Livewire - Amnesty International blogging for human rights

People displaced by armed conflict, northern Sri Lanka, 26 April 2009. © Private

By Yolanda Foster, Amnesty International’s researcher on Sri Lanka.

Six months ago the Government of Sri Lanka announced that war in Sri Lanka was finally over. Victory seemed sweet to ordinary Sri Lankans in the south. The deliberate killing of civilians by Tamil Tiger suicide bombers polarized communities and bred real fear that conflict could leak into ordinary life and affect anyone at any time.

Triumphalism about the elimination of the Tamil Tiger leadership led to dancing in the streets of Colombo. What was forgotten in the moment of victory was the suffering of tens of thousands of Tamil civilians displaced by the conflict and now unlawfully detained in camps in the north east.

Continuar leyendo ‘Six months of suffering in the Sri Lanka camps’ »

Amnesty International activists raise banners in support of the Sri Lankan displaced.

By Tim Molyneux, a volunteer working in Amnesty International’s Sri Lanka team.

On Monday night I took part in a big event to raise awareness about the hundreds of thousands of internally displaced people in Sri Lanka currently confined in mass detention camps.

This marked the first day of an international week of action in support of the ‘Unlock the Camps’ campaign, calling on the Government of Sri Lanka to ensure safety and dignity for all displaced people in Sri Lanka.

Continuar leyendo ‘Standing in solidarity with displaced people in Sri Lanka’ »