Hands off the humanitarian worker!
Spare the messenger! Hands off the humanitarian worker!
During the tsunami tragedy three years ago, Sooriyakanthy Thavarajah (40), a Red Cross worker put in long hours to alleviate the suffering of those affected. He wiped the tears of many a bereaved and offered a helping hand in the hour of gloom.
For his immense contribution during this tragedy– that was marked by loss of life, limb and belongings-Thavarajah was selected as the “Best Volunteer.”
But, little did Thavarajah realise that three years later, trauma would strike his own family, as coward assassins would snuff out his very own life. Armed to the teeth, they came and abducted Thavarajah in the presence of the family, shocked to the foundations, unable to come to grips with the loss.
Not just the family, the entire civilised world is shocked that even before the Commission of Inquiry completes its probe on extrajudicial killings, including that of two Batticaloa-based Red Cross workers, another humanitarian worker is beheaded.
The two Batticaloa Red Cross workers were abducted on June 1 in broad day light at the busy Fort Railway station in the Capital Colombo, dotted by sentries.
Thavarajah’s decapitated body was later found in Kaithady, in the Jaffna peninsula, home to 40,000 government troops.
In both instances, paramilitaries are strongly suspected of doing the despicable with the security forces turning a blind eye.
This is impunity at its height.
The many and varied government spokespersons must hang their collective heads in shame. The greater the cover they proffer, the greater the summary justice executed. They may shout themselves hoarse, but the reality betrays their defence.
We are not for a moment trying to whitewash any of the victims. What we would like to say unequivocally is: Provide the evidence and try them in a court of law; punish them if they are found guilty of any law. But the principle of Innocent until Proved Guilty must be upheld. This is no banana republic the Rule of Law must be upheld.
The French journalist, Gwenlaoen Le Gouil, who won the Albert Londres award for a video report on the assassination of 17 humanitarian workers in Sri Lanka, was abducted in Somalia and a ransom of US$ 70,000 demanded for his release.
Sri Lanka earned a lot of bad press internationally for a spate of abductions for money carried out in high security zones in Colombo. Newspapers dared to expose the alleged involvement of senior security force personnel that evoked revulsions.
Media personnel who dared expose the military, paramilitaries and the terror-instilling killing Tigers of the Vanni have paid with their lives.
According to the latest report by the internationally accepted Press Emblem Campaign monitoring system, in terms of most dangerous place for journalists, Sri Lanka takes the Bronze for the third highest killings (7) and ranks next to Somalia (8). In Iraq 50 media personnel were killed this year making it the most dangerous place in the world for scribes.
The counter separatist war in the north and east has been prosecuted fiercely for decades, but never has it got so dirty where humanitarian workers and media personnel have been deliberately targeted. Fight the war, but spare the messenger and hands off the humanitarian worker!
[Editorial from theBottom Line.lk, Dec 18, 2007]
