UN Security Council urged to turn talk into action to protect civilians in armed conflict

Security Council should turn its talk into an effective response to civilian suffering, says Steve Crawshaw, UN advocacy director of Human Rights Watch at New York, on Monday.
"It's not enough for the Security Council to say something should be done about the appalling damage wars cause to civilians across the world. The council needs to do something about it."
The United Nations Security Council should make sure that its existing commitments to protect civilians during armed conflict are actually carried out, Human Rights Watch said Monday in a letter to council member states.
On June 26, 2009, the Security Council will hold a debate to discuss its work on civilian protection, in which all UN members can participate. The Security Council has made numerous commitments to protect civilians in armed conflict, especially women and children, but often has failed to follow through and engage effectively, or sometimes at all, Human Rights Watch said. As a result, its efforts to end civilian suffering during armed conflict have been grossly inadequate.
"It's not enough for the Security Council to say something should be done about the appalling damage wars cause to civilians across the world," said Steve Crawshaw, UN advocacy director at Human Rights Watch. "The council needs to do something about it."
In its letter, Human Rights Watch identified the Democratic Republic of Congo, Sudan, Chad, and Sri Lanka as examples of nations in which the Security Council has failed to take meaningful action to address and prevent civilian suffering during armed conflict. Persistent problems needing attention in those countries include: sexual violence, lack of justice and accountability for abuses, continuing violence toward internally displaced people and refugees, and violations of international humanitarian law.
The Security Council's ability to develop coherent strategies to protect civilians often suffers from a lack of information, Human Rights Watch said. To resolve the problem, the council should: ensure that the reporting requirements contained in Security Council Resolution 1820 on sexual violence and armed conflict (2008) are honored by UN field missions; require that human rights reporting by the office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights and other UN agencies is made public; and regularly invite the High Commissioner for Human Rights to brief the council with information from the ground.
Political considerations have also been a problem, leading council members to ignore civilian protection at times instead of making them a priority, Human Rights Watch said.
"The Security Council has set up this debate about the issue," Crawshaw said. "Now it should take the next step and make it a priority to remedy existing gaps in civilian protection."

European Commission provides €5 million for humanitarian assistance to displaced

The European Commission has allocated €5 million to provide life-saving humanitarian assistance to internally displaced people, mostly ethnic Tamils, placed in camps in Sri Lanka. According to a press release today, all funds are channelled through the Commission’s Humanitarian Aid department (ECHO), under the responsibility of Commissioner Louis Michel. The projects are to be implemented by non-governmental relief organisations and specialised UN agencies.
Louis Michel, European Commissioner for Development and Humanitarian Aid, said: "Europe cares deeply about the welfare of Sri Lanka and its citizens and we have always stood ready to help. After the tsunami in 2004 the European Commission provided €42 million in humanitarian aid to those most affected. In the current humanitarian crisis with more than 280,000 people displaced from their homes and living in very difficult conditions in camps, we are demonstrating our willingness to complement the efforts of the Sri Lankan authorities in meeting the enormous humanitarian challenge. However, in order to properly implement assistance, European Commission relief experts and international aid agencies must have regular and consistent access to the displaced."
The Commission’s humanitarian support covers water and sanitation, health and nutrition and non-food relief items ranging from clothes, hygiene kits and mosquito nets to infant kits.
Since 2007, the Commission has given a total of €42 million in aid for the victims of humanitarian crises in Sri Lanka, including today's allocation.
The press release further said that ECHO has a support office in Sri Lanka's capital, Colombo. It closely follows developments in the humanitarian situation and monitors the use of the Commission's relief funds.

Signs of dictatorship further endorsed – Now hunt for Sri Lankans living abroad

The government of Sri Lanka hell-bent on creating a dictatorial monarchy by unconstitutional means in the island has now launched a campaign to brand Sri Lankans who dissent the dogma of the regime and living abroad as “traitors” and severely punish them. A news release from the Ministry of Foreign Affairs states “members of the Sri Lankan expatriate community who are engaged in activities detrimental to the sovereignty and dignity of the country would be severely dealt with, said Foreign Minister Rohitha Bogollagama”.
It further said that the government is seeking assistance of INTERPOL to get these Sri Lankans extradited from the countries they live in at the moment. Minister apparently was speaking at a ceremony held to felicitate the defense forces. This is a further endorsement of the dictatorial approach of the Sri Lankan government.
It is common knowledge that dozens of journalists from this Paradise Island were compelled to leave to safer countries due to death threats supposedly have been issued by ‘powers that be’ and physical attacks meted out on them. Now the government wants to silence the voices of some of these journalists who are working in exile by threatening them.
It is interesting to note that the government is not only suppressing the media freedom in Sri Lanka but making attempts to take the media suppression overseas through INTERPOL. (Lankanews)

Tamil issue a big problem for Sri Lanka

COLOMBO, Sri Lanka, June 23 (UPI) -- The Sri Lankan military's victory ending the 26-year Tamil Tiger rebellion is only weeks old, but already the euphoria is giving way to rising international concerns about what awaits the country's Tamil-speaking minority in the future.
The plight of the minority in the predominantly Buddhist country of about 21 million is reflected in the humanitarian crisis of the about 300,000 Tamil civilians now housed in poorly supplied, military-run shelters after being driven from their homes by the war in which several thousands died.
The current Sri Lankan government of President Mahinda Rajapaksa is firm that these internally displaced persons would be resettled in six months, but outsiders disagree.
The government, already facing calls for a probe into alleged human-rights abuses in the final stages of the war, is coming under increasing pressure to address the plight of the IDPs, many reported to be living in deplorable conditions in the shelters.
Many of the Tamils were originally brought to the island nation from India by colonial British in the past two centuries to work as laborers on tea and coffee plantations. Their assimilation has been problematic ever since and became worse after Sri Lanka gained independence in 1948.
The resources of Sri Lanka, a poor country even in peace times, are stretched thin as a result of the prolonged civil war. International aid agencies also face problems in the current global financial crisis as they must deal with similar monumental refugee problems from Darfur to Pakistan.
Sri Lanka is receiving more attention as it celebrates its victory even as questions arise whether it can win the peace.
In a report this month, the Human Rights Group in New York said for more than a year, the Sri Lankan government has detained virtually everyone displaced by the fighting in military-run camps in violation of international law.
It said the Sri Lankan government should end the "illegal detention of nearly 300,000 ethnic Tamils" and warned that past government practice and absence of any concrete plans for their release raise serious concerns about indefinite confinement.
There is still no firm figure of the number of civilians killed during the final assault on the Tiger rebels, but estimates have ranged as high as tens of thousands.
The beleaguered Sri Lankan government has given greater access to the shelter camps for aid agencies, but the agencies say it is still not enough. The government says unrestricted access is not possible until it has determined the IDPs have no links to Tiger rebels or that no rebels are hiding among them.
One U.N. Official, quoting senior Sri Lankan military officials, has been quoted as saying he fears many of the displaced Tamils may still be in these camps a year from now despite government promises. A BBC report said the United Nations is concerned the shelters appear to be of a permanent nature, as efforts were under way to set up phone lines, schools and banks.
The Sri Lankan military may claim to have decimated the Tamil Tigers' leadership. However, in a recent article on TamilNet.com, a Web site the Tigers frequently use, the rebels' remnants said they have formed a "transnational government" to strengthen their Tamil diaspora and to "achieve the goal of independence and sovereignty … in the home country and to meet the international challenges internationally."
The article's message to fellow Tamils was the "contemporary world system including its apex body the United Nations, have shown least regards for the life, safety, dignity and human rights of Eelam Tamils."
The concern among some Sri Lankans is that their country in its current vulnerable situation might be exploited by outside powers.
The plea in some Sri Lankan media is that the Tamils and their Sinhalese counterparts now have a chance to meet free from fear of terrorism to achieve racial amity and national integration.
That would involve, among other things, the government allowing as much self-government as possible to the Tamils.
But before that happens, the civilian refugees must be resettled.
"Any long delay in resettling these war-ravaged Tamil people will further alienate them," Sri Lankan analyst D.B.S. Jeyaraj told the BBC, adding the future depends on how the Rajapaksa government reaches out to win the hearts and minds of the Tamil people.

Tamil politician accused of helping Sri Lanka rebels

South Asia News
Jun 23, 2009, 6:48 GMT http://www.monstersandcritics.com/news/southasia/news/article_1485250.php/Tamil_politician_accused_of_helping_Sri_Lanka_rebels_#ixzz0JH3szuhq&D

Colombo - An opposition Tamil minority legislator has been arrested for allegedly helping the rebels of the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE), a local newspaper said Tuesday.
Sathasivam Kanagaratnam, a member of parliament representing the Tamil National Alliance (TNA), was living in the rebel-controlled area in northern Sri Lanka and escaped two days before the defeat of the rebels in a major military action last month.
The lawmaker has been accused of violating the Emergency Regulations, which give wide powers to the security forces, but no other specific charges have been brought against him.
Kanagaratnam appeared before a magistrate in Colombo and has been remanded until July 26, the Daily News reported.
Earlier three doctors were also detained for allegedly working with the LTTE and carrying out propaganda for the rebel movement. They were accused of feeding the media pictures and information about civilian casualties allegedly caused by the military.
More than 10,000 former rebels are reported to have surrendered to the security forces. Some of them are undergoing rehabilitation while the more senior members are to be tried in the courts.http://www.monstersandcritics.com/news/southasia/news/article_1485250.php/Tamil_politician_accused_of_helping_Sri_Lanka_rebels_#ixzz0JH3SWeUF&D

Devananda to contest elections under Rajapaksa's ‘Betel Leaf’ symbol

Sri Lankan Minister and General Secretary of Eelam Peoples’ Democratic Party (EPDP), Douglas Devananda, announced Tuesday in Jaffna that his party will contest the local government elections of Jaffna Municipal Council (JMC) and Vavuniyaa Town Council (TC) under ‘Betel Leaf’ symbol, the common symbol of the ruling United Peoples’ Freedom Alliance (UPFA), sources in Jaffna said. Mr. Devananda has been under pressure from the ruling SLFP to join the party in recent times, giving up the "Eelam" identity, according to informed sources, which also revealed that Devananda was forced to give up his plan of contesting under his party symbol Vee'nai.

20 EPDP candidates and 9 from other coalition parties in the UPFA will consist of the total 29 contesting JMC election while 6 EPDP candidates will contest in Vavuniyaa TC election, Douglas Devananda said among his supporters assembled in Srithar Theatre, the main office of EPDP in Jaffna, Tuesday morning.Meanwhile, the government is actively engaged in launching some 'development' activities in Jaffna peninsula with the view to lure in voters.Opening up of roads which had remained closed for public use for a long time, lifting fishing ban and announcing to resume 24 hours electricity supply to the peninsula are also some of the propaganda activities launched by Colombo.

Douglas Devananda handed over 5 omnibuses to Koa’ndaavil Depot of Sri Lanka Transport Board to be used in local transport services and gave agricultural implements to the farmers in Jaffna Tuesday.“Though the parties contesting along with EPDP have different aims of their own, here we stand united to achieve a common goal,” Douglas told his supporters.“We are contesting these elections not for the sake of us but for the people to live freely and that is why we had chosen to contest under the Betel Leaf symbol”, he further said attempting to justify his decision.