SL vote at UNHRC: How India repeatedly fails Tamil Nadu

by G Pramod Kumar Mar 7, 2013

Finally, the Indian parliament is discussing the Sri Lankan Tamil issue – the alleged killing of tens of thousands of innocent Tamil citizens, indulging in war crimes and for not taking reparative action.

A US-sponsored resolution will come up for voting at the 22nd session of the UN Human Rights Council later this month. And it’s so embarrassing that India, which claims to be the world’s biggest democracy, is still sitting on the fence and wouldn’t say a thing on the resolution till the 11th hour. Today’s parliament discussion is huge relief to our collective conscience.

Last time around, the island nation, despite incredible evidence against it, got away lightly with a perfunctory resolution that was made almost useless by none other than India. This time, according to available information, the resolution will be more specific and will seek to force Sri Lanka to start acting, than indulging in false-promises.

And that will still be a minimum that one would expect from a democratic country.

Demonstrators hold placards during a protest against Sri Lanka government in Chennai. Reuters

The most disturbing aspect of the entire development at the UNHRC is India’s continuing dubious role. There has been an overwhelming amount of evidence, that too graphic in details, against Sri Lanka for its alleged war crimes and human rights violations: the bombing and shelling of its own citizens in the final push against the LTTE, executions of people captured from the Tamil areas, and disappearances, tortures and assassinations to quell dissent. It even killed children in cold blood.

The three Channel 4 documentaries, the UN special panel report and its subsequent report last year in which it said sorry for its inability to act during the war; the seminal book by former UN spokesperson in Colombo Gordon Weiss; and the recent report of the Human Rights Watch (HRW), which exposed the country’s state agencies using sexual violence as a tool of torture have unequivocally called Sri Lanka’s bluff and established that things are still awfully wrong in the island.

But the country’s regime continues to repeat its triumphalist absurdity – that all the graphic images, visuals and studies that the world has seen are lies and half truths. They also want to know who the sources are!

It is not just during the war that the Sri Lankan State had indulged in unimaginable excesses. Despite increasing scrutiny and demand for action by international community, the regime continued with its brutality even as late as 2012, as established by the HRW report.

Journalists, rights activists and even visiting foreign nationals are not spared by State terror. None of the cases of torture, disappearances and assassinations have been investigated meaningfully. Instead, the State tries to amplify its threat of terror on dissenters. Most of them have either left the country or are trying to leave. People are also terrified of spies, right wing vigilantes and online hit-men.

The international community has no doubt in Sri Lanka’s culpability and it has made this point unambiguous – that some in Sri Lanka has indulged in war crimes and rights violations and they have to be brought to book. The international community also wants the country to ensure that its ethnic Tamils are safe and equal.

However, as in the case of the first resolution, India is still sitting on the fence. On Wednesday, Prime Minister Manmohan Singh told the Parliament that his government was still keeping its options open. Can it get worse than this? India doesn’t want to take a stand on an issue that the comity of nations have a clear opinion on. The country still wants to play safe even when there is mounting evidence of genocidal killing and war crimes.

This reflects poorly on India as an idea, as a civilisation and as a modern nation that inspires people all over the world. And most importantly, it also shows how ruthless it is when it comes to the aspirations of its own people.

After watching the latest Channel 4 documentary, the CPI leader D Raja and MDMK chief Vaiko had to fight back their tears. One has never seen Raja crying in public – such was the brutality against humanity that one saw in the film. Still, that didn’t prevent people like Salman Khurshid continuing with his standoffish diplomatese as if the emotions of the people of Tamil Nadu are subservient to the bigger scheme of things.

While choosing to “keep its options open” and even saying that unabashedly, the Congress is in fact showing its insensitivity to the people of Tamil Nadu. It is really curious how the party is getting away with this callousness against one of the most important states in India. It is primarily a failure of the DMK, which is an ally of the Congress, as well as the other political parties in the state.

How else can anybody explain the inability of Tamil Nadu, despite being the second most important state in India – socio-economically and politically – to get the Centre reflect its political wish? The state assembly has categorically passed a resolution and the chief minister J Jayalalithaa has been unequivocal that Rajapakse should be tried in the international criminal court as a war criminal and that India should impose economic sanctions. All the other political parties and rights organisations of consequence want India to take a firm stand. A large number of people went to the streets in Chennai and Delhi during the last fortnight.

What India doesn’t seem to realise is that for memories of war crimes to heal, there has to be a systematic closure. And this closure cannot happen without accountability, reconciliation and reparation.

India seems to ignore that instead of a closure, what Sri Lanka is trying is terrorising its own people – particularly the ethnic Tamils – into submission and a forced closure. Every time there is concrete evidence of war crimes or human rights excesses, the regime ridicules them, attribute motives, mobilise its stock of right-wing groups, and unleash more cruelty on dissent.

For instance, following the latest edition of the Channel 4 documentary, the all powerful Defence Ministry has reportedly asked people to inform it about whoever they suspect is giving evidence to the British TV channel. It has also strengthened its efforts to defame the Tamil political party, TNA, for the equally horrendous excesses of LTTE, making a mockery of political inclusion.

Sri Lanka, in the face of the evidence and international opinion, has no other way but to own up and start a process of closure for its own future. But, for that to happen, the repressive regime has to dismantle its nationalistic, majoritarian terror machine. This is where India’s stand, particularly in the light of the extremely vocal stand of Tamil Nadu, is so important

Without accountability, there is no reconciliation and healing.

In his autobiographical Joseph Anton, author Salman Rushdie makes this profound point that memory is the only defense against ruthlessness. He contextualizes it within the Tianenmen Square massacre and the fictitious account of how 3000 workers were killed by a company in Gabriel Garcia Marquez’s Hundred Years of Solitude.

Nobody knows how many were killed in Tianenmen because the Chinese had so efficiently cleaned up the scene of violence. In Hundred Years of Solitude, there was an equally perfect clean up except that of the memory of a Jose Arcadio Segundo, a key character. But the horrors live on in the memory of people.

The memory of the people who were directly brutalised by the Sri Lankan government and those who shared those memories, thanks to the stupendous work by the international community, wouldn’t die easily. But, they can at least be healed and people can move on with their battered lives.

Sri Lanka, perhaps with guidance from China, tried its best to wipe out the evidence by making the 2009 war, a war without witnesses. But unfortunately, the tracks that it left behind are so open and there are smoking guns everywhere. Perhaps this is a true example how natural justice works.

The island nation and its right-wing majority should realise that a post-conflict closure is inevitable. That is what history tells us. And it cannot be achieved by terror and majoritarianism. After all, you are dealing with 18 per cent of the country’s population, which has a distinctive and extremely rich cultural and linguistic identity and autonomy that are centuries old.

By occupying and militarising their land and culture, and by continuing to lie and unleash terror, will you erase their memories?

As Rushdie said, memory is the only defence against ruthlessness.

Caste Discrimination Amongst South Asians Requires Legal Recognition In The UK

By Sinthujan Varatharajah -March 7, 2013 

Sinthujan Varatharajah

In a landmark vote on Monday, the House of Lords voted to outlaw caste-based discrimination amongst South Asian communities in the UK. The bill was fiercely backed by peers from all parties and passed with a majority vote of 225-153. Yesterday’s vote will bring the proposed bill to the House of Commons, where it needs to be voted upon by the end of March to be passed into law and become the first anti-caste legislative act outside of South Asia.

The bill in question, Clause 9(5)(a)of the 2010 Equality Act, has previously been enshrined in the anti-discrimination act but has not been activated yet. The current Conservative-Liberal Democrat coalition government remains strongly opposed to the bill, having already announced its planned opposition in a forthcoming vote set to take place in the House of Commons. In the eyes of the government, anti-caste discrimination will do little to abolish caste-discrimination amongst British Asians. Instead, the government relies on widespread educative measures to eradicate caste-discrimination in the UK.  However, with twenty-two Liberal Democrat peers and nine Conservative peers voting against their own government’s stance, opposition to the bill remains fractured.

For British Dalit advocacy groups and anti-caste campaigners, such as Dalit Solidarity Network UK and CasteWatch UK, who have strongly advocated the inclusion and enactment of legal protection against caste-discrimination, Monday’s vote is a crucial victory in their struggle for the recognition of caste discrimination outside of South Asia. They argue that Dalits and other British Asians of so-called ‘low caste’ origin deserve similar legal protection as to victims of racial discrimination.

Whilst there are no definitive figures on the number of Dalits or other British Asians of ‘low caste’ origin in the UK, estimates vary with some activists citing around 50,000, and others, such as the Bishop of Oxford Lord Harries of Pentregarth, estimating the number of British Dalits to be at around 480,000. According to several participatory studies conducted by anti-caste activists and the National Institute of Economic and Social Research, caste discrimination, harassment and bullying occurs in employment, education and social services in the UK. These reoccurring incidents demand for greater social and political recognition as well legal protection for its victims.

However, the findings are highly contested by British Hindu advocacy groups widely considered to be the stronghold of the so-called ‘upper caste’, who continue to lobby against the activation of the anti-caste discrimination bill, such as the Hindu Council UK and the Hindu Forum of Britain. Arguing that caste discrimination has little relevance to communities removed from South Asia, such groups thus claim that legal protection is seemingly unnecessary – and unwanted. Interestingly, this viewpoint has now been adopted by the conservative-liberal government, thereby fostering a culture of negation of Dalit and ‘low caste’ British Asian grievances.

Caste-discrimination affects British Asians of all origins, including British Tamils as shown in a research study I conducted last year amongst the Tamil diaspora globally. Contrary to popular belief, caste identites, caste based differentiation and caste discrimination continue to mark social spaces and relations even amongst diaspora Tamils. Despite these findings, or arguably because of them, it was also noted that caste remains a highly contentious topic amongst the highly upwards stratified British Tamil diaspora. A similar trend can be observed within most other British Asian communities. With a diktat of social silence imposed upon caste as a subject by largely ‘upper caste’ community members, caste-relations and caste discrimination as a parameter for social interactions continue to be difficult to be uncovered, problematised and tackled. Hence, for victims of caste discrimination, the lack of recognition from within the community as well as the host society and its institutions makes it deeply troubling, traumatizing and almost impossible to demand legal protection and justice for cases of discrimination and harassment. A survey published by the Anti-Caste Discrimination Alliance in 2010, which looked at British Asians in general, found similar views: 58 per cent of those questioned had suffered caste based discrimination and 79 per cent of those did not think the police would understand it if they reported a case of caste based discrimination as a hate crime.

The first case of employment discrimination on the basis of caste brought to a British court (Begraj v. Manak) serves as another example of how the lack of legal, political and social recognition for caste discrimination in the UK undermines the possibilities of achieving justice for victims. After two years, the case Begraj v. Manak, in which an Asian employer was sued by a former employee for charges of discrimination, humiliation, victimisation and harassment, collapsed after the presiding judge was accused of bias herself. As a result, justice was denied to the damaged party whose grievances remain uncompensated. If a tough legal framework for caste-based discrimination had existed, outcomes like that in the case of Begraj v. Manak may have been avoided.

The activation of Clause 9(5)(a) of the 2010 Equality Act in the UK would set a precedent  outside of South Asia to include caste to anti-discrimination laws. Caste discrimination would for the first time receive legal recognition as a migratory concept, one which travels with those who bear caste ideologies and markers. As such, the Hindu caste system would for the first time be legally recognized to exist out of the geographic context of South Asia. It would equally serve as a model example for other states with large South Asian communities, so that they too may adopt similar legal frameworks to ensure protection from possible discrimination. Victims of caste discrimination would furthermore be one step closer to achieving legal recognition and protection; and caste would be put on the map of forms of racism and xenophobia as demanded by the UNHRC.

*Sinthujan Varatharajah recently graduatated from the London School of Economics and Political Science in Race, Ethnicity and Postcolonial Studies. He is currently working as a research intern at the Institute of Race Relations in London as well as a researcher on Muslims in France and Belgium for Harvard University’s and CNRS France’s joint academic research network Euro-Islam.The article was first published in the Tamil Guardian. The author can be followed at twitter.com/varathas

PERMITTING PROTEST IS PART OF DEMOCRACY -- MEDIA RELEASE 07-02-2013

Created on 07 March 2013

A protest to be held in Colombo, intended to culminate in the handing over of a petition to the UN office, organized by northern civic groups under the banner of the Families of Disappeared, and supported by the National Peace Council, was blocked by the police in Vavuniya in the North.  According to participants, the reason given by the Police was that they could not guarantee the safety of the travelers in the night. The family members were surrounded by Police and did not allow them to leave. The buses they were going to travel on were blocked by Police trucks.  When contacted by the organizers, the Inspector General of Police had said he was not aware of what had transpired and shown polite interest.

The fact that there are many thousands of missing persons in Sri Lanka is known within Sri Lanka and internationally.  The Lessons Learnt and Reconciliation Commission appointed by the President has called for special investigatory mechanisms to be set up to investigate into this problem.  Therefore, by blocking a protest regarding a problem that is not secret makes little or no sense at all from a democratic perspective.  It was both a denial of the right of movement and the right of free expression, both of which are basic to the democratic system of government.

While the family members were deprived of the psychological satisfaction of handing over their petition to the UN office on behalf of their missing loved ones, this petition can be handed over in a less public manner.  In fact it only adds to the negative image of the government that is prevalent internationally.

The US government has already expressed its concerns about “reports that hundreds of Sri Lankan family members of the disappeared were blocked in Vavuniya by Sri Lankan authorities while traveling to Colombo.  These family members are calling for information about their missing loved ones.  The Embassy calls upon Sri Lankan authorities to allow free movement of these citizens.  The right to freely express opinions is universal and protected under Sri Lankan and international law.”

The government might have been concerned that permitting this protest to take place unhindered would open the floodgates and encourage similar public protests.  However, the National Peace Council holds to the conviction that public protest is a sign that democracy is alive in a country.  The suppression of public protest is a warning that democracy is not present or is on the wane.  Those in the government who blocked the protest of the Families of the Disappeared should not be congratulating themselves but should realize the counter-productive nature of their actions.  The blockade gives the impression that the government is evading its obligations as a democratic government bound to follow the Humanitarian Law and the Laws of War set out in the Geneva Convention.

At the present time there is an increasing demand by extremist factions who racially and religiously discriminate against others and want to see that no freedom or space is provided for minority voices.  The National Peace Council calls on the government to uphold democratic values as its highest priority.  In the modern world, a country without democracy is a blot on humanity.  President Mahinda Rajapaksa would know this well, having been a person who himself carried files of missing persons secretly to Geneva to lobby with the UN Human Rights Committee when he was in the political opposition nearly two decades ago.

Governing Council

The National Peace Council is an independent and non partisan organization that works towards a negotiated political solution to the ethnic conflict in Sri Lanka. It has a vision of a peaceful and prosperous Sri Lanka in which the freedom, human rights and democratic rights of all the communities are respected. The policy of the National Peace Council is determined by its Governing Council of 20 members who are drawn from diverse walks of life and belong to all the main ethnic and religious communities in the country.

Who is taking commissions from the land purchased by Kelaniya University?

Thursday, 07 March 2013 

Kelaniya University administrative division sources say there’s an attempt to take a large commission from the money to purchase a five acre land in Makola to expand the educational activities of the Kelaniya Vidyalankara University.

The proposed five acre land from Makola is to be purchased on a directive by the Higher Education Ministry. One perches of the land has been estimated at Rs. 185,000. Therefore, the final purchasing price of the land is Rs. 114,800,000.

However, university sources say that such an extent of land could be purchased from the vicinity of the university at around Rs. 100,000 or Rs. 110,000 a perch. Therefore, sources explain that some one is earning a commission of at least Rs. 75,000 per perch. When inquired, an official from the University Grants Commission said there was no information about such a transaction.

Families Waiting To Know The Truth

By Paul Newman -March 7, 2013 |

Dr. Paul Newman

Sri Lanka has the dubious record of having the second largest number of cases of Enforced Disappearances. The International Movement Against All Forms of Discrimination and Racism conducted a side event in the UN premises that brought victims amongst whom there was a Sinhalese and a Muslim belonging to the families of victims and a Tamil who tries to get justice for these victims.

The panelist’s spoke of their personal tragedies and that of those of the thousands who have disappeared, there were several commissions that were established to give recommendations on the thousands of pending cases. The final reports of these commissions were never made public.  All the panelists wanted accountability. They had felt that the International community should ask for an International Investigation which was the only solution to the families of the aggrieved.

The panelists also spoke of how the Sri Lankan police did not want these people to take the issue to the UN and internationalize it, but is there any local recourse available was the question raised by the panelists.

It is a known fact that Fr.Francis and 58 others were taken into a bus as they surrendered to the army on the 18^th of May 2009 and there are persons who have seen them, which was the last time these people were ever seen.

Under international law, a state commits an enforced disappearance when it takes a person into custody and denies holding them or disclosing their whereabouts. “Disappeared” persons are commonly subjected to torture or extrajudicial execution, and cause family members continued suffering.

An enforced disappearance is a continuing rights violation – it is ongoing until the fate or whereabouts of the person becomes known. In 2006 and 2007, the United Nations Working Group on Enforced and Involuntary Disappearances recorded more new “disappearance” cases from Sri Lanka than from any other country in the world.

In 2009 many militants who were taken into custody after surrender and those who were taken from the Menik farm camps on suspicion of militant links are yet to return home. Many mothers, wives and sisters had handed over their loved ones to the army but there is no information available on their whereabouts.

In May 2009, the International Committee on Enforced Disappearances received more than 5,000 complaints. In many cases the families are not informed of the place of detention as they are unauthorized places.

In one of the cases a person who disappeared in 2006 resurfaced  on the 29^th of January 2013. The person does not know the different places of detention he was kept. In another case a person from Kelaniya who disappeared in 2006 was released on 6/11/2012. He was severely tortured during detention and upon release; he was sent to the rehabilitation centre and finally released.

Mr. Suresh Premachandran, a Tamil National Alliance(TNA) Member of Parliament (MP) from Jaffna who was one of the panelists felt that though Jaffna was not located in the theatre of war, in 2009, 540 people were abducted and nobody knows where they are. He accused the Government of not releasing any data or independent verification of their claims of releasing 12,000 ‘reformed militants’.

During the LLRC inquiry 3,000 women gave petitions on missing persons. The government appointed a military tribunal which inquired against allegation made on its own men on disappearance cases and presented their report to the defence secretary who later announced that there were no missing persons in Sri Lanka!

The MP alleged that Enforced Disappearances are common in North and East and many cases are unreported as the police refuse to record the complaints. One of the main reasons for Enforced Disappearances was the militarization of the Tamil homeland where 15 out of the 20 divisions were housed. A large number of soldiers were moving around in civilian attire. After the war, 15 new brigade head quarters were built on A9. The situation was so bad that even Pre-School sports events were monitored by the army.

The world needs to demand accountability for these disappearances, one of the few good recommendations by the LLRC was to start a Presidential inquiry in disappearances; unfortunately it has not happened so far. The security forces continue to enjoy impunity.

Mr.Premachandran feels that before it is too late the Government would do well to do away with the Prevention of Terrorism Act (PTA), which would go a long way in helping stop this humane problem. He also wants the demilitarization of the north and east and there should be independent international investigations into the alleged cases of disappearances.

Enforced Disappearance is the worst torture not just on the individual but on the family and the society of the individual. It causes immense damage to the disappeared person’s family’s psychology. The victim’s family undergoes the pain and agony of waiting in vain with  a hope whether the person would come back or not, whether the person is alive or not.

It is a known fact that in Sri Lanka, the first to disappear were the Sinhala youth, then the Tamils, who’s turn comes next? The government has lots of questions to answer.

*Dr.Paul Newman from the 22^nd UNHRC, Geneva, Switzerland.

Tamils massacre issue submitted at UN Defense Council. Diaspora Tamils appeal to Nawaneethampillai

A condemnation supplication will be submitted against Sri Lanka government at the UN Human Rights Council's 22nd sessions.

 

In this state, concerning Sri lanka Tamils genocide issue, the defense council will be notified to seek justification, to make preparation to appoint an international commission, an entreaty appealing Human Rights Commissioner Mrs.Nawaneethampillai was handed over by the diaspora Tamils through the Swiss Tamil center.

 

On last Monday morning, the delegates of the said movement visited Geneva held discussions with South Asian region Human Rights Officer Jenifer Kraft and handed over their supplication.

 

The delegates’ panel pointed out the injustice  shown to the Sri Lanka Tamil people and submitted these demands.

 

The panel appealed the UN General Secretary to release the report prepared by special ambassador in charge of genocide and detention affairs, and the Tamils massacre affairs to be taken to the UN Defense Council, utilizing powers under section 99 of UN to probe the genocides carried out by Sri Lanka.

 

To file case against Sri lanka government at the  international courts by processing campaigns with the countries signed in the declaration concerning genocides, and according to declaration made in year 1948 December 9th for averting and penalizing the genocide allegations.

 

 

According to the principles,  the options for intervention and responsibility to protect, to expedite activities to grant a temporary settlement, to advance campaigns amidst policy makers, delegations elected from powerful nations and amidst other delegates.

 

As a compensation activity for genocide, under the international defense operating system,   Tamils to obtain 100 percent development in their culture, economy and social developments to hold a referendum to find whether they desire  independent or self-governing country.

 

A justified reconciliation activities to process after a political settlement and  to lead lives without any conflicts in future,  and also the Tamil and Sinhala nation to live a normal life which should be affirmed.

 

The delegate panel movement Leader Buwanenthiran Mohanaraja, Thiyagaraja Murali Nadesan, Kanagasabai Devakadadcham and Anton Niraj discussed and  submitted the above demands.

 

Thursday , 07 March 2013

Ranil says Govt. has signed too many HR treaties

By Dharisha Bastians-  March 7, 2013 
Even as Sri Lanka comes under heavy international scrutiny about its human rights record in Geneva this month, Opposition Leader Ranil Wickremesinghe yesterday faulted the incumbent regime for signing certain international conventions and protocols that obliged the country to abide by international humanitarian law.

Wickremesinghe who was addressing party activists at the UNP Headquarters Sirikotha yesterday said that the Government had supported a resolution at the UN Human Rights Council in Geneva in 2009 that accepted the Council’s power to investigate human rights violations in UN Member states.
According to the UNP Leader, the 2009 resolution that had been supported by the Government, Sri Lanka had accepted that the international community and the UN Expert Panels like the Darusman Panel had the right to investigate rights abuses in the country.
“The Government has also given an undertaking to the international community, through this that it would take action against those who violate human rights during the war by these covenants,” Wickremesinghe said. He added that the Government had placed the country in a precarious position by signing these international protocols.
He said that during his tenure as Prime Minsiter of Sri Lanka he had completely rejected signing on the Rome Statute that established the International Criminal Court. “As a political leader even during a time when peace talks were underway with the LTTE, I knew that if war was to resume, signing the Statute would make Sri Lankan leaders open to war crimes prosecutions,” Wickremesinghe said.
It was another matter to become a signatory to the Rome Statute once the war ended, but under the condition that the protocols would not apply to Sri Lanka retroactively, he said. In other words, Wickremesinghe said, the international community would have no power to investigate incidents prior to the signing.
“I was criticized at the time by human rights organizations for my decision not to sign the Statute,” the UNP Leader said.
Wickremesinghe said that the Mahinda Rajapaksa Government had undone his good work in 2002-2003 on behalf of the country.

Geneva crisis: SF blames govt, LLRC

‘Absolutely no basis for war crime allegations’

March 6, 2013, 10:31 pm 

by Shamindra Ferdinando

Accusing President Mahinda Rajapaksa’s government of failing to counter the growing threat on the human rights front in Geneva, Democratic Party Leader General Sarath Fonseka yesterday said that there was absolutely no basis for allegations directed against the military.

However, the observations and the recommendations made by the Lessons Learnt and Reconciliation Commission (LLRC) appointed by the President had aggravated the situation, the outspoken General said.

Addressing the media at party office at Kotte, Sri Jayawardenapura, the former Army Commander and Chief of Defence Staff said that his troops hadn’t been responsible for rights violations during the final phase of the conflict. Commenting on specific allegations regarding mass rape of surrendered LTTE women cadres, the war veteran insisted that it was nothing but a lie.

Gen. Fonseka said that the country was at the risk of being isolated internationally due to failure on the part of the incumbent administration to address issues raised by those wanting to haul Sri Lanka up before an international war crimes tribunal. The US had changed its position on post-war Sri Lanka, Gen. Fonseka said,  adding that the second US resolution on Sri Lanka at the ongoing UNHRC sessions would reflect the hardening of their approach. India, too, was now likely to go against Sri Lanka, the former army chief said. Although government leaders had been boasting of a counter offensive in Geneva, they did nothing but running away when UNHRC Navy Pillay called them for a meeting.

The Gen. alleged that the Sri Lankan delegation wouldn’t have shunned HR chief Pillay’s invitation without consulting the President. Commenting on a section of the international community calling for shifting Commonwealth Heads of Government Meeting (CHOGM) in Sri Lanka later this year, Gen. Fonseka alleged major Commonwealth countries were opposed to Sri Lanka’s being the venue.

Responding to a query, the war veteran said that those who had been found guilty of violations in various parts of the country, including the northern and eastern provinces were dealt with throughout the conflict. An irate General Fonseka said that as the Commander of the victorious Sri Lanka Army he was ready to respond to various allegations made by a section of the international community. The defeated Presidential candidate said that it was his responsibility to speak on behalf of the country, the people as well as the army regardless of what the government said. The army, Gen. Fonseka said was disciplined during his tenure as the Commander, though allegations were now directed the service.

The country was in severe turmoil due to waste, corruption and irregularities in the public sector, the Democratic Party leader said. The Sinha Regiment veteran said that people were struggling to make ends meet while those in power squandered taxpayers’ money. Gen. Fonseka claimed that the Chinese government, too, had now identified the risks involved in funding the Sri Lankan regime.

The former army Chief asserted that China’s recent refusal to fund some project and on another instance demand insurance cover reflected that country’s growing concerns.

Asked whether he was confident of securing political recognition for his party soon, the General said that since his release from prison he was able to take up the issue with relevant authorities, including the human rights commission. The Gen. said that the Democratic Party had recently received an invitation from Elections Commissioner Mahinda Deshapriya for a meeting to next Tuesday (Feb 12) which could pave the way for political recognition. The Democratic Party had been engaged in politics for some time and the forthcoming meeting with the polls chief would give him an opportunity to explain the situation. The General expressed confidence that the polls chief would do the right thing.

Reparations For The Redemption Of Tamils

By S. Sivathasan -March 6, 2013 

S. Sivathasan

After devastations of war, restitution and redevelopment are what a nation requires. For a brief period of five years following the Ceasefire of 2002, the process of restoration made life tolerable to the war affected. Parties to the ceasefire became partners in the process. The year 2009 saw a victor and the vanquished. Regrettably enough the distinction far from receding is getting increasingly pronounced. It is for statesmanship to erase the difference and to build a platform of harmony with dignity assured equally to all.

For Sri Lanka a leaf from recent German history waits to be picked up. TheNazi regime mapped out the ‘final solution to the Jewish problem’ and executed it heartlessly. The end of the war put paid to any continuation. More remarkably a sea change in German attitude developed. For all the injustices visited upon the Jews, Germans admitted to collective complicity and set out on correctives for the long term.

The demand for reparations, restitution and indemnification from Germany, was made first in September 1945 by Chaim Weizman on behalf of Jewish Agency. He later became the first President of Israel. Negotiations commenced only in 1950 and the Reparations Agreement was signed in 1952.  Adenauer the Chancellor speaking in Parliament acknowledged that “unspeakable crimes have been committed in the name of the German people, calling for moral and material indemnity”. Steps were needed he said “To bring about a solution of the material problems, thus easing the way to the spiritual settlement of infinite suffering”. What nobility of thought!

The payment of reparations by Germany to Israel and to Jews elsewhere stood at 25 billion Euros as of 2007. Payment commenced in 1953 and has gone on without a break. In 1990 a year after unification, East Germany too accepted responsibility for the persecution and agreed to pay reparations. Mid – course inclusions have been many and successful claimants exceed 4.5 million. Of the claimants 40% were in Israel, 20% in West Germany and 40% in other countries. The scheme encompassed both one off as well as annual pensions. It is estimated that pay off by 2020 will total 38 billion euros. It is said that German reparations contributed to nearly half of Israel’s infrastructure. More than what Marshall Plan did to Germany, German assistance did to Israel.

The lives of the Tamils were battered from 1956 through successive pogroms. War of 26 years shattered their very existence and ruined their economy. The social fabric is in tatters. Political process is yet to be restored. The strands of life are just being gathered against all attempts at tangling them. “This world is not for those without means”, a Tamil poet put it very tersely 1900 years ago. “The first duty of the indigent is to secure the means”, asserted another famous poet of modern times. A whole ethnic entity of Tamils who have slid so low, so fast are placed uneasily at this confluence. With the acquisitions of two generations or more irretrievably gone, the challenge they face is to catch up on lost time.

Material assistance carefully calculated, clearly spelt out and communicated to the recipients should flow steadily. The programme of assistance may extend to a few decades. May it be noted that Germany has continued it for over six decades and the process is yet on. The magnitude of the problem is huge. Death and incapacitation have affected many. Loss of employment has been continuous for vast numbers. Restitution of property is in enormous proportions. Just a few are mentioned to show the magnitude of the tasks. Also to be highlighted is the need for specialized hands to assess the problem and to formulate time specific implementable programmes. Institutions of the UN together with World Bank and Asian Development Bank can handle such an assignment. The quantum of funds needed for reparations has to be realistically determined and sources of financing identified. The implementation effort would require professional monitoring by credible international institutions.

For forms of government there are many to contend. Let there be parallel rails. What is of imminent import is for the fallen to be lifted. Nutrition for the impoverished, land ownership for the displaced and the expropriated, houses for the shelter less, education for the neglected and above all income through employment are of paramount importance. Other issues to be resolved are legion. Restoring the status quo ante 1983 to the level of 1982 is the beginning point. Just one sentence, but it requires a few billion dollars and Himalayan organization.

The unofficial leadership of the Jews set about their business for economic rehabilitation through reparations in September 1945, just four months after World War II. Operations took off in three years after negotiations commenced. Sri Lank has taken over three years to learn lessons and to reconcile the Tamils. Without losing time, reparations have to be identified as the potent instrument for onward movement. Reconciliation can come about after both ethnic entities cease to wish the other away and begin to evolve a modus vivendi as a pragmatic imperative. Redemption for the Tamils lies in the pro- active initiatives of the majority community.

"Divineguma" seeds have disappointed us"

The seeds supplied free under the "Divineguma" project was cultivated but ultimately we were deceived was said by the Jaffna district cultivators.

 

Packs contains a variety of seeds were supplied to the Jaffna district cultivators. The farmers faced disappointment, after planting the bitter guard seeds when it began to bear fruits.  

 

The bitter guard seeds which were given to the Jaffna farmers were not the kind planted in Jaffna.

 

Anguina vegetable does not grow long in Jaffna. But the seeds given to the farmers bear dark green fruits and the crops are lesser even though the plant grows vastly. Further the crops do not produce in the proper manner.

 

Concerning this an agriculture Lecturer commented, the seeds given to the Jaffna farmers were capable of germination seeds but it is not the kind planted in the Jaffna district. 

 

The plant grew but the reason for not giving sufficient crops is because before cultivating, the seeds should be kept for rest for less than 40 days. If it is cultivated before not following to the normal practice, crops cannot be expected.

 

This seeds are not good quality and it has not followed the normal procedure.

 

Farmers with much enthusiasm obtained the seeds packs, and with much expectation eagerly anticipated for a good income. In this state they were much disappointed is according to information.

Thursday , 07 March 2013

Geneva: Second draft of the US resolution on Sri Lanka at UNHRC

Colombo reaches ‘understanding’ with USA, claims Sinhala daily

[TamilNet, Thursday, 07 March 2013, 07:09 GMT]
Sinhala daily Divaina, which is a sister news paper of The Island, published by Upali Newspapers in Colombo, has stated in a recent news report citing ‘reliable’ sources that Colombo had reached a mutual understanding with Washington on the implementation of LLRC and monitoring its implementation through a Rajapaksa-appointed Commission of Colombo. According to the paper, the USA had promised to Colombo that it would refrain from imposing sanctions on Sri Lanka through UN Security Council until 2016. Last week, the External Affairs Minister of the New Delhi Establishment in the Indian parliament ‘encouraged’ the USA and Sri Lanka “to directly engage on the draft resolution and aim for a mutually acceptable outcome.” 

Journalist Keerthy Warnakulasuriya, writing in Divaina on 03 March 2013, further claims that the understanding was reached prior to the SL delegation leaving Colombo for Geneva. 

Mr Warnakularsuriya further writes that Colombo had agreed to permit the USA to review the progress on LLRC implementation on an annual basis. 

In the meantime, informed circles in Geneva on Wednesday told TamilNet that there is nothing new in the draft and that certain countries, like Egypt, were pushing for dropping specifics in the already watered-down draft currently in circulation. 

In addition to the rejection of the territoriality of Eezham Tamils in the island, Colombo’s LLRC report has fixed 2020 as the year to complete the structural genocide of Eezham Tamils as a nation, through the deceptive ‘Trilingual Initiative’. 

The LLRC denies even the existence of ethnic districts in the island. 

Informed circles say that the US resolution in Geneva may mention non-descript ‘devolution’ of powers but will not deal with the status of Eezham Tamils as a nation or even as an ethnicity. 

The signal from Washington has already made it clear that the CJ impeachment issue (State reformation) is more important than the issue of genocide in the island.

The resolution will provide full green signal to Colombo to continue in full speed the annihilation of Eezham Tamils as a nation having territoriality in the island, the sources said. Both New Delhi and Washington must have already received the ‘payments’ for their services in this year’s session of the UNHRC, the informed sources said. 

In keeping the sides–committing genocide and facing it–silent, the USA now need not worry about the Sinhalese, and about Tamils the USA is thoroughly confident about its control on the diaspora, Tamil parliamentary politicians in the island, mainstream parties in Tamil Nadu and the machinations of New Delhi, the sources further said, adding that the ultimate aim of talking Soft Power - Hard Power formula is to blunt the People’s Power.
* * *
The Indian External Affairs Minister Salman Khurshid, said the following during the parliamentary debate in New Delhi on last Wednesday:

“I would like to inform the august House that we understand that a follow up procedural Resolution on Sri Lanka is likely to be proposed by USA for consideration at the forthcoming session of the UNHRC in Geneva in March 2013. At this juncture, we would encourage the United States and Sri Lanka to directly engage on the draft resolution and aim for a mutually acceptable outcome. Needless to add, our decision on a potential resolution in the forthcoming meeting of the Human Rights Council will await the outcome of these efforts and would depend on the substance of the resolution finally tabled.” * *  Excerpts from the LLRC recommendations revealing what is actually aimed by the implementation of them, i.e., the annihilation of the identity of Eezham Tamils as a nation of its territory in the island:

The following excerpts, showing how unambiguous the recommendations are in the structural genocide of Eezham Tamils, are brought out here for the benefit of the gullible arguing in favour of the implementation of the LLRC recommendations.

On the language identity of the nation of Eezham Tamils:

No district or province should be categorized in terms of language (LLRC 8.240)

The Commission also recommends that the government should have a pro-active of policy to encourage mixed schools serving children from different ethnic and religious background. In this regard the Government should develop a carefully conceived policy facilitating the admission of children from different ethnic and religious groups to these schools (LLRC: 8.250)

The Commission therefore welcomes the Government initiative for a trilingual nation by the year 2020 (LLRC: 8.239)

On power-sharing:

While the distribution of meaningful powers to the periphery is essential, there are powers, which form the core responsibilities of the State and which cannot be so devolved, and need to be retained and exercised by the Government at the centre. It is also important to ensure that any power sharing arrangement has inbuilt mechanisms that would effectively address and discourage secessionist tendencies and safeguard the sovereignty and integrity of the State. (LLRC: 8.224)
On land and homeland of Eezham Tamils:

The view was also expressed that no part of Sri Lanka belonged to any ethnic group. It was stated that due to terrorist activities, Sinhalese people from the North and East had been chased away, and that these people should be taken and resettled in the North (LLRC: 8.107)

The Commission is of view that the Government should expedite action on the establishment of a National Land Commission (NLC) in order to propose appropriate future national land policy guidelines (LLRC 6.104.12)

On the war and reputation of Sinhala Army:

In evaluating the Sri Lanka experience in the context of allegations of violations of IHL, the Commission is satisfied that the military strategy that was adopted to secure the LTTE held areas was one that was carefully conceived, in which the protection of the civilian population was given the highest priority (LLRC 4.262)

The Commission finds that there are troubling technical and forensic questions of a serious nature that cast significant doubts about the authenticity of this video and the credibility and reliability of its content. It is also observed that trauma evident on the bodies of victims does not appear to be consistent with the type of weapon used and the close range at which the firing is seen to have taken place (LLRC 4.374 e)

It is also the obligation of the Government to clear the good name and protect the honour and professional reputation of soldiers who defended the territorial integrity of Sri Lanka and particularly the many thousands of soldiers who perished carrying out their combat duties cleanly and professionally against a widely condemned terrorist group who used most inhumane tactics in combat (LLRC 4.376)

Geneva: Second draft of the US resolution on Sri Lanka at UNHRC

Geneva: Second draft of the US resolution on Sri Lanka at UNHRC

Please find  below the second draft of the US sponsored resolution on Sri Lanka, that will submitted to on going UNHRC 22 session. Note that this is not a US official document yet. This draft will be discussed at a informal meeting in coming days at the UNHRC-THURSDAY, MARCH 7, 2013

USA releases draft resolution for discussion in Geneva

[TamilNet, Thursday, 07 March 2013, 13:16 GMT]
On the 22nd session of UN Human Rights Council (UNHRC) taking place in Geneva from 25 February to 22 March, a draft of the resolution to be tabled by the USA on Sri Lanka, has been released for discussion on Thursday, news sources in Geneva said providing scanned version of the draft to media. 

• LLRC based draft resolution by the USA released for discussion