Sunday, June 5, 2011

SL Army in Jaffna defies judiciary, restarts photo registration

 04 June 2011
Sri Lanka Army occupying Jaffna has restarted its terrorising mission of photo registration of people in Jaffna peninsula. Some times back, when the ‘obligatory’ SL military registration of the people in Jaffna was challenged in the courts by the Tamil National Alliance, the SLA said in the courts that it had stopped the process. But, while the matter is sub-judicial, the registration has restarted and forms to this effect are being distributed by the occupying SL military, accuses TNA parliamentarian Mavai Senathiraja.
A few days ago, overlooking the SL Supreme Court's request to postpone the mandatory military training programme to students entering the universities, Colombo went ahead with the programme citing that it had already spent money on the project and students had already started travelling to the military bases.

The forms used by the SL military to register the details of households
The forms used by the SL military to register the details of households


SL military superseding judiciary is nakedly demonstrated in many ways in the recent times in the island, commented a legal practitioner in Jaffna.

Meanwhile, Mr. Maavai Senathiraja, in a press statement issued on behalf of the ITAK party and the TNA alliance on Friday blamed the SL military and police for contempt of court as the military officials who were present at the courts had earlier said their were no such instructions to photograph anyone.

But, there are reports that the SL military was registering photographed records, the TNA politician said adding that the TNA would continue to seek legal action.

Local human rights activists in Jaffna describe the practice of military registration carried out under the so-called provisions of Emergency Regulations, severely criticised by the international human rights groups, as ‘Nazi-style registration’.
TN