Friday, October 18, 2013

UK parliament report slams Lanka, says HR situation hasn't improved

Friday, October 18, 2013

The British House of Commons

The British House of Commons Foreign Affairs Committee, has in a very critical report, noted that there is scant evidence of progress in political and human rights in Sri Lanka.
Made up of House of Commons legislators, the report notes that as Prime Minister David Cameron remains committed to attend the Commonwealth Heads of Government Meeting (CHOGM) in Sri Lanka, he should obtain assurances from the Sri Lankan Government that people who approach him to talk about human rights while he is in Sri Lanka to attend the summit do not face reprisals or harassment by security forces.

re of migrants returned to Sri Lanka from the UK, and it does not re-iterate the Government’s view that there is no substantiated evidence of torture of such people. David Mepham, UK Director of Human Rights Watch, told us that he believed that this was significant and that it showed that the Government “cannot stand by” its view and had now recognised that the evidence put forward by Human Rights watch and others was “credible”. When we asked Baroness Warsi whether it was still the Government’s position that there were no substantiated allegations, she declined to give a direct answer. We find it unsatisfactory that the Government should now be silent on a matter of such significance. We recommend that the FCO, in its response to this report, state whether it still holds the view that there is no substantiated evidence of torture or maltreatment of people who have been returned by UK immigration authorities to Sri Lanka.

UK Parliament Report Slams Lanka, Says HR Situation Hasn't Improved by nelvely

New Delhi following British imperialism does no justice to Eezham Tamils

[TamilNet, Friday, 18 October 2013, 05:59 GMT]

200 years of imperialist outlook, knowing very well that there are two historically evolved nations in the island but engineering unification for imperialistic purposes, has always gone against the nation of Eezham Tamils and contributed only to its genocide in every respect, including in its territory and demography, writes an academic in Jaffna. The academic was commenting on New Delhi’s External Affairs Minister visiting Jaffna harping on making Sri Lanka ‘tri-lingual and united’. The academic compared it to early English Governor Sir Robert Brownrigg’s policy outlook in 1813, recognizing parity between Sinhala and Tamil languages, but that policy foundation not leading to parity in territory and power.

New Delhi Following British Imperialism Does No Justice to Eezham Tamils by nelvely

Commonwealth must change, adapt and grow: Lord Paul

From H S Rao
London, Oct 18 (PTI) Ahead of the CHOGM Summit in Sri Lanka next month, Lord Swraj Paul has said the Commonwealth should be more assertive in its diplomatic endeavours and it must change, adapt and grow so as not to be marginalised.

Participating in a debate in the House of Lords on ''The Future of the Commonwealth, in Light of the Commonwealth Heads of Government Meeting in Sri Lanka'', Lord Paul described it as "unique" and "invaluable asset" that can and should be "more vigorously employed" in contributing to the resolution of international issues.

Noting that the Commonwealth is at an interesting moment in its evolution, Lord Paul yesterday said, "to continue its mission it must change, adapt and grow. If it does not, it will become less relevant and marginalised."
"This is a fate that its distinguished record does not deserve and to which I hope next month''s gathering will give some serious consideration," he said, ahead of the November 15-17 Summit in Colombo.

"Nowadays international opinion is, at long last, beginning to have a serious influence on the behaviour of states. This is evident in the situation that prevails in the host country of next month''s meeting - Sri Lanka. It is as true with other countries hitherto impervious to world sentiment," the leading NRI industrialist said.

"So, I believe it is now both timely and appropriate for the Commonwealth, as a collective, to be more assertive in its diplomatic endeavours," he added.

"It becomes even more persuasive if the Commonwealth were to mobilise and utilise the services of its many elder statesmen whose credentials carry significant authority."
His remarks came hours after the House of Commons Foreign Affairs Committee accused the British government of pursuing a timid and inconsistent policy towards�Sri Lanka despite continuing human rights violations in the country.

International rights groups have said up to 40,000 civilians may have been killed in the final offencive against Tamil Tiger rebels in the final months of Sri Lanka''s 26-year civil war in 2009, a charge denied by Colombo.

The Commonwealth is a grouping of 53 member states that were mostly part of the British colonial empire.

India should boycott CHOGM in Sri Lanka: Jayalalithaa

Chennai, Oct 17 (IANS) Tamil Nadu Chief Minister J. Jayalalithaa Thursday said India should boycott the Commonwealth summit in Sri Lanka next month to protest what she said was violation of human rights of Tamils there.

In a letter to Prime Minister Manmohan Singh, Jayalalithaa said: "I wish to reiterate Tamil Nadu's view that India should not participate in the CHOGM hosted by Sri Lanka at any level - titular, ministerial or official.

"Only such an action will convey India's unequivocal stand that it will not tolerate the violation of human rights of the Sri Lankan Tamil minority," she said.

In a letter to DMK president M. Karunanidhi this week, Manmohan Singh said a decision on his participation at the CHOGM conference will be taken only after considering all relevant factors, including the sentiments of the DMK and the Tamil people.

"I hope you will respect the sentiments of the people of Tamil Nadu and unanimous view across party lines and convey India's decision to stay away from the CHOGM at Colombo in November 2013," Jayalalithaa added.

According to her, the present Sri Lankan regime stands accused of committing war crimes and human rights abuses against the Tamils in the country violating the credo of the Commonwealth.

"Against this background, the participation of India in this event will amount to an endorsement of these excesses," she said.

"Such participation will not only embolden the Sri Lankan regime but will also incense public opinion and sentiment in Tamil Nadu on this very sensitive issue even further," she said.

The chief minister warned of serious internal security situation as political parties, students and civil society were protesting against the Sri Lankan regime.

Jayalalithaa cited Canadian Prime Minister Stephen Harper's decision to stay away from the summit citing Sri Lanka's failure to uphold the Commonwealth core values.

Fonseka Thanks Canada For Its Stand On CHOGM

Former Army Commander and Presidential contender in the 2010 presidential election Sarath Fonseka has thanked the Canadian Government for its decision to boycott the Commonwealth Heads of Government Meeting in Colombo next month.

Fonseka

“Canada cannot be blamed for this decision. We must be ashamed by it. Canada’s reasons for the boycott is sound and we are completely in agreement. Canada had the backbone and courage to criticise this country’s political leadership and his Government’s corrupt ways. For that courage, I personally salute them,” BBC Sinhala quoted the former General as saying during a ceremony to appoint electorate organisers of his Democratic Party.

Fonseka said his party was completely opposed to CHOGM being held in Sri Lanka.

He said the people of this country will get no benefit from the summit.

“This Country does not adhere to Commonwealth values and principles. So we oppose this. This summit is not being held here with good intentions. It’s all about personal agendas.

“Sixty percent of what is spent is being stashed as commissions. All the while the country is being destroyed and the people are being fooled,” he said.

Asked what his message would be to the other member states attending the Commonwealth Summit Fonseka said it would be to ensure as they depart this country to ensure that Sri Lanka’s Government adheres to Commonwealth values and principles.

“Otherwise Sri Lanka gains nothing from them coming here,” Fonseka charged.

“If the country’s leader wants to be proud of what they have achieved, then he must show willingness to respect Commonwealth values, human rights, democracy and justice. Without those things, there is nothing to take pride in by just holding summits here,” he charged.

To listen the interview here

NZ Green MP urges Foreign Minister to change CHOGM chair

[TamilNet, Friday, 18 October 2013, 06:24 GMT]
New Zealand’s Green Party parliamentarian Ms Jan Logie on Friday wrote to New Zealand’s Minister of Foreign Affairs, Mr Murray McCully, urging him to support Canada’s political lead and publicly condemn Sri Lanka’s persistent failure to ensure justice for alleged war crimes and crimes against humanity. She also urged the Foreign Minister to take a strong stand on CHOGM and to call for another Chair to replace Rajapaksa when it comes time to appoint the Commonwealth Chairperson-in-office for the next two years.

Jan Logie MP

“Allowing Sri Lanka’s President to become the chair of the commonwealth would undermine our efforts to strengthen human rights in the Asia Pacific. It would undermine the UN efforts to get a proper investigation of the war crimes and it would also seriously undermine the charter just developed by the Commonwealth committing Commonwealth leaders to democracy, human rights, tolerance, freedom of expression, good governance and the rule of law – none of which are respected by the Rajapaksa government,” the parliamentarian said.

“To stay silent and then go to Sri Lanka and accept their President, even symbolically, as leader of the Commonwealth for two years would be inappropriate, inconsistent and counter to our regional interests,” she further wrote in her letter.

CHOGM and Human Rights Abuses in Sri Lanka

Ltr -M McCully CHOGM and Human Rights Abuses in Sri Lanka by nelvely

Lifting the Liberal Veil

By Lakmali Hemachandra -October 19, 2013

Lakmali Hemachandra

“You can’t be neutral on a moving train, events are already moving in certain deadly directions, and to be neutral means to accept that.”
- Howard Zinn

Mohan Pieris, the de facto to Chief Justice as some would mock him, dismissed the Nimalaruban case last week. Surprisingly it has enraged most of us, because anyone who has been closely watching the Supreme Court and the law for the last five years should know that it was always going to be that. It could not have ended in anything other than a callous dismissal of the fundamental rights petition filed by Nimalaruban’s parents claiming that their son was tortured to death by the police. Yet, it has surprised quite a lot who now complain that de fact CJ is blatantly violating the law of the country, that Nimalaruban is denied justice and that reasoning for the dismissal is painfully bias. Asian Human Rights Commission is challenging the CJ’s claim that Nimalaruban was a terrorist and everyone is furious at the CJ’s arrogant declaration that terrorists are not entitled to human rights. Surely, this cannot come as a surprise to the masses of the country? Surely we knew that the law, under the de facto or the de jure chief justice, was bias. The law is classist, sexist, and racist and although it espouses objectivity the law always, always takes a side and this time that side happens to be that of a rich, Sinhala Buddhist, male or what we also call the President of the country.

Anybody who has gone to the courts complex in Hulsdroft would confess to the extreme bureaucracy, the unbearable arrogance and the blatant injustice of the law of this country and the charges of a good lawyer who can win you the case tells us the story of fairness and justice in this country. The more you can pay for the lawyer, the more understanding and amiable the judge higher your chances will be of accessing justice. On the other hand if you end up in the court house of a mean spirited judge with a lawyer that has a record of lost cases for an affordable fee then it is better to avoid that valuable recourse to justice. An analytical investigation into the working of the law is quite unnecessary to understand that there are millions who face the same fate of Nimalaruban, may be not in death, may be not from torture, but in less violent, everyday acts of injustice that we never talk about. Read More

SRI LANKA: A report on marginalization and sexual violence against women in the north and east

A report on marginalization and sexual violence against women in the north and east - AHRC

October 18, 2013
The Minority Rights Group International has published a report entitled, 'Living with insecurity: Marginalization and sexual violence against women in north and east Sri Lanka'.

The executive summary of the report is as follows:

Four years since the end of the armed conflict, the situation of minority women in the north and east of Sri Lanka has changed dramatically — and for many it is getting worse. In the latter stages of the conflict and its aftermath, military forces were responsible for a variety of human rights abuses against the civilian population, including extrajudicial killings, disappearance, rape, sexual harassment and other violations. In the current climate of impunity, sustained by insecurity and the lack of military accountability, these abuses continue.

Thousands have lost their husbands and other family members during the armed conflict. Others, such as those whose husbands and relatives surrendered to the army after the government’s announcement of an amnesty for former Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE) personnel, still do not know their whereabouts and face an ongoing struggle for truth, justice and accountability. For many women, this has brought new responsibilities: 40,000 households in the north and east are now female headed.

AHRC-STM-188-2013. by nelvely

Yet Sri Lanka’s social and political environment remains heavily patriarchal, exposing women to multiple levels of discrimination. Many now have added responsibilities as primary earners for their families: they face limited livelihood opportunities in the post-armed conflict context, and are typically excluded from official development programmes. Furthermore, against a backdrop of competing claims and mass resettlement, they are especially vulnerable to land grabs and other rights violations.

The militarization of the north and east from 2009 has contributed to continued insecurity for minority women. Many, especially widows and the wives of disappeared or ‘surrenderees’, are vulnerable to sexual harassment, exploitation or assault by army personnel or other militias. The military presence in the area, together with the increasing chauvinism of Sri Lanka’s political and religious hierarchy, has also reduced their cultural and religious freedoms — including their right to mourn their dead.

Resettlement in the north and east, not only by those displaced during the armed conflict but also through government-sponsored relocation of Sinhalese workers and households, has raised tensions between communities in the current divisive environment. This is the result not only of disputes over land and resources but also differing social and cultural norms. ‘The increasing prevalence of sexual exploitation and relationships, coerced or otherwise, has put women on the frontline of these conflicts.

So far the government’s response to these ongoing rights violations has been inadequate. In fact, state and military policies are actively contributing to insecurity and the marginalization of women in the north and east. By contrast, women activists continue to advocate, often at great personal risk, for truth, justice and accountability for themselves and other survivors of the armed conflict. However, until a clear framework of protection is created for minority women and other marginalized groups, including physical security, freedom of expression and land rights, the possibility of lasting peace and reconciliation in the north and east remains elusive.

For the full report kindly see here.

Malaria vector unexpectedly found in Sri Lanka’s east

Dilrukshi Handunnetti/IRIN

New wells in Sri Lanka's post-war zones prove to be fertile breeding grounds for mosquitoes carrying malaria

COLOMBO, 18 October 2013 (IRIN) - Sri Lanka’s main malaria vector, the Anopheles culicifacies mosquito, long thought to prefer nesting in rural areas, has been found in war-affected peri-urban areas in the country’s east, according to a new medical survey.

Medical researchers were only able to study parts of the north and a single district in the east - both closed off to epidemiological surveillance during the country's 26-year-long civil war - after fighting ended in 2009.

Malaria vector unexpectedly found in Sri Lanka’s east by nelvely

“It’s A Casino”, Says James Packer To Aussie SEC Despite Govt. Denials

October 19, 2013

Australian Casino Moghul James Packer has confirmed plans to invest 400 million dollars to build a massive casino complex in Sri Lanka, the country’s media reports, even as the Sri Lankan Government consistently deny the investment has anything to do with a gambling resort in the heart of the capital.

Yapa and Paker

Packer told the Australian Securities and Exchange Commission in a statement that he is currently in discussions with the Government in Colombo and joint venture partners on the project. Once constructed, the resort will have 450 rooms, restaurants and gambling spaces.

“I have great confidence in the country’s future and believe as a destination that it is Sri Lanka’s time to shine in Asia,” he said in a statement to the Australian Stock Exchange.

“A Crown integrated resort would help redefine luxury tourism in Sri Lanka and play a significant role in helping to drive increased international in-bound tourism especially from India and China.”

The Australian businessman told the SEC that Parliament and the Sri Lankan Board of Investment were in the process of considering granting approvals for his project in Colombo.

The Opposition has come out strongly against the ‘Packer deal’ as it is known in Colombo saying the Government was preparing to grant the Australian Casino King 10 year tax breaks while repeatedly denying Mr. Packer was bringing a gambling resort to Colombo.

The Government is attempting to get the project approved in Parliament by calling Packer’s project a mixed development project. Minister of Investment Promotion Lakshman Yapa Abeywardane has consistently denied that his Government was going to issue any new casino licences to Packer’s joint venture.

UNP MP and Economist Dr. Harsha De Silva who Australian media has dubbed Packer’s harshest critic tweeted a short while ago that Packer had filed with the Austalian SEC that he was setting up Crown Colombo. “(Minister) Laksman Yapa says no licenses will be issued. What is going on?!” de Silva charged.

Sri Lanka says men accused of killing Khuram Shaikh will face trial in weeks

Colombo denies move to try six men accused of Briton's murder and rape of his girlfriend is linked to Commonwealth summit

Khuram Shaikh was killed in Sri Lanka by six men allegedly linked to President Mahinda Rajapaksa.

Khuram Shaikh, a British aid worker, was killed in Sri Lanka in 2011 as he defended his girlfriend from six men allegedly linked to President Mahinda Rajapaksa

Sam Jones -Thursday 17 October 2013

Six men accused of murdering a British tourist and raping his girlfriend inSri Lanka two years ago will face trial within weeks, according to one of the island's most senior legal officials.

Khuram Shaikh, a 32-year-old Red Cross worker from Rochdale, was killed on Christmas Day 2011 while on holiday with his Russian girlfriend in the southern resort of Tangalle.

It is thought he was attacked while trying to protect her from a group of men who were sexually harassing her. Shaikh was shot and stabbed while his girlfriend was beaten unconscious and raped.

The case has been dogged by rumours of a cover-up after it emerged that one of the alleged attackers was a local politician with close ties to the Sri Lankan president, Mahinda Rajapaksa.

Despite DNA evidence said to link the accused to the crime scene, the legal process has dragged on for almost two years, underlining concerns about human rights abuses in Sri Lanka, which is under intense international scrutiny as it prepares to host next month's Commonwealth heads of government meeting (Chogm).

Suhada Gamalath, an additional solicitor general, told the Guardian that the Sri Lankan attorney general had taken the unusual step of sending a direct indictment to the high court on Thursday to expedite what he called "a terrible case".

The indictment against the six suspects means that preliminary inquiries can be dispensed with and the case sent straight to the high court in Colombo.

Gamalath added: "In certain special cases, we resort to this practice in order to avert further delay and given the fact that this is a very sensational and very, very important case, we are very concerned about this matter. It is unfortunate that it has taken so long but it is now all out."

He said fixing a trial date was a decision for the high court, but promised it would be done "as expeditiously as possible".

"It will not take months, definitely not months," he said. "I will try to see to it that this gets off the ground within the shortest possible time."

Gamalath denied that the decision to issue a direct indictment was in any way related to Chogm; Prince Charles – who will represent the Queen at the Commonwealth summit in Colombo – is understood to have taken a personal interest in Shaikh's case, while David Cameron has pledged to raise the matter with Rajapaksa when he travels to Sri Lanka for the event.

The Canadian prime minister, Stephen Harper, has already announced that his government would boycott Chogm because of reports of human rights abuses, harassment of minorities and allegations of extrajudicial killings, while the Commons foreign affairs committee has criticised the British government for failing to take "a more principled … and robust stand" on serious human rights abuses on Sri Lanka.

Gamalath could not say whether the trial would begin before Chogm started, but added: "Chogm has no connection with this and we should not be politicising this issue. We do this because it has to be done and we are also very, very sad that this should take so long."

Colombo, he said, was merely following correct legal procedure, not acting to reassure the rest of the Commonwealth.

"This is simply the manner in which we normally handle our cases," said Gamalath. "It takes time here."

Shaikh's family welcomed the "encouraging development" but said they were not getting their hopes up.

Khuram's brother, Nasir Shaikh, said: "We were promised months ago that the case would be fast-tracked and then nothing happened. We are all tired of being offered warm words of encouragement and promises that something will happen. We want to see action and a trial date."

The Labour MP Simon Danczuk – who has campaigned on the family's behalf and who raised the case with Cameron in the Commons this month – cautiously welcomed the announcement.

"This has been a long and hard campaign and let's hope this is now the beginning of the end," he said. "We have had to push very hard to get the Sri Lankan authorities to properly investigate this terrible crime and the family have waited nearly two years for justice. They are heartbroken and want closure."

"If Sri Lanka wants to continue to develop its tourism sector then it needs to send out a very clear message," he added. "When British tourists are brutally murdered then we need to see justice being delivered and the killers put behind bars."

Blood and water

Editorial-October 17, 2013

The Rathupaswala water problem which led to public protests, resulting in three deaths is not yet over. There have been sporadic demonstrations since the brutal crackdown in August and attempts are still being made in some quarters to politicise the issue. It was only the other day that the police stopped a vehicle procession purportedly aimed at raising public awareness of water-related issues in the Gampaha District. Members of a pressure groups cobbled together to mobilise the public to obtain clean water and force the closure of a glove factory blamed for polluting water are now fighting among themselves.

It is reported that President Mahinda Rajapaksa is to be apprised of the findings of a scientific study of water contamination in Rathupaswala next week. Opinion is sharply divided on the issue, and when the much-awaited probe report is out in a few days, the public will know the real causes of water pollution and whether the glove factory is the real culprit. This time around, we hope, the report to be submitted to the President will be made public without being shelved.

A lot of blood has been spilt in Rathupaswala but people are still thirsting for water. They have been promised pipe-borne water but at a cost. Let the National Water Supply and Drainage Board (NWSDB) provide water connections free of charge or at nominal rates to the affected people by way of compensation. If the government is wise, it will ensure that the NWSDB does so, on humanitarian grounds. That is the way to assuage public anger and ensure justice is done. Since the government is showering, with a generous hand, tax concessions and various other incentives on rogues of all sorts there is no reason why the NWSDB cannot waive the installation charges or reduce them substantially. Moreover, the government ought to bring in tough laws to prevent factories being set up in residential areas and monitor waste disposal in industrial zones so that the question of the public blaming, rightly or wrongly, factories for water contamination does not arise.

Meanwhile, people faced with a severe water problem are protesting in the Uva Province (consisting of the Moneragala and Badulla Districts). Their consternation is understandable; water sources are drying up owing to the encroachment of the upper catchments of major waterways and springs, upon which they are dependent for potable water. Protesters blame plantation companies for clearing the forest cover and destroying springs in the process. This is a very serious situation which needs to be rectified urgently.

About 13 rivers and streams are said to start from the mountains of Uva and among them are the Kirindi Oya, the Uma Oya, the Badulu Oya and the Menik Ganga. Besides encroachment and illicit felling, the planting of alien trees such as pines and eucalyptus is also said to have taken a heavy toll on the catchments.

Uva Chief Minister Shasheendrakumara Rajapaksa’s efforts to protect the threatened catchments have reportedly run into stiff resistance from the errant planters et al. We don’t know the legal implications of the issue, but the fact remains that either the Uva Provincial Council or the government, or preferably both, must swing into action to put an end to land grabs and the mindless environmental devastation caused by a few businesses to further their commercial interests.

As Badulla District Secretary Rohana Keerthi Dissanayake has rightly pointed out there exists a pressing need for a comprehensive integrated programme to conserve water resources throughout the country. The Department of Agriculture, the Central Environment Authority, the Forest Conservation Department, the Surveyor General’s Department, the police and other state institutions ought to put their shoulder to the wheel and help protect the catchments. Action is called for before any more blood is shed.

Morris Minor: A British Classic Car Thriving In Sri Lanka

Morris Minor Wikipedia

International Business Times

By Palash Ghosh- October 18 2013

The “Morris Minor” is a classic piece of Britannia -- the small-sized family automobile was one of the most popular vehicles in post-war Britain, with about 1.3 million manufactured between 1948 and 1972 (making it the first U.K. car ever to sell more than 1 million units).

Morris Minor a British Classic Car Thriving in Sri Lanka by nelvely

TNA MP Sridharan not permitted to visit Colombo: Ravana Balaya

[ Friday, 18 October 2013, 02:49.56 AM GMT +05:30 ]

The Ravana Balaya, said yesterday, if Tamil National Alliance (TNA) MP, S. Sridharan, is demanding that the Sinhala people should leave Jaffna, then the TNA MP should not be allowed to visit Colombo to attend Parliament.

“It is a historical fact that the Sinhala people had been resident in Jaffna and therefore Sridharan making Jaffna his birth place and trying to expel the Sinhalese from Jaffna is most reprehensible,” Ven. Iththekande Saddhatissa Thera, Secretary of the Ravana Balaya, said.The Thera made these comments, when he recently met the Sinhalese families residing in Nawakkuli, Jaffna, in response to an announcement made by Sridharan.
The Thera also said his organization will not permit Sridharan to come to Colombo after making such shameless enunciations, and his organization will take action against anyone who seeks to destroy the ethnic harmony in the country.
“If Wigneswaran respects peace and harmony, he should take action against such individuals, who make statements kindling communal animosity,” he added.

Wigneswaran is dangerous personality: Champika

[ Friday, 27 September 2013, 04:21.12 AM GMT +05:30 ]

The Jathika Hela Urumaya (JHU) claims the Tamils in the North did not vote out of their own free will at the provincial council elections.

JHU MP and government minister Champika Ranawaka said that the perception the Tamils did not get misled and voted democratically is misleading.

He claims the Tamils in the North who were once directed by the gun of LTTE leader Vellupillai Prabakaran had now been led by telephone calls they received from LTTE supporters overseas.

“We know the Tamil community is not democratic. Tamils do not vote freely. There is no ideology among the Tamil community. They vote based on the telephone calls they get from Toronto or Paris,” he said.

Separatism Can Mean Beheading: Army Commander

October 16, 2013

Army Commander Daya Ratnayake issued a strong warning to groups with separatist agendas, saying the world had already seen how Sri Lanka answers separatism.

“As long as people are within a democratic framework we can all live happily. But if anyone becomes extremists or tries to divide the country, it is not the country that will be divided but their heads that will be severed from their bodies,” he said.

The Army Chief made these remarks while on a tour of the former conflict zones of the Wanni recently.

Occupying Sri Lanka rushes to legalize Sinhalicisation of strategic entrance to Jaffna

[TamilNet, Thursday, 17 October 2013, 17:34 GMT]
Colombo's ‘National Housing Development Authority’ (NHDA) and the Cvil Military Coordination Office (CIMIC) of the occupying SL military in Jaffna have been jointly engaged in legalising the Sinhala occupation of the strategic entrance to Jaffna city at Naavat-kuzhi this week. The NHDA and CIMIC have been distributing lands to 126 Sinhala families that have been occupying the public lands at Naavatkuzhi under the security of SL military despite the protest by the Tamil residents and refugees still struggling to resettle at the locality. Naavatkuzhi is a place just 5 km east of Jaffna city where the two highways A9 and A32, the only existing land arteries that lead into Jaffna from the south and the western coast meet.

Similar to the Vanni war, genocidal Colombo is now hurriedly engaged in a colonisation war against the unarmed and demographically weakened nation of Eezham Tamils. India and USA, which labelled the former as war against terrorism now smokescreen the latter as ‘reconciliation’ and ‘post-war development’. Shown in pink is the targeted area for industrial and fisheries colonisation. The yellow circles are the major SL military colonies. [Map by TamilNet]

Sinhala extremist forces from South and the occupying SL military with the backing of the colonial military governor of Colombo in North have already provided housing and other assistance to the Sinhalicisation of Naavatkuzhi.

However, the Sinhala occupants need the clearance from Chaavakachcheari PS, the civic body in Thenmaraadchi, in order to obtain certain facilities such as electricity link.

Therefore, the NHDA and CIMIC have hurried the process of legalising the settlement by ‘officially’ dividing the public lands into 50 plots and granting them legally to the Sinhala settlers.

A military base has also been established at the at Kathithadi - Naavatkuzhi junction to provide security to the settlers, who have been occupying the lands for more than 3 years now.

Tamil people were chased out from the area in 1996 when the Jaffna peninsula was completely occupied by the SL military. Before that the LTTE had given the lands to landless people at the locality.

The Eezham Tamils who inhabit the areas since ancient times are living in temporary huts. 300 Tamil families, without proper basic facilities are living at low-lying lands near the site facing floods every year during the rainy season.

On Tuesday, the Tamil refugees staged a protest against the move to legalise the illegal settlement of Sinhalese. When journalists went to the site, the occupying SL military chased them away. Tamil National Alliance (TNA) parliamentarian S. Sritharan and civic council members of the TNA joined the protest.

As the protest gained momentum, the SL officials who had come there from the Civil Military Coordination Office vanished from the site. The occupyng Sinhala settlers confronted the protesters verbally abusing them. The Sinhala settlers claimed that Jaffna was lands of the Sinhalese and that the Tamils had occupied the lands from the Sinhalese.

The occupying Sinhala military is guarding the strategic junction and has imposed an unofficial identity control to enter the lands that have been occupied by the Sinhala settlers.

Sri Lanka's large military establishments that choke Jaffna peninsula and threaten Indian security. Sinhala colonisation is carried out in places no 11, 13, 14, and 16. The locations: 1. High Security Zone, Valikaamam North, 2. Kaarainakar naval base, 3. Vallan, Pungkudutheevu, 4. Periyathu'rai and Saamiththoadda-munai, Delft (Key location for Kachchatheevu and Rameswaram), 5. Kunthavadi, Delft, 6. Thalai-mannaar, 7. Mannaar Fort, 8. Tha'l'laadi, 9. Poonakari Fort, 10. Elephant Pass, 11. Vettilaikkea'ni, 12. Naakarkoayil, 13. Ariyaalai East and the opposite sandbar Ma'n'niththalai, 14. Naavatkuzhi, 15. Ma'ndaitheevu,16. Jaffna city, 17. Kachcha-theevu and 18. Naachchik-kudaa. The innumerable small military posts and the newly planned cantonments in Vanni are not shown in the map. [Satellite Image courtesy: NASA, Visible Earth. Legend by TamilNet]