STAND at USM

Last Update: Dec. 16, 2008 **From the Genocide Intervention Network**

A recent increase in nationalist sentiments within the Sinhalese government combined with a rising militancy by the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE) caused violence in Sri Lanka to resume in mid-2006.

On January 2, 2008, the Sri Lankan government formally pulled out of a deteriorating ceasefire in place since 2002. The current conflict is rooted in long standing ethnic tensions between the Sinhalese majority and the Tamil minority. Peace processes are so far unable to truly address the grievances of either side and the government has repeatedly expressed its desire to resolve the conflict militarily. Continued relapses of violence result in non-combatant civilian death and large scale displacement as well as widespread "disappearances", with over 1,100 people abducted by both government and LTTE forces since the beginning of 2006. The LTTE continues to target civilians through suicide and bus bombings as well as forcibly recruiting children to join its ranks.

• The (Sinhalese) Sri Lankan Government. The Sri Lankan government, currently ruled by militant hardliners, has historically considered Sri Lanka as a Buddhist land inhabited by the Sinhalese. The government has discriminated against minorities, especially the Tamils, and preserves its ideology through indiscriminate mass atrocities.

• The Tamil Tigers (LTTE). Ostensibly fighting for an autonomous Tamil state, the LTTE is responsible for multiple bombings of civilian targets throughout southern Sri Lanka. The group is also responsible for the widespread forced recruitment of civilians, the use of civilians as human shields against government attack and engaged in other widespread human rights abuses including extra-judicial killings and abductions.

• The Karuna Group (TMVP). The Karuna Group is a breakaway faction of the Tamil Tigers which garnered support from the Sri Lankan security forces to attack the LTTE. They forcibly recruit child soldiers and regularly abduct and murder suspected LTTE members and supporters.

The government, the LLTE, and factions such as the Karuna group have all indiscriminately committed mass atrocities against innocent, non-combatant civilians throughout the ongoing conflict in Sri Lanka. With over 250,000 people displaced since mid-2006, the treatment of displaced persons on the island remains a significant concern. The following crimes against humanity and mass atrocities are being committed against civilians on a regular basis:

• Indiscriminate summary executions and extrajudicial killings
• Forced displacement through bombings, including suicide bombings
• Abductions and "disappearances"
• Arbitrary arrests and detention
• Recruitment of child soldiers