GOVERNMENT-ORCHESTRATED THREATS AGAINST EXILE JOURNALISTS

  Friday, 23 March 2012 

Reporters Without Borders deplores a government-orchestrated campaign of threats and smears against journalists and human rights activists that is being waged above all through media controlled by Associated Newspapers of Ceylon Limited (ANCL), a state-owned company better known as “Lake House.”

The targets include Rohitha Bashana Abeywardane of Journalists for Democracy in Sri Lanka, a Reporters Without Borders partner organization, Dharmasiri Lankapeli of the Federation of Media Employees Trade Unions and Sunanda Deshapriya, a journalist and media freedom activist.

“The UN Human Rights Council has just passed a resolution urging the government to prosecute those responsible for war crimes during the civil war between the armed forces and the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE), which officially ended in 2009, but meanwhile many journalists in Sri Lanka and in exile are the targets of threats and an unprecedented hate campaign,” Reporters Without Borders said.

“Lake House, which controls many newspapers, is using accusations of terrorism, separatism and collaborating with the LTTE as a weapon to undermine those who defend freedom of information and media freedom.

“We urge UN high commissioner for human rights Navi Pillay, who says she is ready to go to Sri Lanka, to address the situation of all those who defend freedom of information and media freedom, both inside the country and abroad. Ending these threats must be included in the ‘global action plan’ which the Human Rights Council resolution wants the government to implement in order to advance national reconciliation.”

Threats against freedom of information activists

Attacks against Sri Lankan journalists have increased in recent months. In one of the latest cases, Sunanda Deshapriya had to be extricated by police in Geneva on 19 March when demonstrators opposed to the proposed Human Rights Council resolution objected to his filming them and became aggressive.

In a joint statement yesterday relayed by Reporters Without Borders, many journalists, human rights activists and media defence NGOs such as the Free Media Movement urged the government “to take immediate action to stop these attacks and ensure the safety of human rights defenders whether they engage in national level processes and/or in inter-governmental processes such as the UN Human Rights Council.”

Propaganda

Defenders of freedom of the media and information are being accused of terrorism by the smear campaign that the government-controlled media have been waging since the start of the year.

Lawyers for Democracy condemned the state-run Independent Television Network’s propaganda in a statement on 21 March, accusing ITN of “branding journalists and civil society representatives as terrorists and traitors” for participating in the Human Rights Council session in Geneva.

On 11 and 24 January, the ITN programme “Vimasuma” accused several journalists of collaborating with Tamil exile groups. At the same time, an article in the Lake House-owned newspaper Dinamina accused one of the organizers of the “Black January” media freedom campaign in Colombo of links with the LTTE. The organizer singled out was Dharmasiri Lankapeli of the Federation of Media Employees Trade Unions (FMETU).

Dharmasiri Lankapeli

Following FMETU-organized protests on 4 and 6 July 2011 against the suppression of media trade unions within Lake House, leaflets were circulated by Lake House in July and November accusing Lankapeli of supporting the LTTE and participating in anti-government activities.

The programme “Vimasuma” renewed its attacks on 1 February with a report about the “Black January” campaign that highlighted Lankapeli’s role and accused its participants of not recognizing LTTE atrocities.

A representative of the Lake House journalists’ union, Lankapeli has for years been combating media freedom violations in Sri Lanka. He has been the target of threats and smears since 2007 and was forced to spend several months in hiding in 2009 and 2010.

On 28 February, Reporters Without Borders published a timeline of cases of violence, threats and propaganda against journalists and media defenders during the first two months of the year that showed the lack of progress for freedom of information. Blocking of access to websites, especially those based abroad, has also increased since the end of 2011.

Sri Lanka is ranked 163rd out of 179 countries in the 2011-2012 Reporters Without Borders press freedom index and is classified as a country “under surveillance” in the “Enemies of the Internet” report.

The hows and whys of Sri Lanka’s defeat at UNHRC

By Ron Ridenour   24 Mar 2012

Posted 23-Mar-2012 Vol 3 Issue 11 The UN Human Rights Council has voted to criticize the Sri Lankan government for “not adequately address[ing] serious allegations of violations of international law” when conducting its final phases of war against the liberation guerrilla army LTTE (Liberation Tigers for Tamil Eelam), which ended, May 18, 2009, with government-caused massive blood baths. The resolution called upon Sri Lanka to implement its own findings and recommendations made in its report of the Lessons Learnt and Reconciliation Commission (LLRC), but extended that call to “initiate credible and independent actions to ensure justice, equity, accountability and reconciliation for all Sri Lankans.” (“Independent action” is not defined.) Game up: The UNRC resolution has decisively swung the game away from Sri Lanka's racist regime Read More

Sri Lanka rejects UN demands for inquiry

Saturday Mar 24, 2012

Not bowing to international demands ... Sri Lankan President Mahinda Rajapaksa. Photo: Reuters

SRI LANKA will resist international pressure to hold an independent investigation into war crimes allegations against government forces, saying countries were bullied into supporting a UN resolution against it by the US and other ''powerful countries''.

Its Foreign Minister, G.L.Peiris, said the countries which supported Sri Lanka were ''acutely conscious of the danger of setting a precedent which enables ad hoc intervention by powerful countries in the internal affairs of other nations''.

The government would not bow to international demands for an inquiry, Mr Peiris said.

The UN's 47-member Human Rights Council this week passed the resolution which called on Sri Lanka to allow an independent probe into allegations the government committed war crimes during its civil conflict against the separatist Tamil Tigers.

Any probe could be acutely uncomfortable for the Sri Lankan government, reaching to the very top of the Rajapaksa family-dominated administration.

In Colombo, protesters took to the streets, condemning the UN, and carrying pictures of President Mahinda Rajapaksa, who, they say, freed their country from terrorism.

The resolution, co-sponsored by the US, France and Norway, said Sri Lanka's domestic investigation, the Lessons Learned and Reconciliation Commission, did ''not adequately address serious allegations of violations of international law''.

Carefully worded - and watered-down from its original text - it demanded Sri Lanka ensured ''justice, equity, accountability and reconciliation'', following the end of the 27-year war.

A UN panel of experts report last year found up to 40,000 civilians may have been killed during the government's final offensive against the Tamil Tigers in the country's north in 2009.

Read more: http://www.theage.com.au/world/sri-lanka-rejects-un-demands-for-inquiry-20120323-1vp6j.html#ixzz1pzAFAdqb

Human Rights Watch says UN rights council vote on Lanka is a strong message for justice

YahooNews 

Geneva, Mar.23 (ANI): The United Nations Human Rights Council's adoption of a resolution on Sri Lanka demonstrates strong international support for accountability for abuses committed in Sri Lanka's armed conflict, Human Rights Watch said.

The resolution passed the council by a vote of 24 to 15, with 8 abstentions. Member countries voting for the resolution included India, Nigeria and the United States.

"The Human Rights Council's vote demonstrates broad international dissatisfaction with Sri Lanka's accountability efforts in the three years since the end of the war," said Juliette De Rivero, advocacy director at Human Rights Watch in Geneva. "Many countries have recognized that this resolution is an important first step toward serious action to investigate the many abuses by both sides during the conflict."

The resolution calls upon the Sri Lankan government to fulfill its legal obligations toward justice and accountability, and to expeditiously provide a comprehensive action plan to implement the recommendations of its Lessons Learnt and Reconciliation Commissionand also to address alleged violations of international law. It also encourages the Office of the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights and other UN human rights envoys to assist Sri Lanka in implementing these steps.

The Sri Lankan government conducted an unsuccessful campaign in Geneva and in foreign capitals to reject the Human Rights Council resolution, Human Rights Watch said. Sri Lankan human rights advocates came under unprecedented government criticism and harassment in Geneva and Sri Lanka for supporting the resolution. For instance, the state-owned Ceylon Daily News attacked three leading rights advocates and a journalist who were advocating for the resolution, alleging that they were supporters of the secessionist Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE) and were acting to "betray Sri Lanka." Human rights advocates attending the UN session in Geneva were photographed and their pictures published in national media and blogs, labeled as traitors.

"In its failed efforts to block the council resolution, the Sri Lankan government saw fit to put its own citizens at risk through vicious personal attacks on rights advocates," De Rivero said. "It's a credit to Human Rights Council members that they saw through the government's scare tactics to avoid accountability."

The council resolution is an important advance for accountability in Sri Lanka, Human Rights Watch said. After the defeat of the LTTE in May 2009, President Mahinda Rajapaksa agreed to a statement with UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon in which he promised to address violations of international humanitarian and human rights law. However, the only significant action was the creation of the Lessons Learnt and Reconciliation Commission in April 2010. The commission was seriously flawed and its report, published in December 2011, largely exonerates the actions of government forces.

Human Rights Watch reiterated its call for the Human Rights Council to adopt further measures to carry out recommendations to Secretary-General Ban made by his Panel of Experts in April 2011, which found credible allegations of serious laws of war violations by government forces and the LTTE. The panel called for the establishment of an independent international mechanism to conduct investigations into alleged violations.

"Human Rights Council members recognized that when it came to accountability, Sri Lanka has been all talk and no action," De Rivero said. "It's crucial that implementation of the resolution be closely monitored to ensure that the victims of Sri Lanka's long war finally achieve some measure of justice." (ANI)

Sri Lanka and the UN-Stricter standards

Sri Lanka and the UN

Stricter standards

Mar 23rd 2012, 11:14 by N.C. | GENEVA

SRI LANKA suffered an embarrassing defeat in the UN’s Human Rights Council on March 22nd. A clear majority of the council’s members backed an American-led initiative which called on Sri Lanka’s government to account for the massive toll of civilian fatalities from the end of its long and brutal civil war in 2009.

Despite an exhaustive, sometimes aggressive, Sri Lankan campaign lobbying against the initiative, the Geneva-based council’s 47 members voted by, 24 to 15, for a resolution urging the government to implement the recommendations of its own Lessons Learnt and Reconciliation Commission and to start a credible investigation into allegations of widespread human-rights abuses.

Continue reading "Stricter standards" »         

Sri Lanka minister Mervyn Silva threatens journalists

Mr Silva (left) has been involved in many controversial incidents

 23 March 2012

A Sri Lankan cabinet minister has threatened violence against journalists and human rights activists who he says have been opposing the government.

Mervyn Silva also admitted forcing a journalist to flee two years ago.

The remarks come one day after the UN Human Rights Council passed a resolution critical of the country’s rights record.

A police spokesman told the BBC that officers would now investigate Mr Silva’s remarks.

‘Break the limbs’

Mr Silva’s comments also come amid an official campaign to denounce people described as traitors. Many of these include journalists and human rights activists.

Despite being involved in many controversial incidents over the years, Mervyn Silva is public relations minister.

In Friday’s remarks, which were filmed, the ardent Sinhalese nationalist warned that he would “break the limbs” of some named journalists and human rights workers whom he called “traitors”.

He also mentioned another journalist, Poddala Jayantha, who fled the country in late 2009 after being severely beaten up.

“I’m the one who chased Poddala Jayantha out of this country. I am telling you about this incident today. He went because of me,” Mervyn Silva said.

Police spokesman, Ajith Rohana, told the BBC that Mr Silva’s remarks - both his confession and his threats, as he put it - would now be investigated.

Although Sri Lanka’s media minister said on Thursday that he had instructed state television to stop a series of broadcasts denouncing alleged traitors, transmissions continued on Friday.

The incidents came as the United Nations human rights chief, Navi Pillay, alleged that members of the Sri Lankan government delegation at the Human Rights Council session in Geneva had been intimidating human rights activists visiting from Colombo.

But threats have always come from both sides in the Sri Lankan conflict, and Ms Pillay’s office also said the Sri Lankan ambassador in Geneva had received an anonymous threatening letter, which police are looking into.

The silver lining on the dark Geneva cloud

 The resolution in Geneva must be understood in the spirit in which it was presented. The key sponsors of the resolution are all long standing friends of our country and many of them in addition to being important economic and trading partners, helped Sri Lanka in its fight against terrorism. The US, not only proscribed the LTTE, but also played a key role in curbing their fund raising while a special 'Contact group' was formed to monitor and curtail arms procurement in SE Asia. The UK and the EU also dealt a severe blow to the LTTE by proscribing it and coming down heavily on their fund raising activities while continuing to provide Sri Lankan exports with an important market. India, who voted with the resolution, has been a great friend throughout and as Kadirgamar once said our friendship has reached a state of 'irreversible excellence'. Rather than hurl vitriolic abuse at them, the government, even at this stage must realize that the UNHRC resolution is merely a note of caution made by concerned friends who are genuinely worried about the self-destructive direction Sri Lanka is taking.
 

Perhaps, this is an appropriate moment for introspection and some soul searching by the Rajapaksa regime. Even now, it Is not too late for the Government to admit that it is the short sighted policies and its anti democratic tendencies which paved the way for this resolution and its resounding victory at the UNHRC.
 

 However, it is still not too late to turn a new page and start afresh in a new direction.
 

The Rajapaksa regime is now at the cross- roads. By continuing on the same old path, they can turn Sri Lanka into the 'new Burma' of Asia - a rogue regime shunned and sidelined or they can choose a new direction which will transform Sri Lanka into a vibrant  multi ethnic, multi-cultural democracy which can deliver the bright and prosperous future our people surely deserve.
 

Dhammashoka or Mugabe?  The choice is yours, Mr. President.

Will India's vote drive Sri Lanka closer to China?

YahooNews 

New Delhi, March 23 (IANS) India has made it clear to Sri Lanka that its vote on the US-backed resolution was aimed at speeding up the reconciliation process in the island nation, but the move has sparked speculation whether it was a strategic misstep that could drive Colombo closer to Beijing.

Given strong domestic political sentiments in Tamil Nadu over alleged atrocities against Tamils during Sri Lanka's war on Tamil Tigers that ended in 2009, India's options on the resolution at the UN Human Rights Council were severely circumscribed.

But there was more to India's vote than the oft-touted domestic political compulsions.

Informed sources point out that what led New Delhi to vote in favour of the resolution was the slow pace of the reconciliation process in Sri Lanka after decimating the LTTE and the lack of progress in implementing the recommendations of the Lessons Learnt and Reconciliation Commission (LLRC), a panel set up by the Sri Lankan government to investigate charges of human rights violations.

In a detailed note explaining New Delhi's vote, India's external affairs ministry reminded Colombo of implementing its own LLRC's recommendations and stressed that "there is a window of opportunity to forge a consensual way forward towards reconciliation through a political settlement respecting all ethnic and religious groups inhabiting the nation".

"It was not a vote against Sri Lanka. It was mainly a vote for getting Sri Lanka to implement the recommendations of the LLRC," Varadaraja Perumal, former chief minister of Sri Lanka's Tamil-majority North-Eastern Province, told IANS.

Under the circumstances, India, said the sources, did the best it could. India got the US to accept two crucial amendments that made the resolution "non-intrusive", with an emphasis on Colombo's sovereignty.

The Sri Lankan government has sought to put up a brave face, saying they understood India's political compulsions and the vote won't harm strong bilateral relations.

However, given the pattern of voting - China and Pakistan were among those who voted against the resolution - there is an unstated anxiety in New Delhi that the vote may have opened strategic space for China to deepen ties with Sri Lanka.

Lt. Gen (retd). A.S. Kalkat, who led the Indian Peacekeeping Force (IPKF) into Sri Lanka following the 1987 India-Sri Lanka accord, has cautioned that India needs to proactively engage Sri Lanka to ensure that the Chinese don't gain an upper hand there.

"There are strategic security concerns. We can't afford to let the Chinese have an overwhelming presence in Sri Lanka. Sri Lanka is critically important to the security of our maritime security," Kalkat told IANS.

Perumal is sceptical of the Chinese threat to India's interests in Sri Lanka. "The Sri Lankans are not pro-Chinese. Sri Lanka realises that they can't develop a relationship with China that will harm New Delhi."

Kalkat feels that much will depend on how India mends fences with Sri Lanka after the vote and at the same time encourages it to deliver on key proposals of the 13th amendment for the devolution of powers that formed the core of the 1987 India-Sri Lanka accord.

But, as of now, India will be closely watching the next steps initiated by the UNHCR and ensure that Colombo's sovereignty is not compromised in the process. At the same time, New Delhi will also keep a sharp eye on Beijing's moves.

The stakes are high: China has emerged as the biggest lender ($1.2 billion) to Sri Lanka and has invested in airport, power plants, roads and bridges. China is also building the $1 billion Hambantota port, a showpiece project of President Mahinda Rajapaksa.

Rajapaksa is reported to have visited China at least five times during his tenure. Chinese businessmen and tourists are going to the country in increasingly larger numbers.

Three years ago, Sri Lanka opened a second consulate in China in Chengdu where Pakistan already has a consulate. India is still Sri Lanka's largest trading partner, but trade between China and Sri Lanka is now more than $2 billion.

For now, despite the rivalry with China, India can take solace from Rajapaksa's assurance.

"Our neighbours are Indians. I always say, Indians are our relations," he has said famously. "From the time of Asoka, we have had that culture, but that doesn't mean we won't get commercial benefits from others; from China, or Japan, or whoever. They will come here, they will build and they will go back. India comes here, they will build and they will stay. This is the difference."

(Manish Chand can be contacted at manish.c@ians.in

Time to implement LLRC - Opposition

 22 March, 2012

LLRC is a home grown solution and was not imported - Tissa Attanayake Sri Lankan opposition parties have expressed mixed views on the resolution passed against Sri Lanka in Geneva Human Rights Council on Thursday. The main opposition, United National Party said that the Lessons Learned and Reconciliation Commission (LLRC) was appointed by the president and it was not something imported. “It is a homemade solution to reconcile the divided nation, therefore there are no impediments before it to implement. But government failed to do that”, said Secretary General of the UNP, Tissa Attanayake. Take tangible actions to advance reconciliation He said it is not too late to implement these recommendations if there is a will of the government. Emphasises the need The largest Tamil party, Tamil National Alliance (TNA) said that the resolution will encourage the government to safeguard human rights and take tangible action to advance genuine reconciliation. Its leader, R Sampanthan said that TNA would co-operate fully to achieve this objective with the help of all communities in the country. Janatha Vimukthi Peramuna (JVP) said it was at the end of the war that the government should have realised the need for a reconciliation process. 'Resettle displace people and appoint a truth commission' JVP leader Somawansa Amarasinghe said the government should immediately resettle all the displaced people in the north and appoint a truth commission. He blamed the government for not implementing measures for genuine reconciliation.

UN Rights Council: Sri Lanka Vote a Strong Message for Justice

By Colombo Telegraph - 

  (Geneva) – The United Nations Human Rights Council’s adoption of a resolution on Sri Lanka demonstrates strong international support for accountability for abuses committed in Sri Lanka’s armed conflict, Human Rights Watch said today.  The resolution passed the council by a vote of 24 to 15, with 8 abstentions.  Member countries voting for the resolution included India, Nigeria and the United States.

“The Human Rights Council’s vote demonstrates broad international dissatisfaction with Sri Lanka’s accountability efforts in the three years since the end of the war,” said Juliette De Rivero, advocacy director at Human Rights Watch in Geneva. “Many countries have recognized that this resolution is an important first step toward serious action to investigate the many abuses by both sides during the conflict.”

The resolution calls upon the Sri Lankan government to fulfill its legal obligations toward justice and accountability, and to expeditiously provide a comprehensive action plan to implement the recommendations of its Lessons Learnt and Reconciliation Commission and also to address alleged violations of international law. It also encourages the Office of the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights and other UN human rights envoys to assist Sri Lanka in implementing these steps.

The Sri Lankan government conducted an unsuccessful campaign in Geneva and in foreign capitals to reject the Human Rights Council resolution, Human Rights Watch said. Sri Lankan human rights advocates came under unprecedented government criticism and harassment in Geneva and Sri Lanka for supporting the resolution.  For instance, the state-owned Ceylon Daily News attacked three leading rights advocates and a journalist who were advocating for the resolution, alleging that they were supporters of the secessionist Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE) and were acting to “betray Sri Lanka.” Human rights advocates attending the UN session in Geneva were photographed and their pictures published in national media and blogs, labeled as traitors.

“In its failed efforts to block the council resolution, the Sri Lankan government saw fit to put its own citizens at risk through vicious personal attacks on rights advocates,” De Rivero said. “It’s a credit to Human Rights Council members that they saw through the government’s scare tactics to avoid accountability.”

The council resolution is an important advance for accountability in Sri Lanka, Human Rights Watch said.  After the defeat of the LTTE in May 2009, President Mahinda Rajapaksa agreed to a statement with UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon in which he promised to address violations of international humanitarian and human rights law. However, the only significant action was the creation of the Lessons Learnt and Reconciliation Commission in April 2010.  The commission was seriously flawed and its report, published in December 2011, largely exonerates the actions of government forces.

Human Rights Watch reiterated its call for the Human Rights Council to adopt further measures to carry out recommendations to Secretary-General Ban made by his Panel of Experts in April 2011, which found credible allegations of serious laws of war violations by government forces and the LTTE.  The panel called for the establishment of an independent international mechanism to conduct investigations into alleged violations.

“Human Rights Council members recognized that when it came to accountability, Sri Lanka has been all talk and no action,” De Rivero said. “It’s crucial that implementation of the resolution be closely monitored to ensure that the victims of Sri Lanka’s long war finally achieve some measure of justice.”

Breakthrough at UN Human Rights Council

 Friday, 23 March 2012

Australian Greens Senator Lee Rhiannon in welcoming the UN Human Rights Council resolution on Sri Lanka said that it is a long awaited first step by the international community to hold the Sri Lankan Government to account for the war crimes committed during the civil war.

"The passing of this resolution is a sign that the international community is not willing to be hoodwinked by the Government of Sri Lanka,” Senator Rhiannon said.

"It is encouraging to see that countries like Nigeria, Cameroon and India that supported Sri Lanka in the 2009 UN HR Council voted in favour of this US-led resolution.

"It is disappointing to see that eight countries abstained, when there is clear evidence of the atrocities that were committed against the Tamils during the civil war.

“Earlier this week the Australian Senate unanimously passed a motion calling on the Australian government, as a minimum, to support efforts to secure this US-led resolution on Sri Lanka.

“It is pleasing that Foreign Minister Bob Carr ensured that Australia sent a clear message to Sri Lanka.

“The resolution that has just passed the UN Human Right Council is a foundation for stronger action.

"We need an international community led independent investigation into the credible and extremely serious allegations of war crimes raised by the UN Secretary-General’s Panel of Experts.

"I will be urging Minister Carr to become more actively involved in working towards this.

“It is estimated that approximately 215,000 people were killed in the Sri Lankan civil war, with former Australian UN official in Sri Lanka during the war, Gordon Weiss, stating that up to 40,000 Tamil civilians died in the last few months.

“At the end of the war, about 330,000 Tamils were imprisoned in government run internment camps. Allegations of sexual abuse, torture, extra judicial killings and abductions ran rife.

“It is time all this is investigated and the perpetrators are brought to justice,” Senator Rhiannon said.

Journalists are 'traitors', says Sri Lanka's state TV

Sri Lanka's state-controlled media has described journalists as "traitors" following the UN human rights council's call for an investigation into the country's alleged abuses during its war against Tamil separatists.

In an attack on Sri Lankan journalists, both at home and in exile, state television accused them of "betraying the motherland."

Although the broadcaster did not name the journalists who had participated in the human rights council sessions, it screened "thinly disguised photographs of them" and said it would reveal their names soon.

Journalists in the capital, Colombo, told the Committee for the Protection of Journalists (CPJ) they were concerned about the campaign against them.

The CPJ responded by calling on the Sri Lankan government to halt its intimidation of journalists.

"The government of President Mahinda Rajapaksa has a long and alarming record of intolerance to criticism," said Bob Dietz, CPJ's Asia programme coordinator.

"The international community must be extra vigilant in ensuring that Sri Lankan journalists are not subjected to reprisals for voicing their concerns to the human rights council."

The UN resolution called on Sri Lanka to investigate abuses carried out by its military in 2009, at the end of the decades-long war with separatists known as the Tamil Tigers.

Sources: BBC/CPJ