Another student activist attacked, civil society comes together in Jaffna

[TamilNet, Tuesday, 25 October 2011, 08:42 GMT]
A motorbike squad allegedly operated by the intelligence unit of the occupying Sri Lankan military Sunday night followed 27-year-old Rajavarothayan Kavirajan, a final year student at the art faculty of Jaffna University and severely attacked him and a fellow student, who were on their way from Poonakari to Paranthan near A-9 highway in Ki'linochchi district. Mr. Kavirajan was one of the student activists who organised the protest against the attack on Jaffna University Student Union president S. Thavapalasingam on 16 October. The new attack has come as the university students were continuing their strike for 8th day on Monday. In the meantime, civil society members in Jaffna got together on Monday and discussed the prevailing situation in Jaffna and resolved to take forward concerted actions in confronting the situation of terror prevailing in North and East. 

Mr. Kavirajan is from Nalloor in Poonakari.

SL intelligence personnel and policemen deployed around the University at the time of the protest on 17 October videotaped the protesting students. Identifying the activists using the video, the terror squads are let loose on the student community, Jaffna University Student Union (JUSU) representatives told TamilNet.

The terror-squad caught the student activist and caused serious injuries to his face using sharp stones. The other student managed to escape from the squad with minor injuries. Mr. Kavirajan was rushed to Ki'linochchi hospital Sunday night and transferred to Jaffna hospital on Monday.

In the meantime, leading civil society members in Jaffna including religious dignitaries, former and current parliamentarians, representatives of the civic bodies, education sector officials, doctors and journalists who discussed the prevailing situation of threats against the students and the strike by students, resolved to work together beyond religious and political party identities and condemning the authorities for sustaining a situation of threat.

The meeting lasted for more than 5 hours and urged the Jaffna University Student Union to consider calling off the strike with the guarantee that the civil society would continue to meet and produce an action plan to confront the threats being faced by the people in the North and East.

Related Articles:
17.10.11   Colombo responsible for attack on JUSU Leader: Jaffna univer..
16.10.11   University student leader attacked in Jaffna 

Channel4 cleared of breaching code

24 October, 2011

Channel4 cleared of breaching code

The documentary has received 118 complaints, according to Ofcom British television Channel4 was not in breach of broadcasting code in showing documentary "Sri Lanka Killing Fields", media watchdog Ofcom has ruled. The documentary that showed graphic images of alleged war crimes in Sri Lanka during the last stages of the war against the Tamil Tigers received 118 complaints, the Ofcom said in its ruling. The controversial documentary attracted criticism and protests from the Sri Lanka government as well as Sinhala diaspora groups. The watchdog has conducted an inquiry into whether the programme breached impartiality, offensiveness and the broadcast of misleading material. 'Short of standards' Ofcom which has ruled out Channel4’s argument that the code dealing with impartiality does not apply to the documentary has, however, ruled that the British channel "preserved due impartiality." Some Sri Lankans accused the Channel4 of being biased and not covering alleged crimes by the LTTE “We also concluded that the audience was not materially misled through the way in which the material was presented,” the Ofcom said in its ruling. The watchdog has also concluded that the documentary was not in breach of the code with regard to offensive material. “Channel4 has a unique public service remit to provide programming that is challenging, diverse and likely to provoke debate,” it said. “The images included in this programme, whilst brutal and shocking, would not have exceeded the expectations of the audience for this Channel 4 documentary scheduled well after the watershed with very clear warnings about the nature of the content.” There was no immediate response to the ruling from the Sri Lanka government which has previously accused the channel of being “short of the standards and fairness."

SITUATION IN NORTH –EASTERN SRI LANKA: A SERIES OF SERIOUS CONCERNS

 by: Steve Chao-Courtesy: Al Jazeera

 
(Tabled in parliament on 21 October 2011)
By M.A. Sumanthiran

1. Introduction
On 7th July 2011 I tabled a report in Parliament detailing the situation in the North and East,
highlighting a series of urgent concerns. The following is an update to the previous report and
discusses some of the most serious issues that have arisen since or continue to take place in
these areas

2. Militarization

2.1 Statistics and impact of military presence – Out of a total land mass of 65,619 sq km,

Tamil people inhabited 18,880 sq km of land in the North and East, but after May 2009, the

defence forces have occupied more than 7,000 sq km of land owned by Tamil people. There is

one member of the armed forces for approximately every ten civilians in the Jaffna Peninsula.

The heavy presence of the military continues to be the most serious concern in the North and

East. More than two years since the conclusion of the war, the government has still failed to

facilitate the proper transition of these areas from a situation of conflict to a ‘normal’

environment. As evident in the following sections of the report, the high level of

militarization in the North is directly linked to most of the other problems prevalent in the

area such as the breakdown in the social fabric, state brutality including sexual assault, land

grabs and occupation, problems relating to livelihoods of the people in the area and illegal

intrusion into the role of government including administration and dispute settlement.

Full Story>>>

Blocking of Sri Lanka News Portal Continues a Record of Victimisation -IFJ

(Lanka-e-News -25.Oct.2011, 3.00PM) The International Federation of Journalists (IFJ) joins its Sri Lankan affiliates in condemning the continued blocking of the news portal Lanka-e-News by internet service providers in Sri Lanka since October 18.

According to information received from IFJ affiliate the Free Media Movement (FMM), two major internet service providers in Sri Lanka, the government-owned Sri Lanka Telecom (SLT) and the privately owned Dialog Axiata PLC, have blocked access to the website. A smaller service provider Mobitel, which is partly owned by SLT, has also reportedly started blocking the website.

The website continues to be available through relatively smaller internet service providers in Sri Lanka and is fully accessible from abroad.

The FMM has in a statement put this latest act of suppressing access to the news portal in a clear sequence of vindictive actions by the Government of Sri Lanka or political agents acting on its behalf. This is a sequence that includes the disappearance of Prageeth Eknaligoda, a cartoonist and columnist for Lanka-e-News in January 2010, the torching of its office premises in January 2011 and the arrest of its news editor in April.

The website has since then been operating from a location outside Sri Lanka.

According to an explanation posted by Lanka-e-News, the decision to block access to the site does not come on judicial or regulatory grounds. The Sri Lanka Telecom Regulatory Commission (SLTRC) has said that it is not in any way responsible for blocking the website, and no judicial body has been reported to have requested an injunction against it.

“The IFJ fully supports our Sri Lankan affiliates’ mobilisation of public opinion against this vindictive action, which effectively denies Sri Lankans access to an important source of information,” IFJ Asia-Pacific Director Jacqueline Park said.

“The Government of Sri Lanka and agencies such as the SLTRC must investigate and clarify the role of state authorities in the blockage of Lanka-e-News as a matter of priority.”

House of Commons Hansard Written Answers

Sri Lanka: Politics and Government

UK Government raises concerns regarding the Sri Lanka Prevention of Terrorism Act.

House of Commons Hansard Written Answers for 24 Oct 2011

www.publications.parliament.uk

Katy Clark: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what recent reports he has received of the state of (a) emergency and (b) anti-terrorism laws in Sri Lanka. [76146]

Alistair Burt: We welcome the end of the state of emergency in Sri Lanka, but it remains unclear what this means in practice. The Sri Lankan Government have amended the Prevention of Terrorism Act to replace some of the powers that lapsed. We are especially concerned about the practice of prolonged detention without charge.

I raised these concerns when I met the Sri Lankan Foreign Minister on 23 September in New York. Our high commission in Colombo will continue to monitor the situation and to pursue this issue with the Government of Sri Lanka.
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A Joint Open Letter produced by NGOs from around the world to the Commonwealth Heads of Governments

25/10/2011

These blog postings do not necessarily represent the views of all members of the Advisory Council.

Dear Commonwealth Heads of Governments,

This letter follows an earlier letter on this subject that many of us jointly wrote to Commonwealth Foreign Ministers, prior to their meeting in New York on 22 September 2011. In the absence of any public pronouncement by Foreign Ministers on this issue we have to assume that no decision has yet been taken to put in place a process for assessing the suitability of Sri Lanka’s candidature for hosting the 2013 Commonwealth Heads of Government Meeting (CHOGM). In this context, we recall your 2009 decision to defer Sri Lanka’s candidature as host and seriously urge you to consider a similar postponement at CHOGM 2011.     Full Story>>>

Wait for report on Sri Lankan crimes: Rudd

AAP

The Australian government will be keen to learn the findings of a Sri Lankan report addressing issues of war crimes, Foreign Minister Kevin Rudd says.

The federal government has called on Sri Lanka and its President Mahinda Rajapaksa to address allegations of human rights abuses during the war against Tamil Tiger separatists in 2009.

Mr Rudd told reporters in Perth on Tuesday that he had so far only exchanged pleasantries with the Sri Lankan foreign minister.

But he said the issue was likely to come up during the Commonwealth Heads of Government Meeting (CHOGM) this week.

Mr Rudd said a United Nations report into the controversy mentioned the possibility of potential war-crimes trials against the Sri Lankan government and the president.

"That is why we have called on the Sri Lankan government, together with other governments around the world, to respond to each of the matters that affects them in their reconciliation commission report," he said.

"What we will all be looking at carefully is the content in that report once it is delivered and how it deals with specific matters and allegations contained within the earlier UN report."

Sri Lanka is due to host the next CHOGM in 2013 but Canada has already threatened to pull out of the summit.

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The Australian 

AMANDA HODGE 

October 26, 2011

Fraser backs call to bar Colombo

FORMER prime minister Malcolm Fraser has added his weight to a push for Commonwealth action against Sri Lanka, calling on summit members to postpone its proposed hosting rights for the 2013 CHOGM until it has answered allegations of war crimes.

Mr Fraser criticised the federal government for putting its desire to stop Sri Lankan boatpeople from reaching Australia ahead of its obligations to speak out against alleged human rights violations and war crimes.

War crimes case decision upsets Tamils

Updated October 26, 2011 01:38:00

Attorney-General kills war crimes charges Video

Video

Lateline

 5min 37sec

Posted 7 hours 31 minutes ago

The Federal Attorney-General has used his discretion to kill off three war crimes charges filed by a 63-year-old Sydney man against Sri Lankan president Mohindra Rajapaksa.

VIDEO: Attorney-General kills war crimes charges (Lateline)

The Australian Tamil community says it feels betrayed by the Federal Government's decision to stop a war crimes case against the Sri Lankan president proceeding in Australia.

Tamil man Jegan Waran, 63, has filed charges in the Melbourne Magistrates Court against Mahinda Rajapakse, who is in Perth for the Commonwealth Heads of Government Meeting (CHOGM).

Attorney-General Robert McClelland's permission is required for the proceedings to go ahead, but he has ruled it out.

Mr McClelland says the president is legally entitled to diplomatic immunity.

Australian Tamil Congress national spokeswoman Sam Pari says the decision is disappointing.

Full Story>>>

PHOTO: The Attorney-General's consent was needed for the case against Mahinda Rajapaksa to proceed.(Andrew Caballero-Reynolds, file photo: Reuters)======================================TUESDAY, 25 OCTOBER 2011 

Cartoon of the day

Reform push sets PM for human rights showdown

PHILLIP COOREY

26 Oct, 2011 03:00 AM

JULIA GILLARD has backed calls for the Commonwealth to reform and strengthen its institutions to encourage democracy and human rights among member nations, putting Australia on a collision course with other nations who will resist change.
With a split looming over the issue at the Commonwealth Heads of Government Meeting this weekend, Ms Gillard said yesterday the 54-member Commonwealth was bound by shared values of democracy, human rights and the rule of law.
''Over its lifetime the Commonwealth has been very active in the advocacy of those values and addressing issues like apartheid in South Africa,'' she said.
''Those values are enduring, but like any organisation the Commonwealth needs to keep reforming and changing to meet modern demands.''
The leaders will discuss a report and recommendations by a nine-member Eminent Persons Group, which was commissioned after the last CHOGM in 2009 following criticisms of the Commonwealth's effectiveness and relevance.
The report, the publication of which has been suppressed because of objections by some members, finds the Commonwealth at risk of becoming irrelevant, especially because of its inability to enforce human rights standards among members.
The Commonwealth ''fails to stand up for the values that it has declared are fundamental to its existence'', it says.
Key recommendations include appointing a Commonwealth commissioner for democracy, the rule of law and human rights, who would advise the Commonwealth Secretary-General and the Commonwealth Ministerial Action Group, which has the authority to suspend members.
Sri Lanka, India and South Africa have already voiced opposition to the proposed reforms, while Australia, Canada and Britain want them. With Fiji and Zimbabwe expelled from the Commonwealth, Sri Lanka is the controversial attendee at this CHOGM because of its human rights record.
Canada has threatened to boycott the 2013 CHOGM in Sri Lanka unless it institutes human rights reform.The nation stands accused of war crimes against Tamil civilians at the 2009 conclusion of the country's civil war and human rights activists are targeting in Perth the attendance of the Sri Lankan President, Mahinda Rajapaksa.
An indictment was filed in a Melbourne court on Monday seeking to have him charged with war crimes.
Ms Gillard said there could be no such legal action without the consent of the Attorney-General, Robert McClelland.
But Ms Gillard said: ''Australia and like-minded countries have been urging, and will continue to urge, Sri Lanka to address the serious allegations that have been made of human rights violations during the end stages of the conflict in ri Lanka.''
An open letter to CHOGM leaders sent by human rights activists said Sri Lanka must not be allowed to host CHOGM in 2013.
''Providing space for Sri Lanka to be the host of CHOGM 2013 will only serve as a declaration of the Commonwealth's indifference to human rights concerns,'' it said.
Ms Gillard said Sri Lanka would host the next CHOGM.

Solve Bharatha’s killing before questioning Gaddafi’s death - UNP

October 24, 2011,

by Zacki Jabbar

The Mahinda Rajapaksa regime was shouting from roof tops about the manner in which the Libyan leader Moammar Gaddafi was killed by Revolutionary Forces backed by NATO, but had failed to conduct a transparent inquiry into the death of one of its own members, the UNP said yesterday.

Read more...
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Genocide History Repeating NOW in Sri Lanka by the Government against Tamil civilians.flv
 
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UN screens Channel 4 Sri Lanka war crimes film

Friday 03 June 2011

A special investigation by Channel 4 featuring devastating new evidence of alleged war crimes in Sri Lanka is screened at the UN Human Rights Council in Geneva, as pressure mounts for action.
 

Canada rallies behind Commonwealth human-rights reports

BY MARK KENNEDY, POSTMEDIA NEWS OCTOBER 24, 201

More Images »

Sri Lanka is scheduled to host the next Commonwealth summit in 2013, but the country is under attack for alleged human rights violations and war crimes in the final days of its civil war with the Tamil Tigers in 2009. It is refusing to heed calls for an international investigation into those allegations, which has annoyed some other Commonwealth nations. Pictured, ethnic women with their children walk near barbed wire at an internally displaced camp set up for Tamils who escaped the war zone, in Vavuniya, about 254 km north of Colombo.

Photograph by: Stringer, Reuters

OTTAWA — Canada is rallying behind two reports prepared for the Commonwealth that recommend reforms to uphold core values, such as democracy, the rule of law and human rights among its 54-nation members.   Full Story>>>
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Diplomatic Immunity could be tested for war crimes: expert

Tuesday 25 October 2011

Moves to bring war crimes charges in Australia against the Sri Lankan President and High Commissioner face the significant challenge of proving to an Australian Court that serious war crimes can overrule diplomatic immunity, according to an ANU International Law expert.

 

Professor Donald Rothwell of the ANU College of Law says that suggestions that Sri Lankan High Commissioner Thisara Samarasinghe and the visiting Sri Lankan President Mahinda Rajapaksa may be subject to war crimes charges under Australian law highlight the growing reach of Australian criminal law in war crimes cases, consistent with Australia’s obligations under international law.

Full Story>>>

India to oppose a human rights monitor at CHOGM

THE TIMES OF INDIAOct 25, 2011
NEW DELHI: India will oppose aCommonwealth report that seeks to establish a monitoring group for member countries on human rights, democracy and rule of law. At the Commonwealth summit in Perth this week, India is working the diplomatic levers to make the case that such groups are beyond the mandate of the 54-nation grouping. This might put India in the direct path of advocacy by western Commonwealth nations UK, Canada and Australia. 
The 11-member eminent persons group drawn from civil society in various countries has put out 106 recommendations in its report, most of which India would be happy to accept. The group was set up after the last summit in Port of Spain in 2009 and the report may be accepted at this week's CHOGM.
India, sources said, opposes the appointment of another human rights commissioner, given that the UN's Human Rights Council is a functioning body with a more far-reaching mandate. India comes up for its periodic review next year at the Council, where, among other things, India will be fighting attempts to put caste under racism.
India is likely to get support from almost all South Asian states, as well as some African nations. This appointment may be used by the west to beat Sri Lanka with, fear Indians. Sri Lanka is the host for the 2013 CHOGM and a human rights campaign against it is the last thing it wants. India too doesn't want Sri Lanka to have to go down that path.     Full Story>>>

The troika –Gota , Deshabandu and OIC Mulleriyawa have had lunch together on Bharatha murder day -Long and serious discussions over lunch

(Lanka-e-News -25.Oct.2011, 3.00PM) Defense Secretary Gotabaya Rajapakse , Nugegoda range SSP DeshabanduTennekoon and Mulleriyawa police station OIC , IP Nalaka Gunasekera on the day, when Presidential advisor Bharatha Lakshman was killed , that is on the 8th of October, have had lunch together at the house of Rena De Silva , the brother of Duminda Silva and owner of Hiru broadcasting channel . They have also been engaged in a long and serious discussion over lunch, according to reports reaching Lanka e news.

It is believed that they have together planned their conspiracy for the afternoon.

A few hours after this sumptuous meal , Bharatha was murdered by Duminda Silva in a conflict at about 3.30 p.m. at Mulleriyawa. Members of the troika who had lunch - SSP Tennekoon was in a tinted glass Pajero vehicle No. 64-0940 of Duminda Silva’s convoy, and Mulleriyawa OIC Nalaka Gunasekera was in another vehicle of the convoy at the time the murder was committed.

When kudu Duminda Silva became a victim in the shootout in a most unexpected manner ,Gota had been at the Hospital for four hours until the operation on him was over , casting aside his most onerous public duties .

Meanwhile ,Dematagoda Chaminda ,a leader of the underworld and a very close sidekick of kudu Duminda had disgorged most of the unsavory details of the discussions which were held by the troika at lunch before Bharatha was murdered .Besides he had also let the cat out of the bag on so many secret atrocities and crimes committed by the Rajapakse regime using kudu Duminda and his underworld gangsters. 

Chaminda is one of the two suspects supposedly arrested in India , and is now in custody. It is learnt that plans are afoot to kill Chaminda before he reveals further information incriminating the regime. It is planned to liquidate him when he is being transported by arranging another vehicle to arrive and block the vehicle in which Chaminda is traveling and murder him; and then to blame it on Bharatha Lakshman’s supporters as being the cause of the murder.

Chaminda who had been aware of the threats confronting him and who anticipated these plots had recorded all these and smuggled these tapes out . Following political and legal advice, and after having come to know that attempts are being made to suppress the truths by murdering him , he had resorted to these measures. No sooner Lanka e news is in receipt of this recording than we shall have it available to our valuable website viewers and fans.

Australia presses Sri Lanka over war crimes claims

Australia's prime minister Julia Gillard, pictured in Canberra, in 2010 (AFP/File, William West)

PERTH, Australia — Australian leader Julia Gillard on Tuesday urged Sri Lanka to address claims of serious human rights violations as a man filed war crimes charges against President Mahinda Rajapakse.

Sri Lanka has persistently denied that its troops committed atrocities while battling the rebel Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam, who were crushed in an offensive that ended in May 2009, bringing the 26-year conflict to a close.

But Prime Minister Gillard said the allegations were a concern.

"Australia and like-minded countries have been urging and will continue to urge Sri Lanka to address the serious allegations that have been made of human rights violations," she told Perth radio.

Rajapakse is due in Perth this week to attend the Commonwealth Heads of Government Meeting (CHOGM) and the issue is likely to be prominent on the agenda.

Rights groups say CHOGM has a moral and legal responsibility to hold the Colombo government to account.

Gillard's comments came as a Sri Lankan man who says he is "living testimony" to the massacre of Tamils in the conflict filed a war crimes case in Melbourne Magistrates Court against Rajapakse.

"I am a living testimony of the massacre that happened to the Tamil people in the final days of the war in Sri Lanka," said Arunachalam Jegatheeswaran, an Australian citizen.

"This alleged war criminal is coming to my country, Australia, and I want to make sure he is held accountable for the massacre of thousands of Tamils in 2009."

Gillard made it clear that no case could proceed without the government's say-so.

"No such legal action can be taken on an issue like this without the consent of the attorney-general," she said. "And the attorney-general hasn't received any request in relation to this matter."

She also noted that Australia has obligations under international law which extends immunity to visiting heads of state.

But Jegatheeswaran's lawyer, Lucien Richter, said he did not believe diplomatic immunity was an issue in this case.

"There is some authority to suggest that where crimes are of a substantial and international nature, such as war crimes or crimes against humanity, then effectively the authority of being head of state doesn't grant him immunity from those things," he said.

"Certainly the ICJ (International Commission of Jurists) in their submission have come to a simple conclusion that immunity would not be a barrier to this prosecution."

Australian police are reviewing a dossier submitted by the ICJ containing testimony from citizens who say they were attacked by government forces in the war's final days.

Jegatheeswaran, 63, a retired engineer and ethnic Tamil, returned to his homeland in 2007 to volunteer in Tamil hospitals, schools and camps for displaced persons, where he claims to have witnessed attacks by government forces.

"Patients who were in the hospital were killed and there were other patients waiting for treatment, they were killed," he told ABC television.

Rajapakse was not available to comment on the war crimes case, but in an interview with the official programme for CHOGM said his country was trying to build unity.

"This includes the Tamil people who were deprived of all democratic, fundamental and human rights by the terrorist organisation that claimed to be their 'liberators'," he said.

"Instead they caused such brutality to them, to our country, and also posed a threat to our region."