Canada’s immigration reputation: Charting the Tories’ commitment to taking in refugees

Syrian refugees stand outside their tents during a sandstorm, in a refugee camp in the town of Bar Elias, in Lebanon on Tuesday, Sept. 8, 2015.

Monika Warzecha | September 9, 2015

As the world grapples with the Syrian refugee crisis, critics are questioning Prime Minister Stephen Harper’s characterization of Canada as a country with “the most generous immigration and refugee system in the world.”

Canada’s Immigration Reputation Charting the Tories’ Commitment to Taking in Refugees by Thavam Ratna

Cameron, Hollande and Merkel: Why we support the Iran deal

By David Cameron, François Hollande and Angela Merkel September 10 at 1:02 PMGerman Chancellor Angela Merkel, right, walks with British Prime Minister David Cameron, left, and French President Francois Hollande in Kruen, Germany, Sunday, June 7, 2015, prior to the G-7 summit in Schloss Elmau hotel near Garmisch-Partenkirchen. (Sven Hoppe/AP)

By David Cameron, François Hollande and Angela Merkel-September 10

David Cameron, François Hollande and Angela Merkel are, respectively, the prime minister of Britain, the president of France and the chancellor of Germany.

The U.S. Congress is voting this week on whether to support the agreement that our countries, along with the United States, Russia and China, reached with Iran to curb its nuclear program. This is an important moment. It is a crucial opportunity at a time of heightened global uncertainty to show what diplomacy can achieve.

Iran’s nuclear program has been a source of concern for more than a decade. Iran claimed that its ambitions were purely civil: All countries have the right under the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty to use nuclear technology for peaceful purposes. But as recently as two years ago, we faced an alarming expansion in Iran’s program: a growing stockpile of uranium, some of itenriched up to 20 percent; an increase in the number of centrifuges, including more powerful new-generation machines; a deeply bunkered enrichment facility at Fordow; and the near completion of a research reactor at Arak capable of producing weapons-grade plutonium. And, of course, the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) had limited visibility of some aspects of Iran’s program.

This posed a serious threat — not only to the security of Iran’s neighbors and for Israel, but also to our countries. A nuclear arms race in the Middle East would have added a disastrous new element to an already unstable region.

We had a shared responsibility to deal with this threat. The long history of fruitless nuclear talks with Iran did not give strong grounds for optimism. Nevertheless, two years of tough, detailed negotiation have produced an agreement that closes off all possible routes to an Iranian nuclear weapon in return for phased relief from nuclear-related sanctions.

We fully support this agreement because it achieves the goals we had set ourselves. It deals with the uranium enrichment route to a bomb by requiring Iran to reduce by 98 percent its stockpile of enriched uranium; to lower by two-thirds the number of its centrifuges; to limit uranium enrichment levels; and to stop using the deep Fordow site for enrichment. It closes the plutonium route through changes to the Arak reactor so that it does not produce weapons-grade plutonium. And it ensures the IAEA enhanced access not only to Iran’s nuclear facilities and the entire nuclear fuel cycle but also, where needed, to any undeclared site.

In return, Iran will get phased relief from nuclear-related sanctions — but only as it meets its own commitments in concrete ways, verified by the IAEA. And we have all agreed on provisions for the return of sanctions if Iran were to substantially breach the agreement.

This is not an agreement based on trust or on any assumption about how Iran may look in 10 or 15 years. It is based on detailed, tightly written controls that are verifiable and long-lasting. Iran will have strong incentives not to cheat: The near certainty of getting caught and the consequences that would follow would make this a losing option.

We condemn in no uncertain terms that Iran does not recognize the existence of the state of Israel and the unacceptable language that Iran’s leaders use about Israel. Israel’s security matters are, and will remain, our key interests, too. We would not have reached the nuclear deal with Iran if we did not think that it removed a threat to the region and the non-proliferation regime as a whole.

We did not reach the nuclear deal in the expectation that Iran’s external policy would change any time soon. But it does address the threat from Iran’s nuclear program and may open the way to recognition by Iran that collaboration with its neighbors is better than confrontation: Although we may not have the same interests as Iran, we do face some common challenges, including the threat from ISIL.

We are confident that the agreement provides the foundation for resolving the conflict on Iran’s nuclear program permanently. This is why we now want to embark on the full implementation of the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action, once all national procedures are complete.

Read more:

Sen. Ben Cardin: I will vote against the Iran deal

Israeli ambassador Ron Dermer: Four major problems with the Iran deal

Brent Scowcroft: Congress should back the Iran deal

Israeli soldiers ordered to “map entire Palestinian civilian population”

Israeli soldiers raid the West Bank village of Awarta in June 2014.

 Nedal EshtayahAPA images

Maureen Clare Murphy Rights and Accountability 10 September 2015

Israel’s “mapping procedure” reveals the profound control that it exerts on Palestinians living under its military rule.

The mapping procedure unfolds much like Israel’s routine nighttime arrest raids in the occupied West Bank.

Armed soldiers surround a Palestinian family’s home in the dead of the night. A squad bangs on the front door, waking everyone up. Once inside, the soldiers gather the residents into a single room.

Israeli Soldiers Ordered to “Map Entire Palestinian Civilian Population” by Thavam Ratna

Northern Ireland's first minister Peter Robinson steps down

Stormont coalition kept alive in ‘zombie form’ after DUP leader says Arlene Foster will be acting FM but three other ministers will resign over IRA row
Peter Robinson will be replaced as temporary first minister by his DUP colleague Arlene Foster. Photograph: Niall Carson/PA

Sinn Féin’s Martin McGuinness and Gerry Adams confer before speaking to the press on Thursday. Photograph: Charles McQuillan/Getty Images

Henry McDonald Ireland correspondent-Thursday 10 September 2015

Northern Ireland’s first minister has stepped down from the region’s power-sharing government on the brink of collapse over police allegations that the IRAstill exists.

Peter Robinson’s announcement came after his Democratic Unionist party, the largest at Stormont, was defeated in a vote to suspend the assembly for emergency talks to take place.

Northern Ireland's First Minister Peter Robinson Steps Down by Thavam Ratna

When Dictators Die

The world’s dictators are aging — but democrats shouldn’t be too quick to rejoice.

BY ANDREA KENDALL-TAYLOR, ERICA FRANTZ-SEPTEMBER 10, 2015

There are 55 authoritarian leaders in power throughout the world. Eleven of these leaders are 69 years old or older, and they are in varying stages of declining health. Most of these aging dictators, such as Angola’s Jose Eduardo Dos Santos (73 years old), Kazakhstan’s Nursultan Nazarbayev (75 years old), and Zimbabwe’s Robert Mugabe (91 years old), have been in power for decades. At first blush this paints a hopeful picture for democracy watchers, who have recently documented a slow but steady authoritarian resurgence. Surely the fact that 20 percent of the world’s autocracies face the specter of succession provides an opportunity for new democracies to emerge — or does it?

When Dictators Die by Thavam Ratna

Every day could be ‘parade blue’: Should Beijing prolong its partial car ban?

Beijing smog. Pic: Xiaojun Deng (Flickr CC)

By Graham Land Sep 10, 2015

For two weeks, it seemed that China had done the impossible: it had transformed Beijing’s now-trademark smoggy gray air into clear blue skies. By temporarily halting operations at hundreds of factories in the capital region and beyond, and cutting car traffic in half, Beijing’s air quality index (AQI) dropped to a healthy 17/500.

The reason behind the strict pollution-limiting measures was China’s massive parade marking the 70th anniversary of the end of World War II, in which around 12,000 soldiers — among them some foreign contingents — marched and showcased military equipment, including 200 fighter jets. It was the country’s largest-ever display of military power.

According to . . . the state-run Beijing Times, officials cleaned up Beijing’s air in advance of the parade by suspending or restricting the operations of 12,255 coal-burning boilers, factories and cement-mixing stations scattered among seven provinces. About 5,700 of the enterprises were in Beijing and in Hebei province, which surrounds the city.

Aside from closing factories, authorities restricted the city’s 5 million registered cars to driving on every other day. The measures began in late August and precipitated a 15-day run of relatively clean air.

(via the Los Angeles Times)

‘Parade blue’ forever…

The temporary fresh air was given an unofficial name, ‘parade blue’, which spread via China’s social media, reminiscent of what happened regarding the ‘APEC blue’ skies that briefly graced Beijing during the city’s hosting of last November’s APEC summit. In the fast-moving world of social media, the cynical tagline ‘APEC blue’ became synonymous with any briefly beautiful phenomenon.

And so it was with ‘parade blue’. The day after the parade, factories and car traffic returned to normal and Beijing’s AQI climbed to an ‘unhealthy’ 160/500 — though at the time of writing this the city’s AQI is at 46, a ‘good’ rating.

Is road space rationing a no-brainer? 

Various cities around the world have experimented with compulsory reduced road traffic in order to improve air quality. Some still do. Latin American cities, such as São Paulo, Brazil and Mexico City, have implemented permanent schemes for many years. The city of Athens, Greece and the entire country of Honduras also have road space rationing policies. During the 2008 Olympics, Beijing used road space rationing to reduce urban pollution for a full two months.

Other metropolises, like London, employ a ‘congestion charge’ to limit traffic, though congestion charges have been criticized as being less egalitarian than road space rationing, which is based on cars’ license plate numbers rather than putting a fixed price on driving in the city. Of course, if you are willing to pay enough, even avoiding rationing has a price. World Bank research showed that some, more affluent, residents of Mexico City got around its ‘Hoy No Circula’ policy by buying more cars in order to have alternate license plate numbers. Some, who couldn’t afford new cars, bought older, more polluting vehicles as second cars.

Increased reliance on public transport and bicycles could work well with traffic reduction schemes. Pic: Mike Dong (Flickr CC)

Rationing, but not on its own

This opinion piece in the Rappler discusses some of the problems with road space rationing schemes, particularly in Metro Manila, the Philippines, where the policy is known as ‘coding’:

In the grand scheme of things, even the “smart” incarnations of coding do little by themselves to reduce driving. To significantly change driving attitudes, a comprehensive package of demand management policies must be implemented.

These tools include economic measures such as parking and fuel taxes, which are tried-and-tested in reducing driving demand. The proceeds of such levies often directly fund public transport improvements, which are the most crucial efforts of all in maximizing mobility of people and reducing our dependence on cars.

Manila, where road space rationing bafflingly extends even to public transport vehicles, may be an example of how not to implement such a policy. In the Philippines, as in Mexico, some license plate numbers can be chosen, making it much easier for wealthier residents to functionally make themselves exempt from the scheme.

Nonetheless, we have seen what a difference sensible anti-pollution policies can make in Beijing, even when implemented on a temporary basis. An intelligent, fair and permanent road traffic policy could drastically improve air quality in the Chinese capital, with immensebenefits to public health and productivity.

Hamstrung by red tape, hospital operators buy their way into India

A general view of Gleneagles Khubchandani hospital is seen in Mumbai, India, August 26, 2015. Picture taken August 26, 2015.

Garbage is seen near the Gleneagles Khubchandani hospital in Mumbai, India, September 7, 2015. Picture taken September 7, 2015.

NEW DELHI | BY ADITYA KALRA AND ADITI SHAH-Thu Sep 10, 2015

For nearly two years, Parkway Pantai has delayed the opening of its 450-bed India hospital, the Singapore-based medical firm's bid to cash in on one of Asia's fastest growing private healthcare markets, as it waited for the necessary permits.

Parkway, a unit of the world's second largest healthcare group by market value IHH Healthcare Bhd, now intends to use acquisitions to quickly expand in India, where the private hospitals market is estimated to be worth $55 billion a year but where companies must obtain as many as 70 clearances from federal and local authorities to launch a new facility.

"Greenfield is off the agenda," Ramesh Krishnan, Parkway's head of Middle East and South Asia operations, told Reuters by telephone from Singapore. "It's a market you don't want to wait eternally to tap into, so we've basically decided to do it inorganically. It's just a question of a shorter runway."

In Mumbai, garbage festers around Parkway's already built Gleneagles Khubchandani hospital, which had been expected to open in 2012. Krishnan said it will now open next year.

Expanding through acquisitions has increasingly become the tactic of choice for hospital operators seeking to speedily expand in India, where the demand for private healthcare is booming thanks to an overburdened public healthcare system.

Data from BofA-ML Global Research shows the private hospital market is set to grow 16 percent a year to reach $120 billion by 2020, almost double the size of the Chinese market.

This expansion strategy, however, does nothing to address a severe shortage of hospital beds, or bring down the cost of healthcare, issues that Prime Minister Narendra Modi's government has so far failed to fix despite election promises to upgrade the entire healthcare sector.

India has 7 hospital beds per 10,000 people, lower than Southeast Asia's average of 10 beds and China's 38 beds, the World Health Organisation said last year.

"Acquisitions are good for the industry, but can have worrying long-term implications for infrastructure development in the sector," said Rana Mehta, head of healthcare at consultants PwC India.

For graphic on India's hospital beds, click link.reuters.com/gyp55w

For graphic on private hospital market, click link.reuters.com/wyw55w

BUY TRUMPS BUILD

Expanding through acquisitions is more lucrative for hospital firms than starting from scratch: the BofA-ML data shows companies pay up to $150,000 to set up a new bed in India, or more than double the $60,000 they pay to buy an existing bed.

Acquisitions in India also remain cheaper than in many other countries: in Singapore, it costs $1.5 million to buy a hospital bed, and in South Africa, the cost is $100,000, the data shows.

So far this year, IHH Healthcare has bought majority stakes in India's Global Hospitals Group and Continental Hospitals for about $240 million. The company already holds a 10.85 percent stake in India's largest hospital chain Apollo Hospitals Enterprise.

"In India, strategic acquisitions help increase our speed to market and meet the pent-up demand for quality private healthcare," IHH Chief Executive Tan See Leng said via email.

Privately owned Cygnus Hospitals said it plans to add about 35 hospitals to its network by 2018 solely through acquisitions. Manipal Hospitals has also ruled out building new facilities. "The land permits and other clearances can take years," said Manipal's Chief Operating Officer Gopal Devanahalli.

The cost of suitable real estate, especially in rapidly developing cities, is also deterring hospital operators from building new facilities. Property consultants Jones Lang LaSalle said land prices in Ahmedabad, Pune and Hyderabad, among others, have risen by more than a third since 2011.

In June, Apollo Hospitals acquired a 220-bed hospital in Guwahati after it failed to find suitable land to build a new hospital in the northeastern city.

"Cost of real estate and construction in some locations has become so prohibitive that it makes sense for us to evaluate acquisitions," said Chief Financial Officer Krishnan Akhileswaran. Apollo was also looking into possibly acquiring hospitals in Assam and Karnataka states, he added.

(Additional reporting by Zeba Siddiqui and Shailesh Andrade in MUMBAI, Tripti Kalro in BANGALORE, Yantoultra Ngui in KUALA LUMPUR and Aradhana Aravindhan in SINGAPORE; Editing by Miral Fahmy)

New 'human' species discovered in South Africa

THURSDAY 10 SEPTEMBER 2015

Scientists announce the discovery of a new human-like species named Homo Naledi, buried deep in a remote cave chamber in South Africa.

Credit: Homo naledi John Hawks Wits University

New 'Human' Species Discovered in South Africa by Thavam Ratna

Indian men waiting for female Viagra’s arrival:

Docssay that’s because they are lazy in bed!

BY S VENKAT NARAYAN-September 8, 2015

Our Special Correspondent

NEW DELHI, September 4: Ever since the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) approved flibanserin, the ‘female libido enhancer" dubbed by the media as ‘female Viagra’ a fortnight ago, Indian sexologists’ phones have not stopped ringing.

The callers are not women wanting to know when the magic pink pill will hit the Indian drug stores. Actually, it is men who are bombarding the doctors with phone calls, wanting to know when the pill will be available in India.

"Evidently, more men are interested in the pill than women!" quips Mumbai-based sexologist Dr Prakash Kothari.

Flibanserin will be marketed under the brand name Addyi by Sprout Pharmaceuticals. Sprout is yet to make an application to the Indian drug control authorities to market the drug in the country. Yet, out of the first 1,00,000 Google searches for ‘Viagra for women,’ the third largest number was from India (Australia and the US took the first two places).

And sexologists say, going by the calls and mails that clog their phones, most of them would be married men.

Why are Indian men so curious about flibanserin, the first ever ‘libido enhancing drug’? "Because they are lazy," declares Chennai-based sexologist Dr Narayana Reddy. "Most of them who complain about their women being frigid don’t do foreplay or just don’t understand their women enough."

In the case of Dr Kothari’s patient Akash, this turned out to be true.

The sexologist asked him why he needs the pill. Akash explained: "My wife was not getting turned on when I tried to kiss her."

Inquiries with his wife revealed something else. "His wife said Akash was not devoting enough time with her. And he didn’t know she couldn’t stand the smell of tobacco when he tries to kiss her," Dr Kothari revealed.

Dr Reddy says a lot of pink pills—-and the side effects that come with them—-can be saved if men try harder to connect with the women at an emotional level. "The magic word here is `talk’, not `pill’.

It will be October before flibanserin reaches drug stores in the US, and it may take several more months to come to India since Sprout Pharmaceuticals is yet to make an application here. Nevertheless, sexologists and gynaecologists across India are flooded with inquiries. Experts say curiosity must be driving the initial enthusiasm, but caution should be the catchword.

Many doctors are wary of prescribing the drug because it was rejected by FDA twice for its side effects. They say the India government should conduct trials for the drug to understand the required dosage and effectiveness on Indian women, like it did for sildanafil (Viagra) almost 17 years ago.While Viagra improves blood flow to genitals, Addyi plays with women’s brain chemicals.And that, experts caution, doesn’t work well for many women.

"I have seen around 50,000 cases of low sexual desire among women," says Mumbai’s Dr Kothari. "A majority of them suffer from obsessive compulsive disorder, depression or anxiety. Or they have some problems with some organs.The drug may not work on such people, and hence a thorough check-up is needed before flibanserin is prescribed."

Adds Chennai-based sexologist Dr Narayana Reddy: "Those who qualify for the drug are those with low sexual desire without any apparent physiological reason. A very small segment of people belong to this category."

The history of the drug - being rejected twice by FDA - makes doctors wary . "There seems to be a lot of controversy around the pill," says Dr Manika Khanna, a senior doctor at New Delhi-based Gaudium IVF Centre.

"If the FDA itself says there are sideeffects like nausea, drowsiness and low blood pressure, it should not be prescribed to anyone currently on anti-depressants, those suffering from vertigo, hypotension or any sort of brain problem," cautions Dr Reddy .

For those partying, this could be another dampener: Addyi should not be taken by people who drink. Many people who think of it as a female Viagra may not know these facts, say doctors. "It is important that a complete clinical history of the patient is taken before the drug is prescribed," says Dr Kothari.

Dr Khanna calls for trials in India. Bengaluru-based gynaecologist Dr Devika Gunasheela agrees. "Trials are compulsory for any new drug before being introduced into the Indian market. The Indian population is genetically very different from the Caucasian population, so our requirements and absorption levels are different. Many medicines react differently on Indians and Americans," she told The Times of India.

A senior officer at the Central Drugs Standard Control Organisation said that the company has not applied for permission to manufacture or distribute Addyi in India.

"When they apply, we will conduct trials. The only time we exempt a drug from clinical trials is during emergencies. Once we receive an application, we might take at least three months to complete the procedure," he said.

Unlocking Your Second Brain

Unlocking Your Second Brain

 

by Dr. Lori L. Shemek

There are many facets to the human body, some known and some not so well known.  One area that we are learning more about is our brain or should I say our ‘brains.’

The Other Brain

Yes, you read that right.  We humans have two brains.  We tend to think of the brain in our head as the command center from which all physiological functions occur.  But there is another kind of intelligence that you may not know about – your other brain. Our digestive tract houses a very critical part of how we perceive a variety of emotion-based sensations and not just digestion. The gut is referred to as the other nervous system:  the ‘enteric nervous system’ that is really the brain in your belly.  The belly brain is located under the mucosal lining and between layers of the esophagus, the stomach and the small intestine.  You know that feeling of having ‘butterflies’ in your stomach or a lump in your throat or what about that ‘gut feeling?’ The enteric nervous system is rich is neurochemicals and produces an immense amount of neurotransmitters found in the cranial brain such as serotonin and dopamine – feel good chemicals. In fact, the gut produces 95% of the chemical serotonin.  This gut brain not only senses and control events in the digestive tract, but throughout other parts of the body as well, including youremotions. This belly brain contains more than 100 million nerve cells – more than the spinal cord. The enteric nervous system brain is connected to the central nervous system brain and influences not just mood, but plays a key role in disease processes as well.  In fact, 70% of our immune system is located in our digestive tract.  Despite its deep reach in terms of our health and emotions, it does not play a part in our conscious thinking or decision-making. An example of how tied our gut is with our emotions, Dr. Emeran Mayer, professor of medicine and psychiatry at the University of California, stated up to 70 percent of the patients he treats for chronic gut disorders had experienced early childhood traumas like parents’ divorce, chronic illnesses or parents’ deaths.  “I think that what happens early in life, along with an individual’s genetic background, programs how a person will respond to stress for the rest of his or her life” Taking care of both brains is going to serve us well in many areas of health. By reducing stress, choosing a healthy nutrient dense diet and listening to your gut..you will help to create emotional and physical life-long health.

Tamil question is not just an economic issue: Mano Ganesan

September 9, 2015 

The Tamil question cannot be settled by merely regarding it as an economic issue, Mano Ganesan, one of the three Tamil Ministers in the Sri Lankan government, has said.

“There are people who even now argue that by providing jobs to the youth, putting up more hospitals and promoting economic development there [in the Northern and Eastern provinces], the ethnic problem will be over. But it is not so,” the 55-year-old leader said, a few days after he was sworn in as the Minister for National Dialogue.

Though he feels that sharing of maximum power is the way out, Mr. Ganesan, who heads the Democratic People’s Front and the Tamil Progressive Alliance, is firm that it is up to the Tamil National Alliance and the government to deliberate on the problem and arrive at a solution acceptable to all.

“If President [Maithripala Sirisena] and Prime Minister [Ranil Wickremesinghe] want me to be part of the process of negotiations, I am prepared to do it.”

‘Social integration’

He said Mr. Wickremesinghe, who briefed him about his work on Monday, wanted him to work closely with civil society organisations.

“My main job is to accomplish reconciliation and social integration,” he said, adding that a secretariat for non-government organisations would function under his Ministry.

Born in the Sabaragamuwa province, considered a part of south Sri Lanka, Mr. Ganesan, who grew up in Colombo as an activist pursuing social and human rights issues, described himself as a “bridge between the north and the south.

“I will continue to perform the role.” He got elected to Parliament from Colombo on the United National Party ticket. Pointing out that bringing together various ethnic groups had always been troublesome because of “several blockades,” Mr. Ganesan said: “I will go to any level to remove them.”

His plan would be to ensure that every Sri Lankan, irrespective of ethnicity, would be able to transact business with the government at various levels in the language of his or her choice.

“No citizen of Sri Lanka will be denied equal opportunities on the basis of one’s religion or ethnicity.” (The Hindu)

LOOKING AHEAD AT UNHRC SESSIONS - EDITORIAL

2015-09-09
We are done with elections. We are done with crossovers and the securing of a majority that enables a relatively smoother functioning of the Government. We are almost done with ministerial appointments. 

 There were a lot of hiccups and a lot of umbrage from certain quarters over how the particular outcomes were obtained, but by and large there’s general acceptance. It is unlikely that there will be riots on account of what some would argue are un-yahapaalanaya-like manipulations. 

 Those in power, distracted by political intrigue for many months, can now focus on resolving the outstanding problems of the people. These need not be enumerated here as we’ve heard about them enough during elections. The key concern at this point would be the UNHRC sessions later this month. 

 The prime mover against Sri Lanka in recent times, the USA, has clearly indicated that it prefers the current political establishment to that of Mahinda Rajapaksa. While no one should be fooled that the USA’s foreign relations have anything to do with the democratic health of the particular nation, a softening of stance with respect to war-related allegations was obvious. Nisha Biswal was essentially reiterating John Kerry’s view that in the end Sri Lankans should sort out Sri Lankan affairs when she referred to domestic instruments in investigating allegations of wrongdoing by the security forces.

  It is the kind of soft-hands approach one has come to expect from the USA when dealing with pliant Governments. It is the kind of approach that can lull everyone to a false sense of security.  

In these matters what should never be forgotten is that time is long. Things can change and very fast too. Today’s friend can be tomorrow’s enemy. The way the USA has dealt with ‘friends’ in the Middle East ought to instruct those mandated to represent the country. Nothing can be taken for granted, in short.  

There were indeed ‘domestic mechanisms’ that were pooh-poohed by many, including those now in power. Interestingly, when the pooh-poohed Lessons Learnt and Reconciliation Commission (LLRC) came out with its report, the objectors embraced it and waved it at the then Government, insisting that the recommendations be implemented. Of course they were selective about which recommendations to prioritize and had no qualms about misreading some of them, but that’s a different matter. The point is that the LLRC was a useful exercise.  

This alone ought to persuade the President, the Prime Minister and the Cabinet that regardless of who appointed whom, the findings of commissions have to be taken seriously. A good rule of thumb would be to check the identities of those who object to such exercises. This is why the work of the Presidential Commission on Missing Persons, also known as the Maxwell Paranagama Commission, should be taken very seriously. The report on missing persons cannot be allowed to gather dust, most importantly because it contains comprehensive rebuttals of baseless allegations and unsubstantiated conclusions by self-appointed pundits on Sri Lanka who at one time shared ‘common ground’ with the USA. 

 It is not about covering up wrongdoings by the ‘Ranaviruvo’. It is about the truth. The Paranagama Report is not the last word on the matter but it is a key word. Leave it out and we are complicit in an exercise of obfuscation.  It is about the integrity of a people. An obvious and even legitimate dislike for the previous regime should not blind the current Government to the long-term negative repercussions of factoring revenge-politics into foreign relations. The President and the Prime Minister are both seasoned politicians. They should be able to see ahead and be above the personal and petty, especially since they are both politically secure now. 

Angelina Jolie: Isis using rape as a weapon 'in ways we've never seen before'

By Ewan Palmer-September 8, 2015

Angelina Jolie gives evidence to a House of Lords sexual violence in conflict committeeParliament.tv

Angelina Jolie has told a British parliamentary committee the Islamic State (IS) is using rape and sexual violence against women and children "in a way we've never seen before". The actress and human rights ambassador appeared at the House of Lords committee alongside former foreign secretary William Hague to discuss their Preventing Sexual Violence Initiative, which the pair helped launched three years ago.

Jolie and Hague were appearing before the Lords sexual violence in conflict committee to update it on the progress made since 2012 following recent concerns about how the initiative was overspending funds.

During her talk about the campaign against sexual violence in conflict areas, Jolie discussed some of the harrowing things she had witnessed in the last few years, including how she felt "helpless" after meeting a girl not older than eight who had been "brutally raped multiple times".

She also warned that terrorist group IS was using rape as a weapon in a way that has never been seen before and is "actually put into their policy".

She told the committee: "The most important thing is to understand what it's not: it's not sexual, it's a violent, brutal, terrorising weapon and it is used unfortunately, everywhere.

"The most aggressive terrorist group in the world today knows what we know; knows that it is a very effective weapon and are using it as a centre point of their terror and their way of destroying communities and families and attacking, destroying and dehumanising."

Angelina Jolie and William Hague attend the Global Summit to End Sexual Violence in Conflict in 2014Getty

She added: ''For over 10 years I had been visiting the field and meeting families and survivors of sexual violence who felt for so long that their voices simply didn't matter, they weren't heard and they carried a great shame.

"I remember distinctly meeting this little girl who was very young, probably about seven or eight, and she was rocking backwards and forwards staring at the wall, and tears streaming down her face because she had been brutally raped multiple times, you couldn't talk to her, you couldn't touch her. I felt absolutely helpless, I didn't know what to do for her.

"More recently I met a 13-year-old girl in Iraq who had been kept in a room with many other girls and they were taken out in twos to this very dirty room and dirty couch and raped repeatedly.

"But they told that what was even worse than the physical violence was they then had to stand in rows and watch their friends be sold and to hear men arguing about what they were worth."

Hague told the committee that "a great deal of progress" had been made in recent years during the fight to end sexual violence in war zones. He added: "I think the missing part now is to get more of the missing parts of the government to implement the protocol, to use those tools that we have created – the policy statements, the protocol – to set about the right training of military, of judges and prosecutors. But the framework is all there. Now we need several governments and countries to do sufficiently well at this that they become inspiring examples to other countries."

More about Angelina Jolie

• Angelina Jolie appeals for women's rights at Africa Union Summit
• Angelina Jolie and William Hague Open London Summit on Rape in War Zones
• Angelina Jolie Moved to Tears by Accounts of Rape at 'End Sexual Violence in Conflict 'Summit