SRI LANKA

World Report 2001 Entry

World Report 2000 Entry

World Report 1999 Entry

World Report 1998 Entry

Stop Killings of Civilians
Following the outbreak of the third phase of the Sri Lankan civil war on April 19, 1995, the Sri Lankan armed forces and the LTTE engaged in acts of violence that had by July claimed the lives of hundreds of civilians. Among these were a massacre of 42 Sinhalese villagers in eastern Sri Lanka by the LTTE on May 26; the killing of five Muslim civilians in northern Trincomalee district by soldiers on May 6; and on July 9, the deaths of over 100 persons, including at least 13 infants, in a bombing of a church crowded with refugees displaced by “Operation Leap Forward,” a major military offensive launched on the Jaffna Peninsula that day.
(C711) 7/95, 10 pp., $3.00/£1.95
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Halt Repatriation of Sri Lankan Tamils
In August 1993, the Indian government repatriated nearly 7,000 of the more than 80,000 Sri Lankan Tamils then residing in government-run refugee camps in the southern state of Tamil Nadu. The refugees fled northeastern Sri Lanka in June 1990 after fighting broke out between government forces and a guerrilla army. There are indications that refugees would have been repatriated involuntarily, that they were insufficiently aware of the ongoing conflict in Sri Lanka to make informed decisions about returning, and that they may be subjected to persecution upon their return.
(C511) 8/93, 18 pp., $3.00/£1.95
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(C420) Memorandum to Sri Lankan Government, 7/92, 9 pp., $3.00/£1.95

Human Rights Accountability in Sri Lanka
The issue of accountability for past human rights abuses gained considerable prominence in the 1980s as unprecedented global political change focused attention on the crimes of ousted regimes. Unlike most of the nations experiencing radical political change and facing accountability issues, however, Sri Lanka’s political system remains intact. It has enjoyed regular elections since it gained independence in 1948, but Sri Lanka has been torn by a decade-long civil war, several militant insurgencies and brutal government anti-insurgency campaigns. Demands for accountability for past abuses are aimed squarely at perpetrators within the current administration and emanate from an angry citizenry, from human rights groups, and from Sri Lanka’s donor nations. This report from Asia Watch examines this volatile issue in the context of the Sri Lankan conflict and concludes that despite a good faith effort by the government to address human rights abuses, it will be some time before the principle of accountability takes root in Sri Lanka.
(0722) 5/92, 84 pp., ISBN 1-56432-072-2, $7.00/£5.95
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(C414) Sri Lankan Conflict & Humanitarian Law, 4/92, 9 pp., $3.00/£1.95
(C404) Preliminary Findings of Asia Watch Mission, 2/92, 5 pp., $1.00/£0.50
(C307) Human Rights in Sri Lanka: An Update, 3/91, 22 pp., $3.00/£1.95

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