Colombo: Sri Lanka's Supreme Court today barred security forces from evicting ethnic Tamils without a court order, officials said, following a mass expulsion last year that drew global condemnation.

Chief Justice Sarath Silva ordered a halt to the evictions, saying they must be conducted through the proper legal channels, court officials said.

"The Supreme Court did not cite any individual, but upheld that there peoples rights were violated," said Paikiasothy Saravanamuttu, the executive director of the Centre for Policy Alternatives, which filed the case.

Last June, authorities evicted 400 minority Tamils from low-budget hostels in Colombo and bussed them to the troubled northern and eastern regions of the majority Sinhalese nation.

The petitioners argued that the evictions were illegal and had violated the fundamental rights of those removed from their homes.

Rights groups criticised the government, saying the arrests were a "collective punishment" for minority Tamils for attacks by Tamil Tiger rebels, who are fighting for an independent homeland in the island nation.

The government apologised, although police argued that Tiger suicide bombers and assassins had been using budget accommodation in Colombo to plan attacks.

Tens of thousands of people have died in the 36-year-old separatist conflict, one of Asia's longest-running wars.

Source : PTI