Salem-News.com Sri Lanka articles

The Arrest, Detention and Torture of Tamils in Post-War Sri Lanka

In the wake of the bloody civil war, the victors have more than taken the spoils of a defeated culture.

(COLOMBO GroundViews) - There is an alarming trend in the Sri Lankan security forces operation, of arresting the family members of suspects and keeping them as hostages in detention camps.

Irrespective of their age, gender and connection to those suspects, the family members are kept under arrest/ detention most notably in the infamous 4th/ 2nd floors in Fort and in Boosa Detention camp under the control of TID. Presently there are several females in Boosa.

Sri Lanka: Terrorism Label on Peaceful Advocacy for Independent State is a Denial of Freedom of Speech TGTE

Giving meaning to the measures the TGTE is taking forward at this critical hour will be a sacred and appropriate tribute to the Tamils who perished in Mullivaikaal.

(NEW YORK) - Transnational Government of Tamil Eelam (TGTE)’s Parliament & Cabinet have taken decisions to respond to Sri Lanka's listing of Tamil groups as terrorists.

TGTE will argue its clear position that labeling the peaceful advocacy for an independent and sovereign state of Tamil Eelam, which is based on the remedial right to self-determination, as terrorism is a denial of the freedom of speech.

Post UNHRC Resolution and the Banning of Diaspora Organisations

“The LTTE no longer exists,” said Fred Carver, campaign director at the Sri Lanka Campaign for Peace and Justice. “The Government of Sri Lanka's attempts to pretend otherwise are part of their attempts to stifle domestic dissent and isolate activists.”

(MELBOURNE) - US Ambassador Sison J. Michele remarked to the Foreign Correspondents Association on April 3, 2014, that although the recently passed resolution on Sri Lanka at the Geneva session wanted to investigate incidents between 2002 and 2009...

"an independent and credible investigation into all actions, by all parties, for the entire period of the conflict would be good for Sri Lanka".

Statement from GTAJ (Global Tamil Association of Journalists)

"Currently there are very few credible journalistic associations, and with the many Tamil websites emerging with the development of technology there was a need to have a consistent approach to media coverage across the World Wide Web..." - Secretary of GTAJ Mr K.Kannan

(LONDON) - The World Tamil Web Conference 2014 (WTWC 2014) took place on Friday 4th April 2014 in London. With the aims of discussing the future of Tamil Media across the World Wide Web. The conference was attended by numerous Tamil Web based media.

With a diverse range of participants ranging from Tamil web-based editors, media journalists, researchers, analysts and activists and even artificial intelligence developers.

Of UN Human Rights Council and Kashmir

"Instead of investigating those responsible for atrocities, the Sri Lankan government has cynically absolved its forces of any wrongdoing..." - Juliette De Rivero, Geneva Director of the Council

(GENEVA) - First the good news. The UN human rights Council has passed a resolution which paves way for an international investigation into alleged war crimes by the Sri Lankan Government in the final stages of its war with Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE).

The council’s 47 members voted 23 to 12 with 12 abstentions in favor of the resolution sponsored by a core group of nations...

List of Sri Lanka War Criminals & Genociders to be Released by Transnational Government of Tamil Eelam (TGTE)

According to this UN report tens of thousands of Tamil civilians were killed in five months due to deliberate and intense shelling and bombing of areas designated by the government as "no-fire zones", where Tamil civilians had assembled for safety.

(NEW YORK) - The list of Sri Lankan war criminals and perpetrators of Genocide to include the President of Sri Lanka Mahinda Rajapakse, President’s brother and Defense Secretary Gothabaya Rajapakse.

Transnational Government of Tamil Eelam (TGTE) today announced that a list of Sri Lanka war criminals and perpetrators of Genocide for committing mass killing of Tamils and raping Tamil women will be released.

Successful Resolution and Sabotage by Tamil Stooges!

Has the USA now proved that they can manage anything and everything in that region without the help of India, Pakistan and China?

(PARIS) - With so many discussions, obstacles, sabotages and hidden agendas, the resolution on Sri Lanka in the 25th session of the Human Rights Council – HRC has finally gone though.

Two days before the vote, as I predicted in an interview to one of the media, the final result was for the resolution ‘Yes’ 23; against the resolution ‘No’ 12; neither ‘yes nor no’, abstentions - 12.

Sri Lanka: 100,000 Death Toll Must be Revised

100,000 has become a stubborn comfort figure that has stuck in the rusted and disabled count clock. Even the UN claim of 40,000 deaths in the final confrontation in 2008/09 did not shake the clock to move upward.

(LONDON Sri Lanka Guardian) - The count clock of the war dead in Sri Lanka since 1997 is jammed at 100,000. It never moved even a point upward since. Many thousands have been killed ever from that year.

We have seen daily accounts of deaths and there were large numbers of casualties in major confrontations and random killings by the warring parties. The military’s actions against the Tamil civilians are many folds than actions of the LTTE and the civilians were treated as fodders to execute the war agenda.

Demilitarisation, Human Rights, and Indo-US Interests

This balancing act of managing legitimate security concerns of Sri Lanka with human rights and interests of India can be complex.

(LONDON) - The US is reported to have requested a military installation in Sri Lanka as part of its “Pivot Towards Asia”. The Pentagon stated that approximately 60% of U.S. Navy assets will be involved.

Sri Lanka is currently under increasing international pressure for violations of international law and views the continued U.S. sponsored resolutions at the United Nations Human Rights Council (UNHRC) against the island nation as interference in its domestic affairs...

SRI LANKA: Navi Pillay`s Introductory Speech at UNHRC

Introduction to the Report of the Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights on promoting reconciliation and accountability in Sri Lanka (A/HRC/25/23)

(GENEVA) - The High Commissioner for Human Rights, Navi Pillay introduced the Sri Lanka Report and reiterated that nothing positive had happened since may 2009.

“Almost five years since the end of the conflict, it is important for the Human Rights Council to recall the magnitude and gravity of the violations alleged to have been committed at that time by the Government and the LTTE, which left thousands of civilians killed, injured or missing,” Pillay noted.