As the fighting in Vanni intensified, attacks against Sri Lanka Army (SLA) soldiers in the Jaffna peninsula have also increased, reports said.

In the past two weeks there were three separate attacks against SLA troopers deep inside the government-controlled peninsula.

On Wednesday September 4, two claymore mines were exploded targeting Sri Lankan military personnel.

The first attack in the afternoon targeted a Buffel Armored Personnel Carrier killing one soldier and injuring three Kapoothu area.

The second one, just hours later, targeted an SLA vehicle on the Point Pedro- Chaavakachcheari main road. The blast at Viraali, located on the boundary between Vadamaraadchi and Thenmaraadchia, killed a soldier and injured others.

The SLA launched an extensive cordon and search Thursday from 7:00 a.m, in the area north of A9 road from Nu’naavil junction, enclosing Madduvil, Charasaalai, Kappoothu, Kalvayal and Kerudaavil.

Vehicles were not permitted to use Point Pedro-Chaavakachcheari road from Thursday morning in the search which continued until afternoon. Even NGO demining workers and governments officials on their way to work were not allowed by the SLA either to enter or exit the areas under its cordon and search. The search was concentrated particularly in the mangrove land stretch between Charasaalai and Kapoothu areas.

A week earlier, on Saturday August 23, a group of unidentified armed men opened fire and hurled hand grenades on the SLA camps in Yaakkarai and Kalikai areas in Karaveddi in Vadamraadchi killing two soldiers and seriously injuring two.

The attack continued for 15 minutes in which heavy gunfire and explosions were heard, Karaveddi sources told TamilNet.

The two injured SLA soldiers are admitted to Palaali Military Hospital.

Thousands of SLA troops deployed in the above area launched a cordon and search operation, immediately after the attack, that continued till Sunday evening.

Residents of these areas continue to remain in their homes while an atmosphere of fear and tension prevailed.

In addition to attacks on military personnel, there have also been attacks on electricity transformers in the peninsula.

Unidentified armed men opened rapid fire Monday August 27, during curfew hours on an electricity transformer at Kachchaay, Kodikaamam in Thenmaraadchi causing damages to it.

Electricity supply was cut off in the area and SLA launched a cordon and search Tuesday in the area, covering the triangular area between Kodikaamam, Chaavakachcheari and Kachchaay.

The search began Tuesday early morning and lasted until evening. Residents were not allowed to leave their homes the whole day and subjected to thorough search and checking.

United Nations staff have begun leaving Vanni this week after Sri Lanka’s government ordered aid workers out of the Tamil Tiger controlled region and told them to remove their equipment with them.

The government move comes after the UN agencies said they were unable to advise civilians to vacate LTTE-controlled areas in compliance with a government directive to this effect.

Over 160,000 people have been displaced in the past two months by Sri Lankan offensives and a humanitarian crisis is fast developing, aid workers said.

And amid indiscriminate bombing and shelling, some aid workers are warning of an impending bloodbath.

Explaining the decision to expel aid workers from Vanni, Sri Lanka's disaster management minister Mahinda Samarasinghe said: "UN and other aid agencies being in the Vanni now is unfavourable to us at this time."

Last week the Sri Lankan government said it wanted Tamils in LTTE-controlled areas to move into government-controlled areas. The government called on the INGOs based in the Wanni to persuade the LTTE to allow civilians to leave for Government-controlled areas, the Sunday Times reported.

“UN officials are in the area only to ensure humanitarian assistance to those in need,” UN spokesperson Gordon Weiss told The Sunday Times adding that they were not there to advise the people on which direction they should move.

“Any person has the freedom of movement, and they can move where and when they want in search of safety and assistance,” Mr. Weiss said.

“Convincing the civilians on the direction they should take is up to the relevant authorities or the parties to the conflict,” Mr. Weiss said.

The UN official confirmed that civilians were moving in large numbers deeper behind LTTE lines as the security forces continue to close in from several fronts.

“It is difficult to persuade people to leave their homes, taking whatever they own and head for a place that will be alien to them,” he said, referring to the government-controlled Vavuniya.

Speaking prior to the government’s quit order, Mr. Weiss told the Sunday Yimes the UN agencies had no immediate plans for leaving the Vanni, as their presence was more important at this juncture when the situation was becoming grave.

Announcing the quit order Monday, Sri Lanka’s defence secretary, Gotabhaya Rajapakse, said Monday that as no development work was taking place in the Vanni, there was no need for the aid agencies to continue being there.

If the aid agencies were allowed to operate in the north, the Tamil Tigers would use them as human shields to attack government troops, he said.

Gotabhaya warned the government does not want a similar situation to August 2006, when 17 aid workers of a French agency were killed the town of Muttur after heavy fighting.

International ceasefire monitors blamed Sri Lankan forces for the execution-style killings of the 17 men and women.

The government said the ban would apply to all foreign aid workers in LTTE-held territory as well as their local colleagues who were not permanently resident in the area.

"We can't assure the security of these people," Defence Secretary Rajapaksa told The Associated Press news agency. "We are taking precautions."

Disaster management minister Samarasinghe said Monday said his government could not guarantee the safety of aid workers "given the present situation."

"We asked them (aid workers) to leave the Wanni district immediately with all their resources," the minister said. "They wanted a week or two to comply."

"We have told them that we can still take care of the internally displaced people with our existing network of [government] officials," Samarasinghe said.

The UN said Tuesday it is “now evaluating its operations in the area with a view to relocating humanitarian staff. A precise timetable for the complete withdrawal of all staff is yet to be determined, but relocations will begin this week.”

“The UN notes that the Government recognizes it holds primary responsibility for ensuring the safety of humanitarian workers,” a statement added.

The Associated Press quoted many aid workers as saying their efforts at feeding and housing some of the 160,000 displaced civilians in the Vanni was crucial to staving off a humanitarian crisis.

The UN says it “remains fully committed to addressing the humanitarian needs of the civilian population in the affected areas, and will continuously monitor the situation to assess how this can be done under the circumstances.”

However, it is not clear what the UN can or is prepared to do, especially given its standing deference to host government’s wishes.

Meanwhile the executive director of the Australian Council for International Development, Paul O'Callaghan, told Radio Australia, he expects a sharp increase in casualties.

"This situation is likely to become a bloodbath in the next several weeks," he said.

"Apart from the direct military conflict, we would expect that many, many will die or be in extreme circumstances if humanitarian workers are not able to access this area."

"It was an extreme [humanitarian] situation even before the decision [Monday] by the government to exclude foreign aid workers."

Meanwhile, the International Committee of the Red Cross urged “both parties to the conflict to do their utmost to spare civilians the effects of ongoing hostilities.”

“We are committed to staying close to those in need of humanitarian aid and to meeting their most urgent needs regardless of whether they seek refuge in government or LTTE-controlled areas," said Toon Vandenhove, the ICRC’s head of delegation in Sri Lanka.

Health-care facilities in the Vanni continue to operate for the moment, albeit in ever more difficult circumstances, the ICRC says.

Saying clean water and sanitation were the most pressing needs of the displaced, the ICRC quoted local government officials in Vanni as expressing concern about there not being enough shelter available for the displaced.

Hours after a devastating Tamil Tiger attack on the Sri Lankan military’s headquarters in Vavuniya, the  main opposition Tuesday questioned the government’s claims of progress in the war against the LTTE, press reports said Wednesday. “The Air Force base and the Police HQ of Vavuniya was attacked using heavy artillery. Radar defence system is completely destroyed. This happened in an area that government has always claimed has been liberated a long time ago, and cleared of any LTTE activity,” United National Party (UNP) parliamentarian Lakshman Seneviratne was quoted by The Bottom Line newspaper as saying.

“In the last PC elections, the state media claimed that the fall of Kilinochchi was near and the military is close to capturing the town,” he said.

“But it was only on September 4th, that they captured Mallavi town. We ask the government not to mislead people,” he said.

“In the last two years, over 1800 soldiers were killed while 9901 were injured,” he added.

According to the UNP MP, more than 5000 have lost their limbs, making it impossible for them to work in the military.

Seneviratne also added that the government of President Mahinda Rajapakse is embezzling vast quantities of money reserved for military operations.

“They bought F 27 and [Mig]29 planes to destroy the LTTE planes. But we all know how much the ministers pocketed from these funds. The LTTE Aircrafts are still air borne,” he said.

The UNP also claimed that 14 military personnel were killed and 29 were wounded while the radar system at the Vavuniya Air Force base had been destroyed by yesterday’s LTTE attack.

“Also, several policemen were killed during the attack,” said UNP parliamentarian Range Bandara.

“Two Indian nationals who were working as radar operators were also injured during the attack,’ he added.

The UNP MP claimed that in the recent attack on Anuradhapura UNP candidate, Dr. John Pulle, the police used tear gas canisters that did not go off. “That was because they were duds, so I wonder whether the government is providing the military with the same quality equipment,’ Bandara added.

Internal conflicts that have a deep structural asymmetry and powerful protagonists are less likely to reach a quick political settlement, due to their protracted and long-term nature.

Norway’s peacemaking attempts in Sri Lanka, spanning six years of negotiations from 2001 to 2007, ended when the 2002 Cease-Fire Agreement (CFA) was abrogated in early January 2008.

It was the longest spell of negotiations between the Sri Lankan Government (GoSL) and the LTTE (hereinafter used as ‘both parties’). The lessons learnt from Norway’s facilitation are worth recalling if Sri Lanka hopes, in the future, to seek any third-party assistance in a mediation process.

Norway’s ‘facilitation’ essentially combined shuttle diplomacy with multi-faceted reconciliation endeavours. No other Scandinavian country would give such a bulk of their money for development and humanitarian assistance. In this context, wealthy Norway’s entry into the Sri Lankan peace process was welcomed by both parties, at the early stages of negotiations.

Norway was convinced by both parties to pursue peace talks in good faith. Even though the CFA has now been abrogated and the SLMM gone, what is noteworthy is that the six-year long peace drive brought about, within the parties, a willingness to cooperate for a political solution.

Facilitation is the least forceful mechanism in ‘third-party mediation’. It essentially exchanges information between the conflicting parties to create a conducive environment for negotiations. In practice, however, this is a difficult task.  Greater power disparity between the parties and increased militarism of the conflict often hamper successful third-party facilitation.    

Norway entered the Sri Lankan peace process as a ‘back channel’, to establish confidence-building between the parties for intended peace talks. However, its efforts of peace brokering  was largely unproductive. Norway was ineffective in removing power discrepancies, reducing tension and gaining public confidence for impartiality.

What were the drawbacks?

The CFA, entrenched as a tool for trust and cooperation, had been used mostly as a tool for argumentation. Even though there was a reduction of political killings in the early phase of the CFA, from the very start, the parties were unable to accept the other in good-faith. The Governments de-proscription of the LTTE was not perceived as a genuine goodwill gesture by the LTTE. Furthermore, the rejection of the LTTE’s ISGA proposal, and isolation from foreign funds became a huge concern for the Tigers. The increasing disagreements, mistrust and military antagonism made Norwegian efforts at confidence-building increasingly harder.

The Norwegian facilitation was not sufficient enough to ensure effective communication. The LTTE unilaterally withdrew from the sixth–round, symbolizing Norway’s ineffectiveness in confidence-building. The short-term cause for the LTTE decision was a misperception rather than a military matter. The LTTE saw the Washington Conference, prior to the Tokyo Conference, as a clear isolation of their party in front of the ‘US-led’ donor community. The LTTE claimed that both Norway and the GoSL were fully aware of prevailing legal constraints in the US, which prevented their participation at the parley.

In addition, Norway created doubts of their continuance in the peace process when it re-appeared in Geneva in 2006, after distancing itself from the process for three years, amidst heavy clashes. Norway’s efforts to use the ‘stick’ at this level of argumentation, and ‘carrots’ in terms of  international Donor support were largely ignored by the parties by then.

Meanwhile the parties continued to directly accuse each other of breaking the truce. According to cumulative statistics recorded by the SLMM, from February 2002-Auguest 2006 there were 276 violations by the GoSL and 4176 by the LTTE. Disarmament and disengagement had apparently further heightened asymmetry. In reality, both parties used military enhancement as a tool for bargaining during the talks.

The only ‘stick’ the Norwegians could offer, to encourage cooperation and engagement in refinement, was the SLMM and Donor contributions. But did the SLMM perform overall as a confidence-building tool?  And were the Donors supportive in peacemaking? The fact is that the SLMM just kept for ‘monitoring’ and ‘reporting’ and kept urging the parties to adopt peaceful cooperation.

This was ineffective in eliminating the gross ceasefire violations, and continued military accumulations. Furthermore the SLMM had to verify facts with a limited staff, and faced technical difficulties. The SLMM having to function from staff from Norway and Iceland only, from 2006 onwards, weakened the mission further.

Interestingly, Norway’s neutrality was often questioned during their time in the peace process. While some refused to accept the theory that neutrality exists in the real world of politics and others were skeptical about Norway’s impartiality.

However, criticism over Norway’s role had an obvious negative impact in maintaining consistency between the parties. The outspoken view of southern politics in Sri Lanka – known to be the fundamental nationalist led by the JVP and JHU – labelled Norway as “pro-Tigers” and as “New- Imperialists”.

Mostly, the arguments about Norway’s role have provided a political platform for those struggling in the political panorama of Sri Lanka. Therefore, even the few logical criticisms they presented had limited opportunity to be constructive in the society.  

When looking at the six years of Norway’s facilitation in the Sri Lanka peace process, the active period of Norway’s facilitation has been limited for about one year during the six-rounds. Norway became passive and inefficient during the rest of the four years in terms of confidence-building and cessation of violence.

The only enforcement that Norway used was the international Donor pressure, which was also not used as a pacifying approach in the long run.

Finally, it is important to note that recalling these lessons will impact future international third-party mediation to be productive in peacemaking efforts in Sri Lanka.

The writer holds a M.Phil. in Peace and Conflict Studies in the University of Oslo, Norway. She currently works as the Programme Officer in Conflict Resolution and Peace Support Division.  She is also a freelance researcher in Conflict Studies.

A US trade law expert last week expressed confidence on the European Union (EU) renewing Sri Lanka's GSP Plus trade concessions despite the Rajapakse government’s unabated human rights violations.

Kevin Kennedy, a professor of law at the Michigan State University in the USA, speaking at a seminar on opportunities to compete in the US market for Sri Lankan exporters organised by the Ceylon Chamber of Commerce said it is highly likely the EU would extend the concessions but is adopting a 'carrot and stick' approach.

"My prediction is you are going to get GSP Plus," he told the seminar audience.

"What the EU is doing is what the US does too. It's a very familiar pattern - pushing and pushing and pushing. "

"I'd be very, very surprised if you're denied GSP Plus," Kennedy added.

The GSP Plus, preferential trade scheme from the EU allows Sri Lanka to export 7,200 items duty free into the EU and is credited with helping to boost Sri Lankan exports. The scheme is to be reviewed this year for its extension for another three years.

Sri Lanka is the only South Asian nation to enjoy Generalised System of Preferences duty free trade concessions from the European Community.

For eligibility, recipient countries need to have ratified 27 international conventions on human rights, labour standards, environmental protection, and governance principles by 31 December 2008.

Kennedy believes the EU would grant the concessions irrespective of the island state’s compliance to the 27 international conventions specified and then apply a carrot and stick policy. However, analysts point out that once the concessions are renewed there would no incentive for Sri Lanka to ratify the conventions.

The EU will "grant GSP Plus and then the carrot and stick will start," Kennedy said.

"They'll say 'if you want to continue to get GSP Plus you need to do better in this area or that area'."

Kennedy further told the seminar audience that Sri Lanka needed the EU Market.

"For Sri Lanka, you really need the EU market - you need that duty free benefit to stay competitive."

“The EU will say if you really want this additional benefit - you have to comply with and ratify all these conventions." he added.

A recent study by economists at the University of Sussex concluded that losing GSP Plus would lead to a 4% cut in Sri Lanka’s garment exports, and overall, it would cost 2% of the island’s GDP"

Whilst the west continue to remind Sri Lankan how much it needed the GSP Plus, the Sri Lankan political leader are not too concerned about losing the EU trade concessions.

Speaking at an election rally last month, Sri Lankan President Mahinda Rajapakse snubbed the West and said the country no longer dependent on western hand outs. Rajapakse proclaimed that the era of rulers who were dependent on the West was over with his regime in Sri Lanka

Given the widespread allegations of human rights violations by the Rajapakse government, there has been much speculation recently that the European scheme may not be extended to Sri Lanka after the end of this year.

Observers point out that whilst the GSP Plus is a generally seen as a trade concession for developing countries, where the local manufacturer is owned by a European business it becomes a way of importing subsidised goods into the EU for the European business.

This is true for firms like Marks and Spencer’s which own garment factories in the island.

In a visit to Sri Lanka earlier this year, Marks & Spencer’s boss, Stuart Rose, hailed the country’s “ethical standards” and assured that he will he do ‘everything possible to support Sri Lanka’s application for the GSP+ concessions’.

Some European Union officials also have shown similar enthusiasm in renewing Sri Lanka’s GSP Plus.

This is visible in European Commission’s stand that whilst the continuation of the GSP Plus scheme depends on the implementation of the 27 conventions, it does not expect “absolute compliance.”

“No one expects absolute compliance. This would be unfair but we need to be clear that there would be an objective assessment on the implementation of these conventions,” said Peter Maher, Head of Operations of the Delegation of the European Commission to Sri Lanka and the Maldives, recently.

Julian Wilson, EU ambassador in Colombo, earlier this year, criticised newspaper reports on the continuation of GSP Plus being linked to human rights abuses as 'rubbish'.

The ‘Daily Mirror’ newspaper at the time quoted him as saying at a function on the issue of GSP Plus that "I will only say that a lot of melodramatic rubbish has been written about the renewal of GSP+ in the local press. The truth is simple if somewhat banal--the EU wants Sri Lanka to receive GSP Plus again for the coming three years," he said.

Reserves and former LTTE fighters returned to their ranks in large numbers following a call by the Political Wing of Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam, whilst thousands of people enrolled themselves to fight against invading Sri Lankan forces, Tamil and Sri Lankan press reports said.

On Sunday August 17, the political wing of LTTE re-called all former cadres who left the organisation to lead a non-military life and reserves to join their units to fight the occupying forces and protect the homeland.

In addition to the reserves returning, thousands of civilians also enrolled themselves to the Makkal Padai (Peoples Forces) to protect the Tamil homeland from the Sri Lankan military aggression.

According to Tamil press reports, people from all walks of life including public servants, private sector workers and business persons are joining the Makkal Padai.

The training for the first batch of one thousand cadres started on Monday 18 August 2008 in Kilinochchi.

Head of LTTE finance division, Para hoisted the national flag of Tamil Eelam and initiated the training programme. Key note speech was given by Head of Voice of Tigers N. Thamilanban.

The Sunday Times newspaper in Sri Lanka quoted a government official and reported that more than 5,000 former Tiger guerrillas and civilians have been enlisted following an urgent appeal by the group’s political wing, the official said.

“Those who enrolled have been advised to report on a regular basis to the LTTE for training and were told that their main task would be to prevent the military from entering the LTTE’ stronghold in Kilinochchi.” the newspaper said.

“One of the tasks entrusted to them has been to monitor the movement of security forces and alert the LTTE. The LTTE also has issued instructions to its medical units to be strengthened to meet any medical needs in the coming weeks.” the newspaper added.

LTTE leaders have called for Tamils living in Vanni to unite against the Sri Lankan forces and to fight.

B Nadesan, the head of LTTE political wing,  K. V. Balakumaran, a senior and prominent member of LTTE and Thamilini, the LTTE Women's Wing Political Head made the call at a public rally in Kilinochchi.

Nadesan in his speech described how support of Tamil people has transformed the liberation struggle over the years and declared that Tamils should join forces to provide a powerful response to the Sri Lankan government’s military aggression.

“Tamil people must bring together all their strength to provide a powerful response to the Sri Lankan government.” Nadesan said.

Citing peoples support for the liberation movement over the years Nadesan said: “At every key phase of our liberation struggle, people power has been instrumental in its development and growth.”

He referred to the contribution made by the Tamil people during the successful attack on Mullaithivu military complex in 1996, LTTE’s resistance to Jeyasikuru military campaign during 1997 and 1998 and Unceasing Waves 3 operations in 1999 in his speech.

“For 30 years the Tamil liberation movement has fought the Sri Lankan military which has the support of superpowers. History teaches us that no superpower can suppress a liberation struggle with people power.”

Referring to Indian National Security Advisor, M.K Narayan’s comments to The New Strait Times newspaper, Nadesan said: “The Indian Defence Advisor M K Narayan has stated that the LTTE cannot be defeated as long as they have people support. This is a good example.”

“The Tamil liberation movement and the Tamil people cannot be separated. The people and LTTE are one and the same.”

“As long as the people unite behind the Tamil liberation movement, no power can destroy us.”

Commenting on the current military strategy of Sri Lanka he said: “The Sri Lankan forces are weak and have overstretched themselves. The aggressive recruitment that’s going on the south is a good indication of this.”

“A Sinhala politician recently said ‘the Sri Lankan forces are walking into a LTTE trap.’ They are walking into a trap when they are weak. Our people must join hands as Makkal Padai (Peoples’ forces) to fight them.”

“The Sinhala government and its forces are bent on wiping out the Tamils. This is the time to respond. If we want to put a stop to the Sinhala atrocities, as in the past, our people must come together and join forces.”

K V Balakumaran, senior member of the LTTE, speaking at the rally said: Our freedom struggle is moving forward, overcoming obstacles. Liberation struggles across the globe have made great sacrifices to win freedom. Our struggle is also moving forward with great sacrifices.”

“Our enemy has launched a brutal attack against our people. However our movement will give an apt response soon.”

“In the past, Makkal Padai has been key to achieving great victories. All liberation struggles with peoples participation have succeeded.” he added.

Thamilini, LTTE Women's Wing Political Head in her speech said the Tamils were at a decisive stage on their long liberation struggle.

“Today Tamil people have been forcibly displaced and are facing immeasurable suffering. Displacement is not new to Tamils. However the difficulties they are facing is horrifying.” said Thamilini. 

“If our people want to return their land, the occupied areas should be liberated and the enemy should be defeated. All Tamils should prepare for this.”

“Sri Lanka is pouring in all its resources into its war effort. Sinhala forces are willing to do anything in this war against the Tamils.”

“Only fighting back will save Tamil lives. We must prepare for this. All Tamils must stand together to inflict pain to the enemy who are unleashed suffering on our people.” she declared.

Bosnia has its Radovan Karadzic, Sudan has its Omar Bashir and the United States could have its Gotabhaya Rajapaksa. He is a United States citizen serving as Sri Lanka's Sinhala Buddhist defense secretary who may be complicit in an ongoing genocide against Sri Lanka's Tamils.

While Mr. Rajapaksa enjoys a presumption of innocence, the United States should be investigating to ensure it is as scrupulous in genocide enforcement as is expected of foreign governments.

Until Mr. Karadzic's recent capture by Serbia, the United States had imposed economic sanctions against the Serbian government for noncooperation with the International Criminal Tribunal. An additional earmark of United States abhorrence of genocide is the Office of Special Investigations (OSI) in the U.S. Justice Department. It is tasked to investigate individuals complicit in Nazi-sponsored acts of persecution who subsequently entered the United States by fraud. The guilty are denaturalized or deported.

The OSI would thus be well suited to lead a genocide investigation of the defense secretary. The United States criminal code prohibits the crime, wherever perpetrated, by a United States national, green-card holder or any other person found or brought into the country.

Adolf Hitler's "Mein Kampf" featuring anti-Jewish diatribes previewed the Holocaust. The parallel political dynamic at work in Sri Lanka is the Buddhist Mahavamsa combined with Buddhist monk teachings that non-Buddhist Tamils must be exterminated to honor Buddha's vision of an ethnically pure Sri Lankan state. As recently as July 20, 2008, AFP news service quoted Mr. Rajapaksa's close colleague, Lt. Gen. Sarath Fonseka, as describing Sri Lanka as a "Sinhala nation" to the exclusion of Tamils. That exclusionary concept is reminiscent of Hitler's ambition to make Nazi Germany "judenfrei," or free of Jews. And just as Hitler's Waffen SS was pure Aryan, the Rajapksa-Fonseka Sri Lankan armed forces are virtually pure Sinhala.

An investigation of Defense Secretary Rajapaksa would seem amply justified by the benchmarks of the Karadzic or Bashir indictment or arrest warrant. All three are potentially culpable under the time-honored doctrine of command responsibility. Generally speaking, it imposes criminal liability on government superiors who either knew or had reason to know of war crimes by subordinates and neglected to take reasonable measures to prevent or to punish the perpetrators.

Mr. Karadzic confronts a trial for, among other things, genocide of thousands of Bosnian Muslims at Srebrenica before the International Criminal Tribunal for the former Yugoslavia. On July 14, 2008, Luis Moreno-Ocampo, prosecutor of the International Criminal Court, applied for an arrest warrant against President Bashir. The application accused him of genocide by killing, raping and starving members of the Fur, Masalit and Zaghawa ethnic groups.

The prosecutor specially emphasized that President Bashir "denies victims [of genocide] access to the criminal justice system, while using the system against those who did not comply with his genocidal orders. [He] protects, promotes and provides impunity to his subordinates, in order to secure their willingness to continue committing crimes. He could authorize investigations of members of the armed and security forces, but the only officers investigated are those who refuse to participate in crimes." Prosecutor Moreno-Ocampo concluded: "Al Bashir's motive was control of power. His pretext was a 'counterinsurgency.' His intent was genocide."

There is reason to believe that Gotabhaya Rajapaksa has been complicit in a Srebrenica-like genocide or worse against Sri Lanka's Tamils on the installment plan. Since entering office in November 2005, he has been witness to the extrajudicial killings of more than 1,500 Tamils, torture, scores of kidnappings, countless arbitrary detentions and displacement of more than 250,000, a staggering percentage of Tamils who have not fled abroad seeking asylum. The Asian Human Rights Commission reported on Feb. 2, 2007: "A disappearance every five hours [in Sri Lanka] is a result of a deliberate removal of all legal safeguards against illegal detention, murder and illegal disposal of bodies."

The U.S. State Department's 2007 human rights report on Sir Lanka elaborated: "[T]he overwhelming majority of victims of human rights violations, such as killings and disappearances, were young male Tamils. Credible reports cited unlawful killings by government agents, assassinations by unknown perpetrators, politically motivated killings and child soldier recruitment by paramilitary forces associated with the government, disappearances, [and] arbitrary arrests and detentions. ... By year's end, extrajudicial killings occurred in Jaffna on a daily basis and allegedly perpetrated by military intelligence units or associated paramilitaries."

There has not been a single prosecution for these crimes. Indeed, in the entire 60-year history of the Sinhala-Buddhist dominated governments in Sri Lanka, no crime against a Tamil has ever been punished - a grisliness that apes Hitler's impunity for Nazi crimes against Jews.

The United States cannot credibly berate other countries over lax assistance in genocide prosecutions if does not meticulously enforce its own genocide prohibitions. Gotabhaya Rajapaksa deserves a presumption of innocence. An investigation could exonerate him of criminality. But both direct and circumstantial evidence militate in favor of taking at hard look at what has been done and is being done to Sri Lanka's Tamils.

Sri Lanka's Prime Minister Ratnasiri Wickremanayake lashed out western states for questioning Sri Lanka's human rights records despite their own human rights violations.

Addressing the Regional conference of Parliamentarians and National authorities in Asia, Wickramanayake accused the USA and the UK of practising terrorism.

“it was terrorism when the British used gas to kill hundreds of Kurdish people in their wars in West Asia or in the Middle East early last century.

“The arch imperialist Churchill justified it saying that `It is all right to kill niggers`. That was the white man s attitude, a lack of feeling for people of a different colour that accompanied the dropping of atomic bombs which massacred hundreds of thousands of Japanese civilians in Hiroshima and Nagasaki during the World War II and those were weapons of mass destruction.

“It was terrorism when they dropped an atom bomb in Hiroshima Nagasaki killing hundreds of thousands of Japanese. Those were weapons of mass destruction. That was terrorism.”

Wickramanayake further said that America accused Saddam Hussein of Iraq of possessing chemical weapons, who was later to be hanged despite the testimony of their own inspectors that there were no such weapons of mass destruction in Iraq.

“These are the people who are now questioning our human rights records at a time we are fighting against the world's most ruthless terrorist outfit,” he said.

Wickramanayake told the conference which focused on implementation of the International Chemical Weapons Convention that as far as the Government was aware there are no chemical weapons or any other weapons of mass destruction in Sri Lanka.

Amidst A possible loss of a lucrative EU concession, Sri Lankan President Mahinda Rajapakse snubbed west and said the country no longer dependent on western hand outs.

While addressing a public meeting following the inauguration of an irrigation project in Polonnaruwa in the North Central Province. Rajapakse proclaimed that the era of rulers who were dependent on the West was over with his regime in Sri Lanka.

The decalration comes as inflation and wage pressure cut into earnings in Sri Lanka’s trademark industry garments to the point where fast-growing remittances could take over its top export earner status for the first time in two decades.

“When inflation is running at 26 per cent, the wages you earn domestically are not sufficient for people to survive. So a lot of people are giving up their local jobs and moving overseas. So there is a good prosperity for remittances.” said Vajira Premawardhena, head of research at Lanka Orix Securities.

In an article on Sri Lanka’s human rights record and its impact on the GSP plus, the Economist magazine: “Under a concession known as “GSP Plus”, awarded in 2005 to help Sri Lanka rebuild after the 2004 tsunami, Sri Lankan exporters enjoy preferential tariff treatment from the EU. As a result, the EU is Sri Lanka ’s biggest export market, accounting for annual sales of around $1 billion; about half are covered by GSP Plus. But there is a problem with the rules of GSP Plus. Beneficiaries must comply with 27 international conventions, on environmental, labour and human rights standards. And on the last of these, Sri Lanka is struggling. The agreement expires at the end of 2008. Recent signs are that it will not be renewed.”

“Since launching a fresh campaign against the LTTE in 2006, the government has been accused of complicity in the abduction or murder of hundreds of Tamil and Muslim men. It is at war with human-rights groups. It has refused to let the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights set up an office in Sri Lanka. A much weaker alternative, a group of “eminent persons” from India, France, America and other countries, was sent to observe Sri Lanka’s own investigations into six high-profile abuses. But the group disbanded itself in April, citing a “lack of political will” to uncover the truth.” The Economist further added.

“A senior EU official familiar with Sri Lanka thinks it currently looks unlikely GSP Plus will be renewed. At a minimum, he suggested, the government would have to make real progress on a case in which 17 aid workers employed by a French NGO were killed in 2006, and another in which five high-school students were executed, allegedly by security forces, also in 2006. If the EU renewed the agreement without such progress, it might be challenged at the World Trade Organisation—as happened to an EU trade sop to Pakistan in 2004.”

“According to an unpublished paper by economists at the University of Sussex, losing GSP Plus would lead to a 4% cut in Sri Lanka’s garment exports. Overall, it would cost 2% of GDP. MAS expects GSP Plus to go. To offset the increased costs this would entail, the company is looking for ways to cut other costs, such as by buying fabric in East Asia, not Sri Lanka or India.”

According to the Economist, ‘this comes at a bad time for Sri Lanka and its garment-makers.’

“Annual inflation is close to 30%. The rupee has appreciated against the dollar, further hurting exporters. By one estimate, economic growth—which was 7.6% in 2006—will be 4.3% this year. As elsewhere, inflation is being driven by high food and energy prices. But in Sri Lanka, 25-year average annual inflation is 12%. Monetary policy has been too loose, in part to finance the war. Including the cost of resettling refugees, the war eats up around 30% of the government’s budget. Yet it insists that its military campaign, which most Sri Lankans support, has little effect on inflation, which they do not. If it loses GSP Plus, it will be even harder for the government to argue that the war has no economic downside.’ the magazine concluded.

Sri Lanka's ruling party won two provinical councils in an election marred by violence and intimidation of opposition candidates and supporters and declared the victory as an endorsement of the President's military campaign.

President Mahinda Rajapaksa's United People's Freedom Alliance (UPFA) won 56.3 percent of council seats in North Central province and 55.3 percent in Sabaragamuwa province, two of nine on the Indian Ocean island.

Ruling alliance won the elections in Sabaragamuwa with a majority of more than 125,000 votes against the UNP, which secured 40.53% of the votes. In North Central Province, the UNP 37.64%, 100,000 less than the UPFA.

JVP received 19,068 (2.23%) of the votes in Sabaragamuwa Province and 26,738 (4.90%) in the North Central Province.

The UPFA secured 23 out of the 42 seats in Sabaragamuwa province and took 18 out of the 31 North Central seats, taking control of both councils.

More than 68 percent of the 2.1 million registered voters cast their ballots on what observers said was a relatively peaceful day compared to the days building up to the elections.

Endorsement for war

Rajapakse suggested that the vote was a sign of public confidence in his government's military drive.

"The strength and morale that our heroic troops will receive from this victory in their battles to finally end bloody terrorism from our country is immeasurable," Rajapakse said in a statement after the result was announced.

Media and Information Minister Anura Priyadharsana Yapa told Reuters the victory was "a clear endorsement to move forward. This is also endorsement of the decision taken by the president and the government to eradicate terrorism from the country."

However main opposition party, the United National Party, dismissed any link between the poll and the military campaign.

"There is no connection between the war and the provincial elections," said Tissa Attanayake, the general secretary of the United National Party.

"These results do not reflect the real franchise as there was violence and intimidation."

Elections marred by violence

Sri Lankan election monitors reported assaults, threats and the seizure of polling cards Saturday, as voting concluded for two provincial councils.

"The expectations of violence were fortunately not met," the independent Centre for Monitoring Election Violence said in a statement.

The independent Center for Monitoring Election Violence said in a statement that there were at least 27 incidents that can affect the results for the elections for North Central and Sabaragamuwa Provinces.

The group did not say who was responsible for the violations but said it would release a full statement later.

Another election monitoring body, Campaign for Free and Fair Election (CAFFE) charged that the Police continued to disregard the election laws and said an increase in the level of violence too could be witnessed.

Addressing a press conference its Spokesman Keerthi Tennakoon said the political parties had clearly pointed out that they would violate and retaliate if the situation needed at the Provincial Council elections.

“They (Police) have clearly left out the cutouts of UPFA candidates in Sabaragamuwa Province while completely removing the other political party cutouts” alleged Tennakoon.  He also alleged the Police was biased and might continue to disregard election laws.

Meanwhile Nimalka Fernando of the CAFFE alleged “Minister Mahindananda Aluthgamage had said at a rally that they would definitely win and if they don’t they would make sure to cut the money that flows in to the provincial councils”.

CAFFE spokesman said the plantation youths in the Sabaragamuwa Province had been deprived of the right to cast their vote as they had not received their polling cards.

He also added that people in Deraniyagala, Rakwana and Balangoda have not received their temporary identity cards.

About 265 cases of election violence had been registered since yesterday morning out of which 194 cases were directly related to election violence, Tennakoon said.  Meanwhile, 17 cases had been registered where the police failed to do their duty in the face of election violence he added.

The spokesman stressed the police were inefficient and indifferent to the plight of the people, completely oblivious to the blatant corruption that was in plain sight.

In his words; “they stood by and watched”.

Rajapaksa's party in North Central province aligned with the Tamil Makkal Viduthalai Puligal (TMVP), a grouping of LTTE defectors accused by rights groups of abductions and extrajudicial killings, as it did in elections in the island's war-ravaged east in May.

At that poll, election monitors and opposition party accused the TMVP of violence, which it denied.

However, Sri Lankan Election Commissioner Dayananda Dissanayake decalred the Provincial Council Election to be free and fair.

In a statement issued following the elections, Dissanayake stressed that there were only few incidents reported regarding election violations. In his statement Commissioner thanked all the parties who have supported to hold the election successfully.

No Vote

Meanwhile nearly 10,000 Up-Country Tamils who are eligible to vote were deprived from voting on Saturday at Ratnapura and Kegalle districts in Sabaragamuwa provincial council elections as they did not have National Identity Cards (NIC), a senior Ceylon Workers Congress (CWC) member told media in Colombo.

The CWC has lodged protest with the Sri Lankan Election Commissioner Dayananda Dissanayake.

Many of the Up-Country Tamils have applied for the NICs several months ago.

Also, a large number of Indian origin Tamils had applied for their NICs through a mobile service arranged by the Ceylon Workers Congress (CWC) in July.

On Election Day when the voters submitted the counterfoil at the polling station, they were turned away.

Most of the applicants' NICs were being held at the Divisional Secretary's Office in their respective electorates. Some of the NICs which were handed over to Village Officials (GS officials) were not distributed to the applicants.

The voters affected were from Panawatte, Lavent, Kelaniya, Halgolla, Nagasthenna, Edrapola and Yatidariya estates in the Yatiyantota electorate and Keselwatta, Noori, Maliboda, Sapumal Kanda and Maha Oya in the Deraniyagala electorate and also Morralioya, Jesterfor, Hatamata and Ruwanwella estates in the Ruwanwella electorate.

More elections

Sri Lankan President Mahinda Rajapakse dismissed rumors that he would call a snap parliamentary election in the country, his office said.

Addressing a gathering, the president said his government has a public mandate to continue the present parliament until 2010 and as such there is no need to go for a parliamentary election ahead of the schedule.

Speculation was rife that Rajapakse may opt to hold a snap parliamentary poll after his party's victory in the two provincial council elections.

Earlier the main opposition party had challenged the ruling party to hold general elections.

UNP General Secretary Tissa Attanayake told media that “we are ready for a

general election at any time.”

Sri Lankan government responded by saying if the UNP wants a general election, they are ready to hold it within the next three months.

Germany said it has virtually wahsed its hands off solving the Sri Lankan ethnic conflict since its voice and advice has been ignored by the government.

German Ambassador Jürgen Weerth, addressing a forum organised by the Federation of Chamber of Commerce and Industry Sri Lanka (FCCISL), “A country should have a give-and-take policy when ruling. Each community should be given preference, instead of supporting one community,”

“We have two disagreements with the incumbent government. The first is, we cannot believe in a military solution for a political problem. Secondly, we do not compromise in the field of human rights,” the Ambassador added.

Weerth further said that Sri Lanka should establish the rule of law and eliminate human rights violations in the country.

Linking trade increases, foreign investments and development aid with human rights and the war, the ambassador said the current conditions in Sri Lanka are not conducive for Germany, and a majority of the ‘international community,’ to work with Sri Lanka.

“The moment you offer an inclusive solution to your people, then we will be prepared to again work with every Sri Lankan. This view is shared by a majority of the international community,” he said.

Germany is generally seen as most vocal, out of all the EU countries, on matters relating to Human Rights in Sri Lanka.

Earlier this, in February, German Economic Cooperation and Development Minister Heidemarie Wieczorek-Zeul also said Unless Sri Lanka’s hardline government abandons its militarist path, the EU should impose sanctions .

At the time she also announced that Germany would freeze new development cooperation projects with Sri Lanka and, because of the deteriorating security situation, was withdrawing half their development personnel from the island as well as closing the German Development Bank in Sri Lanka.

The German Ambassador also accepted that double standards applied when dealing with different countries, based on the importance of the country.

“Yes, we apply double standards. It has to do with the role Sri Lanka is playing, or the role of Russia or the role of China. If Sri Lanka were to disappear from our economic map it can be easily replaced. If Russia were to disappear from our economic map, the lights would go out in Germany, because we get electricity from Russia. So your position is not so strong,” Weerth added.

He further said that at present German development aid is channeled to countries that make the grade in terms of the German yardstick.

“We, Germans have decided to concentrate our support on those countries whose governments and political, corporate and community leaders are clearly focussed on their country’s welfare and building a better future for all citizens,”

The Ambassador pointed out that even foreign investment inflows in to Sri Lanka were discouraged by security concerns, corruption and poor infrastructure.

Commenting on the GSP+ extension for Sri Lanka, the ambassador dropped the human rights stand and repeated the standard statement from the European Commission.

“The GSP+ is not a political tool, it is a technical operation. The government needs to ratify and implement 27 international conventions,” he said.

It is generally believed that the EU will not hold Sri Lanka’s human rights record against its decision to renew the GSP +.

In May the EU Ambassador to Sri Lanka, Julian Wilson said “The EU wants Sri Lanka to receive GSP+ again for the coming three years”

Interestingly the German Ambassador praised the Sri Lankan constitution which by favouring the Sinhala majority and clipping any real power or devolution to minority has been the root cause of the ethnic conflict.

“Sri Lanka’s Constitution should be applauded. It has covered all the major and minor sections – but those rules have not been implemented. Sri Lanka is one of those democracies that the international community has great respect for, but today we see that it has failed to meet those expectations,” he added.

Tamil analysts pointed out the comments by the Ambassador shows a lack of understanding of the root cause of the Tamil national question and the ethnic conflict.

When you think of Rap, who pops into your head first?  2Pac, Jay-z or T.I.?  They are all great, but I am asking you about Tamil Rappers.  You might come up with Sujeeth G of course, but guys I think it is about time you engrave this young fella into your head - MC SAI!

At the tender age of 16 makes him one of the youngest Tamil Rappers in Europe at the moment and he already dropped his first LP.  I was lucky enough to go and meet him and see what he’s all about.

Sitting in front of this young handsome, tall boy, who is cracking jokes, you wonder if what he raps on his LP is what he truly wrote himself.  Because when you listen carefully to his tracks on his first LP, you’ll be mesmerised by his maturity.  Issues he discusses on the tracks are not what a usual 16 year old would talk about. 

MC SAI - real name is Sairuban Ramakrishnan – was born on 22 June, 1991 in Jaffna. He lived there till the age of three and then lived in Germany for four years before moving to England in 1999.  His rap career started off with changing lyrics of already released cinema tracks. This skill enabled MC SAI to make his own patriotic tracks. 

MC SAI is one of the few artists who started rapping in order to tell the story of his home country to the teenagers of Europe, who are unaware of the suffering back home.

“I wanted to tell the story back home with a political message behind it, but the only way teenagers would understand and listen to it better, would be to simplify it in a rap song,” he says. 

“I am trying to get the message across as well as telling people how I feel about these issues.  Although my songs are mainly aimed at youths, I do know a lot of parents and even grandparents listen to my LP.”

It was a performance at a Tamil Youth Organisation event that introduced him to his friend Santhors, who helped him release his LP.

“I have tried dancing, beat boxing and acting and so much more.  At a TYO programme I got introduced to Santhors and it all kicked off from there.  He invited me to come round to his studio and we laid down some tracks and the rest is history,” says MC SAI.

One of my curiosities was why the majority of his LP is in Tamil and not in English, especially because it is aimed at youth.  His reply simply is that he personally thinks Tamil Rap sounds amazing and that he can express himself better in Tamil.

 “I write my own lyrics because whatever I rap comes from my heart and mind.  I guess my writing skills I got I get from my father, who writes a lot of poems,” he says.

MC SAI adds that if he is talking about the issues back home, he might as well do it in Tamil. 

When he started off, he never thought in a million years that his community would be so supportive.  He thought he might get some fans within the younger generation of Tamils, but he has adults playing his tracks and even as ringtones on their phones, he says.

“My ambition for the future would be to break into Kollywood before turning 18!” says the young man, setting himself a solid goal.

Some might argue that his lyrics are too political and controversial, but as always this young bright young man has an answer to everything. 

“You need to respect someone else’s opinion.  At the end of the day I don’t care what people think.  Love me or hate me.”

He also addressed the issue of Hip Hop v. the society, where Rap is seen as a bad influence by some people.  MC SAI sees this not as a hindrance, but wants to take this opportunity to change Tamil Rap.   

“All Tamil Rappers trying to do what American Rappers are doing, but it’s fake.  They are rapping about things that are not really happening to them.”

There have been media claims that street violence is caused by music videos and especially rap, which often portrays such violence. But MC SAI says it’s not reality and that it all depends on everyone’s own interpretation. 

“Gangs exist to get respect and protect themselves and what is going on in the music videos are not always the absolute reality.  Misinterpretation is happening everywhere.  You can’t help it or stop it.”

For those interested in seeing and hearing more from MC SAI, he will be playing at the ‘Best of Europe’ concert in December, where many Tamil artists from around Europe will showcase their talents

For now check out MC SAI’s myspace page, where you can listen to his songs.