Child abuse Awful granddads

reminisce ELMO GOONERATNE Former Editor-in-Chief Lankadeepa, Sunday Times and Daily Mirror

2016-06-10

At least three children are abused daily, while over 1,500 cases of violence against them are reported annually. About 500 children live in remand homes and rehabilitation centres in prisons.This is what Dr. Deepika Attygalle, the President of the College of Community Physicians, said recently.

Citing a child activity survey, she says nearly 100,000 children are engaged in child labour while nearly 61,000 are engaged in hazardous occupations.

Way back on 31 July 2010 the victim had gone to obtain a certificate from the Grama Niladhari in her area. He had dragged her into a room and raped her until she fell unconscious. The event took place on 31 July 2010 and the verdict was delivered on 2 June 2016.
Law's delays

This is a typical case where young girls and parents detest going to courts if somebody in the family has been raped. The girl in Puttalam had been raped when she was 16. The Grama Niladhari was convicted after six years when she was 22.
The Grama Niladhari was found guilty of sexually abusing the 16-year-old girl in Ranmaduwala in Wanatawilluwa. The High Court Judge of Puttalam, sentenced him to 10 years' rigorous imprisonment. He had also been ordered to pay Rs 100,000 as compensation to the victim. The judge also said if the compensation was not paid the convict would have to serve another two years of rigorous imprisonment.
The convict was Abdul Majeed Mohamadu Faiyaz who had been the Grama Niladhari in Wanatavilluwa. The judge also ordered him to pay a further sum of Rs. 5,000 to the victim.

In our society a girl who has been raped will go through a period of mental agony. Her chances of getting married and leading a normal life will also be shattered.
Rape victims
Law's delays especially affect rape victims who have to wait for a long time to know the outcome of court cases. They would not know whether the accused would be found guilty or court would grant her any compensation.
In this case the accused Grama Niladhari was an influential man in the area. When he was charged with rape, he was suspended from service. Later he had been reinstated and transferred to another Grama Niladhari division. It is strange how he got back his job while a Court case is pending.

After raping an innocent village girl, the Grama Niladhari continued to discharge his duties at a different locality. He will not feel the trauma undergone by the victim. Even after the conviction, she will not be able to lead a normal life.
Judgments delivered in such sensational cases are eagerly read by the public. They still remember the judgments delivered in the Sathasivam case and the Turf Club case. The publication of such cases in newspapers would have increased the circulation. Such judgments would have deterred many would-be killers and rapists from committing crimes.

Longest imprisonment
A case which drew the interest of readers was a verdict given by High Court Judge Khema Swarnadhipathi in a case a father had raped his own two daughters. The High Court Judge found the father guilty of raping the two daughters and sentenced him to 120 years of rigorous imprisonment, the longest sentence given to an accused in a rape case.
Sri Lanka is fast becoming a country where child rape cases are on the increase. According to reliable sources there are over 4,000 cases of child rape.

These sources also said the incidence of child abuse has risen by tremendous proportions over the years despite the efforts of authorities to contain it. Child abuse takes place in many forms all over our country. There is no particular place where it is predominant. In certain cases five-year-old girls have been raped by 75-year-old grandfathers. In the past children were quite safe in the hands of grandfathers. The scene has changed drastically.

Today it is not safe to leave young children with grandfathers because most of them are likely to rape the children and vanish. According to a medical practitioner, most grandfathers regularly seduce their grandchildren when the parents are away. According to the Chief Government Whip there is an average of 17 child abuse cases taking place almost every day. Statistics reveal that in 2013 there had been 21,840 child abuse cases.

Many studies carried out on child abuse have attributed poverty as a major factor contributing to the increase in the number of child abuse cases. Another interesting fact is that most children have been abused while their mothers were away in foreign countries. Economic hardships compel women in the rural sector to seek foreign employment. They leave their children and grandchildren in the care of grandparents.
Most grandfathers commit sexual offences on children and even infants as they cannot protest. According to Police sources, such incidents are on the increase. There are many other factors that contribute to child abuse. Alcoholism is the major reason that leads to child abuse. On the other hand, children in broken families are vulnerable to sexual attacks from their grandfathers and even strangers.
Employment abroad
In a typical situation, a mother very often leaves her daughter with the father when she goes out for employment abroad. If the father is employed, he will leave the child with the grandfather.
According to sources, most grandfathers have become alcoholics. They tend to molest children when nobody is around. Sometimes after committing an offence on a child the grandfather vanishes from the scene.
Mothers leaving their children and going abroad for employment should think twice before doing so. They should realise that in their absence anything could happen to their children.
Private job agencies
Many women who had gone abroad for employment have died due to various reasons. Sometimes the responsibility lies with the private sector foreign employment agency for not looking after the welfare of women they send abroad. On the other hand, the Foreign Employment Bureau also has to look after the women who leave the country for employment. It should monitor the activities of private employment agencies. There are many unscrupulous job agencies in every part of the country. Some of the women they send abroad get raped, killed or expelled from those countries over various offences.
In the wake of the 30-year war, many girls in the North have been raped. Today it has become a major problem. Even the people have demonstrated against the alarming increase of rape cases in the North. An 18-year-old Tamil girl Krishanthi Kumaraswamy was raped and murdered. She was a brilliant A/level student living in Chemmani. The Krishanthi killng sent shock waves in the establishment. Even her mother, brother and a friend were also killed. Krishanthi's mother's gold chain was found in the possession of a soldier on duty at a checkpoint.

Krishanthi's cycle was also found buried. Soldiers on duty were taken into custody for the rape and killing of Krishanthi and her mother. The accused were found guilty. It was described as the most brutal sadistic killing .

Another case in the North highlighted a gang rape of a seven-year-old girl. The rapists strangled her to death. Normal life came to a standstill over the brutal murder. The schools, shops and cinemas put up their shutters as a mark of protest.
Shock waves
The killing and raping of 18-year-old Vithya, an A/level student sent shock waves in the North. She had been taken to the jungle and killed after raping her. When Vithya failed to return home from school the family sought Police assistance. Police conducted inquiries when her brother found her mutilated body. It was said that the killers had attended her funeral and shed tears. Crime analysts believe that the rape and murder were not politically motivated. It was a crime committed by a gang of sadists.

The latest killing took place in Vavuniya. A 13-year-old girl who was studying at Vipulananda School was waylaid, raped and killed by a group of thugs in the area.

After the people of Vavuniya, Jaffna and Kilinochchi protested it developed into a mini hartal in the North.
Those who organized the hartal shouted slogans that the criminals were influential people in the North and the Police were not taking action. Later the suspect was arrested.
Seya Sandemini a 4-year-old girl was just asleep in bed with her mother when an intruder took her to the nearby jungle and raped her. Then the rapist killed her by throttling her neck. The whole country mourned her death. Finally the killer was arrested.
At first police arrested the killer's brother and a school boy on suspicion. However, the culprit Saman Jayalath was tried in the High Court and convicted of murder.

UNP has given guarantees to corrupt SLFP ministers ­--

Prof. Sarath Wijesuriya

June 9, 2016, 9:23 pm 

Professor Sarath Wijesuriya took over the mantle of Ven. Maduluwawe Sobitha Thera as the head of the Movement for a Just Society after the latter’s demise. In this interview, he speaks to C. A. Chandraprema about their campaign to have the corruption allegations against members of the previous government investigated.

Q. You had asked for the expediting of corruption probes against members of the previous government. Why do you think the probes are not being carried out expeditiously?

A. We have doubts about certain matters. The first is that due to this scramble to build up the SLFP, certain people are being protected. One example of this is getting Sajin Vaas Gunawardene involved in the SLFP again. We are not happy about that. Furthermore we got to know that no action is being taken on allegations against those members of the previous government who are now serving in the cabinet. We have got to know from a reliable source that Minister Malik Samarawickrema has given them guarantees in this regard. We are dead against that as well. If someone is corrupt and state property has been misused you can’t let someone off on the grounds that he belongs to a certain political party. If political deals are being made for the sake of political power, there is no good governance there. We have doubts about certain things that are happening within the judiciary as well. We can see that the judiciary is being interfered with to get certain things done. One example is the case of the Magistrate who was accused of owning an elephant without legal sanction. It appears that sections of the judiciary are trying to protect him. Then there was the example of Ven. Uduwe Dhammaloka coming out of remand prison and claiming that he got bail without even applying for it, through a special team who had been tasked with obtaining bail for him. The reason why we asked for the expediting of corruption probes is because there is no justification for the delays.

Q. When I spoke to the spokesman of the Movement for a Just Society Nirmal Ranjith Dewasiri before the last presidential election, what he said was that Ven. Maduluwawe Sobitha thera should be the common candidate because a politician cannot be relied on. Ultimately however the common candidate was an individual who had been in the political system. What guarantee do the people have about how clean the people in the yahapalana government are?

A. The Movement for a Just Society began with a statement made by Ven. Maduluwawe Sobitha thera at a gathering at the BMICH that he will dedicate the rest of his life to abolishing the executive presidency. As our movement gradually took shape, the general opinion among us was that we cannot place our trust in people in the main political parties. We were thinking mainly on the lines of an apolitical candidate. We never thought the presidential election would come so soon. We were expecting to carry our campaign countrywide over four or five years. But when a snap election was called, we needed a common candidate. However it was not possible to build up an apolitical candidate in the short time available. We had to settle for someone who could face the election. It was in this background that Maithripala Sirisena’s name was suggested. But all of us had doubts whether we can achieve our aims with a politician who had been in the system for a long time. In the end we had to make do with what we had.

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Protest Opposite The Malay Military Mosque In Kandy

By Mass L. Usuf –June 9, 2016 

Mass L. Usuf

A protest led by several monks and lay people took place on 05.06.2016 in front of the mosque in Kandy, situated near the Central Market. There were also present members of the Police force. The point of contention was that this mosque is building a minaret which they allege will be taller than the height of Dalada Maligawa. According to some prominent persons, this is an unsubstantiated allegation.

The first question; Is there a law which prohibits any construction up to the height of the Dalada Maligawa? If there is no such law, can Article 9 of the Constitution be invoked with the argument of giving foremost place to Buddhism? It will be an interesting proposition to see how the courts would interpret Article 9 under such circumstances, if invoked. For further consideration will be the relevant Sections of the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights (ICCPR), the Lessons Learnt and Reconciliation Commission Report (2011) and the mandate of the Permanent Office of National Unity and Reconciliation. All of which dwells on freedom of religion, inter-faith harmony, inter-ethnic harmony etc.

Tomb of Jamindar Tunku Tuan Hussain (d. 1854)--Partially constructed Minaret

This mosque was popularly known in the past as the Malay Military Mosque. This leads us to the question as to who are the Malays? Why was it called the Malay Military Mosque? I do not wish this piece to be given a racially biased misinterpretation. Therefore, at the outset, I declare that my interest is confined only to the area of tracing the history behind this mosque and the Rule of Law.

The Malay Community

The Malays are a small community of people living in Sri Lanka who came to Sri Lanka in the early parts of the first millennium. Tony P. Miskin – Former Senior Lecturer, University of Moratuwa in his documentation titled “Chronological events in the history of Sri Lankan Malays” notes that a Malay king named King Chandrabhanu, is said to have ruled the Jaffna kingdom during part of the period 1235-1275. (Daily News of 14th Nov 1983 – Article by Henry P. Abeysekera, on “Historical Basis for National Unity”). History also amply records the presence of the Malays during the Portuguese, Dutch and the British periods.

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Deputy mayor urged to refrain from reprisal against reporter

Jun 09, 2016

Reporters Without Borders (RSF) condemns a physical attack on 2 June on Freddy Gamage, a journalist based in Negombo (a city 35 km north of Colombo), and cautions against any furthers reprisals by people who have been the subjects of his investigative reporting, especially deputy mayor Dayan Lanza.

The editor of the Negombo-based newspaper Meepura and the Meepura news portal and convener of the Web Journalists Association, Gamage was attacked by two men as he left a Negombo municipal council meeting that he had covered at the mayor’s invitation.

 

His assailants, whose faces were covered by motorcycle helmets, hit him with a wooden pole and then fled on motorcycle. The police later arrested two persons suspected of being his attackers and are still holding them. The leading suspect, Thusan Krishmal, is reportedly a municipal council worker.

 

Gamage thinks he was the victim of a reprisal for his reporting, much of which is focused on corruption involving local officials. Above all, he suspects that it was linked to his coverage of deputy mayor Dayan Lanza.

 

The deputy mayor called him two weeks before the attack and told him that God would punish him if he wrote bad things about him (the deputy mayor) or his brother, Nimal Lanza, who is a deputy minister in President Maithreepala Sirisena’s government.

 

With supporting photos, Web journalists in Sri Lanka claim that Krishmal, the leading suspect, is an associate of both of the Lanza brothers. They also reports that an examination of Krishmal’s mobile phone records shows that he called the deputy mayor 16 times on the day of the attack.

 

photo :  Main Suspect with Deputy Minister Nimal Lanza

photo : Main Suspect with deputy mayor Dayan Lanza (middle)

 

“We applaud the way the authorities moved quickly to arrest Freddy Gamage’s suspected attackers,” said Benjamin Ismaïl, the head of RSF’s Asia-Pacific desk. “We now urge them to identify those who masterminded the attack and to bring them to justice.

 

“The police must not let their investigation be affected by the status and official positions of those singled out by Gamage. And if another attack take place, those targeted by his reporting, especially Dayan Lanza, who has already tried to intimidate him, should be regarded by the police as suspects.”

 

Although attacks on journalists have declined since the new government took over in January 2015, RSF and Journalists for Democracy in Sri Lanka reiterate their call to President Sirisena to end the policy of violence against journalists of his predecessor, Mahinda Rajapaksa, and to combat impunity.

 

Sri Lanka is ranked 141st out of 180 countries in RSF’s 2016 World Press Freedom Index.

Wijesuriya report said Ammo Dump is danger prone and wanted it moved out 20 years ago ! -Rtd. Specialist

(Lanka-e-News -09.June.2016, 11.30PM)   It was in the nineties , that was  about 20 years ago the army was recommended to move out the  ‘Ammo dump’  that is, the armory in the Kosgama salawa as it was danger prone,  a retired army specialist on Arms and Ammunition technology (ATPO) revealed to Lanka e news.

At that time with a view to inspecting the security status of the Kosgama camp and submit a recommendation report , a team of technology experts was appointed headed by  the army operations Director then , Major General Sisira Wijesuriya (Bada Wijesuriya) , and this specialist who spoke to Lanka e news was attached to that team and was working along with them then. 

In the report that was forwarded to the army  chiefs  at that time it was mentioned the camp was extremely insecure and the bullets and weapons (at that time ammunition too  were stored in it) shall be transferred to a more secure destination.

During that period , because the war was in progress , it  was difficult to implement the recommendation , but  the failure of security chiefs to take action to implement the recommendation  after the conclusion of the war in 2009 , until 2016 , that is for 7 years cannot be pardoned or condoned under any circumstances , he pinpointed.

The Rajapakses after the conclusion of the war instead of carrying out the tasks within the army, threw the army commander Sarath Fonseka  into  jail; and  employed the army to clean drains,  embellish the  city, sell vegetables, hold  musical shows, conduct  car races,  perform Bodhi poojas etc. and gave priority to such vindictive or petty activities but not to national priorities . This catastrophe was the outcome of that neglect . Hence the Rajapakses should be fully answerable to this holocaust for ignoring  this most important task concerning the security of a whole nation  despite being warned of the great and grave impending danger , the specialist regretted. 

The present army commander cannot disclaim responsibility in respect  of the charges of  negligence   leveled against him , the retired specialist  added.

---------------------------
by     (2016-06-09 21:24:36)

Gota’s entry and Kosgama disaster

2016-06-08

Prior to the arrest of Senior DIG Anura Senanayake over the murder of Thajudeen, a special discussion was held at Gotabaya Rajapaksa's house with the participation of the lawyers of the Rajapaksas, according to reports. Anura being an officer close to Gotabaya, it is no secret Anura acted on Gotabaya's orders. The arrest of Anura caused immense anguish and shock to Gotabaya.

Last weekend posters were awash across the country that Commission of Bribery and Corruption Director Dilrukshi was looking for a kendara (right time) to arrest Gotabaya. On Saturday, when such posters were being pasted, Minister John Seneviratne made a proposal that Gotabaya shall be made the second leader of the SLFP. Gotabaya also said he is prepared to work with Maitripala Sirisena. It was John who promoted the view that Gotabaya shall be given a prominent position in the SLFP.

About a week ago, when John was having discussions with several ministers including S.B. Dissanayake and Dilan Perera, he had insisted that Gotabaya should be made the second in command of the SLFP. In addition he had stated, protests must be lodged against the government taking measures antagonistic to the forces. Maithri remaining silent despite these announcements made by John is most perplexing. When an MP who is pro-Maithri had intimated to the latter of John's enunciations, Maithri had replied, nobody made such a proposal to him.

Statement made by John
In any event, after the arrest of Anura, it is apparent Gotabaya had used the weekend media to his advantage. It is normal for the Police conducting investigations against Gotabaya getting frightened when trying to expedite their investigation in the light of the statement made by John.

It is natural for the Police to get afraid when trying to expedite investigations against or arrest Gotabaya, a powerful individual who is likely to be appointed as the SLFP's second in command with the consent of Maithri.

It is a matter for conjecture whether Gotabaya's propaganda campaign over the weekend was aimed at daunting the police. At any rate, Gotabaya was in the ready to inaugurate the national campaign for rescuing the forces, on the 6 June. With this in view under the chairmanship of Gotabaya, a meeting was organized by the national campaign for rescuing the forces at Sri Sambuddhathwa Jayanthi Centre Auditorium, Colombo.

The day previous to this meeting the Kosgama Army camp armoury exploded, and this explosion is shrouded in mystery. The pro-Rajapaksa website that gave publicity to the national campaign to rescue the Forces claimed this explosion was caused by the LTTE, while Gotabaya said, the Army Commander should hold himself responsible for this.The situation is fraught with grave danger.

A list of names

The media reported that Prime Minister Ranil Wickremesinghe has called for a list of names of those appointed by Gotabaya Rajapaksa to government institutions as though he had understood the perilous situation. Ranil has called for this list at a time when the State officers were threatening to stage a strike against the summoning of officers to the FCID in relation to the corruption committed during the Rajapaksa regime. It is not sure whether Ranil is suspecting there are officers of the Forces behind these threats. When the FCID is readying to probe into the corruption of the officers of the Forces, posing these threats cannot be an accident.
While Gotabaya is facing most grave charges in regard to the supply of weapons to Avant Garde Co., the Additional Secretary of the Defence Ministry Damayanthi Jayaratne who gave the orders fleeing from the country is most baffling and mysterious. When the presidential commission investigating frauds and corruption summoned her, she did not respond. After she was sent out from the Defence Ministry, her securing the post of Additional Secretary of the ministry of Vajira Abeywardena, too, is most intriguing. It is well to recall Vajira is tainted with allegations of having done transactions with Avant Garde Co. Besides it was Vajira who took Pelpita facing charges of corruption to his ministry. Unbelievably, Damayanthi Jayaratne who was absorbed into the ministry of Vajira was granted leave by the Ministry Secretary and permitted to go overseas while a warrant had already been issued on her by the presidential commission inquiring into frauds and corruption.

While an investigation into corruption was being conducted against him, Gotabaya organized a protest campaign in front of the Commission inquiring into allegations of bribery and corruption. Thereafter, a restraining order was obtained from Court against the investigations pertaining to him and his arrest. Ranil criticized this verdict which was delivered over a year ago. The government that is aware of the dangerous hide and seek game Gotabaya is playing, seems to be in a spot.

Mahinda, Gotabaya should take responsibility for Salawa fire


June 9, 2016
The Education Minister today (09) held the former President and former Defense Secretary responsible in connection with the fire that erupted at the Salawa Army Camp in Kosgoda.

 Minister Akila Viraj Kariyawasam pointed out that former President Mahinda Rajapaksa and former Defense Secretary Gotabaya Rajapaksa should take the responsibility of the incident owing to their failure to locate the armories in safer locations beforehand. The observation was made at a press conference held in Colombo. 

Minister Kariyawasam also blamed the Rajapaksas of not considering measures that should have been taken in a post-war era. 

He pointed out that according to the international standards; steps should have been taken to locate the armories in safer locations. Kariyawasam also charged them of neglecting their duties after the conflict. 

Explosion in Thalangama kills 3

Jun 09, 2016

An explosion has occurred behind the Thalangama Police at Deekin Udyanaya short while ago. Reportedly three people have been killed due to the explosion.

The reason for the explosion is believed to be a hand grenade and the Thalangama Police is conducting further investigations.

 

Two women and a man were killed due to the explosion, while a 9-year-old was injured and is currently receiving treatment at the National Hospital, hospital sources say.

 

Israeli leaders vow revenge after Tel Aviv attack

Israeli police at a Tel Aviv café where a shooting attack took place on 8 June.Xinhua

Israeli soldiers stop Palestinians at the entrance of Yatta near the West Bank city of Hebron on 9 June.Wisam HashlamounAPA images

Maureen Clare Murphy-9 June 2016

Israel imposed collective punishment measures and its leaders threatened more to come after two Palestinian men opened fire in a busy upscale Tel Aviv square Wednesday night, killing four Israelis and injuring several more.

Those killed have been identified as Ido Ben Ari, who had served in the Israeli army’s elite Sayeret Matkal commando unit; Ilana Naveh, a 39-year-old mother of four; 32-year-old Mila Mishayev, who was waiting at a cafe for her fiancé when she was shot; and Michael Feige, 58, a sociologist and anthropologist considered anexpert on Israel’s settler movement and whose scholarship focuses on Israeli collective memory and political myth.

Oren Yiftachel, Feige’s colleague at Ben-Gurion University, told the Israeli publication YNet: “An anthropologist and sociologist of Israeli society … [Feige] was a true democrat, a rarity in that regard. He had the ability to understand all sides, and that’s what made him such a good anthropologist. This is a great loss to our university.”

Sixteen others were wounded during the attack; three were still in hospital in moderate condition on Thursday, the Tel Aviv newspaper Haaretz reported.

The alleged Palestinian gunmen, identified as cousins Muhammad Ahmad Mukhamara and Khaled Muhammad Mukhamara from the town of Yatta near the occupied West Bank city of Hebron, were also wounded before being apprehended.

Israeli media broadcast security camera footage of the incident, showing the two alleged gunmen, dressed in suits, opening fire in a restaurant:

Full Story>>>

 

Syria's besieged Daraya receives food aid for first time since 2012

Daraya had a pre-war population of around 80,000 people but that has dropped by almost 90 percent

A file photo of medical aid reaching Daraya in May 2015 (AFP)

Thursday 9 June 2016

A food aid convoy on Thursday entered the Syrian town of Daraya, the first delivery since the start of the siege there imposed by the Syrian government in 2012, a Red Crescent official told AFP.

"Nine lorries are currently being unloaded in Daraya. They are carrying food aid, including dry goods and flour, non-food aid as well as medical aid," said Tamam Mehrez, operations director of the Syrian Red Crescent.

Last month, aid agencies delivered relief supplies to the besieged Syrian rebel-held town, but food was not among the materials delivered.

Five trucks organised by the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC), the UN and the Syrian Arab Red Crescent were to deliver baby milk and medical and school supplies to the town, which is within a few miles of aid warehouses in the capital of Damascus.

"We see this as a breakthrough, but not a success," ICRC spokesman Pawel Krzysiek told Middle East Eye from a buffer zone near Daraya in May, waiting for the convoy to arrive.

Krzysiek said the first food aid convoy to arrive in Daraya since November 2012 should be seen as a "confidence-building opportunity".

"We are urging everyone who is responsible on the ground to allow this needed aid to Dararya," he said.

Earlier on Thursday, the United Nations said the Syrian government has given approval for humanitarian convoys to reach all of the country's 19 besieged areas by the end of the month - while warning that "approval ... does not mean delivery".

"We were informed by our team in Damascus that basically there has been a permission, an approval ... by the government of Syria for all 19 besieged areas," the UN envoy to the war-racked country, Staffan de Mistura, told reporters.

He stressed that Syria had given such approvals in the past before ultimately blocking convoys from distributing life-saving supplies.

He made the comments after the weekly meeting of the Syria humanitarian taskforce, co-chaired by the United States and Russia, which has for months been trying to boost aid supplies to millions of Syrians in need.

That taskforce has faced pressure, including from France and Britain, to start air-dropping aid into besieged areas, with Syrian President Bashar al-Assad's military continuing to block road convoys.

De Mistura insisted there had been no "backtracking" on air drops and that they "are still an option."

Daraya had a pre-war population of around 80,000 people but that has dropped by almost 90 percent, with remaining residents suffering from severe shortages and malnutrition.

In April, 47 women in the Syrian town sent an open letter saying they were on the verge of witnessing their children and relatives starve to death if aid did not reach them soon.

Since November 2012, when the government's siege on Daraya started, residents have survived off food smuggled in from a nearby town and whatever crops they could grow. Two years ago, the government cut off the town's water supplies.

This January, the crisis in the town quickly escalated when the road to the next town was cut off and frequent government bombing left Daraya's drinking water, siphoned from shallow wells, and farmland contaminated with toxic chemicals, a resident told MEE in April.

Obama offers a formal endorsement of Clinton; president also meets with Sanders

The Clinton campaign released a video on June 9 showing President Obama endorsing her as his successor. (Hillary Clinton)

By John Wagner, Juliet Eilperin and Robert Costa-June 9 at 4:12 PM

President Obama offered his formal endorsement of Hillary Clinton with a video Thursday and plans to campaign with the former secretary of state in Wisconsin next week, efforts aimed at speeding the Democratic Party’s unification around its presumed presidential nominee.

“I know how hard this job can be, that’s why I know Hillary will be so good at it,” Obama says in the video. “In fact, I don’t think there’s ever been someone so qualified to hold this office. She’s got the courage, the compassion and the heart to get this job done.”

The swift endorsement came after the president met with Sen. Bernie Sanders at the White House earlier Thursday and the senator from Vermont indicated that he is preparing to exit the Democratic nominating battle.

Sen. Elizabeth Warren (D-Mass.) will offer her own endorsement later Thursday on MSNBC’s “The Rachel Maddow Show,” according to the network. The only Democratic woman in the Senate who had not yet endorsed Clinton, Warren’s support is expected to help bring Sanders supporters, and the left generally, in line behind the presumptive nominee.

Sanders has been under pressure to stand down and help unify the party after a long and contentious contest with Clinton for the nomination. One of Obama’s tasks will be to try to rally those who have backed Sanders behind Clinton’s candidacy.

The short video provides a preview of the central theme Obama is likely to hammer away at for months to come: that Clinton’s experience, toughness and values make her more qualified to lead the country than a real estate magnate who has never held public office.

“And from the decision we made in the Situation Room to get bin Laden, to our pursuit of diplomacy in capitals around the world, I have seen her judgment, I’ve seen her toughness,” the president said. “I’ve seen her commitment to our values up close.”

Clinton and Obama will campaign together soon in Green Bay, Wis., aides to both politicians confirmed. 

The president plans to campaign in industrial states like Wisconsin, where Donald Trump has actively wooed Democrats, as well as do outreach targeted at young voters, Latinos and African Americans.

In an interview with Bloomberg News, timed to correspond with the video’s release, Clinton welcomed Obama’s endorsement.

“It just means so much to have a strong, substantive endorsement from the president. Obviously I value his opinion a great deal personally,” Clinton said. “It’s just such a treat because over the years of knowing each other, we’ve gone from fierce competitors to true friends.”

Sanders told reporters after his White House meeting that he is looking forward to working with Clinton to defeat Trump in the fall.

“Needless to say, I’m going to do everything in my power, and I’m going to work as hard as I can, to make sure that Donald Trump does not become president of the United States,” he told reporters, as his wife, Jane, stood behind him.

Speaking outside the White House June 9, Democratic presidential candidate Bernie Sanders thanked the president and vice president for remaining impartial on the primary fight against rival Hillary Clinton. (Associated Press)

Trump, meanwhile, offered his thoughts in a tweet: “Obama just endorsed Crooked Hillary. He wants four more years of Obama — but nobody else does!”

Sanders said he still plans to compete in Tuesday’s final Democratic primary in the District, but he added that “in the near future” he hopes to meet with Clinton to talk about ways they can work together.

His comments suggested that Sanders is preparing to exit the long and grueling presidential race so long as leading Democrats make a genuine effort to incorporate his policy ideas into their broader agenda.

The hour-long meeting with Obama came on a busy day for Sanders in Washington. The senator also met on Capitol Hill with Senate Minority Leader Harry M. Reid (D-Nev.) and Sen. Charles E. Schumer (D-N.Y.); Reid has sought to play the role of peace broker at the end of a contentious nominating contest between Sanders and Clinton.

“I’m not pushing him to do anything. I think he needs a little time to decide what he wants to do,” Reid told reporters, adding the has invited Sanders to speak to Senate Democrats next week and expects Sanders to campaign for his colleagues. “I didn’t hear a single word about him trying to change the fact that she’s the nominee. I think he’s accepted that.”

Schumer said Sanders is “not worn down. He’s not bitter. He’s not angry.” He added: “He wants to make sure that issues he’s pushed for have vitality.”

Sanders also met with Vice President Biden at his residence at the Naval Observatory.

“He is seeking out the counsel of people he admires and respects,” Sanders spokesman Michael Briggs said of the senator.

Increasingly, Sanders’s aim seems to be using the leverage that he and his millions of loyal followers now have to ensure that his campaign agenda — anchored around issues of income and wealth inequality — has a central place in the Democratic Party’s platform and general-election strategy.

[Sanders supporters more open to D.C. primary participation than longer battle against Clinton]

Following his meeting with Obama, Sanders ticked off several priorities, including fighting childhood poverty, expanding Social Security benefits, reducing college debt, rebuilding the nation’s “crumbling” infrastructure and making corporations and wealthy individuals pay more in taxes.

Sanders’s visit to Washington prompted reflections from many who know him, particularly on Capitol Hill. Speaking to reporters there, Sen. Richard J. Durbin (D-Ill.), an Obama ally, said that “of course” Sanders will have leverage over the party’s direction and platform.

“I remember when he first left. It was kind of everybody, with a real smile, and put their arm around him and said, ‘Good luck, Bernie.’ And then we watched as he put together an incredible campaign, not just in the fundraising but in the way that he lit up so many Democrats and even independents who came to his side. He became a force, a political force, and a positive one as far as I’m concerned. I think our party can learn from his candidacy, and I think we’re going to count on him to bring us across the finish line with a victory in November.”

Sanders planned to end Thursday night with the kind of large-scale rally that has become a signature of his campaign, this one at the D.C. Armory, adjacent to Robert F. Kennedy Memorial Stadium in the District, before flying home to Burlington, Vt.

[Next for Democrats: A delicate dance to broker peace between Clinton, Sanders]

The rally comes five days ahead of the Democratic primary in the District. Twenty delegates are in play, but there is little at stake after Clinton clinched the nomination this week, punctuated by her decisive primary win Tuesday in California, the nation’s most populous state.

Nonetheless, Sanders said he would make statehood for the District a prominent part of his campaign here, noting that it has a similar population to Vermont, which is represented by two senators and a congressman in Washington.

A senior administration official said that Obama had told Sanders on Sunday that he was planning to endorse Clinton. The Sanders campaign asked that Obama wait until after meeting with Sanders, according to the administration official, who spoke on the condition of anonymity to speak more freely about private conversations.

The Obama video was taped on Tuesday, before Clinton had claimed victory, according to White House press secretary Josh Earnest.

Sanders’s 11:15 a.m. meeting Thursday with Obama was arranged at the senator’s request, according to the White House, and went longer than scheduled.

Standing before reporters after his meeting with Obama, Sanders began his remarks by thanking the president and the vice president “for the degree of impartiality” they showed throughout the primary after promising to stay neutral.

“What they said at the beginning is that they would not put their thumbs on the scale,” he said, “and in fact, they kept their word, and I appreciate that very, very much.”

After outlining the movement he has sought to create over the past year, saying he would continue to push for a more expansive federal government that would help the poor, senior citizens and young people, Sanders made clear he sees the Republican nominee as a serious threat to U.S. society.

“Donald Trump would clearly, to my mind and to, I think, the majority of Americans, be a disaster as president of the United States,” he said. “It is unbelievable to me, and I say this with all sincerity, that the Republican Party would have a candidate for president who in the year 2016 makes bigotry and discrimination the cornerstone of his campaign.”

Speaking to reporters Thursday, Earnest said Obama and Sanders had “a friendly conversation that was focused on the future” and that the senator was “not surprised” by the president’s endorsement of Clinton.

He also made it clear that Obama had backed Clinton all along, saying, “I’m not aware the president ever changed his mind in the course of the Democratic primary.”

He even went so far as to say that Clinton is more qualified to be president than Obama was in 2008.

“Just take a raw look at qualifications, I think that’s pretty obvious.” Earnest said.

Prior to the meeting, Obama and Sanders smiled and chatted as they walked along the White House colonnade Thursday, as a throng of White House reporters recorded the moment. They then walked into the Oval Office.

As Sanders sat down in Reid’s Capitol suite Thursday afternoon, sitting on a chair across from Reid by a bookshelf, he sat silent as reporters asked him about Obama’s endorsement.

“Okay you guys, we’re not going to take any questions,” Reid said as Sanders stared straight ahead with his hands on his knees. “That’s kind of the deal that I made.”

Sanders had not spoken to the media since Tuesday afternoon. Most notable in his interactions with voters, both in California and later with volunteers in Vermont, has been what has gone unsaid: He has rarely taken shots at Clinton or even mentioned her, save for a brief crack while shaking hands with voters about whether she received any votes in California and later telling supporters that he had a “very gracious call” with her.

Sanders lost four of the six primaries and caucuses Tuesday, including the two largest, New Jersey and California. He had hoped to make a statement in California by beating Clinton by a sizable margin.

[Clinton celebrates victory, declaring: ‘We’ve reached a milestone’]

According to people close to him, carrying on his campaign was an unsurprising but deeply personal decision made by Sanders on Tuesday at his hotel in Los Angeles as the results came in. Despite the disappointing results, Sanders remains convinced that the gains he has made and the movement he has led should not be quickly discarded in the name of party unity.

Dan Balz, Anne Gearan, Abby Phillip and Karen Tumulty contributed to this report.

Saudi Arabia Threatened to Break Relations With U.N. Over Human Rights Criticism in Yemen

BY COLUM LYNCH-JUNE 7, 2016

Saudi Arabia threatened this week to break relations with the United Nations and cut hundreds of millions of dollars in assistance to its humanitarian relief and counterterrorism programs to strong-arm the U.N. into removing Riyadh and its allies from a blacklist of groups that are accused of harming children in armed conflict.

The threat — which has not been previously reported — worked, and the U.N. subsequently dropped the Saudis from a rogues’ gallery of the world’s worst violators of children’s rights in conflict zones.

In their Monday warning, senior Saudi diplomats told top U.N. officials Riyadh would use its influence to convince other Arab governments and the Organization of Islamic Cooperation to sever ties with the United Nations, the officials said. The threats were issued in a series of exchanges between top Saudi officials in Riyadh, including Saudi Foreign Minister Adel al-Jubeir, according to U.N.-based officials.
The Saudi mission to the United Nations did not respond to a request for comment Tuesday afternoon.


Riyadh was enraged after U.N. Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon included the Saudi-led military coalition in Yemen on a list of countries, rebel movements, and terrorist organizations that killed, maimed, or otherwise abused children in conflict. The 40-page report — which was issued last week and primarily written by Leila Zerrougui, the U.N. chief’s special representative for children and armed conflict — claimed the coalition was responsible for about 60 percent of 1,953 child deaths and injuries in Yemen since last year.

Hoping to mollify the Saudis, Ban issued a statement Monday saying he would remove the Saudi-led coalition from the list, pending a review of the matter by a joint U.N. and Saudi panel. The reversal triggered a wave of criticism of the U.N. from human rights groups, who accused Ban of caving to Saudi intimidation.

“It appears that political power and diplomatic clout have been allowed to trump the U.N.’s duty to expose those responsible for the killing and maiming of more than 1,000 of Yemen’s children,” Sajjad Mohammad Sajid, Oxfam’s country director in Yemen, said in a statement. “The decision to retract its finding is a moral failure and goes against everything the U.N. is meant to stand for.”

The Saudi threat reflects a growing trend by U.N. member states to threaten retaliation against Turtle Bay for challenging their human rights records.

In March, Morocco expelled 84 international staffers from a U.N. peacekeeping mission in the disputed Western Sahara region after Ban characterized the territory as “occupied.” Last year, the United States warned that Congress might cut off funding to the U.N. if it included Israel on the same blacklist of armed entities that killed or injured children in conflict, according to two U.N. diplomatic officials who spoke on the condition of anonymity. In that case, Ban removed Israel from a draft blacklist before it was made public.

Pushing Monday for Riyadh to be delisted, Saudi Arabia’s U.N. ambassador, Abdallah al-Mouallimi, said it was unfair for Israel to be quietly let off the hook, while the kingdom initially was not.

“We have to ask the question: Why was Israel removed from the list last year?” Mouallimi said. “Israel has been guilty of crimes against children that are far in excess of even the inaccurate numbers that report contains about Yemen.”
At the time, Israel said it should not be part of a list that also included outlawed extremist groups like the Islamic State, al Qaeda, and the Taliban. Israel also maintained it continually sought to protect civilians from its warfare with Palestinian armed groups.


Mouallimi said he protested Saudi Arabia’s inclusion on the 2016 list in a face-to-face meeting Monday morning with U.N. Deputy Secretary-General Jan Eliasson and said Ban had shown “wisdom” in striking Israel from the tally in 2015. “We fail to see why he has not exercised the same wisdom in this report this year,” Mouallimi said.

But hours later, Mouallimi praised Ban for seeing the light and reversing his position.

Taking Riyadh off the list “clearly vindicates” the Saudi-led coalition in Yemen, he told reporters. The U.N. decision, he insisted, is “irreversible and unconditional.”

Photo credit: LENNART PREISS/Getty Images

Gwangju 5-18 and the Future of Global Democracy

he following article based on the  accepting Speech for the 2016 Kim Dae Jung Scholar’s Prize for Democracy, Peace, and Human Rights, Chonnam National University, Gwangju, South Korea, June 8, 2016.

The Gwangju Uprising, alternatively called May 18 Democratic Uprising in Korea ( File Photo)-Ferdinand Marcos, Former President of the Philippines ( File Photo)

by George Katsiaficas

( June 8, 2016, Seoul , Sri Lanka Guardian) CNU has been my home away from home since 2001. I feel greatly honoured that my scholarly work has been recognized for helping to realize democracy, peace and human rights on the Korean peninsula. Ever since my first visit to Gwangju in 1999, I have felt myself to be at home. During my visit the next year, I was happily surprised by an invitation to meet President Kim Dae Jung shortly before his visit to Pyongyang.

George Katsiaficas

In this world, money rules, and scholarly endeavors are seldom recognized, let alone rewarded. My everyday experiences at CNU have been continual sources of surprise, happily so, and this award is part of that pattern. I recall another such incident that I would like to share with you. Some years ago, a German colleague was invited to Gwangju for the annual 518 Institute conference. As I showed him around campus, we happened upon the statue of 최상채 총장, Choi Sang-jae, the first president of CNU. My colleague laughed heartily as soon as he saw the statue of a man holding a book and wearing a modern western suit. So accustomed was he to see statues of men on horses with military regalia and weapons, that to him, the sight of a man with a book was a funny and exotic sight. I immediately challenged his laughter, and he quickly agreed that the portrayal of a scholar was a much better sight that any glorification of war. I am proud to consider myself a scholar from CNU.

Of the many professors here who have guided and accompanied me as I journeyed through the experiences of 518 and Korea’s minjung movement, I must name two: Na Kahn-chae, whose own work on the Gwangju Uprising has expanded our understanding through his insight that it was at least a 17-year project. Professor Na has been an indispensable intellectual colleague as well as a good friend. Together we edited an anthology about 518 published by Routledge. Prof. Park Hae-Kwang, current director of the 518 Institute, has nurtured our friendship in Boston and Gwangju and encouraged me intellectually and personally.

I first came to Korea in 1999 after my book on 1968 was translated. It quickly sold through more than 5 printings, and the publisher brought me to Seoul, where multiple interviews and reviews afforded me access to Korean public opinion. My wish ever since 1980, however, when I had seen news reports on 518 while living in Germany, was to visit Gwangju, and I did so in 1999 for one night—enough to fall in love with the city.

My book on the global imagination of 1968, 신좌파의 상상력, showed how internationalism and self-management were the twin aspirations that united a global New Left. From Czechoslovakia (invaded by the Soviet Union) to Vietnam (invaded by the US) to Paris, New York and Mexico City, the grassroots movements were practically and intuitively tied together even though no organization united them. I developed the concept of the eros effect to explain how this unity emerged in the absence of organization and extensive personal contact. In my second book (translated into Korean as정치의 전복), The Subversion of Politics: European Autonomous Social Movements and the Decolonization of Everyday Life, I illustrated how “consciously spontaneous” movements in Europe challenged contemporary norms and values while integrating categories of existence often thought to be mutually exclusive: eros and politics; opposing the government and working for justice; breaking the law and acting properly; and being in solidarity with the Third World rather than enjoying their exploitation.

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