Accountability for the Alleged Violations of International Humanitarian and Human Rights in Sri Lanka

OFFICIAL DEPARTMENT OF STATE RESPONSE TOsupport an international investigation into war crimes and other human rights abuses committed in Sri Lanka 

By Michael H. Posner

The United States shares your concern about accountability for the alleged violations of international humanitarian and human rights law that occurred during Sri Lanka's recent conflict and is committed to working with the government of Sri Lanka, the United Nations, and the international community to implement a just and equitable reconciliation process for all Sri Lankans.

At the request of Congress, the Department of State prepared two reports in 2009 and 2010 on alleged violations of international humanitarian law and international human rights law during Sri Lanka's recent conflict. These reports can be found at State.gov. As we noted in both reports, the United States takes these allegations very seriously. We believe individual accountability for such violations is a critical component of reconciliation, and meaningful steps in this regard will advance Sri Lanka's own efforts to heal after decades of conflict.

In the September 2011 session of the United Nations Human Rights Council, we made clear our view that Sri Lanka must adopt measures necessary to achieve national and ethnic reconciliation. We expressed the need for Sri Lanka to quickly and credibly address allegations of violations of international humanitarian law and international human rights law that occurred during the war, regardless of which side committed them. We have highlighted the need for Sri Lanka to take concrete steps, such as providing to family members an account of those missing and detained as well as promptly issuing death certificates for those killed in the conflict. We will continue to urge the government of Sri Lanka to work constructively on these issues with the United Nations and the international community.

Finally, we hope the Government of Sri Lanka will address these reconciliation and accountability issues in a manner commensurate with its international obligations, and we will continue to reiterate to the government of Sri Lanka that, while domestic authorities have primary responsibility to ensure that those responsible for violations of international humanitarian law and international human rights law are held accountable, international accountability mechanisms can become appropriate in circumstances in which a government is unable or unwilling to meet its obligations.

Thank you continued interest in Sri Lanka.

Michael H. Posner is Assistant Secretary for the Bureau of Democracy, Human Rights and Labor at the Department of State

SRI LANKA: A further report on abductions followed by murder

January 5, 2012

 

Dinesh Buddhika Charitanda (25), was abducted on the 3rd January at night and on the morning of the 4th his body was found near the Keleni river close to Grand Pass and his mother identified the body. He had injuries to his head. This is one more of the abductions followed by murder that had been happening throughout the country.

A week earlier, the body of a fish vender who had been abducted by an unknown group was found dead in the same manner at Mutuwal Colombo.

Yesterday we reported the abduction and murder of Mohammad Nistar. In recent weeks we have reported several other abductions and the discovery of bodies indicated murder.

Despite of the reports on such ongoing abductions and murders the government has taken no action at all to ensure the ending such crimes. There is a commonly held belief that these abductions and murders are taking place with the direct or indirect knowledge of the police and often also with the tacit approval of political authorities.

The Asian Human Rights Commission once again urges the government as well as the United Nations Human Rights agencies to take an active interest to investigate these abductions and murders and the media and the people should call for a greater protection for the people by effective law enforcement by the government.

For further information please see the following statements by the AHRC:

SRI LANKA: The murder of the British national and the rape of the Russian lady at Tangalla allegedly by a local politician close to the government

SRI LANKA: The abduction and the brutal murder of Mohamed Sali Mohamed Niyas — the family writes to the human rights organisations

SRI LANKA: The disappearances of Lalith Kumar Weeraju and Kugan Murugan

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About AHRC: The Asian Human Rights Commission is a regional non-governmental organisation that monitors human rights in Asia, documents violations and advocates for justice and institutional reform to ensure the protection and promotion of these rights. The Hong Kong-based group was founded in 1984.

Thirteen witnesses identify suspects in British tourist killing

News First 

However, according to our correspondent, Russian national Victoria Alexandrovna, 23, who sustained injuries following the clash, failed to identify any of the suspects.

Meanwhile, the Chairman of the Tangalle Pradeshiya Sabha Sampath Chandrapushpa Widanapathirana, who surrendered to the Police over the incident, was identified by only one witness.

Fourteen witnesses, including Alexandrovna, were present at the identification parade at the Tangalle Magistrate’s Court yesterday. 

According to our correspondent, the identification parade which commenced at noon yesterday, lasted till midnight. He went on to note that securit in the area was also tightened.  

The five suspects were further remanded by the Tangalle Magistrate and are scheduled to be presented in Court today.

Khuram Shaikh Zaman, 32, a British national of Israeli origin who served in the Gaza strip as a volunteer of the Red Cross, was killed following a clash at a tourist hotel in the Madilla area in Tangalle on December 24, 2011.

Tag: Sri Lanka News, Newsfirst, Lankanews

LLRC report, an inconvenient truth?

THURSDAY, 05 JANUARY 2012 

Accordingly the government spends most of its limited attention span on the ethnic issue by complaining about the TNA’s alleged intransigence, denying the existence of an ethnic problem and blaming the West for not recognizing the claimed post war economic progress in the North. 
However, this Rajapaksa / UPFA narrative is not supported by the facts as largely attested by the LLRC.
Firstly it is incumbent on the government to take the leadership on a political solution, simply because it holds state power. To date the government has never put forward 

its proposals or indicated its own response to the LLRC report. It does however keep repeating what it’s opposed to, namely police and land powers for the PC’s but never what it proposes. The LLRC clearly states “It is vital that the Government should provide leadership to a political process which must be pursued for the purpose of establishing a framework for ensuring sustainable peace and security in the post conflict environment. In this endeavor the rights of all communities, including those who have been members of the LTTE, must be ensured. To this end a political settlement based on devolution must address the ethnic problem as well as other serious problems that threaten the democratic institutions. This political process should culminate in a constitutional foundation and mechanisms that provide opportunities for development and implementation of necessary socio-economic policies” (LLRC Final Report 8.215). Read more…

Sri Lankan government accused over bulldozed hotels

 The Telegraph. 

Hoteliers and human rights groups have accused the Sri Lankan government of bulldozing dozens of occupied, independent guesthouses – putting livelihoods at risk – to make way for new holiday resorts.

By Oliver Smith

 05 Jan 2012

Tourists at one of dozens of guesthouses bulldozed in Unawatuna Photo: AFP

 

Last month about 40 properties on the beachfront in Unawatuna, a mile from Galle, were left in disrepair after being earmarked for removal by the country’s Coast Conservation Department (CCD). According to the CCD, the buildings were illegally encroaching upon the beach, under a 1981 conservation law.

The majority of the hotels were only partially destroyed, with a number of sea-facing restaurants razed, but the financial implications are expected to be considerable, and there are concerns that further development could follow.

The Tartaruga guesthouse, which was fully occupied when the bulldozers arrived, had its bar and restaurant demolished. Neil Pryantha, the owner, said that although a warning was given by the CCD, no deadline was imposed and no compensation offered. “I still don’t understand why they demolished my place,” he said. “Other hotels the same distance from the sea have been left standing.” He estimated that the destruction could cost him £50,000.

Other hoteliers claimed the incident was a ploy to push tourists into larger resort hotels – a claim supported by human rights groups, but denied by the Sri Lanka tourism ministry. It is also feared that Unawatuna, chosen by Telegraph Travel in 2008 as one of the world’s best beaches, will lose the laid-back character for which it is popular.

Last September, dozens of hotels on the beachfront in Arugam Bay, a surfers’ haven on Sri Lanka’s east coast, were bulldozed in a similar incident.

Liz Hayllar, the British owner of Gecko, a hotel partly demolished in that incident, said that plans to develop the bay were ongoing. She claimed that proposals had been made to build a railway terminal close to the beach at Arugam Bay, which could require the removal of all beachfront properties there.

“We have heard they are going to start developing after the rainy season, which is any time now,” she said. “It’s very hard to put your heart and soul into something when you have no idea of the future.”

Criticism of the government’s strategy for developing the island’s tourism infrastructure has grown since the end of the civil war in 2009. Visitor numbers have soared since then, with much of the island only now safe to foreign visitors.

Fred Carver, campaign director for Sri Lanka Campaign for Peace and Justice, said: “The Unawatuna incident seems to fit into a pattern we have frequently observed. Rules are bent, misused or broken to suit the interests of the friends and family of the Rajapaksa regime, be they private or those of the state, and in particular the Sri Lankan military. The pattern is clear – make way for the assets of our friends and the military, or get bulldozed.”

He said that much of the country’s tourism industry – including several hotels in Jaffna, and a large number of whale- and dolphin-watching operations – is now run by the military. He also criticised “morally dubious” tourism projects in Hambantota and Kalpitiya, on the south and north-west coasts, respectively. The charity Tourism Concern claims that such developments are displacing communities, ruining the livelihoods of fishermen, threatening food security and wreaking havoc on the environment.

Mr Carver urged British travellers to practise responsible tourism by staying in independent, family-run hotels, avoiding military-run elements of the tourism industry, and steering clear of recently completed developments, particularly in the north.

The Sri Lankan tourist board was unavailable for comment.

Another young foreign tourist , a victim of rape flees Sri Lanka – MaRa's ‘Asian wonder’ truly working!

(Lanka-e-News -05.Jan.2012, 11.55PM) There had been another case of rape committed on a foreign tourist, a youngster in a Hotel in the south by its owner on the 3rd of January 2012. The victim is a 25 year old Holland national .

The perpetrator of the crime who runs a tourist Hotel at Odiha , Matara has raped this youngster when she sought accommodation in his Hotel. The victim had made the complaint to the Matara police headquarters , and later in fear of her life had left the country on the 4th.

The victim had been denied the opportunity of securing a medical report. Like in the other recent case of murder and rape committed on a Russian tourist by 8 persons in a Tangalla Hotel , the police is seeking to suppress this crime too , by stating that the Hotel owner had closed the hotel and bolted , it is reported.

On the 24th last month , the Tangalla local body chairman along with his gangsters committed rape on a tourist by the name Victoria , a Russian national in a Tangalla Hotel after killing her fiancé. The regime and the police moved heaven and earth to suppress these crimes.

During the first eleven months of last year , there had been 1636 rapes committed in Sri Lanka meaning that there had been five rapes committed every day on an average. This is the highest rape rate recorded in SL in its history.

In 1995 , there had been only 542 rapes committed . But after the advent of the MaRa regime , this crime rate had steeply risen – in 2007 – it was 1397 ; in 2008 – it was 1582 ; In 2009 – it was 1624 ; in 2010 –it was 1854. By now , the rape rate has sadly and disgracefully risen because the political henchmen and stooges have been mostly involved in them , since they seem to be enjoying immunity from punishment , with regime’s protection, whereby they have been indulging in these crimes without fear and with impunity. Based on these statistics , by 2015 , the crimes of rape would rise to 2500 .

When R Duminda Silva was appointed as the monitoring M P in the defense Ministry by the MaRa regime , he was already tainted with charges of this crime of raping an under-aged girl . But later , following the mysterious withdrawal of the charges against him , he was freed.

Very lately , the regime chief sought to similarly free a multi millionaire businessman who has been jailed for committing rape on two girls . But this was stalled when the media highlighted and exposed the dastardly attempts .

May we recall that in the year 1970 , a chief of this regime who was young at that time committed rape on a Medamulana girl , who became pregnant thereby. When she refused to abort the child , she was secretly burnt to ashes by throwing her into a lime kiln . It is a well and widely known incident about which residents in the Medamulana vicinity still speak .

It is therefore little wonder that the rape rate is steeply rising day after day with main contributions to it being made by the chief’s henchmen and stooges who are loyally following in the footsteps of their chief.

SL Military governor sabotages Jaffna GA meeting British Conservative MP

[TamilNet, Thursday, 05 January 2012, 09:14 GMT]
Sri Lankan colonial governor of North, Major General (retd) G.A. Chandrasiri, on Wednesday instructed the SL Government Agent of Jaffna district, Ms. Imelda Sugumar, to come to his official residence and have meetings with the visiting British Conservative MP James Wharton, canceling her meeting at Jaffna District Secretariat with the British parliamentarian of UK - Sri Lanka Parliamentary Group. Colombo's Ministry of Public Administration and Home Affairs has recently ‘reminded’ the officials of the administrative sector in North and East that the foreign diplomats need to secure permission through the ministry in Colombo before meeting the officials. Ms. Imelda Sugumar had to receive Mr. Wharton at Alfred Duraiappah Stadium and join the delegation to governors residence, civil sources in Jaffna said. 

Civil circles in Jaffna alleged that the Sri Lankan authorities did not want the visiting British Conservative MP to independently witness the situation even through the civil authorities of the Sri Lankan state. 

The visiting MP and his crew were briefed by the occupying military ‘developers’ who showcased the military-led projects of structural genocide as ‘development’, civil sources told TamilNet. 

Colombo authorities earlier transferred Government Agents of Mannaar, Mullaiththeevu and Ampaa'rai. 

Divisional secretaries in the Batticaloa district from the areas bordering the Sinhala districts, who object to the plans of Sinhala colonisation and Sinhalicisation are also threatened with transfer orders from Colombo. 

The visiting British Conservative MP has met the SL presidential sibling and defence secretary who has also taken over ‘urban development’. Matters of bilateral interest were discussed between Mr. Gotabhaya and Mr. Wharton, according to SL Defence Ministry.

Mr. Wharton also met SL minister of Industry and Commerce Rishad Bathiutheen, who is long known to be intervening in the affairs of resettlement and the aid disbursement in Vanni misappropriating the funds and abetting Colombo's structural genocide. 

Mr. Bathiutheen was campaigning the British politician to promote Colombo as a base for British export to India projecting the framework of Indo-Lanka Free Trade Agreement. 

“Sri Lanka provides a friendly atmosphere for British Investors, especially to invest in the North and East,” Mr. Bathiutheen was quoted by media in Colombo as telling the visiting British politician.

‘Rotter’ Dr. Mervyn’s Kelaniya empire which collected Rs. 6000 lakhs extortion money trembles at its foundation

 
(Lanka-e-News -04.Jan.2012, 11.55PM) The ‘sub –powers ‘which backed the MaRa regime in all its sub human and lawless activities are now crumbling . Earlier the ‘sub power’ operating under kudu (drug) Duminda alias Duminda Silva began to collapse following the shooting and injuring of Duminda . Now, another ‘sub power’ run by kudu cum extortion Kingpin (Dr.) ‘Rotter’ Mervyn Silva has similarly fallen into deep despair. These political scoundrels including (Dr.) ‘Rotter’ Mervyn the vermin are subject to the bitter abhorrence of the public currently.

This disaster had struck them because H .E. , Gota and Basil , the ‘mango friends’ (keechas) of these kudu and extortionist MPs ,have after using them and their criminal groups to accomplish all their sordid and illegal tasks deserted these MPs, and are arranging for the notorious white Van to trail behind the groups of the MPs. The recent mysterious premeditated murder of the Minuwangoda local body chairman has had a great impact on this sudden change of ‘climate’ among these partners in crimes. The H E , Gota and Basil ‘keechas’ have apparently let down these leeches after getting together with them and bleeding this country of everything good it stood for all these centuries.

It has now come to light that these Kelaniya local body members and other political stooges after having come to Kelaniya had teamed up with (Dr.) Rotter Mervyn Silva , and collected Rs. 6000 lakhs as extortion monies from the innocent public via ‘chandiyas’ (hooligans) . Since the closest associates of Rotter Mervyn are mostly thugs , hooligans and extortionists , collecting these monies was the simplest task ever in his ‘political career’ (the only task he did well in his political career) to Mervyn the notorious Vermin. On the 15th of December last year , Mervyn had collected Rs. 25 lakhs as extortion money from Kiribathgoda Thilakawardena Mudalali alone under the pretext of spending for the Kelaniya Devale perahera.

It is not out of context if we recall that Amila Rodrigo , a co ordinating Secretary of Mervyn who was latter’s extortion money collector was abducted by Mervyn’s hitherto ‘ keecha’ (mango friend) Gota via latter’s white Van recently , and later released .. When the white Van began trailing after the other accomplices in the crimes of Mervyn , latter scooted to Dubai.

These are a sequel to the bitter hostilities that have triggered between Mervyn and Gota, erstwhile bosom pals., sources say.

When Mervyn returned to the Island yesterday (3), the whole of Kelaniya and Peliyagoda were awash with posters against Mervyn yesterday when he returned to his ‘fortress’ . The posters carried slogans ‘you members of local bodies who served as kittens for Mervyn’s ‘dog shows ‘ , at least now try to become cubs of lions’; ‘ for the deadly curse this rotter (Dr) had plunged Kelaniya into , are Kelaniya businessmen, public and Councils responsible?’ It was very evident that these posters had been pasted by those who had been working for Mervyn hitherto.. 

Rotter Mervyn the vermin after seeing these posters and realizing that all those members of local Councils whom he used for his worst atrocities have turned against him had got severely frightened. He had then met two of his co ordinating Secretaries , ‘Singapore Sarath’ and ‘Booru Thilak’ whom he had been co ordinating with in his kappam - extortion collections , and requested them ,‘ you all accept that the extortion monies of Rs. 6000 lakhs that were collected so far were appropriated by you two’. Booru (gambling) Thilak , the bosom pal of Rotter Mervyn runs gambling dens for the high class gamblers . Anyone who wishes to enter the gambling den that is run in his house has to pay Rs. one lakh initially .

Mervyn the vermin collects extortion monies even from the poor vegetable vendors at the daily polas in Kelaniya . Each vendor must pay kappam (extortion money) ranging from Rs.250/-, 350/- and 450/ =- per day to Mevyn. In addition ,a bag of fresh vegetables and fruits weighing 5 kilos should be sent to Mervyn’s home daily. Pennela kola ( an aphrodisiac herb) must be mandatorily sent with that supply. It is Booru Thilak who is assigned this duty performed daily as a routine. 
No matter what , the local body members including the Chairman who are presently disappointed with Mervyn , have taken a decision. From today , they have made arrangements to stop the extortion payments , and that every trader shall pay the Rs. 100/- due to the local body and obtain a receipt.

It is learnt that Mervyn the vermin who had got wind of this has held out death threats to the local body secretary . However the group of local body members have stated that there is nobody in Kelaniya now who will get frightened of Rotter Mervyn’s empty threats .

These events and the raging lawlessness in the country clearly bear testimony to the deplorable truth that under this MaRa regime , rule of law has been dethroned and law of force is enthroned . MaRa who stoked this deadly situation in this country is now trying to desperately stamp out the lawlessness of which his regime is the sole and whole architect , by lawlessness again instead of lawful measures , whereby lawlessness is fast becoming an eternal curse like the regime itself to the people.

White Van murder syndrome – fourth murder on fourth day since dawn of New year

 

(Lanka-e-News -04.Jan.2012, 11.55PM) As the New year dawned so have the ‘white Van crimes’ multiplied. Every day since the dawn of the New year , there had been a ‘white Van’ murder . Today , the 4th , the white Van murder syndrome claimed its fourth victim, according to reports . The body of an individual who was abducted yesterday night in Grandpass , Colombo was discovered this morning. This body was found abandoned near the Temple at Ferguson Road . The person so abducted and killed has been identified as 28 year old Dinesh Buddhika residing at Ferguson Road.

The series of white Van killings since the new year dawned are as follows :

Jan. 01 - Hewage Chandana Rohan Lilantha Dabare -Thalawatugoda, Colombo. Jan. 02 - Mohomed Nisthar -Sankutikulama, Puttalam Jan.03 - Rajgopal – Trincomalee Jan.04 - Dinesh Buddhika – Grandpass.

Sivaram murder case postponed

 05 January, 2012

The trial of the murder of journalist Dharmaratnam Sivaram (Taraki) scheduled to begin on Thursday, six years after the assassination has been postponed until April.

Colombo High Court judge P. Surasena postponed the hearing as six witnesses including two policemen failed to present themselves at court.

The judge also dissolved the Sinhala speaking jury called in for the hearing.

State Counsel told court that proceedings could not continue as six important witnesses were not available for the hearing.

Witnesses not present

The court instructed the state counsel to produce the witnesses on April 25.

Arumugam Sri Skandharaja, also known as Peter who was arrested and released on bail in connection with the murder was also present at the court on Thursday.

The Attorney General had filed charges against him in 2006. But the case did not proceed further despite having taken for hearing few times for over five years.

Taraki, the founding editor of TamilNet was abducted in Colombo on 28 April 2005.

His body was found dumped in Sri Jayawardenepura, a high security zone, a day later.

International and Sri Lankan media watchdogs have voiced anger over lack of progress in murder investigation.
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Sivaram Dharmeratnam: A Journalist’s life

Mr. Sivaram's body was recovered in the high security zone behind the Sri Lankan parliament.

Sri Lankan religious leaders urge gov't to implement war report

English.news.cn   2012-01-05
COLOMBO, Jan. 5 (Xinhua) -- Leaders of all main religions in Sri Lanka on Thursday urged the government to immediately implement the recommendation made in the war report released last month.

The Congress of Religions, comprising leaders of Buddhist, Christian, Muslim and Hindu, at a press conference said that implementing the outcome of the report is essential to bring about lasting peace to the country that was devastated with three decade civil war.

The religious leader stressed that for a permanent reconciliation the country needs to ensure media freedom, independent of judiciary and independent commission to solve problems relating to lands.

"The report also has recommended to probe into the alleged war crimes and civilian deaths alleged to have committed by the government forces and the Tamil Tiger rebels," Buddhist clergy Bellanvila Wimalarathana Thera said.

He stressed the need to immediately resettle the internally displaced during three decades of civil war and sending them back to their original lands.

He also noted government should establish an independent judiciary and ensure a society free from violence.

Former Bishop Oswarld Gomis said recommendations should be implemented soon in order not to repeat another war.

"We have won the battle but the war will not be over until a lasting solution is found to the ethnic problem," Gomis said.

Sri Lanka released its 400 paged war report, prepared by " Lessons Learnt and Reconciliation Commission" which was appointed by the president to probe the reasons for the three decade conflict that ended in 2009 along with possible war crimes committed during the last phase of the war.

Police officer accused of stealing from suspect

04 January, 2012

Court in Sri Lanka has ordered the Police Chief to investigate and report on an incident where Narcotics department official was accused of forcibly withdrawing money from the bank account of a suspect in his custody.

The attorney representing the suspect Sujith Kumara told Colombo magistrates court on Wednesday, that the officer had obtained the secret Personal Identification Number (PIN) and the bank card by forcing the suspect.

Bank statement

He also said the alleged withdrawal of twenty thousand rupees was recorded in the victim's bank statement and the visuals of the policemen withdrawing the money can be seen on security camera footage of the bank.

The lawyer also informed the court that earlier complaints about the incident to higher officials in the Police narcotics division were ignored.

Colombo magistrate ordered the Inspector General of the Police to investigate the incident and submit a report to court.

Lanka sends slain British tourist''s body back home

05/01/2012Colombo, Jan 5 (PTI) The body of Khuram Shaikh, the British tourist murdered in Sri Lanka on Christmas eve has been sent back home, the UK High Commission said here today.

Shaikh, a 32 year old working for the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) in the Gaza strip was on holiday at a hotel in the southern resort of Tangalle.

He died as a result of a deep stab wound and a single firearm injury to the head and multiple cuts.

He was accompanied on holiday by a Russian national, Victoria Rustkacheva, who was seriously injured in a subsequent attack.

The British officials said the victim''s brother was in Colombo meeting local officials to inquire about the investigations towards bringing to book those responsible.

At least six people including the ruling party''s chairman of the local council in Tangalle are under arrest for the murder.

The government here has stressed that there will be no cover up in the investigations despite the involvement of the ruling party''s local politician.

"From the assurances I have received today I am confident that the Sri Lankan authorities have what they need to bring those responsible for the brutal murder of my brother, and the vicious attack on Victoria, to Justice," Nasir Shaikh, the slain tourist''s brother has said.

The attack on the British tourist deeply hurt the industry officials who feared large scale cancellation of bookings.

Sri Lanka looks up to tourism as an engine of growth in the island�s post conflict phase since the defeat of the LTTE''s campaign for separatism in May 2009.

SRI LANKA’S TRUTH COMMISSION IGNORES TORTURE AND EVADES ACCOUNTABILITY

The Sri Lankan government’s unconvincing efforts to demonstrate that it is ready to deal with atrocities committed by both sides during the end of the brutal civil war reached the end of the line last week with the publication of the final report by the Lessons Learnt and Reconciliation Commission (LLRC).

The Commission, established by President Mahinda Rajapaksa in a bid to stave off international scrutiny, has taken small steps towards exposing a fuller picture of what happened during the gruesome final stages of the conflict. Its report puts to bed outlandish claims made previously by the government that there were no civilian casualties in the war, acknowledges that hospitals were indeed shelled and is critical of disappearances which continue to cause pain and suffering for many Sri Lankan families.

But on the all important question of accountability, the Commission has completely failed to deliver. While conceding individual incidents may require further investigation, the Commission declares itself satisfied that protection of civilians was given ‘the highest priority’ in the military strategy and that civilians were not targeted, thereby ducking the central issue of command responsibility for international crimes that are widely suspected to have occurred. In a move that highlights the unbalanced nature of the report overall, the Commission makes much stronger findings in relation to specific violations of the laws of war and human rights by the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE).  

On the fact that the 388-page report makes not a single reference to torture in Sri Lanka, Freedom from Torture CEO, Keith Best, commented:

The remarkable failure to acknowledge at all, let alone address, widespread use of torture by the Sri Lankan authorities – either during or following the conflict – makes a mockery of the Commission's objective to promote reconciliation by recognising the losses and suffering of the past. Either the Commission has chosen to paper over any testimony of torture that it received, or such testimony was withheld because the Commission lacked the confidence of Sri Lanka's countless torture survivors and their families.

“As the UN panel of experts pointed out in its report earlier this year, the lack of any victim or witness protection scheme was just one of the Commission's many structural failings. Either way, the exclusion of torture issues fatally undermines the Commission’s credibility.”

The audacity of this omission is obvious when read against Freedom from Torture’sevidence of ongoing torture and the concerns voiced recently by the UN Committee Against Torture about ‘continued and consistent allegations of widespread use of torture and other cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment of suspects in police custody’ and reports suggesting that ‘torture and ill-treatment perpetrated by state actors, both the military and the police, have continued in many parts of the country after the conflict ended in May 2009 and is still occurring in 2011’. The contrast is well demonstrated by comparing the concerns voiced by the UN Committee about allegations of torture and ill-treatment of those detained in military-run internment camps against the findings of the Commission that the authorities should be congratulated for their 'caring attitude' towards those detained following the conflict.

Keith Best concluded:

The UK government has insisted that Sri Lanka demonstrate ‘progress’ on accountability for international crimes by the end of 2011. The LLRC report has been issued on the eve of this deadline but there is no getting around the fact that the necessary progress has not been achieved. Accountability remains elusive and robust international action supported by the UK to achieve an ‘independent, comprehensive and credible inquiry’ is now unavoidable. The next session of the UN Human Rights Council provides an opportunity that must not be missed.”

Sri Lanka to build tallest tower in South Asia

Qadijah Irshad     5 January 2012
COLOMBO - Sri Lanka is set to build the tallest tower in the South Asian region, the government announced recently. The 350 metre high tower building, the promoters claim, will be visible to India and Bangladesh.

Estimated to cost more than $104 million, the “Lotus Tower” will provide facilities for 50 television services, 50 broadcasting services and 10 telecommunication providers. In addition to its primary function, the tower podium, which is proposed to be four storeys high, will accommodate a telecommunication museum, food courts, offices, conference hall and exhibition spaces.

Two floors of the 11 storyed multi-faceted tower is also planned to be developed with luxury hotel accommodation, a revolving restaurant accommodating 600 guests on the fourth floor and a banquet hall for over a thousand guests.

Planned to be built in a three hectare land in the heart of Colombo, the Lotus Tower is one of Sri Lanka’s many development projects designed to help the country’s rapidly growing tourism industry. Since the end of its three-decade ethnic conflict, the country is emerging as one of the most popular tourist destinations of the region.The project through its telecommunication infrastructure also aims at eliminating high-powered TV and FM antennas perched atop buildings around Colombo as part of the government’s Colombo beautification plan. The tower mast, fixed upon the tower head is arranged to provide a base for antennas of service providers in telecommunication, telecasting, broadcasting, and defence-related transmission with the antenna installed 350 metres above ground.

The Director-General of the Telecommunication Regulatory Commission, Anusha Pelpita, said that there will be a significant development in the television and telecommunication.

The Lotus Tower will be the tallest building in South Asia and the 19^th tallest building in the world. It will be 26-metre taller than the Eiffel Tower and 17.4-metre taller than the 332.6-metre high Tokyo Tower. The Tokyo Sky Tree with a height of 634 meters presently being constructed and scheduled to be completed in February this year, will be the tallest tower in the world followed by the Canton Tower of China with a height of 600 metres.

The construction of the Lotus Tower is planned to be completed in 30 months and funded by EXIM Bank of the People’s Republic of China.

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Thalaimannar IDPs 'made refugees again'

Nearly 600 families are now made refugees in their own village, they say, as their ancestral land has been taken over by the military Nearly 600 families recently re-settled in their ancestral lands in Thalaimannar say they were made homeless again due to "land grab" by the military. The families who were evicted from Thalaimannar by the Tamil Tigers in 1990 were recently requested by the government to resettle in their ancestral lands. But once resettled, they say, they were once again evicted by the police and military. The families are currently camping in a land belonged to local mosque. No facilities “We thought we would be offered some kind of relief once resettled here but now the navy and army say we should not live in these lands,” one woman said. The refugees are even finding it difficult to find drinking water The villagers have been living in various parts of Sri Lanka after the LTTE eviction until the government made a special request for them to come and re-settle in their original lands. But the officials have told them, they say, that the lands in which they previously lived now belonged to the government. “Police evicted us saying that these are state lands,” said another man. Joseph Neville Francis, 65, says that nearly 600 families are now made refugees in their own village as their ancestral land has been taken over by the military. The refugees are even finding it difficult to find drinking water, journalist Dinasena Rathugamage who visited the camps reports. “No facilities at all here. If someone falls ill we don’t know what to do,” another refugee said. "These are our ancestral lands, not government lands. The president must give us our lands back," said another. Local government officials told BBC Sandeshaya that they could not respond without prior approval from the ministry of resettlement. ---------------------------------------------------------- Dispossessing And Disempowering The People Sunday, September 11, 2011 By Tisaranee Gunasekara Shanties will disappear with the beautification of Colombo - Photos courtesy:  “Do not make us      Read More »

Release of the Lessons Learnt and Reconciliation Commission (LLRC) Report

by CENTRE FOR POLICY ALTERNATIVES on Jan 3, 2012

4 January 2011, Colombo, Sri Lanka: The Centre for Policy Alternatives (CPA) welcomes the release of the Lessons Learnt and Reconciliation Commission (LLRC) Report, its analysis of the root cause of the conflict, the cataloguing of the atrocities of the LTTE, recommendations in respect of governance – especially the de-politicization of existing institutions, the introduction of Right to Information legislation, militarization, attacks on the freedom of expression, language rights, reconciliation and the investigation of the allegations contained in the Channel Four documentary as well as the investigation and prosecution of those responsible for disappearances and civilian deaths. We also welcome the LLRC recommendation that named individuals and organizations associated with the government be investigated for human rights violations and para-military activity, and its recommendations in respect of the Northern Muslims evicted by the LTTE and the Up Country Tamil population. The attention accorded by the LLRC to the situation of these two communities strengthens the coherence of this report on the pivotal issue of reconciliation for the peoples of Sri Lanka. We strongly urge that the testimonies and record of the proceedings of the LLRC be preserved for posterity.     Full Story>>>

President attacks ministers through Wimal’s website

Wednesday, 04 January 2012

The President is using Minister Wimal Weerawansa’s Lanka C News website to attack government ministers and opposition politicians, a senior government minister said.

The Minister said that website has been used to punish the ministers, officials and businessmen who ignore the President and the First Family and that a head in the Presidential Media Unit has been assigned to coordinate the stories.

The stories published in the website about a letter a sent by Sarath Fonseka’s daughter Aparna Fonseka to the President and of a Minister representing the Hill Country falling on a dance floor after consuming liquor have been given by the Presidential Media Units official.

The President has asked the heads of several corporations to give advertisements to the website for its maintenance and has give salaries to the employees of the website by giving them jobs in the state sector.

Journalist of the Divaina newspaper, Keerthi Warnakulasuriya is the unofficial editor of the website.

The President is now looking at buying over several well known websites in the manner in which he purchased several electronic and print media institutions that were not supportive of the government.