Melbourne, 27 October: Compensation has been demanded for the damaging acts of commission and omission by Norwegian Peoples’ Aid and SOLIDAR in Sri Lanka.
Society for Peace, Unity and Human Rights for Sri Lanka Inc (SPUR), based in Melbourne, Australia has urged Norwegian Peoples’ Aid and SOLIDAR to evaluate the matters and arrange to pay compensation [ad#200×200]to Sri Lanka adequately and urgently. SPUR has pointed out, “Since INGOs such as yours have to uphold at least your own code of conduct, the payment of compensation as requested by us is the only ethical avenue open for you to regain the confidence of Sri Lankans.”
“It has come to our notice that some International Non-Governmental organizations including NPA and Solidar, which functioned in areas that were under the LTTE have wittingly or unwittingly provided assistance to LTTE terrorists to strengthen their organization and to carry on with their human rights violations,” SPUR in an open letter has rebuked.
Given below the full text of the letter written to Mr Felipe Atkins, of Norwegian Peoples’ Aid in Colombo with copy to Ms Conny Reuter-Secretary General, SOLIDAR, Head Office by SPUR Spokesperson Ranjith Soysa:
26 October 2008
Mr Felipe Atkins
Norwegian Peoples’ Aid
Colombo.
Dear Mr Atkins.
Request to pay compensation for damaging acts of commission and omission by NPA & Solidar in Sri Lanka
It has come to our notice that some International Non-Governmental organizations including NPA and Solidar, which functioned in areas that were under the LTTE have wittingly or unwittingly provided assistance to LTTE terrorists to strengthen their organization and to carry on with their human rights violations.
It has previously been observed that the INGOs opted to be silent and thus indirectly helped the LTTE when children were being forced by the LTTE to enlist as child soldiers. Attention was drawn to this when the doctrine of recruiting at least one member from each family was highlighted in the media and only following the decision of the LTTE to extend the practice even to the families of those working for such INGOs did the INGOs protest, in a half-hearted fashion.
The INGOs silence, when food sent by the Sri Lanka Government to the civilians was commandeered by the LTTE, also helped the LTTE to survive. INGOs acted like the proverbial monkey who’ refused to see’, or ‘hear evil’, or ‘report on evil’, when the LTTE forced children and poor civilians to build bunkers and mud walls to protect Kilinochchi and the LTTE bosses.
In particular, the NPA seems to have turned a blind eye when the LTTE drove off with its heavy vehicles, brought in with the permission of the SL Government for humanitarian purposes, to build their defences. NPA’s inexplicable silence had to give away when the SL forces were pressing into the LTTE area and information of what was going on was made public. Whilst the Head Office of NPA expressed its regrets, the culpability of those on the ground cannot be ignored, given the inestimable damage and loss of life caused by what can at best be described as gross negligence and misconduct.
SOLIDAR, which has acted as the coordinating agency for NPA, must bear the blame for not ensuring transparency about this incident.
A media release of 13th October 2008 by the Secretariat for Coordinating the Peace Process, under the heading “Courage and Compensation”, draws attention to this phenomenon, and suggests the need for such agencies to examine their conscience and act properly, by compensating Sri Lankans, in particular Tamils and members of the forces, who have been killed or wounded because of these acts which allowed the LTTE to delay, through human sacrifice, the liberation of the people of the North by their government.
As an advocacy group, which believes in genuine civil society action and programmes, we request Norwegian Peoples’ Aid and SOLIDAR to evaluate the matters we have discussed and arrange to pay compensation to Sri Lanka adequately and urgently. Since INGOs such as yours have to uphold at least your own code of conduct, the payment of compensation as requested by us is the only ethical avenue open for you to regain the confidence of Sri Lankans.
We trust that you will acknowledge receipt of our memo and arrange payment of compensation and restore the good name of civil society movements.
Ranjith Soysa
Spokesperson
Copies to:
* Ms Conny Reuter-Secretary General, SOLIDAR, Head Office
* Hon. Minister for Foreign Affairs -Sri Lanka
* Hon Minister for Disaster Management and Human Rights- Sri Lanka
– source: Asian Tribune –
Remember!!! Human Rights Organizations are the last place to you’d expect to find some of the worst violators of human rights in the World.