Tom Lantos Human Rights Commission (TLHRC)

Hearing Announcement:

Sri Lanka:

The Ongoing Human Rights Crisis

Tuesday, April 21, 2009

3:30 – 5 p.m.

Room: 2172 Rayburn HOB

Please join the Tom Lantos Human Rights Commission at a hearing on the ongoing humanitarian and human rights crisis in . The hearing will be held at 3:30 p.m. Tuesday, April 21, (room: TBA) and is open to the interested public and the media.
 
Since ethnic tensions between the Sinhalese majority and Tamil minority exploded into open warfare in 1983, tens of thousands of people have died in this ongoing armed conflict between the Sri Lankan government and the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE), designated by the U.S. as a terrorist organization.

In February 2002, both sides agreed to a cease-fire, giving hope that the Norwegian-brokered peace negotiations could bring a permanent end to this conflict. In 2004, senior LTTE commander Colonel Karuna broke ranks with LTTE founder and leader Velupillai Prabhakaran and launched attacks on LTTE targets with at least the tacit support of the government, significantly changing the military situation in the east.

In 2005, current President Mahinda Rajapaksa was elected President on a wave of Sinhalese popular sentiment that clearly favored a military solution. After the Sri Lankan government regained control of the Eastern Province in 2007, it officially withdrew from the cease-fire agreement in January 2008 bringing the peace process to an end.

In January 2009, government troops successfully drove LTTE fighters from their remaining bases in the north into a 12.5 square-mile strip in the Vanni region, originally designated a "no-fire zone" by the government and off-limits to journalists and humanitarian workers. The United Nations estimates that over 150,000 Tamil civilians are caught between the two forces in this narrow strip which has been shelled continuously, killing civilians and destroying medical facilities.

On April 12, the Sri Lankan government announced a 48-hour “humanitarian pause” in the fighting to allow civilians to leave the area.  Earlier this week, the Tokyo Co-Chairs, a group of international donors for Sri Lanka (Japan, EU, Norway and U.S.), urged the Sri Lankan government and the LTTE to protect the civilian population by allowing aid to be delivered, and called on all sides to respect the no-fire zone. Those who fled the area are being held in government-run camps and denied the right to leave. So far, the remaining civilians in this region are either unwilling to leave for fear of government reprisals or forced to stay at gunpoint by LTTE fighters, bracing for the final push of the Sri Lankan military. In addition, severe human rights violations continued in other parts of , including suicide bombings, the killing of journalists, and extra-judicial killings and disappearances.

To discuss these issues, we will welcome as our witnesses:***

I. Panel:

Representative, Department of State (invited)

II. Panel:

Amin Awad, Rep. to Sri Lanka , UNHCR

Amb. Arthur "Gene" Dewey (Ret.), formerly IIGEP

III. Panel:

Miriam Young, U.S. Counsel on Sri Lanka

Anna Neistat, Human Rights Watch

Bob Dietz, Committee to Protect Journalists

***Witness list subject to change.

If you have any questions, please contact Hans Hogrefe (Rep. McGovern) or Elizabeth Hoffman (Rep. Wolf) at 202-225-3599.

/s/James P. McGovern, M.C.                                   /s/Frank R. Wolf, M.C.