us congressional caucus on ethnic and religious freedom in sri lanka launched

8/14/2019 US Congressional Caucus on Ethnic and Religious Freedom in Sri Lanka Launched

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US Congressional Caucus on Ethnic andReligious Freedom in Sri Lanka launched

Tamil Guardian 14 November 2013

A US Congressional Caucus on Ethnic and Religious Freedom in SriLanka was launched on Wednesday, at Capitol Hill in Washington C at!pm local time"

#he Caucus, co$chaired %y Rep" anny a&is '$(L) and Rep" *ill +ohnson'R$H), has already seen additional US -em%ers o. Congress /oining"

Addressing guests at the launch e&ent, Congressman +ohnson said he wasproud to co$chair this caucus" 0ointing to the last stages o. the war in Sri

Lanka, Congressman +ohnson said that the attacks on ci&ilians in the so$called 1o Fire 2ones were a %latant &iolation o. international law" Addingthat it was &ital to re$esta%lish a strong US$Sri Lanka relationship, he saidthat he had seen 3shocking4 &ideos .rom the .inal stages o. war, and it wasimportant to ensure that all those responsi%le .or war crimes and humanrights &iolations are held accounta%le"

Citing reports %y U1 High Commissioner .or Human Rights 1a&i 0illay,regarding land gra%s and threats to .reedom o. e5pression and the media,Congressman +ohnson asserted that the Caucus would try to shed light onSri Lanka as a critical issue o. human rights"

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Congressman a&is also spoke in e6ually passionate terms o. the need to

%ring attention to Sri Lanka" escri%ing his own personal &isit to Sri Lanka,a&is said that the person with whom he spent the most time in Sri Lankawas a #amil -em%er o. 0arliament who was su%se6uently assassinated inchurch during Christmas" He said when he &isited Sri Lanka, there wereessentially two go&ernments side$%y$side, with two Supreme Courts andtwo separate /ustice systems"

Congressman a&is outlined a &isit to an orphanage in a part o. the 1orth$East then under the control o. the L##E, which was %om%ed %y the SriLankan military a.ter he le.t" #he Sri Lankan go&ernment had claimed this

was a training camp .or terrorists, Congressman a&ise5plained, %ut addedthat he had met the 3most delight.ul children (7&e e&er seen4"

Congressman a&is descri%ed how his entire time in Sri Lanka was under ahea&y military guard, always with 3soldiers in .ront o. us and %ehind us"4

Congressman a&is concluded that he now has a %etter understanding o.the struggle, and %elie&es the Caucus will pro&ide an opportunity .or more-em%ers o. Congress to %e engaged in promoting /ustice and peace in SriLanka"



Le.t to Right8 r 1immi 9owrinathan, Lisa Curtis, Am%assador Ashley Wills, Sadanan hume, Congressman a&is 'lantern)

-arking the launch, a panel discussion entitled $ :What;s ne5t .or Sri Lanka$ progress or %ackpedaling $ and the US$Sri Lanka relationship<: $ tookplace, with Sadanand hume .rom the American Enterprise (nstitute asmoderator, and a panel including Ashley Wills, the .ormer US Am%assadorto Sri Lanka and the -aldi&es, Lisa Curtis .rom #he Heritage Foundation,

and r 1immi 9owrinathan, a policy consultant"

Speaking .irst, Am%assador Wills criticised the Sri Lankan go&ernment7striumphalism since the end o. the armed con.lict in !==>" E5pressingconcerns o&er the o&erall human rights situation in the country, he citede5amples including media %eing intimidated, courts not .unctioning as theyshould, 19s harassed, and 3neo$colonial settlement in areas?in the 1orthand East"4

Am%assador Wills said,

“0resident Ra/apaksa and his %rothers ha&e dispatched 6uite a largenum%er o. Sinhalese in areas that were traditionally #amil, including@ilinochcih, -ullaithee&u and +a..na"4

Criticising the Sri Lankan 0resident .or :%reaking promises:, Am%assadorWills said that Ra/apaksa had pre&iously pledged to strengthen the BthAmendment, %ut was now weakening its scope and powers"



Following on, Lisa Curtis reiterated concerns o&er land rights, descri%ing itas a 3ma/or issue"4 She said more than a thousand #amils ha&e .iled casesa.ter the Sri Lankan military reportedly seied their land .or 3so$calledsecurity and de&elopment purposes":

Stating that the US is deeply concerned a%out the o&erall direction o.democracy in Sri Lanka, Curtis said that US$Sri Lanka relations ha&e clearly%een in a 3downward spiral4 .or the last D years howe&er it is importantthat the US remain engaged through a com%ination o. 3carrots and sticks4with Sri Lanka"

#he .inal speaker, r 9owrinathan .ocused on the alarming le&el o.militarisation in the 1orth$East, in particular the impact it has on #amilwomen" She said that the militarisation is a 3calculated institutionalisedpractice and per&asi&e ideology which has the a%ility to deepen the impact

o. repressi&e policies:, and that militarisation in the 1orth$East has an 3acti&e impact on politics and social interactions as a .orm o. staterepression"4

r 9owrinathan stated that a recent sur&ey in Sri Lanka .ound that de.ence.orces occupied o&er one third o. the land inha%ited %y the #amil populationin the 1orthern 0ro&ince, and that inter&iews conducted with mem%ers o.ci&il society highlightedmilitarisation as the %iggest pro%lem .acing the#amil people today"

(n considering the gendered impact o. militarisation, r" 9owrinathanoutlined .i&e speci.ic areas o. concern8 prostitution, rape, coerci&epopulation control, suicide and domestic &iolence"

iscussing the pre&alence o. rape during the last phase o. the armedcon.lict, %ut also today, r 9owrinathan said .rankly that prostitution iseasily .ound a.ter pm in @ilinochchi, and constitutes a .orm o. se5ual&iolence"

Highlighting reports o. coerci&e population control, r 9owrinathan citedrecent cases o. %irth control %eing gi&en to #amil women without theirconsent and how the hus%ands o. these women were angry when they.ound out a%out the coerced %irth control"Conte5tualising the incidentsoccurring today, with the numerous reports o. .orced a%ortions %eingcarried out on #amil women at the end o. the armed con.lict, she statedthat #amil women were told a%ortions were necessary %ecause the .oetuseshad %een e5posed to chemical weapons"



r 9owrinathan also pointed to the high le&els o. suicide with youngwomen %etween G$!D, and the rise in domestic &iolence, which she saidwas partially due to increased alcoholism and depression among men"

utlining the per&asi&e .ear psychosis in the 1orth$East, r 9owrinathansaid that this .ear lea&es the a&erage woman 3a.raid to walk, a.raid to talk,a.raid e&en to see something that may %e suspicious?you sur&i&e %y %eingdea., mute, and %lind"4

She asserted that the population must %e mo%ilised in a way 3that is not /ust inclusi&e o. women, %ut where women are in .act central to articulatingthe grie&ances and demands o. a marginalised community"4

Standing at le.t8 Congressman +ohnson

us congressional caucus on ethnic and religious freedom in sri lanka launched

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