Tamil politicians protest over the roundup of more than 1,200 Tamils from Colombo.
Source
Human Rights Watch World Report: Sri Lanka, 1999.
“Large-scale arbitrary arrests of Tamils based almost solely on their ethnicity continued in many parts of the country, particularly after major attacks attributed to the LTTE. In the north and east, residents complained of beatings, torture, and public humiliation of persons detained during searches, and of arrested youths being used for forced labour. In Colombo, where thousands of mostly short-term arrests occurred, protests by Tamil politicians in April after a midnight roundup of more than 1,200 people led the government to propose improved procedures for registration of Tamil arrivals in the city and the establishment of government-run guest houses—suggestions that concerned human rights defenders, who feared their potential abuse.”
