Britain’s Labour Party backs international inquiry into Sri Lanka

Tamil Guardian 02 October 2011

Britain’s main opposition Labour Party has unequivocally called for an international commission to be set up to investigate the allegations of war crimes in Sri Lanka. Speaking at a 'Tamils for Labour' event on the sidelines of the Labour Party conference last week, Shadow Foreign Secretary Douglas Alexander said the party's entire front bench was united on the view that Sri Lanka’s own inquiry, the LLRC, is not capable of holding an independent inquiry. Mr Alexander expressed the Labour Party’s disappointment with the UN Human Rights Council and the continued delay in addressing accountability for alleged war crimes in Sri Lanka. But he also demanded that Britain itself must be held to account with regards to its responsibilities in ensuring war crimes are investigated and the perpetrators held to account. Mr Alexander said that the primary responsibility in investigating the allegations lies with Sri Lanka but expressed concerns the Labour Party holds about the credibility of Sri Lanka's domestic commission, the LLRC, referring to the safety of witnesses and the neutrality of the panel. He pointed out it was impossible to ‘judge [the panel] as a genuinely neutral body in assessing evidence’. "I feel it is right, and after discussions with my shadow frontbench team, to say we are not convinced that this Commission can do its work even with international participation and there does need to be an international commission that looks into the evidence." Mr Alexander stressed the Labour party is also concerned not just about the past, but about the ongoing situation in Sri Lanka. The continuing disappearances of civilians speaking up against the government and the manner of resettlement of IDP’s are ongoing human rights issues that the Labour Party wants addressed. The labelling by Sri Lanka of over 3000 individuals as ‘ex-combatants’ was also questioned by Mr Alexander, who he said "we know include [..] secretaries and clerical workers." The Shadow Foreign Secretary pledged that Labour MPs will continue to raise Sri Lanka’s human rights issue in parliament and gave his word that there is a "real and genuine concern and a continued determination to give voice to this concern." See Mr. Alexander's full speech: See also the address to the Labour Party annual conference by Mr. Sen Kandiah, the Chair of 'Tamils for Labour' - said to the Labour Party's fastest growing affiliate organisation.

Ministers To See Stars

President Mahinda Rajapaksa is to reshuffle his cabinet early next year, a government minister told The Sunday Leader adding that some ministries are also expected to be removed.
Speaking to The Sunday Leader on the condition of anonymity the government minister said that some believe the reshuffle is in order to satisfy the President’s astrological beliefs.
“The President believes a lot in astrology and due to some predictions he is going in for a cabinet reshuffle next year,” the government minister said.
He also said that most ministers are not very happy with their current portfolios and have informed the President of their displeasure.
Currently, key ministries such as Defence, Highways, Ports and Aviation and Finance and Planning are under the President’s control while Tourism and Economic Development have been handed over to his brother Basil Rajapaksa. Following his inauguration for a second term as President in November last year, President Rajapaksa appointed a new cabinet and also named D. M. Jayaratne as the Prime Minister.
Among the 59 ministers and 33 deputy ministers were 16 newcomers.  Lakshman Senevirathne and Sri Lanka Muslim Congress leader Rauf Hakeem, who had crossed over to the government, were also rewarded with ministerial portfolios.
Rajapaksa’s first term saw more than 100 ministers being appointed, but some of them lost office in the last general elections.
Successive UPFA governments had jumbo cabinets which analysts had said undermined transparency and accountability and paved the way for decisions to be made by a non-transparent ‘kitchen cabinet’.  (JN)
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‘Sri Lanka’s Killing Fields’  ( Sri Lanka Guardian )

“You can bend it and twist it... You can misuse and abuse it... But even God cannot change the Truth.”

by Gareth Thomas

( July 02, London, Sri Lanka Guardian) I rise to raise two issues. 

                               Read More
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Monks destroy Muslim shrine as police stand idle

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  But a prominent Muslim in the area said he was very sad and the sentiment was shared by many Sinhalese too.  
Full Story>>>

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Ganadeviya (deity) statue at Anurapura burnt down using tires



 (Lanka-e-News -16.March.2011, 11.00PM) According to reports reaching Lanka e news, a Hindu Temple situated at Devanam piyatissa Mawatha, Anuradhapura had been set on fire by a violent marauding group on the 14th night.

This Temple which had been in existence since 1983, are visited by Tamil as well as Sinhala people for religious activities. 
Full Story>>>

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Bishop's House appeals to Vatican to urge Colombo to renovate Vanni churches

Envoy draws ire for role in Tamil ceremony

Daniel Flitton

October 3, 2011

Kathy Klugman has been criticised for presenting Sri Lankan awards.

A TOP Australian diplomat has handed out certificates to alleged Tamil rebels after they were put through two years of official ''rehabilitation'' at camps run by the Sri Lankan government.

In a move condemned by a leading international law advocate, Australia's high commissioner to Sri Lanka, Kathy Klugman, took part in a ceremony in Colombo on Friday to release about 1800 Tamils after what the military called ''a two-year rehabilitation program''. But John Dowd - president of the International Commission of Jurists in Australia and former New South Wales attorney-general - condemned the program in the camps as ''re-education, not rehabilitation''.

He warned that Australia was lending legitimacy to a regime that refuses to allow an investigation of alleged war crimes during the country's vicious civil war.

Read more

Grease Devils and Police and Army attacks on civilians in Mannar and Vavuniya

2 Oct, 2011

Police attacks on civilians in Komarasankulam (Vavuniya district)

11 men were arrested by the Vavuniya Police in Komarasankulam at 10.30 pm on 20^th August 2011.  The men were severely beaten before arrest and at least two persons were tortured inside the Vavuniya Police Station. Another man was arrested when he visited the police station on 21^stAugust to recover his vehicle, which had been taken into custody during the incident on the 20^th. Two men who were tortured by the Vavuniya police received treatment at the Vavuniya Hospital. The rest were produced before the Vavuniya Magistrate on 23^rd August and remanded to the Vavuniya Prison.  All 12 men have since been released on bail. The next hearing is scheduled for 12^th October 2011.

Continue reading »

The Irony Of A Putrefied “South” In Patriotic Garb

Sunday, October 02, 2011
Some one asked, what the Ceypetco brand logo means. Another said, in school, they used to show that logo in a big, white, circular plate hung on a tall post in the petrol shed opposite college, to those classmates who used to go behind teachers expecting favour and say, “that’s what you are…” A nude person, running with a torch. The other said, “well, I wouldn’t comment about the South then.”
“South” in Sri Lankan politics have come to denote the Sinhala society, as against that of the North and  the Tamil people. For over three decades, Sri Lanka was basically that “South”. Politics in the South was “national” politics. Trade unions became wholly Sinhala sans the plantations and all national State functions in content, was Sinhala. Traders’ associations in big cities and towns turned out as Sinhala traders’ associations, though without the adjective “Sinhala”. In fact there emerged a business chamber of young men, who very consciously kept their COYLE, restricted to “Lankans”, but Sinhalese.Read More »
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‘Reconciliation comes by accepting nations are different’

[TamilNet, Sunday, 02 October 2011, 10:15 GMT]
The South and its Sinhala polity talked of themselves as Sri Lanka and Sri Lankans. Those who opposed the war, but still wanted to be part of the warring Sinhala ideology, thus said the common meeting point of all Sinhala, Tamil and Muslim people is the ‘Sri Lankan’ identity. But this ‘Sri Lankan’ identity is essentially a Southern Sinhala identity, points out veteran Sinhala journalist Kusal Perera. Sinhala political parties in the opposition cannot and does not want to leave their Sinhala identity in challenging this regime [of Rajapaksa]. Challenging this regime with a Sinhala identity is impossible, with a State that is now wholly Sinhalised and is firmly controlled with the defence establishment entrenched in politics and economics, he further said, writing in The Sunday Leader, last Sunday. 

 Full story >>

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WikiLeaks Returns To Haunt US Diplomacy

Sunday, October 02, 2011
By Dinouk Colombage
*WikiLeaks Returns To Haunt US Diplomacy

Patricia Butenis

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*The (Well- Paid) Propaganda Machine Rolls On!

If you can’t lick’em, join ‘em

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*Missed Opportunities For Reconciliation By Sinhalese And Tamils

S.W. R. D Bandaranaike and J. R. Jayewardene

First gas deposits found off Sri Lanka coast

02 OCTOBER 2011

Map showing location of Mannar Basin where Sri Lankan President Mahinda Rajapakse says natural gas deposits have been found

AFP - Sri Lankan President Mahinda Rajapakse announced on Sunday that natural gas deposits had been found for the first time during exploratory drilling off the island's coast.

The company prospecting in the area, Cairn India, confirmed it had informed Sri Lankan authorities of a gas discovery during its first attempt to drill into the sea floor off the northwest shoreline.

Rajapakse revealed the find while making an address to council workers in the central region of Kandy, where local elections will be held on      Read More »

White House Petitioned To Probe Alleged War Crimes In SL

Saturday, October 01, 2011

• Here Comes Another

A petition has been submitted to the White House asking the US government to support an international war crimes investigation in Sri Lanka.
The petition was submitted by Jim McDonald, the Sri Lanka Country Specialist at the human right group Amnesty International in America.
In his petition, McDonold says both the Sri Lankan government and the LTTE reportedly committed war crimes, crimes against humanity and human rights abuses during the war in Sri Lanka.
He says the Sri Lankan government has a poor record of effectively investigating violations by its forces, as documented by Amnesty International and so an international investigation into the crimes and abuses committed by both sides during the war is needed if the victims are to receive justice.
“The U.S. government should publicly support such an international investigation as a first step towards achieving accountability in Sri Lanka for these crimes and abuses,” McDonold said.
McDonold says the White House has promised to respond to the petition if it receives 5,000 public signatures by October 29, in support of the document which has been posted online. (ER)

Mr. President “You Have Been Served”

Saturday, October 01, 2011

By Frederica Jansz

On Friday September 30, a thirty page long complaint detailing charges against President Rajapaksa, was sent to nearly 100 media outlets in Sri Lanka and around the world by U.S. Constitutional Lawyer, Bruce Fein.

President, Mahinda Rajapaksa, in the plaint is cited for extrajudicial killings under the U.S. Torture Victim’s Protection Act.

Simultaneously,   Fein officially filed a motion in the United States District Court, also on Friday (30), seeking authorisation to serve the summons by publication in any newspaper, or through electronic means, as all conventional methods have been denied.

If successful the motion will set an audacious new precedent.
This action follows Sri Lanka’s Ministry of Justice having refused, in June this year, to comply with a request to serve legal summons to President Mahinda Rajapaksa.

Mahinda Rajapaksa and The Thirty Page Summons Full Story>>>

The motion: 
http://www.thesundayleader.lk/wp-content/uploads/2011/10/Motion-for-Alternative-Service.pdf

Major Gen. Shavendra Silva’s problems escalate: Gota remains silent

Saturday 1 of October 2011



(Lanka-e-News -30.Sep.2011, 11.30P.M.) The Sri Lanka (SL) Deputy High Commissioner to the UN, Major General Shavendra Silva against whom a case has been filed in the USA, is left in the lurch without legal counsel being provided to him, reports say.

The Lawyers of the SL Govt. who give legal counsel to him say that nothing can be done , and the Diplomatic immunity cannot be take advantage of. Yet , the lawyers of the US had explained that , as the case has been filed in the civil court , his immunity has no relevance..

Irrespective of this controversy , the laws which are going to be implemented from tomorrow in SL to fine those who do not use the safety belt when driving are going to apply even to the Diplomats who are in SL . When this law is applied their diplomatic immunity cannot be taken advantage of. The case filed in US against Shavendra Silva is based on similar laws. That case had been filed under the civil laws , and Shavendra Silva had accepted the summons.

One of those claiming compensation is the wife of a LTTE leader of the East , Ramesh . She has based her claim on the channel 4 vide exposure. The videotape showed the soldiers of the regiment to which Shavendra Silva gave commands arresting Ramesh , and the defense Ministry later making a public report that Ramesh died in the LTTE engagements. The days indicated are contradictory . After Ramesh is taken into custody , it is the Commanding chief who is responsible for his death later. It is suspected that this videotape had been passed to the international scene by Saman Kumara of the State Rupavahini who is a close crony of Shavendra Silva.The defense Secretary and the Govt. say that Ramesh is a terrorist leader who committed a number of murders including the killing of the Arantalawa Bhikkhu . But the question at issue is , no matter who the criminal is , if he is taken into custody , he must be brought before the law. He cannot be killed while in custody. In the circumstances Shavendra Silva is in deep trouble.. This case filed claiming compensation in the civil court had been well thought out after carefully probing as to how legal action shall be filed unaffected by his right to immunity. The legal personalities in US say , .the SL Govt. by just harping on the fact that Ramesh is a LTTE leader and committed murders , and thereby wasting time while trying to exploit even this grave turmoil of Shavendra Silva for its publicity purposes thereby deepening Silva’s predicament under the US laws.When the several media Institutions to whom Shavendra Silva made requests to write in defense of him in respect of his case had passed the information to the Govt. The latter had however obstructed the media on this . This was another illustration of the Govt.’s condom theory application. During the war period , what Shavendra did was pampering the media covering the defense scene and making them write about him and boost his megalomaniac ambitions. The defense Secretary Gota had repulsed this by giving instructions to the media , “ do not up what Shavendra tells” .

A leading Lawyer residing in the US speaking to Lanka e news said, the Rajapakse regime by posting the commanding chiefs of the war period subsequently to High Commissions in problematic regions has committed two grave mistakes. One mistake is its action can provoke the Tamil population abroad and expose the Diplomat to the danger of sharp reactions of human rights activists as well as their hatred. An Army officer is most vulnerable to these risks. If the SL Govt. Diplomatic circles have acted intelligently nobody need to have walked into these problems. This is similar to a situation where the Govt . has made Shavendra walk into turbulence and trouble voluntarily, he noted.

The second mistake is , appointing officers who know only about war as High Commissioners . By this, grave damage can result to the country because these officers know next to nothing about foreign affairs . If the Govt. wished to give these officers a good holiday after the war , what it should have done was without compromising the country’s foreign affairs and image , sent these officers without giving publicity to some obscure place.

This Rajapakse regime has complicated the problem by sending the war Hero who won the war for them to jail and sending others on compulsory pension on the one hand , while on the other pampering and putting on pedestal a notorious LTTE leader who committed genocide openly . Now to aggravate the situation further it is scheming to wash its hands off giving wrong advice to an Army chief after driving him into a legal tangle, the leading Lawyer pointed out.By ‘Soldadu Unnehe’

Military operation to nab thousands of army deserters in Lanka

Sunday 2 October 2011 

Colombo, Oct 1 (PTI)

The Sri Lankan military has stepped up its operation to arrest thousands of army deserters, many of them responsible for the surge in crime in the country.

An operation is underway to arrest 60,000 deserters who have not surrendered to the authorities, Sri Lanka Army spokesperson Brigadier Nihal Happurachchi was quoted as saying by ColomboPage online newspaper earlier this week. The number of desertion from the army swelled during the three-decade ethnic conflict between the military and the LTTE. Earlier, the army had announced grace periods to these deserters so that they could surrender to the authorities. The Army said no more grace periods will be provided to the deserters. According to Brigadier Hapuarachchi, 11,000 deserters have been arrested so far this year. He said legal action will be initiated against the arrested deserters who will be discharged from the army. Police records show that a number of military deserters have been linked to the surge in crime, the report said. The LTTE waged a civil war for a separate state for the Tamils of Sri Lanka, alleging discrimination against the minority community at the hands of the majority Sinhalas. The Lankan military crushed the rebels in May 2009 and ended the ethnic conflict that killed between 80,000 and 100,000 people.