Sri Lanka: reconciliation and justice

Nearly three years after the end of the 26-year civil war in Sri Lanka that reportedly left an estimated 80,000-100,000 dead, questions are still arising about alleged war crimes and how they will be addressed.

The Killing Fields, first broadcast by Channel 4 in June last year and a follow up aired this March called Sri Lanka’s Killing Fields: War Crimes Unpunished, have been significant in bringing evidence of executions, the shelling of civilians and other atrocities to light.

The Sri Lankan Ministry of Defence rejects the evidence, however, arguing that it has been falsified by Channel 4 and that the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE ) were responsible for a proportion of the civilian casualties. It also rejected calls from the UN-led investigation into alleged war crimes, opting for a locally-organised investigation, the Lessons Learnt and Reconciliation Commission (LLRC).

What action will the Sri Lankan government take in light of new footage and will it be forced address the issue of high-command responsibility? After the failing of the international community to prevent such atrocities, what role can they play in the future?

Join us at the Frontline Club to discuss the impact of Sri Lanka’s Killing Fields and the situation today in Sri Lanka.

Chaired by Stephen Sackur, the host of BBC Hardtalk.

With:

Callum Macrae, journalist, filmmaker and Director of both Sri Lanka’s Killing Fields and Sri Lanka’s Killing Fields: War Crimes Unpunished that documents evidence of alleged war crimes committed by the Sri Lankan Government.

Arun Thambimuttu, a Tamil political activist from Batticaloa, in the Eastern province, Sri Lanka. His father, Sam Tambimuttu, a Member of Parliament of the Tamil United Liberation Front (TULF), and his mother were both assassinated by the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE) in 1990.

Jan Jananayagam, spokesperson for Tamils Against Genocide [TAG] an NGO that assists victims and witnesses of war crimes, crimes against humanity and genocide including by bringing litigations against perpetrators.

Professor Rajiva Wijesinha MP, adviser to the President on Reconciliation.

Yolanda Foster, Amnesty International’s Sri Lanka researcher.

-Frontlineclub

[Full Coverage]

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Resettling Tamils silently expelled from Champoor in Trincomalee

Following the election of Maithiripala Sirisena as new Sri Lankan President, the uprooted families from a section of the 5th Division and 7th Division of Champoor situated along both the sides of Champoor main road, started to clear their lands for resettlement. Their lands, seized by Colombo under the so-called ‘Special Economic Zone’ (SEZ) were to be handed over to a Chinese-owned corporate. The occupying Sri Lanka Navy was blocking the uprooted Tamils from resettling in their lands. Despite the ‘regime change’, the Sri Lanka Navy occupying Champoor and the Sri Lankan Police have chased away the 162 families, who were clearing their plots to prepare for resettlement in the 1,430 acres of lands appropriated by Colombo under the so-called SEZ. Officials from Colombo accompanied by SL military Tamil National Alliance (TNA) politicians in Trincomalee are under pressure from the Sampanthan polity not to voice against Colombo at this juncture as the TNA is collaborating with Mr Maithiripala Sirisena’s regime on a number of issues, including the future governance of the Eastern Provincial Council (EPC), the uprooted people from Champoor told TamilNet. The campaigners of Mahinda Rajapaksa regime promised resettlement to a section of uprooted Champoor people if they were prepared to vote for Mr Rajapaksa. The uprooted people demanded that they should be allowed to enter their lands first in order to consider voting for Rajapaksa. But, within a few hours after the elections, Sri Lanka’s Board of Investment officials accompanied by SL Navy officers and SL Police came to their temporary huts instructing the people to move away from their lands. The EPC members of the TNA have also been requesting the people to relocate peacefully without protest, the uprooted people said. The people were told that the TNA leaders wanted to give a few more days to the new government in Colombo. However, two weeks have passed without a proper response from the Sri Lankan authorities and the TNA politicians, a representative of the displaced people in Champoor told TamilNet on Saturday. The uprooted Champoor people were not allowed to resettle even in the lands that are outside the boundaries of the so-called HSZ and SEZ. The officials who came from the Board of Investment and the SL military officers were telling the people that the uprooted would only be allowed to resettle under an official resettlement scheme and not on their own. In the meantime, 22 families that have resettled in their lands situated near Kaa’li temple at Champoor have refused to move away from their lands as their lands do not come under the High Security Zone or Special Economic Zone. [DIVIDER] TamilNet: 24.01.15 Resettling Tamils silently expelled from Champoor in Trincomalee

Protests erupt in Jaffna against continued militarisation, unemployment

The owners of five houses and lands that have been illegally seized by the Sri Lankan military for more than two decades at Koozhaavadi, situated on Maanippaay Road at Aanaik-koaddai in Jaffna protested on Wednesday against the attempt by Colombo to transform their lands into State property with the motive of permanently sustaining a war-time military camp, which was notorious for extra-judicial interrogations, abductions and disappearances since 1996. At the same time, unemployed graduates staged a protest in front of Jaffna District Secretariat demanding jobs. A notorious torture cell of the Sinha Regiment of the Sri Lanka Army was operating at Koozhaavadi in Jaffna. After issuing a gazette notification to seize the private properties where the military camp is situated, the occupying SL military got the survey department officials to undertake surveying without informing the owners of the exact timing. However, the Divisional Secretariat officials were obliged to inform the families of the date of the ‘legal appropriation’ of their properties. Following the information, Tamil National Peoples Front (TNPF) organised a protest together with the landowners and the grassroots activists in Jaffna. The SL government officials who were to hand over the lands didn’t show up and the protest concluded peacefully amidst heavy deployment of Sri Lankan police and the military. The landowners complained that the SL military was harassing them to transfer the lands without staging any protest. Protest at Koozhaavadi Tamil National Alliance (TNA) NPC Councillor Mrs Ananthy Sasitharan, General Secretary of Tamil National Peoples Front (TNPF) Mr Selvarasa Kajendren, Mr Krishna, the treasurer of the TNPF, Chairman of VVT Urban Council Mr Sathees, and Deputy Chairman of Valikaamam North Divisional Council Mr Shageevan Shanmugalingam were present with the owners of the land. In the meantime, University teachers, students and non-academic staff at the University in Jaffna are preparing for protests against EPDP appointed personalities controlling Jaffna University Council, informed TNA sources told TamilNet on Wednesday. A TNA MP has recently held meetings with the University staff. Unemployed graduates rally in front of Jaffna District Secretariat [DIVIDER] TamilNet: 21.01.15 Protests erupt in Jaffna against continued militarisation, unemployment

An unexpected change of power in Sri Lanka is good news for democracy

(By Editorial Board) SRI LANKAN President Mahinda Rajapaksa considered himself a shoo-in to win an unprecedented third term when he called an early election in November, and with some reason: He had presided over both victory in a 26-year-long civil war with Tamil insurgents and surging economic growth of 7 percent a year. The opposition had been cowed and criticism squelched by increasingly autocratic tactics. Consequently, Mr. Rajapaksa’s surprising defeat by a former member of his cabinet, Maithripala Sirisena, after an election in which 81 percent of voters participated, can only be taken as an impressive demonstration of Sri Lankans’ commitment to preserving their long-standing democracy. Mr. Sirisena, who was sworn in Friday, has pledged to seek a swift constitutional reform that would strip the presidency of powers and create a parliamentary system. He has also vowed to restore the compromised independence of the judiciary, end the blocking of news Web sites and crack down on corruption. Resistance to this liberal restoration may be fierce. Several associates of the new president charged that Mr. Rajapaksa conceded the election only after military and police commanders rejected his attempt to stage a coup. The former president denies this, but his supporters in Parliament will likely try to block the prime minister appointed by Mr. Sirisena, Ranil Wickremesinghe, from forming a government next week. The proposed constitutional rewrite, which Mr. Sirisena promised to carry out in 100 days, requires a two-thirds parliamentary vote to be enacted, as would the impeachment of the controversial Supreme Court chief justice installed by Mr. Rajapaksa. Sri Lanka’s big neighbor, India, and Western democracies have a major interest in the new government’s success. After he came under sustained criticism for his human rights record, including a United Nations investigation of atrocities at the end of the civil war, Mr. Rajapaksa turned to China, which, never troubled by human rights violations, seized on the opportunity to extend its influence. Beijing lent billions for construction projects, and Chinese President Xi Jinping personally launched a $1.5 billion port project in the capital, Colombo, in September. The recent visit to Colombo by a Chinese submarine underlined the growing strategic relationship. The new government says it will cancel the port project and investigate some of the Chinese contracts for corruption while balancing relations with India, Pakistan, Japan and China. If Mr. Sirisena succeeds in rebuilding democratic institutions, Sri Lanka will return to being a natural ally of India and the United States rather than the authoritarian camp of China and Russia. Appropriately, President Obama welcomed Mr. Sirisena’s victory as a “moment of hope” and said his administration looked forward to “deepening its partnership” with Sri Lanka. The election result offers Mr. Obama an unexpected chance to advance two important goals: his shift of U.S. foreign engagement toward Asia and the defense of democracy. Washington should do all it can to help Mr. Sirisena succeed. [DIVIDER] An unexpected change of power in Sri Lanka is good news for democracy – The Washington Post

Pope Francis at Madu: ‘Our Lady remained always with you’

Pope Francis on Wednesday paid a pilgrimage to Madu shrine, which is the famous pilgrim centre of Tamil Catholics, where even the Sinhalese Catholics of the western coast, who were Tamils a century ago, flock in for festivals. “No Sri Lankan can forget the tragic events associated with this very place, or the sad day when the venerable statue of Mary, dating to the arrival of the earliest Christians in Sri Lanka, was taken away from her shrine. But Our Lady remained always with you. She is the mother of every home, of every wounded family, of all who are seeking to return to a peaceful existence,” the Pope said. Tamils who came in large numbers from all parts of the island appreciated his call for ‘truth’ in making peace. They also appreciated his call for harmony without forsaking the identity of the peoples, whether ethnic or religious. Earlier, on Tuesday, when Pope Francis was welcomed by the newly elected Sri Lankan President in Colombo, the visiting Pope urged the SL President to seek reconciliation and truth. “The process of healing also needs to include the pursuit of truth, not for the sake of opening old wounds, but rather as a necessary means of promoting justice, healing and unity,” Pope Francis observed. The Pope told a gathering of inter-religious leaders on Tuesday: “Men and women do not have to forsake their identity, whether ethnic or religious, in order to live in harmony.” Pope Francis visited Madu on Wednesday after the canonization of Blessed Joseph Vaz as the first saint of the island at Galle Face. Religious dignitaries from all faiths were invited to the event, which was attended by thousands of people. When he visited Mannaar on Wednesday, the Pope was making frequent stops to bless the people who were standing along the one km way from Thadchana-Marutha-Madu, where he landed in helicopter, till he reached the Madu Shrine. Around 600,000 people, both Tamils and Sinhalese, visited Madu on Wednesday, according to Sri Lankan police officers. Most of the Sinhala Catholics, who make pilgrimage to Madu, were Tamils three or four generations ago. They come from the coastal areas of Northwestern and Western Provinces. All along the western coast, up to Colombo, there were traditional villages of Tamil Christians. On Tuesday, kith and kin of missing people in North staged a demonstration in Vavuniyaa urging the visiting Pope to address their plight with the Sri Lankan State. They joined the visitors to Madu on Wednesday. In the meantime, Sinhala school children were sent with some Sri Lankan flags from North Central Province. Catholic priests talking to TamilNet said both Vatican and Colombo were very keen in maintaining the visit as a religious pilgrimage. The Mannaar Diocese was under pressure not to give any particular space for victims of the conflict seeking justice for their missing kith and kin. Five selected disabled people were individually blessed by Pope Francis at one of the last rituals at Madu on Wednesday. The Sri Lankan military and police were deployed in large numbers making a subtle claim that it was the Sri Lankan government, which was behind all the arrangements. The SL policemen were also marking each visitor entering the Madu Shrine with a unique number tag. Blue uniformed security personnel from Colombo were seen everywhere. SL military intelligence personnel were also seen in blue uniforms. Parliamentarians, chief ministers of Northern and North Central Province, government officials and people belonging to all walks of life were kept at a distance away from the stage where Pope Francis addressed the gathering. The address was translated into Tamil and Sinhala. ‘Sri Lanka’ was cited as ‘Ilangkai’ in the Tamil the Tamil translation. * * * Our Lady of Madu The origin of the icon of Our Lady of Madu, go back to the times of the advent of Catholic Christianity in Mannaar. Contrary to the impression of many, Christianity hasn’t come into Tamil heritage with the advent of the Portuguese. It had come long before, almost at the time of the birth of Christianity in West Asia. It made an impact and survived in the old Tamil society, the descendents of which are the Syrian Christians of Malabar. Also Read: 03.04.2008 The temporal and spiritual conquest of Tamils: Mahinda’s book of dreams * * * Full text of the address by Pope Francis at Madu follows: Dear Brothers and Sisters, We are in our Mother’s house. Here she welcomes us into her home. At this shrine of Our Lady of Madu, every pilgrim can feel at home, for here Mary brings us into the presence of her Son Jesus. Here Sri Lankans, Tamil and Sinhalese alike, come as members of one family. To Mary they commend their joys and sorrows, their hopes and needs. Here, in her home, they feel safe. They know that God is very near; they feel his love; they know his tender mercy. There are families here today which suffered greatly in the long conflict, which tore open the heart of Sri Lanka. Many people, from north and south alike, were killed in the terrible violence and bloodshed of those years. No Sri Lankan can forget the tragic events associated with this very place, or the sad day when the venerable statue of Mary, dating to the arrival of the earliest Christians in Sri Lanka, was taken away from her shrine. But, Our Lady remained always with you. She is the mother of every home, of every wounded family, of all who are seeking to return to a peaceful existence. Today we thank her for protecting the people of Sri Lanka from so many dangers, past and present. Mary never forgot her children on this resplendent island. Just as she never left the side of her Son on the Cross, so she never left the side of her suffering Sri Lankan children. Today we want to thank Our Lady for that presence. In the wake of so much hatred, violence and […]

Resettlement meaningless without guarantee against structural genocide in East

Governments may come and go, but the State of Sri Lanka gets strengthened in its genocidal project whether there is war, peace or talk of ‘change’, comment the resettled women of Mu’raa-oadai village, situated 5 km south of Vaazhaich-cheanai town in Batticaloa district. 400 houses have been destroyed. Two temples are damaged. Almost all the resettled families are women-headed households, poorest of the poor. The women of the village say: “It is only when we have permanent security from future genocide, we can breath the air of freedom.” The SL military has vacated last year from the village. But, a Buddhist statue and a ‘sacred’ Bo tree are still threatening the villagers who are haunted by the mere existence of the symbols of structural genocide. Mu’raa-oadai was completely destroyed after facing a brutal onslaught of genocide between 1985 and 1995. Following the Ceasefire agreement between the Colombo government and the Tamil Tigers in 2002, the village was secured back for civilian resettlement. Even after the Eastern Province was fully seized by the SL military in 2007, the Sri Lankan State continued its genocidal occupation of the village till the last year. 400 houses and two Saiva temples have been destroyed. The Sinhala military has exploited whatever remained in the village. Almost all the families are women-headed households. “What we got during the past years for our so-called resettlement was only 12 sheets for roof and 8 bags of cement to the construction of our houses,” A. Krishnamma, who lost her husband in the war told TamilNet. The ‘resettled’ hut of Mrs Krishnammaa, who is a mother of two Apart from the Buddhist temple and the Bo tree standing as the threatening symbols, the wild elephants brought from the jungles of South into the jungle in the Eastern province enter the village killing people, the villagers say. “There is no potable water. There is no electricity. Dark jungle. But, it is our land. It was where my house was situated. So, I am staying here. We were living here for ages. It was here my mother was living. She was shot and killed by the Muslims. The Indian military that entered into our house shot and killed my husband. Later, we were displaced. For years we were living on the other side close to our village. I came back as I wanted to come to my house in my land. Karuna Ammaan [defected from the LTTE and became a paramilitary with a minister post in the SL government] came with a promise that he would give us a tube well. But, nothing of that sort happened,” Krishnamma says. “Before the destruction, we lived here without flooding. But, now we are also affected by flooding, as the Sri Lankan military which was stationed here had dug out sand from our lands. Most of the houses were heavily flooded. It never happened in this way before,” she complained. “It is said there is a new President elected with the promise of change. Will that happen?,” she questioned. “Our immediate need is potable water, electricity and resumption of livelihood. We will wait and see what happens,” she added. “We left behind all our goods at the house when we were chased out of our village. When lived here, there were five coconut trees. Now, everything is gone. The environment is gone. Our village has become a desert land.” As genocide and structural genocide are in the ideology of the State in Colombo and the Powers that back it, unless there are fundamental changes in people of the land having their State, the decades of the resettlement, rehabilitation experience of Eastern Eezham Tamils is not likely to change, commented social activists having long familiarity with the region. The private land used by the SL military and abandoned last year has been fenced off by the owner of the property at Mu’raa-oadai [DIVIDER] TamilNet: 13.01.15 Resettlement meaningless without guarantee against structural genocide in East

Sri Lanka leader delays cabinet picks

Sri Lanka’s new president on Monday again delayed naming a cabinet as he failed to reach agreement with partners in his wide-ranging coalition over apportioning ministerial portfolios. Maithripala Sirisena originally pledged to form a government on Sunday, but aides said discussions were still under way. Analysts have already warned that Sirisena, who ousted veteran strongman Mahinda Rajapakse in last week’s election, may struggle to satisfy the diverse coalition that backed his campaign. "The cabinet is almost finalised, but there is some tweaking going on to accommodate partners," said an official who asked not to be named. Sirisena on Sunday invited all parties to join his cabinet and spoke to top US diplomat John Kerry, after pledging to mend ties with the West. The US secretary of state said Washington wanted to strengthen its relations with Sri Lanka, which soured under Rajapakse. The president, who needs a majority in the 225-member assembly to push through ambitious reforms, has moved to strengthen his hold on parliament by securing further defections from Rajapakse’s party. He has pledged to reverse many of the constitutional changes made by the former president, who gave himself huge powers over all key institutions, including the judiciary. Rajapakse’s Sri Lanka Freedom Party (SLFP) split on Sunday night when a section of its policy-making central committee broke away and pledged support to Sirisena. Sirisena loyalist Duminda Dissanayake said the SLFP had appointed the new president as party leader, though that was immediately challenged by the Rajapakse camp. The split is a serious setback to Rajapakse’s attempt to retain control of his party, which has already been hit by a large number of defections after former health minister Sirisena broke away late last year. [DIVIDER] He has already led the biggest defection from any government in Sri Lanka since independence from Britain in 1948. Sri Lanka leader delays cabinet picks | Bangkok Post: news

KP and Karuna have to be tried – Fonseka

(Adaderana ) Leader of the Democratic Party (DP) Sarath Fonseka says that former LTTE leaders such as Kumaran Pathmanathan and Vinayagamoorthy Muralitharan would have to face legal action as they were once “hardcore terrorist” and that a probe will be launched into the whereabouts of seized LTTE assets. The former international arms procurer of the Tamil Tigers, Kumaran Pathmanathan or ‘KP’ has been operating an orphanage for children affected by the war in Kilinochchi under the custody of the army personnel. Muralitharan, commonly known as Karuna Amman, was a deputy minister in the former UPFA government. In an interview with Times Of India, the former Army Chief, who is tipped to be appointed as Defence Minister, said that KP and Karuna have to face legal action. “They were hardcore terrorists.” Asked about the assets of LTTE which were seized by the government, Fonseka stated KP had the large part of the money and gold and claimed that was the reason why he has been “spared” by the Rajapaksa government. “Tons and tons of gold have been taken by Rajapaksa family through KP. There will be an inquiry in this regard,” he said. Asked about his responsibility under the new government of President Maithripala Sirisena, the ex-Commander of the Sri Lanka Army said that he would play a major role in the security aspect. “I like to work with the President on the national security. Though I am not a parliamentarian right now I am expecting a political post,” he said. Fonseka further said that he is prepared to face any legitimate inquiry into allegations of human rights during the final stages of the war. “If there is a legitimate inquiry then I am ready to face it since I was doing the ground operations. Rajapaksa was trying to get political mileage by saying I will not allow war heroes to face inquiry and all that. He made many nonsensical statements like this. But he knew only little about the war and what happened in the war field.” Asked about his views on calls for the demilitarization of the Northern region, Fonseka said: “We have to maintain the army there. Not only for internal security, but also in the view of security threat externally.” He stated that the military has been positioned across all parts of the country and that “if people in North say you can’t keep the military in their area then people in South will repeat the same.” On recent reports of Pakistan’s ISI carrying out operations against India from Colombo through their diplomats, he said the new regime will never allow the spy agency ISI to use Lankan soil to mount attacks on southern India. “If it is happening we can’t allow any such kind of terror activities in a country which is a sovereign nation. We will not permit any kind of terror activities.” Following are excerpts of the interview: Q: How do you see the election results? Fonseka: Rajapaksa was politicizing the military, judiciary, police, government administration and everything. There was never good governance at all. His family members were largely involved in the administration. Corruption was very high. All cross sections of people in the country thought he should be sent away from the government. So people have thrown him out from power. Q: What will be your role in the new government? What kind of responsibility do you expect? Fonseka: I will play a major role in the security aspect. I like to work with the President on the national security. Though I am not a parliamentarian right now I am expecting a political post. (Indicating defense ministry) Q: Rajapaksa was looking as an unbeatable leader. When did the opposition started believing he couldn’t be defeated? Fonseka: When I came out the prison in 2012, I made a public statement that we will chase him before 2015. The main opposition parties decided to join together and fight against Rajapaksa. Senior leaders like Chandrika Kumaratuge, Ranil Wikramasinge and I expressed desire for a stronger opposition and Maithripala Sirisena left Rajapaksa. We strongly believed the united opposition can defeat him. The support of Tamil National Alliance and Sri Lanka Muslim Congress was crucial. The minorities played a very important role. Q: There have been reports that the international community helped the formation of united opposition against Rajapaksa. Is that so? Fonseka: Nobody from the international community gave me directions or encouraged me. We did it on our own. If international community really wanted to end Rajapaksa’s government then they would have done it even before since this man antagonized many countries. He was only friendly with China and ignored the rest of the world. His relationships with other countries were not correct. His foreign policy was not correct. There were no human rights in the country during his regime. Q: You are talking about human rights. But many international organizations including UN want internal probe on war crimes in Sri Lanka. Will the new government cooperate for the probe? Fonseka: We have not signed any agreement with any country for any probe. If there are any allegations of human rights violations or war crimes then the rest of the international community will be interested to probe. We can’t accommodate everyone. We can’t permit everyone. But our military court would conduct inquiries. Whenever there was mass killing our military did inquire into it. The government can take action against the military. Q: But there were thousands of innocent people killed during the war. When forums like the UN demanded a probe why were you hesitating to face it if there were no violations? Fonseka: If there is a legitimate inquiry then as a member of the country we have to face it. As far as the military is concerned I have to face it. If there is a legitimate inquiry then I am ready to face it since I was doing the ground operations. Rajapaksa was trying to get political mileage by saying I will […]

Ananthy urges Pope to see genocide, get answers from local, international players

As Pope Francis is scheduled to visit the island from Tuesday to Thursday, NPC Councillor Ms Ananthy Sasitharan, urged him to grasp the underlying factor of the conflict in the island, i.e. genocide and sought his help in getting answers from the government in Colombo and the international players, including the UN, the Co-chairs and India. “I hope Your Holiness is aware that there is an ideology behind the genocidal process,” she wrote in a letter addressed to the Pope on Saturday. She was citing a key case of Fr Francis Joseph towards the end of the war in perceiving the dimensions and said: “The Catholic Church, having witnesses among the people, has a moral duty to safeguard the people from the protracted crime of genocide.” “During your visit, the Sri Lankan political leaders, including the newly sworn-in President Maithiripala Sirisena, who was the deputy defence minister during the genocidal onslaught when Fr Francis Joseph was taken away by his military, will be fighting for the opportunity to kiss your hand and get your blessings. Just as his predecessor Mahinda Rajapksa, who invited you to the island amidst his election plan, the political leaders and their military commanders of the Colombo government are seeking to protect themselves and their system from its crime of genocide,” Ms Ananthy said in her letter. “Tamils are not a minority in our own traditional homeland, which is subjected to systematic Sinhala Buddhist colonisation with a genocidal motive,” Ananthy further said in her letter adding that “transforming Tamils into their [Sinhala State’s] ‘minorities’ was their first step in the genocide.” Meanwhile, following the presidential victory of Mr Maithiripala Sirisena, officially supported by the TNA, the NPC Chief Minister C.V. Wigneswaran in a statement on Friday, harping on the usage ‘minorities’ and without any mention to the genocide or war-crimes investigation, was pinning hopes on the new government in Colombo. Full text of Ananthy’s letter to Pope follows: PDF: Letter to Pope by Ananthy Sasitharan His Holiness Pope Francis Vatican City State, 00120 Your Holiness, We are grateful to God to witness the hope you would be bringing to the conflict-stricken people in Northern Province during your visit to Madu shrine in the island of Sri Lanka. I am Mrs. Ananthy Sasitharan, an elected member of Northern Provincial Council in the island. I am working for the people who lost their family members in the last phase of the genocidal war waged on Tamil people in the North-East. We have been tracing the whereabouts of many of the cases that are being regarded in the records as ‘missing persons’. I have sought justice through approaching the Sri Lankan government appointed LLRC commission, Presidential Commission, both of which only ended up as eyewash measures to save the Colombo government from international scrutiny. At the LLRC sittings in Mannar, the Bishop of Mannar, Rev Dr Rajappu Joseph, boldly established the fact that a total of 146,679 people had gone unaccounted for in the final stage of the war in 2008 and 2009. I also approached all possible international avenues that were created when the UN committees analysing the UN failure and the latest OHCHR Investigation on Sri Lanka created through the UN Human Rights Council (UNHRC) process in Geneva. With a special mandate from the Northern Provincial Council in March 2014, I raised the awareness of UN Human Rights Council by addressing the 25th session in March 2014 four times. However, we are yet to receive any proper response from the Sri Lankan government authorities. Five years have elapsed since we last saw our family members and relatives, who were handed over to the Sri Lanka Army (SLA) in front of our eyes, with the facilitation offered by Rev Fr Francis Joseph, our beloved priest who came to help the people at a critical juncture. We placed our hope in Fr Francis Joseph as he was a witness attached to the Church. During the last days of the genocidal war, on 17 May, 2009, we passed into Vadduvakal in Mullaithivu and reached a place called Selvapuram, an area that had been already seized by the SLA. On the following day, the SLA announced through megaphones that they will provide amnesty if those who were attached to the LTTE earlier surrendered themselves. Hence, former Principal of St. Patrick’s school, and principal of Kilinochchi English school, Rev. Francis Joseph, took our family members to surrender to the SLA as requested by the family members. There were many women, pregnant mothers, and children who were part of this organized surrender. There were not only former combatants, but humanitarian workers, rights activists and officials involved in the civil services of the de-facto administration run by the LTTE. Their family members were also among those surrendered. Still, we are not told the whereabouts of our kith and kin, who were taken in military buses to undisclosed locations on that fateful day. As you are aware Rev. Fr. Francis Joseph also went with them and never returned. As a member of the Northern Provincial Council and as one of the affected victims, I urge Your Holiness to reach out for us in demanding a clear answer from the Sri Lankan Government and its military on what had happened to Rev Fr Francis Joseph, the hundreds of our family members and relatives who were taken into SLA custody on 18 May, 2009. The officers of the United Nations were involved in suggesting the surrender providing assurances that the security of those surrendered would be looked after by the UN agencies. Likewise, the Co-Chair Countries of Tokyo Donor Conference on the peace process, which were the USA, the European Union, Norway and Japan, were also advising the Tamils to go into the SL military controlled territory. Indian government was also telling the same. Your Holiness, all these countries are also responsible to give us an answer. I am personally imploring Your Holiness to help my three daughters and myself to establish the whereabouts of my […]

Sri Lanka votes out Rajapaksa – Channel 4 News

Sri Lanka’s Mahinda Rajapaksa, a man accused of presiding over multiple war crimes, has lost his bid for a third term as Sri Lanka’s president. Mr Rajapaksa conceded defeat to Maithripala Sirisena, his one time close ally, on Friday morning and is reported to have promised a smooth transition of power. Seen by many as a hero after his government crushed terror group the LTTE at the end of Sri Lanka’s civil war, Mr Rajapaksa had confidently called the election two years early. However, he had not counted on Mr Sirisena to defect to Sri Lanka’s opposition – a move which united opposition parties against Rajapaksa and rallied parts of the population against perceived nepotism and corruption. Rajapaksa had held power since 2005, and in 2009 oversaw the defeat of the LTTE, also known as the Tamil Tigers. The Tamil Tigers were a brutal terrorist group who employed child soldiers and pioneered the use of suicide bombers. In that victory, and shown in footage first aired by Channel 4 News, the army is accused of shelling and bombing civilians and other atrocities. The UN has estimated that 40,000 civilians died in the final weeks of the war. Since then there have been continuing allegations of human rights abuses against the Rajapaksa government such as enforced disappearances. However, it was not the government’s human rights record – which is being investigated by the UN – that is the main reason for Rajapaksa’s defeat. The main plank of Mr Sirisena’s (pictured, above) election campaign was an end to corruption and nepotism in the government. He had vowed to remove the Rajapaksa family from office – Rajapaksa and his three brothers all hold positions in government and it is thought his son was being groomed for power. Rajapaksa had altered Sri Lanka’s constitution, allowing him to be elected to a third term and keeping him immune from prosecution – a move that new President Sirisena has vowed to reverse. Tamil vote The close run election saw Mr Rajapaksa maintain his popularity with the country’s majority Sinhala population but lose out to a wave of support for his opponent from minority groups, especially the oppressed Tamil population focused on the country’s north. Mr Sirisena was declared the victor after securing 51.3 per cent of the vote, compared with 47.0 per cent for Mr Rajapaksa. Tamil voters, many of whom had declined to vote in the previous election because of no viable candidate, turned out in high numbers to vote Mr Rajapaksa out. However, Mr Sirisena is not predicted to bring any great changes to improve the lives of Tamils. He, like his defeated opponent, rejects the UN investigation into war crimes allegations, has pledged that senior commanders accused of such war crimes will not face legal action, and will not reduce the military presence in northern Sri Lanka. He was also acting defence minister at the end of Sri Lanka’s civil war. US Secretary of State John Kerry was quick to welcome the successful election and commended Rajapaksa for accepting the verdict of the nation’s 15 million voters. "I look forward to working with President-elect Maithripala Sirisena as his new government works to implement its campaign platform of a Sri Lanka that is peaceful, inclusive, democratic, and prosperous," he said in a statement. Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi called Sirisena to congratulate the new leader of "a close friend and neighbour". [DIVIDER] Mr Sirisena is expected to be sworn in at 6pm local time (12:30pm GMT) in Colombo’s Independence Square. Sri Lanka votes out Rajapaksa – Channel 4 News

Modi congratulates Sirisena for election as Lanka President

(PTI) Reaching out to President-elect of Sri Lanka Maithripala Sirisena, Prime Minister Narendra Modi today congratulated him on his electoral victory and said he looked forward to working with him to take the bilateral ties to a new level. Modi first called up Sirisena and then wrote a letter to him, hailing his win and expressing India’s continued solidarity to Sri Lanka’s peace and development. "I spoke to Shri Maithripala Sirisena and congratulated him. [DIVIDER] fullstory