ATT: Indenrigsminister Thorkild Simonsen
Fr.havn d. 16.12.97
Åbent brev til indenrigsminister Thorkild Simonsen.
Dit ministerium har lige afvist at give humanitær opholdstilladelse til den reelt forældreløse og familieløse tamilske dreng Thaya som kom til Danmark som 16-årig efter at være flygtet fra de tamilske tigres tvangsrekruttering efter at han først havde arbejdet frivilligt bag fronten. Og søndag aften banaliserede du ,Thorkild Simonsen så i TV2nyhederne de afviste asylsøgeres som f.eks. Thayas frygt ( for at blive tvangsudvist og fængslet af regeringens krigsadministration som værende en farlig fjndtlig tiger) med at man jo også så , at mange ældre danskere var uberettiget bange for at færdes ude om aftenen.
Efter Amnestys pressemeddelelse om at 3 tamilske politiske fanger var blevet dræbt i et fængsel i Colombo med fængselsmyndighedernes vidende, og dermed dementerer din påstand, så forventer jeg og mange andre, at du nu tager konsekvensen og beder om at få Thayas sag på dit bord og læser de artikler om Thayas sag og rapporter og udtalelser om den generelle situation på Sri Lanka , som ligger på internet-adressen http://home3.inet.tele.dk/arnehans/, og som også alle er tilsendt din Udlændingestyrelse. Specielt vil jeg gøre opmærksom på det brev som Thaya i Hjørring skrev til dig den 30. oktober i tillid til at du som ny minister ville se objektivt på hans sag end din forgænger Birte Weiss. Det skyldtes at Thaya var blevet skuffet over at Birte Weiss i foråret havde tvunget embedsmændene til at droppe konklusionen på deres undersøgelse på Sri Lanka: At udvisningen burde stoppes indtil videre. Thaya skrev dog også til partiernes flygtningepolikere d. 17/9, og også uden resultat - indtil videre?
Med venlig hilsen.
Hvad mener din regering egentlig med at I vil føre en både humanitær og stram asylpolitik? Her er lejligheden til at vise det i handling.
Arne Hansen, Sønderjyllands Alle' 35, 9900 Frederikshavn, epost arnehans@post3.tele.dk
NB Jeg vedlægger den pressemeddelelse jeg modtog fra Amnesty i dag d. 16/12. Og jeg tillader mig at offentliggøre brevet - bl.a. for at sikre mig, at du ser det. I øvrigt foreligger der nu en ny Amnesty-rapport om menneskerettighedssituationn på Sri Lanka, - en rapport fra Tamilske flygtninges internationale netværk - samt en ny UNHCR-rapport
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
On Tue, 16 Dec 1997 10:56:08 -0500, Amnesty International <amnesty@oil.ca> wrote:
>* News Release Issued by the International Secretariat of Amnesty International *
>AI INDEX: ASA 37/30/97
>15 DECEMBER 1997
>>Sri Lanka: Appeal for a full inquiry into prison killings
>>Amnesty International today appealed to Sri Lanka's Minister of Justice to
>order a full and impartial inquiry into the killing of three Tamil
>detainees on 12 December at Kalutara prison, south of the capital, Colombo.
>> In its letter to Professor G. L. Peiris, the human rights organization
> expressed concern for the safety of other detainees who witnessed the
>killings and are currently under guard by prison staff who may have been
>involved in the act. Amnesty International urges that all necessary steps
>be taken to protect these witnesses.
>> During a magisterial inquiry into the killings, several detainees who
>reportedly saw the killings refused to give evidence out of fear for their
>lives. To Amnesty International's knowledge, those responsible have not yet
> been identified.
>> Muthulingam Dharmalingam and Shanmugarajah Sivanesan, from Jaffna, and
> Sharif Jehan, a displaced person from Mannar, were among 137 Tamil
>detainees held at Kalutara prison. The three were reportedly hacked to
>death in front of Ward D at around 1pm on 12 December by a group of
>Sinhalese common criminal prisoners in what appears to have been a
>premeditated attack.
>> Prison staff and army personnel deployed at the prison appear to have
>failed to take measures to protect the Tamil detainees at the time and,
>according to some reports, were even actively involved in the attack which
>lasted more than an hour.
>> According to some sources, prison staff had opened the gate to Ward D
>around 11am, and ignored pleas made in the next two hours by several of the
> Tamil detainees to lock the gate. Reports also indicate that an armed
>soldier on sentry duty on the southern side of the prison ignored pleas for
> protection from the three detainees while they were hacked to death in
>front of him.
>> Army personnel and prison staff are also said to have failed to take
>action against a group of civilians who had gathered outside the prison and
> were throwing stones and other objects into the prison throughout the
>attack.
>> Amnesty International noted in its letter that some action was taken
>by the prison authorities to defuse the situation -- such as the swift
>transfer of most of the Sinhalese convicted prisoners to other prisons.
>Nevertheless, the human rights organization urges the government to
>initiate a review of measures to safeguard the security of political
>prisoners held in the same prisons as common criminal suspects and
>convicts, albeit in separate wards. ENDS.../
>>****************************************************************
>To subscribe to amnesty-L, send a message to <majordomo@oil.ca> with
>"subscribe amnesty-L" in the message body.