JDS

Sri Lankans hit by price hikes

2012-02-28T10:40:00.004+01:00

By Amantha Perera (IPS) | Asia Times Online
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First the government devalued the Sri Lankan rupee by 3% in November. Then interest rates were raised. To cap that, United States sanctions hit Iran, which meets 90% of this country's oil needs.

The government this month limited its intervention in the foreign exchange market, where it had been selling billions of dollars to prop up the local currency. February began with the rupee trading at 109 per dollar; two weeks later it had slipped to 120.

A cascading effect followed. On February 10, the price of petrol went up by 8.7%, diesel by 36% and kerosene by 49%. Soon electricity became 40% more expensive as the list of upward price revisions grew.

Prices of bread and other bakery products are likely to go up unless producers are given subsidies. Gas price increases are almost inevitable. Even doctors working in government hospitals have sought an increase in fuel allowance, threatening to go on strike. Opposition political parties and affiliated trade unions have begun to stage protests and had to be dealt with by police using tear gas and batons.

One protester from the north-western town of Chilaw, was killed on February 15 when police opened fire on a demonstration demanding fuel subsidies for fishermen. The protests will continue and become a daily routine, vowed the People's Liberation Front opposition party and its affiliated union.

A total of 11 trade unions, represented on the National Labor Advisory Council, have requested the labor ministry to order an increase in salaries of workers, especially those in the private sector.

So far, the government has taken the view that the price rises were inevitable given higher world prices of crude oil, but it has promised subsidies for those directly affected such as fishermen, taxi operators and those in the transport sector.

"It is a combination of factors working together," Srimal Abeyratne, an academic attached to the department of economics at the Colombo University, told Inter Press Service (IPS). "Prices will go up more and living standards will drop accordingly."

Abeyratne said people will try to cut down on spending wherever they can, in order to meet vital expenses.

Chanuka Wattegama, an independent policy researcher, told IPS that the manner in which price revisions are being ordered suggests an intention on the part of the government to bring down consumption.

"The fact that the price of kerosene, a commodity used largely by the poor, was raised by nearly 50% indicates that the government expects a fall in demand across all sections, not just among the rich or middle class," he said.

Wattegama said the poorest will be worst hit. "The poor will definitely suffer. Those who are just above the poverty line now will fall below it. While the richer sections can absorb the shock to some extent, the poorer cannot."

Ramasamy Ramakrishnan, 47, who works on a tea estate in the Nuwera Eliya district expects to face the shocks that Wattegama predicts. A father of five, he makes do with less than US$130 a month, the combined income that he and his wife earn on the estate, plus the odd jobs that come his way.

"I don't know what to do, where to cut from. Already we were finding it hard to make ends meet. There have been no savings for over two years," Ramakrishnan said.

Around 5% of Sri Lanka's population of little over 20 million is from the estate sector, considered among the poorest. At least 11% from that population live below the official poverty line, according to the government's census and statistics department.

The urban poor are only too aware of the tough times ahead. "What to do? The choice is between starving or cutting down on other expenses," Manel Darmalatha, a widow with three children, said.

Darmalatha makes around $90 a month. "I am not sure what I am going to do, maybe ask my eldest [daughter] to work; it will be hard," she said.

A recent study by the Colombo-based research body, the Center for Poverty Analysis (CEPA), said that the richest 10% in the country were spending on average close to $1,200 per household per month, while the poorest 10%'s monthly expense were less than $55.

CEPA said that the top 20% earns 54% of the country's income while the bottom 20% accounts for less than 5% of earnings.

Wattegama said the country's economic woes called for drastic action. "The gap [in incomes] I see as the [result of] lack of initiatives to take the masses out of poverty and giving them livelihood options, rather than providing social welfare," he said.

Abeyratne sees mismanagement of public enterprises that drain precious funds as another cause for the developing crisis.

"There is large mismanagement and waste. But the losses have to be borne either by the taxpayers or the consumers," he said.

The economist told IPS that some economic shocks like those caused by the rise in international prices are hard to avoid. "But what the policymakers can do is to adhere to better fiscal management and target relief measures more diligently."

© IPS

Marie Colvin and Sri Lanka war crimes

2012-02-27T02:04:00.007+01:00

By Chandana Keerthi Bandara | BBC Sinhala
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Her iconic figure with a black patch over the left eye reporting from global conflict zones has been seen by hundreds of thousands around the world.

Marie Colvin killed in Syria, alongside award winning photojournalist Remi Ochlik, lost her eye in Sri Lanka when shot at by the military while entering government territory after filing a report to the Sunday Times from restricted Tamil Tiger held territory in April 2001.

Paying tribute to Mylvaganam Nimalarajan, of the BBC Sinhala service, in a public event in London in 2002 Marie spoke of the dangers faced by war correspondents who lived in war torn countries but could not leave like their international colleagues.

Nimalarajan reporting the war in his native northern Jaffna to the outside world was killed in cold blood within a high security zone in 2000.

Even though she lost an eye in Sri Lanka, Marie never let the island out of her sight.

Assurances to surrender

The battle waged by the Sri Lankan military against the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE) widely known as Tamil Tigers was coming to a bloody end in may 2009.

As independent journalists and international organisations were barred from the northern battlefield, many international journalists had to rely on information provided by the Sri Lankan military or the LTTE.

"I feel very angry," Marie as the foreign affairs Editor of Sunday Times who was not prepared to withdraw from reporting on the war in Sri Lanka told me.

This was a day before the Sri Lankan government declared its military victory over Tamil Tigers and Marie was following the developments closely.

She was angered that senior Tamil Tiger leaders who surrendered by arrangement with a very senior United Nations official to the Sri Lankan military were killed.

On the evening of 17th May 2009 she had recieved a 'desperate phone call' from the LTTE political head Balasingham Nadesan.

"They were trying to surrender but anybody attempting to approach Sri Lankan army lines was been shot," Marie recalled what Nadesan told her.

She has then called the UN Secretary General's Chief of Staff Vijay Nambiar who she said had been assured by the Sri Lankan president that Mr Nadesan would be safe in surrendering to the Sri Lankan Army.

"They would take him under international law," she quoted Mr. Nambiar.

UN, UK and USA

The LTTE political chief Nadesan was with the head of the LTTE peace secretariat Seevaratnam Pulidevan and other injured people.

Negotiations to surrender had been 'going on for days'.

"What I find deeply, deeply distressing is that those negotiations was with the Sri Lankan government. British and Americans and United Nations, Mr. Nambiar who was in Colombo were all aware that they wanted to surrender," said Marie Colvin.

Marie was told by Mr. Nambiar, "that there would be no need for a third party to be there".

"I think, it would have been a lot better if there had been a third party there. If Mr. Nambiar in his position as UN envoy had gone to oversee, at least to witness the surrender." Marie told me.

However, according to Marie, Mr. Nambiar was given assurances by the Sri Lankan president that Mr Nadesan should hoist a white flag and he would be allowed to surrender.

This was around 'one in the morning' in Sri Lanka.

A Tamil parliamentarian from eastern Sri Lanka was also involved in the negotiations.

Chandrakanth Chandranehru of the Tamil National Alliance (TNA) who was speaking 'directly to the president and to the defence secretary' as well as the LTTE political chief has offered to witness the surrender, said Marie. However, on assurances given on the safety of the surrending Tamil Tiger leaders, MP Chandranehru stayed back.

1.06 am 18th May

According to Marie the Tamil MP was the last person to speak to Nadesan and it was minutes after the reported assurances by President Mahinda Rajapaksa to the UN special envoy.

Marie had been told by MP Chandranehru that Nadesan speaking over the phone at 1.06 in the morning on 18 May 2009 said that they were walking towards the Sri Lankan military and, "I will hoist the white flag as high as I can".

"The next thing we heard which was hours later the Sri Lankan government announcement that they have all died".

It was six days before the Sunday Times published her story under the title 'Slain Tamil chiefs were promised safety' on 24 May 2009 that Marie related this to me. Such was her generosity and the commitment to tell the story.

Sadly, I had to bide my time until Marie herself met with a violent death in another Asian battlefield where she chose not to leave and Mr. Nambiar confirmed her account to Inner City Press (ICP) in New York.

"In the middle of the night, Marie called me, the two people, I've forgotten the names, one was on the Peace Commission, they wanted to surrender. We need to get assurance, free passage. I said OK, I'll do it. I took it up with foreign minster, the defense minister and the president. They would be treated like any surrendering prisoner," ICP quoted Mr Nambiar on Saturday.

Marie lost her eye in Sri Lanka. But they couldnt take away her vision. She lost her life in Syria. But they will never be able to take away what she lived for.

Investigations

Her account that later became to be known as the 'White Flag Incident' vehemently denied by the Sri Lankan government, featured prominently in a UN report which found that war crimes allegations were credible and warranted a full investigation.

The report said it found credible allegations that the Sri Lankan government 'violated the human rights of civilians and Tamil Tiger combatants'.

Furthermore, the report handed over to the UN Secretary-General on 31 March 2011called to investigate the role of the UN during the war in Sri Lanka.

"The Secretary-General should conduct a comprehensive review of actions by the United Nations system during the war in Sri Lanka and the aftermath, regarding the implementation of its humanitarian and protection mandates," the panel of experts report on accountability in Sri Lanka recommended.

Both the UN and the Sri Lankan government are yet to make their findings, if any, public.

© BBC Sinhala

Nambiar tells Sri Lanka Government blocked him

2012-02-27T02:04:00.001+01:00

Our duty to Sri Lanka, and human rights

2012-02-27T01:52:00.005+01:00

Photo courtesy:vikalpa.org

By Desmond Tutu and Mary Robinson | The Guardian
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This week the UN Human Rights Council has an opportunity and a duty to help Sri Lanka advance its own efforts on accountability and reconciliation. Both are essential if a lasting peace is to be achieved. In doing so, the council will not only be serving Sri Lanka, but those worldwide who believe there are universal rights and international legal obligations we all share.

Nearly three years since the defeat of the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE) by the Sri Lankan government there has still been no serious domestic investigation of the many allegations of war crimes and crimes against humanity committed by both sides during the civil war's final stages. These tragic events cannot simply be ignored.

A report in April 2011 by a panel of experts appointed by the UN secretary general documented government forces' large-scale shelling in "no-fire zones" where civilians had been encouraged to gather. Government forces also shelled a UN hub and food distribution lines. The same report says the LTTE used civilians as human shields, refused to allow people to leave conflict areas and forcibly recruited adults and children as young as 14 to fight. Credible sources cited in the UN report have estimated that around 40,000 civilians may have perished in the final months of the conflict.This tremendous civilian toll covers thousands of stories of suffering and strength, the vast majority of which are untold. One verified story chronicles the experiences of a family who were forcibly displaced more than seven times in eight months between September 2008 and May 2009. They repeatedly sought shelter in government-declared "safe zones" (which were then shelled), buried five relatives, including a six-year-old girl, in unmarked graves, and saw many of their fellow civilians killed and injured.

While the Sri Lankan government's own report from its Lessons Learned and Reconciliation Commission, published last December, includes important findings on reconciliation, and represents a potentially useful opportunity to begin a national dialogue on the conflict, it is disappointing in its failure to address seriously accountability issues. The recent announcement that the army intends to investigate its own actions during the conflict is not the kind of independent inquiry that is required.

In the absence of a credible and independent investigation into what happened in Sri Lanka, the Human Rights Council has an obligation to uphold human rights law and international humanitarian law during its upcoming 2012 sessions. As the UN report said: "The conduct of the war by both sides represented a grave assault on the entire regime of international law designed to protect individual dignity during both war and peace. The victory of one side has emboldened some to believe that these rules may now be disregarded in the cause of fighting terrorism."

Against this background, and continuing reports of human rights violations by the authorities, we urge the council to support a resolution that seeks accountability for the terrible violations of international law that have taken place, and establishes mechanisms to monitor progress on the steps the government is taking on accountability. If there is insufficient progress by the government in establishing a credible accountability process in the near future, we urge council members to support the establishment of an independent investigation.

At the same time, the council should support efforts to achieve meaningful reconciliation, human rights and democratic freedom for all Sri Lankans. Their country is a beautiful jewel of an island, rich in culture, history, resources and human talent. But we fear that if nothing changes, the crimes that remain unaddressed will continue to haunt Sri Lanka's people and could ignite violence once again.

Finally we want to emphasise that Sri Lanka's recent history is an issue that concerns all of us. Whether or not the Human Rights Council is able to summon the will to act on one of the most serious cases of human rights violations to have occurred since it was founded in 2006 could have ramifications for the global standing of human rights and international humanitarian law – and for the prestige and authority of the council.

Archbishop Desmond Tutu and former Irish President Mary Robinson are members of The Elders, global leaders working for peace and human rights.

© The Guardian

Sri Lanka Army to hold 'Defence Seminar 2012'

2012-02-27T00:54:00.005+01:00

Colombo Page
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Sri Lanka Army will hold the 'Defence Seminar-2012' with the participation of foreign experts on the post-war 5Rs - Rehabilitation, Re-integration, Re-construction, Resettlement and Reconciliation.

The three-day seminar is scheduled to be held from August 8-10 on the theme 'Towards Lasting Peace and Stability'.

Over 100 foreign delegates are expected to participate in the event that will present subject experts from foreign countries on post-war 5Rs spheres.

Issuing a statement the Army said the roles of Army troops as effective teams of peace-builders in the north and east while actively maintaining peace and stability in respective areas will be discussed at the seminar.

Former combatants, war-affected communities, political leaders, state officials, academics and other experts are to participate in these deliberations.

The Defence Seminar-2012 will provide a common platform to the Army, sister services, Police and other participants for discussion on their experiences and a multitude of other concerns and issues, the Army said.

The Army held the inaugural Defence Seminar-2011 on the theme 'Defeating Terrorism-Sri Lankan Experience' in May last year with the participation of representatives from more than 41 countries.

The Defence Seminar will be an annual event of the Sri Lanka Army.

© Colombo Page

Sri Lanka: Fishermen leader in hiding after threats

2012-02-27T00:33:00.007+01:00

BBC Sinhala
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A Sri Lankan leader of World Forum of Fisher People (WFFP) has urged authorities to guarantee his safety following death threats after fishermen's protest against recent fuel price increase.

Herman Kumara, the Secretary General of the WFFP told BBC Sandeshaya that he noticed a group following him in a van on his arrival after attending an international conference in Rome.

"I noticed a group following me in a van with registration no 301-2865 and their attempt was to abduct me," he said from an undisclosed location where he is currently hiding.

While he managed to hide, said Mr Kumara, the group has come to his home and travelled around his hometown asking his whereabouts from his family and other people.

Fuel price increase

"If I have done anything wrong, there are legal ways of dealing with it. They could have arrested me at the airport," he said adding that he is willing to face any legal action if he has committed any office.

Herman Kumara's office has lodged a complaint about the threats at the police station in Pannala.

The fishermen leader stressed that he will continue representing the fisher community in protests against the fuel price increase as well as other related issues.

There have been violent protests in Sri Lanka a few days after the government raised the price of key household fuels by up to 50 percent.

A fisherman was killed as police confronted crowds on the west coast while teargas is being deployed at a big rally in the capital, Colombo.

Four days after sudden steep increases in the price of fuel, there is unrest and anger in much of Sri Lanka.

There have been days of protests and road blockades in the western fishing town of Chilaw, where larger boats depend on diesel whose price has jumped by 36% and smaller ones on kerosene which is now 49% more expensive.

© BBC Sinhala

New wave of abductions and dead bodies in Sri Lanka

2012-02-26T11:28:00.003+01:00

Watchdog | Groundviews
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In the past 5 months – October 2011 to February 2012 – there has been a disturbing rise in the number of abductions, especially in and around the capital, Colombo. Out of 29 abductions and 3 missing persons reported in media, most have not returned to their homes and families, rendering them ‘disappeared’ persons.

The manner of these abductions has sent alarm bells ringing within the Sri Lankan human rights community, recalling the twin phenomena of the ‘white van’ and the unidentified gunman’ which plagued the country in the period from 1987/1989, and which prompted two visits to the island by the UN Working Group on Enforced and Involuntary Disappearances in 1991 and 1992.

The discovery of a charred body of a man on a small street in Narahenpita, Colombo 5, on the morning of February 13 has served to heighten these concerns. There have been 10 bodies discovered in February in addition to the 7 abductions and one missing person in Jaffna who was later found dead.

Among those abducted have been social activists, businessmen and those identified by the Police as criminals and ‘underworld’ characters. Labeling abducted persons as belonging to the underworld points to a disturbing new element of ‘social cleansing’, which is being used to garner public support for these killings and to divert attention from the fact that these abductions are an expression of the collapse of the rule of law in Sri Lanka.

The abduction and killing of individuals from the so-called underworld can be in some way linked to the public altercation between ruling party MP Duminda Silva and Presidential Advisor and former MP Bharatha Lakshman Premachandra, in which the latter was shot and killed. Some of those abducted, ‘disappeared’ and killed were linked to these two individuals and were either suspects or witnesses to the shooting, which took place on October 8 during campaigning for local government elections in Colombo.

Amongst others who have been abducted are those who have in any way challenged the authorities on issues of impunity and on-going human rights violations. Lalith Kumar Weeraraj and ‘Kugan’ Muruganandan, two political activists, were abducted in Jaffna on December 9, while engaged in preparations for celebrating Human Rights Day. On February 11, Ramasamy Prabaharan, a Tamil businessman was abducted in Colombo, two days before a fundamental rights case filed by him against the Police was due to be heard. Mr Prabaharan, who was released from prison in September 2011 after two years in detention without any charges being filed against him, was challenging this arbitrary detention and torture while in custody; he had received threats asking him to withdraw the case. On February 12, Chandrapala alias Mervyn, who had been brought to Colombo’s court complex in Hulftsdorf for a bail application, was abducted in the vicinity of the Courts while being accompanied by Prison Guards. A full list of the 32 abductions which have been reported in media is attached.

Most of the abductions have taken place in broad daylight, in the capital, Colombo, and in its suburbs. 4 are from Gampaha district, close to Colombo. All 3 missing cases and 3 of the abductions have taken place in the North, with 5 in Jaffna. Of the 32 abducted and gone missing. 7 bodies were found in public places; most of them bore marks of execution. One body was found on the east coast following abduction from the Western province. 5 persons have returned home. In many cases the Police investigations are inconclusive and pending. Out of the 32, one has been identified as a woman, two are not clear and 29 have been identified as men.

© Groundviews

Sri Lanka: Protest against 'Western conspiracy'

2012-02-26T10:32:00.006+01:00

BBC Sinhala
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The Sri Lanka government has urged the general public to come to streets against what it called a “Western conspiracy” to topple Mahinda Rajapaksa government.

Addressing a cabinet press briefing, a group of cabinet ministers described the recent protests against the fuel price increase as an “NGO funded conspiracy” which was supported by the West.

The conspiracy was clearly visible in Negombo and Chilaw while many other affected communities accepted the subsidy offered by the government, they said.

Housing Minister Wimal Weerawansa alleged that the Western powers are planning to prosecute President Rajapaksa and the “war heroes” in the international war crimes tribunal at The Hague.

Mass protests

"Is there a government in Sri Lanka that stays in power without holding elections? Is there a military rule in Sri Lanka ?" he questioned.

The ministers were commenting on the US-led moves to discuss the alleged war crimes in Sri Lanka at the upcoming United Nations Human Rights Council sessions in Geneva.

"Then what is this issue? It is very clear that the anger against the defeat of the LTTE behind all this," said Minister Weerawansa.

Power and Energy Minister Champika Ranawaka urged not to allow those who "try to create Maldives or Mid-East in Sri Lanka," at a time the rule of law has been established in the island.

"The UNP has said that whole villages disappeared during the war. Do they have evidence, whom do they by making these allegations," Minister Ranawaka questioned.

They called upon the public to stage mass protests on 27 February in the capital, Colombo, as well as in other cities, against the "Dollar, Yen, Pound funded" conspirators.

Acting Media Minister and Cabinet spokesman Lakshman Yapa Abeywardene, and Petroleum Minister Susil Premajayanth also took part in the press briefing.

© BBC Sinhala

UK: Halt Deportations of Tamils to Sri Lanka

2012-02-26T10:25:00.008+01:00

Human Rights Watch
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The United Kingdom should suspend deportations of ethnic Tamil asylum seekers to Sri Lanka and immediately review its policies and information about the country’s rights situation used to assess their claims, Human Rights Watch said today. Research by Human Rights Watch has found that some returned Tamil asylum seekers from the United Kingdom have been subjected to arbitrary arrest and torture upon their return to Sri Lanka.

In recent months the British government has sent Tamil asylum seekers back to Sri Lanka on charter flights. Human Rights Watch expressed particular concern about the next scheduled deportation from the United Kingdom of about 100 Tamil asylum seekers, scheduled for February 28, 2012.

“The British government has an international legal obligation not to deport people who have a credible fear of torture upon return,” said Brad Adams, Asia director at Human Rights Watch. “Convincing reports of arbitrary arrests and torture demand that the UK government suspend returns of rejected Tamil asylum seekers to Sri Lanka until it can fairly and thoroughly assess their individual claims based on up-to-date human rights information on Sri Lanka.”

Human Rights Watch has documented eight recent cases in which people deported to Sri Lanka have faced serious abuses. A Tamil deportee from the United Kingdom, RS (a pseudonym for security reasons), said that army soldiers in Sri Lanka arrested him on December 29, 2011. He alleged that during interrogation he was beaten with batons and burned with cigarettes, and that his head was doused with kerosene. He also said that his head was submerged in a bucket of water, that he was hung upside down, and that hot chilis were placed under his head and chest. He said that as a result of this torture, he confessed to being a member of the separatist Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE), which were defeated in May 2009. He said that he paid a substantial bribe to escape from detention, and fled back to the United Kingdom, where he has applied for asylum.

DB, a Tamil deported from the United Kingdom in 2011, said that he was arrested at a Sri Lankan army checkpoint on December 10. He alleged that he was forced to strip naked and burned with cigarettes and beaten until he agreed to sign a document in Sinhala. He said the soldiers told him he had to work as an informer for the army to identify former LTTE cadres. Like RS, he said he escaped detention after a family member paid a bribe for his release, then secured false documents to return to the United Kingdom, where he has again applied for asylum status.

Another 2011 deportee, AH, alleges that he was arrested by the police Criminal Investigation Department (CID) soon after arriving in Colombo, Sri Lanka’s capital. He said that he was stripped naked and was beaten and tortured until a family member paid a bribe for his release.

Human Rights Watch has also documented cases of Tamil deportees who alleged to have been subjected to rape as a form of torture upon their return to Sri Lanka. In December 2010, CB was arrested at the Colombo airport on his return and was detained for a month by the CID. He said that during this time he was beaten with metal rods and raped four or five times by two men. As he described it, one man would hold him down while the other raped him.

BK, a Tamil woman, alleges that she was arrested at Colombo airport by the CID on her return in April 2010 and kept in detention. She says was raped by several men many times during the course of her detention. She described profuse bleeding as a result of these rapes. Both CB and BK managed to secure their release after relatives intervened to bribe the officials holding them. Both fled Sri Lanka and are seeking asylum in the United Kingdom.

Human Rights Watch has obtained medical evidence supporting each of the above claims of torture.

Asylum tribunals in the United Kingdom have recently concluded that the lack of an official identification card is not a risk factor for returnees. However, in two cases returnees alleged that they were specifically targeted because they did not possess the required IDs.

At a parliamentary debate on Sri Lanka on February 22, Foreign and Commonwealth Office Minister Alexander Burt said: “We are aware of media allegations that returnees are being abused. All have been investigated by the high commission, and no evidence has been found to substantiate any of them.”

Human Rights Watch and others have learned that returnees are met at the Colombo airport by UK embassy staff and given a document with the contact information for the embassy. British officials have stated that they do not have the capacity to monitor the safety of returnees and that returnees may fear retaliation from the Sri Lankan government if they make contact with the UK embassy.

“The United Kingdom and other countries considering the claims of Tamil asylum seekers need to recognize the reality of what may await them on return,” Adams said. “Meeting returnees at the airport and giving them a phone number has not prevented them from being wrongfully arrested and mistreated. This should come as no surprise since abuses against Tamils suspected of links to the LTTE have long been recorded in official UK documents.”

The UK Border Agency’s Operational Guidance Note on Sri Lanka, last updated in December, acknowledges that torture is widespread in Sri Lanka: “The UN Committee Against Torture (UNCAT) stated that they remain seriously concerned about the continued and consistent allegations of widespread use of torture and other cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment of suspects in police custody, especially to extract confessions or information to be used in criminal proceedings. The Committee is further concerned at reports that suggest that torture and ill-treatment perpetrated by state actors, both the military and the police, have continued in many parts of the country after the conflict ended in May 2009 and is still occurring in 2011. In 2011 the UNCAT issued a scathing statement about Sri Lanka in which it called for an end to the practice.”

However, the Operational Guidance Note in section 5 on “Returns” makes no mention of Tamil ethnicity as a factor to consider.

The United Kingdom is a party to the Convention against Torture and Other Cruel, Inhuman or Degrading Treatment or Punishment, which states in article 3 that no state “shall expel, return (‘refouler’) or extradite a person to another State where there are substantial grounds for believing that he would be in danger of being subjected to torture.” In making such determinations, the authorities “shall take into account all relevant considerations including, where applicable, the existence in the State concerned of a consistent pattern of gross, flagrant or mass violations of human rights.”

Human Rights Watch called for the Sri Lankan government to stop targeting Tamil returnees and end the use of torture and other ill-treatment in custody. Sri Lanka is also a party to the Convention against Torture.

“The Sri Lankan government has a long record of torture and mistreatment that has not ended with the end of the long war with the LTTE,” Adams said. “The government needs to take serious and public measures to end these cruel practices.”

© HRW

8,000 killed in last year of Sri Lanka war: census

2012-02-26T10:14:00.004+01:00

AFP | Yahoo! News
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Nearly 8,000 people were killed in Sri Lanka's war-torn north during the government's final offensive to crush the Tamil Tiger rebels, according to Colombo's census department.

The figure is in stark contrast to estimates by international rights groups, which say up to 40,000 civilians perished in the final months of the civil war and have heavily criticised Sri Lanka's actions at the end of the conflict.

The 80-page census report said 11,172 people were reported dead in the former war zone in 2009, at the height of fighting between government forces and the separatist Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE), with only 2,523 due to natural causes.

It described 7,934 deaths as being due to "extraordinary circumstances", but did not identify those responsible or whether Tiger combatants were included in the statistics.

The cause of death was "not stated" in the balance of 715 deaths, the department said.

Colombo has long maintained that its military should not be held culpable for any civilian deaths during the fighting, blaming the Tigers for using non-combatants as human shields.

But last week the military appointed a five-member panel of senior army officers to probe allegations of war crimes by its own troops in the final phase of fighting.

The census department said the highest concentration of 2009 deaths was in Kilinochchi district, where the rebels had their de facto capital, and adjoining Mullaittivu, where the final battle was fought in May of that year.

The findings were based on a census carried out between June and August last year and were dated November 2011, but only released Saturday.

Sri Lanka's rights record is expected to be discussed at a UN Human Rights Council meeting opening in Geneva next week where the US has said it will bring a resolution demanding the island probe alleged war crimes by its troops.
The United Nations has estimated that up to 100,000 people died in the conflict between 1971 and 2009.

© AFP

Sri Lanka: Unslayable ghosts

2012-02-26T10:06:00.005+01:00

The Economist
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Bury the past. Those killed nearly three years ago in the last, savage days of Sri Lanka’s civil war will never return. Foreign and local critics who harp on about horrors are doing down a fragile country. “Any sensible person will realise the advantage our people got. Today there is no more killing, fighting. It is peaceful, people are free.”

So argues Gotabaya Rajapaksa, Sri Lanka’s defiant and powerful defence secretary (and brother to the president, Mahinda Rajapaksa). But for the first time since the end of the war in 2009, the Sri Lankan government may be forced to answer for its actions to the United Nations’ human-rights council. This week, a Sri Lankan delegation arrived in Geneva, for a council session starting on February 27th. America (with European support) is expected to propose a resolution, calling for the government to report on both how it is fostering better ties with Tamils and its inquiries into possible war crimes.

At the moment, the government is unrepentant. “Go by the facts”, advises Mr Rajapaksa. “Nobody can categorise [the crushing of the separatist rebel army which itself had committed atrocities] as a genocide.” He dismisses televised footage of Sri Lankan soldiers executing several naked prisoners as a fake (see picture). Briefly angry, he dares any relative who recognises a victim to speak out: “Bring me any person.” Did he order civilians or prisoners killed? “Nobody can say zero [deaths occurred], but there was no policy.”

The Rajapaksa defence will be repeated at length in the coming months. The terms of the dispute will probably be determined by a government-backed inquiry into the war’s end, called the Lessons Learned and Reconciliation Commission (LLRC). Mr Rajapaksa says some LLRC proposals may have merit. He promises, for example, “military boards” to look into its timid suggestions of army wrongdoing. But the expected Western-backed proposal may also try to use the LLRC to put pressure on the government by asking for other recommendations to be implemented. These include liberal things like letting the national anthem be sung in Tamil (as well as Sinhala), ensuring press freedom, reducing the clout of the army, putting the police under civilian control, cracking down on paramilitary groups that harass Tamils, resolving land disputes and asking if at least individual soldiers committed crimes.

Outsiders need to speak up, since many locals seem increasingly cowed. “The fear psychosis is more than before,” laments Mangala Samaraweera, an ex-foreign minister who defected to the opposition. One critic describes in bitter detail how a relative was recently shot dead by a close ally of the defence secretary, while out campaigning. The past few months have seen cases of abduction, torture and disappearance at the hands of thugs travelling in white vans.

Official claims of peace and freedom hardly ring true, at least among Tamils. Some of them talk of occupation. R. Sampanthan, an ageing leader of the Tamil National Alliance, scoffs at suggestions of ethnic reconciliation and claims that mass graves are hidden in “high-security zones” in the north. Testimony from mothers and widows in the north-east leads him to believe that government soldiers killed 10,000 opponents at the end of (or even after) the war. Over 1,000 Tamil fighters who surrendered are missing, he says.

Sri Lanka’s stance is that the rights council in Geneva has no business poking its nose into this. Along with a motley club of Cuba, Pakistan, Russia, Algeria and China it is backing a counter-resolution criticising Western funding of the council. Another presidential brother and leading minister, Basil Rajapaksa, claims that it is the outsiders who are causing tension. He says criticism “has made us more nervous. If we were not pressurised we would do more than this” for reconciliation.

Americans and Europeans think the opposite is true. Sri Lanka undertook its LLRC inquiry partly because an investigation was being launched by the UN secretary-general, Ban Ki-moon. Many moderates, even in government, want friendlier ties with Europe—still easily the island’s biggest trading partner—and the West generally. Warm relations with India, too, rest in part on reconciliation with the Tamils. Even the Rajapaksas are anxious that next year’s Commonwealth heads of government meeting, in Colombo, should not be overwhelmed by a row over abuses. Maybe a tacit deal is possible: if the Rajapaksas show proper reconciliation efforts and beef up democracy, outsiders may talk less about the horrors at the end of the war.

© The Economist

Marie Colvin: A mediator in white flag killings

2012-02-23T13:02:00.006+01:00

By Matthew Russell Lee | Inner City Press
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The death of journalist Marie Colvin in Homs in Syria calls to mind her work in another war zone: Sri Lanka. Based on her reporting in 2001 forward, she became an well meaning humanitarian intermediary in attempted surrenders that ended in the murder of those surrendering.

Also involved were UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon's chief of staff Vijay Nambiar, who conveyed assurances of safety but refused to go witness the surrenders, and Shavendra Silva, a Sri Lankan General since made Deputy Permanent Representative and, unless it is stopped, a UN Senior Adviser on Peacekeeping Operations.

Imagine what Ms. Colvin would think. But what will others now do? Consider:

Marie Colvin, a reporter with The Times of London, wrote that on Monday, May 18, 2009, at 5:30 a.m. she personally called Nambiar in Colombo to relay a message she had received from members of the LTTE leadership, who were surrounded in a bunker with 300 loyalists including women and children, that they were ready to give themselves up to Sri Lankan government troops. According to Colvin the leaders wanted “Nambiar to be present to guarantee the Tigers’ safety”.

Nambiar told Colvin that he had been assured by Sri Lankan president Mahinda Rajapaksa that those who gave up would be safe if they were to “hoist a white flag high”. When Colvin suggested that Nambiar go personally to witness the surrender he told her it would not “be necessary” and that “the president’s assurances were enough”. Hours later the lifeless bodies of dozens of members of the LTTE leadership including the two men who told Colvin they were ready to give up, were put on display

The UN's gloss on the incident is in Paragraphs 170 and 171 of Ban's Panel of Experts report on Sri Lanka, which names Silva as well as the Permanent Representative who may as a a "fix" replace him, Palitha Kohona.

Twenty six days ago Inner City Press began asking the UN and then various countries' missions to the UN how they could accept as a UN "Senior Adviser on Peacekeeping Operations" General Shavendra Silva, whose Division 58 is repeatedly named in connection with war crimes in Secretary General Ban Ki-moon's Panel of Experts report on Sri Lanka.

Now, with no credit to the UN Secretariat of Ban Ki-moon, multiple Ambassadors have told Inner City Press that there is a "fix."

"It's very simple," a well placed Permanent Representative told Inner City Press on Tuesday morning in front of the Security Council. "We can do one thing. When we created this [Senior Advisory Group], we insisted the membership must be a PR [Permanent Representative] level. Wherever it isn't will not be welcome this time. Palitha [Kohona] will have to come himself, he cannot nominate anyone. That's their choice."

Inner City Press had predicted this semi-solution weeks ago but Sri Lanka Permanent Representative Palitha Kohona, who also appears by name in the Panel of Experts report in connection surrenderees who were killed, said that he would not switch with Silva.

The outrage of Silva's nomination, which Sri Lanka got through the Asia Group not by election but by getting Nepal and Saudi Arabia to withdraw, has spread to other regional groups and major member states.

Also on Tuesday morning, Inner City Press asked UK Permanent Representative Mark Lyall Grant about l'affaire Silva. He said "there has been a lot of discussion" between the UN Secretariat and others -- he mentioned "the Americans," whose Ambassador Rice told Inner City Press of US concern back on February 17 -- but added that "the Secretariat says they can't do anything."

This position, with which even UN High Commissioner on Human Rights Navi Pillay disagrees, as she told Inner City Press in response to a question after she briefed the General Assembly about Syria on February 13, was reiterated by Ban's spokesman Martin Nesirky at Tuesday's noon briefing.

Inner City Press noted that Ban was in effect disagreeing with Pillay, who wrote to him to say that the same vetting applied to UN peacekeepers should apply to a Senior Adviser on Peacekeeping Operations. Nesirky said it's up to member states, you are putting words in my mouth and I think I'll leave it at that." [Both Ban and Nesirky have now left town for a week.]

Inner City Press had asked if the Secretariat had any role in the "fix;" Nesikry said "that's a very very long question," the "answer is very short: this is a decision that was taken by the Asia Group member states, it is for the member states to decide."

This stands in contrast to instances when Ban Ki-moon urges the member states on the Security Council to reach consensus and take action, and expresses regret when they do not. Is having an alleged war criminal from Sri Lanka as a UN adviser just not of as much concern to Ban Ki-moon?

Prior to these developments, the Sri Lankan Mission's action was to send a letter of complaint to Inner City Press, sending a copy to Ban's spokesman Martin Nesirky as well as to some in the UN press corps.

Inner City Press in less than 24 hours published and responded to the letter, citing only some of the many references to Silva's Division 58 in the report.

Now that's updated, and Silva is blaming his problems on the Press. How about the deeds, of May 2009 and before?

© Inner City Press

UN committee bars Sri Lankan general linked to atrocities

2012-02-23T08:04:00.005+01:00

AFP | Google news
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A top UN peacekeeping committee barred a Sri Lankan general accused of carrying out a military onslaught against civilians from taking part in its work.

But Major General Shavendra Silva still attended the first meeting of the advisory panel to UN leader Ban Ki-moon. Silva sat in the room but did not speak, no other member spoke to him and no documents were given to him, diplomats said.

The nomination of Silva, Sri Lanka's deputy UN ambassador, to the panel by Asia-Pacific countries at the UN set off a storm of protest by rights groups. A Canadian official who chairs the special advisory group said that Silva's presence was "not appropriate."

Silva has been accused of playing a central role in the Sri Lankan military's crushing of a Tamil separatist uprising in 2009 in which tens of thousands of people died, according to UN experts and rights groups.

"Following careful consideration and consultation with other special advisory group members, the chair, Louise Frechette, has advised Major General Shavendra Silva of Sri Lanka, that his participation is not appropriate or helpful for the purposes of this group," said a statement released by Frechette.

"He will not participate in its deliberations," added Frechette, a former UN deputy secretary general and top Canadian diplomat who was named by Ban to chair the committee.

"If Frechette had not acted this panel would just have fallen apart, nobody wanted him on the panel," said one diplomat, speaking on condition of anonymity.

Silva has not faced any charges over his role in the military campaign. But a UN panel which investigated the Sri Lankan military campaign referred to the army's 58th division which he led at the time.

UN human rights chief Navi Pillay said she was "deeply concerned at the impact" of Silva's nomination on the credibility of UN peacekeeping, in a letter sent to Ban Ki-moon and other UN leaders, which was obtained by AFP.

Pillay said in the letter there was "a reasonable conclusion that there is, at the very least, the appearance of a case of international crimes to answer by Mr. Silva."

"We keep a list of individuals who are suspected of committing human rights violations and I have addressed a letter of concern to the secretary-general about this individual," Pillay told reporters last week.

The peacekeeping panel was set up to fix payments to countries that contribute troops to UN missions. It has 10 members, half named by Ban and half nominated by regional groups.

The UN secretariat had previously said it could do nothing about Silva's appointment as it was decided by member countries.

Neither Silva nor Sri Lanka's UN mission made an immediate comment on the action.

But Human Rights Watch strongly welcomed Frechette's move. It said Silva had been given "a stinging rebuke" and called on all UN member states to back what it called Frechette's "principled stand".

"General Silva should stop showing up at these meetings and understand that he is no longer welcome. The Sri Lankan government should realize that it will be marginalized for as long as it fails to take seriously allegations of massive wartime abuses, including by troops under General Silva's command," Human Rights Watch said in a statement.

Two Sri Lankan Tamils who alleged their relatives had been tortured filed a civil lawsuit in New York against Silva last month. But it was dismissed when he invoked diplomatic privilege.

© AFP

Marie Colvin : A passion for speaking the truth

2012-02-23T07:55:00.006+01:00

By Ian Birrell | Mail Online
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The air was thick with tear gas, angry crowds confronted soldiers aiming bullets at their eyes, and motorcycle ambulances driven by young men in gas masks ferried the injured from the frontline to field hospitals.

It was like a scene from a futuristic thriller, with the mood that unpredictable fusion of passion, bravery and fear that drove last year’s revolutions in north Africa.

As I left the pandemonium of Tahrir Square in Egypt’s capital, I was not surprised to bump into the familiar figure of a woman with an American accent and a distinctive eye-patch.

Despite the lateness of the hour, Marie Colvin was out doing what she had done with such brilliance and bravery for so many years: Reporting from the frontline of the world’s hottest spots.

We went for a coffee, having not seen each other since the liberation of Tripoli four months earlier. I had just arrived that night, so she brought me up to speed with events in Egypt then, with typical generosity, let me sit in on an interview she had spent some time setting up with a leading human rights activist.

Afterwards, I returned to the fray and we agreed to meet the following day.

Somehow, we never did – and now that night in December was the last time I saw her. Yesterday brought the dreadful news that this gutsy and inspirational woman, one of the world’s great war reporters, was killed in the shelling of a media centre in Homs in Syria.

It was somehow symbolic that having dodged so many bullets in her lifetime, she finally met her end in the hell that is Homs.

For there she was in the most dangerous city in the most volatile region of the world – a region she had reported on with such skill, dedication and determination for more than two decades – as it was pounded and pulverised day and night by the murderous forces of Syria’s leader, Bashar al-Assad.

She was where she always wanted to be: In the heat of the action at the heart of the big global story.

Her last published story is a fitting tribute to her work: Under the headline ‘We live in fear of a massacre’, it is powerful, compassionate and colourful reportage that brings home vividly what it is like for those unfortunates trapped in the horror of Homs.

Her sympathies were always with the victims of violence.

And at a time when journalism in Britain is under such assault, her tragic and untimely death at the age of 55 reminds us of its real role and irreplaceable value.

‘Our mission is to speak truth to power,’ she once said. ‘We send home that first rough draft of history.’

Colvin risked her life to go to those places torn apart by chaos, destruction and depravity in order to bear witness to brutal events and try to establish through ‘the sandstorm of propaganda’ the causes of conflict. ‘We can and do make a difference in exposing the horrors of war and the atrocities that befall civilians,’ she said.

Now she has paid the ultimate price.

Just like David Blundy, the man who recruited her to the Sunday Times (the same year that I joined the paper as a nervous young reporter) and who was killed two years later in El Salvador. Just like the photographer Tim Hetherington, blown to death in Libya last year. Just like ITN reporter Terry Lloyd, shot dead in the Iraq war. And just like at least 46 other journalists killed worldwide last year.

This roll-call of reporters slain for doing their job should be remembered amid the current furore over the future of the Press – not least since Marie Colvin was funded on her foreign news-gathering by the much-maligned Rupert Murdoch.

Reporting from the world’s most dangerous places does not come cheap with all those flights, fixers, flak jackets and satellite phones.

Sometimes journalists have gone too far in pursuit of trivia and tittle-tattle. But sometimes they go much further in pursuit of the biggest stories on the planet, taking the most extreme risks. This should be remembered by all those politicians who yesterday paid such fulsome tributes to Colvin’s courage from the sanctity of Westminster.

But Colvin should not be mythologised. She may have been unbelievably brave but she was far from fearless.

She knew the savagery to which mankind can stoop, having seen too much blood spilt around the globe and having herself lost an eye to shrapnel in Sri Lanka while investigating government oppression of Tamil civilians in 2001. Indeed, she confided to friends doubts over what proved to be her final assignment.

She was a complex character, fiercely competitive and intensely driven in search of the story yet always friendly to rivals and helpful to young reporters. Like many in her game, underneath the New Yorker’s tough exterior was someone kind and caring.

She once said the real difficulty was not going to places where people were shooting at you but having enough faith in humanity to believe that enough people would care when your reports from such places were printed.

As her editor and friend John Witherow said yesterday, she was a woman with wit and tremendous joie de vie, able to charm even the likes of Colonel Gaddafi – who once confessed to her his love for Madeline Albright, the U.S. secretary of state.

She loved sailing on the Thames and had a wide circle of friends, who have spent years fearing the news that made headlines round the world yesterday.

She liked to do things her own way: When a smoking ban came into force at the Sunday Times, she blithely turned up with three packets of cigarettes and puffed away at her desk; typically, no one dared stop her.

A technophobe, she would implore colleagues to help send copy back to her editors. She once ran up a bill of £25,000 when failing to switch off a satellite phone after making a call to London.

Another time, she claimed on expenses for expensive underwear stolen in East Timor – later telling Vogue in an interview that such items were essential for a woman in a war zone.

With her in Homs was the photographer Paul Conroy, a tough ex-soldier injured in the attack. We became good friends sharing a hotel room for a fortnight with three others in Libya last year, laughing late into the night over cherished cups of coffee like a group of students in our increasingly squalid room.

Another member of the quintet was a young American photographer named Michael Brown. As we drove at high-speeds into Libya last summer, he showed me pictures on his iPhone of hideous holes in his body after he was strafed by shrapnel in the grenade attack that killed Hetherington a few months earlier.

That incident took place in Misrata in north-eastern Libya, until now the scene of probably the most savage fighting since the wave of uprisings began in the region last year. Two reporters died there and six more were injured. Such was the chaos, many journalists reported from a ship anchored off the shore or fled after a few days – but not Colvin and Conroy.

Their driver was killed and the duo narrowly escaped with their lives when an ambulance they were in was attacked on the way to the frontline. Demonstrating once again her courage, Colvin refused to leave with other journalists aboard the last ship sent in to rescue stranded foreigners and Libyan women and children. She stayed another six weeks.

Colvin would be the first to remind us she was just one among dozens of people killed yesterday in Homs. Poignantly, she once wrote how she was always awed by the ‘quiet bravery of civilians who endure far more than I ever will. They must stay where they are; I can come home to London’.

Even more poignant was one of the last messages she posted on Facebook. ‘I think reports of my survival may be exaggerated,’ she wrote. ‘In Baba Amr. Sickening, cannot understand how the world can stand by and I should be hardened by now.’

Marie Colvin never stood by when ordinary people were being murdered and maimed. Her death is a terrible tragedy. But the ultimate tragedy would be if others failed to follow in her footsteps to report on the savagery of war with such an honest, unflinching gaze.

© Mail Online

Senior Chinese military official meets with Sri Lankan guests

2012-02-23T07:47:00.004+01:00

PLA Daily | Defence Professionals
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Ma Xiaotian, deputy chief of general staff of the Chinese People's Liberation Army (PLA), met with Collenberg, commander of the eastern military area command of the Sri Lankan Navy who came to China to attend the International Naval Escort Seminar, in Beijing on February 21, 2012.

Ma Xiaotian said that China and Sri Lanka have enjoyed deep traditional friendship and the solid foundation of the China-Sri Lanka relationship jointly laid by the elder generation of leaders of the two countries. Since the establishment of diplomatic relations 55 years ago, the bilateral relationship has maintained healthy and smooth development. The two militaries also enjoy friendly relations and have conducted pragmatic cooperation in various fields. The Chinese side feels happy that Sri Lanka has ended the war and been on the way towards stability and prosperity. In the future, China is ready to further promote relations between the two countries and the two militaries and continue to do its best to support the Sri Lankan army building.

Collenberg said that China and Sri Lanka are traditionally friendly neighbors. The Sri Lankan side appreciates China’s support for safeguarding its national sovereignty and territorial integrity, highly values its military relations with China, and is willing to work together with the Chinese side to promote China-Sri Lanka military ties to a new high.

Guan Youfei, deputy director of the Foreign Affairs Office of the Ministry of National Defense of China, and Vinosuria, Sri Lankan defense attach, among others, were present at the meeting.

© Defpro News

Sri Lanka: Calls mount for government action on war inquiry

2012-02-23T07:41:00.005+01:00

IRIN
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As the government of Sri Lanka comes under increasing international pressure to implement recommendations submitted by a presidentially appointed war commission, IRIN asked national analysts which recommendations were most easily achievable.

International human rights groups and, until recently, several governments, including the UK, US and Australia, widely criticized the lack of accountability in the report by the Lessons Learnt and Reconciliation Commission (LLRC).

The commission set out in May 2010 to investigate the final phase of fighting between 2002 and May 2009, when the government declared victory over the separatist Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam.

Critics called for an independent inquiry, denouncing the report for ignoring alleged human rights abuses, an issue also raised in the Report of the UN Secretary-General's Panel of Experts on Accountability in Sri Lanka.

But weeks before the next UN Human Rights Council session in Geneva and nearly three months after the LLRC submitted its final report to the president on 20 November 2011, the US is calling for a resolution to prod Sri Lanka's government to act on the recommendations.

"While it has shortcomings on accountability, the commission addressed a number of crucial areas of concern to Sri Lankans and made substantive recommendations on reconciliation," said US Assistant Secretary Robert Blake at a recent meeting in Colombo.

Where to start

Jehan Perera, executive director of the Colombo-based National Peace Council, told IRIN he felt the release of a full list of detainees in government custody was the most important and "easiest to implement" of the dozens of recommendations.

Thousands of prisoners who went missing during the war remain unaccounted for, some of whom have been missing for more than two decades, he added. "If such a list were out, it would bring closure to a lot of families."

Ruki Fernando, head of the human rights in conflict programme at the local NGO, Law and Society Trust (LST), picked a day of commemoration for those who lost their lives. "A number of recommendations by the LLRC have the potential to build trust amongst communities," he said.

Other provisions he highlighted include the de-militarization and establishment of full civilian administration in the former conflict hotspot northern region; financial compensation for all survivors, or those who lost lives, limbs and possibly also property, according to the report; addressing disappearances; ensuring access to places of religious worship, including those in high security zones; and the use of both Sinhala and Tamil - the respective major languages for the former warring sides - for the national anthem.

Assistant Secretary Blake said the LLRC recommendations on devolution of authority, demilitarization, rule of law, media freedom, disappearances and human rights violations and abuses, "if implemented, could contribute to genuine reconciliation and strengthening democratic institutions and practices".

Game changer

Attention is shifting from forcing an international investigation to encouraging implementation of the recommendations because they are, at least, a starting point for reconciliation, say local activists.

The longstanding problem, said LST's Fernando, was that the Sri Lankan government had steadfastly refused to cooperate with any international mechanism to move past war.

"The report offers an opportunity to move forward. Now it is up to the government to show it is committed to do that," said Perera.

But Fernando was pessimistic.

"Looking at the scorecard after the LLRC report is not encouraging - there have been at least 22 abductions reported after the LLRC report [was released]; bodies are found in Colombo; peaceful campaigns [to locate the missing] in the north were obstructed in December and January; a protester was killed and others injured even last week in Chilaw [North Western Province)," he said.

Army inquiry

Two days after the US expressed its support for a resolution, the national army announced its appointment of a five-member panel to investigate whether troops executed prisoners and killed civilians during the final phase of fighting.

Human Rights Watch criticized the panel as a "transparent ploy to deflect a global push for a genuine international investigation, not a sudden inspiration nearly three years after the war".

The Attorney-General has also announced it is conducting follow-up interviews with witnesses who provided LLRC testimony to gather more information for further examination.

The UN Human Rights Council session is scheduled for 27 February to 23 March.

© IRIN

Military war crimes inquiry 'eyewash'

2012-02-17T11:47:00.002+01:00

BBC Sinhala
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Human rights watchdogs as well as the largest Tamil political party in Sri Lanka have rejected a court of inquiry appointed to investigate alleged war crimes by the country’s armed forces.

New York Based Human Rights Watch (HRW) called the court of inquiry as a delaying tactic in the face of mounting international pressure.

In a statement, the army said its commander, Lt-Gen Jagath Jayasuriya, had appointed a five-member court of inquiry (CoI) to examine two separate reports; that of the Lessons Learnt and Reconciliation Commission (LLRC) appointed by the president, and a documentary by the British commercial TV station, Channel 4.

Lt. Gen. Jagath Jayasuriya, was commander of the security forces in the Vanni, during the last few years of the war.

“The Sri Lankan army’s announced inquiry appears to be a transparent ploy to deflect a global push for a genuine international investigation, not a sudden inspiration nearly three years after the war,” said Brad Adams, Asia director at Human Rights Watch on Thursday.

An inquiry appointed by the commander, a colleague of senior officers implicated in serious abuses, and who oversaw the war cannot possibly be expected to be an independent and impartial finder of facts, Human Rights Watch said.

JHU Welcome CoI

However, a Sinhala nationalist partner of the Sri Lanka government, Jathika Hela Urumaya (JHU) has welcomed the move to appoint a military court of inquiry based on the recommendations of the LLRC.

JHU spokesman Nishantha Warnasinghe told BBC Sandeshaya that Sri Lanka has the mechanism to address accountability issues.

“We oppose the court of inquiry if it was appointed due to pressure by the United States,” he said.

On Monday the US Assistant Secretary of State, Robert Blake, on a visit to Colombo, said Washington believed "there should be an investigation into war crimes”.

International investigation essential

The Tamil National Alliance (TNA) described the appointment of the CoI as ‘eyewash’.

“An independent international investigation will eventually become necessary,” said MA Sumanthiran MP.

Although, there are ‘some recommendations’ by the LLRC that the government can be entrusted to implement, issues of war crimes and accountability can only be addressed by an independent investigation, he added.

Amnesty International (AI) said that the Sri Lankan government has been prompted to appoint the CoI. in the face of mounting evidence emerging for an international inquiry on human rights violations.

Researcher of AI Yolanda Foster called the establishment of the CoI as a “dramatic U turn by Sri Lanka’s security establishment" that denied any human rights violations in 2009.

© BBC Sinhala

High security in Chilaw ahead of fisherman's funeral

2012-02-17T11:22:00.008+01:00

Sunday Times Online
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Police and the Special Task Force continued to maintain tight security in the coastal belt to prevent any violence after the killing of a fisherman in Chilaw.

Rev Fr Claude Fernando, the Parish Priest of St Sebestian's Church, Wella Veediya, Chilaw told Timesonline that he has appealed to the fishing community in the village to refrain from any violence.

He said some 3,000 fishing families live in the area and among them was Anthony Fernando Warnakulasuriya who was killed in the shooting incident on Wednesday during a demonstration against the increased fuel prices.

The fish market in Chilaw remained closed on Friday for the fifth consecutive day.

The funeral of the fisherman is due to be held on Saturday.

© The Sunday Times

Human rights advocates blast appointment of SL commander to peacekeeping panel

2012-02-17T11:09:00.004+01:00

By Colum Lynch | Foreign Policy
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The U.N.'s chief human rights official, Navi Pillay, advised U.N. Secretary General Ban Ki-moon earlier this month to seek the removal of a former Sri Lankan officer from a top peacekeeping advisory committee because soldiers under his command may have committed abuses during the bloody, final months of the country's 28-year-long civil war, according to a confidential account obtained by Turtle Bay.

Major Gen. Shavendra Silva, who currently serves as Sri Lanka's deputy U.N. envoy, was selected last month by the U.N.'s Asia Group, which consists of all the U.N.'s Asian member states, to serve on the U.N. secretary general's senior advisory panel. The 20-member panel was established to examine the prospect of awarding pay increases to U.N. peacekeepers.

But his appointment has drawn intense criticism from Pillay and human rights advocates, who claim that his role as a military commander of Sri Lanka's 58th division, which faced allegations of rights abuses, should make him ineligible.

In a confidential letter to Ban, excerpts of which were reviewed by Turtle Bay, Pillay wrote that Silva's appointment threatens to harm the reputation of the U.N.'s peacekeeping division. She appealed to Ban and other top U.N. officials to ask the Asian Group to reconsider its decision, and select a replacement.

"I am seriously concerned that were Mr. Silva to assume this senior position related to U.N. peacekeeping the damage to the reputation and integrity of the organization will be serious and sustained," Pillay wrote. "His appointment runs directly counter to long-standing efforts ... to move peacekeeping operations away from previous incidents of serious mismanagement and abusive conduct on a stronger, more professional and more respected footing."

In response to Pillay's criticism of the appointment, Sri Lanka's mission to the United Nations issued a statement this week saying Pillay's demands are "unfair and unethical."

"Nowhere in the world, certainly not in this country, do you convict a person on the basis of allegations; nor do you besmirch a person's reputation by repeating allegations," Sri Lanka's U.N. ambassador Palitha Kohona, told Turtle Bay. "I think it is not only improper but unfair and unjust.

Kohona said his government has formed a committee to investigate allegations of human rights abuses detailed by a Sri Lankan lessons learned panel. "They will investigate every single allegation highlighted in the lessons learned report," said Kohona.

The U.N.'s secretary general's office declined to comment on Pillay's letter. But Martin Nesirky, Ban's chief spokesman, told reporters in a recent press briefing that Ban had no authority to reverse the appointment. "The selection of the members of the group is beyond the secretary general's purview," Nesirky said. "It's a matter for member states."

Human Rights Watch countered that, while the U.N.'s Asian governments are to blame for the appointment, the U.N. chief bears responsibility for fixing it.

"The responsibility for this puzzling appointment lays squarely with the Asia Group, but ultimately Ban Ki-moon established the panel and has to safeguard the reputation and credibility of the United Nations," Philippe Bolopion, the U.N. representative for Human Rights Watch, told Turtle Bay. "He was not part of the problem, but he need to be part of the solution."

The U.N. General Assembly asked Ban to assemble a senior advisory group to "consider rates of reimbursements" for U.N. peacekeepers. The rate of peacekeeping pay has been a source of mounting resentment among troop-contributing countries because the standard rate has not changed in many years.

The General Assembly mandated that the advisory group be comprised of "five eminent persons of relevant experience" appointed by the secretary general, five representatives from major troop-contributing countries, five representatives from major financial contributors to peacekeeping missions, and one representative for each of the U.N. regional groups.

The panel includes several prominent former U.N. officials, including Louise Frechette of Canada, a former U.N. deputy secretary general, and Jean Marie Guehenno of France, who previously served as the U.N.'s top peacekeeping official. Silva was selected by the Asia group.

In 2008-2009, the Sri Lankan government launched an all-out offensive against the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Ealam (LTTE), one of the world's most violent and ruthless insurgencies.

The operation, which centered on a Tamil stronghold in the Vanni region of Sri Lanka, succeeded in wiping out the armed movement in May 2009.

But the operation took a devastating toll on ethnic Tamil civilians, who were largely trapped between the rival forces. As many as 40,000 civilians died, most of them victims of indiscriminate shelling by Sri Lankan government forces, according to a U.N. panel established by the secretary general.

Silva commanded Sri Lanka's 58th division, which was directly involved in the final push to crush the LTTE. The panel does not specifically accuse Silva of engaging in atrocities, but it raises concern about the conduct of his troops.

"It is thus a reasonable conclusion that there is, at the very least, the appearance of a case of international crimes to answer by Mr. Silva," Pillay wrote. "I would this strongly encourage you and senior colleagues to convey as a matter of urgency the organization's request to the Asian Group that this nomination be reviewed.... Should diplomatic engagement fail to bear fruit, further steps may need to be considered."

"Peacekeeping service is a privilege attracting a heavy protection responsibility, rather than amounting to any form of entitlement or political reward, and credibly alleged human rights violations are sufficient basis to justify denial or termination of mission appointment of peacekeeping persons," she added. "The integrity of this principled position would be substantially undercut by the appointment of Mr. Silva."

© FP

Sri Lanka: Opposition leader extends hand to Rajapaksa

2012-02-17T10:52:00.007+01:00

BBC Sinhala
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Sri Lanka's main opposition pledged its support to solve the national question based on the proposals of a war commission appointed by President Mahinda Rajapaksa.

The United National Party (UNP) will back the Lessons Learnt and Reconciliation Commission (LLRC) recommendations despite short comings in the report, says the opposition leader Ranil Wickremasinghe.

"This report has set up a frame work that helps to develop a Sri Lankan solution and the UNP is ready to support to work within this framework to find a solution to the national question" UNP leader Ranil Wickremasinghe told journalists in Colombo on Thursday.

Resolve misunderstandings

"If we work within this framework we can go forward to find a solution to the national question with the blessings of the other parties. UNP is ready to go forward" he added.

According to UNP leader, recommendations of the LLRC report also provide diverse ways to resolve misunderstandings and differences between the government and the Tamil National Alliance.

Consecutive main opposition parties alongside Sinhala nationalists have continuously opposed a negotiated political solution to the national question in Sri Lanka whenever proposed by an elected government.

The LLRC report made public on 16 December 2011 has recommended the devolution of power.

"A good-faith effort should be taken to develop a consensus on power devolution, building on what exists – both, for maximum possible devolution to the periphery, as well as power sharing at the centre," it says.

© BBC Sinhala

Sri Lanka: Army inquiry a delaying tactic

2012-02-16T10:07:00.004+01:00

Sri Lanka: Police fire on fuel-cost protest, one dead

2012-02-15T13:02:00.007+01:00

By Bharatha Mallawarachi | Associated Press
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Sri Lankan police fired on fishermen protesting a fuel price increase Wednesday, killing one person and wounding four, a witness and a doctor said.

Police spokesman Ajith Rohana said police used tear gas to disperse an "unlawful mob" but refused comment on whether police fired guns at the protesters.

Thousands of fishermen were walking in a protest march near the fishing town of Chilaw and clashed with police, who later opened fire at them, said local journalist Jude Samantha who was at the scene in the town 70 kilometers (43 miles) north of the capital, Colombo.

Police tried to block the protesters from entering the Chilaw town and in turn protesters started hurling stones at the police, said Samantha. Police used tear gas and then opened fire.

Dr. Dinusha Jayasinghe said one dead person and four with gunshot wounds were brought to the town hospital. She said one person's condition is critical.

Protests have swept across Sri Lanka after the government increased fuel prices Saturday night. Private bus owners launched a strike Monday, crippling public transportation, and the government increased bus fares as a result.

Since Monday, fishermen from coastal villages and towns have protested, burning tires and blocking roads with their boats to demand fuel prices be reduced.

The government said prices had to be raised since world oil prices have increased. Government spokesman Anura Priyadarshana Yapa said the government has arranged fuel subsidies for bus owners, fishermen and taxi owners.

© AP

SRI LANKA: ONE KILLED IN SHOOTING ON PROTESTING FISHERMEN

2012-02-15T09:59:00.007+01:00

Sri Lanka Mirror
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One person was killed and another critically injured when police fired at fishermen in Chilaw who had been demanding a reduction in fuel prices.

The protestors had been marching from the fish market to the heart of the town, when police first used teargas and then live bullets against them.

Police said teargas had to be fired at a protest in Chilaw to disperse the protestors.

© Sri Lanka Mirror

The tale of a Sri Lankan journalist in exile

2012-02-14T14:48:00.007+01:00

By Frances Harrison | International News Safety Institute
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There was no safety training on earth that could have prepared twenty-eight year old Lokeesan for covering the final phase of Sri Lanka’s civil war.

I first met him - this tall, earnest, Tamil man - in rebel territory in northern Sri Lanka after the 2004 tsunami. He’d grown up surrounded by war, studying by lantern for his A Levels without enough text books, before becoming a newspaper reporter and then graduating to a high profile job working for the pro-rebel news website, Tamilnet, based in Norway.

It was always going to be a risky assignment - Lokeesan’s predecessor was found dead in a ditch after being abducted. But as the Tamil Tiger rebels started to lose territory rapidly in 2009, Lokeesan found himself running for his life with his parents and precious satellite equipment. Hundreds of thousands of Tamil civilians were hemmed into a tiny patch of territory in northern Sri Lanka, being shelled and bombed on a daily basis.

At first Lokeesan shot graphic images and sent them abroad. Then he began to realise they were too shocking to be used. He switched to black and white, hoping that would be more palatable but he had to live with the reality in colour.

“If Reuters or BBC had been there it would have stopped, but not my organisation,” he says, aware that whatever he wrote was discredited by the Sri Lankan government which automatically dismissed him as a terrorist.

In those months of war Lokeesan would flee from village to village with his parents, dig a bunker, set up a tent and then leave them, retracing his steps to witness and document the aftermath of the latest attack. His mother and father were on tenterhooks the whole time, unable to eat until he returned. He would just recharge his camera equipment with the solar power pack - and his parents would understand he meant to go out again the next day to report. They never ever discussed the risks.

Was there ever a conflict between being a bystander filming and getting involved to pick up the injured, I asked. Lokeesan patiently explained there was no need to worry about missing that poignant scene of a mourning mother or crying injured child. There were so many he could always find another. He didn’t hesitate to stop and help. Sometimes he’d collect material and then when he’d left the scene of carnage, stop and sob.

When we first met, Lokeesan showed me his certificate from a BBC World Service Trust training course he’d attended. I asked if it had been any use for what he had to undergo later. He smiled sweetly and shook his head. The instructors had told him always to check casualty data with official sources like the police and army. In 2009 the Sri Lankan military claimed it was operating a “zero civilian casualty policy”, but Lokeesan was documenting body after body.

Today it’s the children’s corpses he can’t forget. When he reached safety abroad his European colleagues generously chipped in to buy him a new camera. He looked through the lens, thinking to take photos of his own baby son but all he could see was the images of the dead.

Lokeesan needed a new camera because on the day he surrendered to the Sri Lankan army he had to destroy all his equipment to save his life. He was a wanted man. He smashed his camera, his laptop, his Thuraya satellite phone and his Bgan portable Internet dish, burying them under the wet sand. The Bgan he said was particularly indestructible - a credit to its manufacturers who probably never dreamed a customer would want purposefully to destroy their expensive dishes. It was counter intuitive to smash all that gear he’d guarded so carefully. “It felt as if I was killing a part of myself,” he says.

There was one last phone call to his boss in Oslo, who told him to escape with his life.

Lokeesan’s story of escape is hair-raising. He managed to avoid being spotted, partly because of his beard and dishevelled state. Detained in a giant refugee camp, he swapped the order of his names around, hoping to avoid the security forces who were looking for him. It worked for a few days. Then there was an announcement on the camp loudspeaker system. “Lokeesan the reporter, we know you are here,” it said.

It took more than a year and a half to reach safety and there were many more near escapes. In the end, it was another journalist who saved him, a Sinhalese exiled reporter. For Lokeesan as a minority Tamil to trust a member of the major community was something new but he was desperate, having run out of options. Growing up in rebel territory he had never met or talked to a Sinhalese civilian.

Lokeesan’s story is one of those told in a new Norwegian film, “Silenced Voices”, by film maker Beate Arnestad. The first screening in Oslo sold out and had to be moved to a bigger venue. Lokeesan sat in the cinema with hundreds of spectators watching the footage he’d shot in the war, projected onto the large screen. This quiet restrained man broke down, crying, coughing and snuffling into his handkerchief, unable to cope with reliving those scenes. It was extremely distressing to see him collapse. He puts himself through this because he feels it’s his mission now to tell people what happened in Sri Lanka. He struggles to understand why he survived when so many other didn’t but assumes it was so he could tell the world what happened.

Frances Harrison is a former BBC Correspondent in Sri Lanka, among other countries, and her book on the end of the civil war there, "Still Counting the Dead" will be published this summer by Portobello Books in London.

© INSI

US backed resolution guarantees a soft policy towards Sri Lanka

2012-02-14T11:39:00.010+01:00

JDS News
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The United States of America has assured that it will support the Government of Sri Lanka to implement the recommendations in the Lessons Learnt and Reconciliation Commission (LLRC).

The LLRC cleared the Sri Lankan military of allegations that it deliberately attacked civilians and deprived them of food and medicine as a tactic of war.

US Under Secretary General of State Maria Otero, the most senior US official to visit Sri Lanka since 2005, told journalists in Colombo on the 13th of February that the United States will support a resolution in the UN Human Rights Council in March that provides an opportunity for the Government of Sri Lanka to describe what it intends to do to implement the LLRC's recommendations.

While human rights activists were calling for global powers to support a resolution at the 19th session of the UNHRC that convenes on the 27th of February in Geneva for an international investigation against Sri Lanka on war crimes allegations in the war against Tamil Tigers, comments by US Under Secretary General and Assistant Secretary Robert O Blake indicated that US was content with the implementation of the LLRC recommendations.

The full statement follows:

"I am pleased to be here in Colombo for the first time. I've had a series of productive meetings with the government of Sri Lanka, as well as civil society, political leaders, and journalists. President Rajapaksa was kind enough to meet with me and explain his government's vision to advance reconciliation among Sri Lanka's ethnic communities since the end of the conflict. I also had fruitful meetings with the Minister of External Affairs and the Secretary of Defense, among others.

"The United States has long been a friend of Sri Lanka; we were one of the first countries to recognize the LTTE as a Foreign Terrorist Organization in 1997. Since 1956, USAID has provided over $2 billion in assistance in Sri Lanka. This work benefits all Sri Lankans with initiatives on economic growth, agricultural development, environment and natural resources, health, education and training, democracy and governance, community reconciliation and humanitarian assistance. Current assistance is shifting from relief to sustainable development and is focused on two key areas: economic growth for conflict affected regions and strengthened cooperation between the state and an engaged, active civil society.

"Our bilateral relationship with Sri Lanka is multifaceted. While I am the most senior U.S. government official to visit Sri Lanka since Secretary of State Colin Powell in 2005, I know that you have hosted visitors from several U.S. government agencies in recent months. This shows our robust and diverse relationship and strong people-to-people and growing commercial ties.

"During my trip, I had the chance to meet with officials and groups who focus on trafficking in persons, child labor, and human rights. The Government of Sri Lanka has demonstrated improved performance, most notably in the successful prosecution and conviction of traffickers under anti-trafficking legislation, and rejuvenated its interagency task force on this issue. We welcome the opportunity to continue to work with the government to strengthen investigation and prosecution efforts and eradicate the scourge of trafficking in persons.

"Child labor is another area where the Sri Lankan government and NGOs are making a great deal of progress. Today less than two percent of children are engaged in the worst forms of child labor in Sri Lanka. This is a significant achievement, particularly in this region, and we are even more encouraged by the government's plan to entirely eliminate the worst forms of child labor from the country by 2016.

"We also appreciate the work of Sri Lanka's Lessons Learnt and Reconciliation Commission (LLRC) While it has shortcoming on accountability, the Commission addressed a number of crucial areas of concern to Sri Lankans, and makes substantive recommendations on reconciliation, devolution of authority, de-militarization, rule of law, media freedom, disappearances, and human rights violations and abuses that, if implemented, could contribute to genuine reconciliation and strengthening democratic institutions and practices.

"I discussed the recommendations with the President and he assured me that they were looking to implement the LLRC report in a comprehensive manner. I urged the Sri Lankan Government to share the details of their plans and begin fulfilling the recommendations called for in the report, and to credibly address outstanding issues of accountability. I confirmed the United States will support a resolution in the UN Human Rights Council in March that provides an opportunity for the Government of Sri Lanka to describe what it intends to do to implement the LLRC's recommendations and advance reconciliation, as well as address accountability, human rights and democracy concerns.

"Ultimately, the government should address the needs of all communities in Sri Lanka by creating independent mechanisms that support reconciliation, democracy, and accountability for serious human rights abuses. It is critical to ensure the rule of law foster lasting reconciliation. We strongly encourage the Government of Sri Lanka to work with international bodies, including the United Nations, to address these matters. An agreement between the Sri Lankan government and the Tamil National Alliance (TNA) on a lasting political settlement is also critical, and we urge both sides to approach negotiations in the spirit of trust, empathy, and good faith to reach a political solution that is in the best interest of all of Sri Lanka's citizens.

"It is our sincere hope that the Government and people of Sri Lanka will seize this opportunity to build a democratic, tolerant society that will lead to lasting peace and prosperity that leads to a future of hope and dignity for all. We hope that all Sri Lankans see diversity as a strength, not a weakness. Sri Lanka has immense potential. The United States looks forward to continuing to work with you to build on your momentum toward a peaceful, prosperous, and democratic Sri Lanka."

© JDS