Monday, October 31, 2011

TNA Discusses Tamil Issues With US Officials

Robert O. Blake and Mahinda Samarasinghe

The Tamil National Alliance (TNA) has had talks with US State department officials on the situation in Sri Lanka, TNA sources said.
A delegation from the TNA which is in the US on an invitation extended by US Under Secretary of State for South and Central Asian Affairs Robert Blake, had talks with US officials on Wednesday.
TNA sources in Colombo said that the delegation was due to meet Blake on Thursday and discuss issues concerning Tamils in Sri Lanka.
The TNA was also scheduled to meet US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton and UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon during the US visit.
The TNA delegation was expected to brief US officials on talks held so far between the TNA and the Sri Lankan government.
Meanwhile Minister Mahinda Samarasinghe also had talks with the UN Secretary General in New York last week and discussed the developments in the country.
During the meeting with Samarasinghe, the UN Secretary General had stressed on the need for Sri Lanka to show accountability for some of the incidents which took place during the final stages of the war in Sri Lanka.
The release of the report of Lessons Learned and Reconciliation Commission (LLRC) scheduled for next month was also discussed.

Oppressed North; Lawless South

Monday, October 31, 2011

By Tisaranee Gunasekara

Sleepless guardian of a feckless nation, Duminda Silva and V. Anandasangaree

If they harm me, it is the country they harm,” Gotabhaya Rajapaksa - (Daily Mirror – Hard Talk)

A despot sees himself not as the First Citizen in a country of peers but as the Patriarch of an infantile-nation. He thereby arrogates unto himself the triple-roles of traditional-fatherhood, becoming, at least in his self-besotted eyes, the wise-guide, the caring-provider and the dauntless-protector of his people.
In Sri Lanka’s one-family state, these triple despotic-roles have been appropriated by the Rajapaksa-troika: Mahinda Rajapaksa the sage-guide; Basil Rajapaksa the bountiful-provider and Gotabhaya Rajapaksa the vigilant-guardian.
The Nazis made out of Silent Night a children’s song hailing Hitler as the unsleeping-protector of the German nation: “…Only the Chancellor stays on guard; Germany’s future to watch and to ward; Guiding our nation aright” (Berlin at War – Roger Moorhouse). In a recent interview, (made quite revelatory by Shakuntala Perera’s searching questions) Gotabhaya Rajapaksa depicts himself as the sleepless-guardian of a feckless nation: “My primary concern is the security of this country. Maybe for the public and the politicians the concerns ended with the end of war but not for me. Day and night I work to prevent the LTTE from coming back… I work for the country – no one knows the work I do” (Daily Mirror – Hard Talk).
Officially, Gotabhaya Rajapaksa is just a senior bureaucrat. But, as his comments reveal, he is his brother’s de facto Defence Chief: “I have a huge task in re-orienting the war time military machinery to suit the peace times. I have to keep the forces active… I have immense pressure from the international community to reduce military presence in the NE….” (ibid). I, I, I; not even ‘The President and I’, but just I, Gotabhaya Rajapaksa, the sole-protector of his family’s state.

Monday, October 31, 2011

By Kishali Pinto Jayawardene

In these most heated debates on accountability in Sri Lanka, some truths are more self evident than others. While all previous administrations nervously tiptoed around questions of accountability and only displayed one or two prosecutions as best practices, this Government delights in showing its total contempt towards even minimum adherence.

Drug dealers turned politicians are protected by their political patrons, unexplained murders, assaults and rapes go by the board and a university student leader from the North this week joins the list of those brutally assaulted by goons for which there will surely be no proper investigation let alone prosecution. Let us also not forget the family members of those disappeared in 2009 who continue to plead that the lists of those being kept detained in barred government camps be published. What indeed is the point of the upcoming report of the Lessons Learnt Commission when its interim recommendations have not yet been implemented?

Living on a dollar a day in a “middle income nation”

Food security is becoming a growing concern in Sri Lanka´s war ravaged north where a majority of the inhabitants live on less than a dollar a day. At the same time only a quarter of a UN-Sri Lanka post-conflict reconstruction programme has been financed partly because the World Bank has classified Sri Lanka a middle income nation. Only 23% of the joint UN-Government of Sri Lanka-NGO reconstruction programme for the war ravaged northern provinces in Sri Lanka has been financed, says Subinay Nandy, the UN Resident and Humanitarian Coordinator in Sri Lanka. This means the fund is facing a US$200 million shortfall. Paradoxically, the World Bank reclassified Sri Lanka in late 2010 as a middle-income country and some analysts blame this for the funding shortfall.

‘Big And Small’ Brothers Gang Up Against People’s Rights

Monday, October 31, 2011

Rajya Sabha MP, Dr. Sudharshana Natchiappan visiting Jaffna on 27 October, with a team of ‘international parliamentarians’ was pointedly asked by Jaffna media, if he is part of the Delhi agenda in ‘colour washing’ the Rajapaksa regime, neat and clean. A difficult task, with other reports getting on the public domain.

Economic growth and inequality

A working visit to Sri Lanka by three Malaysian MPs, Datuk Johari Abdul (Sungai Petani), Suadara Manoharan (Teluk Intan) and Senator S. Ramakrishnan with two other activist from 1 June to 6 June 2011, produced a report titled, Report On Fact Finding Trip To Sri Lanka, released in Kuala Lampur, after their return from this working visit. The report, a long peep into post war North-East, two years after the war concluded, was a wholly adverse exposure and this one short quote from the report has plenty of concerned observations summed up in it.

*groundview

journalism Forcitizens

Sri Lanka and the death of Muammar Gaddafi

Muammar Gaddafi was captured alive and killed thereafter. This is a fact that no one contests today. Even the killer himself accepted the responsibility in front of a mobile camera. Once any individual is captured, in spite of the crimes allegedly committed by the person, whether victim or perpetrator, due process and the rule of law has to be followed. That is what makes us civilised people. An open and transparent inquiry and judicial process based on natural justice is needed in order to establish the crimes committed by the individual, and it is only then that any punishment can be carried out. None of these procedures were followed in the case of former Libyan leader Gaddafi. Gaddafi was a close friend of the government of Sri Lanka and of President Rajapaksha. One of the last politicians to have a photo opportunity with Colonel Gaddafi was President Rajapaksha’s heir apparent, his son and M.P. Namal Rajapaksha. Only a few…

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Sunday, February 27, 2011

Rajapaksa’s Dictatorial Allies Foretell His Future

By Mangala Samaraweera, M.P.

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Sri Lanka: Account for Wartime Disappearances

More Than 20 People Last Seen in ArmyCustody Remain Missing

APRIL 7, 2011

Screengrab of a video obtained by Human Rights Watch shows LTTE leader Colonel Ramesh in Sri Lankan army custody.

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Crime_In_Srilankan_Army_Exc
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War Crime

Ramesh wife interview

Sri Lanka's Killing Fields

One of the many gory visuals of the dead civilians in the final phases of the Eelam war in north Lanka shown in ‘Killing Fields’ video of Channel Four.

Sunday, February 27, 2011

Rajapaksa’s Dictatorial Allies Foretell His Future

By Mangala Samaraweera, M.P.

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Sri Lanka: Account for Wartime Disappearances

More Than 20 People Last Seen in ArmyCustody Remain Missing

APRIL 7, 2011

Screengrab of a video obtained by Human Rights Watch shows LTTE leader Colonel Ramesh in Sri Lankan army custody.

==============================

Crime_In_Srilankan_Army_Exc
=======================================================

War Crime

Ramesh wife interview

Sri Lanka's Killing Fields

Posted by Thavam

Rajapakse regime gearing to commit daylight ‘robbery’ on valuable lands and properties in Colombo

(Lanka-e-News -30.Oct.2011, 11.55PM) The Rajapakse regime is making urgent arrangements to pass legislation with a view to ‘pillaging’ at short notice valuable lands and properties like Ceylinco, Hyatt, Taprobane etc.

The Govt. is in the process of getting ready to passing an enactment swiftly which will enable it to take over all private businesses which are supposedly unsuccessful. The draft bill presented by the President has received the approval of the Cabinet. The draft bill was presented to the supreme court for its examination and decision last Tuesday . Under this new piece of legislation, a separate Authority is to be established in regard to private business entities which are running at a loss , and the Govt. is to take them over after paying compensation to them. The authority is also to be vested with the power to choose the other Establishments that are to take over and run them, according to Basil Rajapakse.

The regime’s opponents are of the view that the Govt. which is unable to run its own Institutions at a profit embarking on this venture is aimed at duping the public and a maneuver to ‘pillaging’ valuable lands and properties in Colombo.

The Rajapakse regime’s immediate and direct targets are the Ceylinco Building and land, and Hyatt land and building in Fort. The Rajapakse regime has the need to purchase the Ceylinco building and land for Rs. 5.57 billion and complete this transaction within the next 18 months. The regime is to use this legislation to pillage the Taprobane Hotel and other five star Hotels too which they are eyeing, the regime’s adversaries say.

The Rajapakse regime has been a total flop itself unable to bail out the massive losses incurring Govt. Institutions like Electricity Board, Mihin Lanka, Sri Lankan Air, Railways, Broadcasting coporation etc. The Govt . had not even been able to make them run without incurring loss let alone making profits . In these circumstances , the Regime seeking to pass legislation to take over private loss incurring Institutions and to convert them into profitable entities , to say the least is most ridiculous and ludicrous. It is therefore a manipulation of the Govt. to commit daylight ‘robbery’ on valuable properties and lands for the most diabolic reasons and motives , the adversaries added.

Amnesty slams ‘disgraceful’ Commonwealth inaction on Sri Lanka

30 October 2011,

Amnesty International is outraged that the Commonwealth Heads of Government Meeting in Perth has utterly failed to hold Sri Lanka to account over allegations of war crimes and other grave human rights abuses arising from the 2009 conflict.

“It is an absolute disgrace that Commonwealth leaders have agreed to hold their next meeting in Sri Lanka in spite of its appalling human rights record,” said Amnesty International's National Director Claire Mallinson.

“They are allowing war crimes to go uninvestigated, unpunished and unaccounted for. The Australian Government as host and other members of the Commonwealth have missed a crucial opportunity to show leadership on human rights,” said Ms Mallinson.

Amnesty International is continuing to call for a full independent international investigation into the final months of the Sri Lankan civil war, when it's believed that tens of thousands of civilians were killed as they were trapped between the army and the Tamil Tigers. A UN report released earlier this year found that government forces were responsible for most of those deaths, and that they had deliberately shelled hospitals and Red Cross aid ships.

Amnesty International is aware of thousands of Tamils still being held without charge in government ‘rehabilitation’ camps.

With reports of human rights abuses - including rape and torture - continuing to emerge, Amnesty International is urging Australia and other nations to show greater political will to bring alleged war criminals to justice. The human rights organisation is reminding Commonwealth leaders that they have a mandate to act on serious violations of their values.

“Considering the atrocities, the Prime Minister Julia Gillard simply raising the issue of human rights with the Sri Lankan President is woefully inadequate. Commonwealth leaders have failed a critical moral challenge – standing up for the tens of thousands of victims of this brutal conflict,” said Ms Mallinson.

The organisation is also disappointed that both the recommendation to decriminalise homosexuality and the proposal for a Commissioner for Democracy, the Rule of Law and Human Rights failed.

Given the lack of consideration for grave human rights abuses committed in Sri Lanka, Amnesty International is also sceptical that the announced strengthening of the Commonwealth Ministerial Action Group will be effective in addressing serious human rights concerns.

“By turning a blind eye to war crimes, the Commonwealth is losing its legitimacy on human rights.”

PM 'skeptical' of Sri Lanka's president's promises

By David Akin, Parliamentary Bureau Chief October 30, 2011

Prime Minister Stephen Harper holds a news conference at the Commonwealth Heads of Government Meeting (CHOGM) in Perth October 29, 2011. REUTERS/Daniel Munoz

PERTH, AUSTRALIA - Alone among its Commonwealth peers, Canada is calling out Sri Lanka's government for failing to investigate war crimes allegedly committed by Sri Lanka's army in the final months of that country's bloody civil war.
The Commonwealth, on the other hand, rewarded Sri Lanka Sunday by re-affirming its decision to hold its 2013 heads of government summit in the Sri Lankan capital of Colombo.
Prime Minister Stephen Harper won't be going, though. He said Canada will boycott that meeting unless Sri Lankan President Mahinda Rajapaksa allows an independent investigation into allegations that the Sri Lankan military engaged in indiscriminate shelling of civilians and bombed hospitals in 2009.

"I had a couple of opportunities to speak to the president of Sri Lanka," Harper said at the conclusion of the 2011 Commonwealth Heads of Government summit held over the weekend here.
But Rajapaksa, who lobbied hard here to prevent any discussion of his government's potential complicity in war crimes, failed to convince Harper that he was serious about facing up to what a United Nations fact-finding panel called "credible allegations" of wrongdoing.
"I think it's fair to say that the general tone of the president of Sri Lanka regarding these concerns was reassuring. However, I remain skeptical of some of the reassurances and will be working, obviously, between now and the next Commonwealth to insure that our concerns are genuinely addressed," Harper said. "And if they're not genuinely addressed, my previous position remains what it is."Sri Lankan foreign minister G.L. Peiris tried to make it sound like Canada was out to lunch.
"Canada raised this issue," Peiris told reporters here. "It is a unanimous decision so as far as we are concerned, it¹s final. It is irrevocable. It has never been subject of a dispute at any time during these proceedings."
If Harper doesn't go to Sri Lanka in 2013, his next chance to attend a Commonwealth summit will be in 2015 when it will be held in the Indian Ocean island state of Mauritius.

CHOGM 2011: Fifteen nations help GoSL defeat Canada’s anti-Lanka move

October 30, 2011,
article_image

By Shamindra Ferdinando in Perth

Sri Lanka had thwarted an attempt by a minute section of the Commonwealth and the LTTE to humiliate Sri Lanka, at the CHOGM 2011, External Affairs Minister Prof. G. L. Peiris said yesterday.

Addressing the Sri Lankan media at the conclusion of the three-day biennial in Perth, Prof. Peiris said that Sri Lanka faced threats on three fronts, namely CHOGM 2011, litigation initiated by the LTTE and perceived bid to re-open the venue issue.

Minister Peiris said that Canada had raised the alleged accountability issues in Sri Lanka under any other business at the end of the third session of ministerial-level talks.

Recalling a statement attributed to Australian Foreign Minister Kevin Rudd in the run-up to the inauguration of the summit on Friday 28), Minister Peiris said that the former Australian premier had discussed the possibility of Sri Lanka’s accountability issue coming up at the summit.

Minister Peiris said that Canadian Foreign Minister John Baird had criticised Sri Lanka’s human rights record, prompting him to protest. Peiris alleged that the Canadian move was an attempt to politicise the process. "Commonwealth is a totally inappropriate forum for this kind of discussion, therefore domestic issues cannot be taken up," Minister Peiris said.

Rudd declared that there was no scope for discussion on the accountability issue after 15 countries endorsed the position articulated by Prof. Peiris. Canada, however received the backing of New Zealand. Prof. Peiris quoted Rudd as having told the meeting that consensus in the room was very clear and he wouldn’t take up the matter no further.

Commenting on the recommendations by the Eminent Persons Group (EPG) and the Commonwealth Ministerial Action Group (CMAG) aimed at revamping the grouping, Minister Peiris emphasised any attempt to discuss domestic issues would be at the expense of the organisation. The minister reiterated Sri Lanka’s commitment to addressing concerns of the international community at bilateral level.

Prof. Peiris expressed confidence that Canada wouldn’t raise the issue during final retreat session of Commonwealth leaders on Sunday.

The External Affairs Minister said that Sri Lanka had been battling LTTE-led propaganda efforts at the Human Rights Council sessions in Geneva, UNGA in New York and the Commonwealth. He briefly explained the meetings President Rajapaksa and he had had in New York and Perth as part of Sri Lanka’s strategy to meet the challenge on the ‘human rights front.’

Responding to a query, Prof. Peiris said that many countries felt that Sri Lanka should be given space and an opportunity to recover from a devastating war. They had felt Sri Lanka’s efforts should be appreciated, Prof. Peiris said pointing out that speedy resettlement of the war displaced, rehabilitation of the vast majority of ex-LTTE combatants, successful de-mining operations and having local government elections in the Northern Province had been major achievements. The vast majority of countries had appreciated what Sri Lanka had achieved, though some were still seemed to be backing the LTTE’s eelam project.

PM 'skeptical' of Sri Lanka's president's promises

MONDAY, 31 OCTOBER 2011

Alone among its Commonwealth peers, Canada is calling out Sri Lanka's government for failing to investigate war crimes allegedly committed by Sri Lanka's army in the final months of that country's bloody civil war.

The Commonwealth, on the other hand, rewarded Sri Lanka Sunday by re-affirming its decision to hold its 2013 heads of government summit in the Sri Lankan capital of Colombo.

Prime Minister Stephen Harper won't be going, though. He said Canada will boycott that meeting unless Sri Lankan President Mahinda Rajapaksa allows an independent investigation into allegations that the Sri Lankan military engaged in indiscriminate shelling of civilians and bombed hospitals in 2009.

"I had a couple of opportunities to speak to the president of Sri Lanka," Harper said at the conclusion of the 2011 Commonwealth Heads of Government summit held over the weekend here.

But Rajapaksa, who lobbied hard here to prevent any discussion of his government's potential complicity in war crimes, failed to convince Harper that he was serious about facing up to what a United Nations fact-finding panel called "credible allegations" of wrongdoing.

"I think it's fair to say that the general tone of the president of Sri Lanka regarding these concerns was reassuring. However, I remain skeptical of some of the reassurances and will be working, obviously, between now and the next Commonwealth to insure that our concerns are genuinely addressed," Harper said. "And if they're not genuinely addressed, my previous position remains what it is."

Sri Lankan foreign minister G.L. Peiris tried to make it sound like Canada was out to lunch.

"Canada raised this issue," Peiris told reporters here. "It is a unanimous decision so as far as we are concerned, it¹s final. It is irrevocable. It has never been subject of a dispute at any time during these proceedings."

If Harper doesn't go to Sri Lanka in 2013, his next chance to attend a Commonwealth summit will be in 2015 when it will be held in the Indian Ocean island state of Mauritius. (Souce: Edmonton Sun)

PM 'skeptical' of Sri Lanka's president's promises

MONDAY, 31 OCTOBER 2011

Sunday, October 30, 2011

Editor Threatened

Sunday, October 30, 2011

The way with cowards

Sarath Fonseka outside the Colombo High Court

By Indika Sri Aravinda

The Editor of The Sunday Leader, Frederica Jansz last Thursday (27) received a death threat via the post to her residence. Frederica lodged a complaint with the Mirihana Police after receiving the threat.
This is not the first time and it certainly will not be the last that Editors at this newspaper receive death threats. Sometimes handwritten, sometimes typed, these vicious little notes (this time it was four pages long) always come anonymously posted by persons too cowardly to be identified.

Last Thursday, a letter such as this arrived at the home of Frederica Jansz. Handwritten, the letter spewed venom and gutter language. The letter threatens Frederica warning her that irrespective of the verdict due on November 18, in relation to what is known as the ‘White Flag Case’ she will be dealt with.
Interestingly the letter carried some facts related to the White Flag case in which Frederica was the key witness. For instance the letter mentions the name of two staffers at The Sunday Leader Raknish Wijewardena (no longer at the paper) and Photographer Thusitha Kumara both of whom accompanied Frederica to the interview she conducted with former army commander Sarath Fonseka after which she subsequently published a Page One Lead story and interview on December 13, 2009. Both Wijewardena and Kumara were not named as witnesses in the White Flag case. Yet, if indeed this letter has emanated from an army person in the Sinha regiment (formerly under Fonseka’s command) as the writer attempts to have us believe, it is indeed more than strange that a soldier or officer could have recalled the intricacies of Frederica’s evidence in court to name both Raknish Wijewardena and Thusitha Kumara, despite the fact that neither of these two men were named as witnesses nor did they ever appear in court.
Furthermore, if indeed a soldier or officer of the Sinha regiment wrote this letter it is strange that he would have a political insight to predict a future regime naming persons such as the former Chief Justice Sarath N. Silva, Sarath Fonseka, Wijeydasa Rajapaksa, Tiran Alles, Mangala Samaraweera and Anura Kumara Dissanayake who “will have to take over this country.”
All the previous written death threats Frederica had received had been sent by post to the office. This is the first time such a letter was sent to her home. Even an army officer who sat daily in the Colombo High Court where the White Flag case was being heard could not have known the address of the Editor’s residence. Only on one instance has Frederica been served summons and a letter of demand to her home address.
This is not the first time that Frederica has been threatened in relation to the White Flag case. Previously, a photograph of her arriving in court which was published in the daily Island newspaper was cut out and posted to her with a written warning that it was only a matter of time before she would be killed.

A translation of the threatening letter …
Frederica Sandra Carmela Jansz, that damn prostitute, you are now safeguarding the President. By you giving evidence to put Mr. Fonseka in trouble he had to go to courts 57 times. You have even printed the Presidents manifesto. Can you remember that there was a comparison of countries run by Generals in Head to Head? Where was Rakmish Wijeywardene, photographer Thusither Kumar, they have disappeared at the beginning of the case. Lal Wickremesinghe too was dropped half way. Finally you (tho- in Sinhala) appeared on behalf of five people. You gave false evidence to get promotions. Your genitals were touched nicely by Lasantha Wickrematuge. Now Secretary Defence Gotabaya Rajapaksa is coming to see you? That bugger also is having sex with that whore. Bloody whore on the 18th of November whichever way the judgment is given you will not be spared. Do you know that? 1 SR means what? We are the Sinha regiment who took the brunt of the war on our shoulders. Because of our Leader’s instructions we didn’t get killed during the war. We suffered for what? For this country. The Leader who fought so well was brought to the Military Court by a bloody bitch like you. He slept in the jungles amidst mosquitoes and snakes, with us. In addition to having suffered during the war he is now jailed and tortured.
We will not spare you. (underlined) If you want to escape you go to Temple trees and sleep where the President sleeps. There is nothing else to do. Even if Mr. Fonseka comes out or not we will continue our fight. We have enough weapons which we got from the war. It won’t be long before the people of this country would join us. Will the people give power to the President and his family to rule forever? Let’s see. The win in Colombo is like a victory over the entire country. If the main town was won, what more is there to speak? This time also the full might of the Rajapaksas, of the State, and all the Ministers came to Colombo. In how many staggered times did they hold elections? Why was that done? Because its easy to use State power then. If elections were held in one go State power cannot be used. Anyway the government is falling little by little now. There is turmoil within. When more positions are given to the family the balance will also be destroyed. Someday Chief Justice Sarath N Silva, Fonseka, Wijeydasa Rajapaksa,, Tiran Alles, Mangala Samaraweera and Anura Kumara Dissanayake will have to take over this country. Then those SLFP people will join them. The UNP will be destitute. Those who are from the underworld, dealing in drugs, into taking bribes, making money by suppressing the people must be vanquished first. That is the day the country will turn right. We heard that you too have a brothel. You cannot do this everyday. A change will come soon. You bcareful. Our Sinha regiment boys are very angry now. Your genitals must be smashed. Bloody whore ..because you gave false evidence.