A floating armory in the Galle seas

Wednesday, 26 September 2012 

A private security company is engaged in setting up a floating armory in the seas off Galle, sources from the Navy headquarters said.

Avern Guard Offshore Services (Pvt) Ltd has requested for permission from the Defence Ministry to set up this armory. The company is owned by retired Army Major, Nishshanka Senadhipathi. During the tenure of the UNP government, the Major built close ties with government ministers and got contracts to provide security to state institutions. He had even provided security personnel working for him to attack university students at the time.

After President Chandrika Kumaratunge assumed office, he had built a link with the President’s security head, SP Nihal Karunaratne and got contracts to provide security to several state institutions. However, he had become a millionaire after getting to know Defence Secretary Gotabhaya Rajapaksa under President Mahinda Rajapaksa’s tenure.

A senior naval officer who spoke to us about the project proposal presented on the setting up of the floating armory gave a lot of information about it.

He explained that if the project is given the green light by the Defence Ministry, it would scrap the revenue generating means of the Navy and people in Galle.

Over a thousand ships sail daily on the seas off Galle. Somalian pirates had threatened the ships that sail in the area from the South Asian region. Several private international security companies have come forward to provide security to these vessels and these companies operate from Galle. Therefore, about 35 such companies have set up their offices in the area surrounding the Galle harbor. Weapons and storage facilities to these companies had been provided by the Sri Lanka Navy.

The Navy has earned a revenue of US$ 12 million from such transactions last year. A large number of people have also arrived in the country to work in these companies and they have found lodging in hotels and houses in the Galle area. The companies have also got around 15,000 tourists to visit Galle in their vessels.

Thousands people residing in Galle have found a livelihood by providing food, lodging and other facilities to the people from these companies. The navy officer said that there are currently about 55 such companies established in Galle.

Therefore, he said the Navy expects to double its earnings by facilitating these companies this year.

Senadhipathi has given the project proposal to the Defence Secretary to set up a floating armory when the Navy and people in Galle were earning an additional income through the current system.

Senadhipathi has also informed that the retiring Navy Commander Somathileka Dissanayake would be employed by his Avern Guard Offshore Services (Pvt) Ltd paying him a monthly salary of Rs. 1 million.

Most foreign security companies operating in Galle have shifted their offices to the Maldives and Bangladesh after learning that this floating armory project has received state patronage.

Why a cultural and academic boycott of Sri Lanka is necessary?

BY SINTHUJAN VARATHARAJAH-26 SEPTEMBER 2012

The recent violent mob attack against Sri Lankan Christian pilgrims, mostly Sinhalese but including a few Tamil speaking, in Tamil Nadu together with the expulsion of Sri Lankan students gave a prominent platform to a number of questions which have prior been confined and limited to Tamil political circles. Can and should the Sri Lankan state be boycotted? And should such a boycott be restricted solely to the government, the military and the economy of the country?

Tamil Nadu’s chief minister Jayalalithaa’s much criticized decision to send home eight students from the Royal College of Colombo and their coach, who had participated in a local sports tournament, catapulted the passionately led debate to new dimensions. By intervening in the normalization of seemingly civil and institutional relations between both countries, the traditional limitations of the boycott movement to government, military and economy found themselves sharply challenged. The sanctions imposed by the TN government upon representatives of civil institutions opened a floodgate that remained closed for a long time for many people. As a result, the crucial question whether Sri Lankan academia and cultural institutions function autonomously from the state and societal structures became critical to re-examine. The TN’s chief ministers’ forceful intervention brought further issues to light, such as the question whether it is imperative for a call to boycott to incorporate wider aspects of Sri Lankan society. Can academic and cultural institutions be absolved from claims of direct and/or indirect complicity under present systems of injustices and inequalities that constitute the island state? And is the expulsion of Sri Lankan pilgrims and students from Tamil Nadu an abomination that needs to be condemned?

Whilst strongly opposing the recent violence perpetrated against Sri Lankan civilians in Tamil Nadu and whilst equally questioning the intentions and timing behind the AIADMK’s political stunt, I have nonetheless come to support attempts of breaking up ties to cultural and academic institutions of Sri Lanka. In the spirit of the Palestinian Boycott, Divestment and Sanction (BDS) movement and the Palestinian Campaign for the Cultural & Academic Boycott of Israel, I support and plead for a general cease to collaboration with institutions, both civil and non-civil, that fail to acknowledge and struggle against the occupation and oppression of the Tamil people in Sri Lanka.

Similar to cultural institutions that function(ed) throughout slavery, apartheid, genocide and other forms of racialized violence, Sri Lankan institutions have actively or passively become complicit in the production and perpetuation of systems of discrimination and segregation by either denying, justifying, diverting and whitewashing or acquitting Sri Lanka of its repeated violations of customary human rights and international humanitarian laws against Tamils.

The process of silencing the structures of power and violence in the island serves therefore to place cultural institutions as agents of collaboration in the maintenance of inequality and the denial of fundamental rights and freedom to Tamils.

Societal failure                                                       Read more...

Sri Lanka: Time for action, not action plans

By Alan Keenan - 26 September 2012

Alan Keenan

Alan Keenan is Sri Lanka Project Director at the International Crisis Group.

Masters of prevarication, the Sri Lankan Government is once again stalling the UN's attempt to ensure an open assessment of the brutal final stages of the country's civil war. The regime is probably hoping interest will fade, but every day it refuses a fair examination of some 40,000 civilian deaths is another small step away from reconciliation between the Sinhalese-dominated state and Tamils, and toward the next ethnic conflict.

Colombo's contempt for the international community seems to know no bounds. Six months after the UN Human Rights Council (HRC) requested that Sri Lanka address its culture of impunity and badly damaged rule of law, the regime has taken no concrete action.

he HRC's March resolution on 'Promoting Reconciliation and Accountability in Sri Lanka' requested the government 'address alleged violations of international law'. It also called on the country to prepare a 'comprehensive action plan detailing the steps that the Government has taken and will take to implement the recommendations' of its Lessons Learnt and Reconciliation Commission (LLRC), the Government-appointed body that looked into the military's crimes at the end of the war.
The Sri Lankan Government's recently announced 'national action plan' purports to implement the LLRC's recommendations, but in fact, it rejects that commission's central finding: the need to initiate independent investigations and restore the independence of the judiciary, police and other public bodies.
The action plan proposes only flawed inquiries into alleged war crimes and other serious human rights violations, generally relying on the very institutions accused: the police and the military. It does nothing to establish independent institutions able to hold to account state agencies, President Rajapaksa (pictured) and his family, or the increasingly powerful military.
For example, where the LLRC recommends establishing 'an independent permanent Police Commission...empowered to monitor the performance of the Police Service and ensure that all Police officers act independently', the action plan simply claims that an 'Independent Police Commission has already been established'. This flies in the face of the LLRC's findings and the 18th amendment to the constitution, adopted in September 2010, which removed many of the Commission's powers and gave the president the job of appointing all its members.
The action plan rejects the LLRC's call for an 'independent' analysis of the well-known Channel 4 video to 'establish the truth or otherwise' of the executions of naked and bound prisoners it appears to depict. The action plan promises only to 'assess the current processes being pursued...by the Army' and names the defence ministry and the presidential secretariat as the 'key responsible agencies' to 'take follow up action as appropriate'.
As for all the other 'vast number of credible allegations' of war crimes cited by a UN panel of experts, the 'action plan' promises only that the military will 'complete ongoing disciplinary process being conducted in terms of Armed Forces statutes' and 'upon conclusion, take follow up action to prosecute, where relevant'. No information has been released about which incidents or military personnel may be under investigation. The Government gives itself five years to complete the process.
Sri Lanka's human rights problems did not end with the war either. There have been scores of disappearances and political killings even since the LLRC report in December 2011, and prospects for reconciliation are further away than ever.
Despite Government claims to have reduced the role of the military in the Tamil-majority north and east (a key demand of the HRC resolution) reports from the ground confirm continued military control over virtually all aspects of life. By refusing to restart negotiations with the main Tamil party, the Tamil National Alliance (TNA), or allow elections to the northern provincial council, the Government is fueling anger among Tamils and weakening support for the TNA's moderate, pro-engagement approach.
The international community, especially member states of the Human Rights Council, must now demand action, not action plans. Sri Lankans of all ethnicities need independent and effective bodies to investigate the many serious human rights violations they have endured during the war and in the years since. They need independent police, judges and prosecutors, freed from the control of the president and the ministry of defence. Provincial council elections and demilitarisation in the north are crucial first steps to sustainable peace, and international development institutions, including the World Bank and Asian Development Bank, should condition assistance on both processes.

TGTE Senate to Work on Roadmap to Tamil Eelam

September 23, 2012
PRESS RELEASE

NEW YORK – On September 9, 2012 the first meeting of the TGTE was called to order with all Senators in attendance. The newly appointed Senators of the Transnational Government of Tamil Eelam (TGTE) are tasked with drawing up a roadmap to achieving Tamil Eelam. The roadmap created by the Senators will be presented to the TGTE Parliament for consideration and action and will take into account the current global, economic and geopolitical realities.

In his address to the new members of the Senate, TGTE Prime Minister Visuvanathan Rudrakumaran stated that the formation of the TGTE Senate has created excitement and enthusiasm among the Tamils at large and has caused concern in the political establishment in the island. The Tamils have high expectations of the TGTE Senate, he continued, and asked the Senate to work to realize the TGTE’s goal of establishing an Independent and Sovereign State of Tamil Eelam.

At its first session, the TGTE Senate focused on strategies to mobilize world opinion including India and South Asia on the necessity for establishing Tamil Eelam, on the Genocide, human rights abuses and continued persecution of Tamils in the island, on delivering justice for the victims of war crimes and for releasing those refugees kept in custody in special detention camps in India.

Usha Sri Skanda-Rajah, who was elected unanimously as the Chairperson of the new Senate, said that the TGTE should strengthen its influence in the Tamil Diaspora, while remaining a credible, dignified and well respected organization committed to democratic principles, non-violence and continued engagement.

She expressed concern that the Sri Lankan government, feeling threatened by the TGTE, will attempt to tarnish its image and even lobby countries to ban the organization. “We must never allow that to happen but remain vigilant of forces that are there to malign us,” she said.

The members of the TGTE Senate are spread across the globe and come from different backgrounds, ranging from physicians and lawyers to journalists and human rights activists. The nine Senators were appointed on August 15, this year by the TGTE Prime Minister and the appointments of another six Senators are expected to be announced sometime in the future. The TGTE Senate has a term of three years and members can provide only non-binding advice to the elected TGTE Parliament.

For further information write to:
Senator Dr. Nagalingam Jeyalingam @ jey@hvc.rr.com

New Report: Governments Grow Increasingly Repressive Online, Activists Fight Back-Sri Lanka’s internet freedom 

“Countries at Risk: As part of its analysis, Freedom House identified a number of important countries that are seen as particularly vulnerable to deterioration in the coming 12 months: Azerbaijan, Libya, Malaysia, Pakistan, Russia, Rwanda, and Sri Lanka” – Report

Washington-Freedom on the Net 2012

Brutal attacks against bloggers, politically motivated surveillance, proactive manipulation of web content, and restrictive laws regulating speech online are among the diverse threats to internet freedom emerging over the past two years, according to a new study released today by Freedom House. Despite these threats,Freedom on the Net 2012: A Global Assessment of Internet and Digital Media found that increased pushback by civil society, technology companies, and independent courts resulted in several notable victories.

“The findings clearly show that threats to internet freedom are becoming more diverse. As authoritarian rulers see that blocked websites and high-profile arrests draw local and international condemnation, they are turning to murkier—but no less dangerous—methods for controlling online conversations,” said Sanja Kelly, project director for Freedom on the Net at Freedom House.

The battle over internet freedom comes at a time when nearly one third of the world’s population has used the internet. Governments are responding to the increased influence of the new medium by seeking to control online activity, restricting the free flow of information, and otherwise infringing on the rights of users. The methods of control are becoming more sophisticated, and tactics previously evident in only the most repressive environments—such as governments instigating deliberate connection disruptions or hiring armies of paid commentators to manipulate online discussions—are appearing in a wider set of countries.

Freedom on the Net 2012, which identifies key trends in internet freedom in 47 countries, evaluates each country based on barriers to access, limits on content, and violations of user rights.

The study found that Estonia had the greatest degree of internet freedom among the countries examined, while the United States ranked second. Iran, Cuba, and China received the lowest scores in the analysis. Eleven other countries received a ranking of Not Free, including Belarus, Saudi Arabia, Uzbekistan, and Thailand. A total of 20 of the 47 countries examined experienced a negative trajectory in internet freedom since January 2011, with Bahrain, Pakistan, and Ethiopia registering the greatest declines.

Several downgrades, particularly in the Middle East, reflected intensified censorship, arrests, and violence against bloggers as the authorities sought to quell public calls for reform. In Saudi Arabia, Ethiopia, Uzbekistan, and China, authorities imposed new restrictions after observing the key role that social media played in the uprisings in Egypt and Tunisia.

At the same time, 14 countries registered a positive trajectory, with Tunisia and Burma experiencing the largest improvements following dramatic political openings. The remaining gains occurred almost exclusively in democracies, highlighting the crucial importance of broader institutions of democratic governance in upholding internet freedom.

Countries at Risk: As part of its analysis, Freedom House identified a number of important countries that are seen as particularly vulnerable to deterioration in the coming 12 months: Azerbaijan, Libya, Malaysia, Pakistan, Russia, Rwanda, and Sri Lanka.

Key Trends                                                          Continue reading » 

FMM Ex-Co member threatened with death

Tuesday, 25 September 2012 

The Free Media Movement of Sri Lanka has issued a press statement ( 20th Sep)  condemning the death threats to one of its EX- CO member, journalist and web editor Mr. Janith Vipulaguna.

Mr. Vipulaguna is the editor of Sinhala language news website 'Lanka Citisan Puwath. Earlier Mr. Vipulaguna had worked as a producer at the Young Asia Television.

The web site has reported that financial accounts of a festival called Vijitha Mela organised by a popular school in Matara District has not been submitted.
The 'Lanka Citisan Puwath' had carried the said news feature on 14th September and three days later Mr. Vipulaguna was threatened with death. He received abusive and threatening phone calls on his mobile phone as well as on the residential fixed line. His wife too has been threatened with abusive language.  Mr. Vipulaguna believes that immediate reason for these threats is the article he published on Vijitha Mela Festival.

Mr. Vipulaguna has logged a complaint (CIBI-361/316) at the Dikwella police station on 18th September.
In its statement the FMM has called on the authorities to show their committment to protect people's right o information by initiating an impartial and immediate inquiry on the complaint made by Mr. Vipulaguna. At the same time FMM requests the authorities to take necessary steps to ensure his safety.

Further FMM has appealed to those who are behind the threats to Mr. Vipulaguna  to respect his rights as a journalists and not to obstruct his journalism practices.

-Sri Lanka Breif-

Peace without justice - not to be a very enduring peace – Canadian Parliamentarian Chris Alexander

In an exclusive interview, Mr. Chris Alexander, MP for Ajax – Pickering, referring Sri Lanka said, Peace without justice - not to be a very enduring peace, that’s the lesson from many part of the world.

He went to Sri Lanka in March, part of the three member official Canadian fact finding mission to Sri Lanka. He said, Canada has major and serious concerns that reflected on Prime Minister Harper, Foreign Minister Baird and others in the government in their policy towards Sri Lanka.

“Human right is not respected by and large... Peace is not a durable one, and the situation will not be satisfactory from our perspective until certain of the major concerns are addressed,” he said.

“We saw north of country and same is true in many part of the east, Military presence that is far greater that what would ever be justifiable in peace time in our country or other countries that claim to have ended a conflict. Local police and civil institutions are far too weak. Local elections are not been held… Far too many credible reports of continuing human rights abuses,” further said Mr. Alexander.

“People disappearing – people facing arbitrary detention in one way another or arbitrary abuses from those in authority - We raise these issues – we expect action – actions have been promised for long time – there is a new action plan put forward by the government this summer – but has not translate into change in the ground,” he said.

Referring to the Canadian position on the Commonwealth summit in Sri Lanka next year, Chris Alexander said, “That’s a deep concern to us – as the Prime Minster said not prepared to attend the commonwealth summit in Colombo unless there is a significant progress in those fronts – we have yet to see that.”

Listen to the wide ranging interview on Canadian Foreign policy issues as well on Canadian economy and foreign investment.

United States Tamil Political Action Council Applauds U.S. Lawmakers' Letter-Writing Campaign to Secretary Clinton Calling for Concerted Action on Sri Lanka

United States Tamil Political Action Council (USTPAC) welcomes the call made by 31 lawmakers requesting Secretary of State Hillary Clinton to stay engaged in Sri Lanka to ensure compliance with the UN Human Rights Council resolution calling for accountability and reconciliation

PR Newswire

WASHINGTON, Sept. 25, 2012

WASHINGTON, Sept. 25, 2012 /PRNewswire/ -- On the last day of congressional sessions before they went on recess for the November elections, 31 US lawmakers wrote a letter to US Secretary of State Clinton making a strong case for heightened engagement on Sri Lanka. The letter initiated by Representatives Bill Johnson (Ohio), William Keating, Michael Grimm and Walter Jones quickly gained bipartisan support and included Representative Steve Chabot, chair of the House Subcommittee on the Middle East and South Asia.
The lawmakers said that UNHRC Resolution 19/L.2 passed in March 2012 "signaled an important step forward in placing additional pressure on the Government of Sri Lanka to implement constructive recommendations contained in the LLRC report, while also noting that the report failed to adequately address serious allegations of violations of international law." They went on to say that "despite these initial steps toward reconciliation and accountability, we remain concerned that the Government of Sri Lanka will resist taking the good faith steps necessary to implement both its obligations under the UNHRC Resolution and the LLRC Report."
Welcoming the call by US legislators, Chella Logan, the Advocacy Coordinator for USTPAC, said, "We are thankful to the lawmakers for sending a strong signal to Sri Lanka that there won't be any let up on calls for full accountability for the killings of over 40,000 Tamil civilians in 2009, and delaying tactics by Sri Lanka will only increase calls for independent international investigations." Mr. Logan pointed out that the lawmakers' reference to the unanimously adopted US Senate Resolution 84 which unambiguously called for an international investigation mechanism gives hope to the survivors of the mass atrocities in Sri Lanka. "There can't be true reconciliation without full accountability," Logan noted.
The joint letter stated, "Congress voiced its opinion on the matter when the Senate unanimously approved S. Res. 84 on March 1, 2011. We are pleased with the passage of this legislation in the Senate, which calls for an independent investigation into reports of war crimes and crimes against humanity committed by both sides during and after the war. However, the findings and recommendations of such investigations are meaningless if they result in hollow rhetoric and empty promises that fail to move the reconciliation process forward in Sri Lanka."
Calling on the State Department for vigilance, the letter said, "We believe that the State Department must ensure that its diplomatic efforts yield fruitful and meaningful results via further U.S. action and engagement on reconciliation and accountability in Sri Lanka. With the impending evaluation of Sri Lanka's compliance with the UNHRC resolution in March 2013, there is an added sense of urgency to this request. It would be all too easy for the Rajapaksa administration to make excuses for failing to adhere to its obligations at the next HRC session without strong oversight from the State Department."
Recalling previous letters from Congressmen McGovern and Neal which called for specific timelines for implementation, appointment of a special envoy for Sri Lanka and engaging directly with the representatives of the Tamil population, the legislators pleaded for stronger engagement from the office of the Secretary of State: "We respectfully urge you and your colleagues to purposefully and dynamically engage with the government of Sri Lanka in advancing reconciliation and accountability and a return to peaceful stability."

Read more: http://www.digitaljournal.com/pr/899844#ixzz27WIDWgYK

How Sri Lanka Could Move Into A Complex Production System

By W.A. Wijewardena -September 25, 2012

Dr. W.A. Wijewardena

Sri Lanka’s problem: No entrepreneurs but traders

A reader of the previous week’s My View titled “SL’s future: Convert the simple economy into a high-tech based complex economy” has taken up an important issue with this writer via email. He has said that it is unlikely that Sri Lanka could have a complex production structure in the country because Sri Lanka lacks the type of innovative and visionary entrepreneurs to take the country toward that goal. Instead, according to him, Sri Lanka has traders who are good at buying goods from another country and selling the same in the local market. In the absence of the type of entrepreneurs of the required calibre, Sri Lanka may have to import entrepreneurs from abroad and such importation, he says, will not do any good to the country in the long run.

This reader who has taken such a trouble to reflect on the issues presented in the My View under reference should be commended for the debate he has generated and the learning experience which everyone will get out of his intervention.

But, he is both right and wrong.

Sri Lanka’s past policy has killed true private entrepreneurship

He is right because after independence, Sri Lanka has failed to create a truly entrepreneurial class in the country as its policies were anti-private sector and anti-profit making for most of the time. Whenever a local entrepreneur of worth emerged from the dusts at the ground level, Sri Lanka had killed him either by expropriating his business under the pretext of serving the common man or bringing him within a strict governmental regulatory regime to prevent him from, as the country’s leaders had argued, harming the people. Hence, in the whole of the post-independence period, leading industries were started and managed by the government by employing bureaucrats who had no knowledge of running businesses in a competitive environment or handing such industries to political supporters whose only interest in the industry was to serve their political masters. Even the trader type entrepreneurs who got nourished in the system could not work on their own and had to seek comfort of the country’s rulers to win numerous business favours from them. Thus, creativity and innovativeness, the two pillars on which a true entrepreneur would stand high in society, were alien to Sri Lanka’s entrepreneurial class. They were, for all practical purposes, shrewd businessmen who took advantage of the prevailing regulatory and protective regime of the country. Hence, in an environment where there is free competition in the market, they would find it difficult to survive unless the government comes to their rescue.

So far the story is not that encouraging.

Rule of Law a must to protect property rights                               Read More

India-Sri Lanka relations hostage to Tamil parties

Shastri Ramachandaran | Agency: DNA | Tuesday, September 25, 2012

India’s neighbours are not necessarily its friends. They can hardly be called India’s allies. In regional and international forums, more often than not, they are ranged against one another. History, geography, religion, geopolitics, uneven development, competing ambitions and much else account for this state of affairs.

As a result, bilateral relations have their ups and downs and can be warm or chilly, euphoric or troubling. Even so, over the decades, the South Asian countries have learned to live and let live, regardless of the problems at home and across their respective borders.

The striving is to maintain friendly relations, a climate conducive for talks on matters of mutual interest and to prevent any situation from reaching breaking point. However, Tamil Nadu’s political parties, despite being an integral part of coalition governments at the Centre for long years now, do not seem to have grasped this elementary aspect of diplomacy.

The Kazhagams – Jayalalithaa’s AIADMK, Karunanidhi’s DMK and Vaiko’s MDMK – do their best to vitiate India’s relations with Sri Lanka. The sideshows staged by these parties against India-Sri Lanka cooperation and against dignitaries (and ordinary citizens) from the island republic would be handy to illustrate a tract on “How to lose friends and alienate people”.

It is bad enough that New Delhi is not good at making friends of India’s neighbours. It is worse when the DMK and AIADMK push their sectarian agenda in external affairs and foment hostility to cultivate ill will.

Sri Lanka President Mahinda Rajapaksa’s visit last week was yet another occasion for the Kazhagams to put up their predictable tamasha of protests – in the name of championing the rights of Tamils in Sri Lanka. The frontline performer this time was MDMK general secretary Vaiko.

President Rajapaksa, who laid the stone for a University of Buddhist and Indic Studies in Sanchi, held wide-ranging talks with Prime Minister Manmohan Singh in Delhi. Doubtless, devolution of powers to create conditions for Sri Lanka’s Tamils “to live with dignity and respect”, elections in the Tamil-dominated Northern Province and the political plight of Tamils after the LTTE’s defeat in May 2009 were discussed between Singh and Rajapaksa.

A Comprehensive Economic Partnership Agreement (CEPA) and Indian fishermen being attacked by Sri Lankan navy were among the items on the agenda of the two leaders, who also met without their aides.

The significance of the meeting goes beyond the issues discussed because, one, it was the first meeting between the two heads of government after India voted against Sri Lanka at the UN Human Rights Council in March this year. Two, this was the first meeting to deal with a range of substantive issues after June 2010. Three, Sri Lanka’s human rights record comes up for review at the end of this year. Four, New Delhi is keen to address the unrest among Tamils by pressing for their political rights. (In contrast, the Kazhagams appear to be interested in whipping up sentiment solely for political mileage in Tamil Nadu).

New Delhi has to make amends for the blunder of voting with the US against Sri Lanka in the UNHRC. Whereas the DMK and AIADMK keep targeting Sri Lanka as part of their petty one-upmanship games against each other. Their posturing has provoked attacks on innocent Sri Lankan pilgrims visiting Tamil Nadu. AIADMK chief minister Jayalalithaa objected to Sri Lankan defence personnel being trained in military institutions in India. Karunanidhi sought to outdo Jayalalithaa by saying that Sri Lanka cannot be considered “friendly” – because it allows China to execute defence projects in Jaffna.

It may not occur to the DMK and AIADMK that their posturing may be driving Sri Lanka (away from India) into the arms of China. If these parties persist in their unfriendly campaign, Sri Lanka may be forced to not only hand over more projects to China, or even Pakistan, but even start sending their defence personnel to these countries for training. Then the fat would be truly in the fire. 
Sri Lanka is in a zone of Indian influence and is of enormous strategic value. India is Sri Lanka’s preferred partner and the one country from which it would like all help. Instead of creating conditions that make Colombo approach Beijing or Islamabad, it is high time the national parties make the DMK and AIADMK see strategic sense

These two regional parties are not being just perverse. They are being irresponsible and hurting India’s strategic interests. One would have expected that with stints at the Centre, they would acquire an understanding of India’s larger national interest, strategic stakes and global role. Far from that, as their role and power expands at the Centre, the Kazhagams’ worldview seems to be shrinking into even narrower confines.

The author is an independent political and foreign affairs commentator

Indian fisherman's death in Colombo jail sparks anger

Yahoo!By M.R. Narayan Swamy 

New Delhi, Sep 25 (IANS) The death in a Colombo prison of an Indian fisherman has raised tempers in Tamil Nadu, with allegations that India is not doing enough to bring back its prisoners from Sri Lanka despite a bilateral pact.

Fisherman Thangaraj, 63, who became paralysed some three months ago, died Sunday at the Wellikade prison, sparking a wave of anger in the coastal region of Tamil Nadu.

"If only India had brought back its prisoners from Sri Lanka under the prisoner exchange pact, then, perhaps, Thangaraj might be alive today," fishermen leader U. Arulanandan told IANS.

Speaking on phone from Tamil Nadu's Ramanathapuram district, to which the dead man too belonged, Arulanandan said they had run up against a brick wall on the issue of transfer of prisoners.

"There is an agreement under which India and Sri Lanka ought to exchange their prisoners so that they serve their prison sentence in their own countries," he said. "But somehow things don't just seem to move here (in India). Is it because the Indians in Sri Lankan jails are mostly from Tamil Nadu and Kerala and not north India?"

Indian prisoners who have repeatedly spoken to IANS on telephone from the Wellikade jail in Colombo have made similar charges, alleging that India was going slow on the prisoner transfer programme.

Thangaraj, who died Sunday, and another fisherman, Munisami, 40, had set sail from Tamil Nadu Dec 24, 2004, just before the tsunami. Sri Lanka was then at war with the Tamil Tigers.

Sri Lankan security forces caught them on the sea and accused them of possessing drugs. They were given life sentences and have been in prison since then.

A father of four sons and one daughter, Thangaraj had pleaded innocence and had - like other Indians serving jail sentences in Colombo - seeking transfer to an Indian prison.

"But this never happened," said Arulanandan, who is also the founder of the Alliance for Relief of Innocent Fishermen group.

"When we make enquiries, we are never clearly told who is responsible for this mess: the Indian foreign ministry or the home ministry. We believe it is the home ministry," he said.

An Indian prisoner in Colombo had told IANS in the past that Indians in the Wellikade prison were mostly from Tamil Nadu and Kerala and belonged mostly to poor families.

"This is one reason no one bothers about our condition," said the prisoner requesting anonymity. "At one point some of us thought of writing to Tamil Nadu Chief Minister (J.) Jayalalithaa. One even thought of committing suicide.

"Our plight has been taken up in Indian parliament also. We believe that things would have worked fast had we been from northern India. This is our grouse," he said.

Arulanandan said there was talk about a year back that Thangaraj may be moved to India to serve his sentence in this country.

"That never happened. Who knows, he may have been alive if he was in India. At least he would have got better medical treatment."

Live on RT: Assange to address UN on human rights

Wikileaks founder Julian Assange. (AFP Photo / Miguel Medina)

25 September, 2012

Julian Assange will address permanent representatives to the UN General Assembly at a high-level talk on the legal and ethical legitimacy of diplomatic asylum. RT has exclusive rights to broadcast the event live from the UN headquarters in New York.

Among those joining Assange for the panel discussion at the 67th General Assembly Debate on Wednesday will be Ricardo Patino, Foreign Affairs Minister of Ecuador, and Baher Azmy, the Legal Director of the Center for Constitutional Rights.

Ecuador’s sponsorship of the event is linked to their mid-August decision to grant Assange political asylum, a move that sparked worldwide debate over the legal and human rights dimensions of diplomatic asylum.

Assange took shelter in Ecuador’s London embassy in June after losing his court battle to avoid extradition to Sweden, where he is wanted for questioning over allegations of sexual assault. The WikiLeaks founder fears he will be extradited to the US after arriving in Sweden for his role in leaking thousands of secret US diplomatic and military cables. Washington and Stockholm denied Assange’s allegations.

A breakthrough in the diplomatic standoff between Britain and Ecuador over Assange could be forthcoming, as UK Foreign Secretary William Hague will meet with Patino during the UN summit on Thursday.

Ecuador is expected to request safe passage for Assange to Ecuador’s embassy in Sweden, where he would be questioned on the sex crimes allegations leveled against him.

The UK sparked controversy in August when it threatened to storm Ecuador’s embassy in London to arrest Assange. UK officials later backed down, though the country’s Foreign Office maintained it has a binding obligation to arrest Assange once he leaves the embassy grounds.

Patino argued that allowing Assange to be transferred to the country’s embassy in Sweden would be a acceptable compromise for all parties involved, as he would “remain under our protection while also satisfying the demands of the Swedish justice system.”

Assange’s battle against the accusations was recently buoyed by the revelation that a torn condom he purportedly used in one of the alleged 2010 incidents did not contain his DNA. This discovery may have prompted Ecuador to consider sending Assange to Sweden for questioning.  Patino made no direct mention of the evidence, but noted“new” developments in the case, and that "several elements of proof have been dismissed."

The UK and Sweden remained silent on the possibility of a compromise, though both publicly vowed that Assange should not be an exception to their legal systems.

Patino said that, barring a breakthrough, Ecuador could take the Assange case to the International Court of Justice.

(If you would like to rebroadcast tomorrow’s transmission of Assange live from the UN, please contact Free Video at RT or send a request to mmgavasheli@rttv.ru)

Freedom House Report: Freedom On The Net 2012, Sri Lanka Is A Country At Risk

By Colombo Telegraph -

Freedom House, US based an independent watchdog  dedicated to the expansion of freedom around the world, today released its report on Freedom on the Net 2012. The report categorised Sri Lanka as particularly vulnerable to deterioration in the coming 12 months, among Azerbaijan, Libya, Malaysia, Pakistan, Russia and Rwanda.

According to Freedom House this report is the third in a series of comprehensive studies of internet freedom around the globe and covers developments in 47 countries that occurred between January 2011 and May 2012.  In its report under the subheading Countries at Risk it says; as part of its analysis, Freedom House identified a number of important countries that are seen as particularly vulnerable to deterioration in the coming 12 months: Azerbaijan, Libya, Malaysia, Pakistan, Russia, Rwanda, and Sri Lanka.

The report says; “In November 2011, five popular news websites known for their reporting on human rights, governance issues, and corruption were arbitrarily blocked. Prior to this incident, the government and the TRCSL had never admitted to blocking websites but did so in this case on the premise of concerns about defamation and the violation of privacy. In December 2011 and intermittently in November 2011, Colombotelegraph.com, a news and commentary website run by exiled Sri Lankan journalists, was also blocked with absolutely no justification provided by authorities,but is accessible as of early 2012. The authorities have occasionally blocked website domains hosted on the servers of blogging platforms rather than specific blogs themselves,although only a few of the most popular blogs publish political content and dissenting narratives.”

Below we give the Sri Lanka section of the report, alternatively you can read it here

Freedom on the Net 2012 -Sri Lanka

INTRODUCTION: 

Since coming into power in 2005, the ruling United People’s Freedom Alliance (UPFA) has pursued an ambitious information, communications, and technology (ICT) policy characterized by the widespread provision of internet access and improvement in digital literacy. The new government’s initiatives have also led to the adoption and further development of the decade-old e-Sri Lanka project, which is geared towards building “information infrastructure and an enabling environment, developing ICT human resources… leveraging ICT for economic and social development,”[1] and providing access to “diverse and unrestricted sources of information and means of communication.”[2]

Despite recognition of the internet’s value and impact on economic growth, the military campaign against the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE, or Tamil Tigers)—which ended in May 2009—hindered adequate investment in the ICT sector and expansion of the internet across the country. Furthermore, the empowering impact of the internet in Sri Lanka has been undermined by the government’s efforts to arbitrarily block, filter, and regulate online content that provides dissenting views and reportage on sensitive political issues.

In January 2007, internet access and mobile phone connections in the northern and eastern regions of the country were disconnected on account of national security concerns.[3] In the same year, the government made its first attempt to clamp down on online content in response to reportage on the military campaign against the LTTE and civilian casualties.[4] While there is a clear trend with respect to the restriction of online content under the current government, since 2007 there has also been an incremental growth in the number of online news sites, new media initiatives, and the leveraging of social media for socioeconomic and political activism. However, in a post-war context, the arbitrary blocking of websites has continued in 2011—a trend that contradicts the government’s own recognition of the role of ICTs in promoting access to information and free of expression—and the government has expressed a need for greater regulation of online content.[5]

OBSTACLES TO ACCESS:

Sri Lanka

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