THE Sri Lankan human rights agency, University Teachers for Human Rights (Jaffna) (UTHR) has accused the international community, in a March report titled
Child conscription: A tragedy of contradictions, of failing to take proper action on child recruitment by the LTTE. The Sri Lanka Monitoring Mission (SLMM), a number of UN bodies including UNICEF, the ICRC and many international NGOs have a presence in north-east Sri Lanka. UTHR says that international involvement in the peace process is meaningful only if it enhances human rights, and that the LTTE must be convinced to relinquish its extreme ethno-centric viewpoint, respect the concerns of others in the country and show tangible progress towards upholding human values. Disproportionate importance has been given to the military dimension, UTHR alleges. While agencies are watching the military balance, there has been a steady decline of democratic and human rights values, especially in relation to political opponents, women and children.
According to the UTHR, recruitment of children by the LTTE, mainly in Batticaloa and Amparai districts is continuing. Tiger representative in the Batticaloa unit of the SLMM, S Sinnaiah said in September 2002 that there were 12,000 underage recruits from all districts of the north-east in the LTTE. The Tigers have pledged to the UNICEF that underage recruits will be released. Some have been set free.
But UTHR says that from mid-January to mid-February, LTTE forcibly removed 70 youths from Murakkottanchenai, 12 miles north-west of Batticaloa town. On 3 March, 14 year-old Rangesh Linganathan was abducted from Puthur village, near Batticaloa town. UTHR alleges that the LTTE told the boy’s parents that he would be killed if they complained to the SLMM.
