Friday, August 17, 2012

Divineguma Bill Challenged In Supreme Court

By Colombo Telegraph -August 17, 2012

The Centre for Policy Alternatives and its Executive Director Dr. Paikiasothy Saravanamuttu filed a Petition today in the Supreme Court challenging the constitutionality of the “Divineguma Bill”.

Dr. Paikiasothy Saravanamuttu

Issuing a press statement the Centre for Policy Alternatives says “CPA is concerned with both the process by which the Bill was introduced and its substantive provisions. Whilst the Bill has a wide reach, CPA highlights the two most important issues. The Bill, if enacted, provides wide powers to the Minister in charge of Economic Development to regulate and decide on a wide range of issues including subjects within the purview of the Provincial Councils, with limited checks and balances. The Bill contains several clauses providing for the take over of subjects provided in the Provincial Council list in the Thirteenth Amendment to the Constitution, raising serious concerns not merely of centralisation and the consolidation of power, but also of the political will of the Government in terms of its pledges to implement to the full existing provisions in the constitution on devolution.”

Below we reproduce the full text of the CPA statement;

The Centre for Policy Alternatives (CPA) is concerned about the tabling of the “Divineguma Bill” in Parliament which if enacted will have serious implications for democracy, devolution and good governance in Sri Lanka. CPA and its Executive Director filed a Petition today in the Supreme Court (SC SD 3/2012) challenging the constitutionality of the Bill.

CPA is concerned with both the process by which the Bill was introduced and its substantive provisions. Whilst the Bill has a wide reach, CPA highlights the two most important issues. The Bill, if enacted, provides wide powers to the Minister in charge of Economic Development to regulate and decide on a wide range of issues including subjects within the purview of the Provincial Councils, with limited checks and balances. The Bill contains several clauses providing for the take over of subjects provided in the Provincial Council list in the Thirteenth Amendment to the Constitution, raising serious concerns not merely of centralisation and the consolidation of power, but also of the political will of the Government in terms of its pledges to implement to the full existing provisions in the constitution on devolution.

Furthermore, the Bill if enacted will take away the ambit of oversight mechanisms, especially in the area of financial control and accountability. The Bill also contains provision for officers and servants of the Department established through the Bill to sign a declaration pledging secrecy related to work of the said Department, raising questions as to why such a provision should be included in respect of a Department that is meant to serve and be accountable to the people. CPA holds that any Government institution including departments must be accountable to the legislature and be transparent in their functions especially in the area of finance. Thus, it is essential that all entities receiving and dealing with State funds adhere to the standards set in terms of Chapter XVII of the Constitution.

In addition to the range of substantive issues that are problematic, there are concerns about process. The lack of discussion and transparency prior to the tabling of the Bill and of any known consultation among communities and others who will be affected is extremely troubling. This is a general problem related to the law making process and particularly so in this case, given the implications of such a Bill. CPA hopes that the challenging of the Bill will raise public awareness and generate discussion and debate on it –processes that are paramount in a functioning democracy.

The “Divineguma Bill” can be accessed here.

Buddhist Mob Backed by President's Brother-In-Law Attacks Christian Pastor and Wife in Deniyaya

Aug-16-2012

The pastor was accused of spreading Christianity.

Courtesy: http://www.tbcuk.net/?p=11926">tbcuk.net

(DENIYAYA, Sri Lanka TBC LONDON ) - A Leading Christian Pastor of the Assembly of Church (AOG) and his wife have been brutally attacked by a mob of around 40 persons at Deniyaya in the Matara district of the Southern Province on August 9th.

The attack on the senior AOG pastor and wife was followed by another incident in Deniyaya where a woman church worker of the Methodist Church was threatened and abused by a mob which wanted her to leave the area.

The mob which attacked the Assembly of God church pastor and wife had arrived in a truck, a pajeiro jeep and three trishaws. One of the persons in the Pajeiro was identified as Thusitha Ranawaka the owner of Nathagala estates in Deniyaya.

Ranawaka had not been involved in the attacks directly but had allegedly used his vehicle to obstruct the pastor and wife on the road. He had allegedly observed the physical manhandling of the Christian couple from the Pajeiro and had followed the mob closely behind while the incident took place. His conduct amounted to a backing of the attack.

Ranawaka incidently is married to a sister of Speaker Chamal Rajapaksa, President Mahinda Rajapaksa, Defence Secretary Gotabaya Rajapaksa and Economic Development minister Basil Rajapaksa.

Apart from Presidential brother in law Ranawaka, others involved in the incident were five Buddhist priests in yellow /saffron robes and the Pradeshiya Sabha secretary.

The pastor was accused of spreading Christianity in the area. There are around 500 Christians living in the predominantly Buddhist Deniyaya.

Reproduced below are two brief reports issued by the National Christian Evangelical Alliance of Sri Lanka(NCEASL) on the disturbing incidents at Deniyaya.

Pastor and wife accosted and beaten up by mob
Assembly of God (AoG) Sri Lanka
Deniyaya (Matara District)

9th August 2012

The Senior Pastor of the church who is also the Regional Presbyter for the AoG and his wife visited a church member and her daughter at approximately 1 in the afternoon. While they were on their way back home on their motorbike, they found the road obstructed by logs. The pastor moved the logs and they proceeded on their way.

A little further on at a junction, their motorbike was cut off by a powerful pajero vehicle, throwing the pastors wife on to the ground. They were then set upon by a large mob of about 40 men, accompanied by 5 Buddhist monks and the assistant secretary of the Pradeshiya Sabha (local government authority) who arrived in a truck and 3 trishaws. The mob advancing on them were carrying rocks and shouting ‘attack them’ , ‘kill them’.

They were joined by a man who was riding in the pajero vehicle identified as a brother in law of H.E. the President. The pastor was dragged along the ground and beaten by the men who shouted at him, asking who gave him permission to live in this area. The pastor had replied that he had resided in Deniyaya for many years and did not need anyone’s permission to be there. They accused him of spreading Christianity and threatened to kill him if he did not stop his Christian ministry. The pastor’s wife was scolded in very abusive language.

The mob then forcibly dragged the pastor and his wife to the house which the couple visited earlier. They shouted at the lady of the house and her daughter asking how much they were paid to convert to Christianity. They replied that they have been Christians long before they moved to Deniyaya and no one paid them to become Christians and it was an independent decision based on conviction. They beat the pastor again. The pastor and his wife managed to escape from the mob and made their way home. The pajero continued to follow them up to their home.

The pastor suffered injuries to his legs and body, but did not want to go to the hospital as they feared they would be followed and harmed further. A complaint was made to the Police regarding the assault.

Later in the night, the same pajero was seen driving around the vicinity of their house. The called the Police and the Police responded with a mobile unit.

The Pastor’s and his wife’s ID cards, his mobile phone, Bible and other documents were stolen during the assault. On 10th August, several persons including church members who’s numbers were stored on the pastor’s phone received bogus calls from a person pretending to be the pastor, asking them to come and meet him at various locations. The ID cards have been returned to the Police but the phone and the Bible are still missing.

http://www.tbcuk.net/?p=11926

Getting Displaced From South To Get Landed In Madu!

By Kusal Perera -August 17, 2012

Kusal Perera

Getting bashed as a “Traitor” is just normal for me, here in the South. Getting verbally mauled by Sinhala Buddhists is also common place for me. A comment to a recent article written by me, read, “Kusal is a shrewd observer of the Sinhala scene…..” The word “shrewd” could mean anything but complimentary. Another said, I would only feel happy with a “Catholic” leader. “Catholic”, not meant in any respectable context. Interestingly, all comments to my article were read, while on my return from the annual Madu festival that concluded, Wednesday 15 August.

In Madu, seated in the VIP tent next to the much venerated church of Maradamadu “Maeniyo” (‘Virgin Mary’ in traditional Vanni perception) by accident, I looked around to see if there were other Sinhala Buddhists too, apart from me that would not make my presence there look too much of an accident, but just normal. Fortunately in the row before me was a very special and a small entourage of “Southern patriots”, with due approval from the Rajapaksa family itself. They were taken care of by a few special security men in civvies and none would therefore call them names, I would be honored with. ‘Obvious’, I thought. Within the Rajapaksa clan, there can not be “a traitor and a stooge of Catholic Action” like me, though we sat under the same VIP roof, for the same Madu church festival.

And we all sat through the 400 year old Madu Church festival, that interacted with the people of this soil from coast to coast, in their own languages. Tamil and Sinhala. People from many corners of the land, converging in their thousands to Madu the previous few days, to pitch tents in convenient places. Whole families, with infants and feeble old grand parents huddled in small tents in every open space available. In fading evening light, the look of it immediately brought me dull and drooping memories of the early months in Chettikulum, Menik farm, a few kms away. The feel of it was humanly different though and warm, under the emerging half moon, over canopies of huge, wild trees.

They were queuing for water, for public toilets in a hurry, getting ready for the late evening service to make their confessions thereafter. The elderly were chatting in the slow moving queues with a feeling of unrestricted freedom, the young giggling with their own stories. A liberated feeling of a sort, for all. A grand milieu of Tamil and Sinhala languages, wafting in the same dry, dusty Mannar air, given no special drift.

Hired buses parked close to the Madu precincts, indicated they came from places as far as Batticaloa, Jaffna, Badulla, Galle, Maggona, spread across most provinces. A larger turn out was from the coastal belt that stretched from Wattala to Chilaw. Different sizes and shapes of lorries and vans, old and brand new cars, two wheeled tractors with trailers, defined the cosmopolitan nature of the people, gathered around the Madu church. Madu had put them together in a humanly spiritual bond, erasing the differences to a bare minimum.

My politically warped mind was searching for “categories” that could make me see this whole live phenomenon in political terms. “Classless”, “Pluralistic”, “Inclusive”, “Peace”, or, “Reconciliation” ? Or, all of it ? I settled on the term, “COUNTER CULTURE” !

Yes ! It was a “counter culture” to the culture of divisions, differences and disintegrations in present day Sri Lanka. It was a “counter culture” that kept humans as humans to treat other humans as humans and to share what’s available as humans, amongst humans. The final and the main service the next morning, while we sat, stood and watched the devout kneel in pious obedience, crowned this “counter culture” in absolute terms.

Bishop of Mannar, Dr. Rayappu Joseph heading the service was assisted by many who added much to the day’s service in both Tamil and Sinhala, in perfect harmony. The list of names of Bishops in attendance, spanned from Trincomalee to Kurunegala, to Kandy to Galle and the Auxiliary Bishop of Colombo, least reminding the flock there is a Cardinal heading the Catholic church today, in Sri Lanka. Thousands around us came together in their own vernacular, singing and praying together.

After Bishop of Mannar, Dr. Rayappu Joseph’s sermon in Tamil that I understood not, Bishop of Galle, Dr. Raymond Kingsley Wickramasinghe in his perfectly articulated, creatively crafted sermon in Sinhala, nailed the politicians on a cross, for all that had not been achieved in this post war Sri Lanka.

His, was a rarely heard plea from the South. Its not that we in the South did not see you being left in difficulty, he explained. Its not that we did not feel for you, he said. ” Yet IF” he said, “you in the land of the troubled, feel, we from South Sri Lanka (‘Dakunu Laka’, as he said) were not there to share your grief, we were not there to be part of the pain you suffered, were not there to share your life, once again trying to stand up, I beg, you pardon us.” For we have not been with them enough, as sons and daughters of God, he said. “Today” he said, “with all the construction that spreads across the country as development from North to South, the agony of people can not be wiped away, what would all this mean to them ?” he asked. Leaders in society, political and religious leader are there to lead the people for their good life in society and those who can not, will not be accepted in the Kingdom of God, he said.

I looked around to see what expressions there were in people, who stood with their palms clasped, in silence. Most may have taken time to feel through his hour long sermon. Some would have repented having had to hear, what they did not do as sons or daughters of God. I left with a silent rhapsody, rarely felt in this Sinhala South. “Thank you, Bishop Wickramasinghe” I told myself……in silence. “Thank you to you too, Bishop Rayappu Joseph”, for giving space for a “counter culture” that allows inclusivity and different perceptions.

THILAK KARUNARATNE SUBMITS RESIGNATION

August 17, 2012
Chairman of the Securities and Exchanges Commission, Thilak Karunaratne has submitted his resignation today, saying he had come under pressure from stock market players under investigation for stock manipulation.

The SEC chief had been pushing investigations into stock market malpractice, including so-called pump-and-dump deals in which investors are lured into apparently cut-price equities.

“I don’t even call them investors. They are crooks. The pressure from those crooks goes elsewhere and then in turn that party is exerting pressure on me,” Karunaratne told Reuters.

Ada Derana had reliably learnt that pressure was being exerted on the former politician by decision makers demanding his resignation from the top seat of the SEC.

Dr. Karunaratne had reportedly mentioned that there is no point in continuing if the regulator does not have the independence to function and execute his duties, sources close to Dr. Tilak Karunaratne had disclosed.

Karunaratne’s resignation was the second in less than nine months after his predecessor, Mrs. Indrani Sugathadasa, left amid complaints from brokers that tougher regulations were hurting stock prices.

Tilak Karunaratne is a former Sri Lanka Freedom Party (SLFP) member who joined the United National Party (UNP) before joining the Sihala Urumaya. He is also a Chartered Chemist and was the Managing Director of Multiform Chemicals (Pvt) Ltd.

Earlier in November last, amidst a stock market crash in Colombo the then SEC Director General Malik Cader resigned and was later appointed as consultant on Capital Markets by the Finance Ministry. He was followed by Indrani Sugathadasa who also later resigned from the top slot in the SEC.

Sri Lanka President criticises Left party leader for attending DMK meet

Colombo: Sri Lankan President Mahinda Rajapaksa on Wednesday cautioned that separatist elements in the country have not given up yet, in a veiled reference to the Tamil Eelam supporters' conference held in Chennai recently.

"Though we have ended terrorism, there is lot more remaining to be done. Forty years ago they passed a resolution seeking separation of the country. The conference held recently also boosts Eelam demand," Mr Rajapaksa told a gathering at Kuruvita, a south western town.

Eelam is the separate Tamil state which the LTTE fought to set up in a bitter military battle over three decades.

Mr Rajapaksa said the whole country needs to unite so as not to let those seeking separation gain momentum.

He was critical of the leader of the Left Front Wickremabahu Karunaratne for attending the DMK called TESO conference, although he did not name him directly.

He said patriotic Sri Lankans should not go overseas and criticise the nation.

Sri Lanka: India’s Judicial Standards And Accountability Bill, 2012 Is Worthy Of Emulation

By Basil Fernando -August 17, 2012

Basil Fernando

Safeguarding judicial independence from attacks by the government came to light due to the threats alleged to have been made by Minister of Industries and commerce, Rishard Badurdeen and the attacks on the High Court and Magistrate’s Court of Mannar. That powerful politicians have been attempting to excerpt their influence over the judiciary is a widespread perception that has been seen for several decades now. Concern for the prevention of corruption in the judiciary is a topic that has found expression in many public debates.

Despite of the great public importance of this issue nothing significant has been done to inspire public confidence in the country’s political determination to safeguard the independence of the judiciary. In this regard India, where there was similar public concern, has taken initiatives to bring a law to penalise any form of judicial corruption and to ensure speedy and credible investigations into allegations of corruption. The Judicial Standards and Accountability Bill, 2012 is designed to address this public concern.

The judicial standards to be followed by judges are proposed by Chapter II of this bill.

15 JUDICIAL STANDARDS TO BE FOLLOWED BY JUDGES

3(1) Every Judge shall continue to practice universally accepted values of judicial life Judicial standards – as specified in the Schedule to this Act..

(2) In particular, and without prejudice to the generality of the foregoing provision, no Judge shall—
(a) contest the election to any office of a club, society or other association or hold such elective office except in a society or association connected with the law or any court;
(b) have close association or close social interaction with individual members of the Bar, particularly with those who practice in the same court in which he is a Judge;
(c) permit any member of his immediate family (including spouse, son, daughter, son-in-law or daughter-in-law or any other close relative), who is a member of the Bar, to appear before him or associated in any manner with a cause to be dealt with by him;
(d) permit any member of his family, who is a member of the Bar, to use the 30 residence in which the Judge actually resides or use other facilities provided to the
Judge, for professional work of such member;
(e) hear and decide a matter in which a member of his family, or his close relative or a friend is concerned;
(f) enter into public debate or express his views in public on political matters or on matters which are pending or are likely to arise for judicial determination by him:

Transnational Government of Tamil Eleam (TGTE) Announces Appointments to the House of Senate

Two people who write for Salem-News.com are now part of the new government of Tamil Eelam (Sri Lanka).

Dr. Brian Seneviratne and Ramsey Clark are both TGTE Senators, both work with Salem-News.com

(NEW YORK CITY) - Significant progress is being realized in the effort to establish the nation of Tamil Eelam in the north of Sri Lanka. Senators for the Transnational Government of Tamil Eelam have been announced.

The Tamil population in this island nation off the coast of India, a breakdown populace of Hindu and Christian, was massacred by the Sri Lanka government in a pogrom that ended just over three years ago, in May of 2009.

Many Tamils will tell you that the continuing military occupation of the Tamil north is simply an extension of the campaign to slaughter them and remove the Tamil minority from Sri Lanka. Sri Lanka officials deny this but acknowledge that the white van incidents are a matter of serious concern, however they assess the blame for these disappearances of Tamils and Tamil supporters on the Tamils themselves.

The same government alleged that the only civilians who died at the end of the country's 30-year civil war in 2009, were being used as 'human shields', which suggests that people dying in a political resistance would slaughter those they defend.

Sex abuse, rape, arbitrary arrest and detainment; 'white van' political kidnappings; these acts are all attributed to the government of Sri Lanka (GoSL) along with detention camps that may or may not hold large numbers of the 160k Tamils who ceased to exit according to records, after the culmination of a series of military attacks.
- Tim King, News Editor, Salem-News.com

“

Office of the Prime Minister
Transnational Government of Tamil Eelam
875 Avenue of the Americas, Suite 1001
www.tgte.org
New York, NY 10001,
USA

August 15, 2012

Dear Honorable Members of TGTE,

Re: TGTE Announces Appointments to to the house of Senate the house of Senate

Read Full Article

SEC Crisis: Is this Open Letter Of April 2011 Now Worthy Of Attention?

By Chandra Jayaratne -

Chandra Jayaratne

Is this Open Letter of April 2011 now worthy of attention and Aaction in the face of the Securities Exchange Commission crisis? See highlighted Areas;

30^th April 2011.

An Open Letter to the;

Chairman, Social Scientists Association,

Chairman, Ceylon Chamber of Commerce,

President, Sri Lanka Economic Association,

Executive Director Transparency International Sri Lanka,

President, Institute of Chartered Accountants of Sri Lanka,

President, Chartered Financial Analysts Association,

Chairman, Bankers Association of Sri Lanka,

President, Bar Association of Sri Lanka,

President, Organization of Professional Associations,

Executive Director, Institute of Policy Studies,

Can Your Conscience Be Reconciled If an Avoidable Economic Calamity Strikes Sri Lanka?

Have you and your fellow executive committee members of the respective associations, Institutes and Chambers ever spent time reflecting on how you will reconcile your conscience as Intellectuals, Professionals, Academics, and Business Leaders, in the event Sri Lanka and its citizens are significantly impacted negatively in the future, following an economic and social calamity, especially if such catastrophe was avoidable by intellectual debate, early warning, and collective risk mitigation action initiatives?

Have you reflected on the recent economic and social calamities that negatively impacted common citizens of Iceland, USA, Greece, Portugal, and Spain etc? Following such a critique have you asked the critical questions?

16 August 2012

Julian Assange's Wikileaks website published leaked diplomatic cables

Ecuador has granted asylum to Wikileaks founder Julian Assange two months after he took refuge in its London embassy while fighting extradition from the UK.

It said his human rights might be violated if he is sent to Sweden to be questioned over sex assault claims.

Foreign Secretary William Hague said the UK would not allow Mr Assange safe passage out of the country and the move was also criticised by Stockholm.

Ecuador said it would seek to negotiate arrangements for Mr Assange to leave.

"We don't think it is reasonable that, after a sovereign government has made the decision of granting political asylum, a citizen is forced to live in an embassy for a long period," Foreign Minister Ricardo Patino said.

Mr Assange took refuge at the embassy in June to avoid extradition to Sweden, where he faces questioning over assault and rape claims, which he denies.

Mr Patino had accused the UK of making an "open threat" to enter its embassy to arrest Mr Assange, an Australian national.

Ecuador's foreign minister Ricardo Patino: "We believe that his fears are legitimate"

Mr Assange said being granted political asylum by Ecuador was a "significant victory" and thanked staff in the Ecuadorean embassy in London.

However, as the Foreign Office insisted the decision would not affect the UK's legal obligation to extradite him to Sweden, Mr Assange warned: "Things will get more stressful now."

"It was not Britain or my home country, Australia, that stood up to protect me from persecution, but a courageous, independent Latin American nation," said Mr Assange, who watched the announcement with embassy staff in a live link to a press conference in Quito.

Full Story>>>

Sri Lanka: Can Any Change Be Expected Shortly?

By Charitha Ratwatte -August 17, 2012

Charitha Ratwatte

The dictionary definition of a ‘pun’: ‘the clever or humorous use of a word that has more than one meaning, or words that have different meanings but sound the same’.

The second word of the headline of today’s column is not exactly a pun, but somewhat akin to one, as it is a play of a similar sounding activity which can be done with the human or animal tongue, spelt differently.

The dictionary meaning of ‘liqueur’ is ‘a strong sweet alcoholic drink, sometimes flavoured with fruit’. The first part of the headline, ‘Posterior,’ is, to quote the dictionary, ‘the part of your body which you sit on’.

There is a cruder word, pronounced and spelt differently, which describes the same identical part of the anatomy. That word is phonetically similar to an alternative word, pronounced and spelt differently, for that quadruped, the humble donkey, which is a native of the Mannar District on this island, and many other parts of the world.

Readers may wonder what took my thought process to the cruder set of words, which is somewhat similar in a pun-ish manner to ‘Posterior Liqueurs’. I have an explanation, but before that I would request the readers, who have the required language skills, to put the cruder version of ‘posterior skills’ into the Sinhala slang equivalent, to appreciate the depth of the contempt which is expressed, when it is so used.

His Master’s Voice Read More

A country fractures: from the mines, a killing field in South Africa

The wild volley of gunfire erupted for less than three minutes. When it was over, at least seven bodies – and perhaps as many as 18 – lay in pools of blood on a dusty South African hilltop.It took just a brief burst of gunfire to expose all of the worst ills of post-apartheid South Africa: a volatile cocktail of poverty, labour militancy, police brutality, industrial decline and an increasingly angry and radicalized population.
South Africa police open fire at striking mine workers

The deadly clash between police and striking workers on Thursday was the latest chapter in a saga of mounting violence in South Africa’s mining sector – historically the biggest employer in the country, but now in serious decline.

The assault by enraged mineworkers, which sparked the final volley of gunfire, should have been no surprise to the police. It followed a week of bloodshed at the Marikana platinum mine, about 70 kilometres northwest of Johannesburg, owned by London-based Lonmin.

Up to 3,000 police, backed by helicopters and armoured vehicles, have been facing off against about 3,000 striking workers, many of whom were carrying machetes, iron rods and wooden sticks. So far 10 people have already been killed, including two police officers and two security guards.

At first the police used water cannons, tear gas and rubber bullets to try to disperse the workers. But when a mob of workers charged toward them on Thursday, the police resorted to live ammunition, seemingly unprepared for safer ways of defusing the conflict.

More News>>>

Thursday, August 16, 2012

‘What Sri Lanka Is…’: Acknowledging The Ethnic Conflict In Post-War Reconciliation

Sign post for the military police in Jaffna, in Sinhalese and English only.

By Ambika Satkunanathan -

August 16, 2012

The Sri Lankan government has appropriated the term ‘reconciliation’ to construct a narrative of post-war Sri Lanka in which the rights of non-majority communities are being protected, and their concerns addressed. In reality, the policies and acts of the state show scant regard for the rights of non-majority communities, dismissing the ethno-political nature of the conflict and the need for a political solution as irrelevant.

The argument presented by Sanka Chandima Abayawardena in ‘Reconciliation in Sri Lanka means the youth must lead the way’ – that reconciliation initiatives should be conceived and driven at the local level by Sri Lankan youth – appears reasonable and benign. However, the experience of people in the conflict-affected northern areas illustrates the extent to which Abayawardena has disregarded complex ground realities, while calling upon pressure groups to understand ‘the nature of the country – what Sri Lanka is…’.

This article focuses on recent research conducted among the Tamil community in the north.

Equating calls for justice with revenge: What do the affected say? A welcome sign in English only.

The call for an international intervention to establish responsibility for war crimes has been dismissed by Abayawardena as a political move aimed at ‘persecuting the Sri Lankan political and civil leadership out of anger’. Commentators such as Michael Roberts have argued that the ‘bitterness wrought by the ethnic conflict’ could be fuelling the need for retribution that they assume many Tamils feel, which in turn might lead to the fabrication of allegations of war crimes. There are also those who claim that persons affected by the armed conflict only wish for a better standard of living, jobs, access to education and healthcare, and are not concerned either about violations of human rights and humanitarian law that took place during the armed conflict, including the last stages of the war, or a political solution to the ethnic conflict.