Tamils for Obama to Supreme Court: Can the U.S. Arrest Rajapaksa?

(PRWEB) August 31, 2010

Can the U.S. arrest Sri Lankan President Mahinda Rajapaksa as he travels through this country to visit the United Nations this fall?

Tamils for Obama asked that question in a letter to Supreme Court Chief Justice John Roberts.

"The United States has arrested and deported accused war criminals in the past," explained a spokesman for the Tamil American group. "Our country arrested accused Nazis decades after the crimes they were supposed to have committed took place, so this is not unprecedented.

"We guess that this is different because the accusations come from international civilian organizations--the International Crisis Group, Amnesty International, Human Rights Watch, and so forth--rather than courts of law. They say that there is plenty of evidence that Sri Lankan government forces, which were ultimately commanded by President Rajapaksa, committed what would probably be considered war crimes.

http://www.prweb.com/releases/2010/08/prweb4439864.htm

Tamil misery continues

(Exclusive to BBC Sinhala service)Broken, torn buildings tower over the tiny UNHCR tents on the gardens and court yards. Hanging clothes, pots and pans and carry bags scattered around the land show signs of civilian life.

Thirty years of war has taken a lot from the lives of the Mannar farmers and they still await a sense of security.

“Be careful and watch your mouth. The government security forces are vigilant and they do not like us talking to outsiders," my hosts warned.

The alert and watchful eyes of weary soldiers scanned every vehicle passing through the checkpoints.

They are tired but seem to be friendly. Especially after the moment they identify someone as a Sinhalese visitor from the south.

They are eager to share their war stories, explain the fighting and hardship they have undergone in the area. They see themselves still as victors.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/sinhala/news/story/2010/08/100829_vanni_visit.shtml

Keep dignity of Tamil refugees in mind during immigration debate - Statement by Archbishop J. Michael Miller

(August 25, 2010)

The arrival of 492 Tamil refugees from Sri Lanka has generated much discussion about Canada’s immigration policy and the appropriate means of dealing with the men, women and children who recently came by ship.

Some of the reaction has focused on the desperate individuals who have arrived on our shores, smuggled here to flee persecution in their homeland. There has been outcry, much of it hostile, about queue jumping, abuse of the system, and the need to keep Canada from being overrun with would-be refugees.

http://www.rcav.org/News_Events/Default.aspx?id=4684

At UN, Sri Lanka Move to Place Alleged War Criminal As Ambassador Questioned

(UNITED NATIONS, August 25 By Matthew Russell Lee) Sri Lanka's Deputy Permanent Representative to the UN post, vacant following Bandula Jayasekera's department triggered by a sexual harassment scandal, is now reportedly slated to be filled by Major General Shavendra Silva, who “was allegedly among those mentioned by MP Sarath Fonseka in a media interview where he had said that the former 58 Division Commander had received orders to shoot at sight LTTE suspects who came with white flags to surrender to the army during the final stage of war.” At the UN on Wednesday, Inner City Press asked Martin Nesirky, the spokesman for Secretary General Ban Ki-moon, about this reported appointment and that of General Wasantha Karannagoda to replace Palitha Kohona as Permanent Representative. Video here, from Minute 53:36. While Nesirky said he wouldn't comment on hypotheticals, when Inner City Press asked if Ban would have some discretion to not accept credentials when presented, Nesirky said he would look into it. Shavendra Silva is clearly a witness to the war crime events about which Ban has appointed a (stalled) three member panel to advise him. Would appointing him an ambassador give him de facto or de jure diplomatic immunity?

Rev.Fr. Thiruchelvam Nihal Jim Brown, Age 34, Parish Priest Allaippiddy, Jaffna ,missing since 20 August 2006,

The parents of Rev. Fr. Jim Brown who had disappeared without trace in August 2006 after being taken away by Sri Lanka Navy (SLN) and Eelam People’s Democratic Party (EPDP) paramilitary men in Allaippiddi in the islets of Jaffna, recently opened the ‘Jim Brown Memorial School’ built in the premises of St. Peter’s Church in Ma’ndaitheevu, sources in Jaffna said. The school was built by the HUDEC – Caritas Jaffna in remembrance of Rev. Fr. Jim Brown, the parish priest of Ma’ndaitheevu St. Peters Church, who had strived to save the remaining residents of Allaippiddi massacred by Sri Lanka Armed forces in August 2006. http://www.tamilnet.com/art.html?catid=13&artid=31970

Aftermath of the Sri Lankan war

(Globe and Mail)Images from the resettlement of war-displaced Tamil refugees in the north of Sri Lanka http://www.theglobeandmail.com/multimedia/aftermath-of-the-sri-lankan-war/article1680128/?cmpid=rss1&utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+TheGlobeAndMail-International+%28The+Globe+and+Mail+-+World+News%29

Latin Americans in Canada support Tamil Refugees

(Tuesday, 17 August 2010| Author: Hassan Reyes)We, the undersigned, in the Latin American community in Canada declare our support for our Tamil sisters and brothers ,and the estimated 400-500 Tamil asylum seekers aboard the MV Sun Sea, which include more than 100 women and children. Canadian media and public officials are perpetuating politically motivated stereotyping by classifying these refugees as terrorists. These unfounded statements are based on already discredited sources close to the genocidal Sri Lankan government. We believe this to be a racist and xenophobic discourse that signals the predisposition and historical tendency of our government to deny the human and legal rights of these people. http://www.barrio-nuevo.org/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=40:latin-americans-in-canada-support-tamil-refugees&catid=1:canada

(16 August 2006)61 schoolgirls killed, 129 wounded in airstrike

At least 61 schoolgirls were killed and 129 were wounded when Sri Lankan Kfir jets bombed a children's home compound in Mullaithivu district(16 August 2006) Monday morning where schoolgirls were attending a residential course on first aid, LTTE officials at the Peace Secretariat in Kilinochchi said. Ambulances were rushing the wounded, many of whom are bleeding badly, to hospitals, sources said. Officials of the LTTE, briefing reporters in Kilinochchi, described the attack as “a horrible act of terror” by the Sri Lankan armed forces. UN’s child agency, UNICEF, and international truce monitors have visited the scene of the carnage. http://www.tamilnet.com/art.html?catid=13&artid=19224

Sri Lanka: US Report Shows No Progress on Accountability

(HRW) - A US State Department report released on August 11, 2010, shows that Sri Lanka has not yet conducted an effective investigation into laws-of-war violations by government forces and the separatist Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE) in the final months of the war that ended in May 2009, Human Rights Watch said today. The report states that one post-war government inquiry was "ineffective" and that a second inquiry, just under way, raises concerns about its mandate and composition. "The US State Department report shows that nearly 15 months after the war, the Sri Lankan government has accomplished nothing for the victims of war crimes," said James Ross, legal and policy director at Human Rights Watch. "Real progress on justice demands an international investigation." http://www.hrw.org/en/news/2010/08/11/sri-lanka-us-report-shows-no-progress-accountability

Grisly Photos Reveal Genocide by Sri Lankan Government Against Tamil People

(Muthamizh Vendhan for Salem-News.com) - People from across the globe are condemning the Human Rights violations of the Sri Lankan government, and civilized society is fighting hard to establish a level of justice for the Tamils. At hand, the killing of too many innocents; war crimes, the ongoing slaughter of journalists, moderates, reformists, artists and others. Having the opposition leader behind bars makes Sri Lanka a criminal and a failed state. An effort to raise awareness is underway, targeting the President of the United States, the U.S. Senate and the U.S. House of Representatives. It is important that this horrible treatment of people is brought to the world's attention. http://salem-news.com/articles/august072010/srilanka-violence-mv.php

Ramasamy to spearhead committee on genocide in Sri Lanka

GEORGE TOWN (Aug 8, 2010 sun2surf) :DAP Deputy Secretary-General and Penang Deputy Chief Minister (II) Prof Dr P. Ramasamy is spearheading the formation of an international committee to take up the issue of the genocide of Tamils in Sri Lanka last year. Ramasamy said that those involved, including leaders in the Sri Lankan and Indian governments who were responsible for the genocide, should be brought to book. In January this year, Ramasamy rejected an invitation by the Indian government to speak at the Pravasi Bharatiya Divas Convention in New Delhi, the largest gathering of overseas Indians, citing India's "questionable role" in the elimination and imprisonment of hundreds of thousands of Tamils in Sri Lanka. http://www.sun2surf.com/article.cfm?id=50433

15000 N.E kids study under trees

* ARMY CAMPS MUSHROOM * NO APPOINTMENTS FOR TEACHERS By Rathindra Kuruwita Fifteen thousand school children in the North and East are compelled to study under trees since schools have been converted into IDP and transit camps and detention centres, while the government spends millions on military bases, education department sources said. The situation is grave in Vavuniya, Omanthai, Maithadi and Kilinochchi where the majority of schools function in temporary shelters with minimal facilities. “Omanthai Maha Vidyalayam is used as a transit camp for people who are returning to their villages from IDP camps. Although a year has passed after the civil war ended, no steps have been taken by the government to either build new shelters for IDPs, or to rebuild schools in another location,” said an education ministry official. Meanwhile, General Secretary of Sri Lanka Teacher Services Union (SLTSU) Mahinda Jayasinghe told LAKBIMAnEWS that there is also a massive dearth of teachers in the North and the East, which is having a negative impact on education. This shortage mainly affects subjects such as English where the education authorities are dependant on pensioners who have been re-enlisted on contract basis. “Not only are thousands of students continuing their education without buildings, water or sanitary facilities, these schools also need hundreds of teachers,” Jayasinghe said. “A lot of teachers who worked in these schools have either left for Colombo or have left the island. Even 14 months after the end of the war the government has not appointed Tamil medium teachers to these areas.” Jayasinghe added that there are over 500 Tamil medium teachers in the 2010 batch at teacher training centres in the island, but none of them have been given appointments because of the lack of funds. “Each year around 3000 trained teachers are given appointments around this time of the year, but this time that is not the case. Appointment letters are not given since no funds have been allocated in the 2010 budget. This means that thousands of Tamil youth will sit for O/L and A/L exams partially ready.” Meanwhile in a recent visit to Wishwamadu Army Commander Major General Jagath Jayasuriya claimed that with the establishment of new army camps, buildings which have been occupied for security purposes will be returned to schools. http://www.lakbimanews.lk/archvi/lakbimanews_10_08_08/news/laknew1.htm

Sri Lanka Army massacres 15 NGO workers (August 4, 2006)

Sri Lanka Army soldiers who entered the Muthur town in the early morning of Saturday shot and killed 15 Tamil workers from Action Faim NGO. The workers, trapped inside their Muthur branch office residence located close to Muthur Cultural Centre, were shot and killed at point blank range, initial reports from Muthur town said. Four of the fifteen massacred at the residence were women workers, according to the initial reports. http://www.actioncontrelafaim.org/publications/ouvrages/ouvrage/article//tribune-reponse-de-bernard-kouchner-ministre-des-affaires-etrangeres-et-europeennes-1/ http://www.humanitarianinfo.org/srilanka/catalogue/Files/Media%20Centre/Press%20Centre/PR56_ACF-communique_English.pdf

Sri Lanka’s disturbing actions met by ‘deafening global silence’

[ The Elders ]The Sri Lankan government’s clampdown on domestic critics and its disdain for human rights deserves a far tougher response according to The Elders. While welcoming the end of the decades-long civil war, the Elders say that meaningful progress on reconciliation in Sri Lanka is still desperately needed. They describe the international response to Sri Lanka’s worrying approach to human rights, good governance and accountability as a ‘deafening global silence’ that may encourage other states to act in a similar way. The Elders have been following events in Sri Lanka closely since the last months of the civil war between government forces and the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE) in 2009.

Tamil party says Sri Lankan war refugees remain homeless

Sri Lanka's main Tamil political party says 15 months after the end of civil war thousands of displaced men, women and children are still living in the open. The Tamil National Alliance says the government's promise to allow civilians to return to their homes has not been kept. The TNA says over 3 thousand families allowed out of the state-run camps are homeless because the military is either occupying their homes or not allowing them to return to their villages. Official figures show more than 300 thousand Tamil civilians were held in internment camps when fighting ended in May last year. They were granted freedom late last year after intense international pressure on Colombo. http://www.radioaustralianews.net.au/stories/201008/2971549.htm?desktop