Refugees for 20 years, Tamil families forced to live in the jungle

By Melani Manel Perera | Asia News

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They live in the jungle, on the ground without a roof or a tent over their heads, surrounded by elephants, snakes and other wildlife. There are 145 families, 285 Tamil Catholics from the village of Mullikulam in Mannar District (Northern Province, Sri Lanka).

Military presence in Sri Lanka traumatic for children: UN

Presented by Sen Lam | Radio Australia

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Three years after the end of Sri Lanka's civil war, child advocates say the ongoing heavy military presence in the former conflict zones, especially the north, continues to traumatise children.

Sri Lanka's military defeated the Tamil Tiger rebels three years ago, and the UN children's agency UNICEF has described as 'remarkable' the progress made in child health and education.

Is there a way forward for reconciliation in a united Sri Lanka?

By Dr. G. K. Nathan | South Asia Analysis Group

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Looking at our immediate neighbor India and other countries like Canada, Belgium and Switzerland with multilingual, multiethnic and multireligious groups show that there are ways forward to find a constitutional structure to achieve equality and peace by recognizing the differences. All these countries have resolved the differences between communities internally, led by leaders who considered that the integrity of the country is paramount; the majority respected the minority wishes and granted equal rights to all citizens and settled the differences amicably.

Examples of good governance are demonstrated in India and Canada, where they have had as head of the government or as a head of the country people of different ethnic backgrounds which strengthened the integrity of the country. Another evolving and working example is in the United Kingdom, where three ethnic groups Irish, Scottish and Welsh people have their separate governments, soon Scotland will hold a referendum among their people whether they should be an Independent country or not, which demonstrates maturity of the country which is the birth place of modern parliamentary democracy.

Jaffna Challenge(r)s

Photo courtesy: jaffnachallengers

By Dr. P. Saravanamuttu | Groundviews

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Two contrasting insights into reconciliation were on display in the last ten days – one in the field of sports and the other in the field of politics. The former relates to the Carlton Super Seven Rugby Tournament and the latter to the ITAK or Federal Party convention in Batticaloa. The significance of the latter is of course beyond dispute given that it was the party convention of the major party in the Tamil National Alliance (TNA) and the speech made by its leader R.Sampanthan has been the subject of columns, editorials and dire conclusions on what it portends for the fate of the nation-state of Sri Lanka. The former may seem trivial by contrast – a sporting event, even tamasha, that attracted the attention of few.

Sporting events though have their role to play in reconciliation and are replete with political significance and purpose. The Carlton Super Seven Rugby Tournament was no exception. Joint winners of the tournament was a team called the Jaffna Challengers captained by a young naval officer who also happens to be a son of the President of the republic.

Civil disobedience against occupying SL military's land grab gains momentum

Tamil Net

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The Sri Lankan Police in Jaffna on Monday blocked a protest that gained momentum receiving wider participation against the occupying SL military's land grab in the peninsula. As hundreds of activists gathered in front of the Jaffna Bus Stand, the SL Police appealed to the Judge of the District Court stating that the Police had information that 'destructive elements' were about to use the protest to disturb normalcy in the city and blocked the protest at last minute.

The protest, initiated by the Tamil National Peoples Front (TNPF) and attended by the Tamil National Alliance (TNA), Mano Ganesan's Democratic Peoples Front (DPF) and the leftist parties from the South as well the support it received from the Jaffna University Students Union (JUSU) and the trade unions including the teachers trade union, marked the protest as first of its kind in the post-war scenario in the peninsula.

Sri Lanka: Post war avarice sucks natural resources dry in North

By Rathindra Kuruwita | Lakbima News

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It would be seem redundant to reiterate that the exploitation of mineral resources in any country would impact on its economy. There are many examples from around the world – from the Island of Nauru to the African Continent where unplanned and unregulated mining activity has spelt doom for the countries concerned.

Those who have successfully managed the long term exploitation of mineral resources, i.e. Germany and the USA have done so through careful regulation and planning which have served to prolong the sustainability of their resources as well as minimize ecological degradation.

Attack on meeting state terror: JVP

By Damith Wickremasekara | The Sunday Times

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The Janatha Vimukthi Peramuna (JVP) charged yesterday that Friday’s attack on a party meeting in the Hambantota village of Hediwatte was a direct attempt by the Government to scare the party from engaging in political activity in the district.

Ten men on motorcycles, some carrying automatic rifles, attacked the JVP meeting, killing two and injuring four, all active members of the party JVP frontliner Vijitha Herath said that after opening fire into the air, the gunmen fired into a group who were being addressed by Western Provincial Council member Nalinda Jayatissa.

Sri Lanka seeking fresh bailout, says IMF

AFP | Haveeru

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Sri Lanka is seeking fresh help from the International Monetary Fund after drawing down a previous $2.6-billion bailout, a top IMF official said Friday.

John Nelmes, head of an IMF mission to the Indian Ocean country, said Colombo wanted more assistance as it emerges from a decades-long civil war, but declined to say how much was being sought.

The meaning of victory

Meenakshi Ganguly | Hindustan Times

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'After 30 years we now see the dawn that will take us to a golden age of the future,' declared Sri Lankan President Mahinda Rajapaksa as he presided over the third Victory Day celebration on May 20. Over 12,000 personnel participated in the parade of military and police equipment used to defeat the rebel Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE) in 2009 after a three-decade long war.

A golden future will need more than triumphalist statements of victory. The cost of the war to Sri Lankan society was huge. More than 100,000 civilians died in the long conflict and nearly 40,000 in the final months. According to the government, over 24,000 Sri Lankan soldiers lost their lives and many more were wounded or maimed. Over half a million Sri Lankans were forced to flee their homes, either because of the fighting or ethnic cleansing. Many more moved to other countries, including India.

Sri Lankan readers suffer from island mindset, says author

Photo courtesy: ashokferrey.com

IANS | News Track India

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Islands breed their own kind of somnolence. People would rather stand at their gates watching life pass by than read a book, says contemporary Sri Lankan writer and popular television arts show host Ashok Ferrey of his country.

'Sri Lanka does not have enough people to read. They would rather read to clear the A-level examination than read a book for pure pleasure,' Ferrey told IANS at a recent literature conclave here.

Leaked photos reveal fate of Tamil prisoners

By Stewart Bell | The National Post

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They are the faces of the vanquished. The captured Tamil rebels are young and barefoot. They are handcuffed to bus seats. Some are bandaged. All have the downcast faces of prisoners awaiting an uncertain fate.

Photos and videos recently smuggled out of Sri Lanka offer a rare glimpse of what happened at the end of the bloody civil war between government forces and the separatist Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE) rebels.

Sri Lanka without the chaos

By Sudeep Chakravarti | Live Mint

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In 2005, when he became president of Sri Lanka, Mahinda Rajapaksa issued a document titled Mahinda Chintana, or Mahinda’s Vision. In it he proclaimed: “I will not permit any separatism.” This he held true to, corralling a brutal rebellion by the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE). The nearly 30-year war ended in May 2009 after the decimation of the LTTE and the death of its chief, Velupillai Prabhakaran.

(The killing of its protégé-turned-pest stabilized India’s warped policy towards this neighbour. Indian support to Sri Lanka’s government and military for the final push against the LTTE also shored up India’s geopolitical and economic ambitions in this island nation.)

Former SL Attorney General admits misleading UN Committee on Torture - UN disinterested

By Matthew Russell Lee | Inner City Press

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Three years after the government of Sri Lanka killed 40,000 civilians, nearly all of them ethnic Tamils, the country's former attorney general on June 6 admitted he had mislead the United Nations Committee on Torture when he claimed that he knew that journalist Prageeth Ekneligoda was alive, and not as some press freedom groups assert, disappeared by the government.

Meanwhile a group of Tamil prisoners complained, with little traction with the UN or international media, of illegal transfers "to the notorious Boosa detention camp from various prisons in Vavuniya, Batticaloa and Colombo, where they are currently being held for a long period of time as political detainees without any charges being brought against them."

Fonseka's freedom

R.K. Radhakrishnan | Frontline

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The war against the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE) ended in an emphatic victory for the Sri Lankan forces in May 2009 at Nandikadal, a narrow stretch of land in north-eastern Sri Lanka. But the main hero of that effort, Army Commander Sarath Fonseka, had to keep on fighting a different battle in various courts in Sri Lanka to reclaim his liberty and rights. He walked out of the high-security Welikada Prison at 5 p.m. on May 21 into a crowd of waiting supporters, but his political future is full of uncertainties.

While President dines with the Queen, Sri Lanka's torture of its Tamils

By Jerome Taylor | The Independent

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Further evidence has emerged of the brutal treatment of Tamils by Sri Lankan soldiers during the closing stages of the country's civil war. Video footage obtained by The Independent shows soldiers gloating over a pile of more than 100 Tamil corpses, including dozens of women who have been deliberately stripped of their clothes to expose their breasts and genitals.

The videos are part of a growing body of evidence which has emerged over the past two years – much of which was recorded by Sri Lankan soldiers – revealing how many Tamils were tortured, summarily executed and often humiliated after their deaths for the entertainment of their victors.

US, India to assist Sri Lanka military

By Indo Asian News Service | Yahoo! News

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India and the US have agreed to provide enhanced training facilities for military personnel from Sri Lanka, it was announced Tuesday.

This followed meetings Sri Lankan Defence Secretary Gotabhaya Rajapaksa had with General Martin Dempsey, chairman of the American Joint Chiefs of Staff, and Indian Defence Minister A.K. Anthony here.

The meetings took place on the margins of the Shangri-La Dialogue.

Sri Lanka official has 'no idea' of Prageeth's fate

By Charles Haviland | BBC News

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A senior Sri Lankan official has said that he has no idea about the whereabouts of a disappeared journalist seven months after saying he believed the man was alive and living abroad.

Human rights activists say that the remarks of former Attorney-General Mohan Peiris betray insensitivity to the plight of missing people.

Rajapaksa speech halted over Tamil protest fear

By Jonathan Miller | Channel 4

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A meeting in the City of London, due to have been addressed on Wednesday morning by the president of Sri Lanka, has been cancelled, owing to concerns over policing amid the threat of large demonstrations by Tamil rights groups.

But Mahinda Rajapakse – whose presidency has been tainted by persistent allegations of war crimes committed by Sri Lankan armed forces – will still attend a lunch for the Queen, hosted by the Commonwealth secretary general at Marlborough House on Pall Mall.

Tamils deported to Sri Lanka from Britain being tortured

By Shiv Malik | The Guardian

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The British government is forcibly deporting asylum seekers who are then tortured in Sri Lanka, according to the testimony of one victim who was left scarred and suicidal after a brutal two-week ordeal.

The victim told the Guardian he was tortured over the space of 17 days after being deported from the UK last year. His torturers accused him of passing on to British officials information about previous beatings at the hands of state officials and other human rights abuses, to ruin diplomatic relations between the two countries.