New UK immigration report says #srilanka continues to operate an extensive intelligence gathering operation in the UK, monitoring protests, surveilling and unencrypted social media. #lka
Also for all those who said branding wasn't a thing & alleged the poor old victims actually paid someone to burn them - the UK Home Office now says "injuries which are self-inflicted by proxy are likely to be extremely rare".
And according to Robert Knox the burning with hot irons goes back to 1641:
Amnesty was reporting on burn marks on the chest of victims in 1989.
And again in 1997 - burning with heated metal rods:
& in 2009 in the @UNHumanRights OISL report more branding:
In advance of 2day's UK parliament debate on #srilanka #humanrights .@SLHinLondon sent MPs a confidential spin document. It claims the new version of the draconian Prevention of Terrorism Act will IMPROVE things - not what 11 UN experts said: .@ambikasat ohchr.org/en/press-relea…
It claims the Office on Missing Persons supports families of disappeared in getting legal documents - but it was a struggle even to get the OMP's annual report which is not online!
Its says the OMP has PUBLIC TRUST which is highly debatable - here are families of the disappeared condemning the OMP & demanding the body ends its 'sham investigations' ! tamilguardian.com/content/famili…
US senators issue stmt to say the international community must continue to push for justice, transparency, and accountability for human rights violations committed during the civil war to help the people of #SriLanka move forward. 🙏 leahy.senate.gov/press/as-un-ge…
The full senate resolution calls for full funding for the #SriLankan accountability project
It’s also pretty forthright about @GotabayaR government in #lka
very very disappointing UN Geneva session on #srilanka in terms of accountability for war crimes &crimes against humanity - esp. systems crimes against inter alia #tamils .@UNHumanRights@UN_HRC
Experts sent private messages saying many of the speeches were like a bad joke.
@UNHumanRights@UN_HRC Worth .@UNHumanRights recalling what @raad_zeid said in 2016 as OHCHR chief re the inability of the #srilanka judicial system to deal with international crimes & how the State’s security sector &justice system have been distorted &corrupted by decades of impunity.
@UNHumanRights@UN_HRC@raad_zeid UN OHCHR recommended 'the establishment of an ad hoc hybrid special court, integrating international judges, prosecutors, lawyers &investigators, mandated to try notably war crimes & crimes against humanity' - now there's SILENCE on the hybrid court.
They complain about vague legal definitions - esp. regarding INTENT to cause communal disharmony & say language needs amending. Also say PTA might allow 4 unlawful detention, confessions thru #torture + concerned about who can arrest and if law can be retrospectively applied.
Also that official recognised places of detention need to be used with proper registers & families informed.
As we come up to UN #victimsoftorture day (26 June) let's recall the #srilanka security forces' 'White Vans' (synonymous with abduction & #torture - & sometimes disappearance) date back to the JVP era. They don't really stop & start, depending on the government in power - alas.
In 1989 an .@amnesty report said "in a typical case, plainclothes armed men arrived at the victims' home at night, travelling in Pajero keeps or Hiace vans...usually they gave no explanation for taking away the victim..."
@amnesty President Gotabaya Rajapaksa said in 2019: "May be our intelligence agencies used Hi Ace vans which are white. I did not introduce it. It happened under all the previous Governments".