Lanka, more than three years after the end of the devastating civil war that paralyzed the country for 22 years, has instituted a virtual reign of terror against not only its defeated Tamil minority but against many of its own citizens in the south, critics say.
The government's repressive nature is hardly news. Virtually since the defeat of the Tamil separatists in 2009, the government has continued to crack down on any dissent. In January, the parliament, dominated by Rajapaksa's followers, impeached chief justice Shiran Bandaranayake, eliminating the last institutional check on the executive branch.
The government consistently denies any wrongdoing. However, according to a report released this week by the Brussels-based International Crisis Group (ICG), the Rajapaksa regime "has crossed a threshold into new and dangerous terrain, threatening prospects for the eventual peaceful transfer of power through free and fair elections."
ICG called for international action to halt the slide to tyranny: "Strong international action should begin with Sri Lanka's immediate referral to the Commonwealth Ministerial Action Group and a new resolution from the United Nations Human Rights Council calling for concrete, time-bound actions to restore the rule of law, investigate rights abuses and alleged war crimes by government forces and the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam, and devolve power to Tamil and Muslim areas of the north and east." Full story...
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The government's repressive nature is hardly news. Virtually since the defeat of the Tamil separatists in 2009, the government has continued to crack down on any dissent. In January, the parliament, dominated by Rajapaksa's followers, impeached chief justice Shiran Bandaranayake, eliminating the last institutional check on the executive branch.
The government consistently denies any wrongdoing. However, according to a report released this week by the Brussels-based International Crisis Group (ICG), the Rajapaksa regime "has crossed a threshold into new and dangerous terrain, threatening prospects for the eventual peaceful transfer of power through free and fair elections."
ICG called for international action to halt the slide to tyranny: "Strong international action should begin with Sri Lanka's immediate referral to the Commonwealth Ministerial Action Group and a new resolution from the United Nations Human Rights Council calling for concrete, time-bound actions to restore the rule of law, investigate rights abuses and alleged war crimes by government forces and the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam, and devolve power to Tamil and Muslim areas of the north and east." Full story...
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