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US slams police, Karuna and LTTE | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
The United States has strongly criticised the human rights violations by the Sri Lanka police, paramilitaries and the Tamil Tigers. The US Department of State said both parties have failed to respect the Cease Fire Agreement (CFA) signed in February 2002. Quoting figures from international truce monitors, 2005 Country Report on Human Rights Practices (Sri Lanka) said the Tamil Tigers have committed “14 violations for every 1 committed by the government.” The report also accused the paramilitaries, suspected of linked to the government, of carrying out continuous attacks against political opponents. Police torture “These groups included the Karuna faction of the LTTE, the Eelam People's Democratic Party (EPDP), and the People's Liberation Organization of Tamil Eelam (PLOTE),” it said. The US government was highly critical of torture and killings in police custody.
“The Human Rights Commission (HRC) reported that police killed 25 individuals in police custody. The HRC determined that 20 of those individuals died as a result of torture in police custody.” According to Asian Human Rights Commission (AHRC), this was the first time that the US government has listed extrajudicial killings by the police. There have been 1798 arrests under the emergency regulations during the year, according to the report. Tamil Tigers The US government was very critical of the Tamil Tigers, too. The Tigers forced the Tamils under their control to accept their judicial system, according to the report. “The LTTE's legal system is composed of judges with little or no legal training. LTTE courts operated without codified or defined legal authority and essentially as agents of the LTTE rather than as an independent judiciary.”
The LTTE is accused of killing nearly 200 security force personnel and political opponents during the year. “There were credible reports that LTTE killed 68 members of the police and military, more than 106 members of anti-LTTE Tamil paramilitary groups, LTTE cadres loyal to the Karuna faction, alleged Tamil informants for the security forces, and civilians.” The 16-page report blamed both parties of exerting pressure on journalists, especially in the east, denying them the right of freedom of speech. | LOCAL LINKS  Co-chairs urge LTTE to end unrest19 December, 2005 | Sandeshaya Kadirgamar killing instructed by LTTE : IGP28 August, 2005 | Sandeshaya Gobi, killer supspect of SSP arrested17 August, 2005 | Sandeshaya Justice urged for Lanka Tamil massacre 24 June, 2005 | Highlights Lanka ‘heading towards era of terror’11 April, 2005 | Highlights SLMM urged by LTTE to investigate killings08 February, 2005 | Sandeshaya EXTERNAL LINKS The BBC is not responsible for the content of external internet sites | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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There were credible reports that LTTE killed 68 members of the police and military, more than 106 members of anti-LTTE Tamil paramilitary groups
