'Anti-Tamil ideology, international meddling make reconciliation impossible'

[TamilNet, Monday, 30 August 2010, 14:42 GMT]

In a recent paper titled "Why National Reconciliation in Sri Lanka Is Not Possible," Brian Senewiratne, a renowned physician and an Australia based Sinhala expatriate, says although he had realized that ‘national reconciliation’ in Sri Lanka was ‘totally unrealistic’, after witnessing the major human rights violations inflicted upon the Tamil people, what has made the reconciliation really ‘impossible’ was the most serious recent slaughter of Tamils with features of genocide. In addition, what makes reconciliation ‘most unlikely’ is ‘international meddling’ and ‘power play’, he argues. The 78-year-old member of the Bandaranaike family, who is a long-time defender of the Eezham Tamil cause, also argues in his paper that even the real development of the Sinhala areas is not possible if the ‘developmental power’ is left in the hands of those in Colombo.

Dr Brian Senewiratne

“I firmly believe that without this international meddling, the IMF included, left to the Sri Lankans, there might well have been a negotiated settlement and national reconciliation,” Dr. Senewiratne writes, recalling a proposal he put forward as far back as 1984, in which he advocated a 5-State solution.

“The divisions between the Sinhala majority and the brutalized Tamil minority is deepening. So are the divisions between the ‘haves’ and the ‘have-nots’ in the Sinhala South. This division is set to get worse as a totally corrupt, ruthless and despotic regime implements the inhuman conditions demanded by the IMF.”

“The less fortunate are certainly 'spiraling downwards into crime and chaos'. Unfortunately, they do not have a powerful vocal expatriate community to jump up and down for them. That is the problem of being poor which I have seen, and sympathized with, for years.”

“The role of the expatriate Tamil community, now more than a million, is to get the facts across to the international community that the Sri Lankan government is lying and has no intention of national reconciliation. To do this, the facts must be known, which is why I have put these together in this publication,” he further writes in his 27-page paper.
. Full story >>

• Full text: Why National Reconciliation in Sri Lanka Is Not Possible

Sri Lanka's presumptive war-criminal to take UN job in New York

[TamilNet, Friday, 27 August 2010, 00:02 GMT]
Sri Lanka's Deputy Permanent Representative (DPR) to the United Nation's post in New York, vacant following the recall of previous DPR, Bandula Jayasekera, after an alleged sexual harassment scandal, is reported to be filled by Major General Shavendra Silva, former 58th Division commander, who has been accused of committing war crimes by his former General Sarath Fonseka, Inner City Press reported. Professor Francis Boyle, an expert in International Law, commenting on this reported UN job said, "the Government of Sri Lanka (GOSL) is trying to sanitize and immunize their genocidaires/war criminals and thus regularize it all."

Shavendra Silva

The reported appointment follows two similar appointments of alleged war-criminals, Major General Jagath Dias as a diplomat to Germany, and the Chief of Staff of Sri Lanka’s forces during the war, Donald Perera, as Sri Lanka’s Ambassador to Israel.

Currently a member of Sri Lanka parliament, Maj. Gen. (Retd.) Sarath Fonseka in an earlier media interview had said, Gen. Silva "had received orders to shoot at sight LTTE suspects who came with white flags to surrender to the army during the final stage of war.”

• Report: Satellite images confirm PTK attacks (5Mb)

Shavendra Silva's 58th division was one of the Sri Lanka Army (SLA) divisions that had been the longest embedded division in prosecuting the final war. Starting in September 2007 in Silavaturai in the western coast, Silva's division was instrumental in displacing civilians from the western shores to the eastern killing fields in Mullaitivu in Jan 2009, according timeline published in Sri Lanka Government controlled Daily News.

The slaughter of civilians took place during the first five months of 2009.

• Barak Appoints War Criminal Yaron

Professor Boyle said Israel adopted similar tactics in appointing Brigadier General Amos Yaron, who had alleged complicity in the Sabra and Shatila camp massacre in September 1982, to Military Attache post in U.S. and Canada. While Canada refused Yaron's appointment, U.S. due to intense lobbying by Arab-Americans, held up the appointment for three months before accepting Yaron's credentials.

A spokesperson for Tamils Against Genocide (TAG), a US-based activist group said, "While issues related to Diplomatic Immunity may keep the war-criminals, once appointed, from being prosecuted, civil action would still serve to highlight the duplicity of International Organizations in accommodating alleged criminals in their staff positions, and will also keep Sri Lanka's war-crimes issue alive. Massacre of 40,000 civilians is an atrocious crime, and no effort on the part of Sri Lanka, except accepting an independent international investigation, would help to absolve the alleged war-criminals holding high positions in Sri Lanka from culpability to the alleged crimes."

Chronology:

27.08.10 Sri Lanka's presumptive war-criminal to take UN jo..

01.08.10 Dias case filed in European Court, German Ambassad..

24.07.10 Tamils sue Germany for accepting alleged war crime..

21.07.10 Tamil Country Councils, TAG announce legal partner..

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At UN, Sri Lanka Move to Place Alleged War Criminal As Ambassador Questioned

At UN, Sri Lanka Move to Place Alleged War Criminal As Ambassador Questioned

By Matthew Russell Lee

UNITED NATIONS, August 25 -- Sri Lanka's Deputy Permanent Representative to the UN post, vacant following Bandula Jayasekera's department triggered by a sexual harassment scandal, is now reportedly slated to be filled by Major General Shavendra Silva, who “was allegedly among those mentioned by MP Sarath Fonseka in a media interview where he had said that the former 58 Division Commander had received orders to shoot at sight LTTE suspects who came with white flags to surrender to the army during the final stage of war.

At the UN on Wednesday, Inner City Press asked Martin Nesirky, the spokesman for Secretary General Ban Ki-moon, about this reported appointment and that of General G.A. Chandrasiri to replace Palitha Kohona as Permanent Representative. Video here, from Minute 53:36. While Nesirky said he wouldn't comment on hypotheticals, when Inner City Press asked if Ban would have some discretion to not accept credentials when presented, Nesirky said he would look into it. Shavendra Silva is clearly a witness to the war crime events about which Ban has appointed a (stalled) three member panel to advise him. Would appointing him an ambassador give him de facto or de jure diplomatic immunity? UN's Ban takes credentials from Kohona- is acceptance automatic? Inner City Press also asked Nesirky if the four month “clock” of Ban's panel of experts had finally begun. No, Nesirky said, the clock has not started but it is being wound. But why so slowly? Watch this site. Later on Wednesday Inner City Press asked a Sri Lankan diplomat about the reported new Deputy Perm Rep and Perm Rep. “It's not yet confirmed,” he answered, adding that the entire staff of the mission in New York might be replaced. * * *

Murder of 17 ACF aid workers in Muttur remembered by France FM

Murder of 17 ACF aid workers in Muttur remembered by France FM

Friday, 20 August 2010 01:07 administrator

French Foreign Minister Bernard Kouchner, in a statement to mark World Humanitarian day yesterday, recalled the murder of 17 ACF aid workers in Muttur in 2006 and reminded that the murderers have yet to be found.

The Sri Lankan government military was accused in the murder of 17 aid workers of Action Against Hunger or Action Contre La Faim (ACF); most of the victims were Tamils.

The French Foreign Minister while paying tribute to the humanitarian workers killed in action said: “We also remember the 17 members of Action Against Hunger who were executed in 2006 in Muttur in Sri Lanka; their murderers have still not been found."

"The security of humanitarian personnel is a priority for France. The attacks against them negate the solidarity which forms the basis of humanitarian action. They represent a scourge for the international community and all States must take appropriate measures to deal with them. That is why France is determined to try and strengthen the security of humanitarian personnel, notably at the next United Nations General Assembly,” the 'World Humanitarian Day' statement by Foreign Minister Bernard Kouchner said.

World Humanitarian Day : Statement by Bernard Kouchner (August 19, 2010)

“World Humanitarian Day” has particular significance today at a time when the international community is mobilizing its efforts in support of Pakistan which has been so tragically hit by massive floods.

This day pays tribute to the commitment of humanitarian workers and to the memory of Sergio Vieira De Mello.

My friend Sergio Vieira De Mello devoted his life to promoting peace and human rights. On August 19, 2003, Sergio and 21 of his colleagues fell victim to an attack in Baghdad while they were participating in the recovery of Iraq within the framework of United Nations action. Today, I want to pay tribute once again to this extraordinary man, whose commitment remains an example to us all.

This day belongs to all humanitarian personnel working in dangerous regions, often risking their lives, in order to relieve the suffering of vulnerable populations. I want to express my profound respect for and appreciation of their courage and devotion.

Our thoughts go in particular to the humanitarian workers killed in Afghanistan two weeks ago and to our compatriot, Michel Germaneau, who was killed in the Sahel last month. We also remember the 17 members of Action Against Hunger who were executed in 2006 in Muttur in Sri Lanka; their murderers have still not been found.

The security of humanitarian personnel is a priority for France. The attacks against them negate the solidarity which forms the basis of humanitarian action. They represent a scourge for the international community and all States must take appropriate measures to deal with them. That is why France is determined to try and strengthen the security of humanitarian personnel, notably at the next United Nations General Assembly.

France will continue to support the humanitarian reform efforts initiated by the United Nations aimed at improving the coordination and effectiveness of relief operations, particularly during major catastrophes such as in Haiti or Pakistan.

Last Updated ( Friday, 20 August 2010 01:12 )

Sri Lanka’s telling exodus

Toronto Star

August 15, 2010

Canada doesn’t have a Tamil “problem,” whatever critics of our refugee system may say about the arrival here of the cargo freighter MV Sun Sea with some 500 asylum-seekers. We processed 34,000 refugee claims last year; these arrivals won’t overtax the system.
It is Sri Lanka that has a problem. President Mahinda Rajapaksa’s triumphalist government has failed to make the country’s large Tamil minority feel secure after crushing the Tiger insurgency last year. Until he does, people will continue to flee.
That’s a message Prime Minister Stephen Harper’s government should drive home, as the United Nations, the United States and India have done. Sri Lanka didn’t win the war on its own. India’s political support for Colombo and its naval blockade weakened the Tigers. So did U.S. and Canadian moves to cut off Tiger funding. Canada is anything but “soft” on terror, nor should we be. Any Tiger leaders on the ship shouldn’t expect asylum. Still, our help presupposed a fair deal for Tamils when the war ended.
Now Tamils are fleeing abroad in desperation. So it was a bit much to hear Sri Lankan High Commissioner Chitranganee Wagiswara urging Ottawa to turn away the Sun Sea, with its women and children, to prevent Tigers from regrouping here. If Sri Lanka’s Sinhalese majority of 17 million were making the minority 4 million Tamils feel less threatened, fewer would be regrouping anywhere.
Rajapaksa once spoke of giving Tamil regions “substantive provincial autonomy” within a unitary state. He talked of creating a kind of senate to enforce minority rights and of recruiting more Tamils to the bureaucracy and military. But the Tamils are still waiting.
“Most people in Sri Lanka are not particularly interested in a political solution,” says Jehan Perera of the country’s National Peace Council. “To the great majority, the end of the (Tigers) has meant the end of terrorism and the end of what troubled them and the country.”
Indeed, instead of showing magnanimity in victory and delivering reform, the Sri Lankan authorities have chosen to rebuff a UN probe into war crimes on both sides and to focus more on economic rebuilding than on devolution. Reconciliation is a distant prospect.
Rather than amplify Sri Lanka’s self-serving rhetoric about “terrorists” probing Canada’s defences, the Harper government should use the political capital it has built up to press for justice for Tamils. That, more than anything, would put the people smugglers out of business.

SLA exploits Chinese funds meant for resettlement of uprooted Vanni civilians

04.08.10 SLA exploits Chinese funds meant for resettlement .
[TamilNet, Wednesday, 04 August 2010, 07:27 GMT]
Sri Lanka Army (SLA) occupying Vanni is exploiting funds donated by China for the resettlement of uprooted Vanni people to construct permanent housing schemes for its personnel, in Kokkaavil, located west of A9 road in Vanni, civil society organizations in K'linochchi said. Uprooted civilians forcibly taken by SLA soldiers to work in the constructions said that even two storey buildings are under construction in an area where new roads have been laid. Meanwhile, around 3,000 uprooted families, brought to be resettled in Vanni by Sri Lanka government, continue to live under trees left abandoned while Sri Lanka government exploits international assistance meant for them to settle Sinhalese families from South, Suresh Premachandran, Tamil National Alliance (TNA) parliamentarian said.

SLA has already built at least 5,000 prefabricated houses for its personnel in Mu'ruka'ndi area, east of A9 road in Mullaiththeevu district in Vanni, with foreign funds meant for resettling the uprooted Vanni people, the MP said.

Suresh Premachandran added that the above housing settlements are part of Sri Lanka government's scheme to Sinhalicize the traditional Tamil homeland in the North.

The new SLA housing scheme with special quarters for its officers is constructed in Kokkaavil area where Sri Lanka government TV, Rupavahini transmission tower is located.

US urged to press for international probe of Sri Lanka war

Wednesday, 11 August 2010 01:38 administrator

A group of US lawmakers is urging the Obama administration to push for an independent international investigation into alleged war crimes that occurred during Sri Lanka's civil war.

In a letter to US Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton, the members of Congress called for such a probe saying panels set up by the Sri Lankan government to probe the allegations "lacked the needed credibility."

These panels have "also delayed criminal investigations and in several instances members of these commissions have resigned in protest at the government's interference," the letter said, citing Amnesty International.

The letter dated August 9 and obtained Tuesday was signed by some 57 members of the US House of Representatives.

"There is mounting evidence that suggests both parties in the conflict committed severe human rights violations during the conflict," it said.

In May last year, capping a four-decade civil war, Sri Lankan government troops finally defeated the separatist Liberation Tigers of Tamil Ealam.

"We urge you to call for a robust and independent international investigation that would finally clarify the events that occurred during the conflict and provide the foundation for a sustainable peace in Sri Lanka," the letter said.

Sri Lanka has rejected a United Nations probe into alleged rights abuses during the final stages of the war.

The UN has previously reported that at least 7,000 ethnic Tamil civilians were killed in the last four months of fighting before government troops finally defeated the Tigers in May.

Sri Lanka says that no civilians were killed while battling the rebels and that it would not allow the UN or any other independent body to probe war crimes allegations. (AFP)

Last Updated ( Wednesday, 11 August 2010 01:40 )

US urged to press for international probe of Sri Lanka war

Malaysian politician to form Committee on genocide in Sri Lanka

Ramasamy to spearhead committee on genocide in Sri Lanka Prof Dr P. Ramasamy GEORGE TOWN (Aug 8, 2010) : DAP Deputy Secretary-General and Penang Deputy Chief Minister (II) Prof Dr P. Ramasamy is spearheading the formation of an international committee to take up the issue of the genocide of Tamils in Sri Lanka last year. The group, comprising NGOs, activists and politicians, is expected to be operational within a few months, and would collect evidences of the genocide with the aim of presenting a case to the United Nations (UN) Human Rights Panel, Ramasamy said. The report on war crimes committed during hostilities between the Tamil Tigers rebels and the Sri Lanka government would also be presented to UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-Moon, he added. Ramasamy said that those involved, including leaders in the Sri Lankan and Indian governments who were responsible for the genocide, should be brought to book. "The group will also fight for human rights anywhere, in places where people are deprived of their rights and privileges," said the Batu Kawan MP who is a long-time human right activist. He said this after receiving a courtesy call from Indian environmentalists T. Sriniviasa Rao and R. Gnanasekaran at his office in Komtar here recently. The duo, who have travelled some 600,000km around the world since 1986 in the name of bringing awareness of global warming and human rights violations, were in Penang last week before heading for Buenos Aires in South America. Ramasamy had been instrumental in drafting the interim administration proposal to kick-start the peace process between the Tamil Tigers and the Sri Lankan government six years ago. The draft was however rejected by the Sri Lankan authorities. He had also given the Tamil Tigers leadership a ten-day political course in Killinochi during the height of a Norwegian-brokered peace process. In January this year, Ramasamy rejected an invitation by the Indian government to speak at the Pravasi Bharatiya Divas Convention in New Delhi, the largest gathering of overseas Indians, citing India's "questionable role" in the elimination and imprisonment of hundreds of thousands of Tamils in Sri Lanka. In his letter, he said India's role had angered the Tamil community in Malaysia.

http://www.sun2surf.com/article.cfm?id=50433 Updated: 07:09PM Sun, 08 Aug 2010

Printable Version

" Elders,

Tutu: Persecution, disappearances in Sri Lanka, truely terrifying

[Wed, 04 Aug 2010, 01:09 GMT]

Cautioning that "the international response to Sri Lanka’s worrying approach to human rights, good governance and accountability as a ‘deafening global silence’ that may encourage other states to act in a similar way," Elders, an independent group of eminent global leaders, said Tuesday that "Sri Lankan government’s domestic conduct, as well as its recent unacceptable treatment of the United Nations in Sri Lanka warrants a firm, public response from its most influential friends – particularly China, India, Japan and the United States as well as the non-aligned group of countries." Full story >>

Continued Acts of Media Silencing

Continued Occurrence of Silencing

30 Jul 10

An armed gang has attacked a private TV and radio station in Sri Lanka's capital, Colombo, with firebombs. Two people were injured in the attack on the independent station, Siyatha, which is linked to the former opposition presidential candidate, Sarath Fonseka.

The fire destroyed much of the broadcasting equipment

An armed gang has attacked a private TV and radio station in Sri Lanka's capital, Colombo, with firebombs.

Posted by Thavam