SRI LANKA: Displaced by War, Tamils Now Languish in Sri Lanka Camps

New York Times

By LYDIA POLGREEN

CHEDDIKULAM, Sri Lanka — When the piercing whistle and sharp thuds of artillery shells grew faint, S. Theventhran dashed to safety. After days of cowering in a narrow, open trench on a strip of beach in the northeastern corner of Sri Lanka, he was cheered by the sight of Sri Lankan Army soldiers helping wounded and terrified survivors of the last stand of the Tamil Tiger rebels, who had held nearly 300,000 Tamil civilians hostage.

More than two months later, Mr. Theventhran, a 56-year-old Tamil civil servant, finds himself once again a captive, this time of the people who freed him from the Tigers’ grip.

“We were liberated,” he said in an interview at one of the sprawling, closed camps set up here to house those displaced in the war against the rebel group, known as the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam.

“Now we are prisoners again. I lost everything in this war. The Tigers killed my son. I lost my property. Now I have lost my freedom, too.” 

SOMALIA: Fresh fighting erupts in Somalia

By CNN

Fresh fighting erupted Sunday between Somalia’s transitional government forces and Islamist rebels, continuing a wave of violence that a top United Nations official called a “grave violation of human rights” that could possibly amount to war crimes.

The fighting restarted Sunday with heavy fire in a district north of the capital, Mogadishu, Somalia’s Shabelle radio reported, quoting officials and witnesses.

On Saturday, the security director for the transitional government was killed and at least 40 people, mostly civilians were rushed to Mogadishu hospitals, according to Shabelle.

The United Nations’ human rights chief said the strife in Somalia has caused “enormous suffering and massive displacement.”

“In this new wave of attacks, it is clear that civilians — especially women and children — are bearing the brunt of the violence,” said Navi Pillay, the U.N. High Commissioner for Human Rights.

She said attacks against civilians have been a signature feature of the conflicts that have plagued the Horn of Africa nation.

“There needs to be a much greater effort to protect civilians. Displaced people and human rights defenders, aid workers and journalists are among those most exposed, and in some cases are being directly targeted,” she added.