28 December 2011

Sri Lanka Muslim party opposes government's decision not to allocate land and police powers to the provinces

An ally of Sri Lanka's governing United People's Freedom Alliance (UPFA), the Sri Lanka Muslin Congress (SLMC) has opposed the government's decision not to allocate land and police powers to the provinces.SLMC Deputy Secretary Nizam Kariyappar has said the Tamil National Alliance (TNA) has promised to invite the SLMC for the next round of talks with the government.He has observed that the Tamil speaking people in the North and East Provinces were hopeful of power being devolved to the provinces as promised by President Mahinda Rajapaksa at the All Party Representative meeting in 2006.The SLMC's High Command is to meet shortly to decide on its official stance on the matter.Kariyappar has noted that the party would make its stance known to the government at the next round of talks with the TNA that is to be attended by the SLMC.The next round of talks between the government and TNA are scheduled for January 17th.Sri Lankan President Mahinda Rajapaksa has recently told a media meeting that the government will not grant land and police powers to provincial councils as sought by the TNA in accordance with the 13th Amendment to the Constitution.Deputy Minister Vinayagamoorthy Muralitharan, who was a former Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE) leader, has said that devolution of police powers to the provinces would cause security issues to the government and in the event police powers were devolved, maintaining law and order and rule of law in some provincial councils would be impossibility.

SLMC needs President’s permission says TNA

The SLMC needed to receive permission from President Mahinda Rajapaksa to participate in the next round of talks between the government and the TNA.The government and the TNA have been engaged in a series of discussions aimed at finding a political solution to the ethnic issue.TNA parliamentarian Suresh Premachandran said the SLMC needed to seek permission from the President if it needed to be part of the discussion to find a political solution.Premachandran’s comment was made following the statement made by the SLMC that it would participate in the next round of talks between the government and TNA to express its stance on the allocation of land and police powers to the provinces.

Britain confident SL govt. will bring perpetrators to justice ‪

The British High Commission in Colombo expressed confidence that the Sri Lankan authorities will bring to book those responsible for the murder of a British national in Tangalle on Sunday.“This is a very serious incident which we are extremely concerned about,” Acting British High Commissioner Robbie Bulloch told the Daily Mirror.“We have been in close touch with the Ministry of External Affairs in this regard and they have assured us of a swift and thorough investigation into the incident. It is important that the Sri Lankan government does all it can to bring the perpetrators of this crime to justice and we are confident that the perpetrators will be held to account,” he said.“We have informed the family in the UK about the incident and are providing consular assistance. We look forward to swift judicial proceedings so that justice will prevail,” Bulloch said.When asked whether the killing would have an adverse impact on British tourist arrivals to Sri Lanka, Bulloch replied in the negative.. But at the same time it is important that the government takes prompt action on this matter so that tourists will feel re-assured about their safety and security in Sri Lanka,” he said.Asked whether the British High Commission was keeping a tab on the condition of the murder victim’s Russian girlfriend who was also seriously injured in the attack Bulloch said, “We are very interested in her recovery and progress but consular responsibility lies with the Russian Embassy as she is a Russian national,” he explained.Kuram Shaikah Zaman, a 27-year-old Briton of Israeli descent, died after being shot and stabbed at a tourist resort in Tangalle following an argument in the early hours of Sunday.

India wants Sri Lanka to probe rights abuse charges

Colombo asked to go beyond 13th Amendment for“ meaningful devolution of powers and national reconciliation” India wants an “independent and credible mechanism…to investigate allegations of human rights violations” during the end stages of Eelam War IV. This needs to be done in a “time-bound manner,” India has told Sri Lanka. Belatedly commenting on the Sri Lankan Lessons Learnt and Reconciliation Committee report, tabled in Parliament on December 16, the Indian External Affairs spokesperson said: “The present situation provides a great window of opportunity to forge a consensual way forward towards reconciliation through a political settlement based on devolution of power. “It recognises that a political solution is imperative to addressing the root cause of the conflict and notes that the government should provide leadership to a political process, which must be pursued for the purpose of establishing a framework for ensuring sustainable peace and security in the post-conflict environment.”The Indian statement, released here on Monday, comes a few days after President Mahinda Rajapaksa ruled out land and police powers for the northern province.Supporting a broader dialogue, India said a full implementation of the 13th Amendment to the Constitution was needed. There was also a need to “go beyond” the 13th Amendment, “so as to achieve meaningful devolution of powers and genuine national reconciliation.”“We hope that the Government of Sri Lanka, recognising the critical importance of this issue, acts decisively and with vision in this regard. We will remain engaged with them through this process and offer our support in the spirit of partnership.”The Presidential office felt it was for the External Affairs Ministry to react to the comments. However, a senior government official said there were many welcome features in the Indian stand, such as remaining engaged with Sri Lanka through the process and the fact that it welcomed the public release of the document.The Tamil United Liberation Front, a part of the Tamil National Alliance in the recent local body elections, said it welcomed the Indian stand in full, including the comments on devolution of powers and the need for a credible investigation. The Eelam People's Democratic Party was of the view that a political solution must begin with the implementation of the 13th Amendment in full. The implementation of the police powers, as provided for in the amendment, could be suspended for a limited period till conditions were conducive for handing over duties to the provinces, the party said.

Fonseka to join UNP soon - Hiru FM

DNA leader Sarath Fonseka and several civil society activists are due to join the UNP soon, Hiru FM reports.Opposition leader Ranil Wickremesinghe has told a group of party MPs recently about their decision.Also, DNA MP Jayantha Ketagoda is to be given the position of co-organizer for Kaduwela electorate, said the radio.His appointment is one of a series of measures by the party leader to introduce new faces to politics and to appoint electoral organizers anew.Mr. Wickremesinghe has asked the party’s general secretary to start setting up party branches next month, and he has in turn, given the necessary instructions to the electoral organizers.In addition, Yovun Peramuna, Lakwanitha Peramuna and other organizations and trade unions affiliated to the UNP will be reorganized.

AUSTRALIAN MP SAYS A LONG WAY TO GO FOR SRI LANKA

The head of a recent Australian parliamentary delegation to Sri Lanka says there is a long way to go on the issue of reconciliation as many feel the government is yet to address the issue of accountability.The five-member group with representatives from the Australian government and the main opposition parties travelled to Sri Lanka at the invitation of the government.Delegation leader -- Australian Labor Party MP, Maria Vamvakinou says they had good access to members of parliament -- and she says the politicians they met were very aware that their actions are being scrutinised carefully by the international community.“Both sides have to get to that stage where they are able to talk about recrimination and guilt and blame on both sides. I’m not sure that there actually in that stage yet.” she said in an interview with Radio Australia.On the issue of accountability Vamvakinou said it probably has not been dealt with yet at this stage.The trip took in looking at several housing projects funded by the Australian government -- a report by the group is yet to be tabled in parliament. There is evidence of rebuilding, she said however adding that some of it has slowed down. “…… there are signs of building and work is being done.”

Two Chinese companies given construction bid for Lotus Tower

The contract to construct the Lotus Tower multi-functional TV and telecommunication tower in Colombo has been given to two Chinese companies namely CEIC and Elite, Ceylon Today reliably learns.The agreement on the construction of the Lotus Tower, the tallest tower in Sri Lanka, will be signed at Telecommunication Regulatory Commission (TRC) office on 03 January, Chairman of TRC Anusha Pelpita confirmed yesterday.Approximately 105 million dollars will be invested for the project, a senior spokesman of the government told Ceylon Today.The tower which is 350m in height will be constructed on a 7.5 acre land located at D.R. Wijayawardena Mawatha in Colombo.The proposed tower will provide facilities for 50 television services, 50 broadcasting services and ten telecommunication providers. Apart from that, a luxurious tourist zone will also be built in the Lotus Tower premises.At first, the government had a plan to build the tower in Peliyagoda, but later the location was shifted to Colombo. The project will be funded by EXIM Bank in China, one of the largest commercial banks in the country. According the spokesman of the government, the construction work of the tower will be completed in 2013. After the completion, the tower will be the tallest building in South Asia and the 19th in the world.

24 December 2011

TNA: will soon take a call on talks

The talks between the Sri Lankan government and the Tamil National Alliance (TNA), an umbrella group of Tamil political parties representing the Northern Tamils, is headed for another trough, with both sides levelling a series of allegations against the other.It began soon after the TNA expressed its views on the Lessons Learnt and Reconciliation Commission on Monday. The TNA said the LLRC report “categorically fails to effectively and meaningfully deal with issues of accountability” and called for the establishment of an international mechanism for accountability.This call has agitated ruling party politicians in Sri Lanka. At a meeting with Editors of Sri Lankan media on Tuesday, President Mahinda Rajapaksa said the TNA was behaving like the LTTE did during previous peace talks. “They are proving to be as difficult as the LTTE in talks, adopting the same negative tactics,” said the President, according to the pro-government Daily News . “They yet have a war mentality, this is getting in the way when talking to the government. They must get out of this, which is entirely shaped by the past,” he added.“The President went on to say that the TNA is getting instructions from abroad and this was a considerable obstacle when it came to conducting fruitful negotiations with the government. He also noted that an outstanding demand of the TNA for police powers to the North and East is not a practicable proposition,” the newspaper added.This is the first time in the recent past that the President has attacked the TNA. The TNA, which has historically not known when to back off, has said it would soon take “a decisive step” on continuing the talks. Spokesperson Suresh Premachandiran was quotedas saying it was pointless to talk with the government that cannot understand that the TNA was not asking for the separate state. He was reacting to the assertion of the President that land and police powers would not be granted to the provinces.The talks are aimed at finding a political solution to the Tamil question that accommodates the hopes and aspirations of the minority community. Last August, the TNA walked out of the talks, saying the government had not responded to a list of issues that it had raised, and that the government was merely buying time by keeping TNA tied to the negotiating table.It required a lot of effort on the part of a few interested parties to re-start that dialogue. With literally no progress since the time the TNA returned to the negotiating table, the Alliance says the patience of people of the North was wearing thin, and that it was merely reflecting reality when it makes a point. The government's view is that a structured dialogue will take time to deliver results.

As Sri Lanka Threatens Critics of LLRC, Ban Awaits Cheat Sheets of DPA, HRC

One week ago about Sri Lanka, UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon "noted that the report of Sri Lanka's Lessons Learnt and Reconciliation Commission (LLRC) was tabled in parliament today and welcomed that it has been made public. The United Nations will be studying the report closely."  After a week of silence from Ban, even while the Sri Lankan government announced it would take legal action against non-governmental organizations which have joined the criticism for the LLRC report as no leading to accountability, Inner City Press on December 23 asked Ban's spokesman Martin Nesirky:Inner City Press: a week ago I saw the statement by the Secretary-General that the UN will be studying the report closely and that he hopes that the Government of Sri Lanka would move forward to address accountability concerns in good faith. Today, the Ministry of External Affairs there has said that they will take legal action against NGOs which have criticized the lessons learned and reconciliation report. So I wonder, does that seem to be a good-faith response to the report, and also, in the week since their last statement has the UN actually studied the report and do they have any comment on it? Spokesperson Nesirky: I think you can take it for granted that if we said the report is being studied, it is being studied. And if we have anything further then I will let you know. Other questions, please?  After that, Inner City Press inquired further with several Ban Ki-moon officials and learned that both the UN Department of Political Affairs and "Human Rights" have been asked to review and summarize the LLRC; the two summaries -- like "Cliff Notes" study aids, a/k/a Cheat Sheets -- will be put together and then and only then will Ban hear anything about it.  And by then, more voices for accountability in Sri Lanka will have been targeted and silence. Good faith, indeed. Watch this site.

Ranil-Fonseka reach agreement

Opposition leader Ranil Wickremesinghe yesterday (Dec. 23) met imprisoned Army chief Sarath Fonseka and briefed him about his plans to secure his release.Mr. Fonseka gave his consent to the proposals made by the leader of the main opposition UNP, report said.During their meeting at Welikada Prison, the two discussed about the prevailing political situation at length. MPs Ravi Karunanayake and Dr. Jayalath Jayawardena also participated in the discussion. As the meeting was underway, a superintendent ordered a jailor to turn out the journalists present. However, the journalists stood firm and refused to leave.

Sri Lanka scraps visa on arrival policy

Tourists will not be able to take advantage of Sri Lanka's lax visa laws after next month, when a rule requiring travellers to apply and pay for visas in advance comes into effect.Officials said the revenue raised from travel visas - previously issued at no cost to nationals of some countries - would be used to revive the economy of the war-ravaged country."Earlier visas were issued free on arrival," said Abdul Raheem, the Sri Lankan consul general in Dubai."There was a conflict in the country and we wanted to encourage tourists to come. But now the country is stable and the problems are over. We want to reinvest the revenue for tourism," he said.The new Electronic Travel Authorisation system requires tourists and business travellers to apply online before their departure from January 1."Within 24 hours, they can get the acknowledgement and travel," he said.Previously, nationals from 78 countries were granted free visas on arrival. Others were charged between Dh5 and Dh280. Under the revised rules, only citizens of Singapore and the Maldives can obtain free visas on arrival.Travel documents for a month can cost between US$10 (Dh36) and $25, depending on the nationality and purpose of the visit.Travellers can also obtain visas at a consulate, but will be charged an administrative fee of between Dh5 and Dh100.Emiratis will have to pay the highest amount based on reciprocity, as Sri Lankan nationals coming to the UAE for visits are charged US$250 (Dh918).Transit visas for two days and travellers under 12 years of age will be allowed to enter the country at no cost.John Podaras, a British resident, said though the move was a "minor inconvenience", it could have a negative perception."Any kind of bureaucracy at the border is seen as a negative step. But, ultimately one has to balance these considerations," he said, adding that the change could effect tourists making a choice between Sri Lanka and other destinations.However, a travel agent said serious travellers would not be deterred."A small segment may think this is an inconvenience," said Premjit Bangara, general manager of Sharaf Travel."But serious travellers do not mind paying," he said, adding that the online process would facilitate quicker entry into the country.Mr Bangara said Sri Lanka was moving in the right direction with the civil war behind them."The economy was booming before the war. But, once political issues came up, everything went south. Most tourism boards offer sops during periods of lull to stimulate tourism," he said, adding the income from issuing visas could contribute to Sri Lanka's economy in a small way.

Statement on the Report of Sri Lanka's Lessons Learnt and Reconciliation Commission

The International Crisis Group welcomes the public release of the report of Sri Lanka’s “Lessons Learnt and Reconciliation Commission” (LLRC), presented to the Sri Lankan parliament on 16 December 2011. The report acknowledges important events and grievances that have contributed to decades of political violence and civil war in Sri Lanka and makes sensible recommendations on governance, land issues and the need for a political solution. But it fails in a crucial task – providing the thorough and independent investigation of alleged violations of international humanitarian and human rights law that the UN and other partners of Sri Lanka have been asking for. It is now incumbent on the international community, through the UN Human Rights Council, to establish an independent international investigation in 2012. Without such an investigation, accountability for the crimes committed at the end of the civil war is highly unlikely; without accountability, and a full understanding of the nature of the violations which took place on all sides, the seeds of future conflict will grow.Appointed by President Rajapaksa in May 2010, the LLRC has been the government’s primary means of deflecting pressure for an international investigation into credible allegations of grave violations of international humanitarian and human rights law by both government forces and fighters of the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE) in the final stages of the long civil war. The government has pledged that the commission’s report would fully address the international community’s demands for accountability, as President Rajapaksa promised UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon after the government’s declaration of victory over the LTTE in May 2009.Despite the Sri Lankan government’s two and half years of propaganda that their brutal campaign against the LLTE was conducted with little or no damage to civilians, the evidence of shelling of civilians and mass deaths was too much for the commission to ignore. Breaking with years of government claims to the contrary, the LLRC has accepted that “considerable civilian casualties had in fact occurred during the final phase of the conflict” and “that shells had in fact fallen on hospitals causing damage and resulting in casualties”. It also recognised the “possible implication of the Security Forces for the resulting death or injury to civilians” but in only three incidents “brought to the attention of the Commission”. It calls on the government “to ascertain more fully, the circumstances under which such incidents could have occurred, and if such investigations disclose wrongful conduct, to prosecute and punish the wrongdoers”.Yet the report works to exonerate the government and undermine its own limited calls for further inquiry – mostly by accepting at face value the largely unexamined claims of the senior government and military officials who planned and executed the war, and by rolling back well-established principles of international law. It “concludes”, for example, “that the military strategy that was adopted to secure the LTTE-held areas was one that was carefully conceived, in which the protection of the civilian population was given the highest priority”;  “that the Security Forces had not deliberately targeted the civilians in the [no-fire zones] NFZs”; and that their actions did not violate the principle of proportionality because they “were confronted with an unprecedented situation when no other choice was possible and all ‘feasible precautions’ that were practicable in the circumstances had been taken”. At the same time, it claims that it is unable to determine which side was responsible for many of the reported incidents and chooses, with little explanation, to blame most deaths on the LTTE and unexplained “cross-fire”.The LLRC’s conclusions are untenable for several reasons. First, it is obvious throughout the report that it considered only the materials the government chose to place before it. There was no independent assessment of the full scope of information in the government’s possession – including all communications with the UN, ICRC and sources in the conflict zone, as well as other evidence from government and international sources, such as uncensored satellite images and footage from the military’s unmanned drones. Similarly, the record before the LLRC is inadequate to draw conclusions ruling out unlawful attacks when there are thousands of witnesses who did not come forward, partly because of the lack of witness protection, and when there is no indication that the LLRC had physical access to the final war zone where most of the civilian casualties occurred. Those areas have been off limits to everyone but the military since the end of hostilities.An equally worrying deficiency in the LLRC’s conclusions is the fundamental misstatement or misapplication of principles of international law. This is most evident in its failure to present a fair exposition of the principle of distinction under international humanitarian law. Indeed, even though the LLRC claimed to have considered the April 2011 report of the UN Secretary-General’s panel of experts, it did not engage the panel’s legal or factual analysis in any meaningful way. Allowing the LLRC’s regressive statement of international law to stand could have consequences beyond Sri Lanka.The LLRC’s exculpation of government and military leaders also depends on accepting without question testimony from Tamil government administrators and doctors who had served in the war zone. The report makes no mention of the fact that the doctors were detained under anti-terrorism laws at the end of the war and forced to recant publicly their earlier claims that thousands of civilians died from government shelling. To accept at face value their statements to a government-appointed body requires ignoring the evidence of physical attacks and threats to government critics that the LLRC discusses at length elsewhere in its report. Indeed, as predicted by many in advance of the LLRC’s hearings, numerous witnesses who testified to the commission about government violations have since been questioned and harassed by the military and the police.In the most compelling sections of its report, the LLRC recognises what Crisis Group, human rights organisations and civil society activists have argued for years: that Sri Lanka is suffering from a crisis of institutionalised impunity for human rights violations by state forces and those working in collaboration with the state. Unfortunately, the commission makes no effort to apply these facts to its analysis of alleged violations of international humanitarian law or to analyse how they would likely distort much of the testimony it received.The LLRC’s own accounts of large-scale civilian deaths, repeated shelling by the government of “no-fire zones” packed with civilians, attacks on medical centres, and disappearances and possible executions of captured combatants and civilians – actions long denied by the Sri Lankan government – demand an impartial and thorough investigation. The LLRC’s request that the government conduct a series of further, limited inquiries into some of these issues is far from an adequate response. The Sri Lankan government’s past three years of denial, dissimulation and intimidation of critics has proven it is neither willing nor able to carry out impartial and effective investigations.The responsibility now falls on the international community to take up the task of ensuring post-war accountability, beginning with a formal discussion of the LLRC report and the UN Secretary-General’s panel report at the March 2012 session of the UN Human Rights Council, leading to an independent international mechanism to investigate all credible allegations and to monitor domestic efforts at accountability.The Human Rights Council should also take note of the LLRC’s recommendations that the government investigate and hold to account those responsible for abductions, disappearances and attacks on journalists – including those committed by armed pro-government Tamil parties. These issues should be addressed on an urgent basis by the Sri Lankan government and its implementation of the commission’s recommendations should be monitored on an ongoing basis by the HRC. As the LLRC itself points out, such recommendations have been made many times by previous domestic commissions of inquiry and almost always ignored, as has been the case with most of the LLRC’s own interim recommendations. There is little chance that the LLRC’s final recommendations will fare any better, unless there is sustained international attention and pressure from the UN Secretary-General, the Human Rights Council, and influential governments, most importantly China, India, Japan, the United States, Canada, Britain, France and the European Union. Sri Lanka’s friends in the non-aligned movement, especially South Africa, Brazil, Indonesia and Mexico, have a particularly important role in reminding Sri Lanka of the importance of accountability and demilitarisation to lasting peace and reconciliation.In other respects, too, there is much of value in the LLRC report that the international community should pay attention to and can learn from. This includes the commission’s criticisms of the overly centralised and militarised way in which the government is ruling the Tamil-majority northern province and the top-down, non-participatory approach to reconstruction and development of the former war zones. Also worth noting are the commission’s suggestions for better managing the sensitive issue of land and its support for the prompt and effective devolution of power to the north and east. Many of these issues have been covered in Crisis Group reports, including its most recent “Sri Lanka: Women’s Insecurity in the North and East”, released on 20 December 2011.Without accepting the flaws of the LLRC’s approach to allegations of war crimes and of its analysis of the government’s conduct of the war, Sri Lanka’s international partners should nonetheless attempt to support the openings that the LLRC makes possible in public discussions about human rights and reconciliation within Sri Lanka. The inadequacies in the LLRC’s treatment of violations of international humanitarian and human rights law as well as its more useful and critical arguments about the need for serious reforms in how Sri Lanka is governed – all deserve additional analysis. Crisis Group will be pursuing this in a series of further commentaries in the coming weeks.

Missing activist’s wife lodged complaint at ICRC

Wife of missing activist Kugan lodged a complaint at the ICRC today regarding the disappearance of her husband and the other missing activist - Lalith.The complaint was lodged today by Kugan's wife Muruganandan Janadha under No: LKC 111264. Kugan's eight year old daughter and missing activist Lalith's father was also present to lodge the complaint.Janadha speaking to Ceylon Today outside the ICRC premises upon lodging the complaint said her husband had been arrested by the military on several occasions under suspicion for connections with the LTTE."He was initially arrested in 1996 and was released the following year. Once again he was taken into custody in 1998 and was detained for five years," she said.Kugan had been working with Lalith on locating his brother who had disappeared six years ago.It has been 16 days since the disappearance of political activists Lalith Kumar Weeraraju and Kugan Muruganandan in Jaffna. They were last seen travelling in a motorbike no. NP GT 7852 in the Achchuveli area. The motorbike was discovered by the police a few days later near a kovil few kilometers away from Kugan's house but no information has surfaced concerning any of them. Further investigations are being continued by the Achchuveli police.

EROS will stand by Government on LLRC report ( By: Nesan Shankar Raji- Senior leader and spokesperson)

The Eelam Revolutionary Organisation (EROS) wishes to thank His Excellency President Mahinda Rajapaksa for expediting and releasing the Lessons Learnt and Reconciliation Commission (LLRC) report within a remarkable 18 month timeframe. EROS also wishes to congratulate the panel of distinguished experts who were party to the Lessons Learnt and Reconciliation Commission (LLRC) report for drafting an exceptional and yet robust report based on the actual facts that led up to the final decimation of the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE) in Sri Lanka under the Sri Lankan Army's rescue mission in May 2009. Certain international NGO's namely Amnesty International, Human Rights Watch and the International Crisis Group have been highly critical of the LLRC panel from the very inception not giving the Sri Lankan state a chance and even more so in the aftermath of publication of the LLRC report. We wish to state that neither of these "Human Rights" parties participated in the LLRC despite being invited to engage with the LLRC panel by the Sri Lankan Government. This was further substantiated by His Excellency Dr. Chris Nonis, High Commissioner to the United Kingdom at a recent meeting with the Sri Lankan Diaspora to discuss the LLRC report and key recommendations. EROS wishes to state that it is our intention to stand by the Sri Lankan Government on this issue and defend our Government on any course of international intervention when it comes to Sri Lanka as we do not as an organisation support an international probe into alleged war crimes. The LTTE including Prabhakaran and his ground commanders were responsible for making the decision to hold tens of thousands of Tamil civilians. Their cadres were responsible for deliberately shooting at innocent civilians trying to flee into the "No Fire Zone" and cross over into the Sri Lankan Army controlled areas that the forces had slowly captured from the clutches of the LTTE. Certain NGO's have vested interests as far as Sri Lanka is concerned and will "cherry pick" on issues at every available opportunity. These very same NGO's need to hold countries such as the USA, Britain Israel to account over human rights violations and dig their noses in their own backyard. Sri Lanka is a nation that is recovering from over 3 decades of civil war and unrest. Our country needs time to heal its wounds. EROS is working extensively internationally and on ground with the Government, political parties and other key stakeholders and will not allow any NGO's or western government to cause undue detriment to our country. The Tamil National Alliance (TNA) is not helping matters by calling for an international probe into alleged war crimes. They are a by-product of the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE) and continue to remain a proxy of the Trans National Government of Tamil Eelam, Global Tamil Forum and remnants of the LTTE based worldwide. The MP's who were elected under the TNA have swindled millions of rupees paid to them by the Sri Lankan Government which was meant for the benefit of their local constituents. Instead the money has been used for their, own personal benefits and was also poured into the LTTE's coffers. You only have to speak to their local constituents to verify these facts. EROS openly urges the TNA leadership to operate in the honest interests of the Tamil speaking people of Sri Lanka including the Diaspora and not to hoodwink the Diaspora for their own vested personal interests as did the LTTE for decades. The TNA need to work alongside the Government if they are to truly reach an amicable political settlement that meets the aspirations of the Tamil speaking people. The Sri Lankan Tamil Diaspora need to come to terms with the fact that there will be no revival of the call for a separate "Eelam state". We need to work with the Government of Sri Lanka in the interests of our people who have suffered immensely for decades. We maybe labelled as a so called "paramilitary", however we know our organisations history, values and what we stand for under the great leaderships of the our late leaders Eliyathamby Ratnasabapathy our founder and Shankar Rajee. EROS will continue to work hand in hand with the Government of Sri Lanka led by His Excellency Mahinda Rajapaksa for the benefit of our community under the policy of one nation, under one flag.

23 December 2011

Tamil people do not accept the political solution which does not include the land and police powers: TNA

Tamil National Alliance announced that Tamil people do not accept the political solution which does not include the land and police powers of provincial councils.Speaking at the media briefing Minister Kehiliya Rambukwella stated TNA was to devolve Police and land powers to the provinces and that the government could never concede to it.Tamil National Alliance media spokesman Suresh Premachandran thoroughly condemns the statement release by the Minister and also added.It’s pointless to hold discussion which do not include land and police power for provinces and also went on to say land and the police powers are the basic powers for provinces.We can carry out development activities in the province without land power even though people of the province were ale to engage in farming activities and also it’s unable to establish law and order in the province said the spokesman.Land and police power was partly included in the 13th amendment. Spokesman also questioned in such situation how can the government will be able to announce international about 13 + amendment.

Lanka Govt rules out TNA demand for police powers

The government today turned down the demand of Sri Lanka's main Tamil party TNA for police powers to provincial governments, amid decentralisation talks in a bid to find a political settlement to the grievances of the minority ethnic community. "Police powers cannot be given and will not be given. There are reasons why they cannot be given," Cabinet spokesman Keheliya Rambukwella told reporters here. The government firmly refused to accept the demand of the Tamil National Alliance (TNA) for police powers to provincial councils. Rambukwella said Sri Lanka had learnt from the Indian experience on the downside of conferring police powers to provincial governments. "Madam Sonia Gandhi had to seek permission to travel. A former chief minister was assaulted and dragged along the ground by his own police force. these types of things cannot be allowed," he stressed. Police and land powers to provinces figure high on TNA's direct talks with the government which are having a rough ride presently. In addition, the TNA seeks a re-merger of the north and east provinces. The government is averse to such contentious demands from the main Tamil party. According to the thirteenth amendment to the Sri Lankan constitution adopted in 1987, the police and land powers are subjects to be devolved to all nine provincial councils in the country. The TNA and government started talks in January, with President Mahinda Rajapaksa opting to appoint a high-powered ministerial committee to discuss the grievances of the Tamil community in Lanka.

President did not maintain relationship with LTTE : Vinayagamoorthi Muralitharan

The Deputy Minister of Resettlement Vinayagamoorthi Muralytharan stated President Mahinda Rajapaksa did not maintain any relationship with LTTE organization.He also stated UNP maintain relationship with LTTE organization when he representate organization.Deputy Minister further said he joined with the president for his good qualities.The Minister of Economic Development Basil Rajapaksa stated UNP is responsible for the political carrier of Vinayagamoorthi Muralytharan.UNP Parliamentarian Dayasiri Jayasekara stated UNP supported Minister Vinayagamoorthi to step on towards the politics.

Child abuse hearing in April
 
The child abuse case against Chief Buddhist monk of Thames Buddhist temple Ven. Pahalagama Somaratana is to begin on 10th April at Feltham crown court.The monk who was intially charged with one count of rape of a female under 16 and three counts of indecent assault during his tenure at Chiswick temple

Further charges

Subsequently on Friday, 11 November he was further charged with 8 counts of Indecent assault on a female under 14 between 01/01/1985 - 31/12/1986 at an address in Croydon.65 year old Somaratana thero appeared at Isleworth Crown Court on Wednesday for an initial hearing.Court sources told the BBC that both cases involving two different alleged victims would be heard together.Monk had pleaded not guilty to all charges against him.

22 December 2011

Canada commends LLRC report

The Canadian government has commended the Lessons Learnt and Reconciliation Commission (LLRC) for its final report and urged the Sri Lankan government to implement its recommendations.  But Canada also opined that the report does not “adequately address” the allegations of human rights violations relating to the final stages of the war.“The final report of the LLRC released on December 16 is a potentially important contribution to Sri Lanka’s much-needed political reconciliation.  The Commission can be commended for making substantive recommendations in many sensitive and far-reaching areas,” Canada’s High Commissioner to Sri Lanka Bruce Levy told the Daily Mirror.‪ ‪”At the same time, however, our initial reading of the report supports the view that the serious allegations of intentional wrong-doing on the part of some elements of Sri Lanka’s military have yet to be adequately addressed,” High Commissioner Levy said.“We encourage the Government of Sri Lanka to ensure expeditious action in response to the report.  Canada will also continue to press the Government of Sri Lanka to address the critical issue of accountability, the resolution of which will be a crucial building block in Sri Lanka’s long-term stability,” he added.

Government won't remove military camps in SriLanka: President Rajapaksa

President Mahinda Rajapaksa announced government won't remove military camps in SriLanka.President made this announcement while addressing the budget debate has the Finance Minister at the parliament on Wednesday (21.12.2011).President further said none of the parties have rights to work against the security of this country.However budget proposal for year 2012 was passed by the majority votes of 98. 158 votes cast on favor and 60 votes against the budget proposal.

Women's issues ignored - ICG
 
Women in Sri Lanka’s north and east are facing a desperate lack of security in the aftermath of the long civil war, says the International Crisis Group (ICG) in their latest report on Sri Lanka."Today many still live in fear of violence from various sources. Those who fall victim to it have little means of redress. Women’s economic security is precarious, and their physical mobility is limited" says the ICG.

Heavy military presence

"A situation where heavy military presnnce with almost exclusively male, Sinhalese security forces", the report says, "Raises particular problems for women there in terms of their safety, sense of security and ability to access assistance".The report accuses the government for mostly dismissing women’s security issues and exacerbated fears, especially in the north and east."Thirty years of civil war between the government and Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE) has resulted in tens of thousands of female-headed households", says the ICG.

Sexual violence

The report warns an alarming incident of gender-based violence, including domestic violence within the Tamil community, in part fuelled by rising alcohol use by men. It says that "many women have been forced into prostitution or coercive sexual relationships".The ICG say that the transfer of power had not been for the benefit of the women in Vanni. "Over decades, the Tigers created an elaborate coercive structure around which people organised their lives. The absence of this structure has left many adrift".

LLRC report presented to UK parliamentarians

The report of the Lessons Learned and Reconciliation Commission (LLRC) was presented to members of the British Parliament yesterday (Tuesday), the Sri Lankan High Commission in Britain said.High Commissioner Dr. Chris Nonis briefed British Parliamentarians from the House of Commons and the House of Lords, academics and Think Tanks, at an interactive dialogue on the LLRC Report held last afternoon in Portcullis House in the British Parliament.Dr. Chris Nonis articulated that the holistic approach of the LLRC is entirely consistent with restorative justice embedded with accountability. He further stated that it is a comprehensive, objective and impartial report which demonstrates the integrity of the LLRC, and it is set in the context of International Humanitarian Law incorporating the principle of distinction and principle of proportionality.He said that it has a wealth of content and provides a nuanced understanding of the conflict, and many lessons can be learnt from it. He further stated that the release of the LLRC Report in full by the Government of President Mahinda Rajapaksa demonstrates both its sincerity and commitment and is a landmark in the reconciliation process of Sri Lanka in the post-conflict era.Conservative MP Mr. James Wharton said “This is an extremely welcome opportunity to discuss the way forward for Sri Lanka after what has been a very difficult period of its history. The High Commissioner gave us a very thorough overview of the (LLRC) Report including answers to a wide range of questions. I know that a number of my Parliamentarian colleagues look forward with the intent to seeing Sri Lanka progress over the coming months and years”.Lord Rogan of Lower Iveagh who was a key figure associated with the Northern Ireland Peace Process and the Good Friday Agreement said “As we know and have experience from coming out of a 40-year old conflict in Northern Ireland it takes time and patience to move from conflict to consensus politics and I would ask all peoples in Sri Lanka and the Diaspora to have patience and give time and space for a peaceful solution to develop”. Sir Harold Walker KCMG, President, British Society for Middle Eastern Studies and former Chairman, Royal Society for Asian Affairs said “It is commendable that the Sri Lankan Government released such a comprehensive and hard-hitting report; of course. the world will be watching to see that the report is followed through. However, so far, the signs are clear that the Government of Sri Lanka do intend to follow the Report through. They must however be allowed time for this process, in particular since it follows such a long period of conflict, and these issues cannot be settled overnight”.Deputy Secretary General of the Muslim Council of Britain, Mr. Shuja Shafi said “I am pleased to listen first hand, to the recommendations in the LLRC Report, and will be happy to work with the communities here to see how we can facilitate a dialogue with inputs from the communities in the UK”.Mr. Khalid Nadeem, Chairman of South Asia and Middle East Forum said “Dialogue is the way forward, we need to put the conflict behind us, and reach out to each other to achieve a just and peace in Sri Lanka today. The Report provides a firm foundation for the way forward for all parties”.President of the Friends of Sri Lanka, Sir Peter Heap said “This was a very valuable meeting, well attended by Members of Parliament and representatives from many other organizations.  The Sri Lankan High Commissioner gave a superb account of the Report of the LLRC and of the government’s response. It was a very useful reminder for everyone present that Sri Lanka was doing a great deal to bring together the different communities and to restore prosperity in the conflict-affected areas”.

Karu vacates parliamentary complex office

Karu Jayasuriya on Wednesday (Dec. 21) vacated his parliamentary complex office, which he had used as deputy leader of the UNP.In a speech to the House, he said that he was leaving the office in a show of respect for democracy, although he was entitled to occupy it until December 30.Chief opposition whip John Amaratunga yesterday wrote to Naufer Abdul Rahman, the secretary to the opposition leader, asking him to take custody of the parliamentary complex office of the UNP deputy leader.The office room should be padlocked and remain closed until further notice, his letter read.Mr. Jayasuriya removed all his documents from the office yesterday.

21 December 2011

U.S. urges Sri Lanka to address Human Rights issues

The United States has urged the Sri Lankan Government to fulfill all of the recommendations of the Lessons Learnt and Reconciliation report and also address those issues that the report did not cover.“We’re still studying the full report, I do have to say that we have concerns that the report, nonetheless, does not fully address all the allegations of serious human rights violations that occurred in the final phase of the conflict. So this leaves questions about accountability,” U.S. department of State spokesperson Victoria Nuland told reporters in response to a question in Washington DC on Monday.To another question, she said that the Sri Lankan government’s preliminary action plan did not provide the kind of detailed roadmap that the U.S. had hoped to see for fulfilling all of the Commission’s recommendations.

Rajapaksa view

The US State Department was unfair in the observations made about the government's response to the report of Lessons Learnt and Reconciliation Commission (LLRC) said President Mahinda Rajapaksa addressing select Sri Lankan editors at Temple Trees on Tuesday morning.President Rajapaksa said that on the matter of accountability a clear statement on how the government intends acting on LLRC recommendations was made by the Leader of the House when the report was tabled in Parliament.Mr. Rajapaksa also said that there is an unfair selectivity in dealing with Sri Lanka on this matter by referring only to last phase of a conflict that went on for nearly 30 years.Some countries were having commissions sitting for several years on armed conflicts caused by them, he said.Mr. Rajapaksa also observed that while raising issues of accountability with Sri Lanka, the US had recently brought provisions in law to detain persons for any length of time outside the normal law.Explaining Sri Lankan position further, Minister of External Affairs Prof. G. L. Peiris reiterated that the Leader of the House Hon. Nimal Siripala de Silva had clearly stated the manner in which the government would act on these matters."There was no question of the government trying to evade matters of accountability that had been mentioned in LLRC recommendations, as this matter had been clearly explained by the Leader of the House when tabling the report in Parliament," Prof. Peiris said.On the alleged absence of a comprehensive plan for implementation of the report, Prof. Peiris said this criticism was not justified as the focus of this comment was confined only to the closing stages of the conflict.There was a lack of a uniform approach on these matters with regard to Sri Lanka, Prof. Peiris said. Standards that are being required from Sri Lanka are not demanded from places where other conflicts have taken place.It is necessary that the values and standards in relation to such conflicts that are being demanded from Sri Lanka should apply to all, the Minister said.

Sri Lankan leader accuses US of unfair criticism

Sri Lanka's president accused the United States on Tuesday of unfairly singling out a government war commission for criticism after it cleared the military of deliberately targeting civilians during the country's civil war.President Mahinda Rajapaksa's office said he told newspaper editors that the U.S. is demanding that Sri Lanka immediately settle war accountability issues, while not criticizing other countries that have been much slower in dealing with similar post-conflict situations.He said the commission made a wide range of recommendations for reconciliation but the U.S. only focused on the final days of the conflict.The commission concluded last week that government forces did not target civilians toward the end of the war as alleged by human rights groups. On Monday, the U.S. State Department expressed concern that it had not fully addressed all allegations of serious violations.State Department spokeswoman Victoria Nuland said the commission had made substantive recommendations on issues including reconciliation, devolution of power, demilitarization and disappearances. But she said it lacked a comprehensive plan to act on them and left open questions about accountability for alleged rights violations.Earlier this year, a panel appointed by U.N. Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon said it found credible allegations of serious violations by both government troops and defeated Tamil Tiger rebels that could amount to war crimes. It said tens of thousands of people may have been killed.Ethnic Tamil lawmakers criticized the report on Monday, saying it damaged the chances of genuine reconciliation between the country's embittered ethnic groups. They called for an international war crimes investigation.

Sri Lanka President denounces Tamil National Alliance's call for international inquiry

Sri Lankan President Mahinda Rajapaksa says the Tamil National Alliance (TNA), the major Tamil party of the country needs to move away from the war mentality of the Tamil Tiger terrorist group LTTE.Addressing the media personnel on Tuesday at the Temple Trees, the President said instead, the TNA must appear on behalf of the needs of people they are representing in the country and not on the requirements of pro-LTTE migrant groups.Accusing the Tamil party of working in conformity with the wishes and requirements of LTTE loyalists in the world, the President denounced the TNA's call for an international inquiry against the country as the most serious treacherous act and harm they were doing for the country and for the Tamil people.President Rajapaksa emphasized that the government will not grant police powers to provincial councils as sought by the TNA and said the arguments presented by the Ceylon Workers Leader and Minister Armugam Thondaman on problems that could arise due to provision of police powers to the provincial councils are reasonable. He said the government has never engaged in a dispute with the TNA, but the party was participating in talks with the goals of the LTTE in mind. He urged the TNA to make efforts for a political solution instead of making undue political efforts for the world to unnecessarily interfere in Sri Lanka."The Eelam dream is still reigning in them. What the Tamil Alliance should do is to nominate representatives to the Select Committee for a political solution," the President said.The President also noted that the government has recruited Tamil speaking citizens to the police. Interviews are presently being conducted to recruit another batch of Tamil citizens to the police service.

Indian delegation to visit Sri Lanka to discuss fishing issue

A high level Indian delegation is scheduled to visit Sri Lanka next month to discuss the deepening rift between Sri Lankan and Indian fishermen, a minister said on Tuesday.Sri Lanka's Fisheries Minister Rajitha Senaratne told reporters at a media briefing that the Indian delegation is expected to include the Indian external affairs minister, defense secretary and navy commander.Senaratne said that the Indian delegation which is scheduled to arrive on Jan. 13 will look to work out a mechanism to ensure fishermen from both countries avoid clashing with each other.Indian and Sri Lankan fishermen often clash when they cross the International Maritime Boundary to look for a better catch.Indian fishermen often allege that the Sri Lankan navy attacks them when they enter Sri Lankan waters north of the island. The Sri Lankan navy has, however, rejected the allegations.Senaratne also said that the Sri Lankan government has decided to make it mandatory for Sri Lankan fishermen to have insurance in order to obtain a license to fish at sea.He said several fishermen were killed during the recent storm which lashed parts of the south of the country but yet the families of the victims could not claim insurance.The minister said that although an insurance scheme is available for fishermen very few have made use of it and as a result the government is to make it mandatory from January for fishermen to obtain insurance.

20 December 2011

TNA wants accountability mechanism for Sri Lanka

Calling upon the international community to establish a “mechanism for accountability” to bring to book the perpetrators of war crimes during the last stages of the Eelam War that ended in May 2009, the Tamil National Alliance on Monday said the Lessons Learnt and Reconciliation Commission report “categorically fails to effectively and meaningfully deal with issues of accountability”.Recalling that many Tamil civilians, direct victims of the war, deposed before the LLRC, TNA leader R.Sampanthan said “the findings of the LLRC offend the dignity of these victims”. The TNA insisted that the allegations of war crimes and crimes against humanity committed by both the Tamil Tigers and the government forces needed to be fully investigated. The U.N. Panel of Experts which investigated the last stages of the war had concluded that the LTTE had deliberately targeted civilians and used them as human shields, among other violations. The allegations against the Sri Lanka government include deliberately underestimating civilian numbers in the Vanni in order to deprive them of food and medical supplies, deliberately or recklessly endangering the lives of civilians in No-Fire Zones, targeting civilian objects including hospitals, and executing or causing the disappearance of those who had surrendered. “The LLRC concludes that, on these issues, the government is not responsible. Instead, it shifts blame onto individual soldiers and surmises that any violations that may have been committed were merely isolated incidents. For example, large numbers of disappearances that resulted from the surrender of unarmed persons to government forces have been cynically dismissed as isolated incidents perpetrated ‘by a few'. The LLRC unjustifiably rules out the possibility that these violations were systematic,” said Mr. Sampanthan.

Sri Lanka parliament approves defence budget 2012

Sri Lanka parliament on Monday approved the 2012 budget for the Ministry of Defence and Urban Development with a majority of 91 votes.Following the Committee Stage Debate on the Appropriation Bill 2012, the major Tamil party Tamil National Alliance called for a vote on the Head of the Ministry of Defence and Urban Development. Accordingly the defence budget received 104 votes in favour and 13 against it. Members of the United National Party and the Democratic National Alliance were not present in the House for the debate. Budget for Defence and Urban Development Ministry covers the budgets for tri forces -Army, Navy and Air Force, Coast Guard, Police, Department of Immigration and Emigration, Department of Registration of Persons, Department of Coast Conservation, and Department of Civil Security.

Former Sri Lankan prime minister re-elected as opposition leader

Former Sri Lankan Prime Minister Ranil Wickremesinghe was re-elected on Monday as the opposition leader of the country.Wickremesinghe, who leads the United National Party, which is the main opposition party in Sri Lanka, defeated the deputy leader of the party Karu Jayasuriya at the polls.Violence broke out outside the main office of the United National Party when the election results were announced with supporters of Karu Jayasuriya pelting the office and vehicles with stones.The election was held by way of a secret ballot among UNP members and Wickremesinghe received 72 votes while Jayasuriya got just 24 votes.Meanwhile Sajith Premadasa, the son of former Sri Lankan President Ranasinghe Premadasa, was elected as the deputy leader of the United National Party.Sajith Premadasa was once tipped to take over as the party leader but Wickremesinghe refused to step down despite pressure from some party members.Premadasa subsequently supported Jayasuriya at Monday's election seen as a last ditch attempt to remove Wickremesinghe as party leader.Wickremesinghe lost consecutive national elections in Sri Lanka over the past few years and this led to his own party members pushing him to step down as opposition leader.

EU says careful study of LLRC report needed

The European Union has said that a detailed and careful study of the measures proposed in the Lessons Learnt and Reconciliation Commission (LLRC) report was needed, including what had been recommended with regard to the issue of accountability.Issuing a statement, a spokesperson for Catherine Ashton, High Representative of the European Union for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy and Vice President of the Commission stated:"The High Representative takes note of the presentation of the Lessons Learnt and Reconciliation Commission report to the Sri Lankan Parliament. She hopes that the report will contribute towards the process of reconciliation in Sri Lanka. A detailed and careful study of the measures proposed in the report is needed, including those on the issue of accountability. We continue to encourage the Government of Sri Lanka to engage with the UN Secretary General and relevant UN bodies on these matters."

Sri Lankan army commanders 'assassinated surrendering Tamils' –The Telegraph

Sri Lankan army commanders were ordered by the country's leaders to assassinate surrendering Tamils in the final phase of the long and brutal civil war, according to a senior former military officer. The claims are contained in a sworn deposition, seen by The Daily Telegraph, made by a career officer who rose to the rank of major general before he fled the country in fear of his life to seek asylum in the United States. He is the highest ranking person to assert that atrocities against Tamil rebels and civilians were sanctioned at the highest echelons of the government. The source had the highest security clearance and close contact with some of the army's most powerful figures. His testimony contradicted a government-appointed commission, which concluded that Sri Lanka's military did not intentionally target civilians. The Lessons Learnt and Reconciliation Commission report, which was released last week, said some isolated allegations of civilian abuses by security forces needed to be investigated further, suggesting that any violations could only have resulted from soldiers who were not following orders. That assertion flew in the face of an extensive United Nations report that accused the government of deliberately shelling civilian areas and possibly killing tens of thousands of people in the final months. In his deposition, the major general says that he was informed that Gotabaya Rajapaksa, the defence secretary and brother of President Mahindra Rajapaksa, passed on "some instructions to a field commander to get rid of those LTTE [Tamil Tiger] cadres [who] are surrendering without adhering to normal procedures". Such an order, he said, "should come from either the secretary of the defence, with the knowledge of the president involved. He also has to be kept informed. The commanders could not undertake such decisions." It has been estimated that 20,000 people or more died in the closing months of the civil war in 2009. The source, whose name has been withheld for his own safety, confirmed that assassinating Tamil Tigers who had been captured or surrendered became "standard operating procedure" as the Sri Lankan military forces closed in on the last rebel resistance on a strip of land on the island's northeastern coast. Tamil activists are hoping that the evidence provided by the officer will build pressure for a war crimes prosecution against the president or defence secretary. The US Department of Justice has a live file on the issue but has yet to prosecute, despite a leaked cable written by the US ambassador to Colombo which said that "responsibility for many alleged crimes rests with the country's senior civilian and military leadership", including both Rajapaksas and Gen Sarath Fonseka, then the armed forces commander. American human rights lawyers are seeking to prosecute the defence secretary under the US Torture Victim Protection Act, which allows prosecutions against foreign leaders and officials who commit torture or extra-judicial killings. Bruce Fein, a human rights lawyer, said that the alleged actions of Sri Lanka's rulers and commanders appeared to be genocide. "It's hard to come to conclusion that the aim wasn't to destroy the Tamil people in whole or substantial part," he said, citing the definition of genocide under international law. A video obtained by Channel 4 purported to show the assassination of what were thought to be Tamil rebels. The Sri Lankan army labelled the video as a fabrication. Other witnesses described various incidents of indiscriminate killing. The UN also blamed the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE) for allegedly using civilians as human shields – a claim also made by the Sri Lankan government – and for using child soldiers. Throughout its 26-year battle for autonomy, the ethnic minority rebels pioneered suicide bombing as a terror method, killed thousands of civilians among the Sinhalese majority and committed numerous atrocities that led to it being designated as a terrorist organisation by the US and Britain. The testimony from the senior officer was first obtained by The International, an investigative website based in the US. It backed up various other allegations of illegal conduct by the authorities. He said that to his knowledge shortly after becoming defence secretary in 2005 Mr Rajapaksa sanctioned the creation of a "hit squad" known for operating out of a white van to remove suspected LTTE members or collaborators off the streets of the capital Colombo. Yolanda Foster, the Sri Lanka researcher for Amnesty International, said: "We doubt Sri Lanka's will and ability to bring the perpetrators to justice, given the scale of the allegations and the potential that serving members of the Sri Lankan government may be implicated." A spokesman for the Sri Lankan high commission in London said: "We categorically deny these malicious allegations."

Officer of the Birtish High Commission met the British natioanl detained at the Magazine prison

Officer of the British High Commission visited to the Magazine prison on Monday(19.12.2011) and hold discussions with the British national and resident of Jaffna area Viswalingam Kopidas who faced attack at the prison compound recently. Officer of the British High Commission named Mary visited the prison and hold discussions with the prisoner. During the time of investigation officers inquired about the attack and also promised to provide security for Kopidas.Finally officer stated necessary steps would be take to release Kopidas. Kopidas who was arrested under terrorist prevention act was attacked by the prison officials recently.However earlier victim requested the Ministry of Prisons Reforms, Human Rights Organization and British High Commission to prove his security at the prison compound.

Thamalini further remanded, as no AG advice yet

Women’s leader of the LTTE political wing Subramaniam Sivathai alias Thamalini has been remanded further until January 02.Colombo additional magistrate Lanka Jayaratne ordered her into remand custody today (Dec. 19), after the CID said the attorney general was yet to advise on the case.This is despite several reminders to the AG, said the CID.This is the ninth occasion the court has remanded Thamalini further, since her arrest in May 2009 in Kilinochchi.

National anthen sangged in the Sinhala language during a event organised by the Minister of National Languages

The Minister of National Languages organized an event named “Uravu Palam” at the Jaffna Weerasingham hall yesterday.National anthem was snagged in the Sinhala language during the time of flag hoisting by the Minister Vasudeva Nanayakara.Journalist, poets and the writers from the north and south took part in this occasion. People who attend the event was disappointed when the Minister Vasudeva gave importance for Sinhala language.However in the earlier occasion Minister Vasudeva delivered many speeches on the importance of National languages but at the event Minister fail to do that. Recently Minister John Senaviratne informed the parliament it’s not necessary to sing national anthem in the Sinhala language at North and East people have rights to sing in the Tamil language.Senior officials of the Ministry, Jaffna District Government Agent Imenlda Sukumar, Indian High Commissioner at the Jaffna district F.Mahalingam and several other officials also present at this occasion.

18 December 2011

UN Studying LLRC Report

The United Nations (UN) says it is studying the final report of the Lessons Learned and Reconciliation Commission (LLRC) which was made public on Friday December 16.Leading international human rights groups, meanwhile, said the report fell short of addressing accountability issues including the ‘white flag’ incident. The much anticipated report of the LLRC was presented to parliament on Friday and was also subsequently placed in the public domain. UN deputy spokesman Farhan Haq told reporters in New York yesterday that UN Secretary Ban ki-moon was studying the report in order to make a statement. He noted, however, that the Secretary-General continues to believe that UN Member States should take seriously the findings in the UN experts panel report, also known as the ‘Darusman report’ which was made public earlier this year. The US based Human Rights Watch, meanwhile, said the LLRC report disregards the worst abuses by government forces, rehashes longstanding recommendations, and fails to advance accountability for victims of Sri Lanka’s civil armed conflict. The serious shortcomings of the 388-page report highlight the need for an international investigative mechanism into the conflict as recommended by the United Nations Secretary-General’s Panel of Experts in April, HRW said. While the UN Panel of Experts recommended the establishment of an independent international mechanism to conduct investigations into the alleged violations, the LLRC report provides no realistic pathway for holding accountable military and government officials implicated in serious abuses. “Governments and UN bodies have held back for the past 18 months to allow the Sri Lankan commission to make progress on accountability,” Brad Adams, Asia Director at Human Rights Watch said. “The commission’s failure to provide a road map for investigating and prosecuting wartime perpetrators shows the dire need for an independent, international commission.”HRW noted that among the many omissions, the LLRC report does not examine allegations that government forces executed several LTTE leaders who attempted to surrender to the government during the last days of the war in what has been called the “white flag” incident.The report limits its analysis of the so-called Channel 4 video, which appears to show government soldiers executing handcuffed and blindfolded prisoners, to a technical discussion of the video’s authenticity without mentioning the government’s admission that its forces killed a young woman visible in the footage, HRW said.Amnesty International, meanwhile, said the final report of the LLRC acknowledges serious human rights problems in Sri Lanka but falls short of fully addressing the war crimes and crimes against humanity committed during the final phases of the conflict between the government and the LTTE.“A preliminary review of the report suggests that it acknowledges the very serious human rights problems in Sri Lanka.  But where it appears to really falter is in ignoring the serious evidence of war crimes, crimes against humanity and other violations of the laws of war by government forces, even though the report highlights the serious and systematic violations committed by the LTTE,” Sam Zarifi, Amnesty International’s Asia-Pacific director said.Zarifi, however, admits the report offers some interesting recommendations about how to improve the overall human rights situation in Sri Lanka.“The Sri Lankan government must now address the findings included in this report. It should report to the UN Human Rights Council at its next session in March 2012 on its measures to implement the report’s recommendations, including the need for further investigation of alleged violations of the laws of war, taking account of the findings and recommendations of the report of the UN Secretary-General’s Panel of Experts on Accountability in Sri Lanka,” Amnesty International said.

Tamils, Muslims revive talks in Sri Lanka

Tamil National Alliance and a Muslim party have revived dialogue to reach consensus on key concerns of the Muslims in the north and east, even as the main Tamil party strives to hammer out a political solution towards autonomy with the Sri Lankan government.The main Tamil minority party, Tamil National Alliance (TNA) and the main Muslim party, Sri Lanka Muslim Congress (SLMC) have revived their stalled talks. A senior SLMC official told PTI their leader Rauff Hakeem and the TNA leader R Sampanthan had met in parliament on Thursday.“Both sides have realised the importance of continuation of dialogue”, the official said.Mr. Sampanthan apprised the SLMC leader on the progress of their talks with the government. The TNA leader told Hakeem of TNA’s points of contention at talks, that is, land and police powers and the re-merger of the north and east provinces.The TNA leader had said that Muslim concerns must necessarily be given thought in formulating a solution based on Tamil call for a political solution. Mr. Hekeem said that he recognised the need to move forward the talks with TNA on a structured basis. He had named two SLMC representatives for the purpose. The TNA and the government have met 17 times for talks to arrive at a political solution to end impasse over political autonomy to Tamil minority.In the north and east regions the Muslims form majority in some areas in the eastern province. This makes Muslims an important factor in the equation in arriving at a final solution.

Rights groups criticize Sri Lanka war report

International human rights groups criticized a Sri Lankan report Friday on the island's civil war and called for more accountability after the commission cleared the military of key charges.The Sri Lankan government commission, in a 400-page report, concluded that the military did not deliberately target civilians during the final stages of the conflict as forces wiped out the Tamil Tiger rebel leadership. Human Rights Watch renewed calls for an independent review. Sri Lanka has said that its Lessons Learnt and Reconciliation Commission (LLRC) will suffice and narrowly avoided censure at the UN Human Rights Council in September. “Governments and UN bodies have held back for the past 18 months to allow the Sri Lankan commission to make progress on accountability," said Brad Adams, Asia director at the New York-based rights group."The commission's failure to provide a roadmap for investigating and prosecuting wartime perpetrators shows the dire need for an independent, international commission," he said in a statement. Amnesty International said that the commission acknowledged problems in Sri Lanka but ignored "serious evidence of war crimes, crimes against humanity and other violations of the laws of war.""There is a clear sign of the bias we had feared and already detected in the LLRC's composition and conduct," said the London-based group's Asia-Pacific director Sam Zarifi."It does however offer some interesting recommendations about how to improve the overall human rights situation in Sri Lanka that the government needs to take seriously."The Sri Lankan government must now address the findings included in this report," Zarifi added, calling for Colombo to report to the UN Human Rights Council in March on its progress. The United Nations estimates some 100,000 people perished during the 37-year ethnic conflict.

TNA Finds Contradictions In LLRC Report

The TNA says the Lessons Learnt and Reconciliation Commission (LLRC) has severely contradicted itself in the conclusion of its report.TNA parliamentarian and Attorney M.A. Sumanthiran said the party was currently studying the full report and would make an official response once the examination is concluded.However, Sumanthiran told The Sunday Leader that at first glance it was noticed that the Commission has severely contradicted itself by concluding that the civilians had not been deliberately targeted by the security forces in the final stages of the war.He said that while the LLRC has claimed that the Commission had no mandate to investigate into any incident and has recommended independent investigations into certain issues, it had concluded that civilians had not been deliberately targeted and has commended the conduct of the armed forces.“How can the LLRC come to such a conclusion without investigating into the matter?” he queried.“The LLRC has contradicted itself by making such statements,” he added. Sumanthiran also noted another crucial factor in the LLRC report noted while reading through it.“A crucial factor is the announcement made by the government that there were only 70,000 civilians in the conflict zone during the final stages of the war when official statistics at the time stated there was a population of over 400,000 civilians in the conflict zone at the time,” he explained.According to Sumanthiran, it is an important issue that has not been dealt with in the LLRC report.“The LLRC has commended the conduct of the armed forces and commented on civilian casualties without addressing this important issue,” he said.

Fonseka does not oppose request for presidential pardon

Imprisoned former Army chief Sarath Fonseka will not oppose if there is a request for a presidential pardon for him, UNP general secretary Tissa Attanayake said.The ex-commander has told Mr. Attanayake, however, that neither he nor anyone in his family would make such a request.The UNP general secretary was speaking to the media after visiting Mr. Fonseka at Welikada Prison.He said the opposition leader would submit next month a request for a presidential pardon through Ven. Galaboda Gnanissara Thera.

Sri Lanka Marxist Movement for People's Struggles holds protest in northern city

Sri Lanka Marxist Movement for People's Struggles, a breakaway faction of the Janatha Vimukthi Peramuna (JVP), held a protest demonstration in northern city of Jaffna on Saturday (Dec. 17) seeking the release of two of their activists who had been reportedly abducted.The demonstration was led by Democratic National Alliance MP Ajith Kumara, the national organizer of Movement for People's Struggles and the Convener of We Sri Lankans organization Udul Premaratne.The activists demanded reinstating of democracy in the North.MP Ajith Kumara says the Army attempted to prevent him from leading the protest and his vehicle was also stoned by a group of civilians. The MP further alleged that the police have not taken measures to prevent violence.Media Minister and government spokesman Keheliya Rambukwella has indicated that the two activists missing for more than a week have been detained by authorities.

French Ambassador visits AFD projects in the east  

French Ambassador Christine Robichon recently visited the projects funded  by the French Development Agency (AFD) in the Eastern Province. France has been supporting reconstruction and development in the Eastern Province since 2005, through a major infrastructure project costing 79 million euros (approximately Rs12 billion) funded by AFD in the District of Trincomalee. This integrated project focuses on the construction and rehabilitation of public infrastructures damaged by the 2004 tsunami,such as roads, bridges, water supply networks, electricity, transport networks, and community social infrastructures (schools, libraries, medical centres, etc).

Tamil foundation loses charity status in Canada

“The federal government revoked a Toronto-area Tamil foundation’s charitable status over the weekend, saying it provided financial support for groups that are part of the support network for the Tamil Tigers.” Toronto based The Star reports.According to a Canada Revenue Agency audit, the Canadian Foundation for Tamil Refugee Rehabilitation provided more than $700,000 to organizations outside Canada that were “non-qualified donees.”The CRA served notice of the revocation, effective Dec. 10, last month. It first warned of potential revocation in November 2009, after conducting an audit of the foundation’s activity from June 2004 to May 2008.The foundation provided $620,000 in tsunami relief money to the Tamil Rehabilitation Organization (TRO) in May 2005 and January 2006, and $113,930 to the Ramakrishna Mission of Sri Lanka from February 2005 to June 2007, according to the audit. The donations made up 81 per cent of the foundation’s total revenue during the period reviewed.In a letter to the foundation’s lawyer, the CRA said it believes “on the basis of publicly available information” that both the TRO and the Mission are part of the Tamil Tigers’ support network.Officially known as the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam, the militant organization operated from 1976 until 2009 when it was defeated by the Sri Lankan military. The Harper government listed it as a terrorist organization in 2006.In its response to the CRA, the foundation said it “has no ties to any terrorist or political group” and the TRO was a registered voluntary social services organization in Sri Lanka whose activities received recognition from the Canadian, U.S. and Sri Lankan governments. It also said it had an agreement with the Mission since 1988 to fund a children’s welfare program in Sri Lanka.The CRA also says the organization failed to maintain adequate books and records and improperly issued tax receipts on behalf of a third party. The revocation means the group is no longer exempt from income tax and can no longer issue donation tax receipts.CAFTARR was founded in 1985 and has a mailing address in Mississauga. Its president, Arunasalam Arasaratnam, declined to comment.The foundation’s lawyer Hari S. Nesathurai said he couldn’t discuss the case specifically without his client’s permission, but in his general experience the CRA charities directorate has been “unreasonable” and “very dogmatic.”Canada has one of the largest Sri Lankan Tamil populations outside Sri Lanka, with most living in the GTA.

12 December 2011

TNA members Australian Parliamentary delegates

The Australian Parliamentary delegation, currently in the country will engage in a tour of the Jaffna area yesterday.The Ministry of External Affairs stated that during their tour, the visiting dignitaries will observe and investigate into the development work carried out with the aid of Australia.The delegation consisting of five members who arrived in Sri Lanka on Thursday, following an invitation extended by Speaker Chamal Rajapaksa.The Foreign Ministry noted that the group is scheduled to visit the Kilinochchi and Mulaitivu areas.The parliamentary group met with External Affairs Minister, Professor G.L.Peries yesterday.During the visit to Jaffna Australian parliamentary delegate hols special discussions with the members of Tamil National Alliance.During the time of discussion TNA members gave a brief explanation about the LLRC report, resettlement programme of Sinhala people in Tamil area and also the problems faced by the Tamil people of this country.TNA Leader R.Sambandan,ITAK Pone. Selvarasa , EPRLF Leader Suresh Premachandran and TELO  President Selvam Adaikalanathan also present at this discussion. Commenting about the discussion hold with the Australian Parliamentary delegates MP Suresh Premachandran said we gave a brief explanation about the problems faced by Tamil people of this country The Foreign Affairs Ministry added that the visiting Australian Delegation will leave the country on Wednesday December 14.

Top Chinese military delegation in Lanka

A high-level Chinese People’s Liberation Army (PLA) delegation headed by General Ma Hixiaotian the Deputy Chief of General Staff arrived in Sri Lanka to discuss professional training, exercises and further promotion of military assistance to Sri Lanka.The members of the delegation will meet Army Commander Jagath Jayasuriya today in a move to strengthen bilateral relationship between the two armies and provide increased opportunities to the Sri Lankan Army.The delegation will explore ways of increasing the intake of our trainee officers to Chinese military academies with requests to be chanelled through the Ministry of Defence. Sometime ago a similar meeting was held with a delegation from the PLA Navy and this resulted in representatives being sent to special military training programmes, such as the annual ‘Exercise Cormorant Strike’.

Four jailed for life for murdering shopkeeper as his children watched attack on CCTV

Four men who brutally murdered a shopkeeper while his children watched on CCTV have been jailed for life.Suppiah Tharmaseelan, 48, died after being stabbed, punched, kicked and eventually chased out of his own store in November 27 last year.Twins Ian and John Meenan, Anthony Bayliss and his half-brother Liam Ryan were given minimum terms of between 20 and 27 years for killing the father-of-four.Passing sentence at Birmingham Crown Court, Mr Justice Wyn Williams described the killing in the Kingstanding area of the city as a "mindless" attack on a vulnerable victim.A fifth defendant, getaway driver James Moore, was jailed for six years and nine months after admitting robbery but being cleared of murder.Following a trial which ended last month, it emerged that one of the victim's children telephoned the police after they witnessed the attack via CCTV in another part of the shop premises.During his sentencing remarks, the judge told the defendants: "One of the most tragic aspects of this case is that Mr Tharmaseelan's children were upstairs in the flat as these events were unfolding."It is not entirely clear how much they saw."Those poor children, or at least some of them, found their father dying immediately after the mindless violence to which he had been subjected."Ian Meenan, who stabbed Mr Tharmaseelan in the chest with a kitchen knife, was given a minimum term of 27 years before he can be considered for release, while John Meenan will serve at least 24 years.Meanwhile, Ryan and Bayliss were given respective minimum terms of 21 and 20 years.Ian and John Meenan, 27, 19-year-old Ryan, and Bayliss, 25, were found guilty of murder last month after CCTV footage of the offence was shown to jurors.The men, all from the Erdington area of Birmingham, had admitted robbery at a previous hearing but denied murder.Ian Meenan, of Short Heath Road; John Meenan, of Camberley Grove; Ryan and Bayliss, both of Gretton Road, were given differing minimum terms because of their varying roles in the robbery.Moore, 25, of Twickenham Road, Kingstanding, did not go into Mr Tharmaseelan's shop during the attempt to steal alcohol and cigarettes, which also saw a shop assistant punched and kicked.The judge accepted that the plan to rob the shop was formulated only in the minutes before the raiders, who had been drinking in local pubs, entered the store.But the judge added: "All four of you were intent on stealing cigarettes and alcohol and knew substantial force would be used if necessary."Within seconds of entry the violence began."I am quite satisfied that John Meenan, Liam Ryan and Anthony Bayliss realised at this point at the latest that Ian Meenan was carrying a knife and was prepared to use it."Mr Tharmaseelan was a brave man. When he was confronted by the four of you, he sought to defend himself and his property."The storekeeper, who picked up a baseball bat to try to ward of Ian Meenan, had done no more than was reasonable, the judge said.In a victim impact statement read to the court at a previous hearing, Mr Tharmaseelan's wife Sangeetha said her husband had built up his business in College Road after coming to Britain in 2005.In her statement, Mrs Tharmaseelan said she was visiting relatives in France when her husband, who bled to death, was murdered.The grieving mother, whose children are aged between four and 14, stated: "Since my return, I have spoken to my children, who were at the premises at the time."My children saw the attack on the CCTV camera and are extremely traumatised by what they saw."Mrs Tharmaseelan, who is originally from Sri Lanka, came to Britain with her husband after they met and married in France in 1995.In her statement, the storekeeper's widow added: "My husband was a hard-working man who had good business and money skills."He lived for a better life and worked long hours to support the family. The opportunity to run his own business filled him with joy."Commenting after the sentencing, Detective Chief Inspector Sab Johal, who led the investigation, said: "Suppiah was a decent family man who worked hard to earn a living."He was well known and liked in the local community and had run the shop for five years."The jail terms reflect the brutality used by the group in their attack on him and I hope today's result offers some comfort to his family."Hannah Sidaway, Senior Crown Prosecutor for West Midlands Crown Prosecution Service, said: "This was a very tragic case in which a respected member of the community and family man was subjected to a brutal and merciless knife attack."Mr Tharmaseelan was attacked and killed in his shop just minutes before closing by individuals who were intent upon robbery, yet who fled with goods of nominal value."These men then made various attempts to cover their tracks and plead their innocence, however, the prosecution team has worked very hard over the last year to bring these offenders to justice."I would like to take this opportunity to thank everyone involved in this case."Finally, the family of Mr Tharmaseelan has displayed great dignity and strength throughout the court process, and we hope that today's outcome will assist them in rebuilding their lives after their tragic loss."

Tamil rebels recruited children for last stand against Sri Lankan army- UK Independent

Tamil rebels holed up in ever-diminishing territory in northern Sri Lanka forcibly recruited children to take part in final defences against government troops, according to a former senior official. Some of the youngsters were sent to fight with just one day's basic training. A number of civilians who tried to escape to the government side were shot.The official, who held a non-military position with the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE), said that in the spring of 2009, the rebels found themselves in an ever-worsening situation that led them to step up their forced recruitment of civilians between the age of 14 and 55. He said more than 300,000 civilians had intentionally been held to provide cover for the LTTE fighters."There was no age discrimination. One day's training and then [they would] get sent to the war front," said the former official, who said his own child had been forcibly recruited, but that he was able to escape towards government troops. Asked if he believed the rebels committed war crimes, the former official said: "There were many war crimes during that last time. The civilians knew [what was happening]. They could not move out of LTTE control. Some people who tried to leave were shot."The testimony from the official, who asked that neither his identity nor the location of the interview be revealed, provides an important insight about the final stages of the war, which resulted in the crushing of the LTTE and the killing of most of its leaders. Earlier this year, a report by the UN said there were "credible allegations" that both the government troops and the LTTE committed war crimes in those last weeks and days. It said tens of thousands of civilians may have been killed. The Sri Lankan government has denied the allegations and repeatedly rejected calls for an independent investigation. The official also provided an insight into how the LTTE's leader, Velupillai Prabhakaran, seized on the ambitions of Tamil nationalists, including those who were opposed to violence. "He was a good leader. In all things he was adamant, he was focused. There is no chance for another uprising now. There is no leadership," he said. "The Tamil diaspora can provide some political pressure, but anything else is not possible."Yet the official conceded that Prabhakaran's unquestioning self-belief had also led to several tactical errors, including his insistence that Tamils boycott the 2005 election. This move indirectly led to victory narrowly being secured by Mahinda Rajapaksa, who within a year would decide to launch military operations to crush the LTTE.Asked about the later tactic of the LTTE to target civilians and even schoolchildren, the official said not everyone within the movement supported the move and were aware of the international backlash it would bring. "That was why they denied it," said the official. As to why the tactic was adopted, he said: "They wanted to create a panic among the Sinhala people."The official, who said his involvement with the LTTE dated from 1995, a date when the organisation lost control of the city of Jaffna and moved its headquarters to Kilinochi, claimed that since the end of the war, the government had done little in terms of promoting reconciliation.In two local elections held in the north since the conclusion of the war in May 2009, Tamil parties easily defeated the coalition of the government."The main thing is to find a political solution," said the official, who is due before a court next year to face charges relating to his role with the LTTE. "The war is over, the LTTE is defeated. So far there has been no signal about a political solution. They say they are having negotiations, but people are not satisfied."He added: "We need a political solution, but without the support of the Sinhala people, the Tamil people cannot get a political solution."

11 December 2011

JVP presents 13-point plan for reconciliation

The JVP on Saturday (Dec. 10) said that those held for their alleged involvement with the LTTE should have been tried before Tamil speaking judges.Launching a special political campaign in the Northern Province, the JVP lambasted the UPFA government for keeping LTTEsuspects in the dark as to what was going on in courts.At a media briefing in Vavuniya on Saturday, the JVP presented a 13-point plan to deal with problems faced by people, particularly those living in the two provinces and those struggling to make ends meet irrespective of their ethnicity. It also envisaged restoration of democratic freedoms.Addressing the media in Vavuniya, JVP Colombo District parliamentarian Sunil Handunetti accused the government of double-standards in dealing with former members of the LTTE. Referring to former LTTE commanders, Karuna and Pilleyan, Handunetti said that, while some terrorist leaders had been rewarded by the UPFA, those languishing behind bars for years for their alleged involvement in terrorism were denied the right to a fair trial.The JVP action plan comprises restoration of political freedoms, release of political prisoners, resettlement of the internally displaced persons, removal of military bases from Northern and Eastern Provinces to facilitate restoration of civil rule, release of the names of those political prisoners, safeguarding cultural identity of people living in different provinces, ending state take-over of land in the Northern and Eastern Provinces, settling disputes over land owned by IDPs, employment for all, restoration of health and education sectors, protection of media and right activists, compensation package for those who lost their loved ones due to war and compensation for the loss of private property.Former JVP National List MP Ramalingham Chandrasekeran said that in spite of the conclusion of the conflict in May 2009, the government was yet to restore normalcy in the Northern and Eastern Provinces.Human rights, democracy and the media freedom had been under severe threat, while a semi-military rule imposed on the Northern and Eastern Provinces was causing immense hardship to those who suffered due to a three-decade long war, Handunetti alleged. The JVP would step-up its campaign both in and outside Parliament to pressure the government to change its style of governance, he said, urging the people to rally around the party to topple the Rajapaksa regime. The parliamentarian warned the government of street protests to highlight their grievances unless tangible action was taken immediately to redress them.The JVP asked the government not to play politics with the national issue and to take remedial measures to ensure that there wouldn’t be a fresh armed conflict. The JVP alleged that the government had failed to steps to address the grievances of those affected by the conflict.The JVP alleged that those living in Northern and Eastern Provinces had been denied the opportunity to work on development projects in the region. In an obvious attack on UPFA Gampaha District leader Economic Affairs Minister Basil Rajapaksa, the government was accused of favouring Gampaha at the expense of war-torn districts.

Navi Pillay puts off Lanka visit until LLRC report

UN high commissioner on human rights Navi Pillay says she will be postponing a visit to Sri Lanka until the release of the Lessons Learnt and Reconciliation Commission report.Inner City Press quoted her as having said that she favoured the LLRC report, along with the UN panel of experts report being the subject of a debate in the Human Rights Council.

Two state officials of Sri Lanka nabbed for spying for Japan

Sri Lanka's state intelligence quarters have exposed two former state officials who passed state secrets to Japan, a Sinhala newspaper of Sri Lanka, The Divaina, reported today in its Sunday edition.The officials are accused of sending monthly reports on political, economic and defence issues to the Japanese government.Recently, the intelligence wing of Sri Lanka state has intercepted a highly confidential report on the security situation in the North and the East sent by one of the officials to Japan.The two officials are reportedly working as senior advisers of a non-governmental organization that is receiving funds from Japan. One of them had worked at the Defence Ministry, the newspaper reported.It has been revealed that their reports have criticized Sri Lanka's political and defence affairs.

‘Chinese influence not a threat’

Visiting Sri Lankan Army Chief Lt. Gen. Jagath Jayasuriya today said though China's influence in the Indian Ocean is growing, it is not posing any threat to the Indian sub-continent. "There is no threat to any country in the Indian sub-continent from the growing influence of China in the waters of the Indian Ocean. It is a wrong belief," Jayasuriya told reporters after reviewing the Passing Out Parade (POP) at the Indian Military Academy (IMA) in Dehradun India. Regarding India, he said military cooperation between India and Sri Lanka was increasing and armies of the two countries are cooperating with each other in several areas including the field of training. In this regard, he pointed out that 120 Sri Lankan officers had so far received training in the IMA. He said he also plans to meet Chief of Army Staff Gen V. K. Singh during his current visit. On the LTTE, Jayasuriya said the LTTE in Sri Lanka has been completely decimated but admitted its sympathisers did exist in other countries. "The LTTE has been decimated militarily but they do have sympathisers in the international diaspora,” he said. However, he said it was no more a military threat. Asked about Tamils uprooted from the island nation during the Sri Lankan army's operation against the LTTE, the Sri Lankan army chief said the situation has now become "normal" and people have started coming back to their places. The Sri Lankan government is also undertaking rehabilitation work in affected areas, he added.

No More Even A ‘Former Army Commander’ Says Military Spokesman

Army spokesman Brigadier Nihal Hapuarachchi told The Sunday Leader that Fonseka is not referred to as the “former Army Commander” anymore.Even as history is being re-written by the Rajapaksas, the former army chief will not be a part of history when Sri Lanka’s victorious battle against the LTTE is documented.His details have already been removed from the list of former Sri Lankan Army Commanders on the army website as a result of a Court Martial ruling against him last year.Fonseka is consistently referred to as the “former Army Commander” by most private media institutions and the international press.Brigadier Hapuarachi asserted that the military cannot issue instructions to any media institution not to refer to Fonseka as the former army commander. However he said that Fonseka is not referred to as the former army chief by the State media after he was found guilty by the court martial in August last year.Meanwhile, Sarath Fonseka has rejected an offer to appeal for pardon from President Rajapaksa, a family member said.Sarath Fonseka’s daughter Aparna Fonseka told The Sunday Leader that if her father wanted to appeal for a Presidential pardon then he would have done so much earlier.The government had said last week that Fonseka should appeal to President Mahinda Rajapaksa for a pardon instead of going internationally and signing petitions.However Aparna Fonseka insisted that they will go ahead with a petition to the US government seeking intervention to release Fonseka. She said that so far the petition to the US government has secured 12,000 signatures and the target is 25,000 signatures by the 23rd of this month. Aparna Fonseka further said that her family was compelled to go international as the government had failed to secure her father’s release.

President Chandrika a Francophile, US cable contends

The president’s Sorbonne education also appears to have affected her and she is quite pro-French.” the US Embassy Colombo informed Washington.The cable classified as “CONFIDENTIAL” analyses the Sri Lanka’s pro – US foreign policy under Prime Minister Ranil Wickremesinghe. The cable was written on May 29, 2003 by the US Ambassador to Colombo E. Ashley Wills.Ambassador Wills wrote “In addition to the entrenched bureaucracy in the MFA, Wickremesinghe’s tilt toward the U.S. has also encountered sharp resistance from the president, her People’s Alliance (PA) party, and the radical Janantha Vimukthi Peramuna (JVP) party. While she is not anti- U.S. per se, President Kumaratunga — who shares a very tense cohabitation relationship with the PM — is not particularly friendly to our international positions on issues as diverse as Iraq, climate change, the ICC, general North/South affairs, etc.”“Kumaratunga’s stance seems to be strongly influenced by the fact that her parents, who were both prime ministers, were advocates of NAM-type thinking on the international stage. The president’s sorbonne education also appears to have affected her and she is quite pro-French. As could be expected, the president’s PA party basically mirrors her perspectives. As for the leftist JVP, the party has always been strongly anti-U.S., accusing us routinely in public of being the “arch-imperialist. Given that an alliance between a large section of the PA with the JVP is set to be announced soon, there is little indication that Opposition views of the U.S. will improve in the near-term.” Wills further wrote.

Social activists: Colombo must resolve the Tamil question by Melani Manel Perera

" Tamil Indians " in Sri Lanka (originally from the Indian state of Tamil Nadu) still have no right to citizenship or basic rights: work, food, home and land. Even women and children suffer discrimination. Although Sri Lanka is a signatory of the UN International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights.Colombo (AsiaNews) - "The basic rights of every ethnic community must be protected. The right to work, food, a house, land, the rights of women and children: Today we are witnessing gross violations of these, in every aspect of life. Human rights should allow the different ethnic communities to live together in full equality. " This was revealed by the 4 ESC Rights Collective (Collective for Economic, Social and Cultural Rights), in a special seminar organized to demand the State account for what it is doing on behalf of the country's ethnic minorities, in particular the "Indian Tamil", since Sri Lanka is among the countries signatories of the UN International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights.Sri Lanka’s so-called "Indian Tamil" are descendants of the original peoples of Tamil Nadu (southern state of India), who in the 19th and 20th centuries were sent to work in tea plantations in Ceylon. They belong to the same ethnic stock of the "Sri Lanka Tamil", but these are from the kingdom of Jaffna.S. Murugaiayh, of the Plantation Sector Social Forum (Pssf), explains: "The Tamil Indians who work in tea plantations live in tiny huts built over 200 years ago. The houses are too small for large families, without adequate sanitation. But they cannot build bigger houses, or they risk losing their jobs and the narrow huts in which they live. "To living conditions of these communities are also aggravated by their legal status. "The Citizenship Act No. 18 of 1948 - explains Murugaiayh - deprived the Indian Tamil of nationality and it has never been repealed. This is despite the Granting of Citizenship to Persons of Indian Origin Act of 2003 which sanctioned this right. Thus, thousands of people who work and contribute to the national economy, live as stateless people in their own country, without being able to enjoy their economic, social and cultural rights. "K.P. Somalatha, a representative of the National Alliance for Right to Land, points the finger at "all the development projects implemented by the government, which have uprooted thousands of people from their homelands and from their lives. This is also a gross violation of human rights. " Last year the government of President Mahinda Rajapaksa has launched a series of development projects - especially in tourism - to make Sri Lanka a "Wonder of Asia". Plans that affect the most vulnerable population: farmers, ranchers and above all fishermen.

09 December 2011

Australian parliamentary delegation to arrive in Sri Lanka

An Australian parliamentary delegation is expected to arrive in Sri Lanka today on an invitation from Speaker Chamal Rajapaksa, the state-run radio SLBC reported.During their stay, the delegation, led by Labor Party MP Maria Vamvakinou will hold discussions with the Speaker, the Opposition Leader and other parliamentarians.The visit is aimed at strengthening bilateral relations between the two countries.The Australian parliamentarians are scheduled to visit Sri Dalada Maligawa in Kandy and also to tour Jaffna in Northern Province.

President Rajapaksa speaks about democracy at Bali forum

Sri Lanka’s president Mahinda Rajapaksa said on Thursday (Dec. 08) that if democracy is to be meaningful and command people's respect it must have a direct impact on their everyday lives.There must be closest possible interaction between the government and the community, he told the fourth Bali Democracy Forum in Bali, Indonesia.Mr. Rajapaksa pointed out that Sri Lanka is one of the oldest practicing democracies in the world.He noted the mechanisms of government must have effective application at the grassroots level, in order to address issues and to provide relief to the people.The Sri Lankan leader was speaking under the theme "Enhancing Democratic Participation in a Changing World: Responding to Democratic Voices".One of the most significant strands that run through the value systems of all the countries represented at the forum, is their strong commitment to democracy not only as a system of governance but as a way of life, he said.The Lankan president observed that it is a constant challenge to ensure the practice of democracy remains at all times responsive to the priorities and aspirations of our people, so that their confidence in the system is continually strengthened.He highlighted that Sri Lanka is the first country in Asia to have accorded women the right to vote, and they secured this right just two years after the enfranchisement of women in the United Kingdom.Mr. Rajapaksa said that Sri Lanka is one of the oldest practicing democracies enjoying the universal adult franchise since 1931, and the people have been accustomed, without interruption, to electing and changing governments in an entirely orderly and peaceful manner for eight decades.

Internatio​nal should support to chase away the anti democratic rulers of this country: Sarath Fonseka

Former Army Commander Sarath Fonseka urges the support of international to chase away the antidemocratic rulers of this country.He also said that prison officials are fear to the Minister of public relationship Mervin Silva but at present entire world stand against antidemocratic rulers.Journalist was not permitted to visit me due to the statement of Minister Mervin Silva.There cameras were destroyed by the prison officials said the former Army Commander.Fonseka made this statement while replying to the recent announcement made by Minister Mervin Silva recently. According to Mervin Silva he urges the relevant officials to hand over Sarath Fonseka towards him where he releases statements against the government.Fonseka made this statement towards the media when he arrived to the private hospital for his treatment.

08 December 2011

Political solution is important for Tamil people : Bishop of Jaffna district

During the discussions with the Norwegian Ambassador at the office of Catholic Bishop of the Jaffna district Rev. Thomas Soundranayagam stated that political solution is important for Tamil to lead independent life in this country.Bishop also stated there is no joy full surrounding for Tamil people in the district. At present government is carrying out various types of development programme in the Northern Province but they fail to propose a political solution for our people.Since end of the war peaceful situation was established in the society but the minds of our people is covered by fear.Resettlement programmes are underway however relevant officials fail to provide necessary facilities towards the resettled people said the Bishop.Norway Ambassador Hildge Harasted and high ranking officers of the Norwegian embassy in SriLankan were also present at this discussion.

The peace dividend

The LTTE is no more. The war against terror has been long won. But Sri Lanka is yet to ensure devolution of political power to the country’s Tamil minority.We have to thank a Sri Lankan scholar who must remain unnamed for reminding India that it has an unfinished task in Sri Lanka: That of helping the Tamils secure political devolution through a negotiated settlement for sustainable peace. It’s a position with which the Sri Lankan Government was always in accord. The civil war is over, the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam is no more, and yet a political solution to the national question appears only remotely possible.Instead of devolution there is centralisation and the peace that came at a huge price seems illusory. For sound and irreversible relations between India and Sri Lanka, a political settlement on powersharing acceptable to all communities in a united Sri Lanka is indispensable. If India thinks it has a role in influencing this political outcome, it must act fast as it has already lost time and space to internal and external adversaries.Despite referring to its neighbourhood as troubled, India has done little except in Bangladesh to shape it in tune with its national interest. On the contrary it has been made strategically irrelevant after the defeat of the LTTE, ironically, after helping Sri Lanka in its military victory, a fact which Colombo has not acknowledged appropriately. New Delhi has even lost the limited leverage it had before the war when it boasted that it exercised direct influence without direct involvement.India’s confused policy during the war has been highlighted by Janata Party president Subramanian Swamy. He has   demanded an investigation into why India refused to supply weapons to Sri Lanka and, instead, opened the door further for China and Pakistan to deepen their footprints in India’s strategic backyard.New Delhi made the strategic choice of going along with President Mahinda Rajapaksa in finishing off the LTTE militarily but restricted the supply of weapons to only defensive ones. Then National Security Advisor, MK Narayanan famously chided Colombo for going to Beijing and Islamabad for military hardware when New Delhi had itself refused to provide them. Fearing adverse reaction in Tamil Nadu, it made useless noises in asking Colombo to stop military operations just when its army was ready for the kill. India did not intervene as it had in 1987 because it was party to the Sri Lankan campaign for the elimination of the LTTE. Sri Lanka’s most-powerful Defence Secretary Gotabhaya Rajapaksa has called this “good management of India”. India’s half-cock yet highly significant support of the war without any quid pro quo is intriguing and also requires to be probed. At the very least, some assurances on settlement of the ethnic problem ought to have been taken. This time around Colombo appears to have taken New Delhi for a ride negating all past understandings on power-sharing though it recognises the importance of the Tamil question in India’s domestic political calculus.Mr Gotabhaya Rajapaksa’s voice is the most influential in Sri Lanka. His line is simple: Now that LTTE terrorists have been eliminated, there is no ethnic problem. His latest pronouncement is that there is little chance of moving beyond the current level of devolution.It is instructive to study the shift in Colombo’s stand on devolution, commensurate with the success on the battlefield. In 2007, after Operation Eastern Awakening (the liberation of the East) Sri Lankan courts ordered the demerger of the North East. Since President Rajapaksa’s election in 2005 he has been dutifully voicing his intention of implementing the 13th Amendment and as late as mid-2010, he repeated his resolve by adding plus plus to 13A. In his numerous interviews, especially with The Hindu newspaper, he has mentioned his famous four Ds: Demilitarisation; Development; Democracy and Devolution. As the war progressed in his country’s favour, one of the key Ds, for devolution, went  missing.Then he did a U-turn saying Sri Lanka required a home grown solution and not one imposed from outside. In the pursuit of this goal, he appointed the futile All Party Representative Committee which had 100 meetings over two years without any outcome. Earlier this year, Foreign Minister GL Peiris observed that previous governments could not implement 13A as they did not enjoy a two thirds majority in Parliament.Since then, the Tamil National Alliance has engaged in ten rounds of dialogue with a three-member political panel that included Mr Pieris and the President’s National Reconciliation Peace Unit advisor Rajiva Wijesinghe.The latest effort is the Parliamentary Select Committee for which the Government has selected its members. But the TNA has sought clarifications. Like other past mechanisms experts believe it is another device to buy time and keep India and the international community happy. Union Minister for External Affairs  SM Krishna, on a visit to Sri Lanka last year, said that a dialogue mechanism to settle the political question was welcome though no time limit could be laid down. For the first time, there was no mention of 13A, a shift noted again during the visit this year to Colombo of the Indian National Security Advisor.India appears to have lowered its expectations on the devolution issue, systematically diluted with successes on the war front. WikiLeaks have revealed that New Delhi did not press Colombo on alleged human rights violations for fear it would push Sri Lanka further into the arms of China and Iran. India has accepted its strategic dimunition gracefully and is trying to compensate for the loss of political space by strengthening economic linkages — integrating the Sri Lankan economy through the Comprehensive Economic Partnership Agreement which Colombo has resisted.China is the net gainer from the India-Sri Lanka spat. Sri Lankans are happy that their strategic dependence on India has ended. Beijing whose military and diplomatic assistance in crushing the LTTE is widely acknowledged is reaping the rewards of massive economic investment and a strategic presence to balance India. The new Hambantota Port, modernisation of Colombo harbour, the first expressway from Colombo to Galle and numerous development projects reflect a Shining China. Still President Rajapaksa says that while China is a friend, India is a brother.Another Sri Lankan scholar has noted that India has been fast asleep while others have plucked the fruits. It is bad enough that India not only acquiesced but supported Sri Lanka’s use of a military solution which it eschews at home: it would be unforgivable if New Delhi abandoned its quest for devolution of power to the Sri Lankan Tamils.

Lanka govt, Tamil party lock horns over devolution talks

Talks between Sri Lankan government and the main Tamil party TNA over devolution of power have been hit by differences over a parliamentary procedure and three key demands raised by the latter, but the two sides have decided to continue discussions next week. Nimal Siripala de Silva, the senior minister who led yesterday's sixteenth round of talks with the Tamil National Alliance (TNA) said despite the disagreement the next round of talks would be held on December 14. The two sides have had a disagreement over three key points in TNA's proposals handed over to the government in March. The government sources said today that TNA's points of contention over the re-merger of the north and east provinces, and land and legislative powers to the provincial councils did not find favour with the government. The disagreement together with the already existing differences over how the devolution package be taken up by the parliamentary select committee have resulted in considerable friction. The TNA presses for full implementation of the devolution framework outlined in the thirteenth amendment established in 1987 under the backing of the Rajiv Gandhi government. The thirteenth amendment led to the setting up of a provincial council for each of the island's nine provinces. However, the north and east provinces where the Tamil minority seeks autonomy remained merged as a single province until 2006 when the Supreme Court ruled that two provinces need to be separated. The latest round of talks between the TNA and the government came yesterday in spite of a separate spat involving the parliamentary select committee (PSC) process on devolution. The government which wants PSC to run parallel with the bilateral talks with the main Tamil party insisted that TNA named their members to represent it. The TNA disagreed on the grounds that the agreement reached at the previous rounds was that the government would first submit its proposals to be taken up at the PSC before TNA could name its members. This prompted the government to accuse the TNA of trying stalling tactics. "The TNA should now decide whether it still wanted to lead Tamils on an ideological path or adopt a tangible action plan benefits for the masses," Sajin Vas Gunawardena, a government parliamentarian at the talks with TNA said.

Hu Jintao tells China navy: Prepare for warfare

China's navy should speed up its development and prepare for warfare, President Hu Jintao has said.He told military personnel they should "make extended preparations for warfare".China is locked in territorial disputes with several other nations in the South China Sea. Political tension is also growing with the US, which is seeking to boost its presence in the region.After Mr Hu's comments, the US said China was entitled to defend itself."Nobody's looking for a scrap here," said Pentagon spokesman Admiral John Kirby in quotes carried by the AFP news agency."Certainly we wouldn't begrudge any other nation the opportunity to develop naval forces."Senior US and Chinese officials are currently holding talks on military issues. The one-day meeting takes place every year, with the stated aim of ensuring there are no misunderstandings between the two nations.

'Sovereignty dispute'

China has recently acquired its first aircraft carrier and has been vocal about its naval ambitions.But its military remains primarily a land-based force, and its naval capabilities are still dwarfed by the US.Mr Hu told a meeting of military officials that the navy should "accelerate its transformation and modernisation in a sturdy way, and make extended preparations for warfare in order to make greater contributions to safeguard national security".The word "warfare" was used in official media, but other translations used "military combat" and "military struggle".Analysts say Mr Hu's comments are unusually blunt, and are likely to be aimed at the US and Beijing's rivals in the South China Sea.Both the Philippines and Vietnam have repeatedly accused China of overt aggression in the region.They are among the nations claiming sovereignty over islands in the sea in the hope that there could be oil and gas deposits there.And US President Barack Obama announced last month that the US was boosting its presence in the region, and will base a full Marine task force in northern Australia.Analysts say the US move is a direct challenge to China's attempts to dominate the area, and is likely to bolster US allies in the South China Sea dispute.

‘Jana Aragala Vyaparaya’ by JVP dissidents

The JVP dissidents in the Left Wing have decided to enter active politics under the name ‘Jana Aragala Vyaparaya.’The launch of the movement will take place at a rally at Hyde Park in Colombo on November 13, a spokesman of the Left Wing told ‘Srilankamirror.’He said the leftist movement in the country need to be reborn, as leftist politics has become a victim of opportunism and disregarded its responsibilities. The people will be made aware about and organized against capitalism with the launch of the movement, said the spokesman.He added that they would continue to be members of the JVP despite the launch of a separate political struggle.

Indicted on charges of giving info to LTTE

An army lieutenant attached to the Ratmalana Army Transit Camp was indicted in the Colombo High Court on charges of having provided defence secrets to the LTTE and thus help carry out its attacks.The Attorney General indicted Lieutenant Ranjith Chandrasiri Perera alias 'army uncle' for allegedly providing vital defence secrets to LTTE suicide cadre Kandavanam Gogulnath and  LTTE intelligence Officer Kanagaratnam Adityan to carry out an attack at the Deyata Kirula Exhibition.It was revealed that the LTTE had carried out a mortar attack at the aircraft in which Defence Secretary Gothabya Rajapaksa and Army Commander Sarath Fonseka travelled to Palaly during the war in the North.He was also accused of harbouring and giving protection to Gogulnath while knowing he was the suicide cadre.

07 December 2011

Undercover journalists expose UK lobby firm’s influence in Sri Lanka

Executives from UK-based lobby firm and reputation management company Bell Pottinger have been secretly recorded as admitting to writing Sri Lankan President Mahinda Rajapaksa’s speech to the United Nations last year.Undercover journalists posing as representatives of the Uzbekistan government approached several such firms to try and determine the influence such lobbyists had in the UK government.During the meetings, which were secretly recorded, journalists from the Bureau of Investigative Journalism asked Chairman of Bell Pottinger Public Relations David Wilson about the company’s work improving the image of the Sri Lankan government. The executives referred to “dark arts” used to help rebuild the reputations of countries and companies accused of human rights violations.Sri Lanka has been under international pressure to submit to a war crimes investigation after a UN report published in April found “credible allegations, which if proven, indicate that a wide range of serious violations of international humanitarian law and international human rights law were committed both by the Government of Sri Lanka and the LTTE, some of which would amount to war crimes and crimes against humanity.”The Maldives has defended Sri Lanka, with Foreign Minister Ahmed Naseem stating that the UN Panel report was “singularly counterproductive”. A report by Sri Lanka’s own ‘Lessons Learnt and Reconciliation’ report has not yet been made public.Bell Pottinger’s Wilson told the undercover journalists that the “Peace and Reconciliation” commission had a “fundamental flaw” in its remit, in that it was trying “to bury the past”.“We wrote President Rajapakse s speech to the UN last year which was very well received,” Wilson said, claiming that it was used in preference one prepared by Sri Lanka’s foreign ministry.In the speech, Rajapakse expresses concerns over the “unacceptable degree of selectivity” of international organisations operating in the developing world, which “ must keep a vigil against these irregular modalities which should be resisted through our collective strength.”Wilson also told journalists that this speech “went a long way in taking country to where they need to go”, and claimed that Bell Pottinger had added “some critical dialogue at government level” inside the UK, and introduced “some balance outside of a couple of media channels. The Times and Channel 4 are particularly staunch in their opposition.”Channel 4 had aired video footage purportedly showing Sri Lankan troops executing bound and naked Tamil dissidents in the closing days of the country’s civil war. The authenticity of the footage was challenged by the Sri Lankan government, but described as authentic by the UN’s Special Rapporteur on Extrajudicial, Summary or Arbitrary Executions, Christof Heyns.Speaking to the undercover journalists, Managing Director of Bell Pottinger Public Affairs Tim Collins said that improvements in a country’ s reputation did not need to be fast: “As long as you can see that each year is a little better than before, that’s fine,” he was quoted as saying in the UK’s Independent newspaper.Uzbekistan, he suggested, should stress its position as an emerging market: ”To the Western world it’s a developing market so you can always have the message that: ‘We are changing with the times – we are emerging, learning as a nation and growing’,” Collins said. Such a campaign to improve the country’s image would cost in excess of £100,000 a month, he suggested.Former President of the Maldives Maumoon Abdul Gayoom also engaged a large public relations firm in a bid to improve the country’s international image.Speaking to Minivan News in June, former Foreign Minister Dr Ahmed Shaheed explained how the involvement of PR firm Hill & Knowlton extended as far as writing legislation, and even advocating controversial Constitutional amendments such as freedom of religion.“When you are in office for 30 years and your ministers and associates make recommendations to you, you don’t believe them,’ Dr Shaheed told Minivan News. “But if you have a posh firm from London making recommendations, you tend to believe them. And Gayoom did.“Things that Gayoom did on their recommendation included separating the army from the police, a whole raft of reforms on judicial function, prison reform, constitutional reform – all these things were done at their request. The only H&K recommendations he left out – Hill & Knowlton wanted Yameen and the then Police Chief (Adam Zahir) sacked, and they also suggested that freedom of religion was something that was internationally demanded.“Of course, there’s no way any government here can introduce freedom of religion, and H&K’s usefulness ended when they recommended Yameen be removed – at that point Gayoom stopped listening to them.“H&K had a contract signed in April 2005, and their proposals were presented as a package. Their engagement was always positive and there was nothing covered up, and they came here only after speaking to the UK Foreign Office and US State Department. Of course, they are a commercial company and had their fees.”

‘Tolerance of Sinhalese is not cowardice’-Singala Chauvinistic Minister Champika Ranawaka

Singala Chauvinistic Minister Patali Champika Ranawaka has warned all anti-Sinhalese forces against taking tolerance, a characteristic of the Sinhalese, as a sign of cowardice.He was speaking at a function organized by the JHU to mark the eighth death anniversary of Ven. Gangodawila Soma Thera, lankacnews reported.The minister stressed that Sinhalese should be resettled in the northern province despite any opposition, adding that 21,000 Sinhalese lived in Jaffna in 1981 and Buddhism existed in the north.He reminded TULF leader V. Anandasangaree that it was the boys in the security forces who had saved him from the LTTE.Also, the right for the Sambandans to live in Colombo should be enjoyed by the Sinhalese by living in the north and the east, after the elimination of terrorism that had denied our right to live in our own country, said Mr. Ranawaka.Of the 11,0000 terrorist suspects who had killed our people, 10,000 are free today, but not just one Sinhalese spoke against their being released, he noted.The Sinhalese never went slandering overseas, but what the chauvinistic Sampanthans are saying today? he asked.

Ranil trust the US to defeate LTTE : Wikileaks

“Since coming to power in late 2001, Prime Minister Ranil Wickremesinghe has taken steps to steer Sri Lankan foreign policy closer to the U.S. Wickremesinghe’s pro-U.S. views have been long-standing and are in part a function of family connections.His uncle, J.R. Jayewardene, for example, was Sri Lanka’s president from the late 1970s through the late 1980s, and maintained very close links with the U.S. " the US Embassy Colombo informed Washington.The cable classified as “CONFIDENTIAL” analyses the Sri Lanka’s foreign policy under the Prime Minister Ranil Wickremesinghe. The cable written on May 29, 2003 by the US Ambassador to Colombo E. Ashley Wills.Ambassador Wills wrote “Moreover, Wickremesinghe, who comes from a very wealthy busi.ness family, is a strong advocate of free enterprise and strongly opposed to the disastrous socialist policies of former governments.Wickremesinghe is also surprisingly knowledgeable about U.S. history and politics; he is an avid reader about the American Civil War, U.S. military history, and U.S. legislation. The prime minister’s pro-U.S.views also emerge out of his political calculus that Sri Lanka needs the support of the international community, especially the U.S., to constrain the Tamil Tigers. With the peace process his government’s number one priority bar none, the prime minister has worked hard to secure U.S. support for his efforts in this area from very early on in his tenure.”

More MPs of Sri Lanka opposition party to crossover to government

More legislators of Sri Lanka's main opposition United National Party (UNP) have expressed their willingness to join the government following the recent crossover by their colleague Colombo district parliamentarian Mohan Lal Grero, a government minister said.The Chief Whip of the government, Minister Dinesh Gunawardena told media yesterday that another group of UNP MPs are considering to join the government due to the continuous downfall of the major opposition party.A group of outspoken UNP parliamentarians including Puttalam district MP Range Bandara, Matale district MP Wasantha Aluwihare, Kalutara district MP Palitha Thewarapperuma and Hambantota district MP Dilip Wedaarachchi, has meanwhile planned to sit independently in the parliament, local media reports said.UNP co-deputy leader, Sajith Premadasa, in a letter to deputy leader Karu Jayasuriya has pointed out that in the recent years 61 opposition MPs have crossed over to the UPFA government and some of them are holding powerful ministerial portfolios.A devoted UNP loyalist, Colombo District parliamentarian Mohan Lal Grero crossed over to the government side last month after voting for the government's Appropriation Bill.Several key UNP members joined the government and the ruling party over the past few years. The most notable was the defection of 18 senior members of the UNP in early 2007. All of them presently hold key ministerial portfolios.Six UNP parliamentarians, Abdul Carder, Upeksha Swarnamalee, Earl Gunasekara, Nilwala Wijesinghe, Lakshman Seneviratne, and Manusha Nanayakkara crossed over to the government side in September 2010.

Sri Lanka Media Group Challenges Websites Blocking

A media rights group has filed a court challenge over the Sri Lankan government's blocking of five news websites for content that was deemed insulting, a spokesman said Tuesday.The local Free Media Movement filed a fundamental rights application in the Supreme Court on Monday on the basis that the blockade breaches the people's right to information and freedom of expression, the group's convener, Sunil Jayasekara, said.The Information and Media Ministry ordered the sites blocked last month, saying they committed character assassination and insulted people including key political leaders.The sites blocked are www.lankaenews.com, srilankamirror.com, srilankaguardian.com, paparasinews.com, gossip9.com and www.lankawaynews.com. Rights groups criticized the move as undemocratic. Sri Lankan laws do not restrict the press from criticizing leaders, but media can be charged for defamation.The ministry has also asked websites to register, a new requirement for websites, while older media formats such as newspapers, radio and television already have to register before they start opertating.Of the five sites, lankaenews is highly critical of the government and has been blocked once previously and been subjected to violence and threats. A columnist for the website has been missing for nearly two years and is believed to have been abducted. Its office was set on fire earlier this year and lankaenews blamed the government for the attack.The U.S. Embassy in Colombo has called on Sri Lankan authorities and telecommunications firms "to stop activities aimed at blocking free access in Sri Lanka to all legitimate media websites, including Lanka-e-News."Reporters Without Borders said it was appalled by Sri Lanka's decision to block the sites and urged it be lifted and the new registration requirement rescinded. It also called on commercial telecom companies to stop blocking sites at the government's behest.

Protests against abduction of Duminda Silva supporter

Protests are taking place at Jampettah Street in Colombo against the abduction of a man yesterday (Dec. 05) by a group in a white van.The kidnapped man, Christopher Fernando, is said to be a close supporter of MP Duminda Silva.Angered by his abduction, people blocked the road, burnt tyres and are staging demonstrations since yesterday.The police spokesman’s office said additional police have been sent to the area to maintain law and order.The abducted man has several charges of involvement in illegal activities, police said.He had been accompanying two friends in a three-wheeler to his home for lunch around 2.30pm, when the armed group forced him into a van at gunpoint.Christopher has spent money for MP Silva’s election campaign.

06 December 2011

Trincomalee war displaced 'won't go back'   

Sri Lanka's war displaced from several areas in the eastern district of Trincomalee will not be allowed to resettle in their ancestral lands, the government has confirmed.Trincomalee Government Agent, Maj Gen TTR de Silva, said the resettlement of internally displaced people (IDPs) from Sampur has become "an international issue.""People can not go back nearer to the thermal power plant," he told journalists in Trincomalee on Sunday.He made the remarks at a conference on media development which was also attended by the Director General of Information, Prof Ariyaratne Athugala.Media has an important role to play "in building a bridge between people and development," said Prof Athugala.

'Land grab'

The journalists attended the seminar then pointed out that the government has not attempted to resolve many issues raised by the media, including the resettlement in Sampur."The Ceylon Electricity Board new buildings are also being constructed there and the area has been demarcated for new related industries,” was the response by the government agent.Sampur was among the first major Tamil Tiger strongholds in the east that was re-captured by the security forces.The government officials were also told that 1500 fishermen have lost livelihoods as a result of a new saltern is being built in Kuchchuveli.Responding, Maj Gen de Silva said decisions regarding acquiring land have been taken from the higher echelons of the government including the president and cabinet of ministers.“I think it is a shame that 60% of salt intake in Sri Lanka is imported,” he added.The journalist also pointed out that farmers were banned to cultivate 700 paddy land in Kappalturai that has been cultivated for generations but Maj Gen de Silva said those decisions were taken by the government hierarchy.The North - East Sinhala Organisation (NESO) earlier accused the government of land grab in eastern Sri Lanka.But the provincial council authorities have denied the accusation.

High profile money lender abducted

A 55 year old businessman who was known to be a high profile money lender in Kotahena had been abducted this morning resulting in protests in the area, the police said. The incident had taken place in the Jampatah Lane when the victim known as ‘Christopher’ was abducted by an unidentified gang who came in a van, police media spokesman Ajith Rohana said. A protest was held in Kotahena with the participation of more than 300 people in the area, the police said. The protest lasted for several hours and they were peacefully dispersed after the police promised that the victims whereabouts will be uncovered along with the suspects. Reason behind the abduction is yet to be established and according to residents of the area the victim who is well known in the area had not committed any crime. Also the family members had not got any calls asking for ransom. The family members of the abducted have lodged a complaint with the Kotahena police. In the recent past abductions were reported in Warakapola, Kelaniya, Dematagoda and Ragama, SP Rohana said.

Bell Helicopter Delivers to Sri Lanka Air Force

Bell Helicopter, a Textron Inc. company, announced Dec. 1 it delivered two Bell 412s to the Sri Lanka Air Force during a ceremony at its facility in Piney Flats, Tennessee. "We've had a strong partnership with the Sri Lanka Air Force for more than 40 years," said Larry D. Roberts, senior vice president for Bell Helicopter's Commercial Business. "This is a great day for Bell Helicopter as we continue to celebrate this relationship," he said. Attending the ceremony and accepting the keys to the new Bell 412s was Air Marshall Abeywickrema representing the Sri Lanka Air Force. "The Bell 412 is highly reliable and a capable product for our mission needs," said Sri Lanka Air Force's Commander Air Marshall HD Abeywickrema. "Dependable Bell products and the customer support and service we’ve received over the years are what we value. We look forward to continuing that relationship in the months and years to come," he said. The Sri Lanka military operates a large fleet of helicopters in Sri Lanka with the majority of them being Bell Helicopter products.

Sri Lanka distributes free text books to over four million school children today.

Sri Lanka Ministry of Education will hold the national festival of distributing free text books to school children for 2012 today.While official distribution of free text books to more than four million students will take place in each school of the country, the main function will be held at Girls' High School in Kandy under the patronage of Prime Minister D.M. Jayaratne and Education Minister Bandula Gunawardena.Under the programme, to encourage students to protect the text books so they can be reused, three students in every class will be awarded certificates for the best use of text books.The Government has spent over three billion rupees this year to print 360 million text books in 437 varieties in Sinhala, English and Tamil languages.

Changing Saddam Hussein village protested

People living in a village in Sri Lanka named after the former Iraqi president, Saddam Hussein, have staged a demonstration against plans to change its name.Mr Hussein was a major benefactor to the area as part of an Iraqi assistance programme.But a desire for more aid is prompting a possible name change.To some people it may seem odd that there is a Saddam Hussein Village in eastern Sri Lanka.But the former Iraqi leader had close ties with numerous countries, many of them fellow-members of the Non-Aligned Movement.

'Iraq Village'

In November 1978 a mainly Muslim area of eastern Sri Lanka was damaged in a cyclone.A parliamentary delegation led by two prominent Muslims visited Iraq to ask Saddam Hussein for help in reconstructing it.By 1982 Mr Hussein had funded the building of an entire village, including 100 houses, a mosque, a playground and a madrassa.The village was named after him, and Iraq continued delivering monthly aid until 1990 and the run-up to first gulf war.The village went through its own trauma when the Tamil Tigers expelled the entire Muslim population.Many of the people who have since returned to Saddam Hussein Village, revere the former dictator as a humanitarian and a fighter on behalf of Islam.They have now sought renewed aid assistance from Baghdad.And they have been promised many new houses and help for the mosque and an orphanage - but only if they change its name to "Iraq Village". A decision has been reached to make the change with local government approval.But the mosque committee is split on the issue and a group of villagers have staged a protest in favour of keeping the old name - recognising a politician they still regard as a benefactor.

05 December 2011

Senior Sri Lankan Minister calls for constitutional amendments to strengthen people's power

Sri Lanka's Senior Minister for Technology and Science Prof. Tissa Vitharana says good governance needed to be practiced at every level for the country to move forward as one nation and it should be strengthened in future by making the necessary constitutional amendments and amending the electoral system to strengthen the people's power.Prof. Vitharana has told parliament that the government needed to be commended for getting the economic indicators on a positive track and forming a development programme based on national needs in the face of neo liberal policies of the world.However, the Minister has said there were still several areas the government needed to focus on to reach its development targets.According to Prof. Vitharana, the government has failed to address the needs of the working masses by providing a proper salary increase to them.He has expressed hope that the government would pay attention to the matter.

Strategic Batticaloa borderland appropriated for colonisation

Earlier, before the Paduvaankarai area fell, Jeyanthan Brigade of the LTTE had a military base in the lands that are now being appropriated by the SL state in Mangka'la Aa'ru.2,500 acres of lands in Mangka'la Aaru, located along Chengkaladi-Badulla A-5 road, a border village of Batticaloa district, are to be sold to Sinhala businessmen and to foreign investors, informed sources in Paduvaankarai told TamilNet. SL President Mahinda Rajapaksa's Colombo government has recently taken steps to survey the lands through its deputy minister and paramilitary operative Vinyagamoorthy Muralitharan. A team of SL government officials from Colombo are on the ground conducting surveying and demarcating the lands in question for the last one week, the villagers said. The strategic location of Mangka'la Aa'ru has been given a new name, “Mangala-gama”, by the occupying SL military the villagers told TamilNet.  Earlier, before the Paduvaankarai area fell, Jeyanthan Brigade of the LTTE had a military base in the lands that are now being appropriated by the SL state in Mangka'la Aa'ru.Meanwhile, pasture lands in Thevulaa'la Ku'lam in Paddippazhai DS division are encroached by Sinhalese, the villagers complain. These encroachers frequently fire at cattle left in these lands. Encroachers are also stealing the cattle, according to Tamil dairy farmers.

Karu accepts request to contest for leadership of Sri Lanka opposition party

The deputy leader of Sri Lanka's main opposition united national Party (UNP), Karu Jayasuriya has decided to accept the requests from various groups including the reformist group of the party and challenge the current leader for leadership of the crisis-ridden party. In a statement released to media Monday, the co-deputy leader said he has decided to listen to the requests from his own party activists, religious leaders and other civil groups to seek election for the leadership post. He said all the activists had expressed concern over the deterioration of the party to the current lowly position, where "it can no longer function as a credible, independent, democratic opposition."

US did not urge the government to release Sarath Fonseka

United States announced that they did not urge the Lankan government to release Sarath Fonseka.According to the media reports officials of the US government pressured the general secretary of the United Peoples Freedom Alliance Maithripala Sirisena to take necessary steps to release Sarath Fonseka.However official of US embassy reveled during the discussion with Maithripala Sirisena US officials did not request the Lankan government to release Sarath Fonseka but they carried out discussions on other issues of the country.

Split in the JVP TUs

The decision by the JVP affiliated National Trade Union Center (NTUC) to remove several trade union leaders for their support towards the JVP dissidents has resulted in a split in the trade unions.Nine trade union leaders who have been removed from several unions under the NTUC claim the arbitrary decisions taken by the union leadership has prevented the movement from succeeding in its struggle.They have said that the removal was due to the opposition raised to their ideological struggle based on socialist principles in the trade union sector.All Ceylon Health Services Union General Secretary Dr. R.M.W. Ranasinghe says the arbitrary decisions taken by the NTUC leadership have had a negative impact on the movement.According to Dr. Ranasinghe, the trade union leaders are to carry out an awareness campaign among trade union members about the struggle for socialism and the actions of the NTUC leadership.The trade union leaders who have been removed include Dr. Ranasinghe and Treasurer T.E. Chandrakumar, Inter Company Employees’ Union Senior President Ranjith Piyatilake and Vice President Upul Wijesinghe, Ceylon Teacher Services Union President H.M. Dharmadasa and its  Secretary for the Central Province A.B. Gangoda,  Lanka Viduli Sevaka Sangamaya Deputy General Secretary L.P.K. Kokamulla, All Ceylon Transport Workers Union Organizing Secretary W. Wasantha Piyadasa, and head of the local government trade union Madhura Gamage.

Inayapaarathi By Uvindu Kurukulasuriya

In November 2005, in recognition of her service to the country and the world, then-President of Sri Lanka Chandrika Kumaratunga conferred on Radhika Coomaraswamy the title of “Deshamanya” a prestigious national honour.Outside the TMVP office in Tirukkovil - White van with newspaper in place of number plate and Jeevendran and Inayapaarathi – Picture taken from inside our van through the windscreen - Picture by Uvindu Kurukulasuriya , TMVP child soldiers - Athula Vithanage pretends to take notes Picture by Uvindu Kurukulasuriya, From Left - Inayapaarathi, Jeevendran, an armed cadre, Sukumar Muralidharan, David Dadge and Uvindu Kurukulasuriya – Picture by Athula Vithanage and TMVP Tirukkovil van has no number plate Picture by Athula Vithanage She is the Under-Secretary-General of the United Nations, Special Representative for Children and Armed Conflict. In this capacity, she serves as a moral voice and independent advocate to build awareness and give prominence to the rights and protection of boys and girls affected by Armed Conflict.In November 2011, President Mahinda Rajapaksa conferred the national title “Deshamanya” to a man call Iniyapaarathi alias Pushpa Kumara. An official working at the office of Inayapaarathi located in Ampara when contacted by The Sunday Leader, confirmed that the titled of Deshamanya had indeed been conferred on him at a ceremony held in Thirukovil on November 18.Who is this Inayapaarathi? He is a man who has been accused of war crimes by the United Nations for forced arms training to children! Furthermore he is a man who is accused by the public for playing a key role in the abductions and disappearances of several people in Poththuvil, Akkaraippattu, Thirukkovil and Vinaayakapuram in the Ampara district of the Eastern Province. Iniyapaarathi is a lead operative of the paramilitary group led by Vinayagamoorthy Muralidharan alias Karuna who currently holds a Deputy Minister’s post in the Rajapaksa government. Iniyapaarathi is at present the Ampara District Coordinator for President Rajapaksa. According to past news reports about ninety percent of affected families that gave evidence before the Lessons Learnt and Reconciliation Commission (LLRC) at its sittings in Ampara on March 26, 2011 alleged that Iniyapaarathi was responsible for the abductions and disappearances of their husbands, wives and children.Iniyapaarathi is also accused of intimidating voters, issuing death threats and of election fraud during the last presidential election, parliamentary election and during the recently held local government elections. The Kalmunai court had sentenced Iniyapaarathi to a ten year suspended jail term, when he was found guilty in some criminal cases.

White Van Abductions and Inayapaarathi

I had an opportunity to meet this man call Inayapaarathi on June 19, 2007 at his office in Thirukkovil. While representing the Free Media Movement and the Sri Lanka Press Institute, I was accompanied by the Director International Press Institute David Dadge, Sukumar Muralidharan from the International Frederation of Journalists, Athula Vithanage from the Sri Lanka Working Journalist Association and Javid Munavar from the Sri Lanka Muslim Media Forum. We went there to resolve the issues between the government backed paramilitary TMVP and the Ampara journalists. We had received a number of complaints that year from Ampara journalists regarding the threats they received from the TMVP. We met Amapara TMVP leader and the President’s Ampara district coordinator Inyapaarathi  and his deputy Jeevendran at their office.I saw a number of children with guns inside the office on my way to the washroom. Then Athula Vithange and myself secretly planned to photograph them. We saw a white van with a covered number plate. But when we examined it we realised there was no number plate and a piece of newspaper had been pasted on  the place where the number plate should have been. I managed to take a photograph of the white van and the present “Deshamanya” Inayapaarathi, and a photograph with two children and their guns. This is the first time that those pictures are being published. Though I had been asked over the years by several news agencies to sell the photographs to them, I resisted because I thought it would jeopardise the lives of the Ampara journalists.This photograph of a van without a number plate is clear evidence of paramilitary white van abductions. There were hundreds of complaints about “Whitevanning”. Still not a single case has been resolved.

Child Recruitments and Inayapaarathi

Under the sub-title “Sri Lanka’s missing children” UNICEF says; “Reports suggest 64 percent of those who have disappeared were recruited by the Tamil Tigers.” After the report was published a prominent child rights activist and an expert wrote to me; “How come only 64 percent was by LTTE? Was it government or the Tamil paramilitary forces? I doubt any government abductions? Why does the UNICEF leave such a big margin????” For me there was no doubt, of course government backed paramilitaries abducted children and used them in  fighting the LTTE.There is a leaked US Embassy cable in the WikiLeaks database which clearly shows that the US knew about this and even President Rajapaksa and his brother Defence Secretary Gotabhaya Rajapaksa was aware of this fact. The confidential cable says, “In his meetings with the President and with Defense Secretary Gotabhya Rajapaksa, Ambassador emphasized that our military-to-military relations would benefit greatly if we could solve the problem of child soldiers serving with the paramilitaries. The Defense Secretary said that releasing the child soldiers was part of the process of disarming all the paramilitaries, which had now begun.” This cable was dated May 26, 2009 and it was related to Ambassador Robert O. Blake’s farewell meetings. So, why is UNICEF hiding this truth and only blaming the LTTE for child recruitment? Have they became a government propaganda mechanism too? The Island reported that Gotabhaya Rajapaksa told Liam Fox last July, “What Prabhakaran couldn’t have achieved with 100 rounds of heavy artillery he realized by using a brain-washed child suicide cadre. Had the international community brought enough pressure on the LTTE by taking punitive action against its overseas network, which raised funds for procurement of arms, ammunition and equipment, the LTTE would have been forced to scale down child recruitment, those shedding crocodile tears for their personal and political gain should throw their weight behind the UNICEF effort to track down missing children.”“Defence Ministry and External Affairs Ministry sources told The Island that those demanding an international probe into accountability issues in Sri Lanka could not ignore the child combatants’ issue” The Island further reported.So investigate both sides and not just the LTTE!

Deshamanya and Inayapaarathi

Deshamanya (Pride of the Nation) is the second highest Sri Lankan national honour (after the Sri Lankabhimanaya) awarded by the Government of  Sri Lanka as a civil honour for distinguished service. It is conventionally used as a title  or prefix to the awardee’s name. Military personnel might also be eligible for services of a non-military nature. Purely civilian decorations are relatively few; general purpose orders with a civilian division are more common. So far the awardees were really honourable citizens such as  Geoffery Bawa – Architect, W. D. Amaradeva – Music Director, Vernon Mendis – Diplomat, nissanaka Wijeyeratne  – Politician, James Peter Obeyesekera III – Politician, Bradman  Weerakoon – Civil servant, Neville Kanakeratne  – Diplomat, Mohammed Abdul Bakeer Markar – Politician, Dereen Young Wickremasinghe, H.L. de Silva – Diplomat, Mrs. Siva Obeysekera  – Politician, V. Manicavasagar – Supreme Court Justice, Prof. Nandadasa  Kodagoda, R. K. W Gunasekara – Lawyer, Ranjith Abesooriya – Lawyer , Chithrasena – Dancer,  Charitha Prasanna de Silva – Business sector and Radhika Coomaraswamy – Academic, Human Rights Activist, UN diplomat. Sadly under the Rajapaksas now it is for people like Inayapaarathi – Human Rights Violator – White Van Abductor – Child abductor.

04 December 2011

TNA: PSC after consensus at bilateral talks

The Tamil National Alliance announced yesterday that the party would nominate members to a proposed Parliamentary Select Committee on Reconciliation on the strength of bilateral talks with the government.The TNA issued the statement after talks with External Affairs Minister G. L. Peiris, and said bilateral talks would continue and that “consensus arrived thereat would be placed before the Select Committee.”The TNA delegation met government representatives on Thursday and yesterday.“The TNA reiterates that nominations to the Select Committee must await substantial consensus being reached at the bilateral talks, as has been agreed,” the statement said.“The TNA remains committed to proceed with the talks constructively. The TNA urges the government to honour the mutual agreement reached and not to place new impediments to achieving an acceptable political solution that is desired by all the peoples of Sri Lanka.”

Any talks doomed to fail without Muslim dimension – Hakeem

SLMC Leader and Minister of Justice Rauff Hakeem said that if the TNA is shunning the Parliamentary Select Committee (PSC), a new mechanism should be proposed where Muslims also could play a positive role.It should not on the sidelines in the form of a bilateral discussion with the TNA as had been happening for several years now with no end in sight , he said."It must be a collective exercise involving all stakeholders which is what the SLMC wants. This must be a forum where their grievances can be best addressed as simple bilateral discussions with one party alone cannot solve a multi dimensional problem", Hakeem suggested.Meanwhile, Government sources said that President Mahinda Rajapaksa had consented to speak to TNA leader R. Sampanthan, MP, to impress upon him the view that the party’s participation in the PSC sittings would have a positive impact on the outcome of the process to find a solution to longstanding ethnic issue question."For Muslims, the PSC is the best forum because we find that all shades of political opinion which have an exclusive mandate from different ethnicities will have a place", Hakeem said in an interview with The Sunday Island.For the TNA to refuse to participate in the PSC and moreover, not even permit a tri-partite discussion involving the SLMC, I feel is unfortunate and I must once again reiterate here while it is TNA’s right to participate or not to participate, as far as the Muslims are concerned, we welcome the PSC because we feel it is a forum where issues concerning our dimension can be addressed", he noted."We feel that the Tamil Diaspora seems to be insisting on the previous claim of the LTTE and trying to promote a viewpoint of one political entity, which is not acceptable to the SLMC and we feel that any talks that does not substantially recognize the Muslim dimension is doomed to fail", he noted."The time has come for us to look at collective efforts on the part of the Muslim community as the party with predominant support of the Muslims and with the largest representation in Parliament , it is our duty to embrace others irrespective of their party politics to achieve unity in diversity", the SLMC leader stressed.."It is important for us to organize discussions with other politicians representing different political hues and present a collective point of view. The SLMC is prepared to take forward this initiative so that the Muslim dimension would be having the necessary leverage in national level discussions", he said.The SLMC should be willing to be magnanimous as possible in our approach to find an united point of view. Without presenting a collective position, it would only strengthen the hand of those forces as in the past to totally ignore the Muslim dimension in drafting a solution to the national ethnic issue. Simply depending on the goodwill of the international community alone won’t help anyone in the process. So it has to be a collective effort combining all political parties and organizations within the country, he explained."We have a historic opportunity to play a decisive role in achieving lasting peace for all communities in this country. Rapid development and economic opportunities that have now commenced should not be missed and we must all try to put aside petty political differences we may have had in the past and seek a consensus on some of the unresolved issues so that all communities can prosper equally together".He said there are various forces locally and internationally which are trying undermine the success of the government in eliminating terrorism to liberate the country by threatening to bring up unfounded allegations which should be resisted by the collective strength of all communities in the country . The Tamils and Muslims in particular must bear in mind a lasting solution would be possible only when the majority is convinced of its fairness that such a solution should be achieved through the PSC .It is very unfortunate that some appear to think that the PSC would be a time-consuming futile exercise, whereas the government has already gone on record that they would speed up the process to conclude deliberations within six months.In any event communities like Muslims and their viewpoint cannot be sufficiently discussed simply at bilateral discussions between the TNA and the Government. As an important stakeholder for lasting peace in this country, it would be futile to if a solution is reached without substantial discussion where the communities are involved, Hakeem said."In the past also the LTTE attempted to keep the Muslims out of the peace process and we had to use our leverage with the then Ranil Wickremesinghe administration to find some space in the peace process".Therefore it is our firm belief if all communities and all shades of political opinion are to be involved in drafting a solution the PSC would be the best option, he said.The SLMC celebrated its 25th anniversary recently.

‘Fonseka should appeal to Rajapaksa, not White House'

Jailed former Sri Lankan war hero, Sarath Fonseka, should appeal to President Mahinda Rajapaksa and not to the White House, presidential spokesman Bandula Jayasekara has said.In a statement to The Hindu, he said: “We have read in the newspapers that Ms. Anoma Fonseka [Fonseka's wife] and her daughters are preparing a petition to be sent to the White House, residency and the office of the President of the United States of America. In her letter Ms. Apsara Fonseka [Fonseka's daughter] goes on to say “We are in need of international interference when it comes to justice…”“What Ms. Fonseka could do is to make a direct appeal to President Mahinda Rajapaksa, the President of Sri Lanka, who may consider Ms. Fonseka's appeal sympathetically. It does not cost much to visit Temple Trees in Colombo 3, unlike the United States of America which is thousands of miles away. Ms. Fonseka should not follow the practice of the leader of the opposition and run to foreign governments and countries. President Mahinda Rajapaksa could be described as the most accessible head of state in the world”.“It should not be forgotten that, President Mahinda Rajapaksa, on humanitarian grounds, granted permission to Mr. Sarath Fonseka, to attend the funeral of his niece, when the normal practice is that people serving prison sentences are allowed only to attend the funerals of their immediate family members.“When President Mahinda Rajapaksa was in prison [as a Member of Parliament then] he was not allowed to visit his ailing mother. When his mother passed away the then government did not allow him to attend his mother's funeral. He attended his mother's funeral with prison officials, only with the approval of the judge.”

LLRC report: President to outline action this month

President Mahinda Rajapaksa will make a special address to Parliament after he personally tables the findings of the Lessons Learnt and Reconciliation Commission this month.The address will set out the steps the government would take on the recommendations of the LLRC’s final report. He will also focus on concerns expressed by the international community over alleged violations of human rights and international law. Two matters connected to this address, government sources said yesterday, were yet to be finalised.One is whether the fuller report of the LLRC should be tabled. Current thinking centres on only the observations and recommendations to be tabled first. With this in view, Sinhala and English translations are now being made. The other is the date on which the address will be delivered. It would be before the current budget sessions of the Parliament end on December 21, these sources said.Rajapaksa’s address, the sources added, would deal comprehensively with the recommendations of the LLRC and how his government would initiate action. Some of the testimony where the Commission says “there is prima facie evidence,” is to be handed over to the Criminal Investigations Department for further probe. Those recommendations that require other governmental action would be pursued, he is to assure.As earlier reported, though the Commission has held that the Channel 4 video titled ‘Sri Lanka’s Killing Fields’ was “fabricated,” it has noted that there are discrepancies both ‘scientifically and technically.’ Hence, it has said that some aspects of the video footage require further investigation.

UNP Heading For Another Internal Clash

The main opposition UNP is heading for another internal clash over the appointment of office bearers that is to take place this month according to the party Constitution.UNP General Secretary Tissa Attanayake said the office bearers had to be appointed annually and the party’s Working Committee mandated by the amended party Constitution  is scheduled to meet this month to appoint the new office bearers, though no date has been fixed yet.However, he pointed out that the appointments do not need to be made at a party convention. “I went through the party Constitution and the Working Committee decides on the appointments and decides on when the party convention should be held,” he said adding that the Working Committee had the mandate to summon or even postpone the party convention.Meanwhile, UNP Co-Deputy Leader Sajith Premadasa said the remaining vacancies in the Working Committee had to be filled before making any decision on appointing office bearers. He explained that there are about 20 vacancies in the Working Committee that needed to be filled according to the party Constitution. “It is learnt that there are nine vacancies to be filled by local government members, four by the trade unions, three by organizations affiliated to the party and the rest of the vacancies to be filled by representatives from the Matale, Puttalam, Wanni, Trincomalee and Nuwara Eliya Districts,” Premadasa noted.When asked if he planned on coming forward to contest for the party leadership, Premadasa reiterated that the Working Committee needed to be properly constituted first. However, a senior UNP parliamentarian said Ranil Wickremesinghe has decided to come forward for the post of party leader. Premadasa meanwhile has written to Deputy Leader Karu Jayasuriya asking him to come forward to take over the party leadership.

Lanka law student 'assaulted again'

International human rights organisations have expressed serious concern over the safety of a Sri Lanka law student who has previously complained about alleged malpractices of the Law College (SLLC).DM Thushara Jayaratne, the whistleblower of alleged exam malpractices by Namal Rajapaksa, MP, says he was assaulted by a group of assailants on Thursday at a safe house.Though he was not physically injured, say activists, he is suffering from post-assault trauma."The recent attack follows threats and intimidation last year when Thushara publicly complained that President Rajapaksa's son received preferential treatment in his exams at the Law College," Yolanda Foster of Amnesty International told BBC Sandeshaya.

Lack of investigations

The Asian Human Rights Commission (AHRC), has also raised serious concern over the lack of investigations into the continued attacks on the rights defender."Human rights organisations have protested against this treatment and requested a credible inquiry into his allegations. However, no such inquiry has been conducted," AHRC director Basil Fernando, said.Mr Jayaratne was previously abducted, assaulted and regularly intimidated after he lodged complaints against President Mahinda Rajapaksa’s son, according to a complaint lodged earlier this year with the UN Special Rapporteur on Human Rights Defenders.While the national human rights commission has refused to entertain his complaints, the police have failed to launch any inquiry, the UN was informed."We are concerned about his security and call upon everyone to request from the government to inquire into this matter and also to provide him the security that he is entitled to," Basil Fernando added.Harassment, intimidation and attacks against human rights defenders who expose abuses in Sri Lanka are not uncommon, according to Amnesty International."Many victims of human rights abuses feel an increased sense of insecurity as there is a lack of credible domestic mechanisms for filing and investigating complaints," added Ms Foster, AI's researcher on Sri Lanka.

Search warrant for Interpol against KP?

A court in Chennai has issued a search warrant to Interpol against LTTE’s chief arms procurer Kumaran Pathmanathan alias KP in connection with offences such as crimes involving the use of weapons, explosives, criminal conspiracy and terrorism, a document tabled in Parliament reveals. UNP MP Dr. Jayalath Jayawardane tabled a copy of this search warrant in Parliament on Thursday during the budget debate. Dr. Jayawardane said that he informed the Deputy General Inspector of Police in Chennai about the presence of KP in the custody of the government of Sri Lanka at the moment. “It is a crime to harbour a person involved in crimes. I went to Chennai recently and informed the Chennai police about the presence of KP here,” he said. However, Dr. Jayawardane did not say when this arrest warrant was issued to Interpol.In the search warrant, KP has been mentioned as Tharmalingam Shanmugam Kumaran. His place of birth, as mentioned in the arrest warrant, is Kankesanthurai, Jaffna. He has been identified as a person with the ability to speak English, French, Sinhala and Tamil. Hair combed sideways is noted as a distinguishing mark. KP was arrested by the Sri Lankan authorities in August, 2009 in Malaysia and brought to Sri Lanka. Since then, he has been in the custody of the government. Also, he has now formed an organization called North-East Rehabilitation and Development Organization (NERDO)

India seeks undersea power transmission project with Lanka

India is pushing for the implementation of its first undersea power transmission project with Sri Lanka, amidst concerns from the Sri Lanka Power and Energy Ministry and Ceylon Electricity Board (CEB) engineers.India's power transmission company Power Grid Corporation of India Limited (PGCIL) has completed a feasibility study for the interconnection of the India-Sri Lanka Electricity Grids, which includes setting up of High Voltage Direct Current Transmission system between the two countries involving under sea transmission.The Indian government has handed over the feasibility study report to the Ministry recently, a senior CEB official said. He disclosed that according to the report, electricity could be supplied from India to Sri Lanka at concessionary rates through a submarine cable under the sea by 2014.When asked about the current position of the project, Power and Energy Minister Patali Champika Ranawaka noted that there are few technical issues in its implementation. He revealed that the Sri Lankan government has to bear a huge cost to lay a submarine cable under the Setusamudram canal if the Indian government is going ahead with the canal project. He said that this is a major concern of the government at present. But it will be beneficial for the proposed wind power project in Mannar if India is willing to purchase power at a reasonable rate. At the moment India is purchasing wind power at a very low price, he said adding that Sri Lanka is not willing to sell wind power cheaply.However he expressed optimism that the undersea power transmission project will be beneficial by 2016 or 2020 as the price of coal is expected to rise. CEB officials have also objected to the proposed project with India, saying Sri Lanka will have to adhere to conditions laid down by the Indians for the implementation of the power project. This might also be a strategic measure to counter the growing Chinese presence in the Indian Ocean, they alleged.According to the project proposal the 250-300 km power link, including submarine cables over a stretch of over 50 km, will be jointly implemented by Power Grid and the Ceylon Electricity Board. The detailed feasibility report from the Lankan side is expected to be completed by the end of this year. The line is expected to take 1,000 MW. The power link, including submarine cables over a stretch of 50 km, will enable the two countries to trade surplus power.

02 December 2011

Canadian FM urges Lanka on accountability

Canadian foreign affairs minister John Baird has said that Sri Lanka needed to take accountability for serious allegations of war crimes allegedly committed during its 25-year war.He was speaking to MPs at the Commons foreign affairs committee yesterday (Dec. 01), according to Canadian media."Other countries have taken 10 years for reconciliation, other countries never reconcile," minister Baird said."But it's incredibly important."He praised the UN for publishing a recent report on Sri Lanka contradicting the government's position, a report the minister called "deeply disturbing.""Two years after the civil war we've seen no meaningful attempt at reconciliation with the Tamil minority," he said."We've also seen a growing authoritarian trend by the government in Colombo."Canadian prime minister Stephen Harper publicly criticized Sri Lanka over its human rights record during the Commonwealth meeting in Australia in October.Sri Lanka's government has denied its forces committed war crimes and refused any investigation.

We won't represent the parliamentary select committee : Sampanthan

Tamil National Alliance leader and the parliamentarian R. Sampanthan announced that they won’t represent the parliamentary select committee which is schedule to appoint to bring solution for the ethnic issue of the country.Sampantha further said during the yesterday meeting with the government some of the government representatives invites the TNA members represent the parliamentary select committee but however TNA leader thoroughly rejected the invitation.TNA leader also he requested the government representatives to appoint parliamentary select committee since end of the discussion with the Tamil National Alliance.Sampanthan finally said next round of discussions between government and TNA will be schedule to hold on 6th of December.

Army preparing report to counter Darusman report-Army Chief

The armed forces are preparing a report to counter the allegations leveled against the security forces in the Darusman report prepared by a panel of experts appointed by the United Nations (UN) Secretary General Ban Ki Moon, Army Commander Lieutenant General Jagath Jayasuriya said. “As a response to specific paragraphs that made allegations against the military during humanitarian operations in the Darusman report, we all in the tri-services are now giving final touches to the compilation of a new report that will be shortly submitted to the international community,” he said.  “The Security Forces conducted the humanitarian operations, with a zero casualty policy,” the Commander said while addressing student officers at Sapugaskanda Defence Services Command & Staff College (DSCSC) recently.Lieutenant General Jayasuriya made these statements during his address on ‘Transforming of Wartime Army into peacetime Army ’touched on the question of much-talked‘ accountability’ during the humanitarian operations and how the war was conducted. A committee comprising of senior army officers have been appointed by the Commander to gather and contribute to the report about the role played by the Army.

US officials met TNA parliamentarian at Killinochchie and discuss about the Northern development

US representatives met Tamil National Alliance parliamentarian C.Sridharan and several other local council members at TNA office Ariwagam in Killinochchie district. US senior officer for SriLanka and Maldives Emily Plainer , Deputy officer Catharina W.Ponti and the officer of the US embassy in Colombo Pathmini Rajathurai met the parliamentarian and several other none government organization representatives on the development programme in the Northern province.During the discussion it was revealed that about the military interference in the civil society.TNA member also informed the US officials about the problems of resettled people in the north.TNA parliamentarian C.Sridharan, Karaichi local council leader Navai. Gugarasa, Deputy leader V.Nagilayswaran member P.Kumarasingham, Point Pedro local council leader P.Sanjeewan, Valigamam East local council leader T.Prkas, Valigamam north local council leader So. Sugirthan and Chavakatcheri Municipal Council member Na.Krishor were also present at this discussion.

China Harbour to reclaim 500 acres near Colombo Port

Sri Lanka Ports Authority and China Harbour Engineering Company are in talks to reclaim, by the latter, 500 acres from the sea next to Colombo Port.Under the 750 million dollar project, China Harbour will get a part of the reclaimed land on lease in return for their investment, said SLPA chairman Priyath Bandu Wickrama.All reclaimed land will be owned by the ports authority, he added.

Tamil Nadu Fishermen to boycott fishing indefinitely

Hundreds of fishermen on Thursday decided to boycott fishing indefinitely after talks with the Sri Lankan Deputy High Commissioner to secure relase of five fishermen taken into custody by the island nation's navy failed, officials said.Ramanathapuram District Collector Arun Roy, who led a two member team for the meet, said despite the setback, the Tamil Nadu government had contacted foreign secretary Ranjan Mathai and talks would be held with Lankan government Officials and Centre to get the fishermens released.He said he and president of Innocent Fishermen's Association U Arulanandham were told by High Commissioner Mahalingam that drug smuggling cases had been filed against the fishermen arrested three days ago and they would face 30 years imprisionment if convicted by a court.The Sri Lankan official told the collector that two hearings had been completed and one more was due and that the India would have to hold talks with Lankan officials to secure their release.The fishermen who have been on strike since Wednesday protesting against the arrest of their comrades, picketed the taluk office today, demanding action by the authorities.They told the Collector that Lankan navalmen have for long opened fire at their boats, killing many of them, robbed their catch, cut their fishing nets and pelted stones at them. A 'false' drug smuggling case had now been filed against their colleagues, they said.The fishermen feared more false cases would be filed against them if they were caught by the Lankan navy while fishing and said they would not venture into the sea unless those arrested were released.

Dumped Fonseka votes were genuine

Elections Department’s former Questioned Documents’ Examiner P.H. Manatunga has confirmed that the 62 ballot papers which were marked for common opposition candidate Sarath Fonseka at the last presidential election and found dumped near the Ratnapura Technical College were originals though the government had failed to conduct an impartial inquiry into the incident, it was revealed yesterday.In the letter tabled in parliament Mr. Manatunga said he examined the ballot papers using analytical techniques such as ultra violet radiation, transmitted and oblique light.“I find that these 62 ballot papers are not photocopies. They are originals printed on security paper,” he said and added that the paper was off white in colour and each ballot paper was 38.9 centimetres by 11.4 centimtres and had the legend “Presidential Election 2010-Ratnapura District” in the three languages. He said security fibres are seen embedded in the paper whose serial numbers were mentioned in the letter.United National Party (UNP) Deputy Leader Karu Jayasuriya referred to this letter at the committee stage of the budget debate and said Mr. Manatunga who was now retired had confirmed that these were original ballot papers though the government initially denied it. Mr. Jayasuriya tabled a copy of this letter in parliament.“The government spokesmen said these were bogus ballot papers. Even the District Secretary denied it. But, today, the truth has come out,” Mr. Jayasuriya said. He also decried the government’s failure to constitute the Independent Elections Commission and the Independent Police Commission. He asked President Mahinda Rajapaksa to come to parliament once in three months and answer questions asked by the opposition as stipulated in the 18th Amendment to the Constitution. Mr. Jayasuriya reiterated the need to depoliticize the police and the judiciary.“In the name of the gods, I ask the government to stop the appointment of the heads of police stations on recommendations by ruling party electoral organizers,” he said.

01 December 2011

Japan wants Sri Lanka to publicize its war report

Japan wants Sri Lanka to publicize a report on alleged wartime abuses and implement its proposals to end bitterness from a decades-long civil war, an envoy said Wednesday.Japanese government's representative Yasushi Akashi said during his talks with President Mahinda Rajapaksa he reiterated the need to adopt measures for reconciliation between ethnic communities for a lasting peace.The Lessons Learnt and Reconciliation Commission has submitted its report to Rajapaksa.The government says it will give the report to Parliament before making it public and promises to undertake investigations recommended by the commission.The government appointed the commission last year under intense international pressure to probe possible war crimes in the final stages of the war in 2009.A U.N. panel has said it found credible allegations of serious abuses on both sides of the war that should be investigated further.On Wednesday, Akashi told reporters that "Japan hopes that the Sri Lankan government will make the report public in due course and takes steps to implement recommendations by the commission."Akashi said he met Rajapaksa on Monday, where he "reiterated the importance of national reconciliation in order to arrive at a lasting peace."During his visit, Akashi met government ministers, representatives of opposition political parties and civil society.He said during discussions, he also emphasized the "vital need to improve the human rights situation in this country."Japan was among the co-chairs that oversaw a Norway-brokered peace process between the government and Tamil Tiger rebels, which officially collapsed in 2008. The United States, Norway and India were the other co-chairs.Human rights groups have long accused the Sri Lankan government and the rebels of committing war crimes in the final stages of the civil war. The war ended after the government troops militarily defeated the rebels in May 2009.A U.N. panel reported in April tens of thousands of civilians may have been killed in the final months of the fighting and ethnic Tamil activists claim government troops executed unarmed rebels who surrendered.The government rejected any wrongdoing for more than two years before conceding civilian deaths did occur. However, Defense Secretary Gotabhaya Rajapaksa, brother of president, told a conference last week that the military may have committed "crimes" and promised to investigate them.

No Army involvement in my abduction - Jaffna undergrad

Jaffna medical student Vetharaniyam Lathis has said that there was no involvement of the Army in his abduction, says the Civil-Military Coordination in Jaffna.With regard to the abduction of a Jaffna University student by unidentified group for reasons best known to them on November 27, some electronic and print media, with malice, had tried to convince their readers that Army is responsible for the abduction, it says.However, the attempt was foiled and 26-year-old Lathis of Aliyavalai, Thalaiady returned on the following day and denied those media reports.According to Vetharaniyam, a second year student of Siddhayurveda faculty of the University of Jaffna, he was abducted by an unidentified group at a place between Thirunelveli and Kaithady.He was taken to an unknown location and kept blindfolded until he was released near the Vavuniya bus stand the following day.He later managed to return to his hostel and lodge a complaint at Chavakachcheri Police.“I say that Army and Police have no involvement in my abduction. I am unaware of who abducted me. I do not want to get involved in any unnecessary activities at the University and I want to continue my education and to be a doctor. Media reports published quoting me are not true. Those are not my statements but only their hypothesis,” says Lathis.This unethical and inaccurate reporting once again testifies that some interested parties have not yet given up their campaign to tarnish the image of the Army and disrupt the good relations prevailing between the Army and the civil population, the Civil-Military Coordination in Jaffna adds.

WikiLeaks: UNP government had intercepted LTTE communications

“Tentative reports are emerging of divisions in the LTTE regarding the direction of the peace process. Milinda Moragoda, a key Sri Lankan government official involved in peace process issues, told us that the GSL had intercepted LTTE communications indicating that there was some dissonance toward LTTE spokesman Anton Balasingham’s management of the peace process.” the US Embassy Colombo informed Washington.The Colombo Telegraph found the relevant leaked cable from the WikiLeak database. The cable is classified as “SECRET” by the Deputy Chief of Mission W. Lewis Amselem and written by the US Ambassador Ashley Wills on October 1, 2002.Ambassador Wills wrote “While it was not clear, Moragoda continued, the feeling among some in the LTTE was that Balasingham was taking too soft a line towards the GSL.” “Meanwhile, other contacts report that regional tensions in the LTTE remain a factor, with leaders in the east (Karuna, Karikalan) more hard-line than most of the leadership in the north. That said, there are reports of hard-liners in the north, too: Ponnambalam told polchief that Colonel Banu, a high-level military official based at LTTE headquarters in Kilinochchi, was known to be quite apprehensive about the peace process and what he saw as its negative effect on the LTTE’s military preparedness.” the ambassador further wrote.Placing a comment Ambassador Wills wrote “Little is known about the nature of the LTTE decision-making process, except that Prabhakaran seems firmly in charge. Thus, the real issue is who has influence on Prabhakaran. What we are hearing is bit fuzzy, but it potentially may indicate that a hard-line, irreconcilable element may be trying to marginalize Balasingham in order to slow down the peace process.”

Sri Lanka to continue on-arrival visa till March 2012

Sri Lanka will continue with the on-arrival visa scheme for visitors three months more to March 31, 2012 after industry complaints that the trial online visa was not working perfectly, officials said.According to a communiqué to the industry from the Sri Lanka Convention Bureau Acting Director General Vipula Wanigasekara on behalf of the immigration authorities, the online visa will also begin simultaneously on January 1, 2012 along with the continuation of the on-arrival visa scheme. Earlier the government was switching to the online visa process from January.The communique states that: "The ETA (online visa) system will be operational from 01.01.2012. However, the existing facility of Free Visa on arrival will continue until March 31, 2012 for those who are making travel arrangements before December 31, 2011."This circular has been sent with the intention of alerting all tour operators and business partners on clarifying the visa related concerns of the industry, industry officials said. The online scheme which opened a few months on a trial basis has led to a lot of confusion and management issues.