Lasantha Murdered By MR-GR Group – Former Army Chief Fonseka

January 9, 2014

Former Army Chief General Sarath Fonseka today claimed that the Sunday Leader editor Lasantha Wickrematunge‘s murder was carried out by a gang operating with the blessings of President Mahinda Rajapaksa and his brother Secretary to the Ministry of Defence Gotabaya Rajapaksa.

He denied the allegation that he was involved in the murder. Speaking to the BBC the former General claimed that this same group was involved in attacks on other journalists and killing Tamil MP Nadarajah Raviraj.

Fonseka made these fresh allegations against the ruling siblings when responding to the comment made by Lasantha’s brother Lal Wickremetunga that the President had told him on at least three occasions that it was Fonseka who had carried out the murder.

Related posts;

Exclusive: Leaked Emails From Attoney Hemantha Warnakulasuriya PC To Sonali Implies Rajapaksa Regime Plans To Fix Fonseka For Lasantha Murder

“Fonseka Killed Lasantha” President Told Lal Three Times: Uvindu Tells Navi Pillay

Five years on  

By Dilrukshi Handunnetti=January 8, 2014

Five years is a long time, when one waits for justice. But all of us have waited – family, friends, colleagues, citizens, readers, the rights groups and many others. It had been one painful wait, more so, because within the deep recesses of our hearts, we are aware of the identities of the wrongdoers.

There are of course, many others who have had to wait for justice much longer than we have and one might even argue that it is 'normal' to experience the kind of violence we had to deal with, in a country that was devoured by war for nearly three decades. But, for those individuals, families and communities affected by such murders and violence, those who yearn for normalcy and closure, each day is painful and a denial of justice.

As we mark five years since Lasantha's murder, this country's failure to deliver justice and the absence of simple respect we owe to each other (we clearly cannot tolerate dissent), takes a tragic tone. The irony is, in a country where many are lured by lucre and enjoy being politically installed in a profession that demands integrity and public purpose, the fate that befell Lasantha is a stark reminder that he, a journalist who wielded his pen in public interest and promoted the protection of others' rights, continues to be wronged.
Lasantha was killed in cold blood on a day like this, exactly five years ago, on his way to work. None of us are able to erase the painful memories associated with a day when we watched our editor die, right before our very eyes, taking away with it – the backbone of this country's defiant and spirited journalism. It changed our lives and scattered his carefully nurtured team, like ashes.

January used to have a comforting cold, but just like the changes in climate, it is no longer about the nippy weather. Just as much as this country's law and order situation and the administration of justice have failed the citizenry – for us, January is about our collective grief. Since 2009, the Sri Lankan nation celebrates different things. The war victory achieved in May 2009 is the biggest and the most celebrated. Hidden in that celebration of victory is also the celebration of deaths, for one to become a victor, there also needs to be a vanquished. While the war was brought to an end, we have forgotten that both the victors and the vanquished are Sri Lankans. Lasantha would be what some refer to as 'collateral damage,' in a certain way.

Come January, the media fraternity has their own event – Black January – and it clearly marks the many murders, abductions and disappearances – as January 2009 is remembered for another war as well – one against the media. Some of the finest were vanquished. The attack on the MBC installations, the murder of The Sunday Leader Founder Editor, Lasantha Wickrematunge and the disappearance of cartoonist Prageeth Ekneligoda are among the most prominent incidents, but there are many others who are forgotten in the mêlée.

So, do we mark the death anniversary of Lasantha who lived fully, loved his work, his family and friends, laughed the loudest and got high on good stories? How could a man who loved his craft and his people, clearly on a defiant dissident manner, with no wish for an early death, die at the hands of a paid assassin? It cannot be then a death anniversary, but a murder anniversary. When Lasantha was killed, the strongest critic of the regime was silenced. The message was clear to all. On 8 January 2009, space for dissent was brutally snuffed, demanding one order, the convergence of opinion. As cold death enveloped Lasantha, others were condemned to a living death.

Yet, Lasantha always wished for a thousand flowers to bloom. He carefully nurtured a handful of journalists, who largely live here and work here, to proudly wield their pens and practice public spirited journalism. Amidst the defining silence, some of them still continue, doing what little they can, amidst repression. That remains Lasantha's greatest legacy.
Five years on, Lasantha continues to live on, within those he nurtured.

Remembering Lasantha Five Years On

January 9, 2014

The now famous larger-than-life portrait of a smiling Lasantha Wickrematunge presided over his fifth death anniversary memorial, held at his gravesite at Borella, Kanatte Cemetery this morning.

Loyal Sunday Leader staff members from days gone by who have moved on in life, and a few still clinging on to the legacy of the newspaper though their leader is gone, formed the majority of the crowd.

Lasantha’s elder brother Lal and his two daughters, and brother Anil and wife visiting from Europe, were among immediate family members present. Candles were lit, silent prayers and wishes were uttered for the soul taken too soon and too violently.

UNP stalwarts Ranil Wickremasinghe, Karu  Jayasena and Ravi Karunanayake were in attendance  lending silent solidarity for a man they no-doubt had a love-hate relationship with over the years.

After prayers and hymns Lal Wickrematunge  spoke to the gathering, reiterating that five years later his brother’s murderers have still not been apprehended and brought to justice. Five years later, the family still has no closure.

Reminiscing about Lasantha the boy, his childhood school friend Peter D’Almeida recalled how mischievous he was; a small-made prankster who grew up to be a giant among journalists, taking investigative journalism to unprecedented heights in this country.

Journalist Amantha Perera who worked under Lasantha for ten years at the Sunday Leader spoke of the magnanimity of the man, who allowed his reporters to take chances, follow their journalistic aspirations, be the best they could be. While many more of today’s journalists can probably testify to Lasantha’s brilliance as a mentor, and his generosity  and humanity as an employer, Perera admitted that he owed his success and professional standing today, to this man alone. He named Lasantha as one of his real life heroes.

The memorial was a simple, heartfelt event, devoid of pretentiousness. Those who attended did so because they wanted to be there.

*Report and the pictures by Ajita Kadirgamar 

WAR CRIMES ALLEGATIONS ARE “UNFAIR”...

January 9, 2014  

A group called the National Organization Forum staged a protest outside the US Embassy in Colombo today (January 9). The group rejected all war crimes allegations against the Sri Lankan armed forces and displayed banners claiming that Lankan soldiers only died to protect civilians. A lane on Galle Road, was closed in Kollupitiya due to the protest. (Pics by Sanjeewa Lasantha)

PM ready to apologize? 

By Aisha Nazim- January 9, 2014 2:03

Prime Minister, D.M. Jayaratne, promised to issue a public apology to the Maha Sangha for referring to them as cheewaradhari, at a public meeting in Gampola recently.

As the Minister of Buddha Sasana and Religious Affairs, Jayaratne issued a letter to convey this message, in an attempt to appease the monks from the Sihala Ravaya organization who had staged a protest outside his office on Flower Road, yesterday.

The monks demanded that the Prime Minister step down from office over his alleged involvement in the recent heroin scandal, and also demanded an apology from him for using a derogatory term on the monks, while addressing a meeting in Gampola, recently.
Following a long wait, although the PM's Office finally issued a letter, it did not accommodate the demands made by the Sihala Ravaya, as it was neither signed by the PM nor contained the required humble apology.

It was instead written by Premier Jayaratne's Media Secretary, Jayasundara Udukumbara, who had stated that the Prime Minister had not intended to insult or offend any member of the Maha Sangha by his use of the word cheewaradhari.

If the monks had found the use of the word offensive, the PM would be willing to conduct discussions with them, the letter further stated. Turning down the letter, the President of the Sihala Ravaya, Ven. Akmeemana Dayaratna Thera, threatened to engage in a continuous fast and to launch a series of hartals for as long as it takes, until the Prime Minister apologizes.

Following a day-long protest outside his office, which resulted in road closures and heavy traffic congestion along Flower
Road as well as the adjoining roads, the Prime Minister finally conceded to the monks' demands and issued yet another epistle promising to make the required apology.

Thereafter, giving the Prime Minister a time-frame of two days within which the apology should be made, the protestors finally dispersed late in the afternoon.

POLICEMAN ARRESTED FOR ACCEPTING BRIBE

January 9, 2014

A police inspector attached to the Fort Police station was arrested today by the Bribery Commission for allegedly accepting a bribe of Rs. 75,000. He was arrested while accepting a part of the bribe and is scheduled to be produced before the Fort Magistrate Court.

The police inspector is charged with taking a bribe from an individual who was arrested on charges of indecent conduct at the Fort Railway Station. The accused has allegedly taken a bribe of Rs. 12,000 at the point of arrest from the man and had taken his National Identity Card and had demanded another Rs. 63,000 from him.

Take Israel to the ICC, Abbas or GET OUT of the WAY

Samuel Dowell for Salem-News.com-Jan-08-2014

Abbas does not speak for Palestine. He cannot sign or agree to any “agreement” for the Palestinians. If he agrees to a U.S. Framework Agreement that gives away Palestinian rights, he is a Traitor.

(WASHINGTON, DC) - It is time for Palestine to Sign the Rome Statute and take Israel to the International Criminal Court. If it is necessary to be a member state at the U.N. in order to sign the Rome Statute, the UNGA will approve that.

These bogus “Peace Talks” are only used by Israel for propaganda purposes and used to further the occupation. The people must demand that the “Peace Talks” end.

Abbas needs to stop standing in the way and allow Palestine to proceed:  http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/worldnews/middleeast/palestinianauthority/10539025/Palestinian-Authority-threatens-Israel-with-The-Hague-over-settlement-building.html

The Palestinian Authority MUST be informed that if they do not take Israel to the International Criminal Court that they will be removed.

Abbas does not speak for Palestine. He cannot sign or agree to any “agreement” for the Palestinians. If he agrees to a U.S. Framework Agreement that gives away Palestinian rights, he is a Traitor.

In May 2012, Abbas told a pro-Israel J-Street delegation that he was afraid that one of the prisoners on a hunger strike might die.

He said, “I am afraid, God forbid, that the security system here will collapse.”

He added: “I told the Israelis: ‘Please, please, please. They have some demands. If you do not respond to them and somebody today or tomorrow dies, it will be very, very disastrous for us.”

“If they help me to get weapons, I’m helping them because I’m promoting security,” Mr. Abbas said of the Israelis. http://www.nytimes.com/2012/05/13/world/middleeast/palestinians-and-israelis-in-talks-to-end-hunger-strike.html?_r=0

Mr. Abbas needs to know that if he signs any deal giving Palestinian rights away, his people will eventually put him in prison.

The world must put an end to the Criminal Zionist Occupation. Zionist-controlled Washington's influence is over.

Cambodia: Trade union leader and human rights defender Mr Rong Chhun issued with court summons

Rong Chhun issued court summons

2014/1/9

Human rights defender Mr Rong Chhun is due to appear before court on 14 January 2014. He was summonsed on grounds of allegedly inciting garment factory workers to demonstrate for a wage increase.

Rong Chhun is president of the Cambodian Confederation of Unions and of the Cambodian Independent Teachers Association (CITA), in addition to being a labour rights advocate. CITA strives for improvements in teachers' working conditions and lobbies the Cambodian government to recognize teachers’ rights.

Since 26 December 2013, clothing factory workers in Phnom Penh have been striking and demonstrating in demand of a bigger wage increase (to 160 USD per month) than that currently proposed by the government (100 USD per month). On 3 January 2014, the security forces violently dispersed the demonstrations.

On 31 December 2013, during its annual congress, CITA decided to hold a nationwide demonstration beginning on 6 January 2014 demanding a monthly wage of 250 USD for schoolteachers. The organisation notified the government of their intent the same day. On 1 January 2014, the Ministry of the Interior threatened to revoke CITA's license if it went ahead with the planned demonstrations; the reason cited was Rong Chhun's involvement in the garment workers protests. Subsequently, CITA was forced to cancel the demonstration.

This latest summons is not the first Rong Chhun has received in relation to participation in demonstrations. Front Line Defenders issued an urgent appeal on 5 September 2012 on similar judicial harassment.

Front Line Defenders is concerned that the summons received by Rong Chhun as well as the threats to revoke the license of the CITA are directly related to their peaceful and legitimate activities in the defence of human rights, in particular labour rights, as well as to the exercise of the legitimate right to peaceful assembly, and sees this as an attempt to put an end to these activities. The summons also comes in the context of the above-mentioned nationwide strikes by garment workers and a heavy-handed reaction by security forces. Front Line Defenders published an urgent appeal on 8 January 2013 concerning the detention of three human rights defenders during this crackdown.

- See more at: http://www.frontlinedefenders.org/node/24615#sthash.TvW9rkBi.dpuf

Chris on BBC Breakfast & Mission Discovery Launch Delays

It’s all systems go this week at ISSET…..Posted on January 6, 2014

Mission Discovery students, together with Chris, were at BBC Breakfast to talk about the teams’ experiments being launched to the International Space Station this week! We’re really thankful to the BBC for inviting us onto the breakfast programme, but we feel that it is really newsworthy. NEVER BEFORE have UK school students had their ideas actually transported into space and carried out on the ISS.

(l-r): Deanna and Siobhan on the famous BBC Breakfast Sofa!

We’d also like to add that this wouldn’t have been possible without the help and support of Kings College London, their far sighted widening participation programme, and the excellent work of Dr Julie Keeble. We think it’s brilliant that a world top 20 university takes such a big interest in reaching out into areas and communities that are not normally associated with higher educational achievement, and that they do it in such an approachable and supportive manner.

The BBC interviewed Deanna Middleton (from Team Supernova, who’s experiment intends on testing antibiotics in space) and Siobhan Gnanakulendran (from team Daffodils, who’s experiment is going to examine slime mould’s reaction to zero gravity) as they’re among the first UK school students EVER to have their experiments performed on the International Space Station! Have a look below at the interview and see how the two students came across in such a brilliant manner. Scientists who viewed the interview have told us that they mistakenly thought the two school students were research students.

Siobhan and Deanna in the BBC Breakfast Green Room!

Mission Discovery launch into space couldn’t have come at a better time. Chancellor George Osborne stated that he wants to see to see three times as many space-related jobs in Britain in the next 20 years. The students’ experiments are part of only the 4th capsule to be launched to the ISS under the new space programme, and what will hopefully herald a bright new dawn for the US space industry.

The Newsround team saw Siobhan, Deanna and Chris on BBC Breakfast and immediately sent a crew around to interview them! Make sure that you tune in to the CBBC Channel at 16:20. Although the girls were really nervous they worked hard to prepare for the broadcast and all of the comments we’ve received have been really flattering. David Hughes, educational author and consultant, immediately wrote in to tell us what great ambassadors they were for the programme and the UK space industry. Here’s the clip of Chris and the team in action on BBC Breakfast:

Here at ISSET we know this is a ground-breaking event for UK education, but it’s nice to see that the national media agrees with us!

We’d also like to take this opportunity to address the delays the Orb-1 launch of the Mission Discovery Experiments has encountered. Unfortunately, launch delays are a common occurrence in the world of space travel. Given the sheer amount of investment behind the projects, it is of little wonder that the people in charge are a little wary to get them off the ground! For example, leading rocket company Space X’s Falcon 9 launch recently got postponed just 4 minutes before lift-off due to “unexpected readings with the first stage liquid oxygen system”. Unfortunately, similar problems have interfered with the launch of our Mission Discovery experiments! This time the mission has been delayed due to cold temperatures, but has been rescheduled for sometime this week! When it does, the ITV News at 10 will be on hand with a live stream of the launch along with interviews with the Mission Discovery crew!

Mission Discovery students on Newsround!

Mission Discovery students appear on Newsround!

Sri Lanka: Bishop calls for international investigation into war crimes

Bishop Rayappu Joseph

Tuesday, January 7, 2014

The Bishop of Mannar, Mgr Rayappu Joseph has called for an international investigation to ascertain the truth about alleged war crimes. He said: "Given that most of the Tamils in the north and east of the country no longer have confidence in an internal process. This will contribute to reconciliation".

Bishop Rayappu Joseph, pointed out that many priests, lawyers, journalists and activists who have tried to cooperate with the institutions on the topic of "war crimes" have been threatened and intimidated. "On many occasions, the police and the Commission for Human Rights have even refused to accept complaints", he said.

"Thousands of cases of human rights violations, sexual abuse, murder, disappearances, extrajudicial killings remain unpunished". 

ecause of this position taken - while the Sri Lankan government categorically rejects the idea of an international investigation - the Bishop has been labelled in some circles as "a political activist", but Mgr Rayappu replies: "There are too many controversial issues in Sri Lanka: people who disappear, others arrested and illegally detained, tortured or killed in prison. I hug, talk and deal with the aspirations of the faithful who live in my diocese and, more generally , throughout Sri Lanka. For me it is a human, spiritual and religious mission".

He said: "The people of the North and East still live in fear. The women live in fear of being raped. Others live in fear that the military will seize their lands. Many who are in prison live in fear of being tortured. The common people fear the high level of military presence. And all those who criticize the government, including representatives of many churches, live in fear and insecurity".

The Bishop asks: "What need is there to maintain such a high number of armed forces in the North and East of the island? Why can’t one completely restore the civil administration in those areas, such as in the rest of the country?".

Mgr. Rayppu denounces "the colonization sponsored by the state in the Tamil areas", to create an electoral imbalance and progressively eliminate the language, the culture and customs of a people.According to the Bishop, "In Sri Lanka we have a lot to learn from South Africa. There, the majority was dominated by the minority; in Sri Lanka there is a majority that dominates a minority. In Sri Lanka, the government, which is accused of war crimes and massive violations of human rights, is still in power, and is reluctant to committing itself in genuine dialogue".

Sinhala Military Zone in Jaffna gets ‘archway’

[TamilNet, Tuesday, 07 January 2014, 16:29 GMT]
The occupying Sri Lankan military, which has seized public and private lands in Valikaamam North and bulldozed the buildings, is constructing an arch on Palaali Road, which will be the future entrance to the Sinhala Military Zone (SMZ) and its township. The SL military has almost completed the process of bulldozing the buildings inside the SMZ without leaving any trace. In the meantime, the economic assistance from India and other powers, which are locked in the geopolitical game, goes to ‘develop’ ports, corporate outfits, electricity farm and the airstrip of the township of the Sinhala Military Zone in the country of Eezham Tamils.

Sinhala Military Zone in Jaffna gets ‘archway’ by nelvely

Wigneswaran warns of unrest due to current distortion of history

07 January 2014
The Chief Minister of the Northern Province, CV Wigneswaran , today called for the practice of distorting the island's history to be stopped, warning that unrest would ensue if distorted history continued to be taught to children in schools.

Speaking at the inauguration of a children’s village in Jaffna, Wigneswaran stressed that ‘platform speakers from the majority Sinhala-Buddhist community were spreading the theory that Sri Lanka was a Sinhalese-Buddhist country’ where other communities lived as per dictates of the Sinhala-Buddhist majority. 

He further added that these Sinhalese platform speakers were upholding the idea that Sri Lanka was “one nation with one people”, thereby denying the existence of other communities.

Reiterating the need for such speakers to be reminded that Tamils had always been the majority in the North-East, Wigneswaran outlined that the island’s history needed to be re-written by a committee of foreign and island based experts to establish an unbiased and truthful version of history, which traced back to the earliest recorded times.

New US resolution on Lanka

By admin on January 8, 2014

The United States (US) will be submitting a new resolution on Sri Lanka at the UN Human Rights Council (UNHRC) in Geneva in March, a US official has said.

Tamil National Alliance (TNA) Parliamentarian M.A. Sumanthiran said that the visiting US Ambassador-at-Large at the Office of Global Criminal Justice, Stephen J. Rapp had mentioned this when he met a TNA delegation in Colombo.

Sumanthiran told the BBC Tamil service that the resolution will push for an independent international investigation into war crimes in Sri Lanka.

'போர்க்குற்ற விசாரணை தீர்மானத்தை அமெரிக்கா கொண்டுவரும்'-சுமந்திரன்

கடைசியாக பிரசுரிக்கப்பட்டது: 8 ஜனவரி, 2014

மீடியா பிளேயர்

'போர்க்குற்ற விசாரணை தீர்மானத்தை அமெரிக்கா கொண்டுவரும்'-சுமந்திரன் - BBC Tamil - ஒலி/ஒளி

WWW.BBC.CO.UK

இலங்கையில் நடந்ததாகக் கூறப்படும் போர்க்குற்றங்கள் குறித்த சர்வதேச விசாரணை ஒன்றைக்கோரும் தீர்மானம் ஒன்றை, ஐநா மன்ற மனித உரிமைக் கவுன்சிலில் அமெரிக்கா கொண்டுவரும் என்கிறார் தமிழ் தேசியக் கூட்டமைப்பின் நாடாளுமன்ற உ

மாற்று மீடியா வடிவில் இயக்க

இலங்கையில் நடந்ததாகக் கூறப்படும் போர்க்குற்றங்கள் குறித்த சர்வதேச விசாரணை ஒன்றைக்கோரும் தீர்மானம் ஒன்றை, ஐநா மன்ற மனித உரிமைக் கவுன்சிலில் அமெரிக்கா கொண்டுவரும் என்கிறார் தமிழ் தேசியக் கூட்டமைப்பின் நாடாளுமன்ற உறுப்பினர் சுமந்திரன்

The Year 1988: Jayewardene Quits

By Rajan Hoole -January 8, 2014 

Rajan Hoole

The Year 1988: The Red Moon Over Sri Lanka And The Dawn Of New Wisdom – Part 3

If Jayewardene did believe as he told Rajiv Gandhi that Premadasa and Athulathmudali were in some way conniving at the JVP’s depredations, he would have wondered at the UNP targets chosen by the JVP. On 23rd December 1987, the UNP General Secretary Harsha Abhayawardene was shot dead. On 7th February 1988, the Panadura MP Mervyn J. Cooray narrowly escaped an assassination attempt with injuries. On 1st May, Nandalal Fernando, Abhayawardene’s successor as party secretary, was shot dead. About the same time, Galle District Minister G.V.S. de Silva was shot dead. On 26th September 1988 Kuliyapitiya MP and Minister of Relief and Rehabilitation, Mr. Lionel Jayatilleke, was shot dead. On 21st October a lawyer and Working Committee member Tudor Keerthinanda was shot dead. Nearly all of them were close to Jayewardene and the last two especially were said to be prominent advocates of Jayewardene going for a third term as president.

These murders no doubt weakened Jayewardene’s position within the UNP. It would of course be futile to look for direct links between these killings and a group within the UNP. Once there was a channel of communication, which identified common interests, it was enough for the JVP to know the trends within the UNP to make up its hit list. We have testimony that Jayewardene explored some drastic measures.

According to Dixit (p.271), Jayewardene during July-August 1988 toyed with some drastic emergency measures for which he anticipated opposition from Premadasa and Athulathmudali and said that he may need Indian troops to maintain order also in the South. Dixit deemed it imprudent as it was bound to affect the IPKF’s credibility as well as Jayewardene’s own.

The other option that would have crossed his mind either separately or along with the former was to form a national government in partnership with the SLFP. This was only hinted at in the press – i.e. reference by Qadri Ismail in the Sunday Times of 28th August 1988 that UNP opinion was against elections if the SLFP was linked to the JVP. He added, “The logic runs all the way to a UNP-SLFP coalition.”

The JVP was demanding that Jayewardene should step down, the parliament dissolved and that elections should be conducted by a caretaker government headed by a supreme court judge. Coming from a killer force which acknowledged no ethical constraint, it was a recipe for anarchy in which the JVP stood a good chance of capturing power. Athulathmudali had shown himself over-anxious to make a deal with the JVP by, in May, falling for a hoax by a law student, who had claimed to be a JVP link man. In August, he expressed a readiness to go into the JVP’s demands. Premadasa did not give himself away. He kept making statements such as, ‘Those who make mistakes must be brought back to the fold’.                        
 Read More

To be continued..

*From Rajan Hoole‘s “Sri Lanka: Arrogance of Power  - Myth, Decadence and Murder”. Thanks to Rajan for giving us permission to republish. To read earlier parts click here

Stephen Rapp dodges question on international investigations

[TamilNet, Wednesday, 08 January 2014, 11:57 GMT]
The visiting US Ambassador for Global Criminal Justice Stephen Rapp, who met Tamil civil society representatives in Jaffna on Wednesday, was dodging proper response on calling for international investigations at the forthcoming Human Rights Council session to be held in Geneva in March. The top US diplomat was seen advocating a slightly stronger version of resolution than the one in last year at the forthcoming UN Human Rights Council sessions in Geneva. He was citing impracticality, as some permanent members at the UN Security Council would save the Sri Lankan State. The civil representatives in Jaffna urged him to at least propose a political solution in the next resolution that is being drafted by the USA. 

In the meantime, Uthayan Daily published in Jaffna flashed a news item citing the national list parliamentarian of the Tamil National Alliance (TNA) Mr MA Sumanthiran that Mr Rapp had assured the TNA on the USA calling for international investigations in the resolution to be placed at the UN Human Rights Council this March. Mr Rapp met Maavai Senathirajah and MA Sumanthiran Tuesday night for two hours. 

The civil society representatives in Jaffna questioned the veracity of the claim by Mr MA Sumanthiran in the report filed by Uthayan as Rapp was clearly advocating for something else than what was reported in Uthayan. 

Since a very strong resolution would find it difficult to win the support from member states, especially from the permanent members of the security council, it was only advisable to think along the lines of a slightly stronger resolution than the previous one, Mr Rapp told the civil society in Jaffna. 

Responding, the civil society representatives urged the visiting US diplomat to propose a framework on a political solution in the resolution. 

The Sri Lankan State was earlier buying time and space to complete the structural genocide on the nation of Eezham Tamils, the members of the civil society told the visiting US official. 

Commenting to TamilNet, the civil society members said that the SL State was only accelerating its genocidal grip on the nation of Eezham Tamils after every visit by foreign officials who seem to be preoccupied with geopolitical bargains than delivering justice to the nation victimized by genocide and being victimized on the ground. 

A record of the last one-year would show the extent of structural genocide committed on Eezham Tamils, irreversibly annihilating their nation and territoriality, using the time given by the UNHRC. The genocidal partners are just waiting for further progress in the structural genocide so that soon they could wash their hands off, citing new ground realities, as they now cite excuses. The visits of the officials and politicians of the USA, UK and New Delhi foretelling furtherance of genocide is invariably the past experience of Eezham Tamils, commented Tamil activists for alternative politics in the island, calling for exploring creative ways in forcing the culprits to come to senses. 

Mr Rapp was scheduled to meet with the chief minister of the Northern Provincial Council and the Bishop of Jaffna after his meeting with the civil society representatives.

A Conversation With A Chameleon On Murder

By Basil Fernando –January 8, 2014 

Basil Fernando

Now, I want to talk with you about another matter on which I cannot find any human being interested to talk to. It is about a peculiarity of us human beings which I think your species has no experience of which is the capacity, as well as some kind of willingness, to kill. Killing one’s own species is one aspect of human uniqueness. I know that in your species you also sometimes, quarrel. I have seen that in my early days of youth, how some of you have a small quarrel,on a  branch of a tree or sometimes continuing to quarrel from tree to tree.  However, that kind of fight is often to expel another from one’s territory, and it does not go beyond to the extent of killing another.

There have been times when human beings tried to create abhorrence, a moral disgust, against killing and such a killing would lead to a moral outrage. But what I have observed in the recent times is that this  sense of moral outrage against killing, seems to have been subdued or virtually lost – has simply disappered. It may well be that people privately are against the killing of one person by another but, these days, they do not try to publicly demonstrate that disapproval. There is some kind of incapacity that has developed among human beings to express disapproval even of such things as murder. Instead, what seems to have developed is an increase in taking precautions, to try to avoid becoming the victim of a killing, a victim of some evil thing that everyone knows is quite widespread now. We human beings have become the sort of creatures whose success in survival seems to depend on the extent of precautions that we take for our survival. The precaution does not take the form, as perhaps it did at one time, of being armed or being prepared to defend oneself from being  attacked by another. So, each person intimidates the other and thereby prevents the other from attacking.

Nowadays, what happens is that people withdraw from society as much as possible, so that they do not become the target of a killing. People find that disassociation from other human beings brings greater protection than association and cooperation. People fear each other so much that  the idea of cooperation is less and less relied upon. Perhaps associated with this is the idea that the distrust of others is a better attitude to have than trust.

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