SRI LANKA TO RELEASE INFORMATION ON WAR DETAINEES
May 13, 2012

The Sri Lankan government has decided to release the information on war detainees, a step seen as a response to the country’s reconciliation commission report.

The Ministry of Defence on Sunday said that a decision has been made to release information on the detainees of the TID, saying the details will be revealed only to the close relatives.

“A round the clock mechanism has been established by the Terrorist Investigation Division (TID) to provide details of the detainees and those who are already released”, an official statement said.

Release of information of those detained by the forces since the end of the war with the LTTE was a major cause of concern for the Tamil minority parties.

Tamil parties claimed that those who surrendered at the end of the military conflict had disappeared without any trace.

The Lessons Learnt and Reconciliation Commission (LLRC) in its report made a number of important recommendations on the detainees.

The report noted several instances of LTTE detainees remaining in detention without charges and in which next of kin were not notified.

It also asserted that no person should be detained outside authorised places of detention.

The LLRC also had recommended the appointment of an advisory panel to monitor and examine detention.

The move comes ahead of External Affairs Minister G.L. Peiris’ meeting with the US Secretary of State, Hilary Clinton in Washington on May 18.

PTI

Mullivaikaal – The Time For Mourning Is Over

May 13, 2012

What happened three years back at this place called Mullivaikaal?

Some called it a climax of a long story. It is a turning point. Some called it a full-stop. It is a comma. Many call it a tragedy. Of Epic proportions in the history of the Tamils.
Tragedies are often best expressed in verse. I found the best description of what happened in Mullivaikaal in the verses of Pablo Neruda.

“Here they brought rifles loaded
with gunpowder, they ordered bitter extermination:
here they found the people singing,
a people united by duty and love,
and the slender child fell with her flag,
and the smiling young man rolled wounded beside her,
and the people’s stupor saw the dead fall
with fury and with grief.
Then, on the site
where the assassinated fell,
they lowered the flags to bathe them in blood,
to raise them again in the assassins’ presence.”
(Canto General)

In defiance of the assassins in Colombo, and those who armed them, the Tamil Eelam standard still flies wherever there are Tamils in the world, remembering Mullivaikaal. Read More

Two youth go missing at the CID

Sunday, 13 May 2012 

Two youths who have visited the CID last February 11th have gone missing. The two youths who have gone missing had been directed to appear before the CID on a directive issued by the Gangodawila Courts.

They have entered the CID on February 11th after signing the energy book at 10.30 a.m. and 10.31 a.m. Even the CCTV cameras at the CID have recorded them entering the building. However, what had happened to them afterwards has not been clearly recorded.

It is now three months since the two youths have gone missing. The two youths who have gone missing are Nivas Duell from 23/28, Pagoda Road, Nuguegoda and D.M.V. Chaminda from 21A, Nanda Mawatha.

Uniformed Victims Of A Reprobate State

“People who cannot find their way out of history are lost, and so are their nations”.
Elias Canetti (The Human Province)

By Tisaranee Gunasekara

May, according to the government, is the ‘Month of War-Heroes’.
May began with a soldier killing another soldier and turning the gun on himself. Days later a navy-man committed suicide after shooting a female colleague. The latest murder-suicide incident is the third in three months.
On Sinhala and Tamil New Year’s Day, in Galle, a soldier on leave assaulted a Tamil youth for not calling him ‘sir’; that incident ended with nine Tamil houses being looted and burnt.
These violent outbursts are indicative of a serious psychological malaise plaguing the armed forces. We can afford to ignore these signs of painful discontent turning into raging despair only at our collective peril.
A deadly gap between hype and reality is a staple of Rajapaksa-governance.
There is the idea of the ‘war-hero’ and there is the reality. The veneration accorded to the abstract notion is in stark contrast to the manner in which the concrete is treated.

Read More »

WikiLeaks: Chief Justice Shirani Is A Rajapkasa Loyalist

October 31, 2011

By Colombo Telegraph -

The President made a show of appointing her in place of Chief Justice Asoka de Silva, who was thought to be more sympathetic to the case

“The court was presided over by Acting Chief Justice Shirani Bandaranayake, considered a Rajapkasa loyalist. Several days ago, the president made a show of appointing her in place of Chief Justice Asoka de Silva, who was thought to be more sympathetic to the case but is traveling abroad.” the US Ambassador to Colombo wrote to Washington.

A leaked US diplomatic cable records the Supreme Court decision on General Fonseka’s Fundamental Rights petition re his unlawful detention. The Colombo Telegraph found the cable from WikiLeaks database. The cable written on February 24, 2010 and classified as “CONFIDENTIAL” by the Deputy Chief of Mission Valerie Fowler.

The US Ambassador to Colombo Patricia A. Butenis wrote “On February 23, the Sri Lankan Supreme Court denied former presidential candidate General Fonseka’s petition for release as interim relief in his fundamental rights case challenging the legality of his detention. The court ruled that because the basis of the submission for interim relief was ‘linked’ to the final relief requested, the court was ‘not in a position’ to grant the interim relief.”

There was no reason to detain him

“The court adopted the Attorney General’s argument that Fonseka’s claim that there was no reason to detain him could be verified until the investigation had been completed. While no charges have been filed against Fonseka, areas of investigation mentioned by the Attorney General included the alleged 400 army ‘deserters’ at the hotel with Fonseka during election day, Fonseka’s statement that he would release ‘top secret’ information on the final stages of the war, and the Hi-Corp military procurement corruption case involving his son-in-law.” ambassador Butenis further wrote.

Several senior human rights lawyers practicing in Colombo have told the Colombo Telegraph that Chief Justice Bandaranayake cannot be regarded as impartial and independent in cases involving sensitive political issues, particularly those that have a connection to the Rajapaksas. Dr. Shirani Bandaranayake’s direct elevation to the Supreme Court from the Faculty of Law at Colombo University during the Kumaratunga administration was itself a political appointment, in which her mentor at the Law Faculty, the then Justice Minister, and present Foreign Minister G.L. Peiris played a key role. Following her husband’s acceptance of a political appointment from the Rajapaksa regime, however, any semblance of independence that remained has completely disappeared. From the US Embassy cable below, which deals with the fundamental rights application of Sarath Fonseka challenging his detention following the presidential election in January 2010, it would seem that Ambassador Butenis also did not believe in the judicial independence of Justice Shirani Bandaranayake.

To read more about Sri Lankan Judiciary click here

Below we give a part of the confidential cable.

Surviving under gallery talks
(Lanka-e-News -13.May.2012, 7.00PM) Minister Wimal weerawansa said certain external parties’ comments have divided the Sinhala and Tmail communities in Sri Lanka. He made this statement when he gave housing loans to the families of in the Vavuniya district secretariat. He accused the Tamil Nadu minister Karunanidhi for making statements to establish an Eelam state for the ethnic Tamil minority in Sri Lanka. He further said that it is easy for people like Karunanidhi ignite the fire by making such statements from India but the repercussions of such statements will retributive the Tamil community within Sri Lanka

I wish to inform this communal minister though such statements are made by Karunanidhi it is this Wimal Weerawansa who set fire to such ignition to induce the communal hatred to instigate a division between the communities using his own gallery talks which mislead and makes the majority gullible Buddhist Sri Lankan masses to build hatred among the minority communities living in Sri Lanka.

Ministers like Wimal Weerawansa have no survival in the Sri Lankan politics unless he speaks to the gallery to the gullible masses. I doubt whether this minister has gone to a good school mixed with different communities respecting diverse opinions. He is the minister who has undertaken the job for the Rajapakse regime to grow and nourish the communal difference and dupe the majority Sinhalese. He does not have words to speak other than 

“Vijaatheeya balavega” – external forces
“Adiraajya waadee kumanthrana” – Plot of western imperialist 
“Deshadroheen” - unpatriotic
“potak paadanava” -     

More >>

Montrealer reportedly murdered and mutilated in Sri Lanka

Toronto Sun Sunday
BY GIUSEPPE VALIANTE ,QMI AGENCY SATURDAY, MAY 12, 2012 

MONTREAL - A Montrealer of Tamil origin was reportedly murdered in northern Sri Lanka in early May after attempting to recover property lost during the war, QMI Agency has learned.

The family of Andrew Mahendrarajah Antonipillai, 53, learned of his death on May 3, his brother-in-law told QMI Agency on Saturday.

However, Benjo Ponniah could not confirm media reports his brother-in-law was found with his throat slit and his genitals mutilated in the northern Sri Lankan town of Kilinochchi.

Kilinochchi was the headquarters for the Tamil Tigers, a separatist group that fought for independence from the Sri Lankan government for 26 years. The civil war ended in 2009 when government forces declared victory over the Tigers.

Ponniah, who is a reverend living in the Ottawa area, said Antonipillai was in Sri Lanka with family to reclaim property. He said he is waiting for Antonipillai's brothers to return to Canada from Sri Lanka to give him a more accurate picture of the events surrounding his brother-in-law's death.

Ponniah said he didn't know if the media reports were true and didn't want to talk about the claim that Antonipillai's body was mutilated.

"If that is the way that it happened then it's not acceptable," he said. "What we are focusing on right now is getting his body back to Canada for the funeral."

Jean-Bruno Villeneuve, spokesperson for the department of Foreign Affairs, told QMI Agency on Saturday that a Canadian citizen "is believed to have been murdered in Sri Lanka."

 "Our thoughts are with the family and friends of the Canadian citizen," he said. "(Foreign Affairs) is providing consular services to assist the family."

Ponniah said Antonipillai's body is expected in Canada on Sunday. Funeral services are scheduled to begin Friday in Montreal.

Ponniah said his brother-in-law designed furniture in Montreal and was "very well-known" in the city's Tamil community.

The BBC reported on Friday that Canada's High Commissioner to Sri Lanka said Antonipillai was murdered by men outside of Kilinochchi. The BBC report added the commissioner formally asked the Sri Lankan government for a full investigation into Antonipillai's death.

The Revolting Diplomat

May 13, 2012 By Sanjana Hattotuwa -

Sanjana Hattotuwa

“You will recall that my instructions were to be in Geneva on time to handle the 18th Session of the Council in September 2011. However, vital information on a US initiative calling for an interactive dialogue on Sri Lanka was withheld from me. It was only fortuitously, and only 5 weeks before the Session opened, that I discovered that this information had been communicated, as early as June 2011, to the private email address of my predecessor in Geneva by the US Ambassador. After that, an email exchange had taken place on the subject, unknown to the Ministry of External Affairs. Had this information remained a secret, we would not have had the time to counter the initiative and a resolution against Sri Lanka would have been inevitable, placing the country on the Council’s agenda for me to deal with, along with its fail out, from almost Day One of my assuming duties in Geneva. In preparation for that 18th Session, no instructions were received by me nor guidelines provided on the strategy to be adopted, and no response was forthcoming on my own proposal. My urgent request for authorization to travel to Colombo for consultations on the matter was first verbally approved by you and then denied by the Ministry of External Affairs, leaving me with no other option but to travel without authorization, given the gravity. The question of strategy, however, remained unanswered and l had to wade my way through that Session. Similar strategies seemed to have been adopted once more at the 19th Session in an attempt to withhold information on crucial matters and to isolate me from my own staff at the Mission…. What was true for the 18th and 19th Sessions of the Council continues to be true for preparations for the forthcoming Session, and Sri Lanka’s UPR in November 2012.” – Excerpts from letter to Sri Lanka’s Minister of External Affairs, G.L. Peiris by Tamara Kunanayakam. Emphasis mine.

Read More

A regime that has discarded commonsense

By Kishali Pinto Jayawardene

Sunday May 13, 2012  It appears that deceptively smooth representations, let alone outright lies on the part of this Government will not suffice to divert international storm clouds which are now gathering with greater force around Sri Lanka. Undoubtedly this has come about due to this administration's belief that it can escape accountability at all levels of governance without incurring any consequences. The transfer of one diplomatic representative conveniently cast as a scapegoat for the spectacularly humiliating failure of a recalcitrant administration before the United Nations earlier this year only makes the country the object of further ridicule. This is unequivocally clear. Reason for early provincial polls Locally, there appears to be a change in the public mood. Outpourings of rage by government propagandists against a 'maliciously motivated West' fall on increasingly deaf ears, if one leaves aside fanatical supporters of the Mahinda Chinthanaya. There is increased public questioning of inchoate and immature foreign policies that rely on inflammatory rhetoric rather than skilful diplomatic negotiation. Moreover, even among the ordinary people who are less than preoccupied with the niceties of foreign policy, government propaganda has little resonance. Widespread anger at the astronomical increases in the cost of living, despite corruption and extravagance by the ruling elite and their cringing sycophants depleting the public purse, has become an almost living and breathing thing.READ MORE...

Grenade bomb discovered at the venue of meeting where Ranil was to attend
Sunday 13 of May 2012
(Lnka-e-News -12.May.2012, 8.00pm) A hand grenade bomb had been discovered at the venue where the Opposition leader Ranil Wickremesinghe was scheduled to visit, according to reports.

The opposition leader was to leave for Batticaloa yesterday (11) . He was to address members of the Singha regiment at a private Building situated bordering the main highway between Batticaloa- Trincomalee.

Prior to the visit of the opposition leader , his security contingent has done a preliminary inspection of the place when this grenade located above a window was discovered, according to our Batticaloa correspondent.
Later the venue was changed , and the meeting was held in another private Building ,where the opposition leader has addressed the people , reports further say.

A Regime That Has Discarded All Commonsense

May 13, 2012 By Kishali Pinto-Jayawardena -

Kishali Pinto-Jayawardena

It appears that deceptively smooth representations, let alone outright lies on the part of this Government will not suffice to divert international storm clouds which are now gathering with greater force around Sri Lanka. Undoubtedly this has come about due to this administration’s belief that it can escape accountability at all levels of governance without incurring any consequences. The transfer of one diplomatic representative conveniently cast as a scapegoat for the spectacularly humiliating failure of a recalcitrant administration before the United Nations earlier this year only makes the country the object of further ridicule. This is unequivocally clear.

Reason for early provincial polls    Full Story>>>>

Is Northern militarization a myth, or reality?
Sunday 13 May 2012

The TNA continues to criticize the government charging that the military is interfering in the day-to-day lives of ordinary people in the Northern Province — and that despite the lapse of 3 years since the end of hostilities between security forces and the LTTE, the Mahinda Rajapaksa regime has failed to ensure a normal civilian administration in the Jaffna peninsula.
The TNA has alleged that the interference from the military instead of abating has shown a tendency for escalation in the province, and that due to such pressures even mainstream political parties are unable to carry out their activities.
TNA MP M.A. Sumanthiran severely criticized the unprecedented presence of military personnel in the Northern Province, and charged that the situation has become worse at the moment with not only civilians but politicians being unable to carry out their tasks due to the constant intervention of military personnel.
 
“Today the military has become nothing but a ‘pain in the ass’,” TNA MP Sumanthiran alleged. “Even the resettlement process is not completed fully in the North and one of the main reasons for that is the military not releasing sufficient lands for the people of the North. The army is forcibly holding onto such lands. Not only should the army release these lands to their original owners —- but they must also ensure a full civilian administration here, devoid of their presence forthwith.”   Full Story>>>

Sumanthiran demands independent international

investigation-Part 1.wmv

12 May 2012

Part 2.wmv

Power to the proletariat the need of the day
The leader of the opposition claimed that the Jaffna May Day rally and the protest was a grand success. Over ten thousand participated in the rally in spite of the campaigns of the government, jacked up by racist campaign of Premadasa. The latter was exposed as the crowd he mobilized, with all such drama was not more than two thousand. His treachery cannot be concealed.

Military leaders kept on saying that under the cover of democratic opposition, terrorists are working. The implication was that those who attend the rally would be classified as terrorist suspects. There were search operations in Batticaloa and Trincomalee where youth, nearly 200, were taken into custody and kept under illegal arrest. On the other hand, pro government Tamil leaders who were accused of para military terror were openly intimidating people. Disregarding all that repression, a significant number of Tamil people have attended the meeting. Hence there was a positive message that was given to the oppressed and suffering Tamil people by this anti racist, united, mass rally. The NSSP contingent that militantly participated in the march and the rally was led by Thirunawakarasu and Dharmasiri Lankapeli. Both were expected to address the rally. Unfortunately  only Dharmasiri could speak; that also without a Tamil translation. In addition, a Lion flag was brought to the stage surreptitiously and displayed by Ranil and Sampanthan. There was no agreement among the parties that participated, to such an action as the meeting was considered to be a protest and a May Day. Neither occasion requires such a symbol which is not accepted as an expression of a democratic unity of the Lankan people. TNA leaders said that it should not be taken so seriously and disputed; in any case as the Lion is the vehicle of Kali it can have a different meaning! But today the Lion symbolizes the domination of Sinhala, claimed to have originated from a Lion man in ancient Bengal, and not Dravidian authority of Kali Amman. Anyway if Tamil nationalist leaders can be pleased with the Lion flag why should others bother?

Land and police powers      Full Story>>>