Lonely Planet

BBC Worldwide
201 Wood Lane
London W12 7TQ

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 is
also 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.1 There 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 responsible remain in power.
Oppression of minorities has continued and anyone daring to speak out
faces persecution. Many Sri Lankans live in fear of the government and
the 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 disappearances in the world. 2 There is
1

Report of the Secretary-Generals panel of expert on accountability in Sri Lanka,

31st March, 2011 http://www.un.org/News/dh/infocus/Sri_Lanka/POE_Report_Full.pdf and
Report of the Secretary-Generals Internal Review Panel on United Nations Action in
Sri Lanka, November, 2012,
http://www.un.org/News/dh/infocus/Sri_Lanka/The_Internal_Review_Panel_report_on_Sri_L
anka.pdf.
2
Sri Lankan Tamil politics in quest of a political solution, Crisis Group, Asia
Report N239 20 November 2012 http://www.crisisgroup.org/~/media/Files/asia/southasia/sri-lanka/239-sri-lanka-tamil-politics-and-the-quest-for-a-political-

strong evidence of widespread torture and extra-judicial killings,

discrimination and land-rights abuses.3 To 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 Lanka Guide 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
businesses affiliation 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 History closes 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 Today fails 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 boycott of Sri

solution.pdf
3
http://www.amnesty.ch/de/laender/asien-pazifik/sri-lanka/dok/2012/kritisiert-fuerfolter-toetungen-und-leere-versprechen/AIsubmissionSLUPROct2012.pdf

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 awareness and let them make informed
choices.
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.