Country Reports on Human Rights Practices, 2001: Sri Lanka.

摘要

Sri Lanka is a democratic republic with an active multiparty system. Constitutional power is shared between the popularly elected President and the 225-member Parliament. Violence, including at least 50 deaths, and irregularities marred the December Parliamentary elections in which the United National Front, a coalition of parties led by the United National Party (UNP), won a majority in Parliament for the next 6-year period. Fearing possible infiltration by the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE), the Government prohibited more than 40,000 Tamil voters from crossing army checkpoints from LTTE-controlled territories to vote. Chandrika Kumaratunga, head of the governing People's Alliance (PA) coalition, won reelection in 1999 for a second 5-year presidential term in a process marked by voting irregularities and at least six election-related deaths. The President suspended Parliament from July to September after the PA coalition lost its majority. The suspension was lifted after the PA coalition temporarily reestablished control through an accord with a small leftist party. However, on October 10, after the coalition suffered more defections, the President dissolved Parliament and called for new elections in December. The Government generally respects constitutional provisions for an independent judiciary. For the past 18 years, the Government has fought the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE), a terrorist organization fighting for a separate ethnic Tamil state in the north and east of the country. The conflict has claimed more than 64,000 lives. In 1999, government forces took LTTE-controlled areas north and west of Vavuniya, but counterattacks starting in November 1999 erased most government gains. In 2000 the LTTE began a buildup on the Jaffna peninsula, and captured the important Elephant Pass military base. The clashes left large numbers of civilians dead or injured and displaced more than 150,000 persons. In April, government troops launched a major offensive on the Jaffna Peninsula that resulted in heavy casualties for its forces. In July, the LTTE attacked Colombo's main airbase and international airport, destroying numerous aircraft and placing civilians at the airport at serious risk. At year's end the Government and the LTTE had each announced unilateral ceasefires.