Sri Lanka News First - Government contracts Chinese firm to destroy bodies buried in Nandikadal lagoon
Diplomatic sources say that the government has permitted a Chinese firm to commence a project at the Nandikadal lagoon where Sri Lankan security forces had buried thousands of bodies of LTTE cadres during the final stages of the war last May.
The Chinese firm has been assigned to exhume the bodies and destroy them beyond recognition. More
Mercury News - After roaming oceans and continents, Sri Lankan Tamils find home in Oakland
By Matt O’Brien
They were jailed in Indonesia, stranded in Romania and rescued by Australia off the coast of Sumatra, all in the last eight months.
So it was a big relief to Nisanth Segaranantham and his friends when they landed in Oakland last month. The 27-year-old Sri Lankan refugee is savoring his freedom to roam the city, shop for his own groceries and look for a job.
“We can go anywhere, anytime, anyplace, no problem,” he said.
Segaranantham was one of 78 Sri Lankans who crowded aboard an Indonesian fishing boat and set sail for Australia in October. As ethnic Tamils, they faced discrimination in Sri Lanka and hoped to find political asylum in Australia. But the ship began sinking on the way. More
TamilNet – Mass grave discovered in Mass grave discovered in Naachchikkudaa, Mannaar
De-mining workers of Danish De-mining Group (DDG) have discovered a mass grave in Naachchikkudaa area in Mannaar containing 75 to 100 skeletal remains while engaged in de-mining in the area, informed sources in Mannaar told TamilNet Wednesday. Sri Lanka Army (SLA) had not permitted resettlement in Naachchikkudaa earlier claiming that the area was infested with landmines and a great quantity of explosives lying buried at the height of the war had taken place in Naachchikkudaa. It is suspected that the skeletal remains discovered may have belonged to young men and women, the sources added. More
The Age – Drowned Tamils ‘desperate for safety’
Two Sri Lankan asylum seekers believed drowned last week on a perilous sea trip from Indonesia to Australia were “desperate to find safety”, says a friend.
Thileepkumar Luxman and Bahirathan were among 12 Tamil and Afghani asylum seekers believed to have drowned when their small fishing boat capsized in rough Indonesian waters as they tried to rendezvous with a larger Australia-bound boat.
The Australian – Border protection seeks confirmation of boatpeople deaths
The Australian – Confirmation sought on boatpeople deaths
Sydney Morning Herald – 12 boatpeople reported to have drowned on way to Australia
ABC Online – Indonesia denies knowledge of asylum deaths
Immigration officials in Indonesia say they have no knowledge of the deaths of up to a dozen asylum seekers who reportedly drowned while attempting to reach Australia last week.
Refugee advocates say among the dead were two Sri Lankans from the infamous Merak boat, which was seized last year after Prime Minister Kevin Rudd asked the Indonesian president to intervene.
Tamil Justice: The Bachchans and Shah Rukh Khan support Tamils and the need for a war crime inquiry in SL and boycott the awards but the International Indian Film Academy still hasn’t got the hint. It’s time to listen to the actors that provide its pay check and cancel the awards and financial support of GoSL in continuing to marginalise Tamils which this ceremony will provide.
Timesonline (UK) - Stars respond to Tamil call to boycott glitzy Bollywood awards
Jeremy Page
Bollywood’s annual awards ceremony, which begins in Sri Lanka today, is supposed to be an orgy of glitz and glamour, complete with bling-laden outfits, gushing acceptance speeches and the obligatory song and dance spectaculars.
This year, however, the event has been overshadowed by the withdrawal of several stars — including the Bachchans and Shah Rukh Khan — in protest at alleged war crimes during Sri Lanka’s civil war. More
AFP also covers it here: Organisers reject S.Lanka Bollywood awards boycott
Transcurrents: US State Dept Video & Transcript: Secretary Clinton Meets With Sri Lankan Minister of External Affairs G.L. Peiris
U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton meets With Sri Lankan Minister of External Affairs G.L. Peiris at the U.S. Department of State in Washington, DC May 28, 2010:
SECRETARY CLINTON: I am delighted to welcome Dr. Peiris here to the State Department. I first met him 15 years ago when I was in Colombo, Sri Lanka. And it is a great pleasure to have the opportunity to discuss Sri Lanka’s efforts to rebuild after more than two decades of violence and terrorist activity that have deprived the Sri Lankan people of the progress they deserve. Dr. Peiris is a capable, experienced public servant whose leadership is helping to move Sri Lanka toward renewal and reconciliation and, we hope, to greater peace, prosperity, and security for the future.
The United States has long been a friend of Sri Lanka. Our countries share a history of democratic institutions, and we have an active USAID program that has invested more than $1.9 billion in Sri Lanka since 1956 and is currently helping to create new opportunities for people who were displaced by the conflict.
Since the LTTE terrorist group was defeated one year ago, USAID has rebuilt or repaired seven schools and a hospital damaged by the conflict, launched public-private partnerships in northern and eastern Sri Lanka to create the equivalent of 5,000 full-time jobs in former conflict zones, supported work training for young people to spur economic development, and provided extensive aid and assistance to internally displaced people seeking to return home. The United States will continue to provide Sri Lanka with humanitarian and de-mining assistance to help heal the wounds of war and bring lasting peace and prosperity to the country. 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
Yahoo News – Sri Lankans hit Tamil Tiger tourist trail
AFP
KILINOCHCHI, Sri Lanka (AFP) – The wreckage left by a brutal war has created a new tourist trail in Sri Lanka just a year after the Tamil Tiger rebels were crushed by government forces.
A giant water tower smashed to the ground is a star attraction for hundreds of people driving through the former war zone where the rebels once had their de facto capital.
Situated along the highway that links the island’s northern Jaffna peninsula to the south, the white cement tower was a prominent landmark in Kilinochchi, but was blown up by the rebels during a battle with army troops.
Such fighting is now a thing of the past after government soldiers seized all territory controlled by the Tigers and wiped out their leadership one year ago this week.
The guerrillas had been fighting for an independent homeland for the island’s minority Tamil population concentrated in the island’s northeast — a decades-long conflict that the UN estimates cost 100,000 lives.
Surrounded by destroyed buildings and army camps, the water tower provides an irresistible backdrop for amateur photographers. It is also covered in graffiti written by the soldiers who marched in last year on their way to victory. More
The Age (18/05) – Military blamed in Sri Lanka
ABC Radio Australia (18/05) – Calls for new probe into end of Sri Lankan civil war – Read transcript & listen to interview
The Independent (UK 18/05) – Sri Lanka accused of war crimes in final onslaught
The Telegraph (UK 19/05) - A year after the defeat of the LTTE, human rights are still pivotal in Sri Lanka
Al Jazeera English (18/05) – Fighting impunity in Sri Lanka
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
