by:Prof. Rajiva Wijesinha

Over the last month, Amnesty International has issued a number of statements about Sri Lanka. Its latest is entitled ‘Blocking Aid Workers Endangers Trapped Civilians’, and is replete with quotes from a gentleman named Sam Zarifi, who has taken the place of the previously ubiquitous Yolanda Foster. Yolanda’s concern with Sri Lanka had not been confined to her Amnesty hat. Right through August, she had been one of the key players in trying to orchestrate a letter of complaint to the Secretary General of the United Nations with regard to Sri Lanka.

That letter was finally sent it seems over the signatures of several Sri Lankan Non-Governmental Organizations. It was not however sent to Sri Lankan government officials and, at the time of Amnesty’s September 11^th demarche, it had not even been shown to the Sri Lankan Permanent Representative to the United Nations in New York. It had however been sent to heads of various UN agencies in addition to the Secretary General, including Radhika Coomaraswamy, Special Representative of the Secretary General for Children and Armed Conflict, the most senior Sri Lankan now working in the UN system. She had been encouraged to pass this around, but refrained from doing so.

A human skeleton, estimated to be at least 7000 years old, several other pre-historic stone tools including animal remains have been unearthed from the Godawaya archeological site in Ambalantota. The human skeleton was found in a burial chamber with its head pointing to the North, sources from the Department of Archeology said.

A team of archeologists had conducted this excavation in sand and gravel deposits in Godawaya, supposed to be a historic and pre-historic site with archeological value.

The LTTE launched its armed struggle over two decades ago vowing to protect civilians. But, today it has come to such a pass that it is shamelessly taking cover behind people. When Prabhakaran promised a final solution through war in his heroes` day speech of 2005, a few days after the induction of the present President Mahinda Rajapaksa, one may have thought he was equal to the task. Then, he threw down the gauntlet at Mavil Aru and dragged a wavering government into war. The rest is history.

The Defence Ministry order that all the INGOs as well as the UN agencies withdraw from the LTTE-held areas has compounded Prabhakaran`s fears. Time was when the LTTE rode roughshod over INGOs, which had to keep their local staff indoors for months on end to prevent them being forcibly conscripted. But, today the situation has changed. The LTTE is prostrating itself before INGOs pleading with them not to leave Kilinochchi. It is organising protests against the pullout of the UN. Civilians have also been banned from leaving the LTTE-held areas.

By: Marian Menaka Fernando