Top SL military hand alleged in killing Canadian Tamil in Vanni

[TamilNet, Wednesday, 09 May 2012, 05:34 GMT]
Circumstantial evidences point to the hands of top level Sri Lanka military in the brutal killing of a Canadian Eezham Tamil who came to Vanni to claim his properties appropriated by the occupying military, news sources in Vanni revealed to TamilNet. The victim owned 8 commercially valuable buildings in line in Ki’linochchi town that were appropriated by the Sinhala military to be given in turn to a Colombo-based chain store that now dominates food business in the north. Through the occupying military, presidential sibling and SL Defence Secretary Gotabhaya Rajapaksa has appropriated nearly 250 such commercially valuable properties in Ki’linochchi for his agenda of plunder and structural genocide of Eezham Tamils. The Canadian Tamil lost his life struggling with a genocidal mechanism installed by many world establishments including that of his own adopted country. 

Even since the Eezham Tamil victim Anthonippillai Mahendrarajah arrived in Vanni from Canada to negotiate getting back his properties from the occupying Sinhala Military, he was followed and his movements were closely monitored by the SL military intelligence.

The line of shops Mahendrarajah owned in Ki’linochchi near the Murukan Temple was handed over by the occupying Sinhala military to a Colombo business corporate Cargills Food City that is now run by a Colombo-based Sinhalicized Tamil.        
Full story >> 

09/05/2012

C4 News and Sri Lanka’s Killing Fields receive One World Media Awards

Jon Snow with Zoe Sale and Callum Macrae

Channel 4 received three awards last night from One World Media, which recognises excellence in media coverage of the developing world. At the ceremony, hosted by Jon Snow, Jamal Osman was named Journalist of the Year for his reporting in the uplifting and heart-breaking film Somali Olympic Dreams for Channel 4 News. Sri Lanka’s Killing Fields, an investigation of the devastating violence carried out during the final weeks of Sri Lanka’s civil war, took home both the Television and Documentary Awards.

Full Story>>>

Channel 4 ‘Sri Lanka’s Killing Fields’ Collected Two Prizes At ‘One World Media Awards’

May 9, 2012Channel 4 documentary Sri Lanka’s Killing Fields, which at the time was described by presenter Jon Snow as “one of the most important” stories he had ever reported, collected two prizes at the One World Media Awards last night,Journalism.co.uk reports.

The programme, which prompted calls from the UK Foreign Office for an independent investigation of alleged war crimes during the 2009 military operation in Sri Lanka, was named the winner of both the documentary award and television award.

The awards, which recognise quality reporting of foreign affairs and the developing world, also named Channel 4′s Jamal Osman as Journalist of the Year, for his work reporting from Somalia.

Sri Lanka's Killing Fields

“Osman’s winning submissions included a report about a Somalian runner determined to compete in the London Olympics which highlighted some of the difficulties of daily life in Mogadishu, coverage of the drought in south-central Somalia for which he followed the plight of one extended family, and sensitive, on-camera interviews with people who have lived through incredible hardship,” a release said.

“The jury praised Osman’s use of imaginative storytelling and packaging to convey complex themes, often finding vivid individual stories to illuminate his reports and bringing international attention to bear on a range of issues affecting an important but under-reported part of the world.”

The BBC picked up two awards on the night, with BBC Two receiving the Popular Features Award for “Toughest Place to be a Binman” and the BBC World Service collecting the Radio Award for “Assignment – Haiti Cholera Epidemic”.

Will Storr’s feature “The Rape of Men in Uganda” published in the Observer Magazine won the Press Award, with the jury describing his submission as “investigative journalism at its best”.

Guardian journalist Jack Shenker was named the print winner of the News Award, for his report on “the plight of migrants trying to reach Lampedusa”. ITV1 News was named the broadcaster winner of the same award for its coverage of “the Somalian famine from Hagadera Hospital”.

A full list of winners is below:       Read More

 

Why no action instituted against CJ’s husband who committed daylight robbery on public funds? -Tissa

EPF too in a similar plight – no funds

(Lanka-e-News- 09.May.2012, 3.30PM) The UNP Gen. Secretary Tissa Attanayake addressing a media briefing in Colombo on the 8th questioned , why no legal action is being instituted against Pradeep Kariyawasam , the Chairman of the Govt.’s National savings Bank (NSB), the husband of the chief justice of SL , who swindled public funds in broad daylight ? The chief of a recognized Bank who ought to be a model of virtue when engaging in financial transactions has instead stooped to the worst acts of frauds and plundering of cash in broad daylight , he added. The chief justice’s husband had openly and shamelessly robbed the NSB funds without the permission of the NSB Board , and purchased shares of the The Financial Co. thereby plundering the public funds . May we ask who is the public servant has such a right to do such a monumental wrong ? He has used the Bank funds belonging to the citizens as his own private funds. Why is no action being taken against such a fraudster? A Board member has objected to this. The Treasury representative had objected to this. There is a report that the President gave instructions to stop this . Then on whose strength were all these transactions done and swindles committed ?. Everyone knows who is the chief of this Bank . He is the husband of the chief justice of SL , a most respected revered position in SL where integrity and honesty are to be upheld with utmost care. This is a pernicious precedent. The share which is worth Rs. 30/30 had been bought at Rs. 49/74. That had been done by showing a spurious value. In a day the share price of this fell to Rs. 32/- - the loss resulting thereby was Rs. 150 million! Despite this colossal swindle whose architect is the NSB chairman , why is no action being taken against him ? It is reported that this dubious transaction had taken place without the permission of the Board of Directors. Then these Directors must resign . Resignation alone will not do , they must also repay these losses. These are not dowry funds of any body ,these are innocent people’s funds. Similarly , another racket was staged in the share purchase of Laugfs gas Co., Attanayake pointed out. There is a similar fraud being committed on the workers’ provident fund. Today there is no money in that fund. If the public ask for their funds , there are no money in it to pay. Part of the funds had been appropriated by the Govt. , and another portion had been invested in a loss incurring business for Commission .The EPF has no funds now,. What the Govt. is doing is plundering and looting people ‘s funds brazenly and in the open. When a journalist questioned Tissa Attanayake , why legal action is not being sought against this , Attanayake said, a decision will be taken after the meeting is held among the MPs. ‘ I am not going to talk about the courts , because what befell S B Dissanayake can befall me’ . In any event , this is a scenario where the mother of the rogue is being asked about the rogue , he stated .

UN official says refugee bill inconsistent with international law

Published May 9, 2012
Furio De Angelis takes aim at detention provisions: "Surely UNHCR would not support a rush to the lowest common denominator."
By Kristen Shane

The UN refugee agency's representative in Canada is urging the Harper government to make changes to its refugee bill, C-31, saying parts of it are inconsistent with international law.

In testimony May 7 to the House immigration committee, on the last day of a marathon hearing schedule, Furio De Angelis outlined several concerns about parts of the bill he said provide for "differential categorization" of asylum seekers, and have the effect of restricting some claimants' access to the asylum process.

They include clauses dealing with mandatory detention for up to a year without review for some claimants, and a five-year ban on family sponsorship for some refugees.

Mr. De Angelis, the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees representative in Canada, supported some parts of the bill, such as the creation of an appeal mechanism—but with caveats.

The UNHCR is the guardian of the 1951 UN Convention Relating to the Status of Refugees, a base international refugee law document, and gives technical advice to governments on refugee policy.

Full Story>>>

Governing party members harassed by Gota joins Basil

Tuesday, 08 May 2012

Government members who have been harassed by Defence Secretary Gotabhaya Rajapaksa have joined forces with Economic Development Minister Basil Rajapaksa and are engaged in an operation to make him the next Prime Minister.

Minister Mervyn Silva, Deputy Minister Susantha Punchinilame and MP Thilanga Sumathipala are taking the lead in this endeavor.

Although Colombo District governing party ministers Wimal Weerawansa, Susil Premajayantha and A.H.M. Fowzie are displeased with the Defence Secretary for giving preferential treatment to MP Duminda Silva in development programmes in Colombo, they have refused to join Basil Rajapaksa.

Sumathipala has become one of Basil Rajapaksa’s key followers and has recently invited him as the chief guest at a meeting of SLFP activists from Borella organized by him. Basil Rajapaksa has said that the government could have won the Borella electorate if he had been involved in the Colombo Municipal Council elections, but observed that he keeps away from issues where there are many stakeholders.

At the CMC elections, it was MP Namal Rajapaksa and Gotabhaya Rajapaksa who coordinated the work in the Borella electorate.

A senior minister speaking on the cold war brewing among the Rajapaksa brothers said there was no truth in the claim of clashes between the Rajapaksas.

He said that it was a tactic used by the Rajapaksas to ensure that party members who are displeased with the president and the Defence Secretary remain within the government by joining Basil Rajapaksa without defecting. He added that the senior SLFP ministers did not fall for this tactic.

Thilanga’s and Gota’s supporters clash

Tuesday, 08 May 2012

Minister Basil Rajapaksa’s supporter, MP Thilanga Sumathipala has clashed with Defence Secretary Gotabhaya Rajapksa’s security personnel while planning the government’s May Day rally.

The organizing work of the UPFA May Day procession was assigned to one of the Defence Secretary’s lackeys and a member of the Youth Corp, Colonel Dharshana Ratnayake (0773265150).

Sunil Dissanayake who is under him had been in-charge of the vehicle with loudspeakers that travel at the forefront of the procession and the entire formation of the procession was under Dharshana Ratnayake. Over 200 military personnel in civvies were assigned to help him with the task.

In this backdrop, MP Thilanga Sumathipala had issued several directives on forming the May Day procession, but Ratnayake had ignored them.

Sumathipala had to therefore sit silently on the stage at Campbell Park in Borella where the procession was being formed.

Attorney Sumith Wijesinghe (0718880888), Ranjith Hettiarachchi (0777780083), Upali Gamage (0773679343) and Keerthi Dissanayake (0714098217) were also assigned to assist Ratnayake.

And Now They Have Come For The Muslims

May 9, 2012  By Kumar David -

Prof. Kumar David

It is alarming, what is happening to the Muslims in Sri Lanka. There is a 50:50 chance it will blow up into unrest and instability – I will explain anon why I have hedged my bets. However, there is a disease these events have exposed about which there can be no doubt. This is a deep animosity towards Muslims, which remained buried during the civil war against the Tamils, and has now broken out into the open. Explicit expressions proliferate on the web and in the media – even international sites like Youtube are used for an outpouring of hate mail. Here are two printable quotes from the web to convey the gist of it – I cannot quote more juicy examples littered with obscene expletives, or because they are in Sinhala.

Quote 1: “My Muslim brothers. Plz remember this is not a islamic republic where ‘sharia’ law is practised…
Sri-lanka is a majority sinhala country where 74% of the population are sinhalese..
YOU HAVE MORETHAN ENOUGH PREVILAGES HERE. NO PANIC PLZ….
WE WILL NEVER LET YOU TO EAT INTO OUR HERITAGE AND OUR RELIGION..”

Quote 2: “This could well be a self inflicted attack by the Muslims themselves in order to incriminate Sinhala people and to create havoc by rioting. The venomous atmosphere currently prevailing in Sri Lanka is the direct result of encroachment in to Buddhist Temple properties and establishing places of worship on the sly. Sinhala Buddhists co-existed with Muslim people when there were no provocation by the latter. Encroachment in to the ancient Buddhist Shrine at Kooragala, obfuscate the scrolls and establishing a tomb for worshiping, is another example of Muslim high handed and provocative activity.”

It is extremely important (I do not use adjectives carelessly) for overseas readers interested in Lanka to thoroughly apprise themselves of the factual side; I will touch on it but lightly. Two excellent sources for politically sophisticated foreign readers are the websites:-

          http://www.colombotelegraph.com

          http://groundviews.org (an award winning site)

The build up in outline                                             Read More

The Telegraph 

200 war criminals identified by Britain but only three deported

Last year it was disclosed that a special war crimes unit within the UK Border Agency had recommended action against 495 individuals in the previous five years, with 383 remaining at large. Photo: REX

Official figures show that the UK Border Agency has recommended that action be taken against more than 200 individuals accused of torture, genocide or crimes against humanity in the past 18 months alone.

But only a handful have been deported or turned away at the border, while some have been granted asylum after successfully arguing they would face retribution if they returned home.

It is unclear if any of the alleged warlords are being investigated by police, prompting fresh claims that Britain is a “safe haven” for soldiers in overseas conflicts. Last year private individuals were banned from starting criminal prosecutions for alleged war crimes, after a diplomatic spat with Israel.

Redress, a human rights pressure group, said: “A major concern is what is happening to those suspects. Does the UKBA refer them all to the Metropolitan Police for investigation with a view to seeing if they can be prosecuted here?   Full Story>>>

Paramilitary Salasalappu website suspended/shutdown

( May 08, 2012, Colombo, Sri Lanka Guardian) The Tamil website Salasalappu.com that had first hand access to Sri Lanka government news and information, managed from Paris has been suspended/shutdown following complaints by the victims of certain news and write-ups published in the website.

The Denmark based web provider Hostmaster.dk decided to shut down the Salasalappu.com for publishing unsubstantiated and vindictive news and doctored photographs following complaints.

The website was run by one Mr Arumugam from Paris for the government backed paramilitary EPDP group in Sri Lanka.

One of the victim of hate campaign of the website Rajasingham Jayadevan confirmed that he too complained to the web-provider for writing scandalous stories about him and for publishing humiliating doctored photographs to project him as a thief. He said that his formal request to Mr Arumugam to refrain from such degrading publications were disregarded. He said this website continued with the campaign of the pro-LTTE website Nitharsanam.com managed from Norway.

The website carried out a calculated hate campaign against the Germany based political analyst Mr Jeganathan, political activist V Ramaraj and R Jayadevan.

Mr Jayadevan further said the regular contributor to the Salasalappu website S M M Bazeer too is being accused of involvement in the hate campaign. The hate campaign against R Jayadevan started against him when was in Sri Lanka in December 2011/January 2012. His visit was confirmed to the Sri Lanka High Commissioner in London during a meeting prior to his leaving. This information is said to have been leaked to S MM Bazeer who was present at the High Commission for a discussion on the LLRC report on that day and soon a news appeared in the website stating that R Jayadevan had gone to Sri Lanka to take up a job offered by President Mahinda Rajapakse.

The website earned the name of Mala-Sala-Poo for its degrading publications.

Condom theory applied to Tamara too: Booted out from Geneva: Ravinatha takes over
Wednesday 9 of May 2012
(Lanka-e-News -09.May.2012, 3.30PM) Tamara Gunanayagam , the SL High Commissioner to the UN Geneva who was the center of controversy during the past several days , has been transferred as SL High commissioner to Cuba. Ravinatha Ariyasinghe who was the SL High Commissioner to the European Commission has been appointed as the new High Commissioner to Geneva. He is scheduled to take up the appointment on 1st July.

G. M. Amza who was the SL Deputy High commissioner to London and who went on retirement has been appointed as the new High Commissioner to the European Commission.
Tamara who was a strong spokesperson for MaRa is the latest victim in the series of MaRa’s condom theory . The MaRa regime is of the view that the Govt.’ s defeat at Geneva was owing to her. Tamara claimed that if she is transferred to Cuba it would give the impression that the minorities are being discriminated ,and that she would not take up the Cuba appointment . She had served in Cuba previously.

Tamara had been holding the post in the UN , Geneva for quite a long period. After MaRa became President , she left that post and worked with MaRa. When she joined the President , a number of files at the UN went missing. It was discovered that several matters which were contained in these missing files were used by some pro Govt. media against the UN during the recent Geneva conference.

Sri Lanka ranked 161 on media freedom

May 3rd, 2012  

Freedom House, a United States- based non-governmental organisation that conducts research and advocacy on democracy, has ranked Sri Lanka 161 out of 197 countries in terms of Press freedom in its report for 2012.

Sri Lanka was tied with Burundi with a rating of 72 with a “not free” status.

Freedom House placed the U.S. at 22, tied with Estonia and Jamaica with an 18 point score. (0 is the best on the scale.)

The top spot is occupied by Finland, Norway and Sweden with ratings of 10.

Written by editor

NSB controversy to control Chief Justice

Wednesday, 09 May 2012 

Although several private media institutions loyal to the President have tried to state that the National Savings Bank’s (NSB) move to purchase shares of The Finance was without the President’s knowledge, it is learnt that it was a political conspiracy carried out on a Presidential directive.

The main aim of the conspiracy is to control Chief Justice, Dr. Shirani Bandaranayake. The Chief Justice in the past has acted as a loyal servant of the Rajapaksas. However, several Supreme Court judges have recently explained to her the need to act in a manner to build confidence in the country’s judiciary, which is currently at a level of deterioration.

Judges Chandra Ekanayake, S.I. Imam, Priyasath Dep and K Sripavan have met the Chief Justice and discussed at the length the need to protect the standards of the country’s judiciary. They have therefore discussed that the judiciary needed to act in a fair manner where cases concerning the government were taken up for hearing.

However, the President had learnt about the discussion and fearing that the Chief Justice could change course as a result, had decided to entangle her husband, NSB Chairman, Pradeep Kariyyawasam in an alleged financial fraud in order to control her, a senior official from the Presidential Secretariat said.

The President has assigned the main task in this conspiracy to a director at the NSB and a President’s astrological advisor, Sumanadasa and has also called for assistance from the head of the Hiru radio network and a friend of the Rajapaksas, Raynor de Silva.

The Finance shares that were purchased by the NSB were owned by Raynor de Silva and one of his friends.

A few days prior to the transaction, the President had directed the head of the Securities and Exchange Commission, Thilak Karunaratne to withdraw certain regulations in order enable NSB’s transaction.

President’s astrological advisor, Sumanadasa has played a great role in getting the NSB Chairman to approve this share purchase. Most of the details behind this share transaction have now been received by Pradeep Kariyawasam and his family members. They have asked him to resign from the post without continuing in place where he has been betrayed.

Shirani Bandaranayake who was sworn in as the Chief Justice on May 18, 2011 could legally hold the post for the next nine years. Therefore, she would play a key role in issuing verdicts on cases related to the government.

A senior legal analyst who spoke to us about his issue said that Shirani Bandaranayake also possessed the ability to serve like Chief Justice Neville Samarakoon who acted against the illegal actions of then President J.R. Jayewardene.

He added that every one in the legal profession in the country were hopeful that Bandaranayake would act like Samarakoon in a manner that would protect the dignity of the country’s judiciary.