Russia sends anti-aircraft missiles to Assad: Report 

Reports about the weaponry come as a Russian official says the US risks 'unintended incidents' if it refuses to engage 
Russia's Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov looks on as he meets with representatives of the Syrian opposition in Moscow (AFP)

Friday 11 September 2015

Russia is reportedly sending anti-aircraft missiles to the Syrian government, as the Russian foreign minister called for military cooperation with the US.

"This system is the advanced version used by Russia and it's meant to be operated by Russians in Syria," a Western diplomat who is regularly briefed on US, Israeli and other intelligence assessments, told Reuters.

He added that it was the not the first time that Russia had sent the SA-22 system, known as Pantir-S1 in Russia, to Syria.

Reports of the incoming weaponry came as Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov said on Friday that the US would risk “unintended incidents” if it chose not to engage in military-to-military cooperation with his country.

"We are always in favour of military people talking to each other in a professional way. They understand each other very well," Lavrov said at a news conference during which he also blamed the US for cutting off cooperation with Russia following the crisis in Ukraine which began last year.

"If, as John Kerry has said many times, the United States wants those channels frozen, then be our guest."

Some commentators questioned why Russia had given Syria anti-aircraft weaponry if its primary target was the Islamic State militant group which does not have an air force:

Michael Weiss 

✔@michaeldweiss

PT: Why give Assad air defense systems if you only want to help him fight ISIS (which has no air force)? Isn't dat veeird?

12:27 PM - 11 Sep 2015

Three Lebanese sources knowledgeable about the military situation in Syria told Reuters that a small number of Russian troops were now participating in military operations in the country, supporting the Assad government against rebels.

"The Russians are no longer just advisors," one of the sources said. "The Russians have decided to join the war against terrorism."

"They have started in small numbers, but the bigger force did not yet take part," another of the sources told Reuters.

- See more at: http://www.middleeasteye.net/news/russian-military-buildup-continues-syr...

Three Lebanese sources knowledgeable with the military situation in Syria told Reuters on Thursday that a small number of Russian troops were now involved in military operations in the country, supporting the Assad government against rebels.

"The Russians are no longer just advisors," one of the sources reportedly said. "The Russians have decided to join the war against terrorism."

"They have started in small numbers, but the bigger force did not yet take part," said another source.

A senior Israeli defence official told reporters on Thursday that Israel was in touch with Russia about arms shipments and warned against any ending up in the hands of Hezbollah.

"We have open relations with the Russians who have come to save Assad in the civil war," he said, according to Haaretz.

"Along with this, we will not allow our sovereignty to be compromised or the transfer of advanced or chemical weapons (to Hezbollah). We are following the developments and keeping open channels with Moscow." 

Longterm allies

Russia has been a staunch Syrian ally for several decades and maintains its only Mediterranean naval base at Tartous on the Syrian coast.

President Vladimir Putin has long maintained that any peace process in Syria must involve Syrian President Bashar al-Assad and has repeatedly resisted calls for him to step down.

British foreign secretary Philip Hammond raised eyebrows on Wednesday when he suggested that Assad could remain in power for a six month transitional period.

“We are not saying Assad and all his cronies have to go on day one,” Hammond said. “What I am not prepared to discuss is what I understand to be the Russian and Iranian position, that we need to move to elections in Syria and it will be for the Syrian people to decide in those elections whether Assad should remain as their president."

He added, however, that Assad could not remain the longterm.

“That is not an acceptable position," he said. "The international community cannot, in my view, facilitate and oversee a set of elections in which somebody guilty of crimes on the scale that Assad has committed is able to run for office. That has to be clear. He cannot be part of Syria’s future.”

White House Deputy Press Secretary Eric Schultz on Wednesday said the US would welcome any Russian contributions to the fight against IS, but said support for Assad was "unconscionable".

- See more at: http://www.middleeasteye.net/news/russia-sends-anti-aircraft-missiles-assad-while-calling-cooperation-us-329250838#sthash.ddXyO2R9.dpuf

A Global Crisis Comes To Sri Lanka

By Mano Ratwatte –September 10, 2015

Mano Ratwatte

This writer found a photo of a young Sri Lankan Muslim boy protesting in front of the UN on the front page of a leading Sri Lankan newspaper. He asks the questions “where is the humanity?” with a placard.
*Photo – Palestinians paid tribute to the 3-year old Syrian boy who drowned while fleeing the Syrian war, by building a sand sculpture of him on a beach in the Gaza Strip. Dozens paid tribute to Aylan Kurdi by re-enacting the heart-wrenching scene of how his body was found washed ashore.

Are there such protests outside the Embassies of very rich oil producing Potentates and Feudal Kingoms of the Middle East? Not one of those nations have opened their doors to Arab Muslim refugees fleeing Islamic extremism. Why?

Europe is dealing with an unprecedented influx of refugees not seen since World War II. These refugees all want to flee to Western nations because those nations are accepting of immigrants and other cultures more than most nations in the world.

They are predominantly Christian albeit secular nations that Islamic Radicals are sworn to destroy. ISIS is killing more Muslims and raping, burning, destroying whatever is in their sickening Fascist path. Why are people not protesting asking ISIS to stop their madness? Why is Saudi Arabia not opening their doors? or UAE or, Kuwait(which by the way was invaded by Saddam Hussein and was liberated by a US led coalition in 1991).

Read More

Venezuela’s Most Famous Dissident Gets 13 Years

BY JUAN CRISTÓBAL NAGEL-SEPTEMBER 11, 2015

The trial against Leopoldo López, the jailed leader of Venezuela’s opposition, was never expected to be fair. Yet when Judge Susana Barreiros handed down her ruling late last night, sentencing López to 13 years in military prison for inciting violence and other bogus charges, it was a hard blow for his supporters. Many had harbored hopes that he would be freed, or at most be given house arrest.

The ruling is a travesty. Instead of closing a chapter, it marks a deepening of Venezuela’s political and economic collapse. It is also a strategic error on the part of the government of President Nicolás Maduro.

López was imprisoned after calling for peaceful protests against the government in February 2014. His message was for Venezuelans to take the streets with the cry of “La Salida” (“The Exit”) and to press for the ouster of the unpopular Maduro using constitutional means, such as a recall referendum. After López was jailed, the protests became violent, leaving 45 people dead — most from the opposition, but also including a few government supporters and soldiers. The hazy narrative surrounding these events is part of the reason why López remains a controversial figure both inside the opposition and in Venezuela at large.

The government blamed López for all these deaths, even though he was being held in prison, incommunicado, when they took place. The prosecution’s main argument was that, by calling on people to take to the streets, he was encouraging violence and “terrorism.” He was also charged with conspiracy, incitement to commit crimes, and damaging public property.

The star witness for the government was a linguistics professor named Rosa Amelia Asuaje, who claimed López had used “subliminal” messages in his speeches and writings which called for violence. But when cross-examined by the defense, Asuaje recanted, stating that “López’s messages are not subliminal; they are clear, direct, and specific. They call for non-violence. There was never a call to violence by López.” (A white paper prepared by López’s defense team lays out the details — no official transcripts or records of the trial have been made available.)

This apparent collapse of the government’s case meant nothing, since it was never about the law. The proceedings, marred by irregularities and violence, were part of a political circus from start to finish.

That said, circuses are usually meant for public spectacle, while these proceedings were held in conditions of absolute secrecy. No international observers were allowed inside the courtroom, even though Venezuelan law allows for access to trials. Secret videos leaked from the fortified courtroom have made their way to the public, and in them, López comes across as defiant despite the lack of due process.

The unfairness of the trial was obvious. Take, for example, the imbalance in the evidence allowed by each side. The prosecution was allowed 82 witnesses, mostly police or public prosecutors on the government’s payroll. The defense was allowed only two. Numerous exhibits submitted by the defense were declared inadmissible.

The judge did not take into consideration López’s many calls for peaceful protests. She rebuffed calls from the U.N. Working Group on Arbitrary Detention and the U.N. Committee Against Torture for Venezuelan authorities to allow López a fair trial and improve the conditions of his detention. For much of his trial, López was held in isolation in a military jail. Even his reading material was taken away.

The government has been heavily invested in the López case from day one. National Assembly President (and Venezuela’s No. 2 leader) Diosdado Cabello personally drove López to jail when he turned himself in. Maduro himself has publicly condemned López on numerous occasions, labeling him “the monster of Ramo Verde” after the military prison that houses him. He even offered to free López if the U.S. government would release a Puerto Rican “political prisoner.”

Judge Barreiros, like most Venezuelan judges, is a temporary judge. This means she can be replaced at will by judicial authorities closely linked to the government. In a curious twist, she was initially named a judge as a substitute for Maria Lourdes Afiuni, a famous former judge who was imprisoned, tortured, and raped after ruling against the government in 2009. Few would be as aware of Afiuni’s sad fate as her replacement — so it’s no surprise that Barreiros has historically towed the party line. A few years ago, Judge Barreiros freed the brother of a minister in Maduro’s cabinet who had been jailed for embezzlement.

The López verdict is a sign of the government’s clumsiness. Making him a martyr unifies the opposition and reinforces its main message: Basic freedoms are at stake, and only a complete change can bring about democracy in Venezuela. With legislative elections coming up in December (a date that was set only as a response to a hunger strike by López and other political prisoners) and the government looking increasingly likely to do poorly, energizing the opposition further is not likely to help.

Internationally, the ruling is expected to hurt Venezuela’s chances of reaching a rapprochement with the United States. Both the Maduro and Obama administrations have been inching toward some form of coexistence as of late, but the ruling is likely to poison the well for the near term. Both President Barack Obama and Secretary of State John Kerry have expressedsupport for López. Kerry and Vice President Joe Biden have both met with his wife. Amnesty International and Human Rights Watch have already condemned the ruling.

In the secret video of López on trial, he claimed defiantly that he was a political prisoner. By throwing the book at him on trumped-up charges, the Venezuelan government and its lackeys in the courts have made certain the world knows he is right.

In the photo, a supporter of Leopoldo López reacts after learning of his guilty verdict in Caracas on Sept. 10, 2015.

Photo credit: FEDERICO PARRA/AFP/Getty Images

Things are only getting worse for Burma’s Rohingya Muslims

Newly arrived migrants gather at Kuala Langsa Port in Langsa, Aceh province, Indonesia earlier this year. Pic: AP.

By Asian Correspondent Staff Sep 11, 2015

BURMA’S Muslim minority, the Rohingya, have long been victims of systematic persecution by the military government. Their plight has become increasingly desperate over the past year as government policies, human traffickers and natural disasters have exacerbated their vulnerability. National elections are scheduled for early November, but without a voice at this important juncture, there are fears that conditions for the most persecuted refugees on Earthwill begin rapidly deteriorating.

Things Are Only Getting Worse for Burma’s Rohingya Muslims by Thavam Ratna

April-June current account deficit widens from previous quarter

A shopkeeper poses for a picture as he counts Indian currency notes at his shop in Jammu May 16, 2012.-REUTERS/MUKESH GUPTA/FILES

Fri Sep 11, 2015

India's current account deficit widened to $6.2 billion, or 1.2 percent of gross domestic product, in April-June from the previous quarter, reflecting the worsening global economy as exports were sluggish while foreign investments fell.

Meanwhile, the balance of payments surplus narrowed to $11.4 billion in April-June from $30.1 billion in January-March, although that was wider than $11.2 billion a year ago, according to the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) data out on Friday.

Still, India is far from its precarious situation in 2013, when worries about U.S. Federal rate hikes hit Indian markets hard, sending the rupee to a record low and sparking the worst turmoil since the 1991 balance of payment crisis.

India has also built up its foreign exchange reserves to a record high, while its economy, though sluggish, is expanding more than other emerging economies such as China.

Separate data on Friday showed annual industrial output growth slowed to 4.2 percent in July compared with an upwardly revised 4.4 percent growth a month ago, although that was much faster than expectations of a 3.5 percent expansion.

"The current account situation, despite exports falling, is okay," said D.K. Joshi, Chief Economist at ratings agency CRISIL.

"My expectation is that it (the current account deficit) will further narrow."

India's current account deficit in the April-June quarter was wider than the $1.3 billion, or 0.2 percent of GDP, in the previous quarter. But it was still lower than the $7.8 billion deficit, or 1.6 percent of GDP, of a year earlier.

Exports have taken a hit because of softer global economy, sending the trade deficit to $34.2 billion in April-June compared to $31.7 billion in the previous quarter and $34.6 billion a year ago.

India is likely to continue facing a tougher global environment, with worries about China hitting emerging markets hard since July.

Meanwhile, worries the U.S. Federal Reserve could raise interest rates as early as next week are likely to impact foreign investments to emerging markets such as India.

Foreign inflows into India's debt and equity markets slumped to $545.88 million in April-June versus $13.7 billion the previous quarter.

Foreign investors have now turned outright sellers in equity markets, with record monthly amount of sales in August, although they remain net buyers of $3.72 billion for the year.

But unlike in 2013, when India was seen as one of the most vulnerable emerging economies, the country is expected to suffer less than some of its peers such as Brazil, whose debt was downgraded to "junk" on Wednesday.

(Reporting by Suvashree Dey Choudhury, Rafael Nam, and Himank Sharma; Editing by Mike Collett-White)

Federal researchers urge older adults to aim for much lower blood pressure

DISPATCH TIMES

BY NEWSMEDIAON SEPTEMBER 11, 2015

High blood pressure increases the risk of heart attacks, strokes, kidney disease and other serious problems.

Although the researchers found that swings in blood pressure may increase a person’s risk of various ailments, they do not suggest that changing medication or curbing blood pressure swings will lower one’s risk.

In those in the more intensive blood pressure lowering group, rates of cardiovascular events, such as heart attacks and heart failure, as well as stroke, were reduced by nearly a third and the risk of death by nearly a quarter, compared with those in the 140 group. On the other hand, the top risks associated with the deaths among both men and women globally are high blood pressure, high body mass index, high fattening plasma glucose.

A board overseeing the welfare of patients in the study decided to end the trial early because the results were so strong, and the board considered unethical to hide the findings from patients.

A major new study shows treating high blood pressure more aggressively than usual cuts the risk of heart disease and death in people over age 50.

When SPRINT was designed, the well-established clinical guidelines recommended a systolic blood pressure of less than 140 mm Hg for healthy adults and 130 mm Hg for adults with kidney disease or diabetes. Moderate to slightly intense workouts done a couple of hours over a certain period of time will somehow help in cutting fat therefore reducing your blood pressure.

Between 2010 and 2013, the SPRINT investigators randomly divided the study participants into two groups that differed according to targeted levels of blood pressure control.

Stein said there is a wide range of different types of blood pressure medications, often generic and low-priced, that are safe and well-tolerated when used properly.

Tighter control required an average of about three medications, one more than required for patients who aimed to reach the below-140 target.

The study is also examining kidney disease, cognitive function, and dementia among the patients; however, those results are still under analysis and are not yet available as additional information will be collected over the next year.

While the results still need to published, it is clear that it is a landmark study that will change medical practice, said James Stein, a professor of cardiology and director of the preventive cardiology and advanced hypertension program at the University of Wisconsin-Madison Hospital and Clinics. The results do not apply to patients with diabetes or a history of stroke. The briefing will be hosted by NHLBI Director Dr. Gary H. Gibbons.

Nutrients To Prevent Cataracts And Macular Degeneration

Nutrients To Prevent Cataracts And Macular Degeneration

by Michael T. Murray-September 9 at 2:30pm

Nutritional factors play a key role in the prevention and treatment of cataracts and macular degeneration. A diet high in richly colored fruits and vegetables—as well as targeted supplements—is associated with a lowered risk for both conditions.

Lutein and Zeaxanthin

Research shows that lutein and zeaxanthin supplements not only help protect against macular degeneration, but can also improve visual function in people with macular degeneration. Specifically, in patients with macular degeneration, 10–15 mg of lutein daily led to improvements, including glare recovery, contrast sensitivity, and visual acuity, as compared to a placebo group.

Lutein is also important in preventing cataracts and improving visual function in people with existing cataracts. Like the macula, the human lens concentrates lutein and zeaxanthin. In fact, these are the only carotenes found in the human lens. Three large studies have shown that the intake of lutein was inversely associated with cataract surgery.

Flavonoid-Rich Extracts

Flavonoid-rich extracts of blueberry, bilberry, pine bark, or grape seed also offer valuable eye-health benefits. In addition to possessing excellent antioxidant activity, these extracts have been shown to improve blood flow to the retina and enhance visual processes, especially poor night vision. Take 150–300 mg daily of one of these extracts to support eye health.

Nutritional Antioxidants

Nutritional antioxidants—such as beta-carotene, vitamins C and E, zinc, copper, and selenium—are extremely important for eye health. Studies conducted by the Age-Related Eye Disease Study Research Group confirm that a combination of these nutrients produces better results than any single one alone. But even something as simple as taking vitamin C or zinc can produce dramatic effects. In one study, women who took vitamin C for more than 10 years had a 77 percent lower rate of cataract formation compared to women who did not take the vitamin.

Zinc plays an essential role in the metabolism of the retina and the visual process. A two-year trial involving 151 subjects showed that the group taking zinc had significantly less visual loss than the placebo group.

CoQ10 and Acetyl-L-Carnitine

In one double-blind study, 200 mg of acetyl-L-carnitine, omega-3 fatty acids (460 mg EPA and 320 mg DHA), and 20 mg of CoQ10 was shown to improve visual function and macular alterations in early-stage macular degeneration. This combination stopped the disease from progressing in 47 out of 48 cases.

Fish Oils

There is a strong relationship between atherosclerosis (known as hardening of the arteries) and eyehealth. Therefore, just as in atherosclerosis, omega-3 fatty acids from fish oils play an important role in preventing macular degeneration and other eye conditions. The recommended dosage is 1,000 mg of EPA and DHA.

Nutrition for Your Eyes

Foods rich in the carotenes lycopene, zeaxanthin, and lutein include bell peppers, carrots, collard greens, kale, papaya, spinach, sweet potatoes, and tomatoes.

To know more about Michael Murray- visit www.drmurray.com

New film urges UN Human Rights Council to listen to Tamil calls for justice

10 September 2015

The makers of the Emmy-nominated documentary “No Fire Zone” have released a new film on Sri Lanka urging the international community to listen to Tamil voices calling for an international accountability mechanism, ahead of the release of a United Nations report into mass atrocities on the island.

“Sri Lanka: The Search For Justice” was released on Thursday in English and Spanish and is addressed to members of the UN Human Rights Council.

See the English version of the film here.

Sri Lanka: The Search for Justice (English) from NoFireZone on Vimeo.

“It calls on the international community to listen to the voices of the Tamil victims who are calling for an international accountability process to ensure truth and justice,” said a press release, noting that the Northern Provincial Council has called for such a process.

“It has been echoed by Tamil civil society groups, by public demonstrations and a public signature campaign, which is gaining considerable support despite reports of harassment by security forces,” the statement added.

Released under the campaign slogan, #LetThemBeHeard, the film is being taken on an international preview tour through five Latin American countries by No Fire Zone director Callum Macrae, who will also travel to the United States to screen the film and meet with politicians, government officials and human rights activists in New York and Washington. 

The film will also be screened in the Palais de Nation, the Human Rights Council’s headquarters in Geneva.

Amb. Stephen Rapp on Sri Lanka’s War Crimes Investigation

Just Security

By Just Security-Wednesday, September 9, 2015

At the end of August, the United States announced that it would support Sri Lanka’s plan for investigating alleged war crimes that occurred during the final years of the country’s long-running civil war, which ended in 2009. This announcement signaled a shift in position for the State Department, which had long insisted on an international investigation. But, in the coming weeks at the UN Human Rights Council’s next session, the US will offer a resolution supporting Colombo’s proposed process for investigating and prosecuting potential war crimes. The resolution will come on the heels of the impending release of the UN Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights’ report on its investigation into abuses committed during the final years of the conflict.

We recently had the chance to talk with Amb. Stephen Rapp, who until last month served as US Ambassador-at-Large for War Crimes Issues. During our wide-ranging discussion, we asked him about the Sri Lanka announcement, which had been made earlier that day. Rapp was, in his own words, deeply involved in an effort to hold Sri Lankan authorities responsible for war crimes. While encouraged by the news of the coming investigation, he emphasized that it can’t simply be a device meant to “answer the mail from Geneva.” It must be an organic process that reflects the need of all Sri Lankan communities to hold specific individuals who committed atrocities responsible, and in the name of reconciliation, the process should recognize that it was individuals, not entire communities, who committed those atrocities. His comments, lightly edited for clarity, are below. (Bold emphasis ours.) Stay tuned for more from our interview in the coming weeks.

Amb. Rapp: Well, I have not seen this specific news. I was deeply engaged on the Sri Lanka question from the moment I arrived at the State Department in September of 2009. I had a mandate on my desk from the Senate Appropriations Committee to do a report on possible war crimes committed during the final phase of the conflict with the LTTE [commonly known as the Tamil Tigers] in 2008-2009. We issued our report in mid-October of 2009 and later submitted a couple of others at the request of the Senate concluding that there was essentially a failure of the Sri Lankan authorities to follow up and to do genuine investigations. I made two trips out there to push for domestic processes. During my second trip in January 2014, there was a demonstration against my visit with several hundred protesters surrounding the US Embassy in Colombo. They held gigantic printed posters showing a picture of me smiling on the top but with another on the bottom with my face painted to look like a devil, with statements in the middle like, “I am a threat to world peace.” I was up north in Jaffna at the time that they launched the demonstration and when I returned to Colombo all was calm.

On the Sri Lanka issue, I worked very closely on strategy with my colleagues in the US Government particularly our regional bureau for South and Central Asia under the leadership of Assistant Secretary [Robert] Blake, and now Assistant Secretary Nisha Biswal, and the bureau for Democracy, Human Rights, and Labor. In 2012 and 2013, we brought the issue to the Human Rights Council in Geneva and achieved passage of two resolutions strongly urging the Sri Lankans to do the right thing and investigate alleged violations. Then finally in in March 2014, we were successful in getting an HRC resolution authorizing an investigation by the High Commissioner, the report on which should finally be issued in the next several weeks. I expect the High Commissioner himself will visit later in the month of August (or early September).

I do think this has been one situation where our decision to stand strong for human rights and for accountability has been successful. We recognize that honestly in a conflict like that against the LTTE it was necessary to use very strong force to defeat a group that was committing horrendous crimes against the civilian population. But on the other hand that action had to comply with the laws of war and needs to be looked at from the point of view compliance of those laws. We were particularly concerned about crimes in which people that were not engaged in combat were intentionally targeted including the killing of surrenderees — all of which we detailed in the report that my office filed.

We do think that our position there and our engagement with the government and the people — in the Sinhala community, Muslim community, and Tamil community — contributed to a process where the people of Sri Lanka decided they wanted to make a choice about leadership that would change course from that followed by the previous government, and begin in fact to do something about accountability themselves. And so we welcome their efforts to do that. I have not looked at the current proposal, but the most important thing, from our point of view, is that any proposal be something that is developed in consultation with all of the communities in Sri Lanka. It cannot be something that is brought out and put into effect in order to just answer the mail from Geneva. It must answer Sri Lankans’ own need to actually deliver on accountability — the establishment of the truth, the prosecution of the most responsible individuals, and a reconciliation of society based upon the fact that crimes were committed by individuals, not whole communities. Certain people were responsible and others were not, and the society should come together across the sectarian, ethnic, and linguistic divides.

Tamils should assess main adversary: Jude Lal

[TamilNet, Thursday, 10 September 2015, 05:47 GMT]
Colombo's LLRC was used by Washington as the basis for sponsoring the three UN resolutions on Sri Lanka in 2012, 2013 and 2014. Through sponsoring resolutions in the UNHRC, the USA has thrown away UN’s own Expert Panel Report as well as its Internal Review Panel Report, which pointed towards war crimes and crimes against humanity, says Professor Jude Lal in his second part of the interview to TamilNet. “In fact, it is the Expert Panel Report that recommended an international investigation. What has happened to these reports and their recommendations,” he asks adding that the same path will be adopted through the upcoming OISL report and the proposed domestic war crime investigation. Tamil people will have to carefully assess, which of the powers that they want to accuse as the primary international protagonists of the genocide, the exiled Sinhala academic says. 

Tamils Should Assess Main Adversary Jude Lal by Thavam Ratna

Awareness campaign for international justice mechanism

10 September 2015

Several politicians from the TNA are walking from Kilinochchi to Jaffna to raise awareness for the call on the UN Human Rights Council to establish an international justice mechanism for mass atrocities committed during the armed conflict.

Northern Provincial Councillor MK Sivajilingam, along with some of his supporters commenced the walk from Kilinochchi earlier this morning.

He was later joined by TNA parliamentarian S. Sritharan and fellow NPC councillor Ms Ananthy Sasitharan.

Campaigners participating in the campaign plan to raise awareness of the importance of an international justice mechanism to residents along the route.

According to Mr Shivajilingam, the campaigners will reach Nallur, Jaffna, within 4 to 5 days.