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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