On Federalism

Minister of Ports, Dilan Perera and the leader of the TULF, Anandasangaree offer their perspectives on addressing the grievances of Tamil People through devolution of power.  

 

Should Sri Lanka adopt a Federal structure or is the 13th amendment adequate? The Mutiny welcomes your views. Vote below and if you’d like to elaborate write a comment.

YATV on civilians trapped in Wanni

Young Asia Television’s SriLankaToday takes a look at the civilians trapped by the fighting in Wanni area.

Link

US to Support a UN Security Council briefing on Sri Lanka

Inner City Press reports that United States supports a briefing on Sri Lanka at the United Nations Security Council. ICP is quoting Susan Rice, U.S. ambassador to the UN during a press briefing on Darfur. The comments came in a response to a question asked by an ICP reporter.

Here’s the relevent excerpt from the official transcript,

Reporter: Speaking of people at risk, I wanted to ask you; there’s a request in the Council for a briefing on Sri Lanka where 150-some thousand civilians- are trapped and being fired at from both sides, what is the US position on that?

Ambassador Rice: The US supports that request.

Reporter: And what about helping to evacuate or someway help the civilians that are there?

Ambassador Rice: The United States feels strongly about and concerned about Sri Lanka and we support the provision of it to the Council- a full and updated information on the humanitarian situation. [link]

Official Video here  (see archives March 20).  Also available on youtube (see at [4.10]).

According to ICP,  Costa Rica and Mexico also supports the request made by EU. China however “vehemently” opposes the request.

More at ICP.

Hunting the Tigers — Sri Lanka’s two Wars

Australia’s SBS has a new report on the situation in Sri Lanka. Highlights include  Defence Secretary Gotabahaya calling a journalist a terrorist, footage from the relief camps and much more.

The feature report is available at the SBS website at full length and on youtube included here in parts.

Part 1:

Part 2:

Part 3

UN HR Chief claims serious violations of international law committed in Sri Lanka conflict

Despite the Government’s designation of safe — or “no-fire” — zones for civilians, repeated shelling has continued inside those zones, according to information made available to OHCHR. Other areas holding civilians have also been shelled. OHCHR said a range of credible sources have indicated that more than 2,800 civilians may have been killed and more than 7,000 injured since 20 January, many of them inside the no-fire zones. The casualties are believed to include hundreds of children killed and more than a thousand injured.

Even after the Government’s announcement on 24 February that heavy weapons would no longer be fired into the no-fire zones, close to 500 people were reportedly killed and more than a thousand injured in these zones. Of these deaths, the great majority have been attributed to the use of heavy weapons. Overall, since 20 January, more than two thirds of the reported deaths and injuries have occurred in the no-fire zones.

- Statement by the UN High Commissioner for Refugees, Navi Pillai. Read the entire statement here, and the rebuttal by the Ministry of Disaster Management and Human Rights here.

Responding to Samarasinghe’s Hard Talk

Blogger and fellow Mutineer Acharaya has this response to the recent interview given to BBC’s Hard Talk by Minister Mahinda Samarasinghe. He writes,

[Samarasinghe]  is largely lying despite [Hard Talk anchor] Steven’s good job at asking pointed questions. I think Steven could have been better but for a foreign journo he has done quite a bit of research.

Let me point for example one ocassion where he lies. According to HRW the screening takes place mainly at Killinochchi where the ICRC or the UNHCR do not have access. They do have access at Omanthai by which most of the screening is over.

His rhetorical question: how do we  distiguish between the civilians and the terrorists and actually know that those who have died are civilians and not terrorists. So according to the minister all those who have died and HRW tells us that 2000 odd have died so far have to be terrorists.

I am not expecting the minister to confess to all that is happening. I actually think that he pulled off a good job for the Govt. Very smartly done. The constant reference to the interviewer by his first name etc is an indication as to how good he is at this type of thing. This is one area hat the Govt was earlier week but the Samarasinghe-Jayatilleke-Wijesinghe have done really well for their master. Of course the govt in its own interest might want to keep Gota away from the videos. He gives away the truth out quite indiscreetly.

Link to Comment.

What should be done about Mullativu

International Crisis Group, in a media release offer their take on what should be done on the dire situation in Mullativu. They also describe the ground conditions in the area.  An excerpt:

 Independent estimates from sources on the ground and satellite imagery suggest at least 150,000 people are trapped by the LTTE and the Sri Lankan military, more than the level claimed by the Sri Lankan government. Most have little access to fresh water, food, or medicine. While they are mostly in or near the government-declared “no fire zone” along the coast, the government itself has shelled that zone daily. LTTE refusal to allow civilians to leave makes them complicit in keeping civilians at grave risk. The medical system in Wanni has collapsed, and sanitation systems are non-existent, with communicable diseases spreading among the displaced. Doctors have reported cases of death by starvation, a claim the government strongly contests. A shipment of 500 metric tonnes of food on 8 March was the first major humanitarian aid since the end of January.

UN agencies have documented more than 2300 civilian deaths and at least 6500 injuries since late January. More than 500 children have been killed and over 1400 injured. More than 100 victims are arriving each day in the make-shift medical centres still functioning in Wanni, many of whom die before evacuation. The International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) has been able to evacuate some 2000 injured and sick persons over the past few weeks, but few supplies have been able to get in. [..]

on “What should be done”:

The following actions by the Sri Lankan government and LTTE leadership should be taken immediately and without preconditions.

The Sri Lankan military has already achieved its military objectives and essentially won the war. It must not pursue a strategy of annihilation. The Sri Lankan government must hold off on the final assault to allow adequate supplies of food, water and medical aid to reach the civilian population and to let those civilians who wish to leave do so. An evacuation of civilians by sea with international assistance offers one possible escape route, and discussions under way to make this happen should be expedited. International leaders must make clear the unacceptable nature of continued military attacks which risk the death of even more thousands of civilians.

The LTTE must allow civilians to leave areas under its control. It has been defeated and must surrender. Its current actions demonstrate its utter disregard for the Tamil people it claims to want to liberate. The international community should send its strongest possible messages to the LTTE that it must negotiate a surrender. In exchange, key international parties should commit to supervise the surrender and to guarantee the physical protection of any surrendered fighters, with the ICRC present at the initial points of reception for those leaving areas of fighting. On the other hand, if the LTTE continues to use civilians as a human shield and forcibly recruit children and adults, its leadership should face international justice for its serious war crimes.

International leaders, in particular the UN Secretary-General, the Prime Minister of India and the President of the United States, must press for these actions immediately.

The United Nations Secretary General should publicly describe the extent of civilian suffering, including the UN’s own figures for casualties, and thus open the way for a more forceful international response. He should also insist that the Government of Sri Lanka allow immediate access to the “no fire zones” for UN staff, in order to conduct a proper assessment of needs. The Secretary General should immediately appoint a Special Representative to work with the Sri Lanka government and all relevant parties to see that all necessary steps are taken to end the humanitarian crisis and to bring a lasting settlement to the fighting.

These core recommendations will be difficult to put into practice. The Tiger leadership, which has become as much a cult as a rational guerrilla force, will be highly averse to surrender. The government, for its part, is understandably desperate to put an end to the LTTE once and for all and will resist vehemently any limitations on the use of military force.

Still, clear international calls on the Tigers to surrender – and on the Tamil diaspora and leaders in Tamil Nadu to cease their support for the LTTE – can help mitigate some of the Sri Lankan government’s suspicion about international motives. The promise of international supervision of an LTTE surrender may begin to weaken the Tigers’ hold on their forces – and therefore also on the civilian population. And important foreign governments, particularly India and the US, should provide security guarantees to the Sri Lankan government, perhaps in the form of increased naval surveillance of the coasts to prevent Tigers from escaping by sea.

The Sri Lankan government has a right under international law to respond to terrorist attacks and protect its territorial integrity. But destroying the Tigers at the cost of thousands of civilian lives is a prescription for deeper alienation of Tamils in Sri Lanka, radicalisation of Tamils around the world, and years of continued bloodshed. The international community has a responsibility to do all it can to preserve whatever chances there are for political dialogue leading to a lasting resolution of Sri Lanka’s conflict and for eventual reconciliation between communities.

The full media releae is on the ICG website. Worth a look.

InMutiny, welcomes your views on the topic.

The crisis of our time

At a recent media event by SCOPP, I asked Prof. Rajiva Wijesinghe how the Government or SCOPP hopes to facilitate the entry of media personnel into the newly cleared areas by the State forces. His response was that this would be a systemaic process that would be handled by the MoD, and that media wasn’t allowed in the conflict areas “for their own safety”. An answer that should be looked at, and thought about.

Journalists, especially those who cover battle situations, can be a pain in the ass to someone who is trying to hide something. Wars and battles can be expensive things, and the Defence industry is a game of high stakes,but for those who play with extremely lucrative prospects. On one side, jounalists who are working away from the battlefront expose the waste and corruption that exists, in addition to the actual expense (which is oft sugar coated in a yummy tasting layer of patriotism) of running a war.

The expense, in a rare moment of honesty, was commented on by Minister Maithreepala Sirisena on 8th January 2007, when he said “We may be thrilled to see the spectacle of multi-barrel attacks, but what we don`t realize is the price we all have to pay for such attacks” while addressing an SLFP gathering in Polonnaruwa. He added that the country was losing almost one hundred jobs with each Multi-barrel rocket fired on the LTTE. This was in 2007, when the war was at a much minor scale.

On the other hand, journalists, especially those armed with camera, can tell stories of death and human suffering to the people. While some say that civilian casualties are unavoidable, and sometimes expected, in the back of every empathizing human’s mind the fact that innocent souls are lost, is simply unacceptabe. But when you restrict journos coming in, seeing the suffereing, and then living to tell the story, you can have a blank cheque to do whatever you want to “save” the “country”, and to take actions for “national security”.

Unless information that comes out from the ground are from a non-partisan source, it can’t be trusted. If it comes out from either party, then it’s propoganda. Whilst SCOPP (which is part of the GoSL propoganda arm) puts their vision as “To act as the cutting edge of the Government of Sri Lanka to consolidate and strengthen the peace process on behalf of all Sri Lankan citizens, whilst promoting a negotiated settlement to the current conflict”, the Media Centre for National Security is more out-there about it when they say “The MCNS, as the sole state authority to distribute national security and defence-related Media releases, data, statistics, visuals and other information to the public, produces special dossiers, audio-video clips and various documentaries”.

Currently, in addition to feeding the media through bodies like MCNS, GoSL adopts a guided tour strategy. where selected journalists are taken around, and given the chance to take pictures of carefully set up photo-ops. Carefully drafted releases are sent out, edited photo kits are given out, video clips from air recon missions where the targets that are accurately taken out distributed, and well written speeches are given.

Due to obvious reasons, mainstream media in the country remains unsurprisingly complacent. Listening, compiling, and reporting. A lesson can be learnt from Stephen Colbert’s speech at the White House Correspondents’ Association Dinner of 2006. (Full transcript can be read here)

But the rest of you, what are you thinking, reporting on NSA wiretapping or secret prisons in eastern Europe? Those things are secret for a very important reason: they’re super-depressing. And if that’s your goal, well, misery accomplished. Over the last five years you people were so good — over tax cuts, WMD intelligence, the effect of global warming. We Americans didn’t want to know, and you had the courtesy not to try to find out. Those were good times, as far as we knew.

But, listen, let’s review the rules. Here’s how it works: the president makes decisions. He’s the decider. The press secretary announces those decisions, and you people of the press type those decisions down. Make, announce, type. Just put ‘em through a spell check and go home. Get to know your family again. Make love to your wife. Write that novel you got kicking around in your head. You know, the one about the intrepid Washington reporter with the courage to stand up to the administration. You know – fiction!

[Emphasis added]

The original article was published on the former blog of Dinidu de Alwis. Reproduced here in part, with permission.

Mahinda Samarasinghe on Hard Talk

Minister of Disaster Management and Human Rights was on BBC’s Hard Talk program recently.  His interview is now available on BBCworldnews youtube channel. 

Part 1:

Part 2:

Part 3:

Can Cooper Free our Press?

There’s a new campaign started (presumably) by some Sri Lankans in Canada asking CNN’s Andreson Cooper to champion the cause of Press Freedom in Sri Lanka.  They have a petition you could sign. 

The website is freeourpress.org

The group claims that they were inspired by Lasantha Wickramatunga’s editorial. Here’s  an excerpt from the about page:

Inspired by the call of conscience, a group of individuals from varying backgrounds, religious affiliations, and different levels of activism came together to launch an improbable experiment to change the course of press freedom in Sri Lanka.

We support the fundamental belief that all journalists living in Sri Lanka, despite any differences in views, are entitled to the freedom of speech and expression including publication. We encourage all social movements that aim to narrow the gap between the promise of this ideal and the reality of our time to support our campaign.

They also have a video-version of the “Call of Conscious” editorial