அரசாங்கம் மறுத்தால் மலையக உறவுகளுக்கு வடக்கு - கிழக்கில் காணிகளை வழங்கத்தயார் :சுரேஷ் எம்.பி.

Mon, 11/03/2014

கொஸ்­லந்­தையில் மண் சரிவு அனர்த்­தத்தில் எமது மலை­யக உற­வுகள் பாதிக்­கப்­பட்­டுள்­ளனர். தொடர்ந்தும் 10ஆயி­ரத்­திற்கும் அதி­க­மானோர் அபா­யத்­தினை எதிர்­நோக்­கிய வண்­ண­முள்­ளனர். இவ்­வா­றான நிலையில் அம்­மக்­க­ளுக்கு பாது­காப்­பான இடங்­களில் வீடு­களை அமைத்­துக்­கொள்­வ­தற்­காக அர­சாங்கம் காணி­களை வழங்க மறுத்தால் வடக்கு, கிழக்கு பகு­தி­களில் காணி­களை வழங்க நாங்கள் தயா­ராக இருக்­கின்றோம் என்று தமிழ்த் தேசிய கூட்­ட­மைப்பு தெரி­வித்­துள்­ளது.

மீரி­ய­பெத்­த­வுக்கு நேற்று விஜயம் செய்­தி­ருந்த தமிழ்த்­தே­சியக் கூட்­ட­மைப்­பினர் மண்ச­ரிவு அனர்த்தம் இடம்­பெற்ற பிர­தே­சத்தின் நிலை­மை­களை நேர­டி­யாகப் பார்­வை­யிட்­ட­துடன் பாதிக்­கப்­பட்­ட­வர்­க­ளுக்கு வடக்கு கிழக்கு தமிழ் மக்கள் சார்­பாக தமது அனு­தா­பங்­களை தெரி­வித்­த­துடன் முகாம்­களில் உள்ள மக்­க­ளி­டத்தில் நீண்­ட­நே­ர­மாக கலந்­து­ரை­யா­டி­ருந்­தது. இதன்­போதே அம்­மக்­க­ளி­டத்தில் தமிழ்த்­தே­சியக் கூட்­ட­மைப்பு மேற்­கண்ட­வாறு தெரி­வித்­தது.

அர­சாங்கம் மலை­ய­கத்தில் மண் சரிவு அபாயம் உள்­ள­தாக பல இடங்­களை குறிப்­பிட்டுக் கூறி­யுள்­ளது. இவர்­களை உரிய இடங்­களில் இருந்
தும் வெளி­யேற்றும் முயற்­சி­களும் இடம்­பெற்று வரு­கின்­றன. இது போன்றே கொஸ்­லந்தை பகு­தி­யிலும் மண் சரிவு அபா­யத்­தினை காரணம் காட்டி பாட­சா­லை­களில் தங்க வைக்­கப்­பட்­டுள்­ளனர். 

மண்­ச­ரிவு தொடர்­பான அச்சம் கார­ண­மாக இத்­த­கைய பல குடும்­பங்கள் இடம்­பெ­யர்ந்­துள்­ள­மையை காண முடி­கின்­றது. எனினும் இத்­த­கை­யோர்­க­ளுக்கு புதி­தாக வீட­மைத்துக் கொள்ளும் பொருட்டு அர­சாங்கம் உரிய காணி­களை வழங்­கு­வதில் பின்­ன­டிப்­பையே செய்து வரு­கின்­றது. காணிகள் வழங்­கப்­ப­டு­மி­டத்து வீட­மைப்­பிற்­கென இந்­தியா, அமெ­ரிக்கா உள்­ளிட்ட பல நாடு­களும் இன்னும் பல தொண்டர் நிறு­வ­னங்­களும் ஒத்­து­ழைப்பும் உத­வியும் வழங்கும் என்­பதே உண்மை.

மண்­ச­ரி­வினால் பாதிக்­கப்­பட்­ட­வர்­க­ளுக்கும் பாதிப்­பினை எதிர்­நோக்­கி­யுள்­ள­வர்­க­ளுக்கும் அரசு காணி­களை வழங்க மறுக்­கு­மி­டத்து வடக்கு கிழக்கில் நாம் காணி­களை பெற்­றுக்­கொ­டுக்க தயா­ராக உள்ளோம். பாதிக்­கப்­பட்­ட­வர்­க­ளுக்கு பாது­காப்­பான இடங்­களில் காணிகள் வழங்­கப்­பட வேண்டும். பல்­வேறு அமைப்­புக்­க­ளுடன் கலந்து பேசி வீடுகளை அமைத்துக் கொடுக்கவும் நாம் தயாராகவே உள்ளோம். நாங்கள் யுத்தத்தினால் பல பாதிப்புக்களை எதிர்கொண்டு பல இழப்புக்களையும் சந்தித்திருக்கின்றோம். இழப்புகளின் வலி எங்களுக்கு நன்றாகத் தெரியும். ஆகவே, இயன்ற உதவிகளை நாம் செய்வோம்.

Indifference + Negligence – Political Will = Koslanda

| by Tisaranee Gunasekara

“Throughout recorded history, actions or inactions by self-absorbed kings, chiefs and politicians have been a regular source of societal collapses…”

Jared Diamond (Collapse: How societies choose to fail or survive)

( November 2, 2014, Colombo, Sri Lanka Guardian) The tsunami came sans warning. The very word was alien to most of us. Towering tidal waves were things which happened to other, less fortunate, countries – or so we thought, until that Boxing Day almost a decade ago.

This week’s landslides are another story. The first warnings about the precarious conditions in the Meeriyabedda division of the Koslanda Estate appeared in May 2005; the National Building Research Organisation (NBRO) issued a second warning in November 2011.

Indifference + Negligence – Political Will = Koslanda by Thavam

Landslide victims in need of counselling in Tamil, say relief workers

[TamilNet, Sunday, 02 November 2014, 23:49 GMT]
While assistance has reached landslide victims of Meeriaya-bedda from the grassroots from different parts of the island, independent relief workers who have been assisting the victims of one of massive landslides in recent times complain lack of psychological counselling for the affected children and the adults. They also need proper temporary shelters and new lands for permanent housing need to be identified. “None of these has been forthcoming,” an NGO activist told TamilNet. In the meantime, the student community of the University of Jaffna, the Tamil National Alliance provincial councillors of the Northern Province, Tamil National Peoples Front and Tamil civil society representatives in the North have mobilised immediate humanitarian assistance from the people and sent their first lorry with supplies on 30th October. 

Reports from Meeriabedda on Sunday said humanitarian supplies mobilised by the grassroots from different parts of the island have reached the victims and the supplies are stored in three rooms. The primary concern at the time of this writing is counselling, temporary sheltering and assurance of permanent settlement to the people, according to the independent relief workers. 

Immediately following the catastrophe, the estate workers rescued some of the victims. 

The Sri Lankan government claimed that it had dispatched 500 military personnel, 2 helicopters and excavation machines. But, the independent relief workers, during their visit, only witnessed the presence of around 50 military personnel and one machine. The operation was stopped at 6:00 p.m. due to bad weather. They resumed the rescue operation the following day, but it was very slow. 

The people also complained that the Sinhala military was blocking them from continuing their self-mobilised rescue work. 

The Sinhala-speaking military, which claimed it was there to provide security to the people, was blocking the visitors coming to see the victims on Thursday and Friday. The catastrophe took place on Wendesday, on the 29th October, between 7:20 and 7:30 a.m.

On Thursday, a Sinhala officer at Poonagala School was seen complaining that the victims were not able to understand Sinhala and that he was not able to understand what the victims were saying in Tamil. All the announcements were being made in Sinhala. The SL military was not able to understand that allowing the victims to see their visitors was the first step in providing counselling to the suffering survivors, Tamil relief workers said. 

The victims, stationed in three Poonagala Tamil Maha Viththiyalayam school, Koslanda Tamil Maha Viththiyalayam school and Kepkade Tamil Viththiyalayam are to be transferred to an abandoned Estate Factory in Makanda, a remote place without proper facilities, the relief workers further complained. 

“Now that we have enough humanitarian supplies, the immediate need is counselling and proper sheltering. An assurance of permanent housing is also an important factor in the counselling,” a Tamil relief worker said. 

A 2 km stretch of place, known as the koayil division of Meeriabedde estate, is buried as swathes of rock, mud and rubble triggered by torrential rains swept through the area. Some of the line houses have drowned 30 feet into the mud, the rescue workers said. 

The landslide took place with a deafening noise. There was a very old, 60 feet height Mahamuni statue located in the estate. The estate people say they saw the head of this statue flown high in the air and burst in to pieces with that the landslide occurred with a cloud of smoke devastated the area.

Meeriabedde estate comes under Ampitikanda Estate in Baulla district and belongs to Muskeliya Plantation. The estate is situated closer to the famous Diyaluma waterfall. Earlier, bio tea was cultivated in this estate. For the past one year, the cultivation was undergoing a transformation into rubber and fruit plantations. Most of the people here are engaged in self-employment. Almost all of them had cows and goats. Although there were early warnings of possible landslide, the people were not given land to move out. The people were living in the so-called line rooms.

The day before the disaster occurred, a group of the people had informed the Village Officer (GN) of the Kotabakama division, H.M. Chalani, that a crack had appeared in the area, above the place where their line quarters were situated. The officers from the Disaster Management Centre and National Building Research Organization realized that the situation was dangerous as there was stream of water flowing out of the crack. They asked the people to evacuate the place. Some went out and came back in the morning to collect their things to move to safer places and got caught in the tragedy.

Peradeniya University’s Senior Archaeologist and Professor Kapila Dahanake has said that many construction projects were being carried in the mountainous area after levelling the ground without a proper study on the rock formations and without a proper long-term programme to avoid such disasters. He has urged the relevant officials, the people and the students to be educated about disaster of this nature. The geologists should be consulted about the geophysical condition and historic data of the relevant areas in order to avoid similar tragedies in the future, Kapila Dahanake has said.

Earthslip disaster highlights the neglect of plantation Tamil community - NPC

 Monday, 03 November 2014 

The landslide that buried an entire village on Meeriyabedda Estate in Haldamulla, a tea plantation in Sri Lanka’s central hills is a tragic reminder of a marginalized ethnic minority and the failure of the democratic political system to address their needs. The plantation Tamil people have been discriminated against from the time of Independence from British colonial rule when they were denied their citizenship and continue to suffer from that legacy. The wealth they have produced has gone into the coffers of state and plantation companies, but inputs to upgrade the quality of housing for the plantation workers who toil under extreme weather condition has been minimal and often not meeting minimum requirements to enable them to lead dignified lives.  

Even today the plantation Tamil community continue to be denied land ownership on the plantations where they have lived for generations and live in ramshackle “line houses” constructed during the colonial period. The media has reported that the affected community had been informed of the danger of earth slips and the need to relocate but they had nowhere else to go. There was negligence in the failure of state authorities to relocate the people to safer locations.  The responsibility lies also with the trade unions which are meant to look after the well being of the plantation workers and who are part of the government. The government is improving buildings and infrastructure in the urban areas spending considerable amounts of money. As the plantation workers are the poorest segment of our society the government needs to take the responsibility to find alternative land and houses for them.

The National Peace Council is encouraged by the multi-pronged and national response to the catastrophe faced by the affected people, of whom an estimated 300 were initially believed to have been buried alive and as many as 80 children orphaned, although the government now claims the figures are significantly less. The security forces were quick the dig the area looking for survivors and for bodies, President Mahinda Rajapaksa paid a personal visit and humanitarian supplies have been sent by a number of private companies and organizations in addition to the government. Humanitarian agencies who have deployed staff on the ground also report that there is a substantial influx of relief items to the two safety centres (dry rations, cooked meals, drinking water, clothes, utensils, personal items etc).  The All Ceylon Hindu Congress has offered to admit these children to Hindu College, Ratmalana on full scholarship which could be considered for those orphans who have no families to support them.

We note, however, that the government has decided to take steps to ensure that the orphans will be looked after by the state.  While we commend the government’s willingness to take responsibility for the orphans, we believe that the better environment for them would be with their families or extended families rather than in state-run orphanages. We recommend that the orphans be placed with their relatives whose parental function is strengthened by state support both financial and adequate housing, and by monitoring.  This will ensure that separation of families and the need for institutional care is minimized in accordance with international standards as advocated by the Tokyo-Seoul Declaration to Establish UN World Orphans Day of October 31, 2014. We also recommend that this tragic moment be utilized to address the deeper problems of the plantation Tamil community, especially their inability to own land and thereby improve their conditions of living.

British HC talks importance of religious harmony with Mahanayakes

November 3, 2014 

British High Commissioner to Sri Lanka John Rankin, who met with Mahanayake Theros this morning, discussed the importance of religious harmony and the need for tolerance and respect between religious communities in all countries.

Rankin visited Kandy on Monday (November3), as part of a wider visit to the hill country. 

He paid his respects at the Sacred Temple of the Tooth and met the Venerable Tibbatwawe Sri Siddhartha Sumangala Mahanayake Thero of the Malwatte Chapter and the Venerable Udugama Sri Dhammadassi Rathnapala Buddharakkhita Mahanayake Thero of the Asgiriya Chapter. 

“He thanked the Mahanayakes for receiving His Royal Highness Prince Charles during CHOGM last year. He also discussed the importance of religious harmony and the need for tolerance and respect between religious communities in all countries,” a release by the British High Commission in Colombo said. 

The High Commissioner visited the Garrison Cemetery and the British Council offices in Kandy. He also laid a wreath at the Commonwealth War Grave Cemetery as a mark of respect to all those buried there, in the centenary year of the start of WWI.   

Scottish Take No Crap

| by Helasingha Bandara
( November 2, 2014, Colombo, Sri Lanka Guardian) The English take the Mickey out of the Scottish claiming that the Scottish are more of brawn than of brain. At times that brawn comes handy. Wherever they are, the Scottish do not take crap from people like Malaka Silva. The story could be that the diminutive but lecherous Malaka cold have poured saliva over the pretty girlfriend of the Scotsman. He must have approached the girl in that indecent, depraved, uncultured manner of the youth of Sri Lanka today. Those guys do not know the world and they have not seen how decent people approach a woman. So they think that their macho approach would win a woman. This writer has no doubt that the Scotsman would have stood his ground to protect his girlfriend from abuse and sexual harassment and in that process may have thumped the ugly little brat of Mervin Silva. It is no surprise that those unruly sons of politicians are surrounded by many bone suckers. They must have assaulted the foreign couple having numbers in their favour. I bet if the little sucker faced the Scotsman on his own he could have been a pulp by now.

This is one virus that the Rajapaksha regime is grooming to be a politician to govern this country, what a terrible mistake it can be! There is no end to the thirst for good looking women in this thug’s brain until one day, without doubt, someone takes that brain matter out. Those people can survive only in a cesspool like Sri Lanka where there is no rule of law, no democracy, no fair play, no discipline and on the part of people no brain.

“ We people are the masters of congress and the courts. We are here not to overthrow the constitution, but to overthrow the people who pervert the constitution” (Abraham Lincoln). Does this ever apply to Sri Lanka? I doubt!

We Love our country, certainly not who rule it, certainly not a section of the society who exploit and rob its wealth and to do so use numerous means of evil. We still call this land a blessed land. Are we from the blessed land or are we a blessed nation?

Without an iota of doubt, it can be proclaimed that the Scotsman comes from a blessed country and a blessed nation. Although the English ridicule the Scottish for their bravery, the English used to send the Scottish to the battle front all the time when they went on conquering the world. I am here to remind all of them that the Scottish are not only brawn but brain too. If we look at who changed the world for the better forever, they come from this tiny nation of now five million people. The following few and many more from this nation revolutionized the way of life of human beings forever. The world should worship them and celebrate their lives.

James Watt, a Scotsman, invented steam engine which revolutionized industries and transport. Alexander Graham Bell, the great Scotsman Invented telephone and his compatriot John Logie Baired invented Television and those inventions have made the world too small in terms of communication. If not for Alexander Fleming, another great Scotsman who discovered Penicillin, the world could not be the same. Other Scotsmen like Kirkpatrick Macmillan-bicycle, John Boyd Dunlop -Modern Tyre, James Black- Beta Blockers, James Young Simpson- Chloroform, William Murdoch –Gas lighting etc are another few great Scotsmen, the list is endless. Those are the blessed people and they belong to blessed lands and nations. Not Malaka or Mervin Silvas, neither the Rajapakshas.

Namal seeks doctorate in criminology

MONDAY, 03 NOVEMBER 2014

It is revealed that President’s son Parliamentarian Namal Rajapaksa is reading for a doctorate in criminology at Sri Jayawardenepura University. Interestingly, Professor of Geography Prof. H.N. Karunaratna acts as the consultative professor for the subject.  
There was quite an uproar when Mr. Namal Rajapaksa sat for the law examination. He answered the question papers alone in a special room with internet facilities. A student who sat the same exam the same year challenged this move and filed a fundamental petition at Human Rights Commission.  He received death threats after he filed the petition and had to go abroad. 
Parliamentarian Namal Rajapaksa reading for the doctorate without even having a degree for criminology too is quite out of the ordinary. Meanwhile, it is revealed that a professor involved in holding workshops for police officers is making available the necessary theses to Mr. Rajapaksa.

Namal Rajapaksa

Wikipedia

Final exams controversy[edit]

In December 2010, several media sources reported that Rajapaksa had allegedly received special treatment during his final examination at Sri Lanka Law College.^[18][19][20] A fellow law student, Thushara Jayarathna, alleged that Rajapaksa had been given a separate room along with an internet enabled computer, later filing a complaint with the Law College examination system, Keselwaththa police station and the Supreme Court.^[19]

Media and NGO sources reports that Jayarathna's complaints were largely ignored or rejected,^[21] although he appeared before the college authorities early in January 2011.^[19] After the incident, sources reported that Jayarathna had been allegedly abducted and beaten up by the police, and that he also received multiple death threats traced to the police^[20] and the college.^[21][22][23]

According to the principal of the college, an investigation had been held but it concluded that the allegations "were based on hearsay" and "unfounded".^[24] Although the official investigation didn't find anything irregular, the threats against Jayarathna have not been investigated.^[21] The Colombo Telegraph reported that the consequences of Jayarathna's reporting wasn't unusual and that he is one of several others who have been harassed or persecuted after filing complaints against the ruling family or the police.^[19] Chief JusticeAsoka de Silva also questioned the investigation, saying "We have only one Law College in Sri Lanka. If there are suspicions over its credibility, it will affect the whole profession."^[18]

Rajapaksa was sworn in as an attorney at law on 15 December 2011 before a panel of Supreme Court judges including Chief Justice Shirani Bandaranayake.^[25][26]

Absent in Action Sri Lanka on nuclear weapons

 

Monday, 03 November 2014 01

Sri Lanka's foreign policy has recently been the target of much criticism and one can cite a litany of scandals and questionable departures from professionalism and our traditional Non-aligned stance.

These are now overshadowed by the glaring lack of principle and consistency recently seen in the First Committee of the current UN General Assembly sessions where Disarmament and Security issues are discussed and voted upon. One hundred and fifty five governments, led by New Zealand, presented a joint statement at the United Nations First Committee on the catastrophic humanitarian consequences of nuclear weapons use. In 2013, in First Committee, a similar statement obtained the signatures of 125 governments. Both last year and this year, Sri Lanka refused to sign these statements.

Opposition to weapons of mass destruction in general, and nuclear weapons in particular, has been a well-known position in Sri Lanka’s foreign policy. Previous Governments signed and ratified the Treaty for the Non-proliferation of Nuclear Weapons (NPT); the Outer Space Treaty banning the placement of nuclear weapons in outer space, and the Seabed Treaty banning the placement of nuclear weapons on the seabed and ocean floor. The Comprehensive Nuclear Test Ban Treaty (CTBT) has been signed, but the present Government is inexplicably holding off on its ratification, which fortunately does not affect the entry into force of the Treaty. Sri Lanka has held prominent positions in Disarmament Conferences, and is a member of the sole multilateral disarmament negotiating body, the Geneva-based Conference on Disarmament.

 As a founder member of the Non-aligned Movement (NAM), Sri Lanka has supported the call for the total elimination of nuclear weapons. Indeed it was at the 1976 Fifth NAM Summit in Colombo that the historic First UN Special Session Devoted to Disarmament was mooted where the priority of nuclear disarmament was clearly established. Accordingly as recently as 2012 when the 16th NAM Summit was held in Tehran the 120 NAM nations agreed at para 151 of its Final Document: “The Heads of State or Government reaffirmed the Movement’s principled positions on nuclear disarmament, which remains its highest priority, and on the related issue of nuclear non-proliferation in all its aspects. They stressed the importance that efforts aiming at nuclear non-proliferation should be parallel to simultaneous efforts aiming at nuclear disarmament. They stressed their concern at the threat to humanity posed by the continued existence of nuclear weapons and of their possible use or threat of use.”
  The joint statement now issued at the UN by the 155 countries led by New Zealand warns humankind yet again that

"It is in the interest of the very survival of humanity that nuclear weapons are never used again, under any circumstances. The catastrophic effects of a nuclear weapon detonation, whether by accident, miscalculation or design, cannot be adequately addressed”.
 The call to action tellingly concludes on the responsibility that lies on us as citizens:
 "By raising awareness about this issue, civil society has a crucial role to play side-by-side with governments as we fulfil our responsibilities. We owe it to future generations to work together to do just that, and in doing so to rid our world of the threat posed by nuclear weapons."
 Will Sri Lanka return to decency and NAM principles?
 Jayantha Dhanapala                           

Professor Savitri Goonesekere,             

Suriya Wickremasinghe,
For and On Behalf of the Friday Forum

Mr. Jayantha Dhanapala, Professor Savitri Goonesekere, Ms. Suriya Wickremasinghe, Dr. G. Usvatte-aratchi,
Mr. J.C. Weliamuna, Mr. Tissa Jayatilaka, Professor Ranjini Obeyesekere, Mr. Faiz-ur.Rahman,
Professor Arjuna Aluwihare, Ms. Damaris Wickremesekera, Dr. Selvy Thiruchandran, Professor Camena Gunaratne,  Dr. Deepika Udagama, Rev. Dr. Jayasiri Peiris,  Ms. Manouri Muttetuwegama, Rt. Reverend Duleep de Chickera,
Dr. A. C. Visvalingam, Professor Gananath Obeyesekere, Mr. Pulasthi Hewamanna, Mr. Danesh Casie Chetty      Mr. Ranjit Fernando, Mr. Dhammapala Wijayanandana, Mr. Saliya Pieris, Mr. Chandra Jayaratne,

China's submarine in Sri Lanka inimical to India's interests, govt infuriated

Saibal Dasgupta,TNN | Nov 3, 2014,

NEW DELHI: Days after Vietnam PM Nguyen Tan Dung's visit to India, a Chinese sub, Changzheng 2, has again docked at the Colombo port, sparking "enormous concerns" within the government about the intentions of Sri Lankan President Mahinda Rajapaksa.

READ ALSO: Sri Lanka snubs India, opens port to Chinese submarine again

India perturbed over Beijing's 'warming relations' with Sri Lanka, China says

Saibal Dasgupta,TNN | Nov 3, 2014

BEIJING: China has strongly defended its decision to dock submarines at the Colombo port on two occasions and said "there is nothing unusual for naval vessels to dock at Colombo port despite concerns raised by India".

"It is an international common practice for navy submarine to stop for refueling and crew refreshment at an oversea port," a Chinese defence ministry official said.

China's Submarine in Sri Lanka Inimical to India's Interests, Govt Infuriated by Thavam

Britain axes aid to Ethiopian police amid human rights outcry

Document warning that aid programme posed 'high' risk to human rights deleted from Government website as £27 million aid scheme axed

Britain has given £1 billion in aid, including around £70 million for “governance and security” projects, to the country over three years

By Matthew Holehouse, Political Correspondent- 31 Oct 2014

Britain has suspended most of a £27 million aid programme to support Ethiopia’s police force, The Telegraph has learnt, amid mounting allegations of torture, rape and murder by the regime.

Ministers pulled the plug on a scheme intended to improve criminal investigations, help Ethiopian police “interact with communities on local safety” and help women access the justice system.

The cancellation coincides with an Amnesty International report that documents how the Ethiopian security forces have conducted a campaign of torture, mutilation, rape and murder in order to suppress political opposition.

Britain has given £1 billion in aid, including around £70 million for “governance and security” projects, to the country over three years. Critics of the ruling regime have disappeared, and Amnesty International found allegations of men being blinded and women being gang raped and burnt with hot coals by regime officials.

There are mounting fears for the safety of Andy Tsege, a British national and critic of the regime, who was abducted in Yemen before being tortured and sentenced to death

The Department for International Development said the project was cancelled because it did not represent “value for money” and because of “risk” in getting it delivered on time.

It insisted that the cancellation of the project was entirely unrelated to allegations of human rights abuses, and said the decision pre-dated the Amnesty International report.

However, earlier this year an internal government assessment of the programme warned it posed a “high” risk to human rights, upgrading it from medium.

The document noted that the Government of Ethiopia appeared reluctant to improve the human rights situation. “The underlying assumption of GoE’s commitment to reform in the security sector is sensitive and subject to a range of factors (e.g. terrorist attacks inside Ethiopia). In light of this, we propose elevating the risk to ‘high’.”

It also warned that work had been “poor quality” with “weak value for money”. There were “tensions” between British aid workers and the Government of Ethiopia, with Ethiopian civil servants complaining over being “overwhelmed” by paperwork. Work fell behind the timetable.

The document, an annual assessment of the scheme, was subsequently deleted from the website.

DfID said the document was deleted because the programme had changed. The decision to axe the programme went unannounced before inquiries from this newspaper, despite mounting concern at the deteriorating situation in the country.

A DfID spokesman said: “DFID has suspended major activities under the Community Safety and Justice programme because of concerns about risk and value for money. We are updating the website to reflect programme changes.”

One element of the scheme, run by Harvard University in measuring the effectiveness of justice reforms, will continue to be funded by Britain.

The deletion of the documents was detected by Reprieve, the anti-death penalty charity which is campaigning for Mr Tsege's release.

"While MrTsege is held in a secret prison in Ethiopia under sentence of death, Dfid has inexplicably scrubbed alltraces of this funding from its website," said Maya Foa, the head of the death penalty team. "The Government should be using its extensive influence in Ethiopia to ensure the safety of one of its nationals, not aiding the very forces responsible for his detention - then removing the evidence.”

A blistering report on Thursday warned that British aid money is fuelling corruption overseas. One development project in Nepal encouraged people to forge documents to gain grants while police stations in Nigeria linked to British aid were increasingly demanding bribes, the Independent Commission on Aid Impact found.

Russia calls for talks with Kiev after separatist elections

Moscow says vote should be respected but stops short of recognising Donetsk and Luhansk as independent

Alexander Zakharchenko (centre), the rebel leader in Donetsk, has claimed an easy victory in one of Ukraine’s separatist elections. Photograph: Photomig/EPA

Shaun Walker in Donetsk-Monday 3 November 2014

Russia has given cautious backing to a vote in separatist regions of east Ukraine, which local rebels said proved they would never again be ruled by Kiev. Russia has not recognised the Donetsk and Luhansk “people’s republics” as independent, but said the vote should be respected.

Most other countries have dismissed the vote as illegitimate, and Kiev has said it will open criminal cases against the organisers. There were no recognised international observers present. Nevertheless, the poll was one more step in the de facto separation of the region from the rest of Ukraine.

“The elected representatives of Donetsk and Luhansk regions obtained a mandate to hold negotiations with central Ukrainian authorities to solve problems … via a political dialogue,” said Russia’s deputy foreign minister, Georgy Karasin, on Monday.

Western diplomats have been left guessing exactly what Moscow wants in the region. It seems clear the Kremlin does not want to annex the territory Crimea-style, but Moscow’s talk of negotiations between the separatists and Kiev was at odds with the noises coming out of Donetsk itself.

“Kiev has to come to terms with the idea that Donbass is not part of Ukraine,” said Roman Lyagin, head of the separatists’ electoral committee. “Whether they will recognise the result of our vote or not is Kiev’s problem.”

A spokesman for German chancellor Angela Merkel said on Monday that Berlin found it incomprehensible that “official Russian voices” should recognise the election. Earlier, the German foreign minister, Frank-Walter Steinmeier, called on Russia to respect “the unity of Ukraine”.

The rebels have also threatened to launch a renewed military assault on the city of Mariupol, part of Donetsk region but currently under Ukrainian control.

Kiev seemingly gave up its attempts to regain control of the territories militarily, after a rebel push apparently backed by regular Russian forces routed Ukrainian forces in August. According to an agreement brokered in Minsk in September, the territories should have special status within Ukraine, but the facts on the ground show that the regions have split off completely.

In Donetsk, Sunday’s vote was won by Alexander Zakharchenko, a former mine electrician who has been the de factor leader of the Donetsk rebels since August, when a number of people with links to Russian security services were withdrawn and replaced with locals. He received more than 70% of the vote, according to a count announced on Monday.

In the absence of real voter lists, there was no way to measure the turnout properly but there were long queues of voters at several polling stations the Guardian visited on Sunday. The majority of people said they were voting “for peace” and for a future separate from Ukraine. Many people expressed a desire for Russia to seize the region in the same way it annexed Crimea from Ukraine earlier this year.

Hundreds of thousands of people have left the region, some to other parts of Ukraine, and some to Russia, where they have been put up in refugee camps near the border or housed in cities across Russia. It is unclear how many will return.

Many people on the streets of Donetsk expressed happiness at the vote on Monday, as one more step towards ensuring Kiev’s forces will not return. Artillery booms are still audible in Donetsk as a small contingent of Ukrainian forces remains locked in battle with the rebels at Donetsk airport.

Most of those who supported a unified Ukraine left Donetsk as things turned nastier, while the ones who have remained have kept quiet in an atmosphere of fear, in which those suspected of pro-Kiev sympathies could be arrested or worse.

“I have retained a little bit of hope that maybe this will all end, that maybe we will wake up and it will be a bad dream,” said one young woman who has remained in Donetsk throughout the year, mainly due to love for her job. “But now it’s obvious that there’s going to be nothing good here. I’m going to move to Kiev.”

Dmitry Neilo, a lawyer who is cooperating with the Donetsk authorities to help draft new laws, said currently the Donetsk People’s Republic has only passed about ten laws, and with the election of a parliament the priority will now be to draft a proper legal code and tax system. Up to now, the system has worked on an ad hoc base, with widespread reports of looting and extortion by rebel officials and gunmen.

Rebel authorities said Zakharchenko’s inauguration would take place in Donetsk on Tuesday.