As the World Tamil Movement (WTM) announced that it would challenge its listing as an outlawed terrorist organization, opinions across Canada came out querying the decision by the Canadian government.

Claiming that the Canadian government is acting more like a police state than a democracy, the WTM announced on June 19 that it will appeal Ottawa's decision to add it to a list of terrorist groups.

"They feel they've been tried, convicted and charged without even knowing they were charged," said one of the WTM's lawyers, Marlys Edwardh.

"This is not the conduct of a democracy where people are entitled to meet a challenge in a courtroom . . . it's much more for them like the actions of a police state."

Edwardh insisted that the Toronto-based non-profit organization never received any invitation to submit evidence from the RCMP, which has aggressively been gathering documents about the WTM's funding practices.

"The process involved is entirely without any rights of the individual or the organization to examine the evidence, challenge the conclusions and to put forward their positions."

Calling the listing ‘hasty’, The Gazette in Montreal said “It's quite possible that the WTM is, as [Public Safety Minister Stockwell] Day said this week, a leading front for the Tamil Tiger insurgents back home in Sri Lanka. But so far the evidence against the group is pretty thin.”

“No WTM member has ever been prosecuted for a crime, let alone convicted. And a major raid on the movement's headquarters last spring has resulted in no charges so far,” the paper noted.

“But until they're confirmed, government suspicions alone should never be enough to shut down a voluntary organization of Canadians,” it said.

“It's one thing to ban a foreign entity as terrorists. But it's entirely another matter to ban an organization started and run by Canadians, and registered as a non-profit organization under Canadian laws, without due process or even as much as a day in court to defend the allegations,” wrote Dushy Gnanapragasam in The Globe and Mail.

“But in this climate of colour-coded fear, due process and basic rights are the furthest thing from the minds of people,” the letter to the paper said.

“The Tamil community is shaken, but it is the general populace who should take notice,” wrote Manjula Selvarajah in the National Post newspaper.

 “The Tamil Canadian community looks forward to seeing the Canadian government apply a balanced approach to both parties of this conflict and consider imposing economic and diplomatic sanctions against the government of Sri Lanka for its appalling human rights record. It is time to send a stronger message.”

 “It is unclear what the actual effect of this listing will be on the World Tamil Movement and its ability to continue to exist, as never before has a domestic group been criminalized in this manner,” wrote Harini Sivalingam in an opinion in The Star.

“In the meantime, an entire community has been tarnished and painted with the same brush. After the listing of the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE) by the Canadian government in April 2006, there was significant backlash against members of the Tamil Canadian community who experienced discriminatory treatment at schools, workplaces and in the general public. There is a concern among Tamil Canadians that this listing will have a more profoundly negative impact on the community at large,” she wrote.

“The listing of the WTM is a clear instance that "they have come for the Tamils." Even if one is not a Tamil, we should all speak out and voice our concerns about protecting important,” she wrote.  

Eelam Tamils in the Diaspora countries continued their rallies in support of the Tamils’ right to Self-Determination.

The rallies, titled 'Pongu Thamil,' (meaning 'Tamil Upsurge'), are intended as Tamil mobilising through cultural programmes. It resumes a major plank of Tamil political activity.

The very first Pongu Thamil was held on January 17, 2001 by university students in defiance of the Sri Lankan military occupying Jaffna and despite the ongoing fighting in the peninsula.

The Pongu Thamil movement was initiated by university students in the Tamil homeland  to serve as a demonstration of the motivation and defiant will of the Tamil people for the cause of Tamil Eelam.

After the 2002 Ceasefire began, the rally was repeated not only in Jaffna, but as a series of events to bring the Tamil people together in a common act of peaceful political agitation in support of the Eelam cause.

In 2003 and again in 2005, Pongu Thamil rallies took place in all the major Tamil population centres in Northeast Sri Lanka and across the Diaspora.

Following rallies in New Zealand, Norway, Denmark, Northern Italy and France, Tamils over the past fortnight also rallied in South Africa, the Netherlands, Belgium, Sweden, Germany and Southern Italy.

In South Africa Tamils gathered on June 21 for a Pongu Thamil rally at the Arena Park Regional Hall, in Chatsworth, where they pledged to support the Eelam Tamils' right to statehood, and urged the international community to voice for the Tamils’ rights.

Guest speakers at the event were Deputy Mayor of Ethekwini, Logie Naidoo, and MEC for Sports and Recreation, Mr. A Rajbansi, both of whom spoke out against what they called the “selective morality” of the international community regarding the Tamil freedom struggle.

The key speaker was Dr. Brian Seneviratne, an Australia-based Sinhala expatriate physician, who is supportive of Tamils right to self-determination.

The Program Director was, Mala Lutchmanan, a local radio personality.

A declaration was made, seeking the International Community to recognise Tamils right to self - determination and recognising the LTTE as the legitimate sole representatives also in the future negotiations.

The declaration further urged the international community to seek a just solution and to put an immediate end to the genocide of the Tamils.

On Sunday June 22 over 1,000 Tamils from across Netherlands gathered in front of the Dutch parliament at 2pm to mark Pongu Thamil.

Guests, including Jaffna Tamil National Alliance (TNA) parliamentarian Mr. S. Kajendran and poet Pulamaipithan, were treated to songs, dances and dramas, all on the Tamil upsurge theme.

On Monday last week, Tamils rallied in front of the United Nations office in Brussels. Beginning at 2pm, the event included songs and speeches by guests including TNA Jaffna MP Mr. S. Kajendran.

Last Saturday Tamils from across Sweden gathered in the capital Stockholm to rally as part of the global Pongu Thamil effort.

Those gathered participated in dramas, dances and songs, all focusing around the Tamil Upsurge theme.

Over 8,000 Tamils gathered in Dusseldorf, Germany, last Saturday to participate in the Pongu Thamil rally.

Beginning at 2pm, the rally marched through the streets shouting “Our land Tamil Eelam” and “Recognise Tamil Eelam”.

The event included Tamil Eelam songs, dramas and dances.

Special guests included the Batticaloa TNA MPs Mr. S. Jeyanandamoorthy and Mr. E Ariyanenthiran as well as Jaffna MP Mr. S. Kajendran.

On Sunday, over 1,000 Tamils in from across Italy and surrounding countries gathered at Piazza Mondello in Palermo to hold their Pongu Thamil rally. Italians also participated in the event.

The chief guest was Battiicaloa TNA parliamentarian Mr. S. Jeyananthamoorthy.

The programme ended with a drama in Tamil and Italian, which conveyed the suffering of the Tamils in the homeland to those who had gathered.

French charity Action Contra la Faim (ACF or Action Against Hunger) has began to approach international donors to Sri Lanka to establish an international inquiry into the killing of 17 of its local staffers in Muttur in August 2006.

France has allegedly already come out in support of the initiative. French Foreign Affairs Minister Bernard Kouchner has the non-governmental organisation that France would explore the possibility for such an inquiry, an ACF official said.

Head of ACF communications Lucile Grosjean told The Sunday Leader that coinciding with the launch of a new campaign over the Muttur murders on June 17, the organisation had first made its appeal to France.

"As the event on the 17th was the official launching of the campaign aimed at obtaining an international inquiry, ACF requests the support of France, European Union, Co-chairs of the Tokyo conference at this specific moment. We decided to go step by step asking first for the support of France," she said adding that the French government had reacted positively.

"As requested by ACF, we are going to explore with our international partners the possibility of setting up an international commission of inquiry," French Foreign Minister Bernard Kouchner said in Paris on June 17 according to transcripts made available by the French Foreign Ministry.

It is likely that a series of discussions would be held between representatives of France and other EU countries, after France takes over the European Union Presidency on July 1, reported the Daily Mirror.

“France is not going to take the aid agency’s request lightly as the organisation’s ‘Justice for Mutur’ campaign has caught the attention of the French government. Discussions will be held after July 1 and an international inquiry into the Mutur massacre is likely,” the paper quoted French sources as saying.

Grosjean however said that the organisation had only received the French response and was however not aware as to how the other countries would react to the idea of an international inquiry.

Grosjean told the Daily Mirror that while the organization was relieved at the step taken by the French government, it would continue with its international public awareness campaign in  France under the slogan – ‘Justice for Muttur’ – to dramatize and underscore the savagery of the massacre.

Kouchner was an original member of the International Independent Eminent Group of Persons (IIEGP) that was set up to assist the Special Presidential Commission of Inquiry. He resigned when he was appointed as the Foreign Minister of the Nicolas Sarkozy administration.

The IIEGP pulled out of Sri Lanka in March, followed by ACF which had maintained a single member presence in the country to handle the matters relating to a commission of inquiry into the Muttur massacre.

However Commission of Inquiry Chairman N. Udulagama told the Daily Mirror that the commission would not extend support to France to conduct an international inquiry as ACF was no longer functioning in Sri Lanka.

Udulagama said that while ACF was entitled to its views and to seek support from the international community, there was nothing much the Sri Lankan government could do to be of any assistance as ACF had withdrawn from the country before the conclusion of the local investigations, the paper reported.

“ACF left the country two months after the CoI began its sittings without assisting the investigations. Now it seeks an international probe. What does it now expect us to do?” Justice Udulagama queried.

No mandate for federal solution – JVP

The Janatha Vimukthi Peramuna (JVP) last Thursday stressed President Mahinda Rajapaksa did not get a mandate from the people to implement a federal solution but rather only to safeguard the unitary status of the country. JVP Leader Somawansa Amarasinghe also slammed India for what he described as ‘its invasive dictatorial foreign policy’ and urged the government to reveal the contents and outcome of talks it held with the high level Indian delegation which visited the country.  The JVP said neither the Indian government nor the Sri Lankan government had so far issued even a statement on the outcome of the talks. “During the talks, the Sri Lankan side was confined to the Rajapaksa family because it is now virtually running the entire country by handling everything from defence, economy to foreign affairs. Even though the President has failed to mention what they discussed we have received information from local and Indian sources as to what had transpired during the talks,” he said. Mr. Amarasinghe stressed President Rajapaksa did not get a mandate from the people to implement a federal solution but to safeguard the unitary status of the country. (Daily Mirror)

Court restrains Muslims' resettlement

Sri Lanka's Supreme Court extended the term of a restraining order on last month to prevent members of the Muslim community from being settled in an area the Sinhalese have claimed as a historical religious site in the Eastern Province.  The court issued the restraining order in May. On June 19 the court extended the term of the order till mid-September when the case would be taken up for hearing. Some 500 houses have been built in the Deegavapi area of the Eastern Province meant to settle Muslims affected by the December 2004 tsunami devastation. The all Buddhist Monk party Janatha Hela Urumaya (JHU) or the National Heritage Party has petitioned the Supreme Court and sought a restraining order to prevent the Muslim settlement at Deegavapi. The JHU said the area has been identified as a Buddhist religious site of historical importance. (Xinhua)

Pastor attacked by home guards

An evangelical pastor in eastern Sri Lanka was admitted to hospital June 24, a day after he was attacked by militant government forces because of his Christian activities. Reverend Fernando from the Methodist Church in Ampara, a remote city 200 kilometres east of the capital Colombo, was apparently attacked in the area while returning home from a church group meeting in the suburb of Uhana. "He is currently receiving treatment for his injuries in hospital," said Britain based rights group Christian Solidarity Worldwide (CSW). The National Christian Evangelical Alliance of Sri Lanka (NCEASL), a major umbrella group, said in published remarks that the pastor "sensed that the men were trying to lure him into a trap, and asked them to come to the church instead if they wished to discuss Christianity. The men then attacked him, and warned him not to return to the village." The attackers are believed to be members of the Gramarakshaka Niladhari, or 'Home Guards', an auxiliary force established by the government to assist the police and military in security duties. (CSW)

In an apparent softening of its stand, Sri Lanka has offered to hold talks with the LTTE after a two-year gap, saying the outfit does represent a ‘fair amount’ of Tamils but ruled out immediate revival of the ceasefire scrapped in January.

"The (Sri Lankan) President has already announced that he is ready to talk (with the LTTE)," Basil Rajapaksa, powerful Special Advisor to the President Mahinda Rajapaksa, said.

On whether the President has specified that he will not talk unless the LTTE lays down arms, Basil merely said, "Those are conditions that have to be worked out.”

"The government is always open to talks but the government needs to have a certain environment in which we can talk," Basil, an MP and brother of the Sri Lankan President, told the Daily Mirror newspaper.

On being asked whether the LTTE represented the Tamil people, the senior advisor said, "Yes, they represent the Tamil people but they are not the only ones. That has been proved.

"But this doesn't mean they don't have the strength or that they represent no Tamils," he said.

"They (the LTTE) do represent a fair amount of Tamil people. Unfortunately their way of doing it can't be approved. Otherwise the President is always willing to have negotiations and a settlement. The best scenario is where we negotiate and settle it with the LTTE," Basil said.

The two sides had six rounds of talks after the 2002 ceasefire but the LTTE pulled out in 2006 citing bias.

The peace process received a crushing blow in January this year when the government scrapped the tattered ceasefire, a move that unleashed a fresh wave of violence as the military intensified its offensive against the Tamil Tigers in the north.

On whether the government will respond positively if the Tigers offer a ceasefire on Friday, Basil said, "That's like thinking of attaining Nirvana on Friday. That takes time and effort."

"You can't just decide today and go for it tomorrow. Its too far way to think about at this stage. We have to be realistic," he added.

"We are meeting the needs of the people and crushing terrorism while inviting the LTTE for negotiations. We are willing to look into their grievances," Basil Rajapaksa said.

An unscheduled visit by a high-powered delegation from the Indian defence and foreign affairs ministries to Colombo last week created a stir in political and media circles in Sri Lanka with local media speculating on the purpose of the secretive visit.

The delegation headed by National Security Advisor M.K. Narayanan  and comprising Foreign Secretary Shiv Shankar Menon and Defence Secretary Vijay Singh arrived in Colombo on a special flight from New Delhi on Friday, June 20.

During their two-day visit, the Indian officials held separate discussions with Sri Lankan President Mahinda Rajapaksa, Defence Secretary Gotabhaya Rajapaksa, Commanders of Sri Lankan military, the parliamentary group leader of the Tamil National Alliance (TNA) R. Sampanthan and Minister of Social Services and leader of the paramilitary Eelam People's Democratic Party (EPDP) Douglas Devananda.

None of the visiting Indian officials met the press and a brief statement was read out to the Indian journalists.

"India hopes that Sri Lanka can find peaceful solution to the ethnic conflict within the framework of united Sri Lanka, acceptable to all the communities. There are no military solutions," the statement read.

The conflicting reasons given by Sri Lankan and Indian officials as to the purpose of the visit only did not help.

“Their visit is in connection with the forthcoming SAARC summit.” an Indian diplomat told IANS referring to the South Asian Association for Regional Cooperation (SAARC) summit scheduled to open August 1 in Colombo.

A top official of the Presidential Secretariat played down the importance of the visit, labeling it a ‘regular one’ and said: “It is part of the regular exchange of contacts at the highest official level between the two countries. The latest Indian official visit can be termed as a return visit to a similar mission from Colombo to New Delhi in September last year.”

A three-member delegation from Sri Lanka comprising Secretary to the President Lalith Weeratunga, Gothabhaya Rajapaksa and Senior Advisor to the President Basil Rajapaksa visited India in September last year.

However, retired Sri Lankan diplomat K. Nanda Godage said the 'very composition of the Indian delegation itself shows the visit is something special and not just a routine one'.

“I don't think it is just a return visit or courtesy visit. It certainly cannot be anything to do merely with the security arrangement for the SAARC summit either,” he said.

“We hope this is a visit to convey a positive message from India that it is fully behind Sri Lanka in its effort to solve the ethnic conflict,” said Godage.

Sri Lanka's opposition parties demanded the government disclose the reasons behind the 'sudden visit'.

The sudden and secretive nature of the visit raised questions within political circles also with opposition parties demanding details of the visit.

John Amaratunga, a parliamentarian from the opposition United National Party (UNP), claimed there was a 'crucial aspect' to the two-day previously unannounced visit, pointing out that it had came at a time when the country was 'at crossroads in economic and war fronts', the Daily Mirror newspaper reported.

“Today, India is concerned about what is happening in Sri Lanka. The ongoing military campaign will have serious implications (for) Tamil Nadu (and) the Indian government. So we are eager to know the true position of the visit,” the paper quoted Amaratunga as saying.

Meanwhile, the radical Marxist Janatha Vimukthi Peramuna (JVP) claimed that the visit by the Indian delegation was 'similar to what happened during the Vadamaradchchi operation in 1987' and demanded the government divulge the details of all discussions held.

JVP's parliamentary group leader Anurakumara Dissanayake said India intervened to halt the Vadamaradchchi military operation against the LTTE in 1987 and later forced a peace accord on the Sri Lankan government.

“It is the responsibility of the government to disclose the details of the visit as conflicting reports have appeared in the media,” said Dissanayake.

The JVP also regretted the continued Indian attitude of conducting important talks at the level of civil servants and intelligence officers, who are not answerable to the people of India, and for the meek submission of Sri Lankan politicians to such diplomacy.

In a letter to the Indian Prime Minister, Dr Manmohan Singh, Vaiko, General Secretary of the Marumalarchi Dravida Munnetra Kalagam (MDMK), accused India of “equipping the Sri Lanka Government to help its war machine to perpetrate genocidal attacks against the Tamils...throwing to winds the farsighted foreign policy adopted by Pandit Nehru and Mrs. Indira Gandhi,” and urged the Prime Minister to not participate in the SAARC Conference.

Full text of the letter follows:

Dear Dr. Manmohan Singh ji,

Vanakkam. The betrayal being committed by the UPA Government at the centre against the Tamils, with particular reference to the ethnic Tamils of the island of Sri Lanka has been thoroughly exposed by the statements of the Sri Lanka Government, its military officials and also by the condemnable activities, open and clandestine of the Government of India.

News have appeared in the print media in India and Sri Lanka that a top level Indian official team comprising Foreign Secretary Mr. Sivasankara Menon, National Security Advisor Mr. M.K. Narayanan and the Defence Secretary Mr. Vijay Singh has reached Colombo on 20th June 2008 for consultations with the Sri Lanka Government ''on matters of mutual interest''.

It is reliably understood that the Indian team has met the President of Sri Lanka Mr. Mahinda Rajapakse, Defence Secretary Mr Gotabhaya Rajapaksa and Secretary to the President Lalith Weeratunga. The visit was kept a top secret. A source in the Sri Lanka Presidential secretariat told the press that over Friday and Saturday, the visiting team would discuss an array of issues, including the security in the island, the ongoing military operations against the LTTE in the North, the issue of the intruding Indian fishermen in North-West Sri Lanka, and matters relating to the SAARC summit to be held in Colombo in the first week of August.

My repeated request to you by letters and also in person to stop forthwith any sort of military assistance to the Sri Lanka racist Government which is committing the grave crime of genocide against the ethnic Tamil race in the island have been callously thrown away.

Even though the UPA Government did not sign the proposed Defence Pact with Sri Lanka in 2004; the Indian Government has been equipping the Sri Lanka Government to help its war machine to perpetrate genocidal attacks against the Tamils.

I accuse that the Government of India supplied radars to the Sri Lanka Air-force which is strafing and bombing by which innocent Tamil people are brutally killed, the glaring example is Sencholai massacre.

I accuse that the Government of India gave a red carpet welcome to the Sri Lanka President and the Ministers whose hands are stained with the blood of Tamils.

I accuse that the Government of India has sanctioned a loan of 100 million dollars at 2% interest to the Defence Ministry of Sri Lanka enabling them to purchase weapons from Pakistan and China, which would be used to decimate the Tamil race.

I accuse that the UPA Government has deliberately derelicted in its duty to prevent the dastardly attacks and killing of the Sri Lanka Navy against the Tamilnadu fishermen. Adding insult to the injury, the Indian team is discussing with the Sri Lanka Government against the safety of Tamilnadu fishermen.

I accuse that the Government of India has mortgaged her sovereign rights, permitting the Sri Lanka Government to lay seamines in the international waters adjacent to Indian water.

I accuse that the Government of India, burying fathoms deep all the norms of humanism, prevented the supply of food and medicines to the suffering Tamils in that island by not giving permission to the International Red Cross to send the materials collected in Tamilnadu.

I am pained to make the accusation that the Indian Government, particularly the abovementioned officials are assisting the Sri Lanka Government, which is making all out military offensive to liquidate the Tamil race, throwing to winds the farsighted foreign policy adopted by Pandit Nehru and Mrs. Indira Gandhi.

The UPA Government and its constituent political parties are held responsible for the loss of Tamil lives in the island of Sri Lanka and will be held accountable and answerable in the dock of the people's court of India.

In view of the abovementioned facts, I am registering my point of view that the Prime Minister of India should not go to Colombo to participate in the SAARC Conference.

With regards,

Yours sincerely,

(Vaiko)

India has urged the Sri Lankan government to work towards a broader devolution that goes beyond the 13th amendment to the constitution that devolves powers to provincial councils.

India’s message to Colombo was conveyed by a high level delegation comprising National Security Advisor, M.K. Narayanan, Foreign Secretary Shiv Shankar Menon and Defence Secretary Sri Vijay Singh, who were on a two-day visit to the island.

"The Indian delegation made it clear that they did not believe a military solution was possible," a diplomatic source close to the delegation said. "The delegation was keen that there should be a political solution."

However this should not be interpreted as India wanting the Sri Lankan government to stop its war against the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE), as Sri Lanka categorically announced that no request to end the war was put forward by the visiting delegation. 

The Sri Lankan Media minister Lakshman Yapa Abeywardane said that India did not request the government to end the military offensive against LTTE and New Delhi only sought a peaceful solution to the decades-long problem.

“Sri Lanka is maintaining a strong relationship with India. As a neighbouring country, India is requesting peace talks but it did not compel the government to stop the war,” the state-run Daily News quoted Abeywardane as saying.

In closed-door talks with Sri Lankan President Mahinda Rajapakse and top officials, Narayanan informed Rajapakse of New Delhi’s growing impatience on the slow progress made with regard to a political solution and urged the Sri Lankan government to speedily submit a viable devolution package within a united Sri Lanka to resolve the ethnic crisis.

According to local reports, the Indian delegation called on the APRC process to be fast tracked and a political solution placed on the table at the earliest. They had also stressed the importance of developing an all party consensus.

The delegation was also concerned about the hardships of the Tamils in the north due to the escalating military conflict and the impact it would have on India if there was a refugee outflow to the southern Indian state.

In addition to the slow progress of political solution, the Indian delegation also expressed their displeasure at Sri Lanka’s shift towards China and Pakistan on military matters. 

Bolstered by the military support received from its Asian neighbours including India, Sri Lanka formally withdrew from a Norwegian-arranged truce in January this year and launched a military offensive to capture LTTE administered northern regions.

Tamils are unhappy with New Delhi’s silent diplomacy and point out that it is not possible to spot the dividing line between India’s limited but open military support to Colombo and the desire to prod Sri Lanka towards a negotiated settlement.

For all intents and purposes, the military - according to Defence Ministry figures and claims - has cleaned up the map, and killed the Army Commander's benchmark of 5,000 Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE) cadres between January 1, and the end of June.

As of last Friday, the statistics maintained by The Sunday Leader of LTTE cadres claimed killed by the Defence Ministry's official claims, was 4,698.

Given the Rajapakse administration's war on media, we have exercised much caution in maintaining these statistics.

A copy is saved of every article referred to, as is a link to the article's unique identity number on the Defence Ministry website's archive, along with the number claimed killed. In situations where swathes of LTTE cadres are claimed "killed or wounded," we are careful to count less than half the number as killed.

The many instances referring to "ferocious" battles where the military had inflicted "massive casualties" - but no concrete numbers - were omitted entirely.

The effects of air strikes too were omitted entirely as the air force has allowed that it is extremely difficult to independently verify the number killed on the ground after an air strike.

And thus we have a number from the Defence Ministry - that cannot be independently verified - of 4,698 LTTE cadres killed in land and sea action.

Theoretically, 302 should be remaining, skulking in the Wanni jungles.

Kept track

However, we have also kept track of the number of air strikes announced by the air force this year on "identified terrorist targets."

Eighty four, separate, aerial bombing raids have been announced this year, most involving more than one aircraft.

Given that at least four bombs are dropped on each target - and they don't come cheap: the cheapest of reliable 'dumb' bombs costing in the region of Rs.100,000 each - from a value for money perspective if no other, it would be sensible to expect that at least four LTTE cadres are killed in each of these "massive" strikes on "LTTE installations."

It is not much to ask that a single military operation costing in the region of Rs.400,000 to several million rupees in their ordinance costs alone - leave alone pricey aviation fuel and aircraft maintenance costs - take out at least four LTTE cadres.

Thus with at least 5,000 LTTE cadres having been killed by the Defence Ministry's own numbers, we are back to square one wondering why the government is asking the country to brace itself for an ever more, stringent war footing.

For all practical purposes, going by Defence Ministry statistics alone the war should therefore be now over with at least 5000 Tigers killed between January 1 to date. But is it? And if not, how come?

Surely the Defence Ministry that has identified media persons who challenge their word on the war as traitors would not have been lying to the very people who are funding the war?

That after all would be treason, would it not? 

Reality

The reality is that although Army Commander Lt. Gen. Sarath Fonseka claimed bombastically that the war would be over by August with the killing of 3000 Tigers, and then by the end of the year, the advances of the military - most likely due to tactical and strategic sensibilities - have been conservative.

The military has advanced, by its own estimates, as deep as 10 or more kilometres on the northwestern Mannar front, and has captured an area of 50 square kilometres in the road-less jungles atop northeast Weli-Oya.

The area captured is effectively less than one third that was controlled by the Tigers six months ago.

It would be almost delightful to hear the excuses of the people who believed the government when it claimed mid-last year that the LTTE strength was a mere 5,000, also believed in December 2007 (after 2,800 Tigers had been killed) that their actual strength was 3,000, and then later believed again in February that the true number was 5,000 cadres remaining and that the war would be over by August. What do they have to say now?

(edited)

Torture has become endemic in Sri Lankan police stations and there seems to be no political will to stop it, an Asian human rights group said June 25.

The Hong Kong-based Asian Human Rights Commission said torture was standard procedure both in investigating ordinary crimes and as part of the civil war with the Liberation Tigers.

The government said the allegations were baseless.

Despite thousands of complaints, the commission said the attorney general's office had only launched three prosecutions against alleged official torturers.

"Torture is a way of life at all police stations in Sri Lanka, whether the alleged crimes investigated are those relating to petty criminal offences, serious crimes or offences under the emergency and anti-terrorism laws," the commission said in a statement.

Rights watchdogs have reported hundreds of abductions, disappearances and killings blamed on government security forces and Tamil Tigers since the bloody civil war resumed in 2006.

The commission also said investigations into torture were being politically prevented to protect Sri Lanka's human rights record, and that the lack of political will to eradicate torture affected the entire administration of justice.

International observers quit the island earlier this year, saying a probe into a string of high-profile killings, including the massacre of 17 local aid staff in 2006, was going nowhere.

The UN Human Rights Council has called on Sri Lanka to investigate allegations of killings and disappearances and prosecute those responsible, including members of the security forces.

Fighting between government forces and Tamil Tiger guerrillas has intensified since the government formally pulled out of a six-year-old ceasefire pact in January.

"About 5,000 responded to the general amnesty we had from May 2 to the 30th," Brigadier Udaya Nanayakkara said.

"We are now trying to get at 11,000 to 12,000 deserters who did not respond to the amnesty."

He said most of the desertions had taken place several years ago, and asserted that there had been no exodus in recent years despite heavy fighting with the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE).

In 2003, the government moved to legally discharge from the security forces some 51,000 deserters if they agreed to pay any money they owed the military, while those wanting to rejoin were considered for fresh enlistment.

However, military officials said despite that offer, thousands were still listed as deserters in the ranks of Sri Lankan security personnel numbering about 200,000.

Sri Lankan security forces are locked in combat with LTTE whose strength is not known, but estimated at between 5,000 to 15,000.

A 2002 Norwegian-arranged truce began to unravel from December 2005 and Colombo formally pulled out of the ceasefire in January this year.

Bolivia's gas-rich Tarija province has voted overwhelmingly in favour of greater autonomy, exit polls suggest.

About 80% of the voters in the eastern province backed the measure in a referendum, several pollsters said.

The result is seen as a rejection of left-wing President Evo Morales' drive to redistribute wealth in South America's poorest nation.

Tarija is the fourth province to back greater autonomy. The central government says the polls are illegal.

According to several exit polls, just over 80% of voters in Tarija voted Yes in the referendum.

However, pollsters say that most supporters of President Morales did not vote.

Some voters were deterred by unusually cold weather and a few minor outbreaks of violence, the BBC's Daniel Schweimler says.

Electoral officials have said final results are expected later this week.

Autonomy backers celebrated in Tarija's capital after the exit polls were released.

"A new Bolivia must be built on a foundation of autonomy. Centralism has left a bad legacy," regional Governor Mario Cossio told a crowd of supporters late on Sunday.

Earlier this year, the provinces of Santa Cruz, Beni and Pando also voted to distance themselves from the central government in La Paz.

Tarija's referendum is another brick in the wall that is increasingly dividing the poorer, predominantly indigenous western half of Bolivia from the gas and oil-rich eastern half, our correspondent says.

Constitution reform

President Morales, who has more than two years left in office, faces a recall referendum on his leadership in August.

If successful in the ballot, Mr Morales says he wants to hold a public referendum on a draft constitution which has been awaiting approval since last year.

The constitution aims to enshrine reforms such as land redistribution to Bolivia's indigenous majority and sharing of wealth with the poorer western regions.

However, critics say it cedes too much control to the government in La Paz.

Mr Morales's opponents in the eastern states argue that his plans would unfairly privilege indigenous groups and would mean greater central control.

The proposals also include allowing the president to stand for re-election for another five-year term.

Tamils in South Africa on Saturday gathered for Pongu Tamil rally at the Arena Park Regional Hall, in Chatsworth, where they pledged to support the Eelam Tamils' right to statehood, and urged the international community to voice for the Tamils’ rights.

Guest speakers at the event were Deputy Mayor of Ethekwini, Logie Naidoo, and MEC for Sports and Recreation, Mr. A Rajbansi, both of whom spoke out against what they called the “selective morality” of the international community regarding the Tamil freedom struggle.

The key speaker was Dr. Brian Seneviratne, a Australia-based Sinhala expatriate physician, who is supportive of Tamils right to self-determination.

“My agenda is to bring peace to that country and more important than that, peace with justice,” he said. He characterised the current situation in Sri Lanka as “the slide of a democracy into a fascist dictatorship.”

Being a member of the Bandaranaike family, he has rejected their oppressive policies against the Tamils. For more than 3 decades, he has been condemning the genocide of Tamils in Sri Lanka and has been advocating a separate Tamil state.

Dr. Senewiratne said that South Africa has the potential to play a pivotal role in the resolution of the Sri Lankan conflict because it is one of very few countries that has no agenda where Sri Lanka is concerned.

He also discussed the importance of India, Tamil Nadu in particular, becoming actively involved in protecting the interests of the Tamils in Sri Lanka.

The Program Director was, Mala Lutchmanan, a local radio personality.

A declaration was made, seeking the International Community to recognise Tamils right to self - determination and recognising the LTTE as the legitimate sole representatives also in the future negotiations.

The declaration further urged the international community to seek a just solution and to put an immediate end to the genocide of the Tamils.