As UN SC Blindspots Critiqued, Oxfam Excludes Sri Lanka Due to “Sensitivities”

By Matthew Russell Lee

UNITED NATIONS, May 9 -- The UN Security Council's intentional blindspots on the protection of civilians are sampled in a report released today by the UK-based organization Oxfam -- a study which itself has blindspots.

To its credit, Oxfam compares some numbers to what's on the Security Council's agenda:

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  9-May-2011
Sri Lanka: Upcountry Tamils recede into the shadows

Guest Column: Dr Kumar David

Though unnoticed, commentaries on the Upcountry Tamils (UcT) or Mallai-naatu Thamilar, also referred to as Indian Tamils or Tamils of recent Indian origin, have been sparse in both media and scholarly periodicals in the recent decades. Focus on the war has hogged headlines and pushed everything else out of view; but this is not the only reason. Changes in the socio-economic fabric and the political landscape have contributed to the eclipse of the UcTs from the limelight. This essay will explore how an introversion of the Sinhalese political psyche induced by war and war victory, demographic changes, the very fact of some economic advancement in the 1980s and 1990s, and declining Indian interest, have worked to relegate the upcountry Tamils to the sidelines.                           Full Story>>>

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[TruthDive]Balanced News & Analysis 

Srilanka war crimes -Reconsidering May 2009 UN HRC resolution 

 May 8, 2011 – 7:45 pm  By Guest Writer Sidharth Goutham Sundar

The Save Tamils.org organised a Conference on ‘UN Advisory Panel Report – Eezham Freedom Struggle in Geo – Political Web’ on Saturday at Layola College Chennai.
Dr. Paul Newman, eminent Professor in Politics and Human rights from Bangalore presented and explained salient features of the UN Expert report on war crimes in Srilanka. Prof. Manivannan from Madras University spoke about the politics in this crisis.    Fll Story>>>