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North East Secretariat on Human Rights

The North-East Secretariat on Human Rights (NESoHR) was established on July 9, 2004, in Kilinochchi by the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE) as part of the 2002 Norway-facilitated peace process to monitor human rights in the North Eastern Province, Sri Lanka.[1][2] According to its former secretary N. Malathy, who volunteered and worked closely with the LTTE Peace Secretariat to assist with the peace process, some leading members of citizens' committees in the North-East collectively put pressure on the LTTE to establish a civilian human rights body independent of the LTTE Peace Secretariat.[3][4]

According to pro-rebel TamilNet, NESoHR functioned in the Tamil areas until the end of 2008 when it was forced to end its operations. During its operations from Vanni, it released a large number of reports on the ongoing atrocities against Tamils.[5] Amnesty International claimed in 2006 that NESoHR had "limited autonomy, and capacity and security constraints" that restricted its access to the Eastern Province, Sri Lanka.[6]

Joseph Pararajasingham, a member of the Sri Lankan Parliament, and A. Chandranehru, a former member of Sri Lankan Parliament, were founding members of NESoHR. Both were later assassinated allegedly by state-affiliated paramilitaries[7] and posthumously awarded the honour of Maamanithar by the LTTE.

Father M. X. Karunaratnam was the Chairperson of the organization until his assassination on April 20, 2008.[8][9] In a press release, NESoHR condemned, "in the strongest possible terms", "the Sri Lankan State" for his death.[10]

NESoHR has been cited by the BBC[11] and Amnesty International,[2] as well as Sri Lankan newspapers.[12]

In addition to reporting on human rights, NESoHR has also formed an informal partnership with the Association of Humanitarian Lawyers to discuss the application of international humanitarian law to Sri Lanka's armed conflict.[13]

In the post-war period, NESoHR along with the Chennai-based human rights trust Manitham co-published a book titled "Massacres of Tamils: 1956–2008" documenting 171 massacres of Tamil civilians.[14][15] The organization was relaunched again in 2013 from outside Sri Lanka,[5] and as of 2015 exiled attorney K. Sivapalan was its vice chairman, who was a former local member of the Sri Lanka Monitoring Mission.[16]

  1. ^ "Sri Lanka A Climate of Fear in the East" (PDF). amnesty.org. Amnesty International. Retrieved 8 March 2024.
  2. ^ a b "Document". www.amnesty.org. Retrieved 2019-06-07.
  3. ^ Malathy, N. (17 August 2012). A Fleeting Moment in My Country: The Last Years of the LTTE De-Facto State. Atlanta, Georgia: Clarity Press. p. 56. ISBN 978-0984525546.
  4. ^ "Interview with Dr. N. Malathy". FreedomDignityandAsia‌. Retrieved 8 March 2024.
  5. ^ a b "NESoHR revives reporting, highlights collective rights". TamilNet. 14 June 2013.
  6. ^ "Sri Lanka A Climate of Fear in the East" (PDF). amnesty.org. Amnesty International. Retrieved 8 March 2024.
  7. ^ "Fr. Karunaratnam killed". Sri Lanka Guardian. 20 April 2008. Retrieved 2024-03-08.
  8. ^ TamilNet. "TamilNet". www.tamilnet.com. Retrieved 2019-06-07.
  9. ^ "Bomb blast kills Sri Lanka priest". 2008-04-20. Retrieved 2019-06-07.
  10. ^ NESOHR Condemns Father Karunaratnam's Assassination
  11. ^ "BBCSinhala.com". www.bbc.com. Retrieved 2019-06-07.
  12. ^ Human Rights Day in Kilinochchi
  13. ^ "Humanitarian Links". www.humanlaw.org. Retrieved 2019-06-07.
  14. ^ Schalk, Peter (2016-05-09), "Non-Martial and Martial Methods to an Ultimate Political Goal of the Tiger Movement in Sri Lanka", Oxford Research Encyclopedia of Religion, doi:10.1093/acrefore/9780199340378.013.113, ISBN 978-0-19-934037-8, retrieved 2024-03-08
  15. ^ "Book to reveal Lanka's bloody past". The New Indian Express. 2012-05-15. Retrieved 2024-03-08.
  16. ^ "NESoHR vice chairman pays homage to Justice V.R. Krishna Iyer". TamilNet. 15 March 2015.

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