Concern Over Military’s Land Requests in Jaffna 

By Maryam Azwer

M. A. Sumanthiran

Saturday, June 16, 2012

Despite military claims that they will not acquire private lands in Jaffna, concerns have been raised following recent requests for land made by the military to local government bodies.
Requests have been made to various Divisional Secretariats and Pradeshiya Sabhas by the Department of Land Administration as well as the military themselves, to identify land that can be acquired by the military.
According to TNA MP and Attorney-at-law, M. A. Sumanthiran, these government bodies have been sent notices which have made references to land that is both state owned, as well as private.
“They have sent schedules of various lands that they want,” he said, adding that divisional secretariats had also been asked to make arrangements to get people to sign over their lands.
“They have been asked to take action under the Land Acquisition Ordinance,” said Sumanthiran. He also explained that very little land in Jaffna was state land.
The Nallur Divisional Secretariat and Valikamam North Pradeshiya Sabha are among the government bodies who have received such notices.
According to Valikamam North Pradeshiya Sabha Chairman, Somasundaram Sugirthan, the military had made a request for a certain plot of land on May 23.
“This land had been given by the government to the Pradeshiya Sabha in 1971, to be used as a playground, but since 1990 has been occupied by displaced people,” he said, while a part of it is being used for solid waste management.
He added that they had written to the military saying that they were not willing to hand over this land.
The Chairman also said that none of the land in Valikamam North was state land. “There is only the Pradeshiya Sabha land, the KKS cement factory land and agrarian land,” he said. He also said most of these lands came under the High Security Zone. Meanwhile, Nallur Divisional Secretary, Senthil Nanthan, who had also received requests for land for the military, said this matter had been referred to the Government Agent (GA), Jaffna. Jaffna GA, Arumunaigam Suntharam, said he was still looking into the matter, and that he would be discussing it with the divisional secretaries.
The military’s stand on this, however, has been that they would not be acquiring any private lands.
“We are not going to take private land, only state land,” said Jaffna Security Forces Commander, Major General Mahinda Hathurusinghe.
“The Governor has told the respective district secretaries to identify government lands wherever possible. We are just checking with those lands, whether strategically they are important for us,” he said.
Major General Hathurusinghe also said that the reason they wanted this state land was so that they could move out of private lands that the military currently occupied.
“For so long we have been occupying private homes, private lands of the people. We are in the process of handing them back and we are strategically locating ourselves in government land, like in any other part of the country,” he said.
He also said, “the problem is in Jaffna, where state land is very less. But we are trying to fit in our requirements within government land.”
A week ago, there were media reports that the military was planning to appropriate land in the Jaffna, Tellippalai and Nallur divisions. Responding to queries on this matter, Military spokesperson, Brigadier Ruwan Wanigasuriya said that this was actually part of the army’s relocation process.
“In the process, there are some lands, government lands, identified as available. We haven’t acquired them yet. We are only trying to, and shift from private lands, thereby freeing the city further of military presence,” he said, adding that it was also a means of bringing scattered military establishments together.

POST WAR AVARICE SUCKS NATURAL RESOURCES DRY IN NORTH
Sunday 17 June 2012

Sand mining goes on unabated under the guise of development

By Rathindra Kuruwita

It would be seem redundant to reiterate that the exploitation of mineral resources in any country would impact on its economy. There are many examples from around the world – from the Island of Nauru to the African Continent where unplanned and unregulated mining activity has spelt doom for the countries concerned. 
Those who have successfully managed the long term exploitation of mineral resources, i.e. Germany and the USA have done so through careful regulation and planning which have served to prolong the sustainability of their resources as well as minimize ecological degradation. 

Sri Lanka and mineral 
wealth in the north
The 30 year civil war deprived the Sri Lankan economy of its once significant contribution from mineral sands from the north and the east. The factory at Pulmudei, which has nearly five million tonnes of ilmanite that can be mined at the rate of 150,000 tonnes a year, rutile and zircon that can be mined at the rates of 10,000 tonnes and 6,000 tonnes, respectively, was inactive for over two decades. Meanwhile, the ‘final report on the mineral resources in the Mulaitivu district (under the Integrated Strategic Environmental Assessment (ISEA,) a study of the Northern Province’ in January 2011, also highlighted the massive mineral resources in the two provinces.
Although harvesting the substantial mineral wealth as well as development activities in the areas are necessary -- mineral excavation should be carried out under proper guidelines. The report (stated above) comissioned out by Geological Survey and Mines Bureau (GMSB) also highlights the dangers of unplanned mining, and steps that should be taken to minimize the damage to the environment. 
It is in this backdrop that 5000 acres near Kokilai lagoon, one of Sri Lanka’s oldest protected areas, have been reserved for a mineral sand excavation project and an industrial zone by Indian companies. The Ministry of State Resources and Entrepreneur Development stated that initiatives are underway to construct a Mineral Sands Plant for the Sri Lanka Mineral Sands Corporation in Kokilai at an estimated cost of Rs50 million.

Reconciliation by robbing?
Apart from the Kokilai lagoon and sanctuary, the earmarked area also comprises agricultural land belonging to farmers of whom many have not returned to the area after the war. 
“The sale of mineral sand currently being carried out without damaging the environment will continue while 500 more acres between Yan Oya and Pubmodai will be allocated for foreign investors to set up an industrial zone,” Minister Dayashri Thisera said, adding that, “the open transparency method that is followed in tender procedures has helped Sri Lanka Mineral Sands Corporation make a profit of Rs186 million, considered massive in its history.” 
However environmentalists claim that the project is being carried out violating environmental laws, and that neither a feasibility study nor an Environmental Impact Assessment (EIA) had been carried out for the project. 
The Kokilai lagoon and its vicinity are one of the oldest protected areas in Sri Lanka, having been declared a sanctuary on May 18, 1951, over 61 years ago. 
The 2,995 hectare protected area consists of estuaries, deltas, intertidal mudflats, sand flats and mangrove ecosystems. The sanctuary cuts across the boundaries of both Trincomalee and Mulaitivu Districts that come under the Eastern and Northern Provinces. 
“Laws are neglected and there are hoardings announcing the project at the site,” said Thilak Kariyawasam of the Environmental Conservation Trust (ECT). “However the project is not only harming the environment, but is also destroying fertile agricultural land and the livelihood of fishermen,” he added.

Loss of livehood

The GSMB (see main story) has identified that mineral sands are widely distributed in the coastal stretch covering north of the Kokilai Lagoon. Mineralogical analysis of the sand samples collected in the area has indicated that ‘ilmenite sands are the predominantly occurring mineral sand variety within the zone with over 60% while percentages of rest of the mineral sands are, zircon - 10 %, rutile - 8%, monazite - 3% and sillimanite - 1%,’ (page 9 of the report.)’
Thus it is evident that the project will encompass the lagoon that will lead to the destruction of mangrove ecosystems which in turn will lead to the decline of aquatic species in the lagoon. The lagoon is famous for species such as crabs and prawns, and more than 1500 fisher families in the area depend on this lagoon for their livelihood.  
According to government regulations, anyone clearing more than one hectare of forest land has to obtain approval from the Central Environmental Authority (CEA) subject to an Environmental Impact Assessment. In addition, there are provisions which prohibit the removal of mangroves and prevent permanent structures/development activities near a lagoon.
“The saddest thing is that most people don’t even know that their land has been taken over. There are thousands of people in camps dreaming about their return home. How will they feel when they find their land has been taken over without their knowledge?” Kariyawasam asked. 
The government’s action stands in stark contrast to the GSMB’s study which clearly identified the need to include the local community in the areas’ development and the need that they should benefit from the natural resources of the area. 
The degradation of the environment and the loss of biological resources are not purely environmental issues. The world pharmaceutical industry, estimated at trillions of dollars and is growing, is looking for new biological compounds which would lead to new medical breakthroughs in cancer medication. Their growing desperation can be seen by the increasing number of scientists sent to collect plant and animal samples, by any means, from biodiversity hotspots like Sri Lanka. 
In such a context preserving and identifying a country’s biological resources may open doors for long term and inexhaustible sources of income. Therefore the question is weather it is judicious to degrade our natural resources so that we could make a fast buck for a limited period of time, excluding local communities -- or whether we should move towards a regulated growth model?

Aung San Suu Kyi accepts Nobel peace prize

Peter Beaumont in Oslo  Saturday 16 June 2012 
Burmese pro-democracy leader says prize, awarded in 1991, helped shatter her sense of isolation during house arrest
Aung San Suu Kyi delivers her acceptance speech during the Nobel peace prize ceremony in Oslo. Photograph: Daniel Sannum-Lauten/AFP/Getty Images

In an event hailed as the "most remarkable in the entire history of the Nobel prizes", Aung San Suu Kyi, the Burmese democracy campaigner, delivered her acceptance speech for her peace prize in Oslo's vast City Hall more than two decades after it was awarded.

Given the prize in 1991 – but by then under house arrest by Burma's military junta – it was left to her two sons, Alexander and Kim, to travel toNorway to receive the peace prize that year. Able to travel freely after 21 years, Aung San Suu Kyi stood in front of a packed hall, in which Norwegian dignitaries rubbed shoulders with Buddhist monks in saffron robes and Burmese guests in traditional costumes, to deliver her long-delayed acceptance speech in a moment of high emotion.

FULL STORY>>>

Eurozone crisis could hit our economy harder

By Namini Wijedasa

Sri Lanka’s shaky economy will get another pummelling as the euro-zone sovereign debt crisis worsens, analysts and industrialists warned last week, while urging policy makers to start steeling the country for it. 
But Central Bank Governor Ajith Nivard Cabraal said he did not anticipate a major negative impact. “We don’t need to take any measures right now,” he asserted. “We are watching the situation very closely. We are conducting a review every two weeks or so and if anything is needed we will be ready to step up policy action.”
A combination of actors expressed fears about the euro-zone crisis and its repercussions for Sri Lanka. Fitch Ratings said that, among emerging economies, Sri Lanka’s sovereign rating was at most risk from the fallout. 
“Sri Lanka is most at risk due to its high external-funding needs and weak balance sheet,” Bloomberg newswire quoted Andrew Colquhoun, head of Asia-Pacific sovereign ratings at Fitch, as saying. “The same issues also make India and Indonesia vulnerable compared to similarly graded peers.”

Be ready for it
Full Story>>>

World AIDS Day: The Role of Religion

by Isobel Coleman
December 1, 2011

A Buddhist monk waits to pray at a World AIDS Day commemoration in Colombo, Sri Lanka on December 1, 2011 (Dinuka Liyanawatte/Courtesy Reuters).

Since the first cases of AIDS came to public attention in 1981, the virus has claimed over 25 million lives worldwide. Preventing HIV transmission and providing care for the 34 million people living with the virus remains one of the foremost public health challenges of our time. Even in communities with high rates of HIV/AIDS, the virus is still too often a source of deep social stigma, dissuading those infected from seeking help. Although combating the spread of AIDS requires coordination and support from all sectors, key stakeholders have often exacerbated the epidemic. In South Africa, former President Mbeki’s rejection of the basic scientific consensus on AIDS led to an estimated 343,000 otherwise preventable deaths from 1999 to 2007. While religious leaders are unusually well-placed to provide followers with guidance about this preventable disease, they have in many cases contributed to the epidemic by denying the importance of condoms in HIV prevention and contributing to the stigma that AIDS patients already confront.

Nevertheless, even in light of the ongoing devastation of AIDS, our mixed response to it, and the current funding crunch, we can find a few glimmers of good news. The 2011 UNAIDS World AIDS Day Report indicates that the number of new HIV infections throughout the world decreased by 21 percent from 1997 to 2010. Although 1.8 million people died of AIDS last year, the increased availability of AIDS-fighting drugs resulted in an estimated 700,000 deaths averted. Last month, I wrote about Secretary of State Hillary Clinton’s laudable call for the global community to create an AIDS-free generation, a goal once thought to be impossible. Moreover, historically uncooperative stakeholders are increasingly aligned with HIV prevention objectives. The government of South Africa, once the seat of AIDS denialism, now espouses mainstream scientific views about the virus. Despite many religious leaders’ reticence to support the use of condoms in HIV prevention, a variety of initiatives provide encouraging examples of how religion can serve as a vehicle in the fight against AIDS.

In Muslim communities, religious leaders are using Islamic principles to educate adherents about the disease. In Senegal, which has one of the lowest HIV rates in the region, Muslim leaders promote values such as abstinence and fidelity with a view to HIV prevention and “endorse condoms within a marriage if they [are] used for health reasons.” Recognizing the potential benefits of involving religion in the fight against AIDS, USAID in Indonesia has partnered with religious leaders to “facilitate the implementation of HIV policy statements within the faith” and “share a compilation of fatwa (religious guidance) on HIV prevention.” Some Islamic scholars in Zanzibar characterize family planning as a practice with Koranic endorsement, and their acceptance of condoms for family planning purposes has positive implications for HIV transmission. Nevertheless, while HIV/AIDS prevention programs based in Islamic principles have potential, they also have notable limitations. Invariably, these programs do not address condom use outside of the marital context or HIV transmission among men who have sex with men, as homosexuality is often culturally taboo.

The obstacles to achieving an AIDS-free generation—and the benefits of this achievement for humanity—make the constructive involvement of religious institutions crucial. In evaluating our AIDS prevention strategy, we should view religion as a potentially powerful tool, albeit a complicated and multifaceted one. We should also remember that a single religion’s response to HIV/AIDS is rarely monolithic. For instance, although the Vatican refuses to endorse“the use of condoms…in HIV/AIDS prevention programs,” organizations like Catholic Relief Services have provided assistance to millions of people afflicted with the virus throughout the world.

Night spots seem to compete with each other in promoting prostitution!

By Achala Dharmasena
and Pethum Wickremarathna

Karaoke bars are fast becoming places where prostitution is rife, according to our investigations. Juxtaposed to that women who work at karaoke bars are taken by clients to other locations to engage in sexual activities without rousing any suspicion, especially that of the owners of such places.
Investigations also reveal that on days when the clientele is less and income is  low, women who work at these bars take to prositution with the clients who drop by, engaging in sexual activities in the toilets of the bars.
Those who frequent karaoke clubs are said to be those from the middle class, and as such can afford a night out as the more expensive night clubs are out of their reach, financially. However, in both karaoke bars and the high class night clubs in the metropolis, postitution seems to be thriving, according to investigations conducted by the LAKBIMAnEWS team.

In search of ‘greener pastures’
Women are recruited to serve in these night spots through advertisements placed in newspapers, while some night spots recruit them to work part time. This arrangement seems to suit certain women as they can have regular day time jobs while working at night clubs and karaoke bars at night as the times of work are around 10-11 pm and 3-4 am.
Speaking to some of the women working in these places reveals that they come into the cities from their villages in search of ‘greener pastures’ but having secured jobs at night clubs or places where there is entertainment at night, they are invariably lured into prositution, most often against their wishes.

Sold above stipulated rates
Of interest is the fact that these women also sell food and liquor at prices above stipulated rates as such sales entitle them to a commission by the management. Cigarettes, alcohol and food so sold enables them to rake in extra cash at the end of the day from the management of the night spot they work for. Cigarettes for example sold at night clubs and karaoke bars are invariably imported and range between Rs950-Rs1000 per pack.
While  food is sold at above average prices, alcohol too is over priced according to sources who operate at these night spots. In the case of alcohol, clients are charged Rs1000-Rs2000 more than what they would pay at a local bar. As such, what a client might spend in an evening would be in the range of Rs10,000.
Investigations also reveal that these women tell their clients how they have ended up at night clubs or karaoke bars in their pursuit of finding employment to overcome the poverty they are faced with in their villages, and that owners of these places do not pay them a salary that is commensurate with the work that they do.
As revealed in past articles, night clubs and karaoke bars are also known to sell illegal drugs to their clients. Whilst such sales are carried out covertly, some resort to doing so overtly, investigations reveal. Illegal drugs are mixed with fruit juices, in soda and beer, and served to clients, it was alleged.
It was also alleged that such drinks are given to young clients in order to make them addicts, and was one of the reasons  a prominent casino on D.R. Wijewardena Mawatha, Colombo 10, was raided recently.

 

The sacking Of Ceylon Today Editor: Mainstream Morass

By Sanjana Hattotuwa -

Sanjana Hattotuwa

The dismissal of an Editor last week, and the principled resignation of four other journalists from the same masthead raises the question, and not for the first time, whether mainstream journalism in Sri Lanka survives only when it pursues, and is seen to pursue, a partisan line.

During the run up to the Presidential elections in January 2010, a prominent Sunday newspaper publicly aligned itself to support the former Army Commander Sarath Fonseka. This same newspaper in 2011 very publicly supported the Mayoral campaign of a candidate who was very obviously a proxy of the Defence Secretary. State media has for as long as we have consumed it supinely supports whatever government is in power. Some private media, supported in large part by business interests that can’t risk the ire of government, toe the regime’s line as much as State media. Other private media support not just opposition to government, but specific individuals and factions within the opposition. Very quickly, this all gets rather confusing and even silly. The decision to support tainted individuals over principled journalism, and partisan factions over independent critique of a systemic rot means that mainstream media is ill placed to offer alternatives to or a meaningful interrogation of governance today. Read More

Team Tamil Eelam arrive in Erbil

Now, the Tamil dispora is entering a team for soccer for ‘nations’ not recognised for the football World Cup:

Transcript of interview with Braveen Nagendram (BN), spokesperson for Global Tamil Youth League and member of Giovanni Tamil, Italy:
TG: We’ve been following the progress of team Tamil Eelam closely on Twitter and Facebook, but with the first match against Raetia tomorrow, where exactly is team Tamil Eelam now? Are they in Erbil, Kurdistan already? 
BN: Yes they have arrived on Sunday, June 3rd in Erbil, Kurdistan.
TG: Ever since the TEFA team was announced there has been much interest and hype surrounding the team with Tamils worldwide, young and old, thrilled to hear that a Tamil Eelam football team will be competing in an international world cup. How are the players feeling and coping with the excitement? 
BN: Yes, we are getting many greetings and wishes from the Eelam Tamil diaspora living all over the world.  The players are definitely excited. We can see that a lot, especially through their social media feeds. They mark this as a historic opportunity to represent their motherland in an international arena. Parents and relatives are also very supportive of their children playing in this tournament. Overall, we can see that the Tamils all over the world have been yearning for a football team that they can call their own.
TG: TEFA was a project announced by T-League earlier this year. How did the idea first arise? 
BN: Well, the idea of establishing a Tamileelam Football Association was actually brought from Canada. The Athletics Council Director of Canadian Tamil Youth Alliance, Janarthan Sadacharalingam, presented the idea at the 2nd Annual Global Tamil Youth Conference. The idea was well received by all the member organizations of T-League. At the conference, three coordinators were appointed by T-League to coordinate this project for VIVA 2012. Ragesh Nambiar from Tamil Youth Organization - UK, Jeevan Vijayakumaran from Tamil Youth Organisation - Switzerland were the other two appointed coordinators of Tamileelam F.A.
TG: Excitement is already building with many Tamil kids wanting to know when they are in with a chance to be part of the Tamil Eelam football team. Do you know when the next VIVA World Cup will be? 
B: The next VIVA World Cup will be taking place in Sweden in 2014.
TG: The 2012 TEFA team is made up of players from Canada, UK and Switzerland. Looking forward, are you as T-League and TEFA planning to include players from other countries? 
BN: Most definitely. We did try to reach out to many of the other talented Eelam Tamil Diaspora athletes living in different countries through our member groups. However, due to time constraints, we couldn’t give all the players the time they needed to prepare themselves for the international tour. In the upcoming years through T-League, Tamileelam F.A. will open up more opportunities for more talented athletes.
TG: The excitement around the Tamil Eelam boys has left many girls asking when they too can represent the nation at an international level. Does T-League have plans of organizing a team of Tamil Eelam girls for an international sporting tournament? 
BN: Some of our member organizations have been working to build solid foundations for women to be involved in sports. T-League will continue to assist our member groups in ecouraging women athletes. When the opportunity does arise for participating in a women’s international tournament, T-League will definitely work towards that goal. We also encourage the women athletes to get involved with our member groups in each countries and be role-models to the upcoming athletes.
TG: Will Tamil Eelam win? 
BN: We are looking forward to it!

– Tamil Guardian

World Bank Warns That Euro collapse Could Spark Global Crisis

June 17, 2012

By Larry Elliott, Helena Smith in Athens and Julia Kollewe / The Guardian -

The outgoing head of the World Bank, Robert Zoellick, will warn the G20 summit that Europe runs the risk of sparking a Lehman-style global crisis that will have dire consequences for developing nations.

World Bank president Robert Zoellick will tell the G20 summit that the euro crisis could hit developing nations. Photograph: Saul Loeb/AFP/Getty Images

As Greek voters go to the polls in elections that could determine the future of the eurozone, Zoellick told the Observer he was advising emerging nations to ready themselves for the consequences of events in the single-currency area.

The election of an anti-austerity government would spark the most serious crisis for the euro so far, following the apparent failure of a Spanish bank bailout last week. German chancellor Angela Merkel yesterday ruled out renegotiating Greece‘s bailout, saying the country must stick to its deals with international lenders. Unofficial polls suggest the conservative New Democracy party is ahead of the anti-austerity Syriza by four percentage points — though as much as 15% of the electorate remains undecided

Read More

Corruption has to end, but how?

The biggest single post war issue, it scarcely needs a special mention, is the   issue of governance — and under the rubric of governance, more precisely, the issue of corruption. As reams were written about the war, in terms of academic treatise and journalistic opinion alike, acres of newsprint and gallons of ink are now expended on the issues of corruption, nepotism and malpractice.  
How deep do the roots of corruption go in this country? Very deep, they say and they are digging deeper. However, there is no quantification of the extent, not even from the anti corruption non-governmental organizations that have set themselves up as the guardians of the anti corruption effort.
But press reporting on the phenomenon of corruption is muted. One reason is that the print media particularly, are owned by persons who have some connection to authority at various levels of power — in order to survive. Legislative instruments such as COPE etc., have not famously been able to deliver for the simple reason that their findings are not acted upon, almost by tacit mutual consent between government and opposition members of Parliament.
There is corruption in terms of financial irregularity at all levels and then there is the considerable corruption in terms of the subversion of institutions through nepotism and political patronage – such as, say, the subversion of the police department, or the subversion of election law during the conduct of polls.
Does that mean that society is doomed? At first glance, it appears to be so. Things are so bad that some of the corruption watchdogs including Transparency International are sometimes seen to be worse than the corrupt government bureaucrats and politicians themselves.
Several members of Parliament for example should be nowhere near the precincts of the assembly. Mervyn Silva is a shoo in such a consideration, but for other reasons such as subversion of election procedure, there are candidates such as Mahindananda Aluthgamage. They are scores of others who should have been disqualified by virtue of previous private conduct.

Full Story>>>

VIDEO: GOVT’S ACTIONS MORE CRIMINAL THAN THE MURDERS - JVP

VIDEO: GOVT’S ACTIONS MORE CRIMINAL THAN THE MURDERS - J

There is a partnership in the country where there are groups that commit murders and crimes in one side and a system manufactured by the government to protect these murderers in the other, the JVP accused.

Member of Parliament and JVP polit bureau member Anura Kumara Dissanayake claims the government is creating various interpretations and wrong depictions of the shooting incident in Katuwana, Hambantota on Friday (June 15).

He accused the government of engaging activities more “criminal” than the murders itself, following the incident.

Instead of arresting the true perpetrators of the crime, the government is attempting to protect these murderers through government spokespersons, government and police media spokesmen, he charged.

Efforts are being made to protect the murderers and place the responsibility of the incident on other parties, Dissanayake said referring to a statement made by Lakshman Hulugalle, that an “internal dispute” in the JVP was suspected to be the reason for the shooting.

By around 9 p.m. less than two hours after the incident had taken place the Director General of the Media Centre for National Security (MCNS), Lakshman Hulugalle, has declared to media that shooting in Hambantota was a dispute between two JVP groups, he said.

At a time when an underworld gang has opens fire at a public gathering, killing two, injuring and hospitalising several others, he says it was the result of a JVP internal conflict, the parliamentarian expressed.

“We (JVP) challenge Lakshman Hulugalle to reveal to the country what were the observations that were the basis for this (statement),” Anura Kumara said at a press briefing today (17).

•  Two killed in shooting at JVP rally
  Jun 15th, 2012


•  Katuwana shooting: JVP internal dispute - MCNS
  Jun 15th, 2012


•  VIDEO: Govt. shifting blame on FSP to save face - JVP
  Jun 16th, 2012

UNP DEMAND ‘IMMEDIATE REMOVAL’ OF DEFENCE SECRETARY

June 17, 2012 

The United National Party today called for the immediate removal of the Secretary to the Ministry of Defence, as they don’t believe the shooting at a JVP meeting in Katuwana, Hambantota will be independently investigated and solved under his administration.

As with all other extra judicial killings, abductions, involuntary disappearances and killing of protesters, we don’t have any reason to believe, there will be independent investigations and a proper judicial process initiated, in this double murder, says UNP MP Mangala Samaraweera.

“Such is the efficiency of this Secretary to the Defence Ministry, who brags that crime in Sri Lanka has not increased as opposition politicians claim,” he said in a statement issued today.

He states that the UNP firmly believes, “a Secretary who takes pride in being the almighty of defence and enforcement of law and order,” having the police department too under his administration, is totally responsible for all custodial killings and the serious increase in sexual abuse of children and various other crimes in the country.

Samaraweera claimed it is under this same Secretary to the Ministry of Defence that for the first time the public heard, of a group of police personnel taking into contract killing and also an army officer getting into the business of killing for money and that 2 police stations were completely mobbed by villagers for custodial killing of youth.

This country, cannot afford to allow such an “inefficient, non administrative service person” to handle a serious and important ministry as its Secretary, and allow “the country to go chaotic and into anarchy,” he said.

“People of this country, whatever their political affiliations cannot live with such unsolved crime, dictated by politically backed armed thugs under a Secretary, who is not even willing to accept he is a total failure as a State officer,” charged the Matara District MP and Convenor of the UNP Media Committee.

We (UNP) therefore don’t believe even this shooting and killing at Katuwana will be independently investigated and solved under his administration, Mangala Samaraweera said demanding that the Secretary to the Ministry of Defence be immediately removed and the position be vested with a career administrator, “as the first step in restoring sanity in law enforcement.”

‘Armed gang sponsored by Rajapaksas’

Two persons including a female died due to a group of unidentified men on motorcycles shooting at a Janatha Vimukthi Peramuna (JVP) local meeting held in Katuwana in the Hambantota District on Friday (June 15).

The Marxist party accuses the government being involved in the incident, while the Media Center for National Security (MCNS) claims “an internal dispute among two JVP groups” is suspected to be the cause for the shooting.

The UNP stressed, any political party, whether in the government or opposition, has the same equal right to participate in democratic political activities without restrictions, intimidations and threats and therefore, it is the undisputed and unchallenged responsibility of this government to allow such democratic political activity, in any part of the country.

“The responsibility of this armed thuggery in breaking up a democratic political meeting at the cost of 2 lives and injuries to many others, therefore has to be totally borne by the Rajapaksa regime, more so, because it is their family bastion of political power, the shooting had taken place,” MP Mangala Samaraweera says in the release.

He further alleged it is no secret in Hambantota that an armed gang in this area is operating in the open with T-56 riffles in hand and the people in the area claim, the police are ineffective as this “armed gang is being sponsored by the Rajapaksas”.

It was in this area that a bus carrying UNP supporters was shot at during the 2010 January presidential elections and a woman was killed. “We are yet to hear of the outcome of the investigations into that killing, 02 years and 06 months after the shooting,” the parliamentarian said.

Building blocks of a Left Programme  A survey of the political landscape
Sunday 17 June 2012

The call for left unity issuing from many directions is falling on deaf or dead ears. The Dead Left in government denotes the latter while the JVP, FSP, NSSP, USP and the parties in fealty to the Shanmugadasan tradition, all sectarians, are prime examples of the former. Without minimal left unity, a left programme seemed impossible, but it is now apparent we need to start at the other end – that is put together the rudiments of a programme and allow time for collaboration to germinate through dialogue. This is my hope in offering a series of five letters titled as follows in successive weeks in this column.

a) The broad political landscape
b) An economic policy framework
c) Industrialisation the key
d) Agriculture, services, foreign investment
e) The national question and the State

I am not swollen headed to imagine that my initial thoughts are sufficient to constitute a draft programme for a unified left. There are prodigious gaps, topics I am ignorant of, and the need for wider discussion and amendment. But in the land of the blind, the one-eyed man is king; nobody is making a start – so some fool had better rush in where angels fear to tread. 

I now turn to topic (a).         Full Story>>>

NATIONAL POST 

Leaked photos reveal fate of Tamil prisoners

Stewart Bell  Jun 16, 2012

Photos, above and below, from a Sri Lankan soldier’s cellphone, show prisoners at the end of the civil war between government forces and the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam rebels.

They are the faces of the vanquished. The captured Tamil rebels are young and barefoot. They are handcuffed to bus seats. Some are bandaged. All have the downcast faces of prisoners awaiting an uncertain fate.

Photos and videos recently smuggled out of Sri Lanka offer a rare glimpse of what happened at the end of the bloody civil war between government forces and the separatist Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE) rebels.

Recorded on the cellphone of a Sri Lankan soldier, the images show wounded rebel captives and rows of bodies in paramilitary and civilian clothing. Inexplicably, many of the women’s bodies have been stripped naked.

“Possibly they could have been sexually assaulted and shot and killed,” said Vasuki Muruhathas, the British lawyer who obtained the images. “But this is clearly showing the ill treatment and the violence on women, and it’s not acceptable.”

Ms. Muruhathas said the client who gave her the digital files had worked at an Internet café during the war.

A female soldier was a customer and at some point the phone’s memory was backed up onto a computer hard drive.

The café owner initially deleted the files out of fear, but he recovered them at the urging of Ms. Muruhathas, who thought they were an important record of the decisive last weeks of the war.

A lobby group seeking an international investigation into whether war crimes were committed during the closing months of the conflict said it would distribute the images to Canadian MPs and media outlets next week.

Copies were obtained in advance by the National Post. There are two dozen photographs and 32 video clips — all recorded on the same Sony Ericsson phone between April 6 and May 19, 2009.

“These images have a great amount of significance in adding further validity to the evidences that have already been documented,” said Roy Gardiner Wignarajah, spokesman for the Transnational Government of Tamil Eelam (TGTE), which wants independence for Sri Lanka’s Tamil minority.

The LTTE fought a long war for Tamil statehood. The fighting concluded in 2009, when the Sri Lanka Army captured the last rebel stronghold. The Tigers’ top commanders were killed, including their leader Velupillai Prabhakaran. About 10,000 combatants were captured. The number of civilian dead is not known and hotly disputed.

Three years later, the images show what a war looks like when it ends. There are scenes of feral-looking children in LTTE uniforms, and rebels sitting cross-legged on the jungle floor with their hands bound behind them. There are bodies wrapped in plastic in the aisle of a bus. One clip shows soldiers celebrating on the day of Prabhakaran’s death.

In the last videos and photos, dozens of dead are lying face up in a field. Almost all the women’s breasts and genitals have been deliberately exposed. They include Charles Anthony, a rebel commander and Prabhakaran’s eldest son. A few are clearly toddlers.

“There are some people with the uniform, but there are other people in civilian clothes so there may be a mixture of them, but definitely there are a few LTTE and it looks like small children,” Ms. Muruhathas said.

A Sri Lankan official has dismissed the images as a “fairy tale” and an attempt to discredit the government.

Their release comes as Colombo is under United Nations’ pressure to co-operate with an international war crimes investigation.

Ms. Muruhathas, who is the British secretary of the TGTE, denied the files were fabricated and said two families had already identified their relatives from the footage.

She intends to send the materials to the UN as evidence of war crimes, or at a minimum mistreatment. She also wants the UN to ask Sri Lanka to disclose the whereabouts of the captured combatants shown in the images.

“After three years the parents are still looking for them,” she said.

Defender of Tamil sovereignty selected for Queen's Jubilee medal in Canada

[TamilNet, Saturday, 16 June 2012, 11:13 GMT]
Showing a positive signal to the democratic struggle of Eezham Tamils, the Canadian government has selected Eezham Tamil youth activist Krishna Saravanamuttu for the award of Queen’s Jubilee Medal. 26-year-old Mr Saravanamuttu has been in the forefront advocating the need for an independent international investigation into the war crimes and genocide of Eezham Tamils by Sri Lanka. Mr. Saravanamuttu called on Canada to support the eviction of Sri Lanka from the Councils of the Commonwealth. He has also also been demanding a referendum among the Eezham Tamils on the basis of historical, earned and remedial aspects of Tamil sovereignty as the only means to check the protracted genocide of the Eezham Tamil nation. 

Mr Glen Murray, the Canadian cabinet minister in-charge of universities, who nominated him for the award, told TamilNet, “Krisna has provided outstanding leadership in Canada's student movement, in his advocacy with the United Nations for justice for Tamils around the world and his leadership in building youth organizations committed to social justice and human equality.”

“He is one of our countries emerging leaders and demonstrates the personal integrity that has earned him the trust of so many and allowed him to accomplish so much,” Glen Murray further said. 

Krishna is one of the 14 people nominated by the universities minister for the award, which will be presented to him on 3 July. Altogether, 60,000 Canadians will be getting the medal for their services to that country.

Krisna Saravanamuttu

Speaking to TamilNet, Mr. Saravanamuttu, who is also currently the national spokesperson for the NCCT, said that his experience in working with activists in the student movement through the York Federation of Students and the Canadian Federation of Students remained pivotal to his own development as a political organiser. He added that he learned the links between different occupied nations and the Tamil liberation struggle through his activism in the Toronto Coalition to Stop the War, the Canadian Peace Alliance, and the Palestinian freedom movement.

He further said “While I am extremely honoured to be recognized for my contributions in Canada, as recipient of this medal, I would like to emphasise the need for the commonwealth countries, especially Britain given its colonial legacy in the island of Sri Lanka, to hold the Sri Lankan state accountable for its genocide of the Eezham Tamil people. I call upon Prime Minister Harper to keep his promise to boycott the next Commonwealth meeting scheduled in Sri Lanka until the country's human rights record improves.”

Stressing the need for an independent international investigation into the war crimes of the GoSL and a referendum among the Eezham Tamils on the basis of historical, earned and remedial aspects of Tamil sovereignty as the only means to check the protracted genocide of the Eezham Tamil nation, Mr. Saravanamuttu called on Canada to support the eviction of Sri Lanka from the Councils of the Commonwealth.