Sri Lanka Frees Detainees

Thursday saw the release of almost 4,300 Tamils from government run detention camps in northern Sri Lanka. This comes amidst international criticism by human rights groups, that the government is not doing things fast enough to release people from the camps. The detainees are just a percentage of a group of 40,000 people who have been allowed to return to their native places.

At the end of the 26 year battle with the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE), in May this year, almost 270,000 minority Tamils were displaced from their houses in northern Sri Lanka, which was the target of repeated shelling by the government, during the war.

The detainees were not freed earlier due to official investigations and screenings of the people for any tie to the LTTE. The government had also maintained that it needed to clear the area of any mines or other dangers. Human rights activists have constantly condemned the detention as a 'collective punishment for the ethnic group' and criticized the conditions in the camp. They claim that it infringes on basic human rights.

Government officials have promised the villagers that they will be compensated for everything that they have lost in the war and during their detention. Basil Rajapaksa, brother of President Mahinda Rajapaksa, said in a public meeting, "We will take steps to give you all that you lost, other than the lost lives."

The release came in the wake of the publication of a US backed report listing details of killing of civilians carried out by both, the army and the LTTE during the war. The report, which covers the final battle waged between the two sides from January to May, was released by the State Department. The report alleges that the LTTE allowed young children to join the guerrilla troops and claims that the government sanctioned forces broke ceasefires with rebels and killed innocent civilians of Tamil ethnicity.

In a statement released by Human Rights Watch, the Asia Director, Brad Adams underlining the credibility of the report said that it, "should dispel any doubts that serious abuses were committed during the conflict's final months." He also urged for further investigations into the matter by independent bodies given, "Sri Lanka's complete failure to investigate possible war crimes."

Sri Lanka responded to the report by calling it 'unsubstantiated and devoid of corroborative evidence'. The government has gone on record on its website by saying, "there is a track record of vested interests endeavoring to bring the government of Sri Lanka into disrepute through fabricated allegations and concocted stories."

The President of Sri Lanka has asked the international community to stop criticizing Sri Lanka and help the country to rebuild itself after war that has drained its resources and caused damage.