Is this the democracy granted to the Tamils by Sri Lanka government?

Jaffna peninsula is in the hands of the Sri Lanka state security forces since 1995.

However, even after the Tamil rebel Liberation Tigers of Tamil Ealam (LTTE) was defeated in two years back, still the normalcy does not appear to prevail in Jaffna.

Excessive military presence and their high handedness prevents people enjoying the democratic rights at least to the level enjoyed by the people of the other parts of the country.

Following report is from Daily Mirror:

Tamil National Alliance (TNA) MP Mavai Senathiraja accused the Army of dispersing a meeting they held at the Alawetti Mahajana College in Jaffna last evening using excessive force.
“More than 100 soldiers came to the College and said that we cannot hold the meeting here and subsequently began removing the microphones before assaulting the participants. When our bodyguards, who are also policemen, intervened they too were assaulted”, he said. “Several people had been injured and a complaint was lodged with the Thellipala police and also the Jaffna Security Forces Commander Major General Mahinda Hathurusinghe”, he added.
The TNA held the meeting to introduce their candidates to the public for the forthcoming Local Government Elections. Parliamentarians Mavai Senathiraja, Suresh Premachandra, M.A Sumanthiran, A. Vinayagamoorthi and E. Sarawanabawan participated in the meeting.

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People's Liberation Front (JVP) initiative for the human rights of Tamil political prisoners

We adopted the following news story from the People's Liberation Front (JVP) affiliated Lanka Truth website.

The 'We are Sri Lankans' is also a human rights initiative of the JVP.

We identify this trend of the JVP as a unique phenomenon. JVP backed the war that was the main reason for the violation of human rights of the Tamils.

‘We are Sri Lankans (WESL)’ an organization agitating for the release of Tamil political prisoners said Tuesday(14) Tamils held in prisons and detention camps countrywide were allegedly being abused and neglected by prison authorities.
WESL Executive Committee member Udul Premaratne told a media briefing they had received information that individuals who were arrested on suspicion of having links to the LTTE were being harassed by inmates and prison officers.
“These detainees are being mistreated simply because they are ‘Tamil political prisoners’. However, it is an act of injustice to allow them to languish in detention camps without filing charges against them. So far the government has even failed to release the names of those being detained in such centres,” he charged.
Referring to a statement made by Minister Dinesh Gunawardena that at present only about 700 are being detained as LTTE suspects, Mr. Premaratne said the number was quite different to that released by government sources earlier. “According to the government, some 1,700 identified as hardcore LTTE cadres at detention camps. If these figures are accurate, how can the number now suddenly decrease to a mere 700? What happened to the others?” Mr. Premaratne asked.
He said the relatives of some of these individuals were mistreated and even sexually harassed by prisons officials during their visits to the prisons. “A large number are continuing to be detained because of the language barrier and the lack of means for legal support,” he added.
Mr. Premaratne said if the government was genuinely interested in restoring peace in the country, it was vital for it to focus attention on the issue of political prisoners and establish a mechanism to ensure that individuals without any charges are released.

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Netherlands investigators now in Sri Lanka to inquire ex-Tamil Tiger leader KP

A special investigation team from the Netherlands that has arrived in Sri Lanka to probe the terrorist activities of the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Ealam (LTTE) in relation to Netherlands is to inquire ex-LTTE leader Kumaran Pathmanathan alias KP.

Sri Lanka defense sources say that the government of Sri Lanka has granted permission to the Netherlands investigators to record statements from KP who is now under the government protection.

The group especially will inquire into the fund raising and supply of weapons by the LTTE during the period from 1983 to 2009, reported state media.

Spokesman of the investigating team Jacho Birents says statements have already being recorded from around 90 persons.


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Channel 4 airs Sri Lanka's killing fields; government repeats it is not authentic

"Footage of alleged war crimes in Sri Lanka, with its echoes of Srebrenica, means the international community is more likely to act, a top lawyer tells Channel 4 News. But is prosecution possible?" Channel 4 questioned in its website yesterday as the government of Sri Lanka denied the one hour video aired by Channel 4 TV stating it was a a mere ‘collection of visuals previously aired through LTTE websites and a minuscule section of the international media, at the behest of parties with vested interests to undermine the present efforts at reconciliation and development taking place in Sri Lanka.'

Documenting the final weeks of the bloody civil war when an estimated 40,000 people died, the Channel 4 documentary Sri Lanka's Killing Fields reveals shocking new evidence of serious war crimes.
The film includes footage of government soldiers executing bound prisoners; the dead bodies of naked, abused women dumped in a truck; and the bombing of civilian hospitals.
The barbaric images were captured on mobile phones, many apparently by government soldiers filming grim trophy videos.
The faces of a number of the soldiers can be seen while conversations are heard as the killings are discussed.
In one video, a soldier admits he would like to mutilate the corpse of a dead naked woman "if no one was around".
While pressure builds on the international community to answer calls for an investigation, a top international lawyer has told Channel 4 News the use of new technologies has created a sea change in the reporting of serious crimes.
Mobile phone footage, pictures and testimony distributed online has seen information become instantly accessible to a global audience.
"There has never been a greater awareness of these types of crimes than right now, and it is because of the use of social media," Mark Ellis, chief executive of the International Bar Association, told Channel 4 News.
"It is much more difficult for the international community to stay silent when facing this onslaught of evidence shown by the social media process - it increases the likelihood that the international community must act." (Channel 4)

The video shown at UNHRC

The statement of the Ministry of External Affairs of Sri Lanka:

“This document, like the Darusman Report, does no more than put together a sequence of events and images, to justify a conclusion arrived at in advance. The origins of this footage are yet to be established, and no one has so far taken responsibility for its contents. It is a mere collection of visuals previously aired through LTTE websites and a minuscule section of the international media, at the behest of parties with vested interests to undermine the present efforts at reconciliation and development taking place in Sri Lanka. The views expressed in the film are without any guarantee of authenticity.
“This is one of the matters before the Lessons Learnt and Reconciliation Commission which is scheduled to complete its work by mid-November 2011.
“When Minister Burt telephoned the Minister of External Affairs during the afternoon of June 14, 2011, Prof. Peiris emphasized that the Sri Lankan Commission is entitled to the space and time to complete its work. He took the opportunity to brief Minister Burt on the significant progress that has been made in a variety of fields.
These, he pointed out, include the demining of vast tracts of land, the resettlement of displaced persons, the reintegration into society of former combatants including child soldiers after exposure to programmes of training, the return to their rightful owners of lands previously included in High Security Zones, and the revival of the economy of areas affected by military operations and restoration of livelihoods of those who, for many decades, had been under the yoke of LTTE terrorism.
It must be noted that, in the interest of transparency, the Lessons Learnt and Reconciliation Commission invited INGOs who have been aggressively critical, to give evidence before the Commission, but this has been publicly rejected by these organizations.
It is much to be regretted that Minister Burt has taken no account of the Sri Lankan Government’s strong refutation of the suggestion that the Government of Sri Lanka deliberately targeted its own civilians, as alleged in the video.
This is in stark contrast with the visible standards maintained by the Sri Lankan Army during a three year long operation to liberate the Northern and Eastern Provinces of the menace of the LTTE, including bringing to safety 300,000 innocent Tamil civilians being held as human shields by the LTTE which has been proscribed as a terrorist organization in 32 countries.
At this crucial time what Sri Lanka needs from its friends is not threats but the space and support for restoration of what was lost over three decades and the opportunity to move rapidly forward towards reconciliation and economic development.”

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Sri Lankan migrant employees in a fast unto death in Iraq; Sri Lanka government shuns responsibility stating they are illegal

Thirty Sri Lankan migrate workers have commenced a fast unto death in Al Amara, Iraq, reported a local TV station.

They say they urge the authorities to pay them the 19 months arrears of the unpaid salaries and allow them to return to Sri Lanka. The relevant employees began a fast unto death previously also but suspended the action as the officials of the Iraq government pledged to grant them solutions, reported the TV station.

A spokesman of the Lebanon embassy of Sri Lanka said to the TV station that the officials are trying hard to solve the issue.

However, Sri Lanka Foreign Employment Bureau (SLFEB) said that it was unable to directly intervene to resolve the issue of these migrant workers.

Due to the volatile conditions in the country, the Sri Lankan government had brought the country's migrants back to the country and stopped sending any new workers to Iraq, said SLFEB Chairman, Kingsley Ranawana adding that Sri Lankan migrant workers who are on a fast unto death in Iraq had however, illegally entered the country.


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Sri Lanka police narcotic bureau officials under threat following arrest of a drug dealer

Sri Lanka media reported that the police narcotic bureau officials that arrested a large haul of heroine yesterday are under death threats.

Bureau director J.P.U. Jayasinghe and the officials in the squad that conducted the raid to confiscate the seven kilo heroine stock that was hidden in a house in Rajagiriya are under threat, local media said.
Police sources say the narcotic investigators are on the hunt of a person named Thotalanga Japan Chooti who is believed the king pin of Colombo drug scandals.

The suspect is in the protection of a powerful politician of Colombo district and even uses a vehicle belonged to the politico, sources say.

Police recently arrested a wealthy person known as Lalithra whose statements led to the recovery of the heroine stock. Media reported that the said politician attempted to get the man released before the suspect himself showed police the safe house where heroine was hidden yesterday.


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Sri Lankan trade unions complains to ILO against restrictions imposed by the government on trade union activity.

A coalition of Sri Lankan trade unions has complained to the International Labor Organization (ILO) seeking an intervention against the restrictions imposed by the government on trade union activity.

The complaint has been lodged by Thushara Ilangakoon of Health Services Trade Union Alliance, Anton Marcus of Trade Union Confederation and Saman Ratnapriya of Government Nursing Officers Association.

They allege that the fundamental rights of the workers to strike has been curtailed and activists are regularly intimidated in violation of the principles of the ILO conventions.


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