Tamils rally against Rajapaksa during his visit to UN in New York

September 20, 2012

We are urging UN to not to protect him but to support UN Human Rights Council action on Sri Lankan President" 

 (September 20, 2012, New York, Sri Lanka Guardian)Transnational Government of Tamil Eelam (TGTE) announced today that a rally will be held outside the United Nations headquarters in New York to protest Sri Lankan President's visit to the UN General Assembly. 

The rally will be held on September 26th (Wednesday), from 10:00 am to 6:00 pm. This rally is to highlight the gravity of the crimes the Sri Lankan President have committed against Tamil and to alert the UN leaders that among them is a war criminal posing as a Statesman. "We urge the UN not to allow the Sri Lankan President to use his appearance at the UN to sanitize his barbaric international crimes. His is not just a war criminal, but a perpetrator of genocide" said a TGTE spokesperson.

 According to a UN Panel over 40,000 Tamils were killed in five months due to deliberate and intense carpet bombing of areas designated by the government as "no-fire zones", where Tamils assembled for safety. After the Sri Lankan Government's military offensive, Bishop Rayappu noted that 146,679 people were still not accounted for in the region.

 The Sri Lankan Government also restricted food and medicine for Tamils, resulting in large numbers of people dying from starvation and many of the injured bleeding to death. In addition to the killings, thousands of Tamils have disappeared, Tamil women were sexually assaulted and raped, large numbers of Tamils are imprisoned without trial and abductions are continuing to this day. 

Tamils are singled out to face these abuses simply and solely on account of their Tamil nationality. Members of the Sri Lankan Security forces are almost exclusively from the Sinhalese ethnic community and the victims are all from the Tamil ethnic community. Due to the shear number of civilian killings by the Sri Lankan Security forces, the UN Human Rights Council passed a resolution on accountability for these crimes and is about to review it in March 2013. 

The Sri Lankan President is desperately trying to stall the UN Human Rights Council actions and is using international meetings like Un General Assembly to solicit support to protect him from the War Crimes Investigation. "We are urging UN to not to protect him but to support UN Human Rights Council action on Sri Lankan President." continued the spokesperson. TGTE also urged UN leaders to ask Sri Lankan President about the UN Panel report that documented mass killings by his troops and the two documentaries in the "Sri Lanka's Killing Fields" series produced by Channel 4 TV. 

Please remind him that mass killing of civilians is a war crime and a crime against humanity and refuse to protect him. If he claims innocence, then urge him to face international investigation to prove just that. 

Midweek Politics:Towards Impunity And Democratic Erosion

By Dharisha Bastians -September 20, 2012 

Dharisha Bastians

The Silvas are at it again. A week dominated by news of political brats on the rampage once more, this time directing their rage at an Army Major, ended with the soldier recanting his story and the two main suspects in remand being transferred to prison hospital on “medical” advice.

The whole incident smacked of impunity and was strangely reminiscent of the incident involving a Samurdhi Officer being tied to a tree on the orders of the father of the political brat in question, who also recanted his story and withdrew his complaint against Public Relations and Public Affairs Minister and Rascal-in-Chief of the present Government, Hewa Koparage Mervyn Silva.

Public anger over apparent Police inability to arrest chief protagonists of the alleged assault, Silva’s son Malaka and son of Sri Lanka’s Ambassador to Turkey, Bharathi Wijeratne, compounded by Minister Keheliya Rambukwella’s assertion that the Police did not want to arrest the Minister’s son while he was paying homage to the kapilavastu relics at Kelaniya, reached fever pitch by the weekend.

Finally, on 17 September, more than a week after the assault allegedly took place outside the Hilton Colombo Residence at Union Place, Malaka Silva and Rehan Wijeratne walked into the Police station to surrender themselves, further reinforcing the fact that law enforcement was loathe to make the arrest on a Minister’s son.

The day after the two main suspects and five others were remanded by the Colombo Fort Magistrate till 24 September, Minister Mervyn Silva walked into court armed with a medical report and requesting that his son and Rehan Wijeratne be admitted to prison hospital for medical treatment. The Magistrate acquiesced and just hours later, Major Chandana Pradeep’s lawyer went to court with an affidavit from the soldier saying Silva Junior and Wijeratne did not assault him although the five others in remand did. The affidavit said that the matter would be settled amicably.

Questions abound as to whether it was money or intimidation this time that resulted in the Major’s swift change of mind, but one way or the other, the matter is resolved Sri Lankan style, at least until the Silvas’ next victim crawls out of the woodwork.

Nevertheless, in one fell swoop, the assault, delayed arrest, hospitalisation and recant demonstrated that for all intents and purposes Sri Lanka’s justice system is broken and perhaps irrevocably so. The consistent assaults on democratic institutions and the rule of law by the present

administration have finally culminated in a fiasco that no longer offers any surprises. The tragedy in fact, is the predictability of the sequence of events, and that Sri Lankans continue to be mute, unengaged observers in the face of a systematic break down of its legal and democratic systems.

Nevertheless, together with the ICC T20 World Cup now underway in Sri Lanka, the antics of Malaka Silva and Rehan Wijeratne kept the public distracted and entertained, even as the Government reverted from election mode to business as usual by slapping a tax increases on imports of potatoes and tinned fish.

Ironically, the latest edition of the Silva dramas was unfolding even as Sri Lanka hosted the 58th Commonwealth Parliamentary Association Conference in Colombo, and coincided with the visits of US Assistant Secretary of State for Central and South Asian Affairs, Robert O. Blake and the UN Human Rights Commissioner Navi Pillay’s technical team for consultations with Government officials, all three sets of meetings concerned in some way or form with strengthening democracy and the rule of law and post-war reconciliation and accountability in the island.

Blake’s back                                     Read More

Who invited Rajapaksa to Sanchi?

Posted by Karthiyayini on September 20, 2012

New Delhi, Sep 20 (TruthDive): Sanchi, a tiny village in the state of Madhya Pradesh, India is home to several Buddhist monuments and considered a holy place for Buddhists. The Great Stupa at Sanchi considered as the oldest stone structure in India, is built over the relics of Buddha and originally commissioned by Emperor Ashoka, the Great in the 3^rd century BCE.

Emperor Ashoka, who was initially taken to conquests, turned to Buddhism post Kalinga war. He made Buddhism his state religion and made many serious efforts to propagate it all over the the world. His twin children–son Mahindra and daughter Sanghamitra, were the ones who established Buddhism in Ceylon-now, Sri Lanka.

Against this backdrop, the Madhya Pradesh government is celebrating 2600 years of Buddha’s enlightenment and as a special invitee, the Sri Lankan President Mahinda Rajapaksa has been accorded a grand invite to participate in the celebrations at Sanchi on September 21 where he is to lay the foundation stone for the International Centre of Buddhist Studies.

Dubbed a ‘war criminal’, Rajapaksa put to death tens of thousands of innocent Tamils during the decades’-old ethnic war in Sri Lanka in 2009 and the genocidal man behind the horrendous war crimes heaped on innocent Tamil civilians has been accorded a special guest status in India. His visit to Sanchi has been widely condemned by the political parties of Tamil Nadu.

Protesting the invitation of Mahinda Rajapaksa, MDMK chief Vaiko, who has always been a vociferous supporter of Eelam Tamils  announced and  made  a trip to Sanchi to hold a black flag demonstration against the Sri Lankan President. Mr. Vaiko and 1,000 MDMK workers were stopped in the Madhya Pradesh-Maharashtra border. It is strange that the freedom of movement of Indians is restricted for allowing a war crime accused foreigner.

Vaiko had earlier shot out a letter to Shivraj Singh Chouhan, Chief Minister of BJP-ruled Madhya Pradesh, urging him to cancel the function at Sanchi. Yet, it is beyond one’s belief and comprehension that arrangements are in progress to greet Rajapaksa in the Indian soil.

Interestingly, India was one among the 24 countries who voted against Sri Lanka at UNHRC meeting in Geneva, held in March this year. The resolution passed against Sri Lanka urged Colombo to implement its own LLRC recommendations to ensure accountability and reconciliation.

Now, the big question is: Who actually invited Rajapaksa to Sanchi? A few days ago, news were doing rounds that it was Leader of the Opposition in the Lok Sabha Sushma Swaraj who had extended the invitation to Mahinda Rajapaksa, which was emphatically denied by Tamil Nadu State BJP president Pon Radhakrishnan. He said that the authority of inviting foreign heads rested with the Centre alone and added that Congress is the real culprit and hiding behind cover of rumours.

Union shipping minister and senior Congress leader, G K Vasan had told media persons on September 9 that it was the MP government that offered the invitation to Sri Lankan president and asked the media persons to check with the MP government.

Now, ‘passing the buck’ game is on play: BJP denies offering invitation – New Delhi keeps mum on the issue – a senior Congress minister asks to check with the MP government – the unflustered MP government goes about its preparations, paying no heed to the hue and cry from parties of Tamil Nadu!

‘Buck passing’ never seems to stop and no wonder India perfectly fits the image – ‘a country of not diversities but diverse stands.’

Karunanidhi, DMK patriarch, who always boasts himself of standing by the cause of Eelam Tamils, not surprisingly, did a U-turn as is his usual practice. He almost withdrew his party’s opposition to Rajapaksa’s visit to Sanchi. Armed with his usual diversional tactics, he blamed the Tamil Nadu government for sending back the Sri Lankan football teams and went on to say so blatantly,

‘We should not do anything in Tamil Nadu that could escalate the sufferings of Tamils in Sri Lanka and hamper their rehabilitation process; any hateful behavior towards a person visiting India is totally unacceptable.’

Is Karunanidhi an agent of Rajapaksa, operating from Tamil Nadu? He can be deemed fit to organize World Classical Tamil Conference and reel out pro-Tamil dialogues. He organized TESO conference with separate Eelam as its key demand and out of the blue, he suddenly dropped the idea, largely due to pressure from New Delhi. His job of supporting Eelam Tamils stops there. New Delhi is bent on maintaining cordial ties with Sri Lanka and Karunanidhi, a key UPA ally is forced to preserve his political interests and naturally will tow along with the Centre and its pro-Sri Lanka stand.

Meantime, Sri Lankan High Commissioner to India Prasad Kariyawasam had previously firmly stated that President Rajapaksa would visit Sanchi as per schedule and there is no turning back from it. He also termed the recent attacks on Sri Lankan pilgrims in Tamil Nadu as an ‘aberration’ and that relation between the two countries remains strong.

If Mahinda Rajapaksa attends the function at Sanchi, there is no guarantee that it will cement relations between India and Sri Lanka since he is seen to have firmed-up his alliance with China and Pakistan. But the Tamils of Sri Lanka will feel further alienated, with no solution in sight.

Rajapaksa begins challenging visit to India

R. K. RADHAKRISHNAN-September 20, 2012

Sri Lankan President Mahinda Rajapaksa commenced his most challenging tour of India on Wednesday during which he will meet Sri Lanka’s “old friend,” President Pranab Mukherjee, and Prime Minister Manmohan Singh.

Mr. Rajapaksa was initially slated to participate only in the Buddhist University ceremony at Sanchi in Madhya Pradesh on September 21. However, a meeting with Dr. Singh was later finalised. The two met in mid-2010, but there has been no bilateral meeting since then.

Dr. Singh had accepted an invitation extended by Mr. Rajapaksa to visit Sri Lanka early last year. Though much spin is being put by both sides on why an Indian Prime Minister has not visited Sri Lanka since 2008 (that too for a multilateral summit), the fact remains that Sri Lanka and India have not been on the same page on many issues, especially after the fall of Tamil Tigers in May 2009. India wants substantial progress in reconciliation issues, especially the question of political rights of Tamils, ahead of Dr. Singh’s visit.

Communication gap

More worrying are the gaps in communication between the leadership of the two countries. A classic instance was during and after India’s vote against Sri Lanka in the March session of the United Nations Human Rights Council. Conversations with senior officials on both sides made one thing clear — that the Sri Lankan President was led to believe by his officials that India would, at worst, abstain from a vote.

The whole time, senior Indian officials insist, they had made it plain and simple to everyone who talked to them from the Sri Lankan establishment that something “drastic” was on the way. Indian officials argued that this would have been clear at least after Dr. Singh’s statement in Parliament.

Mr. Rajapaksa still believes that the Indian vote against Sri Lanka at the Council was a mistake. That India will make amends when the Universal Periodic Review comes up. But this seems to have no basis in the Indian reality emanating from New Delhi.

In one conversation with The Hindu, a senior Indian official made it clear that the reason why India voted against Sri Lanka was because it made promises in 2009 which it did not keep.

In the run-up to the visit, Sri Lanka has played up the China and Pakistan cards hoping to give India the jitters. Recently, President Rajapaksa thanked Pakistan for its help in combating the Tamil Tigers.

Soon after, he thanked China for help rendered during the war with the Tamil Tigers.

Rajapaksa solely responsible for genocide of Tamils in Lanka: Vaiko
PTI--Nagpur, September 20, 2012
The Marumalarchi Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam (MDMK) general secretary Vaiko on Wednesday criticised the Centre as well as the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP)-led Madhya Pradesh government for inviting Sri Lankan President Mahinda Rajapaksa to a function in Sanchi near Bhopal. “Despite knowing
that Rajapaksa is solely responsible for the genocide of innocent Tamils in Sri Lanka, the Shivraj Singh Chouhan government in Madhya Pradesh has invited him and the Centre endorsed his visit,” Vaiko, who arrived here from Chennai with over 1,000 MDMK supporters, told reporters before heading to Sanchi.

Rajapaksa is scheduled to participate in the foundation-laying ceremony of the International Buddhist University at Sanchi on Friday. “I had strongly objected to Rajapaksa's visit but Chouhan did not bother about our requests and went ahead to invite him. Similarly, Opposition Leader in the Lok Sabha Sushma Swaraj also met Rajapaksa recently, which we did not like,” Vaiko said.

Vaiko and MDMK workers, who arrived here on Wednesday morning in several buses, are planning to stage a protest in Sanchi against Rajapaksa over alleged atrocities on Tamils in Sri Lanka.

The MDMK leader said he had also sought BJP leader LK Advani and party national president Nitin Gadkari's intervention in the matter “as the Rajapaksa government had demolished over 2,000 Hindu temples in their country, but they, too, ignored our request.” “Rajapaksa is responsible for the brutal massacre of innocent Tamil children, who were killed with their hands tied and semi-naked,” Vaiko said. When asked about his possible detention, Vaiko said he and his party workers are ready to face any action.

Vaiko continues protest for day and night

[ Thursday, 20 September 2012, 12:04.59 PM GMT +05:30 ]

MDMK general secretary A M K Vaiko and hundreds of his supporters in a convoy were stopped on Wednesday, minutes after they entered Bad Chicholi area of Pandhurna tehsil of this district in Madhya Pradesh (MP) with a mission to show black flags to Sri Lankan President Mahinda Rajpaksa, who is slated to grace an international function at Sanchi on September 21 in Raisen district of the state.

After being stopped, Vaiko, with his 700-odd supporters, squatted on the road saying that it was unjust to stop him in a democratic country. As soon as he entered MP, he was welcomed with a bouquet of flowers by district collector Mahesh Chand Choudhary on behalf of CM Shivraj Singh Chouhan. Choudhary told that the group would be camping across the border in Savner town of Maharashtra for the night. He added that the situation was peaceful and did not warrant any action against the group so far. "Vaiko, along with his supporters, has been stopped at Bad Chicholi around 4.10pm. We are holding talks with him for an amicable solution," Jabalpur police range inspector general of police V Madhukumar said. He said prohibitory order under section 144 of CrPC had been clamped in Bad Chicholi. "We haven't arrested him yet. There is a lakshman rekha (border) and if he crosses it, we are going to act by the book," the IGP said. "I have already informed Chouhan about our peaceful protest and sentiments of the Tamil people," Vaiko told reporters. "MP chief minister is welcoming me with flowers but not allowing me to move from here. This is ridiculous. I have all the right to protest in a peaceful manner at Sanchi," he rued. He said they were going to lodge peaceful protest in a democratic way. He said that the voice of oppressed Tamil people cannot be stifled in an undemocratic way. Vaiko had left Tamil Nadu two days ago and reached Nagpur in the morning from where he entered Madhya Pradesh. Vaiko's convoy includes around 26 four-wheelers. Vaiko is the founder of MDMK, a political outfit that fosters the cause of Tamil nationalism. He is known for his support to the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE), an organisation that has been banned as a terrorist outfit in more than 30 countries, including India. MDMK founder had been charged and arrested under the Prevention of Terrorist Activities Act (POTA) in 2002 and for sedition in October 2008, according to reports. Meanwhile, Pandhurna is appearing like a garrison even as Vaiko and his supporters were squatting on the road in Bad Chicholi till the report was filed. Meanwhile, heavy police force has been deployed in and around chief minister Chouhan's official residence in Bhopal. Policemen in plain clothes were posted around the house looking for the protesters after getting some inputs that some of them might have reached the state capital. Similarly, police are keeping a hawk's eye in Raisen district close to Bhopal, where Rajapaksa is scheduled to lay the foundation of stone of a Buddhist centre in Sanchi on Friday.

Controversy over a statue in Matara

Wednesday, 19 September 2012

 A political operation has commenced to create a clash between castes in Matara. The clash between the castes has commenced following the unveiling of a statue of the Most Venerable Madihe Pannasiha Mahanayake Thero opposite the Matara bodhiya.

The President on the 8^th unveiled a statue of the Mahanayake thero near his home town in Madihe in the Matara town. However, Matara Mayor Susindra Handunge has told the Council on the 14^th that he was under political pressure to remove the statue to a different location.

The Mayor has been told that a statue of renowned historian Ven. Kamburupitiye Vanarathana Thero and other such prominent monks have not been put up in the Matara town. The Mayor is therefore under pressure to remove Ven. Pannasiha Thero’s statute to another location or to put up another statue of Ven. Vanarathana Thero also in the Matara town.

It is learnt that the Matara Mayor is under pressure to carry out this action by UPFA Matara District Leader, Minister Dullas Alahapperuma’s coordinating secretary, Sarath Alwis. He has officially informed the Mayor to put up a statue of Ven. Vanarathana Thero.

It is a caste issue that has caused this clash over a statue. Caste still plays a huge role in politics and other social activities in areas like Matara and Kandy. The fact could be understood if a close analysis is done on the preferential voting patterns during elections in these areas. However, Ven. Pannasiha Thero represents the Durawa caste, which is predominant in the Matara town area. Minster Alahapperuma who is asking for a statue for Ven. Vanarathana Thero is a head in the Govigama clan. The Thero was also a representative of the Govigama clan. It is the caste that has caused a clash between Alahapperuma and former Foreign Minister Mangala Samaraweera in Matara. Samaraweera is a member of the Durawa caste.

Therefore, the unveiling of Ven. Pannasiha Thero’s statue has created a caste battle in Matara. Alahapperuma has asked his coordinating secretary, Alwis to take immediate steps to print a commemorative stamp for Ven. Vanarathana Thero.

Meanwhile, another member of the Durawa caste, Public Relations Minister Mervyn Silva laid the foundation stone to build a museum in Dickwella, Matara for one of the leaders of the caste, Munidasa Kumaratunga.

The Durawa political leaders regardless of party affiliations have tried to get Vimukthi Kumaratunge to enter politics, since the late Vijaya Kumaratunge was also from the Durawa clan. Another well known person from the clan is UNP parliamentarian Ranjan Ramanayake.

Sri Lankan asylum seekers removed from deportation flight at last minute after judge accepts there is risk of torture

JEROME TAYLOR -WEDNESDAY 19 SEPTEMBER 2012

Dozens of failed Sri Lankan asylum seekers were removed at the last minute from a controversial deportation flight today after a senior judge accepted there was a risk that they could be tortured on their return.

The government has insisted on continuing with its policy of chartered deportation flights to Sri Lanka even though the judiciary have now twice issued last minute injunctions because of concerns over torture.

The latest injunction, which was granted after a frantic scramble by lawyers in the High Court, is a major challenge to the Home Office's assurances that none of those it deports to Colombo are at risk of torture. A similar ruling was made by the High Court in May - the last time the Government tried to put on a chartered deportation flight to Sri Lanka.

Human rights groups, lawyers and news organisation including The Independent have all documented what is a growing dossier of evidence showing that torture is commonplace in Sri Lanka and that Tamil ethnicity migrants who are returned from Britain are particularly at risk over their perceived or real links to the Tamil Tigers.

At least 37 cases have been identified in the last two years where people have been returned to Sri Lanka from Britain or Europe and tortured. Many of these victims managed to escape to Britain a second time and have their asylum claims accepted - but only after undergoing harrowing ordeals. 

Lawyers acting on behalf of three test cases went to the High Court to seek an injunction banning the removal of any Tamil ethnicity deportee on the flight on the grounds that they would face a real risk of ill treatment on their return.

Mr Justice Wilkie declined to order the removal all the Tamil passengers but he did rule that anyone who showed during their failed asylum process that they risked allegations against them from the Sri Lankan government of a real or perceived Tamil Tiger connection, or had shown evidence that they had been previously tortured, should not be deported.

The ruling, which only applied to those three cases, prompted a flurry of further applications from lawyers representing Tamil clients which were then decided on an individual basis using the injunction as guidance. It is not known exactly how many people were taken off the flight but it is thought to be at least a dozen.

Kulasegaram Geetharthanan,from Jein Solicitors in Lewisham, told The Independent that one of his clients - a former low ranking member of the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam's civilian wing who had been tortured by a pro-government militia before he fled to Britain in 2007 - was taken off the flight.

“The Home Office abandoned their opposition at the last minute and have vowed not to put him on the deportation flight,” he said. “But we cannot rest easily as my client could be put on another flight in the future and we will need to do everything we can to make sure he is not deported back to Sri Lanka.”

Vasuki Maruhathas, another London based solicitor who went to the High Court yesterdat, said one of her clients had also been stopped from being deported after an intervention from a judge.

Campaigners say the latest injunctions are a clear indication that Britain's immigration stance towards Sri Lanka needs a radical rethink.

“It is increasingly clear that the UK needs to urgently reassess its policy on the deportation of failed Tamil asylum seekers to Sri Lanka,” said David Mepham of Human Rights Watch. “These actions by the courts highlight the real risks of torture facing some Tamils returned to Sri Lanka from the UK and other countries, and they demonstrate why a change in policy is required.”

Suren Surendiran, a spokesperson for the Global Tamil Forum, added: “We are very concerned and disappointed with the coalition government's position on deportation of Tamils when there are growing evidence of torture and intimidation of returnees.”

Sri Lankan Army still has vast presence in North & East

NIRUPAMA SUBRAMANIAN-September 19, 2012

More than three years after winning the war against the LTTE, the Sri Lankan Army retains an overwhelming presence in the North and East of the island, deploying 16 out of its 19 divisions in the Tamil-dominated regions.

Information available with The Hindu indicates that besides three divisions in Jaffna, there are three each in Killinochchi and Mullaithivu, while five divisions are stationed in Vavuniya. Another two divisions are deployed in the East. Three divisions are headquartered in southern Sri Lanka.

The information, from an internal Sri Lankan military document showing the deployment in a series of maps for a PowerPoint presentation, is for the month of June 2012, but there have been no significant changes since then.

A former Indian Army officer, Colonel (retd.) R. Hariharan, who was with the Indian Peace Keeping Force (IPKF) in Sri Lanka, and with whom The Hindu shared the information for an assessment, said the manner in which the troops were spread out in the entire North and East was suggestive more of an Army in ‘operational readiness’ than in post-conflict repose.

The colour-coded maps show the wide spread of the battalions that make up each brigade in every division. The document does not mention the exact numbers of soldiers, and any estimate of numbers of troops has to be based on what is known about the Sri Lankan Army’s divisional strength.

A Sri Lankan division is smaller than that of most other armies, and has between 6,000 and 7,000 soldiers. Taking the lower number, that would mean that 85,000-86,000 soldiers are at present in the North and East. This number does not include the separate deployment of a Task Force in the East, and of the Navy and the Air Force.

The continued military presence in Tamil areas is viewed as hampering post-conflict ethnic reconciliation. The Army is entirely Sinhalese, and the people of the North are almost entirely Tamil.

India may raise the issue during President Mahinda Rajapaksa’s September 20-21 visit to India. The Sri Lankan President will meet Prime Minister Manmohan Singh on Thursday and will also call on President Pranab Mukherjee.

Sri Lanka has defended its right to deploy its Army where it chooses within its boundaries and stressed that these decisions were based on national security assessments.

In a recent interview to an Indian newspaper, Mr. Rajapaksa said that for a country recovering from three decades of armed conflict, there had been a steady progress in troop withdrawal from northern Sri Lanka, but keeping the military there was also a measure of abundant caution against the reactivation of militancy in the region.

The number of troops in Jaffna had gone down, he said, from 27,000 in December 2009 to 15,000 in June 2012.

He also said troops were necessary for “development work” in the northern Sri Lanka. But it is precisely the role of the Army in “developing” the North and the East that is seen as a matter of concern.

Ahilan Kadirgamar, a democracy activist in Sri Lanka, told The Hindu that the army’s role in civil administration in the North and the East was a matter of concern, but could not be separated from the militarisation of Sri Lanka in the post-war years.

“Sri Lanka, as a whole, needs a debate on demilitarisation and a change in the role of the military in the governance of the country for the situation in the war- affected regions to return to normalcy,” he said.

The de-militarisation of the North and the East is one of the benchmarks against which Sri Lanka’s compliance with the United Nations Human Right Council resolution will be assessed.

The March 2012 Human Right Council (HRC) resolution requires Sri Lanka to implement the recommendations of its own Lesson Learnt and Reconciliation Commission’s report. One of the LLRC’s key recommendations was that the government must significantly reduce military presence in the North and the East.

There had been several depositions to the Commission that the military was a parallel authority in the region, more powerful than the civilian administration. The commission heard that though the military’s help in development activities, like road-building, had been useful, their continued presence was a source of constant insecurity to the local people.

The military’s occupation of private lands that were converted to High Security Zones during the decades of war has prevented resettlement of the original owners.

India is in the chair of the troika appointed by the Council to assess Sri Lanka’s progress in the resolution’s requirements. Spain and Benin are the other two countries. The troika is to liaise with Sri Lanka and write a report that will be debated at the review sessions in Geneva in the first week of November this year.

While Mr. Rajapaksa has had recent meetings with Dr. Singh on the sidelines of the NAM and Rio Summits, the two leaders are expected to hold substantive discussions for the first time since the President’s visit to New Delhi in June 2010.

In these two years, the atmospherics have changed. An Indian official said the relations between the two countries were “intense” and require “management.”

Several irritants have crept into the friendly ties over the past three years. For India, these would include what is seen by New Delhi as foot-dragging by the Rajapaksa government over resolving the Tamil question, and the perceived close relations between Sri Lanka and China.

For Sri Lanka, what rankled most was India’s support for the HRC resolution, which pulled up the Rajapakasa government for its failure to address human rights violations and other issues arising out of the final battle against the LTTE in May 2009; and, since then, the rising anti-Sri Lanka sentiment in Tamil Nadu, culminating recently in an attack on pilgrims.

New Delhi sees Colombo’s subsequent advisory to its nationals against travelling in Tamil Nadu as an “over-reaction.”

Sources in the Indian government said all these issues would likely come up for discussion at the meeting between Dr. Singh and Mr. Rajapaksa.

On a political settlement of the Tamil issue, India has been emphasising the need to demilitarise Sri Lanka’s North and East and hold provincial council elections in the North as early as possible so as to hand over governance to elected civilians.

After his meetings in New Delhi on Thursday, Mr. Rajapaksa is scheduled to fly the next day to Sanchi in Madhya Pradesh, where he will participate in the foundation-laying ceremony of the International Buddhist University. He will return to Sri Lanka on Friday.

Aung San Suu Kyi awarded US congressional medal

Associated Press in Washington-Thursday 20 September 2012

Aung San Suu Kyi is awarded the Congressional Gold Medal in Washington Photograph: Sipa USA / Rex Features

Burmese democracy campaigner finally receives the medal she was awarded while under house arrest in 2008

Aung San Suu Kyi has been presented with the US Congress' highest civilian honour at a ceremony in Washington, describing it as "one of the most moving days of my life."

The Burmese democracy campaigner was awarded the Congressional Gold Medal in 2008 while under a 15-year house arrest for her peaceful struggle against military rule.

Her long-awaited visit to America finally provided an opportunity for her to receive the honour in person in Congress' most majestic setting, beneath the dome of the Capitol and ringed by marble statues of former presidents.

The 67-year-old Nobel laureate said it was worth the years of waiting, being honoured "in a house undivided, a house joined together to welcome a stranger from a distant land."

Previous recipients of the medal include George Washington, Tibetan Buddhist leader the Dalai Lama and Pope John Paul II.

Full Story>>>

Ethnic Cleansing Nightmare: Buddhist Bloodstains on Burma's Barren Soul

Warning: Extremely Graphic Photos - CAUTION!

Two Rohingya brothers brutally slaughtered by Rakhine terrorists and security forces and killed in Ah Nauk Pyin village.

(SACRAMENTO, CA) - Just what is it that forces human beings to behave like the most savage beasts? Here are a couple of insights I am gleaning from my work.

First, when committing war crimes, be sure to do a really thorough job of destroying the person or people you attack. Make their final appearance 'unacceptable' to the photo editors and then your murders of civilian innocents will never be seen by anyone!

For example, I have photos from the Sri Lanka government Genocide against Tamils in 2009 where part of a fetus is sticking out of the slain mother's belly. It is just too grotesque to use, so the public never sees it because even hardened human rights and war reporters like myself are too squeamish to do so.

War Crime lesson 2, when your vaunted political heroes show us they are not who you thought they were, such as Barack Obama who stated he would close Guantanamo Bay and instead failed to keep his word and was given a Nobel Peace Prize, or...

"Four years after being awarded the Congressional Gold Medal, Myanmar democracy leader Aung San Suu Kyi was finally able to accept the honor in person today." - (Aung San Suu Kyi Picks Up Congressional Gold Medal -18 Sept 2012 ABC News)

Yeah, this is the one that bugs me. The little birds fly around Suu Kyi's head singing in unison like in a Disney cartoon; in Beyond Rangoon they portray her as having the ability to stand down a whole regiment of soldiers without a word. I spent so many years just smiling if I pictured her face because I thought, 'someday Burma will be free and she will be at the top politically where she deserves to be'. I believed that day would come and that it would always inspire people.

Setting fire to Rohingya villages- an act that was carried out by Rakhine & Security forces

Rohingyas victims in Myanmar

I believe she gave millions faith, only now I realize it is more like false hope. She has already had the opportunity to be a real human rights activist come and go.

The Muslims in her formerly locked down country are being slaughtered in ever increasing numbers by this woman's Rakhine Buddhist brethren and it is one pathetic fucking mess that deserves nothing less that an onslaught of government control.

That won't happen because Buddhists who become killers operate under and as part of a Buddhist state terrorism government, and are among the most dangerous people on earth.

It is exactly what happened in Sri Lanka; time and time again the Sinhala Buddhists led attacks against Tamil Hindus and Christians, and the common denominator is that statue of a fat guy that they all get very intense over.

But it means nothing because these two cultures, it is statistically fair to say, are largely comprised of bloodthirsty people willing to not just kill, but torture and rape and chop human beings into pieces.

The remains of the people they oppose are often found after torturers stuck rods through their bodies and cut off their genitalia; gashing them so that the intestines fall out in
this tragic nightmare of ethnic cleansing.

Rakhines holding weapons during declaring of Act Of Law 144 inside the Sittwe town (2)

Aung San Suu Kyi may have made some comment I don't know about deploring the murders of thousands of Rohingya Muslims since the last time I wrote about this unfolding and unaddressed tragedy- about four weeks ago, but like I said, I don't know of anything like that happening.

But I know from hearing it over and over again on NPR that she won that Congressional Gold Medal.

It sounds like something that you would earn at a sporting event doesn't it?

Who cares, it is pomp and circumstance and the lady gets a bunch of gratitude for having to live under house arrest while other Burmese are just ruthlessly cut down. She wasn't even in jail.

I sound angry because of what I just read before writing this story.

My friend and contact Aung Aung in Sittwe sent photos of what the Rakhine Buddhists are doing each and every single day to the Rohingya Muslims; they are remorseless killers and they are roaming the streets on motorbikes with machetes exactly like when the Hutu began slaughtering Tutsi after the 1994 Genocide began.

Rakhines holding weapons during declaring of Act Of Law 144 inside the Sittwe town- I think the far left sword has blood on tip (1)

Bulldozer Team arrives from Yangon to clear all the buildings of Rohingya in Sittwe downtown. (6)

The code phrase uttered over and over by a pro-Genocide Rwanda radio station, "cut down the tall trees," was a call for the Hutu to start killing the Tutsi.

But the United States isn't saying shit and they do not care. Let me say this again, Hillary Clinton does not care about the terrible genocidal slaughter taking place on her watch and we will NEVER let her forget it and again, the parallels with Sri Lanka's Tamil Genocide are endless.

U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton and her entourage of business interests are in my opinion, as I stated before, staring and drooling over Burma like a gang of football players getting ready to nail a 16-year old virgin.

It is a nightmare scenario and the country is one of the few places so expansive in the world that has for all practical purposes, not been exploited by modern business.

Clinton and the U.S. administration are well aware of Burma's past human rights record which is dismal; one of the very worst on the earth, and they failed to address this most important issue when making their business deals and signing contracts, in spite of cries from Human Rights Watch and members of our own team like our Human Rights Ambassador William Nicholas Gomes and myriad other voices.

Bulldozers Team clearing out the Arabic University near Aung Mingalar Rohingya village (1)

Rakhine Terrorists & Security forces marching together towards Rohingya village (Than Taw Li) in Sittwe

Very obviously: Rakhine terrorists are dismantling Mosque in Zailya Para Rohingya village in Sittwe.

The Americans really have lost their soul and while they made deals to earn a bunch of money off Burma's inexperienced back, the Muslims in this Asian nation are being slaughtered like the Jews, Roma and Poles of the 1930's; the Cambodian victims of the Khmer Rouge in the 70's' the Rwandans in the 90's' and Sri Lankans in this new century.

So here is what was reported to my contact from the town of Maungdaw, regarding violent attacks on 16.9.2012 and 18.9 2012:

• 16.9.2012: Salimullah, son of Hanfujja, 38-years old, from Dushiradan (Kadeerbil) went fishing for survival, on the way to home Rakhine from Maungdaw and Bangladesh chopped Salimullah into pieces. When people knew it, they reported the crime to the Kayindan Police Station but police did not investigate the case even when the officers saw the victim was cropped into pieces as an inhuman way.
• 18.9.2012: Dudu Miah and 5 other Rohingyas accompanied 2 ladies travelling from Yaung Chaung, Southern Maungdaw to Khayang Chaung in a Jeep, on their way to Khayang Chaung. Police stopped them and beat them severely; the two ladies were raped by the polices from the police station.
• 18.9.2012: In Minpya township of Arakan State, Chief Police officer, U Saw Pyu, Sergean Kyaw Win and other 3 police raided the house of Zafar, son of Amir Ali while he was not present at home, they took all properties and raped the ladies who were at home.

For those who haven't considered or studied these highly charged issues, rape is traditionally a psychological tool of horror and war used to terrorize populations in ways that no civilized society can even comprehend.

I noted many Afghans who looked Russian, had Slavic features, and then I quickly learned that they were the result of ten years of Soviet soldiers raping women and 'leaving their seed' which is a different type of warfare but nothing new at all of course and totally illegal under international law.

So in conclusion, it is obvious that I am not holding back on the photos because these are recent examples of the debauchery that is coming to define Burma''s Rakhine Buddhists and Aung San Suu Kyi is sure working out for the benefit of the Americans.

Rohingya man from Ward -4 was slaughtered by Rakhine Terrorists very brutally in Pauk Taw Township.

I am extremely troubled and disturbed and hear from many people in regard to this daily 'purge' of otherwise happy, functioning people who have lived in Burma for hundreds and hundreds of years.

One of the favorite claims of the Rakhine Buddhist community is that these indigenous Muslims are 'illegal immigrants from Bangladesh' and this is not only untrue, but Bangladesh absolutely refuses to accept the residents of Burma who manage to take to the water in boats and escape.

One of the saddest pictures I have ever seen is of a Royhingya man pleading to a Bangladeshi soldier not to send he and his family back to a terrible fate.

And the Americans and their little media dogs from ABC and CBS and CNN and NY Times give these suffering people little to no airtime, they all should have their broadcast and print licenses pulled for failing to represent their duties with regard to humanity.

They are about profit, Clinton and her gang are about profit, even Suu Kyi is now about profit, and those who follow a Prophet are being laid to waste in the streets where they were born and raised.

I had a conversation with a friend today who is a U.S. Army Reserve officer; we spent some time in Afghanistan's 'Pesh Valley' where all kinds of terrible things keep happening to Americans fighting there, it is right on the Pakistan border. After this duty he was sent straight to Iraq for the 'surge' and he said they lost a person every 24-hours. One day a kid who was 15-years old rode up to a convoy and blew himself up.

My friend was on the scene, he recalls this kid lying all over the ground torn up and the only thing he thought while looking at the mangled child was, "Wow he has nice hair". He says to this day it is the only thing he can call up about that kid, that day.

When people are moved to commit violence and they follow the call of a government's military or in some cases a religious leadership, they loose touch with the real world.

My friend has just a touch of PTSD and he knows how weird it all is, and seems, but there are coping mechanisms that kick in and aid a person charged with doing this type of work.

Imagine when there are no moral barriers or boundaries, and all women and girls are targets and prizes to rape and abuse and likely kill; consider that for a moment. What the hell allowed Buddhist people to fall so low to the ground?

Two Rohingya brothers brutally slaughtered by Rakhine terrorists and security forces and got dead in Ah Nauk Pyin village, Rathedaung

Rohingya man from Ward -4 was slaughtered by Rakhine Terrorists very brutally in Pauk Taw Township.

Where is Aung San Suu Kyi? Where is the Dali Lama?

Why is the Buddhist community being silent?

These are questions that hopefully we will some day have the answers to.

For now, I hate for the legacy of these murder victims to show such gruesome scenes, but they must be seen and these religious maniacs have to be stopped.

What it all comes down to is that people being crowned as Human Rights champions are often more limited in scope than any of these organizations let on.

For example, I would be shocked if Israel ever gave a medal to a Jewish citizen for saving the life of a Muslim; or if a Christian group gave a Muslim or a Hindu a high level reward; I'm sure that has happened but not very damned often.

Life and humanity are not about taking care of only one kind and ignoring the rest; all of humanity is exactly deserving of the same things according to international law.

So now you know, please do something to help raise awareness, join The Rohingya Awarenss Project on Facebook, thank you!

Below are Government Colonized Proof documents of Rohingya Muslims. As referenced above, the Buddhists of this place like to claim that Muslims are all people who moved across from Bangladesh are are 'illegal aliens'.

These documents clearly demonstrate that is not the case.