Sri Lanka Urged to Probe the Murder of Tamil MPs

by senthil5000 | July 1, 2009 at 01:34 pm

55 views | 4 Recommendations | 0 comments

The Inter Parlimentary Union's Human Rights Committe examined cases of abuse of some 300 MPs in 29 countries. It called the government of Sri Lanka to start the investigation of murders of three Member of Parliment. The Chair of the committe, Canadian Senator, Sharon Carstairs said the government was telling they could not investigate the murders because of the Tamil rebels and that excuse is no more valid.

The committe also expressed its concern about cases in Iraq and Afghanistan.

The Inter-Parliamentary Union is calling on the government of Sri Lanka to mount a thorough investigation of the murders of three Members of Parliament, two of them Tamils. The IPU's Human Rights Committee, which has wrapped up its latest session, has examined cases of abuse of some 300 MPs in 29 countries.

The Inter-Parliamentary Union says the Sri Lankan government no longer has any reason for not investigating the murders of the Parliamentarians now that its long-running civil war with the Tamil Tiger rebels is over.

Chair of the IPU's Human Rights Committee, Canadian Senator, Sharon Carstairs, says the government has always maintained it was unable to investigate the murders because they occurred in rebel-held territory. She says that excuse no longer exists.

She tells VOA, Tamil Parliamentarians are subject to arbitrary arrest, harassment and intimidation. She says her Committee is concerned about the situation of 12 Tamil Parliamentarians. She says they essentially have been stripped of their rights of freedom of movement and of their ability to perform their legislative duties.