West African healthcare systems reel as Ebola toll hits 932

1 OF 2. A health worker, wearing personal protection gear, offers water to a woman with Ebola virus disease (EVD), at a treatment centre for infected persons in Kenema Government Hospital, in Kenema, Eastern More...

2 OF 2. An outreach worker speaks with residents about the information on the symptoms of Ebola virus disease (EVD) and best practices to help prevent its spread, in Freetown, Sierra Leone in this August, More...

BY DERICK SNYDER AND DANIEL FLYNN-MONROVIA/DAKAR Wed Aug 6, 2014

(Reuters) - Health workers in West Africa appealed on Wednesday for urgent help in controlling the world's worst Ebola outbreak as the death toll climbed to 932 and Liberia shut a major hospital where several staff were infected, including a Spanish priest.

The World Health Organisation (WHO) said it would ask medical ethics experts to explore the emergency use of experimental treatments to tackle the highly contagious disease after a trial drug was given to two U.S. charity workers infected in Liberia.

With West Africa's rudimentary healthcare systems swamped, 45 new deaths from Ebola were reported in the three days to Aug. 4, the WHO said. Liberia and Sierra Leone have deployed troops in the worst-hit areas in their remote border region to try to stem the spread of the virus, for which there is no known cure.

WHO experts began a two-day crisis meeting in Geneva to discuss whether the epidemic constitutes a "Public Health Emergency of International Concern" and to consider steps to help overstretched emergency organizations.

"This outbreak is unprecedented and out of control," said Walter Lorenzi, head of medical charity Medecins Sans Frontieres (MSF) in Sierra Leone. "We have a desperate need for other actors on the ground - not in offices or in meetings - but with their rubber gloves on, in the field."

International alarm at the diffusion of the virus increased when a U.S. citizen died in Nigeria last month after flying there from Liberia. Authorities said on Wednesday that a Nigerian nurse who had treated Patrick Sawyer had also died of Ebola, and five other people were being treated in an isolation ward in Lagos, Africa's largest city.

With doctors on strike, Lagos health commissioner Jide Idris said volunteers were urgently needed to track 70 people who came into contact with Sawyer. Only 27 have so far been traced.

"We have a national emergency, indeed the world is at risk," Nigeria's Health Minister Onyebuchi Chukwu said after a weekly cabinet meeting in Abuja. "Nobody is immune. The experience in Nigeria has alerted the world that it takes just one individual to travel by air to a place to begin an outbreak."

U.S. health regulators on Wednesday authorized an Ebola diagnostic test developed by the Pentagon for use abroad on military personnel, aid workers and emergency responders in laboratories designated to help contain the outbreak.

The test is designed for use on people who have symptoms of Ebola infection, are at risk or may have been exposed to the virus. It can take as long as 21 days for symptoms to appear after infection.

In Saudi Arabia, a man suspected of contracting Ebola during a recent business trip to Sierra Leone also died early on Wednesday in Jeddah, the Health Ministry said. Saudi Arabia has already suspended pilgrimage visas from West African countries, which could prevent those hoping to visit Mecca for the haj in early October.

Liberia, where the death toll is rising fastest, is struggling to cope. Many residents are panicking, in some cases casting out bodies onto the streets of Monrovia to avoid quarantine measures, officials said.

Beneath heavy rain, ambulance sirens wailed through the otherwise quiet streets of Monrovia on Wednesday as residents heeded a government request to stay at home for three days of fasting and prayers.

"Everyone is afraid of Ebola. You cannot tell who has Ebola or not. Ebola is not like a cut mark that you can see and run," said Sarah Wehyee as she stocked up on food at the local market in Paynesville, an eastern suburb of Monrovia.

St. Joseph's Catholic hospital was shut down after the Cameroonian hospital director died from Ebola, authorities said. Six staff subsequently tested positive for the disease, including two nuns and 75-year-old Spanish priest Miguel Pajares, who is due to be repatriated by a special medical aircraft on Wednesday.

TROOPS DEPLOYED IN OPERATION "WHITE SHIELD"

Spain's health ministry denied that one of the nuns, born in Equatorial Guinea but holding Spanish nationality, had tested positive for Ebola. The other nun is Congolese.

"We hope they can evacuate us. It would be marvelous, because we know that, if they take us to Spain, at least we will be in good hands," Pajares told CNN in Spanish this week.

More than 60 healthcare workers have died fighting the virus, a heavy blow in a region where doctors are already in chronically short supply. Two U.S. health workers from the Christian medical charity Samaritan's Purse and missionary group SIM USA caught the virus in Monrovia and are receiving treatment in an Atlanta hospital.

The two saw their conditions improve by varying degrees in Liberia after they received an experimental drug, a representative for the charity said. Three of the world's leading Ebola specialists urged the WHO to offer people in West Africa the chance to take experimental drugs.

A spokesman for the Liberian government said it would be willing to allow in-country clinical trials.

Highly contagious, Ebola kills more than half of the people who contract it. Victims suffer from fever, vomiting, diarrhea and internal and external bleeding.

Many hospitals and clinics have been forced to close across Liberia, often because health workers are afraid of contracting the virus or because of abuse by locals who think the disease is a government conspiracy.

In an effort to control the disease's spread, Liberia has deployed the army to implement controls and isolate severely affected communities, an operation code-named "White Shield".

The information ministry said on Wednesday that soldiers were being deployed to the rural counties of Lofa, Bong, Cape Mount and Bomi to set up checkpoints and implement tracing measures on residents suspected of contact with victims.

Neighboring Sierra Leone said it has implemented new restrictions at the airport and that it was asking passengers to take a temperature test. In the east, soldiers set up roadblocks to limit access to affected areas, MSF's Lorenzi said.

Some major airlines, such as British Airways and Emirates, have halted flights to affected countries, while many expatriates are leaving, officials said. "We've seen international workers leaving the country in numbers," Liberia's Finance Minister Amara Konneh told Reuters.

Randgold Resources, which mines gold in neighboring Mali and Ivory Coast, advised its workers not to travel to the affected countries.

India and Greece advised their citizens on Wednesday against non-essential travel to Guinea, Liberia, Sierra Leone and Nigeria and said they would take extra measures at entry ports.

(Additional reporting by Tom Miles in Geneva, Clair MacDougall in Monrovia, Emma Farge and Daniel Flynn in Dakar, Tim Cocks in Lagos, Felix Onuah in Abuja, and Paul Day in Madrid; Writing by Emma Farge and Daniel Flynn; Editing by Peter Millership, Will Waterman, David Stamp, Sonya Hepinstall, Toni Reinhold)

Sri Lanka groups say government wary of U.N. war crimes probe

Sri Lanka's President Mahinda Rajapaksa addresses the 68th United Nations General Assembly at U.N. headquarters in New York, September 24, 2013.

BY RANGA SIRILAL AND SHIHAR ANEEZ-Wed Aug 6, 2014

COLOMBO (Thomson Reuters Foundation) - Authorities in Sri Lanka are clamping down on the activities of civil society groups, who accuse the government of trying to discourage survivors of the country's civil war from giving evidence to a U.N. war crimes investigation.

Accusations of atrocities have been rife since the end in May 2009 of conflict between ethnic Tamil separatist rebels and government forces that killed more than 100,000 people. Tens of thousands are unaccounted for.

In March, the U.N. Human Rights Council voted to investigate accusations of abuses during the 26-year-long war, saying President Mahinda Rajapaksa had failed to investigate properly.

The vote has angered the government, which says it will not cooperate or grant visas to U.N. investigators.

Without access, the United Nations may have to rely on sources such as human rights groups, diplomats and journalists for crucial information, analysts say.

The defense ministry has banned activist groups and non-governmental organizations from holding news conferences, issuing news releases and holding workshops for journalists. [ID:nL4N0PK2YQ]

Mobs have disrupted or forced the cancellation of a series of meetings and events held by charities in recent months, and analysts say the crowds disrupting such meetings sometimes have government backing.

"These mobs have the approval of the government," said Kusal Perera, a government critic and director of the Centre for Social Democracy. "Stopping the war crimes evidence is the immediate motive."

Government spokesman Keheliya Rambukwella denied the accusations, saying the authorities needed to be vigilant about activities carried out "in the name of democracy".

WARNING

On Monday, a mob of about 50 people broke into a Catholic church in Colombo, the capital, where families who lost touch with relatives during the war were recounting their experiences to diplomats and activists.

Witnesses said the crowd, including Buddhist monks, accused Tamils of plotting against the government by providing information to Westerners in exchange for money.

Representatives of the U.S., British, Switzerland, and German embassies were at the meeting, which was quickly shut down by the police, who said they could not guarantee the safety of participants.

The U.S. embassy issued a statement on Monday urging the government to enforce the rule of law and let citizens exercise their basic human rights, including freedom of speech and freedom of assembly.

Authorities dismissed the fracas as a private dispute, triggered by another group of relatives of the missing who wanted to recount their own stories.

The foreign ministry issued a warning to diplomats on Tuesday, accusing some of favoring the Tamil community over the majority Sinhalese and promoting mistrust between them.

In May, the Sri Lankan unit of Transparency International said the defense ministry had ordered the cancellation of a course on investigative journalism for Tamil reporters. Mob protests forced the cancellation of a second course in June.

"The war crimes probe is one of the government's main concerns," said J.C. Weliamuna, head of the Sri Lankan unit of Transparency International. "Tamils will be readily talking to these journalists, who can expose the war crimes."

(Writing by Nita Bhalla; Editing by Clarence Fernandez)

சப்ரகமுவ பல்கலைக்கழகத்தில் பயின்ற இரு தமிழ் மாணவர்கள் கடத்தப்பட்டுள்ளனர்

[ புதன்கிழமை, 06 ஓகஸ்ட் 2014, 11:40.30 AM GMT ]

சப்ரகமுவ பல்கலைக்கழகத்தில் இரண்டாம் ஆண்டில் பயின்று வந்த யோகராஜா நிரோஷன் மற்றும் அதே ஆண்டில் பயிலும் மற்றுமொரு தமிழ் மாணவன் நேற்று பரீட்சை எழுதிக் கொண்டிருந்தபோது கடத்திச் செல்லப்பட்டுள்ளனர்.

இந்த மாணவர்கள் இருவரும் நேற்று முற்பகல் 11 மணி மற்றும் 12 மணிக்கு இடைப்பட்ட காலத்தில் கடத்தச் செல்லப்பட்டுள்ளதாகவும், இதனை பல்கலைக்கழக நிர்வாகம் அறிந்து வைத்திருந்ததாகவும் அனைத்து பல்கலைக்கழக மாணவர் ஒன்றியம் குற்றம் சுமத்தியுள்ளது.

கடத்தப்பட்ட மாணவர்களின் அடையாள அட்டைகளை பல்கலைக்கழக நிர்வாகம் தனது பொறுப்பில் எடுத்து கொண்டுள்ளது.

இதன் பின்னர் நிர்வாகத்திடம் கேள்விகளை எழுப்பியதை தொடர்ந்தும் மேற்படி இரு மாணவர்களும் சமனல கந்த பொலிஸாரால் கைது செய்யப்பட்டதாக தெரிவிக்கப்பட்டது.

சப்ரகமுவ பல்கலைக்கழகத்தின் மாணவர் ஒன்றியம் கைது செய்யப்பட்ட மாணவர்கள் குறித்து சமனலகந்த பொலிஸார் தகவல் கேட்ட போது அது பற்றி கேட்க வேண்டாம் என பொலிஸார் குறிப்பிட்டுள்ளனர்.

இதனையடுத்து சங்கத்தின் உறுப்பினர்கள் பலாங்கொட பொலிஸ் நிலையத்தில் மாணவர்கள் பற்றி விசாரித்த போது, அவர்கள் பயங்கரவாத விசாரணைப் பிரிவினரால் விசாரணைக்காக தடுத்து வைக்கப்பட்டுள்ளதாக கூறியுள்ளனர்.

மாணவர்கள் கைது செய்யப்பட்ட 24 மணிநேரம் கடந்துள்ள நிலையில், அவர்கள் விடுதலை செய்யப்படவில்லை என்பதுடன் மாணவர்களுக்கோ, பெற்றோருக்கோ அவர்கள் தடுத்து வைக்கப்பட்டுள்ள இடம் பற்றி அறிவிக்கவில்லை என்றும் சப்ரகமுவ பல்கலைக்கழக மாணவர் ஒன்றியத்தின் உறுப்பினர் ஒருவர் தெரிவித்தார்.

சப்ரகமுவ பல்கலைக்கழகத்தில் பயின்று வரும் யாழ். முகமாலை பிரதேசத்தை சேர்ந்த ஒரு தமிழ் மாணவர் அண்மையில் மாணவர் விடுதியில் தங்கியிருந்த போது தாக்கப்பட்டமை குறிப்பிடத்தக்கது.

OHCHR Investigation on Sri Lanka

Terms of Reference

Mandate and reporting obligations

In its resolution A/HRC/25/1 adopted in March 2014 on “Promoting reconciliation, accountability and human rights in Sri Lanka”, the United Nations Human Rights Council requested the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights to “undertake a comprehensive investigation into alleged serious violations and abuses of human rights and related crimes by both parties in Sri Lanka during the period covered by the Lessons Learnt and Reconciliation Commission (LLRC), and to establish the facts and circumstances of such alleged violations and of the crimes perpetrated with a view to avoiding impunity and ensuring accountability, with assistance from relevant experts and special procedures mandate holders”.

The Council requested the High Commissioner to present an oral update at its twenty-seventh session and a comprehensive report on the investigations at its twenty-eighth session.

In accordance with this mandate, the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights established the OHCHR Investigation on Sri Lanka (OISL), based in Geneva.

Timeframe

The period under investigation is that covered by the LLRC, that is, from 21 February 2002 until 15 November 2011, when it presented its report to the President of Sri Lanka. The OISL will also take into consideration any contextual and other relevant information that may fall outside this timeframe which may provide a better understanding of events or which may be pertinent regarding continuing human rights violations.

Legal framework

The mandate of the OISL requires it to undertake investigations into alleged serious violations and abuses of human rights and related crimes by both parties to the conflict. The legal framework that underlies the investigation will comprise of all obligations assumed by Sri Lanka under international human rights treaties and those applicable under customary international law. Although a non-state actor cannot formally become party to human rights treaties, it is now increasingly accepted that non-state groups exercising de facto control over a part of the State’s territory must respect certain human rights obligations of persons in that territory.

During the period covered by the investigations, there existed an internal armed conflict, making necessary the application of international humanitarian law, in particular  provisions of the Geneva Convention relevant to non-international armed conflicts, to measure the conduct in the conflict of both the Government and non-state armed groups. Thus, the legal framework is the same as applied by the Lessons Learnt and Reconciliation Commission. Its mandate also requires the OISL to apply international criminal law to the incidents and events under investigation in determining whether crimes have been perpetrated.

Experts

In June 2013, the High Commissioner appointed three distinguished experts, Mr. Martti Ahtisaari, former President of Finland, Ms. Silvia Cartwright, former High Court judge of New Zealand, and Ms. Asma Jahangir, former President of the Human Rights Commission of Pakistan, to play a supportive and advisory role, as well as independent verification throughout the investigation.

As required by the Council resolution, the OISL will also obtain the assistance of specific special procedures mandate holders including on extrajudicial executions, disappearances, internally displaced persons, arbitrary detentions, violence against women and torture.

Methods of work

In order to establish the facts and circumstances of alleged violations, abuses and crimes by both parties, the OISL will conduct a desk review of existing documents and information, including government and civil society reports, collect and document victims’ testimonies and the accounts of survivors, witnesses and alleged perpetrators, as well as seeking information from other relevant sources such as satellite images, authenticated video and photographic material and official documents.   In analysing the information collected, it will seek to corroborate facts and accounts to meet the agreed standard of proof (see below). 

It will continue to seek to engage with the Government of Sri Lanka, as envisioned in the Council resolution. The High Commissioner will continue to request for the OISL to have access to the country to meet with Government officials and others, as well as to have access to all relevant documentation.

The OISL will seek to develop regular dialogue and cooperation with other United Nations entities, including its specialized agencies, interested institutions and academics and non-governmental and community organizations.

Any state, individual or organisation may submit information in writing to the OISL. Submissions to the OISL may be sent to:oisl_submissions@ohchr.org

In carrying out its work, the OISL will be guided at all times by the principles of independence, impartiality, objectivity, transparency, integrity and “do no harm”.

Witness protection

The OISL will take appropriate steps to address witness and victim protection concerns and shall adopt procedures and methods of work aimed at protecting such persons during all stages of its work.

The Government of Sri Lanka also has an obligation to protect victims and witnesses and others in Sri Lanka who make contact with the OISL, and it will be requested to make an undertaking that no such person shall, as a result of such contact, suffer harassment, threats, acts of intimidation, ill-treatment or reprisals.

Confidentiality of information

The OISL will take all necessary measures and precautions to protect the confidentiality of information, including by not disclosing the names of individuals in its public reports as appropriate. At the end of its work, the OISL will archive all its confidential material in accordance with standard UN procedures for strictly confidential material.

Uva: A high stakes game

 August 7, 2014  

Uva-Wellassa, the ‘land of one hundred thousand paddy fields,’ will go to the polls to elect its provincial representatives for the sixth time about six weeks from now. The border between Sri Lanka’s beautiful central hills region and its dry zone runs through the Uva Province, making the two districts it is home to as different as night and day.

It was long-ordained that the Uva Provincial Council election would be an important forerunner to a much bigger electoral contest scheduled for early 2015.

Uva a High Stakes Game by Thavam

Gender Rights And Tamil Genocide- A Response To Nirmala Rajasingam

By Murali Vallipuranathan -August 6, 2014

Dr. Murali Vallipuranathan

I am writing with reference to an article by Nirmala Rajasingam titled “Tamil Nationalism, Population Control and Gender Rights – A Response to Dr.Vallipuranathan” (1). Earlier I was happy to respond (2) to Dr.Krishna Kalaichelvan though he had different views because it was written in academic language in polite words with real references and scientific facts (3). But this time I am writing with disappointment because the ranting of Nirmala is written in abusive language calling others as “lunatic fringe” and without even a single reference or any scientific merit. I am however, compelled to respond to her article to dispel the misconceptions and twisting of my academic presentation created by her. It is for this reason I will neither respond to all the nuances in her response nor will question her moral right to criticize the polygamy or polyandry. 

1. I have already explained that the media report published in GTN website (4) and other media was prepared by a media personnel who attended to my talk in Jaffna University on 26/06/14 and not by me. My presentation contained slides on the large number of war widows and the marital squeeze caused by the difficulty in finding age appropriate male partners because of the large number of Tamil males who got killed during the war, or gone missing or migrated. Also my slides had reference to history of Tamils particularly to the golden era of Tamils during the period of Cholas 10^th AD where Tamils engaged in polygamy by marrying war widows and had children to recover the population lost in war. Same practice was noted in the writings of poet Avvaiyar who is considered as the first Tamil feminist believed to have lived during the Sangam period between 3rd century BC and 4^th Century AD. I then stated in my presentation that we could not resort to the historical practice of polygamy in the post war period because of the Marriage Registration Ordinance enacted in 1907 (5). It was during the ensued discussion after my talk a Tamil doctoral scholar among the audience emphasized polygamy as a solution to the special situation of post war marital squeeze and that appeared in the media report.  It is therefore clear that the concern and bewilderment of Nirmala over the allegation that I pronounced to legalize polygamy was unwarranted and baseless. If Nirmala is genuinely worried about the reproductive rights of  war widows and other young Tamil women facing the post war marital squeeze she should come out with feasible alternative solutions rather than destructively criticizing others who are trying to find solutions.
2. Read More

In the dark heart of Sri Lanka's anti-Muslim violence
A climate of fear prevails as Buddhist extremism grows

Nafeesathiek Thahira Sahabdeen in her home in Dharga Town, Sri Lanka (Photo by Francis Wade)

Francis Wade, Dharga Town
August 6, 2014

Nafeesathiek Thahira Sahabdeen had been reading from her Quran when she heard a great roar outside, “smashing like a volume of thunderbolts and flames everywhere.” Her bedroom quickly filled with men armed with sticks and iron rods. Many more had swamped the front room of her house, and more waited outside. One man smashed the dressing table in her front room, while others attacked wardrobes and sinks, and threw the Muslim scripture board that hung on her wall to the floor.

In the Dark Heart of Sri Lanka's Anti-Muslim Violence by Thavam

MEA sets a dangerous precedent justifing monks led mob

SLB –06/08/2014  

[ Monks led mob in action; Photo: Melani Manel]

The External Affairs Ministry (MEA) of the Government of Sri Lanka today (05 Aug 2014) issued a statement indirectly justifying the monks led mob which invaded Centre for Society and Religion (CSR) in Colombo and disrupted a meeting of the families of the disappeared.

The statement is full of outright lies, an organiser of the CSR event told Sri Lanka Brief.

The External Affairs Ministry statement  now says that the monks led mob was ”another NGO, “Parents’ Collective of Disappeared Persons”, which had sought access to the meeting, demanding that their grievances be heard too. ”

”This statement justifies the mob behaviour, their illegal entry and chaos they made; The mob did not have any right to forcibly enter to private meeting and if they wanted they should have organised their own event” he further told.

The statement does not say a word on the  illegal entry of the monks led mob in to the CSR and unruly, violent behaviour o f the mob. Instead it says that ” An ensuing argument had led to a tense situation which had subsequently been brought under control by law enforcement authorities.”

It put the blame of disturbances on both sides.

The so-called law enforcement authorities, i.e., police did not control the mob. It was the organisers of the meeting who forced the invaders to retreat, according to the eye witness to the event.

Instead of upholding rule of law in the country and condemning the monks led mob the External Affairs Ministry place the blame for the mob violence in the diplomatic missions. it says ” a certain section of the diplomatic corps appears to be involved in a manner lacking in objectivity, in events organized for a particular region and community. This has led to the emergence of a pattern of such potentially volatile situations giving rise to the perpetuation of mistrust amongst communities at a sensitive juncture in the country’s history. ”

In fact the statement of the MEA  sets a dangerous precedent that any pro government mob will be allowed to disrupt any civil society event in the future, Sri Lankan human rights activist told Sri Lanka Brief.

Read the MEA statement here

Rajitha’s Lone Battle Against BBS

Gotabaya Rajapaksa, Gnanasara Thera, Ravi Karunanayake and Ruwan Wanigasooriya

Wednesday, August 06, 2014

Minister Senaratne was a critique of the Bodu Bala Sena since its inception. The Minister once termed the organization as the armed wing of the ‘Buddha Sasana’. He was never hesitant to dub the organization as a ‘terrorist movement’ which had little or no regard for the core values of Buddhism

Fisheries Minister Rajitha Harischandra Senaratne is a tough politician in every sense of the word. When most of the government members were afraid to raise their voices over the conduct of the Bodu Bala Sena, Minister Senaratne took up the challenge to openly claim that the conduct of the BBS was suggestive of a terrorist group! He also said he was not afraid of any group and he had faced various political opponents throughout his long political career who were much stronger and more powerful than the BBS.
Senaratne’s history speaks volumes for his ‘metal’ and the manner in which he dealt with his political opponents.
Rajitha’s Lone Battle Against BBS by Thavam

What Is Venerable Sobhitha’s Mission? Is Ousting The Rajapaksas Realistic And Doable?

By Vishwamithra1984 -August 6, 2014

“Close elections tend to break toward the challenger because undecided voters – having held out for so long against the incumbent – are by nature looking for change.” ~Ron Fournier

Once again the country or at least the Colombo social circuits are eagerly whispering about the ‘Common Candidate’ syndrome. I may be pardoned for calling this a syndrome as it is quite obvious that those who are intricately involved in the process and those who are waiting in the wings to wear the badge of the ‘Common Candidate’ are truly obsessed with the concept.

But what the reader must be made aware of is that a system that was introduced by the then leader of the United National Party (UNP), J R Jayewardene, as a constitutional mechanism to perpetuate itself in power for all time is now spelling its own decline, resulting in a decline in its voter banks and in its asset bases in manpower, cash and other ingredients which are essential for running a reasonably well-coordinated election campaign. As a result of this swift dwindling of assets, the UNP has reversed itself to play the role of the Sri Lanka Freedom Party (SLFP) of twenty plus years ago. This fundamental shift in status of the UNP has caused it to resort to the same tactics that the SLFP had to adopt then in the eighties and nineties- to assemble other political parties as a single opposing unit to challenge the incumbent and be its leader.           Read More

India, China And Sri Lanka: The Uneasy Triangle

By R Hariharan -August 6, 2014 

Col. (retd) R.Hariharan

China’s President Xi Jinping has accepted a long-standing invitation from President Mahinda Rajapaksa to visit Sri Lanka sometime this year. The first-ever visit by a Chinese President to Sri Lanka will no doubt be hailed alas a crowning achievement for President Rajapaksa’s foreign policy which had been under siege for some time now.

The Chinese President’s Sri Lanka visit will be an emphatic statement of the growing strategic relationship between the two countries since the two countries signed a “Strategic Cooperative Partnership (SCP)” agreement during President Rajapaksa’s visit to China in May 2013.

The SCP covers a whole range issues including bilateral trade, investment, financial assistance and strategic cooperation providing to benefit both the countries.  Sri Lanka’s recent selection of a Chinese firm a strategically important project for setting up a maintenance workshop for Sri Lankan air force in the vicinity of Trincomalee is an example of such cooperation.

But its progress could be cramped by positive turns in China’s uneasy relations with India. India’s newly elected Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s emphasised trade and development in his agenda has whetted the appetite of China. It is probably discovering that its strategic and commercial stakes and expectations from India are much higher than Sri Lanka.

President Xi has been keen to cultivate the Narendra Modi-led BJP government as China is keen to enter India’s huge market for its products and invest in capital-starved infrastructure projects. As a result China’s strategic and commercial stakes and expectations from India now are much higher than from Sri Lanka.  So we can expect President Xi to bear in mind India’s sensitivity to China’s expanding influence in Sri Lanka while planning his visit Colombo.                                         Read More

POST-UVA POLITICAL PIVOT

by Dr. Dayan Jayatilleka 

- on 08/06/2014 

Perhaps the most interesting single thing to watch about the upcoming Uva election is whether or not the UNP will get significantly more than half of the vote that the Government succeeds in obtaining. Will the Govt’s percentage of the vote increase, decrease or remain roughly static? If it is a decrease, will that be lesser or greater than the increase in the UNP vote, if increase there is? Will the UNP show tangible signs of recovery, of bottoming out of its long downswing?
Post-uva Political Pivot by Thavam

பாடசாலை மாணவிகள் இருவர் 

பாலியல் வல்லுறவு: இராணுவ 

வீரர் விளக்கமறியலில்!

[ புதன்கிழமை, 06 ஓகஸ்ட் 2014, 08:02.28 AM GMT ]

களுத்துறை வடக்கு கடற்கரை பகுதியில் 14 வயதான இரண்டு பாடசாலை மாணவிகளை கூட்டாக பாலியல் வல்லுறவுக்கு உட்படுத்திய சம்பவத்துடன் தொடர்புடைய இராணுவ வீரர் கைது செய்யப்பட்டுள்ளார்.

5 சந்தேக நபர்களில் ஒருவரான இந்த இராணுவ வீரர்கள் களுத்துறை வடக்கு பொலிஸாரினால் கைது செய்யப்பட்டு நேற்று களுத்துறை நீதவான் அயேஷா ஆப்தீன் முன்னிலையில் ஆஜர்ப்படுத்தப்பட்டதை அடுத்து அவரை எதிர்வரும் 8 ஆம் திகதி வரை விளக்கமறியலில் வைக்குமாறு நீதவான் உத்தரவிட்டார்.

அத்துடன் சந்தேக நபரை அடையாள அணி வகுப்புக்கு உட்படுத்துமாறும் நீதவான் , களுத்துறை சிறைச்சாலை அதிகாரிகளுக்கு உத்தரவிட்டுள்ளார்.

சந்தேக நபரான இராணுவ வீரர் நாகொட வைத்தியசாலையின் சட்ட வைத்திய அதிகாரியின் பரிசோதனைக்கு உட்படுத்தப்பட்டதாகவும் சந்தேக நபரை பாலியல் நோய் சம்பந்தமான விசேட வைத்திய நிபுணரின் பரிசோதனைக்கு உட்படுத்துமாறு ஆலோசனை வழங்கப்பட்டதாகவும் பொலிஸார் நீதிமன்றத்தில் தெரிவித்தனர்.

பொலிஸார் சமர்பித்த அறிக்கை கவனத்தில் எடுத்து கொண்ட நீதவான், சந்தேக நபரை பாலியல் நோய் தொடர்பான விசேட வைத்தியரின் பரிசோதனைக்கு உட்படுத்தி அதன் அறிக்கையை நீதிமன்றத்தில் சமர்பிக்குமாறு உத்தரவிட்டார்.

களுத்துறை வடக்கு கடற்கரையில் கடந்த 26 ஆம் திகதி 14 வயதான இரண்டு பாடசாலை மாணவிகளை கடத்திச் சென்ற 5 இளைஞர்கள், காடு ஒன்றில் வைத்து மாணவிகளை கூட்டாக பாலியல் வல்லுறவுக்கு உட்படுத்தியுள்ளனர்.

பின்னர் ஹொட்டல் ஒன்றுக்கு கொண்டு சென்று அங்கும் மாணவிகளை துஷ்பிரயோகத்திற்கு உட்படுத்தியுள்ளனர். இந்த சம்பவம் தொடர்பில் 8 சந்தேக நபர்கள் கடந்த 3 ஆம் திகதி விளக்கமறியலில் வைக்கப்பட்டனர்.

அந்த 8 பேரில் மாணவிகளை பாலியல் வல்லுறவுக்கு உட்படுத்தியதாக கூறப்படும் 4 இளைஞர்கள் எதிர்வரும் 8 ஆம் திகதி வரை விளக்கமறியலில் வைக்கப்பட்டுள்ளனர்.

அன்றைய தினம் சந்தேக நபர்களை அடையாளம் காணும் அணி வகுப்புக்கு உட்படுத்துமாறு நீதவான் உத்தரவிட்டிருந்தார்.

ஹொட்டல் முகாமையாளர், கடற்படை வீரர் மற்றும் முச்சக்கர வண்டி ஓட்டுனர் ஆகியோர் ஏனைய மூன்று சந்தேக நபர்களாவர்.

Beaten and spied on, asylum seekers reveal oppression of being returned

The Guardian secures interviews with a Tamil and a Sinhalese asylum seeker Australia handed back to Sri Lanka last month

Sri Lankan naval vessel the Samudra is anchored after transferring 41 would-be asylum seekers intercepted by Australia to the southern port of Galle on 7 July.

Francis Wade in Sri Lanka-Wednesday 6 August 2014

The Sri Lankan navy vessel docked late one afternoon in Batticaloa. A group of 41 men, women and children disembarked, flanked by navy personnel. From the shore they were ordered into vans and driven through the night to Galle on the southern coast.

They continued to a navy camp, where they were held for a while before being driven on to a school hall, arriving around 9pm on 6 July. Inside, close to 100 officials from the criminal investigation wing of the Sri Lankan police force were already waiting, alerted in advance that a boatload of asylum seekers had been delivered back from Australia.

Demonstrators at a rally in Sydney protest against the Australian government’s treatment of Sri Lankan asylum seekers. Photograph: William West/AFP/Getty

Beaten and Spied on, Asylum Seekers Reveal Oppression of Being Returned by Thavam