Some ‘concerns remain’ in the North – British envoy

September 5, 2014 

British High Commissioner to Sri Lanka, John Rankin, who recently engaged in a visit to the war-torn Northern Province of Sri Lanka, says that the region is moving forward from its difficult past, however pointed out that “some concerns remain.”

Rankin made a three-day visit to the Northern Province (Jaffna, Kilinochchi, Mullaitivu and Vavuniya) on 1-3 September, 2014. He met government and military officials, members of political parties, the police, the British Council, humanitarian organisations and resettled communities.

 The High Commissioner said he was pleased to visit the North again to see for himself the current situation on the ground, the progress that has been made and the challenges that remain. 

Ranking also stated that he was happy to meet those involved in addressing concerns and restoring normality to the region. 

“In my discussions, it was clear that the region is moving forward from its difficult past, but some concerns remain,” he said, in a press release issued on Friday. 

The British High Commissioner said he met several recently resettled families in Puthukkudiyiruppu and that they spoke frankly about the issues their communities face – including a lack of housing and employment.  

“I strongly hope that these communities can live their lives free from reprisals and are able to have their voices heard,” he said. 

Ranking stated that the Northern Province is one of the most fascinating places in Sri Lanka, “as it rebuilds and rejuvenates itself from its legacy of war.” 

Welcoming the steps taken by the Sri Lankan government in these areas, he said it is encouraging to see firsthand the progress made in areas such as demining and resettlement.

“I also urge the government to continue taking further steps to improve the livelihoods of the people of the Northern Province, address their concerns and allow them to move forward into a brighter future in a stable and peaceful Sri Lanka. The UK will continue to support these efforts.” 

கூட்டுப் பிரார்த்தனை கொட்டகையும் அச்சுறுத்தலால் அகற்றப்பட்டது 

05 செப்ரெம்பர் 2014, வெள்ளி

மீள்குடியேற்றத்தை வலிறுத்தி வலி.வடக்கு மக்கள் சபாபதிப்பிள்ளை நலன்புரி முகாமில் ஏற்பாடு செய்திருந்த கூட்டுப் பிரார்த்தனை இரண்டாவது தடவையாக இன்றும் புலனாய்வாளர்களது அச்சுறுத்தலால் நிறுத்தப்பட்டுள்ளது.

பிற்பகல் 3மணியளவில் சபாபதிப்பிள்ளை நலன்புரி முகாமில் நடாத்த ஏற்பாடு செய்திருந்த கூட்டுப்பிரார்த்தனைக்கு பொலிஸார் மற்றும் இராணுவ புலனாய்வு துறையினரும் இணைந்து குறித்த இடத்திற்கு வந்து கொட்டகைகள் மற்றும் ஏற்பாட்டு இடங்களை அகற்றுமாறும்  அச்சுறுத்தியுள்ளனர்.

அத்துடன் இன்றைய கூட்டுப்பிரார்த்தனையினை நிறுத்த வேண்டும் என்றும் அவ்வாறு தவறும் பட்சத்தில் பின்விளைவுகளை சந்திக்க வேண்டும் என்றும் அச்சுறுத்தியதால் ஏற்பாட்டாளர்கள் பிரார்த்தனை கொட்டகைகளை அகற்றியதுடன் பிரார்த்தனையினையும் கைவிட்டுள்ளனர்.

இதேவேளை குறித்த விடயம் தொடர்பில்  ஊடகங்களுக்கு தெளிவுபடுத்தும் முகமாக ஊடகவியலாளர் மாநாடு ஒன்று இன்று 2.30 மணிக்கு யாழ். பாடி விருந்தினர் விடுதியில் நடைபெறவுள்ளமை குறிப்பிடத்தக்கது.        

புலனாய்வாளர்களது அச்சுறுத்தலால் கைவிடப்பட்டது கூட்டுப்பிரார்த்தனை 

28 ஆகஸ்ட்டு 2014, வியாழன்

வலி. வடக்கு மீள்குடியேற்றதை வலியுறுத்தி நாளை சுன்னாகம் சபாபதிப்பிள்ளை நலன்புரி நிலையத்தில் ஏற்பாடு செய்யப்பட்டிருந்த கூட்டுப்பிரார்த்தனை புலனாய்வு பிரிவினரின்  அச்சுறுத்தலால் கைவிடப்பட்டது என ஏற்பாட்டாளர்கள் ஊடகங்களுக்கு தெரியப்படுத்தியுள்ளனர்.

பூந்தளிர்  மாவட்ட  பெண்கள் அமைப்பின் கிளையினரால் ஏற்பாடு செய்யப்பட்டிருந்த  கூட்டுப்பிரார்த்தனைக்கு   சிவில் உடை அணிந்த இராணுவ புலனாய்வாளர் அச்சுறுத்தல் விடுத்துள்ளனர்.

மேலும் தெரிய வருவதாவது,

வலிகாமம் வடக்கு மக்கள் தமது சொந்த இடங்களில் மீளக் குடியமர வேண்டும் என வேண்டி, பூந்தளிர் மகளிர் அமைப்பின் யாழ். மாவட்டக் கிளையினர் நாளை சுன்னாகம் சபாபதி நலன்புரி நிலையத்தில் உள்ள ஆலயத்தில் மாலை 3 மணியளவில் தீப ஆராதனை நிகழ்வு ஒன்றை நடத்துவதற்கு ஏற்பாடு செய்திருந்தனர்.

இதற்காகத் தமிழ்த் தேசியக் கூட்டமைப்பு நாடாளுமன்ற உறுப்பினர்கள், வடக்கு மாகாண சபை உறுப்பினர்கள், தமிழ்த் தேசிய மக்கள் முன்னணியின் உறுப்பினர்கள் மற்றும் வலி.வடக்கு பிரதேச சபையினர் மக்கள் ஆகியோருக்கு அழைப்பு விடுத்திருந்தனர்.

அத்துடன் நாளைக் காலை 11 மணிக்கு யாழ். மாவட்ட அரச அதிபருக்கு ஒரு மகஜர் வழங்கவும் ஏற்பாட்டளர்கள் ஏற்பாடு செய்திருந்தனர். இதனை அறிந்த சபாபதி நலன்புரி நிலைய வாசி ஒருவர் இராணுவப் புலனாய்வாளர்களுக்குத் தகவல் தெரிவித்துள்ளார்.

இதனையடுத்து சிவில் உடையில் அங்கு வந்த இராணுவப் புலனாய்வாளர்கள் அவருடன் இணைந்து ஏற்பட்டாளர்களைச் சந்தித்து  பலாலி படைத்தலைமையைகத்திற்கு கிடைத்த இரகசிய தகவலை அடுத்தே நாம் வந்துள்ளோம்.

எந்தவொரு செயற்பாடும் இங்கு  மேற்கொள்ள கூடாது என்றும் அவ்வாறு செயற்பட்டால் பின்விளைவுகளை சந்திக்க நேரிடும் என்றும் அச்சுறுத்தியுள்ளனர்.  அப்போது அரசுக்கு எதிரான எந்த நிகழ்வுகளையும் நடத்தவில்லை இது எமது சமய  நம்பிக்கை என ஏற்பாட்டாளர்களும் அங்குள்ளவர்களும் தெரிவித்தனர்.

எனினும் அவர்களது அச்சுறுத்தல் பலமாகியதனால் இந்தநிகழ்வு நிறுத்தப்பட்டுள்ளதாகவும், அரச அதிபருக்கான மகஜர் கையளிப்பதற்கு ஏற்பாடு செய்யப்பட்டிருப்பதாகவும் அவ் அமைப்பினர் மேலும் தெரிவித்தனர்.

- See more at: http://onlineuthayan.com/News_More.php?id=621743375130803581#sthash.K7UDvXPR.dpuf

Kilinochchi Principals Interrogated By TID Over A Book Of Poems Written On The War

September 4, 2014 

Principals from several schools located in Kilinochchi had been summoned and interrogated by the Terrorist Investigation Department (TID)  over a book of poems written on the war, that each school had received by post several days ago.

Secretary to the Ministry of Defence

The collection of poems that had been compiled into a book titled ‘Uyir Padivugal’ had been authored by a Catholic priest based on the events that occurred during the war in 2009. About 85 copies of the book had been sent through post to several schools in the North by TNA MP Sivaganam Sritharan. The Principals of some of the schools to which this book had been posted, had been interrogated by the TID who had demanded to know how they received the book and what they planned to do with it.

According to concerned teacher unions, among the schools that have been targeted for receiving this book by the TID are Vattakatchchi South Maha Vidyalaya and Ramanadan Government Mix School.

Meanwhile, the priest who had authored the book has also reportedly been interrogated by the TID earlier this week.

Education professionals have condemned the interrogations of principals, pointing out it is a violation of the freedom of expression and a hindrance and a threat levelled against the right to appreciate a piece of literature.

The Need for a Strong Victim and Witness Assistance and Protection Mechanism

Published on September 5, 2014 by Centre for Policy Alternatives

5 September 2014, Colombo, Sri Lanka: The Centre for Policy Alternatives (CPA) welcomes the Bill titled “Assistance to and Protection of Victims of Crime and Witnesses” (referred to as the Bill) issued on 11thAugust 2014. At the outset, CPA acknowledges that the Bill in its present form is an improvement on previous drafts but reiterates the need for further reform if there is a genuine interest in the full realisation of human rights protection and fundamental freedoms.

CPA notes that the Bill encompasses important fundamental principles including the recognition of the rights of victims to be treated with equality, fairness and dignity. CPA also notes the provision in the Bill of the duties of public officers including members of the armed forces, police and judiciary to recognise, protect and promote the rights and entitlements of victims and witnesses. Furthermore, CPA encourages the definition of ‘human rights’ as used in the Bill to adhere to international standards and not be narrowly interpreted to undermine the rights of victims and witnesses. All of the above are important issues in a victim and witness assistance and protection mechanism and must be incorporated into every aspect of the implementation of such a mechanism.

Several other issues arising from the Bill require further attention. The Bill provides for the establishment of an Authority which is to have a Board of Management comprising ex-officio members from the Ministry of Justice, Ministry in charge of the Police, Women’s Affairs, Children, member of the Human Rights Commission (HRC), nominee of the Attorney General, nominee of the Inspector General of Police (IGP) and five members appointed by the Executive from academia and/or professional experience in the field of criminology, criminal justice system, human rights or medicine. CPA recommends that the Authority includes technical competencies necessary for its work including independent actors and practitioners with expertise in mental health and social protection.

The Authority is provided with a range of powers including the review of policies, legislation, practices and procedures, advise on possible reform, promotion of codes of conduct and best practices, development of a scheme of assistance and protection for victims and witnesses and the issuing of guidelines for the establishment and maintenance of the ‘Victims of Crime and Witnesses Assistance and Protection Division’ (referred to as the Division). While these are important powers, the question arises as to whether the Authority can fully implement what is required of it in the present political context. This is especially so in light of the broad powers enjoyed by the Executive and its control over institutions such as the Attorney General’s (AG) Department, Police and HRC. Furthermore, with increasing allegations of police brutality and corruption and inaction by both the AG’s Department and Police to act on serious human rights violations, considerable concern remains as to whether the Authority can be independent and withstand possible interference and/or influence by State and non-State entities. Moreover, there is the issue of whether there are sufficient safeguards in place to prevent re-victimisation within the process.

The Bill has a section on compensation which provides that a High Court and Magistrates Court may upon conviction of a person by such court, in addition to any penal sanction, order the convicted person to pay compensation to the victim and witness. The Bill also includes a Victims of Crime and Witnesses Assistance and Protection Fund (referred to as the Protection Fund) for the payment of compensation for victims of crime and other effected parties. CPA welcomes this inclusion but calls on the Government to expand on this by introducing a comprehensive policy for compensation for serious violations of human rights that is transparent and equitable.

The Bill also includes a provision to facilitate testimony through audio and visual linkages within Sri Lanka. The Bill however provides that such testimony will be obtained after satisfying specific criteria. This includes the presence of a judicial official or public officer in the remote location where testimony is to be obtained. CPA notes that the presence of such officials may deter victims and witnesses in coming forward due to possible security threats in the event their location is made public. Furthermore, the AG’s department is able to decide as to whether such testimony can be obtained and/or whether a change of location is needed. Recent politicisation of the AG’s department, its inertia regarding the filing of indictments and its withdrawing of charges in serious human rights cases are all causes for concern as to the role the department can play in the search for truth and justice.

In recognition of the importance of this issue, CPA strongly urges the Government to engage all stakeholders including affected communities and civil society in the law making process and to take on board concerns both at the policy and practical level which will in turn provide for stronger processes and institutions in the search for truth, justice and accountability. Finally, CPA highlights these issues in the context of the urgent reform needed to uphold the rule of law and end the culture of impunity. The enactment of this Bill is only the first step by the Government in meeting its obligations towards its citizens; much more is required in terms of implementation that recognises and provides for the needs of victims and witnesses.

Download this PR as a PDF here.

Fact Sheet: Violations of the Right to Freedom of Expression in Sri Lanka;March – August 2014

05/09/2014

Throughout the period covered by this factsheet, violations of the right to freedom of expression and more generally, the rights of the people of Sri Lanka continued http://srilankabrief.org/wp-admin/post-new.php#with impunity. The state, the police, the military, extremist Buddhist groups and various mobs overtly or covertly backed by the authorities were the main perpetrators of these violations. The forms of violations included censorship, detention, assault, death threats, verbal as well as physical attacks and silencing by cooptation. The domestic mechanisms, like the Attorney General’s department, the Judiciary and the National Human Rights Commission, have being politicised to such an extent that they are either unwilling or unable to investigate and take remedial action. In this context, self-censorship has become the norm. The people’s right to information continue to suffer.

This factsheet in its totality provides a comprehensive picture of suppression of freedom of expression in Sri Lanka today. The ramifications of the resultant self-censorship needs to be dealt with separately.

Read full report as a PDF SLB Fact sheet Sep 2014 FOE

SLB Fact Sheet Sep 2014 FOE by Thavam

An Intellectual Of The Highest Calibre, A Fine Moral Intelligence

By Izeth Hussain -September 5, 2014 

85^th birth anniversary of mervyn de silva – sept 5th

“A non-conformist, someone always on the side of the underdog, without illusions about men of power and their world, and incapable of identifying himself with any political party, perhaps it is not really surprising that he was twice booted out of editorial positions. It is not surprising from a Sri Lankan perspective. It is more than surprising, stunning in fact, from an international perspective. For here was a journalist widely recognized as exceptionally brilliant, a world-class journalist as we say, arguably even Sri Lanka’s greatest journalist, and he of all people gets sacked not once but twice, on both occasions from state-owned newspapers.”

Mervyn de Silva ( Middle)

Mervyn de Silva was the quintessential Sri Lankan journalist of our time. As such he deserves something more than the usual obituary tributes. Perhaps a monograph, perhaps in the course of time a book, but in any case an examination of what he signified in relation to Sri Lankan journalism since the time of our Independence.

It might seem odd that I choose to regard him as a quintessential journalist when it is known that after getting his degree at Peradeniya he vacillated for sometime between the media and the law. Let me explain.

Brilliant Student, Born Non-Conformist                               Read More

UNP CANDIDATES CLASH IN MONERAGALA 21 UNP OFFICES DESTROYED - LEADERS HAVE LEFT US, CANDIDATES SAY

2014-09-05
CaFFE has received 224 complaUnited National Party (UNP) Moneragala candidate Tissa Kuttiarachchi and his supporters have assaulted the son of another UNP candidate Sampath Jayasuriya yesterday around 10.30 am near Peoples Bank, Moneragala. Due to the assault Tharindu Jayasuriya, a pilot by profession, sustained stab wounds and his arm was broken. He had been admitted to Moneragala hospital and this is the most severe intra party conflict reported during this election.ints by September 4, 2014 out of which 166 have been reported from Moneragala. Meanwhile 46 complaints have been reported from Badulla. There are also 12 cases common to both districts and there are 57 reports of assault and damaging property.

Due to the continuous attacks against them UNP candidates in Moneragala are extremely disheartened and they have complained that none of the national leaders have visited Moneragala, either to campaign or visit offices/supporters that were attacked. On the other hand Janatha Vimukthi Peramuna (JVP) leaders have arrived in Moneragala to lift the morale of their supporters who have also been targeted. The arrival of national leaders and the fact that youth have joined their campaign has lessened the attacks on them. However the attacks have demoralized the UNP.

Meanwhile a number of United Peoples Freedom Alliance (UPFA) candidates joined several state ceremonies in Badulla yesterday (September 3.) At an event held organized by Foreign Employment Bureau Minister Dilan Perera openly urged the people to vote for UPFA candidate Ajith Wickramaratne. Candidates Sendil Thondaman, Wadiwel Suresh and Ananda Silva took part in Mahindodaya schools programme led by President Rajapaksa.

Postal vote

In Badulla election officials received 25,873 applications for postal voting of which 19,081 were accepted. Meanwhile election officials of Moneragala received 19,268 applications for postal voting and10,671 of them were accepted.
Photos - CaFFE monitors observing postal voting and Jayasuriya receiving treatment at the hospital.

Media Unit
CaFFE

Urgency of paradigm shift in understanding ‘co-existence’

• by Riza Yehiya 
• - on 09/05/2014 

Changing socio-political and economic scenarios, post war peace building needs in Sri Lanka and unleashing of anti-Muslim activities by Buddhist extremist groups have prompted discourses on ‘Co-Existence’ an urgent priority for social harmony. The current discourse on Co-Existence as spearheaded by all communities seems ill equipped, un-holistic and inappropriate to the challenges that we face today. The Muslim community just recovering from the Bodu Bala Sena spearheaded attacks on them in Aluthgama does not believe that this attack resulted from the problems of Co-Existence. 

Urgency of Paradigm Shift in Understanding ‘Co-existence’ by Thavam

The UNP Must Bridge The Democracy-Deficit

By Malinda Seneviratne - September 5, 2014 

Malinda Seneviratne

Gabriel Garcia Marquez, in his 

celebrated novel ‘One Hundred Years of Solitude’ describes the signing of an agreement between two warring parties, the liberals and conservatives. Colonel Aureliano Buendia, rebel leader, is surrounded by his lawyers. The draft document is not a give-and-take agreement, but an absolute surrender. The fact is pointed out to him: ‘But Colonel, if we agree to all this, it means that all these years we have been fighting against the general sentiments of the people!’

The Colonel’s response is a classic that holds for all politics, everywhere and across history.  ‘No, what it means is that from now on we will be fighting for power’.

This is the truth. Politics is about power. Rhetoric is frill. Objection on grounds of morality, unconstitutionality, illegality etc., with chest-beating words such as good governance, democracy, accountability and transparency, amounts to ‘necessary drivel’. Typically and for understandable reasons the shrill voices are to be found in opposition ranks. Given a constitution that was deliberately and heavily skewed in favor of the party in power (a document authored by persons who never thought the UNP would be defeated), which provides ample space for power-abuse and which has a scripted and debilitating effect on the opposition, that’s where dismay tends to take up residence.                                                                   Read More

I didn’t order ‘white flag killings’ – Former army Chief Sarath Fonseka

[LTTE suspects under Military custody, most of them missing]
Fonseka not afraid to testify in probe-05/09/2014
Jailed former army Chief Sarath Fonseka arrives with prison officers at the high court in ColomboFormer Army Commander and leader of the Democratic Party, Sarath Fonseka, says he is not scared to testify before a UN led war crimes investigation on Sri Lanka.

Speaking to the BBC Sinhala service outside court today, Fonseka said that he did not order the killing of any LTTE cadres who surrendered with white flags in their hands during the final stages of the war.

He said that while the Government was quoted in the media as saying they will deal with anyone who testifies before the UN led probe, he does not have any fear and will testify if he is approached.

Fonseka led the war on the LTTE during the final stages of the war and human rights groups had alleged that during that period thousands of civilians were killed, mostly by the military.

Fonseka says when he led the war he followed the law and so there was nothing to be afraid of. He also noted that if anyone is afraid to face an investigation then it means they have something to hide.
[Original Caption: Fonseka not afraid to testify in probe]

http://colombogazette.com/2014/09/04/fonseka-not-afraid-to-testify-in-probe/

Over 21% of children malnourished 

A Rajapaksa Front Company Investment US$ 7.0 billion

By Ruwan Laknath Jayakody
September 5, 2014 

The countrywide percentage of malnutrition among children had risen to 21.1% from 17.3% in the past decade, the Ministry of Health said.
Deputy Minister of Health, Lalith Dissanayake explained that statistics showed a rise in malnutrition across the country in the period 2000 to 2009.
"This is not only in the Moneragala District in the Uva Province, where undernourishment is prevalent, but everywhere. In 2000, the percentage of malnourishment was 18.4%.


The reduced or low-birth-weight rate is 22.8%; in comparison with other Asian countries it is better. In the period 1977 to 1978, 50.4% of children were malnourished, while 49.8% of babies born were under weight" the deputy minister said.
A completely different phenomenon on malnutrition is seen in the Gampaha District as over-nutrition was recorded.
He added that in 2012, the percentage of low growth, due to malnutrition, in the Nuwara Eliya District was 23.8%, Kalutara District 6.8%, Puttalam District 14% and Kilinochchi District 35.9%.
"This sad situation is mostly a result of ignorance and it is very high in Kilinochchi because of the war," Dissanayake pointed out.


The government was directly spending
Rs 4.5 billion, and was aided by the United Nations Children's Fund indirectly, amounting to Rs 100 billion. All this was used on programmes on rational nutrition, joint maternal and child health, at provincial levels, food protection and donation and nutrition at school. Also, on nutrition for pregnant women and on feeding children below the age of five, the Deputy Minister added.

A psycho gets his just deserts

Editorial-September 4, 2014 

A cold-blooded brute in the garb of a doctor has been sentenced to death for raping and murdering a poor garment factory girl, Chamila Dissanayake (23), at the Negombo General Hospital in November 2007. Having sexually assaulted and strangled her to death, Dr. Indika Sudarshan Balage plunged her body out of the sixth floor of a hospital building where he had his apartment in a bid to make the incident look like a case of suicide.

The credit for conducting a thorough investigation into the killing and ensuring the brute’s conviction should go to the police and those who came forward to give evidence. But, the murderer would have got away with his crime with the help of some hospital workers who shamelessly sided with him but for a courageous woman, nay a heroine, who foiled his plan. L. M. Beatrice is her name. It was based on her statement that the police were able to arrest the suspect and build a solid case against him.

Beatrice, a poor mother of four, was slaving away at the Negombo hospital for a meagre wage at the time of the incident, but she was intrepid, considerate and principled enough to be on the side of the truth in the face of pressure brought to bear on her by a group of hospital workers who backed the murderous doc to the hilt. Nurses and even some doctors ganged up against her and went all out to frighten her into submission. She was harassed in every possible way and even hounded out of her job. The manpower agency she worked for yielded to pressure from some doctors and discontinued her service.

The Island fought quite a battle to defeat the attempts to silence Beatrice. This is what we said editorially on March 07, 2008 following several news items exposing the sinister attempts to save the murderer and make Beatrice regret having helped the police arrest him: "Beatrice, who stood up to pressure from the high and mighty in the name of justice, ought to be honoured. We hope she won’t be forgotten when the International Women’s Day is celebrated tomorrow … Beatrice, a woman worth her weight in silver, if not gold, is drawing as little as Rs. 285 a day for her hard work, that, too, after a continuous service of seven years!" Later the Labour Department made an intervention on her behalf and she was reinstated.

Ironically, weeks later, the nurses who sided with the Negombo doctor in an abortive bid to hush up the killing of the garment worker had to launch a protest, condemning another doctor who had given a junior Nightingale a jab against her will by way of punishment for a mistake she had made at a hospital in Ratnapura. Nurses locked horns with doctors at the Peradeniya Teaching Hospital over a duty room shortly after the Negombo murder. They were also set upon by a group of medical students there. It was a case of poetic justice.

It is heartening that justice has triumphed albeit with some delay and a psycho has been thrown behind bars. Else, he would have killed more women. He may not be hanged as our politicians are too pious to authorise judicial executions—they, however, have no qualms about ordering or condoning extrajudicial killings—but life will be far worse than death for him in the hellholes that are our prisons.

Thankfully, the judgment in the Negombo hospital murder has come at a time people are increasingly becoming disillusioned with the justice dispensation system owing to its leniency towards politically connected criminals. It is like a drizzle in a drought-stricken, parched land.

S. Africa refuses Dalai Lama visa for Nobel summit

Friday, 05 September 2014 

South Africa has refused to grant a visa for the Dalai Lama to attend the World Summit of Nobel Peace Laureates in Cape Town next month, his representative said Thursday.

The government "conveyed by phone to me they will not be able to grant the visa for the reason that it would disturb relations between China and South Africa," Nangsa Choedon told AFP.

The refusal could provoke a boycott of the 14th annual peace summit, according to a spokesman for South African laureate Archbishop Desmond Tutu.

"I have heard that if the Dalai Lama is not allowed into the country, other invited guests have said they will not come," Roger Friedman said.

The summit is organised by foundations representing four South African peace laureates -- Tutu, Nelson Mandela, FW de Klerk and Albert Luthuli.

Along with the surviving South Africans -- Tutu and De Klerk -- the organisers say 13 individuals and eight organisations had confirmed that they would attend the summit, including former Soviet president Mikhail Gorbachev.

Choedon said she had not yet received written confirmation of the refusal, but if confirmed, this will be the third time in five years that Tibet's exiled spiritual leader has been refused a visa to visit South Africa.

China, which accuses him of covertly campaigning for Tibet's independence, regularly uses its growing economic and political clout to put pressure on governments around the world to limit contact with the Dalai Lama.

Each visa refusal has been met with an outcry from South Africans who feel it is a betrayal of the commitment to human rights embraced by the government since the end of apartheid 20 years ago.

But a spokesman for De Klerk, the South African former president who won the Nobel prize alongside liberation icon Nelson Mandela, said he did not think a boycott of the summit would be the right response.

"I think the message has gone out that boycotting the summit would be the very worst way of protesting," Dave Steward, executive director of the FW de Klerk Foundation, told AFP.

"The best way would be to come to the summit and celebrate the 20th anniversary of our democracy and then make any views they want to make known at the summit."

He said a refusal of a visa for the Dalai Lama would be "the antithesis of the values of our constitution".

Department of Public Information .  News and Media Division • New York

Secretary-General SG/SM/16118  OBV/1368-              2 September 2014

SECRETARY-GENERAL, IN MESSAGE FOR INTERNATIONAL DAY, SAYS CHARITY PLAYS INVALUABLE

COMPLEMENTARY ROLE TOWARDS ACHIEVING MILLENNIUM DEVELOPMENT GOALS

Following is UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon’s message for the International Day of Charity, to be observed on 5 September:

Charity plays a significant role in the work of the United Nations and its agencies.  Charity may come in many forms, from the volunteering of time and expertise to straightforward financial or in-kind donations by individuals, corporations or philanthropic foundations.  Whatever the case, such generosity and kindness, with no expectation of financial gain, can make profound differences in human well-being.

At times of intense fiscal and budgetary constraint, charity takes on greater importance in global efforts to achieve the Millennium Development Goals and implement what we hope will be an ambitious post-2015 agenda.  While charity cannot be seen as a replacement or alternative to public spending, it plays an invaluable complementary role.

I welcome this second observance of the International Day of Charity, proclaimed by the United Nations General Assembly at the initiative of the Permanent Mission of Hungary, to coincide with the anniversary of the death of Mother Teresa, whose life and good works for some of the human family’s poorest and most vulnerable members has been such an enormous inspiration.

Let us recognize charity for what it is at heart:  a noble enterprise aimed at bettering the human condition.  On this International Day, I call on people everywhere to act on the charitable impulse that resides in every human being:  to start giving and to keep on giving.

A civil-war is on the doorstep of India: Interview with Kancha Ilaiah by Mahmood Kooria

by Sunalini Kumar-SEPTEMBER 1, 2014

This is a guest post by Mahmood Kooria
We are publishing an English translation of an important interview of the intellectual and academic Kancha Ilaiah, conducted by Mahmood Kooria for the Malayalam weekly Mathrubhumi. While what I see as Professor Ilaiah’s underestimation and perhaps misreading of the historic role of the Communists in Indian politics leaves me severely uncomfortable, especially when he exonerates the right from commensurate charges of elitism, his framing of Hindustva and Modi’s appeal within the great stream of caste in the subcontinent is brilliant and thought-provoking, as always. 
A Civil-war is on the Doorstep of India Interview With Kancha Ilaiah by Mahmood Kooria by Thavam

Dear “John The Jihadist”: Let 

Humanity Prevail

| by Nilantha Ilangamuwa

“Lies written in ink cannot disguise facts written in blood.”

― Lu Xun

( September 5, 2014, Colombo, Sri Lanka Guardian) I know you are not going to read this, perhaps it is none of your business, how and what others are thinking about you. In fact, the most important thing for you is how to strike the neck of the Americans and their alliance with your knife.

Your anger, frustration, depression and anxiety are fully understandable, though it portrays the new form of violence of the era in which we live. You actions take us back to the meddle ages, forcing us to recall how our humans acted in those time, using brute force and vicious violence to punish others in public.

Your knife has struck the second neck of an American in public. You are ‘entertaining’ the people, feeding the media and those who are planning to join your movement as well as sending a clear message to your enemies.

You may succeed for the time being, but eventually you will die hard, you will scream hard and utter lamentations for all what you have believed in, and all you have done. at that time there will be nothing other than your conscience between you and all the violence you have tried to justify.

There are so many concerns and reactions around the globe after killing the Americans but, sadly, hardly any attention is paid to the thousands of unarmed civilians you have dispatched with your knives in Iraq and Syria.

You know all the tricks, and you gained the knowledge necessary to spread your message, but no one can see the supposed wisdom of your message. In your haste to reach your version of utopia you have neglected this simple truth.

There is no doubt that your actions are absolutely horrific, horrendous and vicious. It has shocked even the most hardened of us to see your crimes so vividly displayed on your videos.

That of course may be your goal. I know you are now used to the violence, and it is no longer a crime for you but rather a responsibility towards achieving your dream, the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant.

However, regardless of your ideals the fact is you are swimming in pool of blood of millions of innocent lives to establish your ‘state’. Your disobedience to the state and the people in general as well on your opponents has already written a history. It is one of most vicious histories of mankind.

Should you succeed in establishing your utopia you will do so on the millions of skulls of people born on your own soil? But you care nothing of the screams and lamentations of these millions because in your jaded view point you are taking their lives in order to teach a lesson to your enemies. You are ignoring their right to a rational life with dignity and respect. And you justify their death with your customs and origins.

Our history, our present as well as our future has been ruined by those who came to our land to establish their version of “democracy”. We therefore know that they are nothing but cynical manipulation of our lives and lands. But what is it that are we ignoring?

To achieve their dreams they created puppets who were selected out of our own. They used our own people. They dress up them as real patriots and guardians of the nation. Our weaknesses were used as a tool to control the real structure of our motherlands.

The average innocent man or women cannot understand this reality in his attempt to face day to day life. Most of the innocents were on the bottom line of the hierarchy of needs but you, “John the Jihadist” are one of privileged, one of the men able to see the world, see the country, and see the future. But your knife you are using to take the lives of others is also taking their wisdom, and in the same stroke, taking yours. Wisdom to teach the great lesson to the enemy, wisdom to win the hearts and minds of your fellow humans, wisdom to achieve a real and respectful society, the wisdom to become a true son of the almighty.

At the very least not only you, but hundreds of thousand of people will have to sacrifice their life for nothing but to expand the space for our common enemy to play.

“John the Jihadist”, let humanity prevail before it is too late.