Colombo: Human rights campaigners on Thursday
described a USD 2.5 billion loan to Sri Lanka by the
International Monetary Fund as "a reward for bad behaviour".
Human Rights Watch said the IMF should have set
conditions on the loan, including demands that the Sri Lankan
government help re-settle nearly 300,000 Tamil civilians being
held in tightly guarded camps.
"The IMF needs to change its approach," Brad Adams, Asia
director of HRW, said. "The IMF board of governors should make
the release of each new tranche of funds contingent on
tangible human rights progress."
"To approve a loan, especially USD 600 million more than
Colombo even asked for, while they have hundreds of thousands
of people penned up in these camps is a reward for bad
behaviour."
The loan was delayed after the United States, Britain and
other countries said the government was not doing enough to
avoid civilian casualties at the height of fighting with Tamil
Tiger rebels.
Sri Lanka crushed the Tigers -- who had been fighting to
carve out a separate state for minority Tamils since 1972 --
in May.
The island`s central bank chief Nivard Cabraal welcomed
the proposed loan as a much-needed positive signal to
investors.
Bureau Report
