Friday, September 09, 2011

US, India watched Sri Lanka's killing fields: Wikileaks



JDS Features
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The United States and India were closely, but simply watching via satellite when Sri Lankan government troops were massacring several thousands of Tamil civilians within the no-fire-zone using long-range heavy weapons and aerial attacks during the final months of the war, a latest release of the Wikileaks cables has revealed.

In a diplomatic cable note to the Secretary of State with a copy to the White House, Charge d'Affaires of the US embassy James R. Moore, has stated that he has shared the satellite images showing the situation inside the no-fire-zone with President Mahinda Rajapaksa and Foreign Secretary Palitha Kohona just two weeks before Colombo’s declaration of military victory over Tamil Tigers.


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Friday, September 09, 2011

Mass protests over Colombo’s new development projects


Photo courtesy: PassionParade

By Melani Manel Perera | Asia News
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"We are farmers and fishermen, we expect a development that will protect us, our lives and our livelihood. Without destroying the environment”, says Panama Chandrarathana Thero, the incumbent president of two divisions of Uva Wellassa, on the subject of numerous development projects undertaken by the Government of Sri Lanka. Representatives of civil society, priests, nuns and Catholic faithful participated in a seminar and exhibition, organized by the Land Forum, the National Fisheries Solidarity Movement (NAFSO) and the Praja Abhilasa Network.

Using as leverage one of the island’s greatest resources - an almost untouched nature in many areas - the government of Sri Lanka has rented for the next 99 years the lands of the islands Kalpitiya, Negombo, Rathgama, Vakarei, Arugambe, Panama, and Akkaraipattu to build hotels, resorts, golf courses and airstrips for seaplanes and aero-taxi services. The projects aim to promote tourism to contrast the economic impasse following the thirty-year ethnic conflict. But rather than being beneficiaries, the inhabitants of those areas are the first victims of this inhuman development. Foreclosures are now on the agenda, and the 200 thousand internally displaced persons (IDPs - Internally Displaced People) - because of the war - are bound to increase.

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Friday, September 09, 2011

First naval visit by NATO country since setting up of diplomatic ties



By Shamindra Ferdinando | The Island
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Sri Lanka Navy says a four-day naval visit by NATO member, Turkey will pave the way for closer ties between the two countries.

Responding to a query by The Island, an SLN spokesman said that it was the first naval visit since the establishment of consular relations between the two countries 104 years ago.

Turkey has the second biggest military among NATO countries and provided a range of assets in support of coalition operations directed against Libya, recently.


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Friday, September 09, 2011

Uproar over piece of legislation



The Sunday Leader
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Parliament sittings were adjourned yesterday due to an uproar over the Criminal Procedure Special Provisions Act that was presented to the House.

Justice Minister Rauf Hakeem presented the Criminal Procedure Special Provisions Act where the police under special circumstances could detain a suspect for 48 hours before producing the suspect before court.

Following the withdrawal of the emergency regulations, the police were able to detain a suspect for 24 hours without producing him to court under the general penal code. However, the new amendment would increase the period from 24 to 48 hours


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Friday, September 09, 2011

Sri Lanka said to still violate rights



By Bharatha Mallawarachi | Associated Press
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Despite removing draconian wartime laws, Sri Lanka’s government is using new abusive regulations to keep hundreds of people in jails without trial, an international human rights groups said.

In a statement Wednesday, the New York-based Human Rights Watch called on the government of President Mahinda Rajapaksa to abolish such detention laws and free the prisoners.

“The Sri Lankan government announced that the state of emergency is over, but it is holding on to the same draconian powers it had during the war’’ against the Tamil Tiger rebels, said Brad Adams, the group’s Asia director.


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