Tamil political prisoners write to the Pope

Tamil political prisoners detained for under the Prevention of Terrorism Act (PTA) have written to the Pope and the Catholic Bishops in Sri Lanka seeking their intervention for a Presidential pardon or to be released on bail. In the letter addressed to Pope Benedict XVI and Catholic Bishops in Sri Lanka, the Tamil political prisoners said that despite it being one year since the war was over the authorities have failed to address their concerns. The letter claims that several hundred political prisoners remain behind bars at prisons around the island and among the prisoners are women with children, elders and youth. The prisoners say they want to live in freedom and peacefully in this country like any other citizen. The Tamil political prisoners claim that repeated requests to President Mahinda Rajapaksa himself for justice has gone unheard and urged the Pope to intervene on their behalf.

Lanka informed of surrender

Norway has once again claimed that the Sri Lankan government was informed of a surrender by senior LTTE cadres during the final stages of the war and that Oslo was in contact with top Tiger leaders Kumaran Pathmanathan (KP) and S. Pullithevan on the matter. Former Norwegian peace envoy to Sri Lanka Erik Solheim speaking to a group of Sri Lankan journalists who are on a visit to Oslo today said the LTTE leaders were told that the only way they could surrender was to show white flags. http://www.dailymirror.lk/index.php/news/4631-oslo-urges-political-solution.html

Ban appoints expert panel to advise on human rights issues during Sri Lankan conflict

22 June 2010 – Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon today appointed a panel of experts to advise him on accountability issues relating to alleged violations of international human rights and humanitarian law during the final stages of the conflict in Sri Lanka that ended last year. The three-member panel will advise Mr. Ban on implementing the commitment on human rights accountability made in the Joint Statement issued by the Secretary-General and Sri Lankan President Mahinda Rajapaksa after the UN chief visited the island country in May 2009. http://www.un.org/apps/news/story.asp?NewsID=35099&Cr=lanka&Cr1=

Sri Lanka in the Dock

(Mark Seddon on June 20, 2010) Two days ago the streets of the capital of Sri Lanka, Colombo, played host to a thundering parade of military hardware, as the Government of President Mahindra Rajapaksa celebrated the first anniversary of the defeat of Tamil Tiger rebels. The conflict, which has estimated to have killed more than 80,000 people ended last year, when Government forces finally crushed the rebels who had fought for a separate state for ethnic minority Tamils after decades of discrimination by the majority Sinhalese. http://bigthink.com/ideas/20579

Celebrating war victory and banning commemoration of dead civilians: this is “home grown & indigenous” reconciliation and freedom in Sri Lanka?

(June 18, 2010,by Ruki,groundviews)Today, 18th June 2010, has been declared a public holiday by the government. Many Sri Lankans, especially Sinhalese from the South are expected to respond enthusiastically to the government’s elaborate plans to celebrating the war victory over the LTTE. For several days, citizens in Colombo had to put up with closed roads in preparation. How much of our – citizens – tax payer’s money will be spent for this celebration is something I don’t know and dare not think......... So, we Sri Lankans will have to live with a type of homegrown reconciliation in Sri Lanka that doesn’t allow its citizens, and especially families of those killed, to light a candle, lay a flower, say prayer to mourn and grieve. We will have to live with an indigenous “liberation” and “freedom” which doesn’t include rights of religion and peaceful assembly to have religious events to commemorate family members and loved ones killed. http://www.groundviews.org/2010/06/18/celebrating-war-victory-and-banning-commemoration-of-dead-civilians-this-is-%E2%80%9Chome-grown-indigenous%E2%80%9D-reconciliation-and-freedom-in-sri-lanka/

6 Sri Lanka Army soldiers rape young mother in Visuvamadu

A 25-year old mother of two children was raped by six Sri Lanka Army (SLA) soldiers last Sunday night in the resettlement village of Redbarna located at the border of Mullaiththeevu district, Jaffna daily Uthayan reported. The incident occurred when the soldiers entered the house when the mother was alone. The family relocated to the village two weeks earlier as part of the resettlement program. http://www.tamilnet.com/art.html?catid=13&artid=31965

As in Sri Lanka Rajapaksas Threaten War Crimes Witness Fonseka with Death, UN's Ban Ki-moon Has No Comment

UNITED NATIONS, June 7 -- The role in war crimes in Sri Lanka of the UN, its Secretary General Ban Ki-moon and his chief of staff Vijay Nambiar have been questioned by the International Crisis Group and others. Now Gotabaya Rajapaksa, the defense chief brother of Sri Lankan president Mahinda Rajapaksa, has on film threatened to hang military whistleblower Sarath Fonseka if he dares testify to any independent investigation into war crimes in the country. But Ban Ki-moon and his Office, though aware of Gotabaya Rajapaksa's threat, had no comment on it on June 7. http://www.innercitypress.com/sri2bantor060710.html

Opinion: Sri Lanka still demands justice

By Louise Arbour — Special to GlobalPost(June 8, 2010) If international criminal justice is ever to be effective, its enforcement cannot be selective. We recently marked the first anniversary of the end of the Sri Lankan civil war, yet the international community — in stark contrast to its approach on other conflicts — still has done nothing to address accountability for war crimes committed in its final months. http://www.globalpost.com/dispatch/worldview/100607/sri-lanka-war-government-tamil-tigers

Jaffna District Union for persons disappeared after arrest meets after 8 years

[TamilNet, Monday, 07 June 2010] The Jaffna District Union for persons disappeared after being arrested by Sri Lanka Armed Forces which met in Jaffna town Monday after eight years extended an appeal to all political parties to forget their differences and cooperate with dedication to trace the youths and young women disappeared after arrest by the armed forces, sources in Jaffna said. Meanwhile, there were many participants in the meeting who said that Minister Douglas Devnananda had told them that their children are under detention by Army Intelligence Division, during his campaigns in the last parliamentary election meeting. http://www.tamilnet.com/art.html?catid=13&artid=31921

Domestic inquiries into extrajudicial killings insufficient, UN expert stresses(Sri Lanka)

Philip Alston, UN Special Rapporteur on extrajudicial, summary or arbitrary executions 3 June 2010 – An independent United Nations human rights expert today stressed the need for international inquiries into serious allegations of extrajudicial executions in cases where national probes have been insufficient, citing examples relating to the Gaza Strip and Sri Lanka. In many instances, domestic commissions of inquiry had only resulted in “comprehensive impunity,” Philip Alston, Special Rapporteur on extrajudicial, summary or arbitrary executions, said as he presented his annual report to the Geneva-based UN Human Rights Council (HRC). http://www0.un.org/apps/news/story.asp?NewsID=34905&Cr=alston&Cr1

Sri Lanka must invest in rights protection(Japan Times)

As the Sri Lankan government celebrates the first anniversary of its historic triumph over the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE), it is increasingly clear that the battlefield victory will prove Pyrrhic unless the legitimate grievances of Sri Lanka's minority communities are recognized and addressed. By failing to reach out meaningfully to the Tamil-speaking minority, and by cracking down on opposition voices and any kind of dissent in Sri Lanka, the government is throwing away a once-in-a-generation opportunity. But it is not too late for President Mahinda Rajapaksa's government to change course and begin to build a truly multiethnic society. Indeed, the country's future depends on his doing so. http://search.japantimes.co.jp/rss/eo20100604a2.html

Two Tamil Red Cross workers abducted, killed(03 June 2007)

Two Tamil workers of Sri Lanka Red Cross from the east, Sinnarajah Shanmuganathan, 38, and Karthigesu Chandramohan, 28, who had come to Colombo for a training program in Tsunami work were abducted by men claiming to be Sri Lanka Police, Friday, and their bodies were found Sunday in Kiriella, Ratnapura, 95 km southeast of Colombo, sources in Colombo said. Shanmuganathan joined the Red Cross in 1997,and Chandramohan has been working with Red Cross from 1999,The killings have taken place while the investigations on the murders of 17 aid-workers from French NGO, Action Contre la Faim (Action Against Hunger, ACF) on 5 August 2006, allegedly by Sri Lanka's security forces, have stalled in Sri Lanka's judicial process. http://www.icrc.org/web/eng/siteeng0.nsf/htmlall/sri-lanka-news-040607?opendocument

Sri Lanka coverage success for Channel 4 News at Amnesty Media Awards

Channel 4 News picked up both awards it was nominated for at last night’s Amnesty Media Awards. Our Sri Lanka coverage won the TV News Coverage and Somalia journalist Jamal Osman won the Gaby Rado award for new journalists. The Amnesty Media Awards recognise "excellence in human rights reporting and acknowledge journalism's significant contribution to the UK public's awareness and understanding of human rights issues". http://www.channel4.com/news/articles/arts_entertainment/sri+lanka+success+for+channel+4+news+at+amnesty+media+awards/3666637