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Thursday, November 20, 2008 - 09.18 GMT |
Govt. rejects AI charges of aid blockade
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The Sri Lanka Government categorically
rejects the assertion made by Amnesty
International (AI) in its latest report that
it is carrying out a policy of blocking
humanitarian aid needed for the people at
present displaced in the Wanni region,
states a spokesman for the Presidential
Secretariat.
It is correct that a large proportion of the
civilian population of the Wanni region who
live in locations still controlled by the
terrorists of the LTTE are undergoing
considerable hardship and suffering due to
the rigid policies of the LTTE of preventing
the free movement of civilians and making
use of them as human shields against the
advancing forces of humanitarian liberation
of the Sri Lanka Government.
The Government is fully aware of the numbers
of persons who need assistance and it is
satisfied that the maximum assistance is
being provided to these people, under the
prevailing conditions, especially the
difficulties caused by the intransigence and
brutality of the LTTE, with regard to the
very people it claims to represent and
allegedly liberate.
Under the prevailing situation the
Government sees no need for any
international monitors to assess the needs
of the affected Sri Lankan citizens or to
carry out the effective distribution of
relief already being done through the
International Committee of the Red Cross,
other identified relief agencies and the
government machinery.
It is necessary to mention that there has
been considerable credible evidence of
non-government agencies that were engaged in
relief work in the Wanni region, having
provided both financial and material
assistance to the LTTE, for the pursuit of
its separatist goals against the sovereign
state of Sri Lanka, through terrorism.
A more detailed response to the claims and
allegations made by AI will follow the
Presidential Secretariat states.
Background
This web site publishes without comment the
following excerpt of the Background to the
conflict in Sri Lanka as stated by AI.
“The security situation for civilians
including displaced people has worsened
since May when conflict intensified in Wanni.
The LTTE has blocked freedom of movement for
the displaced in the Wanni. The LTTE appears
to have no capacity to provide safety, or
food or shelter and yet prevent families
from moving to safer areas.
The LTTE has a history of silencing dissent
in Wanni and treating conscientious
objectors badly. Recent reports highlight a
large camp at Moonru-Murippu in which,
following its takeover by government forces,
it was revealed that conscripted people who
refused to fight were locked into metal
cages, with pointed wires extending inside.
The pointed wires ensured that they had to
stand in a bent position and were pricked if
they tried to move. They were let out only
when they agreed to the LTTE’s demands.”
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