Call to boycott Colombo defence seminar

 

Western countries and the human rights watchdogs have called for a credible investigation into what happened during the last stages of war

An international human rights watchdog has called on over 50 invited countries to boycott a conference aimed at sharing Sri Lanka's war experience.

The Sri Lankan government has invited militaries of 54 countries for the "Defeating Terrorism Sri Lankan Experience” to be held from 31 May to 02 June in Colombo.

But Human Rights Watch (HRW) said it "understands" that some of the key invitees have already decided not to take part.

“What we are telling the militaries around the world is that they should not attend a meeting to celebrate a military policy that involves killing so many civilians,” HRW Executive Director Brad Adams told BBC Sinhala service, Sandeshaya.

It will endeavour to propose adequate measures to manage and counter global terrorism and discuss strategies for nation building while introducing a Sri Lankan perspective in counter terrorism   Sri Lanka military website

Foreign Minister GL Peiris, Secretary to President Lalith Weerathunga, Defence Secretary Gotabhaya Rajapaksa, Central Bank Governor Ajith Cabraal, terrorism expert Prof Rohan Gunaratne and many senior military officers are among the list of speakers.

"It will endeavour to propose adequate measures to manage and counter global terrorism and discuss strategies for nation building while introducing a Sri Lankan perspective in counter terrorism,” said the statement in the defence ministry run website.

But the rights watchdog says many of the tactics employed by the Sri Lankan military in its war against the Tamil Tigers were “illegal.”

“If militaries around the world are going to meet they should be talking about those illegal activities and not trying to copy the Sri Lankan government’s doctrine,” Mr Adams said.

'Big lie'

"If this was a genuine agenda and it was carried by independent and impartial people to look at the good, the bad and the ugly about the war," the executive director said that HRW welcomes the initiative.

	HRW says Sri Lanka "lying' of political reforms

He says that the Japanese, for example, has a constitution that does not allow them to involve in international arms conflict. “So the Japanese should stay away miles away in the meeting in Colombo.”

The HRW accused the Sri Lankan government of repeatedly “lying” of political reforms to settle the national question.

“I promise that they will never engage in political reforms they have always said that political reforms is part of the process but they have never done it. It is empty rhetoric. It is basically a big lie.”

The watchdog says the planned seminar is an attempt by the Sri Lankan government “to teach the rest of the world how to engage in counter insurgency.”

“We have no doubt that the LTTE was a terrorist organisation. We were extremely critical of the LTTE all along but that does not give a licence to the government to attack civilians the way it did,” Brad Adams added.

The HRW says the timing of the conference which falls on the second anniversary since the government defeated the LTTE sends a "terrible message" to the Tamil community.

Al Jazeera cameraman mourned

Al Jazeera staffer killed in Libya

Cameraman Ali Hassan Al Jaber was returning to eastern city of Benghazi from filing report when he was shot and killed. ( 13-Mar-2011 )

An Al Jazeera cameraman has been shot dead while working in eastern Libya. Ali Hassan Al Jaber from Qatar was one of three people travelling in a car when it was ambushed. The network has condemned the attack as a cowardly crime. Gerald Tan reports.

Source: Al Jazeera

Building housing nuclear reactor explodes in Japan

Building housing reactor explodes in Japan

TOKYO — An explosion at a nuclear power station Saturday destroyed a building housing the reactor amid fears that it could melt down after being hit by a powerful earthquake and tsunami. Japan’s...  Read Full Story

An explosion has blown the roof off a Fukishima nuclear power plant

Saturday 12 March 2011

An explosion has blown the roof off a Fukishima nuclear power plant, north of Tokyo - injuring several workers and raising fears of a disastrous meltdown, following yesterday's earthquake and tsunami.

It was one of two reactors which were placed under a state of emergency yesterday - after the 8.9 magnitude earthquake sent a massive tsunami wave smashing across Japan's north east coast.
The Prime Minister, Naoto Kan, warned there could be a radiation leak at one of the Daichi reactors, after its cooling system broke down.
Repeated efforts to get it working have failed - and the Nuclear Safety Industry Agency said radiation levels inside the plant were 1,000 times the normal level. Nisa also said it had detected cesium - showing the material covering the fuel rods could

Full Story>>>

Posted by Thavam

 

Earthquake devastates Japan

Friday, March 11, 2011

Country hit by worst earthquake in its recorded history, leaving more than 1,000 people dead and many missing

Yokohama residents panic as earthquake shakes Japan Link to this video More than 1,000 people were believed dead and many more missing after the worst earthquake in Japan's records struck its north-east coast, unleashing a 10m-high tsunami, setting towns ablaze and sparking a nuclear emergency. The 8.9-magnitude shock triggered tsunami alerts and evacuations across the Pacific region, with Russia, the Philippines and Hawaii all moving vulnerable citizens to higher ground.

PRIVILEGE : ATTACK ON VECHICLE HON.S.SHRITHARAN WAS TRAVELLING

Hansard of March 08, 2011

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 Pagas 109-110 in Tamil

Tamil National Alliance Kilinochchi district parlimentarian S. Sreetharan said in Parliament on Wednesday,

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Tamil National Alliance Kilinochchi district parlimentarian S. Sreetharan

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Thursday, March 10, 2011

No security guarantee for Tamil parliamentarians: TNA MP

[TamilNet, Thursday, 10 March 2011, 07:58 GMT]

Over the attack on his vehicle at Nochchiyagama on Monday, Tamil National Alliance Ki'linochchi district parlimentarian S. Sreetharan said in Parliament on Wednesday, “It is clear that there is no security guarantee for MPs in this country. How can a Tamil here expect security from the state?” He further stated that while he was passing Medawachchiya on Monday at 5:30 p.m., a white colored van without a number plate overtook their vehicle. When they approached Ullukku'lam the said vehicle was parked on the side of the road and three men got off from the vehicle and fired at them using small weapons. In return, his security guards fired back before the assassins threw a grenade at his vehicle and fled the scene.

The assassination attempt follows Mr. Sritharan's criticism against the SL government allowing its military to register details of Tamil civilians with photos. He made the criticism in the local election campaign meetings in Vanni in recent days.

In the past, TNA MP N Raviraj was brutally assassinated in Colombo. Another TNA MP, Joseph Pararajasingham, was assassinated inside a Batticoloa cathedral during a Chritmas eve. The vehicle of TNA MP K Sivanesan was attacked with a claymore mine in Vanni and he was killed on the spot. No investigations have been carried out so far on the above assassinations.

The SL military has a record of passing the blame on the LTTE for all political killings.

Now, when the SL government says that the LTTE is gone, on whom it is going to pass the blame for Monday's attack on Sritharan MP, was the question asked among the opposition.

Sri Lankan Speaker Chamal Rajapaksa, the brother of SL President Mahinda Rajapaksa, told the SL House that there would be a full probe on the incident.

Chronology:

10.03.11  No security guarantee for Tamil parliamentarians: ..

09.03.11  State run daily plays down assassination attempt o..

07.03.11  TNA MP Sritharan narrowly escapes assassination in..

As Gillard Is Asked Of ICC & Australian Sri Lanka Citizen Kohona, UN Still In Denial

By Matthew Russell Lee

UNITED NATIONS, March 9 -- Joint Australian - Sri Lankan citizen Palitha Kohona is the subject of a filing with the International Criminal Court for his role in presumptive war crimes in the final stages of the conflict in Sri Lanka. When contacted by the press, Kohona has refused to “dignify” the case.
  On March 9, Inner City Press asked Australian Prime Minister Julia Gillard about this filing against Kohona, who has also represented Australia before he represented Sri Lanka, and about the UN's and Secretary General Ban Ki-moon's handling of his Panel on Sri Lanka, which has not visited the island. Video here.

  “I'm not personally aware of all details of that case,” she answered. “We are a supporter of the ICC and a supporter of proper legal procedure and practice, one rule... is that political leaders should not comment on legal matters that are underway.”
  While some of the journalists traveling with Prime Minister Gillard later called this a dodge, it's more than the UN has had to say. Without explanation, Ban Ki-moon's Deputy Spokesman Farhan Haq has denied to other media the existence of the ICC filing against Kohona -- which also mentions and questions the role of Ban Ki-moon's chief of staff Vijay Nambiar in the so called white flag killings.
Gillard & Ban Ki-moon, previously, Kohona and no-fly zone not shown
As Gillard Is Asked Of ICC & Australian Sri Lanka Citizen Kohona, UN In Denial        
Full Story>>>

'UN intervention' to find Prageeth

'UN intervention' to find Prageeth

Five prominent media rights organizations has written to United Nations Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon, calling on the U.N. to intervene in the case of journalist Prageeth Eknelygoda.

Wife and the son of Prageeth

	Looking for Prageeth year later

The letter notes, his wife, Sandhya Eknelygoda, has been asking the Sri Lankan government for any information about his fate.

“She has been given no information from any person in the government. Eknelygoda’s disappearance and his wife’s efforts on his behalf have been widely reported in Sri Lankan and international media”, says the letter.

“She has been given no information from any person in the government. Eknelygoda’s disappearance and his wife’s efforts on his behalf have been widely reported in Sri Lankan and international media”, says the letter.

Handed over letter to the UN

The letter by media organisations aims to draw attention of the General secretary to the plight of the wife of Prageeth.

On January 24, the anniversary of Eknelygoda’s disappearance, his wife personally handed over a letter addressed to you requesting assistance from the United Nations to U.N. Resident and Humanitarian Coordinator in Sri Lanka Neil Buhne. 

The letter was signed by representatives of the Cartoonists Rights Network International, the Committee to Protect Journalists, International Media Support, Reporters Without Borders, and the International Federation of Journalists.

Wife in Geneva

U.N. spokesman Martin Nesirky told a press conference in New York on 18th of February that the letter is now being reviewed.

The media organisations asks for a response to the letter.

The media organisations say that they are prepared to assist the United Nations in pursuing this case.

In an effort to draw attention to the dissppearence of her husband, Sandhya Eknaligoda has traveled to Geneva to take part in lobbying human rights organisations during the UN Human Rights Commission hearings on Sri Lanka.
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Media rights groups to UN:

Media rights groups to UN:

 

Posted by Thavam.

Sri Lanka: Forgotten prisoners: Sri Lanka uses anti-terrorism laws to detain thousands

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Index Number: ASA 37/001/2011
Date Published: 8 March 2011
Categories: Sri Lanka

Thousands of people are languishing in detention without charge or trial under Sri Lanka’s repressive anti-terrorism laws. Sometimes held in secret prisons, they are vulnerable to a whole range of abuses, including torture or being killed in custody. Sri Lanka has been under a state of emergency almost continually since 1971. Successive governments have used national security as an excuse to introduce a range of broad and often confusing emergency regulations.

This document is also available in:
Tamil:

• PDF

Sinhala:

• PDF

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Wednesday, March 9, 2011

Thousands in detention - Amnesty

Charles Haviland
Colombo

The human rights group Amnesty International has called on the President of Sri Lanka to release those it describes as “forgotten prisoners”

	Families still waiting the detainees to be charged or released

people it says have been detained without trial for years and who it says are numbered in the thousands, 1,900 of them officially confirmed.

Two years

It says sweeping emergency and anti-terror laws are still used to arrest people and should be scrapped. In a reaction a government MP has said that efforts are still afoot to revive the Tamil Tiger militants.
Thousands in detention - Amnesty            Full Story>>>

Media rights groups to U.N.: Intervene in Sri Lanka case

Media rights groups to U.N.: Intervene in Sri Lanka case

A missing poster for Eknelygoda.

New York, March 8, 2011--Five prominent media rights organizations sent a letter on Monday to United Nations Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon, calling on the U.N. to intervene in the case of Prageeth Eknelygoda, the Sri Lankan columnist and cartoonist for the Lanka eNews website, who disappeared on January 24, 2010. Since then, the letter notes, his wife, Sandhya Eknelygoda, has been asking the Sri Lankan government for any information about his fate. She has been given no word from any person in the government. Eknelygoda's disappearance and his wife's efforts on his behalf have been widely reported in Sri Lankan and international media.

The letter was signed by representatives of the Cartoonists Rights Network International, the Committee to Protect Journalists, International Media Support, Reporters Without Borders, and the International Federation of Journalists.
Read the letter here.