Sri Lanka clergy blame police for rising hate attacks

January 28, 2014

Colombo — Sri Lanka's Buddhist hierarchy and other religious leaders accused police Tuesday of failing to prosecute those behind a recent wave of attacks on Christians and Muslims.

A multi-religious group led by Buddhist monks said the country had failed to grasp the threat posed by hate speech and attacks because local media reports had not been "impartial or factual".

"There is at present a public perception that such attacks are taking place due to failure of law enforcement authorities to take necessary action," said the Forum for Inter-Faith Dialogue (FIFD).

"If unchecked, these alarming trends would cause immeasurable damage and drawback to the country."

FIFD, which is backed by the highest levels of Buddhist, Hindu, Christian and Muslim clergy and is an initiative of former president Chandrika Kumaratunga, said it was asking for full implementation of the law.

The call came after a string of attacks against churches and mosques, some of them led by young Buddhist monks.

Videos shared on YouTube have shown Buddhist monks throwing stones and smashing a Christian prayer centre in southern Sri Lanka earlier this month while police looked on.

Monks were also caught on video camera last year smashing Muslim-owned businesses just outside the capital.

Mobs led by Buddhist monks had also attacked mosques and forced the closure of at least one Islamic prayer centre in the capital in August, fuelling international concern for religious freedom in the majority Buddhist nation.

The country is emerging from nearly four decades of ethnic war which according to UN estimates claimed at least 100,000 lives between 1972 and 2009.

The United States in March last year initiated a UN Human Rights Council resolution against Sri Lanka over alleged war crimes against Tamil Tiger rebels in May 2009. It also urged Colombo to ensure religious freedom.

Seventy percent of Sri Lanka's 20 million people are Buddhists, while Muslims are the second-largest religious group making up just under 10 percent.

President Mahinda Rajapakse, who is also a Buddhist, warned monks in January last year not to incite religious violence.

However, police broke up a protest denouncing religious extremism last year, sparking opposition allegations that the government was tacitly supporting the violence.

Sri Lanka – SE Asia’s Leprosy capital  

By Ruwan Laknath Jayakody- January 29, 2014 
 

Sri Lanka – SE Asia’s Leprosy capital
Sri Lanka, with an annual reportage of 2000 cases of Leprosy (7%) has recorded the highest number of persons who suffer from the disease in the South-East Asian region, the Director of the Anti-Leprosy Campaign, Dr. M.L.S. Nilanthi Fernando, told Ceylon Today.

In 2013, of the 177 cases of children below the age of 15 detected as being afflicted with the disease, 134 were reported as having some form of deformity at the time of diagnosis, she said.
Official statistics reveal that in the last 24 years, there has been an increase of 2,000 new patients per year; however, in 2013, there were as many as 2,032 patients who were diagnosed as being afflicted with the disease.

"In the South-East Asian region, as of 2011, the average deformity rate was 0.39% per population of 100,000. The Sri Lankan percentage for the same year (2011) was reported as being 0.7%. The Western Province remains the highest endemic area, posting 44%, with the Colombo District recording 438 patients while there are 11, high endemic districts in the island," Dr. Fernando added. Declining living standards and over-population are the chief factors for the rising trend, she said.

The leprosy bacillus affects the skin and the nerves. When the skin gets affected, patients develop patches; when the nerves get affected, the person has loss of sensation, thickening of nerves and the paralysis of hands, feet and eyes. These symptoms are considered as deformities. Commenting further, Dr. Fernando, said: “The aim is to reduce the percentage to 0.3%. As many as 20% of the patients do not complete the treatment as they do not take the prescribed course of medication or attend clinics regularly so that the progress of the treatment can be monitored. We have 70 dermatologists, islandwide, including regional epidemiologists, public health inspectors (PHI) attending on leprosy patients, and medical officers of health (MOH) who conduct activities to control the increase in the number of persons being afflicted, by paying home visits, conducting mobile skin clinics, carrying out contact examinations in high endemic areas and in schools, along with public awareness-raising campaigns to educate the masses about the signs and symptoms of leprosy.”

Explosion at Wariyapola Hospital 

By Premalal Wijeratne- January 29, 2014

The Police Scientific Research Unit is conducting investigations into an incident where an explosion had taken place inside Ward number 1 at Wariyapola Hospital yesterday.

Police said someone had thrown an explosive device into the ward, through a half-opened door around 3 a.m.

Police further said, no patient was injured in the incident and added the police suspect that the explosion is much similar to the explosion of a fire cracker.

Police also suspect that the explosive device had been thrown aiming a patient, who was being treated there. 

Cricket Needs Comprehensive Governance Reforms Not A Concentration Of Power: Transparency International

January 29, 2014

Transparency International (TI) chapters from nine cricket-playing countries, including Australia, India and United Kingdom, express serious concern at proposed reform of the International Cricket Council (ICC)  and call on the ICC to publish a formal response to the Woolf Report and meanwhile halt any other significant governance reforms.

In the coming week, the ICC will be discussing proposals to reform the governance of world cricket.  These proposals substantially depart from the principles of good governance and democratic participation, and appear not to address the risks of corruption within the game of cricket.

For instance: many member countries are effectively dis-enfranchised; there remains a worrying lack of transparency in many areas; there is no clarity on how the ICC aims to assess and mitigate corruption risk at an administrative level; there is no provision for independent Board representation; and the intention to entrench a privileged position for “The Big Three” appears to be an abuse of entrusted power for private gain, giving them disproportionate, unaccountable and unchallengeable authority on a wide variety of constitutional, personnel, integrity, ethics, development and nomination matters.

As recently as 2011, the ICC itself commissioned Lord Woolf to submit a report on the governance of world cricket.  The report was delivered in 2012.  It suggested a series of reforms to make cricket’s governance more transparent and better equipped to oversee a global sport. Since then, there has been no formal response from the ICC to the Woolf recommendations.  The current proposals bear little or no relation to the principles outlined in the Woolf report, which in itself only represented standard corporate governance practice in many parts of the world.  The proposals are notable for ignoring other wider indicators of good governance such as accountability, transparency, participation, consensus, equity and inclusiveness.

Transparency International (TI), the global anti-corruption organisation, made an initial submission to Lord Woolf and thereafter published its own report on cricket’s governance challenges in 2013, entitled Fair Play. TI expressed concern that the risk of corruption in cricket is rising, and that little seems to be done to address those risks.  The exception to this is in the area of match-fixing and spot-fixing.  Yet cricket’s governance problems and corruption risks go far beyond the on-field players, and include officials, administrators and sponsors. The current reform proposal makes no mention of how these salient issues will be addressed to ensure the future growth of the sport.                                    Read More    

Who is a sex worker?

Image courtesy Global Press Journal

• by Shilpa Samaratunge 
• - on 01/29/2014 

Who is a sex worker? Is she an attractive woman with loose morals who is too lazy to find any ‘real’ work? Is she a young desperate mother of two who has no choice? How many sex workers are there? And who are they?

Who is a sex worker by nelvely

The worst job in world politics?

Wednesday 29 Jan 2014
Chalerm Jan Daeng, a 59-year old farmer, died after the government’s rice scheme failed to pay him for three successive harvests.

On first reading, it sounded like a gutsy decision. After months of political turmoil, Thailand‘s embattled prime minister, Yingluck Shinawatra, has decided to proceed with a disputed national election this Sunday.

The Worst Job in World Politics by nelvely

The 2014 State of the Union Address (Enhanced Ver

sion)

Published on Jan 28, 2014

President Obama delivers the 2014 State of the Union address to Congress and the nation. January 28, 2014.

Sri Lanka’s Northern Council seeks international war crimes probe

MEERA SRINIVASAN-COLOMBO, January 27, 2014

Sri Lanka’s Northern Provincial Council (NPC) passed a resolution on Monday calling for an international probe into the war crimes allegedly committed during the country’s ethnic conflict.

The resolution was proposed by NPC member M.K. Shivajilingam of the Tamil National Alliance (TNA), which formed the NPC administration after winning the 2013 provincial elections.

The resolution comes less than two months before United Nations Human Rights Commissioner Navi Pillay is due to submit a written report to the Human Rights Council in Geneva on the progress made by Sri Lanka in fixing accountability for alleged war crimes.

The Northern Council has sought an international inquiry into the Sri Lankan government’s acts of “ethnic cleansing,” Mr. Shivajilingam told The Hindu. He proposed a second resolution calling for rejecting Sri Lanka’s own inquiry mechanisms.

The 38-member Council, of which 30 belong to the TNA, passed all three resolutions but not before several rounds of debate on whether the term “genocide” should be used.

Sources said Chief Minister C.V. Wigneswaran, widely regarded as a moderate voice within the TNA, insisted that the term be avoided.

Another resolution called for building a monument at Mullivaikkal, in Mullaitivu, in memory of civilians killed in the final military assault on the LTTE in May 2009.

Until late Monday, the Sri Lankan government did not respond to the resolutions.

Muslim Shoora Council To Deal With Rising Hate Campaign

By Latheef Farook -January 28, 2014

Latheef Farook

For the first time most Muslim religious, social and cultural organizations and individuals buried their differences and formed a National Shoora Council NSC, on 25 January 2014 to deal with to deal with burning issues faced by the community.

The NSC, consultative council, which has been under discussions for more than a year also elected in its inaugural session last Saturday a permanent general assembly and an executive committee.

Tariq Mahmud, son of late Muslim leader Al Haj Dr Badiuddin Mahmud, who functioned as interim working committee chairman, was unanimously elected as permanent chairman of NSC.

Response to NSC from Muslims of all walks of life and from all corners of the island has been spontaneous as it comes into being at a time when the community is passing through, perhaps, the most difficult time since the Portuguese persecution of Muslims in the 16^th and first half of 17^th centuries.

During the past few years the island’s Muslim community has been subjected to numerous political, religious, economic, social and other problems threatening their very existence as citizens of this country.

Muslims, who suffered immensely due to the war between the armed forces and the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Elam, the LTTE, expected some relief in the aftermath of the defeat of the LTTE in May 2009.

However their hopes were dashed. Instead of relief and rehabilitation they came under attacks from organizations unheard of during the three decades of war, claiming to be Buddhist but in total violation of Buddhist teachings. A small number of ethno religious fascists began unleashing a fierce anti-Muslim campaign aimed at pitting the mainstream Sinhalese against peaceful Muslim community.

According to the local media last year alone there were around 250 incidents of hate all over the island striking at the very root of the fundamental rights of the island’s Muslim community.  Such dastardly crimes were unheard of even during the ethnic carnage.

What is shocking is the failure on the part of the government to bring to book these lawless elements. In fact some of these crimes were committed under the watchful eyes of the police. This shows that these lawless racist elements have official blessings.                                             Read More      

Sri Lanka mass grave toll reaches 50

Tuesday, January 28, 2014

Skeletal remains of at least 50 people have been dug out from a mass grave discovered in northeastern Sri Lanka, amid speculation that the remains were of Tamil civilians who had disappeared during the war with the LTTE. 

Police spokesman and Senior Superintendent Ajith Rohana said further digging will be continued with the deployment of a team from the crime investigation department to assist in investigations. 

Three more skulls were found today, Rohana said. With this, the total skeletal remains discovered stand at 50. 

A team of forensic experts led by Judicial Medical Officer Dhananjaya Waidyaratne earlier stated that bodies had been buried in several layers at the site. 

The state water entity's workers had stumbled upon the grave as they dug the ground to lay water supply connections late December last year in Thirukatheeswaram area in Mannar district. 

The main Tamil party TNA-controlled Northern Provincial Council yesterday adopted a resolution to call for UN assistance at forensic excavations at the site. 

The Tamil groups believe that the remains were those of the Tamil civilians who had disappeared during the three-decade conflict. 

The resolution was moved by Tamil National Alliance's woman councillor Ananthy Saseetharan, whose husband Elilan was an LTTE political wing leader and is among those believed to have disappeared during the final battle in 2009. 

This was the first discovery of a mass grave in the former conflict zone since the war ended. Digging of the site took place in the presence of magisterial and judicial medical officials after the discovery of the first four skeletal remains on December 21. 

The police in an initial reaction said the area of the site had been under LTTE control for well over 15 years. 

Since the end of the war, Sri Lanka has been facing international accusations of rights abuses. Sri Lanka denies that its troops committed any war crimes whilst combating the LTTE. It has resisted calls to probe claims that over 40,000 ethnic minority Tamils were killed by the military during the final phase of the civil war that ended in 2009. 

The UN Human Rights Council has passed two rights resolutions against Sri Lanka and a third one is expected in March.

Federalism: A Mechanism For Citizens To Be Close Partners In Sri Lanka

By Ayathuray Rajasingam -January 28, 2014 

Ayathuray Rajasingam

History has shown that there have been disputes culminating in wars and people have witnessed that the world is full of cruelty and injustice on account of the greed for power and wealth. The continuing wars on various pretext claimed untold numbers of human lives and destruction of properties. The main issue is what have the war achieved other than shattering the lives of peace loving citizens who wanted to be close partners in their countries.

The wars between countries in Europe eventually compelled Nations to realize the outcome of crimes against humanity. Having realized the disrespect shown to human rights that has ended up with the destruction of several lives, especially the weak, the League of Nations and the United Nations demonstrated the need for protection of weak States and the need for various races to live peacefully with the majority community. With the passage of time, it is history that centuries old rivals such as Germany and France have become close partners in regional organizations known as the European Union. Similarly, all races have become close partners in the Canadian society as well as in other Federal countries. The growth of democracy in Europe was a gradual transformation of process which eventually laid the foundation for Federalism as a means of bringing various communities together in an atmosphere of friendship and brotherhood.

Unfortunately in some Asian developing countries, politicians have utilized the concept of democracy for their own benefit to rule as a dictator, resulted in the collapse of various institutions. Even religion was politicized. Since most of the military officers lacked the legal educational qualifications, civil officers find it very difficult to work when military officers fail to grasp the constitutional issues because of the egoistic attitude of the military officers as well as of the ruling politicians. In Sri Lanka the search for solutions to the problems faced by the Tamils rests on establishing a Federal State where the minority Tamils could enjoy equal rights in par with the Sinhalese and share each other’s values. Federalism has the force of getting rid of egoism on account of the co-ordination of the shared powers between the Federal and Provincial governments. The key element is to establish trust and confidence among all parties. Political leaders who have studied law should have known the difference between Federalism and Separation. Unfortunately the political leaders are always concerned in deviating the attention of the people and mislead them by playing the tune that they will not allow the country to be divided by external forces, (when, in fact, no one is interested in such division), without answering the difference between Federalism and Separation. Thus the ethnic issue becomes an unfinished symphony because of the attitude of the ruling political leaders who are an obstacle for the Tamils and Sinhalese to be close partners in a united Sri Lanka.

Read More

Sri Lanka scrambles against UN resolution

27 January 2014

Sri Lanka’s Presidential Secretary Lalith Weeratunga held over 90 meetings in the past week in Geneva, reported the Daily Mirror, as he led attempts to try and thwart a resolution at the upcoming United Nations Human Rights Council Session in March.

Weeratunga, who will be leading the Sri Lankan delegation this March, reportedly met with at least 90 permanent country representatives based in Geneva, before flying off to Washington to meet with the US State Department.

His visit comes after reports that the US will lead calls for an international independent investigation into violations of international humanitarian law this March. Earlier this year, the US Ambassador at large for War Crimes, Stephen J. Rapp, visited the North-East of Sri Lanka where he toured massacre sites and outlined calls for investigations andprosecutions.

Weeratunga meanwhile dismissed those calls in an interview with Reuters, stating if an investigation were to happen "there would be huge chaos in the country”.

He also voiced against any action against the Sri Lankan Army, who the US had confirmedhad killed hundreds of families, adding,

“armed forces that liberated the country from terrorism would again be put to a judicial test. That is really going to reduce the morale of the army. These are things that need to be considered very carefully,"

Hinting at the role of India in committing human rights violations during the decades long conflict, Weeratunga went on to add,

"If there is an international investigation, the whole period has to be investigated - from the 1980s onward - which includes the two-year tenure of the Indian peacekeeping force, which will upset India, which will upset our relationship with India."

Namal-Sajin-Lalith Lead Pre-Geneva Onslaught For Sri Lanka; Pays Rs 15.7 Million Per Month To Lobbying Firms

January 28, 2014

Presidential Secretary Lalith Weeratunge, Monitoring MP of the External Affairs Ministry Sajin Vaas Gunewardane, and most recently Hambantota District MP Namal Rajapaksa are leading Sri Lanka’s diplomatic onslaught ahead of the UN Human Rights Council sessions in Geneva this March.

Namal Rajapaksa, eldest son of President Mahinda Rajapaksa, Member of Parliament, and heir apparent

Rajapaksa has joined Gunewardane and Weeratunge in the US where the trio will commence a massive campaign of lobbying to soften Washington’s stance towards Colombo ahead of the Council sessions. It is unclear what Namal Rajapaksa’s contribution to this effort would be, given the gravity of the situation and the gargantuan task at hand to change opinion about Sri Lanka’s commitment to addressing major human rights concerns and promote reconciliation.

Tough times are ahead for Sri Lanka in Geneva, with the Government being forced to go into overdrive to combat the international pressure very early on.

The Sunday Times notes that the Presidential Secretary (and now his entourage) must fly out to Washington to plead Sri Lanka’s case despite the fact that a fully fledged embassy with 100 percent political appointees and two public relations outfits, one retained by the Embassy and another by the Central Bank are unable to make an impact on America’s attitude towards Sri Lanka.

In its political column this week, the Sunday Times revealed that the Rajapaksa Adminsitration spends 15.7 million rupees per month to bankroll two major lobbying firms hired to improve Sri Lanka’s image in the US. “It has reportedly been arranged for the Central Bank by the US public relations and lobbying firm Thompson Advisory Group LLC (TAG). The Central Bank pays this company US $ 66,000 (or more than Rs 8.5 million) every month for three different tasks. As reported earlier, they are to create (1) “a political climate” in the US “more than conducive to enhancing Sri Lanka’s long-term political and economic aspirations,” (2) to create a platform where US decision makers “receive clear and accurate information of Sri Lanka’s current achievements and future plans, and (3) “a higher volume of private sector investment in Sri Lanka,” the Sunday Times said.

The Sri Lankan Embassy in Washington has also separately hired a US lobbying firm, called the Majority Group to lobby the US Government to change its attitude towards Sri Lanka. The Majority Group charges Sri Lanka Rs. 6.5 million for this task, but there have been no results so far.

BTF and APPG-T to hold Conference on State Grabs of Tamil Land in Sri Lanka

Tuesday, 28 January 2014 

British Tamils Forum (BTF) and the All Party Parliamentary Group for Tamils (APPG-T) will hold an international conference in London on the escalating land grabs crisis in Sri Lanka, on Friday 31 January and Saturday 1 February.

The conference will bring together academics, NGOs, activists and politicians from around the world, including several international experts on land rights, collective rights and structural violence. In this way, we hope to improve ties between research, politicians, activists and the media to efficiently tackle this urgent threat to the Tamil people. Discussions will be held on how to raise awareness over state grabs of Tamil land, and strategies will be formulated to prevent future land grabs and reclaim lands that have already been lost.

Further information on speakers and the venue will be published shortly.

ECJ fixes hearing date for EU ban case on LTTE

[TamilNet, Tuesday, 28 January 2014, 14:21 GMT]
Luxembourg-based European Court of Justice (ECJ) is scheduled to hear the case “Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE) vs Council of the European Union” (Case T-208/11-9) on 26 February 2014, legal sources in Europe said. The case was filed in 2011 by Victor Koppe, the Amsterdam-based Bohler advocaten attorney and the ECJ determined that he could legally represent the Europe-based political wing of the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE). 

The demand for annulment of the inclusion of LTTE in the EU's terrorism list is partly to stop the prosecution of Tamils in The Netherlands, Germany, France, Switzerland, Italy, and other member countries, Mr Koppe has told earlier. 

Pleas in law and main arguments:

In the present case the applicant seeks the partial annulment of Council Implementing Regulation (EU) No 83/2011 in so far as the name of the applicant is maintained on the list of natural and legal persons, entities and bodies whose funds and economic resources are frozen in accordance with this provision.

In support of the action, the applicant relies on six pleas in law:

1. First plea in law, alleging that the Council Implementing Regulation (EU) No 83/2011 is void in as far as it concerns the applicant and/or the Council Regulation (EC) No 2580/2001 is inapplicable due to a failure to take regard of the law of armed conflict.
   
2. Second plea in law, alleging that the Council Implementing Regulation (EU) No 83/2011 is void in as far as it concerns the applicant since the applicant cannot be qualified as a terrorist organisation as defined in Article 1(3) of Council Common Position 2001/931/CFSP. In this regard the applicant submits that its activities do not amount to offences under international humanitarian law and national criminal law, which does not apply to situations of armed conflict.
   
3. Third plea in law, alleging that the Council Implementing Regulation (EU) No 83/2011 is void in as far as it concerns the applicant because no decision by a competent authority, as required by Article 1(4) of Council Common Position 2001/931/CFSP, has been taken.
   
4. Fourth plea in law, alleging that the Council Implementing Regulation (EU) No 83/2011 is void in as far as it concerns the applicant since the Council did not conduct any review as required by Article 1(6) of Council Common Position 2001/931/CFSP. The applicant contends that, as it no longer uses military means to achieve its goals and is no longer directly active in Sri Lanka, such a review would have led to the conclusion that it must be removed from the list.
   
5. Fifth plea in law, alleging that the Council Implementing Regulation (EU) No 83/2011 is void in as far as it concerns the applicant as it does not comply with the obli gation to state reasons in violation of Article 296 TFUE.
   
6. Sixth plea in law, alleging that the Council Implementing Regulation (EU) No 83/2011 is void in as far as it concerns the applicant because it infringes upon the applicant’s right of defence, the applicant’s right to effective judicial protection.

The ECJ has given judgments in the fields of equal treatment and social rights, fundamental rights and freedom of movement of persons.

The EU Court of Justice also settles legal disputes between EU governments and EU institutions. Individuals, companies or organisations can bring cases before the Court if they feel their rights have been infringed by an EU institution.

Will Work With UNHRC And Pillay Towards International Inquiry On Sri Lanka: UK

January 28, 2014

Britain will assess Sri Lanka’s compliance with its international obligations and implementation of recommendations contained in the 2013 resolution co-sponsored by the UK when the UN Human Rights Council meets in March this year, the country’s Foreign and Commonwealth Office said.

British Prime Minister David Cameron

“At the UN Human Rights Council in March 2014, as assessment will be made of Sri Lankan progress to date. The UK will not hesitate to play an active role if progress in not forthcoming,” the FCO said in a letter addressed to Rajasingham Jayadevan, a British national and former abductee of the LTTE.

Jayadevan wrote to British Prime Minister David Cameron following the Premier’s recent visit to Colombo. In response the FCO has asserted its official position on Sri Lanka.

“The Prime Minister, Foreign Secretary and Mr Swaire attended CHOGM in Sri Lanka due to the importance the UK attaches to the Commonwealth. In attending CHOGM, we also took advantage of a key opportunity to deliver a clear message to the Sri Lankan government: that we expect them to make progress on human rights, accountability, reconciliation and political settlement,” the letter said.

The letter said it was now important that there is a credible, transparent and independent inquiry into the events at the end of the Sri Lankan military conflict. “We share concerns of UN High Commissioner for Human Rights that there have been no credible efforts to independently investigate the allegations to date. If credible investigations have not begun properly by March 2014, we will use our position on the United Nations Human Rights Council to work with the UN Human Rights Commissioner and call for an independent inquiry,” the letter said

US to Press Sri Lanka Again at UN Rights Council

By MATTHEW PENNINGTON Associated Press-

WASHINGTON January 28, 2014 

The United States said Monday it will sponsor a resolution at the U.N. Human Rights Council that Sri Lanka is worried could call for an international investigation into allegations of war crimes during the island nation's civil conflict.

Hoping to head off that threat, a top aide to Sri Lanka's powerful president is in Washington this week, trying to persuade the Obama administration and lawmakers that Sri Lanka is on a path toward national reconciliation, nearly five years after crushing a quarter-century rebellion by ethnic Tamil fighters.

While Sri Lanka has enjoyed relative peace since then, it hasn't satisfied concerns, principally from Western nations, over the fate of tens thousands of Tamil civilians in the dying months of the war in 2009, when government forces were closing in on Tamil Tiger rebels cornered on a sliver of land in the island's northeast.

A U.N. report previously said as many as 40,000 Tamil civilians died, mostly in government attacks, but Sri Lanka denies such a high toll and has repeatedly denied it deliberately targeted civilians.

In November, British Prime Minister David Cameron said he would call for a U.N.-backed investigation into allegations of war crimes unless there was progress on postwar reconciliation by March, when the U.N. Human Rights Council holds a bi-annual session. During the past two years, the council passed resolutions calling on Sri Lanka to conduct its own investigations into war crimes allegations against both government troops and the Tigers.

The U.S. State Department said Monday it would be sponsoring a resolution on Sri Lanka this March, but wouldn't say whether it would call for an international investigation. But officials said that the fact the U.S. is pushing a third resolution in as many years reflects concern over a lack of progress in addressing outstanding issues of accountability and reconciliation, as well as over land seizures, religiously motivated attacks and unsolved cases of attacks on journalists.

Earlier this month, the U.S. Embassy in Colombo prompted Sri Lankan anger when it posted a photograph on Twitter of U.S. Ambassador for Global Criminal Justice Stephen Rapp visiting a site in the country's north where it said hundreds of families were killed by army shelling in 2009.

Human Rights Watch has previously reported that a makeshift hospital in that area came under repeated fire.

But Lalith Weeratunga, secretary to Sri Lanka's president and his point man on government's own reconciliation efforts, said there was no record that hundreds of people were killed there.

"You can't just pass judgment like that," he told The Associated Press. He denied any such targeting of civilians by the Sri Lankan armed forces, or even the use of heavy weapons in the final months of the war, although he acknowledged there could have been "collateral damage" during the fighting when the Tamil Tigers were using civilians as human shields.

Weeratunga, speaking ahead of a meeting with the top U.S. diplomat for South Asia, Nisha Biswal, likened the threat of an international inquiry into war crimes to a sword of Damocles hanging by a thread over Sri Lanka — a reference to mythical story from ancient Greece. He argued the government has only had 18 months to implement the recommendations of its own reconciliation commission. He warned that if that process was mishandled, it could trigger renewed conflict.

Foreign mire and people’s ire, will there be voter fire

By Our Political Editor-Sunday, January 26, 2014

Thud and blunder on Geneva issues, Weeratunga takes charge of Govt. counterattack while External Affairs Ministry fiddles Wigneswaran launches strongest attack on President, UNP to move no-confidence motion against ruling alliance Major Opposition parties refuse to support Rajapaksa regime in its battle at the UNHRC sessions

Rejection of informal Government overtures to Opposition political parties to forge a common front has forced the ruling UPFA into a panic driven dual track diplomatic initiative to counter the issues before the March sessions of the UN Human Rights Council in Geneva.

Foreign mire and people’s ire, will there be voter fire by nelvely