Sampanthan slams President for silence over arrests in East
May 2, 2012

by Shamindra Ferdinando

TNA leader R. Sampanthan yesterday urged the government to explain the circumstances leading to a series of arrests in the Eastern Province, particularly in the Trincomalee District.

An irate Trincomalee District MP accused the government of failing to respond to a letter he had recently written to President Mahinda Rajapaksa.

The TNA veteran was speaking to The Island on his return from Jaffna, where he joined UNP leader Ranil Wickremesinghe on May Day to urge the government to create conditions necessary for them to join the proposed Parliamentary Select Committee (PSC), on the national issue.

There couldn’t be any reason whatsoever to take men into custody three years after the conclusion of the conflict, MP Sampanthan said. He alleged that the police and security forces had been engaged in search operations in the East, targeting those suspected of having had links with the LTTE.

Military spokesman Ruwan Wanigasuriya told The Island that since the end of the war, the armed forces hadn’t been involved in large scale search operations in any part of the country, though they assisted the police. Commenting on the recent operations in the Eastern Province, Brig. Wanigasuriya said that the military hadn’t initiated action but provided the required support to the law enforcement authorities. He emphasised that the deployment of troops for internal security operations was the prerogative of the government, not only here, but in any part of the world, depending on the requirements.

Asked whether the military was targeting ex-LTTE cadres, who may have missed rehabilitation at the conclusion of the conflict, the Brigadier said that nothing could be as important as having them rehabilitated. That would enable them to earn a living and lead normal lives, the official said. It would be a mistake to deny them the opportunity to undergo vocational training, he said, adding that the rehabilitation process was now rapidly coming to its final phase.

The TNAleader stressed that post-war arrests remained a thorny issue. "The government should address our concerns", he said, alleging that routine cordon and search operations were worrying those living in the Northern and Eastern Provinces. MP Sampanthan said: "I was in Kuchchuveli, north of Trincomalee, when the arrest of some youth was brought to my notice. I rushed to the Kuchchuveli police station, where the police had 30 men lined up. An ASP of the Terrorist Investigation Division (TID), who had the men brought in, told me all would be released in 30 minutes as they were not involved in anything. True to his word, all were released before I reached my residence in Trincomalee. But, subsequently, five of them were taken in."

Sampanthan urged the government to stop what he called clandestine operations if it genuinely wanted to win the confidence of the people who had undergone untold suffering during the conflict. Asked whether he had any idea how many men had been arrested in the East, MP Sampanthan said 15 and 20 persone had been taken in. He claimed that some of them had been already moved to Boossa, where hardcore terrorists were held and also Welikanda rehabilitation centre.

Rajapaksa’s bad gamble 

Himal 
Some of India's 'little leaders': Punjab Chief Minister Parkash Singh Badal, Tamil Nadu CM J Jayalalitha, and West Bengal CM Mamata Banerjee (from left to right).
After India’s vote against Sri Lanka at the UNHCR, Southasian states can no longer count on New Delhi’s centrality in formulating Indian foreign policy.

In the veritable swirl of conspiracy theories emanating from Colombo on why India voted against Sri Lanka in the United Nations Human Rights Council (UNHRC) in March, the most compelling as well as ostensibly tenable one links New Delhi’s decision to its fear of China. In that theory, China’s growing role in the economy of the Emerald Isle of the East goaded New Delhi into using its vote in the UNHRC to warn Sri Lankan President Mahinda Rajapaksa – he could step out from under the Indian umbrella at his own peril.

Conspiracy theories often reveal more about the psychology of their promoters than about the contested facts and 

Rajapaksa has fallen back on strident nationalism. Image: flickr user indi.ca, CC license

Full Story>>>

War Criminals -- At Any Age -- Should Be Punished

05/ 2/2012
The writer Joseph Conrad once observed that "the belief in a supernatural source of evil is unnecessary; men alone are quite capable of every wickedness." This certainly rings true with respect to perpetrators and enablers of war crimes, genocide and crimes against humanity.

This week Canadian and international media reported on new evidence against an alleged Nazi war criminal living in Ormstown, Quebec, only a short one-hour drive from Montreal. German historian Pers Rudlingcharges in newly declassified Soviet documents that Volodymyr Katriuk was part of a Nazi-led battalion that machine-gunned innocent villagers in Belarus in 1943. Katriuk had already had his citizenship revoked but reinstated when the appeal court ruled there was no evidence that he had actually participated in the shootings.

Bernie Farber 

 

Ikea 'used Cuban prisoners to make furniture

By Matthew Day   03 May 2012

 Photo: REUTERS

The deal was struck in 1987 when representatives of Ikea Trading Berlin, an East German branch of the Swedish company, met with the head of Emiat, a Cuban company that furnished the homes of Havana's elite and holiday facilities for Western tourists.

Under the deal Emiat would produce of 45,000 tables and 4,000 "Falkenberg" three-piece suites.

Old East German foreign ministry files seen by the journalists from the German paper Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung record production sites for the furniture were "incorporated in the prison facilities of the Interior Ministry" of Cuba.

The revelations come just a day after Swedish television made fresh allegations that forced East German prison labour was used at Ikea production plants in the old German Democratic Republic.

Ikea has requested Stasi secret police files in order to check the veracity of the accusations.

SRI LANKA RANKED LOW ON PRESS FREEDOM

May 3, 2012  

Freedom House, a United States- based non-governmental organisation that conducts research and advocacy on democracy, has ranked Sri Lanka 161 out of 197 countries in terms of Press freedom in its report for 2012.

Sri Lanka was tied with Burundi with a rating of 72 with a “not free” status.

Freedom House placed the U.S. at 22, tied with Estonia and Jamaica with an 18 point score. (0 is the best on the scale.)

The top spot is occupied by Finland, Norway and Sweden with ratings of 10.

Freedom House, a United States- based non-governmental organisation that conducts research and advocacy on democracy, has ranked Zimbabwe 172 out of 197 countries in terms of Press freedom.

The country was tied with Russia and Azerbaijan with a rating of 80 with a “not free” status.Last year, Zimbabwe was ranked 173 alongside Gambia, Congo and Russia.

According to Freedom House’s report titled Global Press Freedom Ranking 2012, Zimbabwe only moved one place up the ladder.

The top spot is occupied by Finland, Norway and Sweden with ratings of 10. Meanwhile, the Bulawayo Progressive Residents’ Association (BPRA) yesterday said there was need for the inclusive government to take steps to guarantee Press freedom.

“The citizens and residents of Zimbabwe continue to bear the brunt of a highly restrictive media landscape that ostracises, harasses and prosecutes journalists for criticising politicians, the government and other powerful groups,” said BPRA programmes and advocacy manager Emmanuel Ndlovu.

“BPRA believes journalists and media organisations should be allowed to exercise their duties without restrictions in the interests of democracy and good governance.”

Zimbabwe Union of Journalists president Dumisani Sibanda called for the opening of the airwaves to ensure media freedom in the country.

“Government and relevant authorities should make reforms that allow introduction of diverse radio stations. We need diverse and transparent ways of dealing with the media. This means there should be more community radio stations.”

Sibanda said “archaic” laws such as criminal defamation needed to be dropped as they were often used to persecute media practitioners.

Last year, journalists like The Standard editor Nevanji Madanhire and reporter Nqaba Matshazi, were arrested for defamation.

Release of "Freedom of the Press 2012" Findings

Watch Karin Deutsch Karlekar discuss key findings from the report:

Freedom House released the findings of Freedom of the Press 2012, its annual press freedom survey, at a press conference held in front of the World Press Freedom map at the Newseum. FREEDOM HOUSE
David Kramer, president of Freedom House, and Karin Deutsch Karlekar, project director for theFreedom of the Press survey, highlighted key developments in global press freedom over the last year, including the ramifications of the Arab Spring. Egypt, Tunisia, and Libya all showed significant improvements in terms of press freedom. Other countries, including  Bahrain and Syria, cracked down on media in an attempt to quell Arab Spring protest movements. Despite harsh crackdowns in authoritarian states, global media freedom did not experience an overall decline for the first time in eight years. However, due to downgrades in previously “Free” countries, the percentage of the world's population living in countries with a free press has fallen to the lowest level in over a decade.

See photos here.FREEDOM HOUSE

Watch Karin Deutsch Karlekar discuss key findings from the report:

ISSUES: 

Freedom of Expression, Internet Freedom, Media FrFREEDOM HOUSE

Book to mark Press Freedom Day

 

The Sri Lanka Press Institute (SLPI) and the Press Complaints Commission of Sri Lanka (PCCSL) today released two books on journalism to commemorate World Press Freedom Day 2012. A Panel discussion was also organised on the theme ‘New Voices: Media Freedom Helping to Transform Societies’. SLPI-PCCSL Chairman Kumar Nadesan (left) ceremonially handing over the books to Lakbima Editor Sundara Nihathamani de Mel (right).Pix by Kithsiri De Mel

VIDEO: LTTE FLAG AT RALLY: MAN TRAVELLED IN GOVT. MEDIA VAN - HARIN

VIDEO: LTTE flag at rally: Man travelled in Govt. media van - Harin

From the reports we have received the man who waved the LTTE flag at the May Day rally came by the same vehicle that was used by the Government Television channel, UNP MP Harin Fernando alleged today. MORE...

Row in Sri Lanka over appearance of Tamil 'rebel' flag

The display of flags associated with the rebels is strictly forbidden in Sri Lanka
2 May 2012A row has broken out in Sri Lanka over the appearance of a flag associated with defeated Tamil Tiger militants at a May Day rally on Tuesday.

Government media and the opposition have clashed over the use of the banner, which is illegal in Sri Lanka.

It is thought to be one of the first times the flag has been seen in public since the defeat of the rebels in 2009.

The rally was held in Jaffna city by the opposition United National Party and the Tamil National Alliance (TNA).

The TNA was once seen as a proxy for Tamil Tiger separatists who were defeated three years ago.

But the party has now moderated its views considerably.

The government accused the opposition of giving comfort to separatism through this May Day rally.

And state television showed two rally participants carrying the banned flag of Tamil Eelam, the homeland that the Tigers fought for - a tiger and crossed bayonets on a red background.

State radio swiftly denounced the United National Party.

Using terminology common in post-war Sri Lanka, it said the party was in "the clutches of a group of traitors".

But the opposition party's general secretary has responded by asking why only state TV appeared to have noticed the flag-bearers.

He said those waving the Tamil Eelam flag had been planted there by the government television station which had thereby - as he put it - given support to terrorism.

Advocating separatism and using the Eelam flag are both illegal in the Sinhalese-dominated country. ]

Ironically at the same rally the TNA's veteran leader, R Sampanthan, waved the Sri Lankan national flag, something which was applauded by some commentators in the private media.

WikiLeaks:80% Says MR Is Corrupt And 85% Says His Family Is Corrupt

October 5, 2011By Colombo Telegraph -

I'm not a yes–man, 80 percent says you are corrupt

“President Rajapaksa’s chief opinion pollster – who is a good contact of the embassy on other issues – shared with us the first findings from their initial survey. These initial responses indicated that potential voters had little interest in the symbolic issues” US ambassador Patricia A. Butenis wrote to Washington.

The Colombo Telegraph found the leaked cable from the Wikileak database. The cable classified as “CONFIDENTIAL” by the ambassador Patricia A. Butenis.

In the cable, written in 26^thDecember 2009 recount details of a meeting with President Mahinda Rajapaksa’s chief pollster and his close advisor Sunimal Fernando. Under the subheading “PRESIDENTIAL POLLSTER SURPRISED BY GOOD FIGURS” the ambassador wrote “Only about 10% cared about the president’s creation of a “patriotic society” after the war or his willingness to stand tall against the west. Also, many voters saw the Rajapksa family as corrupt (85%) and the

85 percent says Rajapaksa family is corrupt

president himself as corrupt (80%). Despite all his faults, the pollster claimed, many voters still saw Rajapkasa as a man of action and a man of his word and would vote for him over Fonseka.”

Placing a comment she wrote “the pollster prides himself on being one of the few figures in the president’s circle who gives him objective information and is not a yes – man… we find interesting the very high negatives for the president on corruption and apparent lack of voter interest in Rajapaksa’s standard patriotic issues, which could eat away at the president’s positive figures as the campaign progresses”

Related news links - Wikileaks – “race is neck and neck” Rajapaksa’s chief pollster Sunimal Fernando -http://colombotelegraph.com/2011/10/02/wikileaks-%E2%80%9Crace-is-neck-and-neck%E2%80%9D-rajapaksa%E2%80%99s-chief-pollster-sunimal-fernando/

Read the full cable