NESOHR strongly condemns the killings of NESOHR’s Chandra Nehru, former member of parliament, Amparai District and LTTE personnel, including the political head of Eastern Province Kousalayan. This attack took place at a Pilliyar Temple in the village of Namalgama in the Sri Lankan government-controlled area between Punana and Valaichcenai about 7.45 in the evening of 7th February 2005. The LTTE personnel and Chandra Nehru were traveling in a vehicle after having had discussions about counseling and relief work related to the Tsunami in Killinochi.
I have known Chandra Nehru for a long time as an ardent advocate of human rights in the Northeast. NESOHR and I depended on him to oversee human rights violations in the East as he was our representative in Amparai district. His work was crucial for effective measures to be adopted to halt these human rights violations. In fact, I had a lengthy discussion with Chandra Nehru yesterday on the state of human rights in the East and counseling measures to be adopted in providing humanitarian assistance to those affected by the Tsunami.
It is indeed a great tragedy for a person like Chandra Nehru to be gunned down in cold blood for having done so much for the promotion of human rights in the East. In the broadest sense, this tragedy is a big blow for NESOHR and for the international community that are both committed to promote peace and human rights in Sri Lanka in general and in the Northeast in particular.
On behalf of NESOHR I call upon the international community to exert maximum pressure on the Sri Lankan government to investigate the matter and to bring to justice the perpetrators of this killing.
Specifically, the international community should impress upon the Sri Lankan government that killing of innocent persons, including human rights activists, must be stopped. Paramilitary groups operating within the fold of the Sri Lankan armed forces must be disarmed so that killings of this nature would not continue.
I am afraid these killings do not augur well for peace and the well-being of people in this country. Human rights organizations such as NESOHR cannot function in an environment that seems conducive to political murders. What is more, the killing of Chandra Nehru illustrates vividly that even human rights’ activists are not spared in these cold-blooded killings.
On behalf of NESOHR and the people in the NorthEast I take this opportunity to convey our condolences to and sympathy for the families of those killed.
Rev. Fr. M.X. Karunaratnam, Chairman
© 2005-2008 NESOHR