Sri Lanka's President says "terrorists" defaming Sri Lanka from abroad

Deutsche Presse-Agentur | Monsters & Critics
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President Mahinda Rajapaksa said Tuesday that defeated 'terrorist' elements abroad were defaming Sri Lanka.

His comments at a military academy came less than two weeks after he cancelled an address at the Oxford Union in London because of protests by the Tamil ethnic minority in London

'Their latest weapon is to defame our country and throw allegations at our war heroes, accusing them of war crimes, Rajapaksa said in Diyatalawa, 160 kilometres east of Colombo.

'We have already commenced the battle against them in the international sphere and are committed to continue it,' he said.

Tamil groups in exile are calling for investigations into allegations of war crimes during the final stage of army operations that ended Sri Lanka's 26-year war against separatist Tamil rebels in May 2009.

The government on Friday granted permission for a United Nations panel to testify before a national commission investigating the war's final months.

UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon created the panel to advise him on human rights issues related to Sri Lanka's military offensive in the northern part of the country.

The government disputes a UN estimate that 7,500 civilians were killed during the final months of the conflict.

© Monsters & Critics

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What's on the UN panels Sri Lanka visit agenda?

By Sutirtho Patranobis | Hindustan Times
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Maybe it was the spirit of the upcoming yuletide. Nobody is still sure about the reason behind the change of heart. But everyone was sure taken by surprise when the government said it would welcome the UN panel on Sri Lanka with open arms and a prized appointment with the government-appointed Lessons Learnt and Reconciliation Commission (LLRC).

All arrangements will be made, the foreign ministry said, adding that the three-member panel could make a representation to the eight LLRC members. Though the meeting has all the makings of a warm one, it was not immediately clear which panel will give evidence to whom.

The UN panel was appointed in June by secretary-general Ban Ki-moon to advice him on human rights issues that came up during the end of the civil war in 2009. The government's reaction was swift, angry. It waved its immigration rights and said "no entry" to the panel. Always ready to put his life on the line for a cause, minister Wimal Weerawansa threw himself down in front of a few puzzled UN security guards and did not eat a morsel for two days. The panel stayed. Though it will always stay outside the Island, the government fumed.

Last week, the fumes lifted. First it was Ban Ki-moon who spoke about the visit. Then the government confirmed.

Continuous international pressure to investigate alleged war crimes, the loss of nearly $150 million in withdrawn trade concessions by the EU and a tardy rate of foreign investment could have quietly softened the government's indignation.

However, details about the panel's visit are sketchy: what will it do? Will they meet former army chief Sarath Fonseka? Questions remain about whether they will be allowed to move freely within the country. It's also unlikely that the public, say the displaced Tamils, will be allowed to meet them.

Ban Ki-moon's office is yet to share details. Reports said the members of the two panels could even meet outside the country.

Indeed, skepticism is already growing among critics that the exercise will be one in futility; a tight lipped-service to the calls for a war crimes probe where both the government and the UN would claim that they have done their bit. So what, if that's not enough.

© Hindustan Times

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Nambiar, UN, undermine war crimes investigation on Sri Lanka, Burma

Fleeing civilans | Photo courtesy: Burma Partnership

Tamil Net
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Unchecked for the role he played in the genocide of Eezham Tamils last year, Vijay Nambiar’s UN villainy is now targeting ethnicities struggling in Burma. The Burmese military now plans to adopt the Rajapaksa doctrine of military solution to the national question in Burma, with the backing of the same establishments that backed Rajapaksa, and Vijay Nambiar is in the scene again, facilitating the agenda and shielding the war crimes. A few days ago, UK has urged the UN to replace Vijay Nambiar by another fulltime envoy to deal with Burma. According to Mizzima News Wednesday, the London-based Burma Campaign expressed extreme disappointment on the approach of Nambiar befriending military generals and ignoring nations struggling for liberation. Meanwhile, the UN panel on Sri Lanka meeting Colombo’s LLRC has raised eyebrows in the human rights circles.

While major human rights organisations of the world have boycotted Colombo’s LLRC, there are reports that Ban Ki Moon’s advisory panel on Sri Lanka may have ‘meetings’ with it. According to SL government, since it has said that anyone could come up with submissions to the LLRC, on that basis the UN panel also could come to Colombo to meet the LLRC. This means that the UN panel is treated as a party submitting before the LLRC.

Informed circles say that the UN panel has plans to meet the LLRC behind the scene somewhere outside of the island, perhaps for exchanging notes.

Sri Lanka's President Mahinda Rajapaksa has invited U.N. investigators to share evidence gathered with his own reconciliation commission. Associated Press cited Media Minister Keheliya Rambukwella saying Saturday that "We resisted the panel saying we can't allow a U.N. investigation unilaterally. But in this case, the president has invited them not to undertake any investigation but to share the evidence."

The UN Secretary General Ban Ki Moon praised the move, AP said.

After collecting sensitive and trusted evidence from the affected, the UN move of ‘sharing’ with LLRC is calculated to undermine the credibility of the panel which had been set half-heartedly and the modus operandi of which had already raised doubts, said human rights activists.

In Burma, Ban Ki Moon’s chief of staff, Vijay Nambiar sabotaged war crimes investigations against Burmese military at the behest of the Chinese, accuses the Mizzima article by Thomas Maung Shwe.

Indian and Chinese opposition to war crimes investigation in the island of Sri Lanka and their backing to the war crimes accused regime of Rajapaksa are well known.

The Chinese have told Nambiar that war crime inquiry in Burma would be dangerous and counterproductive, and should not be allowed to proceed. Nambiar appeared to have shared the view by omitting a proposal for war crime inquiry in his report to the UN, despite the fact that UN officials had earlier called for such an inquiry, Mizzima said.

The UN special rapporteur on human rights in Burma in his report in March said that abuses were a state policy that involved authorities at all levels of the executive, military and judiciary, and called for an inquiry by the UN Human Rights Council.

Ironically, Burmese military offensive in August-September targeted ethnic Chinese in the Kokang region that made thousands of them to flee to Yunnan of China. The Chinese came out only with verbal protest.

After meeting Aung Sun Suu Kyi in Burma, Nambiar commented that he found her “out of touch and somehow too hard-line”, reports Matthew Russell Lee of the Inner City Press.

Writing on the controversial role played by Nambiar in Sri Lanka, Mizzima said: “Ban sent the former Indian diplomat to Sri Lanka despite that his own brother, retired Indian army general Satish Nambiar, had served as an adviser to the Sri Lankan military for several years.”

Citing The Times, Mizzima said that Nambiar knowingly suppressed information to the public, despite UN staff briefing him in Colombo that at least 20,000 people had died in the final stages of the war.

But there are some other Indian names that not only suppressed information but came out with misleading information on the civilians in the killing zone, contributing to the ‘smooth progress’ of war crimes.

Meanwhile, Sri Lanka connection is a key factor in the renewed ethnic war in the regions of Burma, bordering Thailand, India and China, says Simon Roughneen writing in The Irrawaddy, November 29.

According to the article, while Aung San Suu Kyi, released from her years-long house arrest, has called for discussions on federal model solutions, the Burmese military is gearing up for a military solution to the ethnic issue in the model of Rajapaksa’s Sri Lanka.

Rajapaksa’s first visit outside after the Vanni War was to Burma. The Burmese generals reciprocated in June 2009 by visiting Colombo and thanking Rajapaksa for his support in combating “illegal activities carried out by the LTTE in the past and in drug trafficking in the region."

But most of the poppy-growing areas in the Shan State of Burma are under the control of militia groups backed by the Burmese military, says Shan researcher and journalist Kheunsai Jaiyen, cited by The Irrawaddy.

The Burmese military is now eager to learn from Sri Lanka and to borrow methods from Sri Lanka’s COIN strategy used against the LTTE, The Irrawaddy article said, citing a recent report by researcher Kim Joliffe.

Meanwhile, Sri Lanka’s army commander Jagath Jayasuriya said Wednesday that his military would be seeking UN ‘peace keeping’ missions abroad. Revealing that Colombo would be negotiating with Russia for armoured fighting vehicles, he said that his country was ready to take up foreign assignments at short notice.

In Burma, the Sri Lankan-style strategy appears primarily to target the Karen National Liberation Army (KNLA), The Irrawaddy said.

“In total, an estimated 446,000 people are thought to be displaced inside Burma and allegations that the army uses forced labour, forced displacement and rape as part of its campaign in ethnic minority regions are part of the campaign by rights groups to establish a Commission of Inquiry into war crimes in Burma,” The Irrawaddy further said.

According to Joliffe's report, more violence looms in Karen-populated regions in eastern Burma. The Sri Lanka-style strategy “would include the assassination of key leaders, the pinpointing of key bases and the herding of KNLA forces and civilians into kill zones using heli-borne forces.” Ominously, Joliffe suggests, “the final phase of these hammer and anvil tactics is the obliteration of everyone in kill zones using massed artillery.”

But it seems too much importance is given to the military of these terrorist states and their military ‘successes’ when the real problem lies in the attitudes of some powers and in the criminal mind of some individuals occupying establishments. The Sri Lankan state is increasingly proving itself as a crucial test case where the backbone of state terrorism should be crushed for the benefit of any fresh tide in world affairs.

© Tamil Net

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UN Extends Sri Lanka Panel entry deadline to end of 2010 - trip before Jan 15?

By Matthew Russell Lee | Inner City Press
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The UN has quietly extended the deadline for submission to its Sri Lanka war crimes Panel of Experts until the end of this month, acting Deputy Spokesman Farhan Haq told Inner City Press on December 20.

In the run up to the initial December 15 deadline, Inner City Press asked Haq and his office about bounced e-mails and Federal Express overnight packages of evidence which the Panel refused or could not receive. Haq said that he thought an extension would be announced - but then did not announce one.

On December 20, having received more complaints about packages refused by the Panel, Inner City Press again asked Haq about the projected extension. Staring down at note, Haq said it is extended to the end of the year.

Inner City Press asked when the Panel will in fact travel to Sri Lanka. Haq said he had nothing to announced on that, while rephrasing the question to concern only the Lessons Learnt & Reconciliation Commission.

This is appears to mean that the Panel will not even be asking to speak with, for example, ex General Sarath Fonseca, who has indicated his willingness to testify about war crimes he says were ordered.

As to whether Secretary General Ban Ki-moon will keep confidential the report of his Panel on Sri Lanka, Haq said Ban will decide once it is submitted. Inner City Press asked if the Panel's January 15 deadline is being extended. They are “on track,” Haq said. If so, the trip must be soon, and the list of people spoken with would be short.

© Inner City Press

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Tamil-Muslim joint front on the cards in Sri Lanka

By PK Balachandran | Express Buzz
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A joint front of Tamil and Muslim parties is on the cards in Sri Lanka, to fight for a political solution to the 60 year old ethnic question, which continues to exist despite the military defeat of the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE) in May 2009.

On Sunday, Hassan Ali, a top leader of the Sri Lanka Muslim Congress (SLMC), had suggested that the Tamil parties should include the Muslim parties in the joint committee they had set up to formulate a political solution to the ethnic question.

When asked for a reaction to this suggestion, M.A.Sumanthiran, a Tamil National Alliance (TNA) MP and a member of the joint committee, said that it was a “positive move” and added that any request for admission would be considered.

When the TNA met the SLMC earlier to discuss political cooperation on common issues, the SLMC had not made any such request. The Tamil parties would have to see how they could accommodate the Muslim parties in the committee, Sumanthiran told Express here on Monday.

COMMON PROBLEMS

Sri Lankan Muslims are Tamil-speaking, but consider themselves ethnically and also politically separate from the Tamils. However, like the Tamils, the Muslims too have inter-ethnic issues to be sorted out. Generally, these relate to land and the use of the Tamil language. The Muslims have problems with the Tamils as well as the Sinhalese. They have been asking for a separate Muslim unit in the South East, were they form a very significant proportion of the population.

Being minorities, the Muslims and Tamils face some common problems vis-à-vis the majority Sinhalese and the Lankan state dominated by the majority community.

PANEL ON CONSTITUTIONAL REFORMS

Last week, the TNA and the Tamil Parties Forum (TPF) had formed a six-man committee to go into the question of devolution and come up with joint set of demands to be presented to Lankan President Mahinda Rajapaksa.

The members of the joint TNA-TPF committee are: Mavai Senathirajah, Suresh Premachandran and M.A.Sumanthiran (all from the TNA); V.Anandasangaree (Tamil United Liberation Front), D.Siddharthan (Peoples’ Liberation Organisation of Tamileelam) and A.Rasamanickam (Eelam Peoples’ Democratic Front).

While the TNA was pro-LTTE so long as the LTTE existed, most of the parties in the TPF have been pro-government or anti-LTTE. But all Tamil parties, whether pro or anti government, want devolution of power to the Tamil-speaking Northern and Eastern provinces. They have now seen the need for a united Tamil front.

INDIA’S ADVICE

India has been one of the catalysts for this move towards unity. New Delhi has been urging the Tamil parties to come together on a common programme on devolution and other questions agitating the Tamils. India has reportedly told the Tamil parties that they will have to negotiate a political deal with the Sri Lankan state and not depend on outside powers, which could, at best, give only moral support to any just demand.

© Express Buzz

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UN team not sure of Sri Lankan visit

BBC Sinhala
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The United Nations says it is not yet clear that its own investigators will travel to Sri Lanka to look into allegations of war crimes in the final stage of the government's conflict with Tamil Tigers rebels last year.

In an interview with the BBC's Sinhala service, a spokesman, for the UN secretary general, Farhan Haq said a team would meet members of the government's own commission of inquiry, but he said he wasn't sure where.

Referring to a statement made by the General Secretary, Farhan Haq said, "He said that he is pleased that the panel is now able to visit Sri Lanka to meet with the Lessons Learnt and Reconciliations Commission (LLRC)".

Contradictory statements

Government of Sri Lanka said last week that it would allow the UN team to visit the island, reversing its earlier refusal to grant them visas.

However, the UN spokesman refused to confirm or deny a visit to Sri Lanka. ."We can't confirm if the panel will travel to Sri Lanka or will meet the LLRC in some other location", Farhan Haq told the BBC Sandeshaya.

© BBC Sinhala

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Sri Lanka: Ban Ki Moon praises the flexibility of President Mahinda Rajapaska

By Santhush Fernando | Asian Tribune
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United Nations’ Secretary General Ban Ki-moon, has praised President Mahinda Rajapaska for his flexibility shown in resolving the issue of the visit of United Nation Expert Panel on Sri Lanka.

In response to the UN Panel visiting Sri Lanka to meet the LLRC, the government said today that any requests made by the UN will be considered.

“ If a formal request is made by the UN Panel to visit Sri Lanka, the government will consider it”, External Affairs Ministry Public Communication Director General Bandula Jayasekara yesterday told the media.

Less than a month before its report on Sri Lanka is due, United Nations’ Secretary General Ban Ki-moon's Panel of Experts “is now able to visit Sri Lanka and meet with the Commission on Lessons Learnt and Reconciliation,” Moon told media on Friday.

The UN Panel of Experts was appointed by Secretary General Ban Ki-moon on Sri Lanka to look into alleged violations of international law during the war, although no such probe has been launched by the UN over the atrocities committed by United States and its allies in Iraq and in Afghanistan. Yesterday it was announced that the deadline for the submission of evidence to the Panel will be extended.

While dodging question posed by US media of whether he will make public his Panel's report, due on January 15, Ban praised “the flexibility of President Mahinda Rajapaska on this issue.”

But the Panel, Ban says, will travel to Sri Lanka, if only to speak with the Sri Lanka Government’s Commission on reconciliation - LLRC.

© Asian Tribune

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Sri Lanka allows UN war crime visit

Al Jazeera
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Sri Lanka has announced that it will allow the UN to send representatives to take part in an investigation into war crimes alleged to have taken place during the country's civil war.

Colombo had previously said that it would not allow a three-member UN panel appointed by Ban Ki Moon to enter Sri Lanka to look into the alleged war crimes. Instead Mahinda Rajapaksa, Sri Lanka's president, set up the Lessons Learnt and Reconciliation Commission (LLRC), a national body to carry out investigations.

Doubts over the LLRC's impartiality prompted major human rights groups to refuse to work with it. But the foreign ministry on Sunday announced that it had reversed its position, saying that foreign investigators are welcome to take part in the inquiry.

"In the event of the panel of the Secretary-General wishing to present representations to the commission, the Ministry of External Affairs will make the arrangements that are necessary to enable the panel to do so," the ministry said in a statement.

"This position has already been conveyed through diplomatic channels, to the United Nations in New York," the ministry added, without giving any details.

Body criticised

The LLRC has been widely criticised by international human rights groups for lacking independence from the Sri Lankan government, which has been accused of violating the laws of war in its crushing defeat of the Tamil Tiger separatists after a quarter of a century of civil war.

After the conflict, the UN had hoped to send an "expert panel" to Sri Lanka to report back to the UN secretary-general, but the Sri Lankan government blocked it, saying that war crimes investigations were a national matter.

James Ross, a legal expert at Human Rights Watch, told Al Jazeera that the Sri Lankan government is not capable of carrying out credible investigations alone. "One hopes that they have now recognised that this expert panel is an important body," he said.

"The Sri Lankan commission does not really have credibility. It won't conduct impartial investigations. If the Sri Lankan commission could be of assistance to the expert panel that would be useful."

Fresh doubts

But in Sri Lanka, experts doubted that the UN investigators will be allowed to operate freely even if they are allowed into the country.

"There is no point in the UN panel coming here, if it is only allowed to meet only the LLRC and not allowed to meet the civil society and people affected by the war and to travel around the country," a political analyst told the Reuters news agency, asking not to be named fearing repercussions.

"The submissions the LLRC have got is mostly on reconciliation for the future and not what happened in the last day of the war. The U.N. panel is meant to see what happened in the last day of the war."

The expert panel is not be mandated to issue a formal report, but would instead present their findings to the UN secretary-general.

Sri Lanka has faced sanctions over its failure to set up an independent probe into alleged war crimes, with the European Union withdrawing trade concessions worth $150 million a year over the issue.

U.S. diplomatic cables, released by the Wikileaks website, also put the alleged human rights abuses in the spotlight, revealing that the United States believes there is little prospect Sri Lanka will hold anyone accountable for the bloody end of the war because top government figures are involved.

© Al Jazeera

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Liam Fox cancels Sri Lanka trip amid claim in cables of Colombo's war crimes complicity

By Nicholas Watt, Mark Tran and Jason Burke | The Guardian
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Liam Fox, the defence secretary, was tonight forced to abandon a private visit to Sri Lanka this weekend after a row with William Hague, who feared that he would upset Britain's carefully balanced approach to Colombo.

Fox announced his change of heart as US embassy cables leaked tonight provided fresh allegations of the Sri Lankan government's complicity with paramilitary groups in last year's offensive against the Tamil Tigers.

Labour accused the government of adopting a "chaotic" approach to diplomacy when Fox announced that he would instead make an official visit to the country in the new year.

Fox's decision came after talks with Hague, the foreign secretary, and a warning by the British Tamils Forum that his trip would send mixed messages to President Mahinda Rajapaksa, who is facing strong international pressure for an investigation into allegations that Sri Lanka forces committed war crimes.

The Ministry of Defence blamed the delay on the need for Fox to extend a visit to the Gulf. A spokesman for the defence secretary said: "Dr Fox has postponed his private visit to Sri Lanka due to an extension to his scheduled official visit to the Gulf. He intends to carry out an official visit to Sri Lanka next year, during which he proposes to fulfil the speaking engagement that he had planned."

The move by Fox came as the latest batch of US embassy cables to be published by WikiLeaks show that:

• US officials expressed concerns that the Sri Lankan government was complicit with paramilitary groups. One cable, sent in May 2007 by the then US ambassador, Robert Blake, details abductions, extortion, forced prostitution and conscription of child soldiers.

• Five Sri Lankan doctors were coerced by the Sri Lankan government to recant on casualty figures they gave to journalists in the last months of the civil war.

• The Tamil Tigers (LTTE) were guilty of human rights abuses and demanded a cut of international NGOs' spending in the areas they controlled.

• The US ambassador to Colombo, Patricia Butenis, said on 15 January that one of the reasons there was such little progress towards a genuine Sri Lankan inquiry into the killings was that President Rajapaksa, and the former army commander, Sarath Fonseka, were largely responsible. "There are no examples we know of a regime undertaking wholesale investigations of its own troops or senior officials for war crimes while that regime or government remained in power," Butenis noted.

It is understood that Fox, who held a private meeting with the president in London two weeks ago, abandoned his private visit after intense pressure from Hague. Foreign Office sources said that Fox's private visit could have jeopardised Britain's nuanced approach to Sri Lanka, in which ministers put pressure on Colombo to agree to an investigation into last year's offensive against the Tamil Tigers while acknowledging the Tigers were responsible for terrorism.

One Whitehall source said: "William has said to Liam: 'This is the Foreign Office line, Liam.' In brackets William will have said: 'You have needed my support in the past.'"

Fox still plans to deliver the Lakshman Kadirgamar memorial lecture after being invited by the widow of the late foreign minister who was murdered by a Tamil Tiger sniper in 2005. But he will do this as part of his official visit next year.

Yvette Cooper, the shadow foreign secretary, said: "Chaotic diplomacy like this does no good for the government's standing on such a significant issue. It also raises serious questions about the defence secretary's judgment.

"What on earth has he been doing holding 'private' meetings with the Sri Lankan president while refusing to say if he has pressed for the war crimes investigation we need or supported the foreign secretary's position? William Hague must be spitting mad."

President Rajapaksa, who won a second term in January following the military victory over the separatists last year, has repeatedly denied any involvement in or knowledge of human rights abuses.

But the latest cables published by WikiLeaks highlight human rights abuses committed by the LTTE, against whom the paramilitaries and the government forces were engaged. Sources told representatives of the US embassy to Sri Lanka that the LTTE regularly demanded a cut of international NGOs' spending in the areas they controlled. Other sources described a harsh regime of compulsory conscription into fighting forces. "If they fail to report, they are taken forcibly, often at night," one said. Cables from early this year referred to "progress" by the Government of Sri Lanka on a range of human rights issues in recent months.

"There has been a dramatic improvement in the treatment of IDPs and their living conditions … [and] numbers of disappearances have experienced a steady and significant decline across the island since the end of the war," one dispatch said.

Another affirmed that "child soldiers affiliated with the [paramilitaries] have been significantly reduced over the past year, with just five reportedly remaining at the end of 2009."

One senior journalist had been released from detention, the cable added, and diplomats were "not aware of any additional physical attacks on journalists since June [2009]".

There was even some tentative steps" on "accountability" for human rights abuses during the civil war, Washington was told.

"Accountability for alleged crimes committed by [government of Sri lanka] troops and officials during the war is the most difficult issue on our bilateral agenda, and the one we believe has the lowest prospect for forward movement," a cable sent in late January said. "In Sri Lanka this is further complicated by the fact that responsibility for many of the alleged crimes rests with the country's senior civilian and military leadership, including President Rajapaksa and his brothers and opposition candidate [and former military commander] General Fonseka."

© The Guardian

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Sri Lanka to receive enhanced World Bank support

The Island
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World Bank's Managing Director, Dr. Ngozi Okonjo-lweala has announced moves for Sri Lanka to receive increased support from the world development funding institution. Speaking at the Central Bank of Sri Lanka's 60th anniversary celebrations on Friday, Dr. Okonjo-lweala reaffirmed the World Bank's strong and expanding support to Sri Lanka as it transitions towards a middle-income country in lasting peace. The announcement came after she met with President Mahinda Rajapaksa, Central Bank Governor Nivard Cabraal and senior Central Bank officials at the event.

In recognition of the country's emergence as a growing economy she announced Sri Lanka 's new eligibility for financing from the IBRD, the World Bank's lending arm for middle-income countries in addition to the current assistance from the IDA. This development has the potential to more than double the amount of resources available to Sri Lanka from the World Bank each year, to close to half a billion dollars - $200 million from IDA, which it continues to access, and now up to an additional $265 million available from IBRD.

"Sri Lanka's remarkable rise from past challenges is a testament to the tenacity of the Sri Lankan people and the commitment of the country's leadership," said Dr. Okonjo-Iweala. "Eligibility for IBRD borrowing is an important recognition of Sri Lanka's middle income country status and signals an important step in the evolution of our relationship going forward - a relationship that is founded on knowledge and experience-sharing that complements the available financing."

Conveying the news on IBRD financing to President Rajapaksa, she reiterated the World Bank's commitment to Sri Lanka, especially in supporting programs designed to encourage inclusive growth throughout the country. She also noted the World Bank's willingness to increase support to complement the ambitious development aspirations of doubling per capita income and growth in excess of 8%, which will be aided by increasing private investment from both foreign and domestic sources as envisioned in the Mahinda Chintana, the Government's vision for future development.

President Rajapaksa conveyed his appreciation to the World Bank for providing support to complement the country's development goals and noted that he looks forward to working with the Bank on the implementation of the Mahinda Chintana.

In her speech to the Central Bank, Dr. Okonjo-Iweala also emphasized the importance of investment and innovation towards development and exchanged ideas from global perspectives that could help Sri Lanka reach its full potential as a growing middle income country. "The expansion of the knowledge economy and the search for innovative ideas by all Sri Lankans will be important to successfully accelerate growth and improve living standards," she said.

© The Island

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Security Concil's Big Five send senior-level naval delegations to Colombo

By Shamindra Ferdinando | The Island
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An international naval gathering in Colombo, including senior representatives of the UN Security Council couldn’t have come at a better time for Sri Lanka, says Defence Secretary Gotabhaya Rajapaksa.

In an interview with The Island on Sunday (Dec. 12), Defence Secretary Rajapaksa said that their presence at the SLN’s 60th anniversary celebrations had meant international recognition and appreciation of Sri Lanka’s victory over the LTTE.

The Defence Secretary said of the five permanent Security Council members, Russia (Udaloy-class Destroyer Admiral Vinogrado) and China (Missile Destroyer Lanzhou) had sent warships. The US, UK and France, too, had sent senior-level naval delegations, the Defence Secretary said, adding "the country wouldn’t have attracted the ‘big’ five if we had still been at war. In fact, many countries would have been reluctant to send warships had we been bogged down on the northern front."

The LTTE collapsed on May 19, last year on the banks of the Nanthikadal lagoon after a three-year-long non-stop combined security forces offensive.

The Defence Secretary said the world had expressed solidarity with Sri Lanka amidst a treacherous bid to charge the political and military leadership with war crimes over the conduct of the SLA during the last phase of the offensive. Responding to a query, the former Gajaba veteran said that their participation would never have been possible without approval at the highest level of the respective governments.

India sent its Navy Chief Admiral Nirmal Warma, though Indian service chiefs never visit the same country twice in one year. Appreciating the India Navy Chief’s presence, the Defence Secretary said that the attendance of the Pakistani Navy Chief Admiral Noman Bashir was an honour.

The Indian and Pakistan naval chiefs had an opportunity to meet in Colombo.

The Defence Secretary said that almost all visiting delegations had appreciated Sri Lanka’s victory over terrorism. Whatever the unsubstantiated criticism directed at the Sri Lankan military, the world couldn’t ignore the country’s success in anti-terrorist war.

The Russian and Chinese warships were joined by PNS Zulfiqar, INS Mysore, BNS Umar Farooq, HMTS Chonburi, IRID Alvand and sail ship INS Tarangini.

Navy headquarters spokesman Captain Athula Senarath said that naval chiefs from India, Pakistan, Bangladesh, Iran, Australia and the Maldivian Coast Guard commander had been present along with high-level delegations from Russia, US, China, UK, France, Canada, Indonesia, Thailand, Malaysia, Nigeria, the Philippines, Singapore, South Africa, South Korea and UAE

Defence Secretary Rajapaksa said that there couldn’t have been a better example than the Colombo gathering to highlight the need for international cooperation to fight cross-border terrorism.

The SLN destroyed eight LTTE ships in four separate confrontations on the high seas in 2006 and 2007. The SLN deployed Indian and US Offshore Patrol Vessels (OPVs), Israeli Fast Missile Vessels (FMVs) and the Chinese Landing Ship Tank (LST) to hunt down LTTE ships. In the absence of ships with capacity to refuel the fleet, the SLN used a vessel received from France (521) following tsunami and craft (521) allegedly used for human smuggling operations to re-fuel ships. The US went to the extent of providing intelligence to the SLN to destroy four of the eight vessels, including the largest.

The Defence Secretary said that on-going naval operations directed at Somali pirates by powerful navies underscored the need for cooperation among UN member states to fight those threaten world stability.

© The Island

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Legal limbo Tamils beg for mercy or trial

By Swaminathan Natarajan | BBC Tamil
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Hundreds of Tamils detained for years on charges of helping the Tamil Tigers have asked Sri Lankan President Mahinda Rajapaksa to show mercy or grant them a trial.

The detainees were arrested under prevention of terrorism legislation introduced as a temporary law in 1979 and made permanent two years later.

Under the act, suspects can be held for up to 18 months without charge or trial.

But some detainees have spent more than 10 years in jail, with cases still pending in courts.

Human rights activists say more than 650 Tamils, including about 50 women, are suspended in legal limbo in Sri Lankan jails.

A few of the detainees, whom the BBC interviewed by phone, said they want the president to look into their plight.

"The Sri Lankan government has so far released more than 5,000 LTTE [Tamil Tiger] cadres who had surrendered to the army during the final phase of the war. We are begging the president to show us the same leniency," said one inmate.

He said he was arrested on suspicion of aiding the LTTE from the eastern town of Batticaloa in 1997.

Tamils held under the Prevention of Terrorism Act are detained in separate jail cells.

Another man, who said he has been in prison since 1999 accused of involvement in a bomb blast, says there has been little progress in his case.

"After my arrest the police tortured me and forced me to sign many papers," he claimed.

"I have been going to court for the past nine years. The only evidence the prosecution has is my confession paper."
No family visits

He said his family is too scared to visit him for the fear of being noted by security agencies.

Government officials deny torture has been used during interrogation.

Most of these detainees were arrested on suspicion of having gathered intelligence for the LTTE or providing logistics for its covert operations.

But activists say the Prevention of Terrorism Act has been widely misused.

Periyasamy Chandrasekaran, a well-known Tamil labour leader from the tea-growing region of central Sri Lanka, was detained under the act for a brief period.

After his release he went on to become an MP and a cabinet minister.

But many others ended up spending long years in prison.

Last month, a Tamil man, Satyavel Thilangeswaran, was sentenced to 30 years in prison for his role in the attempted assassination in 1999 of former president Chandrika Kumaratunga.

Twenty-eight people died in the blast; Mrs Kumaratunga survived, but was blinded in one eye.

Recently, Thilangeswaran, 30, who has always denied the attack, pleaded guilty to the charges, hoping it would lead to his release.

"I was advised by my lawyer that if I plead guilty I will be given a maximum of 15-year imprisonment," he told the BBC.

"Since I have already spent 10 years in prison, I accepted his advice. But the court has given 30 years."

Speaking to BBC through an intermediary, Thilangeswaran said he regretted his decision.
'Presumed guilty'

He still maintains he is innocent and hopes to get justice in the appeal court.

Colombo-based human rights activist Mekala Shanmugam said there is no need for this draconian law now the civil war is over.

"Some of these prisoners might have helped the LTTE. But now the war has ended. A former LTTE commander [Vinayagamoorthy Muralitharan] is now a minister," she said.

"The government has given general amnesty to thousands of former cadres. Government should release these prisoners or speed up their trial."

Political analyst DBS Jayaraj blames the nature of the anti-terror law for their long wait for justice.

"The basis of law is that one is presumed innocent until or otherwise proven guilty," he said. "But under the Prevention of Terrorism Act, one is presumed guilty until proven innocent.

"This leads to distortion of justice. It seems their cases have fallen through a crack."

Amnesty International, too, has called upon the Sri Lankan government to speed up the trial.

Yolanda Foster, a spokeswoman for the human rights organisation, says not many lawyers are willing to appear for these detainees because they fear repercussions.

The Sri Lankan government admits there is a huge delay, but says it has yet to decide whether to release or charge the detainees.

The new Justice Minister, Rauf Hakeem, recently said he had told the attorney general to review the cases of the Tamil political prisoners.

But for many suspects who have spent anywhere between a third to half of their adult life behind the bars, the wait is unbearable.

"We are routinely taken to courts and brought back to prison," said one inmate. "I feel it is better to die than to suffer like this for years."

© BBC News

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Sri Lanka Tamils concerned over national anthem

Agence France-Presse
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Sri Lanka's Tamils expressed concern on Monday over a media report suggesting that the government was set to ban singing the national anthem in their language.

The main Tamil party, the Tamil National Alliance (TNA), said it was seeking clarification from the government, which is dominated by the majority Sinhalese ethnic group.

"At a time when the government is talking about ethnic harmony and national integration, this national anthem is an unwanted issue," TNA legislator Suresh Premachandran told AFP.

"If we can't sing the anthem in Tamil, we will be driven to boycott the anthem."

The Sunday Times newspaper in Colombo reported that the cabinet of President Mahinda Rajapakse decided last week to order that only Sinhala should be used for the anthem.

The government's information department and the president's office were unable to confirm the report when contacted by AFP.

Separatists battled for a homeland for Tamils in the north of the Indian Ocean island for nearly 40 years.

Their violent campaign was finally crushed last year by government forces, but a legacy of polarisation and mistrust remains between the communities and Rajapakse made reconciliation a plank of his re-election campaign in January.

Language and discrimination were key issues used by the Tamil Tiger separatists to gain popular support for their campaign.

© AFP

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Sri Lanka: State sponsored brutality against opposition

Journalists for Democracy in Sri Lanka | Press Release
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Journalists for Democracy in Sri Lanka (JDS) unreservedly condemns the attack on journalists and political activists at Colombo International Airport on the 07th of December as the latest state sponsored violence against dissenting voices in Sri Lanka.

While the police looked on passively, a mob assaulted the MTV / Sirarsa Katunayaka correspondent, Prema Lal, and Lankaenews journalist, Shantha Wijesuriya, as they went to cover the arrival of the Nava Sama Samaja Party (NSSP) General Secretary, Dr. Vickramabahu Karunaratne, from the United Kingdom. Members of the NSSP, rights activists and trade unionists were at the airport to welcome Dr. Karunaratne, who had publically expressed his opposition to the government and the war against the Tamil Tigers.

Although Dr.Karunaratne’s views expressed in the UK were almost completely censored at home in the Sri Lankan media, the Rajapaksa government used the state media and government ministers to incite racial hatred against him and opposition MP, Dr. Jayalath Jayawardena. Dr. Jayawardena was assaulted in the parliament by senior government ministers, while supporters of a deputy minister launched a premeditated attack at the airport. The government has already made it clear that it is going to prosecute Dr. Karunaratne for what it calls 'bringing disrepute to the nation'. It is probable that the rule of law will not be applied to those employed for violence by a government minister. Ironically this latest attack took place, soon after Sri Lankan officials, including the Sri Lanka external affairs minister GL Peiris, invoked the concept of freedom of expression while responding to the Oxford Union’s cancellation of President Rajapaksa's speech.

This attack at the airport is a clear demonstration of the Rajapaksa regime’s unhindered war against freedom of expression, that particularly targets those who stand up for the rights of Tamils who are now marginalised from the decision making processes. More than a year and a half since the Sri Lankan military’s victory over the Tamil Tigers, JDS believes the government has once again demonstrated its unwillingness to tolerate dissent or grant rights to the country’s minorities.

Therefore, we call upon all forces both within Sri Lanka and abroad who cherish freedom and democracy to do what they can to stop this extremely dangerous trend that threatens democracy.

Executive Committee
Journalists for Democracy in Sri Lanka
12 December 2010

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Sri Lanka war crimes probe demanded by rights groups

BBC News
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International human rights groups have joined Tamil diaspora groups and the UN to call for a full investigation into possible Sri Lankan war crimes.

Their call follows the recent release of a video by Tamil diaspora websites showing the bruised body of a pro-rebel female news reader.

The UN and rights groups say that the probe should also examine alleged crimes committed by Tamil Tiger rebels.

The Sri Lankan military has dismissed the idea of an international inquiry.

It argues that it behaved with complete discipline in the last months of the war.

'Gruesome killing'

The video - one of a series that have been released since the end of the Sri Lankan war in May 2009 - appears to show soldiers shooting in the head or legs several naked prisoners whose hands are tied.

The dead bodies of two women are also shown.

Amnesty International and Human Rights Watch say they have verified that one of them was named Isaippiriya, who worked as a television news reader for the Tamil Tigers.

Her body is filmed both clothed and naked.

The TamilNet website says that she was the victim of a "gruesome killing" which amounts to a "war crime committed by the Sri Lanka army".

ast year Sri Lanka's defence ministry said the same woman was killed in the final battle of the war.

But the rights groups say she and the other prisoners appear to have been executed while unarmed and not in combat.

Sri Lanka's military spokesman, Ubaya Medawala, told the BBC no UN inquiry was needed because there is an ongoing domestic commission looking at the war.

"Let the truth be revealed through that," he said.

Mr Medawala said the army had obeyed the laws of war and had been "truly disciplined".

He also alleged that the video contained doctored material.

It and other excerpts have been broadcast by the Britain's Channel 4 television station.

The footage was deemed authentic by a senior UN official.

Sri Lankan people calling for investigations into alleged war crimes are frequently denounced as traitors.

Meanwhile the Sri Lankan prime minister has made new allegations of war crimes by the Tamil Tigers.

He said four hardcore Tiger members in detention had confessed to executing 60 soldiers towards the close of the war.

Last month the army said it had uncovered a mass grave with the bodies of 26 troops.

© BBC

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Sri Lanka: Journalist Isaipriya killed in execution-style murder by 53rd Division troops

Journalists for Democracy in Sri Lanka
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The female Tamil journalist, Isaipriya alias Shoba (27), was killed during the final stages of the war by the troops belonging to 53rd Division of the Sri Lankan Army, in an execution-style murder at an unknown location in the island’s northern battle-zone. The mutilated naked body of the rebel media specialist was showed in a shocking video footage aired by British TV, Channel 4 recently.

Sri Lanka’s Ministry of Defence releasing a long list of names of LTTE leaders killed on May 18, 2009 - the final day of the war - said on June 21, 2009 that “Lieutenant Colonel” Isaipriya was among the top rebel leaders killed by the troops of the 53rd Division and claimed that she was attached to the Communications and Publicity Wing of the rebels. However, the Channel-4 video footage has now clearly established the fact that she was killed in an execution-style murder with hands tied behind and not in 'fierce clashes.'

The gruesome video footage aired on November 30, 2010 by the British TV channel, showed the elongated version of how Sri Lankan soldiers in military fatigue, freely carrying out execution-style murders on a dozen of naked and blind-folded men and women with their hands tied behind. The soldiers speaking in native Sinhala language could be heard making sexual remarks on the naked dead bodies of women. A close look at the video and the conversation of the soldiers in the background clearly show that the women have been raped before being shot down close range.


Meanwhile, the Tamilnet website reported that its Wanni Correspondent, who has now reached a safe country in the West, has identified that “one of the women victims, stripped naked, hands tied behind back, and shot dead, as seen in the video footage that has recently reached Channel-4” as 27-year-old Shoba, alias Isaipriya.

Isaipriya has worked as a media specialist with the LTTE and was producing a periodical video magazine Oliveechchu.

“I am able to learn through those who have been at Mullivaaykkaal in the final days of war, that Shoba remained unarmed and did not take part in combat,” the Tamilnet has quoted its Wanni correspondent as saying.

According to him, Shoba has also lost her 6-month-old baby girl, named Akal, in the last stage of the war in Sri Lanka's indiscriminate bombardment on civilians.

Siblings of Isaipriya living outside Sri Lanka have also confirmed her identity.

© JDS

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TV anchor among naked men, women ‘killed’ by Sri Lanka soldiers on video

By Gopu Mohan | Indian Express
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As Sri Lankan President Mahinda Rajapaksa toured the UK, Britain’s Channel 4 aired stomach-churning footage of men in uniform alleged to be his soldiers executing naked, unarmed, tied-up and blindfolded men and women said to be members or sympathisers of the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE).

The pro-LTTE Tamilnet website identified one of the women as Shoba alias Isaippiriya, a journalist.

Channel 4 said the video was shot shortly before the final triumph of the Sri Lankan army over the Tigers in May 2009, and is an extended version of another video it aired last year.

The video, apparently shot with a cellphone camera — one of the frames has a soldier holding up a cellphone — shows naked prisoners with their hands tied behind their backs being shot from behind by soldiers with assault rifles. The killings take place in a field littered with naked, bloody corpses, some with their heads blown off.

The soldiers are heard talking among themselves, and Channel 4 said the “lewd and callous comments seem strongly to suggest that sexual assaults took place before their deaths”.

“...We have received hundreds of photographs and many more shocking videos depicting summary executions and rape,” Channel 4 News Foreign Affairs Correspondent Jonathan Miller said. “We’ve now sent this five-minute 30-second video to the UN panel convened to determine whether or not there should be an independent international war crimes inquiry.”

Channel 4 said it could not independently verify the authenticity of the video.

The Sri Lankan High Commission in London issued a statement saying it “categorically denies that the Channel 4 News TV video is authentic”. Agency reports quoted President Rajapaksa telling the British media, “I deny this whole thing. Most of the civilians were killed by the LTTE. Sri Lanka never killed any civilians as such. Our instructions were, ‘You must not touch any civilians. This is a humanitarian operation’.”

The airing of the footage Wednesday coincided with the release by WikiLeaks of a secret cable written by the US Ambassador to Colombo, Patricia A Butenis, on January 15, 2010, in which she said that “responsibility for many of the alleged (war) crimes rests with... President Rajapaksa and his brothers and opposition candidate (former army chief) General (Sarath) Fonseka”.

A large group of Sri Lankan Tamils had protested with LTTE flags as Rajapaksa landed in London on Tuesday. On Thursday, as the outrage spread, the celebrated Oxford Union cancelled a scheduled talk by Rajapaksa — the high point of the president’s visit — because the “sheer scale of the expected protests” made it doubtful that “the talk can reasonably and safely go ahead”.

Tamilnet said its correspondent in Wanni had identified one woman figuring prominently in the video as Shoba alias Isaippiriya, a 27-year-old LTTE “media specialist” who reported for the Tigers’ Oliveechchu magazine. Tamilnet quoted its correspondent as saying Shoba was a non-combatant who carried no arms, and who had lost her six-month-old baby girl Akal in the final phase of the war.

In the video, the camera lingers on the female bodies lying in the field, including on the one identified as that of Shoba. It pauses for lengths of time over certain body parts, and at one point, a soldier removes a last bit of cloth covering a woman’s chest as the recording continues.

“Sri Lankan president Mahinda Rajapaksa, his brothers, and all others connected to the war are guilty of war crimes, evidence for which was collected from those who managed to came out of Lanka, and presented to the People’s Permanent Tribunal that met in Dublin early this year,” said P Nedumaran, leader of the Tamil Desiya Iyakkam and a longtime supporter of Eelam and LTTE.

The Dublin Tribunal — of which former Delhi High Court Chief Justice Rajinder Sachar was a member — found the Lankan government guilty of war crimes. But Sri Lanka rejected the verdict and condemned the “unaccountable organisation” for “irresponsibly distorting events and seeking to selectively pass judgment from afar”.

© Indian Express

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UN seeks probe into Sri Lankan troops' war crime video

Indo Asian News Service | Deccan Herald
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The UN has sought a fresh probe into alleged war crimes against Sri Lankan troops, expressing shock over a new video released by Britain's Channel 4 News, which featured the army men executing naked men and women.

The video, which was telecast Tuesday, shows government troops executing civilians in the last few weeks of the 26-year Sri Lanka war, which ended last year when the island government declared victory over the Tamil rebel group LTTE - the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam.

"It is shocking indeed, and clearly deserves more investigation," Christof Heyns, the UN Special Rapporteur on extrajudicial, summary or arbitrary executions, was quoted as saying by Channel 4 News.

In the video, a Sri Lankan soldier is seen shooting one of the blindfolded prisoners in the leg as he lies amongst the bodies of other Tamil prisoners on the ground. The soldier is then seen walking away and turning directly to the camera.

His image is briefly out of camera shot behind another soldier before he appears again close to camera - his face and moustache clearly visible.

The video then shows what appears to be a Sri Lankan soldier dressed in camouflage shooting another prisoner directly in the head. This would appear to be an execution.
The video is a longer version of one which already sparked a UN investigation 16 months ago when it first came to light. Channel 4 News has sent the new video to the UN panel investigating allegations of war crimes in Sri Lanka.

The Sri Lanka high commission in Britain had denied that the videos broadcast by Channel 4 News were authentic.In a statement, it told Channel 4 News: "The high commission of Sri Lanka categorically denies that the Channel 4 News TV video is authentic."

"Last year when Channel 4 News telecast a similar video, the government of Sri Lanka clearly established, by reference to technical considerations, that it was not genuine but fake. The present video is nothing more than an elongated version of the same video."
The statement said: "It is observed that there is a common pattern in these sinister moves. Some sections were replete with photographs of alleged war crimes when Sri Lanka's application for the extension of GSP+ facility was being considered by the European Commission."

© Deccan Herald

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Tamil activists apply for arrest warrant for Sri Lankan general

By Owen Bowcott | The Guardian
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Lawyers acting for Tamil activists are in court this morning applying for a war crimes arrest warrant against a Sri Lankan general visiting Britain.

Campaigners hope to persuade magistrates at Horseferry Road court in central London that the officer in charge of security for the aborted tour by President Mahinda Rajapaksa should be detained.

The president had been due to speak at the Oxford Union debating society last night but the address was cancelled at short notice after the threat of mass protests by Tamils in the city.

In the Sri Lankan capital, Colombo, demonstrators led by the country's housing minister reportedly besieged the British embassy in protest at the cancellation of president Rajapaksa's speech.

Demonstrators carried placards declaring Tiger Puppets Go Home, Is British Law a Tiger Law and Go to Hell, according to the BBC.

Rajapaksa's government defeated the separatist Tamil Tigers last year amid international humanitarian demonstrations about the treatment of civilians trapped in the war zone.

The Sri Lankan government has since refused to allow any independent investigation of claims that up to 40,000 people were massacred at the end of the conflict.

Tamil campaigners believe Rajapaksa has been assured he will have immunity from any war crimes warrant obtained against him because he is a serving head of state. The activists have, therefore, targeted Major General Chagi Gallage, the head of presidential security during the visit to London. He was a commander of Sri Lankan frontline forces during the final military offensive against the Tamil Tigers.

Last night thousands of Tamil supporters gathered in Park Lane, central London, outside the Dorchester hotel, where Rajapaksa had been staying. Lines of police held them back amid heavy snow.

At a press conference earlier, in the Sri Lankan embassy, also in central London, the country's external affairs minister, Professor GL Peiris, had condemned the Oxford Union decision as a sign of Britain's moral weakness.

He said: "His excellency the president has been prevented from expressing his point of view ... and that is totally incompatible with the core values of the British political system. The decision was made by brute force. In a democracy you should not cave in to pressure of this kind. The sole reason for cancelling was sufficient pressure. I would submit that there's growing repercussions for the fabric of society.

"If [President Rajapaksa] had been able to deliver his speech to the Oxford Union it would have been a message of reconciliation," he declared. "We want to reach out to all Sri Lankans, irrespective of what language they speak and what their religion might be."

Peiris added: "Only 10,000 [people] remain to be resettled [after the civil war] ... An economic renaissance is taking place. We need an effective mechanism to encourage people to put behind them a conflict that endured for 25 years."

The press conference was co-ordinated by the public relations firm Bell Pottinger, which has been retained for the president's visit.

The only UK government minister Rajapaksa met was the defence secretary, Liam Fox. The minister has in the past declared on the register of MPs' interests trips to Sri Lanka paid for by the country's government.

A spokesman at the MoD said: "Dr Fox [has met] President Rajapaksa in a private capacity. This reflects Dr Fox's longstanding interest in Sri Lanka and his interest in, and commitment to, peace and reconciliation there."

The UK accepts universal jurisdiction for war crimes offences, meaning those accused of atrocities can be arrested in Britain wherever the offence was allegedly committed.

Private actions leading to the issuing of war crimes have deterred visits by Israeli officials. An arrest warrant was issued through the UK courts for the Israeli former foreign minister Tzipi Livni in December last year. It was later revoked.

As a result of these actions against visiting Israeli officials, the justice secretary, Ken Clarke, announced in the summer the legislation would be amended so that any prosecutions would require the assent of the director of public prosecutions.

Amnesty International this week condemned that decision. Its UK director, Kate Allen, said: "This sends exactly the wrong signal. It shows that the UK is soft on crime if those crimes are war crimes and torture. It risks introducing dangerous delays that could mean people suspected of the worst imaginable crimes are able to flee from justice."

© The Guardian

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Sri Lankan protesters try to storm UK high commission

BBC News
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Demonstrators have tried to storm the British high commission in Sri Lanka's capital Colombo over Tamil protests during President Rajapaksa's UK visit.

A Sri Lankan government minister led the rally outside the building, accusing Britain of supporting Tamil Tiger separatists.

Mahinda Rajapaksa's speech to the Oxford Union was cancelled this week because of Tamil protests.

Sri Lanka denies war crimes during its defeat of the Tamil Tigers last year.

Both sides have been accused by human rights groups of crimes against humanity during the final phase of the 26-year insurgency, which ended in May last year.
'British Naked With Tigers'

Hundreds of flag-waving protesters tried to push down police barricades outside the British high commission on Friday and advance on the building, but they were held back by police.

They carried placards reading "Is British Law a Tiger Law", "British Naked With Tigers", "British Shame On You" and "Tiger Puppets Go Home".

They were led by Housing Minister Wimal Weerawansa, who accused the UK government of silently supporting sympathisers of the Tamil Tigers by allowing protests in London against President Rajapaksa's visit this week.

He said the "British white colonial government" was accusing Sri Lanka of war crimes in an effort to tarnish the country's image.

"By allowing and supporting pro-LTTE [Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam] protests, the British government not only threatened Sri Lanka's president, they also got the revenge for [us] ending the war and bringing peace to this country, which they never wanted to happen," Mr Weerawansa added.
Welcomed back

Meanwhile, President Rajapaksa was cheered by large crowds of supporters as he returned from the UK, touching down at the international airport in Katunayake on the west coast.

He had been due on Thursday to address the prestigious Oxford Union debating society, which has hosted speakers such as Michael Jackson and the Dalai Lama, but the event was cancelled because of security concerns.

The union said in a statement that "due to the sheer scale of the expected protests, we do not feel that the talk can reasonably and safely go ahead as planned".

© BBC News

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Sri Lanka: 128 University students suspended

Sri Lanka Mirror
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Forty-four students, including 12 monks, have been suspended by the Sri Jayewardenepura University for taking part in a demonstration a week ago, said its Students Union.

Ven. Kamburupitiye Gnanissara Thera of the Union told the media today (Dec. 03) that as many as 128 students of the university have been suspended so far.

Students have lost their right to free expression and to right to assemble, he said.

The prelate urged all parties concerned to join in the struggle against this denial of students’ right over political reasons.

© Sri Lanka Mirror

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Sri Lankan president stung by British protests, WikiLeaks cables

By Simon Montlake | The Christian Science Monitor
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Hailed as a war hero at home, Sri Lankan President Mahinda Rajapaksa received a hostile reception this week in Britain from Tamil protesters incensed by alleged war crimes during last year’s defeat of the Tamil Tigers.

The protests prompted Oxford University’s union to cancel a speech by Mr. Rajapaksa on Thursday, citing security concerns, to the anger of nationalist politicians in Sri Lanka.

The uproar in Britain comes amid the release of secret US State Department cables from its embassy in Colombo, as part of the recent WikiLeaks document dump, that reveal deep US skepticism over Sri Lanka’s pledge to hold its own forces accountable for any battlefield abuses.

Fending off calls for an international tribunal, Rajapaksa has appointed a “truth commission” that many critics say is hamstrung by a weak mandate.

In the January cable, Patricia Butenis, the US ambassador to Sri Lanka, described the war crimes allegations as “the most difficult issue on our bilateral agenda” and complicated by the fact that responsibility “rests with the country’s senior civilian and military leadership, including President Rajapaksa and his brothers and … General Fonseka.”

Sri Lanka's ruling elite is largely inured to outside pressure and will push back against all claims of war crimes, says Lal Wickrematunge, chairman of Leader Publications, whose newspaper, the Sunday Leader, is fiercely critical of the Rajapaksas. Last year, unknown gunmen shot dead the paper’s editor, Mr. Wickrematunge’s brother Lasantha, during his morning commute, sowing fear among local journalists.

“The government is strong within the country. They will market this [cable] in a manner that the US is interfering in internal affairs,” he says.

Adding to Rajapaksa’s discomfort, Britain’s Channel 4 aired footage during his private visit of alleged abuses by troops during the war. The government has described this and other gruesome videos provided to foreign broadcasters as propaganda of the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE), as the Tigers are known.

Wimal Weerawansa, an outspoken nationalist minister, said Thursday that Britain was a “failed state” that couldn’t safeguard a visiting foreign dignitary. He held a small protest Friday outside Britain’s mission in Colombo. “We condemn anti Sri Lankan act of British,” read a large banner.

A civil society activist, who requested anonymity, said the backlash could increase and warned that the opposition and nongovernmental groups might become targets. Opposition lawmakers have been accused of treason for raising sensitive issues on overseas trips. “The government is getting very nervous. They’re trying to figure out whom they can blame for this,” he says.

Sri Lankan push back

Sri Lankan officials have accused Oxford Union, which had invited Rajapaksa to speak, of bowing to pressure from LTTE activists in Britain and failing to respect free speech. In a statement, Rajapaksa said he regretted the cancellation. “I will continue to seek venues in the UK and elsewhere where I can talk about my future vision for Sri Lanka,” he said.

Sri Lanka’s 23-year civil war ended in May 2009. Several thousand Tamil civilians died in the final months of the conflict, according to an internal United Nations assessment. Other estimates of the death toll run much higher. The government has denied targeting civilians in the war zone and accused Western governments of ignoring widespread LTTE atrocities. The UN has appointed a panel of experts to report to the secretary-general but there has been no push for a full investigation into the claims.

WikiLeaks revelations

In a separate leaked 2009 cable, the US embassy in London cited a British diplomat’s assessment that then-Foreign Minister David Milliband was pushing for a cease-fire in Sri Lanka, in part to shore up Tamil votes at home ahead of a general election. Sri Lankans voiced similar complaints at the time during a visit by Mr. Milliband, who was reelected in May as a lawmaker, though the ruling Labour Party was defeated.

The Jan. 15 cable from Colombo is titled "Sri Lanka War-Crimes Accountability: The Tamil Perspective." It points out that the LTTE’s leadership was wiped out in the war and can’t be put on trial for their actions. It also notes that Tamils in Sri Lanka, in contrast to overseas activists, believed that pushing too hard for accountability would make them “vulnerable” and were more concerned about immediate economic and social hardships.

“Accountability is clearly an issue of importance for the ultimate political and moral health of Sri Lankan society. There is an obvious split, however, between the Tamil diaspora and Tamils in Sri Lanka on how and when to address this issue,” Ms. Butenis wrote.

The cable was sent 11 days before Rajapaksa defeated his opponent, former Army chief Sarath Fonseka in a presidential election. Mr. Fonseka was subsequently arrested and tried by a military court for corruption. His arrest came after he threatened to cooperate with any war crimes tribunal on Sri Lanka, potentially ensnaring the president and his brother, the defense minister. Fonseka led the Army during the final phase of the war.

© The Christian Science Monitor

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