by Melani Manel Perera

Fr Emmanuel Sebamalei, president of the Mannar Citizen Committee (MCC), slams abuses by the armed forces in the north of the country. Recently, the army prevented Mannar District officials from participating in a workshop on land grabs by the military.

Mannar (AsiaNews) - "The Army and the Navy have arbitrarily occupied lands in the Northern Province for years, without legal grounds or following administrative procedures," Fr. Emmanuel Sebamalei told  AsiaNews. According to the president of the Mannar Citizen Committee (MCC), the Sri Lanka Armed Forces continue to rule untroubled the mostly Tamil northern part of the country, even if the civil war has been over four years.

Between 1983 and 2009, Sri Lanka experienced a bloody civil war between the government and Tamil Tigers rebels (Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam or LTTE), an organisation that sought to create an independent state in the largely Tamil northeastern provinces of the island nation. It soon turned into an ethnic conflict that ended with heavy human losses and the rebels' defeat.

"In recent months," Fr Sebamalei, "the situation has become even more precarious and contentious, with the military trying every which way to seize more land, despite complaints by residents, politicians, clergy and human rights activists." Mannar District is one of the most affected.

In order to raise awareness of the situation among local administrators and as many people as possible, the Catholic priest decided to organise a seminar, hosted by the MCC, with the collaboration of the Centre for Human Rights and Development (CHRD) in Colombo (Western Province). However, on this occasion the army tried to exert its power by trying to disrupt the event.

The seminar was held on 30 May and 1 June in Mannar. The clergyman invited, among others, district administrators and other officials.

On the first day, an army officer showed up as well, but Fr Sebamalei invited him to leave to allow discussions to take place without interference. The officer left without protest. On the following day, however, no District officials came.

"I called their office," the priest said, "and I was told that the army has ordered them not to attend the seminar. Such military interference is illegal and denies citizens and government officials the right to know what is going on in the country."

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• lanka
• tamil
• discrimination
• military
• interference
• civil
• war