AG who bragged of filing action after being silent asked a series of questions by a Lawyer in US

Tuesday 4 of October 2011


Why aren’t action filed against LTTE leaders KP, Karuna, Pillayan against whom there is a host of evidence?(Lanka-e-News -02.Oct.2011, 11.55P.M.) After the ex AG of Sri Lanka (SL) bragged two days ago when speaking on the case filed against Shavendra Silva in the US courts that he is ready to file two or more cases against those groups who are agitating and mounting charges , a SL Lawyer in New York , US had sent a letter to LeN indicating that he has a number of questions to ask based on the AG’s loud mouthed utterances. The Lawyer wishes not to disclose his name . As we believe these questions posed by this lawyer in New York are relevant to all of us concerned , we append them herein.

The US based Lawyer states, the AG who speaks about his readiness to file counter action to combat the case filed against Shavendra Silva has not made mention of the case filed against the President Rajapakse in the Southern court of New York.

The questions posed to Ex AG and present Cabinet advisor Mohan Peiris are given hereunder :

1. He stated that he can file three law suits, if that is true
(a) where he is going to file? Is it America or Sri Lanka?
(b) For what purpose?
(c) to punish the LTTE leader in criminal nature or to collect compensation for their criminal act?
(d) When did he get the idea of filing a law suit?
(e) Why he could not file the criminal case against the LTTE leaders like Karuna, Pillian and K.P when there are plenty of proof that these people killed and harm our nation?
(f) Why he could not file the civil case against them before Sri Lanka courts ?
(f) Why he could not file any of these cases when he was assumed office as attorney general?Mr. Ex. Attorney General didn’t you have brain that you had all these options when were in the office as attorney General.

Mr. Ex. Attorney General, do you know why the world community accuse Sri Lanka for human rights violation, because they have no faith about attorney general’s office.? ( See the War Crimes Report)

Mr. Ex. Attorney General Can you appear in the United States District Court on behalf of Shavendra Silva? Answer; No. You cannot practice in the United States because you are not a Lawyer who can practice law in the United States. If you are a member with good standing in the Sri Lanka Bar Association, then you know you cannot even give legal advice about American Law, that is called unethical legal practice as a lawyer.
2. Mr. EX. Attorney General do you know who pays money to file?

(a) lawsue against anyone? May be you can file before Sri Lankan courts without money, but you cannot file in the United States. You have to hire a lawyer who appear before the United States District to file a case and has to pay fees. Do you know how much?

3. Who pays legal fees for Shavendra silva’s case. You should pay out of your pocket because you gave wrong legal advice to Sri Lankan government. Because all these people who served Sri Lanka during the War, sent to America with your advice as attorney General during the time you acted as Attorney General. If you gave proper legal advice you could have avoided this mess.

4. Do you know how much Sri Lanka has to legal fees for Shavendra Silva’s case? At lease 500.000 to one million dollars.

5. Now the Sri Lankan Tax payers has to pay the legal cost for Shvendr De Silva case? Do you
think this is a Joke. You should pay all legal expenses for Shavendra’s as compensation for legal malpractice.

6. Do you know Gotabhaya has to come to America if the Shavendr’s case going to trial to prove
that Shavendra (if he claims that he did not do any wrong doing)in his defense, as s witness?

7. We believe that you as a supporter to Rajapakse President is liable for these matters?

8. If you file case against the LTTE in a civil case and obtained monitory award, you can collect
nothing because Sri Lanka Government kees billions of dollars belongs to LTTE and Sri Lanka is stake holder in the law suit.

Top Aussie diplomat in Sri Lanka criticised

Updated October 4, 2011 14:45:43

Australia's High Commissioner in Sri Lanka has been criticised for taking part in a ceremony in which former Tamil rebels were given certificates of rehabilitation.

The former rebels at military-run run camps where they've been held since the end of the civil war had gone through a two year rehabilitation process.

But John Dowd, president of the International Commission of Jurists in Australia, says the camps are run for re-education, not rehabilitation purposes.

He says no Australian diplomat should be participating in such a process.

Presenter: Bruce Hill
Speaker: John Dowd, president of the International Commission of Jurists in Australia

• Listen:
   
• Windows Media

Tamils seek support from Cuba & L.A.

By Ron Ridenour

Sri Lankan President Mahind Rajapaksa and Cuban President Raul Castro. File photo from colombopage.com

HAVANA TIMES, Oct. 3 – “We Tamils, inside and outside the island of Sri Lanka, still want an independent state. And because the war crimes and severe brutality of the Mahinda Rajapaksa government against our people has become well known, our cause is being spoken about all over the world,” Visuvanathan Rudrakumaran told me recently in Manhattan, New York.

A positive sign of recognition for Tamil rights is the dramatic Channel 4 UK documentary, “Sri Lanka Killing Fields”, shown first at a June Human Rights Council session and then worldwide.

Full Story>>>

Tamil Tigers: defence demands Dutch judges step aside

Published on : 3 October 2011 
By Geraldine Coughlan (Photo: RNW)

The panel of judges should be removed from the case against five Sri Lankan men, Dutch lawyer Victor Koppe demanded on Monday. The five are accused of supporting the Tamil Tigers (LTTE), listed since 2006 by the European Union as a terrorist organisation.

Dutch prosecutors have asked for jail sentences between 10 to 16 years against the men for allegedly aiding the rebel movement from the Netherlands, including collecting funds.

But Koppe told the special War Crimes Chamber at The Hague District Court that the trial process was unfair. He said the three judges should step down as they did not guarantee more time for his defence statement. Koppe said it seemed the court was “blatantly ignoring” his defence.

If the judges are ordered to step down by an independent appeals panel, the trial which started last month must begin again with new judges.

Arrested last year as part of a probe in the Netherlands into the activities of the LTTE, the five men have lived in the country for a long time and have Dutch nationality.

But their possible convictions, due later this month, are just the tip of the iceberg - in a case which will be interpreted in Sri Lanka as a decision on who is right and wrong in the country’s 30-year civil war.

If you believe CBI, Dhanu didn’t die in the blast that killed Rajiv Gandhi

Published: Tuesday, Oct 4, 2011, 8:30 IST 
By Nikhil S Dixit | Place: Mumbai | Agency: DNA

India’s premier investigative agency – the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) – just doesn’t seem to get it right. After having goofed up on the 50 most wanted list earlier this year, the agency has scored another major blooper.

The agency, while patting its own back on investigation into the assassination of former prime minister Rajiv Gandhi, has said Thenmozhi Rajaratnam alias Dhanu of the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE) was sentenced to death by the trial court as well as the Supreme Court. The fact is she had died in the explosion that killed Gandhi on May 21, 1991 in Sriperumbudur, near Chennai.

Dhanu, wearing a bomb suit, denoted herself while she was bending to touch Gandhi’s feet. Alongwith Gandhi and Dhanu, several others too were killed in the explosion. The weblink titled ‘Rajiv Gandhi assassination case’ has been recently put up by the agency on its web portal www.cbi.nic.in. It is part of CBI archives.

The CBI says the designated TADA Court in Chennai awarded death sentences to all the 26 accused. Later, after an appeal in the Supreme Court, only four (Dhanu and three others) of them were sentenced to death. Others were given various jail terms, the website says.

The CBI spokesperson did not respond to text messages and email sent byDNA requesting the agency for its reaction on the goof-up.

In May this year, glaring errors on part of the CBI were highlighted. The list of 50 most wanted men from India, which was given to Pakistan in March, had names of two men who were actually in India and not in Pakistan. Feroz Rashid Khan was lodged in the Arthur Road Jail in Mumbai and was facing trial in the 1993 serial bomb blasts case.

While, Wazhul Kamar Khan, was also shown as wanted in the 2003 Mulund train bomb blast case, whereas he was residing in Thane with his family.

These instances had cause major embarrassment to CBI and the Indian government. Immediately after the expose, CBI had withdrawn the said list and had promised to correct all the errors. However, this latest goof-up by the central agency indicates that little has been done to correct the errors.

Bangladesh war crimes: First charges filed

BBC News

South Asia

By Anbarasan EthirajanBBC News, Dhaka
A senior leader of Bangladesh's largest Islamic party is the first suspect charged by a tribunal probing the 1971 independence struggle against Pakistan.Mr Sayedee is among seven people facing trial

BBC News

The war crimes tribunal accused Delawar Hossain Sayedee of mass murder and torture among other crimes. He denies all the allegations.

Mr Sayedee, a leader in Bangladesh's Jamaat-e-Islami party, was arrested last year.

The tribunal was set up in 2010 to try those accused of crimes during the war.

Bangladesh was called East Pakistan until 1971 when a nine-month war of secession broke out leaving up to three million people dead.

"The court has framed charges on 20 counts including crimes against humanity and genocide against Mr Sayedee," Mohammad Shahinur Islam, registrar of the International Crimes Tribunal, told the BBC.

"He pleaded not guilty. He claimed all those allegations were false.

"With the framing of charges the trial has started. As a citizen, I should say this is a historic day for Bangladesh," Mr Islam said.

The case will be next heard on 30 October when the prosecution will make an opening statement.

Official figures estimate that thousands of women were raped when West Pakistan sent in its army to try and stop East Pakistan becoming an independent Bangladesh.

Last year, the Bangladeshi government set up the International Crimes Tribunal in Dhaka to try those Bangladeshis accused of collaborating with Pakistani forces and committing atrocities during months of violence.

Mr Sayedee is among seven people, including two from the main opposition Bangladeshi Nationalist Party, facing trial. All of them deny the accusations and accuse the government of carrying out a vendetta.

The New York-based Human Rights Watch says the tribunal needs to change some of its procedures to ensure a fair trial which meets international standards.

The trial is likely to go on for months.

TNA MP challenges 3 PTA regulations

MONDAY, 03 OCTOBER 2011

By S.S.Selvanayagam

Three Regulations promulgated by the Defence Minister under the Prevention of Terrorism Act (PTA) are challenged in the Supreme Court.

Jaffna district Parliamentarian Mavai Senathirajah, who is the General Secretary of Ilankai Tamil Arasu Katchi (Federal Party) has filed a fundamental rights violation petition before the Supreme Court challenging the Prevention of Terrorism (Extension of Application) Regulation, Prevention of  Terrorism (Detainees and Remandees) Regulation and Prevention of Terrorism ( Surrendees  Care and Rehabilitation) Regulation.These Regulations have been promulgated by the Defence Minister and published in the Gazette on August 29         .Full Story>>>

Re-displacement of Menik Farm inmates to Kombavil (Mullativu)

 *groundviewsjournalism Forcitizens

On 20^th September 2011 the Government of Sri Lanka had announced that Menik Farm, hosting 7394 persons (2097 families) will be closed down.[i] The solution imposed on these people has been to send them to Kombavil, an interior village in the Mullativu district.

Although the government claims the people are not allowed to go back due to landmines, the latest Joint Humanitarian Update[ii] has stated that “8.5 Grama Niladhari Divisions (GNDs) that currently remain closed due to continued military occupation and thus, remain inaccessible for humanitarian mine action and resettlement”.[1]

It is people living in these areas that are being forced to go to Kombavil.

Kombavil is a remote area, in the interiors of Puthukudiruppu, in middle of overgrown shrub jungle. When we were there, we observed that houses were very small and appear very basic. Workers confirmed that these houses would standard size of 12 feet by 15 feet, irrespective of family needs. The government had decided to send a first batch of 100 families to Kombavil on 5^th October, but workers in Kombavil said it would be difficult to complete even the basic semi permanent shelters and toilets before 5^th October.

When we visited Kombavil, it was clear that no infrastructure was in place. Fisherfolk would certainly face serious problems if they are compelled to live there. Infact, the people of Kombavil told us that even many of villagers from Kombavil have not yet been allowed to return after displacement.

The people are unhappy that after two and half years, instead of being allowed to go back to their own villages, they are being sent to an area they have never been to or known. Widows have expressed concerns about security and difficulties they would face in such an unknown area in rebuilding their lives and establishing livelihoods without support of men. Fears have also been expressed that no possibilities for fishing and farming exist in the proposed area and that no facilities exist for schools, places of worship, water etc.

There had been “come and tell visit” in which officials had briefed people about the plans to send them to Kombavil instead of their home villages. There had also been a “go and see visit” in which people to be sent to Kombavil were taken to see Kombavil. However, it is clear that these were just to present information after decisions had been taken, and not occasions where people affected could discuss options and alternatives.

Essentially, this is a decision imposed on these people, without any consultation and certainly not voluntary.  In a petition submitted to the IDP Project Office for the Vavuniya district of the National Human Rights Commission on 29^th Sept. 2011, people concerned have stated that “we want to go to our own homes and resettled”.

Exclusive: Experts urge Commonwealth action on human rights

By Adrian Croft

LONDON | Sat Oct 1, 2011 7:21am EDT

(Reuters) - The Commonwealth must act decisively to uphold human rights among its 54 member nations or risk a slide into irrelevance, according to a report set to divide the group's leaders at their summit this month.

A confidential experts' report to Commonwealth heads of government, obtained by Reuters, called for wide-ranging reforms that it said are essential if the organization is to make a real difference to improving the lives of its people.

                   Full Story>>>

Misplaced Loyalties: ‘Pink Left’ Countries and Sri Lanka

October 1, 2011

By Karthick RM. The author is a freelance writer based in Chennai

“How long yet will the madness of despots be called justice, and the justice of the people barbarity or rebellion? How tenderly oppressors and how severely the oppressed are treated!”
-Maximillien Robespierre

The informal discussion held in Geneva on the 21st of September regarding Canada’s proposal to debate the outcome of Sri Lanka’s ‘Lessons Learnt and Reconciliation Commission’ (LLRC) was revealing on the position of various countries that participated.

Full Story>>>

Some thoughts on the Buddha and his teaching

May 16, 2011, 12:00 pm

by Professor Emeritus
Y. Karunadasa PhD

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Sinhala Buddhist monks attack Japanese Buddhist temple

Tamil Guardian 01 October 2011 Over 100 Sinhala Buddhist monks and supporters attacked a Japanese Buddhist Temple in Kollupitiya on Sunday, forcing worshippers to barricade themselves in for fear of assault. The Sinhala monks, followers of the Theravada sect of Buddhism, reportedly launched the attack to protect Sri Lanka from the Mahayana sect of Buddhism - the form practised at the Japanese temple. One worshipper who hid inside the temple as the Sinhala monks stormed the temple, said, “The Buddhist monks forcibly entered the premises shouting out that we stop our prayer session. The monks said we should only have Theravada Buddhism in Sri Lanka and not Mahayana,” Worshippers were trapped inside for over four hours before the police were able to free them and escort them to safety. In addition to the aggression exhibited by the protesters, the rescue operation was further hindered by five bhikkus who sat in front of the closed door and refused to permit the police to enter. Freed worshippers, chanted "Budu Saranai" ('May the blessings of Lord Buddha be with you') as they were escorted out by the police, only to find their olive branch provoked yet more vociferous protests from the Sinhala monks. Despite the violent scenes, police spokesperson, Maxie Proctor, confirmed that no arrests have been made. The Sinhala monks were reportedly led by two monks, Ven. Akmeemana Dayaratne and Ven. Hakmana Nandajothi. One of the trapped worshippers, who wished to remain anonymous, reported that this was the fourth such attack on the temple by Sinhala Buddhist monks. She accused a former professor of Peradeniya University being behind the attacks.  “We found out that the so-called professor who was asked to leave the university now works as a tuition teacher,” said the worshipper. See 'Monks destroy Muslim shrine as police stand idle' (Sept 2011) =======================================================

Chief incumbent of Thames Buddhist Vihara charged with raping underage girl (Lanka-e-News -19.Sep.2011, 11.55P.M.) A Buddhist monk has been charged with raping an underage girl in the 1970s, the London Metropolitan police has said. Pahalagama Somaratana Thera, chief incumbent of Thames Buddhist Vihara, Croydon, has been charged with four counts of sexual abuse, police said. The alleged rape and three counts of indecent assault occurred in Chiswick, west London, in 1977 and 1978. The 65-year-old from Dulverton Rd, Croydon, will appear on bail at Feltham Magistrates’ Court on 23 September. There was no immediate response from Thames Buddhist Vihara, which is one of the major Sri Lankan Buddhist temples in London.     ================   Monks destroy Muslim shrine as police stand idle ==========================  By Walter Jayawardhana PANDEMONIUM AT KUMAR RUPASINGHE ORGANIZED ANTI-WAR www.lankaweb.com/news/items06/190806-6.html - Cached - Similar The photo shows how Buddhist monks were being pushed out of the Kumar Rupasinghe anti-war rally at Vihara Maha Devi Park (Photo by AP)