Remarks Of Tamil Genocide in Sri Lanka:
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.
Thursday, May 20, 2010
Mass grave discovered in Naachchikkudaa, Mannaar
De-mining workers of Danish De-mining Group (DDG) have discovered a mass grave in Naachchikkudaa area in Mannaar containing 75 to 100 skeletal remains while engaged in de-mining in the area, informed sources in Mannaar told TamilNet Wednesday. Sri Lanka Army (SLA) had not permitted resettlement in Naachchikkudaa earlier claiming that the area was infested with landmines and a great quantity of explosives lying buried at the height of the war had taken place in Naachchikkudaa. It is suspected that the skeletal remains discovered may have belonged to young men and women, the sources added.
The sources also revealed that the de-miners also found a lot of unexploded landmines and explosives in the area.
Though people have been permitted to resettle in many parts of Mannaar district Naachchikkuda is not one of them.
Even the de-mining activities are carried out under the strict supervision of the SLA in Naachchikkudaa.
SLA authorities have refused to release any information about the mass grave.
Meanwhile, on 08 October 2009, Parliamentary Group Leader of the Tamil National Alliance (TNA), R. Sampathan said in Sri Lanka Parliament that, “The Sri Lanka government fears that, if the international community gets involved in the de-mining, they may stumble on to mass graves of Tamil victims killed during the last stages of fighting between the Sri Lanka military and the Tamil Tigers," accusing the Sri Lankan government of refusing to accept foreign assistance towards the de-mining.
The sources also revealed that the de-miners also found a lot of unexploded landmines and explosives in the area.
Though people have been permitted to resettle in many parts of Mannaar district Naachchikkuda is not one of them.
Even the de-mining activities are carried out under the strict supervision of the SLA in Naachchikkudaa.
SLA authorities have refused to release any information about the mass grave.
Meanwhile, on 08 October 2009, Parliamentary Group Leader of the Tamil National Alliance (TNA), R. Sampathan said in Sri Lanka Parliament that, “The Sri Lanka government fears that, if the international community gets involved in the de-mining, they may stumble on to mass graves of Tamil victims killed during the last stages of fighting between the Sri Lanka military and the Tamil Tigers," accusing the Sri Lankan government of refusing to accept foreign assistance towards the de-mining.
Citing photo evidence, HRW calls for UN war crimes probes
Citing photographic evidence in its possession of war crimes committed in Sri Lanka in early 2009, Human Rights Watch (HRW) Thursday joined a chorus of calls this week for an independent international investigation into violations of the laws of war during the closing months of Sri Lanka’s campaign against the Tamil Tigers. Calling on the United Nations Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon to promptly establish an international investigation to examine allegations of wartime abuse by both sides to the conflict, HRW said it has examined more than 200 photos taken on the front lines in early 2009 by a soldier from the Sri Lankan Army’s Air Mobile Brigade. The pictures include a series showing a captured long-standing LTTE Political Wing cadre being executed by Sri Lankan troops, probably after torture, as well as the possible rape or mutilation of LTTE women cadres.
The full text of a press statement by HRW follows:
Sri Lanka: New Evidence of Wartime Abuses
Government Inquiry Inadequate; UN Should Establish International Investigation
(New York, May 20, 2010) – New evidence of wartime abuses by Sri Lankan government forces and the separatist Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE) during the armed conflicted that ended one year ago demonstrates the need for an independent international investigation into violations of the laws of war, Human Rights Watch said today. Recently Human Rights Watch research gathered photographic evidence and accounts by witnesses of atrocities by both sides during the final months of fighting.
On May 23, 2009, President Mahinda Rajapaksa promised United Nations Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon that the government would investigate allegations of laws-of-war violations. One year later, the government has still not undertaken any meaningful investigatory steps, Human Rights Watch said.
Last week, the government created a Lessons Learnt and Reconciliation Commission with a mandate to examine the failure of the 2002 ceasefire and the “sequence of events” thereafter. It is not empowered to investigate allegations of violations of the laws of war such as those documented by Human Rights Watch.
“Yet another feckless commission is a grossly inadequate response to the numerous credible allegations of war crimes,” said Elaine Pearson, acting Asia director at Human Rights Watch. “Damning new evidence of abuses shows why the UN should not let Sri Lanka sweep these abuses under the carpet.”
Human Rights Watch called on Secretary-General Ban to promptly establish an international investigation to examine allegations of wartime abuse by both sides to the conflict.
New Evidence of Wartime Violations
Human Rights Watch has examined more than 200 photos taken on the front lines in early 2009 by a soldier from the Sri Lankan Air Mobile Brigade. Among these are a series of five photos showing a man who appears to have been captured by the Sri Lankan army. An independent source identified the man by name and told Human Rights Watch that he was a long-term member of the LTTE’s political wing from Jaffna.
The first two photos show the man alive, with blood on his face and torso, tied to a palm tree. He is surrounded by several men wearing military fatigues, one brandishing a knife close to his face. In the next three photos, the man is lying – apparently dead – against a rock. His head is being held up, he is partly covered in the flag of Tamil Eelam, and there is more blood on his face and upper body.
A forensic expert who reviewed the photos told Human Rights Watch that the latter three photos show material on the man’s neck consistent in color with brain matter, “which would indicate an injury to the back of his head, as nothing is visible which would cause this on his face. This would indicate severe trauma to the back of the head consistent with something like a gunshot wound or massive blows to the back of the head with something such as a machete or ax.”
While Human Rights Watch cannot conclusively determine that the man was summarily executed in custody, the available evidence indicates that a full investigation is warranted.
Several of the photos also show what appear to be dead women in LTTE uniforms with their shirts pulled up and their pants pulled down, raising concerns that they might have been sexually abused or their corpses mutilated. Again, such evidence is not conclusive but shows the need for an investigation.
The new accounts by witnesses described indiscriminate shelling of large gatherings of civilians during the last weeks of fighting, apparently by government forces. In addition to an incident on April 8, 2009, previously reported, witnesses told Human Rights Watch about three other incidents in late April and early May 2009 of government forces shelling civilians, mainly women and children, who were standing in food distribution lines. The witnesses also described LTTE recruitment of children and LTTE attacks on civilians attempting to escape the war zone.
Government’s Failure to Investigate Abuses
The Lessons Learnt and Reconciliation Commission created on May 17, 2010 is the latest in a long line of ad hoc bodies in Sri Lanka that seem designed to deflect international criticism rather than to uncover the facts. The mandated focus of the commission – on the failure of the 2002 ceasefire – is largely unrelated to the massive abuses by both government forces and the LTTE in the last months of hostilities. Nor does the commission appear to have been designed to uncover new information: the commission’s terms of reference do not provide for adequate victim and witness protection.
The government-appointed chairman of the commission, Chitta Ranjan de Silva, is a former attorney general who came under serious criticism for his office’s alleged interference in the work of the 2006 Presidential Commission of Inquiry. The attorney general’s role was one of the main reasons why a group of 10 international experts, the International Independent Group of Eminent Persons (IIGEP), withdrew from monitoring the commission’s work. The IIGEP stated that it had “not been able to conclude…that the proceedings of the Commission have been transparent or have satisfied basic international norms and standards.”
“De Silva was the architect and enforcer of the attorney general’s conflict of interest role with respect to the 2006 commission,” said Arthur Dewey, former US assistant secretary of state for the Bureau of Population, Refugees, and Migration and member of the IIGEP. “Nothing good for human rights or reconciliation is likely to come from anything in which De Silva is involved.”
The government has also yet to publish the findings from a committee established in November 2009 to examine allegations of laws-of-war violations set out in a report produced last year by the US State Department, despite an April 2010 deadline.
Sri Lanka has a long history of establishing ad hoc commissions to deflect international criticism over its poor human rights record and widespread impunity, Human Rights Watch said. Since independence in 1948, Sri Lanka has established at least nine such commissions, none of which have produced any significant results.
On March 5, Secretary-General Ban told President Rajapaksa that he had decided to appoint a UN panel of experts to advise him on next steps for accountability in Sri Lanka. The Sri Lankan government responded by attacking Ban for interfering in domestic affairs, calling the panel “unwarranted” and “uncalled for.” Two months later, Ban has yet to appoint any members to his panel.
“Ban’s inaction is sending a signal to abusers that simply announcing meaningless commissions and making loud noises can block all efforts for real justice,” Pearson said. “The only way to ensure accountability in Sri Lanka is to establish an independent international investigation.”
The full text of a press statement by HRW follows:
Sri Lanka: New Evidence of Wartime Abuses
Government Inquiry Inadequate; UN Should Establish International Investigation
(New York, May 20, 2010) – New evidence of wartime abuses by Sri Lankan government forces and the separatist Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE) during the armed conflicted that ended one year ago demonstrates the need for an independent international investigation into violations of the laws of war, Human Rights Watch said today. Recently Human Rights Watch research gathered photographic evidence and accounts by witnesses of atrocities by both sides during the final months of fighting.
On May 23, 2009, President Mahinda Rajapaksa promised United Nations Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon that the government would investigate allegations of laws-of-war violations. One year later, the government has still not undertaken any meaningful investigatory steps, Human Rights Watch said.
Last week, the government created a Lessons Learnt and Reconciliation Commission with a mandate to examine the failure of the 2002 ceasefire and the “sequence of events” thereafter. It is not empowered to investigate allegations of violations of the laws of war such as those documented by Human Rights Watch.
“Yet another feckless commission is a grossly inadequate response to the numerous credible allegations of war crimes,” said Elaine Pearson, acting Asia director at Human Rights Watch. “Damning new evidence of abuses shows why the UN should not let Sri Lanka sweep these abuses under the carpet.”
Human Rights Watch called on Secretary-General Ban to promptly establish an international investigation to examine allegations of wartime abuse by both sides to the conflict.
New Evidence of Wartime Violations
Human Rights Watch has examined more than 200 photos taken on the front lines in early 2009 by a soldier from the Sri Lankan Air Mobile Brigade. Among these are a series of five photos showing a man who appears to have been captured by the Sri Lankan army. An independent source identified the man by name and told Human Rights Watch that he was a long-term member of the LTTE’s political wing from Jaffna.
The first two photos show the man alive, with blood on his face and torso, tied to a palm tree. He is surrounded by several men wearing military fatigues, one brandishing a knife close to his face. In the next three photos, the man is lying – apparently dead – against a rock. His head is being held up, he is partly covered in the flag of Tamil Eelam, and there is more blood on his face and upper body.
A forensic expert who reviewed the photos told Human Rights Watch that the latter three photos show material on the man’s neck consistent in color with brain matter, “which would indicate an injury to the back of his head, as nothing is visible which would cause this on his face. This would indicate severe trauma to the back of the head consistent with something like a gunshot wound or massive blows to the back of the head with something such as a machete or ax.”
While Human Rights Watch cannot conclusively determine that the man was summarily executed in custody, the available evidence indicates that a full investigation is warranted.
Several of the photos also show what appear to be dead women in LTTE uniforms with their shirts pulled up and their pants pulled down, raising concerns that they might have been sexually abused or their corpses mutilated. Again, such evidence is not conclusive but shows the need for an investigation.
The new accounts by witnesses described indiscriminate shelling of large gatherings of civilians during the last weeks of fighting, apparently by government forces. In addition to an incident on April 8, 2009, previously reported, witnesses told Human Rights Watch about three other incidents in late April and early May 2009 of government forces shelling civilians, mainly women and children, who were standing in food distribution lines. The witnesses also described LTTE recruitment of children and LTTE attacks on civilians attempting to escape the war zone.
Government’s Failure to Investigate Abuses
The Lessons Learnt and Reconciliation Commission created on May 17, 2010 is the latest in a long line of ad hoc bodies in Sri Lanka that seem designed to deflect international criticism rather than to uncover the facts. The mandated focus of the commission – on the failure of the 2002 ceasefire – is largely unrelated to the massive abuses by both government forces and the LTTE in the last months of hostilities. Nor does the commission appear to have been designed to uncover new information: the commission’s terms of reference do not provide for adequate victim and witness protection.
The government-appointed chairman of the commission, Chitta Ranjan de Silva, is a former attorney general who came under serious criticism for his office’s alleged interference in the work of the 2006 Presidential Commission of Inquiry. The attorney general’s role was one of the main reasons why a group of 10 international experts, the International Independent Group of Eminent Persons (IIGEP), withdrew from monitoring the commission’s work. The IIGEP stated that it had “not been able to conclude…that the proceedings of the Commission have been transparent or have satisfied basic international norms and standards.”
“De Silva was the architect and enforcer of the attorney general’s conflict of interest role with respect to the 2006 commission,” said Arthur Dewey, former US assistant secretary of state for the Bureau of Population, Refugees, and Migration and member of the IIGEP. “Nothing good for human rights or reconciliation is likely to come from anything in which De Silva is involved.”
The government has also yet to publish the findings from a committee established in November 2009 to examine allegations of laws-of-war violations set out in a report produced last year by the US State Department, despite an April 2010 deadline.
Sri Lanka has a long history of establishing ad hoc commissions to deflect international criticism over its poor human rights record and widespread impunity, Human Rights Watch said. Since independence in 1948, Sri Lanka has established at least nine such commissions, none of which have produced any significant results.
On March 5, Secretary-General Ban told President Rajapaksa that he had decided to appoint a UN panel of experts to advise him on next steps for accountability in Sri Lanka. The Sri Lankan government responded by attacking Ban for interfering in domestic affairs, calling the panel “unwarranted” and “uncalled for.” Two months later, Ban has yet to appoint any members to his panel.
“Ban’s inaction is sending a signal to abusers that simply announcing meaningless commissions and making loud noises can block all efforts for real justice,” Pearson said. “The only way to ensure accountability in Sri Lanka is to establish an independent international investigation.”
British MPs call for war crimes probes at Mu’l’livaaykkaal Remembrance
Parliamentarians from all three main British political parties addressed a rally Tuesday at Westminster to commemorate the forty thousand Tamil civilians massacred last year by the Sri Lankan government forces during the closing months of the island’s civil war. Addressing 10,000 people who filled the permitted space in Parliament Square, MPs from the Conservative and Liberal Democrat parties, which comprise Britain’s new ruling coalition, and the main opposition Labour party were united in their condemnation of the war crimes and the need for international action on Sri Lanka’s war crimes.
"There should be an international independent investigation into the war crime charges against the Government of Sri Lanka" said Lee Scott, Conservative MP (Ilford North). He pledged his unwavering support for the Tamil people.
"We have a new obligation as the parties in government, I promise that we will work with our friends in EU, Commonwealth and UN to bring peace and justice in Sri Lanka," said Simon Hughes Liberal Democrat MP (North Southwark and Bermondsey).
Mr. Hughes said this was the time for Tamils and their friends to stand together and take practical steps to advance their cause.
"The last year has proved to many people that the Sri-Lankan government is incapable of meeting the political needs of the Tamil people." Virendra Sharma, Labour MP (Ealing and Southall), and Chair of All-Party Parliamentary Group for Tamils (APPG-T) said.
Other Parliamentarians who addressed the rally included Tom Brake, Liberal Democrat MP (Carshalton and Wallington), Andrew George, Liberal Democrat MP (St Ives and the Isle of Scilly), Robert Halfon, Conservative MP (Harlow), John Mann, Labour MP (Bassetlaw), Keith Vaz, Labour MP (Leicester East), John McDonnell, Labour MP (Hayes and Harlington), and Barry Gardiner, Labour MP (Brent North).
Other parliamentarians joined the crowd briefly at various times during the 4:00 to 8:00 p.m. rally.
Amongst the other speakers to address the rally were James Allie, Liberal Democrat Councillor (Brent), Robert Evans, former Labour MEP, Julian Bell, Labour Coucillor (Ealing), Mr Gupta, General Secretary, Hindu Council UK and Graham Williamson of campaign group ‘Act Now’.
A survivor of the slaughter in Vanni, who escaped from Muliyavaikkal on May 18 last year, shared his experiences of losing his father and cousins, of seeing people blown up in front of his eyes.
“We took the injured to hospitals, and they [the Sri Lankan government] targeted the hospitals,” he said.
He spoke of the shortage of food, especially milk powder for the babies. He mentioned seeing people queuing up for food and milk powder, only to have the queues shelled and bombed. “As the little food and milk powder the people had was being handed out, [the government] killed those in the lines,” he said.
“We believed our people protesting overseas would save us, but it did not happen. All the world countries were against us,” he noted.
The event began with a moment of silence in the memory of all those who had died, followed by the floral tribute in front of a ‘40,000’ sign, commemorating the lives lost. It concluded with a candle light vigil and those presenting taking an oath to not rest until the Tamils who remain in the camps are freed and justice is achieved for those who died.
In bleak contrast to the 72-day protests at the same location last year, Tuesday’s gathering was far more sombre, recalling the atrocities that could not be averted by the international community and reflection on the ongoing sufferings of their kith and kin in Sri Lanka, a statement by the organizers said.
Representatives from British Tamils Forum (BTF) and Tamil Youth Organisation (TYO) handed a memorandum at the Houses of Parliament calling on the British Government to use her leverage on trade through permanent withdrawal of GSP+ and prevention of IMF loan to exert pressure on the Sri Lankan government to uphold international law.
“British Tamils called on Britain to use her standing in the commonwealth, European Union, the UN, as well as her influence on other powerful nations and to ensure an independent international inquiry into the war crimes committed against the Tamil people during the war is initiated to bring the perpetrators to justice,” a statement from the organizers said.
Tamils Need Justice and Protection
On the 1st anniversary of the massacre of nearly 40,000 Tamil people by the Sri Lankan state, we the Tamil people of the Diaspora and other peace loving people are gathered here today to remember those who died as well as those who had their lives shattered by the physical and mental scars inflicted upon them. Heavy weaponry was used by the military during the offensive on densely populated areas and designated “Safe Zones”. Cluster bombs and chemical weapons were also alleged to have been used in the onslaught.
We are here to remind the world that the perpetrators of these heinous crimes against humanity are still at large and are still charged with governance to continue with their genocidal programme against the Tamil people in Sri Lanka. Evidence gathered by International Crisis Group in a report released on 17 May 2010 provides reasonable grounds to believe that government security forces “repeatedly and intentionally” violated international law by attacking civilians, hospitals and humanitarian operations.
Today the Tamil people have been left totally defenceless and in danger of obliteration in their own homeland under the jack boot of the Sinhala armed forces of Sri Lanka. Over 80,000 Tamil people are still held in concentration camps guarded by the Sinhala armed forces. Over 11,000 Tamil youth are held in undisclosed torture camps with scant disregard to their human rights. Local media reports give gruesome accounts of the fate of these youth who are held without accountability.
The Sri Lankan government is continuing to decimate the Tamil homeland. The land and property belonging to the Tamil people are being plundered by Sinhala settlers with state patronage. The street names and sign boards are being changed from Tamil to Sinhala, Tamil historical and religious sites are being destroyed and replaced by Buddhist temples across the traditionally Tamil North and East regions. The Tamil people face existential threat of unprecedented proportions whilst the world media and international attention is kept away by the Sri Lankan state. The Tamils have become a community in danger in their own homeland.
“UN was paralysed when political and diplomatic intervention was required to protect Tamil civilians in the Sri Lankan government campaign to wipe out the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam,” Lord Patton, Chancellor of University of Oxford, commented in an article in Financial Times in reference to UN’s inability to uphold the principle of Responsibility to Protect (R2P) to prevent such atrocities.
Britain’s Responsibility to Protect
Owing to Britain’s political involvement in the history of the island, the Tamil people have reason to expect the British government to take decisive and effective measures to protect the Tamil community from total annihilation. The Sri Lankan government, embolden by its support from anti-Western alliances, continues to ignore with utter contempt all calls to respect international norms on human rights.
British Tamils want Britain to use her leverage on trade through permanent withdrawal of GSP+, prevention of IMF loan and her standing in the commonwealth, European Union, the UN, as well as her influence on other powerful nations to exert pressure on the Sri Lankan government to,
•Uphold international law and release all the people held in concentration camps across the island and resettle them in their places of origin
•End illegal, indefinite and arbitrary detention of more than 11,000 youths held in so-called rehabilitation centres and be given access to legal representation
•Allow unhindered access to the international media and aid agencies to the North & East of the island of Sri Lanka
•Halt all Sinhalisation of the Tamil areas, ethnic cleansing and decimation of the North & East
We want the British Government to ensure that,
•International aid is not diverted to purposes other than those for which it was entrusted to the Government of Sri Lanka
•The Tamil people are protected from ethnic cleansing and annihilation by the Sinhala State.
•An independent international inquiry into the war crimes committed against the Tamil people during the war is initiated and the perpetrators are brought to book.
Tuesday, May 18, 2010
‘Transnational Government of Tamil Eelam’ (TGTE) to Get UN Recognition Either as a UN Non-Member State or as a UN Observer
TGTE inaugurated in transnational way, Ramsey Clark stresses importance of history
87 of 115 representatives of the Transnational Government of Tamil Eelam (TGTE) already declared elected from 11 countries are meeting in three spots of the world, in the US city of Philadelphia, in London and in Geneva, in a 3 day inaugural session from 17 to 19 May. The Tamil Eelam flag was hoisted and a representative from each country addressed the public stating that the goal of the TGTE should be the formation of independent and sovereign state of Tamil Eelam in the North and East of the island of Sri Lanka. William Ramsey Clark, a former US Attorney General, was one of the keynote speakers of the inaugural event. He characterized the move to form the transnational government a “brave initiative to find the wisdom and the courage to achieve – as it was for many centuries – a free and independent Tamil Eelam.” …………..
Monday, May 17, 2010
Vanni ban leaves little to take
A note at the bottom of a circular by Sri Lanka's Ministry of Defence listing the things that are not allowed to the Vanni sent to government officials in Vavuniya, reveals the extensive and arbitrary manner in which Colombo's economic embargo is imposed on the northern region.
"A person can/should be stopped from taking things with him on the advice of an authorised officer. Even permitted items can be stopped at the last moment on the basis of information received by the army about the future needs and plans of the terrorists. Soldiers at the checkpoint can decide whether a person should be stopped from passing through or whether to postpone the checking of his bags," the note says. "The list of banned and permitted items displayed here to the public and government departments is totally deceptive. In effect, an officer or soldier has the right and authority to stop anything from being taken to Vanni purely at their discretion," explained an official at the Vavuniya District secretariat Monday.
The special gazette notification (No. 867/12) listing the items banned was issued on 20 April 1995. There is neither a Tamil nor English translation available in Vavuniya, the border town from which people begin their hazardous journey to the Vanni.
Soldiers at the Piramanalankulam check point, which is the main entry point between the Vanni and the Sri Lanka army controlled part of the Vavuniya district, seized goods ranging from Nylon ropes to sanitary napkins from travellers and burnt these in the evenings on days when the public was allowed to pass through. The Vavuniya district judge M.Ilancheliyan gave a directive earlier this month that the practice was not legal even in the context of the sweeping and arbitrary powers granted to the Sri Lanka Army (SLA) under the Emergency Regulations and the special gazette notification of April 95.
S.Lanka slammed over civilian deaths
COLOMBO (AFP) – The Sri Lankan government killed thousands of its civilians by shelling "no-fire zones" in the last months of the country's decades-long civil war that ended a year ago, an independent group said Monday.
The Brussels-based International Crisis Group urged the United Nations and Sri Lanka's aid donors to press for a war crimes investigation into the military offensive that finally crushed the separatist Tamil Tiger guerrillas
The ICG said the military encouraged hundreds of thousands of Tamil civilians to move into government-declared "no-fire zones" and then subjected them to "repeated and increasingly intense artillery and mortar barrages."
"This continued through May despite the government and security forces knowing the size and location of the civilian population and scale of civilian casualties," the ICG charged.
It repeated allegations that government troops also intentionally shelled hospitals as well as aid operations run by international relief agencies.
"The consequences of the security forces' shelling were made substantially worse by the government's obstruction of food and medical treatment for the civilian population," it added.
The report, released on Monday, said Sri Lanka's leaders must be held accountable for the civilian deaths, and it also blamed the Tamil Tigers for war atrocities.
"The substantial body of evidence collected by the Crisis Group since August 2009 offers a compelling case for investigation of the conduct of hostilities and the role of the military and political leadership on both sides," it said.
The ICG said it had collected eyewitness statements as well as hundreds of photographs, videos, satellite images, electronic communications and documents from multiple sources to support the charges
TGTE Elections in Canada - Candidates and their responses
The election for the Transnational Government of Tamil Eelam is to take place on Sunday, May 2, 2010, in Canada.
Tamilcanadian.com, in its continued effort to inform our readers, sent a questionnaire seeking responses on eight questions. The questions are outlined below. We received 6 responses from the candidates so far. We have included all six of the responses herein.
We note that while we attempt to inform our readers of the process, candidates, and their respective positions, we do not endorse any of the candidates. It is noteworthy, and disappointing, that all the candidates did not chose to submit responses and make their views known to the public.
Sri Lanka accused of war crimes in final onslaught
An investigation into the last months of Sri Lanka's bloody civil war released yesterday claims that government forces were responsible for the deaths of tens of thousands more civilians than previously estimated, and targeted hospitals and humanitarian operations as part of their final onslaught on the rebel Tamil Tigers.
According to the International Crisis Group study, many thousands more people may have died in the operation than UN figures have suggested, with as many as 75,000 citizens unaccounted for, and almost all of the deaths in the so-called "No-Fire Zone" due to government fire.
The study also claims that the government shelled hospitals where it knew international NGO staff and civilians to be working or receiving treatment. "The Sri Lankan government committed war crimes with top government and military leaders potentially responsible," it says. "An international inquiry into alleged crimes is essential."
The Sri Lankan government has refused to comment on the report, the most comprehensive account of the violence that ended a year ago today. Senior officials have insisted in the past that there were no civilian casualties in the last months of the war.
At the weekend the Sunday Observer newspaper, widely considered a government mouthpiece, claimed that the report was part of a plot to promote former army head Sarath Fonseka at the expense of President Mahinda Rajapaksa. Fonseka was imprisoned after he lost the post-war election to Rajapaksa, accused of participating in political activity while still in uniform.
Yesterday the government gave details of its own proposed 'reconciliation commission', which would suggest methods for promoting national unity and determine compensation for those affected by the war with the Tamil Tigers, or Liberation Tamil Tigers of Eelam (LTTE).
The proposals stop short of any investigation into violations of humanitarian law. "The only chance of credible scrutiny is by outsiders," said Alan Keenan, Crisis Group's Sri Lanka project director. "There has never been a credible internal process."
Although the US Permanent Representative to the UN, Susan Rice, last week welcomed Sri Lanka's planned reconciliation commission, she cautioned that it did need "to probe violations of international standards during the final stages of the conflict", and there has long been scepticism about the Colombo government's willingness to sanction a full investigation. One foreign diplomat based in Colombo is quoted in the Crisis Group report as saying in November last year: "The regime isn't going to disembowel itself."
The long-running civil war in Sri Lanka reached its zenith in the early months of 2009, when the government pinned the rebels down in an ever-shrinking "No-Fire Zone" (NFZ) on the country's northern coast. The death toll has always been murky because reporters and independent observers were barred from the area. The UN put the toll before the final period of fighting at around 7,000, while Crisis Group points out that around 365,000 civilians were known to be alive in the NFZ in February last year – and only 290,000 survivors registered in government-run camps three months later.
Slim hopes of a UN-led inquiry now rest with the Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon, since both the Security Council and Human Rights Council have declined opportunities to take Sri Lanka to task.
According to Crisis Group's president Louise Arbour, the lack of consequences for President Rajapaksa makes it more likely that other conflicts will be conducted in similar style in future, and provides no incentive for the draconian Sri Lankan regime to change its approach. "The means are so attractive," she said. "Why would you restrict yourself to doing it just once?"
Crisis Group also suggested that India and the United States failed to do enough to discourage Rajapaksa at the time of the conflict.
TGTE inaugurated in transnational way, Ramsey Clark stresses importance of history
87 of 115 representatives of the Transnational Government of Tamil Eelam (TGTE) already declared elected from 11 countries are meeting in three spots of the world, in the US city of Philadelphia, in London and in Geneva, in a 3 day inaugural session from 17 to 19 May. The Tamil Eelam flag was hoisted and a representative from each country addressed the public stating that the goal of the TGTE should be the formation of independent and sovereign state of Tamil Eelam in the North and East of the island of Sri Lanka. William Ramsey Clark, a former US Attorney General, was one of the keynote speakers of the inaugural event. He characterized the move to form the transnational government a "brave initiative to find the wisdom and the courage to achieve - as it was for many centuries - a free and independent Tamil Eelam."
The 82-year-old Ramsey Clark, who was a prominent figure in the anti-Vietnam War moment, had functioned as the Election Commissioner of the TGTE elections in the USA.
"I need to tell you that your challenge is enormous […] Freedom is possible. But you have to work awfully hard at it. And you have to be right. You have to convince other people that you are right. […] You need to know your history. You need to persist your history and need to have your history understood that you were a uniquely different people than the Sinhalese on the same island," Clark said.
"Resolve your differences together openly and frankly wherever it occurs outright and quickly, and abide by the agreement
that you reach," Mr. Clark said elaborating how the American nation was made possible with unity as an unprecedented force to achieve independence. "To divide and conquer a dispersed people is an easy thing to do," he warned.
Francis Boyle, a professor of international law, Domach Wal Ruach, the secretary general of Sudan People’s Liberation Movement (SPLM) USA and Janani Jananayagam, a British Tamil activist engaged in awareness campaign on Tamil genocide were the other speakers in the inauguration ceremony.
Congratulating the members of TGTE, Domach Wal Ruach of the SPLM-USA said: "Although results are not seen overnight, I think what you have done now is a step towards right direction. We have been there and we are getting close to it now. The struggle is not easy. There are setbacks. But, you have to be steadfast. You owe it to the young generation. They are coming to you. If you don't do it now, no-one else would do it and the entire generations would be
lost."
"I want to tell you that, through collective work, diaspora is one of the component. Our leader commanded the largest single rebel groups ever. And yet, we were not able to win, militarily," he said and added: "The most important organic guarantee that you could always have, is your diaspora." Explaining the history of the Sudanese struggle and how the SPLM organized the diapora in grass-root level.
He further claimed that the US had done magnificent help to Sudanese. "I don't think we could have done this without the United States of America," he told the TGTE members who were gathered at the Philadelphia National Constitution Centre (NCC): "They helped us so much. I want to thank them again once more. The peace agreement is still unimplemented, but we are hopeful that in January next year, we will be an independent state," he said. "That has cost us 2.5 millions of peoples lives, dead."
Professor N. Sriskandarajah, a member of the advisory panel, who invited the elected members of the TGTE for the inauguration meeting, had set the agenda for the session. In an invitation to the elected, Prof Sriskandarajah had outlined the following agenda in advance: "The elected body will be transformed into a Constituent Assembly, an Interim Chief Executive and a small executive committee to manage this process elected, important themes for the Constituent Assembly discussed, agreed on and teams created, and a number of working groups for important and immediate tasks also elected."
The main venue of the event was changed from London to Philadelphia in short notice. However, virtual participation through video conferencing from London and Geneva has worked satisfactory on Monday as it was a session of presentations.
"Despite the issues of sectarian politics involved in the pre-formation process of the democratic exercise and the conceptual concerns, the people have had their say in electing their representatives. The representatives have also clearly expressed what they stand for in their addresses. It is now up to the elected to prove their credibility in the formation process," commented a diaspora analyst, following the developments.
The inauguration commenced at 13:00 on Monday and is scheduled to conclude by 13:00 on Wednesday.
Sunday, May 16, 2010
California street fair embraces Sri Lanka boycott message
Members of the US-based Tamil political action group, USTPAC Boycott Campaign, joined the madness at the 11th annual How Weird Street Faire in San Francisco on Sunday, May 9th 2010 to publicize the group's mission to the attendees to event, organizers of the Tamil group said. Twenty-foot tall banners advertising the “No Blood for Panties” video series on boycotting apparel made in Sri Lanka adorned the backdrop of the catwalk, according to activists participating in the street fair.
The annual event, inspired in 2000 by a small group promoting world peace through technology, brought nearly 12,000 fans in a global celebration of art, music and international culture from vendors and non-profit organizations across the world.
This year’s theme was “Bollyweird: The cosmic Dance” and included ten music stages, a mock Hindu temple, fantastic costumes, food and other festivities spread across ten city blocks.
New this year was Fashion Alley that included a fashion runway featuring top local designers and models who introduced the concept of “conscious consumerism” and “designer activism”.
Models in lingerie and USTPAC's boycott message of “check the label“ were cheered on by an appreciative crowd and captured on numerous cameras, organizers said.
Protesters explained that textiles were the biggest export earner bringing foreign revenue to Sri Lanka and how that foreign exchange was being used by the government to maintain its military whose sole purpose is to oppress the Tamil people.
"Many at the Faire were shocked to hear about the human rights abuses, tens of thousands of internally displaced persons who still remain in internment camps even after the civil war ended a year ago and the war crimes that remain uninvestigated despite efforts by human rights organizations, the United Nations and the US State Department," spokesperson for the protesters said.
"Those who heard our story were sympathetic to our cause and extremely supportive of our campaign. They were willing to sign petitions and promised to boycott clothes made in Sri Lanka. Several models and colorfully attired attendees at the Faire asked to hold our boycott banners. Some even danced with them, adding to the attention they drew from the crowds," the spokesperson further said.
The open-minded ambiance of the Fair turned out to be an appropriate setting for the boycott campaign message, and the protesters were able to pass a serious message of boycotting clothes made in Sri Lanka to the attendees, USTPAC's spokespersons said
Friday, May 14, 2010
TamilNet: 14.05.10 Lest We Forget: Children affected by Genocidal War Crimes of Colombo
TamilNet: 14.05.10 Lest We Forget: Children affected by Genocidal War Crimes of Colombo: "Lest We Forget: Children affected by Genocidal War Crimes of Colombo"
Thought crime, torture and kingly fiat
Tissainayagam’s pardon is clearly an act of Sri Lanka’s international diplomacy, an act made possible by the complete absence of the rule of law as an operating principle in its legal system,” writes a columnist in the Tamil Guardian newspaper. “[While] the legal system’s ability to convict Tissainayagam on the basis of a confession obtained under torture on charges that amount to accusations ‘thought crime’ reveal that Sri Lanka has fully departed from the principles of the rule of law […] the Presidential pardon echoes medieval forms of justice dispensed as royal patronage and is in keeping with Sinhala leaders’ proclivity for styling themselves as mythical Sinhala rulers.”
The full text of the op-ed follows:
The detention, trial, imprisonment and subsequent pardon of the journalist Tissainayagam reveals that the rule of law no longer applies in Sri Lanka. Tissanayagam’s almost two and a half year ordeal by law sets out the extent to which the law in Sri Lanka has become an instrument of political and ethnic coercion rather than the guarantor of justice, rights and stability.
After months of mounting international pressure, it appears that Tissainayagam will finally be pardoned by Presidential decree - an outcome that does little to restore faith in the system whilst revealing that Sri Lanka’s legalised capacity for violence and coercion can only be restrained by international intervention.
The conditions of Tissainayagam’s detention as well as the charges that were laid against him violated all the fundamental principles that guarantee the law’s compliance with the principle of the rule of law. Despite all of this Sri Lanka’s legal system delivered a verdict of guilty and in accordance with its own distorted principles sentenced him to twenty years of imprisonment.
Kept in detention for months without charge Tissainayagam and the other Tamil journalists were subject to abuse including the extraction of forced confessions. They were denied proper access to defence and police officers supervised the few meetings the defendants were allowed with their lawyers.
Not only was Tissainayagam finally convicted and sentenced on the basis of a forced conviction, the charges of ‘inciting communal hatred’ were also a clear violation of universally applicable norms regarding the reasonable expression of political dissent.
He was charged on the basis of articles and editorials that appeared in the English language North East Herald that reported on Sri Lanka’s military campaign from a Tamil perspective as a fundamental threat to Tamil lives, security and integrity of the Tamil polity.
Although there was nothing in this that could reasonably be interpreted as inciting communal hatred, it was of course fundamentally at odds with the mainstream Sri Lankan media’s depiction of the war as an epic struggle against terrorism which would finally liberate the Sinhala motherland from the clutches of LTTE separatism.
The legal system’s ability to convict Tissainayagam on the basis of a confession obtained under torture on charges that amount to accusations ‘thought crime’ reveal that Sri Lanka has fully departed from the principles of the rule of law.
The Sri Lankan president’s reported decision to pardon him does not restore legality or a sense of fairness to the conduct of this case. A presidential pardon is not the same as a legal acquittal and Tissanayagam’s life and freedom has ultimately been decided by presidential whim rather than the normal operation of an impersonal but just set of legal mechanisms.
The Presidential pardon echoes medieval forms of justice dispensed as royal patronage and is in keeping with Sinhala leaders’ proclivity for styling themselves as mythical Sinhala rulers.
Rajapakse associates himself with the fabled Duttugemunu, his predecessor Chandrika chose to mark the Sinhala military’s capture of Jaffna in a ‘royal’ style ritual in which she received the Tamil city that was renamed in Sinhala as ‘Yappapatune’. Meanwhile Sri Lanka’s first executive president Jeyawardene penned a treatise entitled ‘Golden Chains’ in which he presented himself as the latest in a 2,000 year line of Sinhala chieftains.
Not only does the pardon fail to exonerate Tissanayagam of the chilling charges of ‘thought crime’, it also fails to address the sinister provision of Sri Lanka’s anti terrorism legislation that leaves Tamils at the mercy of an ethnically biased legal system.
In June 2009 a report by the Human Rights Institute of the International Bar Association found that Tamils were left ‘unprotected’ in Sri Lanka’s legal system as the legal aid system, funded by the UN, operated a policy of not providing assistance to cases involving terrorism legislation. This has left many Tamils incarcerated for years at a time without hope of legal redress.
In October 2009 for example a Colombo based human rights group found a twenty nine year old Tamil youth in Welikada prison who had been detained for fifteen years, since the age of fourteen, under the terrorism legislation. He had not been charged or brought before a court and had been deprived of fifteen years of his youth for no apparent reason except that he was Tamil. There are possibly countless others in a similar situation.
Tissainayagam’s freedom was finally assured by his international profile which led to sustained pressure on his behalf. Tellingly it was Sri Lanka’s external affairs minister, G. L Pieris, who announced the pardon to the gathered international media. The pardon is clearly an act of Sri Lanka’s international diplomacy, an act made possible by the complete absence of the rule of law as an operating principle in its legal system.
Sri Lanka may hope that pardoning Tissainayagam will ease the international pressure, perhaps reversing the European Union’s suspension of preferential tariffs on the island’s key export, garments. However, the international community can no longer afford to be bought off with such superficial gestures.
Royal pardons have no place in a state that must now grow up and become a stable, inclusive and constitutional democracy. Sri Lanka’s legal, administrative and constitutional systems require a radical overhaul. As the outcome of Tissainayagam’s legal ordeal demonstrates, the only way this can be achieved is through sustained and ongoing international intervention.
Tuesday, May 11, 2010
Arbour to campaign for independent war-crimes inquiry in Sri Lanka
Louise Arbour, president of the NGO International Crisis Group (ICG) and former United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights, "will examine these allegations [of war crimes in Sri Lanka] and make the case for an independent international inquiry as a necessary step in making Sri Lanka's tenuous and bitter peace more just and sustainable," said a note sent to the invitees for a conference on "War Crimes in Sri Lanka" to be held Monday at the premises of the event's joint sponsor, Chatham House, London.
17th May falls on the first anniversary of the end of fighting in Sri Lanka when the Liberation Tigers' military leadership fought to death in the battle fields in Mullaitheevu shores.
Nearly 40,000 civilians were killed during the last 5 months of fighting according a former UN spokesperson.
The Sri Lankan security forces and the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE) repeatedly violated international humanitarian law during the last five months of their 30-year civil war. Although both sides committed atrocities throughout the conflict, there are credible accusations that the scale and nature of violations grew much worse from January 2009 to the government's declaration of victory in May," the note to the invitees further said.
Arbour is intimately familiar with Sri Lanka's history, war and the human rights situation that has been deteriorating for several years.
"Weakness of the rule of law and prevalence of impunity is alarming in Sri Lanka where critical elements for the protection of Human Rights have been undermined or compromised despite the existence of much of the necessary human rights institutional infrastructure," Arbour said in concluding her five-day mission to Sri Lanka in October 2007.
During the same visit, highlighting the reluctance of Sri Lanka in ratifying the Rome Treaty, Arbour said, "[i]n light of the documented violations of international humanitarian law, Sri Lanka should seriously consider joining the 105 countries which have ratified the Rome Treaty creating the International Crime Court."
A day before the 2002 Ceasefire Agreement in Sri Lanka was terminated by Colombo on the 16th January 2008, Louise Arbour, reminded the Government of Sri Lanka (GoSL) and the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE) of their obligations under international law to respect human rights. She warned that rights abuses “by any party could entail individual criminal responsibility under international criminal law, including by those in positions of command.”
Sri Lanka's diplomatic mission to the UN, rejected Arbour’s comments as “pathetically unenforceable threats,” and added that Sri Lanka “will not be deterred by thinly veiled threats attempting to undermine the morale of its military, deter its military campaigns and save separatist terrorism from elimination.”
Timed to coincide with the anniversary of the end of Sri Lanka's war, and the conclusion of parliamentary elections in Britain, ICG's conference comes in the wake of an announcement by Colombo that it is appointing a "Commission on Lessons Learned and Reconciliation," a tactic widely believed to be a subterfuge to deflect pressure from the international community for an independent investigation.
17th May falls on the first anniversary of the end of fighting in Sri Lanka when the Liberation Tigers' military leadership fought to death in the battle fields in Mullaitheevu shores.
Nearly 40,000 civilians were killed during the last 5 months of fighting according a former UN spokesperson.
The Sri Lankan security forces and the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE) repeatedly violated international humanitarian law during the last five months of their 30-year civil war. Although both sides committed atrocities throughout the conflict, there are credible accusations that the scale and nature of violations grew much worse from January 2009 to the government's declaration of victory in May," the note to the invitees further said.
Arbour is intimately familiar with Sri Lanka's history, war and the human rights situation that has been deteriorating for several years.
"Weakness of the rule of law and prevalence of impunity is alarming in Sri Lanka where critical elements for the protection of Human Rights have been undermined or compromised despite the existence of much of the necessary human rights institutional infrastructure," Arbour said in concluding her five-day mission to Sri Lanka in October 2007.
During the same visit, highlighting the reluctance of Sri Lanka in ratifying the Rome Treaty, Arbour said, "[i]n light of the documented violations of international humanitarian law, Sri Lanka should seriously consider joining the 105 countries which have ratified the Rome Treaty creating the International Crime Court."
A day before the 2002 Ceasefire Agreement in Sri Lanka was terminated by Colombo on the 16th January 2008, Louise Arbour, reminded the Government of Sri Lanka (GoSL) and the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE) of their obligations under international law to respect human rights. She warned that rights abuses “by any party could entail individual criminal responsibility under international criminal law, including by those in positions of command.”
Sri Lanka's diplomatic mission to the UN, rejected Arbour’s comments as “pathetically unenforceable threats,” and added that Sri Lanka “will not be deterred by thinly veiled threats attempting to undermine the morale of its military, deter its military campaigns and save separatist terrorism from elimination.”
Timed to coincide with the anniversary of the end of Sri Lanka's war, and the conclusion of parliamentary elections in Britain, ICG's conference comes in the wake of an announcement by Colombo that it is appointing a "Commission on Lessons Learned and Reconciliation," a tactic widely believed to be a subterfuge to deflect pressure from the international community for an independent investigation.
Monday, May 10, 2010
SL government stages hidden agenda in Jaffna peninsula – Suresh Premachandran MP
Suresh Premachandran, Tamil National Alliance (TNA) Jaffna district parliamentarian, accused Sri Lanka Government for purposely encouraging crimes in Jaffna peninsula such as abduction and killing for ransom, robbery, sexual abuse of lonely women so that it could continue to hold the peninsula in its authority, in a press meet held Monday at his Jaffna office. He further blamed the government for having abandoned the resettled civilians in Mullaiththeevu district who had been uprooted and detained during the war on Vanni.
Suresh Premachandran told the press that the government has no intention to withdraw its armed forces from Jaffna peninsula or to lift the various restrictions imposed on the people as it wants to hold on to the absolute power it enjoys in the place of its occupation.
He said that the government, with the help of Sri Lanka Army (SLA) Intelligence Wing and its soldiers, is carrying out criminal activities so as to create a situation where it can justify the presence of its armed forces in Jaffna peninsula to maintain law and order to the international countries and other people.
Commenting on the resettlement in Vanni, Suresh Premachadran accused the government for have taken the uprooted civilians to Mullaiththeevu for resettlement without any preparation and abandoned them there without offering assistance.
The resettled civilians have to manage on their own living under trees and tin sheets donated by India and other international countries, he said.
Even the school children have study under trees and temporary structures with tin sheets for roofs, he added.
Suresh Premachandran told the press that the government has no intention to withdraw its armed forces from Jaffna peninsula or to lift the various restrictions imposed on the people as it wants to hold on to the absolute power it enjoys in the place of its occupation.
He said that the government, with the help of Sri Lanka Army (SLA) Intelligence Wing and its soldiers, is carrying out criminal activities so as to create a situation where it can justify the presence of its armed forces in Jaffna peninsula to maintain law and order to the international countries and other people.
Commenting on the resettlement in Vanni, Suresh Premachadran accused the government for have taken the uprooted civilians to Mullaiththeevu for resettlement without any preparation and abandoned them there without offering assistance.
The resettled civilians have to manage on their own living under trees and tin sheets donated by India and other international countries, he said.
Even the school children have study under trees and temporary structures with tin sheets for roofs, he added.
SLA builds base on demolished LTTE War Heroes’ Resting Home in Uduppiddi
More than 200 Sri Lanka Army (SLA) soldiers are engaged in constructing a military base since Friday morning on the very place of E’l’aangku’lam Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE) War Heroes Resting Home in Vadmaraadchi which had been razed to the ground by SLA 03 May night using heavy equipments, sources in Jaffna said. Defence Secretary Gothabaya who recently visited Jaffna is understood to have issued the orders to demolish the above War Heroes Resting Home and to build a military base on the ground where it had stood, the sources said.
The remnants of the tombstones and other debris are taken away to the seashore and dumped.
Sri Lanka Army (SLA) in Jaffna using bulldozers had completely demolished E’l’laangku’lam Liberation Tiger War Heroes’ Resting Homes in Uduppiddi in Vadmaraadchi Monday night, former Tamil National Alliance (TNA) parliamentarian Sivajilingam said.
He told that local residents in Uduppiddi had conveyed the information by phone.
The remnants of the tombstones and other debris are taken away to the seashore and dumped.
Sri Lanka Army (SLA) in Jaffna using bulldozers had completely demolished E’l’laangku’lam Liberation Tiger War Heroes’ Resting Homes in Uduppiddi in Vadmaraadchi Monday night, former Tamil National Alliance (TNA) parliamentarian Sivajilingam said.
He told that local residents in Uduppiddi had conveyed the information by phone.
Colombo accelerates Sinhalicisation of Madu
Colombo has launched a large scale Sinhala colonisation at Madu Road Junction, located on Mannaar-Madawachchi Road, which branches off the main route to Madu shrine, situated in the middle of traditional Tamil area, by officially claiming to "resettle" 80 Sinhalese families after renovating a Buddhist temple into a large Vihara at the junction. Categorising the Sinhalese settlers as "Internally Displaced Persons," the Sri Lankan Defence Ministry officials said the Sinhalese "IDPs" had met Resettlement Minister Milroy Fernando and G.A. Chandrasri, the former SLA commander of Jaffna, who is serving as the Northern Province Governor, with the Chief Incumbent Buddhist Monk of the Vihara. Caritas, a Catholic agency for justice, peace and development has been pressurised to construct the houses for the Sinhalese settlers.
Madu is the famous pilgrim centre of Tamil Catholics, where even the Sinhalese Catholics of the western coast, who were Tamils a century ago, flock in for festivals. It is the symbol of Tamil Catholicism in the island of Sri Lanka and is already a declared forest sanctuary.
The colonisation scheme was begun in 1970s with a hidden motive of transforming the area into a full-fledged Sinhala colony, by using the lands of a cashew farm between the Madu Shrine and the junction.
However, the "settlement" was later abandoned, fearing repercussions following large-scale massacre and arson committed by the Sri Lanka Army in December 1984 after a landmine blast.
The geographical contiguity of Tamil Catholics along the western coast of Sri Lanka from Mannaar to Colombo has been already Sinhalacised in the Chilaapam (Chilaw) - Colombo sector through carefully planned social engineering, an act of cultural and demographic genocide similar to de-linking the contiguity of the Northern and Eastern provinces along the eastern coast.
Ko’ndachchi-Chilaavaththu’rai, Thalaimannaar Pier and Madu in Mannaar district are being particularly targeted for Sinhala-Buddhist colonies by Colombo's Defence and Resettlement ministries.
Madu is the famous pilgrim centre of Tamil Catholics, where even the Sinhalese Catholics of the western coast, who were Tamils a century ago, flock in for festivals. It is the symbol of Tamil Catholicism in the island of Sri Lanka and is already a declared forest sanctuary.
The colonisation scheme was begun in 1970s with a hidden motive of transforming the area into a full-fledged Sinhala colony, by using the lands of a cashew farm between the Madu Shrine and the junction.
However, the "settlement" was later abandoned, fearing repercussions following large-scale massacre and arson committed by the Sri Lanka Army in December 1984 after a landmine blast.
The geographical contiguity of Tamil Catholics along the western coast of Sri Lanka from Mannaar to Colombo has been already Sinhalacised in the Chilaapam (Chilaw) - Colombo sector through carefully planned social engineering, an act of cultural and demographic genocide similar to de-linking the contiguity of the Northern and Eastern provinces along the eastern coast.
Ko’ndachchi-Chilaavaththu’rai, Thalaimannaar Pier and Madu in Mannaar district are being particularly targeted for Sinhala-Buddhist colonies by Colombo's Defence and Resettlement ministries.
Colombo accelerates Sinhalicisation of Madu
Colombo has launched a large scale Sinhala colonisation at Madu Road Junction, located on Mannaar-Madawachchi Road, which branches off the main route to Madu shrine, situated in the middle of traditional Tamil area, by officially claiming to "resettle" 80 Sinhalese families after renovating a Buddhist temple into a large Vihara at the junction. Categorising the Sinhalese settlers as "Internally Displaced Persons," the Sri Lankan Defence Ministry officials said the Sinhalese "IDPs" had met Resettlement Minister Milroy Fernando and G.A. Chandrasri, the former SLA commander of Jaffna, who is serving as the Northern Province Governor, with the Chief Incumbent Buddhist Monk of the Vihara. Caritas, a Catholic agency for justice, peace and development has been pressurised to construct the houses for the Sinhalese settlers.
Madu is the famous pilgrim centre of Tamil Catholics, where even the Sinhalese Catholics of the western coast, who were Tamils a century ago, flock in for festivals. It is the symbol of Tamil Catholicism in the island of Sri Lanka and is already a declared forest sanctuary.
The colonisation scheme was begun in 1970s with a hidden motive of transforming the area into a full-fledged Sinhala colony, by using the lands of a cashew farm between the Madu Shrine and the junction.
However, the "settlement" was later abandoned, fearing repercussions following large-scale massacre and arson committed by the Sri Lanka Army in December 1984 after a landmine blast.
The geographical contiguity of Tamil Catholics along the western coast of Sri Lanka from Mannaar to Colombo has been already Sinhalacised in the Chilaapam (Chilaw) - Colombo sector through carefully planned social engineering, an act of cultural and demographic genocide similar to de-linking the contiguity of the Northern and Eastern provinces along the eastern coast.
Ko’ndachchi-Chilaavaththu’rai, Thalaimannaar Pier and Madu in Mannaar district are being particularly targeted for Sinhala-Buddhist colonies by Colombo's Defence and Resettlement ministries.
Video that reveals truth of Sri Lankan 'war crimes'
Phone video smuggled to Europe bolsters claims that Sri Lankan soldiers murdered Tamil prisoners
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Reuters
Sri Lankan Army commandoes
More pictures
The naked man, his hands bound behind his back, is pushed to the ground. Then a man in military uniform delivers a forceful kick to the back of the prisoner's head with the heel of his boot. As the prisoner slumps forward, another soldier points his automatic weapon and fires a single shot. The man's body jolts. "It's like he jumped," laughs one of the giggling soldiers.
As gunfire rattles, the camera pans left to reveal a further seven bloodstained bodies, all handcuffed and bound, and – with one exception – similarly naked, strewn on the ground. The camera then pans right again, as another naked man is forced to the ground and shot in the back of the head. This time the body falls backwards.
These scenes, captured on video, allegedly show extra-judicial killings of Tamils by Sri Lankan troops earlier this year in the bitter and bloody endgame of the country's civil war. As government forces made a decisive thrust into the stronghold of rebel forces to end the decades-long conflict, a Sri Lankan soldier apparently took this footage, which was then smuggled out of the country by activists. It may constitute the first hard evidence for those who believe war crimes were committed in the effort to crush the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE). The significance of this footage – particularly shocking for the seemingly casual way in which the killings were carried out – is even greater given the way that journalists and independent observers were prevented by the government from reaching the war zone. The UN has estimated that 10,000 civilians were killed in what was, in effect, a war with no outside witnesses.
Last night the Sri Lankan army dismissed the footage as the latest in a series of fabrications designed to damage the country's image. But campaigners and Tamil politicians said it was vital that a full inquiry be carried out into the alleged killings. UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon has voiced his support for an investigation into possible war crimes if convincing evidence emerged.
So too has Amnesty International's Asia-Pacific director, Sam Zarifi, who said: "We have received consistent reports that violations of the laws of war, as well as international human rights law, were committed by both sides in the conflict and we call once again for an international, independent and credible investigation into what took place during the final days of the conflict."
The footage was obtained by Journalists for Democracy in Sri Lanka (JDS), an organisation made up of several dozen Sri Lankan journalists who have fled into exile in recent years as the intimidation and killing of media professionals has soared. The group, whose members now live mostly in Europe, said the film was taken by a Sri Lankan soldier in January using his mobile phone as the army was battling to take the LTTE's de facto capital, Kilinochchi.
A spokesman for the group, who asked not be identified, said: "It was as if someone was filming it for fun. This was being circulated by the soldiers. It has been going round for a while. It was taken as if it was a souvenir." He said rumours of such footage had existed for a long time but that this was the first time such film had entered "the mainstream".There is no way to confirm the authenticity of the footage, first broadcast by Channel 4 News. Likewise, there is no way of proving that the people apparently shot dead are Tamils, as the JDS has claimed. But this is not the first time that images from the war zone, captured on mobile phones, have been circulated within Sri Lanka.
Earlier this year a man in the eastern city of Trincomalee showed The Independent pictures of a naked, dead woman. He said the woman was apparently an LTTE fighter, killed as government troops advanced on rebel positions to the north.
Nor is it the first time that the army has been accused of carrying out summary justice. In May, when the rebels' final position in the north-east was overrun by government soldiers and the LTTE's leader, Velupillai Prabhakaran, was killed, it emerged that two other leading rebels had been shot dead while trying to surrender. Tamils living outside Sri Lanka said the two men were carrying a white flag when they were shot by troops. A senior government official admitted that the two men had been trying to give themselves up for several days. At the time, the EU called for an inquiry into possible human rights abuses committed during the final months of the war.
A spokesman for the UN High Commissioner of Human Rights (UNHCR) said: "If it can be verified, this footage could be evidence of the sort of war crimes we fear were committed by both sides. We have repeatedly said there should be an investigations into the closing stages of the conflict. There needs to be some sort of accountability."
The final assault on the LTTE ended a war that had raged for almost three decades and cost at least 70,000 lives. The LTTE, fighting for a Tamil homeland, had long waged a brutal insurgency and used suicide bombers to attack both civilian and military targets. Since the war ended, the popularity of President Mahinda Rajapaksa, whose brother heads the powerful defence ministry, has soared among the country's Sinhala majority.
The resulting peace has also seen a 25 per cent increase in the number of visitors to Sri Lanka, lured by its beaches, tropical forests and gently paced culture. Already about 100,000 visitors from the UK travel to the island each year, according to the Sri Lankan tourist board, and officials are hopeful that the tourist numbers will increase further.
When he announced an end to the war, the president said that Sinhala, Tamils and Muslims must live as "equals". Yet some Tamils say the government has done little to placate its population or to offer them a political "settlement". This summer, in local elections held in the north, the government's party won in the city of Jaffna, but in Vavuniya victory went to the Tamil National Alliance (TNA), which has previously voiced some support for the LTTE.
Yesterday Sri Lankan opposition MPs urged the government to release nearly 300,000 war refugees held in state-run camps, saying the detentions brought discredit to the country.
"These camps stand as a symbol of shame and disgrace to our proud Sri Lankan history," said Mano Ganesan, an opposition MP and leader of a group calling itself Parliamentarians for Human Rights. "They are like prisons. People are kept against their will and that's illegal."
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Reuters
Sri Lankan Army commandoes
More pictures
The naked man, his hands bound behind his back, is pushed to the ground. Then a man in military uniform delivers a forceful kick to the back of the prisoner's head with the heel of his boot. As the prisoner slumps forward, another soldier points his automatic weapon and fires a single shot. The man's body jolts. "It's like he jumped," laughs one of the giggling soldiers.
As gunfire rattles, the camera pans left to reveal a further seven bloodstained bodies, all handcuffed and bound, and – with one exception – similarly naked, strewn on the ground. The camera then pans right again, as another naked man is forced to the ground and shot in the back of the head. This time the body falls backwards.
These scenes, captured on video, allegedly show extra-judicial killings of Tamils by Sri Lankan troops earlier this year in the bitter and bloody endgame of the country's civil war. As government forces made a decisive thrust into the stronghold of rebel forces to end the decades-long conflict, a Sri Lankan soldier apparently took this footage, which was then smuggled out of the country by activists. It may constitute the first hard evidence for those who believe war crimes were committed in the effort to crush the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE). The significance of this footage – particularly shocking for the seemingly casual way in which the killings were carried out – is even greater given the way that journalists and independent observers were prevented by the government from reaching the war zone. The UN has estimated that 10,000 civilians were killed in what was, in effect, a war with no outside witnesses.
Last night the Sri Lankan army dismissed the footage as the latest in a series of fabrications designed to damage the country's image. But campaigners and Tamil politicians said it was vital that a full inquiry be carried out into the alleged killings. UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon has voiced his support for an investigation into possible war crimes if convincing evidence emerged.
So too has Amnesty International's Asia-Pacific director, Sam Zarifi, who said: "We have received consistent reports that violations of the laws of war, as well as international human rights law, were committed by both sides in the conflict and we call once again for an international, independent and credible investigation into what took place during the final days of the conflict."
The footage was obtained by Journalists for Democracy in Sri Lanka (JDS), an organisation made up of several dozen Sri Lankan journalists who have fled into exile in recent years as the intimidation and killing of media professionals has soared. The group, whose members now live mostly in Europe, said the film was taken by a Sri Lankan soldier in January using his mobile phone as the army was battling to take the LTTE's de facto capital, Kilinochchi.
A spokesman for the group, who asked not be identified, said: "It was as if someone was filming it for fun. This was being circulated by the soldiers. It has been going round for a while. It was taken as if it was a souvenir." He said rumours of such footage had existed for a long time but that this was the first time such film had entered "the mainstream".There is no way to confirm the authenticity of the footage, first broadcast by Channel 4 News. Likewise, there is no way of proving that the people apparently shot dead are Tamils, as the JDS has claimed. But this is not the first time that images from the war zone, captured on mobile phones, have been circulated within Sri Lanka.
Earlier this year a man in the eastern city of Trincomalee showed The Independent pictures of a naked, dead woman. He said the woman was apparently an LTTE fighter, killed as government troops advanced on rebel positions to the north.
Nor is it the first time that the army has been accused of carrying out summary justice. In May, when the rebels' final position in the north-east was overrun by government soldiers and the LTTE's leader, Velupillai Prabhakaran, was killed, it emerged that two other leading rebels had been shot dead while trying to surrender. Tamils living outside Sri Lanka said the two men were carrying a white flag when they were shot by troops. A senior government official admitted that the two men had been trying to give themselves up for several days. At the time, the EU called for an inquiry into possible human rights abuses committed during the final months of the war.
A spokesman for the UN High Commissioner of Human Rights (UNHCR) said: "If it can be verified, this footage could be evidence of the sort of war crimes we fear were committed by both sides. We have repeatedly said there should be an investigations into the closing stages of the conflict. There needs to be some sort of accountability."
The final assault on the LTTE ended a war that had raged for almost three decades and cost at least 70,000 lives. The LTTE, fighting for a Tamil homeland, had long waged a brutal insurgency and used suicide bombers to attack both civilian and military targets. Since the war ended, the popularity of President Mahinda Rajapaksa, whose brother heads the powerful defence ministry, has soared among the country's Sinhala majority.
The resulting peace has also seen a 25 per cent increase in the number of visitors to Sri Lanka, lured by its beaches, tropical forests and gently paced culture. Already about 100,000 visitors from the UK travel to the island each year, according to the Sri Lankan tourist board, and officials are hopeful that the tourist numbers will increase further.
When he announced an end to the war, the president said that Sinhala, Tamils and Muslims must live as "equals". Yet some Tamils say the government has done little to placate its population or to offer them a political "settlement". This summer, in local elections held in the north, the government's party won in the city of Jaffna, but in Vavuniya victory went to the Tamil National Alliance (TNA), which has previously voiced some support for the LTTE.
Yesterday Sri Lankan opposition MPs urged the government to release nearly 300,000 war refugees held in state-run camps, saying the detentions brought discredit to the country.
"These camps stand as a symbol of shame and disgrace to our proud Sri Lankan history," said Mano Ganesan, an opposition MP and leader of a group calling itself Parliamentarians for Human Rights. "They are like prisons. People are kept against their will and that's illegal."
Sunday, May 9, 2010
Game of smoke and mirrors, HRW blasts Sri Lanka's new commission
Commenting on Sri Lanka's announcement that it is appointing a laws-of-war commission, Brad Adams, Asia director at Human Rights Watch said, "[e]very time the international community raises the issue of accountability, Sri Lanka establishes a commission that takes a long time to achieve nothing. Ban should put an end to this game of smoke and mirrors and begin a process that would ensure justice for all the victims of Sri Lanka's war," adding, "Secretary-General Ban should not let Sri Lanka bully and manipulate him into abandoning justice for Sri Lanka's war victims," Adams said. "It is time for him to demonstrate that he is squarely on the side of the victims of Sri Lanka's long war."
Full text of HRW's statement:
Sri Lanka: Government Proposal Won’t Address War Crimes
The Sri Lankan government's suggestion that a newly announced commission will provide accountability for laws-of-war violations during the armed conflict with the separatist Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE) is yet another attempt to deflect an independent international investigation, Human Rights Watch said today. Human Rights Watch urged United Nations Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon to take steps to ensure accountability through an independent international investigation into the alleged laws-of-war violations.
The announcement of a commission on "lessons learnt and reconciliation" came after a months-long campaign by the Sri Lankan government to prevent Ban from establishing a panel of experts to advise him on accountability in Sri Lanka. In May 2009, after the war ended, President Mahinda Rajapaksa signed a joint communiqué with Ban promising that "the government will take measures to address allegations related to violations of international humanitarian and human-rights law." But no substantive steps have been taken.
"Every time the international community raises the issue of accountability, Sri Lanka establishes a commission that takes a long time to achieve nothing," said Brad Adams, Asia director at Human Rights Watch. "Ban should put an end to this game of smoke and mirrors and begin a process that would ensure justice for all the victims of Sri Lanka's war."
The government has yet to publish the findings from a committee established in November 2009 to examine allegations of laws-of-war violations, despite an April 2010 deadline. When the committee was announced, Human Rights Watch warned that it was just a smokescreen to avoid accountability.
According to conservative UN estimates, 7,000 civilians were killed and more than 13,000 injured from January to May, 2009. Other estimates suggest that as many as 20,000 were killed. Government officials, including the president, have repeatedly insisted that no violations by government forces took place, and the government has taken no meaningful steps to ensure accountability.
On May 6, 2010, the Sri Lankan government announced that it will establish a commission to report on the lessons learned from the conflict and reconciliation efforts. In a statement posted on the government's website, the government announced that "there will be the [sic] search for any violations of internationally accepted norms of conduct in such conflict situations, and the circumstances that may have led to such actions, and identify any persons or groups responsible for such acts." The statement said nothing about holding such persons accountable under Sri Lankan criminal law or what other steps would be taken against those found to have been acting in violation of Sri Lankan or international law.
According to the government statement, the committee will consist of seven Sri Lankans, located in Sri Lanka and abroad, but will have no international involvement.
"Genuine government efforts with broad participation to promote reconciliation should be supported," Adams said. "But this cannot succeed without genuine and good faith efforts at accountability."
Sri Lanka has a long history of establishing ad hoc commissions to deflect international criticism over its poor human rights record and widespread impunity, Human Rights Watch said. Since independence in 1948, Sri Lanka has established at least 10 such commissions, none of which have produced any significant results.
The Presidential Commission of Inquiry appointed in November 2006 to investigate serious cases of alleged human rights abuses by both sides was a complete failure. A group of international experts, appointed to ensure the investigation was being conducted according to international norms and standards, resigned in 2008 because it had "not been able to conclude...that the proceedings of the Commission have been transparent or have satisfied basic international norms and standards."
In June 2009, Rajapaksa dissolved the Presidential Commission of Inquiry, even though it had conducted investigations in just 7 of its 16 mandated major human rights cases. The president has not published its report.
This week's announcement of a new commission came after weeks of attempts by the Sri Lankan government to prevent Ban from establishing a panel of experts. After Ban informed Rajapaksa on March 5 that the secretary-general intended to establish an expert panel to advise him on accountability in Sri Lanka, the Sri Lankan government fiercely protested the decision, denouncing it as "uncalled for" and "unwarranted."
Ban has yet to appoint any members to the panel or announce its terms of reference.
"Secretary-General Ban should not let Sri Lanka bully and manipulate him into abandoning justice for Sri Lanka's war victims," Adams said. "It is time for him to demonstrate that he is squarely on the side of the victims of Sri Lanka's long war."
Full text of HRW's statement:
Sri Lanka: Government Proposal Won’t Address War Crimes
The Sri Lankan government's suggestion that a newly announced commission will provide accountability for laws-of-war violations during the armed conflict with the separatist Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE) is yet another attempt to deflect an independent international investigation, Human Rights Watch said today. Human Rights Watch urged United Nations Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon to take steps to ensure accountability through an independent international investigation into the alleged laws-of-war violations.
The announcement of a commission on "lessons learnt and reconciliation" came after a months-long campaign by the Sri Lankan government to prevent Ban from establishing a panel of experts to advise him on accountability in Sri Lanka. In May 2009, after the war ended, President Mahinda Rajapaksa signed a joint communiqué with Ban promising that "the government will take measures to address allegations related to violations of international humanitarian and human-rights law." But no substantive steps have been taken.
"Every time the international community raises the issue of accountability, Sri Lanka establishes a commission that takes a long time to achieve nothing," said Brad Adams, Asia director at Human Rights Watch. "Ban should put an end to this game of smoke and mirrors and begin a process that would ensure justice for all the victims of Sri Lanka's war."
The government has yet to publish the findings from a committee established in November 2009 to examine allegations of laws-of-war violations, despite an April 2010 deadline. When the committee was announced, Human Rights Watch warned that it was just a smokescreen to avoid accountability.
According to conservative UN estimates, 7,000 civilians were killed and more than 13,000 injured from January to May, 2009. Other estimates suggest that as many as 20,000 were killed. Government officials, including the president, have repeatedly insisted that no violations by government forces took place, and the government has taken no meaningful steps to ensure accountability.
On May 6, 2010, the Sri Lankan government announced that it will establish a commission to report on the lessons learned from the conflict and reconciliation efforts. In a statement posted on the government's website, the government announced that "there will be the [sic] search for any violations of internationally accepted norms of conduct in such conflict situations, and the circumstances that may have led to such actions, and identify any persons or groups responsible for such acts." The statement said nothing about holding such persons accountable under Sri Lankan criminal law or what other steps would be taken against those found to have been acting in violation of Sri Lankan or international law.
According to the government statement, the committee will consist of seven Sri Lankans, located in Sri Lanka and abroad, but will have no international involvement.
"Genuine government efforts with broad participation to promote reconciliation should be supported," Adams said. "But this cannot succeed without genuine and good faith efforts at accountability."
Sri Lanka has a long history of establishing ad hoc commissions to deflect international criticism over its poor human rights record and widespread impunity, Human Rights Watch said. Since independence in 1948, Sri Lanka has established at least 10 such commissions, none of which have produced any significant results.
The Presidential Commission of Inquiry appointed in November 2006 to investigate serious cases of alleged human rights abuses by both sides was a complete failure. A group of international experts, appointed to ensure the investigation was being conducted according to international norms and standards, resigned in 2008 because it had "not been able to conclude...that the proceedings of the Commission have been transparent or have satisfied basic international norms and standards."
In June 2009, Rajapaksa dissolved the Presidential Commission of Inquiry, even though it had conducted investigations in just 7 of its 16 mandated major human rights cases. The president has not published its report.
This week's announcement of a new commission came after weeks of attempts by the Sri Lankan government to prevent Ban from establishing a panel of experts. After Ban informed Rajapaksa on March 5 that the secretary-general intended to establish an expert panel to advise him on accountability in Sri Lanka, the Sri Lankan government fiercely protested the decision, denouncing it as "uncalled for" and "unwarranted."
Ban has yet to appoint any members to the panel or announce its terms of reference.
"Secretary-General Ban should not let Sri Lanka bully and manipulate him into abandoning justice for Sri Lanka's war victims," Adams said. "It is time for him to demonstrate that he is squarely on the side of the victims of Sri Lanka's long war."
'Long live human dignity; shame on international community'
While the so-called international community is "exposed of its shameful conning," thousands of Tamil civilians and combatants are laying down their lives to "uphold Tamil dignity, and human dignity," says a Tamil academic in Colombo. Those who blame the LTTE for bringing in the disaster know well that Colombo always had the option to negotiate or to come out with a political solution convincing Tamils not to continue the conflict. But Colombo’s aim is not power sharing but genocide and subjugation of Tamils by forcing war on them. "The only way now for the IC to come out of the colossus shame is direct intervention and recognition of the justification for Tamil Eelam," the academic said.
Further comments from the academic:
"Mahinda Rajapaksa’s untruthfulness to the world on the use of heavy weapons, the number of Tamil civilians involved in the tragedy and the number of them get killed are too well known. Yet the IC shamefully allows them, allows the imprisonment and inhuman humiliation of civilians and in future plans to leave everything in the hands of Colombo.
"Tamils don’t expect any sense of shame or any justice coming either from Colombo or New Delhi, the partners of the war. The world knows Sonia’s statement a week ago that the war was over by the efforts of her government and Pranab Mukherjee’s statement a couple of months back, putting the number of civilians at 70,000. They will never be bothered about shame.
"China, Russia and Vietnam, by sitting on UN, act on behalf of Colombo and New Delhi, to prevent international action and to keep the Tamil question to rot at the backyard of the war partners. The Indian Establishment is particularly adamant in preventing all international efforts. It could have acted long back had it really cared for its natural allies in the island and even now it doesn’t need any ‘invitation’ from any one, if it wants to do any justice to Tamils. It has to only come out of its ‘bias’.
"But the Co- Chairs and especially the US among them, which is directly involved in the crisis by setting its course diplomatically, has undeniable responsibility. What is the effect or credibility of the recent White House statements is a question widely asked in the Tamil circles now.
"Colombo has neither stopped war nor stopped using heavy weapons and there was no UN to receive the injured and the captured civilians. Only the LTTE responded to the White House statement.
"Caring for Colombo’s meaningless sovereignty and waiting for unwilling India’s consent will bring in only disastrous effects on the credibility of the West and on the reliability of the global order it envisages.
"It is clear that the LTTE is prepared to meet the White House demands within the means of Tamil dignity and if the US statements are going to mean only a conning, they are prepared to die fighting but not without upholding Tamil dignity.
"The ball is in the court of the White House.
"With the dignity and self-respect upheld, the Tamils can always rebuild their struggle. But the shameful ones will never find credibility again."
Further comments from the academic:
"Mahinda Rajapaksa’s untruthfulness to the world on the use of heavy weapons, the number of Tamil civilians involved in the tragedy and the number of them get killed are too well known. Yet the IC shamefully allows them, allows the imprisonment and inhuman humiliation of civilians and in future plans to leave everything in the hands of Colombo.
"Tamils don’t expect any sense of shame or any justice coming either from Colombo or New Delhi, the partners of the war. The world knows Sonia’s statement a week ago that the war was over by the efforts of her government and Pranab Mukherjee’s statement a couple of months back, putting the number of civilians at 70,000. They will never be bothered about shame.
"China, Russia and Vietnam, by sitting on UN, act on behalf of Colombo and New Delhi, to prevent international action and to keep the Tamil question to rot at the backyard of the war partners. The Indian Establishment is particularly adamant in preventing all international efforts. It could have acted long back had it really cared for its natural allies in the island and even now it doesn’t need any ‘invitation’ from any one, if it wants to do any justice to Tamils. It has to only come out of its ‘bias’.
"But the Co- Chairs and especially the US among them, which is directly involved in the crisis by setting its course diplomatically, has undeniable responsibility. What is the effect or credibility of the recent White House statements is a question widely asked in the Tamil circles now.
"Colombo has neither stopped war nor stopped using heavy weapons and there was no UN to receive the injured and the captured civilians. Only the LTTE responded to the White House statement.
"Caring for Colombo’s meaningless sovereignty and waiting for unwilling India’s consent will bring in only disastrous effects on the credibility of the West and on the reliability of the global order it envisages.
"It is clear that the LTTE is prepared to meet the White House demands within the means of Tamil dignity and if the US statements are going to mean only a conning, they are prepared to die fighting but not without upholding Tamil dignity.
"The ball is in the court of the White House.
"With the dignity and self-respect upheld, the Tamils can always rebuild their struggle. But the shameful ones will never find credibility again."
Germany elects first representative for TGTE
Vithiya Jeyasangar B.Eng was elected Sunday as the representative for Transnational Government of Tamil Eelam (TGTE) from Berlin in Germany. The elections for remaining constituencies, except one constituency where 2 representatives are elected uncontested, will take place on 16 May.
Vithiya Jeyasangar B.Eng.Mrs Vithya Jeyasangar received 441 of 630 votes polled in Constituency 1 (Berlin, Brandenburg, Mecklenburg-Vorpommern, Sachsen-Anhalt, Sachsen, Thüringen).
Seven candidates have been nominated in Constituency 3 (Nordrhein-Westfalen), where elections will take place to elect 4 representatives.
Six candidates are contesting in Southern region (Baden-Württemberg, Bayern, Hessen, Rheinland-Pfalz, Saarland) where 3 candidates will be elected.
Two representatives are elected uncontested in Constituency 2 (Bremen, Hamburg, Niedersachsen, Schleswig-Holstein).
Vithiya Jeyasangar B.Eng.Mrs Vithya Jeyasangar received 441 of 630 votes polled in Constituency 1 (Berlin, Brandenburg, Mecklenburg-Vorpommern, Sachsen-Anhalt, Sachsen, Thüringen).
Seven candidates have been nominated in Constituency 3 (Nordrhein-Westfalen), where elections will take place to elect 4 representatives.
Six candidates are contesting in Southern region (Baden-Württemberg, Bayern, Hessen, Rheinland-Pfalz, Saarland) where 3 candidates will be elected.
Two representatives are elected uncontested in Constituency 2 (Bremen, Hamburg, Niedersachsen, Schleswig-Holstein).
TGTE member from New Zealand speaks on Vaddukkoaddai Resolution
Mr. S.J.V. Chelvanayakam, in his last ever speech in the Sri Lankan parliament on 19 November 1976 said: “Our Party is moving with the idea of establishing a separate state. It is not an easy matter to get a separate State; it is a difficult matter. We know it is difficult. But either we get out of the power of the Sinhala masses or we perish. That is certain. Therefore, we will try and get this separation.” Citing the speech Mr. A. Theva Rajan, member of the Transnational Government of Tamil Eelam, from New Zealand, said that the relevance of Vaddukkoaddai Resolution today is unique in historical terms as "the reign of Percival Rajapakse" fully demonstrated to the world that the Tamils are facing a genocidal onslaught. "Rajapakse brothers made the Tamil genocide open, indelible and internationally recorded,” he said.
Mr. A. Theva Rajan with New Zealand parliamentarians [L-R] Mr. Keith Locke, MP (Green Party Leader), Ms. Carol Bemaunt, MP Labour Party and Mr. Rajen Prasad MP (Labour Party) during the announcement by the TGTE election commission in Auckland.
Professor K.S.Naguleswaran (Kailasapillai Sivapatham Naguleswaran) [right] representing Wellington for TGTE. Seen with him is Fr. G. Burns. According to Mr. Theva Rajan, in the 1977 general election the entire country voted on the Vaddukkoaddai Resolution and not just the Tamils. Because, responding to the TULF manifesto based on the VR, even the United National Party made promises of redress. But after coming to power getting 5 / 6 majority with Tamil, Muslim, Malay and Burger support, the Sinhala leadership enacted only ethnic pogroms on Tamils, Theva Rajan said.
Mr Theva Rajan and Prof. K.S. Naguleswaran were elected uncontested from New Zealand for the TGTE, representing the constituencies Auckland and Wellington respectively.
Coming from Puloali West in Jaffna, Theva Rajan, 76 years old, is a scholar in his own right contributed to Tamil studies for more than half a century. He retired early from public service to become a trade unionist and freelance journalist in Tamil and English.
Theva Rajan was one of the first to study the Brahmi inscriptions of Sri Lanka, bringing out the Tamil personal names and the other Dravidian elements in them to the attention of scholars in India and Sri Lanka. In the early 1970s, associated with the Jaffna Archaeological Society, he brought to light a megalithic urn burial in Vallipuram. His research presentations and publications were on wide-ranging topics: Murukan cult among the Sinhalese, Tamil language rights in Sri Lanka, public servants and legal remedies, human rights, children’s literature and many others.
Since 1960s Theva Rajan was associated with the organization of a number of societies such as the committee for the installation of the statue of Arumuga Navalar in 1969, society remembering a Tamil scholar Sathaavathaanam Kathiraivet Pillai and Fr. Thaninayagam Foundation.
Settled in New Zealand in the late 1990s, he is active in working on human rights and on cultural affairs of the diaspora, caring especially the third generation.
Professor K S Naguleswaran, born in Kantharmadam in Jaffna is an old student of Jaffna Hindu College. After graduating from the University of Ceylon, he did his doctoral studies at the University of Birmingham. Now retired after serving as an Associate Professor in Mechanical Engineering at the University of Canterbury, Professor Naguleswaran has told media that it was his early experience of the 1958 pogrom that made him to realise the importance of Human Rights, good governance and democracy.
Following is the full text of an article written by A. Theva Rajan:
HISTORICAL UNIQUENESS OF THE VADDUKKODDAI RESOLUTION
The Vddukkoddai Resolution of 14 May 1976 consists of 13 preambles tracing aspects of the history of the Tamils and their political agitations and experiences.
Preamble 5 is more marked in that it identifies specific areas of deprivals and oppression of the Tamils.
Of these 5(e) is very important in that it embodies the fundamental rights deprived to the Tamils. It says:
“denying to the Tamils equality of opportunity in the spheres of employment, education, land alienation and economic life in general and starving Tamil areas of large scale industries and development schemes thereby seriously endangering their very existence in Ceylon.”
5 (g) deals with state terrorism against Tamil public and 5 (h) deals with state terrorism against Tamil youth.
Emphasizing that the democratic rights of Tamils are being trampled the resolution adds:
“this convention resolves that restoration and reconstitution of the free, sovereign, secular, socialist State of Tamil Eelam, based on the right of self determination inherent to every nation, has become inevitable in order to safeguard the very existence of the Tamil Nation in this country.”
In the General Election that ensued in 1977 the Tamil United Liberation Front made the Vaddukkoddai resolution as the basis of their Manifesto. Ten (10) items under the sub title, The Tamil Nation Under Sinhala Domination, outlines in detail the alienation of Tamils, in their fundamental rights and participatory democracy. The TULF called for a mandate from the Tamil people to carry forward their agenda. The TULF said it:
“.. seeks in the General Election the mandate of the Tamil Nation to establish an independent sovereign, secular, socialist State of Tamil Eelam that includes all the geographically contiguous areas that have been the traditional homeland of the Tamil speaking people in the country.”
The Tamils mandated the Vaddukkoddai resolution at the 1977 General Election with over 75% support. Incidentally, the United National Party in its Election Manifesto for the same elections sought the support of the entire Nation for a mandate to rectify the grievances of the Tamils. The UNP Manifesto said :
“…(that) the United National Party accepts the position that there are numerous problems confronting the Tamil-speaking people. The lack of a solution to their problems had made the Tamil-speaking people support even a movement for the creation of a separate State. In the interest of national integration and unity so necessary for the economic development of the whole country, the Party feels such problems should be solved without loss of time. The Party, when it comes to power, will take all possible steps to remedy their grievances in such fields as – 1) Education : (2) Colonization.(3) Use of the Tamil language : (4) Employment in the Public and Semi Public Corporations.”
The people, Sinhalese, Tamils, Muslims, Malays and Burghers voted overwhelmingly for the Party and the UNP secured 5/6th majority in Parliament while the TULF was privileged to be the main opposition Party securing the position of the Leader of the Opposition to its leader.
It has to be underlined here that the entire country voted on the Vaddukkoddai resolution mandating the immediate redress for the Tamil grievances.
Events that followed reaffirmed that the mention about Tamil grievances was only like shedding crocodile tears - the usual trump card to secure Tamil votes at the Elections.
Soon afterwards, in August 1978,J.R. Jayawardene, the Prime Minister then, thundered in Parliament “ If you want war let there be war; if you want peace let there be peace.”
It is a repetition of the history of Sinhala leadership.
Even begging for support to entrench them in power and then to cut under the feet of the Tamils. This is the unaltered long dark history of Sinhala politicians. The 1977 and 1983 State oriented pogroms are indelible chapters in the bloody history of Sinhala political leadership.
All that happened under Presidents Jayawardene, Premadasa and Chandrika are dark pages of the history of Sri Lanka’s racist politics.
The reign of Percival Rajapakse fully demonstrated to the world that the Tamils are facing a genocidal onslaught.
Rajapakse brothers made the Tamil genocide open, indelible and internationally recorded.
The late Mr.S.J.V. Chelvanayakam, the internationally revered leader of the Tamils in his last ever speech in Parliament made on 19 November 1976 left this message to the Sinhalese, the Tamils and the Nation and the international community in unambiguous terms.
“Our Party is moving with the idea of establishing a separate state. It is not an easy matter to get a separate State; it is a difficult matter. We know it is difficult. But either we get out of the power of the Sinhala masses or we perish. That is certain. Therefore, we will try and get this separation.” (Parliament Hansard Vol. 1977, column 1965 – 19 November 1976)
In the background of all these developments there can be no doubt that the Vaddukkoddai resolution is unique in historical terms.
Wednesday, May 5, 2010
Sri Lanka joins international issues in British parties’ focus
Sri Lanka’s ethnic crisis is among international issues that have drawn comment by all three main political parties in Britain ahead of the general election on Thursday. The main opposition Conservative party insisted Sri Lanka “take immediate steps to address the concerns of the Tamil people” and emphasised the importance of “meaningful political reform” for lasting peace. The Liberal Democrats, the second largest opposition party, demanded an end to Sri Lanka’s “land-grabbing” and called for the formation of “an independent body to end all fraudulent claims to land.” The ruling Labour party, which raised warcrimes probes in its manifesto, said its 13-year government “had consistently sought to help Sri Lanka achieve a lasting solution and is committed to an inclusive political process.”
The British election is being hard fought, with many polls showing a close, if volatile, race between the three parties, with some analysts even suggesting none of them would be able to secure an outright majority in Parliament.
The texts of statements issued by the parties follow:
Liberal Democrats
“Liberal Democrats believe it is critical that Sri Lanka should not return to the civil war that plagued the country for 25 years and we strongly support British and international efforts to develop infrastructure and improve the standard of life of Sri Lankans. We believe that reconciliation between the Sinhalese and Tamil communities will be vital to future economic growth and long-term prosperity. We believe both the UK and the EU have an important role to play in supporting and encouraging this process. Liberal Democrats have expressed concern at the continued holding of an estimated 100,000 Tamils in internally displaced persons camps over 10 months since last year’s conflict ended, and has urged the UK government to put pressure on the Sri Lankan government to release them as soon as possible. We also support an investigation into any allegation of war crimes by Sri Lankan armed forces and have called for an end to land-grabbing through the formation of an independent body to end all fraudulent claims to land. President Rajapaksa’s Government must stop abusing the political and judicial system, both in terms of their Sinhalese political opponents and in terms of genuine engagement with democratically elected representatives of the Tamil community. The democratic aspirations of the Tamil people cannot continue to be ignored.”
Conservatives
Statement by Shadow Foreign Secretary William Hague:
“We welcome the prospect of a future in which Sri Lanka is free from the instability and suffering which has blighted its shores for decades. However we are acutely aware that peace still needs to be won and must be secured if it is to be lasting. For this reason we strongly urge the Sri Lankan government to resolve the difficult political issues that remain and take immediate steps to address the concerns of the Tamil people and those of other minority groups. Meaningful political reform and reconciliation should be an urgent priority but this reform will only hold legitimacy if the democratic aspirations of all Sri Lankans, regardless of ethnicity, can be fulfilled. We believe all communities – Sinhalese, Tamils and Muslims - should play a part in the future of the country if peace is to be secured in the long-term.”
Labour
Statement by Foreign Secretary David Miliband:
“The UK has consistently sought to help Sri Lanka achieve a lasting solution to hostilities and is committed to an inclusive political process which includes Sinhala, Tamil and Muslim communities. As Foreign Secretary I visited Sri Lanka at the height of the closing days of war to press for an urgent humanitarian ceasefire because this issue is of utmost importance to me. All of us will be relieved that the long and brutal civil war is at last over. Sri Lanka has now an historic opportunity to ensure a lasting peace. Over the last 5 years we have provided over £41 million in assistance to fight poverty and conflict prevention projects. For the thriving Sri Lankan community in the UK, Labour will continue to promote values we share in common. We urge you to use your vote at the next election and make your choice. A choice between Britain building a fairer future for all at home and abroad through leadership on the world stage, or isolating ourselves as our Conservative opponents seek to do.
Text in Labour manifesto:
“We strongly support reconstruction and reconciliation in Sri Lanka. We believe that both the LTTE and the Government of Sri Lanka must be held to account for the loss of civilian life, and we will continue to urge the Sri Lankan Government to fulfil its commitment to a full and fair investigation into war crimes committed in the final months of the civil war.”
The British election is being hard fought, with many polls showing a close, if volatile, race between the three parties, with some analysts even suggesting none of them would be able to secure an outright majority in Parliament.
The texts of statements issued by the parties follow:
Liberal Democrats
“Liberal Democrats believe it is critical that Sri Lanka should not return to the civil war that plagued the country for 25 years and we strongly support British and international efforts to develop infrastructure and improve the standard of life of Sri Lankans. We believe that reconciliation between the Sinhalese and Tamil communities will be vital to future economic growth and long-term prosperity. We believe both the UK and the EU have an important role to play in supporting and encouraging this process. Liberal Democrats have expressed concern at the continued holding of an estimated 100,000 Tamils in internally displaced persons camps over 10 months since last year’s conflict ended, and has urged the UK government to put pressure on the Sri Lankan government to release them as soon as possible. We also support an investigation into any allegation of war crimes by Sri Lankan armed forces and have called for an end to land-grabbing through the formation of an independent body to end all fraudulent claims to land. President Rajapaksa’s Government must stop abusing the political and judicial system, both in terms of their Sinhalese political opponents and in terms of genuine engagement with democratically elected representatives of the Tamil community. The democratic aspirations of the Tamil people cannot continue to be ignored.”
Conservatives
Statement by Shadow Foreign Secretary William Hague:
“We welcome the prospect of a future in which Sri Lanka is free from the instability and suffering which has blighted its shores for decades. However we are acutely aware that peace still needs to be won and must be secured if it is to be lasting. For this reason we strongly urge the Sri Lankan government to resolve the difficult political issues that remain and take immediate steps to address the concerns of the Tamil people and those of other minority groups. Meaningful political reform and reconciliation should be an urgent priority but this reform will only hold legitimacy if the democratic aspirations of all Sri Lankans, regardless of ethnicity, can be fulfilled. We believe all communities – Sinhalese, Tamils and Muslims - should play a part in the future of the country if peace is to be secured in the long-term.”
Labour
Statement by Foreign Secretary David Miliband:
“The UK has consistently sought to help Sri Lanka achieve a lasting solution to hostilities and is committed to an inclusive political process which includes Sinhala, Tamil and Muslim communities. As Foreign Secretary I visited Sri Lanka at the height of the closing days of war to press for an urgent humanitarian ceasefire because this issue is of utmost importance to me. All of us will be relieved that the long and brutal civil war is at last over. Sri Lanka has now an historic opportunity to ensure a lasting peace. Over the last 5 years we have provided over £41 million in assistance to fight poverty and conflict prevention projects. For the thriving Sri Lankan community in the UK, Labour will continue to promote values we share in common. We urge you to use your vote at the next election and make your choice. A choice between Britain building a fairer future for all at home and abroad through leadership on the world stage, or isolating ourselves as our Conservative opponents seek to do.
Text in Labour manifesto:
“We strongly support reconstruction and reconciliation in Sri Lanka. We believe that both the LTTE and the Government of Sri Lanka must be held to account for the loss of civilian life, and we will continue to urge the Sri Lankan Government to fulfil its commitment to a full and fair investigation into war crimes committed in the final months of the civil war.”
Sunday, May 2, 2010
Global consortium of Tamil corporates needed to address Eezham question
In the present world of corporate colonialism, the national question and the liberation of Eezham Tamils have to be negotiated with the international community in the language of the corporates. But the Tamil corporates, existing in Tamil Nadu and in the diaspora across the world, are yet to be awakened to the prospects of forming a consortium among them to deal with the situation in a concerted way for the mutual benefit of them and the Eezham Tamils. The potentiality of the Tamil corporate world and what it could achieve by coming together globally are still not realised due to lack of initiatives and lack of insight in Tamil political thinking.
The political leadership in Tamil Nadu is poised well in undertaking an initiative in this respect. But succumbing to the system in New Delhi and hijacked by petty prospects of family empires, it has not so far shown any creative approach in empowering Tamils to have political discourse with the world corporate scenario by mobilising economic institutions of global Tamils.
At least in matters of Tamil affairs, Tamil Nadu is bestowed with all potentialities under the current world system to exercise its own foreign policy transcending the constitutional confines of India, through organising global Tamil economic corporation. But so far Tamil Nadu has not even explored the possibility.
A positive trend noticed in the Tamil Nadu diaspora in the USA, after seeing what India and the World did to Eezham Tamils in the war, is that the Brahmin sections and the ‘Dravidian’ sections have now come together united by Tamil nationalism. But polity in Tamil Nadu neither matches itself nor makes the best out of the emerging diaspora realities.
The economic brain of a personality like that of Mr. P. Chidambaram that comes from the heritage of ancient trade guilds of Tamils, serves the systems in New Delhi and Colombo to oppress Eezham Tamils rather than effectuating politico-economic realities to justify their liberation.
The outlook of leading media like The Hindu, owned by Tamils, only champions corporate support to Colombo-centric system at the cost of Eezham Tamil independence and emancipation from genocide.
By crushing the military strength and by engineering elected representation to denounce the cause, the political organisation of Eezham Tamils at home has been made powerless for any independent negotiation with the world of corporates. The diaspora’s political organisation is only in the making and it remains to be seen how effective it will be in such matters.
The net result is that the corporates don’t find any force comfortable for them to deal with among Tamils.
The mechanism is that corporates seek contacts with local corporates for mutual benefits and expansion of the system.
Obviously the choice for the world corporates and the governments behind the corporates is to operate in the island through the Sinhala-owned corporates in the South. This strengthens the Colombo-centric system further and constantly blunts the cause of Tamils.
This is how the land of Tamil nation has become an open hunting ground.
To cite a few examples: The US embassy proudly advertises its exploits in Tamil land through Sinhala-led corporates. Indian intelligence writers now talk of similar corporate to corporate collaboration between India and Sri Lanka to counter China. Like the US Senate Committee report they also advise India to invest more in the South. Aid agencies in the West want to entrust development in the North and East with Sinhala NGOs.
Even Tamil diaspora corporates such as in Malaysia and money-owning individuals among Eezham Tamils are no exceptions in entrusting faith in Colombo’s system.
This is why the brokers of the system in their language tell that Tamils have to be ‘realistic’ and should not ‘confuse between politically achievable and the impossible.’ We already find some of our mainstream politicians too speaking that language.
But a liberation struggle is to make impossible possible.
Of course the corporates will not tell us how to do it. They will not even care for political solutions or for humanitarian situations unless those are inevitable for the ‘stability’ in the ground needed for their operations.
Political struggle at home, in Tamil Nadu and in the diaspora, with political organisation steadfastly committed to the cause, is therefore of supreme importance in creating necessary ground realities and in ensuring whatever benefits the nation get are equally distributed.
But simultaneously on another plane the nation has to negotiate with the corporate system to find overlapping interests with the Eezham Tamil cause.
This task of genuinely supporting the cause and negotiating on its behalf with the corporate world in its language has to be carried out by a world consortium of Tamil corporates.
To the understanding of Eezham Tamils, initiating efforts to bring out global Tamil economic corporation has been vested with the Global Tamil Forum (GTF). Soon they are going to ask what progress has been made in this respect.
The political leadership in Tamil Nadu is poised well in undertaking an initiative in this respect. But succumbing to the system in New Delhi and hijacked by petty prospects of family empires, it has not so far shown any creative approach in empowering Tamils to have political discourse with the world corporate scenario by mobilising economic institutions of global Tamils.
At least in matters of Tamil affairs, Tamil Nadu is bestowed with all potentialities under the current world system to exercise its own foreign policy transcending the constitutional confines of India, through organising global Tamil economic corporation. But so far Tamil Nadu has not even explored the possibility.
A positive trend noticed in the Tamil Nadu diaspora in the USA, after seeing what India and the World did to Eezham Tamils in the war, is that the Brahmin sections and the ‘Dravidian’ sections have now come together united by Tamil nationalism. But polity in Tamil Nadu neither matches itself nor makes the best out of the emerging diaspora realities.
The economic brain of a personality like that of Mr. P. Chidambaram that comes from the heritage of ancient trade guilds of Tamils, serves the systems in New Delhi and Colombo to oppress Eezham Tamils rather than effectuating politico-economic realities to justify their liberation.
The outlook of leading media like The Hindu, owned by Tamils, only champions corporate support to Colombo-centric system at the cost of Eezham Tamil independence and emancipation from genocide.
By crushing the military strength and by engineering elected representation to denounce the cause, the political organisation of Eezham Tamils at home has been made powerless for any independent negotiation with the world of corporates. The diaspora’s political organisation is only in the making and it remains to be seen how effective it will be in such matters.
The net result is that the corporates don’t find any force comfortable for them to deal with among Tamils.
The mechanism is that corporates seek contacts with local corporates for mutual benefits and expansion of the system.
Obviously the choice for the world corporates and the governments behind the corporates is to operate in the island through the Sinhala-owned corporates in the South. This strengthens the Colombo-centric system further and constantly blunts the cause of Tamils.
This is how the land of Tamil nation has become an open hunting ground.
To cite a few examples: The US embassy proudly advertises its exploits in Tamil land through Sinhala-led corporates. Indian intelligence writers now talk of similar corporate to corporate collaboration between India and Sri Lanka to counter China. Like the US Senate Committee report they also advise India to invest more in the South. Aid agencies in the West want to entrust development in the North and East with Sinhala NGOs.
Even Tamil diaspora corporates such as in Malaysia and money-owning individuals among Eezham Tamils are no exceptions in entrusting faith in Colombo’s system.
This is why the brokers of the system in their language tell that Tamils have to be ‘realistic’ and should not ‘confuse between politically achievable and the impossible.’ We already find some of our mainstream politicians too speaking that language.
But a liberation struggle is to make impossible possible.
Of course the corporates will not tell us how to do it. They will not even care for political solutions or for humanitarian situations unless those are inevitable for the ‘stability’ in the ground needed for their operations.
Political struggle at home, in Tamil Nadu and in the diaspora, with political organisation steadfastly committed to the cause, is therefore of supreme importance in creating necessary ground realities and in ensuring whatever benefits the nation get are equally distributed.
But simultaneously on another plane the nation has to negotiate with the corporate system to find overlapping interests with the Eezham Tamil cause.
This task of genuinely supporting the cause and negotiating on its behalf with the corporate world in its language has to be carried out by a world consortium of Tamil corporates.
To the understanding of Eezham Tamils, initiating efforts to bring out global Tamil economic corporation has been vested with the Global Tamil Forum (GTF). Soon they are going to ask what progress has been made in this respect.
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