Sri Lankan IDP Camps Face Further Criticism


By Alok Bhatt
Impunity Watch Reporter, Asia

COLOMBO, Sri Lanka – The U.N. recently released statements containing its sharpest lambast of the Sri Lankan refugee camps.  With the monsoon season looming over Sri Lanka, the U.N. and international human rights groups worry that the heavy rains and possible flooding will render the camps rife with water-borne disease and devastation. 

Conditions in the camps have long been criticized by the international community, as the Sri Lankan government has failed to provide adequate food, clothing, and shelter to displaced persons.  Annual summer rains foreshadowed the potential catastrophe of maintaining congested camps during the monsoon season; August rains destroyed housing structures and collapsed imperative delivery routes for supply vehicles.  Unable to cook and keep dry, the Tamil minority members endured dilemmas which would worsen during the monsoon season.       

Over 300,000 Sri Lankan nationals have been held in temporary government-run camps since the state military’s defeat of the Tamil Tigers this spring.  While the government’s victory effectively ended the civil war that plagued the island nation, human rights groups have asserted myriad issues concerning the treatment of citizens in the aftermath.  The Sri Lankan government made numerous promises of improving camp conditions and liberating displaced persons, but few of their planned initiatives ever came to fruition.
 
(Photograph courtesy of AFP)

 

Besides monitoring and pressure from the U.N., displaced refugees voiced requests to resettle from the camps.  However the government’s liberation process has been lethargic at best.  Furthermore, tensions between the Tamil minority and camp workers have lead to situations in which military-men abused and otherwise mistreated displaced persons.  Additionally, the government’s screening process to identify and remove Tamil Tigers among the camp dwellers has extensively prolonged the Tamil minority’s detainment period.  

 

The Sri Lankan government assured the U.N. that its camp facilities were prepared to endure the torrential rains and flooding of the monsoon season.  The government claimed that it will install proper drainage to mitigate the effect of the rains.  However, given the government’s history of hollow promises concerning vacating and the betterment of its interment camps, there is no reason to believe any further measures will be taken.  Also, the U.K. announced that it would cease all but life-saving assistance funds after the floods subside.  Without additional funding, the Sri Lankan camps may endure more declines in conditions and facilities, as well as longer internment.  

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For more information, please see:

Al-Jazeera – Sri Lanka defends internment camps – 12 October 2009

American Free Press – UN ratchets up criticism of Sri Lankan Camps – 29 September 2009 

BBC News – UK to cut Sri Lanka camp funding – 6 October 2009

UN Philippines Flood Funds Inadequate


By Michael E. Sanchez
Impunity Watch Reporter, Asia  MANILA, Philippines– An appeal to the UN for funds to help the millions of Indonesians hit by the floods and storms in the Philippines has raised only a quarter of the total which they were looking for.

John Holmes, the UN’s emergency relief coordinator stated that in its relief appeal for $74m has only garnered $19m so far.  The region has been hit by back to back typhoons in about a weeks time which has lead to landslides and widespread flooding, resulting in over 650 deaths and many left homeless.  

Predicting the situation may be dire, Mr. Holmes said the UN may need to increase the size of its emergency appeal.  Weeks after Typhoon Ketsana hit on September 26 and Parma hit on October 3, many villages are still flooded with water, increasing the risk of diseases spreading.  Mr. Holmes stated that “Water has been standing already now for three weeks, and is still waist, or chest-deep in places…The longer the water is there and is stagnant, the greater the risk diseases which come from water- malaria, dengue fever, diarrhea, skin infections, leptospirosis.”  The Philippine government has estimated that about six million people have been affected by these Typhoons.  The numbers of homeless as a result are in the hundreds of thousands.

The government has estimated the cost of the damage could be at least $350m, with expectations that losses to agriculture and fisheries will be much more.  The UN estimates that the flooding has destroyed crops including rice worth an estimated $117m, which will lead to food shortages in the country unless aid is received.

The ‘Right to Adequate Food’ is derived from the United Nation’s International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights.  The right to adequate food is an inherent human right for all, to have regular and permanent access, either directly or by financial means to adequate and sufficient food.  Unless additional aid to the Philippines is sent by the UN this right to adequate food will not be realized.  

For more information, please see:

Media with Conscience- UN IN PHILIPPINES FLOOD AID APPEAL– 07 October 2009

BBC News- Toll Rises in Philippine Flooding  – 10 October 2009

BBC News- UN Philippines Fund ‘Falls short’ -13 October 2009

Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations-The Right to Food

Al-Aqsa Restrictions Lifted As Tensions Mount

By Meredith Lee-Clark

Impunity Watch Reporter, Middle East

 

EAST JERUSALEM, Israel/West Bank – On October 11, Israeli police lifted restrictions on Palestinians visiting the Al-Aqsa Mosque in Jerusalem, two weeks after violence exploded around the site. The Al-Aqsa Mosque, also known as the Temple Mount, is on land considered holy by both Jews and Muslims.

 

Since September 27, the Israeli police had closed the site to Muslim males under the age of fifty. On that day, Palestinians threw rocks at a group of visitors the Palestinians suspected of being right-wing extremists. The Israeli police responded with shun grenades. Many Palestinians expressed concern that the tourists would try to pray at the Al-Aqsa Mosque as a political statement during the Jewish Yom Kippur holiday. In the past, political tensions have sparked violence during the Jewish holy days. Most notoriously, the Second Palestinian Intifada, or Uprising, began after Ariel Sharon, who later went on to become Israeli Prime Minister, visited the Al-Aqsa Mosque during the holidays.

 

Prior to lifting the restrictions, Palestinians who did not meet the age requirement and did not have an Israeli ID card were barred from religious services at the mosque. Israeli soldiers were stationed at the gates to the mosque courtyard, checking the IDs of all who arrived. Demonstrations against the police action sprouted up throughout the West Bank and Gaza. On October 9, hostilities had heightened, with Israeli helicopters circling the site and several Palestinian news sources reported that Israeli police posing as journalists were sent into demonstrations to seize those participating.

 

While the police have lifted the restrictions, there may be further repercussions in the region. Jordan has threatened to expel Israel’s ambassador from Amman, citing the provision in the Jordanian-Israeli 1994 peace treaty in which Israel recognized Jordan’s right to look after all Muslim and Christian holy sites in East Jerusalem. The United Nations considers East Jerusalem an occupied territory.

 

There were also unconfirmed rumors running through the city that Israel was planning to dig under the area, with the aim of building a synagogue on the site. At his cabinet meeting on October 12, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu urged the Arab world to ignore the “lies.” Prime Minister Netanyahu also directly addressed Israeli Arabs:

 

“You are citizens with equal rights; we want to live together in coexistence and bring our children prosperity.”

 

For more information, please see:

 

Ha’aretz – Netanyahu to Arab World: Ignore “Lies” About Temple Mount – 12 October 2009

 

Ma’an News Agency – Christians Gather in Support of Muslims Trapped in Al-Aqsa – 12 October 2009

 

Press TV – Al-Aqsa Flares Up Tensions Between Israel, Jordan – 12 October 2009

 

Al Jazeera – Israel Lifts Al-Aqsa Restrictions – 11 October 2009

 

Palestinian News Network – Worshippers Banned from Reaching Al-Aqsa, Prayers Held Outside, Soldiers Pose as Journalists – 10 October 2009

 

UN Facing Criticism for Congo Offensive

By Jonathan Ambaye
Impunity Watch Reporter, Africa Desk

KIVU, Congo-According to multiple reports by several human rights agencies, attempts by the United Nations to help destabilize Hutu Rebel forces in the Congo have taken a turn for the worse.  In the past year, the UN has supported a government military offensive in the Democratic Republic of Congo.  The intention of the offensive was to bring peace to the Eastern part of the Congo through dismantling the Hutu rebels causing havoc in the region. These military operations backed by the UN have actually resulted in widespread civilian killings and rape and has become the reason many are disappointed with the UN’s involvement.

Since January of 2009 it has been reported that more than 1,000 civilians have been killed, 7,000 women and girls have been raped, and more than 6,000 homes have been burned down in the eastern provinces of North and South Kivu. An additional 900,000 people have been forced to flee their homes and live in difficult conditions with host families or in displacement camps with limited food and medical resources.

Many of the killings and rapes have been attributed to Congolese government soldiers who have targeted civilians through killings, widespread rape, looting, forced labor, and arbitrary arrests. Also additional atrocities have been attributed to the Hutu rebel group, the Democratic Forces for the Liberation of Rwanda (FDLR).  One human rights coalition has calculated that for every rebel combatant disarmed during the offensive, one civilian has been killed, seven women and girls have been raped, six houses burned and destroyed, and 900 people have been forced to flee their homes.

Pressure has been put on the UN by many coalitions to assert their power and demand the Congolese government make changes to the military structure. The UN supplies, transports, and in certain cases pays the Congolese government army as part of an international effort to help rebuild the country. With the Congolese government depending on the UN to support their military efforts, many believe the UN has the ability to effect some change in the military practice.

For more information please see:

All Africa – Civilian Cost of Military Operation is Unacceptable – 13 October 2009
Afrik – Congo: UN mIssion Reaps Disastrous Consequences – 13 October 2009
BBC – UN Criticised on Congo Offensive – 13 October 2009

Australian Aboriginal Leader and Advocates Criticize NT Intervention

By Cindy Trinh
Impunity Watch Reporter, Oceania

SYDNEY, Australia – Aboriginal elder Richard Downs, along with various political and legal adversaries, has accused the Australian government of racism against the aboriginal people. Downs criticizes the NT Emergency Response (NTER) measures, stating that the measures have disempowered Aboriginal people.

The Australian government suspended the Racial Discrimination Act to permit certain measures in the NT Intervention, such as compulsory welfare quarantining.

In a press release from Downs, he demands that the Australian government heed to the advice of the UN Special Rapporteur on Indigenous Rights, and end the NT Intervention. Downs criticizes the NT Intervention for taking away the “indigenous and human rights” of the Aboriginal people. He demands for equal treatment, and support for the UN Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples.

Furthermore, Downs states that the suspension of the Racial Discrimination Act has taken away the aboriginal people’s rights to ownership and control of their land.

Professor James Anaya, the UN’s Special Rapporteur on Indigenous Rights, states that the intervention is “racist and discriminatory.” After his visit to Australia, Professor Anaya found that “compulsory welfare income management, land take-overs, and alcohol bans…failed to comply with Australia’s international obligations [and] would have been illegal had the Racial Discrimination Act not been suspended.”

A leading human rights lawyer, Julian Burnside, states that “the federal government must rework or scrap racist elements of the intervention program in remote indigenous communities and honor Australia’s obligations under international law.”

Burnside emphasizes that it “is essential that the directions provided by Professor Anaya be given serious attention.”

Michael Anderson, a leading activist for the Aboriginal people, calls for the reinstatement of the Racial Discrimination Act, and also demands that Section 51 of the Australian Constitution be deleted. This section gives the Australian government the right to make laws with respect to any race it deems necessary. Anderson claims that this section of the Australian Constitution gives leaders too much power and discretion to control the people, and is “without regard for public opinion.”

For more information, please see:
Intervention walkoff’s Blog – Press Release from Richard Downs – 12 October, 2009

Perth Independent Media Centre – Australian government accused of disempowering Aboriginal peoples – 09 October, 2009

Australians for Native Title and Reconciliation – Indigenous rights organisation welcomes UN report on Northern Territory – 28 August, 2009