The UN High Commissioner for Human Rights listed Sri Lanka with Afghanistan, Colombia, Congo, Palestine, Somalia, Sudan, and Yemen as countries where there are “grave violations of international human rights and humanitarian law” and that “civilians continue to be targets of attacks motivated by ethnic or religious hatred, and by the ruthless pursuit of economic greed and political control.”

About Sri Lanka, Ms. Navanethem Pillay added that “internally displaced persons are effectively detained under conditions of internment. Humanitarian agencies’ access to these camps remains restricted, and the mandates of relief agencies are increasingly coming under threat.”

“We should all be dismayed by the recent sentence of twenty years’ imprisonment imposed on Sri Lankan journalist J.S. Tissainayagam, who had been critical of the army’s treatment of Tamil civilians. His conviction raises serious concerns about respect for the right to freedom of expression.”