A robust debate on No Fire Zones (NFZs) and International Humanitarian Law: Artful dodging of war crimes in Sri Lanka?

*groundviews journalism For citizens

Original image courtesy PEDRO UGARTE/AFP/Getty Images

A central challenge of curating content on Groundviews is that some of the most interesting discussions which occur on comment threads get obscured over time, and are less visible than the primary material published here. A case in point is the recent thrust and parry of wit over the establishment of the No Fire Zones towards the end of war in Sri Lanka. The debate was between two leading voices on this site and the Sri Lankan new media landscape, Aachcharya and David Blacker, in response to a review of The Cage, the explosive new book on the end of war by former UN spokesperson Gordon Weiss.     Continue reading »

[Viewpoint] Korea should shun Sri Lanka

Instead of attending the Sri Lankan army’s conference, Korea should support the call for an international investigation into war crimes.

May 27, 2011

In the final months of the decades-long war in Sri Lanka in 2009, tens of thousands of civilians were killed as government forces closed in on the Tamil Tigers. The government’s strategy included repeated shelling of civilians, targeting hospitals and the total exclusion of independent monitors, including international aid agencies and foreign journalists.
Next week, the Sri Lankan army will hold a conference in Colombo to tout its view of counterinsurgency operations and encourage others to copy its methods. Many countries with professional armies have declined the invitation.
Inexplicably, Korea is expected to attend.   Full Story>>>
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IanKiru Karan

Sri Lankan Born ‘Container King’ Ian Kiru Karan Becomes German Minister
From rags to riches: BILD.de documents the progress of Hamburg’s flagship entrepreneur, Ian Karan Kiru’s career, as he becomes Hamburg’s Economic Senator.
Ian Kiru Karan who was born in Point Pedro in 1939, moved to Germany in 1970 after studying in the United Kingdom — where he went on to build one of the world’s biggest container leasing companies in Hamburg.
He was recently sworn in as Senator for Economic Affairs in Hamburg.
As an orphan from Sri Lanka, Ian Kiru Karan obtained a scholarship to study at the London School of Economics and later worked for the English branch of the logistics company, Schenker.  Later, Karan moved to Hamburg in 1970, with no more than 3,000 DM with him.    Full Story

Under war crimes pressure, Sri Lanka to begin new rights probe

 

By Ranga Sirilal

COLOMBO | Thu May 26, 2011 7:57pm IST

(Reuters) - Sri Lanka said on Thursday its dormant human rights commission would begin hearing new complaints, as the Indian Ocean nation remains under mounting Western pressure to investigate war crimes allegations made by a U.N.-appointed panel.
The Human Rights Commission of Sri Lanka, which has no judicial powers beyond recommending government authorities take action, said it will begin a probe of serious rights violations nationwide, including those from the war.
"We propose to appoint a panel of retired judges to look into all the pending important cases," commission chairman Priyantha Perera told Reuters. "We want this panel of judges to look into more serious violations in every part of the country."
Western governments led by the United States have pushed Sri Lanka to establish a believable probe into the panel's finding of "credible evidence" government troops killed thousands of civilians at the end of the country's civil war in 2009.
Sri Lanka says the accusations parrot propaganda from supporters of the defeated Tamil Tiger separatists, and dismisses the panel's findings as groundless and biased. It denies troops targeted civilians.
The government said reactivation of the commission and appointment of the panel was not done to appease anyone.
"There was no special reason to reactivate now. Since the war is over, there was a need to activate," acting cabinet spokesman and deputy minister of economic development Lakshman Yapa Awbeywardene told reporters.
President Mahinda Rajapaksa's government has said the separate Lessons Learned and Reconciliation Commission (LLRC) is already implementing reconciliation moves shaped by testimony taken from those affected by the war.
Critics say the LLRC lacks independence, and is likely to go the way of four decades' worth of Sri Lankan probes into rights abuses since the first of three violent insurgencies began in 1971, and find nothing and hold no one responsible.
Washington has warned that failure to credibly investigate the allegations and establish genuine reconciliation could lead to an international war crimes probe.
Most diplomats involved with Sri Lanka see that as a remote possibility, given Chinese and Russian backing for Sri Lanka on the U.N. Security Council. The U.N. Human Rights council, meeting next week, may take up the matter.
Sri Lanka will hold a military parade and memorial for fallen soldiers on Friday to mark the second anniversary of the defeat of the Tamil Tigers, which ended a quarter-century civil war.
(Writing by Bryson Hull; Editing by Sugita Katyal)

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"Scrap emergency and PTA " - Friday Forum

"Scrap emergency and PTA " - Friday Forum

	Thousands of Tamil people were displaced over the final months of fighting

In a sentiment rarely expressed within Sri Lanka, a group of prominent intellectuals has urged the government to set up a body to look into issues of accountability on possible violations of international humanitarian law.

The Friday Forum, a multi-ethnic group which is led by a Sri Lankan former under-secretary-general of the UN, also calls for sweeping changes in post-war Sri Lanka.                  Full Story

Disaster that befell Hoole who heeded President’s call for

By Namini Wijedasa
On a personal assurance from President Mahinda Rajapaksa, Prof. Ratnajeevan Hoole, a former vice chancellor of the University of Jaffna, returned to Sri Lanka with his family to serve the country he so loved. His experience since coming back has been “horrible” and has left him sorely disappointed.
I think President Rajapaksa meant well by me and intended to keep his promise. But as president he cannot afford to allow his directive on our appointments to be ignored nor can he simply ignore a promise he made just because of

Douglas Devananda’s objections.
Devananda is running Jaffna exactly the way the Tigers ran Jaffna. The UGC has obligingly appointed 13 of Douglas’ nominees to the University’s Council of 25. He holds monthly “pre-Council meetings” before the real Council where university decisions are taken, including whom to vote in as VC.
A contractor appointed to the Council does university hostels for some Rs. 300 million against the law. Devananda’s minions get into many university jobs which are never advertised and cannot be disciplined once hired. People fear to complain after General Mahinda Hathurusinghe said that EPDP cadres are responsible for the recent robberies and murders.
Controlling the VC is important to him as you can see from the ongoing student union election playing out: a compliant VC with a three-year Indian degree and Jaffna PhD, obligated to Douglas for her appointment, took an old complaint against a TNA-leaning student about to be elected president and within a few hours found him guilty and declared the university out of bounds for him. Devananda saw me as independent. So he raised anti-Christian phobia telling the president that Hindus will be angered if I am appointed. I was then asked to get statements from prominent Hindus in support of me. Most Hindus wanted me and what he told the president is insulting to them.
Obviously the president lacks independent sources of information in Jaffna. To connect to the Tamils the president must dump Devananda and talk to real leaders who can be identified only by holding elections.
Disaster that befell Hoole who heeded President’s call for diaspora to come back Full Story>>>

As Sri Lanka General Silva At UN Peacekeeping Signing, War Crimes Questions

By Matthew Russell Lee UNITED NATIONS, May 25 — With UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon yet to even transmit his Panel of Experts report on war crimes in Sri Lanka to the UN in Geneva, a General who features prominently in the report, Shavendra Silva, met this week with Ban’s Department of Peacekeeping Operations. Inner City Press asked Ban’s spokesman Martin Nesirky about Shavendra Silva’s appearance in the report, and at the agreement signing with UN DPKO. Nesirky replied that “the primary responsibility of ensuring that nations meet the highest standards of integrity lies with member states… we insist with member states that they should contribute personnel who have not committed human rights violations.” Since it is rare, particularly in Sri Lanka, for government to admit its personnel have committed any rights violations, this seems like a weak policy.
Silva, Wimal & Kohona at UN this month, DPKO signing not shown (c) MRLee  Nesirky went on to say that the UN does its own screening of “uniformed personnel… senior staff and experts.” Inner City Press asked if the UN does any screening of those with whom it signs agreements related to its peacekeeping. That is, did the UN screen Silva? Nesirky said it was an agreement with a country, not an individual. We’ll see. ——————————————————————————————————- 
Lawyers for Democracy Urges Independent Verification of Facts contained in UN Report on Sri Lanka; Asks for Professional Responses (Lanka-e-News -25.May.2011, 11.40AM) The war in the North and East has come to an end. Due to the blanket censorship on conflict related news, local and international media did not have the freedom to cover the conflict. Consequently,the public only received one sided information and in general, the public was kept in the dark. In the absence of independent access for journalists, the sources of information were the military and the LTTE, both of whom were obviously biased.    Full story  »

The continuing disinformation campaigns in Sri Lanka: Is mainstream media complicit?

*groundviews journalism For citizens 

25 May, 2011 Groundviews  For the second time in a fortnight, subscribers to the Daily Mirror newspaper have been entreated to an interesting disinformation campaign that appears to be conducted with those embedded within, and possibly with the full support of the Sri Lankan Army and its network of patriots.
The full page ad above was published on the Daily Mirror on 23rd May. A high resolution scan can be downloaded here. At the bottom, the advertisement is attributed to the ‘Free Mass Media Movement’. No such movement exists, or has existed. With the clear intention to obfuscate rather than enlighten, the name is a spin off from the Free Media Movement, which for a variety of reasons, is well known to government and also amongst media freedom activists. Continue reading »  
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SRI LANKA: Myths and Realities: Reflections on the Report of the UN Advisory Panel and Colombo’s Response

25-May-2011

V. Suryanarayan and Ashik Bonofer 

Sri Lanka had been at war with itself for several years and sections of international community are getting sensitized to the horrendous crimes which took place in the island during the last stages of the Fourth Eelam War. The Report of the UN Secretary General’s panel of experts on accountability in Sri Lanka - not an investigative panel, but only an advisory group – has triggered off an intense debate within the island as well as the wider world. Unfortunately in India, especially in Tamil Nadu, the publication of the report has not resulted in a healthy debate. This essay is intended to provoke a lively discussion. It also makes a plea that India should revise its stance on the human rights issue. As and when the report comes up for discussion in the United Nations, India, unlike previous occasions, should not bail out Sri Lanka.   Full Story>>>

RI LANKA: Myths and Realities: Reflections on the Report of the UN Advisory Panel and Colombo's Response

People in cloth sheds, Buddhist stupas built in Vanni

{TamilNet, Wednesday, 25 May 2011, 06:12 GMT]
Genocidal Sri Lanka’s ‘reconciliation’ in Vanni, abetted by its international partners is building huge Buddhist stupas there, while keeping Eezham Tamil natives in cloth tents. If building Buddhist establishments and new Sinhala-military townships in Vanni is the job of the state and re-building houses for the war-ravaged people and providing them with ‘milk and bread’ are the jobs of others and the diaspora, what is wrong in Eezham Tamils and their diaspora demanding the world for their country to be handed over to them for the true development of its people and to ensure ‘milk and bread’ really reach them, asks a Tamil politician in Jaffna, particularly addressing India and two other South Asian countries Pakistan and Bangladesh that will be attending a Chinese sponsored coaching programme of Colombo by the end of this month on how to conduct genocide with international abetment.
Colombo’s concentration presently is on completely Sinhalicising Vanni.
The mushrooming Buddhist stupas built at a huge cost in Vanni are the epicentres of the programme.
At Kanakaraayan-ku’lam in Vavuniyaa district an extensive Buddhist complex is being built currently, adjacent to the A9 Highway. Colombo has confiscated some private lands for this purpose.
The Buddhist stupa currently built at Kanakaraayan-ku’lam with the backing of the occupying Army is going to be massive, reaching to a height of 500 feet.
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State terrorism in Sri Lanka says UNP

The main opposition accused the government of promoting state terrorism. United National Party (UNP), say the compulsory leadership training for new undergraduates is a step in that direction.

	Compulsory training was initiated by the ministry of higher education

Speaking to media on Wednesday, MP Lashman Kiriella said, “This training is the initial step towards preparing candidates for state terrorism”.

Unsuitable for female students

Criticising the residential training camps held inside security establishments, the MP say that it is also a burden on poor families. “People can’t afford to buy the set of clothes required for the training. It costs over ten thousand rupees”.

He also says the training environment inside security forces and police camps, is not suitable for the security of female students.

Indian influence

The opposition also blamed the government of not taking part in a fruitful discussion with the other political parties while engaging with foreign powers.

“India seems to be dictating how things are done here. For months since the end of the war, we had been asking the government to lift the emergency. Now India had told them to do so”. Said the opposition spokesman.

He also blamed the ruling party for the massive loss of lives due to prolonged civil war.

Thousands died

“When we suggested the thirteenth amendment, they opposed it. A consensus at the time would have prevented the war, loss of thousands of lives and developing hatred”.

“Now they have agreed with India to go beyond the thirteenth amendment. Why is it only agreeable when India suggests it?” the UNP questioned.All nearby lands in the locality have also been confiscated by the genocidal state and local people are prohibited from entering the whole locality.  Full story >>

Sri Lanka: Confronting the Killing Fields

25 May 2011

Sri Lanka: Confronting the Killing Fields

By Steve Crawshaw international advocacy director of Amnesty International
A hard-hitting UN report has found compelling evidence of war crimes and crimes against humanity during the final phase of the war in Sri Lanka in spring 2009.
In the face of repeated government denials, the report’s authors reckon that up to 40,000 died in just a few terrible months in spring 2009 — kept out of the sight of television cameras, and out of the politicians’ minds. The report calls for an international investigation, which could have far-reaching consequences.


The UN says that both sides committed war crimes and crimes against humanity during the final phase of the war in Sri Lanka © Private
 Continue reading ‘Sri Lanka: Confronting the Killing Fields’
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Sri Lanka: Confronting the killing fields

Steve Crawshaw, London | Tue, 05/24/2011 7:00 AM

A hard-hitting UN report has found compelling evidence of war crimes and crimes against humanity during the final phase of the war in Sri Lanka in spring 2009.

In the face of repeated government denials, the report’s authors reckon that up to 40,000 died in just a few terrible months in spring 2009 — kept out of the sight of television cameras, and out of the politicians’ minds. The report calls for an international investigation, which could have far-reaching consequences. Full Story>>>

Prabhakaran’s Liberation Struggle

Ilankai Tamil Sangam

A Debate- compiled by Sachi Sri Kantha, May 21, 2011

Sidney Poitier also wrote: “all I can say is that there’s a place for people who are angry and defiant, and sometimes they serve a purpose, but that’s never been my role. And I have to say, too, that I have great respect for the kinds of people who are able to recycle their anger and put it to different uses.

On the other hand, even Martin Luther King Jr. and Mahatma Gandhi, who certainly didn’t appear angry when they burst upon the world, would never have burst upon the world in the first place if they hadn’t, at one time in their lives, gone through much, much anger and much, much resentment and much, much anguish.” (p. 124)

Though Prabhakaran’s critics may disagree with me, I’d infer that his anger against the discrimination faced by the Tamils, had a beneficial role.

                                      Full Story>>>
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War, peace and the Darusman report

The UN report came as a shock to the ruling family because it is unused to criticism and adept at averting unfavourable outcomes with the clever use of lies and half truths, blanket denials and false promises.

by Tisaranee Gunasekara 

“Why were such perverse times ours?”

Giaccomo Leopardi (On the proposed Dante monument in Florence II) 

(May 24, Colombo, Sri Lanka Guardian) In Sri Lanka, misfortune seems to dog those who incur the wrath of President Mahinda Rajapaksa and his family. Journalists or media outlets critical of the regime have been particularly ill-fated: Lasantha Wickrematunge was killed; Keith Noyahr escaped by a hair’s breadth; J.S. Tissanayagam was incarcerated; Prageeth Ekneligoda disappeared; Sirasa/MTV was repeatedly attacked - just a few notable examples located outside the war zones.    Read More

V-Day 2nd Anniversary: Peace Under Pressure

*groundviews journalism For citizens

A Sri Lankan solider blocked traffic last month on the main road in Jaffna to allow a military convoy to pass through the city at high speed.

22 May, 2011 Dayan Jayatilleka

Original image by J. Adam Huggins for The New York Times
Every mayoralty in Paris has tablets on which are inscribed the names of those from that locality who died in the many wars which France fought. Many are the works of art in the glorious buildings in Paris, which depict these battles, from Jeanne d’Arc (Joan of Arc) onward. Many are the military parades in remembrance.
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Army Corporal and wife remanded for assaulting District Judge

(May 23, Colombo, Sri Lanka Guardian) An Army Corporal and his wife were today remanded until June 6 over the alleged assault on the Matara District Judge Saman Kumara and his wife on Sunday.

Chief Magistrate Udesh Ranatunga also ordered the Senior Superintendent of Police to arrest some 15 others - all of them army personnel involved in the incident and produce them in Courts.

The corporal's wife has got herself admitted to hospital claiming she was assaulted as well.  Read More