2000 Situation Report 

Article No. 9 of the universal declaration of Human Rights says, "No one shall be subjected to arbitrary arrest, detention or exile" and clauses 1 and 2 of Article 13 say.

"1. Every one has the right to freedom of movement and residence within the borders of each state".

"2. Every one has the right to leave any country including his own and to return to his country."

A newspaper report says that nine people on their way to Dubai were arrested at the Katunayake Airport by the CID under Prevention of Terrorism Act (PTA). They were produced before the Negombo Magistrate and detained under PTA.

Saliya Peiris a lawyer took up their case and filed a case of violation of Fundermental Rights, as none of the passengers were leaving the country illegally [vide Article 13 (2)]. The C.I.D’s claim was that these people were going to Dubai to earn and contribute money to the LTTE. Could any one assume such a thing? The nine people were going to support their families, perhaps. However the Magistrate, saying it is not an offence to go abroad, ordered that immediate action be taken to release them and put it off for the 9th of July. It is a fact well known that in the Middle-East if a job is offered and the person has to report on a certain date, any delay would cause the person his job. Such arrests have caused much inconvenience to job-seekers –merely because a person who goes abroad is a Tamil, it does not mean he is a supporter of L.T.T.E. As far as we know Tamils are hard working and strive to give their respective families a better deal in life. To arrest such persons who are on the threshold of a fair and bright future - considering the situation in this warring country, is to damage his person and destroy his dreams of a better future for his family.

International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights in Article 12:4 says, No one shall be arbitrarily deprived of the right to enter his own country.

Most deportees were arrested on landing in Sri Lanka. In the case of one or two deportees the police have been continuously and constantly asking the deportees to leave Colombo. This is a clear violation of Article 12 (2) (4).

Human Rights violations as prevalent in Sri Lanka can be categorized under the following:

(Under the purview of the present conflict.)

1.Arbitrary Arrests and detention

2. Torture

3.Abduction

4.Disappearance

5.Deportees’ situation

We shall deal with each one in detail with concrete examples both from media reports and by the letters of complaints from the dear and near of those arrested.