Tamil Justice

The Australian – Commonwealth Tested by Sri Lanka

IT is rare for the Commonwealth to have a chance to play a decisive role on the world stage, but last week’s disputed presidential election in Sri Lanka is one such opportunity. It was the only major international organisation to send observers, and the only one regarded as impartial by both the main candidates, President Mahinda Rajapakse and his former army chief, Sarath Fonseka.

It therefore falls on the Commonwealth to pass judgment on the election and the subsequent crackdown on the independent media and opposition.

Commonwealth Journalists Association – CJA Condemns Treatment of Journalists in Sri Lanka

The Commonwealth Journalists Association (CJA) is deeply concerned at the disappearance of Sri Lankan journalist Prageeth Eknaligoda and appalled that Sri Lanka’s ‘democratic’ government continues to persecute journalists for committing the ’sin’ of criticizing the ruling party.

AAP – Indonesia to end asylum-seeker stand-off

Indonesia hopes to end a long-running asylum seeker stand-off at a Javan port by the end of the month, an official says.

More than 240 Sri Lankan asylum seekers have spent almost four months refusing to leave their rickety cargo boat in Merak.

Press Statement: Sri Lanka – Election is over: ensure protection of peoples’ rights now!

(Bangkok, 3 February 2010)

The Asian Forum for Human Rights and Development (FORUM-ASIA), a membership-based organisation representing 46 human rights NGOs across Asia, expresses its grave concern over the present political repression and human rights abuse in Sri Lanka in the aftermath of the presidential elections. All political actors in the country must take immediate steps to ensure due process and respect for democratic norms and human rights in Sri Lanka.

Read full statement here

SMH – Sri Lankan fighting leaves a gruesome legacy

It will be years before the landmines will be cleared from the ravaged country’s battlefields, writes Matt Wade.

The guns fell silent more than eight months ago but the brutal conclusion to Sri Lanka’s civil war is still being felt by Tamils caught up in the conflict.

Huffington Post – Heartbreak in Post-War Jaffna

The stories I hear in Jaffa are heart wrenching. They hide behind the surfeit of activity–the bustle in the marketplace, the investors from the south, the ads and billboards that have sprung up–that define the surface of this town. Underneath there are stories that are not fathomable.

The Reuters – Russia to lend post-war Sri Lanka $300 mln for arms

Sri Lankan president Mahinda Rajapaksa left on Saturday for Moscow, where he will sign a $300 million loan to buy military equipment from Russia, despite an end to his country’s quarter-century civil war.

The New York Times – Russia to Lend Post – War Sri Lanka $300 Mln For Arms

Washington Post – Sri Lanka opposition complains of gov’t pressure

Sri Lanka’s opposition accused the government Monday of hounding and detaining its activists following the country’s acrimonious presidential election.

BBC – Fear and anxiety in battered Tamil city 

Beneath the surface in Jaffna – the cultural capital of Sri Lanka’s Tamils – there is underlying concern and anxiety following last week’s presidential election.

Earth Times - Sri Lankan court revokes decision to shut down newspaper

A court in Sri Lanka Monday revoked a decision to temporarily shut down an anti-government newspaper, court officials said. The Criminal Investigation Department sought an extension of a court order that shut down the Lanka newspaper Saturday, but Chief Magistrate Anura Herath said the police had failed to show supporting evidence.

Press Gazette – C4 News’ Ben De Pear on the story behind the Tamil executions video

SMH -  The president should cool it

IF SRI LANKA needs a careful process of healing – both in its shattered multi-ethnic society and its economy – after nearly three decades of a vicious civil war, then its newly re-elected president is not getting off to a very good start. He’s accusing his defeated political rival, Sarath Fonseka, of a vague assassination conspiracy against himself. His police have hauled off another editor and shut down a newspaper. Another foreign reporter is getting her marching orders.

This comes after an election win that was tainted by widespread abuse of power. Announcing the result, the election commissioner, Dayananda Dissanayake, gave every impression of a man in fear of his life. Even so, he stated that throughout the campaign, his guidelines and warnings about partisan coverage by the state media were comprehensively ignored; that state organisations operated in a way that was ”not befitting” (read intimidation); and that he was unable to ”ensure the safety of even one ballot box”. It was clear that many potential Tamil voters were unable to register for the election, and a rash of bombings and shellings deterred many of those who were.

Nonetheless, the wide margin of Rajapaksa’s vote – 58 per cent against the 40 per cent for Fonseka – suggests the president was set for re-election even without the manipulation, in the afterglow of the victory over the Tamil Tigers last May. The campaign saw the former army chief Fonseka’s image shift from military hero to politico making opportunistic alliances. His endorsement by a Tamil party frequently seen as a front for the Tigers may have caused a backlash among Sinhalese voters, cleverly amplified by Rajapaksa, without being able to harness many Tamil votes. Enough mud was thrown in Fonseka’s direction to help offset the damaging list of Rajapaksa relatives and cronies in plum jobs that circulated during the campaign, at least in the less-controlled internet. It was never going to be an enthusiastic vote for Fonseka, more a protest vote against Rajapaksa.

The president is now expected to move quickly to the parliamentary elections due towards the middle of the year, probably with a new election commissioner. There is nothing yet to suggest this election will be any cleaner, or that the president feels any need to change his government’s ways. This is a pity for the Sri Lankans, because it robs them of freedoms and prosperity. It’s a worry for the outside world, too, because separatism and terrorism could metastasise, at home as well as through the 1 million-strong Sri Lankan Tamil diaspora.

BBC (22/01) – Sri Lankan refugees to be resettled while more wait

Watch news report here

Antara News (22/01) - Sri Lankan Immigrants Finally off to Third Countries

Excerpt: ”But this will be the last time we are helping Australia deal with its foreign refugee influx problem,” Sujatmiko said adding that Indonesia did not incur any expenditures for the deportation since all the related costs were borne by the United Nations.

“Indonesia is also not receiving any material profit from this case,” he said. Read full article here

National Post – Jonathan Kay: A new beginning for Canadian Tamils

by Jonathan Kay

When people use the term “immigrant success story,” they probably have someone like my friend Roger in mind.

Roger came to this country from Sri Lanka as a teenager. He had $100 in his pocket, most of which he spent on a pair of sneakers shortly after getting off the plane. Eventually, he found a job at a major Canadian financial company, in the mail room.

That was a quarter-century — and a half-dozen promotions — ago. Roger is now a senior vice-president of that same multi-billion-dollar company. In airplanes, he’s one of those well-dressed business class people you see thumbing their BlackBerrys, as you shuffle your way to coach. To his clients, his whole life probably seems like a glossy business magazine advertisement come to life.

But like a lot of Sri Lankan Tamils in this country, there’s a troubled, guilty part of him that’s still 14,000-km away. Troubled, because Tamils are a persecuted minority in Sri Lanka. And guilty, because not everyone he loved managed to escape, like he did. More

Lakbima News - I only wanted a credible, independent investigation – Philip Alston

By Namini Wijedasa

UN Special Rapporteur for Extrajudicial, Summary or Arbitrary Executions Philip Alston raised a hornet’s nest recently by resurrecting the controversial Channel 4 ‘execution’ video and deeming it to be authentic on the basis of a report produced by three independent experts. The government immediately rejected the findings, accused him of being politically motivated and refused to heed his call for an inquiry. LAKBIMAnEWS interviewed Alston on some of the niggling questions his investigation had raised.

Ln: The government has repeatedly rejected any suggestion that the Channel 4 video is authentic. Why did you initiate an investigation on this?

PA: On the face of it there was nothing to indicate that the video was a fake. It therefore constitutes evidence of serious HR violations if the events depicted were as they were alleged to be. In such circumstances, there is always an obligation for a government and thus a special rapporteur to investigate. More