REFUGEE

The first results from a Sri Lankan group documenting casualties from the final months of the country's civil war indicate that at least 2,500 men, women and children disappeared during that time and some are feared dead.
The Committee for Investigation of the Disappeared is interviewing civilians from the war zone to determine the full extent of damage suffered by civilians as the military made its push to wrap up the 25-year war earlier this year.

The group said today that it has so far collected from relatives the details of 2,500 people who

disappeared. Some of those are believed to have been killed before the end of the war in May.
According to UN reports, more than 7,000 civilians were killed from January to May alone, but the full extent of damage to civilians is unknown because the government barred aid groups and independent journalists from the war zone.

Vikramabahu Karunaratne, an official with the committee, said that the details collected will be sent to the UN requesting action, and compensation will be sought for the victims.

The committee found 121 of the disappeared persons were under 16 years old, including a 3 year old. Another 99 people disappeared while in hospitals receiving treatment for injuries.

© PTI

The government yesterday received accolades from a section of the business community for going ahead with the challenging task of rehabilitating captured LTTE cadres in the immediate aftermath of the final battlefield victory over the LTTE in May.

Contrary to fears expressed in some quarters, including the Tamil Diaspora, a major rehabilitation effort is now underway with the support of the international community, Sri Lankan business leaders and the Ceylon Hindu Congress.

Chartered Accountant Rajan Asirwathan, former head of Ford, Rhodes and Thornton and Company and former Chairman of the Bank of Ceylon and accountant Viswanathan Kailasapillai, former Deputy Chairman of the John Keells Holdings yesterday commended the government efforts when Justice and Law Reforms Minister Milinda Moragoda and Defence Secretary Gotabhaya Rajapaksa visited the Hindu College, Ratmalana to see a performance by ex-LTTE cadres studying at the College.

Moragoda told The Island that a public-private sector partnership was necessary to help LTTE cadres to change their lives. International support as well as the commitment of the Tamil community, too, would be critical, he said adding that their programmes were on track.

One-time John Keells’ financial genius Kailasapillai assured their support for the project which would transform LTTE combatants to professionals who could return to their villages after completing their education. He said that a university education would not be beyond their reach if they took advantage of the opportunity given by the government.

He recalled how he first met young combatants at a detention centre at Poonthottam several weeks ago. "You and your parents were scared. Some parents did not want the Army to move their children to Colombo. But today, you are studying at a leading school in the country. This is very important," he said. He expressed confidence that the children could be worthy citizens and that one day people of all communities will live in harmony.

Asirwathan, a member of the then President Chandrika Kumaratunga’s peace delegation, recollected the scene at the Poonthottam detention facility during his visit. "I was there on the invitation of Minister Moragoda and Commissioner General of Rehabilitation Maj. Gen. Daya Ratnayake. The children were confused and they did not know what was going to happen. They probably feared for their lives but once I talked to them in Tamil, their attitude obviously changed," be said. Asirwathan paid a glowing tribute to the Army, particularly officers and men in charge of the facility at Poonthottam for taking care of the children. "Their approach to detained children made a big difference," he said while appreciating the assistance provided by many organisations.

The formal education facility for child combatants is supported by the UNICEF, IOM, Giffy Products, Leads Social Service Organisation, MAS Holdings, John Keells Holdings PLC, Ceylon Tobacco Company, Ceylon Hindu Congress and Principal and staff of Holy Family Convent, Bambalapitiya.

Maj. Gen. Ratnayake said that of 566 child soldiers, 273 were moved to Colombo on October 21 this year. Aged between 12-18, they experienced severe difficulties on the Vanni front before being rescued by the army or surrendering themselves along with civilians. The war veteran said that the rest were receiving vocational training elsewhere. He assured the students and some of their parents brought by the Army for the function that the government would do everything possible to help them lead a normal life. He reiterated their commitment for the project while emphasising that this would not have been possible without the support extended by the Tamil community.

Sri Lanka president Mahinda Rajapaksa will announce a date for early national elections on Monday, a senior government official said.

"It will be tomorrow (Monday)," said the official, on condition of anonymity, referring to the president's announcment.

Three other government sources confirmed the announcement and said the poll date would most likely be Jan. 23.

Other sources were not sure about the date, which they said would be an auspicious one determined by astrologers

The Sri Lanka government will release 130,000 Tamil refugees from internment camps starting Dec. 1. Was the decision prompted by international pressure or domestic politics?
A daily summary of global reports on security issues.

Nearly six months after Sri Lanka’s 26-year civil war came to an end, the government has announced plans to finally close the controversial civilian internment camps. The detainees will be allowed freedom of movement starting on Dec. 1 and the camps will be permanently closed by Jan. 31.

After the fighting ended in May, the government held some 130,000 Tamils in camps, insisting that it must find any rebels still hiding among them. The camps, however, drew much international criticism for detaining noncombatants in abhorrent conditions. Within Sri Lanka, the creation of the camps has been seen as a dark spot on the nation’s victory over the Tamil Tigers.

The first phase of the agreement will grant the internees the right to leave the camp next month to visit friends and family outside the internment area. By the end of January, the government plans to have everyone resettled, reports The Scotsman. Aside from weeding out rebels the government said it also had to clear mines and repair infrastructure before the displaced people could be allowed to return to their homes.

Pressure had been mounting around the globe, as the international community rallied for an end to the camps. In Canada, Saturday’s announcement to close the camps, came as hundreds of people took to the streets of Toronto to protest squalid conditions in the camps, reports the Toronto Star.

The United Nations, one of the most vocal critics of the camps, praised the decision. In a statement delivered through a UN spokesperson, Secretary General Ban Ki-Moon lauded the Lankan government’s decision, reports the Colombo Page, a Sri Lankan newspaper.

“The Secretary-General urges the Government of Sri Lanka to continue to work with the UN and other humanitarian partners to improve the quality of the returns process, including through consultation with the IDPs [internally displaced persons] themselves, and to ensure the best possible assistance and services to returnees,” the statement said.

Though international pressure was a driving force for closing down the camps, The Guardian reports that a number of domestic political considerations may have factored in as well. Namely, Sarath Fonseka, the Lankan general credited with defeating the Tamil Tigers, has announced that he now plans to “fight for democracy” and will challenge President Mahinda Rajapaksa in upcoming elections this April. His war hero status and popularity among the masses is likely to create a serious challenge for the incumbent president.

In a farewell letter to troops Fonseka pledged to work to restore human rights, media freedom, social justice, ethnic unity and peaceful coexistence. “I want to assure you that I will commit myself to protect democratic freedoms which we are rapidly losing,” he wrote.

Fonseka went so far as to list the plight of those displaced by the war as one of the 16 reasons he decided to retire early and seek public office, reports The Hindu. Outside the camps, there are also tens of thousands of displaced people waiting to return home.

The Hindu also says that the Sri Lankan government will double the monetary relief to be deposited in the savings bank account of those internally displaced people to 50,000 rupees ($437). In addition, 5000 rupees ($43) in cash, six months’ ration and an emergency kit with roofing and bed sheets are being given.

But according to The Sunday Times of Colombo, Vavuniya’s government agent P.S.M. Charles says that the resettlement package will only be given to those moving back to their original villages.

As with life, sometimes in journalism you have to be careful what you wish for.

I had been wishing, and pushing, for a trip to Sri Lanka's notorious Manik Farm internal refugee camp for months.

And at about 7pm sitting in my hotel room in Colombo the Australian High Commission rang - I was booked on a military plane leaving early the next morning.

The news was a big relief, but also a big burden for what I perceive to be my journalistically narrow shoulders.

It was a pressing story. A clue as to why so many Tamils might be risking life and limb to come to Australia illegally. And a story I'd have to cover for television and radio, completely on my own.

I have been sent to South Asia to be a video-journalist. The J side of it isn't the problem; the V side, yes.

I was on a big story and I wasn't sure I had the skills to see it through.

The eventual product you see on your nightly news may only run a few minutes. But the production involved will take hours - filming, interviewing, scripting, editing. Usually, this is done with a reporter working in combination with a highly skilled cameraman.

But I wasn't going to have this luxury. I was going to be in northern Sri Lanka for a matter of hours and I had to get the story.

How I longed to have the ABC's South Asia cameraman Wayne McAllister with me at that time.

Journalists tend to think about the words. A skilled camera operator thinks with his eyes - how what is in front of them can be translated onto a television screen.

I lack this ability. It was a massive frustration during my trip to Manik Farm.

Because the scale and the squalor of the camp is just something my small camera couldn't fully capture.

130,000 Tamils still live at Manik Farm. They do so in makeshift tents without access to proper power, running water and with access to only basic medical care.

The few sequences I was able to capture in our short military escorted tour can't fully tell the tale.

Nor will this blog.

But each of the residents had their own tale of survival from Sri Lanka's war.

Some had lost children, many had husbands who had been taken away by the Sri Lankan military and most faced an uncertain future once they were returned to their home villages.

Their smiles took nothing away from the potency of their stories.

Many had been at Manik Farm for as long as six months. Six months pretty much exposed to the elements. Six months with no income. Six months of little or no education for their children.

Six months under the watchful eye of Sri Lankan soldiers.

And this is on top of a three decades long civil war.

Fairfax Newspaper's South Asia Correspondent Matt Wade was on the trip with me. He had visited northern Sri Lanka earlier in the year.

On his return, what struck him was that the countryside still remained so battle scarred.

It's almost with guilt that I look and realise it is impossible to capture the full extent of this.

As a VJ, when you are capturing images your mind is focused on, well, focus and exposure of the shots.

The story can get swallowed in the process of capturing it.

It's not intentional. It's just the way it is. It's a conundrum every journalist faces. We're privileged to face it.

COLOMBO, SRI LANKA - With candles glowing next to his computer, Chandrasiri Bandara, the nation's most popular astrologer, looked at his birth chart and predicted that he would soon be assassinated.

Bandara, 48, fears for his life because of a string of death threats that followed his bold forecast that Sri Lanka's president, Mahinda Rajapaksa, would be booted from office or killed. Bandara was charged with being a threat to national security and jailed for nine days for his premonition this summer.

Though a judge dismissed the case, his brief arrest is being taken seriously in this South Asian nation, where astrologers are so respected that few people arrange marriages or make business decisions, and elections are rarely held, without their consultation.

"Even astrologers have horoscopes," said Bandara, who has his own Web site and writes a column for an opposition newspaper. "Mine does not show a long life. Until 2012 there is a chance of someone in the government killing me."

Arresting and intimidating political dissidents, from journalists to aid workers, is nothing new in Sri Lanka. That was especially true in May when a final government assault on the separatist Tamil Tigers ended one of the world's longest-running civil wars.

But the "battle of Bandara and his horror-scope," as the astrologer's plight is known in the media here, also shows the president's increasing vulnerability. Sri Lanka could hold presidential and parliamentary elections in April, and the opposition parties recently formed an alliance to oppose Rajapaksa.

Other potentially serious problems are stirring for the president. The man who led the army to victory, Gen. Sarath Fonseka, resigned Thursday amid speculation that he would run for president.

Political experts in Sri Lanka say he had a falling-out with Rajapaksa and his brothers and thinks the president has taken too much credit for the war. He was offered a role in the sports ministry but recently declined. "We should not allow the country to go on the wrong path," Fonseka recently said while visiting a Buddhist temple in Washington. "If this happens, I am ready to correct the path, leaving behind my uniform."Analysts and ordinary Sri Lankans say that Fonseka is the only credible challenger to Rajapaksa. His Facebook page is filled with messages from Sri Lankans expressing adulation. One person posted a mock-up billboard that resembles Obama campaign literature but shows Fonseka's face and the slogan "Hope." Sri Lankan presidential spokesman Lucien Rajakarunanayake defended the president and said the Rajapaksa brothers can claim a rare distinction for ending decades of terrorism by military means.

For the past year, Rajapaksa's popularity has rested squarely on success in the war. He has enjoyed especially broad support in the Sinhalese-dominated south, where many army families sang songs about him being crowned a king for vanquishing the Tigers, who are labeled a terrorist organization by governments around the world, including the United States.

Still, dissent is slowly building. During a street demonstration last week by thousands of Rajapaksa opponents, protesters shouted that the country was heading toward a dictatorship, that the government was growing increasingly corrupt and that the economy was sinking.

Opponents also accuse Rajapaksa of nepotism; two of his brothers occupy top government posts, and critics contend that as many as 300 family members are in the government."The war euphoria is over now. We can see clearly we are dealing with an autocratic group of brothers that silence journalists, aid workers, political leaders, even an astrologer," said opposition leader Ranil Wickremesinghe.

At least seven journalists have been killed since 2007, including the still unsolved January murder of Lasantha Wickramatunga. A government critic, Wickramatunga predicted his own death in an editorial called "And Then They Came for Me."

The United States has called for an investigation of possible human rights abuses during the final days of the war by both the Tigers and the government. The European Union is considering withdrawing trade concessions worth tens of millions of dollars to Sri Lankan industries because of the military's conduct.

Rajakarunanayake, the presidential spokesman, said the crackdown on Bandara, the astrologer, came because Bandara was speaking as an opposition political figure and had also given a motivational speech to opposition leaders. "We have to wonder why an astrologer would say such a thing," Rajakarunanayake said. "In Sri Lanka, astrologers are not just for fun. They play powerful roles in steering outcomes. Saying it can make it so."

Still, advocates for freedom of speech say that it doesn't matter what the astrologer's political beliefs are, and that his arrest was unjust.

The threats against Bandara and his arrest have prompted astrologers around the world to send e-mails to Sri Lanka's president on Bandara's behalf. The World Wide Parapsychological Association asked all newspapers from Asia to replace their horoscopes for a day with a petition demanding his freedom.

As Bandara's wife fried rice and fish and his two young daughters listened nearby, he proudly displayed a file of columns in which he had made predictions that came true.

Bandara, a tall man with a baritone voice, strolled through his home and onto his leafy veranda. He said that he is ethnically Sinhalese but that he is against the nationalism and anti-Tamil feelings that were stirred up during the final days of the war.

"I cried when I saw people celebrating and eating rice in the streets after the war. So many are still in camps. It's sad, because the scenery in our country is good," Bandara said as he looked over his garden of fragrant fragapani flowers and lush mango trees. "But our soul is bad."

Sri Lanka on Tuesday released a banknote to mark the end of the country's 37-year separatist war, following the crushing of Tamil Tiger rebels in May, the central bank said.
The first commemorative banknote in the 1,000-rupee (nine dollars) denomination was given to President Mahinda Rajapakse on Tuesday, the bank said in a statement.
"The valiant contribution made by the nation's victorious sons and daughters, of the security forces and the police, is the theme on the reverse of the note," the bank said in a statement.
"The design at the centre depicts the hoisting of the national flag by members of the security forces."
Government troops killed the leadership of the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE) and declared the total annihilation of the separatist guerrillas on May 18, ending Asia's longest running ethnic conflict.
Tiger rebels bombed the central bank headquarters in January 1996, killing 91 people and wounding another 1,200, in one of the deadliest suicide bombings during their campaign for a separate Tamil state.

President Mahinda Rajapakse’s effort to rope in significant section of the affluent Tamils have miserably failed and the Sri Lankan foreign missions had to go out of the way to scramble a group of Sri Lankans to attend the highly publicised development meeting in Colombo.

The government became desperate lately and requested all its immediate loyal contacts to assemble some Tamils for the meeting. It was Minister Douglas Devananda who had come to the rescue and pooled together his party activists and a few Tamils honeymooning with him post LTTE defeat to sustain their investments in Sri Lanka.


The Foreign Missions mailed invitations to large number of Tamils and hardly few had replied to the personal appeal of the President. Some had responded by asking the President to put the ‘horse before the cart’ by finding ways to deal with the long term political crisis facing the minorities in the country.

The government supporting newspapers reported that ‘over 360 expatriate Sri Lankans from 45 or more countries are expected to participate in the crucial two day forum’. The number is said to include large number of expatriate Sinhalese and Muslims who have been included to inflate the attendance to give a ‘success message’ to the world. Whether the government is paying for their visit is not known.

‘Bridging the gap between Tamil community and the other ethnic groups is one of the key objectives of this endeavour’ said a government supporting newspaper. But the government’s objective has miserably failed as even many of those Tamils who were engaging with the government post defeat of the LTTE are not attending the conference.

One source said few pro LTTE activists from Europe are attending the function with the sole objective of establishing good rapport with the government to protect their investments in Sri Lanka. The multi-billionaire Raj Rajaratnam from the US will be the well noted absentee in the conference.

According to news reports ‘Director General of Public Communication, Ministry of Foreign Affairs Ranjith Uyangoda said yesterday that the President and several ministers including Rohitha Bogollagama, Anura Priyadharshana Yapa,Prof G.L. Pieris, were scheduled to address the delegates’.

KANDY, Sri Lanka — Dozens of dancers, drummers and three elephants greeted Myanmar's reclusive junta leader as the elderly general began a pilgrimage in Sri Lanka Friday on a rare foreign outing.
Schoolchildren cheered and waved paper flags of both countries and passers-by took pictures as the visiting leader's motorcade slowly drove through the narrow streets of the central Buddhist pilgrimage city of Kandy.
General Than Shwe and his wife Daw Kyaing Kyaing, both dressed in white tunic tops and gold embroided sarongs, clasped their hands in prayer as a saffron-robed Buddhist monk invoked blessings on their arrival.
Their 26-member entourage later moved to pray and meditate at the historic Temple of the Sacred Tooth relic, that was once bombed by the now defeated separatist Tamil Tiger rebels in 1998.
The junta leader, believed to be in his 70s, looked to have recovered from a stomach bug on Thursday and was able to climb the stairs to the gilded roof chamber at the temple, where the tooth of Lord Buddha is believed to be enshrined.
He has looked physically frail since arriving on Thursday, but on the few occasions he has spoken publicly, his voice has been firm.
He stressed the "history of close Buddhist ties" between his country and Sri Lanka during a meeting with Foreign Minister Rohitha Bogollagama on Thursday and occasionally stopped to ask questions from officials on Friday.
Sri Lanka and Myanmar both practise Theravada Buddhism and have had cultural and religious ties since the 11th century. Speaking through an interpreter, Than Shwe said he was honoured to worship at a historic Buddhist shrine.
He is on his first overseas visit since 2004 and will leave on Saturday for the ancient site of Anuradhapura where he will visit more Buddhist sites, Sri Lanka's foreign ministry said.
The junta leader is due to receive blessings from Buddhist monks at a temple outside the capital Colombo on Sunday before he leaves.
His visit has outraged Myanmar monks living in Sri Lanka, who warned Colombo that its increasingly close relations with Myanmar's military regime would further raise international concern over the island's human rights record.
A spokesman for the monks, who identified himself as Nyanasyri, told AFP Thursday that they were not demonstrating out of fears for their safety.
Myanmar has been ruled by the military since 1962 and the regime stands accused of human rights violations, including the repression of monks, journalists and political opponents -- most notably pro-democracy icon Aung San Suu Kyi.
Than Shwe donated a 10,000-dollar cheque to the temple on Friday, and the Temple custodians in turn presented him with a bronze plaque and an intricately carved silver tea set.
They also explained the legend of how the temple's tooth was snatched from the flames of the Buddha's funeral pyre, and was smuggled into Sri Lanka hidden in the hair of a princess.
Than Shwe and his family, which included his daughters and grandchildren, posed for pictures just outside the red-roof temple and planted a mango tree to mark his visit.
As he walked around the temple, a few Western tourists eagerly followed him around taking pictures.
Sri Lankan President Mahinda Rajapakse visited Myanmar in June and thanked the junta for providing relief supplies for Sri Lankan civilians displaced earlier this year during the final stages of fighting between troops and separatist Tamil rebels.

OFFICIALS in Sri Lanka are urging Australia to ban the militant group the Tamil Tigers and strike a clear distinction between genuine refugees and economic opportunists.

As Foreign Minister Stephen Smith flew to Singapore following talks with Sri Lankan President Mahinda Rajapaksa and his Foreign Minister, Rohitha Bogollagama, aimed at stopping the flow of boats, officials in Colombo told The Australian Sri Lankan people fleeing their country did not need protection.

Yesterday, Mr Smith announced Australia would provide $11 million in funding to Sri Lanka. Most of the money, $6m, will fund de-mining and rehabilitation in the nation's north after decades of violent conflict, while the rest will go towards housing, food and resettlement services.

The two countries also signed a memorandum of understanding aimed at increasing joint anti-people-smuggling efforts and intelligence-sharing.



The talks follow a surge this year in the number of asylum-seeker boats leaving Sri Lanka for Australia.

Senior Australian envoy Brian McCarthy and people-smuggling ambassador Peter Woolcott will stay on in Colombo for a series of meetings aimed at hammering out the details of the agreements.

Yesterday, Sri Lankan Foreign Ministry secretary Romesh Jayasinghe said there was a need for a clear distinction between genuine refugees and those not in need of protection.

"The fact is that the (1951 Refugee Convention) provides for refuge in instances when there is a well-founded fear," Mr Jayasinghe said.

"I would submit to you that there is no such situation in Sri Lanka."

Mr Jayasinghe said the legal status of the separatist Tamil Tigers, or LTTE - whose defeat in May by the Sri Lankan government triggered the massive internal displacement Labor says is behind the surge in boats - was also a significant issue for Colombo.

"The LTTE in the form it was known is no more," Mr Jayasinghe said.

"But there are sinister elements that are endeavouring to try to re-stoke the cinders of secessionism. It is necessary to be vigilant and prevent such attempts.

"That's the position that was presented quite clearly by our side to our Australian guests."

At a press conference on Monday, Sri Lankan Foreign Minister Rohitha Bogollagama explicitly linked the Tamil Tigers with people-smuggling: "Sri Lanka's stand has always remained, that people-smuggling has been part of terrorist activities - it has previously been associated with LTTE activities."

The Tamil Tigers are a banned terrorist organisation in the US and Europe but have never been proscribed in Australia.

Yesterday, the 78 Sri Lankans on board the Customs ship Oceanic Viking managed to communicate by hand signals that they remained unwilling to come ashore to a detention centre at Tanjung Pinang, on Indonesia's Bintan island. As another delegation of Australian officials boarded the vessel in a bid to break the deadlock, some of the Sri Lankans made crossed forearm gestures to demonstrate there was still no deal. The major sticking point remains the issue of where the asylum-seekers would be held if they agreed to go ashore, with many having already spent several years in Indonesian detention centres.

Australian claims that the Indonesian side is considering a request to house the Sri Lankans in community facilities has been met with bewilderment by senior officials, on and off the record.

Sources from temple Trees say that President Percy Mahendra Rajapaksa had severely reprimanded NFF Leader Wimal Weerawansa for revealing to the country that Defence Secretary Gotabhaya Rajapaksa had given a statement to the US authorities during his recent visit to the US.

The story about Gotabhaya being interrogated by the US authorities was a secret to the country and the Chief of Defence Staff was unaware of it until he visited the US.

The NFF Leader told a media conference on the 2nd that the Defence Secretary was subjected

to an interrogation fro over an hour during his recent visit to the US by the US Immigration authorities. Wimal Weerawansa said the Defence Secretary visited the US as a member of the Sri Lankan delegation that attended the UN General Assembly and the story of his interrogation was kept away from the local media.

However, soon after Wimal Weerawansa made this statement, UNP parliamentarian Lakshman Kiriella said the Defence Secretary Gotabhaya had implicated General Fonseka to save his skin.

He said the US authorities were therefore now hunting down General Fonseka. Kiriella told parliament yesterday (4) “Gotabhaya Rajapaksa was interrogated when he visited the US earlier. Sarath Fonseka is being questioned following the statement given by Gotabhaya Rajapaksa.

Gotabhaya Rajapaksa should have told Sarath Fonseka not to go to the US. However, since the Defence Secretary did not do any such thing, Sarath Fonseka was placed in a difficult situation.”

Colombo, The Sri Lankan government has stepped up clearing mines in former rebel-controlled areas aimed at resettling 159,000 war refugees before the end of January, Foreign Minister Rohitha Bogollagama said Thursday.

He told Colombo-based diplomats that an estimated 1.5 million unexploded landmines remained in an area of 402 sq km.

Bogollagama said the government has recently imported the latest in de-mining machinery from Slovakia and Croatia and five more machines had also arrived to speed up the mine clearance.

‘The new machines are expected to clear 5,000 sq metres of land per day, and it is faster than the manual system used by the non-governmental organisations, where only 50 sq metres can be cleared,’ the minister said.

The government claimed it had resettled 108,757 people since October, but local NGOs said some of them have only been moved to temporary camps in other locations.

The final stages of fighting between government troops and Tamil separatist rebels, which ended with the guerillas’ defeat in May, left more than 280,000 people displaced. All were transferred to camps in the north and the bulk of the 159,000 remaining in the camps live in the Vavuniya district.

The government has been under local and international pressure to resettle the displaced peole before the onset of heavy rains later this month in the north.

Military operations against the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam, which had been fighting for a separate homeland for Sri Lanka’s minority Tamils, were concluded May 18 after the leadership of the rebels were killed in the fighting, ending a 26-year conflict.

The International Athletics Association has refused a request to grant international certification the Mahinda Rajapaksa Stadium that is being built in Diyagama, Homagama due to the low quality of the artificial running track constructed in the Stadium.

It is learnt that the certification was refused since the track was constructed by a Malaysian company that did not have any previous experience in the respective field.

It has been revealed that the tender to constrict this track was handed over to the Malaysian

company by Basil Rajapaksa through one of his friends.

Although any artificial athletic track normally receives international certification two months after its construction, the track in Homagama has not received the international certification even six months after construction.

Two attempts made to secure the certification have so far failed.

The athletic track in questions is the second artificial track to be constructed in the country and it had cost Rs. 80 million.

However, the Stadium has been constructed with the help of military personnel and the engineering division. Since former Army Commander General Sarath Fonseka supervised the construction of the Stadium, the government it is learnt is trying to blame him for not receiving the international certification.

The Lake House Chairman who started to erect cut outs around the country following the end of the war with the LTTE conferring the President with the title “Maha Raja” has now started to put up a new set of cut outs publicizing a comment made by the President during the Southern Provincial Council election that he is not the Maha Raja of the country but the custodian.

Lake House trade unions allege that Chairman Bandula Padmakumara was putting up cut outs around the country promoting the President’s image spending millions at a time when the institution was faced with a financial crisis.

A member of the DPF told Lanka News Web that the UNP, SLFP (M) Wing and the DPF has signed the preliminary memorandum of understanding (MoU) of the United National Alliance on Friday (30) morning while the SLMC is scheduled to sign the agreement to join the Alliance on November 3.

The spokesperson said the United National Alliance will be officially announced on November 3rd and seven other opposition political parties are scheduled to join the Alliance on that day.

SLMC sources meanwhile said the Alliance of six Tamil speaking minority parties that is to be formed under the leadership of SLMC Leader Rauf Hakeem is to meet on the 3rd and a joint press conference is scheduled to be held on the 3rd to announce the policies of the respective Alliance. The alliance of Tamil speaking minority parties would include the SLMC, TNA, TULF, PLOTE, DPF and the EPRLF Sridharan Wing.

Sri Lanka Police and Sri Lanka Army soldiers beat a mentally ill Tamil youth and forced the youth to drown near the sea near Bambalapitya, Colombo, railway station Thursday. The youth was identified as Balavarnam Sivakumar, 26, of Ratmalana, according to media reports in Colombo, which belatedly listed the youth's identity. "The entire country [Sri Lanka] watched in horror, as a group of heavily built men attacked the mentally unstable [Tamil] youth with wooden poles while he pleaded for mercy, when it was telecast on several news bulletins on Thursday night," Daily Mirror said.

Video snapshots from an onlooker (Courtesy: Daily Mirror)

Police spokesman Nimal Mediwake said the Police and Army personnel who had allegedly assaulted the youth had been identified and would be arrested.

The youth has had mental depression for nearly two years and had received medical treatment in a mental hospital, Sivakumar's brother told the media.

Sivakumar had the habit of throwing stones at vehicles, and the Thursday killing followed a series of incidents involving similar actions by Sivakumar, according to the media.

A video broadcast by Channel-4 allegedly showing Sri Lanka Army (SLA) soldiers extra-judicially executing Tamil captives stripped naked and hands tied behind their back, has drawn worldwide attention, and independent forensic analyses in UK and USA are ongoing to rebut Colombo's cavaliar dismissal of the video as fake, according to reports. Two editors of Sunday Leader have received death threats for covering developing stories on the Channel-4 video.

The Sri Lankan authorities must act to ensure the safety of two female editors at a national newspaper who received death threats last week, Amnesty International said.
The organization also called for an immediate investigation into the threats, received by Frederica Jansz, Editor-in-Chief of the Sunday Leader, and the newspaper's News Editor, Munza Mushataq.

The threats, which were written in red ink, were delivered by post to the newspaper on 22 October.

The founder and former Editor-in-Chief of the newspaper, Lasantha Wickrematunge, was murdered in January three weeks after receiving a similar death threat also written in red ink.
No one has yet been prosecuted for his murder.

The most recent threats relate to the coverage by the Sunday Leader of a video, broadcast on UK TV station Channel Four in August, which allegedly showed Sri Lankan soldiers executing Tamil prisoners.

The Sri Lankan government has stated that the video had been faked, but on 18 October the Sunday Leader printed an article on its front page, highlighting a report that an analysis of the video had concluded that the footage had not been tampered with or edited.

The threatening letters were postmarked 21 October, just three days after the newspaper ran its controversial story. Both letters included text saying "if you write anymore, we will kill you, [and] slice you into pieces".

The journalists reported the threat to Sri Lanka's Inspector General of Police, and also to local police in the capital, Colombo. However, no action has yet been taken by the authorities.

In September, Dileesha Abeysundera, who works for the Sinhala-language edition of the Sunday Leader and also campaigns for greater press freedom in Sri Lanka, was threatened.

There have been numerous serious attacks on the staff of the Sunday Leader and its publishers. Its offices have been burnt down, bombed and sealed several times.

Over the past three years, numerous journalists have been detained in Sri Lanka while others have fled the country. At least 14 media workers have been killed. Investigations have not resulted in prosecutions.

Sri Lanka said it is accelerating the settlement of Tamil refugees held in transit camps since the defeat of the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam in May, after coming under international criticism for delaying their release.

President Mahinda Rajapaksa appointed a team comprising lawmakers and government ministers to oversee the return of refugees and development in the north, the Ministry of Defense said on its Web site yesterday.

“The government plans to further accelerate the development in the north on a priority basis to restore normalcy in life,” the ministry said in a statement.

United Nations Human Rights Commissioner Navi Pillay said last month more than 280,000 displaced Tamils are being held under “conditions of internment.” Sri Lanka rejected the assessment, saying security must be established in the north and mines cleared from former conflict zones before the settlement program is completed.

The number of displaced people has been reduced from 288,000 to 196,088, helped by the success of the mine-clearing program, Mahinda Samarasinghe, the minister for disaster management and human rights, said two days ago.

More than 10,000 people were resettled in recent days in an area around Kilinochchi, the northern town where the LTTE had its headquarters, the government said yesterday. The area was heavily mined, it said.

Mine Clearing

A special task force is involved in clearing mines and the government has bought 24 de-mining machines to help speed the process, the Defense Ministry said.

An estimated 1.5 million mines and unexploded ordnance contaminated 500 square kilometers (193 square miles) of the north when the war ended, Lieutenant General Jagath Jayasuriya, Sri Lanka’s army commander, said yesterday in the capital, Colombo. About 65 percent of that area was inhabited by civilians and 25 percent is agricultural land, he said at a seminar on the threat from landmines in former conflict zones.

“The LTTE laid millions of mines in areas under their control, disregarding the danger that could be suffered by innocent civilians,” Jayasuriya said, adding that the mines “considerably delayed” army drives into rebel-held territory.

“For the resettlement process, landmines pose a serious threat,” he said.

The reports of an increasing number of civilians leaving the transit camps are “welcome,” European Union foreign ministers said in a statement yesterday.

“It is crucial that the government in Sri Lanka now ensures that these refugees can return home voluntarily and with dignity,” the ministers said.

End of War

The army defeated the last LTTE forces in a battle on the northeastern coast in May, ending their 26-year fight for a separate Tamil homeland in the north and east. Tens of thousands of civilians were caught between the rebels and army units.

Rajapaksa earlier this week appointed an independent committee to investigate a U.S. State Department report that civilians were shelled by the army in the last weeks of the war. The report listed killings and other abuses carried out by the army and the LTTE.

While the government described last week’s report as “unsubstantiated,” Samarasinghe said it was the responsibility of a democratic state to investigate such charges.

“Though some elements try to interpret this report as a charge sheet against Sri Lanka, it clearly says it has no legal basis,” Samarasinghe said Oct. 26.

Credible Report

The State Department said last week the incidents of abuses listed in the report are based mostly on reporting by the U.S. embassy in Sri Lanka, international organizations and the media and are “credible.”

Department spokesman Ian Kelly welcomed the government’s decision to investigate the report, saying at an Oct. 26 briefing in Washington “this is exactly what we would expect Sri Lanka to do.”

A domestic probe by Sri Lanka is an attempt to evade an international inquiry into violations during the war, Human Rights Watch said in an e-mailed statement today.

“The government is once again creating a smokescreen inquiry to avoid accountability for abuses,” said Brad Adams, the Asia director of the New York-based group. “Only an independent international investigation will uncover the truth.”

The U.S. and UN shouldn’t “play along with the government’s pretense” it will conduct its own probe, he added.

The political climate in Sri Lanka, where the government brands critics as LTTE supporters, means a credible domestic inquiry is unlikely, Human Rights Watch said.

Sri Lanka is still threatened by separatist forces, Rajapaksa said in a speech on Oct. 19. The government’s war on terrorism was based on achieving an “undivided country, a national consensus and an honorable peace,” he said.

Tamils make up almost 12 percent of Sri Lanka’s population of 20 million people. Sinhalese account for 74 percent, according to a 2001 census.

Convener of the Organization for the Protection of Railway Workers Rights and Assets, Sumathipala Manawadu has requested Transport Minister Dullas Alahapperuma to reveal to the country the steps that have been taken against those guilty of committing a fraud amounting to Rs. 8,000 million at the Railway Department.

Manwadu says the committee appointed by the Minister has determined that the10 traction motor armatures bought at a cost of Rs.32 million have been found to be discarded pieces. Despite the company promising to replace the armatures (the discarded pieces) with new ones no one responsible for the fraud has been identified yet. It has also been revealed that the two

engines bought spending Rs.140 million for S8 and S9 power-sets claiming they were brand new ones are old spare parts. Disturbed by the revelation, the responsible authorities and the local agents are currently busy removing old spare parts from the engines.

Manawadu noted that although the Organization has on many occasions pointed out cases of corruption and fraud at the Railway Department to the Minister, action has not been taken to suspend the work of the culprits and to appoint a committee to inquire into the equipment and other parts in question. The Transport Minister’s inaction according to Manawadu has therefore placed him directly responsible for the irregularities at the Railway Department.

- Unionslanka