‘Step into my parlour’

President Rajapaksa’s benevolent smiles and warm hospitality as he welcomes world leaders to his showpiece summit may mask the grimmer realities facing the people living in the shadow of the new Chair of the Commonwealth

Days ahead of being crowned king of the Commonwealth of Nations, President Mahinda Rajapaksa is a jubilant mood. The Sri Lankan Head of State is often pictured beaming with pride at various precursor events leading up to the main Commonwealth Heads of Government Meeting that will get underway at his namesake theatre tomorrow morning.

‘Step into my parlour’ by nelvely

RECONCILIATION CANNOT BE IMPOSED BY EXTERNAL PARTIES - SINGAPORE FM

November 14, 2013 

Singapore Foreign Affairs and Law Minister, K Shanmugam, who is now in Sri Lanka, said the recent election in the country’s Northern Province was a positive step for its reconciliation and peace process.

Speaking at the Commonwealth Foreign Ministers Meeting ahead of the Heads of Government Meeting (CHOGM), Mr Shanmugam said Sri Lanka had honoured its commitment to hold elections in the Northern Province in September -- with the election being deemed credible by observers.

Mr Shanmugam said political reconciliation cannot be imposed by external parties, and isolating Sri Lanka will not automatically result in improvements in the welfare of its citizens.

He said: “We need to help the Tamils on the ground through constructive engagement by focusing on development projects, which is what we do. We try and do it, we encourage others to do it and at the same time, the government of Sri Lanka, the people of Sri Lanka need to be engaged by other countries, constructively.”

Mr Shanmugam said the growth of Asia is and will remain a fact, and Sri Lanka is poised to take advantage of this.

He also encouraged member countries of the Commonwealth to cooperate constructively with Sri Lanka to help in its reconciliation process with the Tamil population, as well as help it grow economically and distribute the proceeds of that growth to its citizens. - CNA

Britain epitomizes genocide in ‘British Commonwealth’: QSM recipient

[TamilNet, Thursday, 14 November 2013, 16:33 GMT]
British Prime Minister David Cameron being edged to deal directly with the Sri Lankan President Mahinda Rajapaksa, and that too in a periodical session of the Commonwealth, hints at the dismal failure of Britain's normal diplomatic channels, said veteran Tamil activist and Queen’s Service Medal (QSM) recipient A. Theva Rajan in a statement issued by New Zealand Tamil Action Front (TAF) on Thursday. “230 years on, your crowning of a war criminal as Commonwealth head will only help epitomize Tamil genocide. Please do not damage the Tamil cause,” the veteran Tamil activist urged the British PM in his letter. 

Extracts from Mr Thevarajan's letter on behalf of the TAF to British PM follow:

A Theva Rajan

“Dear Hon. Prime Minister, even Colebrooke who was sent to devise a unified administration of the territories that belonged to the Kandyan, Kotte and Jaffna Kingdoms, made a meticulous recommendation that no legislation should advantage any one community or disadvantage another community. He was emphatic that the individuality and identity of the ethnic and cultural groups should be preserved without hindrance This was upheld in all changes to the administrative setup as Royal Instructions and ended up as article 29 in the Soulbury Constitution. It was removed in the illegal 1972 Constitution. 

“When in 1883 a sub Coommitee of Legislative Council unanimously adopted a resolution moved by E J Young (Planters Representative) to make Ceylon a 3 unit Federation (Kandyan, Tamil and Low Country) the then lazy sluggish Governor James Longden, for laziness to do some extra work, rejected the idea. J F Dixon. a Government Agent supported E J Young and gave boundaries, population figures and a map.

“Leonard Woolf, a one time Government Agent of Ceylon addressing the Ceylon students in London in 1938 advised them to give up their communalism and adopt a federal constitution. Sinhala racism is in-built in the Sinhala psyche and it will never change.

“If not for lazy Longden the country would have been in peace. 230 years on your crowning of a war criminal as Commonwealth head will only help epitomize Tamil genocide. What a crime!! Please do not damage the Tamil cause.”

Sri Lanka: Stop Smear campaign and threats against Ms. Nimalka Fernando

William Gomes,Human Rights Ambassador for Salem-News.com-Nimalka Fernando

Put an end to any kind of harassment against Ms. Nimalka Fernando and more generally against all human rights defenders in Sri Lanka

(Washington, D.C) - Mr. N K Illangakoon Inspector General of Police New Secretariat Colombo 1 SRI LANKA Fax: +94 11 2 440440 / 327877 E-mail: igp@police.lk

Dear Mr. N K Illangakoon, I am William Nicholas Gomes,Human Rights Ambassador for Salem-News.com.

Sri Lanka Stop Smear Campaign and Threats Against Ms. Nimalka Fernando by nelvely

Newshour: Sri Lanka - Jonathan Miller on being turned back by angry mobs
In Sri Lanka a team from Britain's Channel Four TV News was blocked from travelling to the north of the country today - after their train was surrounded by hundreds of angry government supporters. Quite a day for Channel 4's Foreign Affairs Correspondent Jonathan Miller as he told Newshour's James Coomarasamy

Mahinda Rajapaksa Changed His Facebook Cover Photo

Sri Lanka’s President Mahinda Rajapaksa has updated his facebook cover photo today.

November 14, 2013 

Video: BBC TV Crew Held Back At Sri Lanka Commonwealth Event

November 14, 2013 

A BBC cameraman was physically restrained by security officials at the Commonwealth Heads of Government Meeting in the Sri Lankan capital Colombo

The BBC’s James Robbins and his cameraman Duncan Stone were attempting to film Sri Lankan President Mahinda Rajapaksa, at a media event before the formal opening of the Commonwealth meeting.
Courtesy BBC Asia

MaRa divides country in the name of CHOGM: those in the north cannot visit south and vice versa
(Lanka-e-News-14.Nov.2013, 5.30PM) During the period of the LTTE terror the people of the south were unable to go to the north and vice versa , and consequent upon which the people had to face the most evil fallouts. Now , after the LTTE terror has ended the Medamulana Rajapakse regime which is keeping the people under its ruthless dictatorial iron heels is also barring the people of the south from traveling to the north and vice versa, it is reported.

The ban imposed on traveling from the south to the north was applied to the channel 4 media personnel , and the ban imposed on those traveling from the north to the south was applied to the three bus loads of Tamil residents of the north who came for the human rights conference in Colombo.

When 6 British media personnel of channel 4 who came to SL in view of the commonwealth summit and on visas issued duly by the Rajapakse regime , were heading for Kilinochchi from Colombo in the north bound train , they were stopped at Anuradhapura and sent back to Colombo by a Government backed group of goons and thugs .

Interestingly , in the same train of the media personnel , a team of regime’s intelligence division members have also traveled. 

It were north central province chief minister S M Ranjith and his brother deputy Minister S M Chandrasena who had organized this violent goon and thug group . Public relations officer T. Upasena of the chief Minister and co ordinating secretary Nilantha Ekanayake of the deputy Minister had been present among the group of goons organized to obstruct and harass the media personnel. The MaRa police too had acted most strangely. Instead of allowing the media personnel to proceed to their destination unhindered after dispersing the violent gang , the police had acted with the latter and sent back the media personnel to Colombo under police escort. 

Channel 4 news editor , Ben. D Pier a senior journalist who was in the group said , this action against them is most deplorable and discouraging vis a vis the President’s invitation extended to them to visit the country while assuring the media personnel that they could go anywhere across the country and make reports. Callum McRae who was also in the group that was blocked from traveling to the north showing a newspaper printed today , pointed out , as the government had itself stated it has given permission for them to come to SL , they have a right to travel within the country.

The journalists questioned ‘how is that the goons and gangs knew we were in that train , and that the intelligence division officers too were in the train?’

The other ugly episode was the turning back of three bus loads of Tamil residents of the north who were coming to Colombo to attend the human rights function at the UNP headquarters , Sri Kotha. The security division officers have met the owners of the buses in Vavuniya yesterday evening and warned that they should not dispatch the buses to Colombo for the human rights event under whatever circumstance, and threatened if that instruction is violated their route permits would be withdrawn .

These buses with the passengers were taken into custody this morning at Mulaitivu , Kilinochchi and Madu , and all the passengers were sent back .

All these incidents singly and cumulatively only bear out the truth that the Rajapakse regime had divided the country intentionally or otherwise. Though this regime notorious for rowdy tactics and lawless terror thinks proudly about that conduct which is akin to that of the LTTE leader who too thought proudly about his terrorism , in the not too distant future the regime too will certainly have to face the inevitable horrendous consequences to the detriment of the country and the people.

Cannot vouch foreign journalists' safety

by Chrishanthi Christopher-  Thursday, 14 Nov 2013                                                                     

Media Minister, Keheliya Rambukwella, said yesterday that he cannot vouch for the safety of foreign media personnel who travel outside the Colombo city.

He said that the government can guarantee security for foreign media personnel within the city but not when they go outstation on their own volition. He said, "There is 'huge dissent' among the public regarding Callum Macrae, the Channel 4 Director who exposed alleged war crimes in Sri Lanka, and the people appear to have taken steps on their own to agitate."

He said the Channel 4 journalists have been given visas to visit Sri Lanka and it is the government's duty to provide them security. "Meaningful steps will be taken to bring them to a safe place and security will be provided till they depart," he said.

To the question on the protest such as the one that took place in Anuradhapura, before the train in which Macrae and his team were travelling to Kilinochchi, would cause embarrassment to the government, to the foreign delegation and to the President who will be the Chairperson of the CHOGM for next two years, the minister responded saying 'it will never be so.' "Just because President Mahinda Rajapaksa would be the Chairman of the CHOGM does not mean anyone could violate the rules of the country," he remarked.

Rambukwella also said just because some are 'Australians and Europeans' they cannot violate the law of the country. "Recently, we even deported an Australian and a New Zealander who were engaged in activities that do not come under the conditions in which their visas were issued. They are unpopular people and their safety is in question," he said.

MaRa divides country in the name of CHOGM: those in the north cannot visit south and vice versa

November 14, 2013

Bodu Bala Sena secretary Buddhist monk Galagoda Atte Gnasara was attacked by the supporters of the UNP today.

Gnasara was attacked when he tried to sabotage a peace rally in Colombo in 2002 / File photo

Bodu Bala Sena and Galaboda Atte Gnanasara thero,  had crashed into the Sirikotha premises to disturb the proceedings of the Human Rights Ceremony which is being held at the venue.

The inauguration ceremony of  the Leadership Council is also being held at the Sirikotha premises this morning.

In 2002 Gnasara was attacked when he tried to  sabotage a peace rally in Colombo.

Commonwealth & human rights principles in Sri Lanka, in the weeks before CHOGM

• by Ruki
• - on 11/14/2013 
• • Photo by REUTERS/Dinuka Liyanawatte, via Channel 4 News
    The Commonwealth Heads of Government Meeting (CHOGM) is due to start tomorrow. The last few weeks has seen series of violations of Human Rights and Commonwealth principles in Sri Lanka, which is the host country and expected to lead the Commonwealth in the next two years. Victims of human rights violations, their families, activists, local and international journalists, UN experts and opposition politicians from Sri Lanka and Commonwealth countries who are critical of the government have been amongst those targeted. Pro-government protests have been allowed to go ahead, even as Police obtained a court order preventing protests in the Colombo city today and tomorrow. Below are some incidents reported, based on testimonies of victims, eye witnesses and media.
    Commonwealth & Human Rights Principles in Sri Lanka, In the Weeks Before CHOGM by nelvely

SRI LANKA: A solution to the Fishing Rights conflict between Sri Lanka and India

Contributors: Dr. Leonard Pinto-November 14, 2013

Anybody can make a claim to the fish in the open sea. But, once caught, it becomes the property of one who caught it. However, the Law of the Sea 1982, provides the proprietary country the exclusive right to its natural resources, including fishery resource within the Exclusive Economic Zone (EEZ) of 200 nautical miles (1 nautical mile =1.151 miles) from the shore, and legal rights in the territorial water, extending to 12 nautical miles from the shore. As Rameshwaram and Mannar are about 15 miles apart and Indian shoreline and islands near Jaffna are about 48 miles apart, the EEZ and the territorial boundaries of India and Sri Lanka overlap. In such situations, the Law of the Sea says that both countries should come to an agreement on the line of demarcation, which is usually the median between the two countries. Sri Lanka and India have agreed on that line, including the ownership of Katchchathivu, which has still not been ratified by the Indian Parliament.

During the last few months many Indian fishermen have been caught allegedly fishing in Sri Lankan waters and a number Sri Lankan fishermen have been caught allegedly fishing in Indian waters. Unfortunately they end up in jails, causing great distress to their families and children. Navy surveillance radars clearly show that Indian boats are intruding into Sri Lankan water at mid night. Bishop Joseph Rayappu of Mannar says, "Indian boats come as close as 500 meters from the coastline and they come in their thousands. On the days these boats come our people do not go fishing because they are frightened." This issue can be effectively solved, if the following steps are taken. (1) Both countries must be honest, sincere, truthful and trustworthy on what they say, as the Indians have lost confidence after retracting the 13 plus Amendment assurance. (2) Both countries must agree on the boundary. (3) Demarcate this boundary with anchored buoys with visible flags and solar powered lights for all fishermen to see the boundary during day and night. (4) Educate the fishermen in both countries on their responsibilities and consequences of crossing this boundary. (5) Sri Lankan and Indian Navy and border protection agencies establish a task force and conduct routine patrol. Now that the war is over, SL Navy should be able to direct their resources in this direction. (6) Both countries should agree that those who violate the Law of the Sea would face the legal proceedings according to the laws of each country. (7) Both countries should realize that politicians have a responsible role to play in solving this problem, but politicization of the problem, as in all social human problems is a betrayal of the tasks of their profession. Stop accusing each other and find solutions (i.e. technical) to the problem is the basic message.

Indian fishermen are coming to Sri Lankan water saying that their stocks are already depleted. Thus the root cause of the problem is the depletion of fish stocks. Therefore assessment and management of fishery resources in the Palk Strait and Gulf of Mannar using mathematical models and ecological data is an important aspect of this problem that the two countries should jointly undertake, research and implement with perhaps international cooperation and funds. Unlike, non-living resources (e.g. minerals), fish and crustaceans are living-aquatic resources, and are not depleted by extraction within limits. In fact limited fishing is necessary to maintain healthy fish populations. But, once overfished, the stock is lost forever, and the fishermen have to look for other fishery resources. Hence sustainable fishing is what everybody should aim at. The knowledge of standing stock, recruitment, fishing mortality, migration, level of exploitation, cost of fishing etc. for target species are necessary to introduce control measures in some situations to avoid over-fishing, and thus to replenish the stock periodically.

Sri Lanka has experience in solving fishery related problems at local town scale. In the past, typical fishing disputes have arisen in fishing provincial towns, such as Chilaw, which include disputes on overlapping fishing grounds of different communities (i.e. Valla, Vallavediya, Aluthwatte etc.), fishing methods that destroyed the prawn resources (i.e. boats trawling on seagrass beds) and interference in traditional prawn fishery rights (i.e. setting nets upstream when families by traditional rights have set their nets downstream to catch the sea-bound prawns). In 1950s following a court order, a tall tower was built on the Chilaw shore, dividing the sea into two, so that two main communities could fish in each fishing grounds. It worked well and deploying anchored buoys to demarcate the maritime fishing boundary between India and Sri Lanka would be an important step in resolving the current conflict in the Indo-Lankan marine basin.

Toronto torture victim takes Sri Lanka to UN rights body

The Toronto Star

A Toronto Tamil man who was detained and tortured in Sri Lankan jails for three years is taking his case to the United Nations.

By: Nicholas Keung Immigration reporter, Published on Wed Nov 13 2013

A Toronto man who was detained and tortured in Sri Lankan jails for three years is taking his case to the United Nations, accusing Sri Lankan authorities of violating international human rights laws.

Roy Samathanam, 44, who has been a Canadian citizen since 1996, was arrested by the Sri Lankan Terrorist Investigation Division (TID) in 2007 while visiting his homeland.

He says he was handcuffed and blindfolded after failing to provide a bribe demanded by officers, while his pregnant wife and daughter were placed under house arrest.

Samathanam was ultimately released in August 2010. He claims he was coerced into pleading guilty to what he describes as a trumped-up charge of possessing a GPS device.

Samathanam says he has since suffered depression and post-traumatic stress disorder.

On Wednesday, with the help of the Ottawa-based Canadian Centre for International Justice, Samathanam will file an official complaint to the UN Human Rights Committee to demand remedy and compensation from the Sri Lankan government for torture and other violations of his rights.

“I was kept there, tortured. And they tried to force a confession from me. They also threatened to rape my wife and kill my child,” said Samathanam, who returned to Canada in early 2011 and has since lived on assistance from the Ontario Disability Support Program.

“I am doing this for me and for others who have been tortured and are still detained in jails in Sri Lanka. I want those officials who tortured me to be tried in the court of law and face justice.”

Specifically, Samathanam is demanding that criminal charges be laid against a Sgt. Abdeen, a unit commander at the TID detention facility near Colombo Harbour, and the centre’s Officer in Charge, Prasanna de Alwis.

Born in Colombo, Samathanam said he grew up under discrimination and persecution as an ethnic Tamil. He fled to Canada as a refugee in 1990, when he was 18.

In 2005, he visited Sri Lanka to get married but decided to remain there when his wife became pregnant. He said officers wielding machine guns arrived at his home on Sept. 14, 2007, “on the pretense” that he’d broken the law by helping to import goods for a friend’s electronics shop.

Denounced as a “Canadian Tiger,” he was accused of operating the intelligence wing of the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam and obtaining the GPS for the militant group.

Samathanam was detained at three separate facilities: the Colombo Harbour, Boosa Detention Centre in Galle, and Welikada Prison. He said he was beaten regularly and denied medications for his diabetes and chest pains.

Matt Eisenbrandt, legal director of the Canadian Centre for International Justice, said Samathanam’s experience of torture and imprisonment has to be placed into the historical context of oppression and persecution of ethnic Tamils since Sri Lanka gained independence from Britain in 1948 and came under the rule of the Sinhalese majority.

Human rights groups and the international community have long condemned the Sri Lankan government’s military and policing operations targeting Tamils. During the final stages of the civil war in 2009, thousands of Tamils were killed.

“This (complaint) is significant on the individual level for Roy. It gives him a chance to pursue justice against Sri Lanka for the torture and detention he suffered,” Eisenbrandt said.

“We are trying to get action from an international body to hold those responsible for the torture accountable.”

Sri Lanka: People 'Putting Themselves at Risk'

Channel 4 News Editor, Ben de Pear=Nov-13-2013

Our story of reporting in Sri Lanka is totally insignificant compared to that of the countless thousands who have been killed, tortured or disappeared...

(LONDON ) - In the media pack given to all arriving journalists at the Commonwealth Heads of Government Meeting (CHOGM) being held in Sri Lanka next week is a 222 page book called "Corrupted Journalism". It is an out and out attack on Channel 4 and our journalism. As we only received our visas this week (our accreditation process took 8-10 weeks as opposed to the 2-3 weeks it took everyone else) I do not have this weighty tome in my hands, so I can't react to everything it says.

Our journalism and the authenticity of the videos was similarly scrutinised by the United Nations. Employing two of the world's foremost video and audio experts, a thorough three month investigation and report by the UN found the videos to be authentic.

Sri Lanka People 'Putting Themselves at Risk' by nelvely

US Congressional Caucus on Ethnic and Religious Freedom in Sri Lanka launched

Tamil Guardian 14 November 2013

A US Congressional Caucus on Ethnic and Religious Freedom in Sri Lanka was launched on Wednesday, at Capitol Hill in Washington DC at 2pm local time.

The Caucus, co-chaired by Rep. Danny Davis (D-IL) and Rep. Bill Johnson (R-OH), has already seen additional US Members of Congress joining.

US Congressional Caucus on Ethnic and Religious Freedom in Sri Lanka Launched by nelvely

Documentary film about the World War on Women

Female - The World War on Women, is a documentary film addressing the various forms of violence and abuse suffered by women on every continent around the globe.

End Gendercide Now

The Film:

Female -- The World War on Women (working title) is a documentary film addressing the various forms of violence and abuse suffered by women on every continent around the globe. While exploring personal stories illustrating an array of issues such as the feminization of poverty, gendercide, female genital mutilation, child marriage, and the objectification and exploitation of women, experts seek to identify the cultural mindsets and traditions that result in such human rights violations while activists offer hope of change through viable solutions.

Documentary Film About the World War on Women by nelvely

Death Threats Against Sri Lankan Human Rights Defender Are Condemned by USTPAC

WASHINGTON, Nov. 12, 2013

State-run media carry out smear campaign against Nimalka Fernando
Just days before Sri Lanka hosts a Commonwealth summit, Sri Lankan state media is making death threats against prominent human rights campaigners. Amidst continued rights abuses in the heavily militarized North-East, new threats to human rights defenders serve as yet another example of why the island nation is unfit to lead the Commonwealth.

WASHINGTON, Nov. 12, 2013 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- United States Tamil Political Action Council (USTPAC) strongly condemns the death threats and smear campaign aimed at Ms. Nimalka Fernando, attorney-at-law and President of the International Movement Against All Forms of Discrimination (IMADR) and the Women's Forum for Peace in Sri Lanka.  An internationally recognized human rights leader, Ms. Fernando has for 25 years courageously identified Sri Lanka's consistent failures to meet its human rights obligations.

On October 25, in an interview to The Island newspaper in Colombo on the condition of sex workers, Ms. Fernando spoke of the need for protection of sex workers from harassment and called for reform of abortion laws in favor of a more protective reproductive health approach.

The Island and other media sources, including Hiru TV deliberately misquoted Ms. Fernando's statements as a call for legalizing prostitution and unleashed a smear campaign against her. The government-controlled Sri Lanka Broadcasting Corporation (SLBC) joined the fray conducting a discussion with the derisive title, Stoning the Sinner Woman.  Mr. Hudson Samarasinghe, Chairperson of SLBC, condoned derogatory comments from callers that vilified Ms. Fernando, some of whom suggested that she be "annihilated" and "cannot allow persons like Nimalka Fernando to live in this society."

"It is no coincidence that Ms. Fernando's statement was manipulated by the state-controlled SLBC and then used to threaten her life in the lead up to CHOGM, as the government is trying to silence civil society and human rights defenders," stated Dr. Yaso Natkunam, USTPAC's Director for Human Rights.

"Such actions are typical for Sri Lanka, where the press is muzzled and state organs are routinely used to incite violence against human rights defenders and non-Sinhala Buddhist ethnic and religious groups," Dr. Natkunam continued.
Dr. Natkunam, who has worked closely with Ms. Fernando in Geneva on Sri Lanka's rights violations, expressed serious concern for Ms. Fernando's safety.  She has notified the UN Human Rights Council which has previously expressed its concern at the Sri Lankan government's actions against human rights defenders.

"Nimalka is a woman who has tirelessly fought for the rights of all peoples of Sri Lanka, regardless of language, ethnic or religious considerations. This smear campaign, this incitement of hatred against Nimalka, and these threats against her life must stop," said Dr. Natkunam.

"At this critical time, when Sri Lanka stands accused of war crimes and crimes against humanity, including possibly the crime of genocide, the government's attempt to intimidate Ms. Fernando demonstrates that it has no intention to address the serious allegations arising from the civil war," stated Dr. Natkunam.

In September this year, UN High Commissioner for Human Rights Navi Pillay delivered a highly critical oral report to the Human Rights Council in the wake of her official visit to Sri Lanka.  Her report put the Sri Lankan government on notice that failure to urgently engage in a credible process of truth seeking and prosecution of perpetrators would lead to an independent international commission of inquiry.

"Despite this warning, Sri Lanka shows no sign of deviating from its headlong march in what the High Commissioner called an 'increasingly authoritarian direction.'  These personal attacks on Ms. Fernando endanger her personal safety at the very moment when Sri Lanka is gearing up to welcome the heads of states of Commonwealth countries for CHOGM in Colombo this week," Dr. Natkunam observed.

"Unable to withstand this hypocrisy, Prime Ministers Stephen Harper of Canada and Manmohan Singh of India have decided to boycott the summit," concluded Dr. Natkunam.  "It is incumbent upon those Commonwealth heads of state who have determined that they should nonetheless attend, to take the opportunity to protest in the strongest terms to the government of Sri Lanka of its attacks on human rights and democracy defenders, like Ms. Fernando, and to demand that the government guarantee their safety."
Media contact: eliasjey 202-595-3123
www.ustpac.org
SOURCE United States Tamil Political Action Council

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