Saturday, April 15, 2017

FGM charge for Detroit doctor Jumana Nagarwala in US first

HENRY FORD HOSPITALImage captionDr Nagarwala mutilated girls aged between six and eight, prosecutors say

14 April 2017

A doctor in the US city of Detroit has been charged with carrying out female genital mutilation (FGM) on young girls in what is believed to be the first case of its kind in the country.

Prosecutors said Jumana Nagarwala had been performing the practice on girls aged between six and eight for 12 years.

She was investigated after the authorities received a tip-off.

If found guilty, she faces a maximum sentence of life in prison.

FGM was made illegal in the US in 1996.

In a voluntary interview with investigators earlier this week Dr Nagarwala denied being involved in any such procedure, local media reported.

But prosecutors said she had performed "horrifying acts of brutality on the most vulnerable victims".

Some travelled to her practise from outside the state of Michigan and were told not to talk about the procedure, they added.

Dr Nagarwala appeared in a federal court in Detroit and was remanded in custody.

"Female genital mutilation constitutes a particularly brutal form of violence against women and girls. It is also a serious federal felony in the United States," acting US attorney Daniel Lemisch said.

"The practice has no place in modern society and those who perform FGM on minors will be held accountable under federal law."

The first recorded case of FGM in the US was in 2006, when an Ethiopian immigrant was jailed for 10 years for aggravated battery and cruelty to children for mutilating his two-year-old daughter five years earlier with a pair of scissors.

In 2012 the US authorities said more than 500,000 women and girls in the country had either been subjected to FGM or were at risk of it.

About 200 million girls and women around the world have suffered some form of FGM, the UN says, with half living in Egypt, Ethiopia and Indonesia.

Friday, April 14, 2017

Family man abducted in ‘white-van’ in Jaffna

Expose` : Good governance commander in chief completes two years but MR ‘s control still within army !

April 13, 2016

A middle-aged family man has been abducted on Sunday (April 10) in Jaffna by a group of men who have come in civvies in a white-van. His whereabouts remains unknown.

According to legal sources in Jaffna, Rajadurai Jeyanthan was at his home at Nunavil South, Chavakachcheri when the group men in civvies, claiming to be from the Terrorism Investigation Department (TID) took him away in a white van – a notorious mode of transport of “unidentified men” to carry out abductions during and after the war.

The abductors have neither given his family a note of acknowledgement nor explained the reason for the arrest.

The sources also said that the Rajathurai Jeyanthan was among those who had gone through the government’s ‘rehabilitation’ program after the end of the war.

His wife told Ceylon News on Wednesday that the abductors have only given her a telephone number and when contacted (via that number) she was asked to come the CID office in Ariyalai, near the Jaffna town.

“First two men in civvies came in motorbike were talking to him after confirming his identity. They said they were from the CID. Few minutes later a group of men, also in civvies, came in a white-van and checked the house before taking my husband away handcuffed,” the terrified wife said via phone.

“When we went to Ariyalai, we were not allowed to see him, instead were told to go to a CID office in Vavuniya. When we went to Vavuniya on the next day, we were told that my husband has been moved to Boosa. We have not heard of him since his abduction,” she told Ceylon News via phone.

The police in Jaffna have refused to entertain a complaint in this regard, instead the family has been told to be in touch with the Ariyalai CID.

Both in Ariyalai and in Vavuniya the so-called CID offices were functioning in abandoned houses without any hoarding and all the men were seen in civvies.

The latest incident has come barely a couple of weeks after the government troops on a tip off recovered a suicide jacket and explosives from a house also in Chavakachcheri.

“White-van” became a verb during the former regime of strongman Mahinda Rajapaksa. Dozens of political opponents and dissidents who were abducted and driven away in ubiquitous “white vans” were thought to have been killed by groups closely linked to the military. Those “white-vanned” seldom turned up alive.

The Ranil-Sirisena government has constantly been denying reports of white operations and abductions in the country. There is no immediate reaction from the government regarding this incident.

Vavuniya families of the disappeared march on Tamil New Year

14 Apr 2017

As the protest of families of the disappeared reached its 50th day in Vavuniya, protestors and supporters held a rally march in Vavuniya town, demanding answers.

Similar to many protests across the North-East, protestors rejected Tamil New Year festivities, with families of the disappeared asking how they could celebrate when their loved ones remained unaccounted for.

Dias And Weliamuna Step Down From TISL Following RTI Requests

April 14, 2017

Chairman of Transparency International, Sri Lanka (TISL) Lakshan Dias and prominent TISL Board Member, J.C. Weliamuna have both stepped down from their positions in the organization in the wake of several Right to Information (RTI) petitions being filed by trade unionists under the RTI Act asking for reports relating to alleged corruption and internal mismanagement at the organization.

JC Weliamuna

The official website of TISL indicates that a new Chairman, SCC Elankoven, has been appointed to the organization while three new Directors have also been appointed. The new Chairman, SCC Elankovan is ‘presently a Consultant to the National NGO Action Front (NNAF) providing support to the NNAF assisting in the areas; of increasing membership especially expanding to the North, East and Plantation areas.’

The Colombo Telegraph learns that RTI petitions filed against TISL have been entertained by an Information Officer appointed by TISL but requests have been denied on the basis that the information asked for does not come within the ambit of the information that the TISL is bound to provide as a Public Authority. The Coalition Against Corruption (CAC) which exercised the RTI powers to submit six RTI applications to TISL has been asked to submit appeals to the Designated Officer who is the CEO of the organization, Asoka Obeyesekere.

Lakshan Dias

The applications had been handed over by the ACA representatives on March 1st to TISL’s Information Officer, Nimal Keerthi Jayathileke, who had accepted the applications on behalf of the TI Sri Lanka Chapter. The applications had sought information on several cases at TISL alleging collusive action by Weliamuna supported by Lakshan Dias and and TISL Executive Director Ashoka Obeyesekere which resulted in grave internal mismanagement. The RTI requests asked for the report by J C Weliamuna and Lakshan Dias on an incident following an internal inquiry where Obeyesekere is alleged to have had penalised staff, a Rs. 1.1 fraud transaction, and to ascertain if TISL provided a job to a foreign female (the wife of an associate of Obeyesekere) who did not possess the working visa to work in Sri Lanka and if she was paid ETF and EPF.

The CAC had worked with TISL in the past and had contributed towards the drafting of the policy on the safeguarding of whistleblowers. Long standing staff members at TISL who had helped to draft that policy had, as a result of raising questions internally in protest, not had their contracts renewed and some were given payoffs by the organization.

Sri Lanka’s slow dance on transitional justice

- Apr 14, 2017

The island nation of Sri Lanka featured prominently on the formal agenda of the UN Human Rights Council’s 34th session that ran from 27 February to 24 March. Sri Lanka’s compliance with an October 2015 Council resolution came under review and another country-specific resolution, again co-sponsored by the Sri Lankan government, passed on 23 March.

The content of the current resolution reiterates the need for Colombo to follow through on A host of reforms – largely pertaining to human rights and transitional justice – that the coalition government had endorsed in the 2015 resolution.

In a nation dominated by ethnic Sinhalese, the suppression of Tamil rights in a range of areas – including language, education, employment and land – led to the rise of Tamil militancy in the 1970s. From 1983 to 2009, the Tamil Tigers waged a civil war against the Sri Lankan military with the hope of establishing an independent Tamil state in the northern and eastern parts of the country. The Tigers were militarily defeated in May 2009. Eight years on, the war’s root causes are still unresolved and there’s been no ACCOUNTABILITY for atrocities committed during the fighting.

In that context, it is thought implementing A comprehensive transitional agenda will help to ensure the nation does not return to violent conflict. Unfortunately, the government has plenty of work left to do.

The slow pace of progress

In terms of fulfilling previous UNHRC commitments, the administration of President Maithripala Sirisena and Prime Minister Ranil Wickremesinghe has made some strides when it comes to international engagement. For example, Zeid Ra’ad Al Hussein, UN High Commissioner for Human Rights, visited Sri Lanka in February 2016. Various UN special procedures mandate holders have also been given access to the country and have met with a host of stakeholders.

However, most of the 2015 resolution has not been implemented and – to properly implement the latest resolution – Colombo needs to embrace its purported agenda with real vigour. More specifically, when it comes to major benchmarks, many Sri Lanka watchers are looking to several major transitional justice mechanisms: a truth commission; offices to deal with disappearances and reparations; and a judicial mechanism to handle abuses that allegedly occurred during the nation’s civil war.

In January 2016, Prime Minister Wickremesinghe appointed a Consultation Task Force on Reconciliation Mechanisms (CTF) to undertake broad consultations to design the country’s transitional justice mechanisms. The creation of the CTF was a seemingly positive development and it has produced a thorough report with a range of recommendations. However, neither Sirisena nor Wickremesinghe have endorsed the report, let alone its recommendations.

In relation to transitional justice mechanisms, parliament (hurriedly) passed legislation to create an Office of Missing Persons (OMP) in August 2016, but little has happened since then. It’s not clear when the OMP will be staffed or start to function. And, notably, the government continues to prevaricate on the issue of strong international participation - which would help ensure a credible process - in any of these mechanisms. (Colombo’s unwillingness to include foreign judges in a judicial mechanism has drawn the most criticism.)

Speaking at the UNHRC on 28 February, Sri Lanka’s Foreign Minister Mangala Samaraweera indicated the government planned to present draft legislation for A truth commission with the next two months. However, Samaraweera has previously made either inaccurate or misleading statements in international forums about the government’s plans, and the pace of reform implementation.

Moreover, there appears to be no timetable for the creation of an accountability mechanism, which is the most controversial of the four mechanisms. Besides, Sirisena has indicated that the government will protect the military from accountability issues; such statements play well politically because the military remains a highly regarded institution amongst the majority Sinhalese community.

The military itself is almost exclusively Sinhalese and most people in this community probably wouldn’t want to see senior military officials held ACCOUNTABLE. The fact that Sirisena, a former cabinet member in the previous administration led by Mahinda Rajapaksa, served as acting defense minister during the last two weeks of the war further complicates this.

Worries about what might come next

The abovementioned reforms are obviously important, as is finding a political solution to the longstanding ethnic conflict. Yet coming to agreement on a devolution package that the Tamil community could accept is far from a foregone conclusion; even less controversial issues pertaining to constitution-building are still being debated.

In some ways, it’s a bit surprising that the current administration, a difficult power-sharing arrangement between longstanding political rivals (the Sri Lanka Freedom Party and the United National Party), agreed to co-sponsor another resolution in Geneva. These sorts of actions don’t play well domestically and this remains an insecure government.

Moreover, Rajapaksa – who ruled for nearly 10 years before his unexpected electoral defeat – was re-elected to parliament in August 2015 and remains politically relevant. Sirisena has continued to have trouble consolidating support within the Sri Lanka Freedom Party, as many members are still loyal to the former president. While he cannot become president again, a return to power for Rajapaksa and his allies certainly isn’t out of the question in the coming years. In addition, elections to both the local government and three provincial councils may be held this year, potentially raising the political costs of bold or controversial action from the coalition government.

Placating others

It’s likely that Colombo’s willingness to co-sponsor another resolution is an attempt to deflect international pressure and keep outside observers (mildly) upbeat about the government’s stated agenda. Furthermore, resolutions of this nature aren’t legally binding.

The current administration has presented an optimistic, reform-oriented front towards the international community. During Rajapaksa’s tenure, Sri Lanka moved closer to China and denounced international criticism pertaining to the island nation’s dismal human rights record and unwillingness to address wartime ACCOUNTABILITY. The Sirisena administration has managed to reorient the country’s foreign policy and attained considerable breathing space.

Still, with growing concerns about the performance of the Sirisena administration (in Sri Lanka and abroad), and a nearly universal acknowledgement that Sirisena, while certainly better that Rajapaksa in terms of governance, has fallen short of expectations, observers are hoping for decisive action from Colombo.

These issues and recommendations – to varying degrees – have been noted by the UN Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights in its latest report on Sri Lanka. The president and the prime minister could start by publicly championing the CTF’s report its recommendations.

Additionally, by the end of April, the government could publish A detailed timeline that expounds upon the creation of its four transitional justice mechanisms, including when pertinent legislation is expected to be passed and when the various mechanisms are intended to become operational. In its report, the Office of High Commissioner for Human Rights calls on the government to present 'a comprehensive strategy on transitional justice, with a time-bound plan to implement the commitments', encapsulated in the previous Council resolution, among other reforms.

Clearly, the government would still have latitude to deviate from a more detailed agenda as needed. However, with so many worries about the lack of progress, a more detailed roadmap would be a sign of good faith. There’s certainly more to be done.

The transitional justice agenda is further complicated because the government has publicly committed to other reforms too, including ones pertaining to economic policy and anti-corruption efforts, neither of which have gone smoothly. The worry is that transitional justice will not be prioritized in the coming years.

Waning international pressure and the need for local ownership

Since the civil ware ended in 2009, international actors, particularly the US, Canada and various European countries have kept Sri Lanka on the international community’s radar and the UNHCR was the principal forum through which this was accomplished. (The body has passed five country-specific resolutions on Sri Lanka since 2012).

However, even though recent developments in Geneva ensure that the international community will remain involved in Sri Lanka’s war-related issues for an additional two years, we shouldn’t expect international actors to have that much influence or to pressure the Sirisena administration considerably.

From transitional justice experts to human rights activists to policymakers, it has long been said that Sri Lanka’s transitional justice project – if it is to succeed – must to be locally owned and victim-centered.

But is this A project that Sirisena and Wickremesinghe (among others) truly believe in? It could well be that Colombo is simply not serious about transitional justice. When Sri Lanka’s progress is assessed again at UNHRC in March next year, we’ll have a clearer answer to that question.
https://www.lowyinstitute.org

Mullikulam Renewed Struggle To Regain Navy Occupied Village

by Marisa de Silva, Nilshan Fonseka and Ruki Fernando -Friday, April 14, 2017

On September 8, 2007 the entire village was unceremoniously evacuated by the Military with the promise of enabling their return within three days. Ten years later, these villagers are yet to be allowed to return to their homes
The recent spate of continued protests demanding the return of lands and truth and justice for the disappeared breaking out across the North and East, appeared to have breathed new life to the struggle of the Mullikulam people to return home to their village

My father, my father’s father and my father’s grand-father have lived here. Mullikulam has been our home for generations now. Our church was made during my great-grand-father’s time, way before I was even born. There were four streams running through our village. We even had one stream just for bathing. When we couldn’t fish in the sea, we would fish in our streams. We had plenty of everything – paddy, cows, chickens and buffaloes, so we always had enough to eat and drink. We would gather together in the evenings and host drama and dance programmes. Everyone had a good time… We lived peacefully alongside our Muslim neighbours. Whenever there were troubles here during the war, we would go stay with them until it was safe for us to return home. I strongly believe that something good will happen for us this time around. Every day I pray that we will all live together peacefully. At least when I leave this earth I pray that we should all be united…” reminisces 88-year-old village elder from Mullikulam, M. Francis Vaz, who hasn’t been home since 2007.

Mullikulam villagers re-start their struggle to return home

On September 8, 2007 the entire village was unceremoniously evacuated by the Military with the promise of enabling their return within three days. Ten years later, these villagers are yet to be allowed to return to their homes and engage in their traditional livelihoods. Since their eviction from Mullikulam in 2007, the Navy North-Western Command Headquarters has been established there, occupying the entirety of their village. A decade long relentless struggle comprising multiple protests, petitions, discussions and false promises, has brought the villagers back to the streets, inspired by the stories of other victims fighting for their rights, and supported by many others, irrespective of religious or ethnic backgrounds. Village Elder, Francis Vaz’s memories of living in peace with Muslims in adjoining Marichikattu, and supporting each other through difficult times has been re-affirmed and come alive, as the Mullikulam people had chosen to start their recent protest on the premises of a very supportive and sympathetic Muslim house, situated at the turn off to their ancestral village, from the main Mannar – Puttalam road.

The recent spate of continued protests demanding the return of lands and truth and justice for the disappeared breaking out across the North and East, appeared to have breathed new life to the struggle of the Mullikulam people to return home to their village that had been illegally occupied by the Military since 2007. Some of the women elders from the village had discussed the ongoing struggle for the return of their lands in Keppapulavu, at the Matha Kootam (Association of Mother Mary) meeting last month, and decided that they too must re-start their struggle to return home. They had then told the village men of their decision, and the men too had agreed to support them.
Currently there are approximately 120 families temporarily resettled in Malankaadu, and 150 families in Kayakuli. About a 100 families (now with extended families as well,) had left for India due to war and displacement, but, are waiting to return if their village is returned to them.

“We (about 50 villagers from both Malankaadu and Kayakuli), re-started our protest for the return of our lands, on Thursday (23 March) morning around 8am. The Navy came outside and asked us ‘why are you protesting here? Why not in front of the District Secretariat (DS) office? We will provide you with buses to go and protest there. You’re protesting against us even though we’ve helped you so much,’” said villagers. “They (the Navy) wouldn’t need to provide us with help if they just give us back our lands,” added the villagers.

Displacement from Mullikulam and aftermath

“When we left in 2007, there were about 100 of our houses in good condition and about 50 other self-made mud and thatched houses. From what we can remember, there was also our Church, the Co-operative building, three school buildings, a pre-school, two hospital buildings, a library, post-office, Fisherman’s Co-operative Society building, a teachers quarters, a RDS building, six public, and four private wells, and nine tanks,” recall the villagers. Now, they have no access to the tanks, public spaces and limited access to some of their cultivation land. Only 27 of the 150 houses remain to this day, and are occupied by Navy personnel. Villagers claim that the rest have been destroyed. They access the church via a side road, and claim that the existing short-cut via the reservoir bund, has been blocked off by the Navy. Most elderly people find it difficult to reach the Church at times they wish to pray, and are now dependent on a Navy bus to take them to and from Sunday Mass. What used to be a 50-100 meter walk is now 3 and 10 kms each way from the church to Malankaadu and Kayakuli, respectively. The Navy also provides a daily school bus to take children to and from school which teaches only up to Grade 9. Thereafter, children have to go to other nearby schools on their own, or stay at hostels if the schools are too far away.

The Mullikulam people were primarily a farming and fisher community, so their proximity to the sea was essential. They had access to nine Paadu (One Paddu= 450metres) (Passing) to fish for prawns and other shallow water fish. Now they only have access to four with the most fertile Paadu being currently under Navy control. When the villagers were evicted from Mullikulam in 2007, they had left behind 64 each of the following; fibre glass boats, out-boat motors, nets and ropes and other fishing gear, 90 Theppams (Catamarans) and 3 drag-nets.
Surveillance and intimidation

“If you don’t stop your protest, we’ll show you our power in the sea,” the Navy had threatened the villagers on the first day of the protest.

There was a high degree of surveillance and intimidation of protesters and outsiders visiting them by the Navy and Silavathurai Police (including Traffic Police,) during the first few days. But during the second week of the protests, Navy officers had been less aggressive and the Area Commander and other officers had indicated to the people protesting and Church leaders that they are ready to abide by any decision that Colombo based Defence establishment would take. But Colombo has been silent for nearly two weeks, despite efforts by Church leaders to reach out.

Legal status of land and response of the DS

The Human Rights Commission of Sri Lanka had concluded that the Navy had occupied private land without due process and had recommended that if providing alterative lands, people’s willingness should be considered and they should not be forced to settle elsewhere.

The DS and his representative had visited the people on March 23, itself, and told them that they won’t achieve much by protesting, and to give them a letter with the people’s demands, that they would hand it over to higher authorities for action. A majority of the lands in the village are owned privately by individuals and the Catholic Diocese of Mannar. The rest of the lands are through permits and grants under the Land Development Ordinance (LDO), State lands and National Housing Development Authority (NHDA) lands.

The DS had also asked them why they are still fighting even after they had received alternate housing. The villagers categorically said that they had continuously fought for the return of their original lands, and had only reluctantly accepted alternate housing in the interim. “We have always maintained that we want to return home,” they said.

“We had everything… now we’re living in a jungle. How can we live like this? I have faith that we’ll get everything back, at least so our children and grand-children can see and enjoy the home we grew up in…,” is village elder, Francis Vaz’s only plea.

(As originally published on Groundviews)

Ranil: The Man & His Era

By Sarath de Alwis –April 14, 2017

Sarath de Alwis

Ranil Wickremesinghe’s political narrative begins in 1977 with his election to Parliament at the age 28. His political path runs parallel to Sri Lanka’s triple lane highway to the Executive Presidency, Market Liberalization and the ethnic firestorm that engulfed and nearly consumed it. A study of his political biography is a discovery of the compelling complexities of our era. It is a vicarious witnessing of our descent in to a cruel ethnic inferno, suppression of a Sothern insurrection with a state brutality that has few parallels in human history, a firsthand experience of political obscenity with the ‘Lampu Kalagedi ‘referendum, the near total collapse of the rule of law and lastly our discovery and realization for a return to political civility and good governance. There remains another hurdle. The military resolution has not appeased memory and prejudice.

The four decades between 1977 and 2017 had different periods. There were periods of hope, change, experiment and promise. There were also periods of decay and degeneration. These multiple periods constitute the era that is mirrored by the political biography of Ranil Wickremesinghe.

The time context

When Ranil entered politics the Minster of Telecommunications [He later became Prime Minister and President] was a popular and coveted Minister. He could allocate telephones. He dispensed connectivity. He was the Czar of connectivity.

Today, we review his political biography at a time when the current incumbent of the same Ministry is wrestling with Google’s Internet Booming Balloons. Phone reloads are accessed at every street corner.In this age, connectivity is everybody’s entitlement and nobody’s business. But some things have not changed.

Monks Elle Gunawansa, Medagoda Abayatissa , Bengamuwe Nalaka – a random selection of a larger drift , are still in command and control of memory and prejudice of the majority community. To make matters worse Marxist political scientists have discovered that the Cholas invaded Lanka in 2nd century BC.

The politics of the project

The grand launch of the book ‘Ranil Wickremesinghe – a political biography’ at the BMICH is evidence of the earnestness of the enterprise.

The presentation of the first copy to the President, the introduction of Ranil – the subject of the book by Rajitha Senaratne the keeper of the conscience of the good governance government [Assuming that it has one] demonstrates that it is a sales pitch for a failing endevour now in its last lap. [This writer has given up hope]

There is an uncanny, spectral similarity to another political biography- ‘Premadasa of Sri Lanka’, brought out at a time when the siege ring was tightening around its protagonist.

Judging Ranil against history is not easy. Marx said ‘… men make their own history, but they do not make it just as they please, but under circumstances encountered, given and transmitted from the past. The tradition of all the dead generations weighs like a nightmare on the brain of the living…”

A study of Ranil’s politics demands empathetic imagination. Concocted history does not help.

Yet, the book serves a serious purpose. It compels us to search for a more authentic account and an honest explanation of events in the period from 1977 to 2017. The sum total of Ranil’s political biography is captured in the sardonic fatalism of poet W.B. Yeats. ‘Life is a long preparation for something that never happens. ‘

A dispassionate assessment

Ranil’s bold bid to reach a final negotiated settlement with Prabhakaran by signing a cease fire agreement testifies to the man’s political courage. A military victory is only a respite. It does not erase or remove the memory of multiple layers and levels of sovereignties that existed before the emergence of the modern nation state. The illusive civic nation made of competing tribal components needs cohesion that can be achieved only through negotiation and accommodation.

Image:A United Nations peacekeeper from Nigeria on Nov. 18, 2010 in Port-au-Prince, Haiti. Lee Celano—Getty Images.

Expose` : Good governance commander in chief completes two years but MR ‘s control still within army !

Edith M. Lederer and Paisley Dodds / AP.-14/04/2017

(UNITED NATIONS) — U.S. Ambassador Nikki Haley on Thursday urged all countries that provide troops for U.N. peacekeeping missions to hold soldiers accountable for sexual abuse and exploitation, an appeal that came after she cited an Associated Press investigation into a child sex ring in Haiti involving Sri Lankan peacekeepers.

She also warned that “countries that refuse to hold their soldiers accountable must recognize that this either stops or their troops will go home and their financial compensation will end.”

Haley was speaking after the Security Council voted unanimously to end the U.N. peacekeeping mission in Haiti in mid-October, sending a strong signal that the international community believes the impoverished Caribbean nation is stabilizing after successful elections.

But the peacekeepers will leave with a tarnished legacy. U.N. troops from Nepal are widely blamed for introducing cholera that has killed at least 9,500 people in Haiti since 2010 and some troops have been implicated in sexual abuse.

“What do we say to these kids? Did these peacekeepers keep them safe?” Haley asked, citing the AP’s investigation detailing how at least 134 Sri Lankan peacekeepers sexually abused and exploited nine Haitian children between 2004 and 2007.

Sri Lanka never jailed any soldiers implicated in the abuse yet the country was allowed to send troops to other U.N. missions.

Haley said after the vote that while the departure of the peacekeepers “is seen as a success, unfortunately it’s a nightmare for many in Haiti who will never be able to forget and live with brutal scars.”

Nine children in the Haiti sex ring — some as young as 12 — told U.N. investigators how Sri Lankan peacekeepers offered them snacks or money for sex. One boy said he slept with as many as 100 soldiers, averaging about four per day.

The details of the sex ring were part of a larger AP investigation of U.N. missions during the past 12 years that found an estimated 2,000 allegations of sexual abuse and exploitation by peacekeepers and U.N. personnel around the world.

In Haiti, the 2,370 military personnel will gradually leave over the next six months. A new peacekeeping mission will follow for an initial period of six months, comprised of just 1,275 police to continue training the national police force and assist in developing the rule of law and promoting human rights in Haiti.

Haley said the United States and the international community are committed to Haiti’s “democratic development, independence and economic growth.”

“We will, however, continue to push for accountability of those troops in Haiti as well as all troop contributing countries involved in peacekeeping efforts,” she said.

“We owe it to the vulnerable in these countries who desperately need peace and security,” she told Security Council members. “I ask that you join me in this effort.”

Former U.N. Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon recommended that peacekeepers accused of sexual abuse and exploitation be court martialed in the countries where the alleged incidents take place and said the U.N. would withhold payments to peacekeepers facing credible allegations.

Responding to the AP report, U.N. spokesman Stephane Dujarric had said Wednesday: “We need to address the problem, first, for the victims, but also to ensure that the perception of peacekeeping is not a wrong one.”

He stressed it is dangerous work done honorably by “the vast majority” of peacekeepers.

Mark Schuller, an academic studying what happens when international organizations leave countries like Haiti, said for Haitians, the U.N. has garnered a “love-hate” relationship, but the real issue is lack of accountability.

“The U.N. is not accountable to the Haitian government or people. That creates a culture of implied immunity,” said Schuller, a professor at N. Illinois University’s Department of Ethnology who spends part of his time in Haiti.

Jacqueline Nono said she was 17 when she started having sex with a Sri Lankan peacekeeper for money or gifts. She said the sex was consensual but she needed the money to pay for her two children.

“I’ve heard the stories about Sri Lankans abusing Haitians, but I was treated well,” said the 24-year-old in Port-au-Prince.

For Jean-Marie Pascal, there is no love lost for the United Nations.

She said a U.N. peacekeeper sexually assaulted her shortly after troops arrived in 2004 to quell instability following President Jean-Bertrand Aristide’s ouster. After the 2010 earthquake struck, her two cousins died from a strain of cholera linked to U.N. peacekeepers from Nepal.

“Haiti has been a playground for the United Nations,” the 43-year-old shop assistant told the AP as part of its investigation.

The United Nations also suffered in Haiti, losing nearly 100 peacekeepers and personnel in the 2010 earthquake that killed as many as 300,000 people.

Dodds reported from London. Associated Press writers David McFadden in Port-au-Prince Haiti and Jennifer Peltz at the United Nations contributed to this report.

Time.com

Solidarity with anti-SAITM campaign

April 14, 2017

Students of Faculties of Medicines in 6 universities have been engaged in a continuous Sathyagraha campaign to demand the government to abolish SAITM illegal medical degree selling institute at Malabe. Like in the previous year this year too they spend the New Year in temporary sheds put up for the ‘Sathyagraha’.
Today (14th), the New Year Day, leaders of political parties, trade union leaders, parents of medical students and university students visited the students engaged in the ‘Sathyagraha’ and expressed their solidarity with the struggle to abolish SAITM.
JVP Parliamentarian Sunil Handunneththi, Southern Provincial Councilor Nalin Hewage, Kandy District Organizer Gayan Janaka, General Secretary of Lanka Teacher Services Union Mahinda Jayasinghe and the President of Ceylon Petroleum General Services Union Ashoka Ranwala were among the visitors.