Diplomats, NGO talk on report

Saturday, 30 April 2011 02:30 
Diplomats, representatives of diplomatic missions and Non-Governmental Organization representatives in Colombo met at the United States Ambassador’s residence to discuss the United Nations Secretary General’s Panel Report.
The meeting was reported to have been held at the invitation of US Ambassador Patricia A. Butenis on Thursday but the US Embassy refused to deny or confirm the meeting.
“As a matter of policy we don’t comment on the Ambassador’s meetings or what is discussed at these meetings,” a US Embassy Official told Daily Mirror.
National Peace Council Executive Director Jehan Perera confirmed that such a meeting had taken place on the invitation of Ms. Butenis.
“We discussed the Panel Report and how to make use of it as a constructive instrument for reconciliation instead of one of division and polarization,” he said.
Dr. Perera those who attended included Dr. Paikiasothy Saravanamuttu (Centre for Policy Alternatives), Sherine Xavier (Home for Human Rights), J.C. Weliamuna (Transparency International), Sudarshana Gunawardena (Rights Now) and Sunila Abeysekera
The diplomats were from India, Britain, the European Union, the Netherlands, France, Canada, Australia, UN Officials, Japan, Norway, South Africa, South Korea, Switzerland and Italy.  (Dianne Silva) 
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28-April-2011
  Sri Lanka: Last Phase of Civil War at Mullivaikal: What happened really?

Guest Column- By Sivanendran
(There have been enquiries from friends as to why South Asia Analysis Group is focussing on the Sri Lankan War and the UN Report.  The answer is simple.  We need to know the truth and why the massacre of civilians in the last days of the war was allowed to happen. This is not to absolve the LTTE who were equally ruthless and unmindful of civilian casualties.  But we want to know why the world was a mute witness to this event?  What was the role of UN-the Security Council and -above all India? These are legitimate questions.)   Director
The events at Mullivaikal mark the climax of the civil war in Sri Lanka, the most vicious of the battles where the lives of poor civilians were totally ignored.
That the innocent civilians  got massacred in large numbers is not in doubt, but the orthodox story omits entirely the context in which this occurred.
What is most important to keep in mind is that Mullivaikal today has sadly become largely a political tool, an excuse for ethno-nationalists on all sides to let loose their most radical sentiments and score points with their supporters. In the 2009 massacre in reports, the background and responsibilities for the disaster in Mullivaikal were absent. Preferred was the simple explanation: a black and white event in which the Tamils the terrorists were solely to blame.
"Truth and reason are eternal," Thomas Jefferson wrote to Rev. Samuel Knox in 1810. "They have prevailed.  And they will eternally prevail . . ."   Full Story>>>