The start of the Tamil and Sinhalese New Year in April was not promising. On the night of the 28th of April when the entire population of Sri Lanka was glued to a television screen to watch the World Cup Cricket final between Sri Lanka and Australia, the LTTE launched an air attack on fuel stations including a storage of gasoline outside Colombo. It sent a shockwave through the city that is unprepared to face such attacks from the sky. The attack by two small aircrafts sent a warning message to leadership in Colombo which has set its mind to defeat the LTTE militarily.

Already the people in the North and East are bearing the brunt of the war. Human Rights violations continue on a large scale. The media are also being threatened. The developments triggered the Pope to urge the President of Sri Lanka, who visited the Vatican, to respect human rights and restore the dialogue with the LTTE. Both the UK and the US are cutting aid to the Sri Lanka due to the prevailing human rights situation. However, the parties of the conflict seem not to be influenced by these developments. In the North the LTTE is aggressively recruiting civilians including children while the GoSL stepped up bombings in the North. At the same time, it has indicated that it will hand over police powers to the military, possibly resulting in further violations of HR.

The work of the teams
Meanwhile, NPSL was forced to respond to an incident involving the discovery of a hand grenade in one of its vehicles in Trincomalee. As a consequence, two of its staff members were arrested. They were forced to spent two weeks in prison despite clear indications that the grenade had been placed in the vehicle by a third party without their knowledge. The Ministry of Defense followed by the Sinhala media took the opportunity to discredit NPSL publicly even though it promised not to interfere in due process. The incident fits in the hostile environment that INGOs and UN agencies face in Sri Lanka. Again, this was illustrated by several email threats that individuals and agencies collectively received. Despite its general good public standing in Sri Lanka, NPSL is still required to respond to such threats and attacks on its image and it must continue to show its nonpartisanship and ensure that its actions are seen as impartial.

Fewer cases of forced child recruitment were being reported in the East partly because of the ongoing fighting but also because the lack of progress on releases. It becomes harder to meet the expectations of families who measure success only by releases of their child. Nevertheless, two children were released after intervention by NPSL and its local partners. NPSL Vala and Batti continued hosting family meetings to increase the confidence of families and prepare them for meetings with the armed parties. Eight families attended a meeting at the TMVP office in Batti and were treated with more respect due to the accompaniment of NPSL and the fact that they acted as a group.

The search for safe places also remains priority in Batticaloa. The new Colombo Response Team is assisting in trying to set up an informal network that can assist. NPSL Batti continued visiting IDP camps and participated in the distribution of leaflets in the camps explaining the rights that they have in the return to their homes. Again, this is part of the empowerment and strengthening of the vulnerable groups. The local networks that NPSL are trying to mobilize are gradually getting bigger but the willingness to take on or even discuss sensitive issues is still very low. The increase of the fighting is also affecting the mobility and communication of the teams.

NPSL Trinco’s efforts were focused on the release of the two staff members. It received support from the new Colombo Response Team. The incident required the team to keep a low profile during April. It managed to facilitate several fact-finding missions from Colombo and assisted in several cases involving severe human right violations now being taken up in Colombo. It was also available for the Mutur Peace Committee that has opened up an office and now makes lawyers available to civilians several times a week. The new Peace Committee in Kinniya is also making progress towards a more stable formation.

In Jaffna the situation remains tense especially after LTTE planes targeted Palaly airport on April 24th. Massive cordon searches by the army and navy ‘to find LTTE suspects who have infiltrated Jaffna take place on a daily basis. NPSL Jaffna’ role is clear. It facilitates the monitoring and documentation of human rights violations by working side by side with several human rights defenders. NPSL Jaffna is also gradually trying to expand the security and protection network.

NPSL Colombo communicated with other international colleagues, local agencies and respected individuals, the GoSL and the media regarding the grenade incident. It received a lot of support including from the Ministry of Human Rights and other local authorities and was able to overcome the small crisis. It is pleased to announce that the two staff members were released, albeit on bail. They have started their work for NPSL again.

Although NPSL is being approached by many individuals and local and international organizations, including the victims and witness protection unit of the International Independent Group of Eminent Persons, that realize the potential of NPSL in the insecure environment and its contributions in protection so far, it is also recognized that it must act with caution as those who oppose violence face many threats in Sri Lanka.

Report written by Marcel Smits (Sri Lanka Project Director) and Christine Schweitzer (Programme Director)