Tamil Justice

Inner City Press – UK’s Hi Tech Miliband Is Asked of Somalia and Sri Lanka, by Twitter, Yes or No

It’s all the rage in diplomatic spin: UK foreign secretary David Miliband is taking questions by Twitter today, during his two day stay in Boston. The UK consulate there has been soliciting questions, saying they will be answered throughout the day.

 At the UN in New York, Inner City Press has asked Miliband questions at the Security Council stakeout, several times receiving wordy answers the meaning of which was not entirely clear.

 Perhaps the format of 140 characters — less with all the hash marks — in the questions and especially the answers will make Miliband’s meaning more clear. Here are two questions tweeted to the UK consulate as per their instructions on Wednesday morning by Inner City Press:

1) Has UK cut aid to WFP in #Somalia, and if so what is required for the aid to hungry Somalis to be resumed? #askfs

2) If #SriLanka refuses to investigate war crimes does UK think the UN should name a panel of inquiry as in Guinea? #askfs

 The background to the first question is that while the UN and its Mark Bowden have publicly questioned the restrictions on aid by the U.S., which says funds are being diverted to Al Shabaab, the UK’s position is less clear. And with the UK’s John Holmes in charge of the UN’s humanitarian operations, some wonder if his office would point the finger at the UK.

In the past week, Inner City Press has asked the UN’s spokesman Martin Nesirky, himself a Brit, for an update on restrictions on UN system operations and funding in Somalia, and to explain UN envoy Ould Abdallah’s call for the UN to return to Mogadishu when, apparently, he can’t. Still there have been no answers. At least on the first question, perhaps Miliband can answer.  More

Times of India (09/03) - Fonseka calls up daughters, suspends fast

The Associated Press (09/03)  - Sri Lanka’s opposition leader ends hunger strike

The Hindu (08/03) - Sri Lanka Army completes summary of evidence against Fonseka

BBC – China to build new international airport in Sri Lanka

AFP – China lends S.Lanka cash for new airport, railways

The Hindu – India, Sri Lanka sign $67.4 m Line of Credit

Ceylon Daily News -India gives US$ 67.4 m to upgrade Southern railway line

Reuters – UPDATE 1-China to loan Sri Lanka $290 mln for airport, railways

** Email from GTF**

Dear All,

Please find attached a letter both in English and Tamil from the President of Global Tamil Forum (GTF) Fr (Dr). S.J. Emmanuel PhD to the Tamil people in the Tamil homeland in the island of Sri Lanka and overseas.

Please contact me on +44 (0) 7958 590 196 or by email suren@globaltamilforum.org if you need any further information regarding the attached letter.

We invite you to visit www.globaltamilforum.org to find more details about the organisation and it’s vision, mission statements.

Kind Regards, Suren Surendiran Spokesperson – GTF

GTF_Letter – Tamil

GTF_Letter_English

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.

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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.