At UN on Sri Lanka, Ban Ki-moon Didn't Even Submit Panel Report to Geneva, "Could Still Happen" - But When?

By Matthew Russell Lee

UNITED NATIONS, August 15, updated with transcript -- Asked about an editorial accusing UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon of being "lax" on countries such as Sri Lanka, Ban's acting deputy spokesman Farhan Haq on Monday countered that Ban had "on his own authority appointed a Panel of Experts" on Sri Lanka.

  Inner City Press asked if Ban had even transmitted the Panel's report to the Human Rights Council, and if he finds it unfortunate that the Human Rights Council did not take up or act on the detailed report.

Full Story>>>

Ban & his Special Adviser Nambiar, Report to Geneva not shown

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Obama is upstaging Canada on the human rights front

OTTAWA CITIZENAUGUST 15, 2011

With all eyes focused on Washington's debt ceiling crisis and the game of political brinkmanship between the Republicans and Democrats, President Barack Obama recently made history by announcing important strategic steps to make "never again" a reality. The White House announced it will make the prevention of genocide and other mass atrocity crimes a foreign policy priority through the establishment of a new Atrocities Prevention Board.
The Presidential Study Directive, released on Aug. 4 2011, stresses that "preventing mass atrocities and genocide is a core national security interest and a core moral responsibility of the United States."

The new Atrocities Prevention Board will bring together senior officials from the White House, the State Department, the Pentagon, and myriad other agencies to coordinate a whole of government approach to engage "early, proactively, and decisively" to prevent and interdict mass atrocity crimes. The board will identify the economic, diplomatic and other tools already available to U.S. policy-makers, and will also have the authority to develop those tools and strategies that are missing.

Read more: http://www.ottawacitizen.com/news/Obama+upstaging+Canada+human+rights+front/5254903/story.html#ixzz1V9TDGtfP

Lanka does not have claim on Theevu: BJP

August 16, 2011  Tags: 

Katchatheevu, Lanka, Pon Radhakrishnan

Questioning the legitimacy of the Indo-Sri Lanka accord on Katchatheevu with the island nation “dishonouring” the agreement, BJP state president Pon Radhakrishnan on Monday pitched for scrapping the accord.

“Sri Lanka is unwilling to accept the agreement. It has ruthlessly been killing the Tamil Nadu fishermen…. and there is no point in India honouring the accord. Any agreement should be mutually respected,” he said and contended that the 1974 Indo-Sri Lanka pact ceding Katchatheevu to the island nation was invalid.

Flaying Lankan navy for the renewed attacks on Tamil Nadu fishermen, the BJP leader claimed that the island nation did not have any claim over Katchatheevu island.

He also lashed out at the UPA government for maintaining “stoic silence” over the attacks on the Tamil Nadu fishermen and said its “inept handling” has led to problems with the neighbouring countries.

“Countries like Pakistan, Bangladesh and Sri Lanka, which are smaller than India, have been creating problems. And the Prime Minister is not in a position to act tough on them,” Mr Radhakrishnan said and added the situation would change only when a new government under the leadership of an able Prime Minister is in place at Delhi.

On the party’s “sea blockade” agitation in Rameswaram on August 7, Mr Radhakrishnan alleged that the police foisted cases against BJP members for staging the agitation.

Earlier, hoisting the national flag tricolour at Kamalalayam, party headquarters, he said, “We have a Prime Minister who is unconcerned about issues like corruption, black money and foreign incursions. We should fight hard to retain our hard won Independence.”

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Dutch Court Opens Door to Legal Accountability  for Peacekeepers

By Thalif Deen

IPS News

Monday, Aug 15, 2011

         

UNITED NATIONS, Aug 11, 2011 - A landmark ruling by a Dutch court last month holding the Netherlands government liable for the failings of its soldiers on a U.N. peacekeeping mission may be used as a precedent for criminal liability involving sexual violence, according to human rights groups.

"The decision of the Dutch court is significant for two reasons," said Marek Marczynski, international justice expert at Amnesty International.

First of all, it demonstrates that human rights of victims and their families to gain truth and justice prevail over the immunity of peacekeepers.

Secondly, it may open the doors for reparation claims by the victims, he said.

"This judgment gives hope to victims of human rights violations by peacekeepers and sets a new tone in the discussion about state duty to investigate and prosecute crimes under international law," Marczynski told IPS.     Full Story>>>  

Ground report: Widespread public perception of military links to ‘grease devils’?

 *groundviewsjournalism Forcitizens15 Aug, 2011

Image released by Police Headquaters which was saved allegedly in the phone of a 16 year-old who was arrested for a number of robberies in the Uva Province.

As we post this article, there is a tense situation in Kinniya, spilling over from yesterday on the issue of ‘grease devils’. A Daily Mirror SMS update notes that,

As this Reuters report notes,  By Shihar Aneez and Ranga Sirilal

“Historically, a “grease devil” was a thief who wore only underwear and covered his body in grease to make himself difficult to grab if chased. But lately, the “grease devil” has become a nighttime prowler who frightens and attacks women.”

The news reports are as bewildering as they are increasing in number, especially from the East. People are being killed, for no apparent reason. ‘Grease devils’ have been arrested, vigilante justice has been meted out (ironically leading to more deaths), curfews imposed, the STF is on the look out, but the mass panic persists. Well-known columnists have flagged these incidents as ‘an unbelievable collapse of confidence in law enforcement‘. Mainstream newspapers last Sunday covered this disturbing story (What the devil is going on?, The Grease Yaka Sightings: Fact Vs. Myth), but there’s generally confusion amongst the public that is fuelling anxiety and fear.

We received a report from a source in the East on this issue in Tamil and English, with the content in Tamil translated by him into English. We reproduce this content not as verified fact, but for open debate and discussion as dire markers of tension on the ground that we are very concerned can contribute to large-scale unrest and more deaths.

With verification of incidents extremely challenging given the context, law enforcement itselfsans public legitimacy and many, rightly or wrongly, who believe that the ‘grease devils’ have links to the Sri Lankan military, it remains to be seen how the government will deal with this emergent threat to public order and security.     

Continue reading »      

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India hopes Sri Lanka will pursue genuine political settlement

COLOMBO, August 15, 2011
R. K. RADHAKRISHNAN

The HinduIndian High Commissioner to Sri Lanka Ashok Kantha paying tributes at the IPKF memorial in Colombo on Monday. Photo. R.K. Radhakrishnan

“It is our hope that the vision and leadership that resulted in an end to armed conflict will now be employed in the quest for a genuine political settlement resulting in national reconciliation among all the communities of Sri Lanka,” Indian High Commissioner to Sri Lanka Ashok K. Kantha, said in his Independence Day message in Colombo.

Clearly calling upon the Sri Lankan leadership to accommodate the aspirations of the Tamils of the Northern Province, pointed out that the key to the Indian unity is “its continuing commitment to democracy, pluralism and diversity of religion, language, race, ethnicity and culture.” India would continue to support Sri Lanka’s commitment to heal the wounds of the past and to build a caring society which ensures a life of equality and dignity to all its citizens.    Full Story>>>

Abuse, violence and bullying: Post-war Sri Lanka is indeed a peaceful place

 *groundviewsjournalism Forcitizens


Photo courtesy JDS 

The idea of writing this note came to mind after watching the recent interview between an Indian media personality and Sri Lanka’s Secretary to the Ministry of Defence, Public Security, Law and Order. A lot has been said about the information exchanged during this relatively short interview. A surface look at comments made by readers on articles on this interview, especially in places like Transcurrents, amply demonstrate what members of the Tamil community (especially the Tamil diaspora) think about the content of the interview and the interviewee.

The present article does not intend to focus on the interviewee or the content proper of the interview as such. Instead, this writer views it essential to look at the bigger picture surrounding some facts exchanged, facts that could be deemed controversial or questionable in many a quarter. 

Continue reading »
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United Nations: Weak leaders wanted

• Editorial
• guardian.co.uk, Sunday 14 August 2011 22.29 BST
• Article history

To save his legacy Ban Ki-moon must refresh his top team with people who understand the UN's founding principles

Seventy years ago today, warships lay anchored in a cove off Newfoundland, Canada. Churchill and Roosevelt set out principles for a post-war world, one of the first steps towards the creation of the United Nations. Today that institution confronts a vast array of problems, some potentially terminal. It is needed in ways its founders could not have imagined. And it is sorely neglected.

The myopia of powerful governments is clearly shown in their preference for weak candidates for UN secretary-general. Occasionally they misjudge their man, with interesting results. With Dag Hammarskjöld, it was peacekeeping. Kofi Annan's staff devised the millennium development goals. This time – with the quiet reappointment of secretary-general Ban Ki-moon this summer – they got what they wanted. Mr Ban presides over the slow decay of the UN secretariat, an institution that should be working, as Hammarskjöld said, on the edge of progress. In its last annual report, Human Rights Watch wrote "far from condemning repression, Ban sometimes went out of his way to portray oppressive governments in a positive light". China, Burma, Sri Lankahave benefited from Mr Ban's lax hand. To save his legacy he must refresh his top team with people who understand the UN's principles.      Full Story>>>

Sri Lanka: Confusion and obfuscation all round!

14-Aug-2011

Guest Column: Dr Kumar David

The political waters of this island have become very murky in recent weeks and there is no saying where things will end up by the end of this year or come early 2012. The principal actors themselves are not in control of events and the chips may fall in ways that even they cannot foresee.

 The confusing signals of the recent period include:-

 a)     President Mahinda Rajapakse and his powerful brother Gothabaya (de facto number two in Sri Lanka’s hierarchy of power) are at cross purposes on core issues and this cannot continue for much longer.

b)    The United States is upping the ante, and reading between the lines it is clear that GoSL is running scared; there will be no China to the rescue if confrontation becomes serious.

c)     The Tamil National Alliance (TNA) won a landslide victory in July in local government elections and has taken the offensive threatening mass demonstrations unless the government agrees to devolution of power to the Tamil minority. The sixty-four thousand dollar question is what lies behind this stiffening of the TNA’s backbone.

d)    The confrontation between Colombo and Madras which has been deteriorating since Jayalalitha’s victory has taken a distinct turn for the worse.

e)     The equation between Colombo and Delhi is no longer a happy one where the later knowingly played cheerleader-in-chief to any and every misdemeanour of the former.

 I will deal with only the first three items on this list today.       Full Story>>>
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Condom theory applied to State Intelligence service chief Gajanayake too

(Lanka-e-News -14.Aug.2011, 11.30P.M.) As the Senior DIG Keerthi Gajanayake who was the chief of the State intelligence service (SIS ) , had also become a victim of the Rajapakses’ condom theory , he is thoroughly disillusioned and has therefore turned bitterly critical of the Rajapakses , according to reports reaching Lanka e news from informed sources within the SIS .

It is well to recall that there was nothing that Gajanayake did not do by way of sordid stooping to please the Rajapakses. Among the many of those such acts , we reveal here the last of his deplorable and despicable conduct - he forwarded two false reports to defense Secretary Gotabaya Rajapakse that Gen. Fonseka and some top echelon Army officers were conspiring to overthrow the Govt. and thereby ingratiated himself into Gota’s favor .The other SIS officer who added fuel to this fire was Hendawitharane. Based on these reports Gen .Fonseka was sent to jail , 5 Major Generals , 5 Brigadiers and 16 other Army officers were sent on compulsory leave. In addition , another group was taken into custody. Gota had given an assurance to Gajanayake that he would be appointed as the IGP and made a Defense Ministry advisor . Gajanayake’s retirement date was also extended by 6 months defying the Supreme court order that no extensions shall be given to officers who have reached the date of retirement.     Full story >> 

US demands LLRC report be tabled at UN Human Rights Council SL verses the Rest, the bout drags on

  SL verses the Rest, the bout drags on

Sunday 14 August 2011

The United States has formally informed the Government of Sri Lanka that it wishes to have the LLRC report tabled at the UN Human Rights Council meeting in March 2012. It has not made a suggestion or a request but used the stiffer mechanism of delivering a demarche which is an official line of action carrying formal implication of, as yet unspecified, but possible follow up action in the event the demarche is ignored. It is less than an ultimatum but more than an indication of protest.
Why has the US taken this step? It is not hard to guess the State Department’s line of reasoning. First, if the LLRC report is not a whitewash (I will discuss that later), then, not just the US, but everyone knows the government will not release it or will excise vital sections for cock-and-bull reasons. In the event the report is not eyewash, the demarche is intended to embarrass and expose the government if it suppresses the report.
The second possible reason is that it puts pressure on LLRC commissioners, constraining them from crafting a document that leaves egg on their faces and blots on their copybooks. GoSL is likely to reject the US request, but if the LLRC report reaches the UNHRC, it will need to stand beside the Darusman Report, Channel 4 videos and whatever else the Tamil diaspora can dig up in the next eight months and flaunt at the Council or in its corridors. If the LLRC comes off as a lame cover-up, the personal reputations of the commissioners will be sullied. True in the past the outcome of every official commission has been a parade of commissioners dancing to the tune of the powers that be; I can’t recall one who won any respect. Nevertheless, by giving notice that reputations will be on the line, internationally, maybe the US hopes to stiffen the honourable commissioners’ backbones.    Read more..  
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Motive: Billions in the NGO’s possession A politico’s henchmen kill NGO boss

By Gayan Kumara Weerasingha

Investigations carried out by the police into the kidnapping of Pattani Razik,   the manager of the CTF Branch, an NGO in Puttalam, and the demand of Rs.  two billion as ransom before his murder — this sum of money was not paid  — reveals that the whole exercise had been launched by those involved with a  politician. Razik had been working to uplift the lives of the people in the  Puttalam district with the monies that the NGO had received.
This politician who is said to be serving in the UPFA government is now  alleged to be doing his utmost to hamper the ongoing inquiries into the murder of Pattani Razik. The CID which launched inquiries into the killing of Razik first took into  custody the secretary of a Minister.
This suspect who is a businessman was nabbed at Killinochchi when he was headed there to purchase some metal products. Working on the evidence  provided by the secretary to the minister, the CID had then nabbed another  suspect named Mohammad Mussdeen. This suspect who also directs short films was taken into custody in Kolonnawa. There is also another suspect who was allegedly involved in the slaying of Pattani Razik — but he has fled the country.   Read more...

Indians Warn Of Invasion

Kachchatheevu map      Saturday, August 13, 2011 

By Easwaran Rutnam
Several Indian groups are threatening to invade the Kachchateevu island and hoist the Indian national flag.
The main opposition political party in India, the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) said it is making preparations to go by force to Kachchateevu off the Jaffna peninsula, which belongs to Sri Lanka.
President of the Tamil Nadu branch of the BJP, Ila Gansesan, told The Sunday Leader that several BJP supporters had made an attempt to go to Kachchateevu last weekend.
“We tried to go to Kachchateevu from Rameshwaram to hold a function but that attempt failed. We will now attempt to go and raise the Indian flag on the island. We have not set a date for that attempt as yet,” Ila Gansesan said.
He also said that several other groups in Tamil Nadu are expected to make a similar attempt tomorrow (Monday).
“Those groups that are trying to go on Monday are not connected to us. We will try to go separately,” Ila Gansesan said.
The Sri Lankan Navy has warned that it will take measures to prevent anyone from entering Sri Lanka’s territorial waters illegally.
“We take the responsibility of Sri Lanka’s territorial waters. If anyone attempts to cross the maritime boundary we will block them,” Navy spokesman Commander Kosala Warnakulasuriya said.
Kachchateevu was ceded to Sri Lanka by India in 1974 but several Indian political groups have been demanding that the island be given back to India.
In June this year the Tamil Nadu government led by J. Jayalalithaa filed a petition in the Indian Supreme Court seeking the declaration of the 1974 agreement between India and Sri Lanka on ceding Katchatheevu to Sri Lanka as unconstitutional. The case is still being heard.   Read More »  
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Tales Of A Paradise Lost With Rajapaksas And The “Raja-pakshas”

  Saturday, August 13, 2011 

The Ministry of Finance and Planning (MF&P) published a neat, large and a colourful book, detailing all its achievements in the yesteryear, titled Annual Report – 2010.
This comprehensive report talks of a steady increase in salaries over previous years in all sectors.
3.3 percent in the state sector, 41.6 percent in the agriculture sector, 7.1 percent in the industrial sector and 8.2 percent in the service sector – a record drop in unemployment to the lowest ever that is 4.9 percent, labour productivity increasing by 6.6 percent over the previous year achieving a per capita value of Rs. 343,000 in a grand performance with the Rajapaksa regime providing employed labour: the distinct advantage of a “National Productivity Policy”, “Sri Lanka Policy on Gender Equality”, “National Policy on Employment” and a “National Policy on Decent Work”. This is Rajapaksa regime’s “monumental” feat in taking care of its people.Read More »
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UN Time Bomb Ticks

Saturday, August 13, 2011 

By Jamila Najmuddin
The United Nations wants Sri Lanka to act on the recommendations contained in the report submitted by a panel appointed by UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon. UN Deputy spokesperson Farhan Haq, speaking to The Sunday Leader, said that Sri Lanka has yet to officially respond to the report, also known as the ‘Darusman’ report.
External Affairs Minister G.L. Peiris had told parliament early last month that the Sri Lanka government had responded to parts of the report.
He said that if the government had failed to respond then the opposition would have still found fault with the government.
However the UN deputy spokesperson said that the UN is waiting for a full response and is hopeful that such a response will be received.
“The Sri Lankan government has not yet responded to the UN panel report and we remain hopeful that they will respond soon. The UN report has mentioned actions which the Sri Lankan government must take and we hope that they will implement these actions and respond to the UN panel report,” Haq said.
UNP MP Lakshman Kirielle had said in parliament last month that while the government has consistently said it will not officially respond to the ‘Darusman report’ it had responded in part last February.
The MP tabled the government response to 31 points raised in the UN report and said that the response was given by the Presidential Secretariat.
The panel which compiled the report was led by Marzuki Darusman of Indonesia and included Yasmin Sooka of South Africa and Steven Ratner of the United States.

Sri Lanka vigilante violence

13 August, 2011 
Charles Haviland     BBC News, Colombo
 

In what appears to be a bout of witch-hunting in various parts of Sri Lanka, villagers have been attacking strangers in their midst, accusing them of planning or instigating violent attacks.

At least four people have died in the vigilante violence and related confrontations.

The villagers appear to think the strangers have mysterious supernatural powers – “bionic” ones, according to a government minister.

Parts of Sri Lanka are gripped by a bizarre outbreak of panic, rage and mob violence.

Unfamiliar people

Many villagers seem convinced that unfamiliar people are guilty of local crimes, including the actual or rumoured molestation or killing of women.

Some say criminals are mutilating women for use in black magic. They’re blaming it either on civilians or security force members spotted locally.

In some cases the blame is linked to a traditional belief in what are known as “grease devils” – men thought to commit crimes while dressed only in underwear and smeared in grease to avoid being grabbed.

Four people have died, including two villagers hacked to death as suspected criminals and a man shot by security forces in the village of Pottuvil.

The Sri Lankan Justice Minister, Rauff Hakeem, who’s visiting Pottuvil, told the BBC the army shot the man amid confrontations between local people and soldiers.

Mr Hakeem was critical of the security forces but admitted he could not fathom exactly what was happening.

"Bionic powers"

He said some people believed there were criminals at large with “bionic powers”, or shoes with which they could leap huge distances.

Such rumours were spreading like wildfire and a number of innocent people had been beaten up, he added.

On Saturday things were calm after a night-time curfew and several arrests, he said.

All police leave in eastern Sri Lanka has been cancelled. Top officials say anyone taking the law into their own hands will be punished.

Breathing new life into Sri Lanka's Jaffna Public Library

JAFFNA: It is a rare privilege for international media to visit the

	Photos 1 of 1 Sri Lanka's Jaffna Public Library

  former war torn northern Jaffna peninsula.

En route to Jaffna town centre - one still notices soldiers taking up positions at street corners ensuring peace prevails following the end of the civil war in May 2009.

It is not long before one is greeted by a historic building, the Jaffna Public Library. It has survived the destruction of a fire and the ravages of a civil war, and now stands as a symbol of hope, especially for the children of Jaffna.

The people of Jaffna are yearning for a return to normalcy, hoping their children will receive a good education.

However, the road to reconciliation remains an uphill task.

K. N. Douglas Devananda, Minister for Traditional and Small Industries for Sri Lanka, said: "Its taking effect very steadily and slowly. However, there are still some anti-government supporters amongst the Tamil people, who are still trying to mislead the people, to possibly stir up another civil war.

"I hope that the people would be able to separate the good from the bad and look ahead for a more peaceful future."

In 2009, Sri Lankan authorities asked Singapore's then Foreign Minister George Yeo for help in improving the children's section of the library.

Yogeswaray Patgunarajah, the Mayor of Jaffna, said: "In an attempt to resume the function of this once world famous public library, our municipality council contacted Minister Douglas Devananda and our governor G A Chandra Sri. They helped us to discuss our plans for the library with the Singapore representatives when they visited Sri Lanka. And it was because of that, we have now got the opportunity to restore the children's section of the library."

Inside the library is the newly improved children's section, built with help from Singapore.

At a special ceremony, Mr Yeo lights the kuthu vilakku - which symbolises a new beginning. And with the official handing over to the Jaffna Mayor - it completes an almost year long capacity building project.

Mr Yeo said: "The war is over but political reconciliation will take time because the long years of conflict have poisoned the soil and removing that toxicity will take time and effort and the cooperation of all parties involved.

"There is still a lot of bitterness, a lot of suspicion in the diaspora, which we can fully understand. So an effort has to be made by the Sri Lankan government and by members of the diaspora themselves to find ways to move on. The past is not the way to the future."

It is estimated that 1,500 children between the ages of five to 14 will benefit from the improved services at the library and Jaffna authorities are hoping more projects like these will spring up with increased linakges between Sri Lanka and Singapore.

The project is driven by the Singapore International Foundation and supported by the Singapore Cooperation Programme, the Singapore Sri Lankan Community, the National Library Board, and The Prima Group.

An unbelievable collapse of confidence in law enforcement

By Kishali Pinto Jayawardene

Alongside a picturesque stretch of coastline between Akkaraipattu and Pottuvil in Sri Lanka’s East Coast, a tire burning brightly in the centre of the road is etched starkly against crisp morning light. Given Sri Lanka’s history, when bodies burning on top of tires were once a common sight across the country, this was an unsettling reminder that the past is inclined, more often than not, to repeat itself. This time around, the burning tire was no commonplace accident. It was a deliberate sign of civil unrest, pointing to mystifying encounters that frightened villagers have had with ‘grease devils’ or men who were repeatedly attacking homes and stabbing women, particularly young girls and drawing blood from them. Categorical dismissals of government explanations That area, including the villages of Komari and Urani were in uproar this Friday. A day before, at Thirukovil in Akkaraipattu, an angry mob had stormed the police station demanding that effective action be taken against these ‘grease devils’. They wanted five suspects in the custody of the police to be handed over to them as they did not trust the police to bring the suspects before the law. In the melee, one person died. Juxtaposing the truly surreal with the farcical, angry and fearful villagers of the hamlet of Urani had caught more ‘grease devils’ Thursday night and were not mollified by loud protestations of the authorities that these were officers of the Wildlife Department trying to conduct the elephant census. As one grizzled old farmer sipping morning tea at a wayside boutique said categorically ‘what were Wildlife officers doing on the top of trees in the middle of the night and with black masks on?’           read more..     ====================================== An unbelievable collapse of confidence in law enforcement Sunday August 14, 2011 At next month's UNHRC sessions Lanka's fate unknown External Affairs Ministry misguided President on the incident and further damaged Lanka's relations with the US By Our Political Editor Reports that a squadron of carrier-based fighter jets from the United States Navy had intruded sovereign Sri Lankan territorial air space jolted the government last week. The fear that the world's only remaining super power was taking liberties with tiny Sri Lanka was the talking point after the front-page lead story in the Sunday Times last week. It was also posted on the newspaper's website, Timesonline (www.sundaytimes.lk), where there were an unprecedented number of 'hits' for this story from a worldwide readership. The purported detection had been made by the 3D (three dimensional) radar atop the Pidurutalagala peak, the country's tallest mountain, by the Sri Lanka Air Force. Posted atop the peak, an SLAF detachment which monitors air traffic within the country's Flight Identification Region (FIR) (also referred to as Flight Information Region) had reported just days earlier on what it perceived as an intrusion by a squadron of ten US fighter jets into Sri Lankan airspace. Though unconfirmed, they are believed to be F/A 18 Hornets. The fighter jets had appeared as ten blips on the long range 3D radar indicating the presence of the fighter squadron in the skies over the deeper seas off Galle. This radar provides three dimensions including elevation as against 2D radars which give only direction and distance. read more..