massacre லேபிளுடன் இடுகைகளைக் காண்பிக்கிறது. அனைத்து இடுகைகளையும் காண்பி
massacre லேபிளுடன் இடுகைகளைக் காண்பிக்கிறது. அனைத்து இடுகைகளையும் காண்பி
சனி, 11 ஜனவரி, 2014
புதன், 25 டிசம்பர், 2013
More skeletons to be exhumed from mass grave
More skeletons to be exhumed from mass grave in Mannaar
[TamilNet, Tuesday, 24 December 2013, 20:23 GMT]
Medical experts from Colombo must be present in order to further excavate the recently located mass grave in Mannaar, Sri Lankan police officials said as the work was suddenly stopped on Monday after 11 full human skeletons were recovered from the site at Thirukkeatheesvaram. Northern Provincial Council minister of fisheries Mr Deinswaran, who witnessed the excavation, said the bones bore marks of torture. Local residents said that there were signs that more skeletons were buried under the road, running parallel to the excavated pit. The second largest camp of the occupying Sri Lanka Army in Mannaar was located at the locality from 1993.
Medical experts from Colombo must be present in order to further excavate the recently located mass grave in Mannaar, Sri Lankan police officials said as the work was suddenly stopped on Monday after 11 full human skeletons were recovered from the site at Thirukkeatheesvaram. Northern Provincial Council minister of fisheries Mr Deinswaran, who witnessed the excavation, said the bones bore marks of torture. Local residents said that there were signs that more skeletons were buried under the road, running parallel to the excavated pit. The second largest camp of the occupying Sri Lanka Army in Mannaar was located at the locality from 1993.
Mass grave site found near Maanthai Junction in Mannaar
In the meantime, residents of Veaddaiyaa-mu'rippu village, feared that some of the Tamil youth reported abducted from their village by the SL military, were the victims dumped in the mass grave.
The excavation of mass grave was carried out with Mannaar Justice Ananthy Kanagaratnam present at the site on Saturday and Sunday. The work was expected to continue on Monday.
A Judicial Medical Officer from Anuradhapura inspected the skeletons on Sunday.
A temporary secretariat was to be established before further excavation, the JMO has requested the courts, the SL police said adding that a team of experts would have to be present to continue the exhumation.
Chronology:
வியாழன், 19 டிசம்பர், 2013
SL military appropriated Valikamaam North
Villages gone, buildings razed to ground in SL military appropriated Valikamaam North
[TamilNet, Thursday, 19 December 2013, 07:53 GMT]
Almost all the buildings that were situated in the 6,400 acres of lands seized by the occupying Sri Lankan military in Valikaamam North in Jaffna have been completely bulldozed by the SL military, according to those who have witnessed the destruction in recent days. The entire area of fertile cultivation and residential lands now looks like single piece of desert land, they said. Except the buildings used by the genocidal military at the ‘forward line’ and the building at the rear, close to the Palaali military base, everything else has been razed to the ground. The SL military is transforming the former High Security Zone into a Sinhala Military Zone to encapsulate the Palaali military complex in Jaffna with a Sinhala military colony of the occupying soldiers from South.
The destruction has taken place while more than 2,000 landowners have filed lawsuits against the appropriation. The uprooted people have been demonstrating against the seizure.
All the buildings, consisting houses, temples, churches, schools, public buildings and private shops have been removed without any trace. Nadeswara College, which was one of the key education institutions in Valikaamam North, has been bulldozed along with historic churches and temples.
Except Palaali Road and KKS Road running through the lands, everything else is gone, the eyewitnesses told TamilNet.
In the meantime, occupying Colombo has been attempting to divide the uprooted people by promising 2 acres per family for a section of people in Kaankeasan-thu’rai quarry area and ‘temporary’ houses in a ‘clustered camp’ environment in Valikaamam East. However, thousands of uprooted people are firm in their stand of claiming their lands.
The Northern Provincial Council (NPC) and the parliamentarians of the Tamil National Alliance have failed in mobilizing international pressure on the Sri Lankan State. The TNA has been ill advised by the International Community Establishments not to internationalize the crucial matter of structural genocide. The duplicity was exposed to the people during British Prime Minister David Cameron’s visit to Jaffna.
There were reports that the TNA Parliamentary Group Leader R. Sampanthan took up the matter with SL President Mahinda Rajapaksa and that Mr Rajapaksa had promised to stop the bulldozing. But, the SL military was given instructions from Colombo to go ahead with the destruction. There was no such promise extended to Mr Sampanthan, the reports say.
In Vanni, around 4,000 acres of lands were appropriated for similar military colony under ‘Ranaviru Gammana’ (War Heroes Village) in Thiru-Mu'rika'ndi. 5,000 houses have been constructed, and Sinhala families are being settled there. The road and supply infrastructure to Thiru-Mu’rika’ndi military colony has been extended through the already Sinhalicised Ma’nalaa’ru division named in Sinhala as Weli-Oya.
Colombo is scheming SL military colonies in several places from Maathakal to Mannaar in the North and at key entry points such as Naavatkuzhi. The occupying SL military has also accelerated militarisation of lands in the strategic points linking the Northern Province and the Eastern Province in a targeted move of demographic genocide depriving the nation of Eezham Tamils of its territorial integrity.
Chronology:
Almost all the buildings that were situated in the 6,400 acres of lands seized by the occupying Sri Lankan military in Valikaamam North in Jaffna have been completely bulldozed by the SL military, according to those who have witnessed the destruction in recent days. The entire area of fertile cultivation and residential lands now looks like single piece of desert land, they said. Except the buildings used by the genocidal military at the ‘forward line’ and the building at the rear, close to the Palaali military base, everything else has been razed to the ground. The SL military is transforming the former High Security Zone into a Sinhala Military Zone to encapsulate the Palaali military complex in Jaffna with a Sinhala military colony of the occupying soldiers from South.
The destruction has taken place while more than 2,000 landowners have filed lawsuits against the appropriation. The uprooted people have been demonstrating against the seizure.
All the buildings, consisting houses, temples, churches, schools, public buildings and private shops have been removed without any trace. Nadeswara College, which was one of the key education institutions in Valikaamam North, has been bulldozed along with historic churches and temples.
Except Palaali Road and KKS Road running through the lands, everything else is gone, the eyewitnesses told TamilNet.
In the meantime, occupying Colombo has been attempting to divide the uprooted people by promising 2 acres per family for a section of people in Kaankeasan-thu’rai quarry area and ‘temporary’ houses in a ‘clustered camp’ environment in Valikaamam East. However, thousands of uprooted people are firm in their stand of claiming their lands.
The Northern Provincial Council (NPC) and the parliamentarians of the Tamil National Alliance have failed in mobilizing international pressure on the Sri Lankan State. The TNA has been ill advised by the International Community Establishments not to internationalize the crucial matter of structural genocide. The duplicity was exposed to the people during British Prime Minister David Cameron’s visit to Jaffna.
There were reports that the TNA Parliamentary Group Leader R. Sampanthan took up the matter with SL President Mahinda Rajapaksa and that Mr Rajapaksa had promised to stop the bulldozing. But, the SL military was given instructions from Colombo to go ahead with the destruction. There was no such promise extended to Mr Sampanthan, the reports say.
In Vanni, around 4,000 acres of lands were appropriated for similar military colony under ‘Ranaviru Gammana’ (War Heroes Village) in Thiru-Mu'rika'ndi. 5,000 houses have been constructed, and Sinhala families are being settled there. The road and supply infrastructure to Thiru-Mu’rika’ndi military colony has been extended through the already Sinhalicised Ma’nalaa’ru division named in Sinhala as Weli-Oya.
Colombo is scheming SL military colonies in several places from Maathakal to Mannaar in the North and at key entry points such as Naavatkuzhi. The occupying SL military has also accelerated militarisation of lands in the strategic points linking the Northern Province and the Eastern Province in a targeted move of demographic genocide depriving the nation of Eezham Tamils of its territorial integrity.
Chronology:
Take bearing from PPT verdict
Take bearing from PPT verdict in delivering justice to Eezham Tamils: May 17
[TamilNet, Wednesday, 18 December 2013, 07:14 GMT]
The recent verdict by the Permanent Peoples’ Tribunal (PPT) on Sri Lanka, which found the Sri Lankan State guilty of genocide, was a landmark decision in the path of justice to Eezham Tamils, say the activists of May 17 Movement from Tamil Nadu, who were present at the session in Bremen as expert witnesses on the genocide against Eezham Tamils. In an interview to TamilNet on Tuesday, Mr Thirumurgan Gandhi and Mr Umar of May 17 stated that the next step in the path of justice to the victims should be legally binding international investigation on genocide – not something that only deals with war crimes – and the parallel delivery of political justice to the victims of genocide. Any intervention or monitoring in the process to ensure this must avoid the forces of the countries that were complicit in the genocide, they said.
Tamils should not demand any investigation other than a legally binding international investigation on genocide. Those who demand investigations on war crimes have a different agenda to gain their interests. They don’t listen to Tamils as a party to the conflict.
It is therefore important to have an interim administration where Eezham Tamils could look after their own recovery and have the freedom to exercise their political aspiration.
The intervention to monitor and conduct the interim administration and the referendum should be executed as a common responsibility of those who were not complicit in the genocide, Thirumurugan and Umar told TamilNet.
For this to happen, the occupying Sri Lankan military must be removed from Tamil Eelam.
The military forces of the countries such as the UK, USA, India, Pakistan and others that will be found complicit in the genocide should be kept away from any intervention, as they are parties of vested interests, the activists of May 17 said.
The judgment delivered at Bremen by the panel of experts of the Peoples Tribunal was an important paradigm-setting event.
The panel in its rulings said it believed the UK, the USA and India being complicit in the genocide, was a significant ruling setting the opinion.
However, the panel of experts withheld their decision of India’s complicity pending examination of further evidence, as there were time constraints as the judges were focusing on the main charge of genocide.
The panel had a clear understanding of the geopolitical intent of the world powers. On India’s complicity, they needed more time to further study the evidences.
“We need to look back at how the panel ruled in 2010, when they said war crimes and crimes against humanity have been committed and that genocide needed further investigation,” Mr Thirumurgan Gandhi said.
“This time, they have done it. They spent a lot of time, almost the first two days in hearing the witnesses on the genocide and the complicity of USA and UK in detail. We were given less time than initially confirmed as allocated to us, due to the time constraints. The panel also had very limited time to study the evidence material presented to them on Indian complicity. The panel has acknowledged that further investigations are necessary on India. They have also clearly stated that they believe India along with USA and UK, is complicit in the genocide,” Mr Thirumurugan said.
This is the first time India is getting accused for complicity in a genocide outside its own territory.
Chronology:
The recent verdict by the Permanent Peoples’ Tribunal (PPT) on Sri Lanka, which found the Sri Lankan State guilty of genocide, was a landmark decision in the path of justice to Eezham Tamils, say the activists of May 17 Movement from Tamil Nadu, who were present at the session in Bremen as expert witnesses on the genocide against Eezham Tamils. In an interview to TamilNet on Tuesday, Mr Thirumurgan Gandhi and Mr Umar of May 17 stated that the next step in the path of justice to the victims should be legally binding international investigation on genocide – not something that only deals with war crimes – and the parallel delivery of political justice to the victims of genocide. Any intervention or monitoring in the process to ensure this must avoid the forces of the countries that were complicit in the genocide, they said.
Tamils should not demand any investigation other than a legally binding international investigation on genocide. Those who demand investigations on war crimes have a different agenda to gain their interests. They don’t listen to Tamils as a party to the conflict.
It is therefore important to have an interim administration where Eezham Tamils could look after their own recovery and have the freedom to exercise their political aspiration.
The intervention to monitor and conduct the interim administration and the referendum should be executed as a common responsibility of those who were not complicit in the genocide, Thirumurugan and Umar told TamilNet.
For this to happen, the occupying Sri Lankan military must be removed from Tamil Eelam.
The military forces of the countries such as the UK, USA, India, Pakistan and others that will be found complicit in the genocide should be kept away from any intervention, as they are parties of vested interests, the activists of May 17 said.
The judgment delivered at Bremen by the panel of experts of the Peoples Tribunal was an important paradigm-setting event.
The panel in its rulings said it believed the UK, the USA and India being complicit in the genocide, was a significant ruling setting the opinion.
However, the panel of experts withheld their decision of India’s complicity pending examination of further evidence, as there were time constraints as the judges were focusing on the main charge of genocide.
The panel had a clear understanding of the geopolitical intent of the world powers. On India’s complicity, they needed more time to further study the evidences.
“We need to look back at how the panel ruled in 2010, when they said war crimes and crimes against humanity have been committed and that genocide needed further investigation,” Mr Thirumurgan Gandhi said.
“This time, they have done it. They spent a lot of time, almost the first two days in hearing the witnesses on the genocide and the complicity of USA and UK in detail. We were given less time than initially confirmed as allocated to us, due to the time constraints. The panel also had very limited time to study the evidence material presented to them on Indian complicity. The panel has acknowledged that further investigations are necessary on India. They have also clearly stated that they believe India along with USA and UK, is complicit in the genocide,” Mr Thirumurugan said.
This is the first time India is getting accused for complicity in a genocide outside its own territory.
Chronology:
புதன், 18 டிசம்பர், 2013
வெளியுறவுக் கொள்கையை மறு ஆய்வு செய்யும் நேரம் : கனிமொழிக்கு இப்பொழுதுதான் தெரிந்ததாம்!
தலைப்பைப் பார்த்து மகிழ்ச்சியுடன் பலருக்கும் பகிரலாம் எனப் படித்துப் பார்த்தால், சிரிப்புதான் வருகின்றது. அயல்நாடுகளில் தமிழர்கள் துன்புறும் பொழுதும், ஈழத்தில் தமிழினப் படுகொலை நடந்த பொழுதும், அவர் தந்தையார், மத்திய அரசின் வெளியுறவுக் கொள்கைதான் எங்கள் கொள்கை எனச் சொல்லி வந்த பொழுது தெரிவித்து வலியுறுத்த வேண்டிய கருத்தை இப்பொழுது கூறுவது விளம்பரத்திற்காகவா? அறியாமையாலா? இந்திய அரசின் வெளியுறவுக் கொள்கை என்பது இந்தியாவில் உள்ள தேசிய இனங்களுக்கான கொள்கையாகத்தான் இருக்க முடியும். மாநில நலன்களை மீறிய மத்திய அரசு கொள்கை என்பது மோசடியே! ஒன்றுக்கு மேற்பட்ட தேசிய இனச் சிக்கல் வரும்பொழுதுதான் நடுநிலை முடிவெடுக்க வேண்டிய பணி மத்திய அரசிற்கு வருகிறது. இனியேனும் ஈழத்தமிழர் நலன் குறித்த வெளியுறவுக் கொள்கையை அவர்களுக்கு உதவும் வகையில் மாற்றியமைக்க மத்திய அரசிடம் கனிமொழி வலியுறுத்தட்டும்! அன்புடன் இலக்குவனார் திருவள்ளுவன், எழுத்தைக் காப்போம்! மொழியைக் காப்போம்! இனத்தைக் காப்போம்!
புதன், 11 டிசம்பர், 2013
Sri Lanka guilty of genocide: PPT verdict
Sri Lanka guilty of genocide: PPT verdict
[TamilNet, Tuesday, 10 December 2013, 11:08 GMT]
After an assessment of evidences presented by eyewitnesses and experts, judges of the Permanent People’s Tribunal reached unanimous consensus that the Sri Lankan state was guilty of crimes of genocide against the Eezham Tamils and that the genocide is continuing even after the end of the military operations against the LTTE. Concluding the four day session with a press conference at Bremen on Tuesday, the judges also noted that the Sri Lankan military did not have capacity to commit genocide on its own and that it was supported by the UK-USA-India axis. While the judges held the USA and the UK to be complicit in the genocidal process, they were of the opinion that more evidence was needed as regards India’s role.
After an assessment of evidences presented by eyewitnesses and experts, judges of the Permanent People’s Tribunal reached unanimous consensus that the Sri Lankan state was guilty of crimes of genocide against the Eezham Tamils and that the genocide is continuing even after the end of the military operations against the LTTE. Concluding the four day session with a press conference at Bremen on Tuesday, the judges also noted that the Sri Lankan military did not have capacity to commit genocide on its own and that it was supported by the UK-USA-India axis. While the judges held the USA and the UK to be complicit in the genocidal process, they were of the opinion that more evidence was needed as regards India’s role.
The Eezham Tamils were killed not as individuals but as a group and the target of the Sri Lankan state was the destruction of the identity of this group, the findings noted.
The judges took care to highlight the significance of the usage of the term ‘Eelam Tamil’ to refer to the genocide-affected Tamils from the North-East of the island of Sri Lanka.
Noting that the protracted history of genocide extended much before the beginning of the armed conflict, the Tribunal asserted that the Sri Lankan state continued to commit acts of genocide after the end of the “genocidal onslaught” against the de-facto state of the LTTE.
This, however, was not possible without the assistance of world powers.
The UK’s historical role in assisting Sri Lanka, its complicity in procuring arms in aiding and shielding the perpetrator of genocide was discussed.
The judges also noted that the USA’s military-to-military relationship with Sri Lanka enhanced the capacity of the latter to commit genocide. The Tribunal was of the opinion that US role in the peace process tilted balance in favour of the Sri Lankan state and led to the massacre of Tamils in 2009.
However, the Tribunal wished to postpone deliberations on India's role in the genocide pending submission of potential evidence.
Responding to a question from TamilNet on the failure of the Responsibility to Protect (R2P) in Sri Lanka, Dr. Denis Halliday, one of the judges, opined that the R2P doctrine introduced by Gareth Evans was a cover for intervention but not genuine humanitarian intervention, as evidenced in the case of genocide against Eezham Tamils in the island.
The UN has failed the Eezham Tamils and maybe even complicit in the genocide, he said, also noting the failure of the International Community to take appropriate steps.
Burmese democracy activist Maung Zarni, answering a question on the use of the label of ‘terrorism’ to the LTTE, said that terrorism was a "discursive, strategic and political term" cooked-up by world powers as regards to their geo-political interests.
Comparing LTTE and Nelson Mandela’s ANC, he said that a whole movement cannot be labelled as terrorist on the basis of few acts.
Chronology:
PPT to announce findings at live press conference 10:00 AM CET
PPT to announce findings at live press conference 10:00 AM CET
[TamilNet, Tuesday, 10 December 2013, 07:41 GMT]
The panel of judges who heard the charges of genocide against the Eezham Tamil people would be announcing their findings of the Bremen Tribunal in a live streaming press conference which starts at 10:00 a.m. on Tuesday. Journalists can email in questions which will be answered by the panel then and there, the organisors said. The e-mail address, to which the questions should be sent, will appear on the live streaming screen online. Eleven direct eyewitnesses and experts testified in support of the Prosecution’s case, providing evidence on various alleged crimes that could be determined to constitute the crime of Genocide, as well as on the legal and historical background. Press here for streaming video of the press conference
This Second Session in Bremen was convened by the Permanent Peoples Tribunal (PPT) in response to the determination by the First Session, held in January 2010 in Dublin, Ireland, that War Crimes and Crimes against Humanity had taken place on the Eelam Tamil population during the final months of the war in Sri Lanka in early 2009, and that further investigation be undertaken regarding the question of genocide.
Journalists can email in questions which will be answered by the panel then and there. The e-mail address, to which the questions should be sent, will appear on the live streaming screen online:
URL: http://www.pptsrilanka.org/livestreaming/index.html
Chronology:
The panel of judges who heard the charges of genocide against the Eezham Tamil people would be announcing their findings of the Bremen Tribunal in a live streaming press conference which starts at 10:00 a.m. on Tuesday. Journalists can email in questions which will be answered by the panel then and there, the organisors said. The e-mail address, to which the questions should be sent, will appear on the live streaming screen online. Eleven direct eyewitnesses and experts testified in support of the Prosecution’s case, providing evidence on various alleged crimes that could be determined to constitute the crime of Genocide, as well as on the legal and historical background. Press here for streaming video of the press conference
This Second Session in Bremen was convened by the Permanent Peoples Tribunal (PPT) in response to the determination by the First Session, held in January 2010 in Dublin, Ireland, that War Crimes and Crimes against Humanity had taken place on the Eelam Tamil population during the final months of the war in Sri Lanka in early 2009, and that further investigation be undertaken regarding the question of genocide.
Journalists can email in questions which will be answered by the panel then and there. The e-mail address, to which the questions should be sent, will appear on the live streaming screen online:
URL: http://www.pptsrilanka.org/livestreaming/index.html
Chronology:
புதன், 4 டிசம்பர், 2013
PPT names panel of judges to hear genocide case against Sri Lanka
PPT names panel of judges to hear genocide case against Sri Lanka
[TamilNet, Monday, 02 December 2013, 23:51 GMT]
The Permanent Peoples Tribunal (PPT) in Rome has announced the names of 11 judges, who would be hearing the long-awaited case on the accusation of genocide against Eezham Tamils to be heard by an independent panel. “Like in the first session, a respected panel of judges consisting of experts in Genocide studies, former UN-officials, experts in international law and renowned peace and human rights activists will hear the evidence that is presented and make a determination,” a press statement signed by Mr Gianni Tognoni, the secretary general of the PPT, stated. The first session held in January 2010, known as the Dublin Tribunal, was the first independent international undertaking that recognised the need to look into the case of genocide in the island of Sri Lanka. The second session is to take place between December 07 -10, 2013 in Bremen, Germany.
The Permanent Peoples Tribunal (PPT) in Rome has announced the names of 11 judges, who would be hearing the long-awaited case on the accusation of genocide against Eezham Tamils to be heard by an independent panel. “Like in the first session, a respected panel of judges consisting of experts in Genocide studies, former UN-officials, experts in international law and renowned peace and human rights activists will hear the evidence that is presented and make a determination,” a press statement signed by Mr Gianni Tognoni, the secretary general of the PPT, stated. The first session held in January 2010, known as the Dublin Tribunal, was the first independent international undertaking that recognised the need to look into the case of genocide in the island of Sri Lanka. The second session is to take place between December 07 -10, 2013 in Bremen, Germany.
Since
then, the PPT has approved the submission of the Germany-based
International Human Rights Association Bremen (IMRV) and the Irish Forum
for Peace in Sri Lanka (IFPSL) that substantial new evidence
necessitate a second round of investigations to determine whether
Genocide has been and is being committed against the Tamil people in Sri
Lanka. The plaintiff organisations have also accused India, UK and the
USA for orchestrating the genocide on Eezham Tamils.
In
the first session held in 2010, the Dublin tribunal found Sri Lankan
government "guilty of War-Crimes" and "guilty of Crimes Against
Humanity." Eye witnesses included several escapees from the final week
of the genocidal onslaught on the "No Fire Zone" in Vanni where
thousands of Tamil civilians were slaughtered by the SL military.
In the meantime, the representatives of the plaintiff organisations, Nicolai Jung (phone: 0049 177 406 2220, email: imrvbremen@gmail.com) of the IMRV Bremen and Jude Lal Fernando (phone: 00353 851 56 2980, email: irishpeaceforum@gmail.com) of the IFPSL Dublin, told TamilNet on Monday that those who wish to attend the event could contact them by email or fax to register themselves with the organisers, before midnight Thursday 05, December 2013.
In the meantime, the representatives of the plaintiff organisations, Nicolai Jung (phone: 0049 177 406 2220, email: imrvbremen@gmail.com) of the IMRV Bremen and Jude Lal Fernando (phone: 00353 851 56 2980, email: irishpeaceforum@gmail.com) of the IFPSL Dublin, told TamilNet on Monday that those who wish to attend the event could contact them by email or fax to register themselves with the organisers, before midnight Thursday 05, December 2013.
First session held in Dublin in January 2010 [Library Photo]
Following are the names of judges selected by the PPT:
Gabriele Della Morte is a researcher and Professor of International Law at the Università Cattolica di Milano. He was also associate professor in International system, institutions and rules, Chargé de cours at the Académie de droit international humanitaire et des droits de l'homme of Geneva (2007-2008), counsel for the International Criminal Tribunal for Rwanda (ICTR) (2003-2004), Law Clerk for the Prosecutor Office of the International Criminal Tribunal for the former Yugoslavia (2000) and member of a government delegation for the establishment of the International Criminal Court (1998).
José Elías Esteve Molto, international lawyer and legal expert on Tibet. He is the main lawyer who researched and drafted both lawsuits for international crimes committed in Tibet and a recent one for crimes in Burma. He is a Professor in International Law at the University of Valencia.
Daniel Feierstein
Director of the Centre for Genocide Studies at the Universidad Nacional de Tres de Febrero, Professor in the Faculty of Genocide at the University of Buenos Aires and a member of CONICET (Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Cientificas y Tecnicas - The Argentine National Centre for Scholars). He has been elected as the president of the 'International Association of Genocide Scholars'.
Sévane Garibian
An expert on Genocide and International Law. She is an Assistant Professor at the University of Geneva and Lecturer at the University of Neuchâtel, where she teaches Legal Philosophy and International Criminal Law. Her work focuses on issues related to law facing State crimes.
Haluk Gerger
A respected academic and a Middle East analyst who was imprisoned in Turkey for his political activism. He is known for his support for Kurdish people's right to self-determination.
Javier Giraldo Moreno
Colombian Theologian and human rights activist based in Bogota. Known for his depth of analysis in contextualising genocide affected communities. He is Vice-President of the Permanent Peoples’ Tribunal.
Denis Halliday
Former Assistant Secretary-General of the United Nations. He resigned from his 34 year old career in the UN in protest of the economic sanctions imposed on Iraq by the Security Council. Laureate of the Gandhi International Peace Award.
Manfred O. Hinz
Professor for Public Law, Political Sociology and Sociology of Law at the University of Bremen. He has a long history of engagement in solidarity with liberation struggles in Africa, specially Namibia and the West Sahara. He, for several years, held the UNESCO chair for human rights and democracy of the University of Namibia whilst he was a professor there.
Helen Jarvis
She served as Chief of the Public Affairs Section from the inception of the the Extraordinary Chambers in the Courts of Cambodia (ECCC), the special Cambodian court which receives international assistance through the United Nations Assistance to the Khmer Rouge Trials (UNAKRT). The court is commonly referred to by the more informal name the Khmer Rouge Tribunal or the Cambodia Tribunal.
Øystein Tveter
A Norwegian scholar of International Law and a member of the Permanent Peoples’ Tribunal on extra-judicial killings and violations of human rights in the Philippines.
Maung Zarni
He is a Burmese democracy activist who founded the Free Burma Coalition in 1995. He is one of the few Burmese intellectuals who have come forward to unconditionally oppose the increased discrimination and violence against the Rohingya Muslims and publicly criticised Aung San Suu Kyi on this issue.
Chronology:
புதன், 20 நவம்பர், 2013
Colombo forced Tamil doctors to lie: Dr. Varatharajah
Colombo forced Tamil doctors to lie: Dr. Varatharajah
[TamilNet, Monday, 18 November 2013, 13:14 GMT]Former Regional Director of Health Services (RDHS) for Mullaiththeevu, Dr. Thurairajah Varatharajah, currently in exile in the U.S, says in video documentary aired in India's NewsX TV station that Colombo, after keeping him and four other doctors in prison at the end of the war, forced the doctors to lie to foreign media and to the Organizations accusing Sri Lanka of allegations of committing war-crimes to neutralize the allegations. Dr Varatharajah said that living under such conditions had become unbearable that he had to seek ways to get out of Sri Lanka with his family. The doctors were accused by Colombo of giving false accounts of civilian deaths during the war, and were forced to recant the figures in a well publicized news conference. Dr Varatharajah, said he is talking voluntarily to set the record straight now that he does not have to fear for his life.
Dr Varatharajah
"I stayed behind to provide a much needed medical service to my people. The State imprisoned me for four months for that," Varatharajah said.
| Varatharajah and other Tamil leaders speak to NewsX |
Ananthi Sasitharan, currently a TNA member of parliament, says in the interview that her husband (nom de guerre Ezhilan), a political head of the LTTE in the eastern province, surrendered with Father Francis Joseph on May 18, following an announcement by the Sri Lanka military that they will pardon those surrender, and has not been seen since.
The NewsX interview has additional segments of interviews with US-based leader Rudrakumaran, leader of Tamil National Peoples Front (TNPF) Gajendrakumar Ponnambalam, civil society activist Guruparan, TNA MPs and others.
Doctors V. Shanmugarajah, Thurairaja Varatharajah, Thangamuttu Sathiamurthi, Sivapalan and Ilancheliyan Pallavan, recant story
The detained doctors have been given low level medical posts in the NorthEast, and are working with close monitoring from the Sri Lanka military intelligence, sources in Jaffna said.
Delhi-based journalist Rajesh Sunderam
Related Articles:
29.08.11 Wikileaks: Captive Tamil doctors "coached" to recant casualt..
24.08.09 4 Vanni doctors released on conditional bail
08.07.09 Vanni doctors forced to give false statement
16.05.09 Stench of dead bodies permeate Vanni, wounded allowed to die..
External Links:
| WikiLeaks: | Doctors from No-Fire-Zone released on bail | |
| WikiLeaks: | Doctors Recant Eyewitness Accounts of Civilian Casualties |
திங்கள், 14 அக்டோபர், 2013
Sinhala colonization to wedge North and East stepped up
Sinhala colonization to wedge North and East stepped up after NPC elections
[TamilNet, Sunday, 13 October 2013, 20:53 GMT]
The occupying Sri Lankan military is being hurriedly deployed in clearing 2,000 acres of agricultural lands of Eezham Tamils in Kokkuth-thoduvaay in Karaithu'raippattu division of Mullaiththeevu district, after the conclusion of the Northern Provincial Council elections. Even though the uprooted people were allowed to resettle in Kokkuth-thoduvaay in 2011, their paddy fields had not been returned to them and they continue to suffer for their survival without livelihood assistance. Now, the Tamil villagers are shocked to learn that their paddy fields are being taken away to carve out a Sinhala colony in the middle of their village where they have been struggling to start their livelihood after 30 years of displacement.
The occupying Sri Lankan military is being hurriedly deployed in clearing 2,000 acres of agricultural lands of Eezham Tamils in Kokkuth-thoduvaay in Karaithu'raippattu division of Mullaiththeevu district, after the conclusion of the Northern Provincial Council elections. Even though the uprooted people were allowed to resettle in Kokkuth-thoduvaay in 2011, their paddy fields had not been returned to them and they continue to suffer for their survival without livelihood assistance. Now, the Tamil villagers are shocked to learn that their paddy fields are being taken away to carve out a Sinhala colony in the middle of their village where they have been struggling to start their livelihood after 30 years of displacement.
The location of Kokkuth-thoduvaay to the north of Kokku'laay. [Satellite map courtesy
More than one thousand Tamil farmers were dependent on the income of the paddy crops from these fields for their survival before they were chased out from these lands in 1982-83.
Since the uprooted Tamils were allowed to resettle in Kokkuth-thoduvaay, the SL military was blocking them from entering their paddy fields citing the danger of land mines.
Shown
within the box is the target area where Colombo has accelerated
Sinhalicisation and colonisation for demographically wedging North and
East
The latest land appropriation has
come at a time the NPC is expected to take up the most crucial concern
of Vanni people on Sinhalicisation of strategic Tamil lands in order to
permanently wedge the North from the East.
Already, an entire Sinhala division has been carved out in Mullaiththeevu, Sinhalcising Ma’nalaa’ru into Weli-oya.
So far, the land appropriation has been going on along the provincial border of Northern and Eastern provinces and strategic coastal areas, but now the colonization is reaching the interior areas, the Tamil villagers complain.
After the NPC elections, the SL military, on behalf of occupying Sri Lanka’s Mahaweli Development Authority, has started to clear the bushes. The land is getting partitioned into residential plots to create a Sinhala colony in the middle of the village where Tamils have resettled.
The colonization of Tamils land is taking place despite the villagers documenting their ownership of the said lands through the SL Government Agent of Mullaiththeevu. The villagers posses land deeds for these lands since 1974.
The paddy fields being appropriated are located close to the Kokkuth-thoduvaay Koaddaik-kea’ni Pi’l’laiyar temple.
Chronology:
Already, an entire Sinhala division has been carved out in Mullaiththeevu, Sinhalcising Ma’nalaa’ru into Weli-oya.
So far, the land appropriation has been going on along the provincial border of Northern and Eastern provinces and strategic coastal areas, but now the colonization is reaching the interior areas, the Tamil villagers complain.
After the NPC elections, the SL military, on behalf of occupying Sri Lanka’s Mahaweli Development Authority, has started to clear the bushes. The land is getting partitioned into residential plots to create a Sinhala colony in the middle of the village where Tamils have resettled.
The colonization of Tamils land is taking place despite the villagers documenting their ownership of the said lands through the SL Government Agent of Mullaiththeevu. The villagers posses land deeds for these lands since 1974.
The paddy fields being appropriated are located close to the Kokkuth-thoduvaay Koaddaik-kea’ni Pi’l’laiyar temple.
Chronology:
CHOGM to draw attention to Briton's murder, girl-friend's rape
CHOGM to draw attention to Briton's murder, girl-friend's rape
[TamilNet, Sunday, 13 October 2013, 02:26 GMT]
The high-profile case of Khuram Shaikh, a 32-year-old Red Cross worker from Rochdale, UK, who was killed in 2011, and the sexual harassment followed by gang-rape of Shaikh's Russian-girlfriend, have cast a shadow over the Commonwealth heads of government meeting (CHOGM) in Colombo in November, the Guardian reported. CHOGM is due to be chaired by Prince Charles and attended by the British Prime Minister David Cameron. Earlier, Canadian Prime Minister, Stephen Harper's office announced that Harper will be boycotting the meeting protesting the "intimidation and incarceration of political leaders and journalists, harassment of minorities, reported disappearances, and allegations of extra-judicial killings," and Canada accused Indian Diplomat Sharma as acting as a stooge to Colombo.
The high-profile case of Khuram Shaikh, a 32-year-old Red Cross worker from Rochdale, UK, who was killed in 2011, and the sexual harassment followed by gang-rape of Shaikh's Russian-girlfriend, have cast a shadow over the Commonwealth heads of government meeting (CHOGM) in Colombo in November, the Guardian reported. CHOGM is due to be chaired by Prince Charles and attended by the British Prime Minister David Cameron. Earlier, Canadian Prime Minister, Stephen Harper's office announced that Harper will be boycotting the meeting protesting the "intimidation and incarceration of political leaders and journalists, harassment of minorities, reported disappearances, and allegations of extra-judicial killings," and Canada accused Indian Diplomat Sharma as acting as a stooge to Colombo.
Khuram Shaikh, Briton murdered in Sri Lanka
Prince Charles offered to help in
the effort to win justice for a British man who was murdered in Sri
Lanka – allegedly by a close political ally of the country's prime
minister., the paper said, adding, "[t]he disclosure that Prince Charles
has taken a private interest in the case comes the week after Cameron
was put under pressure over the case at prime minister's questions by
Rochdale MP Simon Danczuk. That led the prime minister to promise that
he would personally raise concerns with Rajapaksa," the paper said.
Meanwhile, Rochdale MP Danczuk, who has visited Sri Lanka to spotlight the inaction by Colombo to investigate and to bring criminal charges against the perpertrators, is repeating his request that Cameron boycott the meeting unless there is clear progress in the stalled murder investigation.
Critics say the lack of justice for Shaikh is emblematic of the widespread impunity enjoyed by those accused of human rights abuses in Sri Lanka. Shaikh was stabbed in the throat and shot dead after he complained about a group of men sexually harassing his Russian girlfriend as they enjoyed a drink at a small hotel in Tangalle in the south of Sri Lanka in the early hours of Christmas Day 2011, the Guardian said.
Chronology:
Meanwhile, Rochdale MP Danczuk, who has visited Sri Lanka to spotlight the inaction by Colombo to investigate and to bring criminal charges against the perpertrators, is repeating his request that Cameron boycott the meeting unless there is clear progress in the stalled murder investigation.
Critics say the lack of justice for Shaikh is emblematic of the widespread impunity enjoyed by those accused of human rights abuses in Sri Lanka. Shaikh was stabbed in the throat and shot dead after he complained about a group of men sexually harassing his Russian girlfriend as they enjoyed a drink at a small hotel in Tangalle in the south of Sri Lanka in the early hours of Christmas Day 2011, the Guardian said.
Chronology:
External Links:
| Guardian: | Commonwealth summit mired in row over Briton shot in Sri Lanka |
சனி, 12 அக்டோபர், 2013
New Delhi poses new challenge to Tamils
New Delhi poses new challenge to Tamils
[TamilNet, Friday, 11 October 2013, 18:57 GMT]
NPC Chief Minister Mr C.V. Wigneswaran has to be profusely thanked and appreciated by Tamils for his honesty in conceding that he is not a natural leader of Eezham Tamils representing their aspirations, but a planted one by New Delhi to implement the 13th Amendment. Wigneswaran’s revelation and his efforts to muffle voices in Tamil Nadu and in the diaspora have to be understood in the background of what M.K. Narayanan had told the TNA in May 2009 that, “we know better what is good for Tamils.” New Delhi simulating a leadership for the political surrender of the Tamil cause poses new challenge to Tamils all over the world, writes an activist for alternative politics in Jaffna.
Talking to Indian media in Jaffna on Tuesday, Wigneswaran said: "Not that India brought me in but India, in an indirect way, was instrumental in allowing the provincial council elections to take place after 25 years."
He also added: “I am here because India almost had a hand in the elections being held when the (Sri Lankan) government as saying we are not going to have it or we are going to crap the 13th amendment and so on."
Tamils can do well with the implementation of the 13th Amendment and the LLRC recommendations, is the position of New Delhi and Washington that were in complicity with Colombo in the genocidal war.
Both the models are just confirmation of structural genocide and annihilation of the nation of Eezham Tamils and their territoriality in the island, when vested in the hands of the historically proven genocidial State in Colombo, is the assessment of Eezham Tamils, whose experience on this matter predates the formation of the New Delhi Establishment and the emergence of Washington as a super power.
Preparing for his entry into politics designed by the powers, Wigneswaran made his maiden speech of the current series at Vaddukkoaddai YMHA on the Pongkal Day, on 14 January this year.
In his speech, comparing the law and order situation between the LTTE times and the SL occupation times, he hinted at the difference between people under their own rule and an occupation rule.
Interestingly, Wigneswaran has also said in that meeting that, “a careful scrutiny would show how some one among us was there operating and still operating, behind every wrong committed by outsiders.”
We should build unity and an internal mechanism so that our people don’t turn into pimps and servants of outsiders, Wigneswaran further said in that meeting in January this year. He was meaning the occupying forces as ‘outsiders’.
He also was talking in that meeting about ‘ego’ [he used the Saiva Siddhantha terminology Aa’navam in Tamil] and indirectly targeted his attack on the LTTE, saying that we should think of what had happened to our youth who had been so powerful just a while before, and added that “who ever dance to their ego [Aa’navam] had to reap the consequences.
How the intellectual prowess or ego of the former Justice is now used to pimp ‘outsiders’, how it is used to cowardly interpret and hijack a popular vote to surrender the cause and self-respect of a nation that had not been surrendered by the LTTE even at the point of life and death, and how the intellectual ego that looks upon the masters now overstep in an unwarranted way to the extent of ridiculing and silencing voices of the kith and kin in the diaspora and in Tamil Nadu, are well known through Mr Wigneswaran’s own words.
The attack on Tamil Nadu for supporting the cause of Eezham Tamils has first come in recent times from genocidal Sri Lanka’s former military commander Sarath Fonseksa, then from Gotabhaya and KP, and now it comes from the intellectual ego of Wigneswaran, while Indian intelligence operatives are known for their view of considering Tamil Nadu polity as an impediment to their designs.
Meanwhile, Mr. Wigneswaran’s Sampanthi (son’s father-in-law] Mr Vasudeva Nanayakara, denouncing ‘extremists’ among both the Sinhalese and Tamils, and accusing them for unknowingly contributing to each other, has been quoted by media this week with an extremist statement that if Tamils take up arms again the answer [of the Sinhala State] will be the same as what the LTTE had been served with.
Tamils in their civilization cannot stop without getting an international answer of justice for the crime committed on their nation.
The world has not so far given an answer to those who have committed the genocide, commit genocide, those who participate in such Establishments, those who don’t shun genocide for their geopolitical greed, those who have global responsibilities but back the culprits in the State Establishments, those who have the responsibility for the region of South Asia but have brought in the first ever large-scale genocide into the region and those who now try to deny everything, shield everything and try to impose a hoodwink as solution which is nothing but continuity and confirmation of the crime.
New Delhi is in the forefront in this exercise and thus poses a new challenge to Tamils all over the world.
Last time when the New Delhi hoodwink came up the LTTE was there to effectively meet the challenge.
Wigneswaran has now allowed himself to be used by those who try to pre-empt any effective challenge coming from Tamil Nadu and the diaspora.
The intellectual ego of some among Tamils, ignoring righteous sentiments and necessities of the masses, failing them is not new to Tamils.
Colombo-centric media has already started hinting at the prospects of trained elephants taming wild elephants in making Jaffna to have no qualms about becoming another Colombo and Trincomalee.
Naturally there is simmering anger on the Wigneswaran-Sampanthan-Sumanthiran trio among the Tamil public in the island, in Tamil Nadu and in the diaspora.
But, a well-known adage in Tamil says that one should not blame the arrow but the bowman.
Unless Tamils everywhere are not prepared to address the struggle directly at New Delhi and Washington, Wigneswaran & Co cannot be course-corrected. Tamils also should be careful in not allowing the sentiments of discontentment to get hijacked by unbefitting elements.
The CHOGM in Colombo and the Geneva sessions in March may be some opportunities. But people of Tamil Nadu will be getting a solid chance around next May to make it a condition that their support is for only those who could conduct an investigation within India itself against those who were responsible for the genocide committed and being committed on the nation of Eezham Tamils.
Chronology:
NPC Chief Minister Mr C.V. Wigneswaran has to be profusely thanked and appreciated by Tamils for his honesty in conceding that he is not a natural leader of Eezham Tamils representing their aspirations, but a planted one by New Delhi to implement the 13th Amendment. Wigneswaran’s revelation and his efforts to muffle voices in Tamil Nadu and in the diaspora have to be understood in the background of what M.K. Narayanan had told the TNA in May 2009 that, “we know better what is good for Tamils.” New Delhi simulating a leadership for the political surrender of the Tamil cause poses new challenge to Tamils all over the world, writes an activist for alternative politics in Jaffna.
Talking to Indian media in Jaffna on Tuesday, Wigneswaran said: "Not that India brought me in but India, in an indirect way, was instrumental in allowing the provincial council elections to take place after 25 years."
He also added: “I am here because India almost had a hand in the elections being held when the (Sri Lankan) government as saying we are not going to have it or we are going to crap the 13th amendment and so on."
Tamils can do well with the implementation of the 13th Amendment and the LLRC recommendations, is the position of New Delhi and Washington that were in complicity with Colombo in the genocidal war.
Both the models are just confirmation of structural genocide and annihilation of the nation of Eezham Tamils and their territoriality in the island, when vested in the hands of the historically proven genocidial State in Colombo, is the assessment of Eezham Tamils, whose experience on this matter predates the formation of the New Delhi Establishment and the emergence of Washington as a super power.
Preparing for his entry into politics designed by the powers, Wigneswaran made his maiden speech of the current series at Vaddukkoaddai YMHA on the Pongkal Day, on 14 January this year.
In his speech, comparing the law and order situation between the LTTE times and the SL occupation times, he hinted at the difference between people under their own rule and an occupation rule.
Interestingly, Wigneswaran has also said in that meeting that, “a careful scrutiny would show how some one among us was there operating and still operating, behind every wrong committed by outsiders.”
We should build unity and an internal mechanism so that our people don’t turn into pimps and servants of outsiders, Wigneswaran further said in that meeting in January this year. He was meaning the occupying forces as ‘outsiders’.
He also was talking in that meeting about ‘ego’ [he used the Saiva Siddhantha terminology Aa’navam in Tamil] and indirectly targeted his attack on the LTTE, saying that we should think of what had happened to our youth who had been so powerful just a while before, and added that “who ever dance to their ego [Aa’navam] had to reap the consequences.
How the intellectual prowess or ego of the former Justice is now used to pimp ‘outsiders’, how it is used to cowardly interpret and hijack a popular vote to surrender the cause and self-respect of a nation that had not been surrendered by the LTTE even at the point of life and death, and how the intellectual ego that looks upon the masters now overstep in an unwarranted way to the extent of ridiculing and silencing voices of the kith and kin in the diaspora and in Tamil Nadu, are well known through Mr Wigneswaran’s own words.
The attack on Tamil Nadu for supporting the cause of Eezham Tamils has first come in recent times from genocidal Sri Lanka’s former military commander Sarath Fonseksa, then from Gotabhaya and KP, and now it comes from the intellectual ego of Wigneswaran, while Indian intelligence operatives are known for their view of considering Tamil Nadu polity as an impediment to their designs.
Meanwhile, Mr. Wigneswaran’s Sampanthi (son’s father-in-law] Mr Vasudeva Nanayakara, denouncing ‘extremists’ among both the Sinhalese and Tamils, and accusing them for unknowingly contributing to each other, has been quoted by media this week with an extremist statement that if Tamils take up arms again the answer [of the Sinhala State] will be the same as what the LTTE had been served with.
Tamils in their civilization cannot stop without getting an international answer of justice for the crime committed on their nation.
The world has not so far given an answer to those who have committed the genocide, commit genocide, those who participate in such Establishments, those who don’t shun genocide for their geopolitical greed, those who have global responsibilities but back the culprits in the State Establishments, those who have the responsibility for the region of South Asia but have brought in the first ever large-scale genocide into the region and those who now try to deny everything, shield everything and try to impose a hoodwink as solution which is nothing but continuity and confirmation of the crime.
New Delhi is in the forefront in this exercise and thus poses a new challenge to Tamils all over the world.
Last time when the New Delhi hoodwink came up the LTTE was there to effectively meet the challenge.
Wigneswaran has now allowed himself to be used by those who try to pre-empt any effective challenge coming from Tamil Nadu and the diaspora.
The intellectual ego of some among Tamils, ignoring righteous sentiments and necessities of the masses, failing them is not new to Tamils.
Colombo-centric media has already started hinting at the prospects of trained elephants taming wild elephants in making Jaffna to have no qualms about becoming another Colombo and Trincomalee.
Naturally there is simmering anger on the Wigneswaran-Sampanthan-Sumanthiran trio among the Tamil public in the island, in Tamil Nadu and in the diaspora.
But, a well-known adage in Tamil says that one should not blame the arrow but the bowman.
Unless Tamils everywhere are not prepared to address the struggle directly at New Delhi and Washington, Wigneswaran & Co cannot be course-corrected. Tamils also should be careful in not allowing the sentiments of discontentment to get hijacked by unbefitting elements.
The CHOGM in Colombo and the Geneva sessions in March may be some opportunities. But people of Tamil Nadu will be getting a solid chance around next May to make it a condition that their support is for only those who could conduct an investigation within India itself against those who were responsible for the genocide committed and being committed on the nation of Eezham Tamils.
Chronology:
11.10.13 Kidding a genocide affected nation
புதன், 9 அக்டோபர், 2013
Canada says Indian diplomat acting as Sri Lanka's stooge
Canada says Indian diplomat acting as Sri Lanka's stooge
[TamilNet, Wednesday, 09 October 2013, 01:39 GMT]
Following Canadian Prime Minister, Stephen Harper's public announcement of his boycotting Commonwealth meeting in Sri Lanka after accusing Colombo of "intimidation and incarceration of political leaders and journalists, harassment of minorities, reported disappearances, and allegations of extra-judicial killings," Hugh Segal, Canada's special envoy to the Commonwealth, launched a direct assault on the authority of Commonwealth Secretary General Kamalesh Sharma accusing him of "acting as a shill [a stooge] for the Sri Lankan leadership, defending their every mistake," the British broadsheet the Guardian reported Tuesday.
Following Canadian Prime Minister, Stephen Harper's public announcement of his boycotting Commonwealth meeting in Sri Lanka after accusing Colombo of "intimidation and incarceration of political leaders and journalists, harassment of minorities, reported disappearances, and allegations of extra-judicial killings," Hugh Segal, Canada's special envoy to the Commonwealth, launched a direct assault on the authority of Commonwealth Secretary General Kamalesh Sharma accusing him of "acting as a shill [a stooge] for the Sri Lankan leadership, defending their every mistake," the British broadsheet the Guardian reported Tuesday.
Kamalesh Sharma, Commonwealth Secretary
Segal's remarks intensified the row
over the Commonwealth's decision to host its biennial heads of state
meeting in the Sri Lankan capital of Colombo next month.
Segal told the Guardian that Sharma, an Indian diplomat, had concealed crucial legal advice showing Rajapakse's sacking of the country's chief justice in January was "illegal, unconstitutional and a violation of international law." A spokesman for Sharma defended his position, saying "the advice was sought in confidence and it was not necessary for him to discuss it in public," according to the Guardian report.
Asserting that if Sri Lanka was not hosting the summit it would have faced suspension from the 53-country group months ago, Segal also told Toronto's Globe and Mail, "I went to Sri Lanka as a fact finder for our foreign minister in April of this year. I saw wonderful new highways and buildings in Colombo that would rival those in Toronto. I also saw the bullet holes above the sofa in the office of the editor of a Tamil language newspaper in Jaffna."
While India, the regional power, unwilling to expose Sri Lanka's complicity in the crime of the century in killing more than 70,000 Tamil civilians in Mu'l'livaaykaal in 2009, in its characteristic fashion, is delaying announcing its stand on attending the Commonwealth meeting.
Analysts in Delhi said that while Singh's attendance would anger India's substantial Tamil population and thus be a political risk for the Congress party, which is facing elections in spring, a significant boycott was unlikely, the Guardian wrote.
"India is very uncomfortable with that sort of thing," said Shyam Saran, a former foreign secretary. "Though the relationship with Sri Lanka is not as cosy as it could be and there are strong domestic dimensions, there is a general recognition in government that both the relationship and the meeting, are nonetheless important," the paper said.
Chronology:
Segal told the Guardian that Sharma, an Indian diplomat, had concealed crucial legal advice showing Rajapakse's sacking of the country's chief justice in January was "illegal, unconstitutional and a violation of international law." A spokesman for Sharma defended his position, saying "the advice was sought in confidence and it was not necessary for him to discuss it in public," according to the Guardian report.
Asserting that if Sri Lanka was not hosting the summit it would have faced suspension from the 53-country group months ago, Segal also told Toronto's Globe and Mail, "I went to Sri Lanka as a fact finder for our foreign minister in April of this year. I saw wonderful new highways and buildings in Colombo that would rival those in Toronto. I also saw the bullet holes above the sofa in the office of the editor of a Tamil language newspaper in Jaffna."
While India, the regional power, unwilling to expose Sri Lanka's complicity in the crime of the century in killing more than 70,000 Tamil civilians in Mu'l'livaaykaal in 2009, in its characteristic fashion, is delaying announcing its stand on attending the Commonwealth meeting.
Analysts in Delhi said that while Singh's attendance would anger India's substantial Tamil population and thus be a political risk for the Congress party, which is facing elections in spring, a significant boycott was unlikely, the Guardian wrote.
"India is very uncomfortable with that sort of thing," said Shyam Saran, a former foreign secretary. "Though the relationship with Sri Lanka is not as cosy as it could be and there are strong domestic dimensions, there is a general recognition in government that both the relationship and the meeting, are nonetheless important," the paper said.
Chronology:
External Links:
| Guardian: | Commonwealth chief is stooge of Sri Lanka regime – Canadian envoy |
Indian FM in Jaffna talks of ‘tri-lingual, united Sri Lanka
Indian FM in Jaffna talks of ‘tri-lingual, united, sovereign, devolved and connected’ Sri Lanka
[TamilNet, Tuesday, 08 October 2013, 17:12 GMT]
Indian External Affairs Minister Salman Khurshid, who visited Jaffna on Tuesday, ceremonially opened two houses of the controversial ‘50,000 House Project’, by visiting Thanthai Chelvapuram village at Thellippazhai in Valikaamam North, after landing in Palaali, meeting SL military officials and paying tribute to slain Indian soldiers in the war 23 years ago. Mr Khurshid then proceeded to lunch with the war-crimes accused Sri Lankan colonial governor in North and thereafter met the Chief Minister of Northern Provincial Council. Salman Khurshid, addressing the beneficiaries of financial asssistance and the journalists at Tilko hotel was talking of devolved Sri Lanka under the 13 Amendment, for a happy, prosperous and tri-lingual Sri Lanka which is sovereign and united and connected with India.
Indian External Affairs Minister Salman Khurshid, who visited Jaffna on Tuesday, ceremonially opened two houses of the controversial ‘50,000 House Project’, by visiting Thanthai Chelvapuram village at Thellippazhai in Valikaamam North, after landing in Palaali, meeting SL military officials and paying tribute to slain Indian soldiers in the war 23 years ago. Mr Khurshid then proceeded to lunch with the war-crimes accused Sri Lankan colonial governor in North and thereafter met the Chief Minister of Northern Provincial Council. Salman Khurshid, addressing the beneficiaries of financial asssistance and the journalists at Tilko hotel was talking of devolved Sri Lanka under the 13 Amendment, for a happy, prosperous and tri-lingual Sri Lanka which is sovereign and united and connected with India.
![Salman Khurshid [middle] in Jaffna](http://www.tamilnet.com/pic.html?path=/img/publish/2013/10/Salman_Khurshid_Jaffna_06.jpg&width=1200&height=929&caption=Salman%20Khurshid%20[middle]%20in%20Jaffna)
Salman Khurshid [middle] in Jaffna
He was also talking about India's plan to technically assist 10-year national project of “Tri-lingual Sri Lanka” [This is based on Sri Lanka's LLRC although the Indian minister didn't mention the name LLRC in his address].
A “friendly, sovereign and united Sri Lanka was the vision that all we have,” he reiterated.
“I consider myself very lucky that this visit coincides with your successful elections of the NPC and the oath that was taken yesterday by the Chief Minister who will serve you and who will be your symbol of the aspirations and who will help in the process of reconciliation and reconstruction and growth and prosperity for all the people,” the visiting minister was telling the journalists in Jaffna.
“I urge, hope and expect that your representative, the chief minister, ministers - all your representatives - will work in collaboration and cooperation and closely in dialogue with the federal government - with the government of Sri Lanka- to bring about satisfaction and happiness to the people of this region and this province commensurate with their aspirations and desire to live a life worth of dignity and equality, of justice and self-respect, under a devolved and reconstructed constitutional provisions that we describe in short as Amendment 13, but reflecting on the true consensual dialogue of the people of this province with other citizens and establishments of this country,” he said while concluding his address.
(The New Delhi Minister used the word “federal government” for the unitary Colombo India worked out through the 13th Amendment. Some Indian media also nowadays chooses to use the empty word to hoodwink the public)
Indian External Affairs Minister Salman Khurshid with Chief Minister of Northern Province CV Wigneswaran
In his address, Mr Khushid claimed that the Northern Railway line project was progressing, and that the Yaazh Theavi Express would resume services by 2014.
Seaward connectivity would be restarted with the ferry service between Thalai-Mannaar and Rameswaram, he said noting the assistance by India to develop Thalai Mannaar pier.
The dredging process of KKS port is done with Indian assistance and this will allow for greater growth of the economic activity, he claimed.
Palaali airport is being developed into a full-fledged civilian airport with regional connectivity, he claimed.
“We have made landmark agreements and MOUs for Champoor Power Project,” he said adding it was “for the benefit of all citizens including you”.
“I hope that all this will ensure working that we want to do for you is to bring you happiness and bring you an opportunity to take advantage of the important position that you have between Indian and Sri Lanka,” he said adding that “the situation that you have is a critical situation of great importance from the point view of commerce, tourism and many other fields.”
He was also talking of a new cultural connectivity project, Jaffna Cultural Centre at a location close to Jaffna Public Library. “This would be a very important landmark of important cultural connectivity of our people.”
On the burning issue of fishermen, he came with the following remark: “We have also agreed that representatives of fishermen from both sides, from India and from Sri Lanka, will come together very soon to find resolution to this constant irritant that comes on the livelihood.”
During his visit to Jaffna, Mr Salman Khurshid was particular in conveying through the visiting Indian journalists who are present in Jaffna, an image of India as the major assistance provider to the war-affected Eezham Tamils.
Salman Khurshid at Chelvapuram in Thellippazhai
The visiting minister in Jaffna described the housing project as the “largest grants assistance programme that government of India has undertaken anywhere in the world and how happy it made the families who were able now to receive the certificates of their completed houses in which they will live happily.” He mentioned that 1,000 houses have been completed so far. Claiming that 16,000 houses were under various stages of their construction, and gave a new deadline for the completion of the 50,000 before the 2015.
It has almost become a habitual show, since the 27 November 2010 visit of the previous Indian External Affairs Minister SM Krishna, to declare open one or two houses every time an Indian official or politician visit North. But, the housing scheme has gone through a lot of controversies and is progressing at a snail's pace from its inception.
When many countries were prepared to assist the uprooted people with constructing houses after 2009, India rushed with its announcement of constructing 50,000 houses, ousting others from the scene. Initially, Indian contractors were hired to put up the houses. The project went very slow even after spending 550,000 Indian rupees for constructing each house which was budgeted at 550,000 Sri Lankan rupees.
The houses constructed were of poor quality and some of these houses were damaged even before they were declared opened. As the delivery was very slow and the quality of the houses were not to the standards, the Indian authorities decided to give the allocated money, 550,000 SL rupees to the chosen beneficiaries to construct the houses. But, the beneficiaries ended up with borrowing money to complete the houses that cost around 1,300,000 each. 90% of the recipients are still on waiting list and the management by the Sri Lankan Red Cross (SLRC) chosen to oversee the project has come under criticism.
Each house consists of two rooms, a kitchen and an outdoor toilet. The kitchen doesn't have enough space to accommodate two people, the beneficiaries complain.
The visiting Indian External Affairs Minister also provided micro loans, promised long ago but not delivered hitherto, to a few selected recipients during his visit.
Scores of villages have been appropriated by genocidal Sri Lanka to create a Sinhala Military Zone in the neighbourhood of the housing scheme opened by Salman Khurshid on Tuesday and the New Delhi government never raises a finger about it.
A house being constructed at Thellippazhai
Chelvapuram, Thellippazhai, was under SL military occupation for 19 years till 2010
Chronology:
திங்கள், 7 அக்டோபர், 2013
SL, govt service means officialising genocidal land grab
SL govt service in East means officialising genocidal land grab
[TamilNet, Saturday, 05 October 2013, 23:53 GMT]
The occupying Colombo government has forced the Tamil divisional secretaries in Trincomalee district to comply with its genocidal land grab and Sinhalicisation schemes if they are to retain their jobs, informed civil sources in Trincomalee said. The latest victim to such pressure is the divisional secretary of Trincomalee Town and Gravets division, the sources said alleging that the divisional secretary Ms Sasithevi Jalatheepan has been instructed to identify lands without deeds and to allocate those lands to the occupying Sri Lankan military to set up new camps.
Neither the world establishments in complicity with genocidal State in the island nor the UN officials utter any word on the land grab genocide that is taking place in an accelerated way in the North and East.
The UN Human Rights chief Ms Navanetham Pillay who recently visited the North and East said that legal proof is needed to use the word genocide. She said it without any effort on the part of the UN to investigate the matter. Whether the UN is also ‘forced’ to internationally officialise the land grab genocide that takes place against the country of Eezham Tamils, the civil sources in Trincomalee asked.
Sri Lanka Army has forcibly appropriated the general market of the Trincomalee Urban Council constructed at Power House Road. The general market was appropriated by the Sri Lanka Army (SLA) in the year 2006 and is still being used as their camps.
The divisional secretary is unable to voice against continued occupation of the UC market. When questioned on the actions taken to get the lands back from the SL military, the divisional secretary chose to explain that the UC market is situated in a private land.
The Sri Lankan Government Agent of Trincomalee, Major General (retd) T.T.R. De Silva, had earlier instructed the divisional secretary to assist the construction of a Buddhist Vihare close to the Trincomalee Clock Tower and the Fish Market in the heart of Trincomalee city. The civil sources also allege that the divisional secretary was not able convey the sentiments of the people on the construction of Buddhist vihare at Kanniyaa Hot Wells area to the SL military GA of the district.
The occupying Colombo government has forced the Tamil divisional secretaries in Trincomalee district to comply with its genocidal land grab and Sinhalicisation schemes if they are to retain their jobs, informed civil sources in Trincomalee said. The latest victim to such pressure is the divisional secretary of Trincomalee Town and Gravets division, the sources said alleging that the divisional secretary Ms Sasithevi Jalatheepan has been instructed to identify lands without deeds and to allocate those lands to the occupying Sri Lankan military to set up new camps.
Neither the world establishments in complicity with genocidal State in the island nor the UN officials utter any word on the land grab genocide that is taking place in an accelerated way in the North and East.
The UN Human Rights chief Ms Navanetham Pillay who recently visited the North and East said that legal proof is needed to use the word genocide. She said it without any effort on the part of the UN to investigate the matter. Whether the UN is also ‘forced’ to internationally officialise the land grab genocide that takes place against the country of Eezham Tamils, the civil sources in Trincomalee asked.
Sri Lanka Army has forcibly appropriated the general market of the Trincomalee Urban Council constructed at Power House Road. The general market was appropriated by the Sri Lanka Army (SLA) in the year 2006 and is still being used as their camps.
The divisional secretary is unable to voice against continued occupation of the UC market. When questioned on the actions taken to get the lands back from the SL military, the divisional secretary chose to explain that the UC market is situated in a private land.
The Sri Lankan Government Agent of Trincomalee, Major General (retd) T.T.R. De Silva, had earlier instructed the divisional secretary to assist the construction of a Buddhist Vihare close to the Trincomalee Clock Tower and the Fish Market in the heart of Trincomalee city. The civil sources also allege that the divisional secretary was not able convey the sentiments of the people on the construction of Buddhist vihare at Kanniyaa Hot Wells area to the SL military GA of the district.
சனி, 5 அக்டோபர், 2013
Sril Lanka fails to stop screening of Channel-4's Killing Fields in Nepal
Sril Lanka fails to stop screening of Channel-4's Killing Fields in Nepal
[TamilNet, Friday, 04 October 2013, 11:53 GMT]
"The producers of the feature documentary No Fire Zone: The Killing Fields of Sri Lanka have condemned an unsuccessful attempt by the Sri Lankan government to prevent the screening of the film as part of the Film Southasia film festival in Nepal. The film’s director Callum Macrae accused the government of attempting to suppress the truth about their complicity in war crimes and crimes against humanity," a press release posted in a website affiliated with Channel-4 said.
Full text of the press release follows:
The producers of the feature documentary No Fire Zone: The Killing Fields of Sri Lanka have condemned an unsuccessful attempt by the Sri Lankan government to prevent the screening of the film as part of the Film Southasia film festival in Nepal. The film’s director Callum Macrae accused the government of attempting to suppress the truth about their complicity in war crimes and crimes against humanity.
“The government has constantly assured the international community – and in particular the members of the Commonwealth – that they will investigate the serious allegations war crimes and crimes against humanity which we exposed in No Fire Zone: The Killing Fields of Sri Lanka,” Macrae said today. “In practice though, they seem more concerned with travelling the world attempting to suppress our film – and prevent anyone from seeing the evidence of these crimes.”
“I am glad to say that so far they have not succeeded.”
This latest incident – which follows a similar unsuccessful bid to stop the film being screened in Malaysia (see below) began yesterday, when the Nepali authorities gave the organisers of the Film Southasia festival just 24 hours notice that they must not show No Fire Zone and two other Sri Lankan films in their festival as planned.
Film Southasia issued an immediate statement: “We announce with great regret that the Sri Lankan Government has pressurised the Nepali authorities to stop the screening of all three documentaries from Sri Lanka selected for the Film Southasia ’13 festival.” They described the attempted ban as “ an action that goes against the freedom of expression and the right of documentary filmmakers to exhibit their work.” The other two films were shorts by the respected Sri Lankan/British documentary maker and photographer Kannan Arunasalam.
Despite this attempt to ban the films the organisers have announced that No Fire Zone will now be screened at a private venue, at Yala Maya Kendra, Kathmandu, Nepal, on Sat 5 Oct 6:30pm
No Fire Zone is a devastating indictment of the Sri Lankan government's role in the massacres at the end of the Sri Lankan war. The culmination of a three year long investigation, it contains a mass of carefully authenticated evidence – including video, photographic and eyewitness accounts – of war crimes and crimes against humanity committed in the last few months of the Sri Lankan civil war in 2009.
It describes, in harrowing detail, how in January 2009, the government of Sri Lanka encouraged thousands of Tamil civilians to gather in a series of what they called "No fire zones" - and then subjected them to deliberate, sustained shelling. They compounded this by deliberately denying adequate supplies of food and medicine into the area. No-one knows how many died, but one UN report suggested it could have been as many as 40,000. A later UN report suggested the total could have reached 70,000 or even more. No Fire Zone also examines the role of the Tigers in the tragedy revealing how the agony of the trapped Tamil civilians was further compounded by the Tigers who refused to let those who wanted to leave the zones from doing so - even, on occasion, shooting at those who tried.
This new attempt to ban No Fire Zone follows a similar move in Malaysia where a screening of the film was raided by between 30 and 40 members of the Malaysian Censorship Board and police officers – again on the instigation of the Sri Lankan Government. However they did not succeed in preventing the screening.
Last month Lena Hendry of Malaysian Human Rights organisation Pusat Komas appeared in court and was charged for organizing the screening. She faces a maximum of three years in jail if convicted.
In protest over the attempts to silence the film another Malaysian organization Lawyers for Liberty, screened the film again. Yet more screenings are now planned.
Following attempts to stop the Nepalese screening No Fire Zone, the film’s Director, Callum Macrae, issued the following statement.
"Once again the Sri Lankan government has shown its true colours. While telling the world that it is investigating the allegations of war crimes and crimes against humanity – it is in practice mounting an international campaign to deny the truth and silence the witnesses. Film South Asia deserves every credit for refusing to stop the screenings, instead moving them to another venue.
“The Sri Lankan regime of Mahinda Rajapaksa and his brothers is determined to suppress the evidence of these crimes and their responsibility for them. That is why the Sri Lankan government wants to stop the world seeing our film. From the UN to the European parliament, from Malaysia to Nepal they have tried to stop the screenings. I am glad to say they have never succeeded.
“In Sri Lanka itself they are desperately trying to silence any critics. Military repression of the Tamils in the north of the country is ongoing. The Tamil homelands are being ethnically re-engineered by plantation of majority Sinhala families and soldiers. Land grabs are rampant. In the south anyone who speaks out against the regime is silenced. The independence of the judiciary is under attack. Journalists are being threatened and intimidated. Government supporters are now turning on other ethnic minorities in Sri Lanka – in particular, they are targeting Muslims.
In November the leaders of the Commonwealth will gather in Sri Lanka for the bi-annual Commonwealth Heads of Government Meeting (CHOGM).
If those leaders want the Commonwealth to retain any credibility, they must not turn a blind eye to the crimes of their hosts – or their attempts to deny the truth and silence their critics. For our part we pledge that we will continue to take this film around the world – and we will continue to tell the truth about what happened. "
"The producers of the feature documentary No Fire Zone: The Killing Fields of Sri Lanka have condemned an unsuccessful attempt by the Sri Lankan government to prevent the screening of the film as part of the Film Southasia film festival in Nepal. The film’s director Callum Macrae accused the government of attempting to suppress the truth about their complicity in war crimes and crimes against humanity," a press release posted in a website affiliated with Channel-4 said.
Full text of the press release follows:
The producers of the feature documentary No Fire Zone: The Killing Fields of Sri Lanka have condemned an unsuccessful attempt by the Sri Lankan government to prevent the screening of the film as part of the Film Southasia film festival in Nepal. The film’s director Callum Macrae accused the government of attempting to suppress the truth about their complicity in war crimes and crimes against humanity.
“The government has constantly assured the international community – and in particular the members of the Commonwealth – that they will investigate the serious allegations war crimes and crimes against humanity which we exposed in No Fire Zone: The Killing Fields of Sri Lanka,” Macrae said today. “In practice though, they seem more concerned with travelling the world attempting to suppress our film – and prevent anyone from seeing the evidence of these crimes.”
“I am glad to say that so far they have not succeeded.”
This latest incident – which follows a similar unsuccessful bid to stop the film being screened in Malaysia (see below) began yesterday, when the Nepali authorities gave the organisers of the Film Southasia festival just 24 hours notice that they must not show No Fire Zone and two other Sri Lankan films in their festival as planned.
Film Southasia issued an immediate statement: “We announce with great regret that the Sri Lankan Government has pressurised the Nepali authorities to stop the screening of all three documentaries from Sri Lanka selected for the Film Southasia ’13 festival.” They described the attempted ban as “ an action that goes against the freedom of expression and the right of documentary filmmakers to exhibit their work.” The other two films were shorts by the respected Sri Lankan/British documentary maker and photographer Kannan Arunasalam.
Despite this attempt to ban the films the organisers have announced that No Fire Zone will now be screened at a private venue, at Yala Maya Kendra, Kathmandu, Nepal, on Sat 5 Oct 6:30pm
No Fire Zone is a devastating indictment of the Sri Lankan government's role in the massacres at the end of the Sri Lankan war. The culmination of a three year long investigation, it contains a mass of carefully authenticated evidence – including video, photographic and eyewitness accounts – of war crimes and crimes against humanity committed in the last few months of the Sri Lankan civil war in 2009.
It describes, in harrowing detail, how in January 2009, the government of Sri Lanka encouraged thousands of Tamil civilians to gather in a series of what they called "No fire zones" - and then subjected them to deliberate, sustained shelling. They compounded this by deliberately denying adequate supplies of food and medicine into the area. No-one knows how many died, but one UN report suggested it could have been as many as 40,000. A later UN report suggested the total could have reached 70,000 or even more. No Fire Zone also examines the role of the Tigers in the tragedy revealing how the agony of the trapped Tamil civilians was further compounded by the Tigers who refused to let those who wanted to leave the zones from doing so - even, on occasion, shooting at those who tried.
This new attempt to ban No Fire Zone follows a similar move in Malaysia where a screening of the film was raided by between 30 and 40 members of the Malaysian Censorship Board and police officers – again on the instigation of the Sri Lankan Government. However they did not succeed in preventing the screening.
Last month Lena Hendry of Malaysian Human Rights organisation Pusat Komas appeared in court and was charged for organizing the screening. She faces a maximum of three years in jail if convicted.
In protest over the attempts to silence the film another Malaysian organization Lawyers for Liberty, screened the film again. Yet more screenings are now planned.
Following attempts to stop the Nepalese screening No Fire Zone, the film’s Director, Callum Macrae, issued the following statement.
"Once again the Sri Lankan government has shown its true colours. While telling the world that it is investigating the allegations of war crimes and crimes against humanity – it is in practice mounting an international campaign to deny the truth and silence the witnesses. Film South Asia deserves every credit for refusing to stop the screenings, instead moving them to another venue.
“The Sri Lankan regime of Mahinda Rajapaksa and his brothers is determined to suppress the evidence of these crimes and their responsibility for them. That is why the Sri Lankan government wants to stop the world seeing our film. From the UN to the European parliament, from Malaysia to Nepal they have tried to stop the screenings. I am glad to say they have never succeeded.
“In Sri Lanka itself they are desperately trying to silence any critics. Military repression of the Tamils in the north of the country is ongoing. The Tamil homelands are being ethnically re-engineered by plantation of majority Sinhala families and soldiers. Land grabs are rampant. In the south anyone who speaks out against the regime is silenced. The independence of the judiciary is under attack. Journalists are being threatened and intimidated. Government supporters are now turning on other ethnic minorities in Sri Lanka – in particular, they are targeting Muslims.
In November the leaders of the Commonwealth will gather in Sri Lanka for the bi-annual Commonwealth Heads of Government Meeting (CHOGM).
If those leaders want the Commonwealth to retain any credibility, they must not turn a blind eye to the crimes of their hosts – or their attempts to deny the truth and silence their critics. For our part we pledge that we will continue to take this film around the world – and we will continue to tell the truth about what happened. "
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