The Sri Lankan Army has completed the construction of another hotel, this time on the shores of the Nanthikadal Lagoon.

The Lagoon’s Edge is a luxury hotel, built entirely of teak and was built in a "place where thousands of war heroes, terrorists and others died", according to Sinhalese newspaper Mawbima.

Writing in the Huffington Post, author of “Still Counting the Dead”, Frances Harrison describes how the hotel “caters for Sinhala war tourists who want to see the last bastion of the defeated Tamil Tiger rebels.”

View from balcony of the military-built hotel - shores of killing fields can be seen across the lagoon

Just across the lagoon, visible from the hotel, is the area where hundreds of thousands of Tamils were attacked by the Sri Lankan military in 2009.

“Right in the heart of what was rebel territory, the hotel overlooks the stretch of water that became the frontline during the final bloody months of the conflict, in which it's now estimated by the United Nations 40,000 or possibly 70,000 civilians died in a few months. Tamil survivors describe wading through the neck-high water, passing floating corpses and dodging bullets. Several children and injured or elderly people drowned in the water in the struggle to escape,” wrote the former BBC correspondent.

President Rajapakse during the opening ceremony and planting a holy Buddhist bodhi tree, with defence secretary Gotabhaya.

Pictures on the hotel’s Facebook page, show Sri Lankan president Mahinda Rajapakse and the defence secretary Gothabaya Rajapakse at the opening ceremony, along with Kandyan dancers, “totally alien to this exclusively Tamil part of the island”, said Harrison.

A picture also shows what appears to be a memorial frame with a soldier in a triumphal pose, with a machine gun in one hand and the Sri Lankan flag in the other.

Sign at entrance to hotel, entirely in Singhalese

Tamil women, who were recruited into the army last month, received their first salary on Sunday at the army's Trincomalee base.

The parents of all the women were present, as the women were presented with their first salary and bank pass books.

Related articles:

No mental trauma or sexual abuse, just madness (23 Dec 2012)

Sri Lankan Army coerces Tamil women into joining (13 Dec 2012)

Christmas came to Kilinochchi this year courtesy of the Sri Lankan Army.

Photographs of the festive joy are reproduced from off the Ministry of Defence (and Urban Development) website:

In addition to an 80 ft Christmas tree, the Tamil women recruited into the Sri Lankan army sang Christmas carols.

The Russian ambassador to Sri Lanka says that countries criticise Sri Lanka’s human rights violations, while ignoring their own record.

“Sometimes people point at a speck in the others eye without knowing a whole lot about the board in theirs,” Alexander Karchava said in an interview to the Daily News.

Karchava said that while western countries can suggest ideas to improve the human rights situation, they shouldn’t pressure Sri Lanka to implement measures that those countries may seem fit.

“Forcing other countries to implement what they presume to be right is an interference in the internal affairs of such countries,” he said.

“Sri Lanka managed to do a lot in three years and their achievement in the field of resettlement is commendable.”

Mahinda Rajapaksa on Christmas day...  

"The teaching of love and understanding that brings the spirit of sharing, which marks the celebration of Christmas, can help in strengthening the bridges of peace, tolerance and reconciliation that are being built in our country."

"The birth of Jesus Christ in a stable at Bethlehem shows the world the importance of love extending to all, moving beyond all barriers, extending from the highest to the humblest in society, to all beings who share this earth with us, and to nature that sustains us all."

Here's a round-up of articles on Christianity and Sri Lanka from 2012:

Monks attack pastor and vandalise church (13 Dec 2012)

Church and mosque vandalised and burnt (27 Oct 2012)

Mannar Church attacked with stones (09 Sept 2012)

Army restricts access to places of worship (30 Jul 2012)

Ruling party calls for Tamil Bishop’s arrest (06 Mar 2012)

An economist from Singapore's Lee Kuan Yew School of Public Policy says Sri Lanka has been withholding trade from India, most notably the neighbouring Southern states, "for a combination of chauvinistic reasons and defensive economic reasons of some [local] business."

Dr. Razeen Sally, formerly of the London School of Economics (LSE), stated,

"It strikes me that Sri Lankan foreign policy, which of course includes foreign economic policy - is completely lopsided,"

"Because the picture we have is of China as first friend. But old friends had been alienated and some potential friends like India has been kept at arms length… Now it strikes me that that batting order comes directly counter to Sri Lanka's core economic interests."

"There is everything to be said of much stronger economic linkage between Sri Lanka and the four states of South India,"

"If there is to be a way for Sri Lanka to get into global supply chains as quickly as possible beyond the garment story in other areas of manufacturing and many areas of services - even areas like agro food processing and fisheries, the route lies through South of India and the link up and presence of more south Indian companies here in Sri Lanka".

"But that of course is held at arms length for a combination of chauvinistic reasons and defensive economic reasons of some business here."

"So it is not rocket science, but simple common sense for Sri Lanka to have good relations with the Western powers because Sri Lanka needs them more than they need Sri Lanka".

Flooding has continued to affect parts of the North-East, including Batticaloa and Vavuniya, following heavy rains over the past few days.

In Batticaloa, 22 people have been killed in the floods, and 50 injured. Meanwhile in Vavuniya, 3428 families have been displaced, according to the Vavuniya district disaster management agency.

Chinese companies are investing into mega projects in Sri Lanka, avoiding tender procedures and hence emerging as the only bidders for contracts, reported The Sunday Times on Sunday.

The paper quoted a local agent of an Indian construction company as saying that the Chinese companies pay commissions to its local agents, depending on the value of the project negotiated.

The agent is reported as saying commissions, from $120 to $180 million, are paid to middle men each year for all Chinese projects on the island. This assists the Chinese companies to overcome other competition said the agent.

Read more on The Sunday Times’ website here.

Sri Lankan military has been intimidating the kith and kin of missing persons, reported Tamilnet. A group of Sri Lankan military intelligence operatives, summoned family members of the detained and disappeared persons and warned them not to pass on information to foreign agencies such as the United Nations.

When questioned by families about the whereabouts of the detained and missing persons, the Sri Lankan military continued to assert that they had only detained persons who were members of the LTTE.

In an interview with BBC Tamil, Sivasubramaniyam Sivadas, the medical doctor who reportedly treated the 15 Tamil women who were admitted to Kilinochchi hospital shortly after being recruited into the Sri Lankan army, dismissed reports of sexual abuse or mental trauma, and claimed that they fifteen had suffered from a case of 'collective hysteria'.

See here for full interview in Tamil. See below for a transcript of the interview:

Dr Sivadas: There are 15 of them. Out of that 02 are admitted to the wards. The remaining 13 are kept in a room in the upper floor in order to be consulted by me. Many people requested me to see them. I clearly informed them about two matters. I will see them if only you accept my decision after I diagnose them. The other one is that I wanted to meet the patients privately.

After that one medical officer from the Army arrived. He contacted higher authorities and said 'that they are ready to accept my recommendations'. After that only I met all 15 girls personally.

BBC Seevakan: What type of illness did they have? How did they look ?

Dr Sivadas: They are like, what we call in our villages 'goddess dance' (possessed by god). They are also faced with the similar issue. One week back about 108 .. or 103 girls were recruited to the army. They are between 18 -25 years old. Out of them one girl a week ago had told another girl that while she was going to a distance place in the camp she felt that some shadow or someone was coming with her

The other girl has said that a lot of people had died in that area and that she might have been possessed by a lost soul. Only divine power will cure it. Otherwise nothing can be done, she has said'. The girl got frightened and fainted.

The other girl took to pose like a goddess and started to dance.

BBC Seevakan: That all fifteen had this type of illness or only these two?

Dr Sivadas: No no. It started from this two and slowly spread to all 15 in that camp. Some of the them did not think it was true, but some thought it's true, it may happen to them too, and began to get scared. Few of them began to do the 'cobra dance'.

These phenomena can be commonly observed in Vanni. In my three and a half years of experience I have seen this type of collective hysteria... I seen this at least ten times.. collective hysteria.

Once was among child soldiers at the Poonthodam camp, and once when around 50 women were recruited to work at a garment factory 4-5 of them started to dance like snakes. So for me it was not a big issue.

BBC Seevakan: Medically what you are guessing as the reason for this?

Dr. Sivadas: There are two minds, a deep and superficial one. 10 percent of our matters are decided in the superficial mind the rest 90 percent is decided in the deep mind.

In the deep mind ...if inner conflict arise ...means something unsolvable or matters which are complicated ...disturbs the deep mind... in many occasions they will express (it) in ways like this.

Commonly Tamil people call it as 'Kaali had arrived' (Being possessed by god Kali) and Singhalese people say 'Patthini dheyyo arrived.' (Possessed by god Patthini)

BBC Seevakan: For this mental state to happen to them, what was the reason you detected? While you talked to them were you able to uncover anything?

Dr Sivadas: Most of them willfully enrolled for this job which gives Rs 30,000 salary monthly. Contrary to what is being said outside such as they were forcibly recruited.. when I spoke to them, they said they had willfully joined.

They said, that 'we don't have a wage, we drink only Kanjee (porridge), there is much poverty in the Vanni, and so for us this job is a great gift'.. and that's why they went.

However, inspite of this, after they got there, because of their culture, and the lives they have led for the past 30 years.. this goes against that. [They think] 'I have to go to get a wage, I have to get an income, but then what of my culture, and my Tamil people, and my Tamil identity - is this right?' This is causing an inner conflict.

BBC Seevakan: But you are saying this is due to the inner conflict of mind. ..Possibility of any type of abuse committed to them after they joined the army .. May it be the reason?

Dr. Sivadas: I have seen all fifteen of them fully, and the other 103 I visited at the three camps that night. Nothing of the sort happened to them. Even when they were doing this 'divine dance', not a single army soldier, or female soldier touched them.

Perhaps if they had assaulted these girls they might not continue in the army. But instead, without assaulting them, they brought them there [to the hospital] and [got them] admitted.

One thing that they [girls] pleaded, begged and cried about, was to say 'Sir please save us from these reports of sexual abuse. Everyday we listen to the news and hear about it [allegation]. Please tell the world that nothing like this happened, tell them that we are not having any serious mental illness and no sexual abuses were committed against us.'

In my point of view, I personally worked in Vanni for the last three and a half years and I've worked with many ex -combatants. I will say this is not a sexual abuse. Rather that this is 'media abuse' or 'political abuse'

BBC Seevakan: All right. What type of treatment are you giving them?

Dr Sivadas: We usually explain to them that this type of incident happened because of problems in their mind and not because of a god or devil possessing and doing it.

BBC Seevakan: So now you are saying that their situation is settled down?

Dr Sivadas: Well settled. I promise to meet them after one week... I am not going to be the person who assists them to join in the army. Because as an individual, who believes in Tamil nationalism, I personally feel that that the government did not need to do these types of work [recruitment] so quickly. But, as a medical doctor, I have a duty, to show that these girls were not sexually abused or suffering from any mental disorders.

“For too long Australia has turned a blind eye to the mounting evidence that the Sri Lankan Government committed war crimes against the poorest of its own people, including the slaughter of more than 40,000 innocent Tamil civilians at the end of the civil war in 2009."

“There will be a stain of injustice that won’t wash out of the cricket whites if the human rights abuses of the ruling Sri Lankan regime pass unremarked.”

“All the matters your letter raised are issues we can’t pretend about anymore, and if our government keeps up with their present tricks, they may be subject to bans and blacklistings, too.”

Australasian Federation of Tamil Associations (AFTA), the umbrella body of the peak Tamil organizations in the States and territories of Australia and the two cities of Auckland and Wellington in New Zealand, is well aware that Australia has used sports sanctions effectively to bring oppressive regimes to change their way of ruling and bring relief to their respective oppressed citizens. Australia has used in all these cases Cricket as their tool to succeed.

First when the black people of South Africa were oppressed under the then Apartheid regime and later when the Zimbabwean White land owners were being evicted from their farms by the Black natives under the notorious Mugabe regime, Australia joined several other countries not to play cricket with the South Africans and Zimbabweans until the respective regimes revert back to observing democracy and rule of law.

AFTA has been raising its concern to the Australian government that Australia has been turning a blind eye to the mounting evidence that the ruling regime in Sri Lanka has committed genocide, war crimes and crimes against humanity, including the slaughter of more than 40,000 innocent Tamil civilians during the final phase of the civil war in 2009 as reported by the independent panel appointed by the UN Secretary General to advise him on how to proceed with the accountability process in Sri Lanka.

AFTA is disappointed that during his recent visit, our foreign minister Hon. Bob Carr pledged unqualified support to Sri Lanka to host the next CHOGM in 2013 by a regime that is comparable to the South African Apartheid regime and Mugabe’s regime, whilst Canada and Great Britain are contemplating whether to attend this meeting. If Mugabe, who unleashed violence against the White land owners of Zimbabwe, cannot be a friend of Australia, how could we do business as usual with the Rajapaksa regime that is alleged to have committed genocide, crimes against humanity and war crimes? Why is this double standard? Are the lives of Zimbabwean White land owners more valuable than the
Tamil people in Sri Lanka?

It is high time for all Australians to implore the Gillard government and the Cricket Australia to consider suspending sporting ties with Sri Lanka until Sri Lanka:
restores rule of law and genuine democracy including independent judiciary;agrees to independent international investigations against war crimes, crimes against humanity and genocide; and negotiates with the Tamil people for a genuine political power sharing arrangement based on the Tamils’ right to self-determination.

In this context AFTA welcomes the initiative taken by the refugee Action Collective in conjunction with the Tamil Refugee Council in launching their boycott of the Sri Lankan cricket team with a demonstration in front of MCG on Boxing-day and consider it as a step in the right direction.

AFTA appeals to all the independent media to help in taking this message to the Australian public.

The United Nations High Commission for Refugees (UNHCR) has listed persons suspected of the LTTE links, journalists, opposition politicians, political activists, gays and lesbians, as groups of people in Sri Lanka that are “likely to be in need of international refugee protection.”

The updated guidelines also include witnesses and victims of war crimes within the risk profiles, along with diaspora activists and individuals who previously worked in the LTTE’s civil and administrative setup, who did not receive any military training.

The report discussed in depth the risks that several groups of people faced in Sri Lanka.

It also noted the complexity of the issue and acknowledged that the list of groups it provided was not exhaustive, saying that a claim should not be "considered as without merit simply because it does not fall within any of the profiles identified”.

According to statistics quoted in the report, at the end of 2011 there were 136,605 refugees from Sri Lanka in around 65 countries, with the majority in India, followed by France, Canada, Germany, the United Kingdom, Switzerland, Australia, Malaysia, the United States and Italy.

The updated UN guidelines come amidst tension over Australia’s efforts to deport several asylum seekers back to Sri Lanka.

The family of British tourist Khuram Shaikh, who was brutally murdered in Sri Lanka last Christmas, has spoken of their distress over the lack of progress in prosecuting those responsible for his killing.

Khuram Shaikh was killed while on holiday in the south of Sri Lanka, after getting into an altercation with a local group. His girlfriend was also attacked and is thought to have been raped by the men.

A politician of the ruling party is one of the eight suspects in the attack, however all were recently released on bail.

Speaking to The Guardian, Khuram’s brother Nasir said the situation was "disheartening, upsetting" and unacceptable.

"It should have been fast-tracked, and yet 12 months on, we're not at that stage [...] Something that was being pushed so quickly at the beginning is slowing down."

"He loved his job. It was a perfect match for his personality: he put other people before himself and he had a warm, loving heart," Nasir said.

"I remember he showed me a photograph of when he went to the Red Cross's headquarters in Geneva for his job interview. He said to me, 'Nass, you know what? One day that's where I'm going to be working.'"

Nasir says his family is dreading this Christmas and the anniversary of his brother’s death.

"Reliving that day itself is the bit I'm scared of. I've got a little girl who's four now. That's the bit I struggle with: as much as I keep a brave face, I break down when she asks about how Khuram is. She calls him chachoo, which is uncle in Urdu. When she says, 'I've not seen chachoo in ages', that just breaks my heart."

"It's just so sad," says Nasir. "I can go to work and think of Khuram on the way there and on the way back and in the evening. But my parents think and breathe it every day. I can see them continuing their daily routine of taking flowers and praying for the rest of their lives."

The family is continuing their fight for justice, including a Facebook campaign to raise awareness about the case.

The MP for the family, Simon Danczuk, has also spoken up and last week called on David Cameron to boycott next year’s CHOGM meeting to be held in Sri Lanka.