Monthly Archives: November 2013

We Don’t Have Freedom In This House Or In This Country

It is those countries which so banned the LTTE and which indeed crippled the LTTE thereby, that are now stating quite clearly that there must be a political solution because these countries realize that there were valid causes for the conflict to emerge, that the said valid causes continue and are a recurring phenomenon and that unless there is a political solution that addresses these causes effectively, there can be no reconciliation. The Sri Lankan Government, on the contrary, seems to think quite erroneously that with the physical demise of the LTTE, peace and normalcy have returned to the country, however spurious such a claim maybe, and that everything is indeed hunky dory. This is the quagmire in which Sri Lanka is presently entangled and Sri Lanka, it appears, needs a great deal of assistance to disentangle itself from this situation. This basic reality, in my submission, Mr. Deputy Speaker, needs to be borne in mind in addressing the current situation in Sri Lanka.

Judging by what is happening in this country today, Sir, I would think that there are two critical words that have a bearing on the future of this country and those words are “accountability” and “reconciliation”. Genuine reconciliation is not possible unless there is credible accountability. Unfortunately, one observes impunity in every area of activity moving towards authoritarianism. The treatment of the Tamil people is worse than what it has been ever before.

Parliment Speech by Sritharan MP

  Translation of some of the speech by Tamil Guardian, London at http://www.tamilguardian.com/article.asp?articleid=9348 Speaking in Parliament today, TNA MP, Sivagnanam Sritharan, outlined that the majority of the Tamil people in the North-East had voted for the TNA to support the ideals of the LTTE leader Vellupillai Prabhakaran. Sritharan further reiterated that the Tamil people had a… Read more »

Genocide, Resistance and the Politics of Remembrance

The right to assembly, association and expression is deemed a threat to the state as they unwittingly acknowledge the collective will of the Tamil nation in rejecting Colombo’s sovereignty and embrace their national aspirations.

To Atlanta, By Way of Sri Lanka

The Indrakrishnans are part of a new tide of immigration with traditionally strong family ties. ATLANTA — When people first meet Dr. Indran Indrakrishnan, a gastroenterologist with a busy private practice near Atlanta, they take note of his unusual name, his crisply lilting accent, his tan complexion and wavy black hair, and they ask, “So,… Read more »

Sri Lanka: A View From Britain

Last week, The Agenda did a series on the situation in Sri Lanka ahead of the Commonwealth Heads of Government Meeting (CHOGM) held there. We’ve gotten some reaction to the series, so we are hosting a series of follow up conversations. In this video, Jan Jananayagam of the NGO Tamils Against GenocideEurope evaluates British Prime Minister David Cameron’s decision to… Read more »

The Time for an International Investigation is Now

British Prime Minister David Cameron’s presence at last week’s Commonwealth Heads of Government Meeting (CHOGM) facilitated coverage that might not have been possible otherwise for media organisations. But if the human rights and war crimes issues highlighted by the international media are to be redressed and Commonwealth values and international law upheld, the band-aid solution proposed… Read more »

Rape: Sri Lanka’s Weapon of Genocide

My fellow Tamil women What have you done for peace in the isle? Take off your clothes and open up your vagina For the Sinhala warriors of the land of Buddha – Poem by an Angry Tamil Woman On February 26th 2013, Human Rights Watch (HRW) released a report on sexual violence perpetrated on Tamil… Read more »

Genocide as Counterinsurgency

by Karthick RM, ‘Sanhati,’ West Bengal, India, October 10, 2012 Countering insurgencies is as old as states and empires. As a concept, however, study in Counterinsurgency (COIN) gained momentum in the colonial period so as to deal with frequently occurring rebellions in colonies as well as to counter the “communist menace”. COIN grew as a… Read more »

Prabhakaran and the LTTE

by Sachi Sri Kantha, November 20, 2013 November 27th marks the Maaveerar Day remembrance. As such, I provide part 4 of the select chronological bibliography on Velupillai Prabhakaran and LTTE. Part 1, 2 and 3 were presented in 2009, 2010 and 2011 respectively. Cumulatively, I managed to compile 189 research papers published in English, in… Read more »

Nepal (Not So Random) Connection

In addition to the presence of the UNMIN, Nepal’s 2006 peace accord had one other significant aspect in contrast to the Sri Lankan cease fire accord and the peace process. Nepal’s agreement expressed ““determination to carry out a progressive restructuring of the state”. Something Sri Lanka has never been willing to do and the international players have not made that a requirement for stable peace ( LTTE’s insistence on a political solution for them to accept an internationally monitored end to the conflict stands vindicated by the current status. Just as it was then, international players are scrambling to come up with excuses for the lack of political will).

China Calls on Sri Lanka to ‘Protect and Promote Human Rights’

China has called on Sri Lanka to “make efforts to protect and promote human rights”, amid continuing debate over the island nation’s hosting of the Commonwealth Heads of Government Meeting (CHOGM). While calling on other countries to “provide constructive assistance”, the Chinese government, which has in the past been among Sri Lanka’s strongest supporters against… Read more »

World Must Not Abandon Sri Lanka’s Victims after CHOGM

The international community must keep up pressure on the Sri Lankan government to address its human rights crisis, Amnesty International said as the Commonwealth Heads of Government Meeting (CHOGM) in Colombo draws to a close. Amnesty: Human Rights in Sri Lanka Summary 5 Nov 2013 “Sri Lanka may well regret having hosted the Commonwealth summit… Read more »

Cameron Sets March Deadline for Sri Lanka Rights Investigation

CNN news video of PM David Cameron in Jaffna at http://www.cnn.com/2013/11/16/world/asia/sri-lanka-commonwealth-cameron-march/index.html British Prime Minister David Cameron has given Sri Lanka a March 2014 deadline to hold an independent international inquiry into alleged war crimes during the country’s 26-year civil war. Cameron held talks with Sri Lankan President Mahinda Rajapaksa while in the capital of Colombo for… Read more »

Abuse Accusations Overshadow Commonwealth Meeting in Sri Lanka

NEW DELHI — Sri Lanka’s president, Mahinda Rajapaksa, tried to pre-empt criticism of his government’s human rights record on Friday as he welcomed leaders of Commonwealth countries to asummit meeting in the Sri Lankan capital, Colombo, that was overshadowed by persistent allegations of state-sponsored abuse during a long civil war by the Sinhalese-dominated government against ethnic Tamils…. Read more »

Sri Lanka’s Climate of Fear

Since the end of Sri Lanka’s civil war in 2009, the government of President Mahinda Rajapaksa has had a record of serious human rights violations and failed to provide accountability for wartime abuses. In August, the United Nations high commissioner for human rights, Navi Pillay, issued scathing observations on the state of human rights in Sri Lanka after her… Read more »

What Cameron Must Salvage from CHOGM

First and foremost, he must seek accountability for egregious rights abuses  Cameron’s sense of outrage is too little and far too late. But it perhaps create an opportunity to salvage something from an otherwise thoroughly discredited Commonwealth meeting, that he is clearly so determined to attend. Just this week, David Cameron described as “truly shocking”… Read more »

Sri Lanka’s Potemkin Peace

by International Crisis Group, Belgium, November 13, 2013 Full report at http://www.crisisgroup.org/~/media/Files/asia/south-asia/sri-lanka/253-sri-lankas-potemkin-peace-democracy-under-fire.pdf EXECUTIVE SUMMARY AND RECOMMENDATIONS Sri Lanka’s ethnically-exclusive regime continues to close political space and consolidate its power. Recent moves that create a perception of progress have not weakened the power of the president, his family or the military or brought reconciliation, ended human rights… Read more »

Channel 4’s ‘No Fire Zone’

http://www.channel4.com/programmes/no-fire-zone/4od   ABOUT THE PROGRAMME The team behind the Nobel Peace Prize-nominated Sri Lanka’s Killing Fields tell the story of the 138-day-long final offensive in Sri Lanka’s bloody civil war Available for a limited time only at Channel 4 site. —————— Channel 4 Nov. 9 blog on interview with Isaipriya’s mother and sisters http://blogs.channel4.com/miller-on-foreign-affairs/sri-lanka-tamil-familys-distress-footage-daughter/430