Tamil Justice

BBC – UN calls to investigate Sri Lanka

The head of the United Nations Commission for Human Rights called for international involvement in probing alleged human rights violations in Sri Lanka’s war against Tamil Tigers.

In her opening address to the 14th session of Human Rights Council in Geneva, Switzerland, Navanethem Pillay on Monday, called for accountability in the Commission on Lessons Learned and Reconciliation appointed by President Mahinda Rajapakse.

‘Concrete initiative must now follow to provide justice and redress to victims and generally to promote accountability and longer-term reconciliation’ she said. More

Sri Lanka Guardian - Sri Lankan President “A Sinhalese Extremist, I Cannot Change His Mind” – “Giant Of Asia’ Lee Kwan Yew In News Book

“I don’t think they are going to be submissive or go away. The present president of Sri Lanka believes he has settled the problem; Tamil Tigers are killed and that is that.”

By A Special Correspondent

(May 31,Hong Kong, Sri Lanka Guardian) In a new book entitled ‘Citizen Singapore: How To Build A Nation – Conversations with Lee Kwan Yew’ by Prof Tom Plate, published by Marshall Cavendish, a subsidiary of Times Publishing Ltd, Singapore’s Minister Mentor Lee Kwan Yew has expressed his opinion on Sri Lanka after the war.

Lee Kwan Yew is acknowledged as one of the architects of modern Asia and a pioneer of the Asian economic miracle, which has set in motion a historic power shift from the West to the East. Singapore was just rated as having the most competitive economy in the world and Lee Kwan Yew is regarded as the epitome of a successful and visionary leader. He is credited with being one of the first to predict the new rise of China. His views are highly regarded and influential in governing circles and among policy elites around the world. More

Inner City Press – On Sri Lanka, IMF Calls War Crimes Report Of Concern, Tranche Turns on Budget?

By Matthew Russell Lee

UNITED NATIONS, May 20 — Asked about Sri Lanka, IMF spokesperson Caroline Atkinson on May 20 said, “on the war crimes report, yes of course we’re aware of that, and that’s something that’s of concern and interest.”

Inner City Press had asked about the IMF’s current visit to northern Sri Lanka, the status of the delayed third tranche of the IMF program, and this week’s International Crisis Group report on war crimes.

Despite predictions that the third tranche will not be disbursed any time soon due to the policies of the Rajapaksa government, Ms. Atkinson on Thursday deferred answering, stating that “we have a mission in the field and that will conclude soon… by the end of the week so that means probably tomorrow.” More

The Economist – Putting the raj in Rajapaksa

Reconciliation takes a back seat as a band of brothers settles in

May 20th 2010 | DELHI | From The Economist print edition

THERE is no stopping the remorseless ascent of Mahinda Rajapaksa, Sri Lanka’s president. A year ago this week his government routed the rebel Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE) after a 26-year civil war. This January, after a campaign featuring songs lauding him as a “king”, his grateful citizens re-elected him in a landslide. His party then cantered to victory in a parliamentary poll in April. His main rival in the presidential race, Sarath Fonseka, a former army chief, faces a court-martial and poses no threat. Now the president seems intent on an extraordinary concentration of power into his family’s hands, and on its prolongation.

Mr Rajapaksa himself, besides being president, is minister of defence, finance and planning, ports and aviation, and highways. In all, he is directly responsible for 78 institutions. One, the defence ministry, is a condominium with his brother, Gotabaya, the defence secretary. Besides control of the armed forces, police and coast guard, it has expanded its remit to take in immigration and emigration, as well as, curiously, the Urban Development Authority and the Land Reclamation and Development Corporation.

Another Rajapaksa brother, Basil, is economic-development minister and senior presidential adviser, with oversight, among other things, of wildlife conservation and the boards of both investment- and tourism-promotion. He also runs a presidential task force set up to develop the war-ravaged north and east. More

The Economist – “The Sri Lanka option” Friends like these

The rush to learn lessons from the obliteration of the Tamil Tigers

May 20th 2010 | From The Economist print edition

LITTLE Sri Lanka is rarely a model of anything. But since it crushed the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam its government has found itself in an unfamiliar position. Some of the world’s less savoury regimes are beating a path to its door to study “the Sri Lanka option”.

Last November, Myanmar’s military dictator, Than Shwe, who rarely travels abroad, visited the island “so that his regime can apply any lessons learned to its efforts against the ethnic groups in Burma,” says Benedict Rogers, a biographer of General Than. In May last year at a meeting of regional defence ministers in Singapore, Myanmar’s deputy minister made the link explicit, saying the world had witnessed a victory over terrorism in Sri Lanka but had forgotten about the insurgency in his country.

In October Thailand’s prime minister, Abhisit Vejjajiva, held talks with his Sri Lankan counterpart about the lessons of the Tigers’ defeat (for handling a Muslim insurgency in southern Thailand, not the protests cleared this week in Bangkok). In March a military delegation from Bangladesh met Sri Lanka’s army chief, to swap notes on what he called Sri Lanka’s “successful completion of the war for peace”. Behind the scenes, hawkish generals and politicians from Colombia to Israel seem to be using Sri Lanka’s experience to justify harsher anti-terror operations. More

Media Release: Sri Lanka

IFJ Urges Speedy Processing of Tissainayagam’s Pardon

The International Federation of Journalists (IFJ) urges Sri Lanka’s Government to speed up its processing of a full and unconditional presidential pardon for senior Tamil journalist J.S. Tissainayagam.

On May 3, World Press Freedom Day, Sri Lanka’s Minister for External Affairs, G.L. Peiris, reportedly told a press conference that President Mahinda Rajapaksa would pardon Tissainayagam, who was sentenced last year to 20 years’ jail on accusations of terrorism-related activities.

On May 11, Attorney-General Mohan Peiris said that the pardon would be granted swiftly on the condition that Tissainayagam’s appeal against his conviction and sentence was simultaneously withdrawn, according to the local Daily Mirror. The Mirror also reported that the Attorney-General was to process the pardon during the week ending Friday, May 14.

However, two weeks after the announcement of a pardon, the details and any conditions remain unknown. There has been no official confirmation of when all necessary judicial procedures will be enacted to formally issue the pardon and fully restore Tissainayagam’s rights.

“Sri Lanka’s President and Attorney-General must provide a clear and transparent timeline for when Tissainayagam’s unconditional pardon and full restoration of rights will be enacted,” IFJ General Secretary Aidan White said.

Tissainayagam was initially detained in March 2008. He was held for more than five months until being charged in August 2008 under counter-terror and emergency laws. He was accused of attempting to cause racial or communal disharmony through his articles on human rights issues published in the North-Eastern Monthly in 2006 and 2007.

Tissainayagam was convicted on August 31 last year to 20 years’ rigorous imprisonment under Sri Lanka’s draconian counter-terror and emergency laws. It was one of the harshest sentences ever imposed on a journalist in a democratic country, on the basis of the content of their professional work.

Tissainayagam was granted bail in January this year while awaiting appeal. While no longer held in the notoriously dangerous Magazine prison, there are continuing concerns for his safety.

The IFJ calls on the international community and press freedom advocates to maintain their commitment and attention to Tissainayagam’s case to ensure that Sri Lanka’s Government lives up to the promise of a full pardon and restoration of Tissainayagam’s rights.

For further information contact IFJ Asia-Pacific on +612 9333 0919

The IFJ represents over 600,000 journalists in 125 countries worldwide

Infolanka - President Rajapaksa holds bilateral talks with Iranian leaders

By Janaka Alahapperuma

President Mahinda Rajapaksa held a series of talks with the Iranian leaders in Teheran on Sunday evening ahead of the G15 Summit which will convene on 17th May with the head of states from 18 countries.

He was warmly welcomed by the President of the Islamic Republic of Iran, Dr Mahmoud Ahmadinejad at President Palace. Both leaders held a discussion to strengthen bilateral relations and agreed to boost mutual cooperation. Iran also pledged to make earnest efforts to ensure progress within the G15 as Sri Lanka assumes the group’s Presidency.

President Ahmadinejad also extended his congratulations to the Sri Lankan President for receiving the Chairmanship of the 14th G15 Summit in Teheran. Presently it is chaired by Iranian President Mahmoud Ahamedinejad. More

SMH – Sri Lanka under fire for killing thousands

by Matt Wade

A YEAR after Sri Lankan troops crushed Tamil Tiger rebels on the battlefield, the International Crisis Group has accused the military of killing tens of thousands of Tamil civilians in the closing stages of the conflict.

An investigative report by the Brussels-based group blames both the army and the rebels for atrocities but attributes most of the civilian deaths during the war’s bloody conclusion to government bombardment of crowded ”no-fire zones”.

”All but a small portion of these deaths were due to government shelling,” the report said.

Last May Sri Lankan troops routed Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE) forces that had waged a violent 26-year struggle for a Tamil homeland.

As government troops surrounded the rebels, about 300,000 Tamil civilians were trapped amid heavy fighting on a narrow strip of coast in the country’s north-east.

”Evidence gathered by Crisis Group provides reasonable grounds to believe that during these months the security forces intentionally and repeatedly shelled civilians, hospitals and humanitarian operations,” the report said. More

SMH - Sri Lanka’s ethnic divisions still deep and dangerous

by Matt Wade

The President shows little sign of using his dominant political power to push through serious political reforms, writes Matt Wade.

IN THE dying days of Sri Lanka’s civil war, the army liked to show off the military hardware it had captured from the retreating Tamil Tigers. During carefully managed tours to the front line, foreign journalists were taken to inspect neat rows of Kalashnikovs, missiles, landmines and artillery cannon.

A battle tank was the most impressive trophy; the most chilling a small wardrobe of suicide jackets. Photographs found with dead rebels showed proud young cadres standing with the reclusive Tamil Tiger supremo, Velupillai Prabhakaran. One fighter had a printed card commemorating Prabhakaran’s last birthday in November 2008. More

Ministry of Defence Sri Lanka - ‘Traitors should be given Capital punishment’

Defence Secretary Rajapaksa says the LTTE rump is exploring every avenue to avenge Prabhakaran’s killing on the banks of the Nanthikadal lagoon last May.

Defence Secretary Gotabhaya Rajapaksa says anyone seeking to undermine Sri Lanka’s sovereignty should be treated as a traitor regardless of his or her position.

It will be a grave blunder on the government’s part to pave the way for the so-called international community to interfere in Sri Lanka, he says.

The Defence Ministry says that any Sri Lankan promoting an agenda which is detrimental to the country is nothing but a traitor who should be ready to face the consequences.

Defence Secretary Rajapaksa told The Island in a brief interview that traitors deserved capital punishment and no one should shed crocodile tears over them.

He emphasized that the armed forces had paid a heavy price to bring the LTTE to its knees last May and nothing could be as loathsome as producing officers, who had spearheaded the offensive before an international tribunal. More

Reuters -Sri Lanka war crimes probe says lacks legal powers

By Ranga Sirilal

COLOMBO, May 12 (Reuters) – Sri Lanka’s committee probing war crimes said on Wednesday it does not have the legal power to investigate alleged rights abuses during the final stages of the South Asian nation’s 25-year separatist conflict.

The committee of local experts, appointed by President Mahinda Rajapaksa, said it has had trouble finding public officials identified in a U.S. State Department report which blamed both sides in the war for committing rights abuses.

The State Department report released last year detailed possible atrocities by both government forces and the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE) during the final battle of the war last May and urged Colombo to investigate the allegations. [ID:nN2225470]. More than 100,000 people died during the war.

Sri Lanka has a long history of inquiries into rights abuses that have largely failed to hold anyone accountable.

S.M. Samarakoon, secretary of the Sri Lankan committee, said his group did not have the same statutory powers as a commission of inquiry. Analysts say the committee was appointed only as an advisory body and its investigations have not been transparent. More