Monthly Archives: April 2015

Military and Poverty

by Dr. S. Santhirasegaram, Developing Country Studies, 2013 Santhirasegaram Military and Poverty 2013 5. Conclusion Military forces employed by 97 percent of majority Singhalese has been getting more economic benefits from expansion of security forces. Social welfare expenditure from independent to 1980s in Sri Lanka biased to majority and made political unrest and violent which… Read more »

Constitutional Experiments in Sri Lanka

Summary [Since the decolonisation of Ceylon, the constitutional status of the legislature, executive and judiciary have undergone transformation due to proclamations of the two native constitutions in 1972 and 1978.  These two constitutions were made in order to accommodate the demand of the people of the ethnic majority, as well as to adopt the political… Read more »

Learning Politics from Sivaram

‘Taraki’ aka D. Sivaram was killed on April 28, 2005.  In his memory, we urge all interested in Sri Lanka to read his biography by an American anthropologist, ‘Learning Politics from Sivaram.’ Book Review of Learning Politics from Sivaram by Michele Ruth Gambard, Portland State University in The Journal of Asian Studies Excerpt from book at http://new.sangam.org/2007/10/Sivaram_C-I_1.php Selected… Read more »

CPA: The Need for Reparations

CPA The-Need-for-a-Comprehensive-Reparations-Policy-and-Package Discussion Paper: The Need for a Comprehensive Reparations Policy and Package 27 April 2015, Colombo, Sri Lanka: For any post war society grappling with the consequences of past violence and engaged in exploring modalities for transitional justice, reparations is an important tool. Reparations, if designed and implemented in an inclusive manner that factors in… Read more »

US Secretary of State’s Visit to Sri Lanka, May 2-3, 2015

SECRETARY KERRY TRAVEL TO COLOMBO, NAIROBI AND DJIBOUTI Press Statement Marie HarfActing Department Spokesperson,Office of the SpokespersonWashington, DCApril 27, 2015Secretary of State John Kerry will travel to Colombo, Sri Lanka, on May 2 for his first trip to the country and the first visit by a Secretary of State since 2004.In Colombo, he will meet… Read more »

Winning The War Is Not Establishing Peace

It is difficult to envisage delivering a lecture to commemorate Mr. S.J.V. Chelvanayakam without reflecting upon the one issue that concerned him most – the minorities question in Sri Lanka. Mr. Chevanayakam and his Party, the Federal Party, engaged in a long and difficult struggle to win the Tamil peoples’ rights. I would like to… Read more »

Armenian Groups Are Increasingly Focused on Reparations for Genocide

Behind the Turkish government’s denials of the century-old Armenian genocide lurks the possibility that survivors and their descendants could be deemed legally entitled someday to financial reparations, perhaps worth tens of billions of dollars or more. The Turkish authorities take the position that there is nothing that needs to be repaid. Moreover, no judicial mechanism… Read more »

For Whose Desire that Chemmani Mass Grave Case was Closed

The Ghosts of Chemmani Investigations revealed that 18-year-old Krishanthi Coomeraswamy, a student of Chundikuly Girls’ High School, was abducted at the Kaithadi military checkpoint on 07 September 1996, gangraped and murdered. The suspects in this crime were several officers and a soldier of the Army. However, the entire blame was placed on the shoulders of… Read more »

Maithripala Sirisena: A Case of ‘Much Ado about Nothing’

I have borrowed the title from Shakespeare’s play ‘Much Ado about Nothing’ for a reason. After the last Presidential election held in January, Western mainstream media were gushy on the fresh breeze of democracy in the cursed island.  Before I touch this theme, here is an unusual attempt in categorizing the periods of President Maithripala… Read more »

Ecological Disaster in Vallikamam, North Sri Lanka

Donate to Sangam’s efforts to determine the extent & cause of the spill and work on clean-up. by Lankawebnews.com, March 4, 2015 There is an ecological disaster of serious proportions takingshape over the last few years with the effects already showing in the Vallikamam area of Northern Sri Lanka. It is being realized by the… Read more »

Sri Lankan President Assures Completion of Country’s Largest Irrigation Project on Schedule

[T]he President said it is a fulfillment of an expectation of the people in North-Central Province. He assured that when the project is successfully completed the water required for the farmers in North-Central Province for their farming activities will be provided from the Moragahakanda irrigation system. Recalling that he laid the foundation for the project in 2007 as the Minister of Mahaweli Development, he said funds for the project were not given for a period of five and half years.

He also held discussion with the project engineers, officials and all other resource personnel at the site. The Chinese Ambassador also joined the occasion.

The largest reservoir project under the Mahaweli River Development Program was launched to provide a domestic and industrial water supply to Anuradhapura, Trincomalee, and Polonnaruwa and Matale districts for the development of agriculture in the north, east, and northwestern provinces.

UNSG’s Report on Conflict-Related Sexual Violence

UNSG’s_Report_on_Conflict-related_Sexual_Violence The report, by the UN Secretary General, Ban Ki Moon, on ‘Conflicted related sexual violence’, urged the UN Security Council to take action to prevent and ensure accountability for sexual violence in conflict. It examined ongoing concerns of sexual violence since 2014 in 19 countries, including Sri Lanka. “One of the major unaddressed issues… Read more »

Observations by the Special Rapporteur

http://www.ohchr.org/EN/NewsEvents/Pages/DisplayNews.aspx?NewsID=15820&LangID=E by UN Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights, Geneva/Colombo, 11 April 2015 I would like to thank the Government of Sri Lanka for the invitation extended to undertake a visit to the country from 30 March to 3 April 2015. In the course of the visit, I was able to meet with… Read more »

Relatives of “Disappeared” Tamils Protest

by S. Jayantha, WSWS.org, April 13, 2015 Several dozen relatives of Tamils who were arrested or abducted during the communal war conducted by successive governments in the country’s north and east joined a picket in Colombo last Tuesday. Most of the protesters were mothers and wives. Many travelled overnight from the northern Mannar district. Holding… Read more »

The End of the Rainbow Nation Myth

If you ask South Africans of my generation to name the most important political event of their lives, many will cite the assassination of Chris Hani. Mr. Hani was revered for his bravery in fighting against the apartheid government and for his internal dissent within the liberation movement. In 1990, after Nelson Mandela was released… Read more »

Joint Declaration of Principles on Victims

Overview of Colombia’s violence from 2013 US House briefing by Virginia Bouvier, Colombia Calls blog, Washington, DC, June 7, 2014 In a press conference in Havana this morning, where Colombian government and FARC negotiators have been meeting since Tuesday to discuss the theme of victims, the parties  presented a joint “Declaration of Principles for the… Read more »

MGR Remembered – Part 26

Part 25 by Sachi Sri Kantha, April 7, 2015 Table – Chronological List of MGR Movies released 1960-1967 MGR’s biography would be incomplete, if the rivalry offered by Villuppuram Chinnaiah Ganesa Moorthy aka Sivaji Ganesan (1928-2001), his junior contemporary and reputable rival in Tamil movies and Tamil Nadu politics, is left uncovered. As such, in… Read more »

US A/S DRL in Sri Lanka

Democracy, Human Rights, and Labor: Forum on Women’s Role in Post-War Reconciliation 04/02/2015 11:35 AM EDT Forum on Women’s Role in Post-War Reconciliation Remarks Tom MalinowskiAssistant Secretary, Bureau of Democracy, Human Rights, and Labor Colombo, Sri Lanka April 2, 2015 As prepared for delivery Thank you all for having me here today. Thanks particularly to Ms…. Read more »