US UNHRC inaction not inconsistent with saving Rajapakse

US UNHRC inaction not inconsistent with saving Rajapakse in US Courts, says TAG

[TamilNet, Friday, 08 March 2013, 01:03 GMT]
The resolution tabled in the Geneva UNHCR sessions by the USA in concert with India, which sidesteps forcing an independent international investigation into the Mu'l'livaaykaal killings, and misleads the Eezham Tamils into a mirage that international community will seek accountability, appears entirely consistent with the intervention of the U.S. State Department in the legal actions pursued by Tamil plaintiffs against Sri Lanka's President Rajapakse, legal sources in Washington said. U.S. is acting as a proxy to Rajapakses in filing legal briefs and replacing Patton Boggs as "the attorneys" for Rajapakse.

"The U.S. State Department exercising the discretionary powers to intervene legally in the case against Rajapakse effectively blocks a pre-trial discovery process which would have uncovered facts related to the Sri Lanka killings. Therefore, this US intervention is not inconsistent with the resolution which does not call for an independent international investigation," spokesperson for Tamils Against Genocide (TAG), a US-based activist organization that seeks legal redress to Tamil victims war, said.

United States Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia circuit has scheduled March 8th, 9:30 am for the oral argument in the appeal case against Sri Lanka's President Mahinda Rajapakse for civil damages on war-crimes charges filed by three Tamil plaintiffs whose relatives were extra-judicially executed or unlawfully killed under the "command responsibility" of Rajapakse.

United States Justice Department lawyers, under the direction from the State Department, will present the legal oral argument supporting immunity to Defendant-Appellee Rajapakse, legal sources in Washington said. Rajapakse appointed attorneys at Patton Boggs, a large law firm in Washington D.C. will concede their full allocagted time to the US Government to argue the case for Rajapakse, the procedural motions in the case docket indicated.

"The U.S. Government has affirmatively exercised its option, first in the trial court, and now in the appellate court, to intervene to save Rajapakse from legal action by legitimate victims of his allegedly murderous conduct. Ambassador Blake architected policy of appeasing Sri Lanka overlooking the killing more than 80,000 Tamil civilians in Mu'l'livaaykkaal, appears to have even trumped Sri Lanka's continued dismissal of the chorus of disapproval from the West on autocracy-leaning governance matters in Colombo," TAG spokesperson said in an earlier note to TamilNet.

Chronology:

08.03.13  US UNHRC inaction not inconsistent with saving Raj..

07.03.13  Learn Lesson and Respond Concretely: ‘LLRC’ for Ta..

19.01.13  US Court to hear oral argument on war-crime case a..

08.12.12  Fein: U.S.'s immunity determinations flout due pro..

22.11.12  Appellants granted time extention in Rajapakse war..

09.11.12  U.S. reasserts immunity to Rajapakse from war crim..

02.11.12  Rajapakse depends on U.S. to defend War Crimes cha..

04.10.12  Opening brief filed in US war-crimes appeal agains..

24.08.12  US Court of Appeals to hear Rajapakse war-crimes c..

03.04.12  Plaintiffs file appeal on war-crimes case against ..

10.03.12  Tamil plaintiffs to appeal ruling on war crimes ca..

04.03.12  Worried Colombo consulted top D.C. law firm for ad..

02.03.12  Supreme Court's June ruling can undermine Rajapaks..

01.03.12  Head of State immunity saves Rajapakse from war-cr..

19.02.12  Court to decide if US can save Rajapakse from war-..

05.02.12  Fein: TVPA's plain language interpretation negates..

20.01.12  Tamil plaintiffs oppose US Government's stand on R..

15.01.12  Executive overreach to provide immunity to Univers..

14.01.12  US "suggests" immunity to Rajapakse from suit

18.12.11  Rajapakse case, a legal pioneer, reaches historic ..

17.12.11  Rajapakse accepts Court summons, asks US to confer..

04.12.11  War crime litigations reach crucial phase in US co..

23.11.11  Judge Kotelly to decide Rajapakse's legal fate in ..

19.10.11  Rajapakse says will defy Court Order, Shavendra hi..

14.10.11  US Court authorizes use of TamilNet to serve Rajap..

01.10.11  Rajapakse, an enemy of all mankind, filed U.S. Cou..

20.09.11  Rajapakse has no immunity against war crimes prose..

06.08.11  US Court rules Rumsfeld can be sued for torture

27.06.11  Colombo fears judgment against Rajapakse in US Cou..

18.06.11  Hague summons reaches Rajapakse for US Court case

02.06.11  U.S. case: Rajapakse ducks service, Court order so..

09.02.11  DC Court to serve summons to Rajapakse

29.01.11  Ambassador, an honest man sent to lie for Sri Lank..

28.01.11  Rajapaksa sued in US Courts over war-crimes, plain..

23.01.11  TAG to file civil case against Rajapakse in Texas ..

Related Articles:
07.03.13   Learn Lesson and Respond Concretely: ‘LLRC’ for Tamils on US..
22.02.13   Blake, architect of Tamil tragedy, spectator to genocide
06.04.12   Boyle compares Syria action, dismisses UNHRC resolution as a..
30.01.12   Boyle: US should publicly accuse Colombo of committing war c..
23.01.11   TAG to file civil case against Rajapakse in Texas Federal Co..
13.11.10   Demand US to provide war crimes evidence to UN Panel, urges ..
13.03.10   Demand US to reveal more inculpatory war crimes evidence, ur..

Australia's extradition of Tamil to US violates due process, says TAG

[TamilNet, Tuesday, 31 July 2012, 03:10 GMT]
Last week Australia's Attorney General, Nicola Nixon, has authorized the extradition to the U.S of Thulasitharan Santhirarajah, who the U.S. alleges was one of the six co-conspirators in a bungled arms-procurement operation for the Liberation Tigers in 2006. Santhirarajah has been fighting extradition to the U.S. from 2008. If Santhirarajah is extradited, he will have to stand a criminal trial in the U.S. Federal District Court of Baltimore, Maryland, and if convicted, will serve a prison term in the U.S., following which the U.S. immigration will deport the defendant to his country of residence, either to Australia or to Sri Lanka, based on the nature of Santhirarajah's residency in Australia.

Santhirarajah's case is very similar to that of Balraj Naidu, citizen of Singapore, who was extradited from Singapore in 2009. Naidu refused to plead guilty, stood a jury trial, and was convicted [53 months prison term] on one count of conspiracy to provide material assistance to an Foreign Terrorist Organization [FTO].

Media reports indicate that US has filed the same six charges against Santhirarajah. In Naidu's case, a Singaporean judge allowed only two of the charges to stand - the material support and the possession of a firearm in furtherance of a crime of violence. The US judge, Catherine C. Blake, promptly dismissed the possession of firearms charge, and allowed only one charge, to go to trial.

• US-Australia Extradition Treaty

Tamils Against Genocide [TAG], a US-based activist group that fights for fundamental rights, argues that Senthirarajah's extradition order should be dismissed because of the following two reasons:

• Incorporation of the UN "terrorist" list in Australian jurisdiction violates customary common law notion of due process. With the UN terrorism law non-self executing, and the UN list not incorporated into domestic law, how can one expect a lay person to know if he is violating the UN terrorism list?
• Sources of law in American and Australian jurisdiction that give rise to the LTTE ban - the former in national law and the latter in international law - do not adequately criminalize Senthirarajah's alleged conduct as "punishable" offenses in both American and Australian jurisdiction as required by the US-Australian extradition treaty's dual criminality provision in Article 2(1).
  
  Australia purports to deem Senthirarajah's conduct as a punishable terrorism-related offense by incorporation of the UN terrorism list in Australian domestic jurisdiction. However, Art. 38 of the ICJ Statute codifies as customary that international law does not recognize hierarchy in its sources. As such, during all times relevant to the allegations against Senthirarajah, the UN terrorism list and the Norwegian-mediated Cease Fire Agreement (CFA), an international treaty between Norway and Sri Lanka to which the LTTE was a signatory, applied with equal force in Australian domestic jurisdiction.
  
  The UN terrorism list and the CFA establish contradictory international legal personalities for the LTTE, the former, as a terrorist organization, the latter, as legitimate stakeholder to a peace process formed by international treaty. The determination of the LTTE's legal personality is dispositive in determining whether Senthirarajah's conduct may be criminalized, and therefore whether it is cognizable as a punishable offense. Absent domestic implementing Australian legislation which criminalizes the LTTE as a terrorist organization, Senthirarajah's alleged conduct is not a punishable offense as required by the US-Australia extradition treaty.
  
  If sourced in international law, due to the incompatible classifications of the LTTE as both a terrorist organization and a party to an internationally-mediated peace process, the LTTE's international legal personality, even if incorporated into Australian domestic jurisdiction by operation of law does not supply a legitimate legal basis to criminalize Senthirarajah's alleged material support as a punishable offense.
  
  Since Senthirarajah's alleged conduct is not a punishable offense, the extradition treaty's dual criminality provision is not met, and the extradition order should be appealed and dismissed. If executed, it violates international law.

While Santhirarajah may be plausibly extraditable under non-terrorism related offense, Australia should not extradite him under terrorism-related offense, TAG says.

In a trial held in February 2006, four of the six alleged conspirators, Thirunavukarasu Varatharasa, 40, a Sri Lankan citizen; Haji Subandi, 73, and retired Indonesian Marine Corps General Erick Wotulo, 62, both citizens of Indonesia; and Haniffa Bin Osman, 59, a citizen of Singapore, pleaded guilty to their participation in the same conspiracy and were sentenced to 57 months, 37 months, 30 months, and 37 months in prison, respectively.

Chronology:

31.07.12  Australia's extradition of Tamil to US violates du..

24.10.10  Jury finds Singaporean guilty of material support ..

17.10.10  Broke no Singapore laws, defendant testifies in Ma..

11.10.10  Singaporean on trial in US on material support cha..

External Links:

TA:		Roxon clears Tamil's extradition to US
WP:		Blowing the whistle on the federal Leviathan

Canada should have prosecuted officer of war-crimes complicit SL Navy: TAG

[TamilNet, Wednesday, 04 July 2012, 13:41 GMT]
In what can turn out to be a move of political significance, one of Sri Lankan Navy’s top officer’s refugee claim has been rejected by federal officials in Canada, owing to a finding by the Canadian Immigration and Refugee Board (IRB) that the officer, Nadarajah Kuruparan, had been complicit in crimes against humanity and that there was systematic human rights abuses committed against the Tamils in the island by institutions he served in. However, referring to the salient points of this outcome, Rajeev Sreetharan from TAG told TamilNet “Deporting, as opposed to prosecuting Nadarajah Kuruparan for his direct participation in coordinated maritime armed attacks and logistical support to the Sri Lankan Armed Forces' genocidal siege of the Tamil civilian population cornered in Mu'l'livaaykkaal, is incompatible with letter and spirit of what the Geneva Conventions compel.”

• Reasons for Judgment and Judgment

"Rejection by Canadian federal officials of Sri Lankan Navy cadre Nadarajah Kuruparan's refugee claim on the ground of war crimes complicity in turn triggers Canada's binding international humanitarian law obligations pursuant to its signature and ratification of Additional Protocol II to the Geneva Conventions, effective since November 20, 1990.”

“Canada must ensure 'better protection for the victims" of armed conflict. In the age of armed conflict and transnational Diasporas, this includes Tamil victims in Sri Lanka and in Canada's Tamil Diaspora. TAG urges Canadian political and legal institutions to follow up its public criticism of Sri Lanka's human rights violations with investigating and prosecuting Kuruparan under applicable war crimes and human rights law," Mr. Sreetharan added.

The war crimes accused Kuruparan, who was Commodore in the Sri Lankan Navy, had arrived in Canada in August 2009 and had a made claim for refugee status on the basis that “he feared the government, pro-government militias and rebels” reported the website of the Canadian newspaper National Post.

The National Post further said that the officer, one out of five Tamil officers in the mostly Sinhala navy, and his family had been harassed by the “pro-government Tamil militia” of Karuna.

Nevertheless, his refugee status was denied by the IRB on the allegation that he “had been complicit in the crimes against humanity because he had a long service with the navy, an organization that was known to regularly and systematically commit human rights abuses against the LTTE, the Tamil population and individuals suspected or perceived to be LTTE collaborators or sympathizers.”

The 50 page decision compiled by the Canadian Federal Court under Justice John O’Keefe further commented on the ‘widespread and systematic’ acts of violence committed by the Sri Lankan security forces alluding to “The extensive sources of evidence and the reporting contained therein, including references to tens of thousands of disappearances and the institutionalization of torture”.

Speaking to TamilNet, Siva Vimalachandran from the NCCT said “The admittance by Canadian state officials that crimes against humanity and war crimes were committed and the systematic nature behind these atrocities reinforces the need for the diaspora to stay confident in exposing the protracted genocide of the Eezham Tamils.”

Likewise a press release of the NCCT dated July 3 stated “The ruling against Kuruparan serves to reinforce the need for Prime Minister Harper to boycott the upcoming Commonwealth meeting to be held in Sri Lanka. Prime Minister Harper promised boycott the 2013 Commonwealth meeting in Sri Lanka unless the country’s human rights record improved.”

1. LA students help victims of Sri Lanka Genocide

[TamilNet, Saturday, 12 May 2012, 12:12 GMT]
Students from a popular private high school in Los Angeles California, motivated by lessons on genocide learnt from their history class, have organized fund-raisers and social awareness campaign to help victims of the alleged genocide in Sri Lanka, said a communique from the students. "We searched videos and read articles of the Sri Lankan people and we felt that it was our duty to help them in any way we could," said the students who also created a video on the details of genocide as part of their information campaign.

The Students engaged with Tamils Against Genocide [TAG] to discuss projects that fell within their immediate interest, a spokesperson for TAG said. Refugee advocacy around the globe to help victims who fled violence, and whose social involvement in the struggle of the Tamil people made them vulnerable to return back to their homeland, interested the students.

TAG said it encouraged the students to do independent research and arm themselves with objective information so that they have the knowledge to answer questions on the "truth" of the alleged genocide as they make their efforts public.

Full text of the note sent by the students, with sensitive information 'redacted,' follows:

Video created by LA students

Hi, our names are Padi Naz, Dorian Aft, Alexia Um, and Joey BZ. We are from XXXXX High School in Los Angeles. We first got interested in Sri Lanka when asked to focus on a certain Genocide in our History class.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_embedded&v=dg57Fgy2LeI

Our passion for helping Sri Lanka was expressed when first reading the information shown on tamilsagainstgenocide.org [TAG]. We searched videos and read articles of the Sri Lankan people and we felt that it was our duty to help them in any way we could. We started to be in contact with a member of TAG, a big supporter of ours, and from there, we slowly started to raise money and bring awareness of the condition of the Sri Lankan people in Los Angeles.

We informed the people of Los Angeles about the hardships Tamils were facing post genocide and how they needed our help. Lastly, we would like to thank TAG for all their support and dedication to feed and nurture all the people in effect of the Genocide in Sri Lanka.

Our group raised awareness in many ways. We went to elementary school classes where we teach students about the genocide that has been under the radar and how they can help.

We have had bake sales and information booths where we sold baked goods and wrist bands and we are on Twitter, Instagram, and Facebook. We have informed around 1000 people and raised around xxxx dollars but this is just the beginning!

Always remember, you can’t hide from genocide, people all over the world need our help.

Tamil refugees need help to cross legal hurdles, says TAG

[TamilNet, Sunday, 06 May 2012, 15:41 GMT]
Reports from Trincomalee confirmed that a Tamil civilian recently refused asylum in the U.K. and deported to Sri Lanka, was found killed on the 18th April. The killing occurred amidst arrests by the Sri Lanka miltary of more than 300 Tamils in the east, many of whom were refugee returnees from other countries, reports said. Tamil activists say systemic issues such as lack of information on asylum application procedures and sources of funding, a lack of affordable advice in the refugee's own language, combined with out-of-date, biased or inaccurate 'official' country information relied on by immigration officials and judges have resulted in many potentially vulnerable refugees being returned back into the waiting hostile hands of Colombo .

• European Convention on Human Rights

• UK Human Rights Act

• British Refugee Guide

• UK: Sri Lanka Country of Origin Information

Tamil activists said fear from burgeoning refugee populations are forcing Western governments, notably UK and Australia, and many European countries, to play down the "well founded fear of persecution," of ayslum seekers, even while Colombo has demonstrated its intent to violate rights of Tamils, including torture and disappearances.

Colombo has been successfully weathering pressure, perceived or otherwise, in spite of seriously incriminating commentary from Amnesty, Human Rights Watch, and International Crisis Group (ICG) among others, on the credible persecution fears of Tamil refugee returnees, Tamil activist circles said.

Legal Steps in UK Asylum process

Legal instruments for UK asylum seekers

A spokesperson for Tamils Against Genocide (TAG), a US and UK based activist group which has been engaging with the legal process in the U.K. with a few successful tribunal decisions on asylum applications, said, "while in the U.K. we are becoming more familiar with the legal system, and with the help of a handful of legal professionals setting up a system to help the Tamil asylum seekers, the refugee situation is worse in Europe and in South Asia.

"There is an urgent need to help these refugees to gain easy access to legal and financial support, and to lessen the burden on the same people who have already undergone harrowing experiences, and inhumane and demeaning rights violations at the hands of Sri Lanka military," Jan Jananayagam said. "TAG is working on setting up such a system to provide material help and advocacy for asylum seekers, and the diaspora should shoulder the financial burden if such a support system is to be sustained to meet the needs of the refugee inflow," she added.

A document providing legal and other relevant information to Tamil Refugees in the UK, is under preparation by TAG, and a draft released to TamilNet contains information that relates to the (a) legal procedure followed in asylum cases in the U.K., and (b) the legal instruments used in the adjudication in the tribunals and UK Courts.

Legal procedures and associated appeals processes available are shown in the adjoining chart where the asylum seeker has the opportunity to establish the "well-founded fear of persecution" at the interview (2nd), the two tribunal hearings, and at the possible multiple hearings in the Court of Appeals. The case proceeds to the following phase only if the application fails in a step as the case progresses through increasingly stringent scrutiny.

"TAG considers medical and psychological evidence from an expert witness is very important for obtaining a positive result in an asylum application, but only a few attorneys encourage or help their clients to obtain such information before tribunal hearings. A central refugee-aid repository of past cases of persecution in Sri Lanka, affidavits from victims, legally admissible video, photographs of harassment and other similar evidence, are essential prerequisites that will materially benefit Tamil asylum seekers in U.K.," Jananayagam said.

In the U.K., legal aid is also available from the British Government for eligible asylum seekers. However, to obtain this aid, the representing legal firm should also be certified as "legal-aid eligible." Due to stringent documentation requirements to qualify, many legal firms decline certification, and lose the opportunity to obtain legal aid for their clients.

Collection of past rulings and proceedings in the Courts of different countries including the U.S and Switzerland can help expose the culpable conduct of Colombo in committing international crimes and will aid asylum applications of Tamils in the Western legal systems, legal sources in UK said.

External Links:

Amnesty:		Sri Lankan asylum seekers tortured after being forcibly returned from Australia
UKGov:		Sri Lanka Country of Origin Information
HRW:		Sri Lanka: Australia Should Raise Torture Concerns
RRAN:		Don’t Deport Tamils to Danger
HRW:		UK: Halt Deportations of Tamils to Sri Lanka
ECHR:		European Court of Human Rights

Mass-rape alleged in Theavipuram amid civilan slaughter

[TamilNet, Saturday, 31 March 2012, 04:34 GMT]
Tamils Against Genocide (TAG), a US-based activist group that seeks legal redress to Tamil victims of war, said Saturday that the organization is piecing together evidence based on an eye-witness testimony that up to 20 women, separated from nearly 200 civilians who surrendered to the SLA, were alleged to have been raped by Sri Lanka Army (SLA) soldiers near the village of Theavipuram, in Mullaiththeevu, in April 2009. While lack of witness protection program in Sri lanka, and threat to life of witnesses who appear against Security Forces have placed TAG's legal effort in UK on hold, TAG said that the current legal action in UK involving Ex-Army Commander, Prasanna de Silva, may provide the momentum required to seek witnesses and to obtain corroborative evidence to identify the perpetrators of the alleged crime.

• Sri Lanka media notes on SLA Divisions

Theavipuram where alleged mass rape occurred (Map Courtesy: TAG)

Progress of 55th Division (Map Courtesy: TAG)

"Families in small numbers were fleeing the Colombo demarcated No Fire Zone (NFZ) in Mu'l'lvaikkaal in Mullaitivu from February till the end of the war on or around 17th May. There were persistent rumours among the beleagured civilians that mass rapes were occurring during this period. 40 to 50 Kilometer area inland from the SLA forward lines close to the beachhead of the NFZ, was fully occupied by several divisions of the SLA. No one, other than the victim-escapees, can bear witness to the crimes committed by the SLA in the area controlled by the SLA," a witness who was working among the population in Mu'l'livaikkaal until the end of the war, and later escaped to a foreign country, told TamilNet.

According to this witness, evidence of such crimes can be gathered as soon as there is free access to the Vanni area. "It will be hard for the military to destroy all the evidence; the memory of such crimes last until the victim is dead," the witness said.

Prasanna de Silva, who was transferred as the Commander for the 59th division operating south of Mullaiththeevu on or around 7th May 2009, was commanding the 55th division which broke out from Elephant Pass and advanced south towards Chu'ndikku'lam and Chaalai. Media reports, including reports from the Sri Lanka defense ministry, provide evidence that the 55th division was the SLA division closest to the area around Theavipuram when the alleged rape occurred in April 2009.

Prasanna de Silva, Ex-Commander of 55th Division

"The rape victim was a member of the refugee stream fleeing Safe Zone, and circumstantial evidence indicate that there is reason to believe the victim would have surrendered to the troops of the 55th division. "Military Command Responsibility" doctrine will attach criminality to the commander of the 55th Division whose troops are likely to have carried out the mass rape by their sole presence in the area at the time of rape. Tamil expatriate organizations, working with the Tamil refugees and victims who escaped after being holed up in the NFZ, should vigorously seek to identify additional witnesses willing to testify to the above crimes," TAG spokesperson said.
Emai

HRW's Sri Lanka torture report will help UK asylum seekers, says TAG

[TamilNet, Sunday, 26 February 2012, 00:35 GMT]
Credible new evidence of Sri Lanka’s torture of recent deportees from Britain, disclosed recently in a report by the Human Rights Watch (HRW), a premier Rights group based in New York, will significantly bolster ongoing litigation to halt the UK’s deportations, said Tamils Against Genocide (TAG), in a litigation update released today. HRW said the UK 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." About 100 Tamil asylum seekers are scheduled for deportation from the United Kingdom on February 28, 2012.

In the case Tamils Against Genocide v United Kingdom (Application reference 77045/11) at the Queens Bench Administrative Court in December 2011, TAG had argued that the deportation of asylum seekers in a UK chartered flight in December breached a legitimate expectation that the policy on removal will be reviewed, in the light of ‘credible and relevant evidence’ of torture of returnees. The report of the UN Committee Against Torture (UNCAT) was included as evidence of ongoing torture, as was the 2011 report by British NGO Freedom From Torture.

But, Justice Mitting J held that each decision for removal must be individually appealed, and refused to allow a generic appeal. "The sole reason for refusal of permission was on the ground that a claim can only succeed on the grounds of individualized applications based on profile and not on the grounds of a challenge to the failure to review policy in the light of credible allegations of torture of failed asylum seekers on return," Lower Court Judge Mitting said in the order.

When the UK Appeals Court also sided with Justice Mitting, TAG filed an action before the European Court of Human Rights (ECHR) which also has jurisdiction over such asylum cases.

TAG's UK spokesperson Jan Jananayagam said that her organization will now take on board Mitting J’s criticism by incorporating the statement from HRW, and will assist individuals in bringing appeals to the UK courts, in addition to the ongoing class action in Europe.

Individual appeals to the UK High Court is be launched on Monday, TAG said.

“The evidence collected by HRW and their willingness to go public significantly alters the playing field," said TAG, adding “we urge asylum claimants and their solicitors to incorporate the new evidence into their appeals. TAG will make available new statements of evidence to interested refugees and their solicitors. Details of how to liaise with TAG to benefit from these new developments can be found in the litigation section of the TAG website."

Meanwhile, responding to Parliamentary questions on Wednesday the UK Foreign Office Minister, Alistair Burt, continued to deny that deportees from the UK are being detained and tortured by Sri Lankan authorities on their return. "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,” Alistair Burt said.

Alistair Burt’s position was flatly contradicted by Human Rights Watch and others who have declined to be named for fear of the safety of their witnesses.

In a related development the UK's Metropolitan Police have held discussions with NGOs working on preventing torture in Sri Lanka. The Metropolitan Police confirm they have made arrangements to collect evidence from witnesses and victims of torture at the point of entry to the United Kingdom and to arrange for a medical examination where necessary.

“While asylum seekers may be unfamiliar with British procedures and fear disclosing information, they should not hesitate to provide details on torture and other rights abuses to the police, if they or their family members are victims or witnesses to rights abuses, and ask for a referral to a non governmental Human Rights organization (NGO) that they trust,” TAG said.

An immigration attorney in the UK said that credibility issues arise when evidence relating to torture and other war crimes is introduced late in the asylum claim.. "It is always best for victims and their families to contact a victim support NGO at the earliest possible opportunity," the attorney added.

Chronology:

26.02.12  HRW's Sri Lanka torture report will help UK asylum..

16.12.11  UK Courts refuse stay on deportation, TAG appeals ..

14.12.11  TAG files legal challenge to UK deportation policy

Related Articles:
25.02.12   Halt deportations of Tamils, Sri Lanka tortures Tamil deport..
23.12.11   ‘Failure to confront UK deportations is failing humanity’


External Links:

Guardian:		UK not monitoring safety of Tamils deported to Sri Lanka
FM:		Charter flight to Sri Lanka 15 December 2011
Guardian:		Deported Tamils 'face torture' on return to Sri Lanka
ECHR:		European Court of Human Rights

Sound of Silent Speech

[TamilNet, Saturday, 07 January 2012, 16:57 GMT]
One can speak not only through words but through expressive conduct often called "Symbolic speech" - legally defined as nonverbal gestures and actions intended to communicate a message. In Western liberal democracies, most forms of symbolic speech are constitutionally protected. The Tamil diaspora's recent use of such protected expressive speech to publicize symbols of Colombo oppression as philatelic stamps has infuriated Sri Lanka diplomats, and is posing a long-term threat to Sri Lanka's image abroad. The autocratic suppression of free speech and threat to life have progressively shaped a local compliant media that exercises self-censorship, and have ill-prepared Sri Lanka's diplomats to confront the individual freedom enjoyed by the Tamil diaspora in the West.

French Stamps 2012 (Courtesy: Sri Lanka Mirror)

Postal stamps issued in Switzerland 2011

Pirapaharan stamp, France Jan2012

US stamp 2011, 2012

UK 2012, published by RSTE (Revolutionary Students of Tamil Eelam)

Canada 2012

Postal stamps issued in Switzerland 2011

US Stamp 2012

Navaratnam's stamp issued in Canada

The "offending" stamps published in France, UK, Canada, and the US, are likely harbinger of future tactics the diaspora may employ in their countries of domicile. The reaction of Minister Peiris and other Sri Lanka officials have surprised the activists on the impact such symbolic actions can have on Colombo, members of the group that published stamps in France said.

In France, the stamps were produced using an online service offered by La Poste, a private business enterprise, not funded by French tax-payers. The Company deals with postal matters in several countries around France. The private businesses are likely to be only marginally affected by diplomatic pressure arising from France's foreign policy objectives, unless the images are blatantly illegal or constitutionally unprotected.

While local media in Colombo reported that French Ambassador "apologized," to Colombo on the stamp matter, the most relevant statement reported by UPI involved French embassy quoting the publisher's statement:

La Poste called the release of the "stamps with inappropriate visuals" a "mistake," the French Embassy in Sri Lanka said in a statement.

The soft-language used in the statement by La Poste reflects the contradiction between the internal freedom enjoyed by the french on their right to publish and France's diplomatic need to maintain cordial relationship with other countries. Further, La Poste and the French embassy could not have been unaware of possible legal challenges that may ensue if barring publication of symbols can be shown to be racially or ethnolinguistically discriminatory.

Meanwhile, the Tamil Youth Organization (TYO) in Canada published a stamp showing Tamil eelam map with the words 'I remember Tamil Genocide.' Sinhala organizations in Canada have protested against the stamp. "LTTE-front" is the badge of terror being attached to the TYO, and the funds, claim the protesters, are tainted by "terror." "Legal issues in curtailing speech will prevent any action by authorities, absent imposing non-discriminatory restrictions. Protest tactics are no longer tenable in the post-Mu'l'livaaykkaal phase, and will more likely provide factual basis for libel action," commented Canadian lawyers monitoring the development.

In some countries, post-9/11 "terror laws" have eroded the supreme position of individual freedom, a pillar of western liberal jurisprudence in free democratic society, and perhaps may bar some symbols, but many symbols of Colombo oppression are not cognizable as illegal speech as a matter of French law in particular, and common law in general, legal sources in Washington said.

Spokesperson for Tamils Against Genocide (TAG), an activist group seeking legal redress to Tamil victims of Sri Lanka war said, "two evolving streams of activity will soon trouble Colombo's efforts to dampen Tamil diaspora activity. One, the bogey of 'LTTE rump' Colombo uses as a badge of criminality on the diaspora, will likely diminish with possible libel suits against fraudulent use of the label. Two, with the era of armed-struggle fast receding, countries that have proscribed the LTTE, will face moral dilemma and legal challenges in extending the ban," TAG spokesperson added.

The thinking of US justices to the "terror" argument to blunt speech rights is demonstrated in Virginia v. Black, where the Court struggled with how much one can suppress conduct without banning expression. The Court held that cross burning by Ku Klux Clan, a free-speech issue that triggers first amendment rights, was a "virulent form of expression" and is not constitutionally protected, but declared Virginia law that banned ALL forms of cross burning as unconstitutional.

The dissenting Justice Thomas, on the court declaring Virginia law as unconstitutional, failed to convince the court when he argued that the Ku Klux Klan is a ‘‘terrorist organization,’’ that there exists a ‘‘connection between cross burning and violence,’’ and that a burning cross is ‘‘now widely viewed as a signal of impending terror and lawlessness.’

• French Challenge to Free Expression

"When not intended to intimidate, many forms of symbolic speech qualify as protected speech. So would be all forms of visual images that appear in stamps, except virulent symbols intended to intimidate, are protected, and attempts to attach the badge of terror by Colombo is unlikely to succeed despite pronouncements to the contrary," TAG spokesperson said.

Related Articles:
02.01.12   Extra-judicial execution of Trincomalee students, Sixth anni..
11.06.10   Tamil Commemorative stamp released in US
30.01.07   Canadian Memorial Stamp issued for late Navaratnam


External Links:

Wiki:		Symbolic Speech
ST:		Now Tiger stamp in Britain
Cato:		Unholy Fire: Cross Burning, Symbolic Speech, and the First Amendment Virginia v. Black
SL:		G.L meets French envoy over LTTE stamps
IT:		Slain LTTE chief Prabhakaran turns up on French postal stamps
SL:		LTTE stamps not authorized by France
MSN:		Sri Lanka protests over LTTE stamps in France

UK Courts refuse stay on deportation, TAG appeals to European Court

[TamilNet, Friday, 16 December 2011, 03:54 GMT]
Ruling on the case filed at the Queens Bench Administrative Court by Tamils Against Genocide (TAG-UK) Tuesday challenging the British deportation policy on the grounds that the policy has not been reviewed in light of recent evidence that asylum returnees to Sri Lanka face imminent torture at the hands of Sri Lanka Government, Mr Justice Mitting refused stay and refused permission for judicial review of deportation policy reasoning that the claim can only succeed on "individualized applications," and not on the grounds of a challenge to the failure to review policy, legal sources in London said. The Appeals Court agreed with the lower court decision. TAG said that the case is being appealed to the European Court of Human Rights (ECHR), which has jurisdiction over such asylum cases.

"The sole reason for refusal of permission was on the ground that a claim can only succeed on the grounds of individualized applications based on profile and not on the grounds of a challenge to the failure to review policy in the light of credible allegations of torture of failed asylum seekers on return," Lower Court Judge Mitting said in the order.

The lower court did not provide a written opinion, and Judge Mitting made no comment in respect of the evidence submitted, TAG-UK spokesperson said.

• Appeals Court Decision

Lord Justice Maurice Kay of the Civil Division of the British Court of Appeal concurred with the lower court decision reasoning "this application (appeal) relates to the removal to Sri Lanka by charter flight in less than two hours time. I have already refused two individual applications which, apart from anything else, seemed to me to lack underlying merit....It is the reason why the generic applications to him and to this Court fail."

Referring to Justice Mitting's judgment (see para 48 in the Memorandum of Appeal), TAG's attorneys pointed out that the court has erred in point of law, and cited a 2005 decision by Collins J in a case involving an asylum returnee to Zimbabwe that "further proceedings in all the Judicial Review applications should await the determination of a suitable appeal by this Tribunal. The reason why that arrangement was so obviously right is that the Tribunal can and must consider and determine the underlying facts in a way that is not open to the High Court in Judicial Review proceedings."

Noting also that UK Courts have considered risks to failed asylum seekers before, the legal brief to the Appeals Court (para 49) pointed out a year-2000 case of a Kurdish asylum seeker from Turkey, where appeals court's Lord Justice Schiemann stated, inter alia, "any young male Turkish Kurd draft evader who is returned to Turkey as a failed asylum seeker without travel documents, will, by virtue of those facts alone, face a real risk of being subjected on return to Article 3 ill-treatment. Although precise statistics are not available, it seems clear that many thousands of such claims for exceptional leave will turn upon its outcome; the 60-odd challenges stayed in the Crown Office List pending its resolution represent but the tip of an iceberg."

UK spokesperson for Tamils Against Genocide, said an appeal has been filed at the European Court of Human Rights.

ECHR, established in 1959 in Strasbourg France, rules on individual or State applications alleging violations of the civil and political rights set out in the European Convention on Human Rights. Since 1998 it has sat as a full-time court and individuals can apply to it directly.

Related Articles:
15.09.10   European Court to review Jagath Dias case