transcurrents.com

by Tisaranee Gunasekara “Crime is contagious”. Louis Brandeis (Dissenting opinion in Olmstead vs. United States) It was a shock, though not an unexpected one. Last week Sri Lanka lost her first hedging case, to the Standard Chartered Bank.

by Mahinda Rajapaksa This is the text of President Mahinda Rajapaksa’s speech at the annual prize giving of St.Thomas’College Mt.Lavinia where he and Mrs. Shiranthi Rajapaksa were the chief guests Your Grace Diloraj Canagasabey, Bishop of Colombo, Members of the Board of Governors, Warden Reverend John Puddefoot, Members of the Staff, Students, Parents, Old Boys, [...]

by B.S. Raghavan The inclusion of Chennai as the only place outside New Delhi in the itinerary of her forthcoming visit to India on July 19-20 by the US Secretary of State, Ms Hillary Clinton, has come as a welcome surprise. I can lay a wager that this has been on the initiative from the [...]

by Sevanti Ninan The last fortnight has been a fresh learning in why media morality and media power have become progressively incompatible. It has seen a reinvoking of the Citizen Kane fable. Two media scandals unfolded in different parts of the world — here a Minister resigned after the Central Bureau of Investigation said they [...]

ICC President’s Message – Day of International Criminal Justice As the President of the International Criminal Court (ICC), I am proud to celebrate the Day of International Criminal Justice on 17 July 2011. Thirteen years ago, the international community came together at a historic conference in Rome to adopt the Rome Statute of the ICC.

Statement by Ministry of External Affairs New Delhi, July 15, 2011 In response to a question on the Channel 4 Documentary entitled “Sri Lanka’s Killing Fields”, the Official Spokesperson said:

By Rajavarothayam Sampanthan The following is the full text of the speech made in Parliament on July 5th 2011 by Tamil National Alliance leader and Trincomalee district MP Rajavarothayam Sampanthan in support of the urgent adjournment motion moved by him. (The Hon. R. Sampanthan) Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I am sorry some precious time has [...]

By Col. R. Hariharan I have received a number of mails asking for my comments on the Channel 4 video Killing Fields on alleged war crimes committed by Sri Lankan Army, particularly after I participated in a panel discussion on the subject in the Headlines Today TV channel recently. I am giving my views and [...]

by D.B.S. Jeyaraj President Rajapaksa will spearhead huge propaganda effort to enable good performance by UPFA at forthcoming local authority polls in North. The president will spend at least 3 days in Kilinochchi & Jaffna districts this week & invigorate the United Peoples Freedom Alliance campaign [click here to read full, on ~ dbsjeyaraj.com]

By Paikiasothy Saravavanamuttu There is to be another parliamentary select committee to find a political settlement of the ethnic conflict. The simple question is why, given that there have been many committees, all party ones, the famous Mangala Moonesinghe Committee way back when and the more recent APRC. All labored and reported and that was [...]

amnesty.org.nz Prime Minister John Key’s comments on the acceptance of asylum seekers represent a deeply concerning lack of compassion for some of the world’s most vulnerable people and ignores the violent and terrifying situations these people are fleeing says Amnesty International. “By making a blanket statement that asylum seekers are not welcome in New Zealand, [...]

by D.B.S. Jeyaraj EPDP cum military intelligence suspected of perpetrating series of “attacks” to terrorize TNA candidates in Jaffna local authority polls. Proliferation of “low-level” incidents targeting individual candidate residences during night aimed at instilling fear into TNA, party says. Tamil National Alliance wants foreign monitors appointed for the forthcoming elections due to “terror” campaign [...]

by Mangala Samaraweera Mr. chairperson, Hon. Speakers, fellow Parliamentarians, distinguished delegates, ladies and gentleman, In the latter part of the 20th century, there was a “fashionable” school of political thought prevalent in some sections of our societies, which argued that democracy is not conducive for economic progress in developing countries.

via DBSJeyaraj.com Hello Friends, Although the war against the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam(LTTE) ended in May 2009 many of the problems and issues concerning the Tamil speaking people of the Northern and Eastern Provinces are yet to be resolved. The war itself was the result of the unsolved ethnic crisis or the Tamil national [...]

R.SAMPANTHAN, 5TH July 2011, MEMBER OF PARLIAMENT, TRINCOMALEEParliamentary Group Leader – Illankai Tamil Arasu Kadchi-I.T.A.K, Tamil National Alliance-T.N.A Hon Speaker Adjournment Motion, Parliament I hereby give notice that I shall after question time on the adjournment of Parliament on Thursday the 7th July 2011 move the following motion as a matter of urgent public importance.

By Namini Wijedasa Diverse government positions on footage of an alleged summary battlefield execution have befuddled even devout followers of this continuing saga. Officials had insisted for months that the video clip first aired in August 2009 by UK’s Channel 4 was ‘fake.’ But they now say they are in possession of the original’ clip [...]

By Yohan Perera Opposition Leader Ranil Wickremesinghe said yesterday that the entire population would suffer if the international community, which accuses Sri Lanka of war crimes, imposed sanctions; and that that was the reason the UNP was ready to support the government’s efforts to avoid such an eventuality. Mr. Wickremesinghe made this point at a [...]

by Prof.Carlo Fonseka Mainly because of the extreme commercialization and politicization of cricket, the passion with which I watched our national team in action had gradually cooled during the recent past. So I sat down yawning to watch the last few overs of the 3rd ODI between our boys and England, simply because I hadn’t [...]

The military onslaught being carried out by Sudan in Nuba Mountains in the midst of the birth of South Sudan has been compared to ‘Killing Fields’ in Sri Lanka by its director Callum MacRae via his twitter feed. In a tweet to UN Ambassador of United States Susan Rice, Callum MacRae said: ‘Important parallels between [...]

By Tisaranee Gunasekara “Even if your people die of hunger We’ll elect you for life…. We don’t have opinions We have your light blinding our eyes…” – The Strong Heroes of Moscow (For the Assad Nation) Imagine a man with no medical qualifications or training becoming the ‘official physician’ of the president of a country. [...]

On Thursday July 8th, Indian Television Channel ‘Headlines Today’ aired the Channel 4 Documentary ‘Killing Fields’ followed by a discussion with live audience in its current affairs segment – ‘Centre Stage’. Guest panelists on the ‘Centre Stage’ included Sri Lanka Army Spokesman Major General Ubhaya Medawala, Col. R. Hariharan – retired Military Intelligence specialist on [...]

by D.B.S. Jeyaraj Former Sri Lankan Cricket captain Kumar Sangakkara wont be penalised for allegedly “controversial” statements made in his MCC lecture at Lords. Sangakkara was the 1st SriLankan to deliver the prestigious 11th MCC spirit of Cricket Cowdrey lecture at Lords in Britain on July4th 2011. [click here to read in full, on ~ [...]

by G. Parathasarathy When the Tamil Nadu Chief Minister, Ms J Jayalalithaa, paid her first visit to New Delhi after assuming office, she forcefully articulated her concerns on Sri Lanka. Two issues concerning Sri Lankan Tamils evoke passions in Tamil Nadu. The first is the firm belief that after the LTTE was eliminated in 2009, [...]

In a press statement issued following the APPGT/GTF parliamentary reception this week Chairman for the British All party parliamentary Group for Tamils , Lee Scott MP,said “the event was a great success, attended by over 40 Members of Parliament including Government Ministers, Shadow Ministers, Lords, representatives of NGOs and High Commissions”.

by D.B.S. Jeyaraj South Sudan gains formal Independence on July 9th 2011&emerges as Africas 54th country.It will be in due course the 193rd member of the UNO. The new state is likely to be called Republic of South Sudan. The flag has a yellow star in a blue triangle on stripes of black,red & green. [...]

Full Text of Resolution Via Parliament of Australia SJ No 41 – 7 July 2011 The Leader of the Australian Greens (Senator Bob Brown) amended general business notice of motion no. 323 by leave and, pursuant to notice of motion not objected to as a formal motion, moved—That the Senate:

Press Statement A packed reception in the British Parliament on July 5th highlighted the level of support amongst parliamentarians and key decision-makers for truth, accountability and justice in Sri Lanka. Hosted by Hon. Lee Scott MP and Hon. Siobhain McDonagh MP, Chair and Vice-Chair of the All Party Parliamentary Group for Tamils (APPG – T), [...]

by M.S.Shah Jahan This is a fight between David and Goliath. I mean between a servant and a wealthy millionaire with a billionaire wife, heiress to a huge family fortune, and who can afford to hire a hotel room for $3,000 a night whereas the servant, a woman who has to toil breaking her back [...]

Returnees struggle in post-war zone THUNUKKAI, 5 July 2011 (IRIN) – More than two years after Sri Lanka’s decades-long civil war officially ended, returnees to remote villages face tough times and uncertain futures, despite governmental and international efforts at reconstruction. “Everything that we had earned in 50 years, we lost in months,” Supiah Arumugam, 52, [...]

Hon. Minister of National Languages, MP Vasudeva Nanayakkara’s visit to Paris for the distribution of text books to the Sri Lankan associations Sri Lanka’s Minister of National Languages, MP Vasudeva Nanayakkara paid a visit to the Sri Lankan Embassy in Paris today, 5th July 2011. Minister Nanayakkara handed over both Sinhala and Tamil text books [...]

Mr President, my Lords, Ladies and gentlemen. Firstly I wish to sincerely thank the MCC for giving me the opportunity and great honour of delivering the 2011 Cowdrey Lecture. I was in India after the World Cup when my manager called to pass on the message that CMJ was trying to get in touch with [...]

Prof Rajiva Wijesinha, Adviser on Reconciliation to the President, responds on BBC Hard Talk Via srilankahighcommission.co.uk Prof Rajiva Wijesinha, Adviser on Reconciliation to the President, responds on Hard Talk to hard questions about Sri Lanka. In a wide-ranging interview with Stephen Sackur, Prof Wijesinha deals with questions about Sri Lanka raised by recent interventions by [...]

by D.B.S. Jeyaraj Pressure exerted by Indian Govt on Sri Lankan Govt resulted in the immediate release of 14Tamil Nadu fishermen arrested by Sri Lanka navy. More than 100 Indian fishermen in 40 boats from Danushkodi in Tamil Nadu were fishing in Sri Lankan territorial waters on Monday July 4th. SL navy in 2 ships [...]

by Rajani Iqbal A recently published book – Invisible, Forgotten Sufferers: The Plight of Widows Around the World – reveals that there are an estimated 245 million widows worldwide, 115 million of whom live in poverty and suffer from social stigmatisation and economic deprivation purely because they have lost their husbands. Following a proposal introduced [...]

by David Hopps Kumar Sangakkara has chosen the MCC Spirit of Cricket lecture to launch a scathing attack on the endless political power-struggles that bedevil Sri Lanka Cricket and to reflect upon the heavy responsibilities on Sri Lankan cricketers to promote reconciliation after the end of the civil war that blighted the country. Sangakkara, in [...]

MCC Spirit of Cricket Cowdrey Lecture Kumar Sangakkara has delivered the 11th MCC Spirit of Cricket Cowdrey Lecture at Lord’s on Monday 4 July 2011. The MCC Spirit of Cricket Cowdrey Lecture was inaugurated in 2001 in memory of the late Lord Cowdrey of Tonbridge, a past President of MCC, who – together with another [...]

by D.B.S. Jeyaraj Global Tamil Forum(GTF)is taking steps to mobilise International opinion against Sri Lanka over alleged war crimes & crimes against humanity. The GTF together with Britain’s All Party Parliamentary Group for Tamils (APPGT) will co -host a parliamentary reception on Tuesday July5th. The political meeting cum reception co-hosted by the GTF & APPGT [...]

by D.B.S. Jeyaraj Tamil para-military group aligned to Sri Lankan Govt is suspected of staging heist at bank at the outskirts of Batticaloa town on June30th. 5 men armed with T-56 guns staged a robbery at the Peoples Bank branch on Dairy farm road at Thimilatheevu on the west of Batticaloa town. [click here to [...]

The May 2011 Joint Humanitarian and Early Recovery Update released on June 24th by United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA) states, that a total of approximately 220,000 persons are still displaced in the ‘former conflict regions’. The highlights of the report as follows:

By Tisaranee Gunasekara “….the shadow of a saviour can turn into a fiendish destroyer”. Jung (Psychology and Literature) It is a historical phenomenon common to both the East and the West – aristocratic wastrels selling their acreage to sustain their ostentatious life styles.

The Rajapaksa Siblings defeated the Tiger, partly by thinking and acting like the Tiger. That habit has stayed with them, post-war. By Tisaranee Gunasekara “Whoever says he’s 100% right is a fanatic, a thug, and the worst kind of rascal.” – Czeslaw Milosz (The Captive Mind) Hosni Mubarak, Muammar Gaddafi, Vellupillai Pirapaharan, Saddam Hussein and [...]

by Dr. Vickramabahu Karunaratne Many economists believe that the greatest depression in human history is still in its beginning stages. What the media and many officials often refer to as the left over from the global financial crisis is in fact the end of the beginning.

By Namini Wijedasa President Mahinda Rajapaksa last week categorically told newspaper editors that a law to protect the people’s right to information was unnecessary. He said instead that he could ensure access to information excluding what was covered by the Official Secrecy Act and national security.

BBC Sandeshaya Sri Lanka army say that they are investigating into a video that was telecast by a private television channel believed as the unaltered video used to create the Channel 4 documentary on Sri Lanka. Army Spokesman Major General Ubaya Madawela told BBC Sandesshaya that they have received a copy of the video which [...]

Presented by Kerry O’Brien, “Sri Lanka’s Killing Fields” goes to air on Monday 4th July at 8.30pm on ABC1. It is repeated on Tuesday 5th July at 11.35pm. It can also be seen at 8.00pm on Saturdays on ABC News 24. It is also available on ABC iview

It took years of relentless integrity before Gandhi was trusted completely by his own people and finally by the world. He won this trust not only by his complete honesty in thought and action, but also by a unique frankness by Pearl S. Buck Inevitably, leaders appear in our violent modern world, leaders self-appointed or [...]

by Nirmala Chandrahasan LL.B, LL.M, Ph.d, Attorney –at -Law The on-going debate as to whether it should be 13th Amendment ,13 Amendment plus or no 13th Amendment, seems misplaced considering that it has been a part of the Constitution since 1987 and that under the 13th Amendment together with the Provincial Councils Act no 42 [...]

by S. Ratnajeevan H. Hoole Naro Udeshi Commemoration Lecture, Mahatma Gandhi Centre, Colombo, June 30, 2011 Chairman Sir, Members of the Naro Udeshi family, Nirupama my old friend from her days as the Hindu’s Colombo correspondent, distinguished ladies and gentlemen: Good evening. I am pleased to be here and honored by the invitation to speak [...]

By D.B.S. Jeyaraj Hello Friends Recently I responded somewhat passionately and emotionally to a comment posed by a reader on my blog. My response had something to with my worry and concern about the tragic plight of Tamils in Sri Lanka. Many readers have informed me that they were indeed touched by my response. They [...]

by Elaine Pearson The Sri Lankan government continues its diplomatic offensive, denying and dismissing the growing evidence of war crimes during the final bloody battles between the Sri Lankan armed forces and the separatist Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE) that ended in May 2009. Last week, at a panel presentation of the Channel 4 [...]

In his interaction with editors on Wednesday, June 29th, Prime Minister Manmohan Singh painted a generally challenging picture for India in the international arena and appealed for cohesiveness in the polity to “swim against the tide.” Of the international issues he touched upon, Dr. Singh provided a reality check on ties with Bangladesh, termed grievances [...]

UN rights chief warns of action in absence of Sri Lanka Lanka probe A child weeps, as family members call for Tamil political prisoners to be freed, June 30, 2011 – via http://twitter.com/dinidu – Protesters in front of Fort station also called for Tamil language legal proceedings for Tamil prisoners Amsterdam based news portal expatica.com [...]

‘The renminbi is allowed in international transactions by several countries, including the US and the UK, however Sri Lanka’s decision to allow the currency highlights its strengthening relationship with China, The Financial Times of London said in a news report today. Financial Times report was in response to the announcement by Sri Lanka’s ‘central bank [...]

‘Honest Friends’ by Alistair Burt MP The events of the past weeks have brought uncomfortable focus onto the last days of the conflict in Sri Lanka. Allegations made in the media have recalled memories of a distressing time in Sri Lanka’s history. Let there be no doubt that for the UK the end of the [...]

Office of the Spokesperson, US State Dept., Question Taken at the June 27, 2011 Daily Press Briefing, Victoria Nuland, Spokesperson Accountability for Alleged Violations of International Human Rights Law Question: What is the U.S. view regarding accountability in Sri Lanka?

by D.B.S. Jeyaraj Artistes from Tamil film industry in India will conduct campaign soon demanding economic sanctions on Sri Lanka & retrieval of Kachchatheevu. The South Indian Film Artistes Association known as “Nadigar Sangam” took this decision after a meeting with the Tamil Nadu chief minister. [click here to read in full, on ~ dbsjeyaraj.com]

by Preeta Samarasan Among some of my oldest relatives, there’s a custom of recording weddings gifts given and received in order to ensure that no family is left feeling cheated.

Statement by Sri Lankan Civil Society Activists 27th June 2011 On 25th June 2011 we marked 500 days since the disappearance of Mr. Pattani Razeek, a Sri Lankan Human Rights Defender, Managing Trustee of the Community Trust Fund (CTF) in Puttalam and Executive Committee Member of the Asian Forum for Human Rights and Development (FORUM-ASIA). [...]

by Dr.Rajiva Wijesinha M.P Starring: David Miliband as Peter Pettigrew Navanethem Pillay as Dolores Umbridge Gareth Evans as Gilderoy Lockhart Jon Snow as Rita Skeeter Alan Keenan as Nagini Joan Ryan as Bellatrix And Ban Ki-Moon as Prof Severus Snape In May 2009 we thought the Terrorist Tigers had been vanquished. Mr Prabhakaran was dead, [...]

by Sanja De Silva Jayatilleka The military plane flew at speed, soaring over the afternoon traffic and suddenly came down in a thrillingly impressive vertical drop to disappear behind the high-rise buildings glistening in the sun. The Paris Air Show was in full swing as we made our way behind the slow moving traffic to [...]

by D.B.S. Jeyaraj Thousands gathered at Marina beach in Tamil Nadu capital Chennai on June 26th to observe candle light vigil for Sri Lankan Tamil war victims. The commemorative event was held on Sunday as June 26th has been declared by the UN as “International day in support of victims of torture”. [Click here to [...]

by Sumanasiri Liyanage Both print and electronic media in Sri Lanka and abroad have reported that the Tamil National Alliance (TNA) party meeting held in Jaffna was attacked by an armed group in uniforms on Thursday 16 June. It was also reported that a number of TNA parliamentarians were present at the meeting when the [...]

by Dayan Jayatilleka “ Revolution is not a dinner party, not an essay, nor a painting, nor a piece of embroidery; it cannot be advanced softly, gradually, carefully, considerately, respectfully, politely, plainly and modestly”. – Mao Ze Dong The matter is rather simple really. What do you do, or more correctly, what does a state [...]

by D.B.S. Jeyaraj Ex-LTTE Chief Selvarasa Pathmanathan alias “KP” gets home for Orphans named “Anbu Illam” (Abode of Love) opened at Muthaiyankattu through NERDO. “Anbu Illam”will be managed by staff attached to North-East Rehabilitation &Development Organization(NERDO). KP is General-Secretary of NERDO. The orphanage is situated at Muthaiyankattu village in the Oddusuddan AGA division of Mullaitheevu [...]

by Satarupa Bhattacharjya “Are you still afraid to kill a terrorist?” asks a man, most likely a soldier, in Sinhala to the one standing next to him, with his gun pointed at three blindfolded people, their hands bound, naked and kneeling on the ground. Gunshots are heard, the three prisoners flop to the ground, their [...]

Statement by the Commonwealth Secretary-General’s Spokesperson on Sri Lanka The Commonwealth membership is united in its longstanding commitment to human dignity, equality, human rights, and the rule of law – to which access to justice and an independent judiciary are fundamental. Commonwealth Heads of Government have as recently as November 2009 solemnly reiterated their commitment [...]

by Tisaranee Gunasekara “Whoever would overthrow the liberty of a nation must begin by subduing the freeness of speech”. Benjamin Franklin, Dogwood Papers Why would a supposedly democratic government reject a freedom of information bill? Why do the Rajapaksas want to prevent the Lankan people from discovering the real state of the nation? Last week [...]

An Interview with UN Rapporteur Christof Heyns by Namini Wijedasa QUESTION: The Channel 4 documentary calls on viewers to make many inferences regarding the footage used. It suggests, for instance, that women were raped although it is not possible to determine from the bodies whether sexual abuse had in fact occurred. Never once did footage [...]

by Dr Vikramabahu Karunaratne Sinhala heroes are on the run. The Goliath who protected them from the international enemies has turned against them. Delhi leaders, who gave orders to annihilate the Tamil insurrection and to bring the head of Prabhakaran to their feet, now want to pacify the Tamil bourgeoisie. The internationalization of the Tamil [...]

by Ban Ki-moon UN Secretary-General’s Message for 2011, On the International Day in Support of Victims of Torture, June 26 Torture is a brutal attempt to destroy a person’s sense of dignity and sense of human worth. It acts also as a weapon of war, spreading terror beyond its direct victims to communities and societies. [...]

BY Tisaranee Gunasekara “This disposition to admire, and almost worship, the rich and the powerful, and to despise, or at least, to neglect, persons of poor and mean condition…is the great and most universal cause of corruption of our moral sentiments.” – Adam Smith (The Theory of Moral Sentiments) Bucket-lavatories are unheard of today. Yet [...]

by Sutirtho Patranobis President Mahinda Rajapaksa could have expectedly felt reassured last week after meeting friends, Presidents Hu Jintao and Dmitri Medvedev, at an economic forum in St.Petersburg, Russia. No one can blame Rajapaksa for feeling a little hot lately under the collar of his starched white shirt and customary red stole.

by National Peace Council The physical attack of those attending a TNA election meeting in Jaffna ahead of local government elections to be held on July 23 has attracted considerable criticism and condemnation. Government spokespersons have argued that the meeting was unauthorized.

by Shanie “This is a time of reflection for the Tamil community; a time for refashioning its politics. Even though the Tamil nationalist vision for a separate state met with a decisive military defeat in 2009, the politico-military decline of the LTTE had begun far earlier, with the convergence of multifarious set of political developments, [...]

The Sri Lankan government has vehemently denied any civilians were ever killed during its final offensive against the Tigers. The Government has claimed that it has embarked upon several initiatives in the areas of resettlement, rehabilitation, economic development, reconstruction and reconciliation to benefit those whose lives were affected by 30 years of conflict.

Although the Sri Lankans often use the word “human shields” in respect of the LTTE, the UNSG’s panel has rejected this assertion By Dushy Ranetunge in London The screening of the Ch4 documentary Sri Lanka’s killing fields In NY has given the opportunity for Sri Lanka’s permanent Representative to the UN, Dr Palitha Kohona and [...]

by D.B.S. Jeyaraj “Sinhalaisation” of North continues. Tamil village in Vavuniya district re-settled with Sinhalese without knowledge of district administration. Kokkachchaankulam is a Tamil village in Vedivaithakallu GS div under Nedunkerny divisional secretary in the Vavuniya North Piradesha sabhai. Kokkachchaankulam can be reached via Semamadu, Oothukulam & Ariyakundam. Nedunkerny can be reached from Kokkachchaankulam via [...]

By International Crisis Group India has long been the country with the greatest influence over Sri Lanka but its policies to encourage the government there towards a sustainable peace are not working. Despite India’s active engagement and unprecedented financial assistance, the Sri Lankan government has failed to make progress on pressing post-war challenges.

by D.B.S. Jeyaraj Plans are afoot to “scapegoat” & penalise the Police Bodyguards who defended Tamil National Alliance MP’s in the June 16 Alaveddy army attack. Instead of being commended for doing their duty courageously these brave Policemen attached to Ministerial security division are now blamed. Powerful people in the defence establishment seem to be [...]

by Eric Ellis WHEN governments kill the people they are mandated to protect and help prosper, what is the world’s tipping point for outrage? How horrific must despotism be to compel the ”international community” to pursue and prosecute national leaders whose regimes commit war crimes?

By Kalana Senaratne ‘Killing fields’ can be a phrase used to describe a most mundane fact known to humanity, or it could be a most provocative phrase to an ethnic majority or minority group. When viewed from the standpoint of a human being, one need not try hard to realize that the moment one factors [...]

Teaching a new lesson or two by Sutirtho Patranobis We know about the seminar that the army proudly held on how to tackle terrorism without getting their soft, saintly hands bloodied. Three days of lessons and lectures to fellow army men from other countries about smoothly carrying out humanitarian operations, hostage rescue missions and all [...]

by R.K. Radhakrishnan Despite a sustained campaign against Sri Lanka aided and abetted by some nations, the country did not stand isolated — this was the message sent out from the St. Petersberg Economic Forum, said Sri Lankan Foreign Minister G.L. Peiris here on Tuesday.

by J.C. (Jim) Kennedy Kingston Last Tuesday, Channel 4 TV (Britain) aired a documentary entitled “The Killing Fields of Sri Lanka.” This morning I ran a Google search on that title and found approximately 908,000 hits. I strongly suggest caution in viewing this material. As a physician in a cancer clinic, I have been well [...]

by Andy Bull Disgrace. What a tediously familiar word; stripped of significance by its overuse, shorn of force by its frequent repetition. Read it again. Roll it around your tongue. Feel its heat and taste its weight, because I am about to use it and I do not want to do so lightly.

by Dr. Dayan Jayatilleka 12th Death Anniversary (June 22) “The Bandung conference…symbolized the climax of the anti-imperialist movement in espousing ideals that were greater than the nation.” (Prasenjit Duara, ‘The Global and Regional in China’s Nation-Formation’, Routledge 2009, p.61) In his controversial book ‘The Cage’, the best known anti-Sri Lanka publicist, former UN spokesperson Gordon [...]

By José Luis Díaz Head of Amnesty International’s United Nations Office As we prepared for the screening today of the Channel 4 film, “Sri Lanka’s Killing Fields” at Amnesty International’s United Nations office in New York, our main worry was the size of the turnout. We had already seen the cancellation of a separate screening [...]

By National Peace Council Media Release The recent video clip released by Channel 4 in the United Kingdom titled “Sri Lanka’s Killing Fields” alleges video evidence of civilian casualties and battlefield executions during the final phase of the military conflict which came to a conclusion in 2009.

There is paranoia in Sri Lanka of an international conspiracy against it. What seems prevalent is not a conspiracy, but serious cultural/behavioral issues by Dushy Ranetunge Traitors in our Midst The Sri Lankan security forces are without doubt, one of the best fighting forces in the World. At the height of the conflict, an officer [...]

by Amarnath Amarasingam As my doctoral dissertation deals with Sri Lankan Tamil activism in Canada, I was asked by a few people why I had not yet weighed in on the recent Channel 4 documentary, Sri Lanka’s Killing Fields, which in conjunction with the United Nations Report released in March, provides a devastating account of [...]

by David Miliband and Bernard Kouchner In April 2009, we travelled together as foreign ministers to Sri Lanka, as 25 years of fighting between the Sri Lankan government and the Tamil Tigers neared its end. The remaining fighters were trapped in the northern most part of the country — along with large numbers of civilians. [...]

by Prof. Michael Roberts The war crimes accusations levelled against the Sri Lankan government at the moment are driven by a complex coalition of forces. Though the principal engines are Tamil migrants in the Western world bent on vengeance, there are Western people of righteousness in the vanguard as well. Such a man is Gordon [...]

By Dr. Subramanian Swamy It is now clear that the corrupt cotarie that operates out of 10, Janpath, New Delhi has lost all hope on Dr. Manmohan Singh performing for them in the coming months as the 2G Spectrum Scam unravels and the list of accused lengthens with additions from the Congress Party.

by D.B.S. Jeyaraj Actress turned politician Jayalalithaa Jayaram’s triumphant return to the seat of power in the South Indian state of Tamil Nadu has added a vibrant dimension to the “Intermestic” relationship between India and Sri Lanka. Jayalalithaa elected as chief minister of Tamil Nadu for the third time has in her current “avatar” seemingly [...]

At the conclusion of their three-day policy convention in Vancouver British Columbia, the New Democratic Party passed a resolution calling on the United Nations to establish a independent, international and impartial mechanism to ensure truth, accountability and justice in Sri Lanka. Leader of the Opposition, Jack Layton MP on Jun 17, 2011 – At the [...]

by Tisaranee Gunasekara “……premonitions of the crimes to be perpetrated” Czeslaw Milosz (quoted in the Dublin Review of Books – 17.3.2011) Last week, the Rajapaksa regime took one more giant leap back into the past. A peaceful pre-election meeting organised by the TNA in Jaffna was attacked by the army. As the news trickled out, [...]

By Shamindra Ferdinando Defence Secretary Gotabhaya Rajapaksa alleges that a section of the Tamil National Alliance (TNA) is all out to sabotage an effort by TNA leader MP R. Sampanthan to normalise relations between his party and the government. The Defence Secretary Rajapaksa, yesterday, in an interview with The Island, said that he had received [...]