Sri Lanka: Cameron issues deadline on 'war crimes' inquiry

David Cameron threatens to push for an independent international inquiry into allegations of war crimes at the end of Sri Lanka's civil war if the island nation does not conduct its own probe by 2014.

SATURDAY 16 NOVEMBER 2013

Mr Cameron has been the most vocal critic of Sri Lanka's record on rights during a biannual summit of Commonwealth nations being held in the capital Colombo.

Sri Lanka Cameron Issues Deadline on 'War Crimes' Inquiry by nelvely

Condemning the moronic decision to close the University of Jaffna for a month

 Saturday, 16 November 2013 

University authorities, under the influence of Defense authorities, have closed the University of Jaffna from…. November to……….. and this is done with the intention of barring any chance of the ‘Maha Viru Day’ being celebrated in the university.

A similar incident happened in the last year as well, where the government forces, forcefully entered to an even that was held parallel to the Maha Viru Day, brutally attacked the students and arrested several student leaders. Closing the university is an extension of that suppression. This decision will add a black mark to the country’s history of democracy and human rights and as the Inter University Students’ Federation we condemn this arbitrary decision with great displeasure.

While we do not approve the L.T.T.E or their activities we respect the Tamil people’s right to commemorate their dead relatives. A war will always be a way and there is no way that a civilized society can accept it. It is futile to discuss which side is in the right in a war, because a war brings destruction to all parties involved. Therefore individuals and movements that are responsible and love the human society and human race cannot approve the war that kills people. This is our position on the war in North. This war was created by the racist, ruling class that consists of Sinhalese, Muslims and Tamils, who lust after power, not by the innocent people who were crushed under the iron shoe of this war and burnt by the bullets. Therefore it is not fair to put the blame on the Army or L.T.T.E soldiers, who took up arms to kill each other, at the end of it. The blame for these crimes lies with the leaders of all ethnicities who promoted racism for their own petty interests of power in the past and continues to do so in the present day.

However as a result of this useless war, thousands of valuable Sinhala, Tamil and Muslim lives were lost to the country. Each of those dead lives has a value and we must accept that somewhere on this land, there is always a human heart that laments and moans them to this day. We must accept their right to not only cry for and lament their dead, but also to commemorate them. Therefore in spite of what the murderous rulers who do not care for human lives and kill people like dogs and cats irrespective of the ethnicity, say, anyone who values human life will not approve this decision.

If the Sinhala people have a right to commemorate their dead soldiers, Tamil people too are entitled to that same right. A war happens between two parties and neither party approves or respects the other. It is this same conflict that creates a war. If so, both parties will see each other as enemies, not heroes. The dead member of the enemy becomes a traitor while the dead member of one’s own becomes a hero. Therefore what we must accept is that for the Tamil people, the Tamil soldiers who died during the war are their heroes. That fact can only be changed through a mutual understanding that happens between the two parties; by eliminating the reasons that distanced us and only if both sides respect each other. Forcefully attempting to change the thinking, behaviour and habits of the defeated by the victorious side instead, will only develop the enmities between the people again and again and it will only lead to another murderous war. Any such decision, therefore, will not only be against democracy but also against humanity. Therefore we must accept the Tamil people’s right to commemorate their dead and that it is not terrorism to do so.

The threat of Tamil people taking up arms against will not be evaded with such moronic acts, but only through giving them their civil liberties, by establishing democracy again, resolving other socio-economic problems in the north and putting an end to state terrorism in the North. Racist decision like these without those actions will only in turn promote Tamil racism. It will create the setting for another war which we know will be preferred by the ruling class because they will only be able to protect their plundering existence through the divisions within the oppressed who suffer under their exploitation. Until the oppressed people of all three ethnicities unite against their real enemies who are responsible for all their suffering, until the Sinhalese see the Tamil has their enemy and the Tamils see the Sinhalese see the Tamil as their enemy and fight each other, the ruling class would not have a challenge to their existence. However, if the oppressed ethnic communities understand this reality and unite that will be fatal to the ruling class. Therefore they will always stir racism and maintain it.

We must, therefore, understand this to be the interest behind closing the University of Jaffna and sabotaging commemorations and to prevent the destruction that it can cause, we must, in spite of our ethnic differences protest against such moronic decisions.
It is the noble responsibility of everyone who respects democracy, values humanity and wants to prevent another murderous

India’s CHOGM Faux Pas!

By Sharmini Serasinghe -November 16, 2013

Sharmini Serasinghe

India’s Prime Minister Manmohan Singh is being flogged mercilessly by the Indian Media – a symbol of how tall democracy stands in that country – over what is being dubbed as India’s ‘CHOGM Blunder’.

The Indian PM’s decision not to attend the summit in Colombo is being viewed as giving into the bullying tactics of Jayalalithaa’s Petticoat government. Just days before, Singh while addressing The Annual Conclave of Indian Ambassadors/High Commissioners abroad in New Delhi outlined what he believed to be the ‘Five Core Principals’ of India’s development-centric Foreign Policy.

Of the five principals, the most relevant to Indo-Sri Lanka relations at this juncture would be the Fourth- “”we recognize that the Indian sub-continent’s shared destiny requires greater regional cooperation and connectivity. Towards this end, we must strengthen regional institutional capability and capacity and invest in connectivity.”

A few days later, he did a volte farce by opting not to attend CHOGM in Colombo! So what happened to his “investment in regional connectivity”? The unspoken message that was ultimately sent by the Indian PM was that he couldn’t give a damn about “regional connectivity” when his own political interests were at stake.

             Read More

Video: Tamils Were Harassed In Front Of International Community

November 16, 2013 |

The video below which is posted by Sri Kugan shows, Tamils were harassed, attacked and blocked their freedom of movement in front of International Community in Jaffna.

Earlier this week, families from Mannar, Vavuniya, Mullaitivu, Kilinochchi and Jaffna were travelling to the capital Colombo to attend the Samagi Human Rights Festival, also known as the alternate Peoples Forum to stress Commonwealth Values, were also stopped by Military personnel and turned the families back to their home districts.

The Government previously stopped protesters from entering the capital during this year’s UN Human Rights Council session in March, when families of the disappeared attempted to reach Colombo in order to hand over a petition to the UN Headquarters in Colombo.

Sri Lanka's retreat into language of conspiracy

Colombo has been busily preparing for the Commonwealth summit

Continue reading the main story

By George Alagiah-14 November 2013

The last time I came to Sri Lanka the journey from the international airport into the capital, Colombo, took more than three hours.

Sri Lanka's Retreat Into Language of Conspiracy by nelvely

Jaffna University Teachers Question Closure Of Universities

November 16, 2013 

“If the closure was to do with the anniversary on 27^th November, the University has the machinery to communicate with the students and seek assurances from them. The day was already taken care of by the mid-semester vacation. 27^th November, the Mullivaykkal debacle of 18^th May, the Anuradhapura massacre of 14^th May and the Kattankudy Mosque massacre of 3^rd August are all etched in our history. A mature university should have inter-communal discussions on how we look at history and how we are going to deal with it. An authoritarian university culture with its resort to the like of emergency regulations, will never take a mature approach.” asks the Jaffna University Science Teachers Association.

Writing to its Vice Chancellor the JUSTA says; “The UGC Chairman had no authority to instruct universities to in effect stop undergraduate programmes and give a vacation to undergraduate students.”

We publish below the statement in full;                                     Read More

India and UK agree on approach towards Sri Lanka

 Saturday, 16 November 2013 

The Indian media has reported that both India and Britain have agreed on the approach towards Sri Lanka.

The Hindu newspaper has reported that the two countries have however differed on attending the Commonwealth Heads of Government Meeting (CHOGM).

At a meeting in New Delhi, Prime Ministers Manmohan Singh and David Cameron have agreed that it was necessary to address the question of human rights abuses in Sri Lanka during the war that ended in 2009.

Sources in the government have reportedly said both leaders felt it necessary to stay engaged with Colombo on the question of alleged rights abuses.

CHOGM also figured in an interview of Cameron by a news channel in which he has said he respected Singh’s decision not to attend the meet.

“India, Canada and Britain, we all have the same approach towards Sri Lanka. My own view about attending is it’s a Commonwealth conference, I believe in helping to lead the organisation,” Cameron has told CNN-IBN.

Like Singh, Canadian Prime Minister Stephen Harper is also not going to Colombo.

Commonwealth charity staff complain of Sri Lankan 'intimidation'

The Commonwealth summit in Colombo, Sri Lanka. Photograph: Qin Qing/Xinhua Press/Corbis

The Commonwealth summit in Colombo, Sri Lanka. Photograph: Qin Qing/Xinhua Press/CorbisWorkers say they were shouted at and trailed by police after meeting at which British minister raised issue of human rights

Randeep Ramesh-Friday 15 November 2013 

The charitable arm of the Commonwealth has been involved in a row at the heads of government meeting, after staff complained of being intimidated by Sri Lankan officials angered by a British minister who raised human rights concerns on the island.

Sources at the Commonwealth Foundation, which promotes non-profit organisations in former British colonies, said the Sri Lankan government had attempted to "take over and control" events it had planned.

At the last Commonwealth meeting in Australia it was NGOs that ran the foundation's agenda. But in Colombo, President Mahinda Rajapaksa's brother-in-law, Lalith Chandradasa, a prominent businessman, ensured that the programme of events was limited to discussion of the post-2015 global development agenda. There was no mention of human rights.

In 2009 the Sri Lankan regular army defeated the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam – the Tamil Tigers – who were fighting a guerrilla campaign to create an independent Tamil state called Tamil Eelam in north-eastern areas of the island. As many as 100,000 people are thought to have been killed in the civil war.

This news blackout on what many NGOs considered a key concern was broken when at a meeting last Wednesday Hugo Swire, the Foreign Office minister, made a speech in which he pressed Sri Lanka to investigate people's disappearances, guarantee freedom of expression and "stamp out intimidation of journalists and human rights defenders".

He also tweeted a picture of himself with Canada's representative Deepak Obhrai, an ethnic Tamil – the minority group who say they have been discriminated against for decades – and fellow foreign minister, who had been blocked from speaking by the Sri Lankans, fearful he would raise the issue of reconcillation. Colombo accused Obhrai of paying tribute to the Tamil rebels when he laid a wreath to victims of the island's civil war.

The result, said staff speaking anonymously, was a "campaign of intimidation and propaganda in local newspapers". Headlines claimed that "Britain flayed Sri Lanka" and that the meeting had been "subverted". "Staff were shouted at, trailed by police. We were blocked from doing our job. After losing control it was the last straw," said a Colombo-based source.

A foundation source said some staff had left earlier than scheduled, though a foundation spokesperson said only people not required had left while the four senior and relevant staff – the director, the deputy, the chair and programme manager – remained, along with 50 civil society delegates from the Commonwealth People's Forum to attend a foreign minister's meeting on Saturday.

Chandradasa told the Guardian there was "no bullying or anything like it". "[Swire] just made his speech. He walked off. He was texting and tweeting. But he had denigrated Sri Lanka and civil society," he said. Chandradasa claimed Swire's comments had set back progress that had been made during the summit between civic leaders and Sri Lanka's government. "We don't deny that the relationship between the civil society and Sri Lankan government is strained. But now it is worse." The Foreign Office said that the Swire speech was planned and "in line with our policy on Sri Lanka".

Cameron: I will shine a light on Sri Lanka - video

David Cameron tells Jon Snow Sri Lanka's leadership has a chance to bring the country together - but he pledges to shine a light on what happened after the civil war and on what is happening now.

If Not Sri Lanka Completed War Crimes Inquiry By March, I Will Push UN For An International Inquiry – Cameron

November 16, 2013 

UK Prime Minister David Cameron has called on the government of Sri Lanka to set up an independent inquiry on alleged war crimes during the final stages of the country’s civil war against the Tamil Tiger rebels.

Cameron said on Saturday: “Let me be very clear. If an investigation is not completed by March, then I will use our position on the United Nations human rights council to work with the UN human rights commission and call for a full credible and independent international inquiry.”

BBC News:

Channel 4 Managed To Film Rajapaksa’s Secret Police

With the degree of surveillance on the Channel 4 team so high, local journalists and people are unlikely to engage with the broadcasting team and they are unlikely to be able to travel freely to other areas of the country without endangering the people they speak to on their travels. Today Channel 4′s Jonathan Miller managed to film and talk Sri Lanka’s secret police who followed them.

Sri Lanka President: 'We Have Nothing To Hide'

Video: David Cameron and Sri Lankan President Mahinda Rajapaksa

Enlarge

 UK, Saturday 16 November 2013

Sri Lanka's leader has said his government is ready to investigate any allegations of war crimes and human rights abuses against his forces.

It comes after Prime Minister David Cameron called on President Mahinda Rajapaksa to conduct an independent inquiry by March into claims of war crimes - a deadline set by UN human rights chief Navi Pillay.

Sri Lanka President 'We Have Nothing to Hide' by nelvely

Britain sets March deadline for war crimes probe, Sri Lanka defiant

16 November 2013

British Prime Minister David Cameron put Sri Lanka on notice Saturday to conduct an "credible, transparent and independent" investigations into allegations of war crimes by March or else he would lead a push for action at the United Nations.

But Sri Lanka remained defiant, with government ministers dismissing Mr. Cameron’s warning as “nothing new” and accusing him of interfering with Sri Lanka’s sovereignty.

See reports by AFP, AP and Sky News.

Speaking in Colombo at the controversial Commonwealth leaders’ summit (see video here), Mr. Cameron said:

"Let me be very clear, if an investigation is not completed by March, then I will use our position on the UN Human Rights Council to work with the UN Human Rights Commission and call for a full, credible and independent international inquiry."
"The Sri Lankan government needs to go further and faster on human rights and reconciliation."

"I accept it takes time but I think the important thing is to get on the right track.
"I sense that they do want to make progress on these issues and it will help having international pressure to help make that matter."

"This issue [war crimes] is not going to go away, it's an issue of international concern."

However, Sri Lanka reacted defiantly to Mr. Cameron's comments. 
Economic development minister Basil Rajapaksa, who is also the President Mahinda Rajapaksa's brother, said: "Why should we have an internal inquiry?"

"We will object to it ... Definitely we are not going to allow it," he said.
Nimal Siripala de Silva, a senior government minister, said: “We will resist an international inquiry. That is the policy of the government.”

He dismissed the threat of UN pressure as “nothing new,” after several years of outcry from international human rights groups, the UN and Western governments, including the United States.

“Britain cannot do this alone. We are confident that we go before the UNHCR and make our case that it has done enough,” he said.

Mr. Cameron also spoke of how he had "frank" exchanges Friday with Sri Lankan President Mahinda Rajapaksa after he returned from a historic visit to the war-torn Jaffna region.

Asked by reporters about the 45-minute meeting, Cameron said "very strong views were expressed on both sides", adding "Of course not everything I said was accepted."

Britain’s Channel 4 News said it learnt that the encounter was “pretty lively” and, referring to the 45 seconds worth of television footage released to media, Foreign Affairs Correspondent Jonathan Miller said “there is a strong sense from the pictures of the meeting having been brusque, curt and frosty.”

A source who was present at the bilateral told Channel 4 the British prime minister had “repeatedly and robustly” raised war crimes allegations, human rights and freedom of the press.

According to a statement from Rajapaksa's office, the president asked Cameron to give Sri Lanka "more time to overcome all major challenges", AFP said.

On Friday, Mr. Cameron upstaged the first day of the three-day CHOGM summit by travelling to the Jaffna, soon after the conference opened.

The first foreign leader to visit Jaffna since 1948, Mr. Cameron received an emotional reception from people who were desperate to tell him of their plight during the war and in its aftermath. See our post on his visit here.

According to AFP, while Sri Lanka had hoped the summit of the 53 member state-bloc would showcase its revival since the mainly Sinhalese army crushed the Tamil Tigers in 2009, Mr. Cameron's visit and boycotts by the leaders of Canada, India and Mauritius have torpedoed Colombo’s strategy.

International showdown brews over calls for full inquiry into Sri Lankan civil war atrocities

By Associated Press, Updated: Saturday, November 16, 10:19 AM

COLOMBO, Sri Lanka — Sri Lanka remained defiant Saturday against calls for an independent inquiry into alleged atrocities committed during its civil war, while Britain’s leader pledged to press the issue with the United Nations if no progress is made by March, setting the stage for an international showdown.

International Showdown Brews Over Calls for Full Inquiry Into Sri Lankan Civil War Atrocities by nelvely

Rajapaksa’s MP Attended CHOGM Press Conference As A Journalist

November 16, 2013 |

Sri Lanka’s ruling party national list MP A H M Azwar attended the CHOGM official days briefing press conference as a journalist and attacked channel 4 and foreign media today. Though he introduced himself as a citizen of Sri Lanka many journalist questioned how a government MP participated and asked questions while sitting with journalists. Commonwealth Spokesman Richard Uku asked him to speak in a civilized manner.

MaRa just a day before appointment as CHOGM chairman chews its sacred covenants and spits out

(Lanka-e-News-15.Nov.2013,11.30PM) Medamulana MaRa just a day prior to being appointed the chairman of the commonwealth heads of countries summit has brazenly and blatantly torn the commonwealth covenants into shreds –an injunction order had been obtained after making a request to the Colombo chief Magistrate Gihan Pilapitiya banning public protests and processions in Colombo from 14 th (yesterday) to 17 th on account of the Commonwealth summit .

A copy of this injunction order being taken out in the name of former UNP M.P Dodamgoda attorney at law addressed to him is a matter for doubt ,for when such an injunction order is obtained against a political party it is usual for that order to be addressed to the secretary of that party, or at least to a current M.P. of that party .

The Aluthkade chief magistrate had stated that it is based on a report of the OIC of the Cinnamon gardens police , that the court order was given. The order reads thus :

From yesterday (14 th) until the 17th , holding protests or processions , organizing them or becoming its members is prohibited within Colombo city limits specially at Lipton circus, Nelum Pokuna roundabout and its environs , Nanda motors junction , independence square and its roundabout , Baudhaloka mawatha , BMICH and its vicinity is a punishable offence under the penal code.

Though this is the deplorable anti democratic order of Aluthkade Pilapitiya who goes to the kade ( doing sordid biddings of Rajapakses) to buy beedi for the Medamulana MaRa, the Commonwealth covenants signed by MaRa state as follows adhering to Democratic tenets :

• The people’s birthright to democracy and to enter the democratic processes boosting their social values through fair and free elections shall be recognized 

• We shall commit ourselves to safeguarding human rights, international covenants relating to human rights , other human rights agreements and international legal documentation. 

• Freedom of expression. 

• Separation of powers – we shall acknowledge the importance of honestly and duly maintaining the separation of the legislative , executive and the judicial powers..

• Supremacy of the law – This is an indispensable security to the commonwealth member states , and every government under it shall abide by the laws and be responsible to the people.

• Good governance

• Ensuring the right of the people to education , health , food and shelter .

• Acceptance of the equality of the male and female races .

• Acceptance of the tasks and functions of the civil societies.

In view of the foregoing , it is evident that Medamulana MaRa who is the chairman of the commonwealth summit has not only violated the Commonwealth covenants in the past , but even during the summit he is flagrantly and outrageously transgressing them based on the recent injunction order taken from court. 

Even during the period of the UN Organization assembly when protests and demonstrations were staged in the vicinity of the UN headquarters and in the New York city , no attempts were made to halt them. During that period a number of people on a number of occasions staging demonstrations were seen at that time in front of the UN Organization office.

May we recall , when the human rights conference was held in Geneva , MaRa too with his cronies and lackeys went to Geneva to stage protests wasting billions of rupees. It is to be noted that injunction orders were not issued in those countries against the protestors.

In Sri Lanka however , as long as Pilapitiya who are ready even to strip nude in public for MaRa’s sake are there ready to cling on to MaRa’s shawl to be taken to the kade (boutique) to buy beedi for MaRa , laws of the country going to the dogs is inevitable and inexorable in an era of the curse of the shawl.