Game of smoke and mirrors, HRW blasts Sri Lanka's new commission

[TamilNet, Saturday, 08 May 2010, 02:02 GMT]
Commenting on Sri Lanka's announcement that it is appointing a laws-of-war commission, Brad Adams, Asia director at Human Rights Watch said, "[e]very time the international community raises the issue of accountability, Sri Lanka establishes a commission that takes a long time to achieve nothing. Ban should put an end to this game of smoke and mirrors and begin a process that would ensure justice for all the victims of Sri Lanka's war," adding, "Secretary-General Ban should not let Sri Lanka bully and manipulate him into abandoning justice for Sri Lanka's war victims," Adams said. "It is time for him to demonstrate that he is squarely on the side of the victims of Sri Lanka's long war."
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SLA builds base on demolished LTTE War Heroes’ Resting Home in Uduppiddi

[TamilNet, Friday, 07 May 2010, 16:53 GMT]
More than 200 Sri Lanka Army (SLA) soldiers are engaged in constructing a military base since Friday morning on the very place of E’l’aangku’lam Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE) War Heroes Resting Home in Vadmaraadchi which had been razed to the ground by SLA 03 May night using heavy equipments, sources in Jaffna said. Defence Secretary Gothabaya who recently visited Jaffna is understood to have issued the orders to demolish the above War Heroes Resting Home and to build a military base on the ground where it had stood, the sources said.
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Justice Minister of war crimes government appointed as UN human rights official

[TamilNet, Thursday, 06 May 2010, 17:01 GMT]
Ivan Simonovic, Justice Minister of Crotia, who served a government of human rights violations and ethnic cleansing and whose ministry failed to cooperate satisfactorily with UN war crimes investigations, has been appointed as top human rights official to liaise with the Geneva office of Navi Pillai and the UN headquarters. He was selected among more than a hundred applicants in a secret process, after becoming one of the four in the shortlist prepared by Navi Pillai, reports Foreign Policy, Thursday. A couple of months ago Ban Ki-moon decided to make Palitha Kohonna, the war crimes accused ambassador of Colombo and Vijay Nambiar, the UN chief of staff, accused of shady deals during the Vanni War as panel members to advice him on the war crimes in Sri Lanka.
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“Threat to country shifted from battle field to diplomacy” - SL Foreign Minister

[TamilNet, Thursday, 06 May 2010, 16:16 GMT]
“The country has been facing a different type of threat that is shifted from the battle field to diplomacy,” Foreign Affairs Minister G.L.Peiris Thursday said in parliament Friday. “Elements friendly to the LTTE have been actively working towards establishing a ‘transnational government in exile’ to carry forward the LTTE campaign,” he added.
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Colombo announces reconciliation commissison classifying 1,350 LTTE POWs as criminals

[TamilNet, Thursday, 06 May 2010, 11:04 GMT]
While on the one hand keeping uprooted civilians subjugated in open prisons and inside internment camps under a military-led administration, engaging in systematic demographic genocide in Tamil homeland in the form of Sinhala colonisation encroachments, abetting cultural genocide by erecting the symbols of Mahavamsa mindset and destroying the Tamil heritage, on the other hand the Sri Lankan President and Commander-in-Chief Mahinda Rajapaksa has come up with the announcement of appointing a commission for truth and reconciliation. Announcing the move, the Sri Lankan Prime Minister D.M. Jayaratne said in SL parliament on Wednesday that his government had categorized around 1,350 ex-LTTE members as "criminals who will be dealt with according to the law."
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Sri Lanka joins international issues in British parties’ focus

[TamilNet, Wednesday, 05 May 2010, 13:50 GMT]
Sri Lanka’s ethnic crisis is among international issues that have drawn comment by all three main political parties in Britain ahead of the general election on Thursday. The main opposition Conservative party insisted Sri Lanka “take immediate steps to address the concerns of the Tamil people” and emphasised the importance of “meaningful political reform” for lasting peace. The Liberal Democrats, the second largest opposition party, demanded an end to Sri Lanka’s “land-grabbing” and called for the formation of “an independent body to end all fraudulent claims to land.” The ruling Labour party, which raised warcrimes probes in its manifesto, said its 13-year government “had consistently sought to help Sri Lanka achieve a lasting solution and is committed to an inclusive political process.”
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Court turns down CID application to record Fonseka statement

[TamilNet, Tuesday, 04 May 2010, 10:00 GMT]
Colombo Chief Magistrate Monday turned down an application tendered by the Criminal Investigation Department (C.I.D) of Sri Lanka Police seeking permission of the court to record a statement from retired General Sarath Fonseka over a statement that latter had given to a Sunday English weekly regarding the killing of surrendering LTTE cadres at the last stage of the war, legal sources said.
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Colombo relaxes some provisions of Emergency Regulations

[TamilNet, Tuesday, 04 May 2010, 09:03 GMT]
The Government of Sri Lanka Tuesday relaxed some provisions of the Emergency Regulations now in force since 12 August 2005. The relaxed provisions are such as holding meetings, imposing curfew, printing certain literature and providing the house holder’s name to the police, according to SL External Affairs Minister G.L.Peiris while speaking in the parliament that began Tuesday two-day debate on the extension of the State of Emergency for another month.
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Sivaram showed how Sri Lankan state was dependent on oppression of Tamils: Prof. Whitaker

[TamilNet, Saturday, 01 May 2010, 17:10 GMT]
Sivaram’s biographer and close friend Professor Mark P. Whitaker said Thursday that Sivaram’s ability as a professional journalist to show convincingly how the Sri Lankan state was dependent upon its oppression of Tamil people, was one of the key reasons why he was targeted and killed exactly five years ago. Professor of Anthropology of the University of South Carolina , Mark P. Whitaker made these observations when delivering a speech at an event in London to commemorate the fifth death anniversary of Sri Lanka ’s top journalist Dharmeratnam Sivaram, well-known by his pseudonym as Taraki.
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International war corporatism continues silencing Eezham Tamils

[TamilNet, Friday, 30 April 2010, 12:30 GMT]
Diaspora Tamils wonder at the arrests, crackdowns and deportations of Eezham Tamil activists taking place in an orchestrated way in the West as well as in the East by governments conniving with the war-crimes-accused defence establishment of Colombo. The targets are those who are firm in their views on the national cause and those who work with the grass root. The timing is diaspora organising its polity. Whether the orchestration is pre-emption, expecting resurgence of the struggle as the IC knows no solutions to the crisis in the island, or whether it foretells something unpleasant that is going to be imposed on Tamils through a deal of Colombo with New Delhi and the West, are questions asked in the diaspora. How the Transnational Government of Tamil Eelam is going to be structured and how Tamil Nadu is going to play its role gains new significance in the unfolding situation.
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Diaspora paramount in voicing aspirations of Tamils: The Age

[TamilNet, Wednesday, 28 April 2010, 10:04 GMT]
Amid Sri Lankas' legal constitution that classifies Tamils as “Second class citizens” and “continuing problems of ethnic marginalisation and persecution”, the Tamil Diaspora feel they “need to press for and represent Tamil claims, because Tamils in Sri Lanka have lost their voice, and have no representation following the defeat of the LTTE” said an article in the Age on Friday, a day after results of Australia’s historic Tamil referendum were announced showing “unanimous support for the proposal for an independent Tamil homeland in Sri Lanka”.
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Australia's young lawyers to document Sri Lanka's war-crimes

[TamilNet, Wednesday, 28 April 2010, 01:39 GMT]
While calls for independent investigations into Sri Lanka's war crimes continue to mount, and United Nations Secretary General Ban Ki-Moon's appointment of advisory panel on Sri Lanka's war-crimes shows no progress, ABC Radio Australia reported that Australian Young Lawyers Group in New South Wales is joining forces with the International Commission of Jurists (ICJ) to take witness statements and prepare evidence on the conduct of Sri Lanka's Security Forces, and the Polical and Military Command for future war crimes tribunals on Sri Lanka.
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All in the game in the name of archaeology

[TamilNet, Tuesday, 27 April 2010, 03:19 GMT]
The Sinhala academics cannot compare their plight of opposing totalitarian social fascist system of governance with that of the Tamils who bear the entire brunt of fascism amounting to genocide set against them by an ethnic-powered state mechanism, says a Tamil academic in Jaffna responding to professor Sudharshan Seneviratne defending the archaeology agenda of Colombo. Genuine dialogue on culture, co-existence etc and partnership in opposing fascism come only when sovereignty snatched away from Tamils is restored as a priority and when there is parity. However patronising in overtures, individuals and organisations serving Colombo cannot escape from being ultimately colonial. Academics who are always on the side of enjoying the comforts of state power in the island are yet to explore ways of contributing to their ideals better by coming out of the system they identify as oppressive.
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British Tamils must pick candidate, not party

[TamilNet, Sunday, 25 April 2010, 15:19 GMT]
With Britain’s general election less than two weeks away, campaigning is in full swing. In an election that is too close to call and with many constituencies where British Tamils' vote can be decisive, the vital question facing expatriate Tamils is where best to place their votes? "As British Tamils, we have in this country, every opportunity to make our voices heard. By participating with enthusiasm in the forthcoming general elections British Tamils can work towards a just and stable future for Tamils in Sri Lanka," argues TamilNet political commentator in UK.
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Tories, Tamils reach out

[TamilNet, Friday, 23 April 2010, 22:33 GMT]
It’s a sight that would have been incongruous a few years ago, but is almost unremarkable today. Nestled amongst the Tamil restaurants, grocery shops and other businesses on the main strip in Rayners Lane, a suburb of London, a large sign on the front of former store front says: ‘British Tamil Conservatives’. On the other side of London, another office of the BTC opened a few weeks ago with a lamp lighting ceremony accompanied by mirithungam drummers, directly opposite the tube station in the Tamil-dominated suburb of East Ham.
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Liberation Tigers’ Ira’naimadu runway used exclusively by Indian Air Force

[TamilNet, Friday, 23 April 2010, 21:10 GMT]
The runway constructed by Liberation Tigers of Tami Eezham (LTTE) in Ira’naimadu in Ki’linochchi has been handed over to the exclusive use of Indian Air Force (IAF), according to sources close to a section of Sri Lanka Air Force (SLAF) personnel who have expressed their disapproval of this course of action by Sri Lanka government. The area in which this runway is located in Ira’naimadu falls within the High Security Zone (HSZ) and is strictly out of bounds for low ranking SLA personnel, the sources added. IAF officers fly routinely between Tamil Nadu and Ira’naimadu besides training SLAF personnel at I’ra’naimadu, the sources said.
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Senior ex-LTTE cadres under pressure to confess

[TamilNet, Friday, 23 April 2010, 09:46 GMT]
Colombo Establishment has subjected hundreds of senior Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE) cadres in its custody to confess to alleged accusations of war crimes, promising that a general amnesty would be granted sooner to those who confess, informed legal sources in Colombo told TamilNet Friday. The move, backed by Indian advice, comes as the Rajapaksa government secured majority of seats in Sri Lankan parliament. Concerned legal sources urged Diaspora Tamils to take meaningful action in arranging legal assistance to the victims through independent and reliable sources without allowing Indian or Colombo backed legal practitioners to victimise the detained cadres.
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Chennai High Court calls for clarification on deportation of Pirapaharan’s mother

[TamilNet, Wednesday, 21 April 2010, 12:20 GMT]
Chennai High Court judge who took up Wednesday for inquiry the petition filed by Mr. M. Karupan, a senior lawyer and human rights activist, citing Tamil Nadu Chief Minister Mr. M. Karunanidhi and the Indian Central Government as respondents for having sent back Mrs. Velupillai Parvathi, mother of Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE) leader Mr. V Pirapaharan, to Malaysia without allowing her to land in Chennai airport, ordered Mr. Karunanidhi and the Indian Central Government to submit a report on why Mrs. Velupillai Parvathi was sent back, before next Monday, legal sources in Chennai said.
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Senior LTTE cadres held to be produced in High Court for trial

[TamilNet, Tuesday, 20 April 2010, 16:43 GMT]
Around 2,000 senior cadres and combatants of Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eezham (LTTE) held in custody are to be soon produced in High Court for trial with the sole aim to find them guilty of war crimes and subject them to long-term imprisonment, according to legal circles in Colombo. Meanwhile, persons of an organization called Home for Human Rights (HHR) are already at work to exploit the above situation and fleece money from Tamil Diaspora in foreign countries and International Humanitarian Organizations on the pretext of arranging lawyers to appear on behalf of the Tigers during the said trial, human rights activist lawyers in Colombo said.
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Advani demands report from Congress government on Pirapaharan’s mother refused entry into India

[TamilNet, Monday, 19 April 2010, 15:11 GMT]
Former leader of the opposition and the current leader of Barathiya Janatha Party (BJP), Mr. L. K. Advani, blamed the Congress led government of India to have brought shame on India on international level by not allowing 80-year-old Mrs. Velupillai Parvathi, the mother of Liberation Tiger Leader Mr. Velupillai Pirapaharan, to enter India for medical treatment, in the Indian Lok Sabah Monday. He further demanded the central government to release a report on this matter immediately, sources in Delhi said.
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