Lanka tops sexual harassment list in South Asia SATURDAY, 01 DECEMBER 2012 Sri Lanka has topped the list of sexual harassment cases in the South Asian region especially relating to women being harassed in public transport, the Legal Aid Commission said yesterday. Commission’s Chairman S. S. Wijeratne made this revelation while addressing the White Ribbon campaign that was held at Bastian Mawatha with the aim of stopping sexual harassment in public transport. Referring to a journal report that published recently, Mr. Wijeratne said as Sri Lankans we should seriously be concerned about the matter. “Though the population in India is higher than Sri Lanka, incidence of sexual harassment in public transport is very much lower in India when compared to us.” However, he said owing to several public awareness campaigns, there was a gradual decrease in such incidents in the recent past.  Mr. Wijeratne said the victimized women in public transport were reluctant to make complaints about the matter to bus conductors, bus drivers or to the police. “They used to bear the trauma without seeking legal assistance. The LAC is ready to assist and appear on behalf of such victimized women in public transport. He further said the campaign against sexual harassment in public transport would be carried out until a proper environment for women was created in the country. (Lakmal Sooriyagoda)

SLFP Lawyers refuse to give pro impeachment statement: Lawyers jointly to stage protest on 4th March as scheduled

(Lanka-e-News -01.Dec.2012, 11.00PM) The Sri Lanka freedom party lawyers themselves are bitterly hostile to the impeachment motion brought forward by the Rajapakse regime. Expressing their resentment against it, they said that it is tantamount to digging their own graves. In the circumstances they have declined to make a statement in favor of the Rajapakses on account of the impeachment.

When the Executive Committee of the SLFP Lawyers met yesterday over extending support to the Govt. in respect of the impeachment , only 15 of them were present , while others kept away. Though desperate attempts were made to whip up support for the impeachment motion , none was disposed in favor of giving a statement supporting it. They had declared that they had to practice their profession in courts and not with the Rajapakses. Hence they cannot make an announcement against the judiciary , and if they do they will not be able to enter even the court precincts. What’s more ! even an SLFP national list ex judge has expressed the same sentiment and abhorred the impeachment.

Champani Padmasekera, Saliya Mathew, D P Mendis and some others had participated in this meeting.

Chamal Rajapakse who was until yesterday able to barely safeguard his reputation despite being of the Rajapakse family, ( that is carrying tons and tons of wrath and hate of the people) now after his announcement in Parliament as the speaker against the Supreme court , he had also lost that last trace of his prestige he was clinging on to precariously. The lawyers who were at the meeting had stated that they cannot commit the same indiscretion as the Speaker , for the speaker is full of remorse after his imprudent action not knowing what to do , as he knows even a hundred elephants cannot pull down the monumental blunder he had committed. Even senior Lawyer Nimal Siripala De Silva has lost the regard and respect he had in the court following the impeachment, the lawyers had pointed out.Some lawyers who did not wish to let down their party wholesale tried to defend MaRa by saying Mahinda Rajapakse was opposed to this move from the outset , but it was Basil who agitated in its favor. No matter what defense was advanced at this belated stage , the majority of the Lawyers who were more intelligent frowned on the whole episode.

Meanwhile , the massive protest demonstrations organized by Lawyers jointly together with the trade unions to be staged on the 4th of December against the impeachment and in support of an independent judiciary is to be held as scheduled. Nervous Basil whose efforts to break up the mounting opposition had been a flop so far, has organized another demonstration to counter the Lawyers cum trade unions campaign on the 4th, it is learnt.

JVP impressively commemorated EL Heroes in London

Sublime 23 rd commemoration of Il heroes which was organized by JVP London committee in the UK was held at wale farm auditorium in London with the participation of a big crowd and the JVP leader comrade Somawansa Amarasinghe in last week. Comrade Darshana Hettiarachchi was the chairperson of the occasion and some of the participants came from most remote areas in the UK as well.

The event was started by lightning oil lamps and placing flowers in front of the creatively designed commemoration post and sang commemoration songs in order to commemorate hundreds of thousands of patriotic comrades including founder, comrade Rohana Wijeeweera who sacrificed their lives for our motherland. Comrade Somawansa Amarasinghe who gave the main speech mentioned that, in the very moment we commemorate 23rd Il heroes, the capitalist systems was facing a big crisis and collapsing by itself and it was clearly shown by the massive demonstrations which were done by thousands of people in Europe and America recently.

He further noted that the economic crisis in Sri Lanka of which was ruled by capitalist leaders who were the puppets of World Bank and International Monetary Fund was the part of the same collapse which was significant in global scale and the capitalists leaders of Sri Lanka, Mahinda Rajapakshe and Ranil Wickremasinghe had clearly failed to find proper solution for this persistent burden. He said that the ruthless capitalism had created cultural, social and ethnic conflicts across the world for their sheer purpose of survival and the prolonged ethnic crisis in Sri Lanka for 30 years provided a best example as they used this conflict as a clear shield to hide the brutal nakedness of capitalism and even after the ethnic war, they had not stopped their savage businesses, such as corruptions, intimidating, abductions and killing people.

All the respectable capitalist institutions had been collapsed and misused only for the survival of capitalist leaders. They had always intrigued to destroy or oppress the other parties or individuals who had not willingly obey and agree with their activities. The recent conflict between the Constitution and the Supreme Court gave the best example for that. In those circumstances comrade Somawansa signified, that the inevitable duty of activists and followers of JVP, which was the unique option for the corrupted capitalist system, was to remain in the correct stance in the ideology, protect the moral of the party and fortify with the knowledge in order to organize the working class to prepare to give an influential blow to the oppressors and to figure out correctly and defeat the factionalism and conspiracies of bourgeois and protect the essence and spirit of the party and use it for the liberation of the society.

One faction who had supported the racist terrorism had tried to tarnish the reputation of the party. But it was successfully defeated and their true color had shown from the commemoration ceremony they had organized recently. He further asked from the participants that not to be seduced by the illusions of opportunists and capitalists conspiracies. Finally he reminded that the lives which sacrificed were inevitably affiliated with liberation, social integrity, equality and imminent socialized society, therefore our unavoidable responsibility was to dedicate ourselves to the same purpose which the Il heroes tried to achieve in the history.

The organizer of the JVP committee in the UK, Comrade Darshana Hettiarachchi addressed the audience and emphasized that, even though the effort of regaining the ruling power of the party was defeated, that faction which was withdrawn from the party had some closer connections with small Trotskyites’ groups internationally and he asked generally from all the Sri Lankan residents in foreign countries that as Marxists and Leninists, not to be intrigued by their activists and their conspiracies.

Applying Old Sayings To New Sri Lanka

By Emil van der Poorten -December 1, 2012

Emil van der Poorten

I must confess to having used the title of this week’s column previously when I invoked the memory of a father who was very fond of aphorisms of many kinds.  Even though my friends and I, in our callow youth, used to make fun of such “old-fashioned stuff,” over the years, I have found that those sayings had lasted through the years for very good reason: they expressed, to use that hackneyed term, the eternal verities.

But to business!  When I wrote the first piece which took as its jumping off point this aphorism, I referred to a slew of countries and governments the association with whom gave our government a particular complexion, even if “only” by virtue of association.

Among this lot was Myanmar/Burma (before the recent attempt at democratization began and the release ofAung San Suu Kyi from house arrest), Libya prior to Gaddafi’s overthrow, China, Iran and Russia.

I do recall quite vividly the head of the Myanmarese/Burmese government of the day being accorded the singular honour of a special exposition of the Tooth Relic while on a state visit to Sri Lanka and the gift of a baby elephant to that country during the same period of its suppression of democracy and killing of demonstrators for democracy, including monks.

Gaddafi had already achieved pariah status in the world generally, primarily thanks to his erratic behavior and extreme violence directed at anything resembling dissent before state visits to Tripoli by “those who matter” from our shores.  A commonality held by both parties to this dialogue in North Africa at the time could well have been the fact that both male parents were convinced of the “sporting genius” of their progeny.  In Gaddafi’s case this extended into an effort to get one of his sons on to the team roster of a top European club and, failing there, an attempt to BUY that club!  As a coda to that son’s fading sporting ambitions, I recall Ben Johnson the Canadian athlete (remember him winning at the Seoul  Olympics only to be stripped of his medal for doping?) being hired as a personal trainer by the North African despot to take care of the “athletic progress” of his son!  Of course we’ve had our own “personal trainers” to our Royalty but I do not recall any of them doping themselves up to achieve “excellence” though their violent behavior after rugger matches is certainly reminiscent of that of users of cocaine or crystal meth!

Since the fall of Gaddafi, the silence of our regime about that nation and the need to cultivate relations with its new regime has been nothing short of deafening!                                Read More

EPDP mobilizes protest against Indian trawlers while backing trawlers from South

[TamilNet, Saturday, 01 December 2012, 16:54 GMT]
Timed to the visit of the representatives of fishermen societies in Tamil Nadu to Jaffna on Thursday, the SL minister and EPDP paramilitary leader Douglas Devananda was allegedly engaged in triggering demonstrations in front of the Consulate General of India in Jaffna, protesting the intrusion of Indian trawlers. According to Jaffna fishermen, the SL minister backs trawlers from the South exploiting Tamil waters. On Thursday, when the EPDP-backed protesters were shouting “Mahalingam come out,” demanding the Indian Consul General to come out and address them, a group of fishermen in Valveddith-thu’rai (VVT) rounded up the SL police station there demanding action against 30 southern trawlers that were operating in the seas off VVT. Another 107 trawlers, backed by Mr. Devandanda were exploiting the seas off Kurunakar, the fishermen complained. 



Tamil Nadu fishermen representatives have come to Jaffna on Thursday to resolve disputes related to the destruction of livelihood of the Eezham Tamil fishermen as well as destruction of the coastal and sea environment caused by the intrusion of Indian trawlers. The EPDP-backed protest was organized with an intention of sustaining the conflict between the Eezham Tamil fishermen and Tamil Nadu fishermen, news sources in Valveddiththu'rai (VVT) said. 

Trawlers owned by Sinhala traders from South, now exploit the stretch of sea from Kokklu'laay to Vadamaraadchi East. The Sinhala fishermen also deploy environment-destructive bottom trawling that deprives the livelihood of long-affected Eezham Tamil fishermen. 

“The intruding Indian trawlers certainly trigger off a serious crisis. The SL government will only seek to exploit the situation. That crisis should be addressed by the community organizations of the fishermen on either coast. But, during the last two years, there have been serious changes in the dimension of the crisis: now, almost the entire fishing stretch off the eastern coast of Northern province is being exploited by trawlers owned by Sinhalese fishermen and traders. Mr. Devananda is not an exception as he also encourages his supporters to engage in such destructive fishing,” was the comment of a fisheries society representative in VVT. 

Three months ago, Mr Devananda visited Mullaiththeevu to attend a meeting of fisheries representatives. At the meeting, he called on the Tamil fishermen to join him in his project to ‘round up Rameswaram’ against the Indian trawlers. 

However, the fishermen at the meeting demanded him to first take efforts to ‘round up the fishermen from South’ who were intruding their sea. The SL minister discontinued the meeting and returned to Jaffna. 

The protest on Thursday was organized through S. Emiliampillai, an EPDP representative who lost in the last civic elections for Point Pedro Urban Council and who has now been appointed as the president of the Northern Province Fisheries Societies Federation, removing the former president S. Thavaratnam. 

Now the federation is under the control of the EPDP, informed sources told TamilNet. 

SL military intelligence operatives and EPDP men were among the protesters. The EPDP paramilitary men had brought some fishermen from Vadamaraadchi in vehicles. 

The protesters demanded Mr Mahalingam to come out of the Consulate General, went ahead in a procession towards the District Secretariat and finally concluded their march at the EPDP office located at Sridhar Theatre.

While the protest was going on, there were at least 137 Devananda-backed trawler vessels that were engaged in fishing in the seas off Kurunakar and Valveddiththu'rai, destroying the livelihood of Eezham fishermen by bottom-trawling. 

Before 2009, the LTTE had fully banned the bottom-trawling vessels. Even the Indian fishermen didn't enter the seas of Eezham Tamils. At that time too, Devananda was encouraging some fishermen to engage in fishing using trawlers in the seas of the islets off Jaffna. 

The Sri Lankan state has banned fishing by trawlers in the Palk Bay with effect from 01 Jan 2011. But, such ban remains only on paper. 

10 days ago, there was a standoff between the fishermen and trawler-operators in the seas off Valveddith-thu'rai. 

Sinhala fishermen from South intrude in large numbers into the seas of Eezham Tamils and engage in fishing in such a way destroying the environment for a long time to come, affecting the current as well as long-term interests of the Eezham Tamil fishing communities. 

The EPDP-backed protest on Thursday was projecting the entire blame on intruding fishermen from India. 

A large section of fishermen from Valveddiththu'rai, sensing the political manipulation behind the protest, avoided their participation in the hurriedly organized Devananda-backed protest.

They questioned the political motives and integrity of the SL minister in organizing the protest exclusively against Indian intruders, while being unable to stop the intruding Sinhala fishermen and while being a collaborator of business interest in the intrusion from the South.

Arbitrary arrest of human rights defender Mr Sanjeewa Samarasinghe

Saturday, 01 December 2012 

On 27 November 2012, human rights defender Mr Sanjeewa Samarasinghe was taken into custody by the Criminal Investigation Department (CID) and questioned for 13 hours without a reason given or a lawyer present, before being released. Sanjeewa Samarasinghe is a journalist and the chairman of the State Media Workers’ Association, which defends press freedom and the rights of media workers in Sri Lanka.

Sanjeewa Samarasinghe was at home on 27 November when around 5.15pm, six plainclothes policemen came to his house in Ragama. The operation was reportedly led by Inspector of Police Mr SP Abayasekara of the CID. The defender was told to accompany the policemen to the CID office to record a statement, but no reason was given for the arrest or the questioning, which is illegal under Sri Lankan law as court approval is necessary for any arrest carried out after 5pm.

The human rights defender was taken to the CID office in Colombo 1 with a friend present, although his friend was told to leave the interrogation after 15 minutes. The defender asked the police officers to wait for his lawyer to arrive before questioning him, but this request was ignored and the police proceeded to question him in the absence of his lawyer. The defender’s lawyer was not permitted to enter the CID premises for the entire duration of the interrogation.

It is reported that Sanjeewa Samarasinghe was subsequently questioned throughout the night for a period of 13 hours until he was eventually released around 9.30am the following morning on 28 November. Although no reason was given for the arrest, he was reportedly asked during the questioning whether he had been supplying information on human rights violations in Sri Lanka to the UN Human Rights Council in Geneva.

Sanjeewa Samarasinghe works as a journalist and leads the State Media Workers’ Association, which works on issues related to media freedom, the right to freedom of expression, and which holds conferences, campaigns, and demonstrations on the rights of media workers.

Front Line Defenders urges the authorities in Sri Lanka to:

1. Immediately initiate an investigation into the arbitrary arrest and questioning of human rights defender Sanjeewa Samarasinghe, taking disciplinary action where necessary, as it is believed that the arrest was solely motivated by his legitimate and peaceful human rights activities;

2. Guarantee under all circumstances that human rights defenders in Sri Lanka are able to carry out their legitimate human rights activities without fear of reprisals and free of all restrictions including judicial harassment.

Sri Lanka: Arbitrary Arrest of Human Rights Defender Mr Sanjeewa Samarasinghe

Letter by William Gomes Salem-News.com-Nov-30-2012

As long as governments place restrictions on journalism, then their problems will never even begin to change.

(SALEM) - If there is one thing that troubles reporters, it is threat against and harming of, other media professionals.

Sri Lanka has a history of harassing, harming, threatening and murdering journalists, to put it mildly.

In the time leading up to the massive ethnic cleansing of Tamils that culminated in the deaths of tens of thousands in the country's northern region from 2006 to 2009, Journalist deaths and disappearances became commonplace.

Sadly, the problem has never gone away.

As long as governments place restrictions on journalism, then their problems will never even begin to change.

Among other points raised, our Human Rights Ambassador, William Nicholas Gomes, asks Sri Lankan President Majinda Rajapaksa to mmediately launch an investigation into the arbitrary arrest and questioning of human rights defender Sanjeewa Samarasinghe. He urges that the country take disciplinary action where necessary, as it is believed that the arrest was solely motivated by his legitimate and peaceful human rights activities...

“

President Mahinda Rajapaksa, Office of the President Republic Square, Colombo 01, Sri Lanka. Your Excellency, I am William Nicholas Gomes, Human Rights Ambassador for Salem-News.com. I came to know about the situation from Front Line Defenders. On 27 November 2012, human rights defender Mr Sanjeewa Samarasinghe was taken into custody by the Criminal Investigation Department (CID) and questioned for 13 hours without a reason given or a lawyer present, before being released. Sanjeewa Samarasinghe is a journalist and the chairman of the State Media Workers’ Association, which defends press freedom and the rights of media workers in Sri Lanka. Sanjeewa Samarasinghe was at home on 27 November when around 5.15pm, six plainclothes policemen came to his house in Ragama. The operation was reportedly led by Inspector of Police Mr SP Abayasekara of the CID. The defender was told to accompany the policemen to the CID office to record a statement, but no reason was given for the arrest or the questioning, which is illegal under Sri Lankan law as court approval is necessary for any arrest carried out after 5pm. The human rights defender was taken to the CID office in Colombo 1 with a friend present, although his friend was told to leave the interrogation after 15 minutes. The defender asked the police officers to wait for his lawyer to arrive before questioning him, but this request was ignored and the police proceeded to question him in the absence of his lawyer. The defender’s lawyer was not permitted to enter the CID premises for the entire duration of the interrogation. It is reported that Sanjeewa Samarasinghe was subsequently questioned throughout the night for a period of 13 hours until he was eventually released around 9.30am the following morning on 28 November. Although no reason was given for the arrest, he was reportedly asked during the questioning whether he had been supplying information on human rights violations in Sri Lanka to the UN Human Rights Council in Geneva. Sanjeewa Samarasinghe works as a journalist and leads the State Media Workers’ Association, which works on issues related to media freedom, the right to freedom of expression, and which holds conferences, campaigns, and demonstrations on the rights of media workers. I urge the authorities in Sri Lanka to: 1. Immediately initiate an investigation into the arbitrary arrest and questioning of human rights defender Sanjeewa Samarasinghe, taking disciplinary action where necessary, as it is believed that the arrest was solely motivated by his legitimate and peaceful human rights activities; 2. Guarantee under all circumstances that human rights defenders in Sri Lanka are able to carry out their legitimate human rights activities without fear of reprisals and free of all restrictions including judicial harassment. Sincerely William Nicholas Gomes Human Rights Ambassador for Salem-News.com www.williamgomes.org

Sri Lankan Army deserter gives ‘rare’ insider account of government forces torturing civilians at refugee hearing

[MK Sivajilingam M.P]

Sri Lankan Army deserter gives ‘rare’ insider account of government forces torturing civilians at refugee hearing

Stewart Bell-Nov 29, 2012

Passport photo of Ravindra Watudura Bandanage, who was a captain in the Sri Lanka Army until he fled to Canada and deserted. He has told immigration officials the army ordered him to place a bomb in the home of a Tamil Member of parliament in Sri Lanka. / Federal Court of

An officer in the Sri Lanka Army, who fled to Canada and claimed he was ordered to plant explosives at the home of an outspoken opposition politician, is raising new questions about military abuses committed during the island nation’s long civil war.

Captain Ravindra Watudura Bandanage, 38, deserted after flying to Toronto in October 2009.

He has since told Canadian immigration officials he was aware of torture and other crimes carried out by government forces against minority Tamils.

Testifying at his refugee hearing, he said a colonel ordered him to place bomb materials in the home of a member of parliament named “Silva Jilingam,” an apparent reference to M.K. Sivajilingam, a controversial Sri Lankan MP then aligned with the Tamil National Alliance party.

But the captain said he refused and was transferred to Colombo, where he helped with search and cordon operations that rounded up ethnic Tamils. He said he knew the army was torturing, beating and raping civilians.

“I admit that it is a harassment of these people,” he said. “I admit that.”

While there has been mounting evidence both sides in the Sri Lankan conflict committed atrocities, the testimony is noteworthy because it comes from a veteran former commissioned officer.

Passport photo of Ravindra Watudura Bandanage, who was a captain in the Sri Lanka Army until he fled to Canada and deserted. He has told immigration officials the army ordered him to place a bomb in the home of a Tamil Member of parliament in Sri Lanka. / Federal Court of Canada

Frances Harrison, a British journalist and author of Still Counting the Dead, a new book that tells the stories of survivors of the brutal end of the civil war, agreed it was unusual to hear such allegations from an ex-soldier and member of the country’s ethnic Sinhalese majority.

“A few Sinhalese have helped bring out war crimes evidence from Sri Lanka but, assuming this testimony is truthful, it’s unheard of for a Sinhalese soldier to speak out openly about human rights violations. It would be a huge blow to the Sri Lankan government,” the former BBC correspondent said.

The captain’s allegations come amid growing international pressure for an independent investigation into the final months of the Sri Lankan civil war. Two weeks ago, a UN review concluded the international body had failed to protect civilians despite verified evidence of atrocities.

A kung fu champion who joined the army in 1993, Mr. Watudura Bandanage told the Immigration & Refugee Board he had been trained in counterinsurgency.

I know my life is at risk if I go back to Sri Lanka

While he denied taking part in combat, the IRB did not believe him.

He recounted how, in 2008, a colonel had asked him “to do something which was not right…. He said there is an order in regards to this MP, there’s an order from the Defence Ministry…. I was asked to go to this MP’s residence and place some explosive material and detonator, and maybe they had planned to blame him for something and make him leave that area and to do something in that area that way or maybe they wanted to get rid of him.”

The Sri Lankan forces routinely framed government opponents during the war to discredit them and justify their arrests, said Gary Anandasangaree, a Toronto lawyer who has been making presentations about human rights violations in Sri Lanka to the UN Human Rights Council in Geneva. But he said it was “rare” to hear such an account from a former soldier.

In his refugee claim, Mr. Watudura Bandanage said he spent 16 years in the army, but feared for his life because he had complained to police about a prominent politician and his connection to drugs and prostitution.

He said he had also leaked sensitive information to a Sri Lankan newspaper.

“I know my life is at risk if I go back to Sri Lanka,” he said.

A tank drives its to Puthukudiyiruppu during 2009 fighting between the Sri Lanka army the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE). Nir Elias / Reuters / Files

But the board ruled in February he was not eligible for refugee protection because he was complicit in crimes against humanity. It said the fact he was asked to place a bomb at an elected official’s home showed he was a trusted officer and aware of the “relentless brutality” of the Sri Lanka Army toward Tamil civilians.

“I find that during the last few years of the civil war in Sri Lanka, which includes the entire period that the claimant was a captain in the Sri Lankan army, military forces conducted ongoing widespread and systematic attacks on the civilian population in Sri Lanka. I find that the military forces of Sri Lanka committed countless crimes against humanity,” IRB member Michal Mivasair wrote.

Mr. Watudura Bandanage’s appeal to the Federal Court of Canada was dismissed last week.

“I think it’s very significant,” John Argue, Amnesty International Canada’s co-ordinator for Sri Lanka, said of the ex-soldier’s allegations.

“I hope it gets discussed publicly because then we get closer to what really happened in the last stages of the armed conflict and could have a serious discussion about accountability.”

Sri Lankan President Immunity Argued Today in New York

War Crimes

Sri Lankan President Immunity Argued Today in New York

Visuvanathan Rudrakumaran (Left
Sri Lankan President Immunity Argued Today in New York

/EINPresswire.com/ August 23, 2012: NEW YORK CITY --

It is reported today, August 23rd, that the issue of Head of State Immunity for Sri Lankan President, Mr. Mahinda Rajapaska, in the case of Vathsala Devi v. Mahinda Rajapaksa (Docket# 11-CIV-6634) was argued in the US District Court, Southern District of New York.

The Tamil widow of Thurairajasingham (Colonel Ramesh) brought an action against Mahinda Rajapaksa, the sitting President of Sri Lanka and the agents under his control. She is asking for compensatory and punitive damages for torture, inhumane treatment and war crimes inflicted by the defendant in violation of the laws of the United States and International Law.

Judge Naomi Reice Buchwald Presided over the case argued by Mr. Visuvanathan Rudrakumaran, Esq who appeared for the plaintiff. The State Department was represented by Amy A. Barcelo Assistant US Attorney. Ali Abed Beydoun argued on behalf of Speak Human Rights and Environmental Initiative, which filed an amicus curiae brief in support of Plaintiff's position.

The issue in the case is whether it should be dismissed pursuant to the Suggestion of Immunity submitted by the US State Department.

Pursuant to the request by the Sri Lankan President the US Department of State filed the Suggestion of Immunity stating, "the Department of State recognizes and allows the immunity of President Rajapaksa as a sitting head of state from the jurisdiction of the United States District Court."

The Plaintiff argued that the Department of State lacks a legal basis, namely the law making authority, to file the Suggestion of Immunity and under emerging customary international law violations of jus cogens norms, namely torture, genocide, crimes against humanity & war crimes, pierced the veil of immunity.

The Department of State argues that for the last 160 years courts have accepted the State Department's determination of Head of State Immunity. The amici argued the State Department's determination violates the separation of powers.

The judge made an observation that the fact Congress has not amended the law to eliminate the State Department's role suggests that it acquiesces the State Department's position.

The Judge reserved the decision.

U.S. court grants appeal against Vatsala Devi - Rajapaksa case

[ Friday, 30 November 2012, 01:01.26 PM GMT +05:30 ]

Sri Lanka: Account for Wartime Disappearances

‘GSL And The Military Apparatus Continue To Disallow and Prevent Peaceful Assembly’ TIC Writes To UN Special Rapporteur

By Colombo Telegraph -November 30, 2012 

“The government of Sri Lanka and the military apparatus continue to disallow and prevent peaceful assembly; using force and intimidation to bring an end to assemblies where they occur. This is occurring despite President Mahinda Rajapaksa’s public declaration in May 2009 that the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE) has been destroyed and normalcy restored throughout the island. The removal of the Emergency in August 2011 confirms the government assessment that the security threat no longer exists. Restrictions on the right of peaceful assembly ought to have ended with the removal of the national state of emergency. The Tamil population in the Northern Province suffers disproportionately under the restrictions in place but it is a national problem which affects the entire citizenry.” the Tamil Information Centre wrote to the UN Special Rapporteur on the Rights to Freedom of Peaceful Assembly and Association, Maina Kiai.

Maina Kiai © UN Photo/Jean-Marc Ferré

The Tamil Information Centre appeals to the UN Special Rapporteur on the Rights to Freedom of Peaceful Assembly and Association to conduct a country visit to Sri Lanka and investigate; the restrictions on assembly and association outlined within this submission, the conditions of state terror, including harassment, intimidation, disappearances and killings which give rise to the paralysis of assembly and association,allegations of disproportionate force against protesters and the appropriateness of the methods of surveillance used by the government.

We below publish the full text of the letter;

Mr. Maina Kiai

Special Rapporteur on the rights to freedom of peaceful assembly and of association

Palais des Nations

CH-1211 Geneva 10

Switzerland

Email : freeassembly@ohchr.org

Appeal to the UN Special Rapporteur on the

Rights to Freedom of Peaceful Assembly and of Association

Date: 30 November 2012

Subject: The Right to Freedom of Peaceful Assembly and Association in Sri Lanka

Appeal made by: Tamil Information Centre

Address: Thulasi, Bridge End Close, Kingston-upon-Thames, Surrey KT2 6PZ, UK

Telephone: +44 20 8546 1560

Facsimile: +44 20 8546 5701

E-mail: admin.tic@sangu.org

The Tamil Information Centre (TIC), established in 1981, is a non-profit community organisation based in London, UK. The TIC works to address the challenges that face the Tamil speaking community in Sri Lanka to ensure that their rights are protected and promoted and their freedoms are recognised and respected. TIC’s mission is to empower people, particularly those suffering persecution and subjected to human rights abuses, by valuing the distinct identities and differences among them and improving the quality of life through access to knowledge.

The TIC assists victims, mobilizes public opinion, supports initiatives to assist the victims, brings pressure on perpetrators to stop violations and seeks improved standards and obligations to provide care and protection to the people. It also promotes people’s institution-building and management and helps to strengthen advocacy and lobbying.

Methodology
                                        Read More

No freedom to express opinion in north. Sri Lanka Teachers Federation condemns the attack against students and journalist.

The attacks against the university students, assault against "Udayan" editor and attacks against the reporters visited the location to collect news proves that there is no freedom to express opinion in the north.

 

The Sri Lanka Teachers Federation strongly condemned this unscrupulous activity by the military.

 

Regarding this, General Secretary Joseph Stanlin in his statement said, Sri Lanka government is establishing the outside world that the normal life is prevailing in the Jaffna peninsula now. But the ongoing incidents clearly affirm that there is no freedom to express opinions in Jaffna including north.

 

Military illegally intruded the Jaffna university students’ hostels.  Mainly the military entered illegally to the female students’ hostel.

 

A new law which is not in any other country is imposed in the Jaffna University.  Military entering an Education organization has only happened in Sri Lanka.

 

 "Udayan" newspaper Reporters who went to the locality to collect news about the incidents two days back was assaulted. Police and military indiscriminately attacked the university students yesterday.

 

Journalist who went to the vicinity to collect news, and media students were attacked.  If such activities happen, how could you state in which category human rights and media freedom is prevailing in the north?

 

In the past period such incidents occurred, but government did not conduct any investigations or take legal action against this.  Our Federation is prepared to voice and we will always support against such autocracy.

Thursday , 29 November 2012

Remembering The Martyrs And Traitors

By Mahendran Thiruvarangan -November 30, 2012

Mahendran Thiruvarangan

Remembering the past, its struggles and the actors and agents who advanced those struggles as a community is a key political act inextricably linked to our political journeys in the present. The past and the memories associated with it speak about our historical progress into the present, and therefore we tend to preserve the past in the form in which the past and its agents presented the past to us in the past. On other occasions, the voids of disillusionment and defeat into which the past leaves us often invoke romantic and illusory pictures of the past. As a result, we often desire to see the present to mirror the past without change or contamination. Our unceasing idealization of the past is not going to be a productive political practice in the long run. By keeping us within a circumscribed narrative of glorification, the past that we want to preserve and eulogize slowly weakens our critical eye. The present, as a consequence, finds itself crippled by obsolete forces. And the future appears as a blurred space in our visionless eyes. Whether we like it or not, there is a point where we need to break this self-destructive continuity that binds the past and the present in our thoughts, and rescue the present with a view to initiating political processes that would lead to transformation instead of stagnation.

My thoughts on the LTTE Martyrs’ Day event observed by the students at the University of Jaffna, despite the threats and gruesome violence they faced from the Sri Lankan Army and the Police, stem from this understanding of the interplay between the past and the present. The purpose of this opinion-piece is not to pass judgment on the rightness of commemorating the LTTE Martyr’s Day event at the University of Jaffna. I share in the students’ admiration of the idealism that characterized the lives of the LTTE cardres. I remember the LTTE cardres’ moral courage to sacrifice their education and the prime of their youth and to keep aside their responsibilities towards their families for a greater cause that had the larger community at its heart. I also condemn the brutal violence used by the Sri Lankan state against these unarmed students and the state’s unrelenting opposition to commemorating the slain LTTE cardres. But, I want to distance myself from patriotic narratives that use these martyrs to demonize those who democratically questioned the LTTE’s ideology and politics, and therefore want to think about what else a critical reflection of the past requires us to do when we remember the LTTE Martyrs in the post-militancy period.                    Read More