genocide 4 - ram - Picasa Web Albums

Video: Against cattle slaughter WEDNESDAY, 26 JUNE 2013  genocide 4 - ram - Picasa Web Albums ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- VIDEO: GNANASARA THERO ON DRUNK DRIVING CHARGE; IT WASN’T ME June 18, 2013  Death threats to Journalist Dilka over the phone for exposing the charges of Gnanasara thera During the recent Derana 360  programme the Ven.Gnanasara thera the General Secretary of the Bodu Bal a Sena organisation  participated. The conductor of this programme Dilka Samanmalee exposed that the Gnansara thera had been charged and fined in courts for driving after liquor which was one among the seven charges he was guilty of. After the programme of exposing these details Dilka had been receiving constant death threats over the phone. In this regard she had complained to the CID. During this discussion Dilka had questioned the Gnanasara thera that his organisation and he in particular is against liquor and gambling. But she proved that while  showing  some reports from the courts that the thera had admitted his offences in courts and even had paid the court fines. The signature campaign against cattle slaughter launched by the Sinhala Ravaya movement which started from Kiri Vehera reached Colombo today. The members of the movement handed over a petition to the President at the Temple Trees. Pix by Nisal Baduge WATCH ► Video:

AC Milan owner Berlusconi sentenced to seven years in jail after being found guilty of paying underage teenager for sex
By DAVID KENT- 24 June 2013

AC Milan owner Silvio Berlusconi has been sentenced to seven years in prison and banned from public office for life after being found guilty of paying a teenager for sex at one of his notorious 'bunga bunga' parties.

Former Italian Prime Minister Berlusconi, 76, paid underage Moroccan teenager Karima El Mahroug, nicknamed Ruby the heart-stealer, for sex and then tried to cover it up with phone calls to police when she was arrested for alleged theft. Berlusconi and the woman had denied having had sex.

Prosecutors were seeking a six-year jail term for underage sex and abuse of power but three female judges at a Milan court today handed him a longer sentence of seven years. 

Verdict: AC Milan owner Silvio Berlusconi (left) was found guilty off paying Moroccan Karima El Mahroug for sex

Sentenced: President of the court Giulia Turri (centre) read out the damning verdict

AC Milan Owner Berlusconi Sentenced to Seven Years in Jail After Being Found Guilty of Paying Underage Teen... by nelvely

Maya Reminds Snide Critics She Was Right About NSA Spying In 2010

June 26, 2013 |

Following revelations that the NSA is spying on our phone calls, texts, Google history, Facebook profiles and who knows what else,Maya Arulpragasam (M.I.A.) is taking some time to remind the world she knew it all along, Fuse TV reports.

Back in 2010, her Maya album opener “The Message” linked our hyper-connected online lives to government oversight with the following lyrics: “Your headphones connected to your iPhone / Your iPhone’s connected to the Internet / The Internet’s connected to the Google / The Google’s connected to the Government.”

“Although she doesn’t cite the sources for these quotes, we did a little Googlin’ and uncovered the publications. Here are the most egregious examples of critics who blasted her back in 2010 and now have to eat their own words. Because the Internet, and the government monitoring it, never forgets.” Fuse TV reported.

Read more

Maya Reminds Snide Critics She Was Right About NSA Spying in 2010 by nelvely

US Hunger Strikers and Human Rights Activists Demand Closure of Guantanamo Prison Camp

Jun-25-2013 

Starving for Justice: US Hunger Strike and Human Rights Activists rally on Wednesday, June 26 at White House to demand closure of Guantanamo Prison Camp.

White House/Witness Against Torture/Jan 13, 2012 -www.closegitmo.net

(WASHINGTON DC) - Weeks past President Obama’s speech announcing his renewed intention to close Guantanamo, human rights activists — including three US military veterans on open-ended fasts in solidarity with hunger striking Guantanamo detainees — will stage dramatic protests on Wednesday, June 26th at the White House calling on the President to turn his promise into action.

140 days into the hunger strike at Guantanamo, members of Witness Against Torture and other groups will lay 86 black cloths, each with the name of a Guantanamo prisoner cleared for transfer, on the sidewalk of the White House to dramatize the demand that the President begin transferring men from the prison facility.

In response to the hunger strike of Guantanamo detainees, several US citizens have for weeks been on open-ended fasts, suffering the health effects of sustained hunger. They hope with their immense sacrifice to draw attention to the plight of the Guantanamo detainees and force the President to act.

“What is happening in Guantanamo is despicable,” says Elliott Adams, a former paratrooper in Vietnam on hunger strike since May 17. “The continued detention of innocent men is a violation of our moral and religious principles, domestic and international law. It goes against the values I thought the American flag stood for when I was a young man in the Army. I just can't sit and enjoy my life when my country is doing such terrible things.”

Diane Wilson, a former Army medic and fourth-generation shrimp boat captain from Texas who has lost 50 pounds in over 56 days, says, “I know who this American fisherwoman is and where I stand. I stand in solidarity with the Guantanamo prisoners and I will fast indefinitely until justice for them comes."

Veterans For Peace national board member Tarak Kauff, on hunger strike since June 8, says, “It is up to human beings of conscience to take the risks, step out of our comfort zones and do our utmost to end the nightmare of Guantanamo. If we do not act now, our children and their children will reap the bitter results of our cowardice: an America without basic rights and a world without justice.”

The US hunger strikers amplify the “rolling fast,” organized by Witness Against Torture, in which hundreds of United States citizens have fasted in support of the hunger strikers at Guantanamo.

"It should not take people denying themselves food, whether in Guantanamo or in the US, to have President Obama stand up for the Constitution and human rights,” says Matt Daloisio, organizer with Witness Against Torture. “The renewed promise to close Guantanamo is important, but without immediate steps to release people, it is only another promise."

What: Protest to Close Guantanamo on the UN International Day for Survivors of Torture

Who: US hunger strikers, Witness Against Torture, and other activists. 

Where: The White House

When: Wednesday, June 26; Rally and speeches at the White House at noon.

Information on the protest and profiles of the hunger strikers are available at www.closegitmo.net

Jaswant Singh blames politicians for present security situation

PTI Jun 25, 2013

NEW DELHI: BJP leader Jaswant Singh today held politicians responsible for the country's present security situation, saying they are to be blamed as they are at the helm of governance.

"There is a lack of governance, and the situation would continue till the politicians don't begin to think about national security. They have to rise and think beyond winning elections after five years," he said.

The former External Affairs Minister was addressing a seminar on "Threats to National Identity and Security", organised by Dr Shyama Prasad Mookerjee Research Foundation to mark his 60th death anniversary.

Singh expressed his displeasure over the way India's current foreign policy was being taken forward and said, "Due to this our relations with Sri Lanka had deteriorated.

"Also the experiment of Indian Peace Keeping Force in Sri Lanka to fight against Liberation Tigers of Tamil Elam ( LTTE), whom India had promoted, is an example of our bad experience."

He said our relations with China and Pakistan, over border issue, are the examples of the wrong policies of former Prime Minister Jawaharlal Nehru.

"While China worked on strengthening its internal security and borders, Pt Nehru's first concern was to become more popular in the world," the BJP leader said.

"India would be the only country in the world which had such a vast territory but its borders are not defined even after the 66 years of Independence," he claimed.

He also said that India had no idea about the number of its island territories till 2002.

"After the 2002 Kargil War, when committees were set up to review the war operation, then we came to know about our island territories, and then Andamans and Nicobar Command was set up for the first time," he said.

In his address, former governor of Jammu and Kashmir and Assam, Lt Gen (retd) S K Sinha said India has threat perceptions from Pakistan, China and Naxals.

He said the Kashmir problem was due to a series of blunders committed by Indian leadership.

"We have no clear cut policy on Kashmir, no roadmap to resolve the problem, except we continuously say that Kashmir is the integral part of India," he said, adding India should not fall prey to friendly noises made by the newly-elected Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif about improving Indo-Pak relations.

"We should welcome such statements, but we should not take it on face value and keep in mind the previous track record of Sharif. We can't overlook that his brother, Chief Minister of Punjab has given huge grants to Hafiz Sayeed," he said.

Sinha criticised the government over its "sluggish efforts" while dealing with China, in the wake of recent incursion in Ladakh.

He said that the joint statement, after the meeting of Indian and Chinese foreign ministers was silent about the incursions and also it, in a way supports, China's relations with Pakistan.

"We are not aware of their intentions, as Chinese don't take such steps without a reason," he said.

The former governor urged the governments of Naxal- affected states and the Centre to go for coordinated efforts to end this problem.

"If it is not tackled now then it is a biggest threat in making," he said.

Another speaker, former IB chief Ajit Doval while expressing concern about the present security scenario said today there are more people engaged in dividing the country rather than uniting it.

He said over three lakh people have died since Independence in violence related to internal security and in the last 66 years the threat perception has increased.

Kevin Rudd ousts Australian PM Julia Gillard in leadership ballot

Wednesday, Jun 26, 2013 

Melbourne: Kevin Rudd staged a comeback today after he ousted Prime Minister Julia Gillard as head of Australia's ruling Labor Party in a leadership ballot, three years after he was deposed by her in party coup.

Rudd, 55, was elected after Gillard called a ballot in a television interview following media reports that supporters of Rudd were circulating a caucus petition to allow a challenge for the prime ministership.

Former prime minister Rudd, who was ousted by Gillard three years ago, won 57 to 45 Labor caucus votes. The development came ahead of September 14 general elections, which surveys suggest Labor is set to lose.

It is unclear whether Rudd will stick to Gillard's schedule of the September election or go for an earlier one. The earliest date Rudd can call an election for is August 3. The result may spell the end of 51-year-old Gillard's political career, with Australia's first female prime minister declaring earlier today that she would not stand in the next election if she lost the ballot.

It is also expected that several cabinet ministers including School Education Minister Peter Garrett will now quit the frontbench, as they have previously said they would do so if Rudd was re-elected. Ahead of the vote, Rudd said tens of thousands of "ordinary Australians" have been asking him to take back the leadership.

END THE CRIMINALISATION OF 

PROTEST:THE CASE OF TRENTON 

OLDFIELD

NEWSFLASH     TUESDAY 25 JUNE 2013 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Photo by Richard Nicholson from Domus Magazine  END THE CRIMINALISATION OF PROTEST: THE CASE OF TRENTON OLDFIELD Due to unusual circumstances, this is an unusual newsletter, though very much related to This Is Not A Gateway and Myrdle Court Press . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .  A little over a week ago we received a removal letter from the Home Office on grounds that Trenton is "an undesirable, that has unacceptable associations and he could be considered a threat to national security.... (presence in the UK is) not conducive to the public good".  These claims are a reaction to Trenton's peaceful direct action protest against elitism in British culture; the inequality it creates and the current asset stripping of much needed public services.  A chilling escalation of the criminalisation of protest.  Deportation would have far reaching implications on our work and family life. Separation would likely be the end of Myrdle Court Press and This Is Not A Gateway.  We are of course not the only people facing deportation. Britain has always attacked so-called 'foreigners', however the new changes in immigration laws are absurd, racist and inhumane. The UK government is deporting people who are at risk of being killed on return to their home countries. Families are being ripped apart. It has to stop. We know, in many ways we are very privileged, though concerned about our situation - there are so many people who have and are facing much worse. 2 links with important information: - Devastating effects of new migration rules on people in Britain - Extradition: The Case of Talha Ahsan 5 things you can do in 10 minutes to assist:  1. Please sign and share these petitions that ask Teresa May to reconsider her decision:Defend The Right To Protest and Guy Ramp  2. Please click 'no' on this Guardian website poll: "Should Trenton be forced to leave the UK" 3. Trenton's appeal will rely on him having to prove he is "conducive to public good". Pleaseemail us if you would be willing to write a reference and/or come to the tribunal and speak about Trenton's character and our work. Please blog, write, tweet in support of Trenton. Defend the Right to Protest is organising a strategy meeting this Friday, please join if you have ideas to fight this. Please contact us if you could speak to media about our case, ideas of citizenship, 'undesirability' and the broader immigration policies.  4. Leave a comment on this Guardian article about our situation. 5. Buy 'The Queen vs Trenton Oldfield: A Prison Diary'. £14.99 including shipping. All proceeds go towards covering the 'Crown's costs'. Due in 3 months.  Please check back on the This Is Not A Gateway website for regular updates from us. Please share this widely. We have the energy to fight this, would be great if you joined us too. Thank you! Recent Interviews: 1. Artist Taxi Driver  2. Voice of Russia 3. Nina Power on Jeremy Vine (39mins in)  With All  Our Bests, Deepa Naik & Trenton Oldfield . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

Deepa Naik Coordinators@thisisnotagateway.net / naik_d@hotmail.com www.thisisnotagateway.net Defend The Right To Protest info@defendtherighttoprotest.org www.defendtherighttoproest.org

Sri Lanka Govt Shuns Reconciliation With Move To Annul Constitutional Provisions

By J. S. Tissainayagam -June 25, 2013 |

J.S. Tissainayagam

The government of Sri Lanka is leaving no stone unturned in an attempt to annul provisions of  the country’s constitution that are key to implementing post-war reconciliation. By seeking to rescind the 13th amendment, long held by the international community as the starting point for a political solution for the conflict between Sinhalese and Tamils, the Government has clearly demonstrated its cavalier disregard to UN resolutions and international treaties and therefore is an unreliable international actor.

A spokesperson to India’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs was candid when he said, “[t]he proposed changes raised doubts about the commitments made by the Sri Lankan government to India and the international community, including the United Nations, on a political settlement in Sri Lanka that would go beyond the 13th Amendment.”

The 13th amendment to Sri Lanka’s constitution was introduced as an instrument to share power between the Sinhalese and Tamils through devolution to the country’s provinces. The amendment flowed from the Indo-Lanka Accord, negotiated and signed as a treaty between the governments of India and Sri Lanka in 1987, in a bid to end the armed struggle between rebels supported by India and the Sri Lanka government.

Devolution to share power between Sinhalese and Tamils was to soon encounter snags. The fundamental reason was that Tamils realised that devolution proposed under the 13th amendment would be hobbled by the very thing it was supposed dismantle – power wielded in Sri Lanka’s legislature by Sinhalese members of parliament.

This constraint was due to the unitary character of the Sri Lankan state. This means that the central government, in which the executive presidency and parliament are key institutions, remains constitutionally supreme. Under a unitary system even when power to legislate over subjects of local importance is devolved to subunits such as provinces, parliament can override those powers either by a simple majority or a two-third majority. This contrasts with federal constitutions where powers that the constituting units enjoy are so entrenched that they cannot be tampered with by central governments so simply. Needless to say in the real world constitutions mostly fall in between the unitary-federal continuum.

Despite devolution under the 13th amendment being hobbled by control from the central parliament, most of the Tamil political parties and armed rebel groups accepted the Accord and the brand of power sharing it proposed. Despite backing by Colombo and New Delhi, devolution to the PCs under the 13th amendment, which became law in 1988, was only implemented selectively. For instance, elections to the Northern Provincial Council (NPC) where a majority of Tamils live, was never held. Second, a clause to merge the Eastern PC which has over 60% Tamils and Tamil-speaking Muslims with the NPC to strengthen common demands was temporarily implemented but later struck down by the Supreme Count as unconstitutional.

Following the military defeat of the LTTE in May 2009, devolution of power came back into currency as a practical mechanism of devolving power and thereby promoting reconciliation between the Tamils and Sinhalese. At the same time the international community – especially India and the US – expanded their role in promoting conflict resolution in Sri Lanka.

Citing the provisions of the Accord, the treaty between Sri Lanka and India, New Delhi called for the full implementation of the 13th amendment, which was echoed by the US and other sections of the international community. But buoyed by its military victory and elements of Sinhala nationalist elites, the Sri Lankan government prevaricated. Following three years of intensifying misery for the Tamils due to militarisation, widespread allegations of disappearances, torture and rape, loss of livelihood and parlous conditions of resettled IDPs, the United States moved two resolutions in the UN Human Rights Council. The second resolution, adopted in March this year, “welcomed” provincial elections for the NPC.

Faced with mounting international pressure the government has indicated its intention to hold polls for the NPC this year, although it is yet to be officially announced at the time of writing. However fearing that such elections would strengthen the Tamils in the North the government has on the backs of Sinhala nationalist groups begun to demand dismantling of even the vestiges of devolved governance. It has therefore proposed a19th amendment to ensure that provincial governance is in name only. The government’s group of Sinhala representatives in Parliament is expected to back this bill and pass it with ease.

The Sri Lankan government’s move to dilute the 13th amendment only reiterates its indifference to reconciliation. It also shows up very clearly the inadequacies in the strategy of the international community. The international community expects Colombo to respect international laws or conventions – such as UN resolutions and treaties – and that meaningful sharing of power will come from within Sri Lanka under the present political structures. But that is not forthcoming. The international community should therefore strengthen the Tamils within and outside Sri Lanka and use other diplomatic tools available to it to resolve the Sri Lankan conflict. A delay will only exacerbate Tamil desperation and see a further erosion of international order.

J. S. Tissainayagam, a former Sri Lankan political prisoner, was a Nieman Fellow in Journalism at Harvard and Reagan-Fascell Fellow at the National Endowment for Democracy in the United States. This article first appeared in Asian Correspondent

Nelson Mandela critical in hospital

Tuesday, 25 Jun 2013

Former South African President Nelson Mandela remains in a critical condition in hospital, President Jacob Zuma says.

Mr Zuma said the doctors were doing everything they could to make the former leader comfortable, but he could not give any more medical details.

  

South Africa's first black president, 94, was taken to hospital in Pretoria earlier this month for the third time this year, with a lung infection.

A senior official said South Africans should not hold out "false hopes".

On Sunday, the presidency announced that Mr Mandela had become critical, after Mr Zuma visited him in hospital.

Mr Zuma said on Monday he had found Mr Mandela asleep, but had spoken to his wife and medical teams.

"All of us in the country should accept the fact that Madiba [Nelson Mandela's clan name] is now old. As he ages, his health will... trouble him and I think what we need to do as a country is to pray for him."

Mac Maharaj, Mr Zuma's spokesman, told the BBC's Newshour on Sunday said this was a stressful time for the Mandela family.

"I think there is need to be sombre about the news. There is a need not to hold out false hopes but at the same time let's keep him in our thoughts and let's will him more strength," he said.

Nelson Mandela's daughter, Makaziwe, whom he had with his first wife Evelyn, asked in an interview with CNN on Saturday for the family's privacy to be respected.

"Other people want to lecture us on how we should behave, and what we should do," she said.

"Really, it's our dad, it's the children's grandfather. We've never had him in our life for the better part of our years. This is in a sense quality and sacred time for us, and I would expect the world to really back off and leave us alone."

The ANC - the party of Mr Mandela and Mr Zuma - said it "noted with concern" the latest reports, and that it joined the president in calling "for us all to keep Madiba, his family and medical team in our thoughts and prayers during this trying time". (BBC)

From afar, victim’s daughter appeals not to be swayed by the Ampatuans

By Edwin Espejo Jun 25, 2013 

GENERAL SANTOS CITY (25 June) – The daughter of the last massacre victim recognized by the court hearing the case is calling on other relatives of the grisly murders not to give the Ampatuans breathing room in their quest for justice.

From her home in the US where she now works as a nurse, Reynafe Momay Castillo said the latest attempt by the Ampatuans to allegedly convince 14 complainants to drop the cases against them is a ploy to derail their ongoing prosecution.

From afar, victim’s daughter appeals not to be swayed by the Ampatuans by nelvely

Dangerous Games With Devolution

By M A Sumanthiran -June 26, 2013

M A Sumanthiran

The Government of Sri Lanka recently revealed its agenda to further restrict minority freedoms and autonomy in the country. It seeks to: (1) repeal constitutional provisions granting people the freedom to determine administrative boundaries (2) amend the Constitution, so as to permit the Central government to freely and arbitrarily legislate on provincial matters — even without the consent of the people of a particular province and (3) remove altogether provincial powers over land and police. These constitutional features were first introduced through the Thirteenth Amendment to the Constitution, constituent to the Indo-Lanka Accordof 1987. Hence, the government’s agenda is in fact to dilute the Thirteenth Amendment.

Dangerous Games With Devolution by nelvely

SL to lobby against ‘high risk’ classification

JUNE 25, 2013
The Government will lobby against Sri Lankans being categorized as ‘high risk’, at a high level discussion which is set to take place soon between the Ministry of External affairs and the British High Commissioner John Rankin.

The British High Commission said recently it would charge a bond of 3000 pounds sterling from selected applicants applying from Sri Lanka, India, Bangladesh, Pakistan, Nigeria and Ghana.

“We will not require all visitors from the selected countries to pay a bond. The number of bonds issued during the pilot project will be limited. The pilot project will be highly selective and focused on the highest risk applicants” the High Commission said in a statement.

Sri Lanka is also set to lobby for its removal from the list of countries whose citizens may fall into a “high risk” category.

At discussions the secretary to the Ministry Karunaratne Amunugama and British High Commissioner John Rankin on Monday, the ministry had sought an explanation regarding the bond.

“Mr. Rankin explained that this was only a pilot project and the bond will have to be signed only by those who were earlier rejected or fell below the normal category of entrants to Britain. We are told that this will only be charged from high risk applicants with a risk of not returning back,” Mr. Amunugama said.

The Ministry said during the meeting, factors such as removing Sri Lanka from the list while ensuring the minimising of people from over staying or illegally seeking residence in Britain would be discussed. (Hafeel Farisz)

Union Minister Sudarsana Natchiappan on Sri Lankan ties

June 24, 2013

Union Minister Sudarsana Natchiappan on Sri Lankan ties

Union Minister of State for Commerce and Industry E.M. Sudarsana Natchiappan on Sunday said any decision against Sri Lanka should be made after considering the far-reaching consequences on the strategic relationship between the two countries and the interests of the Sri Lankan Tamils.

“I appreciate the feelings of those who have organised demonstrations against providing training to Sri Lankan Army officials [in Indian military facilities]. But you should not forget that they have the option of approaching China if India turned its back on them. It will not augur well for India, a close neighbour of Sri Lanka,” Mr Natchiappan told The-Hindu.

Mr Natchiappan said India already had problems along the borders it shared with Pakistan and it could not afford to create a situation that would disturb peace along the Palk Straits. The Minister said any decision against Sri Lankan government would have a direct bearing on the Tamils in Sri Lanka and Tamil refugees living in India.

He argued that war conditions in Sri Lanka had an adverse impact in the past on the growth of industry in the Southern districts of Tamil Nadu despite existence of adequate infrastructure.

He said a peaceful neighbourhood was necessary for industrial development.

“Fear prevented industrialists from making investments in the southern districts. There is a harbour in Tuticorin, an international airport in Madurai and another airport in Tuticorin. Still we cannot attract investment,” he said.

Mahinda Rajapaksa’s ‘Bright Ideas’

By Kath Noble -June 26, 2013 |

Kath Noble

Mahinda Rajapaksa has had another bright idea. A few weeks ago, he got one of his hangers-on in the ‘public service’ to float a draft code of ethics for journalists, which he no doubt expected to prove useful in strengthening formal mechanisms of control of the Fourth Estate. Unfortunately for him, the document was so flawed that even his hangers-on in the media could find nothing positive to say about it. Indeed, the condemnation that it elicited was virtually universal, forcing the President to step in and promise that such efforts would be left to journalists themselves.-

Mahinda Rajapaksa’s ‘Bright Ideas’ by nelvely