The Price of Truth-Telling, the Price of Lying, and the Need for Monitoring

Last week, Rajan Hoole of University Teachers for Human Rights (Jaffna) (UTHR(J)) accepted the Martin Ennals Award for human rights defenders on behalf of UTHR(J), his colleague K.Sritharan, and himself.

Many of us who had been following their writings from 1987 onwards were overjoyed when the Martin Ennals Foundation finally gave them the recognition they so richly deserve. Like a compass, their reports have provided direction to seekers of justice and peace in Sri Lanka’s political wilderness. They have been able to play this role because of their single-minded dedication to discovering and publicising the truth. They have not been content to report the atrocities perpetrated by the Sri Lanka state security forces, but have also taken up violations by the Indian Peace-Keeping Force (IPKF) and associated groups, the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE), and other armed Tamil groups. Nor did they stop at criticising abuses against Tamils, but protested equally strongly against abuses directed at Muslims and Sinhalese.  

No Peace Without Human Rights

I have been asked to talk about Rajan Hoole and Kopalasingham Sritharan of University Teachers for Human Rights (Jaffna) (UTHR(J)), who received the Martin Ennals Award for Human Rights Defenders this year. I was absolutely thrilled when they got the award, because I had been feeling for years that they hadn't received sufficient recognition for the amazing work they had been doing under extremely difficult circumstances, without any institutional support
or proper funding, and leading a hunted existence due to their refusal to give up human rights work despite death threats from the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE).