Tamil Justice

Daily Mirror -  From Richard De Soysa to Ekneligoda: The Slide

The 24th of February marked the first month anniversary of the disappearance of Prageeth Ekneligoda, the Lanka E-News journalist. Two special Police teams are said to be on the case.  They have however, not come up with any information as to Ekneligoda’s whereabouts.

Rudd and SBY should use chance to shake Labor’s 2001 Tampa Neurosis

Media Release
Tuesday March 9, 2010 7:00am WST
For immediate Release

“Today’s arrival of the Indonesian President in Australia is a rare chance for Kevin Rudd to absolve Labor from its populist debacles dating back to the 2001 Tampa Election, when Kim Beazley felt he had no choice but follow John Howard’s dark saga in passing the two Tampa Bills,” WA Human Rights group Project SafeCom said this morning.

“Kevin Rudd has today a unique change to put people smugglers in Indonesia and Malaysia out of business. Instead of pouring more millions into the unfathomably deep hole of the ‘War Against People Smuggling’, Rudd should establish a resettlement strategy in Indonesia, increase funding to UNHCR in Jakarta and give a commitment a to rapid processing and resettlement strategy in a number of countries, so the 2,000 to 5,000 asylum seekers stuck in our northern neighbour’s territory are not left in limbo for up to ten years,” spokesman Jack H Smit said.

“It is because of Australia’s inaction in Indonesia, that the asylum seekers there end up paying smugglers to rescue them out of the black hole of their limbo. This is totally understandable in the context where Australia takes just 35 people per year from UNHCR – as it did last year.”

“In Amsterdam in the 1970’s, the city police ended the illegal marihuana trade overnight – not by investing more police to catch users and small traders, but by establishing a number of legal outlets where smoking could take place.”

“The model used in Amsterdam can be used to undercut the people smuggling trade and kill it off – by applying decency, responding as we should as a country that has acceded to the UN Refugee Convention, and resettling people within a rapid time frame. They are arriving in Indonesia and Malaysia because of the Refugee Convention, and we owe it to them to respond.”

For more information: Jack H Smit, Project SafeCom Inc.
Office (08) 9881-5651 | mobile 0417 090 130

Project SafeCom Inc.
P.O. Box 364
Narrogin
Western Australia 6312
Web: http://www.safecom.org.au/

Tuesday March 8, 2010
Refugee Action Coalition
Ian Rintoul
phone 0417 275 713

150 Days at Merak: Protests Call to Resettle the Refugees, End the Indonesia Solution

Protests in Sydney, Melbourne, Perth and London on Wednesday 10 March will mark the 150th day of the asylum boat stranded at Merak and coincide with the Indonesian President Yudhoyono’s visit to Australia.

Refugee advocates and representatives of the Tamil communities are calling on the Australian and Indonesian governments to end the misery of the Tamil asylum seekers at Merak. The asylum seekers – among them 109 UNHCR certified refugees – have been stranded at Merak for five months.

If they had been allowed to come to Christmas Island their refuge determination process would be completed. Some of them would be probably already be living in the Australian community,” said Ian Rintoul, spokesperson for the Refugee Action Coalition

“There is no future for them in Indonesia. The detention centres are full. It seems the Indonesian government has nowhere to accommodate them even if they would get off the boat. UNHCR processing can take years, with no guarantee of re-settlement to a third country. There is no incentive for them to leave the boat until there is a guarantee of re-settlement.

“A long term solution for a humane regional refugee policy must include an agreement with Indonesia for the processing and re-settlement of refugees. Although Australia is the only signatory to the Refugee Convention in the region and the only re-settling country, Australia took only 32 UNHCR refugees from Indonesia last year.

“Until there is an agreement that deals with resettlement, asylum seekers will be a source of tension between the two countries. Simply paying for Indonesia to effectively out-source Australian detention centres is only making the situation worse.

Australian government Ministers and the Prime Minister have publicly states that Australia will play a role in resettling refuge from Merak after UNHCR processing. So has the US State Department. But so far Australia has avoided giving any specific undertaking to Indonesia regarding re-settlement.

“The Merak refugees are the meat in the sandwich. The Indonesian government can act immediately to immigration verify and allow UNHCR processing to begin while the Tamils are still on board. The ball will then be in Australia’s court to commit to resettling the Merak people,” said Rintoul.

** The Sydney protest will be held, Wednesday 10 March, 12.30pm at 70 Philip Street, City. Speakers will include representatives from the Tamil community.

** A delegation of refugee advocates and Tamil community representatives (including Sara Nathan, who was deported from Indonesia in January following a humanitarian mission to the Merak boat) will deliver a letter for the Indonesian president to the Sydney Indonesian consulate at 236 Maroubra Rd, Maroubra, 10.30am Thursday 11 March.

For more information, contact Ian Rintoul 0417 275 713

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
AHRC-STM-046-2010
March 9, 2010

A Statement by the Asian Human Rights Commission

The Asian Human Rights Commission reliably understands that there is a move to arrest and detain J.C. Weliamuna, the chairperson of Transparency International in Sri Lanka (TISL) on fabricated charges. During the last few weeks there have been several media attempts on the part of the government to make insinuations against the Sri Lankan branch of Transparency International. There were publicised reports about the misuse of funds which TISL has publically claimed as completely fabricated and false. There have also been reports over government media channels about NGOs and INGOs trying to destabilize Sri Lanka and an announcement that the government will carry out an all out campaign against such organisations.

These allegations come in the aftermath of the presidential elections and in the midst of a parliamentary election. In the presidential elections one of the most glaring complaints against the government was its abuse of the state resources for electoral purposes. This is also one of the major grounds for the petition filed by the opposition common candidate against the election results of the last presidential elections. The election monitoring organisations have made strong adverse reports against the government on this score. In the parliamentary elections also, if there is any abuse of government resources similar accusations are likely to arise.

The purpose of the attack on TISL and of the possible arrest its chairperson, J.C. Weliamuna, would be to create adverse impressions on the credibility of the organisations engaged in monitoring elections as well as the findings of these organisations in the last elections.

It is quite possible to make use of national security laws to arrest persons and then engage in heavy propaganda against them while they remain in detention. While TISL may have an impeccable record about their accounts and credibility, these things become relevant only at the final stage of a trial. Meanwhile persons can be kept in detention for long periods and then heavy adverse campaigns can be carried out against them in order to blackmail them for political purposes.

Over a long period the Asian Human Rights Commission has pointed out that Sri Lanka’s criminal justice system is in serious crisis and can be manipulated by the authorities to achieve whatever purposes they wish. Even under normal circumstances the fabrication of charges can be achieved easily within Sri Lanka’s criminal justice system. In recent times this has also been put to political use and the AHRC has been reporting for quite some time now that the process of arrest, detention and even trial is now being manipulated for political purposes. The cases against J.S. Tissainayagam, Santha Fernando and now the retired general, Sarath Fonseka and many of his associates are glaring examples of the severe abuse of the criminal justice process in order to achieve unscrupulous political purposes.

On the 27th September, 2008 two grenades were thrown at the house of J.C. Weliamuna. One exploded and damaged the building. The other was found inside the property. If it had exploded it could have seriously harmed Mr. Weliamuna and his family. There was a serious outcry locally by the Bar Association and human rights organisations and many international organisations including Transparency International and the International Commission of Jurists. The case was also reported by the International Bar Association. However, there were no serious investigations into the attack and no one was arrested. Recently there was a report by the government when it attempted to create the impression that Mr. Weliamuna threw the grenades to create publicity for himself. These types of counter attacks in order to ridicule the complaints relating to harassment have also become a common feature of government propaganda.

The Asian Human Rights Commission urges the Sri Lankan government to desist in the harassment of Transparency International and to refrain from abusing the criminal justice process by arresting Mr. J.C. Weliamuna or anyone else on fabricated charges. We also call upon the government as well as all members of parliament to intervene in order to stop the arrest and the abuse of the legal process. We also call upon the Inspector General of Police to desist from allowing the abuse of police powers for political purposes. We call upon the Human Rights Commission of Sri Lanka to intervene strongly to prevent the political harassment of civil society organisations and human rights activists. We call upon the Secretary General of the United Nations, the High Commissioner for Human Rights and all human rights agencies and international organisations to intervene seriously to protect the rights of citizens who participate peacefully in political life and to protect human rights activists and defenders.

# # #

About AHRC: The Asian Human Rights Commission is a regional non-governmental organisation monitoring and lobbying human rights issues in Asia. The Hong Kong-based group was founded in 1984.

ABC – Chickenpox threatens Merak asylum seekers

People smuggling will be a main topic of talks between the leaders of Australia and Indonesia tomorrow amid claims that a potentially deadly chickenpox outbreak threatens asylum seekers docked in an Indonesian port.

Prime Minister Kevin Rudd and Indonesian president Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono have yet to discuss an issue that has strained bilateral relations – the fate of more than 200 Sri Lankan asylum seekers on a boat docked in Merak.

The asylum seekers have spent almost 150 days on board.

A spokesman claims there has been an outbreak of chickenpox among the asylum seekers and one doctor fears it could endanger the lives of at least three children on board.

The boat’s self-appointed spokesman, Alex, vanished last week. One of the asylum seekers, 33-year-old Shan from Jaffna in Sri Lanka, says he is hopeful a decision is made in their favour soon.

Shan says there is no consensus onboard about whether the group will disembark or hold out, but now the asylum seekers have new concerns.

“They’re too tired mentally and physically; too tired in here,” Shan said.

“The people are suffering many, many things like rash, diarrhoea, vomiting, 24 people suffering from chickenpox.”

‘Not one will survive’

Dr Brian Senewiratne, an Australian doctor of Sinhalese origin, has spoken with those on board and he says chickenpox is a deadly threat to those in a weakened state.

“If that chickenpox spreads to the children there will be an epidemic of chickenpox,” he said.

“One of the complications of chickenpox in these malnourished, neglected children who are undernourished and generally rundown is that the chickenpox gets into the bloodstream and then gets to the brain. The technical condition is called encephalitis.

“The death rate under the age of five from the chickenpox encephalitis is almost 100 per cent, if not 100 per cent.

“On that boat, I can assure you that if the children get the chickenpox encephalitis, not one will survive.”

A spokesman for Indonesia’s department of foreign affairs, Teuku Faizasyah, says he has not been told about any chickenpox outbreak.

“I haven’t got any information yet if there’s any occurrence of chickenpox,” he said.

“But as you see, chickenpox is something that normally happens in Indonesia and in many other countries at a certain time in the year.”

No special treatment

He says the Indonesian government does not believe refugees on board the boat at Merak should be processed urgently, like the refugees on board the Oceanic Viking.

“We don’t want to create a situation when special treatment given creates conditions where more people will come to our area expecting similar treatment be given to them,” he said.

“After the Oceanic Viking case, we realised this is not a very good situation because it creates expectations.”

Mr Yudhoyono, meanwhile, became an Honorary Companion in the Order of Australia on Tuesday – the first day of his visit to Australia.

The award was bestowed for strengthening the Australia-Indonesia relationship.

Radio Australia – Sri Lanka to charge Fonseka within 48 hours

Sri Lanka’s former army chief and defeated presidential candidate Sarath Fonseka will have to wait just a couple more days to find out exactly what charges he faces.

Sri Lanka’s military spokesman says the former General will face more than five charges under the Army Act, with court martial proceedings to begin soon. However the details relating to the charges will not be available for another 48 hours. The 59-year-old has been held at a naval detention centre since his arrest last month, a fortnight after his defeat in presidential elections.

Presenter: Sonja Heydeman
Speakers: Military spokesman Brigadier Udaya Nanyakkara; Anoma Fonseka, wife of Sarath Fonseka; Rohan Edrisinha, Faculty of Law, University of Colombo

Australia Network News – Charges prepared for Sri Lanka ex-commander

The Hindu – Nirupama Rao calls on Sri Lankan President

Visiting Foreign Secretary Nirupama Rao called on Sri Lankan President Mahinda Rajapaksa here on Sunday and exchanged views on whole range of issues of mutual interest to both the counties in general and the ongoing rehabilitation and resettlement of the nearly three lakh Tamil civilians displaced during the war between the Sri Lankan forces and the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE) in the course of the 34 month war (July 2006 to May 2009) in particular.

Press Trust of India – Rao assures support to SL for resettlement of Tamils

One India (06/03) – Nirupama Rao to visit Sri Lanka today

AFP  (06/03) - India envoy to visit Sri Lanka for talks

The Hindu (04/03) – Nirupama Rao to visit Colombo tomorrow

Times of India – Fonseka goes on hunger strike after barred from using phone

Former Sri Lankan army chief Sarath Fonseka facing detention under treason charges, now at a naval facility today went on a hunger strike for not being allowed to speak to his daughters on telephone who are overseas.

The Associated Press – Sri Lankan opposition leader on hunger strike

Times of India – Detained Sri Lankan ex-general starts hunger strike

AFP – S.Lanka’s detained leader threatens hunger strike

Indian Express (04/03) – Lanka cricketer house raided for Fonseka kin