On Tuesday Russia recognised the independence of the territories of South Ossetia and Abkhazia. It was not a step taken lightly, or without full consideration of the consequences. But all possible outcomes had to be weighed against a sober understanding of the situation – the histories of the Abkhaz and Ossetian peoples, their freely expressed desire for independence, the tragic events of the past weeks and inter­national precedents for such a move.

Not all of the world’s nations have their own statehood. Many exist happily within boundaries shared with other nations. The Russian Federation is an example of largely harmonious coexistence by many dozens of nations and nationalities. But some nations find it impossible to live under the tutelage of another. Relations between nations living “under one roof” need to be handled with the utmost sensitivity.

After the collapse of communism, Russia reconciled itself to the “loss” of 14 former Soviet republics, which became states in their own right, even though some 25m Russians were left stranded in countries no longer their own. Some of those nations were un­able to treat their own minorities with the respect they deserved. Georgia immediately stripped its “autonomous regions” of Abkhazia and South Ossetia of their autonomy.

Can you imagine what it was like for the Abkhaz people to have their university in Sukhumi closed down by the Tbilisi government on the grounds that they allegedly had no proper language or history or culture and so did not need a university? The newly independent Georgia inflicted a vicious war on its minority nations, displacing thousands of people and sowing seeds of discontent that could only grow. These were tinderboxes, right on Russia’s doorstep, which Russian peacekeepers strove to keep from igniting.

But the west, ignoring the delicacy of the situation, unwittingly (or wittingly) fed the hopes of the South Ossetians and Abkhazians for freedom. They clasped to their bosom a Georgian president, Mikheil Saakashvili, whose first move was to crush the autonomy of another region, Adjaria, and made no secret of his intention to squash the Ossetians and Abkhazians.

Meanwhile, ignoring Russia's warnings, western countries rushed to recognise Kosovo’s illegal declaration of independence from Serbia. We argued consistently that it would be impossible, after that, to tell the Abkhazians and Ossetians (and dozens of other groups around the world) that what was good for the Kosovo Albanians was not good for them. In international relations, you cannot have one rule for some and another rule for others.

Seeing the warning signs, we persistently tried to persuade the Georgians to sign an agreement on the non-use of force with the Ossetians and Abkhazians. Mr Saakashvili refused. On the night of August 7-8 we found out why.

Only a madman could have taken such a gamble. Did he believe Russia would stand idly by as he launched an all-out assault on the sleeping city of Tskhinvali, murdering hundreds of peaceful civilians, most of them Russian citizens? Did he believe Russia would stand by as his “peacekeeping” troops fired on Russian comrades with whom they were supposed to be preventing trouble in South Ossetia?

Russia had no option but to crush the attack to save lives. This was not a war of our choice. We have no designs on Georgian territory. Our troops entered Georgia to destroy bases from which the attack was launched and then left. We restored the peace but could not calm the fears and aspirations of the South Ossetian and Abkhazian peoples – not when Mr Saakashvili continued (with the complicity and encouragement of the US and some other Nato members) to talk of rearming his forces and reclaiming “Georgian territory”. The presidents of the two republics appealed to Russia to recognise their independence.

A heavy decision weighed on my shoulders. Taking into account the freely expressed views of the Ossetian and Abkhazian peoples, and based on the principles of the United Nations charter and other documents of international law, I signed a decree on the Russian Federation’s recognition of the independence of South Ossetia and Abkhazia. I sincerely hope that the Georgian people, to whom we feel historic friendship and sympathy, will one day have leaders they deserve, who care about their country and who develop mutually respectful relations with all the peoples in the Caucasus. Russia is ready to support the achievement of such a goal.

The writer is president of the Russian Federation

RT: Did you ever think this day would come?

Kokoity: Yes, our people strived toward this goal. We worked toward this goal strictly according to international law. However, Georgia found no other arguments except organising another aggression, another wave of genocide against the small people of South Ossetia. We proposed to the Georgian side and to the international community our own plan for a peaceful and civilized settlement of the conflict. But unfortunately nobody listened to our initiatives except for Russia, who is a guarantor of peace and stability not only in the Georgian-Abkhazian and Georgian-Ossetian conflicts but a guarantor of peace in the entire Caucasus region.

RT: Apart from the support from Russia, where else do you see support, from which other countries?

Kokoity: We think that all fair forces in the world should recognise South Ossetia. Today is a very emotional day for me and for all the people in South Ossetia and Abkhazia. It's a great holiday. It is a historic day. We all live in one world, and there should be the same approach to all conflicts, and the same principles of international law should apply to everybody. Today we celebrate our victory over double standards. This is the most important thing happening today. The great power that wanted to dominate the world single-handedly should now consider. Before the United States send its military to Georgia, it should consider. This is after it recognised Kosovo's unilateral declaration of independence.

RT: Mr President, will your country recognise Kosovo? And will you have diplomatic relations with Tbilisi, if they permit it?

Kokoity: We haven't recognised Kosovo yet, because we just got recognised ourselves. We would like to have normal, civilised relations with everybody. Now that Russia has recognised South Ossetia, I am sure that other countries will follow suit. Our new status means more responsibility for us. We want to meet all internationally-recognised parameters. We want to demonstrate to everybody that this is not accidental; this is an achievement of our people, something we have been working toward for many, many years. Today, historic justice was done. This is a great day for every Ossetians, regardless of where he is: in the United States, in South Ossetia or in Georgia.

RT: Your country, South Ossetia, also has many ethnic Georgians. And the world will be asking you: how ethnic Georgians in South Ossetia are going to be protected after this terrible tragedy that we've seen?

Kokoity: These are full-fledged citizens of South Ossetia. The Georgian leadership has launched "informational sabotage" against South Ossetia and Russia, trying to paint South Ossetia in a wrong way. All citizens of South Ossetia, regardless of their ethnicity, will live in a free, independent state. Today, we had about twenty Georgian families who say that want to return to South Ossetia. They became victims of Saakashvili's dumb and short-sighted policy. The Georgian people are not at fault. There were actually many ethnic Georgians who are South Ossetian citizens and who took up arms to protect the freedom of our country together with us.

RT: What is your vision of the future of your country? How different it will be from the past?

Kokoity: At the moment, I'm overwhelmed by what happened, and I cannot give you a detailed answer right now.
We have been striving towards this, and we are ready for this. I’d like to say that we’ll continue building out statehood – and we actually had statehood. We’ve proved we’ve earned our independence. But we have to continue our efforts to perfect our statehood, and to adapt it, as a state which has been recognized, and in this way build our future relations with other countries.

RT: What’s on your immediate agenda? Will you be now returning to Tskhinval today?

Kokoity: No doubts, on this happy day I want to be together with my people.

RT: You say “a happy day”, any plans for how the next days will unfold? What sort of ceremonies, what sort of events will we see in South Ossetia?

Kokoity: Of course, today is a great day for South Ossetia. There will be plenty of celebrations. Yesterday, after the decision passed by the Russian State Duma and the Federation Council, people came out in the streets – the same people who just lost their relatives and were not supposed to be very happy – they went out to celebrate, so great their joy was. They were very emotional. The whole of South Ossetia was jubilant.

RT: Mr President, Probably, the greatest happiness for you and the citizens of your country is that tonight they can go to sleep not worrying that they’ll be again attacked by Georgian forces?

Kokoity: Today, the armed forces of South Ossetia, together with the peacekeeping forces, are doing everything to ensure the safety of the republic’s civilian population on the territory of South Ossetia. We don’t need to fear any further attacks. But, at the same time, knowing the true intentions of the Georgian president, and Georgia’s criminal leadership, we have to reinforce security measures to prevent any terrorist attacks by Georgia and other acts of sabotage on the territory of South Ossetia.

In any case, they will try as hard as they can to rain on our parade. They’ve done it before, like when we celebrated the 15th anniversary of our independence. Tskhinval was bombarded amid the festivities. Tens of thousands of people were out in the streets celebrating, and at that time the city came under mortar shelling. In the same manner, the city was attacked when a delegation from Abkhazia arrived on a visit.

This year, we celebrated the year of Moldova and Transdniester. And, during this celebration, and the expression of normal, human feelings, the city was bombarded. This makes us aware of the threat of provocation, and we’re thinking about this. So today, we shall be prepared for that, too.

RT: Today is a great day for your country. When do you think any kind of reconciliation with Georgia can happen? Looking to the future, for everybody’s security in the Caucasus, what needs to happen for more reconciliation and peace in your neighbourhood?

Kokoity: I think the recognition of South Ossetia and Abkhazia will aid in regulating the situation in the Caucasus. And I think, we should also think of building better, neighbourly relations with Georgia, but not with the criminal leadership which the country has now. We express our sincere condolences to the Georgian families which have lost their sons, brothers and husbands. We’re sorry, but we didn’t start this. We did not start a war on Georgia. Today. the people of Georgia have to ask their criminal leader why he chose this path, leading the hordes of well-trained and well-armed Georgian soldiers against peaceful South Ossetian villages. Each of us was defending his homeland, and that’s why we won. We won because we were right.

RT: How will you build your ties with the countries who do not want to recognize your independence?

Kokoity: We understand the current situation, but I think Western countries which refuse to recognize South Ossetia are not acting in accordance with international law. They’re mostly pursuing their own geopolitical interests. We understand this, but there will be a day when we’ll be able to prove that the recognition of South Ossetia was no mistake. Our republic is a state, and it deserves its independence. We proved it long ago. And we will prove it once more, acting under the international law and the recognized legal norms. We will do this in a civilized way. We know this is not an easy process, but in any case, we’re a part of the international community. We are a part of Europe. And we’ll do all we can to follow the existing standards – except for the policy of double standards and the cynical attitude which today, regrettably, prevails in the Western politics.

RT: Will there be the Russian military base beyond peacekeepers in South Ossetia?

Kokoity: I’d like to say it again – Russia is the most important state in the Caucasus region. Today, the peacekeeping actions of Russia, aimed at preventing aggression, have been timely and vital. Taking into account the interests of countries which do not know a lot about Caucasus, don’t understand the Caucasian mentality, but want to pursue their own policy in the regions, we believe that Russia must always keep its strong stand in the Caucasus. Only then will there be peace in the region. As for South Ossetia, we’ll continue developing relations with the Russian Federation, including in the sphere of military cooperation. I’d like to officially stress that we’ll be happy if Russia decides to place military bases in South Ossetia. This is the opinion of the president of South Ossetia.

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Endorsement for war

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

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

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

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

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

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

Elections marred by violence

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

No Vote

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

More elections

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

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

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

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

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

general election at any time.”

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

When Prime Minister Ratnasiri Wickremanayake ascended the stage to address an SLFP rally in the Kuruwita area of Ratnapura last week, he roared that the military was in a position to capture Kilinochchi town by yesterday (Saturday).

"We are very, very close. Kilinochchi is not very far from our site," he insisted, emphasising that "Our boys might even take Kilinochchi by August 23." Unfortunately, in a telling sign as to how much enthusiasm the government is received with in Ratnapura, the rally was practically deserted.

This, of course, the PM attributes to the fact that people were afraid to attend due to terrorist threats, according to the BBC Sandeshaya Service. It appears that as the war draws closer to an end, the level of terrorist threats seems to increase in proportion.

As startling as the Prime Minister's claim was, it was quickly rebuffed by a retired army general with political ambitions. "I am puzzled as to why always these predictions coincide with elections," was the wry comment of Major General Janaka Perera, the UNP's main candidate in yesterday's North Central Provincial Council election.

Not alone

But the Prime Minister wasn't alone in his proclamations; his was simply the most outlandish. The Defence Secretary, Gotabhaya Rajapakse, was not far behind with his pledge that Kilinochchi will be captured by the army within the next few months.

His was a follow up to a statement by the military that the army had already entered the Kilinochchi District from an undisclosed location. Yet the Army Commander himself admitted, the military' strategy is one that might allow the LTTE insurgency to "last forever."

As many analysts have been saying since the military campaign in the Wanni started, it is one that lacks clarity or direction. At various times officials have made statements so self-contradictory that they lead to fears that - despite the ruthless professionalism emanating from the soldiers on the ground - the top brass do not know whether they are coming or going.

It also begs the question whether overall military strategy is being compromised at the altar of political expediency as was evident with Prime Minister Wickramanayake's desperate claim that Kilinochchi will be captured by election day, August 23.

Main aim

The Defence Secretary, for example, told the New York Times in a May interview that the government's main aim was "to destroy the leadership" of the LTTE. This has in the past been the work of the army's deep penetration units and air force bombers, coupling their strikes with accurate intelligence information on target positions.

But by last week the Secretary Defence had changed his mind. He told the UK's Times Online that he had to "go after (the Tigers) and completely eradicate them." His brother, President Mahinda Rajapakse has often insisted that the ongoing war was part of a humanitarian campaign to free civilians, or systematic retaliation to LTTE aggression.

Yet in the heat of the elections with opinion polls not favouring the government, the Commander in Chief too came out with his real thinking on the war while he was addressing a rally in Ruwanwella, Sabaragamuwa. "There is no turning back under any circumstances or influence now, until every inch of land is recaptured and each and every terrorist is killed or captured!" he thundered to the crowd.

Given all its contradictions, the government will find it difficult to maintain its facade of impending victory, unless it finds some form of tangible 'victory' to show to the public. Over 14,000 soldiers have deserted the forces in 2008, Military Spokesman, Brigadier General Udaya Nanayakkara told The Sunday Leader. This figure is around 5.4% of the army's total strength over a period of just over half a year.

Heavy expenditure

Although these soldiers are not from the army's most battle-hardened regiments, they are troops who have seen combat, and whom the military depends on to hold the territory behind its advances. The military spends over Rs. 1 million on the 15 week training periods for each and every one of these soldiers, the Brigadier said.

"That cost includes the cost of their starting salaries, paying their instructors, buying their uniforms, rations, weapons and other equipment, as well as rations and accommodation," he said. Even the lowest ranking soldier serving in an operational area would collect just under Rs 30,000 monthly, according to the military - a figure that even adjusted for inflation, is far higher than that ever paid to soldiers over the last few decades of conflict.

The general thus doubts that deserters have left the army for economic reasons and instead suggests that 'personal reasons' played a bigger role. Brig. Nanayakkara also said that during the late 1990's, the desertion rate was much higher and over 30,000 would desert the army in a year.

"Now the figures are far lower," he said. 5.5% however, is an extremely high rate of desertion for any army - enough to cause alarm. At the peak of the US military's Vietnam debacle, when a draft (effectively conscription) policy was in place and tens of thousands of American soldiers were being slaughtered, the desertion rate peaked at 5%.

Too soft

A senior military officer, who wished to remain anonymous due to a witch hunt against officers who speak with 'traitorous' journalists, felt that the military was taking the desertion issue too softly. "When we are supposed to be in a successful military campaign, 5.5% is a crazy rate. Don't forget, you're saying 5.5% out of the whole strength of the army, but that is including all from engineers to admin officers. If you look at what number of combat troops are deserting, that's a huge and scary number."

It is impossible to independently establish the ground situation faced by soldiers on the Wanni battlefront, since the military does not allow access for journalists to visit the front lines. Yet the threat of insurgency faced by the military, especially in the light of outright retreats by the LTTE, has been significantly downplayed.

Even in the cleared Eastern Province, which is now effectively the domain of Karuna and Pillayan, the military and the STF find signs of LTTE infiltration nearly every day. Barely a day has passed since Pillayan was appointed Chief Minister in May, without the military and STF either encountering an LTTE splinter cell, or discovering a stash of weapons - ranging from automatic weapons, to claymore mines, rocket propelled grenade launchers to light artillery mortars.

If this is the situation in the Eastern Province, whose former LTTE czars are on the government's side, it is easy to imagine the abundance of military hardware stashed in safe-houses and jungle hide-aways, behind the army's advances.

'Clever tricks'

Karuna himself warned last week that Pirapaharan may have some clever tricks up his sleeve. He told a news briefing in Welikanda - while out campaigning - that the LTTE would use northern civilians as blatant human shields, and use chemical weapons to try to halt the army's advances. He also took the 'credit' for the LTTE's military operations to rout the Jayasikuru campaign, and the operations to capture Elephant Pass and Kilinochchi from the army. Without him, says the Colonel, the Tigers are past their heyday.

The Sunday Leader earlier cited a research paper published by the British Medical Journal, which warned that due to errors inherent in normal casualty reporting methods, the death toll from Sri Lanka's war may be higher than 300,000 - opposed to the earlier estimate of 60 to 70 thousand.

With the government's own figures, nearly 16,000 people - of whom just fewer than 2,000 were civilians - have been killed in the past two years of conflict. This year alone over 600 security forces personnel have laid down their lives, in 'return' for the military claiming to have killed some 6,300 LTTE cadres in the same period.

The month of July has been the bloodiest yet, with the government claiming to have iced 1,017 tigers for the loss of 106 soldiers' lives. These figures were revealed by the Prime Minister to parliament, before the entire government took off on election campaigning work.

The most worrying part of the Prime Minister's statement was that he said 622 - six times the number killed - soldiers were 'injured' in battle. This is not a military that counts a scratch on the arm or a broken toe as an injury. A lot of these soldiers, aged 18 and up, have been hurt so badly that their lives have been effectively shattered.

The stats

Also, if the government claims that nearly 12,000 Tigers have been killed between 2006 to date, surely at least a similar number must also have been maimed?

The Prime Minister's numbers for those killed last month however did not tally with our own records of news releases from the Defence Ministry.

The Ministry doles out the odd news story of a soldier who "laid his life for the motherland" or "made the supreme sacrifice" every so often, scattered amongst the banner headlines of all the hundreds of tigers it is killing every week. The total number of soldiers admitted killed by the military itself in the month of July was just 55, almost half the 106 that Ratnasiri Wickremanayake claims were killed.

Similarly, the military's reports only allow that 299 soldiers were injured in the month of July, despite the Prime Minister's figure being double this. Although these figures cannot be verified, time and time again they are found to be untrue and reek of fabrication. The intention is obvious and there in lies the rub.

Rather than fight the war on a strategic basis to corner the Tigers what the government is doing all too obviously is dish out false propaganda simply to achieve political ends as opposed to real military successes. Thus while claiming on a daily basis that only one or two soldiers are killed as opposed to dozens of Tigers in their propaganda handouts, the government is conditioning the minds of the people on a daily basis the war is nearing end at very little human cost to the military.

Monthly statement

Then comes the monthly statement of the Prime Minister at the emergency debate giving lie to the government's own daily propaganda by stating over 100 soldiers were killed for the month with over 600 injured if July is taken as an example. That figure of course does not spell out the number of missing in action or deserters. What does this mean in real terms ? In July alone for example there were over 725 soldiers either killed or injured in battle. Simply put that is an average of 23 soldiers are killed or injured every day.

Now the purpose of highlighting this fact is not to demoralise the soldiers because they know the ground realities being in the frontlines but to impress upon the government not to fight the war through the news media to achieve narrow political ends since the truth will out and it will not do the government's credibility any good via the very people they are trying to convince.

Thus, over the seven months that we have been recording the Defence Ministry reports, it has been easy to spot certain amusing trends. The number of soldiers announced killed in any report is almost certainly couched towards the end of a story, and it is generally zero, one or two. The number of LTTE cadres killed however, often follows a different pattern. Often the number of Tigers reported killed would match the day of the month or the article's ID number on the Defence Ministry web site.

Propaganda war

Thus the Ministry is winning its war, but a propaganda war. Around Colombo the Presidential Secretariat has gotten in on the act by replacing the contents of nearly every single Colombo Municipal Council hoarding to advertise President Rajapakse and his Nelum Mal logo.

The government has set yet another target for capturing Kilinochchi, Pirapaharan's headquarters. It is well known that as the military advances, the Tigers will have nowhere to run, as the army is in place north of Elephant Pass along the Muhamalai - Nagarkovil defence line.

Thus, as the President promised, once "every inch" of land has been captured, the government would be hard pressed to explain themselves should the senior LTTE leadership manage to escape and disappear, as did Bin Laden in Afghanistan, or 900 Tigers who simply 'vanished' from a 'surrounded' Thoppigala last year.

[Edited]

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Bishop of Jaffna, Dr. Thomas Savundaranayagam, urged the Sri Lankan government authorities to ensure the safety of the civilians and also appealed to all Catholics in the Jaffna peninsula to contribute to a relief fund to assist the internally displaced in Vanni.

Speaking to Catholic charity Aid to the Church in Need, Bishop Savundaranayagam described how nearly 200,000 civilians fled their homes because of the fighting between Sri Lankan army and the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE) in recent weeks.

The refugees, who have been driven to Kilinochchi district by the fighting, face a bleak situation, living rough and taking shelter under the trees.

“They have no place to stay and little to eat’’ said the Bishop.

“There is no shelter, no water, no toilets, no food, and no medical assistance,”

Tents and other essential items were not being allowed in to the area, even though they were desperately needed to provide shelter for the homeless.

The bishop also accused the Sri Lankan army of blocking the supply of food and medicine into Vanni through the Omanthai check point. He also hit out at the fact that medical aid was not being allowed through the check point to reach the homeless.

“The government is not permitting necessary medicine,” he said.

Although the Sri Lankan military has always adopted indiscriminate bombing and shelling as a tactic, in recent weeks it has stepped targeting civilian population centres including hospitals and schools.

“In this war the civilians are the ones who get hurt. May God preserve them in this on-going war.” the bishop added.

Meanwhilse, the critical situation in Vanni was discussed last Monday in a meeting organized by Jaffna Bishop Rt. Rev. Thomas Saundranayagam where the attendees decided to hold special mass on Sunday in all Catholic churches in the peninsula to pray for the IDPs and organize a relief fund.

Rev. Vasanthaseelan, the director of Caritias of the Social Economic Development Centre (SEDEC) for Vanni, in an interview to Catholic Guardian, said that in 15 days in July 50,000 people belonging to 9,175 families have been displaced from places including Muzhangkaavil, Mallaavi and Naachchikudaa .

The IDPs have sought refuge in the areas of Akkaraayan, Skanthapuram, Vannearikkulam and Koaddaikaddiyakulam in Kilinochchi district, he said.

The IDPs are in desperate need of temporary shelters, essential food, and medicine, and the funds raised will help to ease their suffering, he added.

India warned its neighbour, Sri Lanka, that even if it wins the battle it might not win the war because the Tamils are not on their side.

The warning came from India’s National Security Advisor M.K. Narayanan. Speaking to The Straits Times newspaper, Narayan said: “I know the Sri Lankan government will be unhappy (at this advice) but we are not interested in preaching to them and that is the best advice they could get. India can give this advice better than the Norwegians or any other country. These are people that we know, we understand. Do they want a situation like many countries have faced?”

 “What the Sri Lankans are not factoring in is the great deal of sullenness in the Tamil man. There are accusations of profiling even in Colombo.

“Our argument is: unless you give Tamils a feeling they have the right to their own destiny in many matters you will not succeed.”

"I think they haven't got the Tamil population on their side." he added.

Stating that Iraq was a good example, Narayanan said: “What we are telling them is, get the Tamils on your side by greater devolution of power. For them to be part of Sri Lankan state, they need the huge Tamil minority on their side.

Commenting on the progress of the war, Narayan said the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE) ‘have been weakened’ and have ‘met with heavier casualties than previously.’

'The (Sri Lanka Army) has made a lot of progress in the last few weeks. But even if they win the battle I am not sure they will win the war.” Narayan said.

“All signs are that they are having problems. They are also hurting because of the ban in many Western countries, so they have problems in fund collection, movement of arms.

Although Narayan felt that Sri Lanka might be unhappy with his advice, Sri Lanka reacted coolly, interpreting his comments as endorsement of the government’s war effort.

“There is nothing bad against Sri Lanka in what Narayanan has said.. It is significant that he has said   the military is winning. And, he has never said that we should talk to the LTTE. These are very positive things”

Rajapakse further added, “As for Narayanan, I understand him very well. I know his vision.”

However, analysts questioned how well Rajapakse knew Narayan’s vision, considering he had missed out the main point which he clearly summarized by saying: “Our argument is: unless you give Tamils a feeling they have the right to their own destiny in many matters you will not succeed.”

Even on the matter of negotiating with the LTTE, some analysts observe that Rajapakse may have got the wrong end of the stick.

Narayan is said to be of the view that if the Sri Lankan government is to go for peace negotiations with the LTTE , it must first be on a sound footing. Negotiations, if any, must commence after the LTTE is weakened . Today, in Narayan’s own analysis the LTTE is weak.

According to Sri Lankan media Narayanan's comment could be the forerunner of an Indian intervention.

Reinforcing media speculation of an Indian intervention, an online media reported, India, through its high Commissioner to Sri Lanka, Alok Prasad, has requested Sri Lanka to initiate negotiations as per an agreement reached between Indian premier Dr. Manmohan Singh and President Rajapakse during the SAARC summit.

However, some analysts are of the opinion that Narayan’s comments are aimed at soothing TamilNadu leaders. At a time, when anti-Sri Lankan sentiments are running high due regular killings of TamilNadu fishermen by Sri Lankan navy, a poll conducted by an influential magazine earlier this month showed that there is strong support for the LTTE and the Eelam cause in the south Indian state.

The Congress led central government is concerned with the developments. It is keen to show TamilNadu that it shares the concerns of the people of the state on the wellbeing of Tamils in Sri Lanka. Narayan’s comments are seen in this context by these analysts.

As if to validate this argument, Narayanan on Monday August 25 met the Chief Minister of TamilNadu Muthuvel Karunannidhi and assured that there will be no firing by the Sri Lankan Navy on Indian fishermen.

Speaking to journalists, after the meeting Narayan said: “In the event of arrest of the fishermen, they would be released in the ‘shortest possible time.’ They would be given ‘humanitarian treatment as far as possible,’ and there would be no ‘maltreatment” of the Indian fishermen’.”

A personal visit by Narayan to TamilNadu to provide an assurance on behalf of Sri Lanka is seen as an indication of the close ties between the governments of India and Sri Lanka.

Unfotunately for Narayan, at least eight Indian fishermen with five boats were reported missing Sunday (August 24) after alleged attacks by the Sri Lankan Navy.

K. Vishwanathan, a 48-year-old fisherman, said a flotilla of over 450 Indian fishing vessels was attacked by the island’s defence personnel who confiscated their catch, disrobed the fishermen and assaulted them.

Until about a month ago, most people paid no attention to the two liberation struggles of South Ossetia and Abkhazia. Both are de-facto states that, having declared their wish to be independent of Georgia in 1992, have been running their own affairs, with the support of Russia, ever since.

Both regions have their own state structures and governments – self-rule in Abkhazia has been conducted via their own parliament. But despite these two peoples’ demonstrable desire to rule themselves, the West would not accept their claims and instead insists their homelands belong to Georgia.

A month ago, in a major miscalculation, Georgia launched a massive and ruthless military operation with the intention of occupying South Ossetia and dismantling the de-facto state there. The attack was legitimised as “defending Georgia’s territorial integrity”.

Unexpectedly, Russia has intervened militarily, driven back the Georgian forces and now, in response to a clear appeal by the governments of South Ossetia and Abkhazia, has recognized these states. The Russian decision was unanimously backed by the Parliaments in Moscow.

These developments, coming just months after the people of Kosovo won their liberation struggle – over the strong objections of Russia, but with the enthusiastic support of Western states – demonstrate how international ‘principles’ are manipulated by the world’s most powerful states to suit whatever their interests are at the time.

Of crucial importance for the Tamils, these ‘principles’ include ‘genocide’, ‘territorial integrity’, ‘democracy’ and even ‘self-determination’.

The Tamil people will instantly recognise the sentiments expressed by South Ossetia’s Foreign Minister when Russia’s recognition of their statehood was announced: “In less than 100 years, the Georgian military has three times carried out genocide against the Ossetian people. ... Why are they killing us? Because we simply want to live as equals with all the other nations.”

The language used by various leading states in discussing South Ossetia and Abkhazia – and before that, Kosovo - will also ring a bell with the Tamil people: Russia says it intervened in South Ossetia against Georgia to prevent ‘genocide’. The West intervened in Kosovo against Serbia to prevent ‘ethnic cleansing’.

Democratic Will?

Recognising Kosovo’s independence, the West said, correctly, that “over 90%” of the people there want independence. The Russians have, also correctly, pointed out that the peoples of South Ossetia and Abkhazia want independence.

But notice how Russia was unconcerned about the Kosovars’ views, when they opposed that their independence from Serbia.

And notice how yearning of the peoples of South Ossetia and Abkhazia for independence and freedom aren’t even mentioned by the West in the present crisis.

Instead, the West’s only concern is about the territorial integrity of“little” Georgia – and about the welfare of Georgians in South Ossetia and Abkhazia!

Britain’s Guardian newspaper, for example, has praised Georgia as “an independent state - unstable, immature, chaotic, corrupt, but hopeful.” There is, again, simply no consideration of the views of the peoples of South Ossetia and Abkhazia trying to free themselves from Georgia’s chauvinist rule.

The Western states have condemned Russia’s recognition of South Ossetia and Abkhazia – and rejected, without the slightest consideration, the desires of the peoples there.

These desires, it is worth noting, were democratically endorsed.

To begin with, South Ossetians and Abkhazians assert their right to self-determination having voted at referendums at elections to their own parliament.

In 1991, then Russian leader Gorbachev called for an “All Union” referendum on the continuation of the Soviet Union. Although Georgia boycotted the referendum, in Abkhazia, 52.3% of the population (virtually all the non-Georgians) took part in the referendum and voted by 98.6% to stay with Russia.

Within weeks of the referendum, Georgia declared independence from the Soviet Union. A power sharing agreement was reached between the Georgians and Abkhazians but this failed in 1992.

In 1992 the Abkhaz contingent in the Supreme Council of Georgia (i.e. the elected representative of their people) declared independence for Abkhazia from Georgia. This resulted in war and the mass migration of ethnic Georgians from Abkhazia (about half left, making Georgians about 21% of Abkhazia’s residents).

Similarly, in South Ossetia, the European Union refused to recognise referendums for secession in 1992 and 2006 - even though the South Ossetians voted by 98% for independence in 2006.

Even before the 2006 vote, the EU had warned that it would consider the referendum meaningless; European Union Special Representative to the South Caucasus, Peter Semneby, declared “the results of the South Ossetian independence referendum will have no meaning for the European Union.”

In short, the EU had no interest what the South Ossetians themselves wanted.

Abkhazia is a full fledged democracy. Parliamentary elections were held in 2004 - where the Russian-backed candidate lost and a coalition government with 90% of all votes was formed.

Notably, both political parties in  Abkhazia supported secession from Georgia.

And interestingly, Abkhazia is a multi-ethnic country - Abkhaz, Armenians and ethnic Russians in the region all voted for self-rule, and against Georgian rule.

All this puts into context how ‘democracy’ is certainly not a principle the Western states or Russia are actually committed to. Or rather, the results of elections only matter if these suit their interests.

If the views of people matter, then the case for the independence of South Ossetia and Abkhazia, just like those of Kosovo is utterly incontestable.

‘Special Case’?

When Kosovo declared independence from Serbia –on the principle of self-determination - the various countries of the EU (except Spain, battling Basque demands for self-rule) decreed that Kosovo deserved to be exempt from ‘international law’, on the basis of Serbia’s racist oppression and Serb leaders' rejection of a negotiated final status for the territory.

But Kosovan independence in 2008 is notably the culmination of a decade of unilateral military intervention by NATO in Serbia since 1999.

In 1995, when the Dayton peace accords were being negotiated, the US and EU rejected Kosovo’s pleas for independence because of ethnic persecution by the Serbs.

Four years later, the West invaded, supposedly to defend the Kosovars. The basis? Genocide! The Serbs had launched a major offensive into Kosovo, driving over 250,000 people from their homes.

President Clinton's Secretary of Defense, William Cohen, later declared: "The appalling accounts of mass killing in Kosovo and the pictures of refugees fleeing Serb oppression for their lives makes it clear that this is a fight for justice over genocide."

President Clinton also argued “NATO stopped deliberate, systematic efforts at ethnic cleansing and genocide”. He later compared the Serbian aggression against Kosovo to the Jewish Holocost.

However, this month the US supported a massive Georgian invasion of South Ossetia, which drove almost the entire population from their homes.

Russia’s intervention in South Ossetia and Abkhazia has, however, been condemned by the West as against international law.

It follows that NATO intervened in Kosovo to gain advantage in the geopolitical competition with Russia. Kosovo is effectively a NATO ally.

Russia refused to recognise Kosovo’s independence in February 2008 – citing the “territorial integrity” of Serbia and warned, then, that the West’s recognition would have implications for the Georgian breakaway provinces of Abkhazia and South Ossetia.

And so it has. Pro-Russian South Ossetia and Abkhazia, similarly, are clearly part of Moscow’s remerging sphere of influence in the region

Thus, although at the time, the European Union was keen to label the secession of Kosovo as an “exception”, it is now difficult to see how this is so.

Russia has always been seen as staunch defender of ‘territorial integrity’ – particularly given the problem of Chechnya. Russia has not traditionally been much interested in promoting democracy or preventing of genocide.

But following the Kosovo secession backed by NATO, Russia has quickly moved to support the self-determination of the Akhbazians and South Ossetians, where it is Russian, not NATO troops, who will “underwrite” the peace.

Historically, the US has backed dictatorships and genocide in other parts of the world. For example, the US strongly supported Indonesia’s invasion and annexation of East Timor in which up to a third of the East Timorese people were wiped out.

Then in the late nineties, when the US saw itself as the sole supervisor, they condemned Indonesia’s occupation and secured East Timor’s independence.

Territorial Integrity?

But the principle of ‘territorial integrity’ arises from a specific need – formalised after World War II - to discourage nations invading each other.

But there is a huge difference when the ‘threat’ to territorial integrity arises from within, from a people wishing to secede from the rule of another. Here ‘territorial integrity’ conflicts directly with the UN convention on civil and political rights, on the UN’s declared right of a people to self-determination, and so on.

The international developments of 2008 have a direct bearing on the Tamil people’s struggle for their self-determination and secession from Sri Lanka.

The Tamil people have a strong case for Eelam. They meet all the requirements to exercise self-determination - they have a distinct ethnic identity, a contiguous, historic geographic territory, a history– i.e. they constitute a ‘nation’. They also have capability of self-governance and the will to self-determination.

Leaving aside international laws of self-determination, even when compared with the ‘special case’ rationales presented by the West in Kosovo and Russia in South Ossetia (and Abkhazia), the Tamils have an ample argument: oppression and popular will.

It is worth briefly revisiting some of the Tamil arguments for self-rule.

For sixty years the Tamils have suffered relentless marginalisation by the Sinhala dominated state. We have suffered bouts of communal violence and pogroms.

In July 1983 three thousand of our community were butchered – while the world stood by and even supported the Sri Lankan state with money (World Bank etc) and arms (US, Britain, etc). It is worth remembering the Tamil guerrillas were denounced as ‘Communists’ – after the Cold War ended, they became ‘terrorists’.

The figures for Kosovars killed by Serbian forces were less than 5,000 (as reported to Human Rights groups), though the actual figures of Kosovan deaths “directly or indirectly” attributed to war are estimated at 12 000.

When comparing the figures of Tamil and Kosovan casualties, it is instructive to note  Kosovo has a population of circa 1.9 million (87% of whom are ethnic Albanians), compared to the Tamil population of 3.2 million in Sri Lanka.

The NorthEast Secretariat for Human Rights (NESOHR) has thus far recorded the killings of 37,000 Tamil civilians (in the North East alone) from 1974 to 2004, and estimates, including deaths of internally displaced Tamils outside the North East, the total at 75 000.

Since 2005, international human rights groups have recorded several thousand more deaths at the hands of the Sinhala-dominated security forces.

(These figures do not, of course, include the 22,000 Tamil Tigers killed in the armed struggle for self-rule)

In 2007 alone, the West-backed Sinhala army drove more Tamils from their homes in just the Eastern Province of Sri Lanka than the number of Kosovar displaced cited as justification for NATO intervention against Serbia in 1999. The total number of Tamils displaced within Sri Lanka or fled abroad is 800,000.

Convenient rules

Given that some genocides are ignored or supported and others invoke intervention, it is clear that the international community's decision to accept genocide is taking place is a politically motivated one; ‘genocide’ then becomes a label of international politics, conveniently applied to justify violations of ‘international law’ by powerful states.

So is ‘territorial integrity’; various countries, including especially, the US and the West, Russia and India, have repeatedly asserted the inviolability of Sri Lanka’s ‘territorial integrity’.

It is worth remembering India helped Bangladesh become independent by attacking Pakistan and hiving off that country. India also intervened in Sri Lanka in the eighties, violating Sri Lanka’s sovereignty with airdrops over Jaffna.

The point here is that sooner or later, just as Sri Lanka’s sovereignty and territorial integrity are presently useful to powerful states, sooner or later, intervention of one sort or another against Sri Lanka will at some point become useful.

It is then that it will conveniently be remembered the Tamils are enduring slow genocide – just as the suffering of the East Timorese, the Kosovars, the South Ossetians and Abkharz all became useful at some point.

The ideal route to independence would, of course, be by mutual agreement with the Sinhalese – just like the Eritreans and Ethiopians decided a decade ago. However, the Sinhalese are not going to even treat us as an equal people.

We must survive the slow genocide the West-backed Sinhala state is carrying out, expatriates must continue doing what we can to ensure the suffering of our people in the Northeast is minimised.

We need to repeatedly assert our demand for Eelam – irrespective of the confident assertions of international actors that most of us don’t want independence and actually want to live within the chauvinist Sinhala state.

We can take much heart from the successes of the Kosovars, South Ossetians and Abkhazians in securing their independence from oppressive and racist states.

In short, the lesson for the Tamils is to redouble their efforts and ensure the Tamil nation survives genocide, while building and reiterating their case for independence.