Sri Lanka court halts Tamil evictions

FE Team | Published: June 09, 2007 00:00:00 | Updated: February 01, 2018 00:00:00

COLOMBO, Jun 8 (AFP): Sri Lanka's Supreme Court Friday ordered a halt to the eviction of minority ethnic Tamils from the capital, as rights activists attacked the use of "collective punishment" to fight Tamil rebels.
The Supreme Court intervention followed a complaint by a political lobby group that Thursday's police swoop, in which hundreds of Tamils were dragged out of hostels and bused out of Colombo, was a violation of basic rights.
"The court will hear the case on June 22, and in the meantime the police Inspector General was restrained from carrying out any eviction of Tamils," a court official told AFP.
Police and troops pulled Tamils from their sleep early Thursday, bundled them into overcrowded busses and left them at a displaced persons camp in the conflict-wracked area of Vavuniya, 260 kilometres (160 miles) north of here.
The unprecedented move came as Japan's peace envoy to Sri Lanka, Yasushi Akashi, was visiting the island in a bid to bring the warring Tamil Tigers and the government back to the negotiating table.
Sri Lanka's defence ministry insisted the operation was necessary to prevent bomb attacks by the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE), who have been fighting for separation from the island's Sinhalese-majority south since 1972.
But opposition lawmakers described the swoop as ethnic cleansing and similar to Hitler's action against Jews in Germany. The United States -- a key backer of the Colombo government -- also condemned the operation.
The US embassy said in a statement that while Washington "understands and supports Sri LankaÃ‚'s obligation to defend itself against terrorism... this action can only widen the ethnic divide" on the war-torn island.
"We call upon the government of Sri Lanka to stop the forcible removal of its citizens from Colombo, to make public the destinations of those already removed, and to ensure their safety and well-being," the embassy said.
Rights activists also warned the anti-Tamil action had added to the already serious humanitarian crisis in the country and would fan ethnic hatred.
"Nothing could be more inflammatory in Sri Lanka's polarised climate than identifying people by ethnicity and kicking them out of the capital," Human Rights Watch said.
"Tamil Tiger crimes don't give the government the right to engage in collective punishment," the New York-based group said.