SOUTH ASIA - House Foreign Affairs Committee Democrats

2343September 29, the Center for Monitoring Election Violence (CMEV) recorded morethan 500 acts of violence, including 7 killings, in the period leading up to parliamentaryelections. Another local monitoring organization counted 2,036 acts of violenceduring the campaign period from close of nominations in September to election dayon October 10; it noted violence ranging from defacement of campaign posters to assaultand 73 killings. Violence also plagued the 1999 presidential elections; severalpersons died and many more were injured, including the President and the JusticeMinister, in an LTTE suicide bomb attack.By year’s end, local observers had not issued reports on the elections; however,they expressed concern about whether the vote was free and fair. A European Unionmonitoring mission, in its final report, expressed concern about violence and irregularitiesin the voting, but it concluded that the election ‘‘did to a reasonable degreereflect the will of the electorate.’’The incidence of electoral fraud has increased in recent elections. Elections Commissionofficers reported misuse of postal votes in the 1999 Northwest (‘‘Wayamba’’)Province elections. In response to sharp criticism about the way that the vote wasconducted, the President appointed a commission staffed by two retired judges toevaluate allegations of electoral fraud. Although they agreed that the poll wasflawed, no new election was called. In February 1999, the President also created abipartisan monitoring committee (which she chaired) to ensure that the remainingprovincial council elections were ‘‘free and fair.’’ Two local election monitoring organizationsfound that the 1999 presidential vote was flawed in more than 10 percentof polling stations. A group of 26 international observers invited by the Governmentto observe the elections stated that they saw no evidence of fraud in the 1999 presidentialelections, but they admitted the possibility of irregularities and suggestedways for improving the voting system to prevent cheating. The EU sent a delegationof more than 70 monitors to observe the parliamentary elections in October. TheElections Commissioner granted the EU representatives access to polling and countingstations. Local monitoring groups also observed the polls.The Commissioner of Elections recognized 46 parties at the time of general electionsin October; however, only 13 parties actually held seats in the 225-memberParliament elected during the year. The two most influential parties, the Sri LankaFreedom Party (the principal component party of the governing PA coalition) andthe UNP, generally draw their support from the majority Sinhalese community. Historically,these two parties have alternated in power.Although there are no legal impediments to the participation of women in politicsor government, the social mores in some communities limit women’s activities outsidethe home, and they are underrepresented in government and politics. Nonetheless,in August 1994, voters elected a Parliament that chose a female Prime Ministerfor the third time in the country’s history. In November 1994, a woman waselected President for the first time; she was reelected in December 1999 for a secondterm. Eleven women held seats in the Parliament that completed its term in August.In addition to the Prime Minister, the Minister for Women’s Affairs, and theMinister of Social Services, a number of women held posts as deputy ministers inthe last parliament. Of the 5,000 candidates for the October parliamentary elections,116 were women and 7 of them won seats in the October elections. The Presidentappointed three of these women, including the wife of the deceased leader ofthe Sri Lankan Muslim Congress, to ministerial posts.The Parliament elected in October has 23 Tamil and 22 Muslim members.The LTTE refuses to allow elections in areas under its control, although it didnot oppose campaigning in the east during the October parliamentary elections.Through a campaign of killing and intimidation, it effectively undermined the functioningof local government bodies in Jaffna, whose members were elected in January1998. This campaign included the killing of 2 of Jaffna’s mayors and deaththreats against members of the 17 local councils. Throughout the period of the conflict,the LTTE has killed popularly elected politicians, including those elected byTamils in areas the LTTE claims as part of a Tamil homeland.Section 4. Governmental Attitude Regarding International and Nongovernmental Investigationof Alleged Violations of Human RightsThere are several domestic NGO human rights groups, including the Movementfor Interracial Justice and Equality (MIRJE), the University Teachers for HumanRights, Jaffna (UTHR-J), the Civil Rights Movement (CRM), and the Law and SocietyTrust (LST), that monitor civil and political liberties. There are no adverse regulationsgoverning the activities of local and foreign NGO’s, although in February1999, the Government began requiring NGO’s to include action plans and detaileddescriptions of funding sources as part of its official registration process. Some NGOworkers saw this as an attempt by the Government to exert greater control overVerDate 11-MAY-2000 13:46 Sep 20, 2001 Jkt 071555 PO 00000 Frm 00187 Fmt 6601 Sfmt 6621 F:\WORK\COUNTRYR\S71555\71555.036 HINTREL1 PsN: HINTREL1