US Congressional Caucus on Ethnic and Religious Freedom in Sri Lanka launched

Tamil Guardian 14 November 2013 A US Congressional Caucus on Ethnic and Religious Freedom in Sri Lanka was launched on Wednesday, at Capitol Hill in Washington C at !pm local time" #he Caucus, co$chaired %y Rep" anny a&is ' $(L) and Rep" *ill +ohnson 'R$,H), has already seen additional US -em%ers o. Congress /oining" Addressing guests at the launch e&ent, Congressman +ohnson said he was proud to co$chair this caucus" 0ointing to the last stages o. the war in Sri Lanka, Congressman +ohnson said that the attacks on ci&ilians in the so$ called 1o Fire 2ones were a %latant &iolation o. international law" Adding that it was &ital to re$esta%lish a strong US$Sri Lanka relationship, he said that he had seen 3shocking4 &ideos .rom the .inal stages o. war, and it was important to ensure that all those responsi%le .or war crimes and human rights &iolations are held accounta%le" Citing reports %y U1 High Commissioner .or Human Rights 1a&i 0illay, regarding land gra%s and threats to .reedom o. e5pression and the media, Congressman +ohnson asserted that the Caucus would try to shed light on Sri Lanka as a critical issue o. human rights"

Congressman a&is also spoke in e6ually passionate terms o. the need to %ring attention to Sri Lanka" escri%ing his own personal &isit to Sri Lanka, a&is said that the person with whom he spent the most time in Sri Lanka was a #amil -em%er o. 0arliament who was su%se6uently assassinated in church during Christmas" He said when he &isited Sri Lanka, there were essentially two go&ernments side$%y$side, with two Supreme Courts and two separate /ustice systems" Congressman a&is outlined a &isit to an orphanage in a part o. the 1orth$ East then under the control o. the L##E, which was %om%ed %y the Sri Lankan military a.ter he le.t" #he Sri Lankan go&ernment had claimed this was a training camp .or terrorists, Congressman a&ise5plained, %ut added that he had met the 3most delight.ul children (7&e e&er seen4" Congressman a&is descri%ed how his entire time in Sri Lanka was under a hea&y military guard, always with 3soldiers in .ront o. us and %ehind us"4 Congressman a&is concluded that he now has a %etter understanding o. the struggle, and %elie&es the Caucus will pro&ide an opportunity .or more -em%ers o. Congress to %e engaged in promoting /ustice and peace in Sri Lanka"

Le.t to Right8

r 1immi 9owrinathan, Lisa Curtis, Am%assador Ashley Wills, Sadanan

hume, Congressman

a&is 'lantern)

-arking the launch, a panel discussion entitled $ :What;s ne5t .or Sri Lanka $ progress or %ackpedaling $ and the US$Sri Lanka relationship<: $ took place, with Sadanand hume .rom the American Enterprise (nstitute as moderator, and a panel including Ashley Wills, the .ormer US Am%assador to Sri Lanka and the -aldi&es, Lisa Curtis .rom #he Heritage Foundation, and r 1immi 9owrinathan, a policy consultant" Speaking .irst, Am%assador Wills criticised the Sri Lankan go&ernment7s triumphalism since the end o. the armed con.lict in !==>" E5pressing concerns o&er the o&erall human rights situation in the country, he cited e5amples including media %eing intimidated, courts not .unctioning as they should, 19,s harassed, and 3neo$colonial settlement in areas?in the 1orth and East"4 Am%assador Wills said, 0resident Ra/apaksa and his %rothers ha&e dispatched 6uite a large num%er o. Sinhalese in areas that were traditionally #amil, including @ilinochcih, -ullaithee&u and +a..na"4 Criticising the Sri Lankan 0resident .or :%reaking promises:, Am%assador Wills said that Ra/apaksa had pre&iously pledged to strengthen the ABth Amendment, %ut was now weakening its scope and powers"

Following on, Lisa Curtis reiterated concerns o&er land rights, descri%ing it as a 3ma/or issue"4 She said more than a thousand #amils ha&e .iled cases a.ter the Sri Lankan military reportedly seiCed their land .or 3so$called security and de&elopment purposes": Stating that the US is deeply concerned a%out the o&erall direction o. democracy in Sri Lanka, Curtis said that US$Sri Lanka relations ha&e clearly %een in a 3downward spiral4 .or the last D yearsE howe&er it is important that the US remain engaged through a com%ination o. 3carrots and sticks4 with Sri Lanka" #he .inal speaker, r 9owrinathan .ocused on the alarming le&el o. militarisation in the 1orth$East, in particular the impact it has on #amil women" She said that the militarisation is a 3calculated institutionalised practice and per&asi&e ideology which has the a%ility to deepen the impact o. repressi&e policies:, and that militarisation in the 1orth$East has an 3acti&e impact on politics and social interactions as a .orm o. state repression"4 r 9owrinathan stated that a recent sur&ey in Sri Lanka .ound that de.ence .orces occupied o&er one third o. the land inha%ited %y the #amil population in the 1orthern 0ro&ince, and that inter&iews conducted with mem%ers o. ci&il society highlightedmilitarisation as the %iggest pro%lem .acing the #amil people today" (n considering the gendered impact o. militarisation, r" 9owrinathan outlined .i&e speci.ic areas o. concern8 prostitution, rape, coerci&e population control, suicide and domestic &iolence" iscussing the pre&alence o. rape during the last phase o. the armed con.lict, %ut also today, r 9owrinathan said .rankly that prostitution is easily .ound a.ter F pm in @ilinochchi, and constitutes a .orm o. se5ual &iolence" Highlighting reports o. coerci&e population control, r 9owrinathan cited recent cases o. %irth control %eing gi&en to #amil women without their consent and how the hus%ands o. these women were angry when they .ound out a%out the coerced %irth control"Conte5tualising the incidents occurring today, with the numerous reports o. .orced a%ortions %eing carried out on #amil women at the end o. the armed con.lict, she stated that #amil women were told a%ortions were necessary %ecause the .oetuses had %een e5posed to chemical weapons"

r 9owrinathan also pointed to the high le&els o. suicide with young women %etween AG$!D, and the rise in domestic &iolence, which she said was partially due to increased alcoholism and depression among men" ,utlining the per&asi&e .ear psychosis in the 1orth$East, r 9owrinathan said that this .ear lea&es the a&erage woman 3a.raid to walk, a.raid to talk, a.raid e&en to see something that may %e suspicious?you sur&i&e %y %eing dea., mute, and %lind"4 She asserted that the population must %e mo%ilised in a way 3that is not /ust inclusi&e o. women, %ut where women are in .act central to articulating the grie&ances and demands o. a marginalised community"4

Standing at le.t8 Congressman +ohnson