Summary
Mr. J. C. Weliamuna, one of the
leading human rights lawyers in Sri Lanka, is
under threat of imminent arrest on fabricated charges.
As the state emergency laws allow police to arrest and
detain suspects for long periods without trial, there is
grave concern that authorities will arrest Mr. Weliamuna
and carry out further defamation on him while he remains
detained. According to an unofficial report, Sri
Lanka State Intelligence Unit has prepared a surveillance
list with names of 35 journalists and human rights
activists, which is categorized into a point
system based on their work. Mr. Weliamuna was found on
the top of the list.
The harassment on human rights defenders has been
intensified after the presidential election, which was
held on 25 January 2010. It is believed that Rajapaksa
government is campaigning against anti-corruption
individuals and organizations. In the past two months,
Mr. Weliamuna and his organization, Transparency
International Sri Lanka (TISL), has been subjected to
slander by local printed media, attempting to undermine
his reputation and the credibility of the anti-corruption
work of TISL. Along with the campaign, Sri Lankan
government has increased scrutiny on non-governmental
organizations and sought legal power to hamper their
work.
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Sample
Letter
We are writing with grave
concern on harassment on Mr. Weliamuna, a human
rights lawyer and the executive director of
Transparency International of Sri Lanka (TISL).
We learnt that intimidation on Mr. Weliamuna has
been escalating after the presidential election
in this year. In the past two months, there were
several reports in public media, slandering
Mr.Weliamunaˇ¦s misuse of TISL's funds. The
defamation has hampered the meaningful work of
Mr. Weliamuna and TISL. We also learnt that there
is a surveillance list prepared by the State
Intelligence Unit, with Mr. Weliamuna's name on
the top of it. In a justice society with
well-functioned judiciary system, civilians
should never be black-listed by the authority
without concrete evidence. The great
anti-corruption efforts paid by Mr. Weliamuna and
his organization should be appreciated, not
discouraged. The harassment on Mr. Weliamuna and
the other human rights defenders has raised our
worry about the commitment of Rajapaksa
government to lead the country to recover from
the post civil-war situation.
Please be reminded that International Covenant on
Civil and Political Rights, which your country is
a party, calls for "the prohibition of
arbitrary or unlawful interference with an
individual's privacy, family, home or
correspondence, and of unlawful attacks on his
honour and reputation."(Article 17)
Therefore, we urge you to take prompt action to
protect Mr. Weliamuna from arbitrary arrest and
unlawful attacks on his reputation, and stop all
sorts of political oppression on human rights
defenders and dissidents.
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Background
Exploitation of the Tribals
Having 30.2% literacy rate and 78.5% of total population
being tribals, Dantewada is a major base of Naxalite
violence. The underdevelopment and poverty in the
district is preventable with its rich natural resources,
such as the famous Bailadila mines; however, the tribals
fail to enjoy the natural resources and security due to
the Salwa Judum and the local government's negligence.
Salwa Judum campaign has made clampdown of Naxalite an
excuse to exploit villagers, since its emergence in 2005.
In the past 4 years, nearly 300,000 Adivasis in 700
villages in Chhattisgarh have been displaced. Around
50,000 Adivasis have migrated to neighbouring Andhra
Pradesh and Orissa states. About 200,000 Adivasis are
still hiding in the jungles of Chhattisgarh for survival.
The vacated land, including Reserve Forest land, would be
sold to estate and mining corporations, both local and
foreign. Moreover, local government in Dantewada
announced that villagers have to provide proof of land
possession before 2005 to a five-member committee to get
land ownership. Tribals are unlikely to provide the proof
as thousands of them had abandoned their lands before
Salwa Judum came.
Response of Activists
Himanshu Kumar, through his organization Vanvasi Chetna
Ashram (VCA), started a “human shield”
programme to help the displaced tribals to return to
their lands and facilitate rehabilitation. “We
reject the theory that every tribal is either a Naxal or
part of Salwa Judum,” said Himanshu. “We are
trying to tell the tribals about the Supreme Court order,
and urge them to return and start farming.”
Meanwhile, Himanshu worked for improving the situation in
refugee camps, at the cost of confronting the police.
“The tribals in these camps have become
criminalised,” said Himanshu. “They have no
source of income in the camps. They have no land, they
cannot farm. Looting has become their only
employment.” For villagers who stayed in their
lands, VCA taught them how to hold corrupt officials
accountable and how to file First Information Reports
(FIRs), based on VCA's principle “to strengthen
democracy at the roots”.
Despite living in this Naxalite-dominated zone for
nearly two decades and getting threat to life and
security, Kumar never felt the urgency to flee the
district nor stop his work. Through VCA, tribals learnt
about their entitlement of rights, such as rights to take
participatory role in the development of their homelands,
rigths to access to basic necessities. Intimidation on
him intensified when he began to protest the abusive
power of the police and Salwa Judum, filing at least 600
complaints of human rights violations committed by them.
Himanshu has sent at least 1,000 complaints to the
Superintendent of Police (SPs) in Dantewada, usually
being rejected. One of the reasons is that the police did
not dare to file FIRs against the Special Police Officers
(SPOs) - as they are armed by the state through Salwa
Judum campaign.
Suppression of Information
Along with the battle between the State and Naxalites,
another issue has made the situation of human rights
workers and tribals more vulnerable - state suppression
of civil society and rights to freedom of expression,
through government-controlled media.
Given the neglect of national media and the absence of
a robust local press, human rights workers, such as
Himanshu, were minorities who could disseminate the
information of reality and bridge the rest of India to
the remote jungles of Chhattisgarh.
The Chhattisgarh government is making great efforts to
squash any space for dissents and democratic protest.
Information of the district are not allowed to be spread
outside; outsiders are prohibited from entering the
district too. On 29 December 2009, independent
fact-finding team led by Nandini Sundar, professor of
sociology in Delhi University, and Ujjwal Kumar Singh,
professor of political science, were refused by all
hotels. They were unable to communicate freely with
locals and their movements were curtailed under law and
order restrictions.
Without human rights workers helping tribals to file
complaints against criminals and disseminating
information, the situation in the district has no way to
reach the world outside. Now, the human rights workers
are living under threat, therefore the district will be
further isolated and the human rights violations will be
more difficult to prevent.
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