Killing of 17 aid workers:
SCOPP suggests Independent Probe into
ACF Irresponsibility
SECRETARY GENERAL
Secretariat for Co-ordinating the Peace Process
To Hon Mahinda Samarasinghe 13th August 2007
Minister of Human Rights and Disaster Management
Dear Mr. Samarasinghe,
I write with reference to the interview granted by Sir John Holmes
to Reuters, in which several issues were raised in an irresponsible
fashion. I believe many problems have arisen with regard to the killing
of the 17 Aid Workers in Muttur, and the international community has
seen this as a license to criticize Sri Lankan forces and Sri Lankan
officials without any regard for truth or objectivity.
I have argued before that we have not dealt firmly enough with the
original reason for the tragedy, which was the utter irresponsibility
of the ACF organization in putting such workers at risk. I would therefore
respectfully request that the government ask that an independent inquiry
be conducted into the circumstances under which:
a) workers were sent on August 1st 2006 into a danger area where
violence was already taking place
b) why as many as 17 were sent in when, according to my information
from another NGO worker, this was unprecedented
c) why they were not withdrawn (as for instance ICRC workers were)
when, as reported by the University Teachers for Human Rights, some
of them begged to be rescued
d) why they were advised to stay in their headquarters despite
repeated efforts by government officials and religious leaders to
get them to move to a safer location
e) why ACF representatives are quoted (by the New York Times)
as claiming that the government prevented them from going in to the
rescue, when the ACF official position has been that indeed they had
decided the workers would be safe if they stayed in their compound
wearing ACF t-shirts
f) why ACF, contrary to the request of the Sri Lankan ambassador
in Paris, invited the former Head of the Sri Lanka Monitoring Mission,
who had already ruled against the Sri Lankan forces on this issue
without any real evidence, to make further public pronouncements,
contrary to his contract, against the Sri Lankan forces at an ACF
organized commemoration
g) why, despite the perceived urgency, ACF failed to reach the
compound as soon as possible, so that it was left to another agency
to discover the bodies
h) why the compensation paid to the families of such workers is
nugatory, given the danger to which ACF, by its irresponsibility,
had exposed them, and from which it had failed to take appropriate
action to rescue them as outlined above.
If ACF is unwilling that such an inquiry is conducted, they should
hold an internal inquiry subject to monitoring by independent observers.
I believe the government should insist on this, and also on proper
compensation being paid to the families of the workers given the original
responsibility of ACF for the tragedy. There is no doubt that such negligence,
if addressed in a European Court of Law, would have resulted in the
award of massive damages to the grieved families, rather than the puny
amounts that I gather from NGO sources have been awarded.
ACF has expended much energy on focusing attention on the assumed culpability
of Sri Lankan forces. Most regrettably they invited Gen Henricsson to
attack the forces at what was supposed to be a commemorative event,
despite the advice of our ambassador in Paris that he was not a suitable
participant. Such emotional propaganda, including the advertisements
it takes out at great expense in France, are no substitute for the compensation,
based on European norms, owed to these victims of negligence if not
callousness.
I believe the Sri Lankan government has an obligation to the victims
and their families and we should insist on their behalf that ACF follow
international norms in this regard.
Yours sincerely
Prof. Rajiva Wijesinha
Secretary General
Secretariat for Co-ordinating the Peace Process
Cc. Secretary to the President
Secretary, Ministry of Foreign Affairs
|
