by Rajkumar Sivapatham; published April 23, 2004 For the past couple of years, the most commonly used word in the Sri Lankan affair is “peace.” Even before the MOU between the GOSL and the LTTE was signed, Chandrika and her military had been waging a war for “peace.” This war is even now justifiable to some… Read more »
Posts Categorized: International
Vaiko Clean!
by Press Trust of India; published April 9, 2004 POTA review committee gives clean chit to Vaiko In a boost to MDMK leader Vaiko ahead of the elections, the Central POTA Review Committee today gave a clean chit to him and 8 others, saying no prima facie case was made out for invoking POTA against them… Read more »
Geopolitics of South Asia
by Neville Jayaweera; Confluence, January 2004 The geo-politics of South Asia and Sri Lanka’s changing fortunes(Or why the USA and India will intervene in Sri Lanka) by Neville Jayaweera (formerly of Ceylon Civil Service and Sri Lanka’s Ambassador to the Scandinavian Countries) Two dramatic developments in Sri Lanka’s ethnic conflict recently are the USA’s direct involvement… Read more »
‘Silent Waters’ in NYC & SF
This movie has a Sri Lankan producer. It is showing on Thursday and Friday in New York City, April 22 and 25 at the San Francisco Film Festival http://www.sfiff.org/fest04/titleDetail.asp?title_id=50, in Toronto in May and various other places around North America after winning many awards in Europe. Ed. MOVIE REVIEW | ‘SILENT WATERS’ The New York Timeshttp://movies2.nytimes.com/2004/03/30/movies/30WATE.html… Read more »
Terrorism Refined & Distinguished
by Wakeley Paul; published March 29, 2004 Those described by their enemies as ‘Terrorists’ who are engaged in a struggle for Independence from foreign domination, have often wound up as international heroes. Some obvious examples are Jomo Kenyata who defied the British in Kenya, Nelson Mandela who suffered imprisonment and humiliation at the hands of the… Read more »
UN Commission on Human Rights
INTERFAITH INTERNATIONAL A non-government organisation with ‘consultative status’ at the United Nations * * * * * * United Nations Commission on Human Rights – 60th session Item 5 – Right to Self-determination Intervention by Visuvalingam KIRUPAHARAN March, 2004 In 1918, President W Wilson used the term ‘self-determination’ in his speeches to Congress. He stated… Read more »
IMF 2003 Consultation with Sri Lanka
by International Monetary Fund, Washington, DC via ReliefWeb, March 5, 2004 IMF concludes 2003 Article IV consultation with Sri Lanka Public Information Notice (PIN) No. 04/20 Public Information Notices (PINs) are issued, (i) at the request of a member country, following the conclusion of the Article IV consultation for countries seeking to make known the… Read more »
Iraq & Sri Lanka: Compared, Contrasted
by Wakeley Paul; published March 12, 2004 IRAQ AND SRI LANKA: COMPARED, CONTRASTED AND ANALOGIZED Bernard Lewis, the scholar of Islam, wraps his political opinions on Iraq in a historical blanket. They have never had a democratic tradition, he argues, therefore democracy will be an ill advised imposition of a political system upon a people who… Read more »
Amnesty’s Concerns re Sri Lanka
TO: Ambassador Devinda Subasinghe, Embassy of Sri Lanka FROM: Jim McDonald, Sri Lanka Country Specialist, Amnesty International USA RE: UN Human Rights Committee’s concluding observations DATE: February 24, 2004 On December 1 of last year, the U.N. Human Rights Committee issued its concluding observations (the “Observations”) on Sri Lanka’s fourth and fifth periodic reports under… Read more »
Facts & Opinions About American Elections
by Wakeley Paul; USA, published March 9, 2004 SOME FACTS AND OPINIONS ABOUT THE ON COMING AMERICAN ELECTIONS: HOW DOES IT AND CAN IT AFFECT EELAM? I am sure my views do not meet with [the editor’s] approval and are therefore highly controverial from an average Tamil viewpoint. That is what makes it interesting. It should… Read more »
Iraq Shiites Fail to Sign Charter
by Dexter Filkins; The New York Times, March 6, 2004 Iraqi Shiites, in a Blow to U.S., Fail to Sign Temporary Charter The article in the temporary constitution now in dispute deals with the ratification of the permanent constitution, which is supposed to be written sometime next year. According to language agreed on this week, the permanent… Read more »
Pay Any Price?
by Janadas Devan; The Straits Times, Singapore, March 5, 2004 http://www.straitstimes.asia1.com/columnist/0,1886,145-238457,00.html? LAST year, as United States forces were conquering Iraq, Middle East expert Bernard Lewis attacked those who thought US plans to install democracy in Iraq were bound to fail. Janadas Devan They think Arabs aren’t ready for democracy, he said accusingly. He, on the other… Read more »
Lions vs. Tigers
by Kopel, Gallant & Eisen; March 3, 2004 What is particularly interesting about this article is that, because of the distinct ideological position of the authors – weapons in the hands of ordinary citizens are a requirement for freedom – , the conclusion reached is different from the usually monolithic Western viewpoint on the Sri Lankan… Read more »
Letter to the International Community
by Dr. Victor Rajakulendran; published March 2, 2004 An open letter to the International CommunityPresidents Prime Ministers Foreign Ministers and Foreign Secretaries of Democratic Nations Your Excellencies Re: Parliamentary Elections in Sri Lanka As you all may be aware, due to the political bickering between Sri Lankan President Chandrika Bandaranayake Kumarathunga (CBK) and Prime Minister Ranil… Read more »
Mind Your Own Business
by Wakeley Paul; originally published February 27, 2004 “WHY DON¹T YOU MIND YOUR OWN BUSINESS” says Lakshman Kadirgamar to Deputy British Foreign Secretary What does this portend? The situation in SL sends the shivers up the affluent; the Tamils and the international community interested in continuing the peace process which was begun by the UNF and… Read more »
Kurds Demand Vote on Independence
By Barbara Plett, BBC, February 25, 2004 BBC correspondent in Baghdad Kurdish activists have collected 1.7 million signatures on a petition demanding a referendum on the future of northern Iraq’s Kurdish region. For the past decade, Kurds have ruled their own affairs, out of the reach of former strongman Saddam Hussein. Their status in the… Read more »
The “New World Order” and Tamils – a Comment
by Rajkumar Sivapathan; February 12, 2004 The events in the past couple of years have changed the life style and attitude of most people in the world. The attack on WTC and the events followed affected many people. The main thing that affected the Tamils was the hurried inclusion of the LTTE, the only organisation that struggles… Read more »
Call to Increased Action for War-Affected Children
by UNICEF; originally published February 24, 2004 SECURITY COUNCIL: Plight of Children in Armed Conflict Reaches Watershed Stage [press release] [NEW YORK, 20 January 2004] – The battle to uphold the rights and well-being of children exposed to armed conflict “has reached a watershed moment,” the Secretary-General’s Special Representative on the issue told the Security Council today…. Read more »
The People’s Sovereignty
by George Soros; Foreign Policy, New York, January/February 2004 The People’s Sovereignty How a new twist on an old idea can protect the world’s most vulnerable populations George Soros is a financier and philanthropist. Sovereignty is an anachronistic concept originating in bygone times when society consisted of rulers and subjects, not citizens. It became the cornerstone… Read more »
Open Letter to US Secretary of State
by Appuacci; originally published February 5, 2004 Dear Mr. Secretary, Today is February 4, 2004; the day Britain handed over the reins of government to the people of Sri Lanka (the former Ceylon). Lord Soulbury, in a Foreword to the book A Divided Nation by B. H. Farmer, showed his bitter disappointment at the direction Ceylon took during… Read more »