|
Peace for the World
First democratic leader of Justice the Godfather of the Sri Lankan Tamil Struggle: Honourable Samuel James Veluppillai Chelvanayakam
A Brief Colonial History Of Ceylon(SriLanka)
Wednesday, March 6, 2013
Khuram Shaikh murder: Brother visiting Sri Lanka
6 March 2013Khuram Shaikh, 32, a Red Cross worker from Milnrow, was shot and stabbed on Christmas Day 2011.
Eight people, including a Sri Lankan politician, were arrested and bailed in November. They all deny the charges.
The Sri Lankan government said it strongly condemned the killing.
Mr Danczuk will be accompanied by Mr Shaikh's brother, Nasir, who has been campaigning for the killers to be brought to justice.
'Severe and brutal'
Mr Danczuk said he was concerned about political interference as one of the suspects is a local politician who is "very well connected to the Sri Lankan president".
Khuram Shaikh, who graduated from Salford University, had been working in Gaza for the Red Cross, fitting prosthetics limbs.
He was shot and stabbed when he and his Russian girlfriend, Victoria Aleksandrovna Tkacheva, were attacked while on holiday in the resort of Tangalle.
He had been trying to break up a fight in the hotel bar.
Mr Shaikh said: "This is a severe and brutal attack that's happened to my brother, but it could have happened to anyone.
"He had a great character and always put others before himself."
In a statement, the Sri Lanka High Commission said: "The government of Sri Lanka is committed to prosecute the persons responsible, and has made every endeavour to initiate criminal proceedings.
"A report relating to DNA evidence is awaited and all arrangements have been made to commence proceedings upon receipt of the same."
Govt to protect interest of Tamil fishermen: Antony
Govt to protect interest of Tamil fishermen: Antony
March 06, 2013 15:57 IST
Amid concerns in the Rajya Sabha over arrest of Indian fishermen by Sri Lankan naval forces, the government on Wednesday said it is aware of the situation and will take up the matter with the island nation to protect the interest of Tamil fishermen.
"Our government is fully aware of the situation...Whenever this kind of incident has occurred, our government has taken up the matter with the Government of Sri Lanka [ Images ] to protect the interest of Tamil Nadu fishermen. In this case also we will try to find a solution to protect the interests of fishermen," Defence Minister A K Antony said.
Earlier, members sought immediate intervention by the government to check recurrence such incidents and demanded that the government has a relook at Katchatheevu agreement. Katchatheevu is an islet ceded by India [ Images ] to Sri Lanka under an agreement in the 1970s.
Raising the issue during Zero Hour, D Raja (Communist Party of India) said the government should be ‘sensitive’ and not a ‘mere spectator’ to atrocities committed by Sri Lankan forces on Tamil fishermen.
"A couple of days ago fishermen from Tamil Nadu were arrested by Sri Lankan forces and their boats were seized against all international conventions on shipping. Tamil Nadu chief minister has written to the prime minister. What steps government has taken to release them?" Raja said.
V Maitreyan (All India Anna Dravida Munetra Kazhagam) said, "Such repeated attacks are assault on the integrity of the nation."
Kanimozhi (Dravida Munetra Kazhagam) said 22 fishermen from Karavaikulam in Tuticorin in southern Tamil Nadu were taken into custody by Sri Lankan Navy but the government had not taken steps for their release.
On the other hand ‘whenever Sri Lankan ships cross over to Indian border, our Navy just sends them back," she said, demanding government's intervention.
Wimal Weerawansa’s Restrictive Agenda And Its Influence
Prof Rajiva Wijesinha
The attack on contributions to English education for rural students
I was in Singapore last week when a couple of my former students sent me messages that I had been attacked on Swarnavahini by Wimal Weerawansa. It seems he claimed I had made some reforms to the education system that were not practical. One student thought I should respond, another suggested that I give up politics and return to the university system. Hearteningly, he noted that ‘We know your contribution to the education as we were unable to make a simple sentence before entering to the university.’
Therein perhaps lies the rub. I believe I have done more since Kannangara for introducing equity in education, but this has been largely with regard to English. While the pre-University General English Language Training programme was started by someone else, I was involved from the start, in producing readers for the course that students responded to with ease. After I took on the course, along with the best instructor in the University English Units in those days, we transformed the course, and produced text books that were later prescribed for Indian universities – though perhaps that too would be anathema to Mr Weerawansa. Together with that, I was responsible for English courses at the Affiliated University Colleges, initially the diploma course but then, at the request of the UGC, General courses which were mandatory at all Affiliated Colleges.
At Jayewardenepura, whilst coordinating AUC English, I started courses which gave English degrees to students who had not done Advanced Level English. I also started an External Degree, with two and then later three subjects related to the learning and teaching of English. This is now the most popular degree course in the whole University system.
Introducing wider dimensions in University courses, and why this is resented
At Sabaragamuwa, I introduced course units and mandatory core courses, which are now prescribed in many universities. I don’t think anyone before me had studied the changes in university systems introduced by the Americans when they broadbased university education, in contrast to the elitist Britih system, which we continued to maintain long after Britain had realized the need to increase numbers. Before I rejoined Sabaragamuwa – and I should note that several of the AUCs, when they became universities, sought my services – I studied the expansion of core courses (a relative who was an academic in Canada sent me an excellent succinct volume called ‘Getting to the Core’ about changes at Harvard). I also turned down an American offer to visit to observe the 1996 Presidential election, and instead asked for a programme of visits to universities, and community colleges, since I was beginning then (having done some work for the World University Service of Canada on Vocational Training) to understand the need for reform in that area too.
Sab aragamuwa students have done remarkably well since on the job market, and I am touched when I meet them now about their appreciation of the innovations I introduced, which they disliked at the time. But I can see why someone who needs followers unable to discriminate will worry about innovations that give our students greater breadth, and critical thinking skills.
I also did more for the nation as a whole while I was at Sabaragamuwa, since I was asked to coordinate the degree programme at the Sri Lanka Military Academy. One had to be tactful then, to steer between my fellow academics, who thought soldiers did not deserve degrees, and those officers who thought we were trying to turn military men into impractical eggheads. Sarath Fonseka was amongst these latter, and indeed tried to get rid of the degree programme when he became Army Commander, but on the first occasion we met, he told me that the officers who had degrees were ‘well motivated’. This I believe was high praise from him, and indicated a man who was able to learn from experience.
The English medium option in government schools, and its elitist and anti-elitist opponents
In 2001 I was responsible for reintroducing the option of English medium in the government education system. I had long advocated this, and Tara de Mel, who had been thinking of allowing this in a couple of schools, in Colombo and Kandy (which I thought would be disastrous, and confirm the view that English was a privilege for the elite), agreed to allow it nationwide, if I ran the programme. Sabaragamuwa agreed to my doing this part-time, and in 2002 the first batch of government school students began English medium in Grade 6.
Though Wimal Weerawansa obviously dislikes the programme, a far more effective opponent was Ranil Wickremesinghe, who had become Prime Minister at the end of 2001, and tried to kill the programme. Fortunately his Minister of Education, Karunasena Kodituwakku, was more enlightened, and together we managed to keep things going, despite opposition from the diehards in the Ministry of Education and the National Institute of Education. Interestingly, Tara became a great fan of Wimal Weerawansa during this period, and even voted for him in the 2004 General Election, which I thought a triumph of sentiment over reason. Like her mentor, President Kumaratunga, she seemed overwhelmed by the kindness of strangers.
In 2004 then, with President Kumaratunga back in charge, we managed to rescue the Engish medium programme, though I fear that the teacher training and materials development programmes that we had put in place to promote excellence had fallen into abeyance, since the Ministry had realized how lucrative it could be for them, if they undertook these tasks. Tara did not want me however to rock the boat, given too that she had to work with officials at the NIE and the NEC whom President Kumaratunga had appointed without consulting her, who had a more old fashioned approach to education, and were easily influenced by dogmatic officials.
Instead Tara wanted me to do more about curriculum reform in general, and we developed new concepts though unfortunately President Kumaratunga’s term was cut short and very little of what we had prepared was carried through. Tara, who was an excellent administrator, could not work to capacity in 2005, because the President had taken her away to do tsunami work, which was unnecessary and wholly counter-productive.
The role of Parliament, as well as the Executive, in developing reforms
But I realized then that we needed to engage in even more comprehensive reforms, and that those who should have been pushing these were slow to move and limited in their capacity to conceptualize. It is for that reason that I believe I can contribute more now by being in Parliament, and the changes I have managed to introduce into the draft policy paper are witness to the impact even one coherent thinker can have. I should add that, when some of my colleagues were critical of my stance on the impeachment, and noted – as I gather Mr Weerawansa did on Swarnavahini – that I was not an elected Member of Parliament, the Deputy Minister of Education, who is as dedicated as I am to reforms that will benefit rural children, pointed out the contributions I made in Committee.
I could of course have done more, and I gather that, way back in 2010, I was considered for the position of Minister of Education. I was told however that the President’s Secretary had noted that I was not popular, a perception that Mr Weerawansa probably contributed to, for he was trying at that time to stop me being appointed to Parliament, so that another member of his National Freedom Front could get in instead. I have no doubt he believes that Mr Achala Jagoda has contributed much more to the nation as a National List MP than I have, though it is odd that he denigrates me but does not do the same with regard to Mr Jagoda, who is a charming man, and fully deserves the position to which he has been appointed, to represent the NFF and its agenda in Parliament.
Why Mr Weerawansa is again on the rampage about me I have no idea. It could be because he has heard that there is great despair about the education system, and it is possible that those who have a wider vision have realized that they need someone able to conceptualize to put things to rights. I should note however that, while this is a responsibility I would accept if it were offered – unlike the post of Minister of Higher Education, where I believe we have an excellent Minister, who like me has drawn Mr Weerawansa’s wrath, though for his policies rather than his personality, which is much more charming than mine – I still believe, as I said back in 2010, when Rupavahini assumed I would be a Minister, and the portfolios of Foreign Affairs and Education were mentioned, that I could make a much greater contribution to Reconciliation. I am no longer sure now that I can achieve as much as I could have in 2010 in that field, but I know that no one else is interested in Reconciliation in itself, or capable of achieving anything, except I should note for the Civil Servants now in charge of the LLRC Action Plan, whose capacity and commitment are not at all in doubt.
But clearly Mr Weerawansa would not want me to be entrusted with any responsibility, and I can understand this, given his perspective on the world in general. I am after all in good company, for he has recently attacked the Secretary to the Treasury, a much more significant figure than myself, and he has also single-handedly taken on the United Nations, which is more powerful than all of us put together.
The rationale for the President’s affection for Mr Weerawansa
In the latter instance, his hunger strike was stopped by the President himself, and I can understand this action of the President, as I explained to the Sri Lankan – a Sinhalese Buddhist I should note, in case I am accused of trumpeting the views of aliens – in Singapore who thought the President should not have interfered.
The point is, the President believes in feeling and expressing gratitude, and that is why he indulges Mr Weerawansa so much. Mr Weerawansa stood by him at a time of trial, when Sarath Fonseka had emerged as the common opposition candidate for the Presidency, and there were fears that chauvinists and nationalists who had previously supported the President would switch sides.
I suspect this is what the Americans, who described Sarath Fonseka as their secret weapon to influence the President, hoped for. Perhaps they dreamed that Mr Fonseka and the President would split the Sinhalese vote and allow Ranil Wickremesinghe to be elected. But Ranil was too wily a bird for that and, having read the writing on the wall, he withdrew. And meanwhile, though the JVP supported Mr Fonseka, other nationalist forces, including Mr Weerawansa, stuck with the President. Naturally he is grateful for that, and though as a result the Americans are getting what they wanted, in a weakening of the Presidency in time for the next election, I do not think this was anticipated, fascinating though such a conspiracy theory would be.
Why and how did this manoever contribute to the problems we now face, even though Mr Weerawansa’s adherence way back in 2010 may have helped to make Mr Fonseka’s defeat so crushing? The seeds were sown, I believe, in the manner in which government responded to his allegation about the White Flag case.
The disastrous precedence set by the handling of the White Flag case
I was rung up by Mahinda Samarasinghe the morning the story broke, about appearing at a press conference he had been asked to conduct, to refute the story. I was in Kandy, and could not make it, but having got information about what Sarath Fonseka had said with regard to the same story a few months earlier (essentially claiming credit for having got rid of the surrendered himself), I called Mr Samarasinghe to tell him to point out that the man was a liar.
I found Mr Samarasinghe in a state of disappointment, a common phenomenon I have now found in someone who is always willing to do his duty by the government, but is often ignored and belittled until government realizes there is no one else willing to undertake difficult tasks. On this occasion he had been told that he would not be in charge at the press conference, and instead the central role would be given to Mr Weerawansa.
It was a vintage performance, based on the claim that Mr Fonseka was a traitor to have said such things about the heroic Sri Lankan armed forces. And so government fell into the trap that perhaps Mr Fonseka, who is also a wily bird, set when he realized that his original statement about what he had done in the White Flag case made him a ready scapegoat for any allegations about abuses in the course of the war. I had indeed previously told government that it should respond politely but forcefully to the Kerry report, where most allegations could be refuted through attention to the evidence I had prepared in the days of the Peace Secretariat. The one thing that could not readily be refuted was Sarath Fonseka’s statement at Ambalangoda, that he had dealt as required with the people carrying White Flags, contrary to the instructions issued from ‘air conditioned rooms’, and therefore I suggested that there should be an inquiry into this.
But when Mr Weerawansa introduced the concept of treachery, it became impossible for government itself to investigate the matter as it should have done. Blanket denials, with claims of treachery for anything outside the agenda Mr Weerawansa had set, became the order of the day. So I became a villain for pointing out that Sarath Fonseka had withdrawn his original claim to the Leader, so much so that I was accused by the NFF of having gone with Mohan Peiris to New York on his abortive mission to Ban ki Moon with regard to the Darusman Report.
Why implementation of the LLRC Report is so difficult
And so, while the LLRC has pointed out the absurdity of most allegations, but noted the need to look into the question of what happened to some of those who surrendered, we have failed to work on those elements conscientiously and transparently. Instead we seem to be stuck in a mindset which sees investigation of any allegations as treacherous.
We are thus an easy target for those who criticize us as being in total denial. But unfortunately there are those who still think that it is this mindset that won for President Rajapaksa the election of 2010. This perception is flawed, though it may have contributed towards his large majority. But as that majority is eroded by what seems continuing extremism, it would make sense for the President to think again.
I do not mean he should turn on Mr Weerawansa. The man has done him some service, and that should not be forgotten. But someone who managed to alienate those positive elements in the UN who did so much for us, who prevented us from treating them as friends to work together with to counter the worst excesses of theDarusman Report, who simply cannot understand that there are many elements in the international community who are positive, and whom we should interact with, if only to stop them being swept in the wake of the more aggressive negative elements – such a person will in the long run do more damage than good to the Presidency and the country.
I am not important in the larger scheme of things, and if the President is to be prevented from making use of proven capacity and intelligence, that is a problem for him and the country, not for me. But P B Jayasundarais important, and sniping at him will not help with the confidence the country needs. And continuous attacks on forward looking policies, and in particular the educational reforms the country needs, will lead us into a dead end. Perhaps Mr Weerawansa can continue to enjoy startling electoral success only in such a dead end, with a populace that is not educated to its full potential. But the Sri Lankan people deserve better.
Rally to build society where woman is respected and genuinely loved – WFR
WEDNESDAY, 06 MARCH 2013 
The ‘Women’s Day’ is not a day that should be celebrated only by an individual or an institution as it has a historical importance says the Vice-President of ‘Women For Rights’ (WFR) Ms. Samanmali Gunasinghe.
Speaking at a media conference held by WFR at the Public Library auditorium today (6th) Ms. Gunasinghe said, “Women’s Day has a historical importance. 8th of March was declared as International Women’s Day on a proposal brought to the second International Conference of Working Women held in Copenhagen in 1910 by Comrade Clara Zetkin. Women who worked in factories including garment factories in the USA in the 1850s were severely exploited. Rulers did not give them any rights and they had to work like slaves. Once a group of female workers who had been detained in a factory to get them to work full time died when a fire engulfed the factory. The doors had been locked so that they couldn’t come out even for any emergency. A struggle was launched as a result of this incident, against exploitation and demanding a 12 hour working day. This struggle developed until 1910 and the International Women’s Day is a result of this struggle.
We’re commemorating the 103rd International Women’s Day this year. Today the situation has worsened so that women are losing their fundamental rights. We have lost our right to live peacefully. Women have to go to foreign countries as they are unable to provide for their children. Violence against women, denial of freedom, economic oppression are issues confronted by women. Government’s own statistics show that violence against women has increased by 98% during the 2000 – 2013 period. Child abuse has increased by 168%.
If there is democracy in the country, if fundamental rights are protected and if this is a civilized society how does our society come down to the level where mothers and daughters are raped? Today woman is a commodity that has a price.
When ministers’ sons gamble in night clubs, the local politicians who follow them rape underage girls in broad day light. All women should rally to build a society where the woman is respected and genuinely loved.
‘Women for Rights’’ will organize, to commemorate the International Women’s Day, an agitation under the theme ‘Stop violence, rape and oppression” at Lipton Circus on the 8th and will hold a public seminar in Public Library auditorium at 3.30 p.m. “
The President of WFR Attorney Sumana Benaragama and the Member of eh Executive Committee of WFR for Colombo district Ms. Begam also participated.
Impeachment of Sri Lanka’s Chief Justice and its impact: What do you think?
Photo courtesy Euronews-6 Mar, 2013
Just a few weeks since the impeachment of Sri Lanka’s Chief Justice Shirani Bandaranayake, no one is really talking about it anymore. Interviews conducted by and featured on Groundviews at the time impeachment proceedings were on clearly flagged serious fears over the independence of the judiciary.
In order to ascertain the lasting impact of the impeachment in the manner it was conducted as well as to understand better the dynamics of public opposition or support towards it,Groundviews has created a brief online questionnaire.
The questionnaire will be open for responses from today until 21 March 2013.Depending on the feedback, results of the questionnaire, along with suitable data visualisations, will be posted on this site.
To answer the questionnaire, please click the button below OR click here to fill it out in a new browser window.
Please pass it on to friends and colleagues.
‘Kerosene’ by Kannan Arunasalam wins international documentary award
6 Mar, 2013
is extremely pleased to recognise that Kannan Arunasalam has won the 2013 South Asian International Documentary Festival’s Prism Short Award for ‘Kerosene’. This short film was one of three produced by Kannan with utilising a small grant by Groundviews in 2011. First screened in Colombo and subsequently featured on the critically acclaimed Moving Imageswebsite, ‘Kerosene’ and his two other short films generated the most feedback and engagement given their unique, deeply sensitive and compelling interrogation of life in the North of Sri Lanka, post-war.
You can view the full film below.
Go to Moving Images to see his two other films, as well as other productions on Sri Lanka. A trailer for all three productions can be viewed below.
Encountering The Local Gogaan
March 6, 2013
An exhibition of Seevali Illangasinghe‘s paintings will be held at the Visual Arts University, (UDA Perera gallery), No 46, Horton Place Colombo 7, March 11-18, from 9.00 A.M to 5.oopm. The exhibition will be his latest collection of paintings. Being an eminent visual artist for over four decades, Seevali Illangasinghe has been marking one aspects of art in Sri Lanka’s art history and has exhibited his paintings in many capitols of the world.
Seevali, who suffered a brain hemorrhage and had to spend all his money to recover, so a group of his admirers decided to have an exhibition of his paintings. Once again he suffered a second attack and is recovering. There are four people who have offered to sponsor the exhibition. 1. Professor Carlo Forseka, 2. Kumar Sangakara 3. Dharmasiri Bandaranayake 4 Kumar Rupesinghe. The proceeds of the sale will go to his family, who are assisting in the exhibition.
President Hugo Chavez, R.I.P.
Tim King Salem-News.com-Mar-05-2013
The world bids farewell to a man who stood up for Venezuela.
Hugo Chavez
|
(SACRAMENTO, CA) - The President of Venezuela, Hugo Rafael Chávez Frias, has died from cancer at the age of 58 after a long-running battle to regain his health. This follower of Simon Bolivar's politics of liberty nationalized his country's oil and used the profits to rebuild the infrastructure of his nation.
Viktor Yushchenko before & after
|
He was the first to ever do so and his courage and bearing outsmarted even the staunchest opponents. Sadly many Venezuelans believe that President Hugo Chavez's illness was the result of a plot against him, that it was induced and unnatural. While U.S. government officials scoff at the notion, it is something that has happened to political leaders throughout history.
A modern example would be Ukraine President Viktor Yushchenko who narrowly survived after being poisoned in 2004. Our resident Forensic Toxicologist (try finding another media group with one on their staff!) Dr. Phillip Leveque, states that there are several different methods used to poison people which are virtually undetectable.
Nicolas Macuro
|
While announcing the death of his President, Nicolas Maduro spoke of a plot against Venezuela, saying he had no doubt that Mr Chavez's cancer, first diagnosed in 2011, had been induced by foul play by Venezuela's enemies, The BBC reports.
He said a scientific commission could one day reveal whether Mr Chavez's illness was brought about by what he called an enemy attack. Struggling to hold back tears, Mr Maduro called on the nation to close ranks after their leader's demise.
Right-wing destabilisation plans
Venezuelanalysis.com reports that Vice-President Nicolas Maduro today denounced destabilisation plans by the international and Venezuelan right wing, announcing the expulsion of two US officials for threatening military security. He also implied that Chavez’s cancer was “caused by enemies of Venezuela”.
Maduro made the announcement today just after midday, following a meeting this morning with Venezuela's political military leadership. Maduro pronounced the expulsion of Air Attaché David Delmonaco, and assistant Air Attaché Devlin Costal of the US embassy in Caracas for being implicated in “conspiracy plans”. “They have 24 hours to pack their bags and leave,” Maduro said.
Hugo Chavez is one of the few men who as a political leader, dared to criticize former U.S. President George W. Bush for his warmongering nation's huge list of mistakes. He believed Bush was unfit and that his actions were evil and wrong. About a million and a half dead Iraqis would certainly agree, if they could.
As we reported Sep-20-2006 in Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez Calls George W. Bush The Devil: White House Silent:
| “ |
The White House is not commenting today over Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez's statement that U.S. President George "W" Bush is being a "devil" with imperialist ambitions.
"Yesterday, the president of the US, the gentleman who I refer to as 'the devil' came here, talking to the world as if he owns the world," Chavez said.
The speech by Chavez was made at the U-N. Many comments Chavez made were considered "heated" by the Bush administration.
| ” |
| From: Why Washington Hates Hugo Chavez Jan-05-2011
In late November, Venezuela was hammered by torrential rains and flooding that left 35 people dead and roughly 130,000 homeless. If George Bush had been president, instead of Hugo Chavez, the displaced people would have been shunted off at gunpoint to makeshift prison camps--like the Superdome--as they were following Hurricane Katrina. But that's not the way that Chavez works.
The Venezuelan president quickly passed "enabling laws" which gave him special powers to provide emergency aid and housing to flood victims. Chavez then cleared out the presidential palace and turned it into living quarters for 60 people, which is the equivalent of turning the White House into a homeless shelter. The disaster victims are now being fed and taken care of by the state until they can get back on their feet and return to work.
|
Even if he despised Bush, Hugo Chavez cared about the struggling American poor and our shrinking economy, as we reported on 12 February 2013 in:Venezuela Donates Free Heating Oil to 100,000 Needy US Households.
| “ |
The CITGO-Venezuela Heating Oil Program has helped more than 1.7 million Americans in 25 states and the District of Columbia keep warm since it was launched back in 2005. A nonprofit organization founded by former US Rep. Joseph P. Kennedy II, it always had the support of Venezuelan President Hugo Chávez.
| ” |
The first country to step up to the plate and offer aid and assistance in the wake of their devastating 2010 earthquake, was Venezuela.
Loved by the poor and hated by the rich, President Hugo Chavez led his people to a new day and implemented a long list of public services to aid the most vulnerable residents of Venezuela.
His politics endeared him to leaders of nations all over the world that lean toward progressive socialism and democracy. This is a man who did it his way and any who say he was not widely admired and respected by all but the richest and most right-wing Venezuelans, is simply mistaken.
He was the victim of a coup d'état orchestrated and carried out by the CIA and FOX News, no that is not a misprint. Simply watch the program to the right, The Revolution Will Not Be Televised - Chavez: Inside the CoupPerhaps it is the only time in history that a president was forced out of office, and then forced back in when the people of a capital city, Caracas in this case, literally came out of the woodwork by the million, overwhelming the anti-Chavez demonstrators, and demanded their president back, and he came back. An Irish film crew happened to be shooting a documentary when the coup happened and they recorded every vital minute, honestly it is one of the best documenaries ever produced.
Mr Chavez had been battling cancer over the past year. He has undergone several operations in Cuba, and has not made public appearances for several months.
The news of the passing of President Chavez was announced by Nicolas Maduro today, as he stood flanked by military and political leaders. It had been reported that Mr. Chavez had a severe respiratory infection and had entered "his most difficult hours".
In Tuesday evening's emotional address, a tearful Mr Maduro said Mr Chavez had died at 16:25 (17:55 GMT) "after battling a tough illness for nearly two years".
Special thanks to The BBC
WikiLeaks: We Can’t Take Our Troops To Court For Firing On Civilians’ In The Course Of Battle – Fonseka To Blake
“Reiterating a message he shared with the Foreign Secretary, the Ambassador stressed to Army General Fonseka that when members of the security forces commit human rights abuses, ‘It is important that they be punished. It would be helpful if you could tell us about these measures, even privately. My government is concerned that it appears that people are never punished.’ He added that abductions and killings after curfew in Jaffna, which the public understandably ties to the security forces or protected paramilitaries, ‘erase the good will’ of the government’s efforts to provide food and supplies to civilians.” the US Embassy Colombo informed Washington.
The Colombo Telegraph found the related leaked cable from theWikiLeaks database. The cable is classified as “Confidential” and recounts a meeting the US Ambassador had with Army Commander Major GeneralSarath Fonseka on January 23 . The cable was written on January 24,2007 by the US Ambassador to Colombo,Robert O. Blake.
The Ambassador wrote; “Fonseka replied, ‘Everyone is concerned with human rights. The security forces have been warned and they know they have no choice’ but to comply with human rights guidelines. The SLA ‘tries not to interfere in police investigations. On a professional level, we have warned our troops, but we can’t take them to court for firing on civilians’ in the course of battle.”
Placing a comment Blake wrote; “Emboldened by yet another military victory, the military and the Foreign Secretary believe they can use war to entice the Tigers to accept a hypothetical political solution not yet on offer from a consensus of southern parties. It was encouraging that Fonseka and Kohona both implied that the GSL would not undertake a military offensive in the north now that Vakarai is over. General Fonseka and Foreign Secretary Kohona seem to have heard our human rights message and that of other members of the international community, a message we hope that they will bear in mind as they undoubtedly continue a military campaign against the LTTE.”
| Govt. has allowed UN to intervene - Ranil |
  by Umesh Moramudali-2013-03-07
Leader of the United National Party (UNP), Ranil Wickremesinghe, yesterday claimed the United Nations is able to intervene into the affairs of Sri Lanka, based on allegations of human right violations, due to the behaviour of the government.
Addressing the media at Sirikota, Wickremesinghe said during his tenure as the Prime Minister (2002/2003), he refused to join the International Criminal Court (ICC), but the present government joined the ICC and let them intervene into human rights issues.
"The government has given permission to the UN, not the Tamil National Alliance (TNA) or any Non-Governmental Organization, to investigate human right violations in the country. Therefore, protesting against the UN simply has no meaning. Also, there is no point in blaming Navi Pillay or the UNHRC for interfering with Sri Lanka, since the government has given them the power to do so," he said, pointing out that in 2009 the government agreed with the UN to implement the emergency law in accordance with international standards.
He also questioned why the government decided to join the ICC by changing the stance of the previous UNP Government.
"During my tenure as the premier of this country I did not join the ICC because I had plans for a political solution for the national problem"."
|
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)