Home -> Law Blog Directory -> Legal News Blogs -> JURIST - The Paper Chase

OR PHONE (866) 635-1838 for Bankruptcy Help, (866) 635-6190 for Divorce,
(866) 635-2689 for Personal Injury or (866) 635-9402 for Criminal Defense

Find a Local Lawyer

Bankruptcy (866) 635-1838
Divorce (866) 635-6190
Personal Injury (866) 635-2689
Criminal Defense (866) 635-9402

Legal News

: JURIST - The Paper Chase

Sri Lanka IMF loan should be contingent on human rights progress: HRW

By Bernard Hibbitts (editor) and University of Pittsburgh School of Law students.

ADVERTISEMENTS

[JURIST] The International Monetary Fund (IMF) should require the Sri Lankan government to address human rights abuses as a condition for a USD $2.5 billion emergency loan, Human Rights Watch (HRW) said Thursday. HRW claims that even after the 25-year civil war between the government of Sri Lanka and the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE) ended two months ago, the government continues to illegally hold more than 280,000 detainees. HRW Asia director Brad Adams said, "o approve a loan, especially $600 million more than the government even asked for, while they have hundreds of thousands of people penned up in these camps is a reward for bad behavior, not an incentive to improve." The IMF is scheduled to vote on the loan on Friday. Last month, HRW called for an international commission to investigate human rights abuses that allegedly occurred during the civil war after a Sri Lankan government official announced that an internal investigation into human rights abuses during the conflict had ended. The announcement that the internal investigation had ended came just days after Amnesty International (AI) urged the Sri Lankan government to conduct a more serious inquiry into possible human rights abuse cases, including the killing of 17 aid workers. UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon recently asked Sri Lanka's government to conduct a "proper investigation" of any "credible allegations of violations of humanitarian law" arising from the recent conflict between the government and the LTTE. In May, the Council of the European Union called for an independent inquiry into possible war crimes committed during fighting between the Sri Lankan government and LTTE. In March, the Sri Lankan government denied allegations by UN High Commissioner for Human Rights Navi Pillay that 2,800 civilian deaths caused by recent military action against the LTTE may constitute war crimes.

Full post as published by JURIST - The Paper Chase on July 23, 2009 (boomark / email).