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SOLIDAR Consortium in Sri Lanka Weekly Update

Sri Lanka was voted out from the UN Human Rights Council in New York on 21 May despite the intense campaign carried out by Sri Lanka’s Government seeking a re-election. This outcome has been hailed by human rights activists, both national and international, who criticised the Sri Lankan Government’s low standard human rights record in the recent months since the intensification of its war with the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE).

A dramatic increase in the number of incidents involving torture, disappearance of Tamils living in Government-controlled Southern areas and attacks on journalists and aid workers have been observed during the past months. The government has been blamed for failing to bring those responsible to justice. Meanwhile, deliverance of humanitarian assistance to conflict affected IDPs (Internally Displaced Persons) in LTTE-controlled Northern areas have been gravely hampered by the restrictions on access for humanitarian agencies, visa denials, and highly bureaucratised new procedures for transporting essential items including medicine and fuel into LTTE-controlled areas. Under the leadership of the UN’s Inter Agency Standing Committee (IASC) SOLIDAR’s INGO Consortium and other humanitarian agencies will continue to lobby for improvements to the current constraints.