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Sri Lanka
Lanka to hold elections in recaptured east amid violence
2008-03-10
BATTICALOA, Sri Lanka - Residents in Sri LankaÂ’s tense eastern city of Batticaloa and surrounding towns go to the polls Monday in a vote the government says is key to restoring order in the area, which troops recaptured months ago following more than a decade of rule by the Tamil Tiger rebels.

But human rights groups say the government is irresponsibly rushing ahead with the city and village council elections to show that its rule has brought democracy to the long-troubled east. They fear that violence and intimidation will taint the results.
If the Lankans weren't moving towards elections the human rights groups would be equally unhappy. There's just no pleasing them.
By last July, a major government offensive _ supported by thousands of former Tamil Tigers now known as the Karuna faction _ had forced the rebels out of the east. Violence and chaos have plagued the area since then, however. Residents speak of armed groups demanding protection money, abducting civilians, forcibly recruiting children into their militias and killing people without fear of arrest.

Several such groups were fielding candidates for MondayÂ’s election in Batticaloa city and other towns and villages in the surrounding district, where 101 council seats were up for grabs. On Sunday election officials transported ballot boxes from Batticaloa to village polling booths guarded by police with rifles. A Batticaloa school was being used as the election coordination and counting center. Authorities _ fearing Tamil Tiger suicide bomb attacks _ frisked officials, reporters and observers as they entered.

Government spokesman for national security and defense Keheliya Rambukwella said the elections were an important step toward cementing democracy in the area, even if the environment was not perfect. "Here you have democracy. There is a serious development taking place. You have freedom of movement, but again, until the last six months, it was in the clutches of a major terrorist group," he said, referring to the Tamil Tigers.

But a coalition of human rights organizations said there was so much violence that it would be impossible to hold a fair poll.

The islandÂ’s main opposition United National Party and the main regional party, the Tamil National Alliance, were boycotting the election. They said they could not take part alongside armed parties.
Feel free to deal with the Tamil boomerrettes yourselves ...
The rights groups said some candidates were unable to campaign due to fear of attack by rival parties, while armed groups have forced local officials to run as their candidates, rights group say. In such a situation, there is no possibility of free choice between candidates,Â’ said Dulani Kulasinghe, a researcher at the Law and Society Trust rights group based in the capital, Colombo.

Many groups have declined to monitor the elections because the intimidation level was so high that making an accurate report would be impossible, said Sunila Abeysekara, executive director of the Colombo-based human rights group Inform.

The government was sending 4,200 police officers to Batticaloa and the other towns holding elections. Five officers would guard each of the 285 polling stations, police said.
Posted by:Steve White

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