by Wakeley Paul; originally published January 11, 2004 GLOBAL MYTHS AND REALITIES AMERICA¹S APPROACHPresident Bush, on his recent visit to London made a rather presumptuous statement at the Royal Banqueting Hall of Whitehall Palace when he said. “Your nation and mine in the past have been willing to tolerate oppression for the sake of stability……Now we… Read more »
Posts Categorized: International
Review of ‘Elusive Mind’
by Shan Ranjit; from Circle Digest, Tuesday, December 30 2003, Volume 2001 : Number 3311 INSIDE AN ELUSIVE MIND ; BOOK REVIEW OLD WINE IN A NEW BOTTLE The latest book by Narayan Swamy (henceforth referred to as NS) on the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE) and its chief, Vellupillai Pirabakaran is a disappointment. I would… Read more »
US Presidential election 2004
Received from a Sangam member: I encourage Sangam members to get involved in the US 2004 presidential elections. I think now is a good time throw our support behind a candidate and engage our community to get involved locally around US. The relationships we build now with local supporters and party officials can help us… Read more »
Indonesia’s Secret War
by New York Times editorial; January 3, 2004 Do the tactics of Indonesia in Aceh sound quite familiar to Sri Lankan Tamils? In fact, where did the Indonesians learn from? We wonder why the Times is concerned about these tactics in Aceh, but had no concern for the NorthEast. Must have something to do with oil…!… Read more »
Aiding the Devil
by Saravanan Suresh Kumar, Bangalore; published January 3, 2004 By providing military aid to Sri Lanka, India is weakening further the current troubled peace process. We still seem to have not realized that the Sri Lankan problem is not one that can be solved militarily. We are creating new problems and not solving the existing one…. Read more »
Federal Solutions Amidst Chaos
by Dr. Robert C. Oberst; Daily Mirror, Colombo, December 19, 2003 Federal solutions amidst government chaos in Lanka Over the last 20 years, neither side in the Sri Lankan civil war has shown a willingness to negotiate the conflict with the other side. Until Norwegian mediation, there were few direct meetings between the two sides and… Read more »
Asian Balance & the Subcontinent
by C. Raja Mohan; The Hindu, December 18, 2003 Note from the person who kindly brought this article to our attention: Singapore journalist/academic Cherian George (born and bred Singaporean keralite)wrote an article a few years back titled “Replacing British Empire [in India] with an East Asian Empire.” In my view it can happen with the help… Read more »
What is a Refugee?
originally published December 10, 2003 IRC Brown Bag: How can we educate others about refugees? Tuesday, December 16th “A refugee? Someone who lives in a slum, maybe?” -Answer given by an American to the question “What is a refugee?” in Will They Ever Go Back?, an IRC-sponsored documentary How can we educate others about refugees?… Read more »
The Commonwealth Secretariat – On Thin Ice
by Neville Chinivasagam; published December 9, 2003 Today the Commonwealth Secretariat’s historic and glorious prestige has been put on thin ice by Sri Lanka. Hopefully it will quickly melt with British acumen and foresight. The embarrassment facing the people of the Commonwealth is Mr. Lakshman Kadirgamar’s application, sponsored by Ms. Kumaratunge President of Sri Lanka, for… Read more »
Worldwide Comments on the ISGA
by M. Nadarajan; originally published December 8, 2003 Worldwide Comments on the ISGA of the LTTEComments have been made from around the world on the proposals for an Interim Self Governing Authority (ISGA) submitted by the LTTE. Only a few have been written dispassionately without taking sides. Most have been written either with pre-conceived ideas, or… Read more »
Reaction to Kataragama’s Commonwealth Bid
by Raveen Satkurunathan; published December 7, 2003 Reactions to Luxman Kataragama’s last minute nomination Regarding the last minute nomination of Luxman to the post of Commonwealth Secretary General (SG) has created different emotions amongst many. Primarily amongst the leaders of the UK, Canada, New Zealand, and Australia it has created a sense of outrage that the… Read more »
Buddhism and Violence
by Bernard Faure, Professor of Religious Studies at Stanford University; An International Review of Culture & Society, Issue No. 9, Spring 2002 Is Buddhism pacifist? One would think so, to hear the Declarations of the Dalai Lama and those who claim there has never been “Buddhist war.” So has Zen Buddhism’s “drift” to militarism been only… Read more »
USIP Classroom Simulation re Sri Lanka
published December 6, 2003 Note especially the links at bottom of page! *********************************************************************** US Institute of Peace Sri Lanka: Setting the Agenda for Peace See these simple teacher tips on running a simulation in your classroom. Scenario The setting for this simulation is a September 2001 meeting in Geneva at which the Government of Sri… Read more »
Does the ISGA Violate the Oslo Agreement?
by Wakeley Paul, Esq.; published December 5, 2003 DO THE LTTE PROPOSALS VIOLATE THE OSLO ACCORDS?OR ARE THEY IN PERFECT CONFORMITY WITH ITS TERMS? According to Dayan Jayatilleka, “Richard Armitage and Chris Patten have both gone on record noting critically that the ISGA far exceeds the Oslo Accords and does not resemble any kind of Federalism”… Read more »
Center for Consititutional Rights Press Release
published December 4, 2003 . CONTACT: David Lerner, Riptide Communications at (212) 260-5000; David Cole 202-362-6473 or 202-365-6779; Nancy Chang (212) 614-6420 NINTH CIRCUIT COURT OF APPEALS HOLDS CENTRAL PROVISIONS OF ANTI-TERRORISM STATUTE UNCONSTITUTIONAL Wed, Dec. 3, 2003: The U.S. Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit today declared unconstitutional significant parts of a criminal… Read more »
Part of 1996 Anti-Terror Law Overturned
By The Associated Press, December 4, 2003 Filed at 8:26 a.m. ET SAN FRANCISCO (AP) — In a potential blow to the Bush administration’s legal strategy in the war on terror, a federal appeals court overturned part of a sweeping law the government has increasingly used to arrest or prosecute suspected terrorists. The decision Wednesday… Read more »
To all Commonwealth Heads of State
by Suresh Rajasingham; published December 4, 2003 To all Commonwealth heads of state, There is lots of talk and news attention being paid to Mr. Kadirgamar’s challenge to Mr. Don McKinnon’s post of the Commonwealth secretary general. This is mostly due to Mr. McKinnon’s and the so-called white countries’ opposition to human rights abuses by… Read more »
Appeal to Commonwealth Governments
by Dr. Victor Rajakulendran; originally published December 1, 2003 An open appeal to the Heads of Governments of the Commonwealth member nations Honourable Presidents and Prime Ministers: Re: The candidacy of Mr. Lakshman Kadirgamar of Sri Lanka for the Commonwealth top post I am writing this appeal when most of you are preparing to travel to… Read more »
Non-violent Peace Force in Sri Lanka
originally published November 29, 2003 http://www.nonviolentpeaceforce.org/english/srilanka/slpoutcome.asp In December 2002, 130 delegates from 47 nations chose Sri Lanka as the site of the first Nonviolent Peaceforce pilot project. The Nonviolent Peaceforce is recruiting, training, and sending 50 international civilians to help establish a foundation for sustainable peace in Sri Lanka between 2003 and 2005 The first… Read more »
For Family That Fled War
by Kari Haskell, The New York Times, November 29, 2003 THE NEEDIEST CASES For Family That Fled War, Safety, and Some Help, Too Zeenathul and Mohamed Zawril, back row, with their son, Ifraz, and daughters, Sahla, left, front row, and Sara. Mr. Zawril feared for the safety of his family because of war in their… Read more »