Taliban sneak back into Kandahar, dressed as grape farmers

May Jeong in Kandahar

Around 400 people die in August after two weeks of fighting as many blame Afghan election gridlock for aiding the insurgency

Afghan troops march through Ma'sum Ghar camp in Kandahar province, southern Afghanistan. Photograph: Finbarr O'Reilly/Reuters/Corb

The men were dressed as migrant workers. Over the course of two or three days, as many as 600 of them made their way through the checkpoints dotted around the southern Afghanistan province of Kandahar. Many of them hauled trolleys carrying crates of freshly picked grapes as they headed towards the outlying district of Zheri, some 24 miles (38km) west of Kandahar city.

Taliban Sneak Back Into Kandahar, Dressed as Grape Farmers by Thavam

Post-war counselling awaits Gaza children going back to school

Pierre Krahenbuhl, United Nations Relief and Works Agency (UNRWA) Commissioner-General, sits with Palestinian students inside a classroom as he visits a United Nations-run school on the first day of a new school year in Khan Younis in the southern Gaza Strip September 14, 2014.

BY NIDAL AL-MUGHRABI

(Reuters) - Some 500,000 children returned on Sunday to school in the Gaza Strip, where many will be given psychological counselling before regular studies begin after a devastating 50-day war between Palestinian militants and Israel.

The opening of the school year had been delayed for three weeks because of damage to more than 250 schools and the use of about 90 U.N. educational facilities as shelters for tens of thousands of residents displaced by fighting, the United Nations and local authorities said.

"The top priority now is making sure that after a period of psychosocial support, including the use of theatre for development techniques, our students can return to their regular curricula," said Pierre Krähenbühl, head of the United Nations Relief and Works Agency, which runs more than 200 Gaza schools.

He said UNRWA has employed over 200 counsellors who would engage with the approximately 240,000 students in its schools, with a transition to standard studies scheduled in a week.

A coalition of international and local non-government agencies and the Palestinian Education Ministry will also help provide psychosocial support to another quarter-million students in Gaza's public schools.

Health officials in the Gaza Strip, an enclave run by the Hamas Islamist group, said more than 2,100 people, mostly civilians were killed, among them 500 children, in the war.

Israel, which launched its Gaza offensive on July 8 with the declared aim of halting cross-border rocket fire, said 67 of its soldiers and six civilians, including a four-year-old boy, were killed.

EMPTY CHAIR

At a girls' school in Shejaia, a Gaza neighbourhood where hundreds of houses were damaged or destroyed and 72 people died in fierce fighting, a sign bearing the name of a student killed in the conflict was placed symbolically on an empty chair.

It read: "Martyr Ghalya Al-Helu, ninth grade,"

The head teacher, addressing the morning assembly in the bullet and shrapnel-scarred school, told the students that her deputy also had been killed.

Israeli schoolchildren, who began their studies as scheduled on Sept. 1, six days after an open-ended truce went into effect, spent summer vacation under rocket attack from Gaza that disrupted daily life in many Israeli communities.

Psychological help is also available to them in schools.

Zeyad Thabet, Gaza's deputy education minister, said 26 schools in the territory were destroyed during the war.

On Thursday, a report by the New York-based Human Rights Watch group accused Israel of committing war crimes by attacking three UNRWA-run schools, killing 45 Palestinians, including 17 children, in or near those facilities.

Israeli government and military spokesmen declined comment. But during the fighting, Israel rejected preliminary Human Rights Watch findings that it committed war crimes and said the group should focus on Hamas putting Palestinian civilians in harm's way by using residential areas as launching points for attacks and for weapons storage.

The United Nations acknowledged that weaponry was found at three of its Gaza schools - not the same facilities that were the subject of the Human Rights Watch report - and condemned militants for storing arms there.

UNRWA said some 64,000 refugees were still being housed in 20 Gaza schools.

(Editing by Jeffrey Heller and Rosalind Russell)

Polls show Scotland’s future is on a knife-edge

Sunday 14 Sep 2014

Several surveys show a slim lead for the no camp but one gives the pro-independence side a lead of eight points – the exact opposite of the picture suggested by a poll commissioned by Better Together.

No leads by 50.6 per cent to 49.4 per cent according to Panelbase for the Sunday Times and – with undecided voters taken out – by 53 per cent to 47 per cent in research by Opinium for the Observer.
Polls Show Scotland’s Future is on a Knife-edge by Thavam

UPDATE 3-North Korea sentences US citizen Matthew Miller to six years hard labour

By James Pearson-Sun Sep 14, 2014

(Reuters) - North Korea sentenced U.S. citizen Matthew Todd Miller to six years hard labour for committing "hostile acts" as a tourist to the country, a statement carried by state media said on Sunday, as the United States requested his immediate pardon and release.

UPDATE 3-North Korea Sentences US Citizen Matthew Miller to Six Years Hard Labour by Thavam

Vietnam shuts down ‘land reform’ exhibit

Show on post-WWII revolutionary land policy causes online outrage and is soon closed, reports Asia Sentinel’s David Brown

By Asia Sentinel Sep 14, 2014

In Hanoi this week, a short-lived exhibition at Vietnam’s National History Museum, Land Reform 1946-57, triggered a national moment to relive a long-ago trauma.

On September 5, the Ministry of Culture, Tourism and Sports website posted an announcement saying that the History Museum would hold an exhibit from September 8 until December assembled from the archives of the central government, the Communist Party and various provincial museums. It was an exhibit “pregnant with valuable historical contents never shown before,” the ministry said.

Scholars outside Vietnam and (very quietly) inside the country have debated for 60 years how many landlords ‑ large, small, kind, wicked, pro or anti-Communist — perished in the paroxysm of class warfare that followed France’s expulsion from the northern half of Vietnam in 1954.

A few Vietnamese who remember that period intimately, notably the economic historian Dang Phong and, very recently, the journalist Tran Dinh, have said openly that the ideologically driven land reform campaign was a complete failure. For younger generations, however, the gory details ‑ at least 100,000, and perhaps two or three times that many, landlords were shot, beheaded or beaten to death by peasant mobs incited by Party cadres – have been lost from view.

The curators at the National History Museum certainly did not intend to arouse doubts about the correct management of affairs long ago. The exhibit was designed to “educate… especially youth to comprehend more deeply and correctly the agricultural revolution… and strengthen belief and pride in the Party, government and revolutionary achievements of the People.” They didn’t reckon with the Internet.

Hemorrhoids   

The New England Journal of Medicine

September 5th, 2014

Initial management for internal hemorrhoids includes adequate fiber and water intake and avoidance of straining. Office procedures (e.g., rubber-band ligation) are helpful when medical therapy fails; excisional therapies such as hemorrhoidectomy are used for severe disease.  Read the new Clinical Practice review article on this topic.

Symptoms related to hemorrhoids are very common in Western and other industrialized societies. Although published estimates of prevalence vary widely, millions of people in the United States are affected yearly.

Clinical Pearls

•How are hemorrhoids categorized?

Hemorrhoids are categorized according to their origin relative to the dentate line, which is typically located about 3 to 4 cm proximal to the anal verge. The line represents the site where the squamous epithelial cells derived from the ectoderm interface with the columnar mucosa cells of endodermal origin. Besides being the basis for categorizing hemorrhoidal complexes as internal (if proximal to the dentate line), external (if distal to the dentate line), or mixed (both proximal and distal), the different embryonic origins lead to distinctly different vascular drainages, epithelialization, and innervation. Tissues that are distal to the dentate line are innervated by somatic nerves and are more sensitive to pain and irritation than those that are located more proximally, which receive sympathetic or parasympathetic visceral innervation.

Figure 1. Hemorrhoidal Disease. 

•What are the typical clinical manifestations of symptomatic hemorrhoids?

The clinical manifestations of symptomatic hemorrhoids vary with the extent of the disease process. Patients who present for diagnosis and treatment typically report hematochezia (approximately 60%), itching (approximately 55%), perianal discomfort (approximately 20%), soiling (approximately 10%), or some combination of these symptoms. The rectal bleeding typically occurs with or immediately after defecation. Blood may be noticed on toilet paper, in toilet water, or, occasionally, staining the underwear. Patients should be queried about their fiber and fluid intake, bowel patterns (including stool frequency), bathroom habits (e.g., reading while seated on the toilet), the need for digital manipulation of prolapsed tissue, and whether there is a history of soiling or incontinence. Other disease processes must be considered. Substantial pain is rare in patients with uncomplicated internal or external hemorrhoids. The presence of severe pain raises the possibility of other conditions, including  anal fissure, perirectal or perivaginal infection, abscess, and other inflammatory processes, although severe pain may occur with  complications of hemorrhoids (e.g., prolapse with incarceration and ischemia or thrombosis).

Morning Report Questions

Q: What imaging is necessary in a patient with hemorrhoids?

A: Flexible endoscopy is not as successful as anoscopy for examining the anorectum. The decision to perform a more extensive colorectal evaluation should be informed by the patient’s age, presenting signs and symptoms and their duration, and the nature of bleeding. Evaluation of the entire colon is indicated for patients with any of the following: anemia; bleeding that is not typical of hemorrhoids; a change in bowel patterns; a personal history of rectal or colon polyps; a family history of inflammatory bowel disease, colorectal cancer, or other hereditary colorectal diseases in a first-degree relative; or other suspected pathologic pelvic changes that could contribute to the patient’s symptoms. For symptomatic patients younger than 50 years of age who have no risk factors for colonic disease and no evidence of other anorectal abnormalities and in whom examination confirms the presence of uncomplicated disease, hemorrhoid treatment can be administered in lieu of endoscopy or imaging studies. Persistent bleeding or other symptoms after successful local treatment of hemorrhoids is an indication for further evaluation.

Q: How should patients with symptomatic hemorrhoids be treated?

A: All patients should be encouraged to ingest a sufficient amount of insoluble fiber (typically 25 to 35 g per day) and sufficient water to avoid constipation and straining and to limit the time spent on the toilet. A meta-analysis of controlled trials showed that fiber supplementation was associated with significant reductions in the risk of persistent symptoms and the risk of rectal bleeding, although the effects of fiber supplementation on mucosal prolapse, pain, and itching were not significant. Clinical experience indicates that use of topical glucocorticoids, vasoconstrictors (e.g., phenylephrine-based creams or suppositories), or analgesics may provide temporary relief of some symptoms. For patients who do not respond to conservative treatment, a meta-analysis of 18 randomized trials comparing various treatment methods for grade I to III hemorrhoids concluded that rubber-band ligation was more effective than sclerotherapy and that patients who underwent ligation were less likely to need subsequent therapy. Rubber-band ligation was less effective than hemorrhoidectomy but had fewer complications and caused less pain. It therefore is considered appropriate as first-line therapy.

Wikipedia

தமிழின குடிப்பரம்பலை அழித்துவிடவே அரசு திட்டம்:மாவை எம்.பி 

தமிழர்களது போராட்டத்தை யாருமே நிராகரிக்க முடியாது ஏனென்றால் தமிழர்களது போராட்டத்தில் நியாயம்,நேர்மை இருப்பதாக தமிழரசுக் கட்சியின்  தலைவரும்,நாடாளுமன்ற  உறுப்பினருமான மாவை சேனாதிராஜா தெரிவித்தார்.

 

இன்று காலை 9மணியளவில் இலங்கை தமிழரசுக்கட்சியின் புதிய தலைவராக பதவியேற்றுள்ள மாவை. சேனாதிராஜாவுக்கு யாழ்.மாவட்ட தமிழரசுக் கட்சியின் சார்பில் வரவேற்பு அளிக்கப்பட்டது.அந்த நிகழ்வில் கலந்து கொண்டு உரையாற்றுகையிலே அவர் மேற்கண்டவாறு தெரிவித்தார்.

 

வடக்கு,கிழக்கு மக்களின் குடிப்பரம்பலை அழித்து விடவேண்டும் என்பதே அரசின் கடந்த ஐந்தாண்டு கால கூடுதலான எதிர்பார்ப்பாக இருக்கின்றது. போர் முடிவுற்று 5ஆண்டு காலப்பகுதியிலே  அரசினால்அதிகளவான பிரச்சினைகள் எழுந்துள்ளதுடன் தமிழ் மக்களின் நிலத்தையும்,இனத்தையும் அழிக்கும் நடவடிக்கையே அரசு மேற்கொண்டு வருகின்றது.

 

ஜனாதிபதி மகிந்த ராஜபக்சவின் அடுத்த முகங்களால் தமிழரசுக் கட்சிக்கு எதிராக கூக்குரல் கிளம்புகின்றது.புதிய இரத்தங்கள் கட்சிக்குள் உட்பாய்ச்சப்படுமானால் அதுவும் பொருத்தமானதாகவே  இருக்கும்.

 

நாம் எமது நிலங்களுக்கு நட்டஈடு கேட்கவில்லை.எமது நிலம் எமக்கே வேண்டும் என்றே கேட்கின்றோம்.ஆனால் அரசு தமிழர் வாழும் மண்ணில் சிங்களவர்களை அனுமதிக்கின்றனர்.இராணுவத்தை குடியேற்றுகின்றனர்.இவ்வாறான 

செயல்களினால் தமிழினம் அழிக்கப்படுகின்றது.

 

தமிழ் மக்களது போராட்டத்தை யாருமே நிராகரிக்க முடியாது ஏனென்றால் நமது போராட்டத்தில் நியாயம்,நேர்மை உண்டு.அதனால் தான் சர்வதேசமே நம்பக்கம் ஆதரவாக இருக்கின்றது.எனவே தன்னாட்சியை நாம் நிலைநாட்ட வேண்டும்.ஆகவே தமிழ் மக்களை இன்னொரு அழிவுக்குள் கொண்டு செல்லாமல் தமிழ் மக்களின் நிலத்தையும்,இனத்தையும் பாதுகாக்க வேண்டும்.

 

மேலும் எனக்கு மாலை,பொன்னாடைகள் அணிவித்து வரவேற்பது முக்கியம் அல்ல எமது தமிழ் மக்கள் இரத்தத்தை 

எங்கள் மேலே சொறிந்தார்கள்  அதுதான் உண்மையான வரவேற்பு எனவும் அவர் தெரிவித்தார்.

 

IED highlights lack of work towards war crimes prosecution and reconciliation
 13 September 2014
Actions in Sri Lanka to work towards prosecution for war crimes and genuine reconciliation with the Tamil population do not exist, the International Educational Development organisation Inc (IED) and association of Humanitarian Lawyers said at the UNHRC on Friday.

Making a statement at the interactive dialogue on the report of the Special Rapporteur on Truth, Justice, Reparation and Non-Recurrence, Karen Parker said,

"We note that not a single high authority of the LTTE survived, so there cannot be prosecutions of them for alleged violations. Further, this fact makes the intentional killing of the LTTE captured combatants, a serious war crime, a certainty. Current actions in Sri Lanka to address prosecution for these crimes do not exist, nor do actions for truth and genuine reconciliation with the Tamil population. What does the Special Rapporteur propose in light of the apparent absolute impunity of that government, especially in light of the recurrence of gross violations of human rights directed at the Tamil population?"
Full statement reproduced below. 

International Educational Development, Inc, and the Association of Humanitarian Lawyers welcome the work of the Special Rapporteur DeGreiff on the promotion of truth, justice, reparation and guarantees of non-recurrence to address the issue of prosecution of perpetrators of gross violations of human rights and humanitarian law.

We agree that prosecutions should focus on those who ordered acts that constitute war crimes and crimes against humanity. Of course the rule that superior orders is no defense is important but we do recognize that merely prosecuting the lower (usually front-line) soldiers does little to guarantee non-recurrence. Further, the lower soldiers may be draftees, under-aged and may have had no instruction in humanitarian law. Such is the case with the many war crimes in Sri Lanka carried out by government troops against civilians and captured LTTE combatants: the orders came from the highest authorities and were carried out by lower soldiers who were draftees, and uneducated in humanitarian law. We note that not a single high authority of the LTTE survived, so there cannot be prosecutions of them for alleged violations. Further, this fact makes the intentional killing of the LTTE captured combatants, a serious war crime, a certainty. Current actions in Sri Lanka to address prosecution for these crimes do not exist, nor do actions for truth and genuine reconciliation with the Tamil population. What does the Special Rapporteur propose in light of the apparent absolute impunity of that government, especially in light of the recurrence of gross violations of human rights directed at the Tamil population?

We are also concerned with the lack of prosecution in India for atrocities carried out against the Sikh population in 1984 and subsequent years. Indeed, one of the authorities responsible for these has recently been awarded with the post of head of police in Punjab. How does the Special Rapporteur intend to address long-time failures of certain governments, such as that of India, to prosecute past grave violations that risk the recurrence of such crimes?

Statement can be seen at 1:00:03 here.

Post-script and Muslim Population Problem

Sri Lankan Muslims at the cross roads – 16

September 12, 2014, 8:42 pm 

By Izeth Hussain

I had intended to conclude my observations on ‘Muslim extremism’ with my last article but the feedback I have been getting indicates that there is a need for clarifications before I proceed to another subject, and hence this postscript. I was rather tentative in advancing the thesis that Buddhism virtually disappeared in India, not because of Muslim conquest, but because of absorption into Hinduism. It has since become clear to me that there can be absolutely no doubt about that. The BBS and other groups should henceforth desist from charging that formerly Buddhist countries became Muslim through Muslim conquest. Their continuing to make that charge would be tantamount to culpable hate speech.

The notion that Islam is essentially a violent religion seems to be deeply engrained among non-Muslims. The truth is that mass violence on a horrifying scale has been resorted to by the adherents of all the great world religions. The book, Le rendez-vous des civilisations by Youssef Courbage and Emmanuel Todd (a Jew) points out that the American invasion of Iraq shows that the West is not prepared to give up without a struggle its title to be the world champion in all categories of mass massacre, as demonstrated by the Second World War, which included the Holocaust and Hiroshima. The authors add, "All that without the martial and spiritual aid of Mohammed." They point out also that the 1994 genocide in Rwanda achieved a gigantic scale that recalled earlier massacres in Europe. They wryly add, "But Rwanda is almost entirely Christian and no one attributes, as far as we know, the Rwanda horror to a peculiar essence of Christianity". The ignorant denigration of Islam as having an essential nexus with violence must stop.

There also seems to be a propensity, something like a compulsory drive in fact, to blur the distinction between ‘Muslim extremism’ and mainstream Islam, and to see the former as the real mainstream. My arguing the opposite case is seen as based on a tendentious selection of data. That counter-argument ignores the fact that all the versions of the world religions, including the orthodox ones, are based on a selection of data. However the facts speak loud and clear because in the greater part of the Islamic world it is orthodox Islam that prevails, not the extremist variants. Has anyone heard about Muslim extremism being a problem in the Muslim Central Asian Republics? In some countries, Algeria being a notable case, Muslim extremism which became very powerful has been decisively defeated. Consider the fact that there are five million Muslims in France, but only about two thousand were wearing the burqa at the time President Sakorzky was moving against it. That fact suggests that the great majority of Muslim migrants to the West abandon the insignia of Wahabism and take to a liberal version of Islam.

The BBS has challenged the ACJU and the National Shoora Council to denounce the Islamic State. The other important Muslim civil society organization, the Muslim Council, has already done so, and I am told so has the NSC President according to a TV channel. The Muslim civil society reaction to the IS has certainly been very disappointing, but that most certainly does not mean that they are sympathetic to the IS or other jihadist movements. The important point is that the Wahabism promoted by our madrasas has up to now been entirely apolitical. It is an important point also that the Wahabism promoted by the Deoband in India is also apolitical. Edward Luce recounts that he raised the question of the destruction of the Bamiyan statues with a Maulana of the Deoband, which the Taliban regards as its spiritual home. The Maulana replied: "These people in the Taliban are Pathans. Pathan culture is much more fierce than Indian culture. You would be wrong to confuse the excesses of Pathan culture with Deoband". So-called ‘Muslim extremism’ is a complex phenomenon that we must try to understand in all its complexity.

An alleged SL Muslim population explosion is supposed to be the second issue that poses an existential threat to the Sinhalese. I have shown above that the first such issue, so-called Muslim extremism, is nonsensical. The second issue seems to be identical with the first one in that it too is nonsensical. But there is a significant difference between the two in that the demographic threat is far, infinitely far, more nonsensical. I say this because it is just conceivable that Muslim extremism may come to pass in Sri Lanka. Should there be further bouts of violence of the Aluthgama/Beruwela order culminating in an anti-Muslim replication of 1983, it is conceivable that Jihadist groups will emerge and we will have a full-blown ‘Muslim extremism’ problem. On the other hand, it is inconceivable – taking into account the facts revealed in the statistical table given above and taking into account also the well-established facts of demography – that the SL Muslim population will leap forward in such a way as to make Sri Lanka a majority Muslim country by 2050. That is the case made out in anti-Muslim propaganda. It cannot be taken seriously.

I will now proceed firstly to deal with the significance of the facts revealed in the statistical table. Secondly I will deal – in bare outline and very briefly – with Muslim demography on a global scale. Finally I will argue that the expectation that Muslims will outnumber everyone else and dominate the globe is just an expression of Islamophobia, which of course is a form of racism. It reminds me of the "yellow peril", the expectation that the Chinese would outnumber everyone else and dominate the globe, a notion that obsessed the idiotic racists of the West for several decades. (izethhussain@gmail.com)

UNHCR urges Sri Lanka to stop deportations and provide protection to refugees and asylum-seekers

Briefing Notes, 12 September 2014

This is a summary of what was said by UNHCR spokesperson Babar Baloch – to whom quoted text may be attributed – at the press briefing, on 12 September 2014, at the Palais des Nations in Geneva.

UNHCR is gravely concerned about the resumption of arrests, detention and deportation of asylum-seekers and refugees in Sri Lanka.

The Government of Sri Lanka started its special operation on 9 June this year. It came to a halt on 15 August, but resumed on 3 September.

UNHCR has learnt that between 3 and 11 September, 62 Pakistani and 3 Afghan asylum-seekers were arrested and detained; 40 were subsequently deported. Since early June the authorities have arrested and detained a total of 328 refugees and asylum-seekers, and deported 183 of them to Pakistan and Afghanistan.

We believe there are still 102 people of concern to UNHCR in detention, including 38 Pakistanis and 64 Afghans.

When UNHCR met with the government earlier this month, assurances were given for the immediate release of all asylum-seekers and refugees arrested and detained since June. While we appreciate the government's speedy action to release 71 Pakistani and 2 Iranian refugees and asylum-seekers in early September, not everyone in detention has been released and we are dismayed that the arrests, detention and deportations have resumed.

UNHCR appeals to the government to refrain from any further arrests and deportations of people of concern and to uphold its responsibilities under international law. We reiterate our call on the authorities to allow access to the detained asylum-seekers so that we can assess their international protection needs. UNHCR stands ready to work closely with the government to assist and seek durable solutions for refugees and asylum-seekers in the country.

For more information on this topic, please contact:

• In Bangkok (Regional Office): Vivian Tan on mobile +66 818 270280
• In Geneva (HQ): Babar Baloch on mobile +41 79 557 9106

Renewing resolve
Editorial Tamil Guardian 12 September 2014
The start of the UN Human Rights Council's 27th session this week saw the welcome reaffirmation of resolve to pursue accountability for mass atrocities in Sri Lanka through a UN inquiry from the newly appointed High Commissioner for Human Rights, Zeid al-Hussein and the US and UK missions. Amid the crises unfolding in Iraq, Syria and Ukraine, the High Commissioner's pointed statement highlighting the importance he places on the OHCHR Investigation into Sri Lanka (OISL) is a significant pledge to fulfill the commendable legacy of his predecessor, Navi Pillay. Equally resolved however was Sri Lanka in its determination to oppose it. Reiterating its categorical rejection of the inquiry, Sri Lanka renewed its refusal to cooperate with UN investigators. Its seemingly desperate attempts to block the functioning of the inquiry, only serve to vindicate the basis on which member states led and supported the resolution in March mandating an international inquiry – Sri Lanka will not deliver accountability and justice for the deaths of over 70,000 Tamils during the final stages of the armed conflict itself.

In the five months since the resolution, Sri Lanka has systematically sought to criminalise NGOs and activists who were principal in its passage, proscribing key Tamil diaspora organisations and activists as 'terrorists' and imposing restrictions targeting the notable handful of Sinhala human rights activists and organisations who supported the inquiry. The diaspora proscriptions not only target those individuals, but seek to prevent evidence outflow from Tamils on the island, to the UN investigators via diaspora networks. Meanwhile, Tamils in the North-East have been collectively punished for their support of the inquiry and are increasingly terrorised in an effort to stop them from engaging with it. Many of the Tamils arrested in mass round-ups around March, including the prominent disappearances campaigner Balendran Jeyakumari, remain under detention in prisons notorious for torture and sexual violence. Tamils found talking to international officials have faced harassment and death threats by state backed mobs and military intelligence officers, while government officials have openly discussed the possibility of reprisal measures against individuals who engage with the inquiry.

It is in this context of five years of absolute refusal to even acknowledge mass atrocities committed against the Tamil people followed by five months of increasingly frenzied attempts to obstruct the international inquiry, that Sri Lanka's claims to the Council of domestic accountability via an internal probe with an international garnish must be viewed. Sri Lanka cannot investigate itself. The alleged crimes are too grave and the state has over several decades under successive administrations, proved itself unwilling to deliver justice to the Tamil people. Indeed even now, the opposition UNP, far from pressing the government to cooperate with the inquiry, criticises the government for placing Sri Lanka under international scrutiny and its armed forces at risk of prosecution.

Amid this intensifying climate of intimidation, the willingness of Tamil people - living under effective military occupation in the North-East and having sought asylum abroad - to come forward as witnesses at great risk to themselves and their families, demonstrates the Tamil people's resolve to pursue accountability, and ultimately justice. It was for these victims that the Council voted to mandate the inquiry, and it is for them that the Council must now ensure sustained scrutiny of Sri Lanka over coming months. Intoxicated with the impunity it continues to enjoy, Sri Lanka's conduct illustrates it will not think twice before intensifying repression of the Tamil people. As the March 2015 deadline for the inquiry approaches, it is clear attacks on Tamils will increase. It beholds member states to ensure the safety of witnesses and safeguard them from reprisal. This must go beyond calls on Sri Lanka to restrain itself and become tangible reprimand and action.

OSIL Sets 30th Oct as the Deadline for Receiving Submissions for Sri Lanka Investigation

[Both these female LTTE carders allegedly killed in military detention]-12/09/2014 
Inviting Individuals, organisations and governments to submit information and/or documentation on alleged serious violations and abuses of human rights and related crimes allegedly perpetrated from 21 February 2002 until 15 November 2011 in Sri Lanka by either of the parties to the armed conflict OHCHR Investigation on Sri Lanka (0SIL) says that submissions must be made by midnight, Geneva time, on 30 October 2014. This is to allow the investigation team time to analyse all the information gathered before drafting its report. Drafting needs to be completed at least two months before the report is presented to the HRC in March.

The OSIL statement fellows:

OHCHR Investigation on Sri Lanka
Mandated by Human Rights Council Resolution A/HRC/25/1
Call for submissions
1 August 2014

Background
The United Nations Human Rights Council (HRC) is the highest inter-governmental body within the United Nations system responsible for strengthening the promotion and protection of human rights around the world.

In March 2014, the HRC adopted resolution A/HRC/25/1, requesting the United Nations 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, 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”. The mandate of the OHCHR Investigation on Sri Lanka includes violations and abuses of international human rights law and breaches of international humanitarian law as well as related crimes.

In accordance with this resolution, the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights has established the OHCHR Investigation on Sri Lanka (OISL). The OISL will be supported and advised throughout by three independent, distinguished experts, appointed by the High Commissioner in accordance with Resolution A/HRC/25/1: Mr. Martti Ahtisaari, Ms. Silvia Cartwright and Ms. Asma Jahangir.

The United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights will present a comprehensive written report on the outcome of the investigation to the HRC in March 2015, as per resolution A/HRC/25/1.

Submissions to the OISL
Individuals, organisations and governments are invited to submit information and/or documentation on alleged serious violations and abuses of human rights and related crimes allegedly perpetrated from 21 February 2002 until 15 November 2011 in Sri Lanka by either of the parties to the armed conflict.

Submissions must be made by midnight, Geneva time, on 30 October 2014. This is to allow the investigation team time to analyse all the information gathered before drafting its report. Drafting needs to be completed at least two months before the report is presented to the HRC in March.

Procedure for submissions
Submissions should be sent in written form and must include the contact details of the author(s). Submitting entities/individuals should specify if the submissions – or parts of them – should be treated confidentially. Upon receipt of the submission, OHCHR will take all necessary measures to protect the confidentiality of the personal details of the authors or any other persons named in the submissions.
Submissions may be in English, Sinhala and Tamil. They must not exceed 10 pages. Should the OISL require additional information, it will contact the author(s) of the submission.

Any video, audio or photographic material related to the submissions should not be submitted via email. Contact the OISL to make arrangements to send it by alternative means.

Email and postal addresses for submissions
By email to: OISL_submissions@ohchr.org
By post to: OISL
UNOG-OHCHR
8-14 Rue de la Paix
CH-1211 Geneva 10
Switzerland

For the HRC Resolution, OISL Terms of Reference and other information on the OISL: OHCHR

Liberation calls for pressure on Sri Lanka to cooperate with UNHRC
13 September 2014
Liberation, a NGO based in the UK, called for the United Nations Human Rights Council (UNHRC) to exert pressure on Sri Lanka to cooperate with the UN inquiry into mass atrocities, ensure that there was adequate witness protection and cease the genocidal processes dismantling the Tamil homeland in the North-East.

Speaking in an interactive dialogue on the report of the Special Rapporteur on Truth, Justice, Reparation and Non-Recurrence, a Liberation Representative, highlighting Sri Lanka’s repeated refusal to co-operate with the UN, said, 

“We urge this council to exert pressure on Sri Lanka to cooperate with the UN inquiry and to ensure the safety of witnesses, as the only means of achieving meaningful accountability and justice for the killing of tens of thousands of Tamils at the end of the armed conflict.” 

Highlighting the ongoing "militarisation, colonisation, and dismantling of the social and economic structure in the North-East," the speaker, went on to call for the end of genocidal processes against Tamils in the North-East for true reconciliation on the island.

Full text of statement reproduced below.

Liberation thanks the Special Rapporteurs for their work and would like to highlight concern regarding the member state of Sri Lanka.

We express deep concern at the Sri Lankan state’s repeated refusal to co-operate with the OHCHR inquiry into mass atrocities, including Sri Lanka's reiteration of that to the Council this week, where they rejected the new Human Rights High Commissioner's call for co-operation.

The Sri Lankan state has sought only to obstruct the process the UN process towards accountability and justice.

The government has denied visas to UN investigators, it has allowed the intimidation of witnesses in the presence of international diplomats and has publicly discussed potential punitive action against those who work with the UN. This intimidation, as pointed out by the High Commissioner for Human Rights, is deeply alarming.

The prominent human rights campaigner, Balendran Jeyakumari, who was arrested in the run up to this Council's March session, remains in custody.

Activists and rights groups who worked towards the set up of a UN inquiry have since been targeted by the Sri Lankan state. Tamil human rights campaigners from member states world wide have been criminalised and their organisations proscribed.   Sri Lanka's MoD  has placed severe restrictions on NGOs in the island.

These acts once again underscore the former OHCHR conclusions highlighting  a lack of political will in Sri Lanka to seek accountability, justice and reconciliation.

Sri Lanka's claims of introducing domestic steps towards accountability, reconciliation and a bill for witness protection, belie the ongoing intimidation of witnesses and Tamils who speak to international officials, as well as the lack of judicial independence and rule of law across the island.

We urge this Council to exert pressure on Sri Lanka to cooperate with the UN inquiry and to ensure the safety of witnesses, as the only means of achieving meaningful accountability and justice for the killing of tens of thousands of Tamils at the end of the armed conflict.

However, Sri Lanka's rejection of this, is not the only barrier to accountability, justice and reparation on the island.

The state's systematic militarisation, colonisation and dismantling of the social and economic structure of the North-East serves to ensure that Tamil people remain subjugated, and their homeland erased. This genocidal process must stop, and a situation of normalcy must be established for the island to see true reconciliation and stability, through a political solution that benefits all the people on the island and addresses the grievances and aspirations of the Tamils in the North-East.

Statement can be seen at 1:08:40 here.

Lake House canteen infested with worms!

 

Saturday, 13 September 2014 

A group of public health inspectors (PHIs) on a routine dengue eradication programme inspected the Lake House (LH) premises on September 11 and found not just dengue larvae, but also many places breeding dengue larvae on a mass scale, say internal sources of the institution. LH newspapers teach the people lessons on curbing dengue mosquitoes, but this has caused immense disgrace to its chairman and nerwspaper editors. They have pleaded with the PHIs not to let this incident to be known by other media institutions. They have also requested a short period to rectify the situation.

Allowing their request, the PHIs have got a promise from them that they would rectify it, and were about to leave the institution, when one employee asked them, for the sake of employee welfare and wellbeing, to go and have a look at the canteen there. After being pressed on by the employees, the group of PHIs has gone to the canteen and inspected the place.

They have first seen that the coconut scraper attached to a table was infested with worms. Every place they inspected thereafter was full of worms, which took them quite by surprise. They have told LH authorities that they had no option but to seal the canteen, as it is a place that provides meals to employees on a daily basis. Again, the LH management have pleaded with them and assured that the standards of the canteen would be brought to required levels within a few days.

It’s A Challenge For Sajith Premadasa To Prove His Genuine Loyalty: Mangala

September 13, 2014 

“It is a challenge for Mr Sajith Premadasa, to prove his genuine loyalty and sincere commitment to upholding party unity and discipline;  that is the expectation of every member of the United National Party.” saysMangala Samaraweera.

Issuing a statement today Samaraweera said  “I do not wish to strengthen the enemy by commenting on the other irrelevant personal accusations he and other media institutions championing his cause are levelling against me especially at a time when an extremely decisive Provincial Election has entered its final phase.”

We publish below the statement in full;

Responding to remarks I made at a news conference on Wednesday, Mr. Sajith Premadasa has issued as usual a vitriolic statement attacking me for ‘challenging’ him. This could not be further from the truth; I merely echoed the view of thousands of UNP activists when I said that his words of total support for our leader in the lead up to the next Presidential election should be matched by his deeds in the weeks ahead.

Hence, it is by no means a challenge that emanates from me. It is a challenge for Mr Sajith Premadasa, to prove his genuine loyalty and sincere commitment to upholding party unity and discipline;  that is the expectation of every member of the United National Party.

I do not wish to strengthen the enemy by commenting on the other irrelevant personal accusations he and other media institutions championing his cause are levelling against me especially at a time when an extremely decisive Provincial Election has entered its final phase. That Mr Premadasa has chosen to devote all his venom at me at a time when he should focus on the misdeeds of the UPFA government is indeed sad. We in the UNP are not at war with each other after all. Our battle should be, must be  with the Government. Especially so at this moment, when a courageous young Parliamentarian has gone so far as to sacrifice his position to strengthen our party’s fortunes at the Uva elections setting a good example to those of us who are fighting for positions even at the cost of destabilising the party and propping up a corrupt regime.