PEOPLE'S LIBERATION FRONT(J.V.P.) - SRI LANKA
AN APPEAL TO THE INTERNATIONAL COMMUNITY AND ALL HUMAN RIGHTS ORGANISATIONS
Prior to coming to power the People's Alliance Government(PA) of Sri Lanka promised its people, and the international community to disband all state sponsered killer squads. Also to bring the perpetrators responsible for mass killings during the previous regime to justice, and establish democracy restoring peace in Sri Lanka.
The People's Alliance won the August 1994 election and the leader, Mrs Chandrika Kumaranatunga, in November of that year, became President of Sri Lanka.
Since then there has been innumerable violations reported of democratic rights of workers, peasants, journalists ans students. The (PA) government deliberately avoided taking meaningful measures to restoring democracy.
Today we are unfortunate to witness an alaming increase of blatant violations of human rights by state sponsored Goonda's police and armed forces.
The supporters of (PA) government encouraged by its leaders during the last three and a half years tried to provoke the JVP on several occasions, failing to do so, the (PA) government has launched a brisk campaign of terror against the JVP and all political opponents' journalists and any individuals who ctiricise the government. The government media (TV and Radio) has been used illegally to tarnish the image of the JVP. The police and armed forces raided the JVP printing press. The activists and sympathisers of the JVP were threatened, assaulted ad harassed by the leaders and supporters of the (PA).
On the 2nd of March 1998, comrade Dulwala Gallange Gedara Dasanayake, an activist of the JVP, a resident of 205 Quarry rd. Ellewewa from the Polonaruwa district, had been assaulted by Meddegoda Liyanage Dharmasiri and his brother Meddegoda Liyanage Nandasiri in front of several on-lookers. Dharmasiri is a local coordinating officer for Mr. Maithripala Sidsena (the Mahawall minister of the P.A.government).
Comrade Dasanayake, as a result of the injuries he received, died on the 3rd of March, 1998, at Polonaruwa General Hospital. This was clearly a political murder. Later, there were attempts to deceive the people that the death was a result of a personal dispute.
Under the previous regime, after the July 1983 proscription of the JVP, without any valid reason, comrade Sarathe Wijesinghe (a member of the J.V.P.'s youth wing in Anuradhapura district) had been taken into custody while pasting posters for the J.V.P., demanding the lifting of the proscription. He was detained, tortured and later died in a police cell on October 1984. This was the beginning of a bloodshed that led to gross violation of human rights and mass killings during 1984-1994, a dark period of terror in Sri Lanka.
The murder of Comrade Dasanayake compels us to take legal, peaceful and democratic action to avoid another reign of terror in Sri Lanka.
We, the J.V.P. vehemently urge the international community and all human rights organisation to condemn these violations and take action to avert any future atrocitis.
Please demand that the Sri Lanka President and her Government immediately restore true democracy and human rights.
SOMAWANSA AMARASINGHE - Leader of JVP
On behalf of; The Political Bureau,
The Janatha Vimukthi Persmuna
17th March, 1998