Victims of war hit by Sri Lanka tax on aid workers

The Sri Lankan Government is trying to siphon off millions of dollars of humanitarian aid by imposing a 0.9 per cent tax on all funding for aid groups, The Times has learnt.
Aid workers said that Burma was the only other country that they could remember imposing such a tax — one of several new measures hampering their efforts to help victims of Sri Lanka’s recent civil war.
The new tax regime was unveiled in 2006 but not enforced immediately. Most agencies did not comply, as they hoped to persuade the Government to change it, according to aid workers. In the past year, however, the Government has grown increasingly hostile towards foreign aid groups and Western donors, accusing many of sympathising with the Tamil Tiger rebels, who were defeated in May.
It has started to insist that local and international non-governmental organisations (NGOs) should pay the 0.9 per cent tax on all their funding — backdated to 2005.
That could amount to several million pounds, as there are at least 89 such international and local organisations in Sri Lanka, mostly helping victims of the 2004 tsunami and the 26-year civil war.
They can apply for remittances if they can prove that funds were spent directly on humanitarian relief, rather than training or staff costs, in areas specifically approved by the Government. However, they are having varying degrees of success, with one international body being forced to pay out $320,000 (£196,000) under the new rules. It is still negotiating its tax bill for 2007-09.
“If it’s non-profit work, it shouldn’t be taxed — there should be incentives to work in particular areas instead,” said Jeevan Thiagarajah, the executive director of the Consortium of Humanitarian Agencies.
The Government says that the tax is designed to crack down on NGOs that abused Sri Lankan law and squandered their funds on their own staff after the tsunami. Aid workers, however, say the new rules do not grant tax exemption for all the work they are doing — and want to do — to help 300,000 Tamil refugees in army-run camps. Some say the tax contravenes the international disaster response guidelines drawn up by the Red Cross in 2007 with the participation of 140 countries, including Sri Lanka.
“This is money on which people have already paid tax in their own countries and which is supposed to be helping people in need,” said one aid worker. “This is a desperate money-making measure by the Government.”
Many aid groups are paying the tax out of central contingency funds because donors did not take it into account and would not allow it to come out of their contributions. Another charity worker said: “This runs contrary to everything that the humanitarian aid community stands for.”
Most aid groups already have to pay tax on imported equipment, such as vehicles, as in many other countries. In 2005, Oxfam was forced to pay more than £600,000 in tax for importing 25 Indian four-wheel-drive vehicles to Sri Lanka for tsunami relief — despite the Government announcing a temporary waiver for aid groups.
This time, Oxfam appears to be less hard hit than other international body, as it complied with the new tax regime from the start.
Its accounts show that its Sri Lanka office received £27.9 million between 2005 and 2009, making it potentially liable for £251,100 in tax, under the new regulations. It has, however, managed to negotiate the bill down to £28,000 for 2005-07 and is still discussing the bill for 2007-09, according to sources.
Save the Children Fund, which has received about £35.6 million in Sri Lanka between 2005 and 2009, was originally asked to pay about £350,000 for 2005-09, according to its accounts. It has negotiated that down to about £20,000 for 2005-07, and is still negotiating the tax bill for 2007-09, sources said.
Others have been less successful in their negotiations, mostly because Sri Lankan authorities said that they did not have the correct paperwork. World Vision, the US-based Christian relief group, has paid $120,000 for 2005-06, and made advance payments of $200,000 for the following three years, according to its accounts.
“There are vast discrepancies between individual agencies,” said Mr Thiagarajah. “There’s quite a few whose tax files are still open.” (The Timesonline)

No welfare for Sri Lanka's Tamils

The latter stages of the war in Sri Lanka have been carefully choreographed and hidden from the outside world, with the voices of victims silenced through fear and insecurity.
There are allegations of war crimes, rape and torture, summary executions and prolonged bombardments by a government which, it is believed by human rights organisations, killed thousands of its own civilian citizens.
Al Jazeera has conducted its own investigation into the conflict and spoken to Tamils who have suffered and aid workers who have remained silent until now, revealing testimonies that call into question the version of events Sri Lanka's government wants the world to believe.
After enduring months of appalling conditions in the final stages of the war between the Sri Lankan military and the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE), the suffering continues for the Tamils displaced by the fighting.
One month after the government declared victory in the war, Tamils continue living in what the government calls "welfare" camps but what critics claim are little short of the world's biggest open air prisons.
It is almost impossible for journalists to get into the camps except for strictly controlled government tours such as the one given to Ban Ki-moon, the UN secretary general, in May.
But these visits do not show the reality of life in the camps.
Crammed into camps
More than 250,000 men, women and children are crammed into conditions human rights groups call a disgrace, with as many as 15 people living in tents designed for five.
Contrary to international law there is no freedom of movement for the displaced, and no transparency in registration and interview processes.
The standards and amounts of water, food and sanitation are well below what they should be and half of the children under age five are suffering from malnutrition.
There have been outbreaks of diseases such as Hepatitis A, chicken pox and skin ailments, and there are fears that cholera may develop.
There have already been protests in some of the camps.
Menik farm, one of the biggest camps, was supposed to cater for 100,000 people but is home to 180,000.
Poor conditions
"We are now in refugee centres and there is no proper water, food or sanitation for us," one Tamil refugee says.

The refugees, who are guarded by armed security services, are scared to speak out for fear of reprisals.
Even international aid workers are scared.
"The conditions are very poor, shelters are inadequate, the water and sanitation is extremely inadequate, they are extremely overcrowded," one aid worker says.
"And what they all share in common are the IDPs [internally displaced persons] are detained within the camps, they are surrounded by razor wire and no one's allowed out so, yes, I think I would call them prison camps."
Abuse allegations
There are also increasing allegations of sexual and physical abuse, impossible to prove conclusively without independent investigation which the government refuses.
"There are cases of abuse by the army, some of the cases include girls and women who have become pregnant," the aid worker says.
"I couldn't say who the perpetrators were … there's also harassment and inappropriate behaviour among the IDPs, and because of the frustration those incidents are growing, but I think the more serious incidents have tended to be from the army."
The government rejects all allegations, maintaining that it has liberated the Tamil civilians from the tyranny of the LTTE and saying the accusations are part of a propaganda campaign.
"At one time it was murder. Other times it was killings. And now it has come to the extent of rape and other sexual abuses," says Rohita Bogollagama, Sri Lanka's foreign minister.
"These are all made up. And in the event any such abuses is there, we have had the most disciplined administration in taking care of the IDPs all this time. Why is it surfacing now? And why is it being planted like this? Because they want to discredit every effort of the government of Sri Lanka."
Those who are criticising the government have little power or influence.
The UN voted against pushing for a war crimes investigation, mainly because countries such as China and Russia, which supported Sri Lanka in the war, were against the move.
But the strenuous denials that the Sri Lankan military continually shelled and bombed the so-called safe zones during the war do not convince everyone, especially those who say they endured it.
Surviving witness
One man who was in the conflict area until May 16 - just days before the war ended - says he knows the Sri Lankan military was shelling them during the final assault despite government claims all civilians were out of the zone.
Independently verifying government views of the conflict has been impossible [AFP] "The rounds of gunfire were by the Sri Lankan army [SLA]. We know for sure it is the SLA because of the sound. We had difficulty in moving and running as there were people falling dead and lying all over the place and we tripping on dead bodies as we ran for our lives.
"The people died in buses, bunkers and open spaces as they were hit by bombs landing in areas wherever they were. We also saw people being shot at close range by the Sri Lankan army."
The Sri Lankan government is refusing to allow neutral observers to examine the combat zone which gives ammunition to those who claim a clean-up operation is being carried out to hide evidence.
John Holmes, the UN's humanitarian chief, says it is "the primary responsibility of any government to establish accountability".
"If you look at the record of the Sri Lankan government … if you look at its records on impunity … records as one of the top countries in the world with the highest number of disappearance, you may appreciate that we would like this to be an international, as opposed to a national, investigation."
World silent
The UN is co-operating with the Sri Lankan government in developing zone five at Menik farm even though its own guidelines state displaced people should not be put in camps with more than 20,000 people.
Assurances have been given by the government that 80 per cent of the civilians will be able to return to their homes within 180 days but critics feel this is an unrealistic pledge.
The building of banks, a post office and stores lead some to believe that this is the start of a semi permanent settlement.
The government also promises peace and reconciliation, a fair political process and a life for the Tamils free from tyranny.
But there questions about who will keep the government accountable since international criticism and action have so far been insignificant at best.
Governments and aid organisations have remained silent for a variety of reasons and the people living in the squalid camps of Sri Lanka have paid the price for that silence. (By Tony Birtley, Asia correspondent, Al Jazeera)

Sri Lanka: Presidential Secretary calls for spy units throughout public sector

By Wije Dias 6 July 2009
President Mahinda Rajapakse’s secretary, Lalith Weeratunga, who heads Sri Lanka’s civil service, has called for undercover intelligence units to be installed in every public sector workplace to spy on workers under the pretext of curbing corruption and inefficiency.
Officers of the police criminal investigation department would be deployed incognito, giving the government a “mole in every state department,” the Presidential Secretary proposed on June 27 in a speech delivered to the Sri Lanka Foundation Institute. Weeratunga expressed confidence that “the intelligence services could play a pivotal role in combating waste, corruption and irregularities in the government sector”.
Recalling the use of the National Intelligence Bureau (NIB) by President J.R. Jayewardene’s 1978-88 administration to monitor state institutions, Weeratunga said he had recommended a similar set-up to Rajapakse “as part of the government’s strategy to tackle corruption”. The NIB combined the intelligence units from the army, navy, air force, and police under the control of the military, with its chief reporting directly to the Ministry of Defence.
Combatting corruption is a thin veil for the real aim of the spying project, which is to discipline and intimidate public sector workers while the Rajapakse regime demands deep spending cuts, job losses and speedup. That was spelled out in the June 30 editorial of the government-owned Daily News.
The editorial praised Rajapakse for declaring an “all-out war” on waste and irregularities in the public service “now that the main war is over,” referring to the military victory over the separatist Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE). While endorsing Weeratunga’s call as a “timely move” against corruption and bribery, which had become “virtually institutionalised in the State sector,” the editorial declared:
“Such an arrangement could also oversee the performance aspect of government departments to ensure optimum worker output. In fact such an intelligence body could go into the whole gamut of ills affecting the public sector inefficiency. Today state departments and corporations have become synonymous with idleness, lethargy and inefficiency.”
The editorial concluded that “raising discipline in the work place is one of the main pluses that could be achieved through such a project ... not to mention the massive slice of funds that will be saved by the State”.
This makes clear that the proposal marks a new offensive against the working conditions and basic democratic rights of workers, on top of a wage freeze that has already been imposed. The undercover agents would be tasked with supplying the regime with the names of any workers who oppose the government politically or plan to resist its austerity demands.
The announcement further underscores the meaning of Rajapakse’s declaration of an “economic war for nation building” in the wake of the LTTE’s defeat. The anti-Tamil war was continued for 26 years as a means of dividing the working people along communal lines. Having militarily crushed the LTTE, the politico-military cabal that surrounds Rajapakse is intensifying the attack on the working class as a whole.
The regime is trying to use the intimidatory political atmosphere of its victory parades organised in partnership with the Buddhist hierarchy, and the cowardly connivance of the opposition parties, to stifle any resistance to the rule of the Sinhala elite. Behind the official celebrations, the government is stepping up its efforts to pay for the financial crisis created by the war, exacerbated by the global economic slump.
A June 30 editorial in the right-wing Island newspaper expressed the concerns of sections of the elite itself about the Rajapakse cabal’s increasingly arbitrary methods and fears that they could spark unrest after “having won a bloody war at a tremendous cost”.
“State intelligence services, no doubt, are to be commended for their outstanding contribution to the country’s victory over terrorism. But, using them to cleanse State institutions may be likened to training multi-barrel rocket launchers on an illicit brewery! The forces that are unleashed in response to a threat must be proportionate to it. Else, the ‘solution’ ends up being part of the problem.”
The editorial voiced apprehension about “the emergence of an outfit like the much dreaded Gestapo” and a “totalitarian state” as in George Orwell’s dystopian novel, Nineteen Eighty-Four. “This country, we believe, can do without a Big Brother. (We have enough and more Rajapakse Brothers-- Rajapakses to right of us, Rajapakses to left of us, Rajapakses in front of us, Rajapakses behind us and Rajapakses above us!).
The Island has been in the forefront of whipping up Sinhala chauvinism and backing Rajapakse’s war. Now, with Rajapakse and his cronies rapidly moving to concentrate power in their hands, this section of the elite has become nervous about the prospect of political unrest as well as the loss of their own privileges within the Colombo establishment.
Another Island commentary on July 4, written by Tisaranee Gunasekara, pointed out that the government’s claim to be fighting corruption lacked credibility following the lack of any legal action against the ministers and senior officials that the Supreme Court had faulted over the sales of the Insurance Corporation and Lanka Marine Services Ltd. Gunasekara said the real aim of the proposed “spy service” was to “keep tabs on less than loyal public servants and to further tighten the control of the First Family [the Rajapakses] over the state”.
The spy unit proposal is part of the government’s far-reaching assault on basic legal and democratic rights, which has escalated, not abated, since the end of the war. The Rajapakse administration has incarcerated nearly 300,000 Tamil civilians without trial in violation of the constitution, extended its media censorship by reactivating the Press Council and retained extraordinary emergency powers and the draconian Prevention of Terrorism Act.
None of the “left” parties or the trade union bureaucracies, not to speak of the parties of the “old left” that are entrenched in the government, have said a word about this latest repressive move. Having all adapted to the anti-Tamil war, in one way or the other, they now are bent on working out their own deals with the post-war government as it seeks to impose the financial burden of the war and the world recession on workers.
The Socialist Equality Party is the only political organisation that consistently opposed the war against the Tamil minority and demanded the immediate and unconditional withdrawal of the military from the north and east, while not giving any political concession to the national separatist blind-ally perspective of the LTTE. As the SEP insisted all along, the racist war was aimed against the working people of all communities, Sinhala, Tamil and Muslim.
The Rajapakse regime’s latest police-state proposal confirms this analysis and demonstrates how quickly the military victory over the LTTE in the north and east has intensified the offensive against living standards and basic rights. Only the working class, guided by a socialist and internationalist program, independent of all factions of the ruling elite, can confront and defeat these growing threats with the support of the oppressed masses.

news:www.wsws.org/articles/2009/jul2009/sris-j06.shtml

War crime suspects may see UK immunity loophole closed

Afua Hirsch, legal affairs correspondent
The Guardian, Monday 6 July 2009
Article history

There has been a huge increase in action against suspected war criminals by the UK authorities, the Guardian has learned, as anti-genocide campaigners await an announcement on Tuesday on whether the government will act to end immunity for genocide suspects.
In the last six months, there has been a five-fold increase in cases screened for possible war crimes by the Border and Immigration Agency. Of the 1,006 cases, immigration action was recommended in 121 cases, with a further eight suspects referred to the police.
The news comes days after a report by the Aegis Trust anti-genocide group revealed that 18 suspected war criminals from countries including Sri Lanka, Iraq and Sierra Leone were living with impunity in the UK.
The individuals, most of whom have not been subject to any legal proceedings, include a Janjaweed militia member, accused of involvement in civilian attacks in the Darfur region of Sudan, and Chucky Taylor, son of the former Liberian president Charles Taylor, who is on trial for war crimes at a UN tribunal in The Hague.
"This jump in activity by the war crimes team is to be welcomed," said Nick Donovan, head of campaigns at the Aegis Trust. "But these figures also highlight the need to close legal loopholes which prevent the prosecution of war criminals here."
Campaigners argue that gaps in the law mean people suspected of genocide, crimes against humanity and war crimes cannot be prosecuted in the UK for acts which took place before 2001.
In addition, the requirement of "residence" for war crimes means that asylum seekers and other suspects who do not meet the legal definition of residence cannot be prosecuted.
Sally Ireland, of human rights group Justice, said: "People suspected of some of the worst crimes in history – including mass murder – are able to visit the UK and even live freely in our communities."
"The suspects are in limbo," said David Brown of the Aegis Trust. "The government has refused them asylum because they are suspected of war crimes or crimes against humanity and they don't qualify for refugee status as a result. But they also can't be removed because of the risk of torture or that they won't get a fair trial."
The House of Lords has proposed amendments to the coroners and justice bill to close the loopholes. The government's response is expected tomorrow.
"There is a real desire to deal with these genocide suspects," Brown said. "They are a headache for the government."

news:www.guardian.co.uk/world/2009/jul/06/war-crime-suspects-uk-law

Mullaiththeevu town declared HSZ: GA

The Government Agent of Mullaiththeevu, Imelda Sukumar, on Sunday reportedly told a section of the uprooted Tamils of Vanni sheltered at the internment camp situated at "Sahanagama" in Pulmoaddai that the town of Mullaiththeevu has been declared High Security Zone by the Sri Lankan military, dashing any hope of resettlement in the coastal township of Vanni. Hundreds of Tamils captured by the Sri Lankan military are kept in the centre. Ms. Imelda Sukumar spoke to the IDPs and recorded their grievances and urgent needs. She further told Vanni IDPS now sheltered in Pulmoaddai: "Under the present circumstances you have to stay in Pulmoaddai camps for another three months. Thereafter all families displaced from Mullaiththeeivu would be shifted to Maangku'lam as the Mullaiththeevu town has been declared as High Security Zone." "We cannot resettle IDPs of Mullaiththeevu in their original places. The District Secretariat office is also to be relocated in Maangku'lam," media reports quoted the GA as saying. Later she handed over salaries to the employees of the Mullai District Secretariat and Divisional Office who are sheltered in Pulmoaddai camp.
http://tamilnet.com/art.html?catid=13&artid=29728

I have a political solution in mind but I want to get that from the people: President Rajapaksa

President Mahinda Rajapaksa highlighted his determination to re-settle “as soon as possible” the close to 300,000 Tamil civilians displaced by the conflict with the LTTE. In an extended interview given to The Hindu in Colombo, he laid out his road map of what needed to be put in place to ensure the safety and meet the basic needs of those who are to be sent back to their villages. He also sketched his vision of reconciliation and development, which emphasised that in post-conflict Sri Lanka there was no place for “racism” and anything that “creates a disturbance among our three communities…Sinhala, Tamil, or Muslim.”
“I would say the condition in our camps is the best any country has,” the Sri Lankan President told me in a two-and-a-half-hour interview and conversation over dinner at Temple Trees, the former official residence of Prime Ministers, on June 30. Basic needs, including schooling for the children, were being met. He suggested that I visit the Vavuniya IDP camps the next day, which I was able to do thanks to the arrangements made overnight, on his instructions, by the Defence Ministry.
“We know there are shortcomings,” President Rajapaksa observed. “Slowly, we have to overcome them. In some camps there are no problems.” Revealing that he did not rely on “information only from officials” and that he had sent “some people close to me to the camps,” he said his reliable sources told him that the displaced Tamils were “satisfied with the housing and shelter” but their real problem was the lack of “freedom of movement.”
Since there were security concerns, the President reflected, “I don’t know how to do that immediately.” De-mining had to be completed, and certified by the United Nations, in a region where “every square centimetre has been mined by the LTTE” and “if something happens, I am responsible.”
Further, he pointed out, “I can’t send them to a place without basic facilities. Now we’re spending on electricity, on roads, on water. We can’t send them back to a place where there are just jungles.”
On May 21, two days after the military operations against the LTTE ended, Mr. Rajapaksa announced a 180-day resettlement plan. The participation on July 2 of 22 parties, including the Tamil National Alliance, in the first meeting of the newly constituted All Party Committee on Development and Reconciliation, and their assurances of cooperation and support to the President in this ambitious project, has strengthened the government’s confidence and raised hope all round that the rehabilitation process will be fast-tracked and implemented smoothly.
Asked about the political solution – the “13th Amendment Plus” – he had in mind, President Rajapaksa said “even tomorrow I can give that – but I want to get that from the people.” He insisted that all parties, and especially the Tamil National Alliance representatives, should participate in the discussions on the political solution. “I am waiting but it will be after my [re]election [as President],” which, according to some political observers, may come as early as November 2009.
Responding to further questions on a political solution to the ethnic problem, Mr. Rajapaksa said: “I know what to give and I know what not to give. The people have given me the mandate, so I’m going to use it. But I must get these people [the TNA representatives] to agree to this. They must also know that they can’t get what they want. No way for federalism in this country. For reconciliation to happen, there must be a mix [of ethnicities].”
The Sri Lankan President reiterated his belief in “my theory…[that] there are no minorities in Sri Lanka, there are only those who love the country and those who don’t. They tried to twist that but I still maintain that position.”
In the second and third parts of the interview, which are to follow, President Rajapaksa provides his assessment of the LTTE’s character and capabilities, its military strengths, weaknesses, and final strategy. He provides new insights into his own approach to the peace process and explains what led to the successful military offensive, which “did not come without negotiation or without any reason.” He also answers questions about ‘triumphalism,’ the ‘too-powerful presidency,’ pressures on media freedom, Indo-Sri Lanka relations, and India’s response to the dramatic developments in the island nation.

Sri Lanka going China way?

Chinese Prime Minister Wen Jiabao

and Mahinda Rajapakse

Rajapakse government supporters — academics, intellectuals, lawyers and diplomats — have been engaged in bouts of vigorous verbal bashing of the world’s most powerful and influential nations since Sri Lanka’s 30-year-war was drawing to a close. Even after victory, the bashing is being continued with renewed vigour.

Even though, in the long run, the wisdom of taking on such powerful nations is questionable, the ire generated is justified and could be expected of any self-respecting nation that was treated so shabbily.
Many reasons have been adduced to this strongly anti Sri Lanka stand taken by these nations at a crucial phase of this conflict having tried to be fair by both parties throughout it. Even though Mahinda Rajapakse and the West did not see eye-to-eye on the resolution of the ethnic conflict, with Rajapakse rejecting a federalist solution and insisting on a united Sri Lanka, the openly hostile anti Rajapakse attitude of such a magnitude was unexpected.

Humanitarian?

The LTTE is a proscribed terrorist organisation in the United States and some of the countries of the European Union. The attitude of these countries towards international terrorist organisations is too well known to be recalled here. Yet, why did these countries insist that Sri Lanka negotiate with this terrorist organisation that was on its last legs?
The West cites humanitarian reasons — protection of civilians trapped between the government forces and the LTTE. But they very well knew of the fate of these people who were caught in the cross-fire of these two forces in conflict for years. Not much concern was expressed when under Operation Riviresa — Pirapaharan fled with the civilian population of Jaffna — or was followed into the Wanni jungles.
While the fate of about 250,000 civilians are a matter of grave concern, the onus of responsibility was laid by Western governments together with their international media at the door of the government, not that of the LTTE who were holding these people hostage. Compared with their policies in fighting terrorism elsewhere such as Iraq and Afghanistan the humanitarian concerns expressed about Tamils ring hollow.

R2P

A plausible reason for this two faced stance could be explained on what has come to be known as the R2P — Right to Protect policy. First announced by Tony Blair, this ‘right’ to intervene is claimed by powerful nations, if necessary with the blessings of the UN, in nations where internal crises have overwhelmed governments of the countries.
They intervened in Serbia even creating the State of Kosovo to which Serbs objected — and are still objecting. Kosovo historically was a part of Serbia but the new emperors of the 21st Century deemed it otherwise.
Was it a new Western strategy to create a separate state of Eelam that went awry when the Indian elections, particularly in Tamil Nadu, which showed that the Indians were not concerned about creating a new Eelam?

China leanings

Another very good reason for the hostile Western attitude against Sri Lanka could be Sri Lanka’s tilt towards China. In an article titled: China crosses the Rubicon by Wen Liao published in the Moscow Times and in The Sunday leader itself (June 21) gives the rise of China’s geopolitical influence in the region. We reproduce excerpts of this article which could well explain Western hostility.
“For two decades Chinese diplomacy has been guided by the concept of the country’s peaceful rise. Today China needs a new strategic doctrine because the most remarkable aspect of Sri Lanka’s recent victory over the Tamil Tigers is not its overwhelming nature but the fact that China provided President Mahinda Rajapakse with both military supplies and diplomatic cover to prosecute the war.
“Wen Liao who is chairwoman of the Longford Advisors, a political economic business consultancy in Hong Kong, states that: ‘Without Chinese backing, Rajapakse’s government would have had neither the wherewithal nor the will to ignore world opinion in its offensive against The Tigers. So not only has China become central to every aspect of global financial and economic system, it has now demonstrated its strategic effectiveness in a region traditionally outside its orbit. On Sri Lanka’s beach front battle fields, China’s peaceful rise was completed’.”

China in Indian Ocean

Chinese influence spreading down to the Indian Ocean was markedly demonstrated recently with the dispatch of a flotilla of naval craft to protect its sea lanes from Somali pirates. The building of the Hambantota Harbour just two to three miles away from the busiest sea routes traversing East-West are considered as indications of the build up of China’s strategic interests in the region.
Is this the new Chinese policy of ‘diplomacy with a smile’? With the multi million dollar long awaited Norochcholai Power Plant now being built by China, Mahinda Rajapakse is certainly smiling.
China’s thrust into the Indian Ocean is no doubt a matter of concern for the United States. The active Indo-US co-operation in defence and trade agreements — particularly with the Civilian Nuclear Agreement, with wide concessions being granted to India, have been viewed as measures taken by the United states to contain China to its sphere of influence. How India reacts to the Chinese built Hambantota Harbour will be much awaited.
Sri Lanka would soon have to decide on which side of the emerging political divide it will be on. There is India backed by America. Sri Lanka also appears to be going along with Iraq and Libya — no friends of America. Our biggest trading partners are the United States and Europe. Meanwhile what of the manthram of friendship with India?

Which way Mahinda Rajapakse?
full story

Over 100 suspects have been killed in police custody

By R. Wijewardene



Earlier this year the nation was gripped by the horrifying case of Varsha Regi, a six-year old girl kidnapped for ransom and then murdered in Trincomalee.
In the aftermath of the enormous public outcry that followed the case the police moved remarkably swiftly. Just days after the murder two suspects were arrested, however before any formal trial could begin — both suspects were dead. Both died in police custody — one suspect was shot while trying to escape, while the other was reported to have taken cyanide while being escorted to the scene of the crime.
With the main suspects dead the case was essentially closed and slipped out of the public eye.
Where justice in Sri Lanka is concerned this is a familiar pattern. The same series of events — a high profile crime, followed swiftly by the arrest of suspects who are promptly shot/commit suicide while in police custody, is repeated again and again.


Shot while trying to escape


In the high profile Delgoda massacre case a family of five was hacked to death in their home over an apparent land dispute. Weeks later two men suspected of involvement in the killings were arrested by the police and then shot ‘while trying to attack the police and escape from police custody’ — again the case was effectively closed at this point.
These are not isolated incidents, hardly a week goes by without reports of child molesters being shot while trying to escape from police custody, or suspected murderers killed while ‘attacking police officers’ with arms they’ve somehow managed to gather while in police custody.
According to a report by the Asian Human Rights Commission (AHRC), over 100 suspects have been killed in police custody over the past year.
In almost every case the police’ version of events is difficult to credit. Typically — bizarre escape attempts and arbitrary attacks by suspects compel the police to resort to lethal force. In other cases suspects are said to have committed suicide. Of course the unspoken reality is that many if not all of these deaths are summary executions.
According to Basil Fernando of the AHRC, “this is a policy sanctioned by the highest levels of the police and government — the former IGP openly admitted that it was necessary for the police to eliminate undesirable elements as the justice system is simply too inefficient.”


Operating outside the law


While many might applaud the killing of murderers, child molesters and other violent criminals, particularly as the country’s formal justice system would in most cases allow them to walk free — the idea that the country’s police are operating completely outside of the law is deeply disturbing.
Extra judicial killings by the police force in a country where the rate of genuine convictions through the courts remains abysmally low are an unambiguous indication of a complete break down of law and order.
The island’s criminal justice system has effectively ceased to function — the overall conviction rate stands at 4% which indicates that in the remaining 96% of cases suspects escape unpunished.
To compensate for the shortcomings of the legal system therefore the police are alleged to be actively pursuing a policy of extra judicial killings — “In order to eliminate undesirable elements and give an impression that something is being done,” claimed Fernando.


Illusion of justice


While many are prepared to applaud the actions of the police when it is reported that suspected murderers, drug dealers etc., have been shot dead, these killings ultimately provide only the shallowest illusion of justice.
Suspects are killed without any trial or hearing and there are no guarantees regarding the guilt of those who die.
In most cases where suspects are reported to have been killed in unusual circumstances magistrates upon receiving a police report declare the police action justifiable homicide, and the case is closed.
According to AHRC this is “a violation of the law. Magistrate’s must investigate any killings that take place in police custody and submit a report to the Attorney General’s office – but this never happens.”
The police version of events is invariably the only one presented and once the magistrate pronounces a verdict of justifiable homicide the case is closed. Only in a few exceptional cases where the families of suspects are suitably wealthy or well connected are appeals made to the courts.


Usual story

Another feature shared by the majority of these killings is that shootings usually take place when the police are leading the suspect to a location outside of the police station — either to gather evidence, or inspect a murder scene.
In the Delgoda case the police reported that the suspects who were already in custody, were being led to the crime scene when they somehow managed to recover hand grenades and threaten the police — at which point they were shot.
By reporting that a suspect’s death took place outside the police station, police are able to explain a lack of witnesses and also justify their actions as necessary to prevent an attempted escape or assault
Ultimately, more than simply a question of human rights, the death of so many un-convicted suspects in police custody is profoundly unjust and extraordinary in a country where there is no political will to officially implement the death penalty.


Extra judicial killings


In Bangladesh and India where extra judicial killings by the police are also commonly reported, courts including the supreme courts of both countries have moved to take action and caution the police, but in Sri Lanka these questionable killings are inevitably left uninvestigated, which implies that they are at least tacitly approved of by the establishment. In the absence of any discernible law the police therefore have quite literally been made judge, jury and executioner.
And no one who has any experience of the country’s notoriously corrupt police force can possibly be comfortable with the nation’s agents of law and order enjoying such broad powers.
The simple reality however is that law and order in the country has broken down and the only solution to the perennial problem of crime now appears to be a sort of vigilante justice but extraordinarily it’s the police who are playing the roll of vigilantes.


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Black July: Tamils vow to rise again

This year while commemorating the victims of Black July ’83, the Tamils are without a leadership and Sri Lanka continues to hold nearly 300,000 Tamils in internment camps while detaining over 10,000 youths in undisclosed locations under severe torture by Sri Lankan State armed forces. The Tamils’ this year vow is to continue the path of LTTE through political means to secure the right to self-determination, urge the global community to bring the Sri Lankan state to book for launching the genocidal war, and to secure the release of all the Tamils held by the Sri Lankan state.

Twenty-six years ago, the Sri Lankan State-sponsored pogrom against Tamils resulted in the deaths of 3000 people and property damages of over $300 million U.S. The days between July 24 and July 30, 1983, were tragic and unforgettable for the Tamils. It is the month the Tamils commemorate as a black day, and it is the month for the Tamils to take an oath as to what actions would they need to take against the perpetuators of the crime.
Although the Tamils have no sovereign state despite that nearly 80 million Tamils are living all over the world, and one can comfortably argue that Tamils are everywhere, they are always working hard to empower their home countries through their hard work.


Tamils have no legal state recognized by the UN. When thousands of Tamils died in broad day light in Sri Lanka, their brethren around the world could not extend a hand other than coming to the streets urging their adopted countries to help. However, almost all these countries supported the oppressive Sri Lankan State rather than helping the oppressed claiming that they could not act against another sovereign State, even though Sri Lanka conducted state-sponsored pogroms and other forms of violence, which killed over 100,000 Tamils on the island, and over 30,000 Tamils were killed within a matter of days in May 2009. Now, all the Tamils are held in Nazi-style camps in Vavuniya and over 10,000 Tamils have been taken to secret locations for further interrogations and their whereabouts are still unknown.


Diaspora Tamils take up the cause


Despite the ground situation as it is now, with the LTTE defeated militarily in May 2009, the Tamils are still victims of state violence. Tamil media outlets are getting constant death threats from the state-sponsored paramilitaries. Tamil MP, doctors, hospital directors, and many more are taken into custody with the allegation that they are Tamils and they would be a serious threat to the national security. Further, Sri Lankan armed forces are shooting and killing Tamils in their controlled areas, even inside the internment camps despite their claim that they crushed the
Tamils’ Eelam ‘dream’ militarily. In this juncture, the Tamils world over have the moral responsibility to continue the path of Tamil liberation from where the LTTE stopped; so, the LTTE has put the weight on the Diaspora Tamils to win the freedom of Eelam Tamils.
This year, the Diaspora Tamils have taken the oath with the slogan “Rise Again”, and they are holding peaceful rallies in their home countries demanding their governments not forget their political demands saying that the world community should help them attain the right to Tamil self-determination, help release all the Tamils held by the Sri Lankan State, and help bring Sri Lankan State to task for the genocidal war against the Tamils.
It is worth discussing what happened to Tamils on the island while they were engaging peacefully demanding right to self-determination before the war broke out between the Tamil militants and the government armed forces. Many people believe that the root cause for the violence in July 1983 was the death of thirteen Sinhalese soldiers in Jaffna, although violence against Tamils has been ongoing since 1956. The tragic events of July 1983 drew international attention to the region, and India’s central government directly intervened in support of Sri Lankan Tamils.


Wounds cannot be healed

On May 11, 1983, two months prior to the July 1983 violence, Sinhalese students in Peradeniya University attacked Tamil students. For three consecutive days, Tamil students experienced the brunt of the Sinhalese community’s hatred. University authorities, intellectuals, and the country’s ruling authorities did very little to stop the violence against the Tamil students.
The old students witnessed the university administration’s and authority’s unprecedented conduct at the time. Tamil students were asked to attend the lecture sessions during these periods even though the Tamil students felt they needed to get away from the University to their homes to reflect on what had happened to them from May 11 to May 13, 1983. The University authority failed to provide the Tamil students with a safe environment to continue their studies.
The motive of the attacks on the Tamil students was to evict them from the university permanently. The unprecedented behaviour of the university administration helped the attackers reach their aims. Almost ninety-five percent of the Tamil students left the university and returned home. Even after this exodus, the university continued to conduct lectures and exams. The university authority had shown little, if any, sympathy towards the Tamil students during this time of crisis.
The death of thirteen Sri Lankan soldiers in Jaffna on July 23, 1983, ignited the hatred of the Sinhalese general public towards the Tamils. Sri Lankan armed forces retaliated with a non-stop attack from July 24 to July 30 on innocent Tamil civilians who had never committed any crime except having been born Tamil. These attacks included the looting and damaging of Tamil-owned properties. GoSL officials refused to step in to control the riots against Tamils claiming that the Sri Lankan State was failing.
On July 25, after the midnight lull, mobs led by people with voter registration lists hand-torched Tamil homes and looted and destroyed Tamil businesses. All traffic was searched, and any Tamils found were killed, maimed, or burned alive. The many policemen deployed throughout the city stood by and watched. Witnesses recall lorry loads of armed troops leisurely waving to looters who waved back.
Tens of thousands of homeless Tamils sought refuge in schools and places of worship. In Welikade prison, thirty-five Tamil political prisoners awaiting trial under the Prevention of Terrorism Act were massacred by Sinhalese prisoners with the complicity of jail guards using spikes, clubs, and iron rods. The violence spread rapidly throughout the country, engulfing towns like Gampaha, Kalutara, Kandy, Matale, Nuwara Eliya, and Trincomalee. The Indian Tamil town of Kandapola, near Nuwara Eliya, was completely wiped out.
On July 26, the GoSL imposed strict censorship on media reports on the anti-Tamil violence. Word spread of Sri Lanka’s state of disorder as eye witness accounts and photographs taken by returning tourists illustrated the scale of violence.
On July 27, seventeen more Tamil prisoners at Welikade Prison were hacked to death just two days after the first prison massacre. The surviving 36 prisoners were transferred to other prisons. Rioting continued and the curfew was extended. Witnesses to the violence reported that charred corpses of Tamil victims lined the streets of Colombo, some mutilated with “X”s.
On July 28, President J.R. Jayewardene addressed the nation for the first time since the anti-Tamil pogrom started, only to fan the flames of anti-Tamil sentiments by stating that anyone who advocated for separatism would lose all “civic rights”. He stated, “...the time has now come to accede to the clamour and natural request of the Sinhala people to prevent the country from being divided.”
On July 29, Tamils in Colombo began evacuating by cargo ship to Jaffna. Hundreds more internally displaced persons waited anxiously for the next cargo ship to transport them to Jaffna.


Tamils no longer trust Sri Lanka

The Tamils no longer trust Sri Lanka. Even the racist statements by the former Sri Lankan leaders show that the Tamils can longer co-exist in peace with their Sinhala counterparts because Sri Lankan leaders failed to embrace the Tamils through fulfilling their political demands. Tamil leadership was not asking for a separate state, but they were asking for federal structure of government by allowing them some powers to govern themselves. However, the Sri Lankan majority met the peaceful demands of Tamils through violent means. The Tamil militants were not born from the sky, but they were created by the Sri Lankan state.
After such a bitter war from 1983 till 2009, over a million Tamils fled the country, half a million as internally displaced persons with the island, and the wound imposed on the Tamils after killing over 130,000 Tamils, left another 30,000 women widowed and tens of thousands of more living as orphans. This is a great tragedy and the Tamils the world over carry the wound inflicted by the Sri Lankan State, and it is pathetic to hear that the Sri Lankan leaders talk of co-existence at this juncture while they refuse to change their unitary form of government even after such a horrible war between the two nations on the island.
So, the question of co-existence is a far distant reality as the Tamils who carry the wounds caused by the Sri Lankan state remain fresh and festering.
It will be a horrendous error to put the pressure on the Tamils to forget and forgive, but the global community should put the pressure on the Sri Lankan State to grant autonomy for Tamils keeping in mind that the Tamils do not want to fall victim of another Black July of 1983. So, Black July is an unforgettable month for Tamils in Sri Lanka and elsewhere. What February is to Black people around the world, July is to Tamils.
Tamils take this month to reflect and remember. Moreover, this year’s commemorations falls just a month after the LTTE was defeated militarily in Vanni while hundreds of thousands of people are held inside the internment camps, and hence, Tamils take this month to hold the rallies in the world with the slogan ‘Rise Again’, to urge the global community to take more political and diplomatic initiatives to exert pressure upon Sri Lanka to grant autonomy for Tamils, so that the Tamils can live in peace with freedom and justice in their homeland.


- By Satheesan Kumaaran
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No rehabilitation till civilians return home from camps: Mano Ganeshan

Real rehabilitation could not take place till the displaced persons in the north are returned to their villages and houses, Democratic People’s Front (DPF) Leader Mano Ganeshan said. He made this statement referring to the discussions that took place at the all party meeting convened to discuss the development and rehabilitation in the country following the end of the war.

DPF secretary and several members attended the meeting. While the party expressed its views at the meeting, it also noted satisfaction at the initiative taken by the President to look at development and rehabilitation in the country by convening an all party meeting.
However, the party states that it did not have a clear idea about the government’s plan to go about this objective.
They say that when the people have expressed their willingness to return to their hometown on their own, the reason to keep them trapped amidst barbwire fences has to be revealed by the government.
While not accepting the claim that most of the land in the Wanni was filled with mines, the party has said the individuals who are willing to go back to their respective villages independently and build their own homes, should be permitted to do so. An independent census has to be conducted to identify the needs of the displaced persons in the camps.
According to the DPF, the development programmes to return the displaced back to their homes should be conducted in a transparent manner and the solution to the ethnic issue based on power devolution should also be implemented simultaneously.
Following the government’s announcement on the end of the war, those arrested from time to time and held in detention camps without being charged should be freed, they have said.
The party also noted that the amnesty given to those who unleashed violence claiming to be for patriotic means in the south should also be given to those who fought for patriotic needs in the north and they should be provided with the necessary rehabilitation programmes as well.


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Mere decentralization of power, via the 13th amendment, surreptitiously flaunted as devolution

The provisions of the 13th Amendment would in no way satisfy Tamil aspirations in respect of autonomy. Its inadequacy had been expressed over and over and no one, including India, seems to be listening. With the de-merging of the North and East, totally unmindful of stipulations by India that the North and East should be treated as a single unit in the context of implementing the13th Amendment, India’s role has been compromised. India has kept mum on this though the Sri Lankan Government unilaterally declared the North and the East as independent Administrative units, on the basis of a contrived judicial ruling.
Legal opinion avers: “that the creation of a Provincial Governor has been sought to be passed off as ‘devolution’ of executive power on the Tamil people! The constitutional reality is that the 13th Amendment does not devolve executive power on the Tamil people. That which the 13th Amendment does is to decentralize administration by creating provincial Governors appointed by the President and responsible to him for the performance of their functions in respect of provincial matters”.
Now, post LTTE, in the absence of any political leverage for the Tamils India seem complacent foisting the 13th Amendment as the solution for the Tamil ethnic problem and that without a word about the North East merger. India thinks that Tamils are in no position to demand anything, however reasonable. That the Sri Lankan Government has never been and never will be keen to concede any measure of autonomy to the Tamils is a foregone conclusion that no Tamil would care to refute. The recent pronouncement after the Sinhala Victory, to the effect that there are no minorities in the country is illuminative of Sinhala Government’s mind set. This comes as no surprise to the Tamils as they seem to have no qualms saying openly that the country belongs to the Singhalese and nobody else.
It would be relevant to quote Dr W.I. Suraweera who had this to say: “the Sinhala consciousness expressed today in the concept that Sri Lanka is the land of the Sinhala people of Aryan descent does not derive from the Island’s history. It is a myth that has developed to legitimize the claim of the Singhalese to sole ownership of this country”
Sinhala Academics and neo-historians are coming up with freshly minted ideas dismissing “Tamil Homeland” as a mythical concept. Of course, when they claim the whole country for themselves how could they accept the existence of a Tamil Homeland?
The question being posed is: Why should the Tamils need a homeland in Sri Lanka whilst there is Tamil Nadu, which is home to 60 million Tamils? Tamil Nadu is home for the Indian Tamils in Sri Lanka who were brought down during colonial days to labour in the Tea and Rubber Estates. The indigenous Tamils of the Island cannot claim Tamil Nadu as their homeland and neither could the Singhalese claim any part of India as their homeland, irrespective of the fact both the Tamils and the Singhalese owe their origin to the Indian sub continent. With respect to such claims there are limits to periods you could go back to. If there aren’t such, the European settlers in America should hand over the whole American Continent to the Native Indians and get back to the countries from which they migrated.
What is and what is not a “homeland” is well illustrated by contemporary events. The Congress Government at the centre totally ignored pleas of the Tamil Nadu State to withdraw Indian support to the Sinhalese Government with its agenda of annihilation of the ethnic Tamils in Sri Lanka. On the other hand had Tamil Nadu been a sovereign State with its own military etc the Sinhala chauvinists certainly would have had something very different to contend with. So, it should be very clear that a “homeland” is not so defined by the ethnic concentration of the geographic entity alone. If that were to be so, the blacks in the Bronx could claim it as their homeland. The Tamil Nadu Government exists at the pleasure of the Central Government. It is in no position to assert its authority on any matter whatsoever of importance to the region unless it has the blessings and/or approval of the Centre. Therefore, the concept of “homeland” has to go hand in hand with the power for its inhabitants to exercise their collective will.
The Italians in the US, if they want to have their way, in any manner antagonistic to the government of the United States of America they better go back to Italy. And where are the Sri Lankan Tamils to go? To Tamil Nadu which could not even have its legitimate share of Cauvery water, even with central judicial intervention in its favour? It would therefore be stupid to suggest that the Tamils in Sri Lanka could consider Tamil Nadu as their homeland.
In the mean time the JVP appears very keen to cash in, following the Sinhala victory over the LTTE, with its ultra national stance by opposing ‘devolution’ through the implementation of the 13th Amendment. This could very well be a ploy learnt by the present day politicians from D.S Senanayake who would stealthily get one of his Tamil Ministers to propose a soft amendment to an otherwise radical piece of legislation having a far reaching adverse effect on the wellbeing of the Tamils. The bill gets passed with the Amendment incorporated and everybody looks happy while D.S gloats at his success in pulling the rug under the Tamils’ feet. It is quite possible that Mahinda Rajapakse, borrowing a chapter from the D.S era could have prompted the JVP to adopt this stance to hoodwink the Tamils into believing that there is substance in the 13th Amendment to merit acceptance. On the other hand JVP could very well be thinking of piggybacking on the Sinhala victory, hopeful of exploiting Sinhala chauvinism at its peak, decrying the Rajapases and also the UNP for even attempting to listen to India that appears keen on some ‘devolution’ of powers to the Tamils. Vimal Weerawanse’s position appears to be that the Sinhala victory has been at the cost of thousands of Sinhala lives and as such nothing need be conceded to the Tamils. Of course, to him Tamil lives do not matter! True, there will be quite a number even amongst the Sinhala elite to subscribe to this and the JVP or the JNP or whatever they call themselves these days, could very well build hopes of even overtaking the two major parties, a dream they have been stoking since breaking into mainstream politics, shedding its militant past.
It will be preposterous to suggest that Tamils could not claim the North and East as their traditional homeland. Well, could anyone dispute the fact that at the time the British left the Singhalese inhabited the South and West whilst the Tamils inhabited the North and parts of the East? Furthermore, how long will it take for the Sinhala Government to claim that Trincomalee, in view of its current Sinhala population and the number of Bo trees and Buddha statues all over the place, is traditionally a Singhalese homeland? With the contemplated Sinhalisation of the recently captured Vanni that too will be claimed as traditional Sinhala homeland.
It would be relevant here to recall that it was the Hindu New Year, as we knew it when we were boys, half a century ago. It later became Hindu and Sinhala New year and now, of course, it is the Sinhala New year. This ‘metamorphosis’ is most telling and is very illustrative and symptomatic of the progression of all Sinhala claims, past and present.
However much the Sinhala Government tries to distort reality it will be pretty tough to deny the fact that the indigenous Tamils of Sri Lanka held territory all their own in the North and East whilst the enterprising sections of Tamil society, to eke out a living as business people or employees in the Public or the Private sector and as entrepreneurs did come by territory in other parts of the country, paid for with their hard earned money. Yes, there had been no law against possession of property by any citizen in any part of the country. At least not till now!
With power in its hands the government can say anything it wants to but that does not mean that it can take it wherever it wants to be; it is not the way business is conducted in civilized society. The Sri Lankan government cannot be oblivious to reality forever .Its policy of baseless denial, all and sundry, cannot sustain the country for ever. Such, possibly, can only come in handy to tide over an impasse temporarily, like warding off the Human Rights censure at the UN the other day. In the long run truth catches up and even the International community that has grossly let down the Tamils will turn around in support, to free the Tamils from oppression.
India has been primarily responsible for the predicament the Sri Lankan Tamils are facing. Much to their chagrin the Sri Lankan Tamils realize the painful fact that the key to their salvation too is still with India. Like everything else, thinking has to and will change. There will be foreign policy revisions based on changed dynamic in the region. Erroneous value given by India to the Sri Lanka factor in the equation having a bearing on strategic importance to countries bordering the Indian Ocean will prompt such revision in the not too distant future. Somersaults in foreign policy are very much a reality, if one cares for stark examples. The Taliban fought alongside the U.S. during the Afghan war and now the U.S. is hounding the Taliban; During the Iran Iraq war U.S. was on side with Sadam Hussein and we know what it was with Iraq subsequently! We Tamils have to hope that India will side with Eelam Tamils sooner than later to free them from the oppressive Sinhala regime. This, not out of a sudden burst of love for the Tamils, but as a grave necessity to serve its geopolitical interests. An India -friendly entity such as a sovereign Eelam will be an imperative for India’s security with its traditional enemies China and Pakistan, the eternal antagonists, if they are to be held at bay. Though there is every reason for Tamils all over the world to despise India for its recent role in undermining the Tamils’ fight for freedom, the Tamil Diaspora, taking up the fight for Eelam, displays a welcome maturity, in identifying the inescapable fact that India and India alone will be capable of moves to make Eelam a reality.
Tamils have to understand that in the total absence of any devolution of central power there is absolutely no need to get excited about the 13th Amendment, “a constitutional sleight of hand par excellence” with its objective of perpetuating Sinhala rule of the Tamils of Eelam and yet appear not to do so. “The blunt reality is that those who proclaim that the 13th Amendment is intended to share power between the Tamil people and the Sinhala people are “trying to pull a fast one on the Tamil people”.
Implementation of provisions in the 13th Amendment will only translate into a few elected positions, such as a Chief Minister and a board of 3 or 4 Ministers, all of whom will only act in an advisory role to the Provincial Governor, themselves wielding no power at all. Therefore it will not be a surprise if the Tamil quislings espouse the 13th Amendment. It will be the responsibility of Tamil politicians, the untainted ones, to bring it home to the Indian Government that “the king, after all, is not wearing any clothes” and it should persuade the Sri Lankan Government to bring to the table a genuine devolution package by way of a solution to the Tamil ethnic problem, in place of the “13th Amendment plus” and “13th Amendment minus” as some of them have already started talking. The Tamils have been fooled enough and, at least, they should know what they do not need.


--By Sridas Sivasambo

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Arrogant disregard for public opinion

The Indian Home Minister, Palaniappan Chidambaram, expressed his displeasure about the steps taken by the Sri Lankan government to rehabilitate the displaced Sri Lankan Tamils. In a recent interview he said:

"I am not happy over the steps taken so far by Sri Lanka to rehabilitate the Tamils who have become refugees in their own country."


"The efforts are not enough," he declared.

Meanwhile, the JVP, a Southern based political party that has about 26 members in parliament, stated that the condition of the internally displaced persons in the camps is unsatisfactory and that the suffering caused in the camps could make the people, who have already suffered under the LTTE, bitter. They also complained that they are given no access to the camps and that even providing assistance collected from people for the use of the IDPs has proved difficult.
The leading opposition party, the UNP, also repeatedly demanded access to the camps and condemned the continued denial by the government. Several Tamil political leaders have also repeatedly criticised the government’s policies regarding the IDPs.
When interviewed by the BBC Sinhala Service, one of the government ministers said that no access is provided for opposition political parties to the camps at the moment and their assistance will be sought when needed.
An application by a family of whom four members are living in separate camps that they be allowed to join them was objected to by the Attorney General on behalf of the government. The family moved the court to allow a 13-year-old girl suffering from injuries to be allowed to be examined by a specialist doctor. Despite of the Attorney General’s claim that she had already been brought to a hospital the court granted the application for her to be produced before a specialist, this is according to a report published today, (3rd July) by the BBC Sinhala Service.
It is not clear as to which grounds of law the Attorney General's Department based itself when objecting to these applications. The AG is the chief legal officer who should advise the government purely on the basis on law.
There seems to be no reasonable grounds to deprive the rights of citizens to the IDPs. If any of them are suspected of any commission of crimes, the law in the country provides adequate powers to the government for dealing with the problem. The real problem is regarding a large population who are admitted to be innocent citizens being deprived of rights they would otherwise enjoy.
In the absence of reasonable grounds for deprivation of the rights of the citizen there is speculation of political purposes that are causing such obstacles and the denial of such right to access. Naturally, a suspicion that these IDPs are the subject of various political schemes builds resentment.
Another real problem is the absence of transparency and accountability regarding all matters relating to IDPs. The Chief Justice who retired last month stated a few days before his retirement that the IDPs do not have protection under the normal laws of the country. That a section of Sri Lankan citizens do not have the protection of the law is a serious concern. This week an international crisis group issued a report pointing out the serious defects of the judicial and legal process in Sri Lanka. It stated that Sri Lanka’s courts have been politicised and the rights of the people are thereby compromised.
Last month the International Bar Association’s Human Rights Institute (IBAHRI) issued a report after a visit by the organisation that Sri Lanka’s judiciary, the legal profession and the media are facing peril. In a lengthy report the IBAHRI, the foremost lawyer’s association in the world, analysed in great detail the threats faced by the judicial system over a considerable period of time, attacks and intimidation on lawyers which obstructs their independent functioning as well as the assassination of and attacks on journalists. Even last week, another lady journalist complained of being abducted and threatened to give up her profession.
Despite of local and international criticism the deterioration of the protection that should be available to citizens takes place continuously. The arrogant disregard for public opinion expressed by the local political parties, neighbouring governments, like that of India and all others has created a situation in which almost all avenues for seeking redress for grievances have been closed.


-- By Basil Fernando

Rajapaksa’s actions speak louder than words for sceptical Tamils

Jeremy Page: analysis


When President Rajapaksa of Sri Lanka declared victory over the Tamil Tigers in May, he reached out to the Tamil minority that the defeated rebels had claimed to represent over 26 years of civil war.
Speaking in Tamil, as well as his native Sinhalese, he told Parliament in Colombo that the war against the Tigers was not a war against the Tamil people, and declared that everyone in Sri Lanka should live with equal rights.
Since then, however, he has done little to convince Sri Lanka’s three million Tamils — let alone the 74 million-strong diaspora — of either of those points, and has, in fact, tolerated or condoned much to persuade them that the opposite is true.
In the celebrations that followed his victory, he appeared to revel in comparisons to King Dutugemunu, a legendary Sinhalese sovereign who routed a rival Tamil monarch and unified Sri Lanka.
More than six weeks after the Tigers’ defeat, his Government still has not allowed UN staff and aid workers unfettered access to the 300,000 ethnic Tamil refugees in army-run internment camps.

Critics of the Government continue to be harassed and intimidated, the most recent example being a popular astrologer who was arrested last week after predicting that Mr Rajapaksa would lose power in September.
This week, his Government announced that it planned to add another 50,000 people to its armed forces — already at a record strength of more than 350,000, almost all Sinhalese.
In its defence, the Government says that it has set a date of August 8 for elections to representative bodies in the Vavuniya and Jaffna areas, as part of a broader plan to democratise the Tigers’ former territory.
However, if the Government continues to indulge Sinhalese nationalists, drag its feet on resettlement, harass its critics and spend public money on the military rather than reconstruction, even moderate Tamils say that the elections will be a meaningless gesture.


http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/news/world/asia/article6626658.ece#cid=OTC-RSS&attr=797093

Collection of information on Sri Lankan war victims

Collection of information to collate evidence from Sri Lankan war victims of events since 1956 to present, mainly of 2009 events is being co-ordinated all over the world by the international organisation, Centre of War Victims and Human Rights (CWVHR).

Two information collection sessions on 4th July and 11th July across all States in Australia is being co-ordinated by the Centre of War Victims and Human Rights (CWVHR) and the Australians for Human Rights of the Voiceless (AHRV).
The evidence collection is the first step towards pursuing action to bring the perpetrators to justice for war crimes. The information is being collected regarding relatives or close friends who have been killed, tortured, raped, injured, lost property, disappeared or held in concentration camps.
In Canberra, this data collection will take place at the Tamil Senior Citizens Hall at 11 Bromby Street, Isaacs on Saturday July 4th between 1 and 5pm and on Saturday July 11th between 9am and 1pm. The data in other states will also be collected on the 4th and 11th of July between 1 and 5 pm at the following data collection centres:


NSW: Homebush Boys High School, Bridge Street, Homebush.
Vic: Vermont South Community House, Karobran Drive, Vermont South
Qld: Brisbane Activist Centre, 74b Wickham St, Fortitude Valley
WA: 6, 3rd Avenue, Rossmoyn
The sensitive information will be collated in a secure database by volunteers who have taken the oath of confidentiality and in professional manner to meet international standards.


Full text of the relevant media release:
Australians for Human Rights of the voiceless


MEDIA RELEASE


The international organisation, Centre of War Victims and Human Rights (CWVHR) and the Australian organisation, Australians for Human Rights of the Voiceless (AHRV) have organised two information collection sessions in Australia to collate evidence from Sri Lankan war victims of events since 1956 to present (but mainly 2009). This initiative is being co-ordinated across all States in Australia, as well as in New Zealand, France, Switzerland, Canada, UK, USA, etc.
The sensitive information will be collated in a secure database by volunteers who have taken the oath of confidentiality and in professional manner to meet international standards. Information is collected in accordance with the Human Rights Information and Documentation System (HURIDOCS) format, which also meets UN standards.
The evidence collection is the first step towards pursuing action to bring the perpetrators to justice for war crimes. The information is being collected regarding relatives or close friends who have been killed, tortured, raped, injured, lost property, disappeared or held in concentration camps.
Over the past 50 years, the minority Tamil community in Sri Lanka have been the victims of a genocide campaign waged by the Sri Lankan government. There are many horrific stories to tell, from the systematic riots that have taken place against the Tamils since Sri Lanka’s independence from Great Britain (UK), culminating in 2009 alone resulting in 25,000 deaths, 20,000 amputees and 300,000 Tamils languishing in concentration camps with even the ICRC and UNHCR not allowed full access.


In Canberra, this data collection will take place at the Tamil Senior Citizens Hall at 11 Bromby Street, Isaacs on:
Saturday July 4th between 1 and 5pm; and
Saturday July 11th between 9am and 1pm.
The data in other states will also be collected on the 4th and 11th of July between 1 and 5 pm at the following data collection centres:


NSW: Homebush Boys High School, Bridge Street, Homebush.
Vic: Vermont South Community House, Karobran Drive, Vermont South
Qld: Brisbane Activist Centre, 74b Wickham St, Fortitude Valley
WA: 6, 3rd Avenue, Rossmoyn

Media Enquiries in Canberra: Sam Yamunarajan, ACT Administrator on 0448 250 653

Kohona: ‘Victorious soldiers could have raped every single woman’

Sri Lankan government officials are running a prostitution racket using Tamil women interned in at least one of the militarised camps for displaced people, The Australian newspaper reported Thursday. "It's been brought to the attention of senior government officials but no one seems to be doing anything about it," an aid worker, who requested anonymity for fear of reprisal, told the paper. In response to the accusations, Sri Lankan Foreign Minister Palitha Kohona told the paper: "These (the military) are the guys who were winning the war - they could have raped every single woman on the way if they wanted to. Not one single woman was raped."

Palitha T. B. Kohona, Permanent Secretary to Sri Lanka's Ministry of Foreign Affairs

Aid workers told The Australian that officials at the internally displaced people's camp in Pulmoddai, a remote northeast region, are running the prostitution ring using women kept in the camp.

"It's hard to know whether it's coercive or not, but there is an average of three families living to a tent and it can be extremely difficult trying to get privacy. You can imagine the military coming in and asking for something in return for more space or more favours," the aid worker said.
Sri Lankan Foreign Minister Palitha Kohona described the claims as "absolute rubbish", but confirmed the government was investigating the reports, the paper said.
"These (the military) are the guys who were winning the war - they could have raped every single woman on the way if they wanted to. Not one single woman was raped," Kohona told The Australian.
"I am sure in a mass of people there may be individuals who want to make a quick buck one way or another, but you have to remember the tents are so close together you can't do anything without the entire neighbourhood knowing. If you had a racket going, thousands of people would know about it."
A UN official said yesterday many families remained separated in the camps and that men and women believed to be Tamil Tiger fighters were being removed with "no due process or proper documentation, like arrest receipts, given to parents or guardians".
"These issues are of huge concern for us," the official said. "The lack of freedom of movement is a violation of human rights under Sri Lanka's own constitution."
The restrictions have heightened tensions in the camps, including a mass protest in the Ramanathan camp in the northern town of Vavuniya on Sunday in which IDPs tried to break down barbed-wire fences separating one camp zone - and many relatives - from another.
UN Sri Lanka co-ordinator Neil Buhne said camp conditions were slowly improving, thanks to better water and sanitation facilities.
"But the main thing is people are still inside these camps and they can't go anywhere. The government has made public commitments to get 80 per cent of people back to their homes by the end of the year (after separating civilians from the fighters) but that's going to be a difficult target to meet."

Sri Lanka turning Manik Farm camp into permanent ‘city’ - report

Despite assuring the international community that most Tamils interned in militarized detention camps would be resettled by the end 2009, the Sri Lankan government is turning Manik Farm, the largest barbed-wire ringed site, into a permanent detention centre, The Times newspaper reported Friday. Tamil refugees are being used as forced labour, UN sources told the paper. Aid workers say the site was fast becoming Sri Lanka’s second biggest city after the capital, Colombo. Whilst Sri Lanka blames mines for preventing resettlement, foreign demining agencies say that they have been given access so far to only about 30 sq km of the former Vanni conflict zone.




Aid workers have told The Times that permanent buildings are being erected at the Manik Farm site where the UN says that 230,000 of the refugees are being held.



Refugees involved in the building had asked to be paid but the Sri Lankan government refused, the UN sources told The Times.



Aid workers said that they were able to do humanitarian work in four of six zones at Manik Farm but were barred from two others, including the mysteriously named Zone Zero.
“We’re not allowed to work in these areas,” said Rajinda Jayasinghe, the head of Relief International in Sri Lanka. “But you can see from the outside proper brick-walled buildings going up.”




The Sri Lankan overnment originally proposed holding the Tamil refugees in “welfare villages” for up to three years to check that they were not Tigers, and to clear their villages of mines.



However, after donor nations protested and Tamil MPs and activists compared the barbed wire enclosures to concentration camps, the government promised to resettle 80 per cent of the refugees by the end of this year.



Aid workers said that the new structures violated UN guidelines on temporary refugee shelters, and suggested that the government meant to hold refugees for much longer, the paper reported.



Aid groups’ concerns over the buildings grew last month when the Government proposed giving people in each tent two bags of cement to build their own floors, a leaked document obtained by The Times shows.



At a meeting on June 15, a group of NGOs providing shelter in the camps expressed “strong reservations” about the plans, according to the document.



They said that the proposed concrete flooring was too expensive, provided no protection against flooding and violated UN guidelines on temporary refugee shelters.



“The use of concrete flooring is inconsistent with temporary structures and is one of the recognised criteria of a semi-permanent structure,” the document said. “The use of concrete or screed flooring suggests a commitment by the SLA [Sri Lankan Army] to increased longevity of the IDP sites.”



While the government said it had already resettled 600 families and the army had cleared 100,000 landmines, UN officials say that those resettled are mostly the elderly and children.

Britain maintains warning against travel to Sri Lanka’s North and East

Updating its travel advisory Wednesday, Britain warned its nationals “against all travel to the north and east of Sri Lanka, and to Yala National Park and the areas around it.” The new advisory was issued with an update on new surveillance measures at Bandaranayake International Airport related to A (H1N1) Swine Flu.



A statement by the Foreign and Commonwealth Office said:

“For the purpose of this travel advice we consider the north to be all areas north of the A12 road (which runs from Puttalam in the west to Trincomalee in the east) including the Jaffna peninsula. We consider the east to be the districts of Trincomalee and Batticaloa, as well as coastal areas of Ampara district east of the A25 and A27 roads . We define the areas around Yala National Park as those east of the A2 and south of the A4. See the Terrorism and Local Travel sections of this advice for more details.”

Noting that “the government of Sri Lanka's security legislation provides wide-ranging discretionary powers,” the statement urged nationals to be careful.
“There have been detentions, particularly of people of Tamil ethnicity, including foreign nationals. You should avoid wearing or carrying clothing or goods which are military or camouflaged in appearance. You should ensure that you carry some form of official identification with you at all times.”
“If you are detained, you should ask the authorities to contact the British High Commission,” the statement said.
“Commercial flights in and out of Jaffna are not suitable for tourist travel due to intense security and frequent cancellations of flights leaving the city. The A9 road, which runs east from Jaffna, is closed and there is currently no overland route from Jaffna to the south of the island.”
Amongst the general warnings about traveling about in the rest of the island, the statement noted: “Buses are generally badly maintained and bus drivers often have little or no training. Bus crashes are a regular occurrence.”
“Women, in particular, should be wary of travelling on their own in a rickshaw at night,” it also cautioned.
“Emergency medical treatment in Sri Lanka is not easily available outside main cities, and you may have to be brought to Colombo for treatment. Medical facilities are not always of a standard expected in the UK, particularly outside Colombo. Treatment in private hospitals can be expensive and the options for repatriation to the UK or neighbouring countries in an emergency are limited and very expensive,” the statement said.