War or post-war, Sri Lanka’s explicit genocide is unchecked

[TamilNet, Monday, 10 October 2011, 20:58 GMT]
Whether one shows legal land deeds of heredity or not, to establish the private ownership of land in the country of Eezham Tamils, the occupying Sri Lanka Army would place a signboard that the land is out of reach. Thereafter, if the owner of the land is not prepared to bribe the occupying Army, the land will be given to anyone who collaborates with the occupying Army. This is the reality about fertile cultivation lands especially in Vanni, since genocidal Sri Lanka has embarked upon ‘re-registering’ lands in the country of Eezham Tamils under a programme ‘Bim Saviya’ of Sinhala nomenclature. The explicit land-related structural genocide has made even a Rajapaksa-supporting Tamil politician like Anandasangaree to become more vociferous than the TNA in calling for a non-cooperation movement of Tamils.
Full story >>

Remedial Sovereignty

[TamilNet, Sunday, 09 October 2011, 05:22 GMT]
Tamils' demand for self-determination in the past four decades, which posed persistent challenges to Sri Lanka's sovereignty, was rooted on the acceptance of Tamils fundamental right to self-determination under customary international law, as a "people" possessing a distinct language, distinct culture and living in an identifiable region considered as the historic homeland. But recent, state sanctioned, massacre of 40,000 Tamils in Mu'l'livaaykkaal, and the continuing structural genocide, while reinforcing the traditional argument based on rights, also supplies an independent, stand alone justification for the creation of a state, based on the need to defend the Eelam Tamil population from further destruction - the doctrine of "remedial sovereignty."
Full story >>

Fox connections with Sri Lanka raises questions on UK national security

[TamilNet, Saturday, 08 October 2011, 21:50 GMT]
Shady associations and modus operandi of British Defence Minister Liam Fox in his dealings with the genocidal regime of Sri Lanka endanger the national security of UK, media reports from UK said this week. The revelations, following information through Wikileaks cables on the handling of Sri Lanka by the US Asst. Secretary of State Robert Blake, show how certain individuals sitting in the world Establishments pervert international relations upholding global order of justice, which particularly affects the case of the Eezham Tamils, said diaspora Tamil circles in London. Politics of Eezham Tamils in the diaspora and in the island need to address the issue in appropriate democratic ways to achieve reconciliation in their engagement with the international community and not to forget similar elements sitting in the Indian Establishment too, the diaspora circles further said.
Full story >>

Colombo destroys herbal forest in Batticaloa

[TamilNet, Saturday, 08 October 2011, 21:38 GMT]
Several hundred acres of forest that contains herbal plants, situated along the coastal strip from Koa'ra'langkea'ni to Paalaiyadith-thoa'naa in Koa'ra'laip-pattu South DS division in Batticaloa district where rare medicinal plants are found are being destroyed deploying bulldozers for the past six days under the direction of Colombo authorities. On behalf of Colombo, Vinayagamoorthy Muralitharan, a paramilitary leader and deputy minister in Rajapaksa government, has been heading the destruction in the name of ‘urban development and tourism’.
Full story >>

Japan's defiance to adhere to UN Convention, leaves Tamil Refugees in limbo

[TamilNet, Saturday, 08 October 2011, 16:02 GMT]
Several refugees, fleeing repression and threat to life in Sri Lanka, are either being held in Japanese immigration jails, or have been temporarily released on "bail" after paying sums of between $2K to $5K, and these refugees are undergoing severe misery for more than two years, Tamils Against Genocide (TAG), a US-based activist group contacted by the asylum seekers said. Since becoming a signatory to the 1951 United Nations Convention Relating to the Status of Refugees in 1981, and until 2008 Japan has admitted only 573 of a total 7,297 applicants under the guidelines set out in the convention while an additional 882 were granted permission to remain for humanitarian reasons, reports indicate.
Full story >>

Snail pace delivery of houses with Indian assistance, mere 0.1% completed

[TamilNet, Saturday, 08 October 2011, 14:38 GMT]
Housing scheme for displaced civilians of North and East, announced by India last year, has failed to deliver, according to Tamil NGO and political circles in Jaffna. India had announced last year that it would construct 50,000 houses for the displaced in the North and East. However, only 53 houses have been constructed so far till October 2011, Tamil NGO sources said. Plans were afoot in Mannaar, Vavuniyaa, Ki'linochchi, Mullaiththeevu and Jaffna in North to construct houses for the war-displaced people. Earlier this year, when asked on the lack of progress of Indian announcement, Indian officials in the island responded that at least one thousand houses will be constructed before the end of 2011. The officials diluted the commitment further indicating that the numbers also included repair of existing houses.
Full story >>

Colombo accused of attempts to nobble Navi Pillay's budget

[TamilNet, Friday, 07 October 2011, 15:07 GMT]
Crediting Latin American countries including Argentina, Brazil, Chile and Mexico, along with Zambia for the Human Rights Watch praise on UN Human Rights Council [UNHRC] for launching international investigations in Côte d’Ivoire, Libya and Syria, appointing an investigator to monitor developments in Iran, and extending the mandates of rapporteurs for Myanmar, Cambodia, Somalia and Sudan, The Economist, in an article in the 8th October edition, accused Sri Lanka of colluding with two other countries in "underhandedly' attempting to manipulate the Agency's budget, allegedly to limit Navi Pillay's efforts to focus on allegations of war crimes against Sri Lanka.
Full story >>

Blake wooed genocidal Sri Lanka Army to help Afghan war

[TamilNet, Friday, 07 October 2011, 09:30 GMT]
Within months of a war masterminded to end in the genocide of Eezham Tamils, the US Asst Secretary of State Robert Blake wooed the genocidal Sri Lanka Army’s help in the US-led war in Afghanistan, reveals a Wikileaks document. In a meeting that took place in Colombo on 8th December 2009 with SL Defence Secretary Gotabhaya Rajapaksa, “Blake raised the possibility of Sri Lanka contributing to U.S.-led coalition operations in Afghanistan, noting that would be a significant step in support of improving military-to-military engagement,” briefs a classified cable of the US embassy in Colombo. Citing Muslim sentiments and ire of Islamic organizations, Gotabhaya avoided committing on any direct involvement, but he came out with an alternative for Sri Lanka providing covert training assistance in Afghanistan through NGOs and Private Military Companies.
Full story >>

Tamil opinion backs Bahu, Mano

[TamilNet, Thursday, 06 October 2011, 18:54 GMT]
The Tamil National Alliance and the Tamil National Peoples Front have urged the Tamil speaking people in the Western Province to support Wickramabahu Karunaratne and Mano Ganesan of the Democratic National Front (DNF) in the civic elections in the South. While Selvam Adaikalanathan and Mavai Senathiraja of the TNA in their speeches have urged the Tamil speaking population in Colombo to back Dr. Vickrmabahu and Mr. Mano Ganeshan, Mr. Gajendrakumar Ponnampalam and Selvaraja Kajendren of the TNPF came out with a statement urging the Tamils to back the courageous leaders of the DNF who have been openly expressing support to Tamils Right to Self-Determination at a time when some individuals of Tamil parties claiming to represent Tamils were displaying dubious conduct on the fundamental principles of Tamil Nation.
Full story >>

SL military collects details on ex-LTTE members in Jaffna, Vanni

[TamilNet, Thursday, 06 October 2011, 13:22 GMT]
Occupying Sri Lanka Army soldiers in Jaffna and Vanni have again started collecting details of former LTTE members. The SLA, using new forms from Colombo, is registering details of ex-Tiger members who had left the movement several years ago and of those who were detained and released by the SLA after the genocidal onslaught on Vanni in 2009. The SLA has been registering the details of former LTTE members since it seized the control of Jaffna peninsula from the Tigers in 1996. The SL military also registered the details of the LTTE members whom it took into its custody in 2009. The SLA is now collecting data on the whereabouts and details on what the former LTTE members are doing now. Even the identities of the dead ones are being verified, sources in Jaffna said.
Full story >>

Tamil student reported missing in Batticaloa

[TamilNet, Wednesday, 05 October 2011, 20:20 GMT]
A 16-year-old student who left his home at U'rukamam in Karadiyanaa'ru in Batticaloa on September 29 to visit his relatives in Aiyangkea'ni in Ea'raavoor has failed to return since then, according to a complaint lodged with the SL Police at Ea'raavoor by his parents. The victim, Amarasingham Vimalraj, has been a student of Karadiayanaa'ru MV and attending GCE O/L classes.
Full story >>

Sinhala encroachment of grazing lands continues unabated in Batticaloa

[TamilNet, Wednesday, 05 October 2011, 20:32 GMT]
Under the direction of SL authorities in Colombo, the Ampaa'rai District Agrarians Services Department has begun issuing permits to Sinhala encroachers on grazing lands in the Batticaloa district giving permanent status. Batticaloa district Tamil National Alliance parliamentarian Mr.P.Selvarasa addressing a meeting of the farmers at Vavu'natheevu DS secretariat last week requested the Sri Lanka Government Agent of Batticaloa District to stop legalizing encroachment by Sinhalese on grazing land located in Vavu'natheevu, Paddippazhai and Vellaave'li DS division in the Batticaloa district.
Full story >>

US knew Rajapaksa election was irregular

[TamilNet, Tuesday, 04 October 2011, 20:24 GMT]
A classified cable of the US Embassy in Colombo, made available through WikiLeaks, shows that the US Ambassador Patricia A. Butenis has informed the US government about a Rajapaksa order to eight SL Government Agents to send election results directly to SL President’s house for his review before sending them on to the SL Election Commissioner. The Ambassador also has cited other irregularities, frauds and intimidations in the last SL Presidential Elections. However, the US Government ‘congratulated’ Rajapaksa on his election and it regularly used to appreciate ‘democracy’ in the genocidal State, Tamil politicians commented.
Full story >>

Australia’s bids to lend legitimacy to Sri Lanka’s war-crime regime condemned

[TamilNet, Monday, 03 October 2011, 11:16 GMT]
Vehemently condemning Australia’s envoy for Sri Lanka, Kathy Klugman, for partaking in a high-profile propaganda ceremony at the Sri Lankan Presidential residence in Colombo, head of the International Commission of Jurists in Australia, John Dowd, has accused the Australian government of trying to legitimise the actions of Rajapaksa regime, which is credibly accused to have committed wide-spread war crimes during the final months of the war, a media report by The Age said. Australia’s high commissioner to Sri Lanka, Kathy Klugman, took part in a ceremony in Colombo on Friday to release 1,800 ex-members of the LTTE after what the Sri Lankan military called “a two-year rehabilitation program”. She also handed out certificates to alleged ‘rehabilitated’ Tamils, who were later detained and prevented from reuniting with their families.
Full story >>

‘Misplaced Loyalties’

[TamilNet, Monday, 03 October 2011, 05:17 GMT]
Genuine anti-imperialism does not lie in mere abstract anti-American/anti-west sloganeering, writes RM Karthick, a freelance writer based in Chennai. “In the wake of a ‘post-national world’ discourse framed by apologists of multi-national capitalism and equally regressive capitalist-bureaucratic models as upheld by states like Turkey, China and Russia - both aiding the logic of genocidal states like Sri Lanka, anti-imperialism in concrete requires solidarity with national liberation struggles and their progressive representatives,” he further writes in an article that appeared in West Bengal based Sanhati online journal on Saturday. The regimes in Cuba and Venezuela end up as political opportunists by supporting mass murderers and despots like Rajapaksa who virulently implement neo-liberal policies in deed, but put up a sham ‘anti-Americanism’ in words, the writer from Tamil Nadu says.
Full story >>

‘Reconciliation comes by accepting nations are different’

[TamilNet, Sunday, 02 October 2011, 10:15 GMT]
The South and its Sinhala polity talked of themselves as Sri Lanka and Sri Lankans. Those who opposed the war, but still wanted to be part of the warring Sinhala ideology, thus said the common meeting point of all Sinhala, Tamil and Muslim people is the ‘Sri Lankan’ identity. But this ‘Sri Lankan’ identity is essentially a Southern Sinhala identity, points out veteran Sinhala journalist Kusal Perera. Sinhala political parties in the opposition cannot and does not want to leave their Sinhala identity in challenging this regime [of Rajapaksa]. Challenging this regime with a Sinhala identity is impossible, with a State that is now wholly Sinhalised and is firmly controlled with the defence establishment entrenched in politics and economics, he further said, writing in The Sunday Leader, last Sunday.
Full story >>

Sri Lanka’s removal from Commonwealth urged in Canadian parliament

[TamilNet, Saturday, 01 October 2011, 05:22 GMT]
“Will the Prime Minister take steps today to urge the commonwealth to revoke Sri Lanka’s membership until it holds the perpetrators to account and they are judged in international courts? Will he support calls from the international community for action against the Sri Lankan government, asked Liberal MP Jim Karygiannis in the Canadian parliament Thursday, accusing the government for doing nothing when thousands were butchered. Supporting the line, and criticising the government for idling too long, New Democratic Party MP, Rathika Sitsabaiesan urged the government to commit to a stand with immediate effect in calling for a UN inquiry on Sri Lanka. Replying, the foreign minister of the Conservative government, John Baird said, “The Prime Minister did not sit idly by when he expressed grave concern about attending a future summit of the Commonwealth in Colombo.”
Full story >>

Sri Lanka governor demolishes British heritage in Jaffna

[TamilNet, Thursday, 29 September 2011, 21:14 GMT]
Part of a landmark heritage complex at the Old Park in Jaffna, the residency buildings of the British Government Agents, dating back to the beginnings of British rule, was demolished overnight on Wednesday at the orders of the occupying Sri Lanka governor in Jaffna, Maj. Gen. G.A. Chandrasri, despite the SL Archaeology Department declaring it a heritage site, preventing any demolitions. The SL governor is already building a mansion for the occupying governors in that location at a cost of 100 million Rs, news sources in Jaffna said. Both SL President Rajapaksa and his governor give utmost importance to the symbolism in showing who are the colonial masters now, by building a mansion for the SL president at the ‘King’s House’ inside the Dutch Fort and by building a governor’s mansion at the complex of the former British Residents.
Full story >>

Regimes in Sri Lanka, Maldives, forge questionable alliance

[TamilNet, Wednesday, 28 September 2011, 06:09 GMT]
Maldivian Vice-President Dr Mohammed Waheed, meeting Mahinda Rajapaksa over the weekend at the UN General Assembly Sessions, assured the latter of the support of Male to Colombo’s stand on its human rights issues, according to Maldivian media Haveeru, Tuesday. “Early this month Maldivian President Mohamed Nasheed defended Sri Lanka’s position at the UN Human Rights Council sessions held in Geneva,” Haveeru said in its feature “Maldives assures support for Sri Lanka amidst UN allegations.” The undue extra efforts taken by the present regime in Male to shield Colombo against the struggle of Tamils and Muslims in the island need careful scrutiny by the people in Maldives and peoples movements across South Asia, commented a political observer in Male.
Full story >>

BASL exemplifies Sri Lanka's legal institutional decay

[TamilNet, Tuesday, 27 September 2011, 01:50 GMT]
The Bar Association of Sri Lanka (BASL) "express[ed] serious concerns as to diabolic overtures by the West to destabilize Sri Lanka on the instigation of the Tamil Diaspora...," a Sri Lanka weekly said Sunday, and added, BASL is establishing "a high powered" committee to advise the government on matters that should be raised before the United Nations Human Rights Commission in Geneva. The Head of the Committee, de Z. Gunasekera's initial defense of Colombo arguing that delay in Channel-4 video presentation as evidence the video is a fake reflects a serious lack of basic legal reasoning skills from the highest legal institution of practicing lawyers, legal sources in Washington pointed out.
Full story >>