Sri Lanka Slanders And Vilifies VVIPS

By S. V. Kirubaharan -September 12, 2013 

S. V. Kirubaharan

During our 1^st standard, we were taught about fairy tales. One interesting story was about “The fox and the grapes”. A fox was very anxious to eat grapes. To achieve its goal, it was jumping up to a bunch of grapes that was hanging from a vine-tree. When the fox became tired of reaching for that bunch of grapes, he eventually said: “Those grapes are very sour”. I see a similar situation between the Sri Lankan government – SLG and the UN HighCommissioner for Human Rights – HCHR.

It is a long story about every successive Sri Lanka government. They cordially invite VVIPs; entertain them with anything and everything – free air passage, free food and lodging in 5-star hotels, helicopter tours to mountainous cities and beaches. During their stay, they will be brain-washed and made to feel obliged to Sri Lanka. Then they will meet a few high-profile persons – President, Defence Secretary, Foreign Minister, Prime Minister and others. At the end of their tour, they will be given the most precious gifts including Gems. This is how every Sri Lankan government has successfully cheated and fooled – or tried to – those who speak about the worsening Sri Lankan human rights record. A few who have already benefited from and enjoyed this interesting offer by the SLG, have told us about it subsequently. Of course some duty-minded persons have rejected this corrupt business.

Those who are not caught in this elegant trap will be slandered and vilified systematically – a fate, which both the present and the previous HCHR, met when they visited Sri Lanka. The SLG panicked, highly disappointed about their honest and dedicated approach to the problem of the country’s deteriorating human rights situation and war crimes. The very same slander and vilification were metered out to Indian leaders and diplomats when they were supportive towards the Tamils up until 1987.

During their mission to any country, the HCHR and their staff never depend on the host country for any logistical support. This is the starting point where the Sri Lankan government found it difficult to offer their usual corrupt hospitality.

When the present HCHR, Mrs Navi pillay was appointed, Sri Lankan representatives met her within a week of her assignment, in September 2008. Also every time when Sri Lankan Ministers visited Geneva, they meet the HCHR. I presume that every Sri Lankan Representative in Geneva including Tamara Kulanayagam must have met and briefed the HCHR and her staff.                 Read More  

PAFFEREL complaints to the HRC

THURSDAY, 12 SEPTEMBER 2013 

The PAFFEREL today requested the Human Rights Commission to send its representatives to the North as poll observers to look into the incidents where military personnel were allegedly engaged in election campaign.

“We have received so many complaints from the Jaffna and Killinochchi Districts that military personnel are engaged in election campaign. So we requested the Human Rights Commission to send a group of representatives as poll observers to look into this matter before and on the election date to ensure a free and fair election in the North.

“An election is being held in the North after twenty years and we need to create confidence in the minds of those people that their election rights are ensured,” PAFFEREL Executive Director Rohana Hettiarachchi told media after submitting a complaint to the Human Rights Commission.

He said PAFFEREL had brought to the notice of the Human Rights Commission Chairman about three factors identified by it including the use of public property in the election campaigns in the North, Central and North Western province and requested the commission to work out a mechanism to minimise such incidents in the future.

“We know that misuse of public property for election campaign for several decades. We brought to their notice about all the complaints received to our organisation and we expect the Human Rights Commission would work out an effective mechanism to minimise such incidents in the future,” he said.
Mr. Hettiarachchi said they noticed that the Elections Department had taken necessary steps at District level and at national level with regard to the issue of misuse of public property in this election. (Ajith Siriwardana)
Pix by Pradeep Pathirana

UPFA candidate threatens Civil Defence Force

by Chrishanthi Christopher-Thursday, 12 Sep 2013

A ruling party Provincial Council (PC) candidate, Geethanjali Naguleswaran of Panangkandi, in the Kilinochchi District, has allegedly threatened members of Civil Defence Force stationed there, during the postal voting for the Provincial Council elections that took place on Monday (9) and Tuesday (10).

Director of People's Action for Free and Fair Election (PAFFREL), Rohana Hettiarachchi, said yesterday, the UPFA candidate had warned the soldiers they could lose their jobs if they failed to support the UPFA.

PAFFREL, which had deployed around 400 local monitors for the postal voting, said in the Nuwara Eliya District and in the Wariyapola electorate, the election officers were seen allowing voters to pass through without checking their identity cards. "They may know who they are, but going by the law, the voters should have been checked," he said.

According to Hettiarachchi, the voting had been peaceful in general, except for a few incidents in which loudspeakers had been used in polling stations, posters displayed, as well leaflets distributed. All violations had been reported from the Kurunegala District

DNA tests incriminate Tangalle PS chairman, two others

THURSDAY, 12 SEPTEMBER 2013 

The Criminal Investigation Department (CID) yesterday informed the Tangalle Magistrate that the DNA samples found at the crime scene in the Tangalle tourist resort where British Red Cross worker Khuram Shaikh was murdered and his girlfriend gang raped on the Christmas Eve 2011, tallied with three leading suspects including Sampath Vidanapathirana, the former chairman of the UPFA led Tangalle Pradeshiya Sabha.

The CID informed Magistrate Jayaki Alwis that the DNA tests carried out at Department of Forensic Medicine in Ragama proved that three suspects in the case were involved in the crime. The DNA taken from the blood samples and other materials found at the crime scene had tallied with the DNA of suspects Saman Deshapriya and Pradeep Chathuranga and the former local council chairman. At the request of the CID, the Tangalle Magistrate ordered the Government Analyst’s Department and the Department of Forensic Medicine to return the evidence that had been earlier sent for examination.

In this case non-summary proceedings have been initiated against eight suspects, namely Tangalle Local Council Chairman (UPFA) Sampath Vidanapathirana, his private secretary Mohottige Sarath (alias Sahan), Weerappuliga , H. T. Nuwan Chinthaka, E. T. Nadeera Shaman, Nalagama Praveen Chaturanga and Obada Arachchige Lahiru Kelum.

The CID has framed 16 charges, including causing grievous hurt to and murder of British national Khuram Shaikh, unlawful assembly and gang rape of his girl friend Victoria Aleksandrovna Tkacheva, causing injury to the tourist resort owner Rayana Akalanka and causing damage of over Rs. 160,000 and theft of liquor valued at over Rs. 40,000.

According to the complaint, Khuram Shaikh, 32, from Milnrow near Rochdale was murdered at the tourist resort ‘The Nature’ in Tangalle on December 25, 2011 while he was on a holiday from his work as a Red Cross worker in Gaza. A graduate from Salford University, Shaikh was shot and stabbed when he and his Russian girlfriend, Victoria Aleksandrovna Tkacheva, were allegedly attacked at the resort by the suspects led by the UPFA politician. Later they had allegedly gang raped Khuram’s girlfriend. (Susitha R. Fernando)

Sob, sob, sob …

Editorial-September 11, 2013

The UN does not seem to give the Sri Lankan government a break. Close on the heels of UNHRC Chief Navi Pillay’s trenchant remarks which left many a ruling party politician fit to be tied the UN Sustainable Development Solutions Network has dropped another bombshell. Sri Lanka finds itself in the exalted company of Sudan, Zimbabwe, Uganda, Mali, Haiti etc close to the bottom of the list of countries in the World Happiness Report (WHR) 2013.

We first thought those who prepared the WHR had gone by the third rate, hokey soap operas on local TV, where artistes do nothing but cry, weep, mourn and sob between 7.00 pm and 10.00 pm 24/7. But, the compilers of the report have, in gauging happiness, used criteria such as life expectancy, social support, GDP, perception of corruption and the freedom to make life choices.

The Opposition, desperate for some political traction, is sure to paint the town red as it has got enough grist for its mill in the run-up to the PC polls. The UN has bolstered its claim that the incumbent government has made life miserable for the ordinary public. We could gratuitously suggest a slogan for the Opposition: ‘Corruption makes Sri Lanka one of the world’s saddest nations!’ Happy?

It is hoped that the government will not try to dismiss the WHR as another UN conspiracy to discredit Sri Lanka and facilitate a regime change. (We don’t think Darusman had a hand in preparing the report!) We hope and pray there won’t be another ‘Lemon Puff-Ginger Beer’ fast opposite the UN Colombo office.

Sri Lanka is below Bangladesh, Nepal and India on the happiness index. We thought it was theMiracle of Asia! How mistaken we have been. Sob, sob, sob …

Another monument problem

No sooner had one monument problem been solved with the erection of the Lakshman Kadirgamar statue in Colombo albeit belatedly than another one cropped up unexpected. Opposition and UNP leader Ranil Wickremesinghe has taken up with UN Human Rights High Commissioner Navi Pillay a claim Defence Secretary Gotabhaya Rajapaksa has reportedly made that she, at her recent meeting with President Mahinda Rajapaksa, called for the removal of the D. S. Senanayake statue from the Independence Square. A Sunday newspaper quoted the Defence Secretary as having said Pillay had asserted that the late Prime Minister Senanayake represented a particular ethnic community and, therefore, his statue should not be there.

The Defence Secretary would not have made such a statement without proof to back it. There were several others including UN as well as government officials at Pillay’s powwow with the President. They may be able to tell us what really transpired. However, the principle of natural justice demands that Pillay’s side of the story also be heard before conclusions are drawn.

The UNP has done the right thing by writing to Pillay seeking a clarification. It will be interesting to know what she has got to say. The sooner she replies, the better. Will she respect the UNP’s right to information and put the statue issue to rest, if she could. It will be unbecoming of an official of her stature not to reply promptly. Statuesque grace should be a hallmark of every UN dignitary.

In what may be described as a dramatic turn of events, the UNP has accused the government of looking for excuses to remove the DS statue from the Independence Square. What will the government say to this? And if Pillay admits that she wanted the statue relocated, what action will the UNP take against her? Will it stage a protest condemning her and demanding an apology?

Colombo Wigneswaran Doesn’t Even Have Vote In Jaffna – Mahinda To Tamil Journos

September 12, 2013

Addressing a group of Tamil media journalists at the Presidential Secretariat today President Mahinda Rajapaksa did not mince his words about his opinion on the TNA’s choice of Chief Minister for the North and slammed the party’s manifesto as echoing LTTE demands from four years ago.

TNA Chief Minister nominee was a man who did not even have a vote in Jaffna

The President told Tamil journalists that for professionals of the Northern Province including lawyers and doctors and even the ordinary people the choice for Chief Minister was Mavai Senathirajah. “Even they would select Mavai – but the TNA has picked a person from Colombo” the President said.

He said that the TNA Chief Minister nominee was a man who did not even have a vote in Jaffna.

Retired Supreme Court Justice C.V. Wigneswaran is a Colombo resident. Before his nomination was made there was a massive tussle inside the TNA between the Tamil hardliners in the Senathirajah faction and the Sampanthan faction which was pushing for the retired Justice. Justice Wigneswaran has also come in for stringent criticism from the pro-LTTE Diaspora and ultra-nationalist sections of Tamil Nadu, where he is viewed as a moderate seeking to work with Colombo. These elements also preferred that the TNA choose Senathirajah and view Wigneswaran as a non-Northerner.

President Rajapaksa said Senathirajah or Suresh Premachandran would have been better choices because they were Jaffna natives.

Related posts;

Justice Wigneswaran Will Not Be Permitted To Return To Colombo – Ravana Balaya

Declare TNA manifesto illegal

By Rashni Mendis-Thursday, 12 Sep 2013

The Buddhist clergy representing the Ravana Balaya, have requested the Commissioner of Elections, Mahinda Deshapriya, to declare as illegal the TNA manifesto, which they say violates the Constitution of Sri Lanka and threatens the sovereignty of the country. They have also requested the Elections Commissioner to take measures to conduct the Northern Province elections, lawfully.

General Secretary of the Ravana Balaya, Ven. Iththekande Saddhatissa Thera, told the media, a delegation of the organization under his leadership met the Elections Commissioner yesterday (11), and following a discussion they had with him, they submitted a letter expressing their concerns and requesting that the elections in the North be held lawfully.

The Ven. Thera said he questioned the Commissioner over the TNA's manifesto, which in their view, disregards the Constitution by announcing an anti-national policy, which is therefore in conflict with the legal right to contest elections.

"It is very clear that Wigneswaran and his group is trying through the Northern elections, to install a separate administration, and the TNA is once again trying to resurrect LTTE terrorism that wrought destruction in the country," the Ven. Thera noted.

Continuing, he said: "According to the TNA manifesto, lands, police, health, education, assets and fiscal powers are to be vested in a North and East amalgamated federal system. This is very evident in the policies outlined in the manifesto. Arrangements are being made to obtain local and foreign loans, which are a violation of the Constitution," Ven. Saddhatissa Thera, asserted.

Moreover, the administrative authority is ready to use the face of Prabhakaran, and not even a tiger, in place of the lion in the national flag. Some of the government ministers are behaving like cats that have defecated on the rock. Wigneswaran cannot even dream of coming back to Colombo after contesting the Northern elections, the Ravana Balaya, warned.

Justice Wigneswaran Will Not Be Permitted To Return To Colombo – Ravana Balaya

September 12, 2013

The hardline group Ravana Balaya has warned that the TNA’s Chief Ministerial Candidate and former Supreme Court Justice, C.V. Wigneswaran would not be permitted to return to Colombo following the conclusion of the Northern Provincial poll, reports said.

Ravana Balaya

General Secretary of the Ravana Balaya movement, an ultra-right wing movement, Ithkande Saddhatissa Thero said the TNA election manifesto was unconstitutional and illegal. The group handed over a petition to the Elections Commissioner yesterday, citing grounds for why the TNA manifesto was a threat to Sri Lanka’s sovereignty.

Speaking to journalists later the Ravana Balaya representatives said Wigneswaran and his party were ready to establish a separate state in the country by seeking land, police, education and financial powers for the north and east.

By the end of the election, Justice Wigneswaran will not be permitted to return to Colombo, the Ravana Balaya General Secretary warned.

Justice Wigneswaran is a resident of the capital Colombo and spent most of his life in the city.

I have the political right

by Sulochana Ramiah Mohan-Thursday, 12 Sep 2013

Governor of the Northern Province, Maj. Gen. G.A. Chandrasiri, maintained he has the right to be in any part of Sri Lanka as he is representing President Mahinda Rajapaksa, and he is not concerned about the allegations that he is participating in election propaganda for the ruling party in the Northern Province. "People are stupid to listen to what the Tamil National Alliance (TNA), which is contesting in the North, is saying. I have the power and I can go anywhere with anybody. I travel with the President and his brother, Minister of Economic Development, Basil Rajapaksa, on various occasions, who are toiling to develop the North. I have to be there when they are present in the North.

"I am not bothered even if my propaganda work has been referred to the Human Rights Commission. There is no law to stop me from travelling around the Northern Province, for which I am the Governor. I have the political right as I am representing the President," he said lambasting the media reports that highlighted his participation in the election campaigns.

Meanwhile, Commissioner of Elections, Mahinda Deshapriya, said he is in a 'fix' as the ruling party claims Northern Province Governor Chandrasiri has the political rights to get involved in the propaganda work for the United People's Freedom Alliance (UPFA), claiming that he is a representative of President Rajapaksa, whereas the opposition parties claim, under the elections law, a State official cannot get involved in political campaigns.

"There are two opinions from the ruling and the opposition parties about the Northern Province Governor's involvement in the election campaign and I cannot do anything against these two opinions and now the matter has been referred to the Human Rights Commission to decide," he said.

Questions over probe into kneeling of policemen

THURSDAY, 12 SEPTEMBER 2013 

While special police investigations into the recent incident at the Kattankudy Police station have concluded and a report to IGP N.K Ilangakone was due soon, questions have been raised within the Police Department over allegations made against Senior DIG Pujith Jayasundara.

Police spokesman SSP Ajith Rohana told Daily Mirror Online that statements from 42 officers have been recorded and the report would be submitted shortly for the IGP’s perusal.

Earlier Eastern Province Senior DIG Pujith Jayasundara was alleged to have made Police personnel kneel after a sergeant attached to the Traffic Division of the Kattankudy Police was nabbed while allegedly accepting a bribe of Rs 2000.

Meanwhile, Human Rights Commission of Sri Lanka Chairman Justice Priyantha  Perera also said the commission was currently investigating the matter.
The other members in Commission are Ms. Jezima Ismail, Dr. Prathiba Mahanama, T. E. Anandarajah and Dr. Bernard de Silva.

The former Police Narcotics Bureau head was instrumental several years ago in preparing a report which contained evidence of a former IGP allegedly attending a birthday party of a Drug kingpin’s daughter at a Star Class hotel in Colombo. The evidence led to the premature resignation of this Police Chief, sources said.

Earlier, media reports said that over a 100 Police officers attached to the Kattankudy Police station were made to kneel down on Saturday September 7.
The allegations were immediately denied by the Police, who said that the Senior DIG had warned the personnel present against soliciting of bribes during a stern lecture.

The Daily Mirror learns that after the incident the Senior DIG had reportedly held a conference, in which all Police officers except station OICs were summoned to Trincomalee, Ampara and Batticaloa.Snr. DIG Jayasundara had reportedly addressed the conference simultaneously through skype and warned Police officers to desist from corrupt activity.

The rapid fire Police action against the Snr. DIG was also questioned after the Police are yet to take any action against the Police top brass in charge of the Sabaragamuwa divison. (Hafeel Farisz and Jehan Gunasekara)

Don’t delay anti-tobacco gazette: Mahanayakes

THURSDAY, 12 SEPTEMBER 2013

The four Mahanayake Theras of the Tri-Nikayas have come together to push for the government and other concerned parties to have the gazette advocating tobacco companies to place anti-tobacco warnings over 80 per cent of cigarette packets, issued without further delay.

The Theras pointed out that the multi-nationals had resorted to various strategies to delay the process leading to the release of the gazette.

“There’s an urgent need to implement the tobacco control legislation by getting the gazette on the pictorial warning passed immediately,” the Malwatte Chapter Mahanayake, the Most Venerable Thibbotuwawe Sri Siddhartha Sumangala Thera said in the statement.

The Asgiriya Chapter Mahanayake Thera, the Most Venerable Udugama Sri Buddharakkhitha said:  “The accelerated development projects launched by the President would only become meaningful if the citizens in the country remained healthy. As such it is imperative that the government urged the companies to display the required pictorial warnings immediately.”

The Most Venerable Napana Pemasiri Thera, Mahanayake of the Ramanna Nikaya warned that the companies had already resorted to dilatory tactics so as to dodge the new warning; as such the government and relevant authorities should act promptly to issue the relevant gazette.

The Aggamahapanditha, Most Venerable Dr. Davuldena Gnanissara Thera, Mahanayake of the Amarapura Nikaya reiterated that though the end of war had put an end to massacres, the mass deaths due to tobacco was a continuous legacy.

“To save our future generation from the tobacco trap it is mandatory that the authorities quickly put into effect the new pictorial warning through a gazette,” the Venerable Thera said

Dilith Jayaweera & thugs surround Wadduwa Hotel!

 Thursday, 12 September 2013 

Co-owner of Triad Advertising Dilith Jayaweera, who is also the ‘convener’ of the mafia that has taken control of the Colombo Stock Exchange by misusing the powers of his close ally defence secretary Gotabhaya Rajapaksa, has surrounded Serene Village Pavillian tourist hotel in Wadduwa, along with more than 50 thugs and the police.

The unruly and abusive behaviour of Dilith Jayaweera and his thugs had forced the tourists staying in the hotel to flee the hotel to save their lives, taking nothing with them except the clothes they were wearing. Dilith Jayaweera’s thugs are holding up the hotel’s CEO Anura Lokuhetti and its staff members inside the premises. The thugs have badly beaten up the CEO Anura Lokuhetti, and the police have cordoned off the hotel on the orders of the defence secretary, allowing the thugs to go on the rampage.

Dilith Jayaweera has stormed the hotel in this manner owing to a dispute over the ownership of shares of this hotel. He is claiming for a higher number of shares of the hotel than what he actually owns. Due to this situation, other hotels in which Dilith Jayaweera has shares, are seriously alarmed. Dilith Jayaweera is misusing the powers of his close ally, the defence secretary, and making a wicked attempt to repress and threaten small shareholders of these hotels to make them surrender their shares to him.

A Reply To Prof Carlo Fonseka

By R.M.B Senanayake -September 12, 2013 |

R.M.B. Senanayake

Prof Carlo ( hereinafter called CF) has returned to the original issue now dragging various other personalities to the debate, In his first criticism of my article he stated that ethical and moral values are only for individuals and not for governments. He also argued that human behavior , moral or otherwise ( not moral values) are the product of evolutionary biology. These are the issues particularly the latter.

I pointed out that whatever the origins of human behavior there is a case for moral judgments on the behavior of individuals. He argued that the State is not bound by any moral code. Now he drags Dr Jayantha Dhanapala citing his argument elsewhere that foreign policy must be pragmatic. He has never justified the violation of the moral code and obviously his pragmatism criterion assumes that whatever actions are taken in the pursuit of pragmatic foreign policy must be ethical as well.CF seems to be a moral nihilist who thinks there are no moral values.

Lord Devlin, in an essay “Morals and the Criminal Law” in The Philosophy of Law (ed R M Dworkin) Oxford (1977) at p 74 said: If men and women try to create a society in which there is no fundamental
agreement about good and evil they will fail; if having based it on common agreement, the agreement goes, the society will disintegrate. For society is not something that is kept together physically; it is
held by the invisible bonds of common thought. If the bonds were too far relaxed the members would drift apart. A common morality is part of the bondage. The bondage is part of the price of society; and
mankind, which needs society, must pay its price.”             Read More    

SL among the least happy nations

WEDNESDAY, 11 SEPTEMBER 2013 

Sri Lanka has been ranked 137 among 156 nations in the UN-sponsored World Happiness Report, in which Denmark was deemed to be the happiest nation in the world.

The 2013 World Happiness Report released on Monday by Columbia University's Earth Institute utilised factors such as the GDP, life expectancy, social support, “perceptions of corruption”, and “freedom to make life choices”, to assign each country a total score.

Denmark, with 7.693 was deemed the happiest nation, following by Norway (7.655), Switzerland (7.650), The Netherlands (7.512) and Sweden (7.480). Canada (7.477), Finland (7.389), Austria (7.369), Iceland (7.355) and Australia (7.350) completed the top ten.

Britain, with a score of 6.883, came 22nd in the study, behind the likes of Costa Rica (12th), the United Arab Emirates (14th), Panama (15th), Mexico (16th) and Venezuela (20th), but ahead of France (25th), Germany (26th) and Italy (45th).

The least happy of the 156 countries to feature was Togo, with a rating of 2.936. Other African nations also dominated the bottom of the rankings, with Benin, the Central African Republic, Burundi, and Rwanda completing the bottom five. Syria came 148th, Bulgaria 144th, Yemen 142nd, Sri Lanka 137th and Egypt 130th.

The report is based on statistics compiled between 2010 and 2012 by the United Nations Sustainable Development Solutions Network. It found the world has become “a slightly happier and more generous place over the past five years”, adding that the biggest increase in happiness had been in Angola, Zimbabwe, Albania, Ecuador and Moldova.

The most significant fall in happiness was found to have occurred in Egypt, which has been plagued by civil unrest since the last report. Greece, Myanmar (Burma), Jamaica and Botswana have also seen a dip in happiness, it said.

A rival to the World Happiness Report, the Happy Planet Index, last year judged Costa Rica to be the most joyous nation on Earth, followed by Vietnam, Colombia, Belize and El Salvador. Its ranking "reveals the ecological efficiency with which human well-being is delivered".

Canadian and antipodean cities usually dominate the Economist Intelligence Unit's annual "liveability" study, while anyone in search of a quick chuckle might consider heading to the town of Happy, Texas, the Tian Xing Yong Le (the Ever-Happy Temple) complex in China, or Hidakagawa in Japan, which hosts an annual laughing festival.

VIDEO: ONLY MEMBERS OF THE REGIME WILL ENJOY HAPPINESS AND FREEDOM - UNP

September 12, 2013 

Although the government talks about happiness and freedom for all, only those who are part of their regime enjoy happiness and freedom, UNP MP Harsha de Silva stated.

He highlighted the fact that Sri Lanka was ranked 137th among 156 countries in the 2013 World Happiness Index adding that the government will probably claim that this is all an international conspiracy against Sri Lanka and that the United Nations is attempting to taint the image of the country.

Speaking at a press conference held today (September 12), the UNP MP said that the government was taking foreign loans at extremely high interest rates of 9.25% and 9.5% while this clearly shows the great financial crisis that the government is facing. He added that as the government takes these loans, the burden of paying them back with interest will fall directly on the people.

He pointed out that the government was on one hand criticising the international community and the Common Wealth while on the other hand taking high interest foreign loans to welcome them to the country and ensure that they receive the best treatment all at the expense of the people.

Delhi rape: how India's other half lives

The brutal gang-rape on a bus highlighted the routine abuse of Indian women – and how the nation's surge to superpower status has left millions behind struggling on the margins

Protesters at a candlelit vigil in Kolkata after the cremation of the Delhi gang-rape victim. Photograph: Dibyangshu Sarkar/AFP/Getty

Jason Burke in Delhi-Tuesday 10 September 2013 

It was a Sunday evening routine: heavy drinking, some rough, rustic food, and then out in the bus, cruising Delhi's streets looking for "fun". This particular Sunday, 16 December last year, was like many others for Ram and Mukesh Singh, two brothers living in a slum known as Ravi Das Colony. The "fun", on previous occasions, had meant a little robbery to earn money for a few bottles of cheap whisky and for the roadside prostitutes who work the badly lit roads of the ragged semi-urban, semi-rural zones around the edges of the sprawling Indian capital.

Delhi Rape How India's Other Half Lives by nelvely

Northern Ireland: New report slams failure to deal with the past

During ‘the troubles’ in Northern Ireland, more than 3,600 people were killed and more than 40,000 injured. In most cases, no one has ever been held responsible.

Victims of the conflict in Northern Ireland are being "disgracefully let down" by a flawed and fragmented approach to dealing with the past, Amnesty International said today as it published a new report.

Northern Ireland New Report Slams Failure to Deal With the Past by nelvely

Peace and Injustice Cannot Coexist

The Shortest Path to Peace in Syria

by NICOLA NASSER

Because “defensive alliances which have fixed and limited objectives are often more durable,” the “Syria-Iran alliance has survived” more than three decades of unwavering and insistent US – led military, economic, diplomatic and media campaign to dismantle it, but it is still enduring “because it has been primarily defensive in nature” and “aimed largely at neutralizing … Israeli capabilities and preventing American encroachment in the Middle East.”

Peace and Injustice Cannot Coexist by nelvely

Obama's rogue state tramples over every law it demands others uphold

US President Barack Obama

You could almost pity these people. For 67 years successive US governments have resisted calls to reform the UN Security Council. They've defended a system which grants five nations a veto over world affairs, reducing all others to impotent spectators. They have abused the powers and trust with which they have been vested. They have collaborated with the other four permanent members (the UK, Russia, China and France) in a colonial carve-up, through which these nations can pursue their own corrupt interests at the expense of peace and global justice.

Obama's Rogue State Tramples Over Every Law It Demands Others Uphold by nelvely

A plea for caution from Russia

What Vladimir Putin has to say to Americans about Syria 
• This article was first published in the New York Times

Russian President Vladimir Putin welcomes US President Barack Obama at the start of the G20 summit in Saint Petersburg, September 2013. Photograph: Eric Feferberg/AFP/Getty Images

Vladimir Putin-Thursday 12 September 2013 

Recent events surrounding Syria have prompted me to speak directly to the American people and their political leaders. It is important to do so at a time of insufficient communication between our societies.

A Plea for Caution From Russia by nelvely