Channel 4
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Human Rights Watch claims the aircraft will fly the Tamils back to the country where they could face interrogation and torture.
It claims at least eight similar flights have flown Tamils back to Colombo in recent months, and several of those deported have gone on to face serious abuse by Sri Lankan army forces.
The charity says that one Tamil alleged that during interrogation he was beaten with batons and burned with cigarettes, and had kerosene poured over his head.
It details allegations by other Tamils, some of whom claim to have been subjected to gang rape by security forces.
"The British government has an international legal obligation not to deport people who have a credible fear of torture upon return," said Brad Adams of Human Rights Watch.
"Convincing reports of arbitrary arrests and torture demand that the UK government suspend returns of rejected Tamil asylum seekers to Sri Lanka until it can fairly and thoroughly assess their individual claims based on up-to-date human rights information on Sri Lanka."
Deportation flights have continued despite an MP last year accusing the government of "painting targets on the backs" of Sri Lankan returnees.
Siobhain McDonagh, MP for Mitcham and Morden, told the Commons the British Government is complicit in the torture of Tamil civilians as it continues to deport many people seeking asylum in the UK.
"The British Government is supposed to be one of the leading forces in the Commonwealth. Yet it is not only turning a blind eye, it is sending planeload after planeload of Tamils back," she said last June.
And last September, a plane chartered by the British Government to return failed asylum seekers to Sri Lanka landed in Colombo following the failure of last-minute legal efforts to prevent it leaving.
At that time, shadow foreign secretary Douglas Alexander said he had written to foreign secretary William Hague asking for assurances that 50 Tamils returned to Sri Lanka would not be tortured.
The latest deportation came as hundreds of demonstrators, led by ruling party local government councillors, marched to the United States embassy in protest against the US decision to support a UN human rights resolution.
The US earlier announced its decision to back a resolution at the Human Rights Council in Geneva asking the Rajapaksa government to submit a time table to implement recommendations made by a government appointed commission to improve good governance, human rights and reconciliation with minority Tamils.
The Indian Ocean island nation, which ended its quarter century Tamil separatist war in May 2009, is under heavy pressure from western nations and international rights groups to investigate alleged war crimes in the final phase of the war.
© Channel 4
Tuesday, February 28, 2012
UK 'to deport 100 Tamils' as Sri Lanka fights UN resolution
Tuesday, February 28, 2012
Sri Lanka: With media gagged or threatened, no progress for freedom of information
Reporters Without Borders
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“For more than a year we have been seeing new forms of censorship and a deterioration in journalists’ ability to work although the war with the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE) officially ended in 2009,” Reporters Without Borders said. “Rather than wait until the Universal Periodic Review to make recommendations, the Human Rights Council’s members should adopt a resolution now urging the government to take measures to improve freedom of information.
“The number of cases of physical attacks, death threats and imprisonment may have fallen in 2010 and 2011, but the authorities continue to prevent the media from enjoying real editorial freedom and many journalists are still in exile. Sri Lankan and foreign media are still unable to cover the issue of war crimes, which will be at the centre of the Human Rights Council’s discussions during the 19th session.
“An immediate reaction is needed to the obstruction of journalists who want to cover the activities of the Lessons Learned and Reconciliation Commission (LLRC) and to self-censorship on this subject for fear of reprisals. The Human Rights Council must remind the Sri Lankan government of the importance of the media’s role as a critic and urge it to respect freedom of information. We call on the government to accept constructive questions from civil society and to stop branding its critics as ‘conspirators’ and ‘LTTE accomplices’.”
January - February 2012 timeline
Journalists and media defenders have been the constant targets of violence, threats and propaganda. The censorship of websites, especially those based abroad, has increased since the beginning of 2011. The events of the past two months amply illustrate the way the government is treating journalists.
Since 25 February: Distributed Denial-of-Service Attacks (DDoS) have been disrupting web traffic of TamilNet.com. The service provider is struggling to keep the website online.
23 February: The supreme court held its third hearing on the blocking of news websites. Access to four leading independent news websites – SriLankaMirror, SriLankaGuardian, Paparacigossip9 and LankaWayNews – has been blocked since 6 November on the orders of the information ministry, which announced on 5 November that all news websites with “any content relating to Sri Lanka” needed to register with the ministry.
16 February: The defence ministry posted an article on its website accusing Journalists for Democracy in Sri Lanka (JDS), an exile organization, of “treachery and conspiracy” against the government and security forces on the eve of the Human Rights Council’s 19th session.
15 February: Prasad Purnimal Jayamanne, a freelance journalist working for the BBC’s Sinhalese service and a member of the South Asian Free Media Association (SAFMA), was attacked and badly beaten while filming a demonstration by fishermen in Chilaw, 100 km north of Colombo, in protest against the death of a fisherman at the hands of the police and the injuries sustained by others. Jayamanne had to be hospitalized.
8 February: The state-owned daily Dinamina accused the Free Media Movement of obstructing democracy and freedom in Sri Lanka, giving the country a bad image, and inciting separatism and terrorism.
26-27 January: Media minister Keheliya Rambukwella accused journalists of collaborating with the LTTE and with foreign media and NGOs in order to smear Sri Lanka’s image. He said he had a list of journalists working against the government, including the organisers of the “Black January” campaign, which was based on the fact that there were major press freedom violations every January during the past three years. They included Sunday Leader editor Lasantha Wickrematunge’s murder in January 2009 and political cartoonist Prageeth Ekneligoda’s disappearance in January 2010, which have become symbols of violence against the media and the impunity enjoyed by those responsible.
25 January (and following days): After the Alliance of Media Organizations in Sri Lanka held a “Black January” demonstration (which had to be moved to a different location because of a counter-demonstration by government supporters), some of the demonstration’s organizers were followed by unidentified individuals for several days.
10 January: The government accused the Free Media Movement of collaborating with the political opposition and organizing a campaign to get the European Union to suspend Sri Lanka’s preferential trade status under the GSP+ accord.
5 January: The start of the trial of a man accused of the April 2005 murder of journalist Dharmeratnam Sivaram was postponed by Colombo high court judge P. Surasena after the prosecutor said he was unable to proceed because six prosecution witnesses, including two policemen, had failed to show up. The judge also dissolved the jury. Sivaram was kidnapped in Colombo and his body was found near the parliament building the next day.
January (start of the month): When state-controlled Independent Television Network (ITN) broadcast footage of media freedom activists demonstrating during the September 2011 session of the UN Human Rights Council, it accused them of being LTTE members.
© RSF
Tuesday, February 28, 2012
Sri Lanka protest over UN war abuses resolution
Photo courtesy: vikalpa.org
BBC News
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Sri Lanka's army defeated separatist Tamil Tiger rebels in May 2009 - both sides have been accused of abuses.
The UN Human Rights Council is meeting to consider a resolution into events during the closing phase of that war.
Sri Lanka's government has rejected calls for an international probe.
It has said it is outraged by support for the UN move in Geneva. Several thousand people including some religious clerics and former military officers marched through Colombo towards the US embassy.
There were also reports that demonstrators in some areas had been coerced to attend.
In the former rebel stronghold of Kilinochchi, in the north, about 500 people gathered and chanted slogans. Although a proportion of these were genuine government supporters, others had been forced to attend by masked motorcycle-riders, one source told the BBC's Charles Haviland in Colombo.
Earlier this month US officials said they would back the UN Human Rights Council resolution, due in March, urging Colombo to investigate war crimes allegations by its own forces.
The government commissioned its own investigation into the war last year and the UN resolution calls on the government to implement its recommendations. The Sri Lankan Lessons Learnt and Reconciliation Commission (LLRC) cleared the military of allegations that it deliberately attacked civilians. It said that there were some violations by troops, but only at an individual level.
But another report commissioned by the UN Secretary General reached a different conclusion, saying that allegations of serious rights violations were "credible" on both sides.
Human rights groups estimate that up to 40,000 civilians were killed in the final months of the war. The government recently released its own estimate, concluding that about 9,000 people perished during that period.
© BBC News
Tuesday, February 28, 2012
Sri Lanka’s dead and missing: the need for an accounting
By International Crisis Group
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Instead of grappling with the many credible sources of information suggesting tens of thousands of civilians were killed between January and May 2009 – including the UN’s real-time data collection, international satellite imagery, and the government’s own population figures – the government is rewriting history on its own terms. In the lead up to the Human Rights Council session, the government released an “Enumeration of Vital Events” for the Northern Province. It finds the total death toll during the five bloody months of fighting in 2009 to be under 7,000 with another 2,500 missing, but it doesn’t differentiate between civilians and combatants or assign responsibility for any death to either the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE) or to government forces.
These findings fall far short of the UN Secretary-General’s panel of experts’ estimate that as many as 40,000 civilians died in those last months and even higher estimates based on the government’s own prior census figures. This “enumeration” also runs counter to an important recommendation of the government’s Lessons Learnt and Reconciliation Commission (LLRC) calling on the government to “conduct a professionally designed household survey covering all affected families in all parts of the island to ascertain first-hand the scale and the circumstances of death and injury to civilians, as well as damage to property during the period of the conflict”. The LLRC made this recommendation at the end of November 2011, well after the “enumeration” project was conducted from June to August 2011.
The LLRC’s report has serious shortcomings in its treatment of allegations of war crimes and crimes against humanity by government forces, but it also acknowledges important realities, including breaking with years of government claims of “zero civilian casualties” and accepting that “considerable civilian casualties had in fact occurred during the final phase of the conflict”. While it then goes to lengths to absolve the government of responsibility for those casualties, its recommendation of a professionally designed survey could help clarify the fate of the dead and missing in the north – if done credibly and independently. Unfortunately, there are no signs of such a credible and independent process emerging.
Just days after the LLRC delivered its report to the president on 20 November, his brother, Defence Secretary Gotabaya Rajapaksa, delivered a speech to the “Inaugural National Conference on Reconciliation” in which he said that the government had “conducted a complete census” in the north, which was “in the process of finalisation”. He said a “questionnaire” had been used which included seven categories of dead or missing persons: “those who died of natural causes; those who died of accidents; those who left th[e] country through illegal means, particularly by boat to India or to South East Asia, and from there to the West; those who died whilst fighting as members of the LTTE; those who died as a result of being coerced to fight by the LTTE; those who died as a result of resisting the LTTE … ; [and deaths] that occurred due to military action”.
Without explaining how those categories were determined or what the government had done to avoid bias in its questionnaire and information gathering, the defence secretary concluded that “as a result of the census, we already know that the real number of dead and missing is far too small to provide any substance to the absurd allegations of genocide and war crimes that have been made against our military by the rump LTTE and their cronies”. On 8 February at an event hosted by the Swiss mission to the UN in New York, Sri Lanka’s permanent representative to the UN repeated the claim that the government has carried out “a comprehensive census in the Northern Province which will enable firm and verifiable conclusions to be derived at on issues involving disappearances, deaths, etc”.
The “enumeration” released soon after this statement doesn’t deliver the details promised. Instead it appears to be little more than another attempt to short-circuit what Sri Lanka’s people really need and what the global community – and even the LLRC – have been asking for: an independent, credible assessment of who and how many died and under what circumstances (i.e., who and what caused the deaths or disappearances).
The process by which this supposed count has happened is not at all clear, but the conditions under which any census would have been conducted in the north – an area under effective military occupation by a victorious army accused of the crimes in question – are not conducive to a fair and accurate count. The risk that the government has now politicised the department of census and statistics, as it already has politicised the police, judiciary and human rights commission, should be deeply worrying to Sri Lanka’s international partners.
As member states of the Human Rights Council prepare for the upcoming session, they should ask the government for a full explanation of how this purported census was conducted, what safeguards were in place to ensure independence, who (by name and by civilian or combatant) was killed or went missing and how, and whether UN agencies and independent civil society organisations will be allowed to verify the findings. Equally important, Council members should ask the government to reconcile its “enumeration” with the now-extensive information available suggesting that tens of thousands of civilians were killed in the final stages of the war, most as a result of government fire into heavily populated civilian areas.
The precise number and identities of all civilians killed in those last bloody months will likely never be known, especially if the government persists in its resistance to an independent, international inquiry. Nonetheless, several sources of information regarding civilian casualties need to be addressed – fully and transparently.
Sources of information suggesting civilian deaths in the tens of thousands
The UN’s real-time, on the ground survey of deaths and injuries
There are, first of all, the casualty figures gathered by the UN and humanitarian staff trapped in the fighting, which recorded 7,721 civilians killed and 18,479 injured between August 2008 and 13 May 2009, after which information collection became too difficult. These numbers were not estimates, but actual counts based on eyewitness sightings verified by two additional sources. The vast majority of those included in the UN count were killed between late January and late April 2009, before the escalation in fighting in the final three weeks.
The Secretary-General’s panel of experts noted strong grounds to believe these numbers understate actual casualties during that period. These include the conservative methodology used to collect the figures, suspected underreporting by UN agencies (in response to pressure from the Sri Lankan government), the location of many casualties in areas inaccessible to observers, and the fact that following 13 May, the number of civilian casualties likely increased significantly as many civilians died from their injuries with no functioning hospital or humanitarian facilities in the warzone to register casualties or treat the wounded.
The government, including the LLRC, has frequently dismissed these figures because the UN failed to publish them, without acknowledging that the UN raised them with the government in private discussions. The UN’s failure to speak out about its casualty estimates and the scale of the humanitarian crisis, and the government’s willingness to castigate the UN for even attempting to assess the civilian toll, are both matters of serious continuing concern.
Casualty estimates for the final week of fighting
Multiple eyewitnesses who were in the warzone during the final week estimate that thousands of civilians were killed in those days. Many describe walking past hundreds of bodies as they exited the final “no-fire zone” and seeing entire families buried in collapsed bunkers. A U.S. embassy cable on 18 May 2009, the day the government declared the war over, said a UN contact thought the LTTE’s claims of 25,000 civilians wounded or killed in the last few days were exaggerated, but that based on a 10 May shelter analysis and estimates of 70,000 to 80,000 people in the “no-fire zone” before the final assault, the number unaccounted for could be as high as 7,000 to 17,000. The UN contact also reportedly said the UN doubted the LTTE’s claims on the night of 17 May that it still had 1,000 to 2,000 cadres.
Contemporary population figures from senior government officials
There is also information from the government’s own officials working in the north suggesting that as many as 70,000 or even 140,000 civilians who were surveyed in the warzone just before or during the final months of fighting never made it to the government internment camps at the end of the war.
At least three separate figures need to be compared against the number of civilians in the camps as of late May 2009, which the government reported to be approximately 290,000. First, the former district secretary for Mullaitivu and current district secretary for Jaffna, Imelda Sukumar, testified to the LLRC on 4 November 2010 that there were 360,000 people caught in the fighting in the Puttumatalan “no-fire zone” established in February 2009.
Second, the UN panel of experts reported that her assistant, the former additional government agent (AGA) of Mullaitivu, and his staff who were in the “no-fire zone” counted some 330,000 people still trapped in the fighting in early February 2009. At that time, government figures showed that 35,000 were already in government camps. After the AGA advised officials in Colombo of the 330,000 figure, they wrote to him that the figure was “arbitrary and baseless” and that the government would be “reluctantly compelled” to discipline him for providing “wrong information to any source especially in regard to IDP figures”.
Finally, documents from the local government offices in Kilinochchi and Mullaitivu districts, dated 30 September and 1 October 2008, available here and here, show a total population of 429,000. These figures were cited in the LLRC testimony of the Catholic Bishop of Mannar, who asked for clarification as to what happened to the more than 140,000 people apparently missing given the much smaller population corralled into government camps.
Corroborating the government’s contemporary population figures
This last estimate of the number of those still unaccounted for may seem high. Indeed, the central government has long argued that local population figures were inflated under pressure from the LTTE, in order to exaggerate the humanitarian crisis and to generate greater quantities of humanitarian supplies, which the LTTE could steal. While some inflation in the figures is possible, it is unlikely to have been large enough to explain all, or even most, of the discrepancies. There is also some corroborating evidence that argues for taking seriously even large estimates of the missing and demanding a full and independent accounting.
For example, if one takes the total population figures for residents of Kilinochchi and Mullaitivu districts from the 30 September and 1 October 2008 local government documents, they match almost exactly the central government’s estimated 2008 population figures for those districts, which can still be found on the department of census and statistics website in its estimated mid-year population by sex and district, 2000-2010.
The combined total of Kilinochchi residents counted by local officials in late 2008 was 146,700 (121,900 then living in Kilinochchi and 24,800 displaced to Mullaitivu), while the central government estimate for Kilinochchi residents was 140,000 in 2006, 143,000 in 2007 and 147,000 in 2008 (and provisionally 154,000 in 2009 and 156,000 in 2010).
Similarly, the combined total for Mullaitivu residents counted by local officials in late 2008 came to 126,350 (100,600 still living in Mullaitivu and 25,745 displaced to Kilinochchi), while the central government figures for Mullaitivu show 129,000 in 2006, 132,000 in 2007 and 135,000 in 2008 (and provisionally 154,000 in 2009 and 148,000 in 2010).
Because local government officials’ figures for Kilinochchi and Mullaitivu residents in late 2008 are almost exactly what the government had officially accepted for years, the government should explain why so many fewer people ended up in government camps in mid-2009. It should also explain why its most recent “enumeration”, which says there are now only 103,717 people in Kilinochchi and only 66,526 people in Mullaitivu – a drop of over 100,000, doesn’t raise many more questions than it answers.
A UN survey in the internment camps
Another intriguing statistic can be found in a UN Survey of 100 randomly selected shelters in zone 3 of Menik Farm in early May 2009 – prior to the worst fighting of the final two weeks. This small survey found that “22 per cent of the families” interviewed “reported that an immediate family member had died”. Extending this percentage to the approximately 90,000 families who ended up in camps after the end of the war, it suggests a minimum of 18,000 killed. Sample bias and other potential problems with this survey – including the possible inclusion of some combatants or deaths in earlier stages of the war – need to be examined, yet given the timeframe (prior to the deadliest weeks) and the possibility of multiple deaths within (or complete destruction of) some families, it could in fact be a generous minimum.
Estimates of war widows and female-headed households
Finally, there are other estimates available – including from the government – that appear to be consistent with large-scale loss of life. For example, multiple sources have claimed that there are now 40,000 “war widows” in the north. In September 2010, the ministry for child development and women’s affairs said it had lists of 40,000 war widows in the north, though it reduced this number without explanation in August 2011, to only 16,936. A separate media report cites government and donor figures of 30,000 out of 110,000 households in the former warzone that are headed by women. And a survey by the Jaffna-based Center for Women and Development reportedly estimated 40,000 female-headed households in the north, half of those in Jaffna. Not all of these women would have lost their husbands in the final months of the war, nor would all those men killed have been civilians – but many would have. And to the number of non-combatant husbands killed, one would have to add the women, children and unmarried men who died in the fighting, as well as those cases where both members of a married couple – and even whole families – were killed.
What the LLRC said about civilian casualties
The LLRC reported that the scale of civilian casualties, especially from January to May 2009, was a key question for the commission. Yet it accepted what the defence ministry told it – that “an estimate of civilian deaths was not available”. At the same time, the ministry had no problem providing an estimate of LTTE deaths – 22,247 for July 2006 to May 2009, with 4,264 confirmed by name for the period January to May 2009; or an estimate of security force deaths – 5,556 for July 2006 to May 2009.
Separately, the LLRC noted that the defence ministry had estimated the total number of LTTE cadres in the north to be 21,500. Given that approximately 11,700 suspected cadres were detained for “rehabilitation” at the end of the fighting, there are serious questions as to (1) how the government reconciles its 21,500 cadre estimate with its total of 34,000 killed or detained; (2) whether the 22,247 LTTE deaths were combatant deaths; and (2) whether the 11,700 detained for “rehabilitation” were in fact combatants. Unfortunately, the LLRC did not acknowledge, let alone answer, any of these questions.
Instead, the defence ministry told the LLRC that “it would be extremely difficult, if not impossible, to distinguish between LTTE and civilian casualties”. The LLRC expressed its “regret” at the absence of any official record or post-conflict estimate of civilian casualties while at the same time concluding that “considerable civilian casualties had in fact occurred”, but placed the blame primarily on unexplained “crossfire” and on the LTTE – just as the government and military officials who testified before it did.
The LLRC’s recommendation of a professionally designed island-wide household survey regarding civilian deaths and injuries – if done independently and credibly – could make up in part for its unwillingness to challenge the government’s narrative. Such a survey could also provide all Sri Lankans more clarity regarding how many and whose lives were lost in the war, including thousands of missing soldiers and people killed or disappeared outside of the north through decades of counter insurgency operations.
© ICG
Tuesday, February 28, 2012
Sri Lankans hit by price hikes
By Amantha Perera (IPS) | Asia Times Online
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The government this month limited its intervention in the foreign exchange market, where it had been selling billions of dollars to prop up the local currency. February began with the rupee trading at 109 per dollar; two weeks later it had slipped to 120.
A cascading effect followed. On February 10, the price of petrol went up by 8.7%, diesel by 36% and kerosene by 49%. Soon electricity became 40% more expensive as the list of upward price revisions grew.
Prices of bread and other bakery products are likely to go up unless producers are given subsidies. Gas price increases are almost inevitable. Even doctors working in government hospitals have sought an increase in fuel allowance, threatening to go on strike. Opposition political parties and affiliated trade unions have begun to stage protests and had to be dealt with by police using tear gas and batons.
One protester from the north-western town of Chilaw, was killed on February 15 when police opened fire on a demonstration demanding fuel subsidies for fishermen. The protests will continue and become a daily routine, vowed the People's Liberation Front opposition party and its affiliated union.
A total of 11 trade unions, represented on the National Labor Advisory Council, have requested the labor ministry to order an increase in salaries of workers, especially those in the private sector.
So far, the government has taken the view that the price rises were inevitable given higher world prices of crude oil, but it has promised subsidies for those directly affected such as fishermen, taxi operators and those in the transport sector.
"It is a combination of factors working together," Srimal Abeyratne, an academic attached to the department of economics at the Colombo University, told Inter Press Service (IPS). "Prices will go up more and living standards will drop accordingly."
Abeyratne said people will try to cut down on spending wherever they can, in order to meet vital expenses.
Chanuka Wattegama, an independent policy researcher, told IPS that the manner in which price revisions are being ordered suggests an intention on the part of the government to bring down consumption.
"The fact that the price of kerosene, a commodity used largely by the poor, was raised by nearly 50% indicates that the government expects a fall in demand across all sections, not just among the rich or middle class," he said.
Wattegama said the poorest will be worst hit. "The poor will definitely suffer. Those who are just above the poverty line now will fall below it. While the richer sections can absorb the shock to some extent, the poorer cannot."
Ramasamy Ramakrishnan, 47, who works on a tea estate in the Nuwera Eliya district expects to face the shocks that Wattegama predicts. A father of five, he makes do with less than US$130 a month, the combined income that he and his wife earn on the estate, plus the odd jobs that come his way.
"I don't know what to do, where to cut from. Already we were finding it hard to make ends meet. There have been no savings for over two years," Ramakrishnan said.
Around 5% of Sri Lanka's population of little over 20 million is from the estate sector, considered among the poorest. At least 11% from that population live below the official poverty line, according to the government's census and statistics department.
The urban poor are only too aware of the tough times ahead. "What to do? The choice is between starving or cutting down on other expenses," Manel Darmalatha, a widow with three children, said.
Darmalatha makes around $90 a month. "I am not sure what I am going to do, maybe ask my eldest [daughter] to work; it will be hard," she said.
A recent study by the Colombo-based research body, the Center for Poverty Analysis (CEPA), said that the richest 10% in the country were spending on average close to $1,200 per household per month, while the poorest 10%'s monthly expense were less than $55.
CEPA said that the top 20% earns 54% of the country's income while the bottom 20% accounts for less than 5% of earnings.
Wattegama said the country's economic woes called for drastic action. "The gap [in incomes] I see as the [result of] lack of initiatives to take the masses out of poverty and giving them livelihood options, rather than providing social welfare," he said.
Abeyratne sees mismanagement of public enterprises that drain precious funds as another cause for the developing crisis.
"There is large mismanagement and waste. But the losses have to be borne either by the taxpayers or the consumers," he said.
The economist told IPS that some economic shocks like those caused by the rise in international prices are hard to avoid. "But what the policymakers can do is to adhere to better fiscal management and target relief measures more diligently."
© IPS
Monday, February 27, 2012
Marie Colvin and Sri Lanka war crimes
By Chandana Keerthi Bandara | BBC Sinhala
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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
Monday, February 27, 2012
Nambiar tells Sri Lanka Government blocked him
By Matthew Russell Lee | Inner City Press
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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
Monday, February 27, 2012
Our duty to Sri Lanka, and human rights
Photo courtesy:vikalpa.org
By Desmond Tutu and Mary Robinson | The Guardian
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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
Monday, February 27, 2012
Sri Lanka Army to hold 'Defence Seminar 2012'
Colombo Page
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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.
© Colombo Page
Monday, February 27, 2012
Sri Lanka: Fishermen leader in hiding after threats
BBC Sinhala
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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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