Video: TGTE London Genocide Conference Speeches

October 3, 2013 

The Transnational Government of Tamil Eelam (TGTE) organised a two day International Conference on 28 & 29 September in London.

QC Geoffrey Robertson’s speech at the conference :

Prof Francis Boyle’s speech at the conference :

Dr David Matas’s speech at the conference :

Prof Sornarajah, chairman of the conference speech :

Geoffrey Robertson QC

MR knows India would like SL to implement 13A – PM Singh

BY S VENKAT NARAYAN
Our Special Correspondent-October 2, 2013, 10:26 pm 

NEW DELHI, October 2: Prime Minister Dr Manmohan Singh has said that President Mahinda Rajapaksa is aware that India would like his government to implement the 13th Amendment to devolve powers to the provinces.

Speaking to reporters on board his special aircraft while returning home from New York on Tuesday , Dr Singh said in response to a question: "As far as the devolution of more powers for the Northern Province is concerned, our views are well known. On umpteen number of occasions, we have discussed with the Sri Lankan President the need to implement 13th Amendment. Therefore, our position is well known to the Government of Sri Lanka."

Asked why he could not meet President Rajapaksa in New York on the sidelines of the UN General Assembly session despite a request for such a meeting from the Sri Lankan leader, Dr Singh explained: "I would have no hesitation in meeting with him. He asked for a meeting on dates which were not convenient to me. "

I came to New York only on Sept. 27. He had asked for a meeting between 24th and 27th. So the meeting could not be arranged. There is no other reason," the PM added.

Protest against appointment of CP Chief Minister

03 OCTOBER 2013

A protest was held in Kandy town against the appointment of Sarath Ekanayake as Chief Minister of the Central Province by supporters of Anuradha Jayaratne who obtained the highest number of preferential votes in the Province.

The protesters who gathered at the Dalada Veediya blocked vehicles and showed their displeasure over the appointment before dispersing. (News and Pix by Shane Senavirathna)

President Denies PM’s Son Chief Minister post; SLFP Old Guard Unhappy

October 3, 2013 

President Mahinda Rajapaksa’s decision not appoint Prime Minister D.M. Jayaratne’s son Anuradha the Central Province Chief Minister after the September 21 election is irking senior SLFP members, Colombo Telegraph learns.

Anuradha Jayaratne topped the Central Province preferential votes list.

When battles were raging inside the UPFA during the elections campaigns in the Central and North Western provinces, President Rajapaksa promised that the decisions about Chief Ministers would be made based on who tops the preferential votes list.

Anuradha, DM and MR

Dayasiri Jayasekera who informed Government sources said struck a deal with the President about the Wayamba chief ministerial slot garnered a record breaking 300,000 plus preferential votes in the region.

Anuradha Jayaratne, who is the Premier’s son, also topped the Central Province list.

However the Government decided to grant the Chief Minister post to the incumbent Sarath Ekanayake on the basis that the sons of ministers in cabinet could not be made chief ministers.

The decision of the President has raised eyebrows in the SLFP given the rampant nepotistic rule of the Rajapaksa family. Prime Minister Jayaratne has publicly stated that the Speaker Chamal Rajapaksa’s son was the Chief Minister despite the Rajapaksa policy.

Crisis in the UNP: Implications for Democracy

 by Laksiri Fernando

(October 3, 2013, Sydney, Sri Lanka Guardian) Crisis in the UNP was amply demonstrated first leading up to the three provincial council elections by the crossover of Dayasiri Jayasekera, one of the ablest young politicians in my opinion, and then the dismal electoral results of the party, particularly in the Central and the North Western Provinces. The results of the PC elections were not surprising at all considering the long list of election defeats that the UNP had inflicted on itself during the last decade or so, largely due to its weak and ineffective leadership.

Crisis in the UNP Implications for Democracy by nelvely

Crisis In The UNP: Implications For Democracy

By Laksiri Fernando -October 3, 2013  

Dr. Laksiri Fernando

Crisis in the UNP was amply demonstrated first leading up to the three provincial council elections by the crossover of Dayasiri Jayasekera, one of the ablest young politicians in my opinion, and then the dismal electoral results of the party, particularly in the Central and the North Western Provinces. The results of the PC elections were not surprising at all considering the long list of election defeats that the UNP had inflicted on itself during the last decade or so, largely due to its weak and ineffective leadership.

Read More

Sri Lanka govt not answerable for civil war deaths: foreign minister

Oct 1, 2013

Sri Lanka's foreign minister GL Peiris. AFP.

New York: Sri Lanka's foreign minister said his government has no case to answer over the reported deaths of thousands of civilians at the end of its civil war, even as pressure grows for an international inquiry to account for the dead.

The U.N.'s top human rights official said last week that Sri Lanka needs to show progress by next March or the international community should establish its own inquiry into allegations of civilian casualties and summary executions in the final months of the quarter-century conflict that ended in 2009, when government forces crushed ethnic Tamil rebels.

Sri Lanka Govt Not Answerable for Civil War Deaths Foreign Minister by nelvely

Swept under the rug?

by Chrishanthi Christopher-Thursday, 03 Oct 2013

The Department of Excise has expressed disappointment over the manner the Sri Lanka Customs (SLC) has been dragging its feet with regard to the investigations into the discovery of the ethanol that had been surreptitiously imported into the country in two containers, as far as six months ago. Senior officers of the Excise Department are wondering if the officers of the Customs Department are under political pressure to desist from pursuing the matter, in view of the inordinate delay in concluding the investigations that had been underway since the matter came to light in this regard.

Speaking to Ceylon Today, officers of the Excise Department said, they will insist on the officers of Sri Lanka Customs taking the necessary steps to conduct the investigation into the discovery of the unauthorized consignment of ethanol, which they had seized last March, as it is now over six months since the detection.

A senior officer said, investigations into the consignment of ethanol that was seized, which had commenced six months ago, had not made any progress. "The Customs officers keep saying the investigations will be over in one or two months, each time we ask them to tell us about the progress in this regard," he charged.

Last March, 62,000 litres of ethanol was seized by the Excise Department, consequent to the announcement through Gazette notification No. 1799/55, banning the import of ethanol into the country.

It is learnt that the containers are still lying at the SLC Grayline Container Yard. "The two containers are lying in the yard with both sides sealed," the officer further said.

The consignment,which was seized by the Excise Department is being held under the custody of the Intelligence Unit (IU) of Sri Lanka Customs.

On being questioned, the Head of the IU of SLC, M. Dayabaran, said the investigations are ongoing, and no decision has been taken so far with regard to the incident.

World's newest island from the air: Amazing images of 'mud pie' that rose from the sea after huge earthquake in Pakistan

• Images show island to be remarkably flat and round, with huge fissures
• 
  
• The mountain-like island appeared 600m off Pakistan's Gwadar coast
• 
  
• The earthquake triggered a movement of gases in the earth under the sea
• 
  
• This pushed earth up to the surface in something akin to a 'mud volcano'
• 
  
• Scientists believe the island won't last long due to erosion and a cooling of the gas which will cause its crust to collapse
• 
  

By ELLIE ZOLFAGHARIFARD

PUBLISHED: 09:48 GMT, 2 October 2013 | UPDATED: 10:12 GMT, 2 October 2013

Satellite images of the mysterious island that rose up from the sea last week reveal that it is round, with cracks and remarkably flat, similar to a 'mud pie'. 

The island, named Zalzala Koh, emerged after a devastating 7.8 magnitude earthquake struck 145 miles southeast of Dalbandin in Pakistan's quake-prone province of Baluchistan.

It has become an attraction for tourists and locals who have visited the area despite toxic, flammable gas being emitted from its cracks.

The surface is covered in sea creatures such as dead fish and is a mixture of mud, sand and rock.

Scroll down for videos...

Full Story>>>>

VIDEO: TOBACCO COMPANIES ISSUED ‘LICENSE TO KILL’ - SOBITHA THERO

October 3, 2013 

A group of Buddhist leaders today urged the President to use his executive powers to put an end to the drug menace which they say is claiming more lives than the country’s war against terrorism.  

The ‘Mahinda Chintana’ policy introduced during the 2005 Presidential Election pledged to eradicate the drug menace in Sri Lanka within 3 years, through the implementation of the Mathata Thitha programme, Chairman of the All Island Youth Temperance Organization, Ven. Maduluwawe Sobitha Thero said. 

He stated that the policy had also promised to prohibit smoking and consumption of alcohol at public places.

Sobitha Thero, who is the Chief Incumbent of Kotte Nagaviharaya, stated that this policy had greatly influenced Mahinda Rajapaksa’s victory at that election in 2005. 

The reason for this is because women are the ones who are most affected by the drug menace, as they are subject to abuse and mistreatment, he said, speaking at a press conference today (Oct 3) in view of World Temperance Day. 

“Therefore this became an appealing topic for the country’s women,” he added. 

He stated that families are in poverty and are destroyed due to illicit drugs which are also a leading cause for child abuse in the country.

Maduluwawe Sobitha Thero stressed that the President, with his executive powers, should be able to implement his policy and that is their only request. 

He further charged that tobacco companies have been given a license to kill and a license to create cancer but nothing can be done to display pictorial warnings on cigarette packs. 

STF conduct special search operation in the grave yard of former minister K.W.Devanayakam

[ Thursday, 03 October 2013, 04:50.38 AM GMT +05:30 ]

Military personals conduct special search operation in the grave yard owned by the family of former minister K.W.Devanayakam.

STF personals dig the grave yard of minister to recover weapons hidden by LTTE. This search operation conducted according to the tipp of from LTTE suspects currently in the detention. STF said they have informed family members of minister this regard.

<

Queen Victoria statue to be given a facelift in Colombo

By Charles Haviland-2 October 2013 

The statue of Britain's longest-reigning monarch will be given more prominence

A statue of Queen Victoria in Sri Lanka's main city, Colombo, has been taken off its plinth for renovation ahead of the Commonwealth Heads of Government Meeting (CHOGM) to be held there next month.

The statue was moved from its original location seven years ago and placed in an inconspicuous position.

But the authorities say it will now be given more prominence.

The statue of Britain's longest-reigning monarch dates from 1897, the year of her Diamond Jubilee.

It was placed in gardens adjoining the residence of the governor-general of what was then the British colony of Ceylon.

The building - in Colombo's Fort district - became the presidential palace in 1972.

But the palace has barely been used by Sri Lanka's presidents. Local reports say one reason is that the statue was widely considered to bring bad luck.

There are also structural issues - the one president who did live there reportedly had to move his bed when it rained because of a leaking roof.

In 2006 the Queen Victoria statue was relocated to a new site near the back entrance to the National Museum but not facing any public thoroughfare.

After the renovation works, it is to be placed near that site but looking across a busy road into the city's main park - once called Victoria Park but renamed Viharamahadevi Park, after a Sri Lankan queen, in 1958.

The Commonwealth gathering will be the first that Queen Elizabeth has not attended since 1973. She is sending the Prince of Wales instead, with Buckingham Palace saying she is making fewer overseas trips because of her age.

The meeting has attracted controversy because of Sri Lanka's human rights record, with the Canadian prime minister saying he is unlikely to attend.

Those that do attend will have an improved view of Queen Victoria.

"She's been brought temporarily down to earth," a local political commentator said on condition of anonymity. "The seven-year curse has ended."

Scandal at the Sri Lanka Counsel General’s Office in Toronto

Thursday, 03 October 2013

The Sri Lanka Counsel General’s Office in Toronto, Canada has come under fire for misconduct by an officer attached to it.
The scandalous act has taken place with the help of an infamous property dealer who had cheated money from innocent Sri Lankan Immigrants promising to grant them dual citizenship.

Wasantha Abeysiri, a Sri Lankan property dealer domiciled in Canada, has cheated money from a large number of Sri Lankan Immigrants in Canada promising to provide them dual citizenship.

Abeysiri has used contacts of his friends at the Sri Lanka Counsel General’s Office to mislead the victims.

Most of the victims who were caught up in this scam are reportedly Tamil immigrants who own property in Sri Lanka.
It has also been reported that the master mind of this scam, Wasantha Abeysiri was a former employee of the Bank of Montreal (BMO) and was allegedly terminated from the Bank due to a fraudulent cheque issue.

These victims, who were cheated by this scam, are facing immigration problems and property issues in their home country.
It is learnt that most property issues are related to unclear property titles in the properties they own in Sri Lanka.

The immigrants are reluctant to come forward and report these incidents to the relevant authorities in Canada due to the fear of deportation.

However, the Sri Lanka Counsel General’s Office in Toronto has responded to this allegation saying the mission did not have any contact with a person called Wasantha Abeysiri.

Consul General, Karunaratne Paranawithana has said that the mission was not accepting any applications for dual citizenship since the Sri Lankan government has temporarily stopped the process.

He has observed that the mission would initiate legal action against culprits who use the name of the consulate to cheat Sri Lankan immigrants.

Paranawithana has called on affected immigrants to visit the consulate and provide information about the scam.

Coming soon: A Harper trip to Myanmar?

Experts say the PM could cut the ribbon on a new embassy.

Foreign Minister John Baird and Burmese opposition leader Aung San Suu Kyi in Myanmar last year.

Kristen Shane-Wednesday, 10/02/2013

The stage is set for Prime Minister Stephen Harper to visit Myanmar this fall, although the government isn’t confirming his travel plans.

Officials from both countries are in the early stages of planning the prime minister’s visit for November, according to one source close to the southeast Asian country also known as Burma.

Analysts who study Myanmar say they wouldn’t be surprised if Mr. Harper goes there. The country is “a little bit like a gold rush” now, said one academic, with both neighbours and far-flung Western countries flocking in, but Canada is being left behind. Mr. Harper might not want to be the last to make a historic visit to signal his support for Myanmar’s opening-up, said another.

Coming Soon a Harper Trip to Myanmar by nelvely

Gambia Quits The Commonwealth Over Disagreements About Human Rights Issues

October 3, 2013 

Gambia has left the Commonwealth of Nations with immediate effect slamming the organisation as ‘neo-colonial’ and extending colonialism apparently after a battle with the organisation over greater protection of human rights and fundamental freedoms.

President Yahya Jammeh |Photo: Reuters

“(The) government has withdrawn its membership of the British Commonwealth and decided that the Gambia will never be a member of any neo-colonial institution and will never be a party to any institution that represents an extension of colonialism,” the Gambian Government said in a statement.

No clear reason was given for Gambia to quit the Commonwealth but it is believed the decision came after the Government there rejected a proposal by the Commonwealth last year to create a commission to protect human rights.

Membership in the 54 member Commonwealth is voluntary.

The Commonwealth proposal followed an April 2012 visit to the Gambia by Commonwealth Secretary General Kamalesh Sharma, during which he met with President Yahya Jammeh and other top government officials.

Jammeh is regularly accused of rights abuses and has ruled since 1994. His Administration is under intense pressure to address widespread human rights abuses and undertake reform.

Commonwealth Secretary-General Kamalesh Sharma has seen with dismay and disappointment, media coverage on the reported announcement by the Government of The Gambia of its withdrawal from the Commonwealth, a statement from the organisation’s spokesman Richard Uku said.

“We are in touch with the Gambian authorities to follow up on the media reports in order to establish the facts clearly. When clarification is received from the Government of The Gambia, the Commonwealth Secretariat will issue a further statement accordingly,” the spokesman said.         Read More  

GAP's Radack Reads Full Statement from Snowden to European Parliament Committee (Video)

The Whistleblogger

by GAP on September 30, 2013 ( The Whistleblogger / 2013 )

The following is a clip from the Sept. 30, 2013 hearing of the European Parliament Committee on Civil Liberties, Justice & Home Affairs. This clip shows GAP National Security & Human Rights Director Jesselyn Radack relaying NSA whistleblower Edward Snowden's statement to the Committee. The full text of Snowden's statement can be found under the clip.

Statement of Edward Snowden (as read by GAP's Jesselyn Radack)

I thank the European Parliament and the LIBE Committee for taking up the challenge of mass surveillance. The surveillance of whole populations, rather than individuals, threatens to be the greatest human rights challenge of our time. The success of economies in developed nations relies increasingly on their creative output, and if that success is to continue, we must remember that creativity is the product of curiosity, which in turn is the product of privacy.

A culture of secrecy has denied our societies the opportunity to determine the appropriate balance between the human right of privacy and the governmental interest in investigation. These are not decisions that should be made for a people, but only by the people after full, informed, and fearless debate. Yet public debate is not possible without public knowledge, and in my country, the cost for one in my position of returning public knowledge to public hands has been persecution and exile. If we are to enjoy such debates in the future, we cannot rely upon individual sacrifice. We must create better channels for people of conscience to inform not only trusted agents of government, but independent representatives of the public outside of government.

When I began my work, it was with the sole intention of making possible the debate we see occurring here in this body and in many other bodies around the world. Today we see legislative bodies forming new committees, calling for investigations, and proposing new solutions for modern problems. We see emboldened courts that are no longer afraid to consider critical questions of national security. We see brave executives remembering that if a public is prevented from knowing how they are being governed, the necessary result is that they are no longer self-governing. And we see the public reclaiming an equal seat at the table of government. The work of a generation is beginning here, with your hearings, and you have the full measure of my gratitude and support.

Question raised on truth of Navi Pillay statement

[TamilNet, Wednesday, 02 October 2013, 00:59 GMT]
UN Human Rights chief Ms Navanetham Pillay, in a press interview in Colombo towards the end of her recent visit to the island, has said that no one she had met there used the word genocide. TamilNet comes to know that there were specific instances in which responsible civil society members meeting her had told her about genocide in the island, using the very word genocide in English. Ms Navi Pillay held her civil society meetings under ‘Chatham House’ rules. In Vanni she told people that they could whisper in her ear. Has she misused such conditions to suppress what had actually been told to her, in order to shield an imperial design that accommodates genocide by the Agent State? Why should she hide the fact that the island Tamils in deed spoke to her on genocide, asks the civil society in the island. 

Ms. Navi Pillay gave an exclusive interview to Easwaran Rutnam, the editor of Colombo Gazzette, on 31 August.

“The Tamil Diaspora tends to often raise the issue that there is genocide taking place in Sri Lanka. During your visit have you seen something to that effect or is it an exaggeration,” asked Mr Rutnam.

Navi Pillay replied: “Well nobody used that word to me; not in authorities or civil society. Genocide is particularly a legal word. I [inaudible] people since I was judge on the genocide tribunal to say that there has to be proof of an intent to destroy in whole or in part a nation, a group. This is what happened in Rwanda. That is a clear case of genocide. However it’s not for me to judge. It’s only after proper investigations the judges, based on the evidence, can conclude whether and what crimes were committed.”

At least two respectable civil society members who met Navi Pillay have told her in clear terms that what had taken place was genocide and what is taking place after the war in 2009 is structural genocide committed on the nation of Eezham Tamils, TamilNet learns this week from first hand sources in the island. 

If the former international judge, who has investigated Rwanda and has found it a clear case of genocide, now as the UN human rights chief chooses to suppress even submissions on genocide by Eezham Tamils in the island, then that itself is a matter for investigation, commented civil society circles in the island.

Washington and New Delhi that architected the war and the aftermath in the island do not concede that the Sinhala State has committed genocide and is committing structural genocide.

The upper layer of Tamils being pro-imperial is the obstacle to the Tamil struggle for liberation and self-determination, Tamil political analysts say. 

If Ms Navi Pillay thinks that genocide in the island has to be proved through proper investigations why shouldn’t she call for it now itself, rather than waiting for the end results to ‘prove’ irrefutable, but then irredeemable genocide, ask civil society circles.

Ms Navi Pillay's predecessor Ms Louise Arbour went as the chief of the International Crisis Group (ICG), after her tenure in the UN. The ICG, under her leadership was in the forefront in denying the genocide committed on Eezham Tamils. At a later stage, when world public criticism was mounting on, the ICG came out with a similar statement like that of the present statement of Ms Navi Pillay that genocide has to be proved by legal means as though it is somebody else's job and not of their concern. 

Black July: Relation Of Events At Kanatte And The Tiger Friday

By Rajan Hoole -October 3, 2013 

Rajan Hoole

Sri Lanka’s Black July – Part 33

We have argued in our account based on testimony cited that the outbreak of violence at Borella had no direct rela- tion to the clamour to hand over the bodies to the next of kin at Kanatte. The crowd was made up of conflicting elements that had different motivations. While the relatives did want the bodies of the soldiers, and gained much sup- port there were others, who wanted to turn the occasion into an anti-government demonstra- tion. Still others, such as Gunawanse, wanted to harness the anger of the crowd and turn it against the Tamils. Gunawanse played on the alleged mutilated condition of the bodies to in- cite the crowd, demanding that the bodies be shown – ‘even a little dismembered finger’. Was this protege of Minister Dissanayake acting en- tirely on his own? Ratnatunga confirms that the dominant sentiment at the cemetery was anti- government. Referring to the situation in the cemetery late in the evening, Ratnatunga says “Anti-government epithets were liberally strewn and were becoming the order of the night” (p.13). Given Gunawanse’s reputation, it is clear that he was starting to play on the grief and anxiety of the mourners, intending to move it in an anti- Tamil direction.

Gunawanse did not succeed at Kanatte itself. It was later that an anti-Tamil flavour began to creep in, when on the roads of Borella, accord- ing to Ratnatunga, ‘the crowd began voicing vitu- perative slogans aimed at the Government, the Tamils and the terrorists’. Ratnatunga points to different motivations in the crowd, a section of which moved to Borella and others to the President’s house along Kynsey Road. It was now a differ- ent phenomenon from what it was at Kanatte. While Ratnatunga absolves the Government of all responsibility for the violence, our account highlights the role of mobs supported by the government on the night of 24th July, whose role it was to attack Tamils and Tamil establishments. Gunawanse’s task appears to have been to fo- ment violence at the cemetery itself.

Tiger Friday – 29 July                                                   Read More