FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
AHRC-STM-113-2009
May 20, 2009
A Statement by the Asian Human Rights Commission
SRI LANKA: IDPs are citizens and censorship of their conditions must stop
In a BBC Sinhala Service interview broadcast yesterday (May 19, Evening) the army commander, Sarath Fonseka was questioned about the statement by Amnesty International concerning the three doctors who were previously working in a hospital in what was called the no-fire zone and asked about their current whereabouts (Dr T. Sathiyamoorthy, Dr T. Varatharajah and Dr. Shanmugarajah). The army commanders answer was, you ask me the whereabouts of these persons. But how do you know that they have arrived?
The implication was that as there was no one to see anything, such reports could not be relied upon. The interviewer further asked, did these persons arrive at the government controlled area? The army commanders answer was, no.
The same question was asked of Palitha T. B. Kohona, the Permanent Secretary to the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and his answer was they have, in fact, arrived and have been arrested and are being subjected to investigations. Asked as to what the possible offenses might be, he replied that they had breached public service regulations by speaking without authority to outside sources on confidential matters. These doctors had earlier given interviews to international organisations and media channels, such as the BBC Sinhala Service and Aljazeera, on the shelling of a make-shift hospital in the area which resulted in many deaths and injuries.
The position that since there was no one to see anything, no information is reliable is not a position that a legitimate government, which has the obligation to protect all citizens, can take. The present condition of the IDPs is that most of them are now in government controlled areas and others are on the way. Therefore, like in all matters which take place in areas under government control, the government is under the obligation to treat all IDPs as citizens and grant them all the rights that are accorded to citizens.
IDPs are not prisoners
The IDPs are different to those who are captured as prisoners. In the case of prisoners there may be some restrictions as there always is about prisoners, but even they have rights. Even prisoners should be provided with access to their family members, lawyers and others who are legally entitled to meet them. Thus, in that situation it is only a question of restricted access. However the IDPs are free citizens. Their right to access and information comes from the fact of their citizenship and there should be no restrictions to access than those that apply to all other citizens.
Restrictions based on convenience
Under some circumstances there may be restrictions on people purely based on convenience of managing the situation. However, these should be of a purely administrative nature. For example, a patient in a hospital may have certain restrictions placed on access to him for the convenience of the staff in order that they might provide proper treatment to him in the best possible manner. However, even under these circumstances restrictions on information will violate their rights as citizens and human beings. While there may be some administrative restrictions on the access and the movement of IDPs these should not be similar to those of a prison. Much worse, such restrictions should not be similar to those of a completely closed place where deliberate attempts are made to restrict access in order to prevent any information being received about these persons. Such complete enclosure amounts to censorship and is not only inhumane but also completely illegal both locally and internationally.
The rights of family members, relatives, loved ones, friends and legal representatives
One of the most basic human considerations is the rights of family members to have access to those of their families who are facing difficulties. This same consideration extends to relatives, loved ones, friends and legal representatives. To deny these people access, directly or indirectly, is an inhumane act of the worst kind. The way to deny access directly is to restrict travel into the areas or to deny persons who reach the camps permission to meet their loved ones. (The travel restrictions which were designed as anti-terrorism measures must now be removed and anyway, these should not be used to restrict access to IDPs). Indirect denial of access to loved ones may be manifold; not to give information about the inmates so that anyone can easily find out where their loved ones are, or the making of threats to create a situation where people would fear to even look for their loved ones.
Access to local and international organisations in order to assist the displaced persons
Through many decades the world has organised itself in a very significant way in order to assist refugees and internally displaced persons. In fact, most international agencies including UN agencies and organisations such as the ICRC make it a matter of priority to serve the interests of IDPs in crisis situations. These organisations, besides having resources also have experience gained from attending to similar problems in many parts of the world. Besides this, the calls they make on the basis of information that they have, is received readily throughout the world. In terms of raising assistance for internally displaced persons these organisations and experienced individuals are the best resource. Sri Lanka has also a tradition of attending to people in crisis which has been demonstrated on many occasions; one glaring example being the tsunami of December, 2004. However, there is a difference in the reaction to natural disasters and manmade disasters which have political overtones. The average citizen can either be hampered by prejudice or by fear of reprisal if he generously and boldly intervenes to assist fellow human beings who become victims of these crises. They will always be afraid in a militaristic atmosphere. Therefore in order to enlist the active cooperation of the citizens they need to hear a call that they would recognise as a genuine attempt to seek their cooperation. Mere propaganda calls for the citizens involvement which are made in an atmosphere of intimidation are easily recognised by citizens as pure propaganda. Naturally people who have lived in a country which has a deeply entrenched fear psychosis will be very cautious to come forward to assist in some situation which is considered politically controversial. Thus, it is the obligation of the state to remove all direct and indirect obstructions to assistance and create a genuinely welcome atmosphere for citizen participation. Citizens are more likely to listen to calls from other citizens than from the government or outside sources. For some citizens to make such calls they must themselves have access to the internally displaced persons.
Access to political and community leaders
In a situation like the massive crisis now faced by such large numbers of IDPs the most natural thing that should have happened by now is for all political leaders, whatever their colouring be, to have visited these camps already. By now the people of Sri Lanka should have heard from government leaders who have visited the IDP camps, for example the President, the Prime Minister and other ministers as well as the leaders and the members of the opposition. If such visits were made and given adequate publicity the mood in the country would easily change to create a positive response to the crisis. By now all religious leaders, the leading Buddhist monks of all orders, the bishops and others of all Christian denominations, Hindu and Muslim leaders should have already visited these places and sent a strong message to the nation of their commitment to these people in crisis. The fact that has not happened only means that there are direct or indirect restrictions or active discouragement placed on such visits. While it is the governments responsibility to remove such restrictions, it is the duty of the political, religious and community leaders to take the first step to make such visits, even if it means defiance of any such restrictions.
Access to the media
It is today a part of a globally recognised right for the media to have access to every situation and particularly to situations of a humanitarian nature. It was the media which conditioned a massive and immediate response from the whole world following the tsunami. In many refugee crises and displaced persons situations it is the media that plays the most important role in conditioning the change of attitudes for the better and for generous contributions from the government as well as the people. In the well known example of the mass exodus of Cambodians in 1979 to the border with Thailand, their images caught by the media created impressions which guaranteed global understanding and support for resolving the problem for several decades to follow.
The IDPs are not beggars. They are citizens. Their right to assistance is based on their citizenship and their humanity. The keeping of internally displaced persons without complete respect for their citizenship and humanity can create demoralisation, discouragement and even break their spirits. Their crisis, which has lasted for at least several months now, will naturally have caused certain conditions of brokenness. It is the duty of the government, the duty of all the people of the country and also the duty of the international community to heal this brokenness and to give all assistance for these people to emerge as soon as possible to a position in which they could reassert their citizenship and humanity.
The announcement that the Secretary General of the United Nations will visit the displaced persons of Sri Lanka urgently is welcome news. It is in keeping with the best spirit that has been developed by the better part of humanity in recent decades. This visit should be an encouragement for everyone to make their own visits, physically or by way of solidarity. It is to be hoped that the way this issue is dealt with will set a good example for dealing with similar situations throughout the world.
