Thursday 19 July 2012
Photos of Sri Lanka history
Videos of Sri Lanka
Tamils flee Sri Lanka conflict
Roots of Sri Lanka conflict
Silent Tsunami- Sri Lanka
People and power- Sri Lanka: War Crimes
2010-2012
2010 (Rajapaksa re-elected)
January - Incumbent Mahinda Rajapaksa wins presidential election by a big margin but the outcome is rejected by his main rival Gen Sarath Fonseka.
February - Gen Fonseka is arrested on corruption charges, and jailed for 30 months by a military court in September. He is convicted of further charges in November 2011 and sentenced to another three years in jail. President Rajapaksa dissolves parliament, clearing way for elections in April. European Union suspends Sri Lanka's preferential trade status because of concerns over its human rights record.
April - President Rajapaksa's ruling coalition wins landslide victory in parliamentary elections.
September - Parliament approves a constitutional change allowing President Rajapaksa to seek unlimited number of terms.
2011 (Human rights’ concerns)
April - UN says both sides in the Sri Lankan civil war committed atrocities against civilians and calls for an international investigation into possible war crimes. Sri Lanka says the report is biased.
July - Sri Lanka's largest ethnic Tamil party, the Tamil National Alliance - wins two-thirds of local councils in the former war zone in the north and east.
August - President Rajapaksa says his government will allow the expiry of state emergency laws which have been in place for most of the past 40 years. However, critics say that the introduction of new legislation that allows the detention of people suspected of terror offences without charge continues the state of emergency in a new guise.
September - Parliament approves law allowing government to take over 37 businesses. Critics say they will be seized from opponents to reward supporters.
2012
January - 160 Islamic clerics expelled for violating visa regulations.
March - UN Human Rights Council adopts a resolution urging Sri Lanka to investigate war crimes allegedly committed during the final phase of the decades-long conflict with Tamil Tiger rebels. Sri Lanka says that the move usurps its sovereignty.
May - President Rajapaksa orders the release of former opposition presidential candidate Sarath Fonseka from jail on the third anniversary of the military defeat of the Tamil Tigers. Gen Fonseka led the victorious campaign in 2009 as army chief .
January - Incumbent Mahinda Rajapaksa wins presidential election by a big margin but the outcome is rejected by his main rival Gen Sarath Fonseka.
February - Gen Fonseka is arrested on corruption charges, and jailed for 30 months by a military court in September. He is convicted of further charges in November 2011 and sentenced to another three years in jail. President Rajapaksa dissolves parliament, clearing way for elections in April. European Union suspends Sri Lanka's preferential trade status because of concerns over its human rights record.
April - President Rajapaksa's ruling coalition wins landslide victory in parliamentary elections.
September - Parliament approves a constitutional change allowing President Rajapaksa to seek unlimited number of terms.
2011 (Human rights’ concerns)
April - UN says both sides in the Sri Lankan civil war committed atrocities against civilians and calls for an international investigation into possible war crimes. Sri Lanka says the report is biased.
July - Sri Lanka's largest ethnic Tamil party, the Tamil National Alliance - wins two-thirds of local councils in the former war zone in the north and east.
August - President Rajapaksa says his government will allow the expiry of state emergency laws which have been in place for most of the past 40 years. However, critics say that the introduction of new legislation that allows the detention of people suspected of terror offences without charge continues the state of emergency in a new guise.
September - Parliament approves law allowing government to take over 37 businesses. Critics say they will be seized from opponents to reward supporters.
2012
January - 160 Islamic clerics expelled for violating visa regulations.
March - UN Human Rights Council adopts a resolution urging Sri Lanka to investigate war crimes allegedly committed during the final phase of the decades-long conflict with Tamil Tiger rebels. Sri Lanka says that the move usurps its sovereignty.
May - President Rajapaksa orders the release of former opposition presidential candidate Sarath Fonseka from jail on the third anniversary of the military defeat of the Tamil Tigers. Gen Fonseka led the victorious campaign in 2009 as army chief .
2008-2009
2008
January - Government pulls out of 2002 ceasefire agreement, launches massive offensive.
March - International panel, invited by the government to monitor investigations into alleged human rights abuses, announces that it is leaving the country. Panel member Sir Nigel Rodley says the authorities were hindering its work. Government rejects the criticism.
July - Sri Lankan military says it has captured the important Tamil Tiger naval base of Vidattaltivu in the north.
October - Suicide bombing blamed by government on Tamil Tigers kills 27 people, including a former general, in the town of Anuradhpura.
December - Sri Lankan troops and Tamil rebels claim to have inflicted heavy casualties on each other in fierce fighting in the north.
2009 (Tamil tigers defeated)
January - Government troops capture the northern town of Kilinochchi, held for ten years by the Tamil Tigers as their administrative headquarters. President Mahinda Rajapakse calls it an unparalleled victory and urges the rebels to surrender.
February - International concern over the humanitarian situation of thousands of civilians trapped in the battle zone prompts calls for a temporary cease-fire. This is rejected by the government, which says it is on the verge of destroying the Tamil Tigers, but it offers an amnesty to rebels if they surrender. Tamil Tiger planes conduct suicide raids against Colombo.
March - Former rebel leader Karuna is sworn in as minister of national integration and reconciliation. United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights Navi Pillay accuses both sides of war crimes. The government rejects conditions attached to an IMF emergency loan worth $1.9 billion, denies US pressure causing delay to agreement.
May - Government declares Tamil Tigers defeated after army forces overrun last patch of rebel-held territory in the northeast. Military says rebel leader Velupillai Prabhakaran was killed in the fighting. Tamil Tiger statement says the group will lay down its arms.
August - New Tamil Tiger leader Selvarasa Pathmanathan captured overseas by Sri Lankan authorities. First post-war local elections in north. Governing coalition wins in Jaffna but in Vavuniya voters back candidates who supported Tamil Tigers.
October - Government announces early presidential and parliamentary elections.
November - Opposition parties form alliance to fight elections. The new alliance includes Muslim and Tamil parties and is led by former prime minister Ranil Wickremesinghe. Government says 100,000 refugees released from camps.
January - Government pulls out of 2002 ceasefire agreement, launches massive offensive.
March - International panel, invited by the government to monitor investigations into alleged human rights abuses, announces that it is leaving the country. Panel member Sir Nigel Rodley says the authorities were hindering its work. Government rejects the criticism.
July - Sri Lankan military says it has captured the important Tamil Tiger naval base of Vidattaltivu in the north.
October - Suicide bombing blamed by government on Tamil Tigers kills 27 people, including a former general, in the town of Anuradhpura.
December - Sri Lankan troops and Tamil rebels claim to have inflicted heavy casualties on each other in fierce fighting in the north.
2009 (Tamil tigers defeated)
January - Government troops capture the northern town of Kilinochchi, held for ten years by the Tamil Tigers as their administrative headquarters. President Mahinda Rajapakse calls it an unparalleled victory and urges the rebels to surrender.
February - International concern over the humanitarian situation of thousands of civilians trapped in the battle zone prompts calls for a temporary cease-fire. This is rejected by the government, which says it is on the verge of destroying the Tamil Tigers, but it offers an amnesty to rebels if they surrender. Tamil Tiger planes conduct suicide raids against Colombo.
March - Former rebel leader Karuna is sworn in as minister of national integration and reconciliation. United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights Navi Pillay accuses both sides of war crimes. The government rejects conditions attached to an IMF emergency loan worth $1.9 billion, denies US pressure causing delay to agreement.
May - Government declares Tamil Tigers defeated after army forces overrun last patch of rebel-held territory in the northeast. Military says rebel leader Velupillai Prabhakaran was killed in the fighting. Tamil Tiger statement says the group will lay down its arms.
August - New Tamil Tiger leader Selvarasa Pathmanathan captured overseas by Sri Lankan authorities. First post-war local elections in north. Governing coalition wins in Jaffna but in Vavuniya voters back candidates who supported Tamil Tigers.
October - Government announces early presidential and parliamentary elections.
November - Opposition parties form alliance to fight elections. The new alliance includes Muslim and Tamil parties and is led by former prime minister Ranil Wickremesinghe. Government says 100,000 refugees released from camps.
2006-2007
2006 (Civil war starts)
April - Attacks begin to escalate again. A suicide bomber attacks the main military compound in Colombo, killing at least eight people. The military launch air strikes on Tamil Tiger targets.
May- Tamil Tiger rebels attack a naval convoy near Jaffna.
August - Tamil Tiger rebels and government forces resume fighting in the north-east in worst clashes since 2002 ceasefire. Government steadily drives Tamil Tigers out of eastern strongholds over following year.
October - Peace talks fail in Geneva.
2007
June - Police force hundreds of Tamils out of the capital, citing security concerns. A court orders an end to the expulsions.
April - Attacks begin to escalate again. A suicide bomber attacks the main military compound in Colombo, killing at least eight people. The military launch air strikes on Tamil Tiger targets.
May- Tamil Tiger rebels attack a naval convoy near Jaffna.
August - Tamil Tiger rebels and government forces resume fighting in the north-east in worst clashes since 2002 ceasefire. Government steadily drives Tamil Tigers out of eastern strongholds over following year.
October - Peace talks fail in Geneva.
2007
June - Police force hundreds of Tamils out of the capital, citing security concerns. A court orders an end to the expulsions.
Is there peace in our times?
Tension between the Sinhalese and the Tamils still exist and many unsuccessful attempts to resolve the conflict were proved for the last few years. A ceasefire agreement was signed between the Sri Lanka government and the LTTE and the Norwegians as the mediator in 2002. The LTTE, feeling that they were being marginalised, withdrew talks with the government in 2003. In 2004, a suicide bomb took place in Colombo. More than 30000 Sri Lanka people were killed in the Boxing Day Tsunami and this further aggravated the conflict. Although, it was like that, but an agreement for the Sinhalese and Tamils to share the international aid was not implemented. In 2005, Foreign Minister Lakshman Kadigamar, a Tamil was assassinated. The LTTE saw him as a traitor when they found out about his campaign against a separate Tamil state. They were then accused of the murder but the LTTE denied in having any involvement at all. Many people was afraid of a return to war after a string of recent attacks on army and police vehicle and 2 mine blasts that killed 14 soldiers in Jaffna. The Tamil Tigers warned the Sri Lanka government that this will be their last chance at peace talks and are already prepared to fight if they have to, for a homeland. A peace talk that is going to commence in early 2006 has led to the Sri Lanka government and the Norwegian to be optimistic. In conclusion, although there was no riots happening in Sri Lanka, but it is only because the Tamils were afraid of the war that might happen if they showed any disapprove towards the Sinhalese. Therefore, there is peace in our times, but I believed that it will only be a temporary peace and not a permanent one.
Social Consequences
- Sri Lankan Tamils driven out of their homeland
In the 1983 riots, thousands of Tamils fled to Tamil Nadu in South India. Moreover, High Security Zone(HSZ) which are areas in which access is controlled was being set up by the Sri Lanka Army to keep the LTTE away. Due to the Sri Lanka Army, many Tamils had to flee from their homes and went into hiding while some are still living in overcrowded conditions in refugee camps or with relatives and friends, and they only have a few places to flee to because the army had occupied large parts of the Tamil-dominated areas in the north and east of Sri Lanka. This says that the conflict had also caused large-scale displacement beyond its borders.
In the 1983 riots, thousands of Tamils fled to Tamil Nadu in South India. Moreover, High Security Zone(HSZ) which are areas in which access is controlled was being set up by the Sri Lanka Army to keep the LTTE away. Due to the Sri Lanka Army, many Tamils had to flee from their homes and went into hiding while some are still living in overcrowded conditions in refugee camps or with relatives and friends, and they only have a few places to flee to because the army had occupied large parts of the Tamil-dominated areas in the north and east of Sri Lanka. This says that the conflict had also caused large-scale displacement beyond its borders.
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