JDS Features .............................................................................................................................................................................................
The latest attack on the news editor of the Jaffna-based Uthayan newspaper, Gnanasundaram Kuhanathan should not be understood merely as an isolated attack on media freedom and freedom of speech in Sri Lanka. It undoubtedly bears far reaching implications and reveals the vicious nature of the renewed and accelerated violent attacks on democratic rights of Sri Lanka's Tamil people. This cowardly act on unarmed media man has been carried out by sinister elements that have got the full blessings and backings of the political and military authorities in the country.
The 59-year old news editor was on his way home from the office after work when the two armed men attacked him from behind using sharp iron rods and cables.
He was rushed to the Jaffna Teaching hospital with serious injuries to his head. Kuhanathan’s house is located within 200 meters from the office and the attack on him has notably taken place barely 30 meters away from a military check-point on the Kasturiar road-Navalar road junction.
Reports from Jaffna now reveal that the attack has been pre-planned as the neighbours of Kuhanathan have noticed three unknown men lingering suspiciously around the neighbourhood for several hours on the previous night.
This is the second attack on Uthayan journalists within the past two months. On May 28, 2011 one of its reporters S. Kavitharan was attacked by armed thugs in a similar style when he was on his way to work.
The Uthayan newspaper and its staff, including its editor, have been under numerous attacks in the past few years. Several of its journalists and even the newspaper distributors have been killed and more have been threatened with death.
No one has been brought to book to date and the culture of impunity continues to prevail. Undeterred by such threats and attacks, the Uthayan newspaper continues to print daily tabloid and publish articles and news items that even the mainstream newspapers choose to censor for fear of reprisals.
The attack on the top journalist immediately after the conclusion of the local government elections amidst disproportionate military presence in the northern Jaffna peninsula, has made one thing repeatedly clear -- that the government’s war on media and democracy is still actively on.
The government, coming under ever increasing international pressure over the wide-spread war crime allegations during the final weeks of the war in May 2009, hurriedly conducted the elections for the local councils even without resettling the war-displaced civilians in the north. This was mainly aimed at hoodwinking the international community that the democracy has been fully restored in the former rebel heartlands.
The government overtly used state resources, including the military and police force, for election propaganda purposes during the run upto the local poll that was held on July 23.
This shows how desperately the government wanted to win this election.
If it promised the people with various development projects to rebuild the north, it also threatened the people that the victory for the government’s coalition would be inevitable for release of thousands of their beloved Tamil youth currently held in the detention and torture camps in the south.
The conduct of the very election was widely criticized and condemned. The soldiers both in military uniform and civvies went to the extent of intimidating and threatening the voters either to vote for the government coalition or to stay away from exercising their franchise. Voters were intimidated and their ballot papers were forcibly taken away at gun-pint by elements supportive of the government.
Despite wining the local election hands down, the TNA, which was once close to the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE) has urged the Election Commissioner to annul the poll in many areas, citing the scale of poll-related violence during and in the run up to the poll.
Angered and humiliated by the verdict of the people, the government appears to have reactivated its paramilitary groups and killings squads to intimidate and carry out attack on local leaders and media as means of political reprisals.
Unable to stomach the election defeat in the hands of the TNA, the government’s election propaganda in-charge Minister Basil Rajapaksa has sarcastically remarked that the people in the north has given the mandate to the TNA just to fix the street lights and water pipes.
In the above context the attack on Kuhanathan should not be seen in isolation. It is a clear indication of how things are unfolding systematically in the north, which is heavily guarded by over 40,000 troops. The attack has also proved beyond any reasonable doubt that mere statements of condemnation and appeal for good governance by the all powerful international community are nothing but futile exercise.
Holding an election is only an aspect of democracy and will not reflect the full restoration of democracy or normalcy as the government is desperately trying to make it out to be.
Therefore, immediate demilitarisation of the north is a key to any meaningful exercise to restore democracy and normalcy as the disproportionate military presence in the north is a serious threat to the will and the independence of the people in the area.
Until then the so-called democracy will inevitably be at the mercy of the heavily armed military personnel and paramilitary outfits, which are obviously groomed and controlled by the political authorities in the island nation.
Atop editor of the Jaffna-based 'Uthayan' newspaper has been brutally attacked and seriously wounded by unknown armed men on Friday (29) in the heart of the heavily-guarded northern Jaffna town.
According to media sources in Jaffna, the news editor of 'Uthayan', Gnanasundaram Kuhanathan (59) was on his way home by foot from the office after work when the two armed men unleashed their brutal attack on him using iron rods and cables.
He was rushed to the Jaffna teaching hospital with serious injuries. The attack has come within a week after the local government election, in which the Tamil National Alliance (TNA) won 18 of the 23 local councils.
Kuhanathan’s house is located within 200 meters from the office and according to eye-witnesses, the assault on him has taken place barely 30 meters away from a military check-point on the Kasturiar road-Navalar road junction.
This is the second attack on Uthayan journalist within the past two months. On May 28, 2011 one of its reporters S. Kavitharan was attacked by armed thugs when he was on his way to work in a similar style of attack.
The attack is the latest in a long line of unsolved provocations against the newspaper, which prides itself on reporting matters that are usually shunned by other news organizations elsewhere in the country.
'Uthayan' is the only Tamil tabloid which has not ceased publication in the war-ravaged northern peninsula despite a three-decade long civil war, which came to an end in May 2009.
The tabloid newspaper, celebrated its silver jubilee in February this year, has come under attack several times in the previous years and journalists and other staff were killed by paramilitary and other forces.
Kuhanathan survived several attacks in the past, the worst being the attack on 'Uthayan' office on 02 May, 2006, a day before the World Press Freedom day.
On that day, an armed gang, believed to be the members of a government backed para military, forced their way into 'Uthayan' office at 8.00 pm, calling out for Kuhanathan before spraying volleys of bullet at random.
Kuhanathan narrowly survived in the attack hiding in the washroom, but two 'Uthayan' employees were killed and two more wounded in the attack. The wounded are now permanently maimed.
This targeted attack has resulted in Kuhanathan to stay put in the office for several years, fearing persecution.
On 24 January, 2006 'Uthayan's' Trincomalee reporter, S.S.Suhirtharajan was killed by unknown gunmen after the newspaper published photographs of the five students, who were killed by government forces in a close-range shooting in the eastern port city.
On 15, May, 2006 Uthayan delivery driver named S. Baskaran was killed and another Uthayan journalist S. Rajeevarman was shot dead on 29 April 2007.
AFP | Google News .............................................................................................................................................................................................
The body of a prominent Sri Lankan human rights activist missing since February last year has been found, the United Nations said Friday (29).
Pattani Razeek, managing trustee of non-governmental organisation the Community Trust Fund, was exhumed by police on Thursday after a tip-off from two suspects arrested in relation to the case, the UN said in a statement.
Ravina Shamdasani, spokeswoman for the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights, urged Sri Lankan authorities to "expedite" investigations and prosecute those involved in the crime.
UN records show that there are 5,653 outstanding enforced and involuntary disappearances in Sri Lanka, the statement said.
"We hope that similar progress will be made in uncovering the truth behind the disappearance of several thousand individuals both during and since Sri Lanka?s conflict," Shamdasani said.
Among those missing is a freelance journalist and cartoonist, Prageeth Ekneligoda, who vanished on the eve of the January 2010 presidential election.
Two Sri Lankans who witnessed the violent final showdown of the country's 26-year civil war claim a top military commander and Sri Lanka's defence secretary ordered war crimes.
One of these eyewitnesses, an army officer, accuses Defence Secretary Gotabaya Rajapaksa - the president's brother - of ordering Brigadier Shavendra Silva to execute Tamil rebel leaders, whose safe surrender had been guaranteed by the president.
The other new witness, who was also operating with Brigadier Shavendra Silva's 58 Division on the front line during the final assault, claims the Brigadier was ordered by the defence secretary "to finish the job by whatever means necessary."
'Licence to kill'
He said this was interpreted by the soldiers as a licence to kill. He described how he had watched as Sri Lankan forces shot dead unarmed Tamil women and children. It is the first time this allegation has been made.
The war was won by Sri Lankan government soldiers two years ago. The rebel leadership was virtually wiped out.
As the army closed in, around 130,000 Tamil civilians had been trapped on an ever-shrinking shard of land on the north-east of the island alongside the besieged rebel fighters, who are accused of using them as human shields.
The Sri Lankan president said no civilians were killed by the army during the final assault. But the United Nations now believes that up 40,000 civilians were killed during the last few weeks of the conflict. Others estimate the toll to be higher.
Most are thought to have died as a result of gun and mortar fire allegedly directed on them deliberately by government forces.
After repeated requests for an interview with Shavendra Silva - now retired and promoted to the rank of major-general - Channel 4 News went to confront him with these allegations in New York, where he serves as Sri Lanka's deputy ambassador to the UN.
By Bharatha MallawarachiHARATHA | Associated Press .............................................................................................................................................................................................
About 1,000 deaf Sri Lankans took to the streets of capital Colombo on Friday to demand equal rights, social recognition and more sign language translators, with an official saying only about four are currently qualified.
The protesters from the Sri Lanka Central Federation of the Deaf held a rally opposite Colombo's main railroad station to highlight their plight in a country still struggling to return to normalcy after a 25-year brutal civil war that ended in 2009.
The federation's Vice President Anil Jayawardena said the community of 73,843 people, according to a 2001 survey, is facing hardships in daily life because sign language is not properly recognized.
"As a result, we face severe difficulties when we go to a bank, courts or to get medical treatment," Jayawardena told The Associated Press, speaking through a translator.
He said the situation is further aggravated because of the shortage of qualified sign language translators.
"There are only three or four such translators and besides, no meaningful steps have been taken to help the deaf people carry out their work in the society," he said.
Sri Lanka has a population of 20 million.
He urged the government to take effective measures to see that "sign language is given proper place and ensure the deaf people equal access to education, jobs and health care."
The protesters displayed a huge banner reading "Ensure rights of deaf community" and carried placards with words "Deaf won't take no, Honk 4 Deaf" and "No more negative attitude."
By Shihar Aneez | Reuters .............................................................................................................................................................................................
Sri Lanka's old war zone has been at peace for two years but the minority Tamils who populate it say they are hungry for jobs, despite the economic revival the government has offered instead of the political powers for which Tamils first took up arms.
In Sri Lanka's north and east, people last week voted for the first time in at least 12 years and as many as 29 to elect local councils, two years after the military wiped out the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE) to end a 25-year war.
President Mahinda Rajapaksa's ruling United People's Freedom Alliance (UPFA) swept 250 councils out of 299, but lost miserably in predominantly Tamil electorates, in areas the Tigers wanted to turn into a Tamil-only nation.
Tamils backed a former Tiger proxy political party, the Tamil National Alliance (TNA), with a convincing win.
The elections, analysts said, clearly showed that ethnic polarization between Rajapaksa's Sinhalese majority and the Tamil minority remains a fact of Sri Lankan life. Many have warned the tension could spark into conflict again.
"Since the war ended, we feel Tamils are being treated like slaves," Thangarajah Pushparajah, a 60-year old condiment seller in the northern city of Jaffna, told Reuters. "I am not saying the LTTE did better, but we are not comfortable now."
He lost his son, whom he says was forcibly recruited by the LTTE for his swimming skill, in 2000 during a battle with the Sri Lanka navy. He was 17.
Since independence in 1948, Sri Lanka's Tamils have suffered various forms of discrimination, violence and killing under successive governments led by the Sinhalese majority, and oppression under the violently authoritarian Tigers.
E. Saravanapavan, a Jaffna district TNA legislator and a newspaper publisher who has been attacked in the past by pro-government elements, said there are about 100,000 unemployed youth in his constituency alone, in the Northern Province.
"The government has failed to create a single job for these Tamils," he said. "This government is creating room for Tamil people to resort to other ways, like an armed struggle or to bring pressure through the international community."
VIOLENCE TURNS VOTE TIDE
The Northern Province's economy grew 22.9 year-on-year in 2010, but still had the lowest per-capita income in the nation of 21 million, according to central bank figures.
Rajapaksa prioritised economic growth there under a $2 billion plan dubbed "The Northern Spring", mostly focused on infrastructure, but has been slow to give political concessions to Tamils, which could alienate some of his Sinhalese vote base.
However, he is increasingly under pressure as the TNA is backed by India and the United States in its call for an amicable political solution to avert renewed conflict, with calls for a war crimes investigation the leverage.
Many Tamils Reuters spoke to said they were reluctant to vote because they were not confident the government was genuine about reconciliation, in spite of the economic development work.
Others said they opted to vote for the opposition after the government failed to stop elements linked to the military and a militant pro-government Tamil party from carrying out pre-poll violence and intimidation.
But voting for the former Tiger-backed the TNA does not offer much hope for political influence: it has only 14 members in a 225-seat parliament dominated by the president's alliance.
Without the slain LTTE founder Veluplillai Prabhakaran's iron-fisted rule, many of the Tamils Reuters spoke to feel there is still a leadership vacuum.
"I doubt if TNA could win what we want through negotiations with this government," a 32-year old man told Reuters, speaking on condition of anonymity for fear of reprisal.
Others were just happy for the end of violence.
"We need freedom to live," 60-year-old Selvam Vallipillai, told Reuters in Killinochchi, the LTTE's former self-declared capital city.
Born in Rajapaksa's native Hambantota in the south of the island, she fled to Kilinochchi in 1958 after ethnic clashes. But the LTTE executed her son publicly on March 18, 2007, accusing him of prostitution and burglary.
"Now at least we have freedom. We don't need the LTTE here after. We all like to live with unity with other communities."
Former Sri Lankan President Chandrika Bandaranaike Kumaratunga delivered a landmark speech in Colombo on Sunday in which she spoke of the horror her children expressed after viewing Sri Lanka's Killing Fields.
Jon Snow's critically-acclaimed investigation into the final weeks of the quarter-century-long civil war between the government and the secessionist rebels, the Tamil Tigers, featured devastating new video evidence of war crimes and crimes against humanity - some of the most horrific footage Channel 4 has ever broadcast.
Kumaratunga became the world's first female president in1994, governing Sri Lanka until 2005. Both of her parents had formerly held the office of Prime Minister in Sri Lanka.
In her address at the Sri Lanka Foundation Institute entitled ‘Economic Development, Inclusive Societies and Peace' she spoke of the battle for peace in the country and her dismay over the failure of successive governments to resolve the treatment of the Tamil minority which led to the formation of the armed separatist group, the Tiger Tamils LTTE.
Kumaratunga called for Sri Lanka's to have the humility to admit that they have failed as a nation, to accept their mistakes, make amendments and she criticised the, "continued denial of proven facts and abuse of our honest critics will not resolve the problem for anyone." She went on to say: "I shall remember till the end of my days the morning when my 28 year-old son called me, sobbing on the phone to say how ashamed he was to call himself as Sinhalese and a Lankan, after he saw on the UK television a 50 minute documentary called Killing Fields of Sri Lanka which I also had the great misfortune of seeing. My daughter followed suit, saying similar things and expressing shock and horror that our countrymen could indulge in such horrific acts. I was proud of my son and daughter, proud that they cared for the others, proud that they have grown up to be the man and woman their father and mother wanted them to be."
An edited report on the speech is available to be viewed here, on a Colombo-based news website.
Kumaratunga's speech follows other politicians who have spoken out about Sri Lanka's Killing Fields. After it was screened in Australia, former Prime Minister Kevin Rudd described it as, "deeply disturbing" and said: "(The) Human Rights Council can't simply push this to one side. Action needed." When asked about the film at Prime Minister's Questions, David Cameron told MPs that the Sri Lanka government, "does need to be investigated" and, "lessons need to be learned." And in a statement issued after the film aired in the UK, Foreign Office Minister Alistair Burt said he was "shocked by the horrific scenes" in Sri Lanka's Killing Fields, and "if the Sri Lankan government does not respond we will support the international community in revisiting all options available to press the Sri Lankan Government to fulfil its obligations."
By Lydia Polgreen | The New York Times .............................................................................................................................................................................................
The elections allowed residents in many areas the first chance in years to vote after bearing the brunt of two decades of ethnic conflict, and the results underscored just how deeply divided the country remains two years after the fighting ended.
The Tamil National Alliance, a collection of political parties that long served as the political wing of the Tamil Tigers, won control of nearly two-thirds of the local councils in the north and east, according to election commission figures. The party led by Sri Lanka’s president, Mahinda Rajapaksa, swept the council elections elsewhere in the country.
The local elections were billed as an essential step toward healing Sri Lanka’s wounds from years of civil war. Sri Lanka’s government has pledged to rebuild the north and east, which were devastated in the war, and promised greater autonomy to regional and local governments.
Tamil insurgents rose up in part because they felt that the central government, controlled by the Sinhalese majority, discriminated against minorities. The Tamil language was suppressed for decades, and thousands of Tamils were killed in ethnic violence, culminating in a series of bloody pogroms in 1983.
The war ended in May 2009, but reconciliation remains a long way off, according to a report released last week by the International Crisis Group that assessed Sri Lanka’s progress.
“The government of President Mahinda Rajapaksa has refused to acknowledge, let alone address, the Tamil minority’s legitimate grievances against the state,” the report said. “The government has increasingly cut minorities and opponents out of decisions on their economic and political futures rather than work toward reconciliation.”
Government officials said that the largely peaceful elections were a victory in themselves.
“The people had used ballots instead of bullets,” Health Minister Maithripala Sirisena told a local radio station on Sunday, according to Reuters. “That’s a great victory for us.”
Sri Lanka’s government has come under harsh scrutiny for its handling of the war against the Tamil Tigers, a ruthless insurgency that pioneered tactics like using children as soldiers and women as suicide bombers.
In the last weeks of the war, hundreds of thousands of civilians were stuck between the rebels and government forces, and the United Nations later found credible evidence that during that period the government indiscriminately shelled unarmed people, hospitals and aid workers.
The United Nations concluded that tens of thousands of people had died in the final weeks of the conflict. It also accused the Tamil Tigers of forcing children to fight and using civilians as human shields.
A documentary released by Britain’s Channel 4 featured graphic video of what were said to be army atrocities against civilians, including summary executions. The documentary, which was broadcast in June, prompted new calls for an international war crimes investigation.
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