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  • ‘Colombo is removing witnesses to the coming carnage’

    Jan 06
    Sri Lanka’s government tore up the six year old ceasefire agreement to remove the presence of the international monitors who have been exposing human rights abuses, Tamil parliamentarian Gajendrakumar Ponnambalam said this week.

    Moreover while the blatant targeting of the island’s Tamils by the government of President Rajapakse is taking place in the full glare of the International Community, the latter is able to only make verbal condemnations and remains largely ineffective in stopping the Sinhala state.

    The full text of Mr. Gajendrakumar's interview with TamilNet follows:

    TamilNet: Last week the Government served notice of its formal withdrawal from the Ceasefire Agreement (CFA). The Sri Lanka Monitoring Mission (SLMM) has informed that it will be terminating its mission from the 16th of January. What do you see as the reasons for this decision by the Government particularly when it was well known that the CFA remained merely on paper?

    Gajendrakumar: Despite the ineffectiveness of the CFA, the presence of SLMM has been a major factor in containing Rights abuses in the NorthEast. The SLMM continued to come out with its reports on a regular basis. Of late, the SLMM has been exposing the Government’s activities in the East.

    In my view, the Government had to disable the SLMM before it starts intensifying its military project. The Government will want to rid the Northeast of any witnesses of the carnage that it intends to unveil on the Tamil people in the name of safeguarding the Sovereignty of the State. It wants to have a free hand. It will also want to create the ground conditions where only its versions of events come out of the Northeast.

    There is also an image factor. The CFA and the SLMM are seen as creations of the Western Nations. By taking steps to negate these, particularly amidst the Sinhala Nationalist frenzy the South finds itself in, Rajapakse and his Government will come across as standing up to the West and will project an image of strength. Naturally, the Government will see these as scoring strong points from its constituency.

    TamilNet: But if the intention is to rid the Northeast of witnesses, and have a monopoly on the information, surely the SLMM is not the only source?

    Gajendrakumar: I agree. The SLMM was only one such potential source. There are many INGOs, Media Institutions, Civil Society activists, religious leaders, intellectuals and political actors who could serve similar purpose.

    But it is also true that these actors have also been systematically targeted over the last two years, to the point that all of them are finding it near impossible to function freely and safely. It is well known that the Government is making it very difficult and unsafe for the INGOs to work.

    Many INGOs that used to work in the Northeast, no longer function. There have been targeted killing of other actors. The space for independent actors to work in the Northeast has been successfully curtailed to the extent the Government would consider them ineffectual. Getting the SLMM out was the icing on the cake, if you like.

    The strong need to keep witnesses out, and have its version of events go uncontested, are also reasons why the Government would never agree to have a UN Monitoring Mission to have a presence on the island.

    When the Government is about to violate every conceivable human right of the Tamils in pursuing a military solution, and is relying increasingly on its military agenda to garner support from amongst the Sinhala people for its political survival, it would be only logical for it to ensure that there are no independent witnesses of its crimes; and for it to ensure it has a monopoly on the information that comes out of the Northeast to project it in a positive light vis-à-vis its electorate.

    TamilNet: The effect of the Government’s actions on the INGOs for example, has also worsened the humanitarian situation facing the people in the Northeast. What steps has the TNA taken in this regard?

    Gajendrakumar: Well, the TNA for some time now has been warning the International Community that the humanitarian crisis faced in the Northeast is not a byproduct of the military actions of the Government, but that it is in fact a part and parcel of the Governments military strategy itself.

    Our warnings have been proved correct by the way the Government carried out military operations in the East, where humanitarian aid agencies were prevented from reaching the affected people. The result was the colossal human suffering that innocent civilians had to face. All those people are continuing to suffer even today. The Government’s intended future operations in the North will be no different from what happened in the East and will make the humanitarian situation many times worse.

    It is in this backdrop that some Countries have been applying pressure on Tamil Diaspora humanitarian initiatives. This is very unfortunate. At a time when the International Community through its own INGOs are unable to deliver to the suffering Tamil people, the fact that Tamil Diaspora humanitarian institutions are also being prevented from helping their own suffering people, we find is particularly cruel.

    Whatever the intentions of these Countries might be, there can be no doubt that their actions are only helping the Sri Lankan Government in its war efforts, and it is the innocent Tamil civilians who are made to suffer. We would therefore continue to appeal to these Countries to at least allow space for the Tamil Diaspora to provide the much needed humanitarian assistance to their own people.

    TamilNet: You have talked about the Government’s intentions regarding the Northeast. Mr. Maheswaran was assassinated in a Kovil in Colombo, in the South. Mr. Mano Ganeshan has complained of threats to his life. These are actors based outside the Northeast. What are your views on these developments?

    Gajendrakumar: I think there are a number of reasons that would have had a cumulative effect in driving Governments actions on Tamils in the South.

    Firstly, both Mr. Maheswaran and Mr. Mano Ganeshan are Tamils. As far as Sri Lankan Governments are concerned, Tamils are an easily expendable lot.

    Secondly, both Maheswaran and Mano Ganeshan have been critics of the Government. As stated earlier, the Government will work hard at silencing its critics. Them being Tamil, makes the Governments job that much easier.

    Thirdly, I also think that there is a larger project of the Government at play here. When the Government intensifies its military project, it will want to make sure that the South is kept stable. For this, the Government will see every Tamil as a potential threat. To eliminate this threat, the Tamils will either have to be removed from the South, or at the very least, be terrorized to the extent that they are neutralized.

    The forced eviction of Tamils from Colombo a few months ago, along with continuous rounding up and arrests of Tamils, is for this reason. Targeting prominent Tamils who have been elected in the South also serves this purpose – if high profile Tamils can be got rid of so easily, the message to the ordinary Tamil people living in the South is very loud and clear indeed.

    Fourthly, I also think the Rajapakse regime would be keeping an eye on the possibility of having to face an election. His is a coalition Government that is not completely stable. The recent drama during the budget would have driven home this point.

    If elections are to be held, Rajapakse will want to ensure that his opponent’s chances are reduced. Since he is certain that the Tamils in Colombo will not vote for him, he needs to ensure that their votes will not benefit his opponents. By Targeting opposition Tamil MPs based in Colombo who work with his opponents, he will make a prospective Tamil candidate at future elections think twice before putting his or her name forward. The sense of impunity that is created by such targeting, he will hope, will also keep the Tamil voter from getting out and voting, which will only be to his Government’s benefit.

    TamilNet: So under these circumstances, where do the Tamils stand?

    Gajendrakumar: Fundamentally what the Tamils are facing is nothing new. However, since the Rajapakse regime came to office, the anti-Tamil actions of the Sri Lankan State have been unparalleled. All of this has been happening in the full glare of the International Community. Unfortunately, other than for statements that have been issued from time to time, the International Community has been ineffective in restraining the Sri Lankan State.

    Under these circumstances the Tamil people would believe that the only way the Sri Lankan Government could be brought to its senses is through enforced reversals on the battlefield. But the TNA will continue to engage with the International Community in the hope of trying to convince it to take meaningful steps against the Sri Lankan State that would convince the latter to abandon its current single-minded pursuit of a military solution to the conflict.

    Gajendrakumar Ponnambalam is a Tamil National Alliance (TNA) parliamentarian for Jaffna district, and is a Member of the Parliamentary Consultative Committee of Constitutional Affairs.

  • Bomb blasts in Sri Lanka capital, minister killed
    A Sri Lankan government minister was killed this Tuesday in a powerful roadside bomb attack by suspected Tamil Tigers, followed hours later by a powerful blast in the heart of the capital Colombo, police said.
     
    D. M. Dassanayake, the 51-year-old minister for nation building, suffered severe head injuries and died while undergoing surgery, said doctor Lalini Gunasekera at the Ragama hospital here.
     
    He was killed near the island's capital and international airport, officials said.
     
    In a separate later incident, the bomb which went off at the Regent Flats complex in Colombo Fort did not cause casualties, police said.
     
    Police said they were probing if the Tuesday night bomb had been aimed at a military commander travelling in the area. Senior officers frequently use the road by the Regent Flats, which are opposite the Colombo Hilton.
     
    The Tuesday night blast rocked the city as it emptied of workers. Local news channels were running footage of the morning assassination when they interrupted to bring news of the second blast.
     
    Earlier, President Mahinda Rajapakse condemned the assassination of the minister and vowed to step up efforts to fight terrorism.
     
    "This sad event is a further reminder of the need to redouble our efforts to rid our country of terrorism and the use of violence to achieve political ends," the president said in a statement.
     
    "His assassination in a Claymore mine attack by the LTTE (Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam) is yet another example of its continued commitment to terror and violence to achieve its separatist goals," the president added.
     
    The defence ministry said the minister's personal bodyguard was also killed and 10 others were wounded in the attack.
     
    Fighting has also been escalating in the north of the island since the government announced it was pulling out of a truce with the Tigers.
     
    Police said the Tuesday morning mine - a device packed with explosives and ball bearings - was detonated as the minister's convoy passed the town of Ja-Ela.
     
    Dassanayake was notorious for his alleged underworld links and once attended parliament in handcuffs, having been allowed out of a remand prison to take part in a key debate.
     
    Sri Lankan police and security forces have been on high alert for Tamil Tiger attacks following the government's announcement that it was pulling out of a tattered ceasefire agreement from January 16.
     
    On Sunday, security forces also conducted a major search operation in the entire Western province which covers the capital and airport area -- questioning tens of thousands of people and arresting nearly 200.
     
    The killing of the minister came less than a week after a similar roadside bomb in Colombo targeted a military bus, killing five people. The authorities blamed the LTTE for that attack.
     
    The Tigers are yet to formally respond to the government's decision to pull out of the truce. The government believes it has the upper hand over the Tigers and is in a position to capture the north.
  • Misery and fear in Jaffna
    A ‘cage’, a ‘narrow prison’ where one can wait for hours just for the army's permission to cross the street, where one can die of hunger if the authorities decide to block supply channels for "reasons of security", and where a culture of violence and oppression is growing more fierce.

    The general misery compels the suicide of fathers of families who cannot pay for their children's medicines.

    This is Jaffna, a small peninsula to the north of Sri Lanka, a place where civil war has been underway for 24 years, and about which "the world knows nothing, since news does not spread from here even to the rest of the country".

    Recounting the dramatic situation of Jaffna is the provincial superior of the Missionary Oblates of Mary Immaculate (OMI) provincial superior in Sri Lanka, Fr S.M. Selvaratnam

    AsiaNews interviewed him while he was visiting Colombo. He recounts the dramatic situation of the Tamils in the northern part of the country: the widespread culture of war, the paralysis of education, the impossibility even of crossing the street without the permission of the army, the absence of an authority to guarantee the rights of citizens.

    Father, can you review for us the living conditions of the population of Jaffna?

    Next year will be the 25th year that this small piece of land has lived with an absurd war between the Tamil Tigers and the government forces. It is too much; the people cannot endure it anymore: too many parents have lost their children, too many children are orphans, too many women widows, too many tears have been shed.

    Apart from the psychological factors, there are concrete difficulties with carrying on daily life and meeting its necessities. Food and medicine can arrive only by boat or by helicopter, because the land routes have been blocked for over a year.

    Everything is under the control of the military, so that when they decide to interrupt supplies, perhaps for reasons of "security", the people die of hunger.

    But even when food is available the prices are so high, because of the costs of transportation that many cannot afford to buy it. The only means of subsistence would be farming and fishing, but both of these have been halted: kerosene is impossible to find, and fisherman cannot go out to sea, because the navy maintains that this is too dangerous. One can grow a little rice, but only for domestic consumption.

    It is also difficult to travel from Jaffna toward the south: the passenger ships do not guarantee regular service, while flights are reserved far in advance and cost too much (125 euro for Colombo).

    The people live in terror, because - and I am not exaggerating - anyone can come into your home and kill you, or shoot you while you are out on the street. Every 10 metres there is a soldier with a pistol aimed at you. Just to cross the street you may have to wait three or four hours for permission from the military.

    Does the average citizen have the opportunity to obtain justice?

    There is no such possibility, because there is no reliable authority that can be approached. If one of my relatives is killed and I go to claim the body, I am required to state that the person was a member of the Tigers, which means that his killing was justified. The authorities maintain, a priori, that the Tamils of Jaffna are all members of the Tigers.

    But the government and the military do not know that many of us are opposed to the Tigers and their actions. Moreover, there are so many groups involved in fighting in the area, that you never know who might be responsible for a homicide: the navy, the police, the army, the Tigers, or the so-called paramilitary groups. It could be said that here is no order, no law here. We know that recently a grand tribunal has been opened, but we ask ourselves why . . . even the lawyers are afraid, and refuse to work.

    Doesn't anyone appeal to the security forces in the area?

    It is very sad to admit this, but there is a real problem of communication. The Tamils of Jaffna are unable to speak with the Sri Lankan soldiers, who - for the most part uneducated young men from the villages - do not speak English or Tamil. Most of the military personnel have a very harsh attitude, but among them are also very humane, good persons who are likewise incapable of explaining the reason why we are at war.

    This fact becomes even more dramatic if one considers that our daily life depends on the army: it can be said that one cannot move in Jaffna without a long string of permissions from the military authorities. And now they have introduced the so-called "military identity card", which practically makes useless the national identity card that we all possess. The army issues this card only after the citizen has provided a photo of his family, a photo of himself, and all of the information requested, down to the smallest details. But if, in order to comply with regulations, a citizen must possess a military identification card, then one is no longer under a civil government, but under a military government.

    What can the Church do to alleviate the sufferings of these people? Are there any elements within civil society in Jaffna, any spokesman for the needs of Tamils?

    Very few people know anything about what is happening in Jaffna. There is no freedom of expression, and even the priests, who were once the only ones who dared to speak out against oppression, have been silenced. The disappearance of Fr Jim Brown more than a year ago intimidated and frightened them. So the voice of the inhabitants of Jaffna has been silenced, both within the peninsula and in the rest of the country and in the world.

    What hope is there for a better future?

    The people have no more hope. A culture of war has become rooted in Jaffna, and an entire generation has been born and raised amid the bombs. Education has been paralysed; young people are unable to go to school. The culture is destroyed. Economic difficulties destroy entire families.

    There are fathers who go to buy medicine for their sick children or wife, discover that it is too expensive, and don't even return home, because in desperation they would rather kill themselves.

    No one trusts any of the politicians anymore: for Jaffna, it makes no difference who runs the government, they all behave in the same way. There is widespread pessimism; we have seen too many ambassadors and presidents come here from outside without changing anything.

  • False passports and war crimes – the Karuna saga continues
    While the Sri Lankan High Commissioner to Britainb, Ms. Kshenuka Senewiratne, toils hard to extricate the Government of Sri Lanka from the diplomatic bungle it made in issuing a diplomatic passport under false name to fugitive Vinayagamoorthy Muralitharan alias Karuna, human rights organizations accused Karuna of "war crimes," and urged British Government to try him in Britain.

    Meanwhile, informed sources in Colombo told TamilNet the Canadian Embassy in Colombo had earlier rejected visa application for "Karuna," before the British Embassy was misled by the Colombo government to issue a visa under the name of "Dushmantha Gunawardene, Director General, Wild Life Conservation."

    Fred Abrahams of Human Rights Watch (HRW) said in a radio interview in Chicago Saturday that Colombo will likely have Karuna killed if he was extradited to Sri Lanka, adding that the Government is "nervous about what he will say" if he is prosecuted in Colombo.

    On the issue of the passport, "British authorities have accumulated sufficient evidence to conclude that the Sri Lanka Government was complicit in arranging for Karuna to obtain a diplomatic passport and thus avoid the rigorous visa procedure at the British High Commission in Colombo, according to sources acquainted with the British inquiries into the case," a column in the Colombo-based Sunday Times said.

    "Sri Lanka’s official position that it was not aware of any diplomatic passport held by Karuna was conveyed to British authorities when Sri Lanka’s High Commissioner Kshenuka Senewiratne was called to the Foreign and Commonwealth Office (FCO) on Monday to express London’s concern," the paper said, adding "Britain has dismissed Sri Lanka’s explanation that it had no hand in granting a diplomatic passport."

    Karuna applied for a British visa allegedly with the help of Mr Champika Ranawake's Environment and Natural Resources Ministry, pretending to be the "Director of Wild Life Conservation," and obtained his visa on the 5th September for his later travel to UK on the 18th September.

    The timeline indicates Mr Ranawake, member of Jathika Hela Urumaya, extremist Buddhist Monk's party, had attended an environmental conference on the 22nd September in the U.S., and has had a "well publicized" dispute with the Canadian High Commission which resulted in his cancelling a trip to Canada on the 15th September.

    Informed sources in Colombo said that the Canadian High Commission, which is known to have instituted thorough vetting visa procedures, had previously denied a visa application to Karuna submitted through Mr Ranawaka's Ministry, and this was the reason for the Minister's ire at the Canadian High Commission.

    Champika Ranawaka, extremist Buddhist monks party, JHU parliamentarian (Photo: Sunday Leader)On the issue of trying Karuna for war crimes, British courts have set a precedent in a landmark case against Faryadi Zardad, an Afghan warlord also known as Zardad Khan, who was prosecuted in Britain in 2005 for crimes committed in Afghanistan under the British Criminal Justice Act and the UN Convention Against Torture. These statutes established torture as a universal crime against humanity.

    In the U.S., a similar statute dated 1789, labeled Alien Tort Claims Act (ATCA), allows federal jurisdiction to any foreign national alleging a tort committed in another country in violation of international laws, including crimes against humanity.
  • UN monitoring mission essential to curb rights violations in Sri Lanka- HRW
    Human Rights Watch (HRW) officials currently touring the United States lobbying for a UN mission to monitor human rights violations in Sri Lanka, told the Chicago Public Radio that their current focus is on the "shocking" disappearances and killing in Sri Lanka where the Sri Lanka Government has done "shamefully little" to investigate the cases.

    They added that Democratic Institutions that would otherwise be capable of highlighting human right abuses, infringements to freedom of speech, and erosion in independence of judiciary in Sri Lanka, have collapsed under an ineffective Parliament.

    Fred Abrahams, Senior Researcher for Emergencies, Human Rights Watch (HRW), and Sunila Abeysekera, Director of INFORM human rights documentation center in Sri Lanka, honored as a Human Rights Watch Defender at the 2007, Voices for Justice Dinner Worldview, spoke with Chicago Public Radio, Producer Andrea Wenzel when they were in Chicago last Saturday.

    Mainly Tamil men between ages 18-35 are being abducted or killed at a rate of four persons a day, it emerged.

    Men are often taken in for questioning, interrogated, tortured; some of them may be held in detention facilities but the government does not release their names; under Emergency Regulations the abductees are not charged and can be held for long periods of time, Mr. Abrahams said.

    The abductions are often done in a way to terrorize the entire community, Ms Abeysekera said. White van abductions by armed men take place in broad day light in public places, and these have many witnesses, but there is no possibility to push for an investigation.

    Proliferation of armed groups have further complicated the situation, Ms. Abeyesekara said.

    In the north, it is possible to place the blame on the security forces as many abductions take place inside high security zones close to the presence of Sri Lanka security sentry points, Ms. Abeysekera said.

    In the east, complicity of the Sri Lanka Government with the Karuna faction in the abductions, has been pointed out by the HRW, and UN ambassador Allan Rock, she said.

    However, in Colombo businessmen have been abducted for huge ransom, and although security forces, army deserters and individuals are involved, it is difficult to pinpoint the blame on any one, Ms. Abeysekera added.

    Ms. Abeysekara said that she was sad that political manipulation of identity has destroyed tradition of of harmonious co-existence between communities.

    Since the power is concentrated between two individuals, Sri Lanka's President Rajapakse on one hand, and the Liberation Tigers leader Pirapaharan on the other, there is little space for compromise.

    But she said she has hope; deteriorating economy, and increasing number of bodies coming to the south may generate a shift in attitudes to war in the South, Ms Abeysekera said.

    On Karuna's situation (see page 14), Mr. Abrahams said, if Britain extradites the paramilitary leader to Sri Lanka, HRW believes Colombo will not prosecute him. Colombo will likely engineer the killing of the renegade LTTE commander, and for this reason, and for international justice to be served, Mr. Abrahams said he would like to see Britain prosecuting him.

    Democratic institutions have either collapsed or not functioning, Mr. Abrahams said. Police, prosecution, and the courts are not effective. Colombo has taken very concrete steps to undermine the function of the Human Rights Commission.

    A UN Monitoring mission is necessary to contain the increasingly hostile engagements between the parties by reigning in on human rights violations, Mr. Abrahams said.
  • Time Line

    30 August- Sri Lanka Immigration Department issues diplomatic passport to Karuna under the false name of Dushmantha Guawadena on the orders of top authorities.

    05 September- British Embassy issues British visa on the travel document on false name on Third Party Notice (TPN) by Sri Lanka's Foreign Ministry: Mr Dushmantha Gunawardene's designation was Director General, Wild Life Conservation Department.

    11 September- Minister Champika Ranawaka submits application for visa to Canadian Embassy after he returns from Japan on the 10th

    15 September- Ranawaka cancels trip to Canada, after a disputed delay by the Canadian Embassy to issue visa in time: See Island editorial and Ambassador Angela J. Bogdan's response below.

    18 September- Karuna lands at Heathrow Airport and was accompanied to the aircraft at the Bandaranaike International Airport to board the London flight by Airport and Aviation Deputy Chief Shalitha Wijesundera. Minister Ranawaka refutes allegations of complicity in a Sunday Times interview.

    22 September- Ranawaka travels with President Rajapakse to New York to attend a climate change conference in New York

    02 November- British Borders and Immigration Agency arrests Karuna

  • Sri Lanka reprimands western envoys
    Sri Lanka's militaristic government said last week it had hauled in the envoys of countries calling for UN human rights monitoring of the island's dirty war against the Tamil Tigers, AFP reported.

    The ambassadors of the United States, the European Union, France, Korea and Sweden were summoned for a dressing down by foreign ministry secretary Palitha Kohona, AFP quoted the ministry as saying.

    Diplomats from Canada and the Netherlands were also to be summoned Friday, the ministry said, adding a complaint over remarks made at the UN Human Rights Council in Geneva this week will be forwarded to New Zealand's Delhi-based envoy.

    The foreign ministry in Colombo said it had conveyed its "serious concern" that Sri Lanka, which has categorically rejected the presence of foreign monitors, was being subjected to escalating international criticism.

    Colombo also expressed its "deep displeasure" to Britain's high commissioner to Sri Lanka, Dominic Chilcott, over comments interpreted as being sympathetic to the Tamil demand for independence.

    The foreign ministry "drew attention to the high commissioner's comment, 'I am not saying that the political aspiration for Eelam (separate Tamil state) is illegitimate' and expressed the government's deep concern," the statement said.

    "At a time when the painstaking process of evolving a negotiated political settlement was under way, such sentiments would have a negative impact and send confusing signals," the Sri Lankan foreign ministry said.

    “We would tell the British high commissioner not to interfere in the internal affairs of our country,” IANS quoted Cabinet Minister and Chief Government Whip Jeyaraj Fernandopulle as saying before the meeting.

    'Chilcott still thinks that Sri Lanka is a colony of Britain,' said Fernandopulle.

    Giving a hint of what might happen if Chilcott continued to do what he had done, Fernandopulle said that in the late 1980s, Sri Lanka had expelled British High Commissioner David Gladstone for overstepping his brief.

    Gladstone had entered a polling station at Dikwella and publicly complained about the malpractices taking place there.

    In his Dudley Senanayake Memorial Lecture, Chilcott said: 'Let me be clear, I am not saying that the political aspiration for Eelam is illegitimate, any more than I would argue that the Scottish National Party's goal for an independent Scotland is illegitimate.

    'Similarly, I see nothing illegitimate in some crackpot demanding that Yorkshire or some other English county should become an independent state.'

    'What is crucial is what methods are used by the SNP or the LTTE (Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam) to achieve their goals. And the LTTE's methods are simply unacceptable.'

    Chilcott also said that the Sri Lankan government should stop branding all support for human rights and a peaceful solution to the ethnic conflict in the island as 'unpatriotic'.

    He demanded that the government stop demonising international organizations like the UNICEF. He went on to say that in Sri Lanka, ministerial posts were being created not to do better work but to secure political support.

    Foreign Secretary Palitha Kohona summoned the envoy and told him that his remark on the legitimacy of the Eelam demand was 'unacceptable' to the Sri Lankan government, given the British government's categorical rejection of a separate state in Sri Lanka.

    However, despite the chiding, the British high commission Friday issued a press release in its capacity as the local representative of the European Union, condemning the abduction of some relations of opposition MPs, ahead of the critical vote on the annual budget in parliament.

    The EU release said it was 'deeply concerned' about the abductions and urged those who had any influence over the kidnappers to work towards their release unharmed.

    Sri Lanka army backed paramilitary TMVP (also called the Karuna Group) abducted the brother of Batticaloa district Tamil National Alliance MP P. Ariyanethran, P. Sriskandaseya, 54, secretary of TNA MP K. Thangeswari, Ira Nagalingam and the son-in-law of TNA MP S. Jeyanandamoorthy's sister, Arunasalam Sivapalan, 28 prior to the budget vote.

    The paramilitary warned the family members of the three abducted victims that the TNA MPs should refrain from voting against the Budget of Sri Lankan president Mahinda Rajapaksa, if they wished to see them live on Saturday.

    The three MPs duly abstained and those abducted were released thereafter.

    However, Kohona told Chilcott that preliminary investigations had found that the allegations against the Pillaiyan group were baseless.

  • Sri Lanka ticks off UNESCO and UNICEF
    Sri Lanka last week continued its hostile stand against UN institutions by charging UNESCO of issuing ill-advised statements and summoning and telling off the UNICEF country representative for meeting the LTTE’s political head.

    UNESCO had earlier released a statement condemning the Sri Lankan air force attack on the Voice of Tigers radio station which killed three editorial staff workers at the station and eight civilians. 15 civilians, including four editorial staff, were wounded in the attack.

    “I condemn the bombing of the Voice of Tigers radio station,” UNESCO Director General Koichiro Matsuura declared. “Regardless of the content of the broadcasts aired by the Voice of Tigers, there can be no excuse for military strikes on civilian media."

    "Such action contravenes the Geneva Convention which requires the military to treat media workers as civilians."

    "Killing media personnel is not going to help reconciliation and I urge the authorities to ensure respect for the basic human right of freedom of expression.”

    The UNESCO condemnation enraged Sri Lanka.

    According Sunday Times newspaper, Sri Lanka’s Permanent Representative to UNESCO and Ambassador Chitranganee Wagiswara has written to the UNESCO Director General stating that the country is deeply distressed at his ‘ill-advised’ statements

    Ambassador Wagiswara said UNSECO did not have the mandate or competence to express views on complex political such as the ethnic conflict in Sri Lanka.

    She said UNESCO activities should be limited to the “UNESCO domain” and demanded Mr. Matsuura withdraw his condemnation.

    UNESCO - the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) is specialized United Nations agency, which promotes freedom of expression through access to information and knowledge.

    In response, UNESCO released a second statement expressing “strong condemnation of terrorism in all its forms and manifestations, committed by whomever, wherever and for whatever purposes.”

    But despite the demand from Colombo for an apology, the UNESCO chief failed to do so in his second statement.

    Even as the UNESCO row continued, Sri Lanka summoned the head of UNICEF in Sri Lanka to express its “concern” over his visit to LTTE administered territory in Vanni.

    Philippe Duamelle called upon the Tamil Tiger Political Head B. Nadesan on December 13, 2007 at LTTE's Political Headquarters, LTTE peace secretariat officials in Kilinochchi and had an introductory meeting. The meeting was described by both sides as "very constructive".

    However, Mr. Duamelle was told that his visit to the LTTE political capital of Kilinochchi was unacceptable to the government, the Sri Lankan Foreign Ministry said.

    The Foreign Monistry statement quoted Duamelle as saying that he was new in the job and was unaware of foreign ministry guidelines, but had cleared his visit with the defence ministry.

    There was no immediate comment from UNICEF.


  • Pakistan to step up assistance to Sri Lanka
    The Pakistan Government is considering another US $31 million military assistance to Sri Lanka for its fight against the Tamil Tigers, apart from the US $ 50 million assistance to the Sri Lankan Government to purchase military hardware.

    The announcement was made Pakistan Foreign Minister Inam ul Haque when he met a visiting Sri Lanka media delegation in Islamabad.

    The Pakistan Foreign Minister, however did not elaborate what kind of military assistance they were going to provide Sri Lanka through this assistance. He said Pakistan has always assisted Sri Lanka in its fight against terrorism and will continue with its assistance to eliminate terrorism from Sri Lankan soil.

    He said Pakistan accommodates 250 to 300 military officials from Sri Lanka in various military training schools including the highest military training school, the National Defence University of Pakistan.

    Sri Lankan military personnel are trained annually and the number can be increased if there is request from the Sri Lankan Government, the Minister said.

    “If there is a request from the Sri Lanka side to increase the training slots, that can be arranged,” the Foreign Minister added.

    He said a defence pact is not necessary for Pakistan to support Sri Lanka for its fight against terrorism since it is no longer a bilateral issue and it has become part of global terrorism.

    Haque said the issue of suicide bombing started in Sri Lanka by the LTTE has spread to Iraq, Afghanistan and now Pakistan. (In fact ‘suicide bombing’ as presently known was being practied by Middle Eastern militants in the early eighties long before the first Black Tiger attack was in 1985. Lebanese militants driving truck bombs destroyed the bases of US and French in Beirut in1983, killing hundreds of troops).

    “There is an element of transnational terrorism and it is no longer a bilateral issue,” the Pakistan Foreign Minister said. Pakistan as a sovereign country is always concerned about the sovereignty and territorial integrity of Sri Lanka and it will continue to support Sri Lanka to safeguard its sovereignty and territorial integrity, Haque said.

    “No third country can impose any limitations on Pakistan’s assistance to Sri Lanka for its fight against terrorism,” the Minister said.

    Haque said Pakistan strongly backed Sri Lanka’s proposal to hold the 2008 SAARC summit in Sri Lanka in view of the 60th anniversary of Independence.
  • India bolsters Sri Lanka air defences
    An Indian defence delegation visiting Sri Lanka has offered assistance in the form of "joint air-defence exercises" to face any threats posed by the aerial capability of the Tigers, press reports in Colombo said.

    India which has stepped up its military support to the Rajapakse administration in recent months sent a high level delegation to Colombo to review the ongoing bilateral defence cooperation.

    Indian Defence Secretary Vijay Singh who called on Sri Lankan Defence Secretary Gotabhaya Rajapaksa in Colombo earlier this week has made the offer.

    The delegation arrived in Colombo last Sunday and left the island on Wednesday, after meeting with the Commanders of the Sri Lankan Army, Air Force and Navy.

    The eight-member Indian delegation, comprising several top officials from the Indian Defence and External Affairs ministries, had told Sri Lanka that India was concerned since the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE) now had its own air wing.

    Following the successful night time air raids carried out by LTTE’s Tamil Eelam Air Force (TAF), SLAF upgraded its night flying capability. However it has not assisted in defending targets against LTTE air crafts. The LTTE air crafts have been able to repeatedly attack targets in deep south and return to base safely.

    Indian defence establishment is said be of the view that SLAF night operational capability is vital for meaningful and fool proof air defence.

    Indian News service, IANS, reported that efforts are on to equip SLAF aircraft with night fighting capability but these are yet to bear fruit because of the expenditure involved and the reluctance of countries to part with the appropriate technology.

    According to IANS both India and Pakistan are keen to help out Sri Lanka to improve its air defence.

    It is in this context that the current visit of an Indian military delegation to Sri Lanka assumes significance.

    Speaking before the visit an Indian high commission spokesman said, 'among the issues which will be discussed is air defense,' while downplaying the visit as a 'routine one' meant to discuss administrative and other issues related to defense cooperation.

    The spokesman said the Indian radars given to Sri Lanka were working 'extremely well'.

    Two weeks ago, the IAF conducted its largest-ever war exercise in south India involving the Army, Air Force and Navy. An official statement by the IAF detailed the use of French-made Mirage-2000s, Russian-built Su-30s, Mi-8 helicopters and unmanned aircraft in the exercise.

    According to Indian media the objective of the exercise, codenamed 'Dakshin Prahar', was to defend military, strategic and economic targets in south India against air attacks by regular and rogue air forces.

    Reports further added that India may like Sri Lanka's cooperation in any system it may put together in the near future, indicating further cooperation between the two forces in future.

    On the naval front also India has stepped up cooperation with the Sri Lankan Navy and has been involved in coordinated patrolling.

    Commenting on the issue, National Security Advisor M K Narayanan on Monday said the Union government was 'careful' about the activities of LTTE.

    "We are always careful about LTTEs activities in Tamil Nadu or anywhere else in India." he said after a meeting with Tamil Nadu Chief Minister M Karunanidhi.

    He further said a strict round-the-clock vigil was being maintained all along the coastline.

    Asked whether they was any move for joint patrolling between the Indian and Sri Lankan navies in the Indian ocean, he said there was coordinated patrolling, wherein both navies were patrolling in their respective areas.
  • Indian intelligence, not LTTE, targeted Pakistan envoy
    Pakistan’s former High Commissioner to Sri Lanka, Basheer Wali Mohammed said in Islamabad last week that he had "convincing evidence" that a powerful regional intelligence agency, rather than the Tamil Tigers, was behind the August 2006 bid to assassinate him in Colombo.

    Dismissing widespread claims that the LTTE executed the claymore mine attack in Kollupitiya while he was returning after attending Pakistani Independence Day celebrations, he said a two-paged newspaper article written by a person closely linked to this intelligence arm made pointed reference to his Colombo assignment shortly before he took over as the High Commissioner.

    The envoy’s comments were a thinly veiled reference to the Indian intelligence service, the Research and Analysis Wing (RAW).

    Speaking to a group of visiting Sri Lankan journalists at the prestigious Pakistan Club in Islamabad, he explained that he had traveled extensively in Sri Lanka sans any personal security during the major part of his two years as an envoy.

    "I even visited the North, and if the LTTE wanted to kill me, they could have struck at any time", he pointed out. "But apparently, they were disinterested in harming me".

    At the time, the LTTE was blamed for the assassination attempt on Wali Mohammed, a professional soldier who later headed Pakistan’s key intelligence bureau.

    The LTTE’s alleged motive was Pakistan’s close military cooperation with Sri Lanka, reports suggested.

    "At face value, the LTTE was taken as the perpetrator, but subsequently we were able to establish the involvement of this intelligence agency of a neighbouring country", he asserted.

    He was strongly behind Sri Lanka’s war with the LTTE.

    "It was I who persuaded the President [Mahinda Rajapakse] to crush LTTE terrorism militarily as the government had adequate resources at its disposal", Mr. Mohammed noted. "I am glad the President heeded my advice as terrorism is a global menace".

    He pledged continued Pakistani military assistance to fight the scourge of LTTE terrorism in Sri Lanka.

    He recalled that his daughter who generally drives behind his official Mercedes Benz had a narrow shave because he was taking her to a doctor as she was suffering from a severe tooth ache that day. "Otherwise, she would have also been killed".

    He also recounted how President Mahinda Rajapakse personally telephoned him minutes after the blast and even sent his official bullet-proof car for his use.

    "I think I have seen so much of fighting in my life as a battle-hardened cavalry soldier that I remained calm when saw this ball of fire", he said. "There were two deadly mines".

    "I heard my wife scream that we were under attack and when I looked to the rear I saw the jeep of the soldiers guarding me missing", he recalled. "Everything happened within seconds".

    "The devastation I saw transported me back to the time when my armoured vehicle was blown up during the war with India, and I was badly injured", he said, showing a scar on his forehead.

    Wali Mohammed, now a provincial Minister, said that he personally paid Rs. 200,000 to each family of the five Lankan soldiers killed in the explosion. "It was out of my pocket as the money was not reimbursed by the Pakistani Foreign Ministry".

    Later, the Pakistani government also paid another Rs. 400,000 to 500,000 each to these dependents while one family of a soldier, who had a young son, was given a house as well, the former envoy said.

    Describing President Mahinda Rajapakse as a "personal friend", he said that he still maintains a close link which took him back to Sri Lanka as a special guest even after his tenure as a diplomat.
  • Sri Lankan government passes war budget
    The Sri Lankan government managed to pass its war budget in the third and final parliamentary vote on Friday December 14. To do so, it depended on the support of the (ultra-Sinhala nationalist) Janatha Vimukthi Peramuna (JVP), which came to the rescue of the shaky ruling coalition by abstaining rather than voting against the budget, as it had done in the second round.

    The final vote was 114 in favour and 67 against, with the 37 JVP MPs abstaining. The JVP, which continually postures as a defender of workers and the poor, is now politically responsible for a budget that will not only intensify the country’s reactionary civil war, but place its full burden onto the backs of working people through rising prices and cutbacks to subsidies and services.

    The government, which began launching offensives against the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE) in July 2006, has allocated a record 166 billion rupees ($US1.5 billion) on military spending—a 20 percent increase over last year’s record. To pay for the war, President Mahinda Rajapakse, who holds the defence and finance portfolios, has imposed a number of new indirect taxes and cut social spending.

    With the exception of the pro-LTTE Tamil National Alliance (TNA), all the opposition parties back the war in one way or another. At the same time, the right-wing United National Party (UNP) opposed the budget in order to capitalise on growing popular anger over deteriorating living standards. Supported by two senior defectors from Rajapakse’s Sri Lanka Freedom Party (SLFP), the UNP was hoping to defeat the budget and force new parliamentary elections.

    The key to the parliamentary equation was the JVP. While the JVP did not have the numbers by itself, a clear stance against the budget would have encouraged wavering members of the ruling coalition to cross the floor. The budget has thrown the JVP into crisis—on the one hand, it stridently demands an intensification of the “patriotic” war, but, on the other, it demagogically calls for measures to alleviate the plight of working people and claims on occasions to be socialist.

    The issue opened up divisions in the JVP, which prevaricated for weeks prior to the second reading on November 19. The government narrowly won that vote after the JVP voted against. Prior to the third reading, the JVP issued a series of demands, not to ease the economic burdens, but to demand a tougher stance on the war, including the illegalisation of the LTTE. The JVP insisted in particular that Rajapakse tear up the 2002 ceasefire agreement, which, while a dead letter in all but name, allows the government to claim it still supports the so-called international peace process.

    Behind the scenes, the government was compelled to bribe and bully its own MPs to prevent them voting against the budget. Four days before the vote, a paramilitary group allied to the military kidnapped the relatives of three TNA MPs and announced it would kill them if the parliamentarians voted against the budget. The three—P. Ariyanethran, K. Thangeswari, S. Jeyanandamoorthy—were not in parliament for the vote.

    The UNP was also working overtime to woo government MPs. Sri Lanka Muslim Congress (SLMC) leader Rauf Hakeem and three deputy ministers resigned and joined the opposition. Hakeem accused the government of discriminating against Muslims, particularly in the East. Last Friday, the day of the final vote, Anura Bandaranaike a leading SLFP member and cabinet minister, defected to the opposition.

    There were also signs that the Ceylon Workers Congress (CWC) and Up-country Peoples Front (UPF), which are based among Tamil-speaking plantation workers in the central hills districts, were preparing to cross the floor. UPF member V. Radhakrishnan told parliament that “people wanted them [his party] to oppose the budget,” which would have meant the loss of another two votes.

    In these conditions, the defeat of the budget hinged on the JVP’s vote. Right up until the last minute, JVP leaders were declaring that they would vote against, as they had done last month. Even on Friday, JVP general secretary Tilvin Silva speaking on the party’s radio station, V-FM, confirmed that the leadership had decided to vote with the opposition.

    On Friday afternoon, however, after talks with the president’s brother Basil Rajapakse, the JVP changed its stand. “A closed door meeting in Parliament at 2 p.m. on Friday between the Janatha Vimukthi Peramuna (JVP) Parliamentary hierarchy and Presidential Advisor Basil Rajapakse had led to the JVP announcement that they would abstain from Friday’s crucial budget vote,” the Nation reported.

    Those who were considering switching sides rapidly changed their minds. The CWC and UPF were not about to quit the government, give up their ministerial privileges and take a stand, if the budget was going to pass anyway. To underscore its support for the war, the JVP actually voted for the defence allocation, which was taken as a separate item prior to the final vote. After the budget was ratified, Basil Rajapakse made a point of thanking the JVP.

    Justifying the JVP’s stance, JVP leader Somawansa Amarasinghe told the press on Saturday: “A UNP triumph would have a catastrophic impact on the ongoing security forces campaign against the LTTE. There would have been chaos, political instability and that would have been to the advantage of the enemy. The JVP’s desire to ensure stability, particularly in view of the successful military campaign, surpassed the need to defeat the budget, thereby bringing the government to its knees.”

    Amarasinghe’s statement speaks volumes. This party is for deepening the war and maintaining the stability of capitalist rule and the Sri Lankan state. Amarasinghe is simply rephrasing the JVP’s longstanding chauvinist slogan “Motherland First”. Those who will be forced to sacrifice their lives and living standards for this 24-year communal war are working people and their sons and daughters.

    The JVP’s stance is completely in line with a chauvinist press release from the defence ministry, hailing the vote for the budget. “[I]t was none other than terror chief, V. Prabhakaran, [LTTE leader] who had the greatest desire to see the government lose in the budget vote. Failure of the terror sympathisers, treacherous politicians and media manipulators is certainly a great victory of all peace loving Sri Lankans,” it declared.

    The JVP’s decision to support the budget has exposed its posturing among workers. On December 11, prior to its decision to abstain, JVP parliamentarian K.D. Lal Kantha demagogically told the annual meeting of Lanka Postal Services Union (LPSU) that the Rajapakse government was the “most corrupt, inefficient and tyrannical government ever to come to power in Sri Lanka’s political history. The entire hierarchies from the very top to the very bottom are corrupt and guilty of mismanagement.”

    This government is now even more dependent on the JVP, which has been weakened by its support for the budget. Far from stepping back, however, the JVP will intensify its communal “Motherland First” campaign and will not hesitate to use threats and physical violence against anyone who opposes the war—as the JVP has in the past.

  • Terror reigns in the East

    As Army-backed paramilitaries run amok terrorizing the Tamil and Muslim communities of the east, the Sri Lankan government is arming tens of thousands of Sinhalese, reports said this week.

    The Sri Lankan government is stepping up the militarization and Sinhala colonisation of the eastern districts of Batticaloa and Amparai with the arming and settling of tens of thousands of civilian militia in the region, reports said.

    Sri Lankan Media Minister Lakshman Yapa speaking at a cabinet press briefing on 20 December announced that 250,000 civil defense personnel have been recruited for the security of the Eastern Province in addition to the three armed forces, police and home guards.

    According to Lanka-e-News, the Government provides salaries, firearms and ammunition to these personnel who work attached to temples and village offices etc.

    These militia men who are referred to as a Civil Defense Personnel is entitled to Rs. 13,000 salary ($130), a mobile phone and Rs. 300,000 loan to build a house.

    At present almost all the Buddhist temples in the Eastern Province are being used for military purposes. Each Buddhist temple in the region is provided with a four wheel drive jeeps, communication equipment and 40 armed personnel of Civil Defense Force.

    With a total population of 1.5 million, one in six persons in the Eastern Province is a Sinhalese militia person from the Civil Defense Force.

    Lanka-e-News further reported no one is allowed to photograph these areas that are under strict control of Army.

    Just as the government militarized the east with armed Sinhalese militia, the government backed paramilitary group, Tamil Eelam Makkal Viduthalai Pulikal (TMVP), too was accused of forcibly arming abducted civilians, further militarising the east.

    According to one leading Sri Lankan newspaper, the TMVP is "running riot in the Eastern Province, especially in Batticaloa, turning the entire district into a virtual hell hole for the civilians living there."
    The Nation paper quoted sources as saying that the situation in the east at present is far worse before the province was 'liberated' from the LTTE by the government.

    "The situation has become extremely severe that even civilians who are harassed by the Pillaiyan gang have now stopped complaining to the police, as law enforcement officers also turn a blind eye to the growing phenomenon, the paper said.

    Sources from the province charged that Pillayan cadres wear half masks and enter houses at night to take away valuables and warn the victims if they utter a word, they will have to face the consequences.
    The Pillayan problem has also affected the Muslims in the province, with sources claiming that Pillayan is now encroaching into the lands that belong to Muslim civilians by force and is settling his supporters in those lands.

    In its weekly report, covering the period 10 December to 16 De-cember, the international monitors of the Sri Lankan Monitoring Mission (SLMM) said that on December 11 two men (ages 19 and 20) and one boy (age 17) were abducted, reportedly by the TMVP, in Thirukovil, in Amparai.
    "The SLMM received information that they were given guns and forced to patrol the area on motorbikes," the mission said.

    It also stated that, on the same day, another 18-year-old man was abducted in Thandiady in Amparai. "It was reported that the perpetrator was the TMVP, and the man was forced to do armed street patrolling," SLMM said.

    According to the SLMM report at least 18 persons were abductions during first week of December alone by the Pillayan group.

    SLMM Spokesman Pia Hansson told The Nation newspaper, "We have noticed a large number of killings and abductions in the east and we are concerned about this trend."

    According to the Nation, grave atrocities, including murder, abductions, extortion and land grabbing continue unabated in the east, with civilians living in Batticaloa having to bear the major brunt. Also, the activities of Pillayan and his cadres have now even begun to spread to Amparai.

    Pillayan, who has now been nicknamed 'Billa' (child snatcher), took over the TMVP leadership after overthrowing its founder, renegade LTTE leader Karuna Amman, who is now in British custody.
    However, Pillayan's rhetoric to put an end to all atrocities committed before his time, now appears to be an utter farce, with reports emanating from the eastern districts disclosing that Pillayan's activities are as bad as Karuna's, if not even worse," sources from the east, who spoke on condition of anonymity claimed, reported the Nation.

  • Russia and India to sell arms to Sri Lanka
    Sri Lanka met with Indian and Russian delegations last week on possible arms purchases including air defence weaponry as clashes with Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE) escalate.

    Defence officials from India and Russia held separate talks with Sri Lankan authorities on improving systems used against the low-flying Czech-built Zlin Z-143 operated by the LTTE.

    The Sri Lankan military is seeking to upgrade its fleet of Mi-35 helicopter gunships and talks with the Russian delegation focused on buying a "major consignment" of Russian-made weapons.

    According to Sri Lankan newspapers, the military delegation from Russia offered to help Sri Lanka by exporting a variety of military hardware through its state-owned trading arm, Rosboronoexport.

    The nine-member Russian delegation led by Mr. Glushchenko Vasiliy Andreevich, Deputy Director of the Ministry of Justice of the Russian Federation.

    The delegation also included representatives of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the Russian Federation, the General Prosecutor's Office and of the Federal Service of the Russian Federation for Narcotic Traffic Control.

    According to an official statement released during the visit, Sri Lanka and Russia have decided to join hands in fighting international terrorism, drug trafficking and other forms of organised crime.

    The two sides were working on finalising a bilateral treaty on Mutual Legal Assistance in Criminal Matters during two days of bilateral negotiations and substantial progress has been made on the draft text of a mutual legal assistance treaty, and the two sides have agreed to meet again soon with a view to finalising the outstanding issues, the statement further stated.

    India which has provided a radar system to Sri Lanka's military held talks on upgrading the equipment and improving the air defence capability of government forces.

    Sri Lanka has been trying to upgrade its weapons and air defences since Tamil Tiger earlier this year began flying light aircraft smuggled into the country in pieces to be later re-assembled
  • Heavy flooding displaces thousands in East
    Over 30,000 people in eastern Sri Lanka have been displaced by flash floods following incessant rains in eastern Sri Lanka earlier this week.

    The hardest hit have been thousands of Tamil people who had earlier been displaced by Sri Lankan military offensives and the Muslim community.

    The eastern districts of Batticaloa and Amparai, a largely flat agricultural area which was hard hit by the 2004 tsunami, has taken the brunt of the north-east monsoon shower.

    8,300 families from Chengkaladi, Kiraan in Batticaloa district and Aalayadiveampu area in Ampaarai district were forced to leave their homes and seek refuge in schools, after rising floods due to the persisting down pour of monsoon rains threatened to engulf their homes, Batticaloa Additional Government Agent K. Mahesan said.

    Hundreds of families from Chengkaladi area have been located at Chengkaladi Maha Viththiyaalayam where they are being provided with food and other essentials.

    In Trincomalee district, people who were already internally displaced due to Sri Lanka Army (SLA) offensives and, before that the December 2004 tsunami, and lodged in temporary shelters, are undergoing severe hardships caused by rain and floods.

    Temporary structures located at Killiveddy and Iruthayapuram in Moothoor division sheltering displaced Tamil families have been inundated with flood water due to heavy rain with gale force winds in Trincomalee district since Sunday. Families are now living with great difficulties under leaking roofs without enough food and other essential needs, local sources said.

    Some of the important roads connecting the east with the rest of the country have also been damaged along with around 400 acres of paddy fields by flood waters up to two feet deep.

    Meteorological Department has warned that more rain is expected for another few days in the north and east due to a depression in the Indian Ocean.
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