Dalai Lama slams China's 'immoral censorship'

Bharatha Killed, Duminda Wounded

Long standing rivalry turns ugly on polls day

By Mandana Ismail Abeywickrema, Indika Sri Aravinda and 
Dinouk Colombage
Pictures by Thusitha Kumara, Asoka Fernando

Duminda Silva and Bharatha Lakshman

A longstanding rivalry between two government members, Bharatha Lakshman Premachandra and Duminda Silva, turned ugly on election day yesterday resulting in Premachandra being killed and Silva suffering serious head injuries.

Duminda Silva’s Wellampitiya office is seen here after it came under attack by enraged supporters of Bharatha Lakshman Premachandra following his death last evening. Also pictured here is the scene of the shooting incident and a damaged vehicle.

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Bharatha Lakshman Premachandra killed in shooting

  

Mental illness 'rampant' in Somalia

Developing the ‘Under served settlements’ in Colombo: An Open Letter

Photo courtesy Prevention Web

October 8^th 2011

Dear Mr. Milinda Moragoda and Mr. AJM Muzammil,

I wrote this open letter before the elections, to be read after, to avoid political misapprehensions that would have caused, if published earlier. Since you two may remember me, I wish I receive your attention on a few guiding principles to achieve best results when fulfilling your promises to serve the USSs, repeatedly orchestrated during election campaigns. It was heartening because you both had a singular interest on developing ‘Under served settlements’ (USSs) in the Colombo Municipal Council (CMC) area, though through different approaches, and this ‘letter’ is to motivate a singular groove.Continue reading »

Screening of “Sri Lanka’s Killing Fields” Documentary and Panel Discussion

Crisis Group, in association with Human Rights Watch and Amnesty International, would like to invite you to a special screening of the Channel 4 documentary "Sri Lanka's Killing Fields", followed by an expert panel discussion.

Date & Location

The screening and panel discussion will take place in Brussels at 13h-15h on 12 October 2011 at the European Parliament, JAN 4Q1.

Panelists

Alan Keenan, Project Director, Sri Lanka, International Crisis Group 
Lotte Leicht, EU Director, Human Rights Watch
Yolanda Foster, Sri Lanka Researcher, Amnesty International
Callum Macrae, Director and Producer of the documentary film “Sri Lanka’s Killing Fields” 
Moderator: Ana Gomes, MEP, S&D
Edward McMillan-Scott, Vice President Responsible for Democracy and Human Rights, MEP, ALDE 
Laima Andrikiene, MEP, EPP 
Raul Romeva i Rueda, MEP, Greens/EFA 
Paul Murphy, MEP, GUE/NGL

Registration process

Please RSVP to adv_ib1@hrw.org confirming your attendance.

Background 

Commissioned and first aired by British broadcaster Channel 4 Television in June, “Sri Lanka’s Killing Fields” features devastating video evidence of apparent war crimes and crimes against humanity committed by Sri Lankan government forces and the LTTE. The documentary provides powerful evidence - including photographic stills, official Sri Lankan army video footage and satellite imagery - that contradicts the Sri Lankan government’s claims of a policy of ‘Zero Civilian Casualties’. It raises serious questions about the failures of the international community to intervene to prevent the deaths of up to forty thousand people. The film was recently screened to wide acclaim at the United Nations in New York and Geneva and on Capitol Hill in Washington DC, and has lent new urgency to the call by the UN Secretary-General’s panel of experts for an international investigation. 

* Sri Lanka Tamil alliance committed to a political solution acceptable to the Muslims

Fri, Oct 7, 2011, 07:49 pm SL Time, ColomboPage News Desk, Sri Lanka.
Oct 07, Colombo: Sri Lanka's major Tamil political party, the Tamil National Alliance (TNA) says that the political solution to resolve the ethnic issue should be acceptable to the Muslim community as well.
TNA Leader R. Sampanthan said that the alliance was committed to evolving an acceptable solution that will be just and equitable to all the people living in the North and East.
Issuing a statement, Sampanthan has said the TNA was particularly conscious of the concerns of "our Muslim brethren".
"It would be our endeavor to ensure that any solution would also be as acceptable to our Muslim brethren as it would be to the Tamil people," he has said.
Sampanthan has added that after the conclusion of the war and the devastating consequences thereof, the need for an acceptable negotiated political solution to the National Question has assumed an unprecedented importance in all relevant places.
"Other issues vital to the country's future well-being are linked to an acceptable resolution of the National Question," Sampanthan has noted.

Liam Fox's role in the politics of Sri Lanka

Randeep Ramesh  Saturday 8 October 2011

Liam Fox first arrived in Sri Lanka in 1995 as a junior Foreign Office minister. Photograph: David Gadd/Allstar/Sportsphoto Ltd

Liam Fox is a well-known figure in the corridors of power in Sri Lanka. For decades, a vicious civil war between the two main ethnic groups – Tamils and the Sinhalese majority – had meant daily life in the small island nation was punctuated by spasms of destruction.

The fight was about territory: pitting the north and east against the south. It was also religious: Hindu Tamils against Buddhist Sinhalese. And by the time the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE) were routed in 2009, it had claimed almost 100,000 lives.

Fox had first arrived in 1995, landing at the palm-fringed airport as a junior Foreign Office minister. A little more than a year later, such was his influence with the Sinhalese elite, who essentially run the country, that he had persuaded the rival parties not to attempt to outflank each other while negotiating peace or ceasefires with the brutal rebel separatists of the LTTE. The "Fox agreement" was a landmark, the first time an outsider had managed to broker such a consensus in a notoriously violent political setup.

Fast forward more than a decade. The old Sinhalese powerbrokers had been ousted in favour of a more militaristic clique, led by the president, Mahinda Rajapaksa, and his brothers Gotabhaya, the defence secretary, and Basil, a political fixer. During a chance meeting in Singapore in 2007, Fox – by then shadow secretary of state for defence – fell in with one of Rajapaksa's lieutenants, the foreign minister Rohitha Bogollagama. He was back in the game.

The Labour government, along with the United States, had viewed the new president as a dangerous populist whose military buildup and wooing of China needed to be restrained. Concerned that the Sri Lankan army was indiscriminately bombing and killing Tamil civilians, the west ratcheted up pressure on the regime. Fox, a neocon in outlook, took a rather different view. And his new friends turned to him for help.

In the last few months of the war Fox, who was seen in the capital Colombo as a possible future Tory leader, became an influential messenger boy – carrying back rebuttals to western capitals from Sri Lanka. At the beginning of 2009, the then prime minister, Gordon Brown, attempted to send a special envoy to the island and the US offered to evacuate the 100,000 civilians trapped in the last 20 square miles of territory under LTTE control. The foreign minister told Fox, who happened to be on a visit to Colombo at the time, that the government was declining "offers of assistance" until it had "cleared the north from the clutches of the terrorists".

However, since the LTTE was crushed, the clamour for a war-crimes investigation has grown. While Rajapaksa remains apparently invincible at home, the net is tightening abroad. Channel 4's documentary Sri Lanka's Killing Fields appeared to show the shelling of areas where civilians sheltered, executions of captured LTTE combatants, and dead female Tamil fighters being loaded on to a truck. A United Nations panel found "credible allegations" that the government had committed war crimes and offences against humanity. There were calls for an independent international inquiry, and reports that "tens of thousands" of civilians had lost their lives and that most casualties in the final phases of the war were caused by government shelling.

The UK supplied arms to Sri Lanka throughout its bitter civil war – comfort for arms manufacturers but none for Sri Lankan taxpayers. Colombo has increased the defence budget by 6%.

Curfew after Bharatha Lakshman killed

Curfew after Bharatha Lakshman killed

Mr Premachandra (L) has long been a supporter of President Mahinda Rajapaksa Curfew has been declared in a Colombo suburb after a presidential advisor on trade unions, Bharatha Lakshman Premachandra, has been shot dead in Angoda. The former parliamentarian and a leader of Sri Lanka Mahajana Party (SLMP) and two of his bodyguards were killed in the shoot out in Angoda between his supporters and the supporters of Duminda Silva, MP. Dozens more have been wounded in the battle between the two ruling party politicians backing rival candidates on Saturday’s local polls. The BBC’s Charles Haviland in Colombo says the army is out in force and there has been mob vandalism in the suburb after the shooting incident. But the defence spokesman Lakshman Hulugalle told the BBC that there has been no tension in the area. 'Out of danger' Mr Premachandra was a close confidante of late Vijaya Kumaratunga, who formed the SLMP after resigning from the Sri Lanka Freedom Party. Mr Silva is out of danger after a brain surgery, doctors say Mr Silva, a Government MP, works on defence matters under the president’s brother, the Defence Secretary, Gotabhaya Rajapaksa. Reports say he has had two bullets removed from his head. Dr SVK Gamage at Jayawardenepura hospital told BBC Sinhala service that there is no danger to his life after a brain surgery. The young parliamentarian is the monitoring MP for the defence ministry, that comes under the purview of President Mahinda Rajapaksa. He is also a leading figure of ruling party's youth front Nil Balakaya, of which President's eldest son Namal, MP, is the leader. Police have begun investigations. The gunfight on Saturday followed another political killing on Friday. The violence underlines the fact that, although the government regularly says it defeated terrorism with its war victory, much politics here is underpinned by violence, and government politicians with guns hold sway in various parts of the country, says the BBC’s Charles Haviland. When questioned by BBC Sandeshaya how both groups armed themselves, police spokesman SSP Maxi Proctor said the CID has begun a separate investigation regarding the issue.

Richmond, discover Sri Lanka, an international humanitarian crisis!

examin examinercom

 Richmond Humanitarian Law Examiner

October 6, 2011 

Heike Winnig

, Richmond Humanitarian Law Examiner

October 6, 2011 

Sri Lanka, a beautiful tropical island off the southern coast of the Indian subcontinent, famously known as the “Pearl of the Indian Ocean”, is a coveted vacation attraction, and homeland to the oppressed Tamil People.

Some of you may know all about Sri Lanka and many of you may have only heard of this lovely, lush small island shaped like a teardrop in passing, because it did make headline news, chiefly due to the infamous LTTE. Yours truly in effect learned of Sri Lanka barely two years ago, and needless to say, the humanitarian crisis plaguing the minority Tamils is indefensible.

VANNI mainland area of the Northern Province, Sri Lanka. It covers the entirety of Mannar, Mullaitivu and Vavuniya Districts, and most of Kilinochchi District. It has an area of approximately 7,650 km.

Credits: 

                 Continue reading 

International Relations and Tamil's Affairs Group (IRTAG)

Cartoon of the day

SATURDAY, 08 OCTOBER 2011



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Bharatha killed, Duminda injured in shooting

Saturday, October 08, 2011

Former MP Bharatha Lakshman Premachandra was killed in a shooting incident also involving MP Duminda Silva in Mulleriyawa this evening, a government official told The Sunday Leader.

Two others were also killed and MP Silva has been admitted to the intensive Care Unit (ICU) of the Sri Jayawardenapura hospital.

The police said that at least 10 others were  injured in the shooting incident and some were said to be in critical condition.

In February this year it was reported that the police had exposed an attempt on the life of Bharatha Lakshman Premachandra, the director of president’s trade union affairs.

Two underworld members who were arrested by the special crime unit of the Mirihana police had divulged the details.

TNA to discuss party concerns with India

SATURDAY, 08 OCTOBER 2011

By Kelum Bandara

Amid charges that the government is not genuinely interested in evolving a political solution to the Tamil question, the Tamil National Alliance (TNA) said yesterday it would discuss its political concerns with India’s Foreign Secretary Ranjan Mathai tomorrow.

Mr. Mathai will arrive in the country today, and visit the North tomorrow to monitor Indian-funded projects including the construction of the Kankesanthurai Harbour and the northern railway line.  TNA MP Suresh Premachandran said his party had taken up various issues with India during the past few years.

“Again, we will raise our usual political concerns with India’s Foreign Secretary,” he said and added that the government had started the second phase of talks with the TNA, but not much progress had been made.

“It appears that the government is more interested in the local council elections rather than talking to us. We have to wait and see. They postponed the meeting that was scheduled for October 3, 2011. No fresh dates have been fixed for the next round of talks,” he said.

When asked about the parliamentary select committee which is being set up to evolve a political solution, he said any power sharing arrangement agreed between the government and the TNA should be endorsed by the select committee.

“First the agreement should be reached between the government and the TNA. Then, it has to be sent to the parliamentary select committee for approval if needed. Otherwise, there is no use of this select committee,” he said. 

When asked what would happen if other parties in the ruling coalition rejects such an agreement, Mr. Premachandran said, “If the government endorses, nobody will go against it.”

Voting underway in Sri Lanka's mid-term test

08/10/2011 06h39 GMT

©AFP / Lakruwan Wanniarachchi

Sri Lanka's United People's Freedom Alliance has expressed confidence of securing victory in all the councils

COLOMBO (AFP) - Voters in Sri Lanka's capital went to the polls on Saturday to elect a local municipal council, in a contest widely seen as a mid-term test for President Mahinda Rajapakse.

Rajapaksa's ruling coalition, the United People's Freedom Alliance, is fielding candidates for the prestigious Colombo municipality as well as 22 others, marking the final phase of local elections which began in March.

Since government troops claimed victory in their near 30-year war against Tamil Tiger rebels, Rajapakse has tightened his grip on power by securing a second presidential term and winning parliamentary polls last year.

His party has expressed confidence of securing victory in all the councils while the fractured opposition has promised a comeback after a string of humiliating defeats.

Voters are set to elect 420 members from among 6,488 candidates, with results are due by Sunday. The councils are responsible for maintaining utilities, but have no legislative powers.

However, political parties consider it important to secure the local bodies as a stepping stone for bigger national elections which are due by 2016.

Local elections began in March with smaller village councils going to the polls initially while the bigger councils saw voting put off until the completion of the cricket World Cup the island co-hosted in March and April.

Voting underway in Sri Lanka's mid-term test

Struggling Beside the Shining New Road

                        By Amantha Perera

The war took a terrible toll on those trapped between the fighting parties.  Credit:Amantha Perera/IPS. Buy this picture

COLOMBO, Oct 8, 2011 (IPS) - The sun’s rays bouncing off the A9 highway give it a shining glow. Once known as Sri Lanka’s ‘highway of death’, the road has come a long way from those macabre associations.

It now represents the keen, though uneven, post-war development currently under way in the areas formerly controlled by the recently defeated Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE).

For 100 kilometres the A9 cuts right through the Northern Vanni region, where, till the end of the civil war in May 2009, some of the country’s bloodiest battles were waged.     Full Story>>>

Liam Fox, Sri Lanka, and a friend called Werritty

As Defence Secretary Liam Fox orders an internal investigation over his relationship with self-styled adviser Adam Werritty, Channel 4 News looks at the questions surrounding the 14-year friendship.

Dr Fox has been accused of breaking ministerial code by allowing Adam Werritty, a close friend who was the minister's best man, to accompany him on an official visit to Sri Lanka.

The defence secretary told parliament last month that Werritty, who has distributed business cards describing himself as Dr Fox's personal adviser, had met him 14 times in 16 months but had not travelled with him on any official overseas visits.

The MoD has since admitted Werritty met Fox during the visit, but said it was in a personal capacity.

A photograph of Fox arriving to give the address on 9 July shows Werritty in the background, following closely behind Sri Lankan government ministers and the British high commissioner, John Rankin.

Dr Fox's permanent secretary at the Ministry of Defence, Ursula Brennan, has been asked by Dr Fox to investigate the allegation that the meeting in Sri Lanka - and another in Dubai on August 19 - had compromised national security.

But The Guardian newspaper claims that Ms Brennan had previously raised concerns about whether the friendship had strayed into official government business.   

Werritty's businesses

Mr Werritty, 34, has been a close friend of Mr Fox, 50, for the last 14 years.

They lived together in a flat near Tower Bridge before the defence secretary married Jesme Baird in 2005.

Whilst Mr Fox was shadow health secretary between 1999 and 2003, Mr Werritty was appointed director of UK Health Ltd, heading the company for the next two years.

In November 2006 Mr Werritty was appointed director of Security Futures Ltd, a year after Mr Fox became shadow defence secretary.

Channel 4 News has learned from abbreviated accounts that the company made a loss of just over £4000 in 2007, a profit of just under £6000 in 2008, with the company's estimated total losses in 2008 standing at just over £93,000.

In the same year, 2008, the company gave £10 000 in a charitable donation to The Atlantic Bridge, an Atlanticist former charity set up by Dr Liam Fox.

Fox installed Werritty as the executive director and sole employee of the charity in 1997.

           Full Story>>>