Marie Colvin and Sri Lanka war crimes

By Chandana Keerthi Bandara | BBC Sinhala
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Her iconic figure with a black patch over the left eye reporting from global conflict zones has been seen by hundreds of thousands around the world.

Marie Colvin killed in Syria, alongside award winning photojournalist Remi Ochlik, lost her eye in Sri Lanka when shot at by the military while entering government territory after filing a report to the Sunday Times from restricted Tamil Tiger held territory in April 2001.

Paying tribute to Mylvaganam Nimalarajan, of the BBC Sinhala service, in a public event in London in 2002 Marie spoke of the dangers faced by war correspondents who lived in war torn countries but could not leave like their international colleagues.

Nimalarajan reporting the war in his native northern Jaffna to the outside world was killed in cold blood within a high security zone in 2000.

Even though she lost an eye in Sri Lanka, Marie never let the island out of her sight.

Assurances to surrender

The battle waged by the Sri Lankan military against the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE) widely known as Tamil Tigers was coming to a bloody end in may 2009.

As independent journalists and international organisations were barred from the northern battlefield, many international journalists had to rely on information provided by the Sri Lankan military or the LTTE.

"I feel very angry," Marie as the foreign affairs Editor of Sunday Times who was not prepared to withdraw from reporting on the war in Sri Lanka told me.

This was a day before the Sri Lankan government declared its military victory over Tamil Tigers and Marie was following the developments closely.

She was angered that senior Tamil Tiger leaders who surrendered by arrangement with a very senior United Nations official to the Sri Lankan military were killed.

On the evening of 17th May 2009 she had recieved a 'desperate phone call' from the LTTE political head Balasingham Nadesan.

"They were trying to surrender but anybody attempting to approach Sri Lankan army lines was been shot," Marie recalled what Nadesan told her.

She has then called the UN Secretary General's Chief of Staff Vijay Nambiar who she said had been assured by the Sri Lankan president that Mr Nadesan would be safe in surrendering to the Sri Lankan Army.

"They would take him under international law," she quoted Mr. Nambiar.

UN, UK and USA

The LTTE political chief Nadesan was with the head of the LTTE peace secretariat Seevaratnam Pulidevan and other injured people.

Negotiations to surrender had been 'going on for days'.

"What I find deeply, deeply distressing is that those negotiations was with the Sri Lankan government. British and Americans and United Nations, Mr. Nambiar who was in Colombo were all aware that they wanted to surrender," said Marie Colvin.

Marie was told by Mr. Nambiar, "that there would be no need for a third party to be there".

"I think, it would have been a lot better if there had been a third party there. If Mr. Nambiar in his position as UN envoy had gone to oversee, at least to witness the surrender." Marie told me.

However, according to Marie, Mr. Nambiar was given assurances by the Sri Lankan president that Mr Nadesan should hoist a white flag and he would be allowed to surrender.

This was around 'one in the morning' in Sri Lanka.

A Tamil parliamentarian from eastern Sri Lanka was also involved in the negotiations.

Chandrakanth Chandranehru of the Tamil National Alliance (TNA) who was speaking 'directly to the president and to the defence secretary' as well as the LTTE political chief has offered to witness the surrender, said Marie. However, on assurances given on the safety of the surrending Tamil Tiger leaders, MP Chandranehru stayed back.

1.06 am 18th May

According to Marie the Tamil MP was the last person to speak to Nadesan and it was minutes after the reported assurances by President Mahinda Rajapaksa to the UN special envoy.

Marie had been told by MP Chandranehru that Nadesan speaking over the phone at 1.06 in the morning on 18 May 2009 said that they were walking towards the Sri Lankan military and, "I will hoist the white flag as high as I can".

"The next thing we heard which was hours later the Sri Lankan government announcement that they have all died".

It was six days before the Sunday Times published her story under the title 'Slain Tamil chiefs were promised safety' on 24 May 2009 that Marie related this to me. Such was her generosity and the commitment to tell the story.

Sadly, I had to bide my time until Marie herself met with a violent death in another Asian battlefield where she chose not to leave and Mr. Nambiar confirmed her account to Inner City Press (ICP) in New York.

"In the middle of the night, Marie called me, the two people, I've forgotten the names, one was on the Peace Commission, they wanted to surrender. We need to get assurance, free passage. I said OK, I'll do it. I took it up with foreign minster, the defense minister and the president. They would be treated like any surrendering prisoner," ICP quoted Mr Nambiar on Saturday.

Marie lost her eye in Sri Lanka. But they couldnt take away her vision. She lost her life in Syria. But they will never be able to take away what she lived for.

Investigations

Her account that later became to be known as the 'White Flag Incident' vehemently denied by the Sri Lankan government, featured prominently in a UN report which found that war crimes allegations were credible and warranted a full investigation.

The report said it found credible allegations that the Sri Lankan government 'violated the human rights of civilians and Tamil Tiger combatants'.

Furthermore, the report handed over to the UN Secretary-General on 31 March 2011called to investigate the role of the UN during the war in Sri Lanka.

"The Secretary-General should conduct a comprehensive review of actions by the United Nations system during the war in Sri Lanka and the aftermath, regarding the implementation of its humanitarian and protection mandates," the panel of experts report on accountability in Sri Lanka recommended.

Both the UN and the Sri Lankan government are yet to make their findings, if any, public.

© BBC Sinhala

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Nambiar tells Sri Lanka Government blocked him

By Matthew Russell Lee | Inner City Press
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With controversy revived about Sri Lankan war crimes including the murder of surrendering prisoners, Inner City Press on February 24 asked UN official Vijay Nambiar to explain his role in these "white flag" killings, and if involved Major General Shavendra Silva should be a UN Senior Adviser on Peacekeeping.

On camera, Secretary General Ban Ki-moon's deputy spokesman insisted that Nambiar would not answer the question. Nambiar said "if necessary" he would answer afterwards.

Inner City Press followed Nambiar who began that he has "problems with you saying I am involved in the genocide." He paused and noted, "Marie Colvin was involved in the same...now that she has passed away I would like to place on record my own" position, and "appreciation for the intrepidity with which she pursued her own vocation."

She talked to me, you know that," Nambiar said of Colvin. Inner City Press asked, hadn't Colvin urged Nambiar to go witness the surrenders?

Nambiar nodded yes. "I asked to go, twice I contacted [US diplomat] Bob Blake, the two of us were planning to go... the ICRC was not able to go by sea route. The Government refused to give us permission. There was no way we could just force our way in."

With no witnesses, those who tried to surrendered ended up dead. Inner City Press asked Nambiar why he hadn't then spoke out.

Nambiar continued with this story: "in the middle of the night, Marie called me, the two people, I've forgotten the names, one was on the Peace Commission, they wanted to surrender. We need to get assurance, free passage. I said OK, I'll do it. I took it up with foreign minster, the defense minister and the president. They would be treated like any surrendering prisoner, What happened after that, I couldn't..."

Again Inner City Press asked Nambiar, if you passed on the assurances, then were blocked from going to witness and those you assured got killed, why haven't you spoken out?

Nambiar "subsequently said they could have been shot by own people. I am not prepare to hazard any guess. Even Basil [Rajapaksa], he also said that. It was mainly Gotabaya [Rajapaksa] and the President [Mahinda Rajapaksa]."

Nambiar told Inner City Press, "I spoke with Palitha Kohona, the Foreign Secretary."

Kohona, at least in May 2010, told Inner City Press a different story. Now with Major General Shavendra Silva, about whom Nambiar did not answer, barred from participating in the UN Senior Advisory Group on Peacekeeping Operations, it has been suggested that Permanent Representative Kohona replace him.

© Inner City Press

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Our duty to Sri Lanka, and human rights

Photo courtesy:vikalpa.org

By Desmond Tutu and Mary Robinson | The Guardian
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This week the UN Human Rights Council has an opportunity and a duty to help Sri Lanka advance its own efforts on accountability and reconciliation. Both are essential if a lasting peace is to be achieved. In doing so, the council will not only be serving Sri Lanka, but those worldwide who believe there are universal rights and international legal obligations we all share.

Nearly three years since the defeat of the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE) by the Sri Lankan government there has still been no serious domestic investigation of the many allegations of war crimes and crimes against humanity committed by both sides during the civil war's final stages. These tragic events cannot simply be ignored.

A report in April 2011 by a panel of experts appointed by the UN secretary general documented government forces' large-scale shelling in "no-fire zones" where civilians had been encouraged to gather. Government forces also shelled a UN hub and food distribution lines. The same report says the LTTE used civilians as human shields, refused to allow people to leave conflict areas and forcibly recruited adults and children as young as 14 to fight. Credible sources cited in the UN report have estimated that around 40,000 civilians may have perished in the final months of the conflict.This tremendous civilian toll covers thousands of stories of suffering and strength, the vast majority of which are untold. One verified story chronicles the experiences of a family who were forcibly displaced more than seven times in eight months between September 2008 and May 2009. They repeatedly sought shelter in government-declared "safe zones" (which were then shelled), buried five relatives, including a six-year-old girl, in unmarked graves, and saw many of their fellow civilians killed and injured.

While the Sri Lankan government's own report from its Lessons Learned and Reconciliation Commission, published last December, includes important findings on reconciliation, and represents a potentially useful opportunity to begin a national dialogue on the conflict, it is disappointing in its failure to address seriously accountability issues. The recent announcement that the army intends to investigate its own actions during the conflict is not the kind of independent inquiry that is required.

In the absence of a credible and independent investigation into what happened in Sri Lanka, the Human Rights Council has an obligation to uphold human rights law and international humanitarian law during its upcoming 2012 sessions. As the UN report said: "The conduct of the war by both sides represented a grave assault on the entire regime of international law designed to protect individual dignity during both war and peace. The victory of one side has emboldened some to believe that these rules may now be disregarded in the cause of fighting terrorism."

Against this background, and continuing reports of human rights violations by the authorities, we urge the council to support a resolution that seeks accountability for the terrible violations of international law that have taken place, and establishes mechanisms to monitor progress on the steps the government is taking on accountability. If there is insufficient progress by the government in establishing a credible accountability process in the near future, we urge council members to support the establishment of an independent investigation.

At the same time, the council should support efforts to achieve meaningful reconciliation, human rights and democratic freedom for all Sri Lankans. Their country is a beautiful jewel of an island, rich in culture, history, resources and human talent. But we fear that if nothing changes, the crimes that remain unaddressed will continue to haunt Sri Lanka's people and could ignite violence once again.

Finally we want to emphasise that Sri Lanka's recent history is an issue that concerns all of us. Whether or not the Human Rights Council is able to summon the will to act on one of the most serious cases of human rights violations to have occurred since it was founded in 2006 could have ramifications for the global standing of human rights and international humanitarian law – and for the prestige and authority of the council.

Archbishop Desmond Tutu and former Irish President Mary Robinson are members of The Elders, global leaders working for peace and human rights.

© The Guardian

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Sri Lanka Army to hold 'Defence Seminar 2012'

Colombo Page
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Sri Lanka Army will hold the 'Defence Seminar-2012' with the participation of foreign experts on the post-war 5Rs - Rehabilitation, Re-integration, Re-construction, Resettlement and Reconciliation.

The three-day seminar is scheduled to be held from August 8-10 on the theme 'Towards Lasting Peace and Stability'.

Over 100 foreign delegates are expected to participate in the event that will present subject experts from foreign countries on post-war 5Rs spheres.

Issuing a statement the Army said the roles of Army troops as effective teams of peace-builders in the north and east while actively maintaining peace and stability in respective areas will be discussed at the seminar.

Former combatants, war-affected communities, political leaders, state officials, academics and other experts are to participate in these deliberations.

The Defence Seminar-2012 will provide a common platform to the Army, sister services, Police and other participants for discussion on their experiences and a multitude of other concerns and issues, the Army said.

The Army held the inaugural Defence Seminar-2011 on the theme 'Defeating Terrorism-Sri Lankan Experience' in May last year with the participation of representatives from more than 41 countries.

The Defence Seminar will be an annual event of the Sri Lanka Army.

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Sri Lanka: Fishermen leader in hiding after threats

BBC Sinhala
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A Sri Lankan leader of World Forum of Fisher People (WFFP) has urged authorities to guarantee his safety following death threats after fishermen's protest against recent fuel price increase.

Herman Kumara, the Secretary General of the WFFP told BBC Sandeshaya that he noticed a group following him in a van on his arrival after attending an international conference in Rome.

"I noticed a group following me in a van with registration no 301-2865 and their attempt was to abduct me," he said from an undisclosed location where he is currently hiding.

While he managed to hide, said Mr Kumara, the group has come to his home and travelled around his hometown asking his whereabouts from his family and other people.

Fuel price increase

"If I have done anything wrong, there are legal ways of dealing with it. They could have arrested me at the airport," he said adding that he is willing to face any legal action if he has committed any office.

Herman Kumara's office has lodged a complaint about the threats at the police station in Pannala.

The fishermen leader stressed that he will continue representing the fisher community in protests against the fuel price increase as well as other related issues.

There have been violent protests in Sri Lanka a few days after the government raised the price of key household fuels by up to 50 percent.

A fisherman was killed as police confronted crowds on the west coast while teargas is being deployed at a big rally in the capital, Colombo.

Four days after sudden steep increases in the price of fuel, there is unrest and anger in much of Sri Lanka.

There have been days of protests and road blockades in the western fishing town of Chilaw, where larger boats depend on diesel whose price has jumped by 36% and smaller ones on kerosene which is now 49% more expensive.

© BBC Sinhala

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