedded#at=676

3.http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4iyYfL8CVAw&feature=player_embedded#at=1222

http://www.channel4.com/news/sri-lanka-war-crimes-soldiers-ordered-to-finish-the-job

They shot people at random. Stabbed people. Raped them. Cut out their tongues, cut women's breasts off. I saw people soaked in blood.

'Licence to kill'

He [the witness] described how he had watched as Sri Lankan forces shot dead unarmed Tamil women and children. It is the first time this allegation has been made.

DUBLIN TRIBUNAL FINDS AGAINST SRI LANKA ON CHARGES OF WAR CRIMES

http://warwithoutwitness.com/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=294:dublin-tribunal-finds-against-sri-lanka-on-charges-of-war-crimes&catid=38:reports&Itemid=61

That the Sri Lankan Government is guilty of war crimes

That the Sri Lankan Government is guilty of crimes against humanity

That the charge of genocide requires further investigation

That the International Community, particularly the UK and USA, share responsibility for the breakdown of the peace process.

http://www.warwithoutwitness.com/ – Genocide of Tamils

http://www.cwvhr.org/ – Center for War Victims & Human Rights

http://www.notosrilanka.com/ – Boycott Sri Lankan Products

Yours Truly,

Kumarathasan Rasingam – President

Perampalam Kanapathipillai- Secretary

Ms Umadevi Sivasundram – Treasurer

Selvarajah Ramupillai – Director

Thiyagarajah Sivasundram – Director

Ms Valthuruthamma Vethanayagam – Director

Vijayakanthan N Swaminathan – Director