S.Africa's Tutu marks 80th birthday in historic cathedral

  

By Justine Gerardy (AFP)

CAPE TOWN — South Africa's Desmond Tutu celebrated his 80th birthday Friday in the cathedral where he once rallied against white rule, as the Dalai Lama said he was saddened he had not received a visa in time to attend.

St George's Cathedral, where Tutu served as the Anglican archbishop of Cape Town until 1996, was filled with family and well-wishers from U2 frontman and campaigner Bono to Graca Machel, the wife of Nelson Mandela.

The exiled Tibetan spiritual leader, a close friend of Tutu, said in a video message posted online that delays with his visa forced him to call off his trip, in a move which sparked accusations that Pretoria had bowed to please China.

"There was no sort of sign, no answer about my visit, my visa," he said in a video on the website of the University of the Witwatersrand in Johannesburg, where he was due to speak next week.

"So therefore, then there is no other alternative except withdraw with my visit. So I feel very sad."

The widely slammed visa drama overshadowed the run-up to the three-day celebration for Tutu, who furiously attacked President Jacob Zuma's administration for kowtowing to its biggest trade partner China, which opposes the Dalai Lama's travels abroad.

"I am warning you that we will pray as we prayed for the downfall of the apartheid government, we will pray for the downfall of a government that misrepresents us," Tutu said Tuesday.

On Friday, Deputy President Kgalema Motlanthe sat in the front pew across from Tutu's family at the birthday service. Zuma did not attend, but offered an olive branch in a birthday message.

"Archbishop Tutu has a special place in the hearts of our people for the manner in which he stood up against the apartheid state, speaking out against injustice and oppression," Zuma said.

"As one of our four Nobel Peace Prize Laureates, we respect him, love him and always welcome his counsel on issues."

Tutu also used his trademark charisma to reach out to Motlanthe, hugging him in front of the church.

"Thank you so very much for coming, despite some of the hiccups that we have had," Tutu told Motlanthe, in his only reference to the visa drama.

The Tibetan spiritual leader is now set to give a speech Saturday by video link which will be broadcast live on national television and the Internet.

The tensions of the week, which have dominated South Africa's front pages, were pushed to the side Friday as the pews of St George's filled and birthday presents piled at the entrance.

Combining African drums and incense-laden church ceremony, the multi-lingual service paid tribute to the man regarded as South Africa's moral conscience with the laughter and warmth that he is famed for.

"With every year that passes, you seem more ageless or even more youthful. But this particular anniversary reminds us all how much we owe to your decades of love and service to the reign of God and the family of God's people," the Archbishop of Canterbury, Rowan Williams said in a message read from the altar.

The public service was broadcast on national television. As tributes poured in, Tutu covered his eyes with a handkerchief, embraced by Leah, his wife of 56 years.

After the service, Tutu danced out of the cathedral and left with his family and invited friends for a private picnic at a wine farm in nearby Stellenbosch.

Outside the cathedral hung a banner reading: "SA betrayed for 30 pieces of yuan. We are sorry HH Dalai Lama. 

 Happy Birthday Arch."

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Desmond Tutu celebrates birthday with Bono, without Dalai Lama (VIDEO)

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Johannesburg (CNN) -- South African Archbishop Desmond Tutu turned 80 on Friday, days after a spat with the government over a visa delay that forced the Dalai Lama to cancel a trip to the nation.

By the CNN Wire Staff

October 7, 2011 Archbishop Desmond Tutu -- known as "the people's priest" -- seen here in New York on September 21, turned 80 on Friday.

Archbishop Desmond Tutu -- known as "the people's priest" -- seen here in New York on September2

Desmond Tutu marks 80th birthday; 

hears wishes from Dalai Lama

Liam Fox ties to 'best man' under scrutiny

7 October 2011

Liam Fox: "I have asked the permanent secretary to look into these wild allegatio
 Fox dismisses 'wild allegations'
Defence Secretary Liam Fox has ordered an investigation into whether he broke the ministerial code over his working relationship with a close friend.

Mr Fox has been accused of risking national security by giving his best man Adam Werritty access to the MoD.

It is claimed Mr Werritty has been on official trips with Mr Fox to Sri Lanka but that he has neither an official role nor security MoD clearance.

Mr Fox said he ordered the inquiry to clear up "baseless accusations".

He said he would accept the findings of the probe - to be conducted by the top civil servant at the Ministry of Defence.

In September, Mr Fox answered parliamentary questions from Labour MP John Mann about his relationship.

'Not travelled'"I have met Mr Werritty 14 times at the Ministry of Defence main building over the last 16 months but not in an official capacity," he said.

"Mr Werritty is not an employee of the Ministry of Defence and has, therefore, not travelled with me on any official overseas visits."

However, the Guardian newspaper reported this week that Mr Werritty had presented himself as an official adviser to the defence secretary.

And it said Mr Fox was joined by his friend when he met senior ministers of Sri Lanka during an official visit this summer.

The MoD has confirmed Mr Werritty was present for a public lecture given by Mr Fox but said he was not part of the official party and did not attend meetings.

Mr Fox said Mr Werritty had attended a private event, organised by Mr Werritty and the widow of the Tamil former foreign secretary of Sri Lanka.

A spokesman said Mr Werritty was "not and never has been" part of Mr Fox's travelling party abroad.

"Mr Werritty's meetings with the secretary of state at the MoD have concerned entirely private matters, not to discuss MoD business. At no time has he had access to any classified MoD documents or information," he added.

Business cards

The defence secretary also told BBC Breakfast that "wild accusations" had been made against him.

However, he confirmed Mr Werritty had been carrying business cards which said he was an adviser to Mr Fox.

"I understand those cards are no longer used," he said. "I've made it very clear to him that it's unacceptable to carry a card saying that he's a personal adviser."

Mr Fox had said in a statement on Thursday evening: "A number of baseless accusations have been made in recent days.

"For the sake of clarity I have asked my permanent secretary to establish whether there has been any breach of national security or the ministerial code. She will report back in due course."

Blake wooed genocidal Sri Lanka Army to help Afghan war

[TamilNet, Friday, 07 October 2011, 09:30 GMT]
Within months of a war masterminded to end in the genocide of Eezham Tamils, the US Asst Secretary of State Robert Blake wooed the genocidal Sri Lanka Army’s help in the US-led war in Afghanistan, reveals a Wikileaks document. In a meeting that took place in Colombo on 8th December 2009 with SL Defence Secretary Gotabhaya Rajapaksa, “Blake raised the possibility of Sri Lanka contributing to U.S.-led coalition operations in Afghanistan, noting that would be a significant step in support of improving military-to-military engagement,” briefs a classified cable of the US embassy in Colombo. Citing Muslim sentiments and ire of Islamic organizations, Gotabhaya avoided committing on any direct involvement, but he came out with an alternative for Sri Lanka providing covert training assistance in Afghanistan through NGOs and Private Military Companies. 
Full story >>

A tigress and her tormentors

A long-despised watchdog wakes up, barks and even bites

Oct 8th 2011 | GENEVA 
IN ITS five years of life the United Nations Human Rights Council has been more pilloried than praised. The pious posturing of countries renowned for beastliness to their citizens incenses critics. So does the triumph of politics over humanitarian principle, the knee-jerk condemnation of Israel and a blind eye turned to most other countries’ abuses. Yet in this unpromising setting, some positive signs are visible.

Next week a Haitian official will deliver the final report in the first cycle of the Universal Periodic Review, a unique (for the UN) four-year process in which every government must submit an account of its human rights to the scrutiny of its peers. Few believe that this will change behaviour in Iran, Myanmar or North Korea. Even in milder cases, the practical gain will be clear only in the second four-year cycle when the council hears how governments have responded to the 20,000-odd recommendations from the first round.

In this section

• The parting of the red tape
• »A tigress and her tormentors

Reprints

But human-rights lobbyists say it has helped to highlight their cause, not least by giving local campaigners new opportunities to berate their rulers. Many governments spend a lot of time and resources polishing their act before they come to Geneva. A report by the New York-based Human Rights Watch bestows rare praise on the council in its response to emergencies. In the year to June 2011 it launched international investigations in Côte d’Ivoire, Libya and Syria; it appointed an investigator to monitor developments in Iran; and it extended the mandates of rapporteurs for Myanmar, Cambodia, Somalia and Sudan.

Much of the credit for all this goes to Latin American countries such as Argentina, Brazil, Chile and Mexico, along with Zambia and even tiny Maldives. The United States is newly engaged too, having returned to an active role in the council under the Obama administration. Earlier this year it brokered a successful cross-regional initiative promoting freedom of assembly and association.

The question now is whether new members who joined the Council in September, which include India, Indonesia, Costa Rica and Peru, will play the same activist role as their predecessors. The early signs are not promising. In October one group, under the politically correct rubric of promoting transparency and accountability, sought (so far unsuccessfully) to nobble the budget, and thus the independence, of the Office of the High Commissioner, Navi Pillay. The main instigators were Cuba, Pakistan and Sri Lanka, all of which strongly oppose an interventionist approach to human rights. Ms Pillay, a South African of Tamil extraction, had outraged the Sri Lankan government by calling for an independent investigation of alleged atrocities and war crimes by both sides in the war against the Tamil Tigers. The pro-government media there vilified her as a bullying, racist “Tamil Tigress”. In the world of UN human rights, such insults may count as compliments.

from the print edition | International

Tamil student reported missing in Batticaloa

[TamilNet, Wednesday, 05 October 2011, 20:20 GMT]
A 16-year-old student who left his home at U'rukamam in Karadiyanaa'ru in Batticaloa on September 29 to visit his relatives in Aiyangkea'ni in Ea'raavoor has failed to return since then, according to a complaint lodged with the SL Police at Ea'raavoor by his parents. The victim, Amarasingham Vimalraj, has been a student of Karadiayanaa'ru MV and attending GCE O/L classes. 

Meanwhile another student is said to have contacted the parents of missing boy by telephone and told them that their son was being kept at a location in Colombo.

Parents of the missing boy have also complained to the Batticaloa Regional Office of the Human Rights Commission of Sri Lanka (HRCSL).

The parents have alleged in their representation to the HRCSL that the Police has not shown any attempt to inquire into their complaint.

Sri Lanka: Smear campaign and death threats against Mr. Sunanda Deshapriya

LKA 001 / 1011 / OBS 115

Smear campaign / Death threats

Sri Lanka

October 6, 2011

The Observatory for the Protection of Human Rights Defenders, a joint programme of the World Organisation Against Torture (OMCT) and the International Federation for Human Rights (FIDH), requests your urgent intervention in the following situation.

Brief description of the situation:

The Observatory has been informed by reliable sources about the false allegations and death threats made against Mr. Sunanda Deshapriya, a human rights defender, press freedom campaigner and a journalist from Sri Lanka who was the Head of the Free Media Movement before going into exile in 2009[1].

According to the information received, on September 12, 2011, Mr. Sunanda Deshapriya attended a side event at the 18^th session of the UN Human Rights Council organised by the Sri Lankan Government. H.E. Mohamed Nasheed, President of the Maldives, a number of Ministers and senior Government officials from Sri Lanka, as well as representatives from a number of diplomatic missions in Geneva, from international human rights organisations and some Sri Lankan human rights defenders participated in the event.                        Full Story>>>

Commonwealth Heads of Government Meeting

5 Oct 2011 : Column 1125

3.22 pm

Asked by Lord Kennedy of Southwark

To ask Her Majesty's Government what representations they have made concerning the holding of the 2013 Commonwealth Heads of Government Meeting in Sri Lanka.

Lord Wallace of Saltaire: My Lords, the Commonwealth Heads of Government Meeting in 2009 decided that Sri Lanka should host in 2013. We, together with other Commonwealth members, urge Sri Lanka, as host, to demonstrate its commitment to upholding the Commonwealth values of human rights, good governance and the rule of law. A key part of that will be to address long-standing issues about accountability and reconciliation after the recent conflict. We have made that clear, and we expect to see progress by the end of the year.

5 Oct 2011 : Column 1130

Lord Kennedy of Southwark: I thank the noble Lord for his response. Given the devastating UN report on the final days of the war which has been submitted to the Human Rights Council of the UN, alleging that war crimes were committed, does he accept that the British Government should go to Perth and state clearly that, until those matters are looked into properly and investigated independently, it would be wrong for Sri Lanka to host the Commonwealth Heads of Government Meeting in 2013?

Lord Wallace of Saltaire: My Lords, I am aware that the Canadian Prime Minister has been reported as saying that Canada will not go. I have looked carefully at what he said, and he actually said that if there was not an improvement, it was unlikely that he would go. We all have to be concerned that at this stage with doing everything we can to ensure that the process of reconciliation within Sri Lanka continues to move forward.

Lord Dholakia: My Lords, does the Minister agree that it would do a lot of good for the Commonwealth Heads of Government to meet in Sri Lanka, particularly when countries such as Britain and South Africa have a lot to offer when there are serious allegations of excesses during a war? Should we not recommend the peace process in Northern Ireland or the Truth and Reconciliation Commission in South Africa as a means of bringing peace to that troubled island?

Lord Wallace of Saltaire: We are all aware that some atrocities were committed on both sides during the conflict in Sri Lanka, and it would be extremely good to have an independent investigation of them. The Sri Lankan Government have set up their own investigation into this-I forget its full name-although there are some doubts about how independent it is. We continue to press for a thorough and independent investigation.

Sri Lanka unveils new human rights action plan

Thursday, October 06, 2011, 15:17

Colombo: Amidst international criticism over its rights record, Sri Lankan government on Thursday unveiled its five-year action plan to protect and promote human rights.
The 'National Action Plan for the Protection of Human Rights' gets underway with immediate effect, the senior minister and President Mahinda Rajapaksa's human rights envoy, Mahinda Samarasinghe said.
"The action plan was developed through a participatory process involving both government and civil society partners'" Samarasinghe said.
Its three fold objectives are the achievement of genuine and substantive improvements in the protection and promotion of human rights, promotion of greater awareness and the promotion of coordination of human rights activity among diverse stakeholders. 

Samarasinghe added that the plan covers civil and political rights, women's rights, economic social and cultural rights, labour rights, rights of migrant workers, the rights of the internally displaced and the prevention of torture.
"Each of these areas will address laws, policies and practises that require action," Samarasinghe stressed. He said all government ministries will coordinate the plan providing muscle to the local Human Rights Commission.
Samarasinghe headed the government delegation at last month's 18th session of the UN Human Rights Council held in Geneva.

Sri Lanka spent a nervous time at the sessions entertaining fears of a possible motion condemning the island nation's rights record during the last stages of the military battle with the LTTE as a result of the UN secretary general Ban Ki Moon's advisory panel report released in April.
The report called for an independent investigation into the acts during the last stage of the military battle whilst blaming both the government and the LTTE for war crimes. However the session passed without any motion against Sri Lanka.
Samarasinghe said the action plan would be presented to all UNHRC member countries at its next session to be held in March.
PTI 

Liam Fox quizzed about friend's access to MoD

Wednesday 05 October 2011
Labour MPs quiz Defence Secretary Liam Fox about his friendship with a man who allegedly claims to be one of his advisers and has visited him at the Ministry of Defence on many occasions.

Former armed forces minister Kevan Jones told the Guardian that Dr Fox's unrecorded meetings with Adam Werritty could pose "a threat to national security" if they discussed classified material.

Dr Fox and Mr Werritty are pictured together here during a visit to Sri Lanka in 2009 on theSunday Leader website.

Mr Jones said he was also concerned that Mr Werritty, who used to share a flat with Dr Fox and was best man at his wedding in 2005, may have been seeking to benefit financially from the friendship.

At the Conservative conference in Manchester today, Dr Fox refused to discuss the issue withChannel 4 News Political Correspondent Michael Crick.

Meetings at MoD

Dr Fox said in a written parliamentary answer to Labour MP John Mann that he had met Mr Werritty 14 times at the MoD in the last 16 months, "but not in an official capacity".

Mr Werritty is not an official special adviser to Dr Fox, but according to the Guardian, he says he is an "adviser to Rt Hon Dr Liam Fox MP" on his business cards.

Mr Mann also asked Dr Fox how many times Mr Werritty had travelled with him on overseas visits since May 2010. Dr Fox answered: "Mr Werritty is not an employee of the Ministry of Defence and has, therefore, not travelled with me on any official overseas visits."

An MOD spokesman said: "Adam Werritty is not an MoD employee. He is a friend of the secretary of state. Mr. Werritty is not and has never has been part of Dr Fox's official travelling party when the secretary of state is abroad on official business. In line with MoD guidelines the department only covers the costs of its employees."

This is becoming a very murky business indeed.Shadow Defence Secretary Jim Murphy

Shadow Defence Secretary Jim Murphy told the Guardian "This is becoming a very murky business indeed. People will be surprised by these new revelations. Liam Fox has questions to answer. He and Mr Werritty should publish all emails between themselves relating to MoD business."

The Guardian said that when Dr Fox was shadow defence secretary, Mr Werritty was a director of a company called Security Futures and accompanied him to meetings in the US, Middle East and Sri Lanka. It also alleged that when Dr Fox was shadow health secretary, Mr Werritty ran a health consultancy firm.

The newspaper said a meeting Mr Werritty brokered in the Middle East had led to the defence secretary being dragged into a blackmail lawsuit that could lead to Dr Fox having to give evidence in an American court.

Sri Lanka

In December 2010, Channel 4 News online reported on Dr Fox's postponement of a private trip he had planned to Sri Lanka, which was facing war crimes allegations.

Foreign Affairs Correspondent Jonathan Miller wrote: "Dr Fox, who has had close relations with successive Sri Lankan governments for more than a decade, had been due to deliver a memorial lecture at the invitation of the widow of a former foreign minister, killed by the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam five years ago.

"The defence secretary made five trips to Sri Lanka in the past three years, all while in opposition. Each trip was paid for by the Sri Lankan government. On 2 December, the defence secretary held a private meeting with Sri Lankan President Mahinda Rajapaksa in London's Dorchester Hotel, while he was on a private visit to Britain.

"The visit was aborted when a Tamil pressure group sought the arrest of one his entourage on war crimes charges. The meeting was portrayed by the Sri Lankan government as a diplomatic coup on its official websites, which displayed prominent pictures of the President and Dr Fox warmly shaking hands.

"Among matters reportedly discussed between the two were investment opportunities in the north of the island, where many of the alleged atrocities took place."