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Sunday, January 9, 2011

Kosovo Ex-Army commanders charged of War Crimes

[Saturday, 08 January 2011, 21:46 GMT]

Sabit Geci,

European Union (EU) prosecutors have charged former Kosovo Army Commanders, Sabit Geci, 52, and Riza Alija, 50, of "war crimes against civilian population" committed in two camps in Albania towards the end of Kosovo war, according to the indictment. The two were charged with committing war crimes on Kosavars fleeing the war and who were suspected of collaborating with Serbia or having political views different from the Kosavar Army. The prosecuters belong to the 3000-member EU Rule of Law (EULEX) mission which was launched in December 2008 to enforce the rule of law in the newly declared Kosovo and to supervise Kosovo's police, customs, and judiciary.

Sri Lanka's modern-day genocide abetted by india

The Srilankan-Thamizh eelam crises started rapidly only from 1948 when the centuries along rulers Britishers left the country declaring independence to India & Srilanka-Thamizh Eelam which was separate country state was uniffied in srilanka which the whole of srilanka was once an original Inhabitants Thamizhs of Eelam.

The congress central ruling JawaharlalNehru, LalBahadur Shasthri made a big blunder by accepting Indian Origin Thamizhs of over 8 lakhs who were citizens in Thamizh Eelam-Srilanka to India.
In 1974 Smt.Indira Gandhi gifted Indias Hindu Thamizhs Property KatchaTheevu to srilanka which resulted to over 800 Indian Thamizh Fishermens Brutel murder by srilanka on Indian Soil.(But India has wasted over 1 lakh crores And Thousands of its Soilders in Kashmir ).
Indo – Srilankan pact in 1987 made by this Inexperienced Pilot boy RajivGandhi which was not acceted by Eelam Thamizhs and in the name of peace the IPKF of Rajiv,Narasimharao,J.N.Dixit, Natwar singh,Romesh Bhandari,M.K.Narayanan, killed over 10.000 Eelam Thamizhs and India also lost its Thousands and Thousands of Army for no reason also in 1987-1991 India incurred over 1lakh crores Loss and 2 1/2Lakhs Indian Soldiers returning empty hand on Thamizhs Blood Shed.
Later Rajivs death is a big misery as Jain Commision, Varma Commision is a eye wash when many big shots are escaped and saved when victims are ordinary Thamizhs.
The sixty years rulers of Delhi Congress and it s deadly Enemy Dravidan cult DMK joined hands against Thamizhs in 2004 and the Total Victims are World Thamizhs in Eelam killing over 2 ½ Lakhs Innocents which is the worst Human Rights Violation of the 21 st century the 50,000years old Lemuria Kandam mother land of Thamizhs is now under invaders and over 3,000 Hindu Temples Demolished by the congress and Sinhala chauvinist , but the Babri Masjid is congress ‘s Election Harvest.
At present the 3 ½ Lakhs Thamizhs who are in open air Electric fencingwithout food and shelter starvation Rape and regular Brutal murder going on as the Red Cross and the UN envoys are driven out by this Notorious Gang of Rajapakshe,SaratFonsekha,and Indias Sonia, Karunanithi,Pranab Mukarjee,M.K.Narayanan,Sivashankarmenon,Vijay Nambiar,A.K.Anthony,P.Chidambaram group are siding Sinhalese.
Indias Border Countries are enemies now and China has covered hole of India including KachaTheevu, hence the Indias Foreign Policy is Total
Failure we welcome the Trans National Government of Thamizh Eelam, New York,U S A.
We Strongly Oppose Srilankan Minister Salitha Thisanayake’s visit to India

On behalf of over 1 crore Thamizhs and other Hindu Organisations,

Tuesday, December 7, 2010

Evidence of war crimes committed by the Government of Sri Lanka

War Without Witness in Sri Lanka

http://warwithoutwitness.com/ www.tamilsagainstgenocide.org http://www.tamilsagainstgenocide.org/Docs/ExecutiveSummary-DublinTribunal.pdf The Government of Sri Lanka have committed atrocities against Tamil Civilians.Sri Lankan government have committed war crimes and killing thousands and thousands Tamil innocent civilians. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=W5KDXlY4eR8 http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vdFKlQT_Ta8&feature=related... (read more)

Thursday, November 11, 2010

வெள்ளைக் கொடி வழக்கு: முன்னாள் வன்னி தளபதிக்கு மன்றில் ஆஜராக உத்தரவு!

ஐக்கிய நாடுகள் சபைக்கான இலங்கையின் பிரதித் தூதுவர் மேஜர் ஜெனரல் சவேந்திர சில்வா எதிர்வரும் 15 ஆம் திகதி வெள்ளைக்கொடி விவகார வழக்குக்காக ஆஜராக வேண்டும் என்று கொழும்பு மேல்நீதிமன்றம் உத்தரவிட்டுள்ளது.

மேஜர் ஜெனரல் சவேந்திர டீ சில்வா இறுதி யுத்தம் இடம்பெற்றபோது வன்னி மாவட்ட கட்டளைத் தளபதியாக இருந்தவர்.

அந்நாட்களில் வெள்ளைக்கொடிகளுடன் சரண் அடைந்திருந்த விடுதலைப் புலிகள் இயக்க உறுப்பினர்கள் அரச மேலிட உத்தரவின் பேரில் கொல்லப்பட்டனர் என்று முன்னாள் இராணுவ தளபதி பொன்சேகா சண்டே லீடர் பத்திரிகைக்கு வழங்கிய பேட்டி ஒன்றில் தெரிவித்து இருந்தார் என்று கூறப்படும் வழக்கு பொன்சேகாவுக்கு எதிராக இந்நீதிமன்றத்தில் இடம்பெற்று வருகின்றது.

இராணுவத்தின் மீது அபாண்டமாக குற்றம் சுமத்தி உள்ளார் , இராணுவ இரகசியங்களை வெளிப்படுத்தி உள்ளார் போன்றன இவ்வழக்கில் பொன்சேகாவுக்கு எதிரான குற்றச்சாட்டுகள்.

இவ்வழக்கின் மூன்றாவது அரசுத் தரப்பு சாட்சி மேஜர் ஜெனரல் சவேந்திர டீ சில்வா பெயர் குறிப்பிடப்பட்டுள்ளார். ட்ரயல் அட்பார் முறையில் இடம்பெற்று வரும் வழக்கு நீதிபதிகளான டீபாலி விஜயசுந்தர, டபிள்யூ. எம்.பி.வி.வரவெவ, எம். ரஸீன் ஆகியோர் முன்னிலையில் இடம்பெற்றது.

சட்டமா அதிபர் திணைக்களத்தில் இருந்து ஆஜராகி இருந்த பிரதி சொலிசிட்டர் ஜெனரல் வசந்த நவரட்ண பண்டார சண்டே லீடர் பத்திரிகை ஆசிரியர் பிறட்ரிகா ஜான்ஸ் மீதான குறுக்கு விசாரணைகளை நிறைவு செய்து கொண்டார்.

அவர் இவழக்கில் அரசுத் தரப்பின் மூன்றாவது சாட்சியான மேஜர் ஜெனரல் சவேந்திர டீ சில்வாவை செவிமடுக்க விரும்புகின்றார் என்று மன்றுக்கு அறிவித்தார்.

இதை அடுத்தே நீதிபதிகள் குழு அடுத்த திங்கட்கிழமை மேஜர் ஜெனரல் சவீந்திர டீ சில்வா மன்றில் ஆஜராகி சாட்சியம் வழங்க வேண்டும் என்று உத்தரவிட்டது.

Sri Lankan government blocks BBC again from travelling to war commission

Sri Lankan government has again barred BBC News from travelling to the north to attend public hearings of the government nominated commission looking into the country's civil war.

The defence ministry did not show any reason for preventing the BBC from covering the story in Jaffna.

This is the second time in two months the government has blocked BBC News from travelling north to cover the hearings of the war commission.

The panel is gathering information about the final years of the war with the stated aim of preventing another one.

At earlier hearings in the former war zone, witnesses have strongly criticised both the government and the Tamil Tigers.

Civilians have held responsible for the disappearance of their family members, or killing civilians when bombarding the war zone.

Courtesy :- -Eelam Nation-.

Wednesday, November 10, 2010

திருகோணமலை-லிங்கபுரம் தமிழ் கிராமத்தின் சாபக்கேடு, 125 குடும்பங்களில் தலைவன்மார் இல்லை, அநேகமான ஆண்கள் இராணுவத்தால் சுட்டுக் கொலை! ( நேரடி ரிப்போர்ட்)

திருகோணமலை மாவட்டத்தில் மூதூருக்கு செல்லும் பாதையில் அமைந்திருக்கும் லிங்கபுரம் தமிழ் கிராமம். இது ஒரு பாரம்பரிய விவசாய கிராமமும்கூட. கடந்த காலங்களில் யுத்தத்தால் இடம்பெயர்ந்து சென்றிருந்த இக்கிராம மக்கள் அண்மையில்தான் மீள்குடியேற்றம் செய்யப்பட்டு உள்ளனர்.

ஒட்டுமொத்தமாக 220 குடும்பங்கள் மீள்குடியேற்றப்பட்டு இருக்கின்றன. ஆனால் இவற்றுள் 125 குடும்பங்களில் குடும்பத் தலைவன்மார் கிடையாது. இதுவே இக்கிராமத்தை பீடித்து இருக்கும் சாபக்கேடு. கடந்த 30 வருட கால யுத்தத்தால் அடிக்கடி திருகோணமலை மாவட்டத்தில் பெரிதும் பாதிக்கப்பட்ட தமிழ் கிராமங்களில் ஒன்றுதான் லிங்கபுரம்.

திருகோணமலை மாவட்டத்தில் தமிழீழ விடுதலைப் புலிகள் அடிக்கடி இக்கிராமத்தில்தான் பாதுகாப்புத் தேடி வருகின்றமையும், பதுங்குகின்றமையும் வழமையாக இருந்து வந்துள்ளது.

இதனால் இராணுவத்தினர் இக்கிராமம் மீது ஒரு கண் வைத்திருந்தார்கள். வடக்கு, கிழக்கு மாகாணங்களில் உள்ள ஏனைய தமிழ் கிராமங்களில் படையினரால் கற்பழிப்புக்கள், பாலியல் துஷ்பிரயோகங்கள் என்று பெண்களுக்கு எதிரான வன்முறைகள் பெரிதும் கட்டவிழ்த்து விடப்பட்டிருக்கின்றன.

ஆனால் இக்கிராமத்தில் படையினரால் பெண்களுக்கு எதிரான வன்முறைகள் கட்டவிழ்த்து விடப்பட்டிருக்கின்றன என்று பதிவுகள் இல்லை. ஆனால் ஆண்கள் திட்டமிட்ட வகையில் அழிக்கப்பட்டு இருக்கின்றனர்.

இதுவும் ஒரு வகையான இனச் சுத்திகரிப்பு நடவடிக்கையின் வடிவம்தான். 1990 களில் ஒரே குடும்பத்தைச் சேர்ந்த ஐவர் முழங்காலில் இருக்க வைக்கப்பட்டு படையினரால் சுட்டுக் கொல்லப்பட்ட சம்பவம் இன்றும் இக்கிராம மக்களைப் பொறுத்தவரை ஒரு மாறாத வடுதான்.

125 குடும்பங்களின் குடும்பத் தலைவன்மாரில் அநேகமானோர் இராணுவத்தால் சுட்டுக் கொல்லப்பட்டு இருக்கின்றார்கள். கணவன்மார் மட்டும் அன்றி ஆண் பிள்ளைகளும் படுகொலை செய்யப்பட்டு இருக்கின்றனர்.

ஆனால் இவர்களில் எவருக்கும் ஆயுதக் குழுக்களுடனோ, புலிகள் இயக்கத்துடனோ எவ்விதமான சம்பந்தமும் கிடையாது. யுத்தத்தின் ஆரம்ப வருடங்களில் இங்கு வாழ்ந்து கொண்டிருந்த இக்கிராம மக்கள் பின் இடம்பெயர்ந்து திருகோணமலை மாவட்டத்தில் உள்ள நலன்புரி முகாம்களில் அகதிகளாக தஞ்சம் அடைந்து இருந்தனர்.

சில குடும்பங்கள் உயிரைப் பணயம் வைத்து கடல் மார்க்கமாக இந்தியாவுக்கு தப்பி சென்றுள்ளன. இன்றைய அமைதிச் சூழலில் இக்கிராமத்தில் மீண்டும் மக்கள் மீள்குடியேறி உள்ளார்கள்.

ஆயினும் கடந்த கால கசப்பான அனுபவங்களில் இருந்து மீள முடியாமல் இருக்கின்றமையுடன் திரும்பவும் குடும்ப அங்கத்தவர்களை இழக்க வேண்டி ஏற்படுமா? என்கிற பேரச்சத்திலேயே மூழ்கி இருக்கின்றார்கள். வன்முறைகளால் பாதிக்கப்பட்டவர்களுக்கு அரசினால் வழங்கப்படுகின்ற நட்டஈடுகள் இவர்களை முறையாக வந்தடையவே இல்லை.

அரசு இவர்களுக்கு கூப்பன் முத்திரை வழங்கப்பட்டுள்ளது. ஆயினும் இம்மக்களின் உணவுத் தேவைகளை பூர்த்தி செய்ய அது போதுமானதாக இல்லை. சில அரச சார்பாற்ற நிறுவனங்களின் கடைக்கண் பார்வை அவ்வப்போது இவர்கள் மீது விழுகின்றமை உண்டு.

குடும்பத் தலைவன்மார் இல்லாமையால் வாழ்வாதாரம் என்பது கிடையாது. பெண்களே குடும்பப் பொறுப்புக்களை விரும்பியோ, விரும்பாமலோ தலையில் சுமக்க வேண்டி இருக்கின்றது.

ஆயினும் சுயதொழில் வாய்ப்பு, வருமானம் என்பன பெரும்பாலும் அரிதாகவே கிடைக்கின்றன. வறுமை மாத்திரமே வீட்டுக்கு வீடு மிஞ்சி இருக்கின்றது. இக்கிராமத்தில் கட்டுமாணப் பணிகள் எவையும் அரசினால் இன்னமும் முன்னெடுக்கப்படவில்லை.

எமது அலுவலக நிருபர் ஒருவர் அண்மையில் இக்கிராமத்துக்கு சென்று இம்மக்களை நேரில் சந்தித்துப் பேட்டி கண்டார். அவர்களில் சிலருடைய பேட்டிகளை வாசகர்களுடன் தமிழ்.சி.என்.என் பகிர்ந்து கொள்கின்றது.

திருமதி புஸ்பாவதி (வயது 61) என்பவர் கூறியவை வருமாறு:-

”நான் பிறந்ததும் வளர்ந்ததும் எல்லாம் இப்பகுதியில்தான். எனக்கு 19 வயதில் திருமணம் நடந்தது. என் அப்பாவோடு சேர்ந்து கணவரும் விவசாயம் செய்தார். யுத்தம் ஆரம்பித்த ஆரம்ப வருடங்களில் இங்குதான் வசித்தோம். இராணுவத்தினர் ஏராளமானோர் எமது கிராமத்துக்குள் உட்புகுந்தனர்.

இதனால் எம்மால் இங்கு இருக்க முடியவில்லை. வறுமையோடு, பயமும் தொடர நாங்கள் திருகோணமலை பகுதிக்குச் சென்று விட்டோம். அகதிகளாக பல இடங்களில் அலைந்தோம். பிள்ளைகளையும் கூட்டிக்கொண்டு திரிந்து நாங்கள் பட்டபாடுகள் ஏராளம்.

எமது கிராமத்தில் வெடிச்சத்தங்கள் ஓரளவு குறைந்தன போல் இருந்தது. என் கணவரும், கிராமத்தை சேர்ந்த பல குடும்பத்து ஆண்களும் சில பொருட்களை எடுத்துச் செல்கின்றமைக்காக வீடுகளுக்கு வந்திருந்தனர். அப்போது இராணுவத்தினர் இவர்களை பிடித்துச் சென்று விட்டனர். பிடித்துச் செல்லப்பட்டவர்கள் கொல்லப்பட்டு விட்டார்கள் என்று அறிகின்றேன். இதுவரை எந்தத் தகவலும் இல்லை. மூன்று பிள்ளைகள். வளர்ந்து விட்டார்கள். இன்று நான் எனது சொந்த இடத்துக்கு திரும்பி வந்து விட்டேன்.

ஆனால் என் வலியும், துயரமும் என்றென்றைக்கும் மாறாது. மீள் குடியேற்றப்பட்டு இருக்கின்றோம். ஆனால் எமது கிராமத்தில் 220 குடும்பங்களுக்கும் 3 கிணறுகள் மாத்திரமே உள்ளன. வருமானத்துக்கு தொழில் இல்லை.

சில தனியார் நிறுவனங்களால் இப்பகுதி மக்களுக்கு சில சுய தொழில் வாய்ப்புக்கள் வழங்கப்பட்டனதான். ஆனால் எம்மைப் போன்ற எந்தவித வசதியும் அற்ற குடும்பங்களுக்கு உதவி கிடைக்கவே இல்லை. உண்மையில் ஒரு வேளை சாப்பாட்டுக்கே நாங்கள் பெரிதும் திண்டாடுகின்றோம். எமது பேரவலத்தை வெளியுலகத்துக்கு கொண்டு வாருங்கள்.

திருமதி கலாவதி கந்தசாமி (வயது 48) என்பவர் கூறியவை வருமாறு:-

”எனக்கு ஒரே ஒரு மகள். எனது குடும்பத்துடன் இங்கு வசித்து வந்தேன். யுத்தம் என்கிற கொடூர அரக்கன் என்னை போன்ற பல பெண்களை விதவைகள் ஆக்கியது. எங்கள் குடும்பங்களின் நிலையையே மாற்றியது. எல்லா துன்பங்களையும் சுமந்தோம். இன்று மீள் குடியேற்றம் என்கிற பெயரில் எமது சொந்த இடங்களில் குடியேற்றப்பட்டுள்ளோம்.

ஆனால் வருமானத்துக்கு என்ன செய்யலாம்? என்கிற எந்த திட்டமிடலும் இல்லாமல் இன்னும் வறுமையோடுதான் வாழ்கிறோம். சமுர்த்தி என்கிற பெயரில் கொஞ்ச அரிசியும், சீனியும் தருகின்றார்கள்.

அவை எமக்கு 10 நாட்களுக்கு கூட போதியனவாக இல்லை. எமக்கு அரசு எவ்விதமான உதவியும் வழங்கவில்லை என்றே கூறலாம். வீடுகளை கூட நாங்கள்தான் திருத்தினோம்.

திருமதி தியாகராஜா (வயது 57) என்பவர் கூறியவை வருமாறு

”எனது குடும்பத்தில் அப்பா, கணவன், மகன், கணவனின் தம்பி, தங்கையின் மகன் என ஐந்து பேரை நாசமாகப் போனவர்கள் கொன்று விட்டார்கள். இன்று நான் ஒரு நடைப்பிணமாகதான் வாழ்ந்து வருகிறேன். எனது மகள்மாரை வளர்க்க ஏதோ கூலி வேலை செய்கிறேன். எனக்கு இந்த ஊரில் சொந்தமாக விவசாய காணி ஒன்று இருக்கிறது.

ஆனால் விவசாயம் செய்ய கிணறு வசதி இல்லை. தையல் தெரியும். ஆனால் தையல் இயந்திரம் இல்லை. ஒரு வருமானத்துக்கும் வழி இல்லாமல் இருக்கின்றேன்.

எமது கண்களைக் கட்டி காட்டில் கொண்டு வந்து விட்டிருக்கின்றார்கள் என்பது போல்தான் உணர்கின்றேன். தயவு செய்து எமது துன்பத்தை வெளிக்கொண்டு வாருங்கள் .

” நிருபரிடம் இம்மக்களுக்கு போக்குவரத்து, மருத்துவ சேவைகள் என்றாலும் ஒழுங்காக வழங்கப்படுகின்றனவா? என்று தமிழ் சி.என்.என் கேட்டபோது அவர் இப்படிக் கூறினார்.

”இம்மக்களின் அன்றாட வாழ்கையையே ஒரு போராட்டம்தான். திருகோணமலையில் இருந்து மூதூரூக்கு காலையும, மதியமும் என இரண்டு வேளைகளுக்கான பஸ் சேவை மாத்திரமே உள்ளது.

அதே போல் மூதூரில் இருந்து திருகோணமலைக்கும் இரண்டு வேளைகளுக்கான பஸ் சேவை மாத்திரமே உள்ளது. வறுமையில் இருக்கும் இம்மக்களுக்கு ஏதேனும் நோய் ஏற்பட்டால் கூட திருகோணமலை வைத்தியசாலைக்கோ, மூதூர் வைத்தியசாலைக்கோதான் செல்ல வேண்டும்.

ஆனால் போக்குவரத்து வசதிக் குறைவு காரணமாக உரிய நேரத்தில் வைத்தியசாலைகளுக்கு சென்று சிகிச்சை பெறுகின்றமை சாத்தியம் அல்ல.

இக்கிராமத்துக்கு பொறுப்பான கிராம சேவையாளருக்கு ஏராளமான முறைபாடுகளை கொடுத்துள்ளபோதிலும் எவ்விதமான பலனும் கிட்டவே இல்லை என்கின்றனர் இக்கிராம மக்கள்.”

Al Jazeera spotlights Sri Lanka's alleged War Crimes

Al Jazeera, the international news network headquartered in Qatar, published photographs Wednesday "showing graphic scenes, with dead bodies blindfolded, hands bound [and] shot through the head," that appear to provide further believable evidence of alleged massacre of Tamils during final stages of Sri Lanka's civil war. One of the photos shows a line of bodies, including what is believed to be the body of the son of Velupillai Prabhakaran, the leader of the rebel group, the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam, or Tamil Tigers, that was defeated in the civil war, the news network said.

Another photo shows the naked body of a young woman and the body of a boy, perhaps in his early teens, Al Jaeera reported.

The Sri Lankan government has always denied allegations of war crimes and promised to take action if it finds evidence of atrocities, the network said.

Sri Lanka officials responded to the damaging publicity from the prima facie authentic photographs with the familiar refrain: "Sri Lanka has launched an 'independent' inquiry into the photos of the alleged massacre."

Sri Lanka has repeatedly rejected international calls for an independent inquiry into the war against the Tamil Tigers, in which a former UN spokesman has said more than 30,000 Tamil civilians were killed.

The mounting evidence and the efforts by the Sri Lanka Government to whitewash the war crimes by proceeding with its own commission of inquiries (LLRC) prompted three international human rights watchdogs, International Crisis Group, Human Rights Watch and Amnesty International, to slam the commission failing to “meet basic international standards for independent and impartial inquiries."

Some of the scenery in the photos is similar to that in video material leaked to the international media which seems to show the execution of Tamil Tiger fighters by Sri Lankan soldiers. Again the Sri Lankan government denied the military carried out the executions, however, after detailed examination, professor Philip Alston, the UN’s former special rapporteur to Sri Lanka, said he believes the video is genuine," Al Jazeera said.

Since the end of the war in May last year, no one from the military has been charged with any offence and no evidence has emerged from the government inquiries. Critics say the Sri Lankan government is writing its own history, the news network added.

Tuesday, November 9, 2010

War crimes whitewashed: Why human rights groups reject Sri Lanka’s reconciliation commission By Louise Arbour, Kenneth Roth, Salil Shetty

While we would welcome the opportunity to appear before a genuine, credible effort to pursue accountability and reconciliation in Sri Lanka, the Lessons Learnt and Reconciliation Commission (LLRC) falls far short of such an effort. It not only fails to meet basic international standards for independent and impartial inquiries, but it is proceeding against a backdrop of government failure to address impunity and continuing human rights abuses. Our three organisations believe that the persistence of these and other destructive trends indicates that currently Sri Lanka’s government and justice system cannot or will not uphold the rule of law and respect basic rights.
We have highlighted our concerns in a number of reports. Of particular relevance are Crisis Group’s May 2010 report “War Crimes in Sri Lanka” and its June 2009 report “Sri Lanka’s Judiciary: Politicised Courts, Compromised Rights”; Human Rights Watch’s February 2010 report “Legal Limbo: The Uncertain Fate of Detained LTTE Suspects in Sri Lanka” and its February 2009 report “War on the Displaced: Sri Lankan Army and LTTE Abuses against Civilians in the Vanni”; and Amnesty International’s June 2009 report “Twenty Years of Make Believe: Sri Lanka’s Commissions of Inquiry” and its August 2009 “Unlock the Camps in Sri Lanka: Safety and Dignity for the Displaced Now”. Unfortunately, Sri Lanka has made no progress since the end of the war in addressing our concerns detailed in these reports.

In addition to these broader failings of the government, we believe that the LLRC is deeply flawed in structure and practice. Of particular concern are the following:
Inadequate mandate

Nothing in the LLRC’s mandate requires it to investigate the many credible allegations that both the government security forces and the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE) committed serious violations of international humanitarian and human rights law during the civil war, especially in the final months, including summary executions, torture, attacks on civilians and civilian objects, and other war crimes. The need to investigate them thoroughly and impartially is especially urgent given the government’s efforts to promote its methods of warfare abroad as being protective of the civilian population, when the facts demonstrate otherwise.

Nor has the LLRC shown any genuine interest in investigating such allegations. Instead, it has allowed government officials to repeat unchallenged what they have been saying without basis for months: that the government strictly followed a “zero civilian casualty policy”. Indeed, during the testimony of Defence Secretary Gotabaya Rajapaksa on 17 August 2010, the primary intervention of the Commission chairman, CR de Silva, was to prompt the secretary to provide the Commission with a February 14 2009 letter from the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) thanking the Navy for assisting in a medical evacuation.

While highlighting that one letter, the chairman and his colleagues failed to ask the defence secretary about any of the ICRC’s numerous public statements between January and the end of May 2009 raising concerns about excessive civilian casualties, violations of international humanitarian law and insufficient humanitarian access.

The Commission also has not required officials to explain the government’s public misrepresentations during the war. Particularly disturbing are the government’s repeated claims that there were under 100,000 civilians left in the Vanni at the beginning of 2009 when officials later conceded there were some 300,000, and that Sri Lankan forces were not using heavy weapons in civilian areas when the military eventually admitted they were.
Lack of independence

A fundamental requirement for any commission of this type is that its members are independent. The membership of the LLRC is far from that. To start, both chairman de Silva and member HMGS Palihakkara were senior government representatives during the final year of the war. They publicly defended the conduct of the government and military against allegations of war crimes.

Indeed during two widely reported incidents " the shelling of the first “no-fire zone” declared by the government in late January and the shelling of Puthukkudiyiruppu (PTK) hospital in February" Palihakkara, then Sri Lanka’s representative to the UN, told CNN that government forces had confirmed that even though the LTTE was firing out from the “no-fire zone”, the government was not returning fire; and that the military had confirmed they knew the coordinates of PTK hospital and they had not fired on it.

Beyond his public defence of government conduct during the war, there is also evidence that as attorney general, CR de Silva actively undermined the independence of the 2006-2009 Presidential Commission of Inquiry that was tasked with investigating allegations of serious human rights violations by the security forces.

Most other members of the LLRC have some history of working for the Sri Lankan government. None is known for taking independent political positions, and many have publicly declared their allegiance to the president and government.
Absence of witness protection

Equally worrying is the absence of any provisions for the protection of witnesses who may wish to testify before the Commission. Sri Lanka has never had a functioning witness protection system, nor has the Commission established any ad hoc procedures for witness protection.

The lack of witness protection is particularly crippling in the current atmosphere in Sri Lanka in which government officials label as “traitors” persons making allegations that government forces might have committed violations of international law. Only a brave few have testified before the LLRC about war crimes in the north despite that threat.

Moreover, even though the war is over, the country is still operating under a state of emergency, with laws that criminalise political speech and where there is no meaningful investigation of attacks on government critics. This clearly undermines the Commission’s ability to conduct credible investigations of alleged violations of international or national law. Until effective protection of witnesses can be guaranteed, no organisation or individual can responsibly disclose confidential information to the Commission.
Past commission failures

Our decision to decline the LLRC’s invitation to testify also stems from Sri Lanka’s long history of failed and politicised commissions of inquiry. Amnesty International’s report, “Twenty Years of Make-Believe: Sri Lanka’s Commissions of Inquiry”, documents the failure of successive Sri Lankan governments to provide accountability for violations, including enforced disappearances, unlawful killings and torture.

Today Sri Lanka has no credible domestic mechanisms able to respond effectively to serious human rights violations. The Sri Lankan Human Rights Commission lacks independence and has itself acknowledged its lack of capacity to deal with investigations into enforced disappearances. At the international level, Sri Lanka has 5,749 outstanding cases being reviewed by the UN Working Group on Enforced and Involuntary Disappearances, several hundred of which have been reported since the beginning of 2006.

Should a genuine and credible process eventually be established ��" featuring truly independent commission members, effective powers of witness protection, and a mandate to explore the full range of alleged violations of national and international law; and backed up by government action to end impunity and ensure that police and courts launch effective and impartial prosecutions ��" we all would be pleased to appear.
Louise Arbour is president and CEO of International Crisis Group; Kenneth Roth is executive director of Human Rights Watch; Salil Shetty is secretary general of Amnesty International.
[Courtesy:Nation]

பூநகரியில் மூன்று பிள்ளைகளின் தாய் மீது இராணுவச் சிப்பாய்கள் வல்லுறவு

தனிமையில் மூன்று பிள்ளைகளுடன் வசித்து வந்த இளம் தாய் ஒருவர் கடந்த சனிக்கிழமை அதிகாலை இரண்டு இராணுவச் சிப்பாய்களால் பாலியல் வல்லுறவுக்கு உட்படுத்தப்பட்டுள்ளார் என்றும் இது தொடர்பாக தமக்கு முறைப்பாடு கிடைத்துள்ளது என்றும் வன்னிமாவட்ட நாடாளுமன்ற உறுப்பினர் சிவஞானம் ஸ்ரீதரன் நேற்று தெரிவித்தார்.

பூநகரி, கிராஞ்சி மொட்டையன் புலவு பிரதேசத்திலேயே இச்சம்பவம் இடம்பெற்றுள்ளது. கடந்த சனிக்கிழமை அதிகாலை நான்கு மணியளவில் பிரஸ்தாபப் பெண்ணின் வீட்டுக்குள் அத்துமீறி நுழைந்து இந்தக் கொடூர சம்பவத்தில் இவர்கள் ஈடுபட்டுள்ளனர். இவ்வாறான சம்பவங்கள் நாளுக்கு நாள் மீள்குடியேற்றப்பட்ட பிரதேசங்களில் அதிகரித்து வருகின்றன என்றும், மரண பயம் காரணமாக இப்படியான சம்பவங்கள் வெளிவருவதில்லை என்றும் அவர் மேலும் கூறினார்.

இதேவேளை, கிளிநொச்சி விசுவமடுப்பகுதியில் சில மாதங்களுக்கு முன்னர் இரு குடும்பப் பெண்கள் சில இராணுவத்தினரால் பாலியல் வல்லுறவுக்குட்படுத்தப்பட்டமை தெரிந்ததே. இது தொடர்பான வழக்கு கிளிநொச்சி நீதிமன்றத்தில் விசாரணை செய்யப்பட்டு வருவது குறிப்பிடத்தக்கது.

Monday, November 8, 2010

சிறீலங்கா அரசு மேற்கொண்ட போர்க்குற்ற ஆதாரங்களில் சில இணைப்பு வடிவில்…….

சிறீலங்கா அரசு மேற்கொண்ட போர்க்குற்றங்கள் மற்றும் மனித உரிமை மீறல்கள் குறித்த ஆலோசனைகளை வழங்குவதற்கென ஐக்கிய நாடுகள் சபை ஆலோசனைக்குழுவை அமைத்துள்ள நிலையில் போர்க்குற்ற ஆதாரங்களை சமர்ப்பிப்பதற்கான ஏற்பாடுகளை தமிழ் மக்கள் மேற்கொண்டு வருகின்றனர்.

இந்த நிலையில் சிறீலங்கா அரசு மேற்கொண்ட போர்க்குற்றங்கள் தொடர்பில் வெளியாகிய காணொளிகளில் சில இங்கு தரப்பட்டுள்ளன.

கூட்டமாக கொல்ப்பட்ட தமிழ் மக்கள். சீருடைதரித்த சிறீலங்கா படையினரால் மேற்கொள்ளப்படும் நீதிக்குப்புறம்பான படுகொலைகள். இது பிரித்தானியாவை தளமாகக் கொண்ட சனல் போஃர் செய்தி நிறுவனம் வெளியிட்ட ஆதாரம்.

இந்த படுகொலை காணொளி உண்மையானது என ஐக்கிய நாடுகள் சபையின் நீதிக்குப் புறம்பான படுகொலை தொடர்பான அதிகாரி பிரில் அல்ஸ்ரன் தெரிவித்திருந்தார்.

முள்வேலி முகாம்களுக்குள் அடைக்கப்பட்ட பொதுமக்கள் மீதான வன்முறைகள்.

http://www.pakistan.tv/videos-war-crimes-during-the-sri-lankan-%5BsGGwyMeLs70%5D.cfm

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=R7zaSJMkXuE&feature=related

http://en.kendincos.net/video-hndhvvp-shocking-leak-sri-lankan-army-mass-rape-and-execution-of-tamil-women-report-by-australian-media-.html

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Mb9QX4AYGys&feature=related

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eksn5X7lT6s&feature=related

http://www.youtube.com/verify_age?next_url=http%3A//www.youtube.com/watch%3Fv%3DK7leSySfn0A

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vdFKlQT_Ta8&feature=related

Friday, November 5, 2010

Sri Lanka's Kumar Sangakkara bats during the Twenty20 International against Australia at the WACA (Getty Images: Paul Kane)

If Zimbabwe, why not Sri Lanka?

Sam Pari

http://www.abc.net.au/unleashed/40790.html

As Aussie cricket fans, myself included, plan to gather today in pubs and in front of television screens to cheer for green and gold, I can’t help but cringe at the team we are cheering against.

Every time the Sri Lankans hit a six we ‘boo’ in unison, but is there more that we should be ‘boo’-ing about? Even still should we be playing cricket with a country accused of war crimes?

Some may argue that one should not mix sports with politics. However, that is only a convenient bypass considering only a few years ago we boycotted a cricket tour of Zimbabwe, and our former foreign minister Alexander Downer even called for Zimbabwe to be banned from the International Cricket Council.

So I ask: If Zimbabwe, why not Sri Lanka?

In fact, for Sri Lanka, sports and politics seems to be very much intertwined - retired cricket captains, Sanath Jayasuriya and Arjuna Ranatunga have entered politics; Ajantha Mendis is in the Sri Lankan Armed Forces.

Ranked 133 out of 149 (which is lower than Burma) in the 2010 Global Peace Index, Sri Lanka’s human rights record is nothing to admire.

Claiming last year to have won a 25 year civil war, the country’s government has been riddled with allegations of complicity in war crimes, with Human Rights Watch, Amnesty International and the International Crisis Group repeatedly calling for an independent investigation. There has been video footage, photographic evidence and even recordings of admissions by a Sri Lankan army commander and a frontline soldier of torture of the Tamil surrenderees and even their execution by the Sri Lankan armed forces. Ample evidence also exists of civilian locations being bombed and hospitals being shelled.

Like Zimbabwe’s Mugabe, Sri Lanka’s Rajapakse government continues to reject international concerns - when the UN Secretary-General appointed a Panel of Experts to conduct an ‘inquiry into accountability’, they were denied entry visas. The government even took to the streets, an act usually practiced by dissenters of the government. A protest led by Sri Lanka's own cabinet minister, Wimal Weerawansa (he even burned an effigy of Ban Ki Moon in the streets) brought the UN head office in Sri Lanka under siege, blocking UN workers from leaving and ultimately forcing the UN to close its office and withdraw its top envoy to Sri Lanka for fear of staff security.

Similar to Zimbabwe’s opposition leader Morgan Tsvangirai, opposition parties in Sri Lanka too are voiceless. The current leader of the Opposition and former Army Commander, Sarath Fonseka (who himself has been accused of war crimes) was arrested just hours after he announced he was prepared to give evidence at an international tribunal investigating the war, and since then has been publicly threatened with execution if maintained his stance that top government officials may have been involved in war crimes. He has since been sentenced to 30 months in prison.

The latest UNHCR report on Sri Lanka still claims that certain groups continue to be at grave risk including journalists, human rights activists and former Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam combatants, with allegations continuing to surface of their abuse in detention. Freedom of speech is an anomaly with even western publications being silenced - The Economist was impounded only days after it published an op-ed piece critical of the Rajapakse government.

Similar to Mugabe, the Rajapakse regime too holds its grip on autocratic power. In September this year, the Sri Lankan government approved a change to the constitution which saw the scrapping of the two-term presidential limit and allowing of the president to appoint judges, police, election commissioners, and central bank officials. Known as the 18^th Amendment, this dangerous change now strengthens President Rajapakse’s increasingly tight grip on power and further politicises the island’s police and the judiciary.

Already, three of the president’s brothers have been appointed by him into senior parliamentary and ministerial posts, including that of defence secretary. His son is part of the Parliament and other members of the extended family hold senior government positions, following elections that were wrought with corruption. The family also controls about 75 per cent of the country’s finances.

The Asian Human Rights Commission has described this latest constitutional amendment as a change from a “phantom democracy into a complete dictatorship”. Former senior official with the United Nations in Sri Lanka, Gordon Weiss has stated that democracy in Sri Lanka has been dying for some time. The United States has openly condemned the amendment voicing its concern “that this constitutional amendment weakens checks and balances and thus undermines the principles of constitutional democracy”.

So if Zimbabwe, why not Sri Lanka?

In Australia, there is still a vigorous debate on the asylum seeker issue. Recently, there has been a significant increase in those arriving from Sri Lanka and many of whom are found to be legitimate refugees fleeing in fear of persecution. This suggests that the root cause of the problem is in Sri Lanka and not Australia’s policy. So, really, the blame for our detention centres being filled to maximum capacity and for the increase in asylum seeker claims is the Sri Lankan State itself. So, should we be playing cricket with a country which is responsible for so many people fleeing on boats towards us? Would we play cricket with the Burmese Junta or the Taliban in Afghanistan?

Therefore, refusing to play against Sri Lanka will not only be an act of moral conviction, as it had been in the case of Zimbabwe, but in a nation where cricket is revered by its people, the defiant Sri Lankan government could also be pressured to uphold human rights by its own population if country after country refuses to play cricket with its team. After all, it was an international boycott (not just of cricket) that brought the South African apartheid regime to its knees.

So, as the Rajapakse government creeps steadily towards autocracy and the Tamil community, journalists and human rights activists on the island continue to be persecuted, I can’t help but think: If Zimbabwe, why not Sri Lanka?

In any case, I sure hope Australia wins today.

Dr Sam Pari was a panellist at the International Peace Research Association Conference 2010. She is the spokesperson of the Australian Tamil Congress.

Sunday, October 31, 2010

Now it is the turn for cultural genocide in the Tamil homeland - By Satheesan Kumaaran

As part of its conspiracy to eliminate Tamils from their homeland, the Sinhalese government of Colombo, after completion of genocide of Tamils, is now engaged in changing the cultural face of the Tamil homeland with xenophobic zeal, writes Satheesan Kumaaran in his article titled "Now it is the turn for cultural Genocide in　the Tamil homeland."

He writes that the Sri Lankan government’s agenda to eliminate the Tamils by destroying their culture follows the adage that "if you want to destroy a particular ethnic group, destroy their culture and their concept of a homeland".　

"Unless the TNA politicians and Diaspora Tamils take immediate action to stop the flow of Sinhalese into Tamil homeland in the guise of resettlement, Tamil homeland will be Sinhalacised within less than five years.　 The Tamil identity will be wiped out soon from the anti-Tamil agenda as well as the increasing anti-social events taking place in the Tamil homeland", he writes further.
-Eelam Nation-

Full article written exclusively for eelamnation.net website follows

Now it is the turn for cultural Genocide in　the Tamil homeland

By Satheesan Kumaaran

With the genocide of the Tamils almost complete, no time is being lost to culturally change the face of the Tamil homeland with xenophobic zeal. When the war was raging in the traditional Tamil homeland, many countries around the world, including India, raised their voices to say that Tamil aspirations should be fulfilled peacefully.　 Things have changed.　 With the LTTE silencing their guns in May last year, the Sri Lankan government is taking every opportunity to destroy the Tamils and their culture through various methods including grabbing their lands for the Sinhalese from the south with hundreds of thousands of Sinhalese plunging into Tamils’ cultural city Jaffna with malicious a agenda, and new Buddhist temples being erected on a daily basis throughout Tamil home lands.

The Sri Lankan government’s agenda to eliminate the Tamils by destroying their culture follows the adage that "if you want to destroy a particular ethnic group, destroy their culture and their concept of a homeland".　 With this in view, Sri Lankan President Mahinda Rajapaksa’s brother, Basil Rajapaksa, a renowned racist and Minister for Economic Development and Chairman, has been entrusted with the task.　 Presidential Task Force for Development, Resettlement and Security in the Northern Province has come up with the agenda in order to achieve the Sinhalisation of traditional Tamil homeland for which Tamils have fought over 60 years both peacefully and militarily until the defeat of the LTTE last year.

The latest instance was　the unauthorised entry into the Jaffna public library by some Sinhalese people from the South who demanded that they be allowed because they had come from the presidential secretariat a classic example of how the unauthorized Sinhalese people could once again desecrate cultural centres with government patronage and with impunity.　

On Saturday, 23, October 2010 a group of Sinhala visitors from the South rushed into library while the All Ceylon Medical Association sessions were in progress. The group was a section of Sinhala tourists who had arrived in more than 30 buses to the main entrance of Jaffna Public Library. Although there was a sign board in three languages – Sinhala, Tamil and English -- on display that no visitors will be allowed during the usual visiting hours 4:30 pm to 6:30 pm on account of the　 conference, the Sinhala visitors had demanded from the　 security guard and the only unarmed policeman to allow them in. Following a heated argument, the visitors smashed the sign board and overpowered the guard and stormed into the library where the seminar was in progress. Meanwhile, the policeman had alerted the Jaffna police station.

The local headquarters inspector arrived on the scene, but was threatened by a member of the group claiming he was from the Presidential Secretariat. The Inspector was forced to withdraw from the scene. Later, Jaffna Town Commander and Civil Affairs Co-ordinator, Major Bandara, arrived at the scene. He, too, failed in his attempt to control the crowd. The visitors who stormed into the library had torn some of the Tamil newspapers displaying photographs of Tamil politicians. They also threw into disorder the books in the Library shelves which were systematically arranged according to standard procedure. The mob spent nearly three hours inside the Library, defying rules of the library. This is instance of the serious threats to Tamil culture in the future.

Sinhala Buddhist Xenophobia

Sinhala Buddhist extremists continue to claim that the Tamils are either boat-people or conquerors who encroached the lands occupied by Sinhalese, stating that the Tamils from South India occupied north and eastern parts of the island.　 On the other hand, the main Sinhala Buddhist Chronicle, the ‘Mahavamsa’, the bedrock of Sinhala Buddhist chauvinism, clearly states that Vijaya, the first Sinhalese to reach Sri Lanka from north-eastern part of India to Sri Lanka, India, along with his 700 followers, went back to South India to marry Tamil women whose descendents constituted the Sinhalese race, before the Tamils settled in Sri Lanka.　

One does not have to be a rocket scientist to assume that the Dravidian Tamils were seen as pearl divers and they were popular seafaring people.　 As this is the case, why would not these people settle well before the arrival of Vijaya in the 6th century B.C. to Sri Lanka as stated by Sinhala-Buddhist chronology?　 It is logical to believe that the Tamils were inhabitants of the island.　 As these people were native to dry lands, they settled in north and eastern parts of the island which with warmer climates as their counterparts in South India.　 Even historians and archaeologists claim that Shiva, the Hindu god, temples were seen in ancient Sri Lanka.　 There were five Eeswarams of Siva-Thiruketheeswaram near Mahathitha, Munneswaram dominating Salamatte (Chillaw), pearl fishery Thondeswaram near Dondra, Thirukoneswaram near the great Bay of Kottiyar (Trincomalee) and Naguleswaram near Kankesanturai.　 Through this analogy, it is obvious to believe that the Tamils who were Hindus were well settled in Sri Lanka before Vijaya reached Sri Lanka.

The Sinhala-Buddhist claim for the entire island as Sinhala-Buddhist land has no credibility at all.　 Tamils were living throughout North and Eastern parts of Sri Lanka well before the Europeans arrived on the island.　 They had their own kingdoms and even when the Sinhala kings sent their troops to take over Tamil lands, the southern Indian state of Tamil Nadu Chola Empire sent troops to save Tamil kingdoms in Sri Lanka.

However, as to the origins of the earliest inhabitants of Sri Lanka, Dr A. Paranavtharna, a well known researcher　 and　 former Archaeological Commissioner and Professor of Archaeology, had said: "Thus the vast majority of the people who speak Sinhalese or Tamil must ultimately be descended from those autochthonous people of whom we know next to nothing".　

After Britain left the island in 1948, the administration of the entire island went into the hands of the majority Sinhalese.　 Sinhalese brought anti-Tamil legislation weakening the Tamils politically, economically and academically.　 As a result, Tamils fought through peaceful means, but their peaceful campaigns were met with violence.　 As a result, Tamil youths took up arms to protect their identity and return their legacy.　 In the post 9/11 era, the world community began classifying all fighters as terrorists whether they fought for the right to self-determination or any other ideology.　 Now, Tamils are in the clutches of the Sinhala government facing enormous hardships and their existence is being closely scrutinized and spied upon at every turn.　

Strategies to eliminate Tamils

Basil Rajapaksa, in overseeing the methods put in place to eliminate Tamils from their homeland, began by chasing away the Tamils from their villages in the 15,000 square-kilometer Vanni region.　 When the Tamils fled their homes due to shelling and bombardment of the Sri Lankan government forces, the government put them in Nazi-style camps systematically and successfully.　

Even though the government claims that more than 250,000 Tamils have been resettled, the actual fact is that they have released most of the people who were incarcerated in the Nazi-style camps and yet many of them are not allowed to enter their home villages claiming that the areas are not safe from landmines, a story so stale that would be told till the cows come home.　

On the other hand, the Sri Lankan government is sending in hundreds of Sinhalese, who are relatives of government loyalists and especially families of the Sri Lankan armed forces, into the Vanni region.　 The Vanni region is in the process of Sinhalisation.　 While the original landowners live with their relatives or friends and or temporary shelters, Sinhalese from south are being given the prime real estate of their choice on the instructions of the rabid racist party of predominantly Buddhist monks.

Already, Tamils, who were the majority in the regions before the island gained independence, have been minorities in their homeland in the eastern part of the island.　 Many village names are being replaced with Sinhala names.　 Communal tension is high in this region.

Now the Sri Lankan government’s agenda is to colonize the North where over 90 percent are Tamils.　 Unless the Tamil National Alliance (TNA), which is the Tamil political party with majority Tamils votes in Sri Lankan parliament, does take necessary steps to stop the Sinhalisation of Tamil lands, the North will become a Sinhalese region in less than five years.　 The question is whether the Tamils who the Rajapaksa brothers claim live in Sinhalese areas have had the influence the naming of Sinhala areas in Tamil.

Sinhalese ownership claim in Jaffna

Basil is on the move to bring about 5,000 Sinhalese to Jaffna peninsula with the claim that they lived there before the war broke out in 1983. Actually, they were advised to leave the north by the security forces as there was a massive Pogrom that was being planned by the State. The first of these persons started to leave while the Jaffna public library was burning.　　　Already 500 families comprising 2,000 individuals have reached Jaffna, paying huge sums as rent or purchasing properties at high prices.

The Sinhalese tourists engage in activities which are not tolerated with conservative Jaffna civilians such as the promotion of pornography, prostitution and easy access to illegal drugs and alcohol available at cheaper prices.　 The Sri Lankan government knows that by destroying Tamil culture, they think that they can eliminate the Tamils and their identity.　 This way, the Sri Lankan government thinks that the Tamils are no longer a homogenous community but they have turned into a mix-breed, and hence they will not demand a separate Tamil State.　

In a new episode, a few weeks ago, 180 Sinhalese were brought into Jaffna peninsula, temporarily sheltered at the Jaffna Railway Station and the Duraiappa Stadium.　 These people do not seem to be families, but they are mostly teenagers and adults.　 Most of these people were brought from Anuradhapura and Mihinthale, and some of them are nurses and other professions in health care.

As per the Sri Lankan government’s agenda, Basil oversees the process of insertion of the Sinhalese with the support of the Sri Lankan army authorities and senior Sri Lankan government ministers.　 They want the Sinhalese to be settled in the lands owned by the Tamils who were forced to abandon their homes by the Sri Lankan army with the excuse that those areas are designated as high security zones which apparently are suitable for the Sinhalese to live in but not the Tamils, revealing the degree of suspicion, discrimination and inequality that the Tamils who are referred to also being Sri Lankan citizens have to endure in a racist State. The irony is that the owners of the lands are not able to visit their properties as the Sri Lankan armed forces have put up camps in the civilian lands and the government is trying to settle Sinhalese in these areas.　

The government also thinks that by settling Sinhalese, it could create an ethnic confrontation like how it is in the East.　 Further, the government feels that the settlement of Sinhalese will weaken the political representation of the Tamils. It is necessary that that Tamils take immediate necessary steps, especially the Diasporas, by setting aside their petty differences, coming closer together pressuring their respective governments to prevail on the Sri Lankan government to grant autonomy for the Tamils by the reorganization of North and East as the traditional homeland of Tamils, a concept which was put forward in 1976 by the elected representatives of the Tamils in 1976.

What do politicians say?

Although the ruling United People’s Freedom Alliance (UPFA) government always have opposite views on almost all issues with the opposition United National Party (UNP), both parties agree on one issue, which is the Tamil issue. If the Sri Lanka Freedom Party (SLFP) or UPFA takes action against Tamils on any issue, the UNP will come forth with stronger terms much heavier than the SLFP or UPFA and vice versa.　 This is what happens in the south when the Tamil question comes up since the island gained independence.　
In regard to colonizing Tamil homeland, while the Mahinda administration rapidly settles Sinhalese in the North, the UNP General Secretary Tissa Attanayake said that the government should take immediate steps to resettle the Sinhalese in their lands where they lived 28 years ago. He said the government should provide support to the Sinhalese who shelter in the Jaffna Railway Station and Duraiyappa Stadium as refugees.　 He blamed the government saying that it is not taking rapid action to resettle them.

The extremist Sinhala-Buddhist party and the ally of the ruling government, Jathika Hela Urumaya (JHU) leader Ven.Omalpe Sobitha Thera, said that more than 150 Sinhalese are stranded in the Alfred Duraiyappa stadium and Railway Station in Jaffna, as they have not been allowed to settle in their lands.　 The JHU maintains that the displaced Sinhalese families have necessary legal documentation to prove ownership to their lands. "The government should not give in to illegal acts," said Ven. Omalpe Sobitha Thera.

He further said that 165,444 Sinhalese fled following the war that had erupted in 1983.　 He said that the government should resettle them in their lands or JHU should come to the streets against the government with the support of Sinhala general public.　 He further said that if the government fails to settle the Sinhalese, he reminded that the Hindu temples in the south will be destroyed, and at least by doing so let’s hope that the Hindu-Tamils would feel the sentiments of Buddhist-Sinhalese.　

Not more than a few hundred Sinhalese, most of them were traders, teachers, monks or students, stayed temporarily in the North but never had properties in the North as the monk is claiming.

Minister of Resettlement, Milroy Fernando, has promised Sinhala families temporary shelter at the Jaffna Railway Station and Duraiappa Stadium, telling them that they will soon receive the ownership of lands in Jaffna peninsula. He said the ownership of the lands within the Jaffna Peninsula previously dominated by these Sinhalese will be given back to them upon completion of the legal procedures with regard to government lands in these areas.

Ms. Imalda Sugumar, the Government Agent of Jaffna, had said that it was not possible to resettle these Sinhalese families in Jaffna immediately. In a communication to Basil Rajapaksa, Ms. Sugumar has reported that suddenly, some Sinhalese families have emerged at the Jaffna old railway station and they were demanding resettlement, and they do not have any legal rights to seek for settlement in Jaffna, as they did not own any properties despite their claim that they lived in Jaffna.　 She said that just by staying in Jaffna does not mean that they had land ownership.

The EPDP leader and the Minister of Traditional Industries and Small Enterprise Development, Douglas Devananda, says that these Sinhalese families seeking residence in Jaffna do not have deeds or any other legal documents to establish that they are the owners of the homes they supposedly lived in at Jaffna.　 Devananda did visit the families to discuss their troubles and promised to provide food and other basic needs until they were resettled.

Devananda said: "It is not possible to resettle these people immediately because there are a lot of land related issues in Jaffna. We are already having trouble resettling thousands of people who are already living in the North. It will take months to resettle these people in Jaffna." He also said that the Sinhalese had lived with Tamil people in Jaffna for more than 50 years and now they are also not pure Sinhala as there are also many Tamils by marriage and they have Tamil relatives.　 They also have told him that even today there are Tamil people here who bring them food and give other help as well.

Devananda took up arms against the Sri Lankan State in the early 1980s with the claim that the Sri Lankan State was discriminating against the Tamils.　 Just for the leadership, he switched over various militant groups, but failed to obtain leadership, then, after working as a traitor with the Indian armed forces, he gained a reputation from the Indian government. With Indian monetary aid and the assistance of the Sri Lankan State as their plant, he founded the EPDP and fought the LTTE. He then joined the Sri Lankan government just for his own political and monetary benefit.　 Up until now, he has not gained political rights of Tamils, rather his group is working side by side with the Sri Lankan armed forces.　 The EPDP is responsible for the killing of thousands of innocent Tamils. Now, he says that people whether they are Sinhalese, Muslims or Tamils can resettle in Jaffna.　

In the meantime, the President of the Association of Sinhala Displaced Persons, Mrs. Kumari Sakunthala, said that they will not leave the Jaffna station until the government mediates and finds a solution for them. Mrs. Sakunthala has also visited the Jaffna Teaching Hospital with some of the Sinhalese with their academic credentials to apply for jobs at the hospital, as they are nurses and other professions in health care.　 The Hospital administration told them that they would make inquiries with the Ministry of Health about the recruitment of new employees.　

Unless the TNA politicians and Diaspora Tamils take immediate action to stop the flow of Sinhalese into Tamil homeland in the guise of resettlement, Tamil homeland will be Sinhalacised within less than five years.　 The Tamil identity will be wiped out soon from the anti-Tamil agenda as well as the increasing anti-social events taking place in the Tamil homeland.　 After killing nearly 150,000 Tamils, the Sri Lankan State has turned its campaign to wiping out the Tamil identity.

(The author can be reached at e-mail: satheesan_kumaaran@yahoo.com)

Wednesday, October 27, 2010

India a silent partner in the genocide committed by srilanka

Thursday, October 21, 2010

பான்கிமூனின் போர்கூற்றத்திற்கான நிபுணர் குழு பாதிக்கப்பட்டோர் மற்றும் ஆர்வலர்களிடம் இருந்து அறிக்கைகளைக்கோருகின்றது

பான்கிமூனின் போர்கூற்றத்திற்கான நிபுணர் குழு பாதிக்கப்பட்டோர் மற்றும் ஆர்வலர்களிடம் இருந்து அறிக்கைகளைக்கோருகின்றது. 10 பக்கத்திற்கு உட்பட்டதாக அறிக்கை அனுப்புவோர்களது தொடர்பு விபரத்துடன் அனுப்பவேண்டும். இந்த அறிக்கைகையினை

எனும் மின்னஞ்சல் முகவரிக்கு அனுப்பலாம். அனுப்புவோர்களது.விபரம் பாதுகாப்பாக பேணப்படும் என கூறியுள்ளார் ஐக்கிய நாடுகளின் பேச்சாளர்.

Anyone wishing to make submissions in respect of the above may
do so as follows:

1. Organizations and individuals may make one written submission
not exceeding ten pages, and must include the contact details for the author(s) of the submission.

அமைப்புக்களும் தனிப்பட்டவர்களும் பத்து பக்கங்களுக்கு மேற்படாமல்
சமர்ப்பிக்கவேண்டும். அதில் எழுதியவர் பெயர் மற்றும் தொடர்பு தவல்கள்
இருக்க வேண்டும்.

2. The Panel will receive submissions until 15 December 2010.

மார்கழி 15, 2010 வரையே தாக்கல்கள் ஏற்றுக்கொள்ளப்படும்.

3. Submissions may be sent to: panelofexpertsregistry@un.org

தாக்கல்கள் அனுப்பப்பட வேண்டிய மின்னஞ்சல்
முகவரி: panelofexpertsregistry@un.org

4. Submissions made to the Panel of Experts will be treated as confidential.

தாக்கல் செய்யப்பட்டவை ( எழுதியவர் பெயர் மற்றும் தொடர்பு தவல்கள்
உட்பட) பாதுகாப்பாக பேணப்படும்.

Further information may be solicited from the Panel s Secretariat at the following address:

மேலதிக தொடர்புகளுக்கு இந்த மின்னஞ்சலில் தொடர்பு கொள்க. =====

UN panel of experts call for submissions

The UN panel of experts advising the Secretary General on alleged violations of international human rights
and humanitarian law during the final stages of the conflict in Sri Lanka has called for written submissions.

Those who wish to make submissions may make one written submission not exceeding ten pages.

It must include the contact details of witness say the panel.

The panel led by former Indonesian Attorney General Marzuki Darusman will receive submissions
until 15 December 2010 and the submissions may be sent to panelofexpertsregistry@un.org

UN says that submissions made to the Panel of Experts will be treated as confidential.

UN Secretary General’s spokesman Farhan Haq told BBC Sinhala service that Secretary
General Ban Ki-moon when he met President Mahinda Rajapaksa recently in New York,
discussed how to move forward on commitments made in the joint statement of May 2009 .

The joint statement was issued after the secretary general’s visit to Sri lanka.

“They discussed on accountability, reconciliation, and a political settlement,” said Farhan Haq. =====

http://www.bbc.co.uk/sinhala/news/story/2010/10/101020_unpan.shtml

http://www.lankatimes.com/fullstory.php?id=29524

http://www.innercitypress.com/banpan2sri102010.html http://www.tamilwin.com/view.php?2e2IPV00bHjoq2edQG1N4bch98Ycd4E2F2dc27pi2b420QH3e23nLW20
The panel led by former Indonesian Attorney General Marzuki Darusman will receive
submissions until 15 December 2010 and the submissions may be sent to

panelofexpertsregistry@un.org

Ms. Sooka Yasmin
YSooka@fhr.org.za
webmaster@justice.gov.za

Mr. Steven R. Ratner
sratner@umich.edu

Mr. Marzuki Darusman
contact.us@strategic-asia.com
info@aseanhrmech.org

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