While in the west Obama wraps up the War on Terror (is it over? Did we win?), Sri Lanka is set to end its own battle with terrorism.

As with George W. Bush, the Sri Lankan authorities have not let morals, ideals or standards stand in the way of dealing with evil folk; “If there is a terrorist group, why can't you do anything? It's not against a community... I'm talking about terrorists. Anything is fair...” So said Sri Lanka’s Defence Secretary, Gothabaya Rajapaksa, two years a ago. It seems the Sri Lankan government is failing to do anything but ensure they completely wipe out The Tamil Tigers. They have the militant separatist group surrounded in an area smaller than the city of York, shelling the handful of terrorists and the 250,000 civilians stuck in the region. So far the shelling has killed over 100 civilians, and injured hundreds more.
 
Despite having a name like a kick-ass American Football team, the Tamil Tigers certainly qualify for “evil folk” status. In 25 years of war against the internationally recognised Sri Lankan government, the Tamils have (in no particular order) blown up civilian buses, recruited children as soldiers, conscripted civilians into military service, blocked civilian movement and blown up voting stations. The Tigers fight has been for an independent Tamil state, called Tamil Eelam, where Tamil’s may have their human rights abused by fellow Tamil, instead of being abused by the Sinhalese ethnic majority. The Tigers have violated the human rights of the people they fight for to, err, protect the human rights of the people they fight for.
 
With recent military action making the Tigers look more like kittens, the government of Sri Lanka is patting itself on the back as The Tiger’s await their coup de grace. Unfortunately, the government is not willing to let anyone spoil their good mood, and countless civilians are finding themselves coup de grace collateral. The recent military campaign against Tamil territory has left over 300,000 people displaced, by UN estimate, although the UN is having a hard time counting since all UN and other humanitarian staff were kicked out by the Sri Lankan government in September 2008. The government declared they “will refuse to treat as relief workers (those) who still remain in the [Vanni)... a chilling warning to humanitarian workers," Human Rights Watch noted, “in a country where at least 29 aid workers have been killed since 2006”. Not that the government has appeared to care about the murders, with no significant inquiries and with Defence Secretary Rajapaksa making statements like this in November: “if I can, I will ban all NGOs [from] coming to Sri Lanka, and also turn back those [who are] already here. None of these NGOs have done anything for the northern people…”.
 
Without independent humanitarian aid, the displaced people of Sri Lanka are forced into what the government has dubbed “welfare centres". Dole offices these centres are not. Guarded by police officers and soldiers, the centres have being described as “just badly disguised prisons”. Detainees movements are severely restricted, and anyone wishing to leave the camp must leave a family member behind as a “guarantor” for a swift return. Government officials have confirmed tens of thousands of people are being held in these “centres”, suffering from poor sheltering and sanitation and without any idea of when they will be released.
 
Not that it’s easy or advisable to even discuss the centres' lacklustre hygiene standards. Independent international reporters are all but banned from entering certain areas of Sri Lanka, and the countries own media is gripped with fear. Last week a national newspaper editor and government critic, Lasantha Wickrematunge, penned an editorial predicting his assassination by the government - then promptly died in a mysterious drive-by attack. Wickrematunge is just the latest victim in a series of attacks on the free press of Sri Lanka. Human Rights Watch is campaigning for the release of J.S. Tissainayagam whose detention since March 2008 has been described as “politically motivated” and has “involved a litany of due process violations”. The situation is so dire for journalists even Sri Lankan electro diva M.I.A, whose dad has connections to the Tigers, has spoken out: “in my country you get killed if you report anything the government does to you!”, she opined on her blog.
 
"Even when fighting a ruthless terrorist group like the LTTE, the Government must not be seen as using the same tactics as a terror group”, Foreign Minister Mangala Samaraweera stated in 2006. It seems Samaraweera needs to get with the times: “anything is fair”.

Words: Richard Lemmer, news editor.