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Sri Lanka: One Island Two Nations
A Brief Colonial History Of Ceylon(SriLanka)
Sri Lanka: One Island Two Nations
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Tuesday, August 2, 2011
Sri Lanka: Official Report Whitewashes Military Abuses
Sri Lanka: Official Report Whitewashes Military Abuses
Human Rights Watch
The Sri Lankan government is finally admitting that its forces caused civilians losses during the conflict’s final months, but unconvincingly claims no responsibility. This is just the latest and glossiest effort to whitewash mounting evidence of government atrocities during the fighting. (New York) – A new Sri Lankan Defense Ministry report concedes for the first time that government forces caused civilian deaths in the final months of the conflict with the Tamil Tigers but takes no responsibility for laws-of-war violations, Human Rights Watch said today. The report, “Humanitarian Operation – Factual Analysis,” issued on August 1, 2011, claims that government forces did not use artillery against populated areas despite considerable evidence to the contrary and ignores compelling evidence of summary executions by its soldiers. Full Story>>>
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By Jagdish Hathiramani
The Internet is the "key means by which individuals can exercise their right to freedom of opinion and expression, as guaranteed by article 19 of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights and the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights," according to a report by the United Nations Special Rapporteur on the promotion and protection of the right to freedom of opinion and expression, Frank La Rue, which was submitted to the body's Human Rights Council recently.
The report identified Sri Lanka, part of a group comprising Iran, Tunisia and Venezuela, as a country to which the Special Rapporteur had made a visit request which is still pending from June 2009.
Also noted in the report, freedom of opinion and expression was an "'enabler' of other rights, including economic, social and cultural rights, such as the right to education and the right to take part in cultural life and to enjoy the benefits of scientific progress and its applications, as well as civil and political rights, such as the rights to freedom of association and assembly. Thus, by acting as a catalyst for individuals to exercise their right to freedom of opinion and expression, the Internet also facilitates the realisation of a range of other human rights." Read more...
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Shekhar Iyer, Hindustan Times
Manmohan Singh on Tuesday told MDMK leader Vaiko that India cannot afford to restrict economic ties with Sri Lanka — as demanded by Tamil Nadu’s political parties — in order to apply pressure to mitigate the sufferings of Sri Lankan Tamils.
That, the Prime Minister said, would onlyencourage China to displace India as a strategic and trading partner of Sri Lanka.
In response, Vaiko, who met the PM in Parliament House, said he told Singh that “in any case, China is already aiding the Sri Lanka naval forces to attack Indian fishermen and is more of an ally of Pakistan than India”.
Since the assembly polls, Tamil Nadu politicians have been trying to beat one another in taking up the plight of Lankan Tamils living in camps and Indian fishermen following the May 2009 war, which liquidated Tamil Tigers led by LTTE chief V Prabhakaran.
Vaiko said in a statement that he also took up with PM the case of death row convict Perarivalan in the Rajiv Gandhi assassination case, saying it could be considered on the lines of another convict, Nalini, whose death sentence was commuted to life imprisonment.
Perarivalan has already spent 20 years in prison, Vaiko said.
The PM agreed to ask the home ministry to look into the case. Vaiko also met home minister P Chidambaram.
Vaiko’s meeting with the PM took place a day after Tamil Nadu chief minister J Jayalalithaa announced a monthly dole of R1,000 to 5,544 Lankan Tamils living in refugee camps in the state.
On Monday, ADMK MPs tried to embarrass a visiting Sri Lankan parliamentary delegation by raising slogans.
DMK MP Tiruchi Siva also staged a walkout from a meeting in honour of the visiting team hosted by vice-president Hamid Ansari, in protest against the “violence and human rights violations” by the Lankan government.
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Aug 2, 2011
By BHARATHA MALLAWARACHI
Associated Press COLOMBO, Sri Lanka (AP) - An international rights group on Tuesday called Sri Lanka's report on its 26-year civil war an attempt to whitewash growing evidence of alleged government atrocities.
Two years after the conflict ended, Sri Lanka conceded for the first time this week that troops caused civilian deaths in the last months of fighting against Tamil Tiger rebels. But its war report takes no responsibility for those deaths or for any alleged violations of the rules of war, New York-based Human Rights Watch said.
"This is just the latest and glossiest effort to whitewash mounting evidence of government atrocities during the fighting," the group's Asia director, Brad Adams, said in a statement.
Sri Lanka has been under increasing international pressure to allow for an independent investigation into alleged human rights violations by both troops and rebels, which a U.N. experts panel said could amount to war crimes.
The 161-page report released Monday by the Sri Lankan Defense Ministry reverses two years of government insistence that its troops adhered to a "zero civilian casualty policy."
However, it denies allegations that troops committed rights violations and executed prisoners, and says the civilian deaths were unavoidable given the magnitude of the fighting and ruthlessness of the opponent.
It does not say how many civilians may have been killed, though the U.N. panel has said tens of thousand perished in just the last months of the war.
The report says the government was forced to go to war after unsuccessful attempts to broker peace with the independence-seeking rebels, and that its military operation followed international laws while accusing the rebels of abuses including using civilians as human shields and conscripting child soldiers.
Human Rights Watch urged international governments to reject the "factually challenged report" and renew calls for government accountability, saying alleged rebel abuses did not justify violations by government security forces.
The government's report "is yet another feeble attempt to convince the world, despite growing evidence to the contrary, that government forces committed no crimes."
The troops are alleged to have deliberately shelled civilians in a no-fire zone, targeted hospitals and blocked food and medical aid, according to the U.N. panel.
Footage allegedly taken by front-line soldiers and aired on Britain's Channel 4 television appears to show blindfolded prisoners being shot at close range and the naked bodies of women being loaded into a tractor trailer.
Defense Secretary Gotabhaya Rajapaksa on Monday accused Channel 4 of "promoting baseless accusations whose sole purpose is to discredit Sri Lanka."
Hundreds of government supporters, including state-run media journalists, protested Tuesday in Colombo against the UK channel with placards reading "Stop Channel 4 dirty media tricks" and "Channel 4 - Enough is enough."
Full Story>>>
Admits Civilian Deaths for the First Time, but Puts All Blame on Tamil Tigers
The Sri Lankan government is finally admitting that its forces caused civilians losses during the conflict’s final months, but unconvincingly claims no responsibility. This is just the latest and glossiest effort to whitewash mounting evidence of government atrocities during the fighting. ============================================
UN HR Rapporteur denied access to Sri Lanka since June 2009
By Jagdish HathiramaniThe Internet is the "key means by which individuals can exercise their right to freedom of opinion and expression, as guaranteed by article 19 of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights and the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights," according to a report by the United Nations Special Rapporteur on the promotion and protection of the right to freedom of opinion and expression, Frank La Rue, which was submitted to the body's Human Rights Council recently.
The report identified Sri Lanka, part of a group comprising Iran, Tunisia and Venezuela, as a country to which the Special Rapporteur had made a visit request which is still pending from June 2009.
Also noted in the report, freedom of opinion and expression was an "'enabler' of other rights, including economic, social and cultural rights, such as the right to education and the right to take part in cultural life and to enjoy the benefits of scientific progress and its applications, as well as civil and political rights, such as the rights to freedom of association and assembly. Thus, by acting as a catalyst for individuals to exercise their right to freedom of opinion and expression, the Internet also facilitates the realisation of a range of other human rights." Read more...
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India can’t cut off ties with Lanka, PM tells Vaiko
Shekhar Iyer, Hindustan TimesManmohan Singh on Tuesday told MDMK leader Vaiko that India cannot afford to restrict economic ties with Sri Lanka — as demanded by Tamil Nadu’s political parties — in order to apply pressure to mitigate the sufferings of Sri Lankan Tamils.
That, the Prime Minister said, would onlyencourage China to displace India as a strategic and trading partner of Sri Lanka.
In response, Vaiko, who met the PM in Parliament House, said he told Singh that “in any case, China is already aiding the Sri Lanka naval forces to attack Indian fishermen and is more of an ally of Pakistan than India”.
Since the assembly polls, Tamil Nadu politicians have been trying to beat one another in taking up the plight of Lankan Tamils living in camps and Indian fishermen following the May 2009 war, which liquidated Tamil Tigers led by LTTE chief V Prabhakaran.
Vaiko said in a statement that he also took up with PM the case of death row convict Perarivalan in the Rajiv Gandhi assassination case, saying it could be considered on the lines of another convict, Nalini, whose death sentence was commuted to life imprisonment.
Perarivalan has already spent 20 years in prison, Vaiko said.
The PM agreed to ask the home ministry to look into the case. Vaiko also met home minister P Chidambaram.
Vaiko’s meeting with the PM took place a day after Tamil Nadu chief minister J Jayalalithaa announced a monthly dole of R1,000 to 5,544 Lankan Tamils living in refugee camps in the state.
On Monday, ADMK MPs tried to embarrass a visiting Sri Lankan parliamentary delegation by raising slogans.
DMK MP Tiruchi Siva also staged a walkout from a meeting in honour of the visiting team hosted by vice-president Hamid Ansari, in protest against the “violence and human rights violations” by the Lankan government.
==============================================
Rights group: Sri Lankan war report is a whitewash
Aug 2, 2011By BHARATHA MALLAWARACHI
Associated Press COLOMBO, Sri Lanka (AP) - An international rights group on Tuesday called Sri Lanka's report on its 26-year civil war an attempt to whitewash growing evidence of alleged government atrocities.
Two years after the conflict ended, Sri Lanka conceded for the first time this week that troops caused civilian deaths in the last months of fighting against Tamil Tiger rebels. But its war report takes no responsibility for those deaths or for any alleged violations of the rules of war, New York-based Human Rights Watch said.
"This is just the latest and glossiest effort to whitewash mounting evidence of government atrocities during the fighting," the group's Asia director, Brad Adams, said in a statement.
Sri Lanka has been under increasing international pressure to allow for an independent investigation into alleged human rights violations by both troops and rebels, which a U.N. experts panel said could amount to war crimes.
The 161-page report released Monday by the Sri Lankan Defense Ministry reverses two years of government insistence that its troops adhered to a "zero civilian casualty policy."
However, it denies allegations that troops committed rights violations and executed prisoners, and says the civilian deaths were unavoidable given the magnitude of the fighting and ruthlessness of the opponent.
It does not say how many civilians may have been killed, though the U.N. panel has said tens of thousand perished in just the last months of the war.
The report says the government was forced to go to war after unsuccessful attempts to broker peace with the independence-seeking rebels, and that its military operation followed international laws while accusing the rebels of abuses including using civilians as human shields and conscripting child soldiers.
Human Rights Watch urged international governments to reject the "factually challenged report" and renew calls for government accountability, saying alleged rebel abuses did not justify violations by government security forces.
The government's report "is yet another feeble attempt to convince the world, despite growing evidence to the contrary, that government forces committed no crimes."
The troops are alleged to have deliberately shelled civilians in a no-fire zone, targeted hospitals and blocked food and medical aid, according to the U.N. panel.
Footage allegedly taken by front-line soldiers and aired on Britain's Channel 4 television appears to show blindfolded prisoners being shot at close range and the naked bodies of women being loaded into a tractor trailer.
Defense Secretary Gotabhaya Rajapaksa on Monday accused Channel 4 of "promoting baseless accusations whose sole purpose is to discredit Sri Lanka."
Hundreds of government supporters, including state-run media journalists, protested Tuesday in Colombo against the UK channel with placards reading "Stop Channel 4 dirty media tricks" and "Channel 4 - Enough is enough."
Copyright 2011 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.
Full Story>>>
