CPI(M) for autonomy to Sri Lankan Tamilss

August 8, 2011

The Communist Party of India (Marxist) called for specific measures for “the devolution of autonomy to the Tamil-speaking areas” of Sri Lanka at a meeting of the party's Central Committee here on Sunday.

 “Though two years have passed since the end of armed conflict in Sri Lanka, the Sri Lankan government has not taken any worthwhile steps to reach a political settlement on the Tamil question,” the Central Committee of the party pointed out in a written statement.

Sri Lankan President Mahinda Rajapaksa had promised a political settlement after the war, but no progress had been made, it said.

“It is essential that specific measures are taken for the devolution of autonomy to the Tamil-speaking areas of northern and eastern regions so that the Tamil people can live a life of dignity and as equal citizens within a united Sri Lanka,” it added.

The CPI(M) also called for stepping up of efforts to rehabilitate those displaced during the conflict and a high-level enquiry into the allegations of atrocities and human rights violations by the armed forces.

The delay in taking a decision on the Telangana issue also came up at the meeting.

“Though seven months have passed since the submission of the Sri Krishna Committee report, the Central government has not taken any decision on the issue of Telangana and the future of Andhra Pradesh,” it said, adding that the delay was only aggravating the situation.

Keywords: Sri Lankan Tamils issue
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Sri Lanka: Muslim war widows left without help in Sri Lanka

Three years since the end of the war, these women are homeless, jobless or without any kind of assistance. Many have lost children, killed by Tamil rebels. Some complain that they are discriminated based on their religion.

Potuvil – “We live miserable lives, without a home, work or someone to take care of us. We have been abandoned,” some war widows say. They are originally from the Eastern Province, the part of the country most affected by the war. They are all Muslim, from the villages of Kottukkal, Hijra Nagar, Kalapukattu and Sengamam. They fled their homes in 1990 and have not been able to go back. “We need a place to stay, even if it is not where we came from,” they say. “We cannot continue to burden our children. We have had enough.”

“Sinhalese and Tamil widows don’t have these problems. As Muslims, we suffer and have nothing,” one woman from Kottukkal said.

Many of these women have lost children, killed during the decades-long civil war by ethnic Tamil rebels from the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE). The “luckier” ones only lost their homes and fields.

“The government and NGOs are promoting some housing projects but there is no room for us,” another woman, from Kalapukattu village, told AsiaNews. “Only 45 per cent of the widows got a new house. The other 55 is stuck in makeshift shelters or in relaties and friends homes.”

In addition to housing, money is another major problem. Some widows only get about 100 rupees a month (just over one US dollar) in government aid. Others can get up to 300 rupees (just over two US dollars) a day doing odd jobs.

Because of long-held traditions, widows are one of the most vulnerable groups in Sri Lankan society because they are seen as the embodiment of misfortune. This is even more so for Muslim widows who pay the price of prejudice against their religion.

Unable to continue talks with Govt. says TNA

06 August, 2011

Tamil National Alliance, Parliamentrian M.A.Sumanthiran
Sri Lanka’s major Tamil party, the Tamil National Alliance (TNA) says that it has reached to a situation where they are unable to continue further talks with the government on political reforms.

TNA parliamentarian M.A.Sumanthiran told BBC Sandeshaya that they are awaiting a response to three issues; the structure of governance, the subjects and functions allocated to the central government and the provincial councils and issues pertaining to fiscal and financial devolution that it had presented to the government.
No response

Mr Sumanthiran said that the TNA is prepared to begin talks once it received government’s response to them.

He said that it has been five months since the three issues were presented to the government in writing.

The government said on Thursday that the TNA had given only 10 days for it to respond to their demands.

“It is certainly not possible, nor is it consistent with the national interest at this stage, to make a final pronouncement on crucial issues, hastily and without wider consultation”, the government Information Department website said.

Parliamentary Select Committee

The government will proceed with the appointment of a Parliamentary Select Committee (PSC), as it is the appropriate forum for a discussion in which all the representatives of the people can participate with a view to identifying the constitutional reforms, it states.

TNA MP Sumanthiran said the government had told them that the consensus of the current ‘government-TNA’ talks will be subsequently put before a PSC.

“There is no consensus at our talks as yet and once an agreement reached through these talks we will be able to put it before a Parliamentary Select Committee”, MP Sumanthrian added.
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SL inquiry on possible US violation

 

	Sri Lanka Air force says it believed the aircraft was from a US carrier

The government has ordered an inquiry into suspected United States fighter jets detected on Sri Lankan air space.

Suspected United States aircraft has been seen on Sri Lankan radar screens few days ago, air defence authorities told BBC Sandeshaya.

"We have reason to believe that it was aircraft from a US carrier," Sri Lanka Air Force (SLAF) Spokesman Andrew Wijesuriya told BBC Sandeshaya.

Civil Aviation Director General HMC Nimalsiri told BBC Sandeshaya that Minister Priyankara Jayaratrne has ordered them to submit a report over the incident 'as soon as possible'.

"We need to make sure whether it is a violation of the Sri Lankan air space or they were seen in the radar screen while flying outside the air space ," he said.

'First incident'

Tapes containing radar recordings will be scrutinised by aviation authorities.

We have reason to believe that it was aircraft from a US carrier   SLAF spokesman, Group Captain Andrew Wijesuriya

Mr Nimalsiri said this is the first time that such an incident occurred during his time in the office.

Minister Jayaratne has refused to comment regarding the incident.

Group Captain Wijesuriya described it as, "an intrusion into Sri Lankan air space,".

The spokesman said radars recorded aircrafts performing what they believed to be training manoeuvres.

"And those aircrafts moved in across the line onto our air space," said Group Captain Wijesuriya.

When SLAF passed on a message to the aircrafts they responded and went out of Sri Lanka air space, according to the spokesman.

"The air space controlled by Sri Lankan Air Traffic Controlling which is 200 nautical miles from Pidurutalagala except on the north-western coast adjoining India," he added.

Situated 2,524 metres above sea level in the central highlands, Piduruthlagala is the highest mountain top in Sri Lanka.

Russell, Foucault on Truth, Lies in Sri Lanka context

[TamilNet, Sunday, 07 August 2011, 13:49 GMT]
"While the LTTE’s propaganda machine continues to spin its lies, and such lax standards of journalism continue to prevail in the west, the narrative on Sri Lanka may continue to be obscured by vicious falsehoods," says Sri Lanka's Defense Secretary in a media briefing convened in Colombo in a frontal assault on confronting the damage inflicted on Sri Lanka by the Channel-4 video, UN war-crimes report, and the Rights NGOs calling for International Investigations into war-crimes. The underlying moral question in discerning the truth of what happened in the final months of the war is laid by British philosopher Bertrand Russell in his advice to the future generations: "...never let yourself be diverted either by what you would wish to believe or by what you think would have beneficent social effects if it were believed, but look only and solely at what are the facts...."

Both the adversarial parties, the Government of Sri Lanka and the Liberation Tigers, have been accused of committing war crimes.

Bertrand Russell's advice to future Generations

What the international NGOs, civilized governments of the West, and the active Tamil diaspora which Colombo is keen labeling as "LTTE rump," is what Russell appeals to the intellectual integrity of living and future generations: "Establish the facts, and let the facts bear out the truth."

Sri Lanka has been allegedly involved in erasing any evidence of mass killings. However, with the technology available, Russell's facts will unlikely to be completely erased, and even if, the full extent of the facts of the war cannot be ascertained, future generations will have to continue to seek to expose the truth.

Michel Foucault, French philosopher (1926-1984) 

Bertrand Russell, British philosopher (1872-1970)

Lessons Learnt and Reconciliation Commission (LLRC), established by the Sri Lanka Government, and touted by Colombo as the appropriate mechanism to establish the "truth" without external infringement of its sovereignty, has been rejected as lacking independence and will not satisfy international standards to "establish the facts," NGOs and Governments calling for independent investigations have said.

Here, Foucault's analysis on "truth" is also relevant. Foucault while asserting that "each society creates a "regime of truth" according to its beliefs, values, and mores, cautions that individuals would do well to recognize that ultimate truth, "Truth," is the construct of the political and economic forces that command the majority of the power within the societal web, and explains:

'Truth' is to be understood as a system of ordered procedures for the production, regulation, distribution, circulation and operation of statements. 'Truth' is linked in a circular relation with systems of power which produce and sustain it, and to effects of power which it induces and which extend it. A 'regime' of truth.

With uncontested supreme power in the hands of the ruling Rajapakse family, Foucault's explanation of tight linkage of production and establishment of "truth" with the systems of power appear to explain the dynamics of the Rajapakses' attempts at "producing and sustaining" of "truth" such as "zero civilian casualty" in the last phases of war, not withstanding the presence of imagery, videos, UN internal reports, and other emerging testimony that close to 40,000 Tamil civilians were killed.

The Foucaultian regime of truth developed by Rajapakses to insulate themselves from the consequences of violating international laws, during and after the war, is most visible in Sri Lanka media community. State use of violence and the culture of impunity, through attacks by State agents on dissident voices, shape the climate of censorship and self-censorship in the media community which in turn define the contours of "regime of truth" in the trilingual media.

Rajapakse regime also epitomizes the "Ministry of Truth" and "Newspeak" in George Orwell's "1984."

The endgame appears to be to monopolize control of what version of events are to be publicized, and to erase, suppress "facts" that can expose damaging "truths" on possible war crimes.

S.M. Krishna and his suo motu statement

[Mon, 08 Aug 2011, 01:09 GMT]

The Suo Motu statement of Indian foreign minister SM Krishna on Sri Lanka in the Indian parliament has led him into a controversy of filing a defamation case against the Press Trust of India (PTI), because the latter reported him reading the statement ‘absent minded’. The minister "appeared absent-minded and had to be prodded to make a statement," PTI reported. On Krishna’s response through a defamation case the PTI said on Friday: "This is perhaps the first time a minister has threatened a news organisation with... action for reporting [House] proceedings despite the Parliamentary Proceedings [Protection of Publication] Act." Meanwhile, Krishna’s statement was meant to mislead the parliament and to hoodwink Tamil Nadu, writes, a leading legal practitioner and human rights activist of Trincomalee. Full story >>

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21st anniversary of Thiraayk-kea'ni massacre commemorated

[TamilNet, Sunday, 07 August 2011, 14:36 GMT]
Twenty first death anniversary of 47 Tamil civilians massacred by Muslim goons with the support of Special Task Force (STF) of Sri Lanka Police in Thiraayk-kea'ni village in Ampaa'rai district on the 6th August, 1990, was observed Saturday. Thiraayk-kea'ni village is located 70 km away south from Batticaloa in Ampaa'rai district. Tamils were massacred as retaliation to the killing of 13 Muslim labourers that took place on August 5, 1990 by the STF at Digavapi village.

STF had carried out the massacre of Muslim labourers to create dissension between Tamils and Muslims.

The next day a group of Muslim criminals with the protection provided by STF personnel had killed Tamils in the presence of their kith and kin.

Elders were burnt to death in their houses.

More than 350 houses were set on fire by Muslim goons. Even after twenty one years none had been taken into custody and charged for the massacre.

E.Mailapodi, the president of the Thiraaykkea'ni Rural Development Society who agitated the authorities concerned to hold an inquiry into the massacre, was shot dead by paramilitary groups and Muslim armed groups in 1997.

The Sri Lanka's Defense Secretary Gotabaya Rajapakse in his disinformation report released last week had mentioned the massacre of Muslims in Kaaththaankudi mosque but failed to mention massacres of Tamils in the East, Tamil political circles in Ampaa'rai said.

US sets UNHRC trap for Lanka

India also increases pressure, position of Russia and China uncertain Govt.'s talks with TNA break down; national and international crises worsen

By Our Political Editor

The clock is ticking away for the Government of Sri Lanka. It is still debating whether or not to respond to a call by the United States for what it terms an "Interactive Dialogue" before the United Nations Human Rights Council (UNHRC) in Geneva beginning next month. That is through a discussion of the impending final report of the Lessons Learnt and Reconciliation Commission (LLRC). That report is due in November this year. Consenting to such a move would mean that participants at the Council sessions will be able to extend the discussions to the report of the UN Panel of Experts on alleged war crimes in Sri Lanka, matters arising from the Channel 4 videos including the one titled Sri Lanka's Killing Fields and all other related issues. They would also cover alleged violations of international humanitarian laws and human rights abuses during the military defeat of Tiger guerrillas.  More >> ===================================== US fighter jets intrude into Lankan air space Sunday August 07, 2011 Govt. to protest; combat planes believed to be from the Seventh Fleet By Leon Berenger The government will protest to the United States over the intrusion of Sri Lanka’s air space by a squadron of ten fighter jets. The Sunday Times learns that the protest will be handed over to the US Embassy in Colombo by the Ministry of External Affairs. “What we are trying to establish is whether the US fighter jets had violated the oceanic air space or the territorial part of it,” Civil Aviation Director Genera H. M. C. Nimalsiri told the Sunday Times yesterday. “In terms of accepted international norms, anyone wanting to use the country’s air space is required to file flight plans and obtain prior approval,” he said. A senior Air Force official speaking on grounds of anonymity admitted that there were periodic incursions by US combat aircraft into Sri Lanka’s air space. “There were occasions where we had to tell them to move out,” he said. “We have communication intercepts to confirm that they were carrier-based aircraft. In this instance we have reason to believe that the jet squadron was from the US Seventh Fleet,” he said. The tracking station atop Pidurutalagala -- the tallest point in Sri Lanka -- was the first to identify the intruding US aircraft. Officials there immediately conveyed it to the Civil Aviation Authority and the Sri Lanka Air Force. The tracking station with modern radar equipment with a range of 200 nautical miles and covers 380 kilometres of airspace. A US embassy spokesperson declined to comment yesterday.     More >>>

Student Dies After Leadership Training

Saturday, August 06, 2011

By Nirmala Kannangara
A twenty year old girl who was exposed to rigorous physical training at the Diyathalawa army camp as part of the leadership and positive attitude development programme introduced by the Higher Education Ministry has died of pneumonia last month.
An autopsy conducted on the body of Tennakoon Mudiyanselage Nishanthi Madushani of Warakarawa, Tennakoonwala, Keppettipola found that Madushani was an asthmatic patient and died of pneumonia as a result of her being exposed to the cold morning air while undergoing physical training sessions at the Diyathalawa military camp.                   Read More »    
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Rajapaksas Biting Their Own Tail, Two Years Too Late

Saturday, August 06, 2011

A popular TV programme that tests general knowledge of the middle class in Sri Lanka for millions of rupees as awards, recently asked a contestant, who the present Election Commissioner was. The choice of answers given to pick from, had four names. The contestant not knowing the answer, was allowed the option of using the knowledge of the audience. That was a pathetic display of ignorance in this urban polity, with 90 percent giving wrong answers. Dissanayake, who exited recently, was the most popular wrong answer, around 39 percent quoting his name. The right answer was from only just ten per cent in the audience.  Read More

Exclusive: Erasing the cultural leftover of Tamils to convert Sri Lanka into Sinhala country

  By A Correspondent
  Colombo06 Aug 2011
Travelling through the Tamil areas in North Sri Lanka, one is shocked to see the changing demography of the land. A land that was once inhabited by Tamils and a land that had a distinct flavor of Tamil culture and heritage is now in the grip of Sinhalese hegemony, seen in the form of Buddhist statues, viharas and stupas dotting the landscape that is also lined by broken Tamil homes and newly built shanties of Tamil refugees.
Sinhala and Sinhalisation are now the watch words in the predominantly Tamil areas of North Sri Lanka. Starting from Vavuniya, the change is perceptible as one enters the Tamil heartland.
A recently constructed Buddhist stupa at Kanagarayankulam All those entering into the north have to pass through Omanthai - which has been given a Sinhalese sounding name, ‘Omantha’ - check point on A9 national highway. At this place where more than 90 per cent of the travelers are Tamil speakers, one needs to go with a person knowing Sinhala to answer the queries from the Sinhalese soldiers.

Throughout our travel into the Tamil hinterland, we could sense an air of Sinhalese triumphalism.

Military camps and Sinhala soldiers are a common sight in Tamil areas. Out of a total land mass of 65,619 sq km, the Tamils inhabited 18,880 sq km of land in the north and east, but after May 2009, the defence forces have occupied more than 7,000 sq km of Tamil land.

It is estimated that 2500 temples and 400 churches have been destroyed. The Sinhala forces do not permit the people to reconstruct these worship places and many are in a dilapidated state.

On the other hand, even though the only Buddhists who are to be found here are the Sinhalese soldiers, nearly 2500 Buddhist stupas and statues have come up in Tamil areas in the last couple of years, according to the locals.
A huge Buddha statue at Kilinochchi, the erstwhile capital of Tamil rebels A Buddhist Vihara named Mahatota Raja Maha Vihara has come up within 50 meters of the famous Thirukethiswaram temple in Mannar district. The ancient name for Thirukethiswaram area was Mahathottam.

The government has been making a big hype about a so-called development programme in Tamil areas called Vadakin Vasantham (Uthuru Wasanthaya or Northern Springs).

Infrastructure development, electricity, water supply and sanitation, agriculture, irrigation, livestock development, inland fisheries, health, solid waste disposal, education, sports, cultural affairs and transportation are some of the areas that they claim will be covered under this program.

However, the real beneficiaries of this scheme are not going to be Tamils but Sinhala jobless youth, who would be employed in the projects that have been handed to Sinhala contractors.

The defence forces will be the ones who will be utilizing the newly developed infrastructure as a major chunk of the funds will be allocated towards road development to facilitate easy troop movement.
A Sinhala-only signboard at an important junction in Puthukudyiruppu In Cheddikulam a housing scheme for Sinhala returnees is underway. One would have welcomed it if it was the same 13 displaced families that were to return. Instead, some 75 new Sinhala families are being relocated in the area.

Already 165 Sinhala families have been resettled in Kokkachchaankulam, which is to be renamed Kalabowasewa.

A grand new Sinhala medium school for new returnees has come up on Madhu road, whereas hundreds of schools for Tamil kids in the vicinity are in a state of disarray.

According to locals, forest wealth in the Tamil areas is looted by the Sinhalese from the south who enter the forest with permission of the armed forces for timber logging.

People also complain that Sinhala Buddhist archaeologists are engaged in nefarious activities of Sinhalization. They are said to be visiting Tamil areas and excavating ‘Buddha’ statues that they themselves plant earlier. The purpose of this exercise is allegedly to claim that the territory in question had been a Sinhala Buddhist area.

Where there were only a few old Sinhala sign boards pointing directions and mentioning names of places, today one is dumbstruck at the sheer number of new Sinhala name/direction boards in the Tamil areas.
A Sri Lankan defence outpost in Puthukudyiruppu with name board in Sinhalese and English In Mullaithivu and many other places in the north, Tamils are not allowed to enter the sea, while their Sinhala counterparts from the south are allowed to fish in their areas.

Locals say that all petitions to government services and establishments have to be given in Sinhala only since 2009.

In the heart of Kilinochchi town, the erstwhile administrative capital of Tamil rebels, streets sport Sinhalese names such as Mahinda Rajapaksa Mawatha, and Aluth mawatte (The new road).

Three roads close to the A9 highway in Kanakarayankulam have been given Sinhala names - Kosala Perera road, Anura Perera road, and Rev Yatiravana Vimala Thero Street. The first two names are those of soldiers who took part in the war and the last one is the name of a Buddhist monk.

Where will this all lead to? Only time will tell.

Colombo rejects TNA’s ultimatum on non-existing devolution plan

[TamilNet, Friday, 05 August 2011, 11:54 GMT]
Rejecting outright the demands of the Tamil National Alliance (TNA) in a typical Sinhala hegemonic manner, the militaristic government of Sri Lankan President Mahinda Rajapaksa on Thursday said that the demands set out in the TNA’s ultimatum for future talks have reflected the attitude of the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE).

According to a statement from United People Freedom Alliance (UPFA) parliamentarian Sajin Vas De Gunawardane, the Rajapaksa regime is now set to embark on the process of Parliament Select Committee (PSC), unable to carry on with its never ending deceptive effort to drag the time on in the name of holding political dialogue with the Tamil representatives on the non-existing devolution plan.

At a time when the Tamil political circles were sceptically pondering the motives behind the talks between the government and the TNA, a section of the TNA on the “supreme advice” of the Indian bureaucracy, held ten rounds of talks with the government since January 2011 aiming to reach what it called an “acceptable political solution” despite very negative ground realities.           Full story >> 
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SRI LANKA: Elections to Local Bodies – An Indian Perspective

05-Aug-2011

Guest Column by V. Suryanarayan and Ashik Bonofer 

The results of elections to local bodies, held on March 17, 2011 and July 23, 2011 and subsequent comments made by Sinhalese and Tamil leaders clearly indicate that the ethnic divide in Sri Lanka is getting sharpened. Two years after the decimation of the Tigers the Government is determined to impose a solution which reflects the will of the Sinhala majority. There is no attempt to win the hearts and minds of the Tamils by convincing them that they are equal stake holders in the present and future of Sri Lanka. 

Basil Rajapaksa’s comment is an illustration of heightened Sinhala chauvinism. Asked for his comments on the TNA winning majority of local bodies in the Tamil areas and the necessity to devolve powers, Basil Rajapaksa brushed it aside and said, “The President has a bigger mandate not to give those powers”. He added “they are talking of the mandate, how about ours, one accepted by a larger majority in the country?” On the other hand, speaking recently in Chennai Suresh Premachandran, the TNA Member of Parliament asserted that the electoral verdict is a vindication of the party’s stance. The Tamils should not be treated as a minority, but as an ethnic group whose cultural identity should be fostered and promoted. Premachandran maintained that the massive mandate was an endorsement of the Party’s demands for speedy rehabilitation of the internally displaced people, rapid development of the war ravaged economy and substantial devolution of powers to the north and the east.      Full Story>>>

Sri Lanka's Tamil question: Justice, Lies and Videotape

5 August 2011

Sri Lanka’s thirty year war is now more of words than of guns, but it is no less bitter. RNW’s team in the country met with fierce resistance from the Sri Lankan government to the current calls for justice from the international community.
But the problem is that the international community’s presence in the country is dwindling, a fact witnessed when travelling across the east of the island – where once there were distinctive white NGO vehicles on every corner, the sight is now rare.
With the help of one remaining NGO which requested anonymity, RNW met nine freshly ‘reintegrated’ former Tamil Tiger guerillas who spoke of their desire for justice for all Sri Lankans. But people in the heavily militarized north and east live in fear of reprisal if they openly criticise the authorities – which is why a vociferous Tamil diaspora, the foreign media and a UN investigation have stepped in. The Sri Lankan government is now hitting back.     More >  
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Recovery of Disappeared's Body Raises Hopes

By Amantha Perera

Rights activist Pattani Razeek's body was recovered 15 months after his abduction. Credit:Asian Human Rights Commission

COLOMBO, Aug 5, 2011 (IPS) - The details would have done credit to the plot of a spy thriller, except they are chillingly real.

A human rights activist is last seen stepping into a vehicle voluntarily. His family receives ransom demands from his mobile phone and some of his belongings are deposited in a mosque – enough leads for the police to act on.

Pattani Razeek’s case would merely have added to the ranks of the ‘disappeared’ in Sri Lanka but for a sustained campaign to get the police to act mounted by his colleagues, rights groups and a mosque committee in his hometown of Puttalam, in northwest Sri Lanka. 
It helped that Razeek, 54, was the managing trustee of the Community Trust Fund, a national rights body, and executive committee member of the Asian Forum for Human Rights and Development.          MORE >>

Criminal complaint against Major General Jagath Dias

04 August, 2011

The Society for Threatened Peoples (STP) and TRIAL - Swiss Association against Impunity have filed a criminal complaint with the Public Ministry of Switzerland against the former Major General Jagath Dias for alleged war crimes.

Major General Jagath Dias is the Deputy Ambassador for Sri Lanka in Germany, who is also accredited to Switzerland and Vatican.

Complaint

Director of The Society for Threatened Peoples (STP) Christoph Wiedmer told BBC Sandeshaya that they complained to the ministry as they regard Major General Jagath Dias as a probable war criminal.

He said that STP has reports from human rights organisations, testimonials, photos and videos of crimes committed during the final stage of war in Sri Lanka while Maj. Gen Dias was the commander of the 57th division of the Sri Lankan Army.

"In particular, during this time, the troops of Major General Jagath Dias had carried out shelling of civilians, hospitals, churches. We have some suspicion of torture and extra judicial executions", STP Director Christoph Wiedmer said.

Withdraw immunity

The Society for Threatened Peoples (STP) demand the Sri Lanka and Switzerland governments to withdraw his immunity and to take legal action against Major General Jagath Dias.

Sri Lanka embassy in Germany says that it has not been informed of any such complaint by the Federal Ministry of Switzerland which is the usual accepted practice.

Embassy not informed

The Ambassador, Tikiribandara Maduwegedera told Sandesaya that they have nothing do with the report appearing in only one website.

"I do not think we should get excited about it ", he said.

He said that there is a practice that any individual or organisation to take such legal action; by going through the foreign ministry of receiving country which is not done.

An individual or an organisation can not violate the immunity or privileges normally granted to a diplomat, the Ambassador, Maduwegedera added.
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TNA sets out conditions for talks

Thursday, 04 August 2011
 

The TNA has said today that they would not agree to set a date for the next round of talks with the government and that their willingness to continue participation in discussions with the government would be conditional, UPFA MP Sajin Vas De Gunawardane said in a statement.

 

After a meeting between the TNA delegation and the government delegation late evening today Mr. Gunawardane, who is the Secretary of this Committee, said that the TNA had put forward three conditions and insisted that, within a period of 10 days, the government delegation should inform the TNA in writing of its position on the following matters: (1). The structure of governance, (2). The subjects and functions allocated to the central government and the provincial councils and (3). Issues pertaining to fiscal and financial devolution.
 

Between meetings the Government has made every effort to discuss these complex issues, vital to the future of our nation, with all stakeholders in order to arrive at a consensus and in this way to build a foundation for a fair and durable solution, said Mr Gunawardane.

“It will be observed that these three areas, taken in combination, encompass almost the entirety of the Issues involved in the discussions between the SLFP, the main political party of the government and the TNA. It is certainly not possible, nor is it consistent with the national interest, to make a final pronouncement on all these crucial issues, hastily and without wider consultation, at this stage,” said Mr. Gunawardane in a statement.
 

“We do not think that the ultimatum delivered to the government by the TNA, which is tantamount to the attitude portrayed by the LTTE, is at all helpful or constructive for the purpose of carrying forward in a structured and methodical way a process which can reach a positive outcome only if it has the widest possible support among the public. It is this objective which the government has tried to achieve in its sustained discussions with varying shades of political opinion during the last few months,” he said.
 

“As much as the SLFP does not solely represent any community in particular, the TNA also does not solely represent the Tamil community. In the circumstances which have now arisen on account of the demarche of the TNA, the government will proceed with the appointment of a Parliamentary Select Committee. This is the appropriate forum for a discussion in which all the representatives of the people can participate with a view to identifying the constitutional reforms that are needed as the country emerges from the anguish of terrorism and faces with courage the challenges of accelerated economic and social development. The Government hopes that all political parties, including the TNA will avail themselves of this opportunit,” he said

Sri Lanka condemned over aid workers' deaths

South Asia

The aid workers' deaths were condemned around the world

Human Rights Watch has accused the Sri Lankan government of lacking the will to prosecute the security forces for the killings of 17 aid workers in 2006.

There was widespread revulsion following the murders of the 16 Tamils and one Muslim in the north-eastern town of Muttur during the civil war.
European monitors were convinced government troops were responsible, but officials blamed Tamil Tiger rebels.
The government has since ruled out reopening an inquiry into the murders.
"The Sri Lankan government is no closer to prosecuting those responsible," said James Ross, HRW's legal and policy director.
"The Rajapaksa government is not just unwilling to uncover the truth, it appears afraid of the truth."
HRW says that the government has a poor record of investigating serious human rights abuses, and "impunity has been a persistent problem".
"Despite a backlog of cases of enforced disappearances and unlawful killings going back two decades that run to the tens of thousands, there have been only a small number of prosecutions," it said in a statement.
"Past efforts to address violations by creating ad hoc mechanisms in Sri Lanka have produced few results, either in providing information or leading to prosecutions."  

Colombo has come under pressure over atrocities alleged to have been committed by the army

 

Continue reading the main story ===========================================================

Manmohan Singh supports Sri Lanka at the expense of Tamils

August 3, 2011

The General Secreatry of MDMK Vaiko met Indian Prime Minister Dr. Manmohan yesterday to discuss various issues. Mr. Vaiko is a former Member of Parliament who maintains good relationship with both Dr. Manmohan Singh and the BJP leaders.
Mr. Vaiko placed demands on Sri Lanka including action for international investigation on the war crimes committed by Sri Lankan army, withdrawal of army from Tamil home land, prevent Sinhala colonization, impose economic embargo against Sri Lanka.
But Dr. Manmohan Singh reiterated the established Indian policy towards Sri Lanka based on the China factor. He expressed his fears that China would replace India as strategic and trade partner. This is only expected from the Prime Minister since the Indian foreign policy is still under the control of Anti Tamil establishment in South block.
Therefore Vaiko returned empty handed. Vaiko and other politicians of Tamil Nadu have no influence in New Delhi. Politically they have either lost their power due to corruption charges or due to their preference to other issues. There is no politician in Tamil nadu who can exert pressure over New Delhi to save Sri Lankan Tamils. However there is more euphoria and empty rhetoric on who have the leadership to save Tamils.
The declaration of Prime Minister also means that the resolutions of Tamil nadu assembly asking for economic sanctions has been dumped to the dust bin by the central Government. The resolutions of the Tamil nadu Chief Minister J. Jayalalithaa are as good as the letters written by her predecessor M. Karunanidhi making no impact or result in favor of Tamils.
Unless the flawed foreign policy of India is rectified there is no hope for Tamils. Earlier the policy makers who supported Sri Lanka propagated the issue of terrorism and threat to India from LTTE. But after the demise of LTTE they have come up with the idea of China getting afoot hold in Sri Lanka posing a security threat to India. This is untenable. China maintains good relation with Pakistan too. If India is capable of tackling such a nexus there is no reason why India cannot overcome a China Sri Lanka partnership. Anyway such a hostile partnership has already developed. It is now easier for India to tackle any threat from any combination since a formidable strategic relationship is evolved with mighty USA.
The implied meaning in the declaration of Indian Prime Minster is painful to digest for an average Tamil living anywhere in this world. They feel orphaned. What does it mean? Should Tamils desist from demanding justice for war crimes for the sake of Indian security? Should the Tamils in Sri Lanka be reduced to slavery for defending India? Why Tamils should pledge their freedom for safeguarding the strategic and economic relationship of any two countries?

Sri Lanka Issues Report & Documentary To Dispute War Crimes Claims

 Voice of America August 03, 2011

Photo: AP

Sri Lankan government supporters hold placards against Britain's Channel 4 television during a protest in Colombo, Sri Lanka. Hundreds of government supporters, including state-run media journalists, protested Tuesday in Colombo against the UK channel with placards reading "Stop Channel 4 dirty media tricks" and "Channel 4, Enough is enough", August 2, 2011

Sri Lanka has released an official report, and television documentary, attempting to refute allegations its army committed crimes against humanity as its civil war concluded in 2009.  Human rights advocates call the campaign a "whitewash", but say there are signs Colombo is responding to international pressure. 

Defense Secretary Gotabhaya Rajapaksa released his ministry's official report on Monday on what the army calls its humanitarian mission of 2009.  In his comments, Rajapaksa squared off against the "vicious falsehoods" of foreign media.                    Full Story
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Sri Lanka needs war crimes tribunal, NDP says

CBC News    Aug 3, 2011

 
Hundreds of Sri Lankan government supporters, including state-run media journalists, protested Aug. 2 in Colombo against the U.K.’s Channel 4 after the network aired a documentary with footage allegedly taken by front-line soldiers that appears to show blindfolded prisoners being shot at close range and the naked bodies of women being loaded into a tractor-trailer. (Eranga Jayawardena/Associated Press) 

 

Canada should press the United Nations to set up a tribunal in Sri Lanka to deal with suspected crimes against humanity, the NDP said Wednesday.
A United Nations report has already called on the organization to set up a commission to look into human rights violations committed by both the Sri Lankan military and the Tamil Tiger rebel group.
“Both sides need to acknowledge and take ownership of their actions and injustices that they have brought on their people,” said NDP MP Rathika Sitsabaiesan.
The NDP is petitioning the government to urge the UN to set up an independent, international and impartial mechanism to ensure truth, accountability and justice in Sri Lanka, NDP MP Wayne Marston said.
Thousands of people were killed in the final 2009 fight between the two sides, said Alex Neve, the head of Amnesty International in Canada.
“Justice must be real,” he said. “Widespread abuses, including war crimes and crimes against humanity, were almost certainly committed by both sides.”
Sri Lanka has set up a lessons learned commission, but it falls short of what’s needed, Neve said, with the government denying any responsibility for its part in the conflict.
There’s been no justice for previous human rights abuses, he added.
“There’s never been a price to pay. And thus when the political situation deteriorates or things go off the rails in any way, why wouldn’t all parties to the conflict revert to past patterns of abuse?”
In 2006, Canada added the Tamil Tigers to an official list of terrorist groups, making it illegal to fundraise for them.
A spokesman for Foreign Affairs Minister John Baird said the government is deeply concerned about the situation in Sri Lanka, and that Canada expects the work of Sri Lanka’s reconciliation commission to continue.
“It’s about time the NDP starts paying closer attention to this issue; we have been active on it for years,” Chris Day said in an email.
“We support calls for an independent investigation, as recommended by the UN Secretary General’s Panel of Experts on Accountability in Sri Lanka.”        Full Story»>

Sri Lanka: No Justice in Massacre of Aid Workers

Five Years On, Government Unwilling to Prosecute Soldiers, Police

August 3, 2011

• A member of the French aid group Action Contre La Faim places a wreath in front of the photographs of his 17 slain colleagues at their memorial in Batticaloa, Sri Lanka on August 11, 2006
  © 2006 Reuters

On the fifth anniversary of the murder of 17 aid workers, the Sri Lankan government is no closer to prosecuting those responsible. The Rajapaksa government is not just unwilling to uncover the truth, it appears afraid of the truth.

James Ross, legal and policy director at Human Rights Watch 

(New York) – The Sri Lankan government’s failure to bring to justice those responsible for the execution-style slaying of 17 aid workers five years ago highlights a broader lack of will to prosecute soldiers and police for rights abuses, Human Rights Watch said today. Despite strong evidence of involvement by the security forces in the killings, government inquiries have languished and no one has been arrested for the crime.

On August 4, 2006, gunmen murdered the 17 Sri Lankan aid workers – 16 ethnic Tamils and one Muslim – with the Paris-based international humanitarian agency Action Contre La Faim (Action Against Hunger, ACF) in their office compound in the town of Mutur, Trincomalee district. The killings followed a battle between Sri Lankan government forces and the separatist Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE) for control of the town.                                More    
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Sri Lanka and peace

 2011-08-01 

Can Rajapaksa take lesson from Emperor Ashoka?

PROF. BIRENDRA P MISHRA
The local elections in Sri Lanka have proved to be the litmus test for President Mahinda Rajapaksa with a clear message to him that military action can give him some relief, but cannot provide lasting solution to the political demands made by the Tamil community since several decades.

The Tamil National Alliance (TNA), which represents the ethnic Tamils in Sri Lanka, was previously controlled by the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE), an outfit demanding a separate Eelam (state) for the Tamils, has succeeded in winning 15 out of 20 local Councils in the previous northern war zone and three out of six in the east. The territory was under the control of LTTE, till the end of Elam war IV led by General Sarath Fonseka in May 2009.

For the people of North Sri Lanka, this is their first election in over two and a half decades since the LTTE took control of that part of the country. With regard to the elections, it is said that had the army not interfered, the percentage of voting could have been much higher as the TNA could have captured more councils. While raising the issue of free and fair election, the leader of the Opposition in Parliament Ranil Wickresinghe, who belong to the United National Party Alliance (UNP), said in Parliament, “the events of the last few weeks have shown the inability of the police to enquire into the complains of elections. The election laws are in the breach. There are daily complaints regarding intimidations and abuse of government machinery. 

Full Story>>> 

SRI LANKA: War report a step forward, say activists

humanitarian news and analysis
a service of the UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs

Thousands of civilians died in the conflict

COLOMBO, 3 August 2011 (IRIN) - Sri Lankan rights activists say the Defence Ministry report released on 1 August, acknowledging for the first time civilian deaths in the final days of the war, is a step forward, but caution that much depends on the government’s next move.

“It’s a step in the right direction, but a lot will depend on the next step by the government - whether it is willing to engage or whether it will harden its stance,” Jehan Perera, director of the Colombo-based think-tank, the National Peace Council, told IRIN.

Thousands are believed to have died in the decades-long war between government forces and the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE), who had been fighting for an independent Tamil homeland since 1983.

According to the 161-page government report: "It was impossible in a battle of this magnitude, against a ruthless opponent actively endangering civilians, for civilian casualties to be avoided.”  read more
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Victims of war deserve closure

  Gulf News Editorial  Published: 00:00 August 3, 2011
 
Sri Lanka must allow probe into allegations of rights abuses during 25-year civil strife
The defeat of the Tamil Tigers in Sri Lanka ended a 25-year civil war and brought peace, stability and economic expansion to the island nation. But, as is often the case, in the aftermath of the war there have been allegations of war crimes by the government forces as they secured victory over Tamil extremists — themselves guilty of terrorism.
The United Nations special investigator, among others, has said that there is serious evidence of human rights abuses and extrajudicial killings towards the end of the war. The Sri Lankan government has dismissed the claims.
Despite the Sri Lankan government's reservations, the truth must be uncovered — if not to punish the guilty, at least to give the families of the victims closure, and perhaps compensation. This will also make it clear to those involved in conflicts, anywhere in the world, that they will be held publicly accountable for their actions, even in war.
One of the greatest challenges facing countries with a legacy of war is to remember the lessons of the past while building a future for all.

Article continues below

Sri Lanka must commit itself to good governance, the rule of law and human rights as the country moves beyond the war.

President personally phones newspaper’s chairman to threaten him

Published on Tuesday 2 August 2011.

 Reporters Without Borders firmly condemns the threats that President Mahinda Rajapaksa made in a phone call to the chairman of The Sunday Leader, Lal Wickrematunge, on 19 July because of an article reporting that China had given the president and his son, parliamentarian Namal Rajapaksa, money to be used “at their discretion.”

“We are extremely shocked that the president personally phones journalists in order to threaten them.” Reporters Without Borders said. “It is unacceptable that The Sunday Leader, Sri Lanka’s only independent English-language newspaper, should be subjected to such pressure. If the president disagrees with an article, he can respond to it and explain himself in the media. That is how issues are discussed in a democracy.

“We condemn the president’s action as irresponsible. A country’s president is supposed to set an example. But Mahinda Rajapaksa is setting a bad one. It says a lot about the degree of respect he feels for media independence and his political readiness to establish the conditions needed for media freedom. We urge him to change course.

“This is not the first time that a news media has been threatened by members of the Rajapaksa family. We urge the president to put an immediate stop to these warnings and threats against journalists. We also urge Sri Lanka’s media to join together in condemning such behaviour, which can have a real intimidatory effect on the entire media profession.”

When Wickrematunge received the call from President Rajapaksa on 19 July, the president shouted: “You are writing lies, outrageous lies! You can attack me politically, but if you attack me personally, I will know how to attack you personally too.” Around 100 posters with the words “Do not lie!” and “The gods will punish you” also appeared on the walls of the newspaper’s headquarters. (see picture)

Rajapaksa’s call was prompted by an article that editor Frederica Jansz published in the newspaper two days earlier reporting that China had made a grant of 9 million dollars to the president and half a million dollars to the president’s son, to be used “at their discretion.” The newspaper’s attempts to contact the president for an explanation had been unsuccessful.

The Sunday Leader has long been targeted by the government. Lal Wickrematunge’s predecessor at the head of the newspaper, Lasantha Wickrematunge, was murdered on 8 January 2009. The murder was not investigated properly and the culprit was never caught, in a clear sign of ill-will on the part of the authorities. Reporters Without Borders reiterates its call for a proper investigation.

Lal Wickrematunge took charge of the newspaper after his brother’s murder. Now he is the target of intimidation attempts too.
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Sri Lanka's formal response to war crimes allegations

Updated August 2, 2011 21:51:23

The Sri Lankan government has formally conceded that civilians were killed by security forces in the final offensive against Tamil Tiger rebels in 2009.

The Defence ministry's report entitled Humanitarian Operation -Factual Analysis" follows a damning Channel 4 British television documentary of government atrocities and an earlier UN report that blames both sides for crimes against humanity.

Correspondent: Kanaha Sabapathy
Speakers: Gotabaya Rajapaksa, Sri Lanka's Defence Minister; Meenakshi Ganguly, South Asian Director of Human Rights Watch; Dr Jehan Perera, Director, National Peace Council

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SABAPATHY: On the first anniversary of the crushing of the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam, president Mahinda Rajapakse had insisted that not a single civilian was killed by his troops. Speaking at the victory parade in June last year he said "Our troops carried a gun in one hand and a copy of the human rights charter in the other."          Read More >