Leaked report talks of 'credible allegations' against troops
Sunday, 17 April 2011afp/getty images
Sri Lankan Tamils captured by government forces and held in a camp for displaced people in the northern district of Vavuniya in 2009. Some were not allowed home for a year
The authorities in Sri Lanka are under mounting pressure to agree to an independent inquiry into a military operation against Tamil rebels, after a UN panel found "credible allegations" that the government committed war crimes and offences against humanity.
A leaked report by a team established by UN Secretary General, Ban Ki-moon, suggests government troops systematically shelled civilians it had encouraged to gather in so-called "no-fire zones", at hospitals, at the UN's hub, and even close to an area where aid workers from the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) were coming to collect wounded people from the beach. It says the government allowed this even though it knew from its own intelligence the impact of the repeated bombardment. Full Story>>>
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Sinhala & Tamil New Year when I was growing up was always a much-awaited annual event in our neighbourhood. We’d have card tournaments and badminton tournaments leading up to the “Big Day,” and when the day actually came, it was always a flurry of activity. People rushing all over the place, kids laughing, games being set up or organised and other activities. Having just experienced my second New Year in post-war Jaffna, with the State sponsored ‘celebrations’ being one of the few public events to be seen, yet again I find that the people still hold the same hopes and aspirations as they did last year, only more fervently now.
Speaking to a few youth from diverse backgrounds in Jaffna, I was able to get a sense of their hopes, fears and expectations for the New Year. Full Story>>>
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Sinhala and Tamil New Year in Jaffna, Sri Lanka: Ground realities
*groundviews journalism For citizen
17 Apr, 2011 Marisa de Silva
Sinhala & Tamil New Year when I was growing up was always a much-awaited annual event in our neighbourhood. We’d have card tournaments and badminton tournaments leading up to the “Big Day,” and when the day actually came, it was always a flurry of activity. People rushing all over the place, kids laughing, games being set up or organised and other activities. Having just experienced my second New Year in post-war Jaffna, with the State sponsored ‘celebrations’ being one of the few public events to be seen, yet again I find that the people still hold the same hopes and aspirations as they did last year, only more fervently now.
Speaking to a few youth from diverse backgrounds in Jaffna, I was able to get a sense of their hopes, fears and expectations for the New Year. Full Story>>>
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Boyle reacts to UN report: "Creating Tamil Eelam, the only remedy"
[TamilNet, Saturday, 16 April 2011, 23:25 GMT]Reacting to the contents of the UN expert panel's report on Sri Lanka's war-crimes, Professor Boyle, expert in International Law, and Professor at the University of Illinois College of Law, told TamilNet, "there is absolutely no way the
GOSL [Government of Sri L anka] is going to implement any of them [panel's recommendations], and the GOSL has already rejected all of them, according to published reports. Therefore, under these circumstances of longstanding and ongoing genocide against them [the Tamils], the only effective remedy the Tamil People now have is to create the State of Tamil Eelam and move to have the International Community recognize it." Professor Boyle added: These excerpts support the worst conclusions that many of us drew during the course of the GOSL genocide against the Tamils in Vanni, which continues even today. Full story >>
