December 06, 2007	Thursday	Ziqa'ad 25, 1428

COLOMBO: Amnesty Intern-ational on Wednesday joined a growing chorus of protests over the mass arrests of thousands of ethnic Tamils in Colombo by Sri Lankan authorities.

The arrests came after two bomb attacks blamed on Tamil Tigers, but has left the island’s ethnic Sinhalese-dominated government once again exposed to allegation that it is dealing out collective punishment to the Tamil minority.

“Those arrested may be detained in inhumane conditions; denied access to lawyers, courts and family members; and face the risk of torture, other cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment or punishment,” a statement from the London-based group said.

The Centre for Policy Alternatives (CPA), a private think-tank in Sri Lanka, filed a lawsuit against the authorities after the spate of arrests of at least 2,200 Tamils were made over the weekend. The crackdown came in the wake of two bomb attacks last week that left 21 people dead and more than 40 wounded.

A senior government minister, Jeyaraj Fernandopulle, has said that 1,800 of those detained had already been freed.

In June, authorities evicted some 400 minority Tamils out of their low-budget hostels in Colombo and took them to the troubled northern and eastern regions where Tamils are concentrated. —AFP