Remarks Of Tamil Genocide in Sri Lanka:
Tuesday, September 28, 2010
Monday, September 27, 2010
Tuesday, May 25, 2010
Boston Globe: Probe War Crimes in Sri Lanka
Noting that "outside world has received credible accounts of war crimes perpetrated on a large scale by Sri Lanka security forces as well as by the Tigers," during the military offensives by Colombo in the early months of 2009, Boston Globe, in Monday's editorial said that "President Obama, who has drawn criticism for soft-pedaling human rights concerns in Africa, the Middle East, and elsewhere, should insist that Sri Lanka’s government be held accountable for shelling civilians and hospitals and murdering fighters who surrendered on the battlefield."
Full text of the Boston Globe editiorial follows:
AT THIS time last May, the Sri Lankan government of President Mahinda Rajapaksa declared total victory over the secessionist Tamil Tigers. Since then, the outside world has received credible accounts of war crimes perpetrated on a large scale by Sri Lankan security forces as well as by the Tigers. Human rights groups are now calling on the United Nations to authorize an international investigation of humanitarian law violations in Sri Lanka. President Obama, who has drawn criticism for soft-pedaling human rights concerns in Africa, the Middle East, and elsewhere, should insist that Sri Lanka’s government be held accountable for shelling civilians and hospitals and murdering fighters who surrendered on the battlefield.
The case for an international inquiry is not based solely on an abstract ideal of justice. If there is impunity for the horrors inflicted on civilians in Sri Lanka, other states confronting civil wars or secessionist rebellions will assume there is no price to pay for copying the Sri Lankan blueprint. This is a formula for scorched-earth repression, banning the international press, denying all charges of misconduct, and pretending the killers can conduct a disinterested investigation of their killings.
Sri Lanka needs a peaceful way to move beyond its ethnic tensions. While the country’s Tamil minority has legitimate grievances, the tactics of the Tamil Tigers were often brutal. The Sri Lankan government showed a willingness to take draconian steps to defeat the separatists. Beyond serving the cause of justice, an international war crimes inquiry may also promote a reconciliation between the Rajapaksa government and the minority Tamils of that island nation.
Full text of the Boston Globe editiorial follows:
AT THIS time last May, the Sri Lankan government of President Mahinda Rajapaksa declared total victory over the secessionist Tamil Tigers. Since then, the outside world has received credible accounts of war crimes perpetrated on a large scale by Sri Lankan security forces as well as by the Tigers. Human rights groups are now calling on the United Nations to authorize an international investigation of humanitarian law violations in Sri Lanka. President Obama, who has drawn criticism for soft-pedaling human rights concerns in Africa, the Middle East, and elsewhere, should insist that Sri Lanka’s government be held accountable for shelling civilians and hospitals and murdering fighters who surrendered on the battlefield.
The case for an international inquiry is not based solely on an abstract ideal of justice. If there is impunity for the horrors inflicted on civilians in Sri Lanka, other states confronting civil wars or secessionist rebellions will assume there is no price to pay for copying the Sri Lankan blueprint. This is a formula for scorched-earth repression, banning the international press, denying all charges of misconduct, and pretending the killers can conduct a disinterested investigation of their killings.
Sri Lanka needs a peaceful way to move beyond its ethnic tensions. While the country’s Tamil minority has legitimate grievances, the tactics of the Tamil Tigers were often brutal. The Sri Lankan government showed a willingness to take draconian steps to defeat the separatists. Beyond serving the cause of justice, an international war crimes inquiry may also promote a reconciliation between the Rajapaksa government and the minority Tamils of that island nation.
Monday, May 24, 2010
Wife of victim in Channel-4 photo identifies husband
The 7-year-old daughter of a 40-year-old victim of Vanni War identified her father from the photos released by Channel-4 last week and published in local papers in Jaffna. She and her mother, who lost her husband and a 2-year-old son, are now sheltered in an orphanage in Jaffna. A humanitarian activist who met the mother told TamilNet that the victim in the photo, kept naked inside a bunker by the Sri Lanka Army, was Harikrishanan Thuraichamy. He was reported missing since April 2009, when he went to Ananthapuram area promising his family to recover their belongings. He was a former LTTE member, but had left the movement and living with his family, according to his wife. Although some friends of Mr. Harikrishnan had told her that his body was seen among LTTE fighters killed, she has not seen any evidence and she still believes her husband is alive in SLA custody.
"I saw my husband’s photo revealed by Channel-4 in local dailies. My daughter identified it first. Although some told me earlier that my husband was killed and that they had seen his body among Tiger fighters massacred by the SLA, I could not believe it. I believe he is still alive in Sri Lanka Army custody," the wife who did not wished to be named, explained to a human rights activist.
Thuraichamy Harikrishanan is a native of Koomaangku’lam in Vavuniyaa and a long time member of the LTTE.
He was settled with his wife, two children and his old mother in Puththukkudiyiruppu of Mullaiththeevu district.
During the height of the war, they displaced from Puthukkudiyiruppu to Ananthapuram. One day, their two-year-old son Arutkeeran and 68-year-old mother, Soosaimuthtu Philomina, were killed in an indiscriminate air attack carreid out by the Sri Lanka Air Force (SLAF).
After the SLAF bombardment, they moved to Valaignarmadam.
One day in April 2009, her husband went to Ananthapuram area promising the family to secure their belongings. But, he was missing since then.
His wife, uprooted from Vanni and unable to cope with the losses, is living in a an orphanage in Jaffna in a physically weak condition, undergoing a psychological trauma.
"My daughter showed me my husband's photo in the newspaper and I believe he is alive and will come back one day," the woman who wishes to remain anonymous said.
"I saw my husband’s photo revealed by Channel-4 in local dailies. My daughter identified it first. Although some told me earlier that my husband was killed and that they had seen his body among Tiger fighters massacred by the SLA, I could not believe it. I believe he is still alive in Sri Lanka Army custody," the wife who did not wished to be named, explained to a human rights activist.
Thuraichamy Harikrishanan is a native of Koomaangku’lam in Vavuniyaa and a long time member of the LTTE.
He was settled with his wife, two children and his old mother in Puththukkudiyiruppu of Mullaiththeevu district.
During the height of the war, they displaced from Puthukkudiyiruppu to Ananthapuram. One day, their two-year-old son Arutkeeran and 68-year-old mother, Soosaimuthtu Philomina, were killed in an indiscriminate air attack carreid out by the Sri Lanka Air Force (SLAF).
After the SLAF bombardment, they moved to Valaignarmadam.
One day in April 2009, her husband went to Ananthapuram area promising the family to secure their belongings. But, he was missing since then.
His wife, uprooted from Vanni and unable to cope with the losses, is living in a an orphanage in Jaffna in a physically weak condition, undergoing a psychological trauma.
"My daughter showed me my husband's photo in the newspaper and I believe he is alive and will come back one day," the woman who wishes to remain anonymous said.
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