White Van Abductions in Sri Lanka.html |
| | | ca | | | de | | | en | | | es | | | fr | | | it | | | nl | | | no | | | pl | | | pt | | | ru | | | ro | | | fi | | | sv | | | tr | | | vo | | |
| |  |
| Background |
| Sri Lanka • History of Sri Lanka |
| Origins of the Civil War |
| Origins of the Civil War Black July • Riots and pogroms Human rights • Allegations of state terror Tamil militant groups |
| LTTE |
| LTTE • Attacks • Expulsion of Muslims from Jaffna |
| Current major figures |
| M.Rajapaksa V.Prabhakaran Karuna S.Chandrakanthan G.Rajapaksa Sarath Fonseka |
| Indian Involvement |
| Operation Poomalai Indo-Sri Lanka Accord Indian Peace Keeping Force Rajiv Gandhi • RAW |
| See also |
| Military of Sri Lanka TMVP • EPDP Notable assassinations • Child soldiers• White Van Abductions |
White Van Abductions in Sri Lanka refer to incidents of enforced disappearances of civilians in White Vans often without number plates. Human rights agencies such as Human Rights Watch and Asian Human Rights Commission have alleged that White Van abductions by death squads and pro government millitias are responsible for the disapperances of thousands of people since the 1980s.
Initially the white vans were alleged to have been used for abduction in the 1980's during the JVP insurrection.There have been allegations of a resurgance of such abductions since 2005 predominantly involving minority Sri Lankan Tamils in the cities of Jaffna and the capital Colombo.123
Contents |
Background
Sri Lanka has a history of disappearances both during the Sri Lankan Civil War.Commissions have alleged how thousands of people have kidnapped by Armed men been treated by the state as a legitimate means during the Civil War and disappeared without a trace.4The victims belong to the minority Tamil community, and youths from the Sinhala community disappeared during the War against the JVP insurgency.5
According to the ministry of defence of Sri Lanka, a group of suspects who claimed to be operating a white van were found to have links with the opposition United National Party with one suspect being on the security of Opposition leader Ranil Wickramasinghe. It was implied that this was a attempt by the opposition to tarnish the Defence Secretary Gotabaya Rajapaksa.6
Terror against civilians
White vans have been part of life in Jaffna and abductions are carried with impunity even during curfew hours.73
References
- ^ "Sri Lanka rapped over 'disappeared'", BBC (2008-03-06). Retrieved on 7 July 2008. "Sri Lanka's government is one of the world's worst perpetrators of enforced disappearances, US-based pressure group Human Rights Watch (HRW) says. An HRW report accuses security forces and pro-government militias of abducting and "disappearing" hundreds of people - mostly Tamils - since 2006."
- ^ "Fears grow over Tamil abductions", BBC (2006-09-26). Retrieved on 7 July 2008. "The image of the "white van" invokes memories of the "era of terror" in the late 1980s when death squads abducted and killed thousands of Sinhala youth in the south of the country. The Asian Human Rights Commission (AHRC) says the "white van culture" is now re-appearing in Colombo to threaten the Tamil community."
- ^ a b ""Disappearances" on rise in Sri Lanka's dirty war", The Boston Globe (2006-05-15). Retrieved on 7 July 2008. "The National Human Rights Commission of Sri Lanka has recorded 419 missing people in Jaffna since December 2005."
- ^ SRI LANKA: White vans without number plates; the symbol of disappearances reappear
- ^ Specter of abductions returns to Sri Lanka
- ^ [1]
- ^ BBC White van 'terrorises' Jaffna
External links
- White Van Abduction captured in Video
- Lanka News White Van Death Squad exposed
 |
This Sri Lanka-related article is a stub. You can help Wikipedia by expanding it. |