Tuesday, June 08, 2010

Sri Lanka: Defence tops 2010 budget



The expenditure for the Defence Ministry tops the proposed budget for 2010 with Rs. 201 Billion as against Rs. 60 Billion last year.

The Appropriation Bill presented to Parliament today also proposes Rs. 60 Billion for economic development.

© Daily Mirror

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Tuesday, June 08, 2010

Jaffna District Union for persons disappeared after arrest meets after 8 years



The Jaffna District Union for persons disappeared after being arrested by Sri Lanka Armed Forces which met in Jaffna town Monday after eight years extended an appeal to all political parties to forget their differences and cooperate with dedication to trace the youths and young women disappeared after arrest by the armed forces, sources in Jaffna said. Meanwhile, there were many participants in the meeting who said that Minister Douglas Devnananda had told them that their children are under detention by Army Intelligence Division, during his campaigns in the last parliamentary election meeting.

A mother from Ward 10 in Pungkudutheevu in the islets of Jaffna said that Sri Lanka Navy (SLN) soldiers had arrested and taken away her three sons from her house on 19 August 2006 and they have disappeared without any trace.

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Tuesday, June 08, 2010

While on Gaza UN's Ban speaks of Terms of Reference, 3 month delay on Sri Lanka panel



By Matthew Russell Lee - Six days after Israel killed nine people on a ship headed to Gaza, the UN put out a note to the Press that Secretary General Ban Ki-moon was conferring with the prime ministers of Israel and Turkey "to ensure that any investigation has the full cooperation of the countries most closely concerned. He is also developing possible terms of reference and logistical arrangements for such an effort."

What is Ban Ki-moon's recent track record on developing such terms of reference? It has now been over three months since Ban announced he would name a panel of experts about possible war crimes during the final phase of the conflict in Sri Lanka last year, in which tens of thousands of civilians were killed.

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Tuesday, June 08, 2010

Mass Graves: Nothing new to Sri Lanka


Photo courtesy of Tamilnet.com

by M.C.M.Iqbal - The recent discovery of mass graves at Ganeshapuram in Kilinochchi and at Nachchikuda in the Mannar Districts has been very much in the news during the past weeks. Such finds need not surprise anyone. Following an analysis of satellite images taken during the height of the war, the American Association for the Advancement of Science has already reported that on 19th April , 2009 the images showed the roads in the ‘Civilian Safe Zone’ to be mostly deserted. The images taken on the 24th April, 2009 showed a large grave yard in the same area. The report adds, that the analysis identified three different graveyards, counting a total of 1,346 likely graves. The satellite images can neither reveal if these graves contain civilians or Tamil Tiger fighters.

In the circumstances, it is likely that more and more graves would be discovered, if free access to the area is available to the people and the security forces do not take any steps to obliterate the graves.

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Tuesday, June 08, 2010

Sri Lanka threatens to execute General Sarath Fonseka



By Stephen Sackur/Presenter, BBC HARDtalk - The Sri Lankan government has threatened to execute Sarath Fonseka, the army commander who delivered victory over the Tamil Tigers, if he continues to suggest top officials may have ordered war crimes during the final hours of the Tamil war.

The threat, issued by Sri Lanka's powerful defence secretary, Gotabaya Rajapaksa, is the latest sign of a bitter and intensifying feud within the Sri Lankan political establishment, little more than a year after the end of the Tamil war.

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Tuesday, June 08, 2010

Sunday Leader editor ordered to produce note book



By T. Farook Thajudeen - Colombo Chief Magistrate Ms. Champa Janaki Rajaratna yesterday ordered the Sunday Leader Editor to appear before court in person on June 21 to produce the note book of the interview.

Deputy Solicitor General Wasanth Nawaratna Bandara in his submissions stated that the Sunday Leader Editor Ms.Frdrica Jansz had given photo copies of the note book on the alleged statement made by General Sarath Fonsek to the CID.

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