What Happened In Jaffna: Armed Forces In Jaffna Are Terrorising The People

By R Sampanthan -February 21, 2013 

R Sampanthan

The adjournment motion to the speaker.

Hon Speaker,

Parliament.

Hon Speaker,

I hereby give notice that I shall move the following motion at the adjournment of Parliament on 20th February 2013:

On 15th February 2013 the Association for the displaced people of Valikamam North staged a Satyagraha – a token hunger strike at the Tellippalai Durgai Amman Temple premises in Jaffna from 8am to 4pm to demonstrate against their being prevented by the Sri Lankan Government and the Sri Lankan armed forces from resettling on lands owned and historically possessed by them from which they had been evicted on grounds of security during the war. This land is amonst the most fertile lands in Jaffna and these people have been prevented from using their own lands for over 23 years. despite the war having ended almost four years ago and despite security considerations not being applicable any longer and despite undertakings given by the Sri Lankan Government to the Supreme Court that these people will be resettled on these lands, this has not happened and the Sri Lankan armed forces are strenghening their possession on a part of the said land. The Tamil National Alliance and many other political parties and civil society organizations were invited to join the fast in solidarity with them. TNA MPs, Mavai Senathirajah, K Premachandran, A Vinayagamoorthy, A Adaikalanathan, Sivasakthy Anandan, E Saravanabavan, S Shritharan and M A Sumanthiran participated at this hunger strike. Other political party leaders, Dr Wickrmabahu Karunaratne, Mano Ganeshan, Azath Sally and others joined the fast. Hon Leader of the Opposition Ranil Wickremasinghe too joined the hunger strike at about 10.30 am.

At about 11.30 am the Leader of the Opposition addressed the people. As he began, a few persons disturbed him. Hon Mavai Senathirajah asked them to be quiet. When the Leader of the Opposition finished speaking and was leaving the place, the same persons who tried to disturb him, started shouting at the people saying: it is finished, now go home. They spoke with a heavy Sinhala accent, and also started to attack the people around them. The people repulsed this and pushed them away from those performing Satyagraha and they tried to run. One of these persons was caught by the people and handed over to the Police. Another ran to an army camp located closeby. The Police took the arrested person away, but when they went near that army camp, army personnel interfered and released him from the custody of the Police and took him away. The faces of at least two of these attackers are now in the public domain.

It is clear from the above incident that the armed forces in Jaffna are continuing to aggressively interfere with normal civilian life and are terrorising the people. On 16th June 2011 the army attacked another peaceful assembly at Alaveddy in Jaffna, not far from the present location. There were five Members of Parliament belonging to the TNA at that meeting. So far no one has been arrested in connection with that incident, although the Government promised action when I raised that matter in Parliament. The Police continue to file information saying unidentified men in army uniform attacked the TNA meeting and that investigations are going on. No progress has been made for the last One and a Half Years. Armed forces personnel interfered with the elections to the local authorities in the Northern Province and Provincial Council elections to the Eastern Province. Complaints were made to the relevant authorities but no action has been taken. The present incident was clearly committed by the army personnel and confirms that the oppressive military rule is continuing to date. The Police is not able to counter the army’s illegal actions.

Mr Speaker, this incident demonstrates to the country and the world at large that the rule of law has broken down in the Tamil areas. There is no right to freedom of association and peaceful assembly; there is no right to freedom of opinion and expression; there is no right to equality before the law and the equal protection of the law for the Tamil People. The Police are either totally powerless or are co-conspirators in this assault on democracy and fundamental freedoms of the Tamil People. The army is certainly pursuing an oppressive agenda against the Tamil People. Not only have they grabbed the lands belonging to the Tamil People, but they attack anyone who dares to question them. Armed forces are arrogantly confident that the arm of the law will never reach them and act with a total sense of impunity.

In these circumstances I move that the Government should take immediate steps to bring the perpetrators of this assault on fundamental freedoms and democratic rights to justice immediately and restore the rule of law that has completely broken down in the Tamil areas in the North and East. We also ask that as per the recommendations of the Lessons Learnt and Reconciliation Commission, the strength of the armed forced, particularly in the North, should be substantially reduced as the only effective way to curb the oppressive presence and the high handedness of the armed forces and to enable the Tamil People to live in their historic habitations with self respect and dignity.

R Sampanthan,

Member of Parliament, Trincomalee

Leader, ITAK Parliamentary group.

19th February 2013

Video: Geneva 2013 By M.A. Sumanthiran MP – | English | Sinhala | Tamil

February 21, 2013

Platform for Freedom (Nidahase Wedikawa) conducted a Press Briefing on the forthcoming Human Rights Council Sessions in Geneva, which will be held in March 2013, on the 20th of February 2013 from 3:00 p.m onwards at the CEPA Auditorium
No. 29, Gregory’s Road, Colombo 7. M.A. Sumanthiran Member of Parliament for the Tamil National Alliance, Dr. Nimalka Fernando of the International Movement Against All Forms of Discrimination and Racism, Attorney at law Sudarshana Gunawardana of Rights Now – Collective for Democracy, Brito Fernando of the Families of the Disappeared, Herman Kumara of the National Fisheries Solidarity Movement (NAFSO) addressed this press briefing.

MPs seek Sri Lanka’s expulsion from Commonwealth

K Pragalath

| February 20, 2013

PETALING JAYA: The parliamentary caucus on the Sri Lanka conflict has resolved to pressure the Commonwealth to boot out the South Asian country from the organisation and to tell the Malaysian government to boycott this year’s Commonwealth Heads of Government Meeting (CHOGM) in Colombo.

Malaysia’s attendance at the meeting would be equivalent to endorsing the human rights violations committed by the Sri Lankan authorities, Teluk Intan MP M Manogaran told reporters after chairing a roundtable discussion at Parliament House yesterday.

Manogaran is the secretary of the caucus, which co-organised this morning’s meeting with the Malaysia Tamil Forum.

“We also want the Commonwealth to expel Sri Lanka,” he said.

K Arumugam of the Malaysian Tamil Forum said Sri Lanka should not be an example for a multiracial nation to follow.

“What if a Malaysian leader in the future uses the military solution to remove the minority Indians and Chinese here?” he said.

Sri Lanka and Malaysia are among the 54 former British colonies that make up the Commonwealth. CHOGM is among its regular activities.

The 23rd CHOGM will be held from Nov 15 to Nov 17.

The island nation went through a 30-year civil war that ended in 2009 with the army’s defeat of the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE). More than 100,000 people, including civilians, were killed during the conflict. The dead also included LTTE leader Velupillai Prabhakaran. A large number of survivors are still in concentration camps.

The Sri Lankan government, currently led by President Mahinda Rajapaksa, has denied accusations that the military violated human rights.

The meeting yesterday also resolved to raise the matter with the United Nations.

“We want the Malaysian representative to sponsor a motion during the United Nations Human Rights Council meeting in Geneva on March 5,” Manogaran said. “Malaysia should cite Sri Lanka for human rights violations or support a motion by any other country to do so.”

Putrajaya has always expressed support for the Sri Lanka government. Last year, Malaysia abstained from voting against Sri Lanka when the United States tabled a motion against that country.

Another resolution passed at the meeting was to urge the UN Secretary General to appoint an independent committee to evaluate the United Nations’ internal workings in Sri Lanka.

On Sri Lanka Murder of 12 Year Old, Ban's UN is Aware, Calls for National Process

By Matthew Russell Lee

UNITED NATIONS, February 20 -- As news of the summary execution of a 12 year old boy by the Sri Lankan Army in May 2009 spreads worldwide, Inner City Press on Wednesday asked UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon's spokesman about it, citing Ban's “two reports and a third one still ongoing.

Ban's spokesman Martin Nesirky began with a correction, saying that this third report “is an internal task force looking at how recommendations will be carried out in the UN... it's not to do with looking into the actual events in Sri Lanka.”

Some wonder how the UN can fully assess its inaction in Sri Lanka without taking into account new evidence of war crimes, including the murder of children in the days the UN was playing middleman for surrenders which ended in summary executions.

Nesirky went on to say “we are aware of the video footage and reports about it,” but he had “no specific comment” beyond Ban's general statement on the “importance of accountability.”

He again referred to a “national process,” when it is clear to many that has not and will not happen in the run-up to the UN Human Rights Council session in March.

In Sri Lanka, the release of e-mails from Stratfor, the privately owned intelligence company, has sparked a controversy regarding Reuters' bureau chief there, Bryson Hull.

One 2010 e-mail depicts Hull promoting his “ace-in-the-hole analyst, Reva Bhalla of Stratfor... a consummate information dealer... we had a very successful relationship during the end of the war in Sri Lanka.”

Groundviews has been asking Hull to explain the e-mail. (Inner City Press has learned from some Hull reports in the past, for example in 2012 on the Maldives.) Hull has replied, among other things, that Reva Bhalla "was quoted by name in a Reuters story.”

That would be far better than Reuters' UN bureau, whose chief Louis Charbonneau in 2012 played a leading role in a campaign to try to oust Inner City Press first from the UN Correspondents Association then from the UN as a whole.

Triggering the campaign was a story Inner City Press wrote about Sri Lanka, war crimes and conflicts of interest - click here for the account of the UK-based Sri Lanka campaign, chaired by Kofi Annan's former communications chief Edward Mortimer.

Most troubling, when the UNCA proceeding Reuters' Charbonneau was pushing led to Inner City Press receiving death threats from extremist supporters of Sri Lanka's Rajapaksa government, Charbonneau refused to stop or even suspend the proceedings. “Go to the New York Police Department,” he said dismissively.

The campaign only stopped when Inner City Press requested then obtained documents from Voice of America, which reflected among other things Reuters support forVOA's June 20 request to the UN to “review” Inner City Press' accreditation, and Reuters contemplating a (SLAPP) lawsuit against Inner City Press.

Inner City Press wrote several times to the top editors at Reuters, Stephen J. Adler, Walden Siew, and Paul Ingrassia,trying to make them aware of the death threats that were triggered by the actions of their UN bureau chief.

But as reflected in the documents obtained from VOA under FOIA, Reuters had adopted and apparently continues a policy of not responding to any issue raised by Inner City Press -- including the receipt of death threats.

On October 2012, Charbonneau was asked in writing to explain some of the documents obtained under FOIA; he made no response.

Charbonneau remains in 2013 the first vice president of UNCA, which in connected to several anonymous social media accounts which have said without any basis that Inner City Press is funded by Sri Lanka's Tamil Tigers.

Reuters' record of using, even stoking, extremism in Sri Lanka goes well beyond the Wikileaked email of Bryson Hull about Stratfor. But who will answer for it? Watch this site.

Sri Lanka’s Authoritarian Turn

Colombo/Brussels | 20 Feb 2013

As the UN Human Rights Council prepares to open its 22nd session next week, the Sri Lankan government has made no meaningful progress on either reconciliation or accountability and instead has accelerated the country’s authoritarian turn, with attacks on the judiciary and political dissent that threaten long-term stability and peace.

Sri Lanka's Authoritarian Turn: The Need for International Action, the latest report from the International Crisis Group, examines the government’s recent consolidation of power and sets out critical steps for an effective and coordinated international response.

“The Rajapaksa government’s politically motivated impeachment of the chief justice last month reveals both its intolerance of dissent and power sharing and the weakness of the political opposition”, says Alan Keenan, Crisis Group’s Sri Lanka Project Director. “By incapacitating the last institutional check on executive power, the government has crossed a threshold into new and dangerous terrain. It is threatening prospects for the eventual peaceful transfer of power through free and fair elections”.

Analysts and government critics have warned of Sri Lanka’s growing authoritarianism since the final years of the civil war, but the impeachment has considerably worsened the situation. The removal of the chief justice completes the “constitutional coup” initiated in September 2010 by the eighteenth amendment, which revoked presidential term limits and the independence of government oversight bodies.

Sri Lanka is faced with two worsening and interconnected governance crises. The dismantling of the independent judiciary and other democratic checks on the executive and military will inevitably feed the growing ethnic tension resulting from the absence of power sharing and the denial of minority rights. Both crises have deepened with the government’s refusal to comply with the UN Human Rights Council (HRC)’s March 2012 resolution on reconciliation and accountability. While it claims to have implemented many of the recommendations of its Lessons Learnt and Reconciliation Commission (LLRC) – a key demand of the HRC – there has in fact been no meaningful progress.

The government has conducted no credible investigations into allegations of war crimes, disappearances or other serious human rights violations and has rejected the LLRC’s recommendations to establish a range of independent institutions for oversight and investigations.

The international community has a number of tools at its disposal to encourage Colombo to account for the deaths of up to 40,000 civilians in the final months of the war; to halt the current trajectory towards authoritarianism; and to build a country for all, not just some, Sri Lankans. Chief among these are the levers of the UN, including the HRC, Sri Lanka’s reliance on development assistance and the prestige of hosting the forthcoming heads of government meeting of the Commonwealth.

“Strong international action should begin with Sri Lanka’s immediate referral to the Commonwealth Ministerial Action Group (CMAG) and a new resolution from the HRC calling for concrete, time-bound actions to restore the rule of law, investigate alleged war crimes and rights abuses, and devolve power to Tamil and Muslim areas of the north and east”, says Paul Quinn-Judge, Crisis Group’s Asia Program Director. “Sri Lankans of all ethnicities, who have struggled to preserve their democracy, deserve stronger international support”.

Sri Lanka’s quest for meaningful reconciliation

Testifying before the Lessons Learnt and Reconciliation Commission, February 2012

COLOMBO, 20 February 2013 (IRIN) - Fifteen months after a “reconciliation” commission submitted to the Sri Lankan government its recommendationsfollowing a probe into the country’s final years of the 1983-2009 civil conflict, little has happened according to local civil society and a recent UN report.

Of the dozens of suggestions from the government-appointed Lessons Learnt Reconciliation Commission (LLRC), few on justice and reconciliation have been pursued, and investigative attempts have lacked independence and impartiality, according to the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights.

“LLRC opened a great window for change for Sri Lanka. These recommendations must be used, but there is a disturbing level of lethargy at the moment,” said Victor Karunairajan, a community activist from Jaffna, heart of the country’s former conflict zone in the north where separatist rebels, the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam, had fought for decades until their defeat in May 2009.

Investigations into ongoing abductions and killings of human rights lawyers, activists and journalists are scant to non-existent, said Jayasuriya Weliamuna, a senior member of a national lawyers’ collective working on human rights.

In the state’s response to the UN report’s discussion of extrajudicial killings, it said: “The generalization made highlighting a few isolated incidents as a spike in reports of abductions and disappearance in the period [of the] last quarter of 2011 to mid-2012 is inaccurate.”

Trust lacking
Rajiva Wijesinha, a parliamentarian and adviser to the president on reconciliation issues, admitted state building activities - notably infrastructural repairs in the still recovering north - have outpaced nation-building. “There are still problems, and the mutual satisfaction and trust that reconciliation require are still inadequate,” he told IRIN.

Stalled implementation of the LLRC recommendations has been due to the lack of formal procedures in the mistaken belief that “the real business of government is conducted by the efficient [civil servants] working on their own.”

But the problem is the lack of such efficient problem solvers, said Wijesinha. “There are not so many efficient people around. They get overwhelmed and are unable to fulfil everything they take on. The problem is compounded by the fact that, at lower levels in public service, there is less willingness to take decisions. Even though there are many able people, the system does not encourage them to work on their own initiative to achieve results.”

The government presented an action plan in July 2012 that addressed only a limited number of recommendations.

Wijesinha faults the lack of a formal structure for halting progress. “Without a proper structure… there has been no process of taking regular stock of achievements and ensuring remedial action when things were slow.”

Wijesinha said he hopes the recent reconvening of the inter-ministerial committee in charge of implementing the recommendations, its change in leadership, the establishment of monitoring mechanisms and just-launched consultations with civil society, will speed change.

Ramesh Nathan, 56, a secondary school teacher and community activist in Jaffna, is less optimistic. “There are a lot of talks and excuses going on at both [the] UN and governmental level but nothing is really happening on the ground in terms of accountability. To me the statements and talks… all seem like a political game. Ultimately, people in Sri Lanka will be the ultimate losers.” 

SRI LANKAN TAMILS MUST GET EQUALITY - INDIAN PRESIDENT

February 21, 2013

Sri Lanka must make efforts to provide its Tamil minority “a life of peace, dignity and equality”, Indian President Pranab Mukherjee said today. Mukherjee told parliament that India was making progress in its engagement with Sri Lanka.

This involved “our efforts to resettle and rehabilitate the internally displaced persons there”, he said, referring to thousands who were pushed out of their homes due to the war against the LTTE, IANS reports.

Tamil Eelam Freedom Charter to be Declared on May 18, 2013 - The 4th Anniversary of Mass Killing of Tamils: TGTE

Thursday, 21 February 2013

Transnational Government of Tamil Eelam (TGTE) to gather Freedom Demands from Tamils worldwide for the Charter.

Urging UN to Release its report on Genocide.

Urges UN human rights monitors to be deployed to protect Tamils.

Urges Genocide to be added to War Crimes & Crimes Against Humanity.

- Prime Minister of the Transnational Government of Tamil Eelam (TGTE), Mr. Visuvanathan Rudrakumaran, speaking to the Press last Sunday, announced that Tamil Eelam Freedom Charter will be declared on May 2013 – the 4th anniversary of mass killing of Tamils by the Sri Lankan Security forces.

“As Tamils envision the future and look forward to the fruition of Tamil Eelam, the Freedom Charter containing the Freedom Demands of Tamils worldwide, would be a cornerstone of Tamil's Freedom,” said Mr. Rudrakumaran .

“Aspiring to take the Vaddukoddai Resolution - which called for the creation of Tamil Eelam - forward, taking inspiration from Britain’s Magna Carta, the Freedom Charter of the African National Congress (ANC) and the Palestinian National Charter, the Tamil Eelam Freedom Charter will enshrine the Freedom Demands of our people”, continued Mr. Rudrakumaran.

The TGTE would be releasing a booklet explaining the Freedom Charter, its purpose and significance on February 24th in Buffalo (New York) and Mr. Rudrakumaran will have open discussion about the Charter at that event.

This booklet will also be released in different cities around the world.

Most importantly, the booklet would contain a questionnaire that seeks the people’s input with a view to determining the people’s Freedom Demands, that would ultimately form the basis for the Tamil Eelam Freedom Charter. Town Hall style meetings and the electronic medium would be used to secure the people’s input.

The declaration of the Tamil Eelam Freedom Charter would be made on 18th May, 2013, during the TGTE International Conference. May 18th marks the 4th anniversary of the killing of tens of thousands of Tamil civilians and sexually assaulting Tamil women by the Sri Lankan Security forces.

Other planned activities of the TGTE are:

1)TGTE will launch a campaign demanding the Special Adviser to the UN Secretary-General on the Prevention of Genocide to make public the report on the plight of Tamils during the final stages of the armed conflict that his predecessor had initially prepared and not released which the UN Internal Review Panel had made mention of in its report.

2)The TGTE will also launch a campaign in connection with its call for an international protection mechanism in the North East of the Island. The TGTE wants UN Human Rights Field Presence in the North East to monitor and protect Tamils as envisaged by the Secretary General himself in 2007.

3)The TGTE wants the investigation to center on Genocide, in addition to Crimes Against Humanity and War Crimes.

4)At this year’s UN Human Rights Council, TGTE is working to get a Resolution passed to create an international independent investigation with a view to bringing justice for the victims of genocide.

About Transnational Government of Tamil Eelam (TGTE):

Transnational Government of Tamil Eelam (TGTE) was created in the aftermath of the bloody end of Sri Lanka's war; resulting in tens of thousands of Tamil civilians were killed and large numbers of Tamil women were raped by the Sri Lankan security forces. UN documented War Crimes & Crimes Aganist Humanity and recommended an International Commission of Inquiry.

Transnational Government of Tamil Eelam (TGTE) is a democratically elected government of the Tamil Diaspora of Sri Lanka. Its actions are non-violent, democratic and diplomatic. It held internationally supervised elections in twelve countries to elect Members of Parliament (MPs). These MPs drafted and ratified a Constitution and elected a Prime Minister, a Cabinet and a Speaker. TGTE also have an Upper House (Senate).

Jaffna native holding British citizenship missing. A complaint made to Jaffna police

Thursday , 21 February 2013

Jaffna national holding British citizenship had gone missing in Colombo was a complaint made to the police. Concerning this incident, the British Embassy in Colombo had been notified.

 

Arumugam Yogeswaran aged 37 years a native of Karainagar had lived in Jaffna Eechamottai locality had gone missing.

 

He migrated to London and had obtained British citizenship and recently visited to Jaffna to meet his wife and relations.

 

To proceed to London he had come to Colombo. In this state from last 10th, there was no contact from him; hence from that day he had gone missing was a complaint made to the Jaffna police.

 

Missing person's wife had informed about her husband’s missing incident to the British Embassy in Colombo.

  A complaint had been lodged  concerning this incident to Human Rights Commission, Jaffna branch office. 

SALE OF STATE AND PRIVATE LAND TO FOREIGNERS PROHOBITED

February 21, 2013

The Cabinet has decided to prohibit outright sale of State and private land to foreigners, Media Minister Keheliya Rambukwella stated today (February 21) the Government Information Department reported.

These comments were made at the cabinet briefing held today (February 21) in Colombo.

China gets Colombo 7 prime land free of tax

By Chandani Kirinde-Sunday, February 03, 2013

On an order by President Mahinda Rajapaksa, the sale of 122 perches of prime land in Horton Place, Colombo 7 to the Chinese embassy has been exempted from taxes normally levied for the sale of property to foreigners.

Under the provisions of the Finance Act, when there is a transfer of ownership of property within Sri Lanka, a tax equivalent to the value of the property is charged from the transferee if more than 25 per cent of its ownership goes to a person who is not a citizen of Sri Lanka.

The Colombo 7 land transfer to the Chinese embassy has also been exempted from another provision which prohibits the sale of property below the value specified by the Chief Valuer.

The order made by President Rajapaksa in his capacity as the Minister of Finance and Planning said the relevant sections in the Finance Act would not apply to the transfer of the land and premises located at No. 112, Horton place, Colombo 7.

Canadian national stabbed in Paranthan area

[ Friday, 04 May 2012, 12:21.08 PM GMT +05:30 ]

Group of unidentified person have stabbed a Canadian national at Paranthan area.

This fatal incident occurred at 9.00 pm last evening at Paranthan Kumarapuram area. Man arrives from Canada to watch his lands at Killinochchie Kumarapuram area has been stabbed this regar. Victim is identified has 53 years old Antoypillai Mahendrarasa. Tense situation arose in the Paranthan area. Area residents stated none of the suspects had been arrested in connection this with alleged murder and also said they all were suspicious over their security in the area. Speaking to media diplomats said foreign national arrive SriLanka also not permitted to enjoy freedom in this country. This murder has created fear among foreigners schedule to visit SriLanka. However police carries out further investigations this regard.

Stop the birth control surgery LRT – Bodhu Bala Sena

 

Wednesday, 20 February 2013
Following a request made by the Bodhu Bala Sena, the President has asked Health Minister Maithripala Sirisena to issue a directive stop performing the birth control surgery, LRT in hospitals.

Bodhu Bala Sena has called on the President to act against all forces that are working towards reducing the Sinhala Buddhist population in the country under the “small family” (Punchi Pawula Raththaran) concept. The President has issued the directive following the request made by Bodhu Bala Sena for the government to stop all funding for hospitals and doctors to carry out birth control surgery and to stop such clinics being operated by state institutions and NGOs.

Bodhu Bala Sena has stated that the organization was not opposed to abortions carried out under reasonable circumstances, but did not approve moves to pay monies to Sinhala Buddhist mothers to undergo sterilizations.

Bodhu Bala Sena has alleged that reproductive health institutes like Marie Stoppes and Population Service Limited, which are also NGOs, were paying monies to the Health Minister to carry out sterilization programmes on Sinhala Buddhist women. Both these NGOs have been banned in Sri Lanka.

Balachandran executed on May 19th. Forensic analysis reveal

Thursday , 21 February 2013

Forensic analysis reveals that Liberation tiger leader Pirabakaran's youngest son Balachandran was executed on year 2009, May 19th in the afternoon. The information was catered by the Journalists movement for Sri Lanka democracy.

 

Four photographs of Balachandran detained in a bunker and the scenes of he being assassinated, establish from the analysis such information was stated.

 

According to the self-data of the images, the photographs had been taken by a camera between 10.14 a.m to 12.01 noon in the year 2009, 19th of May Hence it is confirmed that Balachandran was brutally killed before noon on May 19th.

 

The movement further stated that this is an execution without question which they affirm.