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| Sri Lanka |
| Sri Lanka to retain state of emergency |
| 2009-05-28 |
| The Sri Lankan government will maintain its state of emergency, including sweeping anti-terrorism powers, after the battlefield defeat of the Tamil Tiger rebels, according to a statement posted online Wednesday. The state of emergency is necessary to prevent a resurgence of the rebel movement and to protect cities, Health Minister Nimal Siripala de Silva told the parliament on Tuesday. The statement by de Silva, who is also the governing party's legislative leader, was posted on a government website. "The termination of civil war does not suggest a complete halt to terrorism and related atrocities," de Silva said. Under the state of emergency, police can make arrests, enter homes and seize evidence without warrants and hold suspects for up to 18 months without trial. De Silva spoke in response to an opposition motion to suspend the state of emergency declared after the 2005 assassination of Foreign Minister Lakshman Kadirgamar, which the government blamed on the rebels. The government has said it suspects sleeper cells of suicide bombers remain in the capital. Dozens of checkpoints conduct random searches of vehicles in the capital, Colombo, and at transportation terminals that were a favourite target of bombers. Leading Tamil politician Veerasingham Anandasangaree said it was unfair to keep the emergency powers in place, since most of the Tamil people "gave full support to the army to liberate them. If they are treated in this manner, there is no justice at all." Authorities say they are holding some 9,100 rebel prisoners and would release many for "rehabilitation," while several thousand would be prosecuted on suspicion of involvement in terrorist acts. In Colombo's diplomatic district, hundreds of Sri Lankans protested at the Canadian Embassy on Wednesday over what they said was Canada's support for the rebels and its failure to protect Sri Lankans and their property from pro-rebel ethnic Tamils in Canada. Protesters pelted the embassy with stones, sprayed graffiti on the wall and painted over a security camera. Governments told the UN Human Rights Council on Tuesday that Sri Lanka must ensure Tamil refugees receive humanitarian help to recover from the civil war. Bangladesh, South Korea and Uruguay joined a chorus of calls for Colombo to allow aid agencies into camps holding tens of thousands of people who fled the northwest war zone in which the separatist Tamil Tigers were cornered and eventually defeated. "The people of Sri Lanka, especially the displaced, should be given all the assistance required to restart their lives," Zambia's delegate told the 47 member-state United Nations forum on the second day of its Sri Lanka examination. |
| Posted by:Fred |