Article 16: (1) Men and women of full age, without any limitation due to race, nationality or religion, have the right to marry and to found a family. They are entitled to equal rights as to marriage, during marriage and at its dissolution. (2) Marriage shall be entered into only with the free and full consent of the intending spouses.(3) The family is the natural and fundamental group unit of society and is entitled to protection by society and the State.
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Point three of this Article states that “The family is the natural and fundamental group unit of society and is entitled to protection by society and the State.”
The Sri-Lankan Government has not protected the family, and has contributed to separations of family units in the following ways:
1) Families have been separated in the camps. By forcibly separating children, mothers and fathers into different camps, the family unit cannot remain together. This seperation of men into different camps under the suspicion they were LTTE fighters was a way to undermine the family unit. This prevents families from holding on to hope and healing together, and only aggravates an already tense situation. Also, without the presence of men in camps, the incidents of sexual violence carried out by Sri-Lankan military forces against Tamil women rises. Children who have witnessed murder, and rape of fellow civilians need parental love, affection and reassurance, but by separating them, they are only scarred more.
2) Arresting family members without cause and keeping them in detention for extended periods of time without putting forward legal proceedings keeps the family unit separated for longer. The majority of those disappeared and arrested are Tamil males; this results in unaccompanied women. Unaccompanied women and children are easier to intimidate through weapons of war, not limited to, but including, rape, discrimination, checks and isolation. Also, when the men are detained and arrested and held, the women are forced to take care of the household – often at a lower standard of living than men are able to provide in Sri-Lanka. The long term separation also prevents pregnancy, and is a way of preventing a new generation to bloom.
3) Medical evacuations and patient separations prevent families from being together.
4) Preventing outside family from having close contact with the detainees. Without a social support network, through family and friends, those in the camps will fall further in isolation. Following the witnessing of brutal atrocities, those detained in the camps are mentally and physically scarred, with no family support to help them through this difficult time, these victims will further suffer from depression, isolation and psychological abuse.
5) By raping Tamil women and possibly impregnating the women the family unit is transformed. When children of rape are produced, they are offspring of the perpetrators; this is a way of wiping out a race. The Sri-Lankan Government’s aim was to rid the Tamil population, and by impregnating Tamil women, and separating the Tamil men, they change the racial lines, and prevent future offspring from bearing.
Credits:
Genocide: A Comprehensive Introduction, Adam Jones
http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2009/may/26/sri-lanka-tamil-tigers-camps
http://www.amnesty.org/en/news-and-updates/news/unlock-camps-sri-lanka-20090807
Tags: Speak Out
