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Berne, February 2013

SRI LANKA: THE WAR IS OVER, THE CONFLICT IS NOT

Dear Sir or Madam

Society for Threatened Peoples and Sri Lanka Campaign for Peace and

Justice have noticed with great concern that Lonely Planet has declared

Sri Lanka its number one travel destination for 2013.

Sri Lanka may be a stunning island with endless beaches, incredible

wildlife and flavorful food as described by Lonely Planet. But there isalso another side to Sri Lanka, one that is less visible. Even though

the war ended in 2009, the situation in the country is far from being

normal. During the final stages of the war in 2009 an estimated 40,000 -

70 000 civilians were killed.1There is credible evidence that

government forces deliberately shelled hospitals and designated no-fire

zones,while the LTTE used civilians as human shields. Furthermore, a

wide range of serious violations of human rights and humanitarian law

was committed by the government and the military.Many of those alleged

to be responsibleremain in power.

Oppression of minorities has continued and anyone daring to speak out

faces persecution. Many Sri Lankans live in fear of the government andthe military. Enforced disappearances have continued to be reported, and

thousands of cases from earlier years remain unresolved. The government

has failed to ratify the International Convention for the Protection of

All Persons from Enforced Disappearances. Sri Lanka is ranked the second

worst country for involuntary disappearancesin the world.2There is

1Report of the Secretary-Generals panel of expert on accountability in Sri Lanka,31stMarch, 2011http://www.un.org/News/dh/infocus/Sri_Lanka/POE_Report_Full.pdfandReport of the Secretary-Generals Internal Review Panel on United Nations Action inSri Lanka, November, 2012,http://www.un.org/News/dh/infocus/Sri_Lanka/The_Internal_Review_Panel_report_on_Sri_Lanka.pdf.2Sri Lankan Tamil politics in quest of a political solution, Crisis Group, Asia

Report N239 20 November 2012 http://www.crisisgroup.org/~/media/Files/asia/south-asia/sri-lanka/239-sri-lanka-tamil-politics-and-the-quest-for-a-political-

Lonely Planet

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http://www.un.org/News/dh/infocus/Sri_Lanka/POE_Report_Full.pdfhttp://www.un.org/News/dh/infocus/Sri_Lanka/POE_Report_Full.pdfhttp://www.un.org/News/dh/infocus/Sri_Lanka/POE_Report_Full.pdfhttp://www.un.org/News/dh/infocus/Sri_Lanka/POE_Report_Full.pdfhttp://www.un.org/News/dh/infocus/Sri_Lanka/POE_Report_Full.pdfhttp://www.srilankacampaign.org/AllegedPerpetrators.htmhttp://www.srilankacampaign.org/AllegedPerpetrators.htmhttp://www.ohchr.org/EN/Issues/Disappearances/Pages/DisappearancesIndex.aspxhttp://www.ohchr.org/EN/Issues/Disappearances/Pages/DisappearancesIndex.aspxhttp://www.un.org/News/dh/infocus/Sri_Lanka/POE_Report_Full.pdfhttp://www.un.org/News/dh/infocus/Sri_Lanka/POE_Report_Full.pdfhttp://www.un.org/News/dh/infocus/Sri_Lanka/The_Internal_Review_Panel_report_on_Sri_Lanka.pdfhttp://www.un.org/News/dh/infocus/Sri_Lanka/The_Internal_Review_Panel_report_on_Sri_Lanka.pdfhttp://www.un.org/News/dh/infocus/Sri_Lanka/The_Internal_Review_Panel_report_on_Sri_Lanka.pdfhttp://www.un.org/News/dh/infocus/Sri_Lanka/The_Internal_Review_Panel_report_on_Sri_Lanka.pdfhttp://www.un.org/News/dh/infocus/Sri_Lanka/The_Internal_Review_Panel_report_on_Sri_Lanka.pdfhttp://www.un.org/News/dh/infocus/Sri_Lanka/POE_Report_Full.pdfhttp://www.ohchr.org/EN/Issues/Disappearances/Pages/DisappearancesIndex.aspxhttp://www.ohchr.org/EN/Issues/Disappearances/Pages/DisappearancesIndex.aspxhttp://www.srilankacampaign.org/AllegedPerpetrators.htmhttp://www.srilankacampaign.org/AllegedPerpetrators.htmhttp://www.un.org/News/dh/infocus/Sri_Lanka/POE_Report_Full.pdfhttp://www.un.org/News/dh/infocus/Sri_Lanka/POE_Report_Full.pdfhttp://www.un.org/News/dh/infocus/Sri_Lanka/POE_Report_Full.pdfhttp://www.un.org/News/dh/infocus/Sri_Lanka/POE_Report_Full.pdfhttp://www.un.org/News/dh/infocus/Sri_Lanka/POE_Report_Full.pdf

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strong evidence of widespread torture and extra-judicial killings,

discriminationand land-rights abuses.3To date very few perpetrators

have been arrested or charged. So while the war is over, the conflict is

not. For that reason visitors to Sri Lanka are in real danger of

inadvertently supporting alleged perpetrators of war crimes and human

rights abuses, both financially and politically.

The country is highly militarised and there is no clear line drawn

between private business, the armed forces and the government. In this

respect, we would like to draw your attention to the following companies

mentioned and advertised in your guide book:

Sri Lankan Airlines

Helitours

Whale watching tours in Mirissa and ferries in Jaffna which are

operated by the navy.

Sri Lankan Airlines is owned by the government, the CEO is the

Presidents brother-in-law Nishantha Wickremasinghe and one of the

directors, Shameendra Rajapaksa is the Presidents nephew. National

flights are provided by Helitours, the commercial arm of the Air Force,

which aims to become the leading domestic carrier. Whale watching tours

in Mirissa and ferries in the Jaffna area are operated by the Navy,

Tourist resorts are being built on land that was formerly expropriated

for military use and nature reserves are being established on alleged

mass graves.

Your Sri LankaGuide Book mentions Helitours several times and also

refers to boat trips to Mannar Island and whale watching tours that are

offered by the Navy. While we appreciate that you declare the

businessesaffiliation with the Sri Lankan military forces, what is

missing is a clear statement and information about the current role of

the armed forces in post-war Sri Lanka.

Your chapter on Historycloses with the end of the civil war in 2009,

not mentioning the alarming developments of the last three years,

including the ongoing impunity of war criminals, and your chapter Sri

Lanka Todayfails to bring up the current devastating human rights

situation.

On the Lonely Planet website you highlight the importance of travelling

responsibly: 'Responsible travel' means assessing our impact on the

environment and local cultures and economies - and acting to make that

impact as positive as possible. ()Responsible tourism has incredible

potential to have a positive impact on some of our most pressing global

issues: peace and poverty.

Declaring a country like Sri Lanka a number one travel destination

without providing information about the alarming human rights situation

is not what we consider responsible tourism. Nevertheless we want to

make clear that it is not our intention to call for a boycottof Sri

solution.pdf3 http://www.amnesty.ch/de/laender/asien-pazifik/sri-lanka/dok/2012/kritisiert-fuer-folter-toetungen-und-leere-versprechen/AIsubmissionSLUPROct2012.pdf

http://www.amnesty.org/en/library/asset/ASA37/008/2011/en/76ea6500-a9f5-4946-bf2b-7fc08bc5e37a/asa370082011en.pdfhttp://www.tourismconcern.org.uk/sri-lanka-land-grabs.htmlhttp://www.tourismconcern.org.uk/sri-lanka-land-grabs.htmlhttp://www.amnesty.org/en/library/asset/ASA37/008/2011/en/76ea6500-a9f5-4946-bf2b-7fc08bc5e37a/asa370082011en.pdf

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Lanka as a tourist destination generally. Tourism can bring positive

benefits to a country. The difficulty is to make sure the money spent,

really benefits local communities and not an oppressive regime and

alleged or known human rights abusers. If it really is Lonely Planets

intention to encourage tourists to travel responsibly and have a

positive impact, then it is important to provide them with up-to-date

information in order to raise awarenessand let them make informedchoices.

We would be happy to discuss the issues with you personally and look

forward to hearing from you soon.

Best regards,

Christoph Wiedmer

Director

Society for Threatened Peoples

Edward Mortimer CMG

Chair, the Sri Lanka Campaign for Peace and Justice

28 Charles Square

London

N1 6HT

Edward.Mortimer@srilankacampaign.org

P.S. We also thought we would share with you some further research done

by the Sri Lanka Campaign for Peace and Justice into the Lonely Planets

most recent Sri Lanka guidebook. As with this letter we do not intend on

making this research public until we have had a chance to discuss it

with you, but we may do so at a future date.