Document #1073807
IRB – Immigration and Refugee Board of Canada (Author)
1) The April 1989 edition of
Refugees, a periodical published by the United Nations High
Commission for Refugees (UNHCR), reports that 42 000 returnees and
displaced persons had been assisted by the UNHCR to that date. A
spokesperson for the UNHCR in Ottawa provided an update to the
IRBDC, incating that the recent appeal to governments for funding,
dated 25 May 1989, put the number of repatriated Tamils at 42 900.
Regarding the number of spontaneous returnees, the spokesperson for
the UNHCR stated that as of March 1989, the number stood at 17 290.
The UNHCR document appealing to governments for funding estimated
the number of Sri Lankan Tamils still in India to be approximately
80 000.
2) Documentation provided by the UNHCR
notes that returnees are temporarily received in transit facilities
at Talaimannar in Mannar District or Kankesanthurai in Jaffna
District. After a maximum stay of four days, transportation to the
village of origin is arranged. A copy of the article on the UNHCR
program in Sri Lanka from the Refugee magazine dated April
1989 is attached. This, as well as the attached copy of the IRBDC
paper on repatriation to Sri Lanka, provide details on the results
of the repatriation programme.
3) An alliance of Tamil groups, led by the
Eelam People's Revolutionary Liberation Front (EPRLF), which
supported the Indo-Sri Lankan accord of 1987 now administer the
Northeastern province. ["Sri Lanka: The President Makes His Stand",
Asiaweek, 16 June 1989, p. 54.] However, as the issue paper
on repatriation points out the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam
(LTTE), the main armed militant group, are still strong enough to
cause considerable loss of life and property in their attacks
against military and civilian targets. Cordon and search operations
are still conducted by the IPKF and Sri Lankan Army. The issue
paper further describes the violence in the Sinhalese areas of Sri
Lanka, where attacks by the Janatha Vimukthi Peramuna (JVP) and
vigilante groups continue unabated, with an estimated 2000 people
killed in the first three months of 1989.
4) A report on continuing human rights
violations in Sri Lanka, published by Amnesty International in May
1989, states that as of 12 January 1989, 251 people remained in
custody under the Prevention of Terrorism Act. [Amnesty
International, Sri Lanka: Continuing Human Rights
Violations, (London: Amnesty International International
Secretariat, 1989), p. 4.] This report also states that under the
Emergency Regulations, 445 detainees faced prosecution under the
Penal Code; 382 had been indicted under the Emergency Regulations;
and no information was provided to Amnesty International regarding
the status of a remaining 223 people. [Ibid., p. 5.] (Most
of those held at that time under the Emergency Regulations were
from the southern province and suspected of having links with the
JVP). In addition to those held under the Prevention of Terrorism
Act and the Emergency Regulations, Amnesty International claims
that "hundreds" of suspected LTTE members and some alleged members
of other Tamil groups remain in IPKF custody. There are no reports
of charges against or trials of these detainees. [Ibid.,
p.7.]
5) The Amnesty International report on the
situation in Sri Lanka claims that under the Prevention of
Terrorism Act, detainees have the right to make representations
before an advisory board, but the board's recommendations to
release prisoners are not acted upon by the government in most
cases. [Ibid., p. 4.] Also, over 500 habeas corpus
petitions were lodged in Sri Lankan courts in 1988 but the majority
of those held were released when the emergency was lifted in
January 1989. [Ibid., p. 7.] Amnesty further reports that a
habeas corpus petition filed against the IPKF went
unanswered, even though contempt of court proceedings were brought
against the officer in charge of the IPKF camp where the alleged
detention took place. [Ibid.] Earlier reports from this
human rights monitoring group also contained instances of habeas
corpus petitions going unanswered by the IPKF and Sri Lankan
forces.
Regarding the situation of one year ago,
Amnesty International published a report in August 1988 regarding
the return of Tamils to Sri Lanka. In this report an article in the
Indian Express of 27 July 1988 was quoted as numbering the
detainees held by the IPKF in the north and east of Sri Lanka at
2500. [Amnesty International, Amnesty International Statement on
the Situation in Sri Lanka With Respect to the Return of Tamils to
Sri Lanka, (London: Amnesty International International
Secretariat, 1988), p. 3.] Two years ago, in May 1987, Amnesty
International reported that at least 3000 men and women were held
in detention on suspicion of involvement with armed Tamil groups or
in some cases with left-wing Sinhalese groups. [Amnesty
International, Sri Lanka: Recent Reports of "Disappearances" and
Torture, (London: Amnesty International International
Secretariat, 1987), p. 1.]
With regards to the prosecution of members
of the IPKF for other actions, previous Amnesty International
reports mentioned that a small number of Indian soldiers had been
either discharged or court martialled for rape committed against
Tamil women. This was particularly the case during the assault on
Jaffna in the Autumn of 1987. However, a researcher at the IRBDC
contacted Amnesty International regarding more recent prosecutions
for rape. The London secretariat's research team replied by stating
that in Amnesty's recent Sri Lanka update, mention is made of
several IPKF soldiers being prosecuted for rape and sodomy. (The
research team adds that it is perhaps an indication of the
magnitude of the discipline problem facing the IPKF, if the army is
publicizing the prosecution of its own personnel.)
ATTACHMENTS
Amnesty International. Sri Lanka:
Continuing Human Rights Violations. London: Amnesty
International International Secretariat, 1989. 3-9.
United Nations High Commission for
Refugees. "Dossier: Sri Lanka", Refugees. April 1989.
19-30.
"Sri Lanka: The President Makes His
Stand", Asia Week. 16 June 1989. 54.
Immigration and Refugee Board
Documentation Centre. "Sri Lanka: Repatriation", Issue
Paper. May 1989.