Monday, February 3, 2014

Fruitful Discussion on Land Grabs Conference

Monday, 03 February 2014

The main session of the International Conference on State Grabs of Tamil Land in the Island of Sri Lanka successfully took place yesterday, 1 February 2014, at the Kennedy Lecture Theatre, University College, London. It was jointly organised by British Tamils Forum and the All Party Parliamentary Group for Tamils.

The session brought together Tamil politicians, international researchers and activists to discuss and debate the escalating land grabs crisis. The discussion centred on three main topics:

Avenues for research into the land grabs crisis in Sri Lanka and comparable situations around the world;
Media and legal strategies for countering the land grabs;
Strategies for using advocacy and mass mobilisation to counter the land grabs.
Participants at the conference included:

Distinguished researchers on ethnocracies and land rights violations: Prof Oren Yiftachel (Ben Gurion University), Dr Shapan Adnan (National University of Singapore), Dr David Rampton (LSE), Prof Dr Jochen Hippler (University of Duisburg-Essen), Prof Jake Lynch (University of Sydney), Ms Anuradha Mittal (Oakland Institute), Mr K Guruparan (University of Jaffna).
Civil society activists and scholars Mr K Kurunathan (retired Land Commissioner), Mr Denis Halliday (ex UN Asst Secretary-General and judge on the Permanent People’s Tribunal).
Tamil National Alliance Parliamentarian Mr Suresh Premachandran and Tamil National People’s Front President Mr Gajendrakumar Ponnambalam.
Deputy Chief Minister of the State of Penang and Malaysian Parliamentarian Prof Ramasamy.
A number of themes recurred throughout the discussion, including:

The importance of understanding the land grabs crisis in the context of the decades-long structural violence inflicted on the Tamil people. Several participants stated Sri Lanka’s land grabs campaign is an essential part of the genocide being conducting against the Tamil people.
The urgent need to document past and ongoing land grabs, to be prepared for any future opportunity to seek international redress or reparations for these crimes.
The need to encourage and sponsor good quality research on both the situation in Sri Lanka and comparative studies with land rights crises in other parts of the world.
The futility of pursuing redress through domestic legal avenues in Sri Lanka; in particular, a number of speakers pointed out that the legal system in Sri Lanka – much as in other ethnocracies – is set up to support and legitimise state seizures of land, rather than provide protection for the victims.
The need to pursue a multi-pronged approach for highlighting the land grabs crisis on the international arena. Professor Jake Lynch gave valuable insights into capturing global attention on this issue and a number of other speakers suggested how activists, the media and Tamil institutions may improve the visibility of this issue.
The opportunities to be gained by forming alliances with organisations working on land rights issues in other parts of the world.
At the end of a long day of fruitful discussion, delegates left the Lecture Theatre enthused at the many opportunities available to the Tamil people to counter Sri Lanka’s structural genocide against their nation.

Further coverage of the event, including images, can be found on BTF’s website:

http://tamilsforum.co.uk/2014/02/live-coverage-of-land-grabs-conference-day-1/

http://tamilsforum.co.uk/2014/02/live-coverage-of-land-grabs-conference-day-2/

HRC debunks US envoy’s allegations as almost all LLRC recommendations implemented

By Ravi Ladduwahetty-February 3, 2014

Human Rights Commissioner, Dr. Prathibha Mahanamahewa, yesterday debunked the statements made by the visiting US Assistant Secretary for South and Central Asia, Nisha Biswal, on human rights issues in Sri Lanka, and added that almost all the recommendations of the Lessons Learnt and Reconciliations (LLRC) had been implemented.

This follows Biswal's comments while addressing a news conference in Colombo on Saturday night, when she said that Human Rights in Sri Lanka had deteriorated rather than the situation improving.

"I cannot agree with the statements that the US Government has made, which is all wrong," he said, and added that, he was speaking in his capacity as the Dean of the Faculty of Law of the Kotalawela Defence University.

Dr. Mahanamahewa said he will comment on the issues in his official capacity, following a meeting of the Human Rights Commission at a future date, when the Commission would deliberate on the comments made by the visiting US envoy.

Rubbishing the comments made by Biswal at the news conference at which she said the human rights record of Sri Lanka had plunged, Dr. Mahanamahewa said that, almost all the key recommendations of the LLRC had been implemented.

For instance, the government has set up a Presidential Commission on Disappearances, another Commission to probe the Loss of Lives and Property due to the war since 1982, both of which were recommendations made by the LLRC.

The government will also present the Right To Information Bill and the Victims and Witnesses Protection Bill in Parliament soon, which are also part of the LLRC recommendations. He said that most of the lands of the Jaffna residents had been handed over to the respective persons, and the government had drastically reduced the military check points in Kilinochchi, from the over 4,000 that had been set up, to less than 40 now.

He said another feather in the cap for human rights was the establishment of a special High Court to hear cases under the Prevention of Terrorism Act as well as to hear cases of child abuse.

Dr. Mahanamahewa also said there was a national Human Rights Action Plan which was initiated in 2011 and which will go on till 2016. "Some of these proposals could not be implemented overnight," he explained.

He went on to say that the US was pushing for a war crimes probe with regard to the last stages of the war, whereas the last stages of the war was a mere humanitarian operation and it was the LTTE which had fired at the fleeing civilians.

He also proposed that if the US and the UN want a war crimes probe, then it would also have to probe the tenure of the Indian Peace Keeping Force (IPKF) in Sri Lanka, during the Premadasa regime as well.

Geneva: Hard line at home, heart cry abroad

Sunday, February 02, 2014

Japan urges US to go soft on Lanka as President snubs US envoy Cabinet rejects Education Minister's proposal for US Pacific Command to renovate schools in North Rajapaksa furious over NPC resolution; JHU says Unconstitutional but TNA defends its stand

Ministers at their weekly meeting on Thursday rejected a proposal for the Government of Sri Lanka to enter into a Memorandum of Understanding with the United States Pacific Command (PACOM) to construct three fully equipped schools in the North.

Geneva Hard Line at Home, Heart Cry Abroad by nelvely

From Canada to Colombo, can’t stereotype my thing yo

I need a cigarette.-

by navarasan

- on 02/03/2014

In another impulsive moment, I had made the irresponsible decision a few months ago to become a social smoker. I do not particularly know what that means but I figure it would be a good way to force myself to have conversations with strangers on this trip. I also romanticize that it would be just the thing that one of my many alter egos, Manohar – Karthik’s character in Mani Ratnam’s “Mouna Ragam” – would do. He dies at the end of that film, I suddenly remember with a grimace.

From Canada to Colombo, can’t stereotype my thing yo by nelvely

Rajapaksa Has Little Interest In Thorough Investigation, Brooks No Criticism: New York Times Editorial

February 3, 2014 |

President Mahinda Rajapaksa has little interest in a thorough investigation and his government’s systematic persecution of journalists and other critics amply demonstrates that he brooks no criticism, the New York Times said in its editorial today (3).

“Nobody should be naïve about the motives or intentions of Mr. Rajapaksa,” the NYT editorial board said.

The highly respected newspaper said that while it would be easy for the world and American officials to give up their demands for accountability given that nearly five years have passed since the end of the war, that would be tragic and would signal to public officials that they might never have to answer for mass murder.

The newspaper’s editors said that it was also true that international pressure has forced Rajapaksa to make some decisions that he would not have made on his own. “For example, in September, the country held regional elections in the Tamil-dominated Northern Province that it had been resisting for years. The new provincial council recently voted to call for an independent war crimes investigation,” the New York Times editorial read.

“It is important that the world stand with those Sri Lankans who have demanded a full accounting of what happened during the war,” it added.

The NYT Editorial Board said it had been a good move by Washington to send US Assistant Secretary of State for South And Central Asian Affairs Nisha Biswal to the island last weekend “to press the case with public officials and community leaders.”

“A United Nations panel reported that as many as 40,000 civilians may have been killed in the last stages of the conflict, many of them by military shelling. But the country’s government has failed to hold officials accountable and has resisted every effort by the international community to do so. President Mahinda Rajapaksa has largely ignored two resolutions adopted by the United Nations Human Rights Council calling for Sri Lanka to investigate war crimes by both security forces and the separatist Tamil Tigers,” the editorial said.

Third Resolution: Failure of governance

By Rukshana Nanayakkara- February 3, 2014

The threat of a third resolution is haunting the government as the United States reiterates its determination to bring yet another resolution on Sri Lanka at the United Nations Human Rights Council (UNHRC) in Geneva this March, that will call for an international investigation into the alleged war crimes. However, the UN resolutions passed so far have not been a victory or a defeat for any party. The anti-Lankan rhetoric from the West continues to cloud the contents of the past resolutions and as well as of any new ones that they intend to present. In the past, Sri Lanka had rejected the resolution for being intrusive, replete with misinterpretation and being unable to capture the progressive steps implemented by the government, post-war.

In the essence of State sovereignty, the argument of the Sri Lankan Government could be well justified. Yet, we continue in our efforts to understand what had prompted these resolutions. Given the impact of the resolution on the minorities in the country, it is they who should speak about the past resolutions and the resolution due to be presented in March.

Military involved in governance

Has the Sri Lankan Government created an enabling environment for the Tamil and Muslim communities in the country to speak freely? The military is still heavily involved in the governance of many aspects of our lives, particularly in the Tamil speaking areas of the country. The services of the military are still coated with gratitude for having won the war. The so-called success is viewed as a qualification to carry out development projects, to run pre-schools, as well as to bring peace and reconciliation in the country. However, the voices of the minorities are of little concern in the process.

Championing the militarization of the country has given an encouraging message to other Sinhala extremists group. The war winning State has placed Sinhala Buddhism at a foremost place in its modus operandi. Now it is taking its toll on the Muslim minorities. It is not uncommon to notice hatred extended towards the Muslims in many fronts, irrespective of where they live. For many of those who use social media, it comes as a shocking, common occurrence. The Sinhala Buddhist Government of Sri Lanka has done almost nothing to prevent the Bodu Bala Sena and Ravana Balaya, lead campaigns against the minorities in the country. Airing ethnic hatred remarks seem to carry no shame for many.

Failed to win confidence

In the context of militarization and promotion of the Sinhala Buddhist nation, Sri Lanka has failed in its duties in providing autonomy and reassuring the safety of our own Tamil and Muslim brothers and sisters in the country. Thus, the voices of the international community and their resolutions continue to be viewed as legitimate. The government has failed in its duties in creating a positive image about the governance of the country. The so-called positive messages on economic development and infrastructure development do not carry anything sustainable so as to bring a lasting, peaceful, governance structure for Sri Lanka.

Once, as I was walking into a bar in Berlin, a young man approached me, and questioned where I was from. As I declared my origins, he replied, "I am from Sri Lanka too. My parents migrated to Germany when I was eight years old." I immediately replied, "Then we are Sri Lankans." However, this remark did not create enthusiasm, as I had expected. After a pause he responded, "But we are Tamils."

I was taken aback by his answer. I hold no testimony to the background of his answer, but he clearly delivered a strong message. We have failed to win the confidence of a part of our Sri Lankan community who live abroad. There was no enabling ground for these young, Diaspora professionals to come back to their heritage that their parents are deeply proud of. Thus, the contents of the past resolutions speak volumes for a peaceful future for this country.

As in the past, the government keeps talking about their actions in giving teeth to the recommendation of the LLRC. However, in practice, very little has been delivered. The past two years witnessed a negative turn in good governance of the country. The situation which had led to the impeachment of the Chief Justice, the inability of the government to enact a right to information law, and the lack of genuine interest of the government to control the uprising of extremism, indicate our failures in governance to bring a lasting peace in the country.

According to the US State Department, the third resolution will build upon the previous resolutions of 2012 and 2013, and will urge Sri Lanka to do more to promote reconciliation, justice and accountability in the wake of the civil conflict. Patriotism has promoted many Sinhalese to blame the US, the UN and the human rights community within and outside the country, to build pressure on Sri Lanka.
But how many of the Sinhalese are ready to analyze what had prompted the international community to pass a resolution, or what the resolutions contain? How many of them ever get into the shoes of the minorities of the country, to know the impact of how the governance of the minorities is structured at present?

USA softer than UK in wooing genocidal Colombo: Boyle

[TamilNet, Monday, 03 February 2014, 10:14 GMT]
"Everyone must redouble their pressure on the Obama administration directly at the White House and the Cameron government directly at No. 10 Downing Street in order to get that international commission of investigation at the UNHCR in March. With elections coming up in India, everyone must redouble their pressure on the Tamil Nadu government to get them to pressure the Indian government to support that international commission of investigation at the UNHRC in March. The one hope we have is that the GOSL continues to be so obstinate, stubborn, pig-headed and genocidal that they will do nothing," said Professor Boyle, an expert in International law and a keen observer of Sri Lanka's genocidal politics said in a comment sent to TamilNet.

USA Softer Than UK in Wooing Genocidal Colombo Boyle by nelvely

US says patience ‘wearing thin’

By Ranga Jayasuriya- February 2, 2014

The United States yesterday warned that its patience is 'wearing thin' with the government in Colombo and that instead of improving, the human rights situation in the country has worsened, and the rule of law weakened in Sri Lanka.

But, visiting US Assistant Secretary of State for South and Central Asia, Nisha Desai Biswal, stopped short of committing Washington to an international war crime investigation.
Biswal told a media conference last night that she conveyed concerns to senior government officials about the insufficient progress in addressing justice, reconciliation and accountability. She said the US was concerned about the worsening human rights situation, including 'continued attacks against religious minorities, weakening rule of law and increase in the levels of corruption and impunity.'

The patience of her government and the international community is wearing thin with the pace of progress, including the implementation of the LLRC recommendations, she said.
She added the 'strong preference' of her government was for a Sri Lankan process to address justice and accountability in the country, but noted that the space that had been granted to Colombo had not aggressively been used.
"There is no sufficient action in justice and accountability," she said.

Asked whether the US would call for an international process, in the third resolution that it was planning to present at the UN Human Rights Council (UNHRC), she said it was too early to comment on the text. She said the US has strongly urged for a Sri Lankan process in the past, but noted that there is a growing frustration and scepticism within the international community with the pace of the local process. She noted that Sri Lanka has witnessed a culture of deterioration of human rights and specially referred to the recent attacks on churches and places of worship.
She, however, ruled out economic sanctions against Colombo and added that Washington was very much committed to seeing progress in Sri Lanka.

She said civil society activists and community leaders who met visiting foreign delegations had been subjected to intimidation, adding that Washington viewed it 'very seriously.'
The visiting US Assistant Secretary, who is on a three-day tour here, earlier met External Affairs, Economic Development, Justice Ministers and Defence Secretary Gotabhaya Rajapaksa. She also met with UNP and TNA leaders and civil society members in Jaffna and Colombo.

What do you get for 25 words these days?

by Luther Boyd
- on 02/03/2014

Photo courtesy Vikalpa’s coverage of launch

In the age of instant communication across social networks and wireless devices, when 140 characters has become an acceptable length of political commentary and critical review, it is unsurprising that ‘Hint Fiction’, a story, poetry or (very short) prose limited to 25 words, has become ‘a thing’.

What Do You Get for 25 Words These Days by nelvely

Mel Murder; Third In A String Of Attacks On Sri Lanka’s Top Business Reporters In The Last Year

February 3, 2014

Sunday’s murder of former editor of the Lanka Business Online and leading economic journalist Mel Gunesekera, is the third in a string of attacks on Sri Lanka’s top business reporters in the last year. In February last year the Sunday Leader journalist, Faraz Shaukatally, was shot by unidentified men and admitted to hospital. In August 2013 there was an attack on the house of the business editor of the Sunday Leader who was married to the Associate Editor of the same paper. The couple subsequently fled the country. Reporting on Sri Lanka’s economy has become an increasingly risky profession as it often unearthsallegations of corruption involving top politicians.

Mel

It’s not yet clear if the murder of Mel Gunasekera has a political angle or is just a robbery that went wrong, but in a country like Sri Lanka where so many critical journalists have been silenced there will always be those who wonder what she wrote that might have displeased the authorities.

According to the police all three attacks were robbery attempts.

Three top business journalists were attacked are;

February 16, 2013 – Sunday Leader JournalistFaraz Shaukatally was shot by an unidentified group. He was admitted to the Kalubowila hospital.

August 24, 2013 – The Sunday Leader business editor Romesh Abeywickrema‘s house ( Husband of the Associate Editor of The Sunday Leader newspaper Mandana Ismail Abeywickrema ) residence was attacked

February 02, 2014 – A leading economic journalist, former Agence France Presse (AFP) and Lanka Business Online editor Mel Gunesekera has been found murdered in her home in Battaramulla, a suburb of Colombo.

Related posts;

Suspect In Mel’s Murder Held For 48 hours; Questions Persist About Journalist’s Killing

February 3, 2014

The suspect in the murder of senior economic reporter Mel Gunasekera, Samson Joseph Anthony was produced before the Kaduwela Magistrate on Monday (3) and remanded into police custody for 48 hours more to permit investigators to interrogate him further.

Mel

Anthony was arrested by police investigative teams from the Mirihana Police in Dompe on Sunday evening.

The former Journalist’s mobile telephone – a blackberry – was also recovered from the suspect’s possession. Police Spokesman SSP Ajith Rohana said that the suspect had been a painter at Gunasekera’s home about a month previously and noted that the entire family attends mass every Sunday morning. However, Gunasekera had been unexpectedly at home last morning and surprised Anthony when he entered the house through a window early Sunday. The victim had been stabbed with a kitchen knife that had been obtained from Gunasekera’s own kitchen, Police said.

Gunasekera was found stabbed to death in her home in Battaramulla in the early hours of Sunday (2) morning, and discovered by her parents and brother after they returned home from church.

She was 40 years old and Assistant Vice President of Fitch Ratings Lanka at the time of her murder. She had previously worked as a correspondent at the AFP’s Colombo Bureau and was also the founding editor of Lanka Business Online. Gunasekera also served on the business desk of the Sunday Times. Read More

Mathata Thitha or End to Alcoholism: Just a slogan devoid of commitment or action?

Monday 03rd February 2014

Kautilya: If you cannot beat Satan, make friends with him
Kautilya, the 4th century BC Indian economist and statesman, did not approve of people taking alcohol. In ‘Chanakya Neethi’ or Ethics of Chanakya, he branded ‘a wine-drinker, equating him to a meat-eater or a fool, as an animal in the form of a human’. That is because by consuming alcohol, they behave like animals without the ability to reason or judge. But he knew the practical difficulty of keeping people away from alcohol, which is an addiction.

Mathata Thitha or End to Alcoholism Just a Slogan Devoid of Commitment or Action by nelvely

Tamil Nadu should be welcomed to give jolt to Indian foreign policy

[TamilNet, Sunday, 02 February 2014, 00:44 GMT]
“The running of foreign policy by federal units is not advocated, but they can and should make benign inputs into its making. Think-tanks specialising in foreign relations and Area Studies Departments in Universities can play a meaningful role in this direction,” writes Chennai-based former South and Southeast Asian Studies Professor V. Suryanarayan, who was also a member of the National Security Advisory Board of India during the Vanni War. Claiming that his “essay is a perspective from Chennai,” Suryanarayan was particularly elucidating and detracting the moves of Tamil Nadu on the cause of Eezham Tamils in his foreign policy discourse that appeared in the website of New Delhi-based Institute of Peace and Conflict Studies (IPCS), on Friday.

V Suryanarayan

“With the formation of coalition governments at the Centre and regional parties playing a national role, the situation has undergone a transformation,” Suryanarayan said comparing the situation of the recent decades with the earlier ones.

Suryanarayan continued:

“The regional parties began to make their inputs towards the making of foreign policy; what is more, the Central government succeeded in softening the chauvinist demands of their regional allies.”

“To illustrate, the inclusion of the Sethusamudram project in the policies and programmes of the Manmohan Singh government was due to persistent efforts of the DMK. Similarly, the DMK government led by Karunanidhi went along with the Centre’s policy on Sri Lanka during the last stages of the Fourth Eelam War.”

“New Delhi understandably permitted Karunanidhi to indulge in political gimmicks to enable him to portray himself as the saviour of the Tamils.”

“What vitiates the atmosphere in Tamil Nadu is competitive one-upmanship between the two Dravidian leaders as to who is the true spokesman and saviour of Tamils.“

“In this competitive game, rhetoric becomes more important than reality. The demand that Mahinda Rajapaksa should be tried by the International Court of Justice for war crimes; India should cut off diplomatic relations with Sri Lanka; opposition to training of Sri Lankan military personnel in defence establishments; attack on Sri Lankan pilgrims and delegates participating in international conferences – can be understood only if the competitive game is kept in mind.”

“With impending parliamentary elections, the mad race between the two Dravidian parties is likely to intensify,” observed Suryanarayan, before concluding that “the running of foreign policy by federal units is not advocated.”

* * *The pundits debating on “Federalism and Foreign Policy: Regional Inputs in India’s Neighbourhood Strategy,” especially related to the issue of Eezham Tamils, should never forget, ignore or hide the fact that they are delving into a situation for which there is no precedence, commented a Tamil activist for alternative politics in Jaffna, responding to Suryanarayan’s discourse.

Further comments from the activist in Jaffna:

For the first time in the history of independent India, it was actively in complicity in the genocide of a nation, in a war in its neighbourhood, and is actively in complicity in the continued genocide of that nation in the form of structural genocide. This nation, i.e., the nation of Eezham Tamils has generic relationship with the nation of Tamils in the State of Tamil Nadu in India.

The crime of complicity in the genocide and in the on-going genocide is more serious than the war crimes committed by the IPKF in the country of Eezham Tamils.

Unless this fact in its proper perspective and its unprecedented nature in the history of Indian foreign policy are acknowledged, any discourse on the dimensions of Tamil Nadu asserting to the edification of New Delhi’s foreign policy is incomplete.

New Delhi has for the first time invited a situation in which a federal unit and its people have to seriously rebel against it in foreign policy and have to think of alternatives.

The situation doesn’t involve India alone. The USA, UK, China and a host of others are there.

If New Delhi fails, Tamil Nadu has a duty in independently and internationally asserting to the geopolitical requirements demanded by the issue.

It is a well known secret that more than federalism interfering into the foreign policy of India, the actual curse is that a particular clan and its bias and paranoia are allowed to dictate the foreign policy of India for long. Are there any pundits in India who are bold enough to debate on this reality?

Besides, there are extra-parliamentary elements, media Ratnas and corporate houses that are more powerful than any State in influencing and interfering into the foreign policy of India.

Think tanks and university departments have become dens of fund-bound dons.

What has happened and is happening in the island deserve a jolt to be delivered at the foreign policy establishment of New Delhi and it should be welcomed if Tamil Nadu delivers it for the benefit of all the peoples of India, for the benefit of the entire humanity and for the evolution of democracy in India.

To what extent foreign policy of India is vested in the hands of even New Delhi is another question the pundits have to debate.

Two weeks ago the New Zealand Leader of the Opposition was hinting at how his country was not independent in foreign policy, even in humanitarian matters.

It is time that concerned peoples all over the world have to take up the matter without caring for their establishments.

The task of Tamil Nadu, demanded by the realities of contemporary history, is twofold: first to follow an independent foreign policy in shaping and mobilising world opinion on the cause of Eezham Tamils, and the other is to work towards conducting an investigation in India itself on the forces that were steadily contributing to a foreign policy that culminated in the genocide and continued genocide of the nation of Eezham Tamils.

Rather than always looking at the political moves of Tamil Nadu with contempt, the ilk of Suryanarayan would do much better in coming out with benign inputs in making Tamil Nadu to rise up to the occasion, to challenge all oppressive forces of humanity operating in the geopolitical region around Tamil Nadu.

Two new appointments to JVP’s politburo

Monday, 03 February 2014

The politburo of the JVP has been increased to seven members from the previous five member council.

The JVP’s new Central Committee has appointed two new members to the politburo after the seventh convention of the party yesterday.

The two new members are JVP MP Sunil Handunnetti and former MP Bimal Ratnayake.

The party’s politburo now consists of Somawansa Amerasinghe, Tilvin Silva, Anura Kumara Dissanayake, Vijitha Herath, K.D. Lalkantha, Handunnetti and Ratnayake.

The JVP yesterday also approved a new set of policies called “Our Vision” to help steer the party towards achieving a Socialist state.