• When one war criminal met another

    Aug 30
    Sri Lanka’s Defence Secretary Gotabaya Rajapaksa recently made a trip to Sudan and met his counterpart, the ICC wanted Abdel Rahim Mohammed Hussein, Sudan’s Minister of Defence.

    Abdel Rahim Mohammed Hussein had an arrest warrant issued by the International Criminal Court earlier this year, for 21 counts of war crimes and 20 counts of crimes against humanity.


    Photograph: Sudan's Ministry of Defence

    Whilst Sri Lanka’s Ministry of Defence failed to publish photographs of the two meeting, Sudan meanwhile released the above photograph, praising a successful meeting.

    Rajapaksa also met with other senior Sudanese military officials who according to Sri Lanka,
    “expressed their desire to enhance the cooperation between Sudanese and Sri Lankan military training institutes in order to share expertise and knowledge.”
    A Memorandum of Understanding was also signed between the two nations, pledging further co-operation in the field of military training.

    Several arrest warrants have been issued against Sudanese officials by the ICC, including a warrant against President Omar Al-Bashir for genocide, crimes against humanity and war crimes.
  • Withstanding the test of international vicissitude

    The Chinese minister of National Defence, General Liang Guanglie met President Rajapakse in Colombo on Wednesday.

    The president thanked China for standing by Sri Lanka during difficult times and for “cultural cooperation” and “forthcoming economic assistance”.

    Reports suggest that China is planning to pledge US$ 100 million to fund Sri Lankan Army projects in the northeast of the island.
    Gen Guanglie is leading a 23-strong delegation - made up of several high-ranking military officials - on a five day visit to Sri Lanka and is expected to visit military facilities in the north of the island.

    “Since the establishment of bilateral diplomatic relations, China-Sri Lanka friendship has withstood the test of international vicissitude and we have always maintained good cooperation,” the General said, speaking at during an event at the defence college in Colombo.

    “We all know that since the beginning of its reform and opening-up, China's overall national strength and international influence have grown remarkably."

    "Some people in the international community suspect that China would take the road of expansion with force, and have been actively spreading the ‘China Threat Theory’.”

    “Today, we are glad to see that under the leadership of the Sri Lankan government, the diligent, intelligent and kind-hearted Sri Lankan people are united in their efforts of maintaining domestic political stability and actively conducting post-war construction. Great achievements have been made.”

  • Attacked Tamil detainee transferred to Colombo

    The Tamil detainee, Sundaram Satheeskumar, who was attacked in Galle prison last week, was transferred to Colombo National Hospital for medical treatment, reports Uthayan. 

    Satheeskumar who was left in a coma after the attack, suffered extensive bleeding around his brain due to a significant head injury.

  • Former cadres reveal accounts of continued rape
    Sexual abuse and rape of former female LTTE cadres by Sri Lankan Army troops remains rampant in the North-East, as harrowing accounts from victims and medical professionals have revealed.

    Former LTTE cadres told TamilNet of how rape and sexual abuse routinely took place in the detention camps that the Vanni population was herded into in after the Mullivaikal massacre of 2009. The abuse has not ceased, with the women reporting that such assaults were regular occurrences whenever they were “summoned” by Sri Lankan soldiers for “interrogation”.

    Describing her ordeal as “sadistic”, one former cadre Pallavi, recounted how both low and high-ranking officers would sexually assault her when she was summoned into a local camp. 
    “It is very obvious that they get pleasure from our sufferings”
    Another cadre told of how after 3 hours of interrogation at an army camp, she was drugged and awoke to find that she had been sexually assaulted.
    “I couldn’t do anything. I came alive out of that interrogation, crying.”
    Many women have become pregnant as a result, leading many to seek illegal abortions, as one woman revealed.
    “I don’t like to live here. I may be in peace if I go elsewhere. Otherwise there is no option other than committing suicide with my entire family”
    Suicide, as a result from the sexual abuse, has also plagued the North-East. A doctor told of women swallowing razor blades, hanging themselves and self-immolating, as was the case with 32-year old, Ms. Subhodini Sivalingam. Subhodini, who spent 15 years with the LTTE, immolated herself in her house at Polika’ndi in Vadamaraadchi, Jaffna, after repeated sexual abuse from the military.

    The doctor, desperate from the turmoil, told TamilNet,
    “I don’t know what to do with most of the cases… There is no international system to protect them in the island or provide refuge outside.”
    Another former cadre who had survived recent suicide attempts after sexual assaults by Sri Lankan soldiers said,
    “I feel like fighting again. If I get a gun I would kill a particular lot before losing my life.”
  • Tourism head appointed as market regulator

    Former chairman of Sri Lanka’s tourism, Nalaka Godahewa has been announced by the government as the new market regulator for the country - the chairman of the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

    His predecessor, Tilak Karunaratne, resigned in early August citing widespread market malpractice and impunity. Many investors have claimed that stock exchange is over regulated and Godahewa’s “market friendly” charisma has hopes to succeed. 

    But some have noted that regulations will be difficult to enforce even under the new chief as investors are powerful enough to fend off any probes.

    Godahewa will be the third SEC head since December.

    See related articles:

    Confessions from the Colombo Stock Exchange (26 Aug 2012)

    Second sheriff runs out of town (17 Aug 2012)

  • The victor's tutelage

    After three years of rehabilitation and reconciliation through the state discliplined media and having the military on your doorstep, Sri Lanka recently took to doing a spot-check, looking for the tell-tale signs of those who just refuse to learn the 'truth'.

    Tamil students in the North sitting a GCE Advanced Level preparatory examination paper were asked to identify "who among the following is inappropriate to the word terrorism: 1. Bin Laden, 2. Pirapaharan, 3. Saddam Hussein, 4. Colonel Gaddafi, 5. Mao Zedong," reported TamilNet.

    The 'correct' answer being Gaddafi and Mao Zedong.

    The examination paper, set by the Ministry of Education, was sat by students from schools across the North.

  • TN parties slam Delhi’s defence of training Sri Lankans

    Tamil Nadu Chief Minister J. Jayalalitha and other party leaders have slammed Union Minister of State for Defence M M Pallam Raju, for saying that India would continue to provide training to Sri Lanka since it was a friendly nation.

    “I am surprised to learn that the Government of India has openly declared that the said training will go on since Sri Lanka is a friendly country.

    "This betrays the total insensitivity on the part of the Government of India towards the views of my Government as well as the sentiments of the people of Tamil Nadu,” Jayalalitha said in a letter to Prime Minister Manmohan Singh.

    Opposition leader and member of the central government M Karunanidhi also came out strongly against Raju’s statement.

    “After the 2009 ethnic war, Sri Lanka has been treating China and Pakistan as friendly countries than India. China has extended six-fold assistance to Lanka than India […] After all these, how can India term Lanka as a friendly country?

    "At the most, the ties between India and Lanka can be described as one-sided friendship,” Karunanidhi said.

    MDMK general secretary Vaiko also criticised the central government for supporting a regime that committed a “gruesome and genocidal war” on the island.

    “Could they do it to any other State in India?,” he asked and added that Raju’s statement was the sentiment of the government.

    “This is the statement reflecting views of the Centre. This is the statement of the PM and Sonia Gandhi. Otherwise, the Minister would have been pulled up by now,” he said.

  • Interviews for formal executioners
    Sri Lanka’s Prison Department will be interviewing over 150 candidates to find two executioners, reports Colombo Page.

    The death penalty has not been implemented since 1976. With 357 prisoners currently on death row, and 1164 since 2004, many have served over 15 years in prison just waiting for their sentences to be carried out.

    The department is now faced with the challenging task of whittling down 178 eager candidates to fill just two roles – hangman and assistant.

    The shortage of formal executioners on the island has of course never been of detriment to the Sri Lankan state, which has found itself sufficiently equipped to carry out extra-judicial killings and ‘mysterious’ white-van disappearances.

  • Government fears 'copycat' travel advisory warnings

    Having been baffled, incredulous and frustrated by the UK FCO's travel advisory warning, the Sri Lankan government now fears that other countries could follow suit with "copycat" advisory warnings.

    Speaking to the Sri Lankan Sunday Times, the External Affairs Ministry's Secretary, Karunatilleke Amunugama, said,

    “The foreign missions will be told to brief their respective governments accordingly, as it was now safe to travel to any part of the country with all previous restrictions removed,”

    “What is feared most at present, following this travel advisory is that, other nations may come up with copy cat notes, thereby damaging the image of the country and the tourism industry.”

  • EU to give Sri Lanka €60 million grant for 'development'

    The Sri Lankan Economic Development Ministry has announced it is to receive a grant worth €60 million for its District Development Programme.

    According to the Daily Mirror, the announcement was made by the head of the EU delegation, Bernard Savage during a meeting with Economic Development Minister Basil Rajapakse on Monday.

    The money will go to projects selected by the Sri Lankan government and implemented by UN and World Bank agencies.

    The UN Resident and Humanitarian Coordinator, Subinay Nandy was also present at the meeting and said its agencies would cooperate with governmental strategies for development and extend assistance in accordance with requirements, the Daily Mirror further reported.

  • China’s support for Sri Lanka’s militarisation
    China has agreed to provide US$ 100 million (Rs. 13.2 billion) to the Sri Lankan Ministry of Defence, in order to fund army camps in the North and East of the island reported the Sunday Times.

    According to official sources, the funds would be used to provide develop camps all across the North-East including  Mannar, Palaly, Elephant Pass, Pooneryn, Thalladi, Karainagar, and Mullaitivu.

    The Sunday Times reported that the government had deemed such installations “essential for national security”.

    Additionally China will also be providing a grant of US $1.5 million for the Defence Services College in Colombo, which teaches children of the armed forces and police, from grades 6 to 12.

    The funding is said to come from the Export-Import (Exim) Bank of China, although the details have not yet been reported.

    See our earlier post:      Who benefits from Chinese loans to Sri Lanka? (21 November 2010)

    Meanwhile Sri Lanka has reportedly agreed to purchase six MA-60 aircraft from China, at a cost of US$ 105.4 million.

    Reporting of the financial assistance comes as Chinese Defence Minister and former Chief of Staff of the People’s Liberation Army Liang Guanglie plans to tour the island on Wednesday, on a five-day visit.

    Next month a 96-member delegation led by Chinese People’s Congress’ Vice President U. Bango is also scheduled to visit Sri Lanka, as well as tour the North-East.

  • Expanding the Buddhist kingdom
    A newly constructed shrine of the Buddha in the Vanni district has been unveiled by Sri Lanka’s Ministry of Defence.

    The Ministry of Defence graciously reported that the shrine was built “in order to cater to the religious needs and spiritual upliftment of the people”.

    They further added that the “meritorious act of building the temple was undertaken by the 56 Division of the Sri Lanka Army”.
     

    See our earlier post: The Buddha graces yet another Vanni district (25 August 2012)

    See more on the proliferation of Buddhist shrines in the North in our piece Buddhist Stupas for Army to be built in all provinces  (06 February 2012)
  • Vanni seat taken away, Moneragala gains one
    In another move politically marginalising the North-East, the number of MP’s elected from the Vanni district has been reduced by the Sri Lankan government, whilst an increase has been allocated for Moneragala in the South.

    According to the Elections Department in Sri Lanka, the decision was made due to a fall in population numbers in the Vanni district, made up of  Mannar, Vavuniya and Mullaitivu. The number of registered voters in Vanni, according to government figures, is 221,409, down from 236,449 in 2010 and 270,707 in 2009.

    Last year it was announced that  Jaffna would lose 4 seats after its population fell from 816,005  in 2009 to 484,791 in 2010.

    However, the Southern districts of Matara, Kurunegala, Badulla and Ratnapura all gained a seat each.

    See our earlier post: Government figures show huge population drop in Jaffna (27 June 2012)
  • India will continue to train SL soldiers, says minister

    Responding to calls from Tamil Nadu to expel Sri Lankan army personnel from India, the Indian Minister of State for Defence, MM Pallam Raju, said that India would continue to train them.

    In a statement, Pallam Raju said,

    "Sri Lanka is a friendly foreign country and the training will go on. Sometimes there are objections raised by local governments which we have to take into consideration."

  • Tamil political prisoners attacked in Galle again, one in coma

    Reports of a further prison attack last week in Galle against Tamil political detainees have emerged.

    The Jaffna newspaper, Uthayan, reported this morning, that Tamil political prisoners were attacked in Galle prison last week, leaving several injured and one detainee, 34-year-old Sundaram Satheeskumar, in a coma.

    Satheeskumar was arrested by in 2008, from his home in Kodikaamam, and imprisoned in New Magazine prison in Colombo. According to Uthayan, when his wife, Kavitha, and his young daughter, Sahitya, went to visit him on the 24th August, they were informed by prison guards that he had been transferred to Galle prison three days ago. When they then went to Galle, they found Satheeskumar admitted to Karapitiya Hospital in a coma.

    Many more Tamil detainees were also injured in the attack, with several being prevented from receiving adequate treatment, reported Uthayan.

    TamilNet reports that Satheeskumar suffered a head injury, with evidence of torture else where on his body.

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