Tamil Nadu shuts down colleges to prevent student protests against Sri Lanka

Edited by Mala Das -March 15, 2013

The government has asked arts and science colleges in Tamil Nadu to be closed immediately till further orders as student organisations across the state gear up to organise massive protests from Monday.

The students are demanding that India vote against Sri Lanka on a resolution expected to be moved at a meeting of the United Nation's Human Rights Council in Geneva this month.

The US is expected to move the motion against Sri Lanka on war crimes and rights violations against Tamil civilians during the final phase of the war against the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam. All political parties in Tamil Nadu have been pressuring the Indian government to vote against Lanka.

Though students have joined in the demand, their protests so far have been unorganised, with mostly law students holding hunger strikes or demonstrations. More students are expected to join in from Monday.

The emotive Sri Lankan Tamils issue was resurrected recently when British media released photographs that suggest that the 12-year-old-son of Prabhakaran, the chief of the rebel Tamil Tigers, was executed in cold blood by Sri Lankan forces in 2009. Colombo says the photos are morphed.

In the Indian Parliament, the DMK, which is a partner in the UPA government, has made both poignant appeals and threats to demand that India show its support for Tamils in Sri Lanka. It has asked the government to make its stand clear, something that it is yet to do.

The Congress-led UPA government had voted against Sri Lanka in another resolution last year following pressure from the DMK, which had then threatened to pull out of the coalition at the Centre.

India may tilt against Sri Lanka at Geneva

New Delhi, March 15, 2013 (IANS)

Despite Sri Lanka's hopes, India is likely to back the US-sponsored resolution at the UN Human Rights Council (UNHRC) in Geneva against Colombo - if there is a vote.

But this decision will not be influenced by the anger in Tamil Nadu against the killing of large numbers of Tamil civilians by the Sri Lankan military in the war against the Tamil Tigers. New Delhi is convinced that while rehabilitation of the war displaced is taking place in the island's northeast in some measure, Sri Lanka does not seem to be sincere vis-à-vis national reconciliation.

In any case, the situation at the ongoing UN meet in Geneva is different from last year when also the US piloted a resolution pulling up Sri Lanka for rights abuses and more. 

In a move that shook Sri Lanka, India broke ranks with the rest of South Asia and voted for the US resolution that got passed despite hectic lobbying by Colombo.

The 47-member UNHRC membership is rotational. Russia, Cuba and China, which were among Colombo's backers last year, are no more in the Council.

Last year, after Sri Lanka's refusal to deal with Washington, India engaged with US diplomats and toned down the resolution, deleting references to its intrusive aspects.

Like many developing countries, India remains sensitive to Western moves that could be construed as interference in a country's sovereign affairs. This time, Pakistan and some like-minded countries are said to be talking to US diplomats, apparently on behalf of Sri Lanka.

Despite strident demands from political players in Tamil Nadu, the Congress-led central government has not revealed how it will vote this year. One reason is that the US resolution is subject to amendments, and India will wait to see its final shape.

Second, there is a possibility that the resolution may be adopted by consensus, in which case it will be futile for India to reveal its cards - at this point.

Colombo seems to have realized that the dice is more heavily loaded against it at Geneva now compared to 2012.

The dominant view in New Delhi is that the Sri Lankan leadership has badly bungled after crushing the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE). The feeling is that President Mahinda Rajapaksa, knowing that many Tamil civilians did die in the final stages of war, could have offered a public regret and announced adequate financial compensation.

This would have reduced the ill feeling among many Tamils, more so because many were caught in the horrendous conflict between Colombo and the LTTE against their wishes.

Instead, Sri Lanka took a bizarre stand - and has stuck to it - that no civilian was killed in the military blitzkrieg against the LTTE and that the Tigers were to blame for all civilian deaths. Colombo has also dragged its feet on the issue of national reconciliation, refusing to engage in an earnest dialogue with the Tamil National Alliance, the biggest Tamil political grouping in parliament.

This has prevented Sri Lanka from taking bold steps to bring about a national reconciliation that would help heal the wounds of a conflict that left tens of thousands dead over a quarter century.

Sri Lanka has also gone back on the promises it made to Indian Prime Minister Manmohan Singh on political steps it would take once the LTTE became history.
For these reasons, if there is a vote in Geneva, India may do a repeat of last year, say those in the know here.

Vanni : A Personal Journey

By Nadarajah Suseenthiran -March 15, 2013 

Nadarajah Suseenthiran

Ladies and gentlemen, rather than turn to books and documents; rather than rely on statistics and figures, I propose merely to share something of what I personally experienced, saw and heard during my recent visit to the North (Sept. 2012). I will do so as truthfully as I can, and without exaggeration. It is a situation, on the one hand, of untrammeled power, expropriation and exploitation; on the other, of helpless suffering: unseen, unheard and unheeded.

My brother-in-law, a civilian, is one of the thousands injured at Puthukudiyiruppu (Vanni) by the heavy shelling of the Sri Lankan armed forces in 2009. His right upper arm’s bone was cut, and a piece of shell embedded itself there. He and his family, with two children, survived inMullivaikkal. They were brought to Trincomalee, then to Colombo and Vavunia, and finally released to be resettled on his farm near Mallavi. The broken bone was treated with a metal plate with 6 screws. He was told that the metal plate must be removed within one to one-and-a-half years. However, several attempts to remove it failed. Because of this plate, he was unable to bend his arm, and it remained immobile for three years. He learnt to do everything with one (the left) hand. My wife and I went to Sri Lanka last August, 2012; took him to India, and managed to have the plate removed. While we were in India, we visited Thirukadaiyoor, a holy place for Hindus. One evening, we went for a walk around the temple. There were fireworks, and my brother-in-law couldn’t bear that sound: it brought back the nightmare of bombs, shells and bullets. He got into a state of panic, and we had to return immediately. He is an intelligent young man who struggles, on a daily basis, to overcome disaster.  Despite his handicap and all that he has seen and endured, he works the land and looks after his few cows.   We helped our brother; however, I come across children, women and men who suffer similarly, if not worse, but are unable to consult doctors, and are without the possibility of medical and or psychological help. We wished we could have helped them too. We grieved that our money, energy and time were so very limited.

As I talked to my relatives in Puthukidiyiruppu and made them share their horrible experiences, I came to have an inkling of post-war trauma, something Tamils in the North and East suffer. Heinrich Böll said of the Second World War: as long as the pus continues to drain from the wound of war, you cannot say the nation is free from war. I saw that, in Sri Lanka, an unseen war is still being waged, one that seeks to destroy the spirit of a people. Relations and friends, because they knew and trusted me, described their experience during the last stage of the war, how they fled from one place to another, carrying the young, helping the old; how they desperately made pitifully inadequate, makeshift, bunkers; how they hurriedly buried those killed; how they were treated by the LTTE; how their attempt to escape the shelling was prevented both by the army and LTTE.  What they witnessed and experienced is horrible and terrible, beyond my ability to describe: I leave it to your empathy and sympathetic imagination.

The infrastructure in the North of Sri Lanka has been changed, and the intention is clear. Indeed, there is no need, and no attempt, to hide it. Everywhere, land is reserved for settlement by the army. In the past, the Vanni was able to cultivate sufficient paddy for the entire North; now I met famers turned into helpless beggars, waiting for rations doled by the army-controlled administration. In this area, property, houses and land once belonged to the people. Later, they were taken over and occupied by the LTTE. Now, they are the possession of the Army. I saw land near where my father-in-law lives which belongs to a close relation of ours. She lost her husband, and was delayed returning because she was alone. That land has simply been taken over by the army, and is being cultivated by them. It is but one way in which the government rewards soldiers, keeps them happy and, more importantly, supportive. Those few civilians who still own land in the area must come personally, register and hire bulldozers at Rs. 5,000 – 7,000 per an hour; so too, with electric saws and cutting machines.  Some pretend they are going to cultivate their land: otherwise, they’ll lose possession. The temporary huts in which they live are tin-roofed. These dwellings are hot during the day and cold at night. During the rainy season, the tin roof magnifies the noise, frightening little children, particularly at night. Their day-to-day life depends on, and is totally controlled by, the army. Though the war is long over, there are still checkpoints, providing opportunity for harassment, extortion and the display of crude, arrogant, power.Passengers from Vanni to Vavunia have to carry their luggage, walk through the checkpoints and open their bags for inspection. As I said, a psychological war is still being relentlessly waged. Continuously and arbitrarily, strange measures are brought in to keep the people uncertain and fearful.

Taking advantage of the people’s desperation, there are those who promise to help would-be asylum seekers, particularly to Australia. Payment is made in advance, but I was made to understand that for the one or two boats that reach the island close to Australia, another twenty are caught by the Sri Lankan navy, winning media attention, local and abroad, especially in Australia. Those arrested and their relations face court cases. It is a lucrative business – except for the hopeful victims.

Murikandy

As you perhaps know, on the A9 there’s a junction near Kilinochchi: Murikandy.  Under a very old tree, there’s a Vinajaga temple. Though it is hundreds of years old, the temple has been wantonly occupied by the military, its sacredness to the people callously disregarded, even despised. There is no respect for their religion (Hinduism); no regard for the people’s deepest feelings. Instead, almost at every junction and bend, there’s an ultra-large Buddha statue. (One wonders what the Soul of Great Compassion would have thought of such action done in His name.) A friend told me that in front of his house there is a very old “bo” tree (ficus religiosa). Before they fled the area, neighbors advised him to cut down the tree. If not, on the pretext of the botree being sacred, the land around it would be seized by the army. My friend was against the cutting down of the tree – and exactly what the neighbors had warned, happened. My friend’s land and house (it was once a UNESCO office) was occupied by the military, a huge camp was setup, and under the bo tree now sits a statue of the lord Buddha. The Tamils, defeated, without defense and support, have no option but to endure and accept whatever is done to them.

In Thiruvadinilai in Chulipuram it is even more difficult to stop land-grabbing, and effecting demographic change because that is in a high-security zone. There isn’t the faintest sign that steps are being taken to fulfill the legitimate aspiration of the people, aspirations for which they fought, for which they suffered, and for which they are now being ruthlessly victimized.  Rather, the attempt is to abolish the 13^th amendment or to undermine those rights through the Divi Neguma project“(Divi Neguma” has come to have a military connotation, such as “Jaya sikuru” and “Rivi sera”.)  The state acts as a robber, openly grabbing land. It colonizes, and attempts to permanently change the demographic composition. It is left to a very weak civil society (frightened, preoccupied or indifferent) and a crippled opposition to stop and reverse these developments; to usher in justice and humanity, equality and dignity. It is sad but, to be frank, I don’t see grounds for hope. Successive governments have planned, and carried out, the destruction of the Tamils. Still, I call, urge and plead:

Implement genuine resettlement and reconciliation

Stop the increasing militarization

Stop the cultural and economic invasion.

Remove the high-security zones: they are no longer need

Implementation the 13^th amendment fully

Set up a civil administration, one that will not be interfered with and dictated to by the Army

Release political prisoners

Respect the independence of the Judiciary

* Talk given by C.N. Suseenthiran at a conference, Bad Boll, Germany. Nadarajah Suseenthiran arrived in Germany in the early 1980s, as a refugee, and has lived there since. Well known in international Tamil Literary circles, his special interests include subaltern groups, women’s rights and the exile experience.

Demolishing houses is continuing in Waligamam north.

Friday , 15 March 2013

Some buildings located in the Waligamam north region which is under the control of forces were demolished two days back. 

Reports states, houses near the high security zone, which are for the peoples use, the roofs are taken away by those attired in uniform during night hours.

Houses located inside the permanent security fence in the high security zone were demolished by the military in last January month in the Waligamam north region.

 Some buildings were demolished to the ground in the areas under the control of forces in Keerimalai locality two days back. People from the locality said, this activities were executed by those attired in uniform.

Roofs from the houses located near the high security zone permanent fence, at the east end of Tellipalai hospital, are removed was said.

Three houses were reserved for peoples use in these areas but the roofs are removed by the uniformed personnel during night hours.  The balance things which were inside the houses were taken away and were transported in trucks yesterday evening by the uniformed men.

Activities of uniformed men have created much fear amidst the people living in the relevant region.

Unprincipled constructions of military camp

Friday , 15 March 2013

Military is erecting permanent camp without acquiring permission from Waligamam south west divisional council, in the lands belonging to the council was said by the relevant divisional council Chairman Jebanesan.

He said this unprincipled activity by the forces is processing from two days back Wednesday.

"We took a decision and implemented at the monthly divisional council meeting that this lands will not be granted to the military" "In this situation, without informing us, or obtaining approval, military camp is erected" was said by Waligamam south west divisional council Chairman A.Jebanesan.

42 acres of lands behind Mathagal Kattupulam Base Hospital, belongs to Waligamam south west divisional council. Military made a request last year to the divisional council to grant this land to construct a military camp.

But at the monthly divisional council meeting it was decided that the land requested by the military will not be granted. The decision was forwarded to military too.  The prescribed land was decided for the purpose of recycling the garbage project.

In view of this project, parapet wall construction was underway by the divisional council at the relevant land.  In this situation, two days back the forces came to the said land and are engaged in the construction of erecting a military camp.

The 51st battalion is advancing in the construction of a permanent camp. Concerning this Waligamam south west divisional council Chairman directly discussed with military, and they showed a letter written in Sinhala language that the said land had been issued to them by the Land, Town Development and Defense Ministry.

However the divisional council has so far not received any such letters was said by Chairman of the council.

The National Plan Action includes merely a fraction of the 285 recommendations made by LLRC - Forum Asia

Pooja Patel: appalled at the Sri Lankan delegation’s claim that the military offers “no intrusive presence impacting on civilian life” in the north

Friday, 15 March 2013
Thank you, Mr. President. FORUM-ASIA makes this statement in association with its member organisations in Sri Lanka, Law and Society Trust (LST) and INFORM-Human Rights Documentation Centre.  We express our disappointment with the manner in which the Sri Lankan delegation engaged with the UPR Working Group and regret the absurd move made by several States to edit their recommendations so that the outcome document focuses only on the National Plan of Action, not the entire recommendations from the Lessons Learnt and Reconciliation Commission (LLRC).
Contrary to the government’s replies to the report of the UPR Working Group (A/HRC/22/16/Add.1), this is far more serious than a simple “divergence in terminology” as the National Plan of Action includes merely a fraction of the 285 recommendations made by LLRC, Sri Lanka’s own national process.

Mr. President, the blunt rejection of a great number of useful and important UPR recommendations is an additional telling sign that this government’s commitment to reconciliation and accountability is simply rhetorical. For instance, the government rejected the recommendations to set up a national mechanism to look into the issue of enforced disappearances, which was also recommended by LLRC, and refused to accept the visit request of the UN Working Group on Enforced and Involuntary Disappearances which is long outstanding. Furthermore, the government’s reply that the recommendations regarding protection of human rights defenders “are already catered for by the Constitution and ordinary Penal Code” and therefore there is no need for the adoption of national policies, shows its total disconnection from the reality on the ground demonstrated by the well documented cases of threats, intimidation and reprisals against human rights defenders, journalists and media personnel in the country.

Mr. President, we draw the Council’s attention to the ongoing human rights violations in the Tamil-majority north of Sri Lanka. Last week, the police prevented hundreds of families of disappeared persons from conducting a peaceful procession to Colombo from Vavuniya to deliver a petition to the UN office. In November 2012, the military cracked down on a peaceful protest at Jaffna University and detained student activists for several months without due process. Journalists and newspaper distributors from the Jaffna-based newspaper Uthayan were brutally attacked allegedly by military and intelligence officers in civilian clothing in November 2012 and again in January 2013, which follows the decades of killings, abductions and assaults against Uthayan’s staff.

Finally, Mr. President, we are appalled at the Sri Lankan delegation’s claim during the UPR Working Group session that the military offers “no intrusive presence impacting on civilian life” in the north. We call for the immediate end of military involvement in civilian affairs. The approximately 85,000 soldiers deployed currently in the north and east must be significantly reduced. Thank you, Mr. President.
—

[1]  14^th Session of the UPR Working Group (22 October-5 November 2012), Joint Submission 1 for Stakeholder’s Information,http://lib.ohchr.org/HRBodies/UPR/Documents/Session14/LK/JS1_UPR_LKA_S14_2012_JointSubmission1_E.pdf

[1]   Sri Lanka Brief Briefing Note, “The State of Human Rights in the North of Sri Lanka 2012”, Issue No. 05, 25 February 2013,http://www.srilankabrief.org/p/srilanka-brief-brieging-notes.html
——-
22nd Regular Session of the UN Human Rights Council
Item 6: Universal Periodic Review (UPR) Plenary on Sri Lanka

Oral Statement Delivered by Ms. Pooja Patel on Behalf of Asian Forum for Human Rights and Development (FORUM-ASIA)

Tamils issue: Govt. in process of finalising response

 March 15, 2013-PTI

India is in the process of working out its stand on the U.N. Resolution against Sri Lanka, government on Friday said with an emphasis that there should be accountability besides an “impartial, independent and transparent” probe into allegations of atrocities on Tamils.

External Affairs Minister Salman Khurshid made a statement in the Rajya Sabha in the wake of demands made by DMK and AIADMK that India should support a US-moved resolution at UNHRC condemning killing of Tamils in Sri Lanka and holding of an independent inquiry.

“We are in the process of finalising our response. As soon as final view is taken, we will come back to the House,” he said.

He said the process for a decision on the resolution is underway and India has already started engaging with other countries to finalise its view on the resolution.

“Since anxiety has been expressed, the process for resolution is now underway. We are engaging with all member countries. We are absolutely committed. Whatever steps are necessary, will be taken by the government,” he said.

The Minister also said, “There must be accountability and there must be a fair participation. A life of dignity must be ensured (to Tamils in Sri Lanka). We are in pursuit of this objective.”

Mr. Khurshid said investigation must be “impartial, independent and transparent” and said India remained committed to this cause.

DMK and AIADMK earlier demanded that government support a US-based resolution at the UNHRC condemning killing of Tamils in Sri Lanka and institution of an independent inquiry.

Raising the issue in Rajya Sabha soon after it met for the day, Tiruchi Siva (DMK) said students in Tamil Nadu are on agitation. “The state of Tamil Nadu is burning,” he said demanding that India support the UN resolution condemning war crimes. He also sought to know India’s stand in Geneva.

V Maitreyan (AIADMK) said students will intensify their agitation after March 22 and the government should strengthen the U.S. resolution by condemning the genocide.

UN Human Rights Council must act to stop attacks and reprisals on human rights defenders

(Geneva - 11 March 2013) - The world's peak human rights body should take decisive action to prevent intimidation, attacks and reprisals against human rights defenders, the International Service for Human Rights said today.

“Retaliation against human rights defenders for speaking out against human rights abuses is a widespread and popular method employed by governments intolerant of criticism,” said Michael Ineichen of ISHR.

“In recent months, we have witnessed a crackdown on bloggers in Vietnam, an escalation of attacks against journalists in Pakistan, Syria and Russia, and Sri Lankan attempts to silence human rights defenders at the UN,” Mr Ineichen said.

The UN Human Rights Council is currently meeting in Geneva and will today discuss a report outlining ways to prevent and address intimidation and reprisals against those who cooperate with the Council and other UN representatives and bodies.

According to Mr Ineichen, while the UN and many member states have spoken out on the issue of reprisals, they have so far failed to take adequate and decisive action.

“The UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon has himself said that when States fail to respect human rights and protect human rights defenders, ‘the United Nations must stand up and speak out.’ As the UN’s peak human rights body, the Human Rights Council must unequivocally condemn reprisals and hold states to account for all attacks against human rights defenders," Mr Ineichen said.

According to ISHR Director Phil Lynch, reprisals against human rights defenders who seek to hold their governments to account at the UN are particularly concerning, amounting to an attack on international human rights, the rule of law and the UN itself.

“We are appalled by recent reports in the Sri Lankan press that plans are in place to arrest opposition parliamentarians and human rights advocates who are currently in Geneva lobbying for international support for a UN resolution on the investigation of war crimes in Sri Lanka,” Mr Lynch said.

"This latest attempt to intimidate human rights defenders is a continuation of a disturbing pattern. Last time human rights defenders from Sri Lanka came to the UN to support calls for an independent investigation into alleged war crimes a cabinet Minister personally threatened to 'break their limbs'," Mr Lynch said.

"Speaking out in defence of human rights, democracy and the rule of law is itself a fundamental human right," said Mr Lynch. "When a state moves to systematically deny and violate this right the international community – both collectively and individually – has a responsibility to act."

• ISHR’s statement to the United Nations Human Rights Council is available here

Six family members of Bharatha lakshman to address Geneva summit

It is reported that six relatives of the assassinated Baharatha Lakshman Premachandra would address the UNHRC session in Geneva today (15th). They are expected to speak on the assassination of Late Bharatha Lakshman Premachandra and other murders carried out on political grounds in Sri Lanka.

According to Ms. Chithra Premachandra, an elder sister of late Mr. Premachandra, the family members of late Mr. Premachandra have been invited for the sessions on requests made by several human rights organizations. Among the relatives of late Mr. Premachandra is his sister Swarna Gunaratne, her son Dilan Gunaratne, another sister of late Mr. Premachandr Sunethra Abeysinghe and her son Shanika Abeysinghe, Mr. Premachandra’s brother Asela Premachandra and Vishwajith Wijesinghe, a brother-in-law of Mr. Premachandra.

All of them are residents of Canada. Ms. Swarna Gunaratne is expected to address the session. Ms. Chithra Premachandra said her relatives decided to participate at the session not only on behalf of her brother but on behalf of all political assassinations carried out in Sri Lanka.

‘A Slap On The Wrist’: Sri Lanka At The UNHRC

By Phil Miller -March 15, 2013 

In a hotel by the tranquil shores of Switzerland’s Lake Geneva, Gajendrakumar Ponnambalam is catching his breath from the relentless repression faced by Tamil activists in Sri Lanka. He is here to attend the UN Human Rights Council’s 22nd session, which will examine the situation in his homeland this month.

Ponnambalam got into trouble with the Sri Lankan government just for trying to travel abroad. Not surprisingly they want to keep an eye on him, given his track record as an outspoken politician fighting for Tamil people’s rights. Ponnambalam was a Member of Parliament for the Tamil National Alliance (TNA) from 2001-2010, until his section of this coalition – the oldest Tamil political party in Sri Lanka, the All Ceylon Tamil Congress – withdrew in 2010 to establish the Tamil National People’s Front (TNPF). Ponnambalam is currently president of the TNPF, an organisation which prefers to work with civil society rather than the government of Sri Lanka.

Gajendrakumar Ponnambalam

Ponnambalam monitored closely the fate of the Jaffna University students arrested at the end of November for their commemoration of Tamils killed in wars against the Sri Lankan state. “After the first pair of student leaders had been interrogated for many hours, the Student’s Union got worried and asked me to intervene. I was aware if I got involved the government would claim political parties were behind the students’ protests, which absolutely was not the case. So I contacted the most senior lawyer in Jaffna. She found out that a special team was coming from Colombo to interrogate the students. It was clear they would not be released soon. The next day, I found out two more students had been detained, including the union secretary who had requested my help”.

Ponnambalam gives insight into how the Sri Lankan state treated these students: “The Terrorist Investigation Department were the arresting authority. They used a three month detention order and transferred them to the Joint Services Special Operations camp in Vavuniya and then the secretive Welikanda military detention complex – this ‘rehabilitation’ site should only be used if people surrender their links to a banned organisation as set out in the Prevention of Terrorism Act. There were no grounds to use this against the students. I asked their parents to challenge the detention but they were too frightened. The students were eventually released out of the blue last month”.

This incident is in stark contrast to the mantra of reconciliation promoted by British officials in their depictions of post-conflict Sri Lanka. Ponnambalam is critical of their use of language, saying that “structural genocide, not reconciliation, is the phrase which most accurately describes what is going on.” He explains how after the massacres of Tamils in the Vanni in 2009, the genocide has taken new forms. “Even the development and reconstruction that they speak of is mostly infrastructure. These roads are arterial roads used to mobilise theSri Lankan military. Everyone knows that. It is being done to systematically undermine the national identity of Tamil people”.

He is adamant that the Presidency of Mahinda Rajapaksa is not uniquely problematic. “The land grab is not peculiar to this regime. It has been happening for the last 65 years. The only time it stopped was during the armed struggle of the LTTE, because then Sinhalese people were not willing to settle in the north and east”, where a de-facto Tamil state existed.

Although he was in Geneva to observe the UN Human Rights Council (HRC) session on Sri Lanka, he was pessimistic about the prospect of a satisfactory outcome. He dismissed the new US-drafted resolution, which will only “give the Sri Lankan government more time”. He bases this on the fact that a similar resolution was passed last March at the UN HRC which, he says, “did nothing to curtail the genocide. This resolution will be nothing more than a slap on the wrist”.

Looking back, he reflects how “a lot of people said that resolution was ‘against Sri Lanka’. Not at all. It was just a resolution on Sri Lanka that put it on the international agenda. It did nothing to positively change the situation on the ground. Don’t take my word for it. Look at the High Commissioner for Human Rights’ own report on it. Surely a decent resolution would have addressed the concerns of the day, and made a positive impact on the ground? In fact, things have got worse. The government has become more aggressively anti-Tamil, moving towards authoritarian rule. So how can that resolution be called ‘against Sri Lanka’?”

Ponnambalam pointed out how the terms of debate are still fixed on whether the government is implementing the recommendations of their own Lessons Learnt and Reconciliation Commission (LLRC). “The resolution was based on the LLRC, whose commission was appointed by the government. Amnesty International, Human Rights Watch and International Crisis Group all rejected the commission’s members. One of them was a known government apologist who was the Attorney General at the time. Our party said outright that you can’t take the conclusions of a fundamentally flawed commission, so we refused to even go into its merits.

He continued to highlight the weakness of the international community. “The second part of the resolution talked about internal accountability – for the very same government accused of war crimes, crimes against humanity and what we call ongoing genocide”.

Ponnambalam believes Tamil women are playing a lead role in defending their communities from the Sri Lankan military. “The women are at the forefront of bringing to the world the issues on the ground, through various non-violent acts. For example, it was the women who demonstrated against their land being taken by the army in Keppapilavu. Then it was the mothers protesting about their disappeared children. The most vulnerable in our society are the most active in resisting”.

The deportation of Tamils to Sri Lanka has sparked controversy, amid reports that people sent back are imprisoned, raped or subjected to other forms of torture. In February the British High Court finally suspended the removal of Tamil refugees, pending a review of the situation due in May. Ponnambalam was unequivocal about the danger inherent with these deportations. “There is ample evidence to suggest that ordinary Tamils (let alone those who have gone abroad and sought asylum) are facing an enormous threat to their life in Sri Lanka. Elderly people who have been non-political for 25 years are suddenly being detained. So can you just imagine what reaction awaits people who have gone abroad, sought asylum, accused the Sri Lankan government of persecution… This criticism is the number one criteria for getting the State security apparatus against you. These people are not going to be taken lightly, and there is documentary evidence that they have been tortured on return.”

He also warned activists how the situation may evolve. “Some people are interrogated as soon as they step off the plane. No doubt the authorities will get more sophisticated – they will document people as arriving safely only to snatch them later”.

*Phil Miller works for the Stop Deportations Network. This article is first appeared in OpenSecurity

Today, 7 long years have passed since my son’s murder, without any justice or decision from the Sri Lankan courts! - Dr. Manoharan @UNHRC

"I like to visit Sri Lanka" but will scorch my effigy� - Darushman expressed openly

Friday , 15 March 2013

"I have a desire to visit Sri Lanka, but if I visit, my effigy would be scorched” was said by Chairman of the Expert Panel appointed by United Nation Secretary to study concerning Sri Lanka and an international legal Expert Marzuki Darusman. He expressed his views to "Udayan" press.

He made these views humorously while having a conversation on his presence at the side line event of UN Human Rights Council in Geneva.

Concerning Sri Lanka, a report was submitted by you, but it is aware that it is pending, was queried and he said, “our duty is only to submit a report, and it is the responsibility of the UN to process the balance assignments”

 "OK, are you satisfied that your report is accurate" was questioned, "certainly, I have done my duty correctly which I assume". “We did not mention what was not in existence. What happened was seriously explored and we submitted the report, Darusman said.

"Can you visit Sri Lanka and study the situation and submit a  report, was a question asked, in reply, he had a hearty laugh...I like it, but if I visit, my effigy would be blazed, Darusman said.

Today, 7 long years have passed since my son’s murder, without any justice or decision from the Sri Lankan courts! - Dr. Manoharan @UNHRC

FRIDAY, MARCH 15, 2013

Dr. Manoharan at UNHRC; Where is justice for my sonMr President

My name is Dr. Kasippillai Manoharan. On 2 January 2006, Sri Lankan soldiers brutally murdered my beloved son Ragihar on a beach in Trincomalee. My family and I were forced to flee Sri Lanka because we sought justice for his killing.

Today, 7 long years have passed since my son’s murder, without any justice or decision from the Sri Lankan courts!

In its 2012 national report for the UPR, the Government of Sri Lanka informed this Council that the case of my son and his four friends who were also murdered was referred to the Attorney General to decide whether there was a prima facie case to launch prosecutions. The Attorney General advised the Inspector-General of Police to conduct further investigations.

It is not the first time I have heard such promises. A Presidential Commission of Inquiry reported on my son’s murder in 2009, but no results have been made public. The Lessons Learnt and Reconciliation Commission strongly recommended further investigation and prosecution of the killers. For years, the government of Sri Lanka has promised me that it would take action on my son’s case, but nothing has happened.

That terrible incident on the beach in Trincomalee on the 2nd January 2006 has marked my family forever.

Mr. President,

With all the pain of losing my son Ragihar, I seek your help and that of the Human Rights Council to move the investigation of the murder of these five young men to the international level because I have no hope for justice in Sri Lanka.

Thank you Mr President.
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Statement made by AI at adoption of Sri Lanka UPR report  on 15 March 2013, 22nd session

Item 6, Universal Periodic Review, Sri Lanka

VIDEO: US ‘DISAPPOINTED’ OVER SRI LANKA’S REJECTION OF RECOMMENDATIONS

The US today expressed disappointment over Sri Lanka’s rejection of recommendations by UPR states calling for the implementation of the LLRC recommendations.

During the Universal Periodic Review (UPR) on Sri Lanka, a number of States had called for the implementation of the recommendations of Sri Lanka’s own Lessons Learnt and Reconciliation Commission (LLRC), the delegation of the United States of America said at the 22nd Session Human Rights Council.  

“We are disappointed that the Government rejected all UPR recommendations from States that called upon it to implement the LLRC recommendations,” Ambassador Eileen Chamberlain Donahoe said, delivering a statement at the adoption of the UPR Report on Sri Lanka.

The US also criticized the Sri Lankan delegation’s attempt to “reframe” Sri Lanka’s human rights commitments in terms of the government’s National Plan of Action, which it claims does not address the “broad spectrum of recommendations” put forward by the LLRC report.

The US also accused the Lankan delegation of lobbying other delegations to revise their UPR recommendations to exclude reference to the LLRC report, “after they had been orally presented”. 

“Major changes were made to the substance of recommendations after the interactive dialogue. This is inconsistent with the transparent, interactive character of the UPR,” Ambassador Donahoe said commenting on Sri Lanka’s responses to the UPR review.  

The US also stated that it was “disappointed” that the Sri Lankan Government rejected nearly all recommendations regarding engagement and cooperation with UN special procedures mandate holders. 

“We urge the government to expeditiously implement both the UPR and LLRC recommendations,” Ambassador Donahoe said.

U.S. Statement at the Adoption of the UPR Report on Sri Lanka

We welcome the Government’s statement of its intention to accept recommendations to combat gender-based violence, to carry out an independent and credible investigation into the allegations of violations of human rights and international humanitarian law, and to strengthen the independence of institutions, including the Human Rights Commission, Police Commission, and Election Commission.

During the review, a number of States called for the implementation of the recommendations of Sri Lanka’s own Lessons Learnt and Reconciliation Commission (LLRC).  We are disappointed that the Government rejected all UPR recommendations from States that called upon it to implement the LLRC recommendations.

Further, the Sri Lankan delegation attempted to reframe Sri Lanka’s human rights commitments in terms of the government’s National Plan of Action, which does not address the broad spectrum of recommendations put forward by the LLRC report, and by lobbying other delegations to revise their UPR recommendations to exclude reference to the LLRC report after they had been orally presented.

Major changes were made to the substance of recommendations after the interactive dialogue. This is inconsistent with the transparent, interactive character of the UPR. 

We are also disappointed that the Government rejected nearly all recommendations regarding engagement and cooperation with UN special procedures mandate holders.

We urge the government to expeditiously implement both the UPR and LLRC recommendations.