Release Tamils from Sri Lanka camps, say parties

COLOMBO - Five Sri Lankan political parties have demanded that the hundreds of thousands of Tamils interned in camps since the end of the war in May should be released immediately.

In a joint statement, leaders of four Tamil and one Muslim political parties described as illegal the “forcible detention of Tamil citizens” in the island’s north.

They said the detention had no “basis in the constitution” and was “in gross violation of international human rights norms”.

“These people should be released immediately to return to their homes and permitted to resume without hindrance their traditional livelihood activities,” the statement said.

They should also be permitted “to take up residence with friends and relatives… Those likely to face criminal charges should be produced in a court of law without further delay”.

The statement was issued by V. Anandasangaree, Mano Ganesan, Rauff Hakeem, K. Vigneswaran and R. Sampanthan.

An estimated 280,000 Tamil men, women and children have been kept in government camps since they fled the Tamil Tiger territory just before and after the guerrillas were crushed by the military.

The mass detention has come under international criticism.

The leaders also demanded that Muslim people evicted from the north by the Tamil Tigers some two decades ago should be allowed to return to their homes and resume their economic and social activities.

“The curfew and other restrictions on normality in many parts of the Northern Province and elsewhere are unjustified. People in certain parts of the country live in fear, avoid even essential travel, and are inhibited in employment related and social activities,” they said.

“We call for an end to military administration and restrictions placed on civilians, and we urge the restoration of full civilian administration to facilitate return to economic and social normality.”