June 2006
Dear Friends,
Perhaps you saw a news story or read on our website about the grenade which exploded outside our Mutur office earlier this week. One of our field team members, Fabijan Periskic, was injured, as were two passers-by. Fortunately, none suffered serious injuries. http://nvpf.org/np/english/pressroom/muturattack_2006.asp.html
Unfortunately, this attack along with similar attacks on the Mutur offices of two international humanitarian organizations are signs of how serious the violence has become. Many fear that international organizations may now be deliberately targeted, a new and troubling escalation of the conflict which has plagued Sri Lanka for decades.
The European Union, the United Nations and many other actors are calling for investigations into the attacks, expressing concern about a culture of impunity which enables such violence. We are calling on all parties to investigate the attacks, identify the perpetrators and help prevent future attacks. Please join that call by contacting your own government's foreign office, the Sri Lankan embassy in your country and the nearest LTTE representative and urging them to investigate the attacks and disclose the results of the investigations. Click here for a sample letter. http://nvpf.org/np/english/srilanka/muturalert.asp.html
The added risk to international staff working in Sri Lanka , though it concerns us, is not our primary concern. Our chief concern is always for the people of Sri Lanka , who have suffered grenade blasts, ethnic clashes, suicide bombings, political assassinations and every other form of violence and abuse for decades. The signing of the Ceasefire Agreement in 2002 gave Sri Lankans hope for lasting peace. Thinking the formal peace process would benefit from complementary peace efforts at the grassroots level, Sri
Lankan peace makers invited Nonviolent Peaceforce in the expectation that visible international support would help strengthen grassroots peace work.
Our teams now are working primarily to prevent more violence and to ensure that needed assistance reaches the victims of violence. Of course, this involves supporting Sri Lankan efforts to build bridges, nurture reconciliation and create peace, but we are in crisis management mode, doing what we can to help reduce violence rather than helping to advance the peace process. Yet there is still hope amid the growing violence. Such hopes are fostered, for example, by the Mutur Peace Committee's courage and initiative recently when it stepped forward to address communal tensions exacerbated by government responses to an attack on a security officer. The Peace Committee requested and received accompaniment and assistance from NP's Mutur team.
The pending arrival of the third group of NP field team members is also cause for hope—we need to strengthen our teams and our impact in Sri Lanka more than ever. If you can, please donate funds to help speed their deployment and support our ongoing efforts in Sri Lanka . http://nvpf.org/np/english/help/donation.asp.html
Sincerely,
Nick Mele
Director of Communications