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NEWS & LETTERS, February - March 2009
Sri Lanka repression
The Sri Lankan government has captured Mullativu, the last stronghold of the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE). The current fighting pits about 50,000 government troops against an estimated 1,000 remaining LTTE fighters.
Amnesty International reports that up to 300,000 civilians have been placed at risk in the current fighting. Many have been killed by government shelling, despite the provision of supposed "safe zones." Others have been prevented from reaching medical care by the LTTE fighters. There is a shortage of food and lack of shelter. According to Amnesty International, "A doctor working in a hospital in a 'safe zone' says that about 1,000 shells fell around the hospital."
The civil war in Sri Lanka between the government and LTTE has claimed more than 70,000 lives. The LTTE has fought for Tamil independence from the Sinhalese-dominated Sri Lankan state. A truce in 2002 left the LTTE in control of a significant part of Sri Lanka, but the current government repudiated that agreement last year and launched an all-out attack. They took Kilinochchi, the rebel capital, on Jan. 2.
Sri Lanka has also seen a recent wave of attacks upon the press. On Jan. 2, Sunday Leader newspaper editor Lasantha Wickremetunga, an investigative journalist, was shot and killed in Colombo on his way to work. Maharaja Television was bombed after being labeled "unpatriotic" for its coverage of the government's war on the LTTE. In the most recent incident, gunmen on motorbikes wounded Upali Tennakoon, a Sri Lankan newspaper editor, and his wife.
The home of human rights lawyer J.C. Weliamuna was also attacked with a hand grenade late last year. He has been active in cases involving torture, extrajudicial killings, and enforced disappearances.
--G. E.
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