The Geneva UNHRC action. What should Sri Lanka’s reaction be?
Posted on March 30th, 2014
By Mario Perera, Kadawata
The Resolution finally went through though not in an overwhelming or convincing manner. The sponsors, the few white sharks, and their supporters the multi-coloured sprats compelled to stick to them in the hope of catching the crumbs that fall from their table, apparently had their way. Both the resolution and the support cannot stand the scrutiny of morality. The core and substance of the action are nothing else but self interest and opportunism. Might rigged up in the mantle of morality and righteousness yet again won the day…or did it?
There were however other mighty nations, Russia and China, literally as mighty as the self constituted western bullies, that stood for us. They were supported by the nations of SAARC. The largest among them India did a volte face at the crucial voting opposing intrusive clauses of the Resolution that undermined the sovereignty of a member state, a very dangerous precedent and one set for the first time by the UNHRC. This turns Sri Lanka into a test case that we must definitely win so as not to betray those who placed their trust in us.
The abstention of India though an overt act of opposition to the resolution in its actual form must not be thought of as being the return of the prodigal ‘relative’ or the estranged ‘husband’. Yet India’s stand, the last minute pole-vault to the side of the abstainers could be taken as a benign act in our regard because it went against the expectations of our enemies. However India did not formally and definitively take our side by openly opposing the resolution. Quite in contrast was the stand taken by Pakistan. Pakistan yet once more stood head and shoulders above India to demonstrate its solidarity with Sri Lanka. That Pakistan the friend in need has always stood by us always through thick and thin is common knowledge. This could hardly be said of India. It is sadly the contrary that is true of a country that strikes us with the right hand and caresses the ensuing lump with the left.
To add insult to injury our perpetual tormentors the Western bullies are now directly addressing themselves over and above our own constitutional mechanisms directly to the people of Sri Lanka! Such declarations have emanated both from the USA and from the UK. Cameron and Kerry set the tone and their subordinates keep up the momentum. Right under our noses the woman Michele Sison, who acts like a reborn J.N. Dixit of India, convoked a press conference and sent a message to our nation, that the resolution was in the interest of the people of this country. In other words it is the USA and the UK that know best what is good for the people of Sri Lanka. They all know what is best for us! That is what the UNHRC action is all about, to devalue our Constitution and our Parliament and to replace it with the dictates of the so-called ‘International Community’. In other worlds the ‘International Community’ is a kind of Privy Council that can override our constitution and our elected heads. It is indeed more than a Privy Council in that it can not only lay down laws by pronouncing on Sri Lanka issues but also enforce them and punish disobedience to its dictates. None of this is new. This trend is the new world order as seen from events that swept away Iraq, Libya, Afghanistan, Egypt among others ushering regime change through death and destruction.
Having been unwilling witnesses to the action of the ‘International community’ through its judicial and legislative organ the UNHRC, how must our nation react? That is the issue which is the primary scope of this article. We know how our head of State, MR, reacted to the passing of the west sponsored resolution. He rejected it hook, line and sinker. This rejection was directly conveyed to all concerned in Geneva. One can surmise that the holding of the PC elections in the aftermath of the Geneva debacle was to show that the rejection of the resolution was seconded by the nation. But is this enough? The elections’ victories are not sufficiently direct to convey that message. Then what is the best way to do so? That best way is through a vote in parliament.
What MR should do now is to present the case to Parliament and have the total rejection of the resolution confirmed by an absolute majority of votes in parliament. Both the resolution and the nation’s opposition to and rejection of it must be debated in Parliament and put to the vote. There is absolutely no doubt that the rejection will be passed by a two third majority conveying in direct and unambiguous terms the nations response. This will be the best snub to be directed at Obama, Cameron, Kerry and their spokesmen and women such as the pokey nosed tongue wagging pompous pretender that Sison is.
A motion in Parliament will also render sterile the opposition of the TNA and the SLMC of Hakeem. Having taken their fight right up to Geneva they will oppose the motion and vote against it. But that would be like cutting their noses to spite their faces. The TNA voting against the motion would be tantamount to openly condemning India’s abstention thereby biting the hand that feeds it. As for the SLMC they would have to counter the massive support given to our nation by Pakistan. Thus canvassing Parliament, the House of Representatives of our nation would also serve as a trap laid before the TNA and the SLMC.
This measure cannot be procrastinated. It must come directly in the wake of the Geneva vote and the vote at the PC elections. Former UN Adviser on Post-War Accountability Issues in Sri Lanka, Yasmin Sooka said: “In my view, it would be unwise for the Government of Sri Lanka to say to the UNHRC that ‘we don’t acknowledge that and you have no authority to do this’ and that would be problematic.” She goes so far as to differentiate between the government and the People of Sri Lanka, further stating: “I don’t think people trust the government anymore. It is for this reason that you had the UNHRC take this stance to do it.” Here is yet another case of a NGO representative taking the responsibility of speaking for the people of this country over and above the government chosen by that people.
A motion, a debate before parliament and a vote is the most effective way of showing the world that the people of Sri Lanka totally second and place the seal of confirmation on the rejection of the Geneva Resolution by its government. Indeed the situation would totally justify even the holding of a referendum in this regard.
One could well say ‘alea jacta est’ or the opening salvo has been fired. There is no turning back now.
Mario Perera, Kadawata
March 30th, 2014 at 4:57 pm
“What MR should do now is to present the case to Parliament and have the total rejection of the resolution confirmed by an absolute majority of votes in parliament. Both the resolution and the nation’s opposition to and rejection of it must be debated in Parliament and put to the vote.”
ABSOLUTELY.
I fully agree with this.
Let the whole world know what SL thinks of this resolution. IF it is SO BENEFICIAL to SL, MPs would support it!!
It has a BYPRODUCT, All traitors HIDING behind duplicity will come out. SLMC can’t hide behind DUPLICITY. It will have to say YES, NO or ABSTAIN. If they say NO or ABSTAIN, they are exposed. TNA’s treason will be defeated.
March 30th, 2014 at 5:03 pm
The question I ask is “has Mr.MR got the guts to pass a resolution in the parliament with the two third majority condeming and rejecting the UK, US resolution? If Mr.MR did it, we consider him as a brave hero not caving in to the western pressure. Do it now or never.
March 30th, 2014 at 7:01 pm
Good Idea … let the DEMOCRATIC vote of the Peoples Representatives CONDEMN the UNHRC-3 vote orchestrated by the United States.
DO IT FAST; DO IT NOW!
March 30th, 2014 at 10:08 pm
Mother Russia we worship thee.
BUT this is UNACCEPTABLE.
“Russia on Sunday night repeated its demand that the US and its European partners accept its proposal that ethnic Russian regions of eastern and southern Ukraine be given extensive autonomous powers independent of Kiev as a condition for agreeing a diplomatic solution to the crisis over its annexation of Crimea. Meanwhile 40,000 Russian troops have gathered near Ukraine.”
This is what Endia did to SL in 1987, failed and tried to do again.
Sorry. I CANNOT agree to this.
If Russia is so concerned about ethnic Russians in Ukraine, TAKE THEM BACK to Russia.
March 31st, 2014 at 12:23 am
Lorenzo,
Neither Russia nor the United States are PRINCIPLED. It is only a question of WHOSE OX is being gored at any given time.
They don’t play by the RULES, and DEMAND EXCEPTIONS when they want something, but try to impose principles that they don’t abide by on other countries … especially on small developing nations.
When the US wanted to dismember Yugoslavia .. the sovereignty of that country was violated outright, but now that Russia wants to dismember Ukraine, the US had become a “principled defender” of national sovereignty.
When the US wants to kill Al Quaida members causing extensive “co-lateral damage” to innocent villagers with Drone Attacks in Pakistan and elsewhere, or kidnap Osama bin Laden, the sovereignty of those countries are violated, and human rights of their peoples are not an issue, but when Sri Lanka corners terrorists hiding behind human shields within its own territory and kills Prabhakaran (as the US would have dearly liked to do to Osama and the Taliban leadership in Afghanistan), Sri Lanka is charged with war crimes! Why? …. Because it suits the current geo-political strategy of the United States of pitting India against China to contain China.
Therefore, given that there are NO RULES applicable to BIG POWERS, if we “adhere to fixed principles” and “play by the rules” when selecting our friends and allies, then we are going to be in a great deal of trouble because we are out of step with the prevailing global environment.
It increasingly seems as if we also have to adopt the same Hypocritical and Flawed Policies of these “Big Powers” who are law unto themselves, and SELECT our friends and allies ONLY on the basis that “the ENEMY of our ENEMY is our FRIEND”, for SURVIVAL is at stake.
March 31st, 2014 at 2:19 am
“The question I ask is “has Mr.MR got the guts to pass a resolution in the parliament with the two third majority condeming and rejecting the UK, US resolution? If Mr.MR did it, we consider him as a brave hero not caving in to the western pressure. ” – AGREED.
March 31st, 2014 at 3:59 am
Absolutely. This is a MUST DO by the Government. I don’t think the Government is required to be PUSHED to do it, because it is the DUTY and the people of Sri Lanka NEED to know what happened at an International Forum. Also the PEOPLE have to take into account what these “International Bullies” are doing to a SOVEREIGN STATE and make a firm decision to set the future course.
The PEOPLES’ attention must be drawn to the clause 10 of this Resolution, by which a High Commissioner of UNHRC has been authorized to interfere in our internal affairs. This must be condemned and rejected in total.
March 31st, 2014 at 4:14 am
I’m converted.
We don’t have the LUXURY to hold on to PRINCIPLES.
It is survival. We have to ALIGN with WHOEVER willing to help us RETAIN our UNITARY nation.
March 31st, 2014 at 6:01 am
Sri Lanka ought to seek political stability. Wholesome inner strength in the country will deter outside elements seeking to break up Lanka.
A National Govt. will ensure the stability the People seek. Strength through Unity is the need of the hour. We ought to scrap all ethnic & religion based political parties. For a start, govern as done in Singapore and deport all illegal migrants.
The real need for the People of Lanka today, apart from Unity Within for Strength and Self Sufficiency, is to address the CKD and poverty issues.
March 31st, 2014 at 1:05 pm
Fran,
Tamils NEVER unite with Sinhalas or anyone else for the UNITY of SL.
This is the truth.
March 31st, 2014 at 2:06 pm
Well then, Lorenzo, such people (anyone) who lives off the Land of Lanka, but will not unite with the country that nurtures them, will not belong in Lanka. They will belong elsewhere. It is best for such people to find out where and move to such a place.
Perhaps when the Smart Cities of Tamil Nadu are being built some time in the near future, the Tamils of Lanka ‘who do not belong in Lanka’, will move to those Smart Cities. India must allow this to happen, don’t you agree ?
March 31st, 2014 at 2:20 pm
Lest We Forget in 2014, the COST in BLOOD and TREASURE of the heroic struggle that rescued our Motherland and Our People only five years ago.
Let us not BETRAY today those who offered the last full measure of their devotion to their country.
…………………………
Reflections on the Tigers
By Sergei DeSilva-Ranasinghe
TheDiplomat.com
May 21, 2010
A year after the LTTE’s defeat, evidence shows criticism of Sri Lanka’s army is misplaced, says Sergei DeSilva-Ranasinghe.
A year ago this week, the Sri Lankan government officially declared victory over the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE) in one of the most extraordinary counter-insurgency campaigns in recent times.
The endgame of the conflict, particularly from January to May 2009, saw the bloodiest fighting, often with the presence of tens of thousands of civilians that the LTTE desperately used to fend off its inevitable defeat. Since then, new evidence has become public that offers further insights into the final months of Sri Lanka’s secessionist civil war.
For decades, the jungle-laden Mullaitivu District, located in Sri Lanka’s northeast, served as the LTTE’s main stronghold. However, under significant military pressure from the Sri Lankan Army during the final stages of the conflict, the LTTE conducted a fighting retreat towards its last bastion astride the Mullaitivu coastline.
As it did so, the LTTE used all means at its disposal to inflict casualties to delay, halt or even push back the Army’s advance. For example, the LTTE constructed a series of embankments between two and three metres high, also known as earth bunds, which proved to be formidable defensive obstacles. Assault troops also encountered camouflaged LTTE armour plated bunkers.
According to one frontline Army officer from the time: ‘You don’t know where they are, and you can’t even see them until your right on them…The first you know is when you are wounded in the leg. All we can do is to fire towards the sound, throw grenades and send off RPGs [Rocket Propelled Grenades] in the general direction.’
In addition, frontline infantry often confronted elaborately laid LTTE minefields that required field engineers equipped with Bangalore torpedoes to clear pathways. Similarly, the LTTE cleverly utilised booby traps made of discarded rubbish and metal that were tied to hidden explosive caches dispersed over a wide area that when triggered caused multiple and devastating explosions.
Each passing month saw increasingly fierce combat. Reports suggested that the Army absorbed anywhere between 10 and 20 fatalities per day—sometimes more—while the Army claims that the LTTE suffered average losses ranging from 25 to 40 combatants per day. Due to high levels of attrition and the need to augment its depleted conventional formations, the LTTE had little choice than to continue to rely heavily on forced recruitment of civilians, a practice that it revived full-scale in late 2007.
To ensure a ready supply of civilians, the LTTE adopted a series of coercive measures such as that reported in one Sri Lankan newspaper which quoted a 14-year-old female child soldier saying the LTTE had warned her that her family would be punished if she didn’t join. Indeed, the Army confirmed that an increasing number of conscripts were seen at the frontline, notably child soldiers. ‘It’s like looking at your own child. Quite large numbers [of the LTTE fighters killed or captured] are under 16,’ one Army Brigadier told the Telegraph. ‘They grab them from their parents and [when] they try to pull them back they [the parents] get shot. These children have dog tags and cyanide capsules.’ Indeed, it was later revealed, according to the independent Sri Lankan daily, The Island, that in the final months of the war the LTTE planned to carry out a massive offensive against the Army with 300 suicide bombers, but was forced to cancel it as many suicide bombers were either killed in action or deserted to government-controlled territory.
The incidence of civilian casualties was low prior to the commencement of the Mullaitivu campaign, as combat was essentially between two conventional armies in the field, and civilian concentrations were situated far from the fighting.
However, as the territory controlled by the LTTE rapidly contracted, the density of trapped civilians increased rapidly, meaning civilians were often being caught in the crossfire. In an effort to provide safe passage from the combat zone, the Sri Lankan government declared two limited ceasefires, which saw civilian safe zones created at Vishwamadu and Oddusudan. However, such measures were doomed to failure when the LTTE rejected them and chose not to offer any alternative locations.
According to Tamil journalist DBS Jeyaraj: ‘The Sri Lankan government had…declared two limited ceasefires. But the LTTE imposed further restrictions and the number of civilians coming out dropped during ceasefire days…the LTTE exploited the ceasefire in February to mount a very effective counter strike…The April ceasefire was used to construct several new “trench-cum-bund” defences.’
Meanwhile, the LTTE positioned its artillery and mortar assets near or amidst civilian concentrations, tactics confirmed by a range of media outlets including Reuters India in February 2009, which quoted a 74-year old Catholic nun as claiming: ‘The LTTE fired from close to civilians. We had objected, but that didn’t work.’
Out of desperation, thousands of civilians defied the LTTE edict, forbidding any civilians from leaving LTTE-controlled territory, and attempted to escape under cover of darkness and brave crossfire from running battles, LTTE-laid minefields and LTTE fire targeting escaping civilians.
At a press conference in Colombo last July, Dr. Shanmugaraja, a former LTTE physician who surrendered in the final weeks of the war, said: ‘Many civilians were killed and wounded as the LTTE opened fire at them when they tried to flee from the Tiger’s grip…Their strategy was to keep the civilians around them and survive. That was why they came along with civilians once safe zones were demarcated for the civilians by the Security Forces.’
In addition, there’s ample evidence to suggest that civilians in LTTE-controlled territory were integrated into the LTTE military-logistical system and war effort. For example, Sri Lankan-Australian scholar Michael Roberts, an expert on Sri Lankan politics and anthropology, wrote in his article, Dilemma’s at War’s End: ‘All young people seem to have been inducted as auxiliaries. As they lost territory, the LTTE also used heavy machinery and marshalled labour to build ditches and embankments…a task that clearly involved massive logistical operations.’
He added: ‘In effect, over the last year or so, many able-bodied people in the LTTE command state have been rendered into an integral part of their logistical support for war, being more or less part of the frontline. In such circumstances, of course, the category “civilian” is an ambiguous category.’
In fact, the presence of more than 280,000 civilians in LTTE-controlled territory served a clear and diverse purpose, which was highlighted in their use as military labour to build fortifications; porters shuttling food, ammunition and supplies to frontline LTTE units; of manpower to augment the LTTE’s military strength; human shields that gave the LTTE significant bargaining power with the international community to call for a permanent ceasefire; and the maintenance of its supply lines.
In effect, the LTTE depended indirectly almost entirely on regular Sri Lankan government convoys to areas under enemy control for food, medicine and essential items—an extraordinary situation. Another former LTTE physician, Dr. Vardharaja, elaborated on this exploiting of civilians by the LTTE to ensure supplies kept coming in, when he said: ‘The problem was that the LTTE took medicine from us to treat their injured. They asked us to tell the media that we don’t have medicine. There was as a shortage of medicine because LTTE took the whole stock.’
By mid-April 2009, the Army had successfully repulsed all LTTE counterattacks and finally cornered the group on a sliver of territory along the coast, 13 kilometres long and just 3 kilometres wide. The LTTE decided to stage its last stand in its coastal stronghold with an estimated 240,000 civilians still present, leaving the Army facing an unprecedented difficulty of capturing the last patch of land while ensuring civilians’ safety.
It is this reality that underscores how misplaced the international criticism of the military’s conduct in the final stages of the civil war was. On February 9, for example, a suicide bomber reportedly infiltrated an internally displaced persons registration camp and detonated her suicide jacket, killing 8 civilians and 24 soldiers. On April 20, 3 LTTE suicide bombers infiltrated and detonated their suicide jackets, killing 17 civilians and injuring 200. The LTTE shrewdly used tents, make-shift shelters and bunkers to conceal snipers, machine gun nests and artillery/mortar emplacements, which were often merged with civilian dwellings. Given this, assault troops had no choice but to systematically clear tens of thousands of tents, makeshift shelters, bunkers and trenches, which left them exposed to LTTE ambushes laid inside tents, makeshift shelters or subterranean bunkers. As such, in an attempt to mitigate the incidence of civilian casualties, the Army relied heavily on dozens of trained snipers to great effect in neutralizing LTTE combatants.
In the final weeks of the war, the LTTE continued to aggressively conscript civilians who were given crash training and assigned to scratch units at the frontline. For instance, in a now public April 2009 report, Rajan Hoole, who heads the dissident Tamil University Teachers for Human Rights (Jaffna) and who is known for his criticism of both the Sri Lankan government and the LTTE, pointed to conversations with civilians who fled LTTE controlled territory.
‘The LTTE has recently started the practice of sending out teams of 6 cadres with instructions for each team to return with 30 conscripts,’ Hoole wrote. ‘If they fail they are reportedly subject to heavy and often lethal punishment.’
However, the LTTE’s efforts were in vain. After bitter fighting on May 16 and 17, the last civilians were extracted from the combat zone, leaving 400 hardcore LTTE leaders and fighters exposed. By the morning of May 19, the LTTE lay defeated and its leaders eliminated, bringing a decisive end to the nearly three decade long Sri Lankan civil war. The Army’s final operation involved 4 weeks of heavy fighting and the loss of over 500 soldiers.
The evidence revealed by the LTTE’s own former sympathisers indicates the lengths the group was willing to go to and the difficulties facing conventional militaries confronting a fanatical adversary that conducts itself with impunity. Under such circumstances it’s unrealistic to believe civilian casualties can be avoided. Indeed, the very success of the Army in extracting more than 280,000 civilians from the combat zone from January to May 2009, despite this effort contributing to it suffering heavy casualties in process, is an indication of the complexity of conducting military operations in an environment where an enemy is willing use civilians as a key element of its military strategy.
Civilian casualties are, of course, tragic. But the endgame of Sri Lanka’s civil war requires a much more in-depth and nuanced understanding of the dilemmas that faced the Army before any conclusions can be drawn.
March 31st, 2014 at 3:31 pm
Fran,
AGREE.
That will be the PULL FACTOR. SL has to create a PUSH FACTOR.
Until then Tamilians will DISRUPT ANYTHING related to UNITY in SL.
March 31st, 2014 at 3:54 pm
Lorenzo,
If they disrupt anything related to unity in SL, Tamil folk will be going against the very forces that nurture them and action and reaction will happen, within and without. Unhappiness will follow as the shadow the person. Is it worthwhile for them to do that ? NO.
Who trained them into this mode of thinking ?
March 31st, 2014 at 3:55 pm
Sri Lanka government has banned 16 Tamil organizations.
SL bans LTTE fronts
MONDAY, 31 MARCH 2014 23:16 E-mail Print
By D.B.S. Jeyaraj
The Sri Lankan government has in a decisive move with far reaching implications proscribed as foreign terrorist entities, several overseas organizations suspected of being fronts of the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE).
The government banned the organizations as “foreign terrorists” utilising the UN Security Council Resolution 1373 which was brought about by the USA on September 28, 2001 after the attack on World Trader Center in New York on September 11, 2001.
It is expected that External Affairs Minister Prof. Gamini Lakshman Peiris will announce details of the proscription imposed on such foreign terrorist entities later this week.
The report said:
“It is learnt that the Sri Lankan ministry of External Affairs has gazetted legislation outlawing several organizations reportedly functioning in several countries including the USA, Canada Britain, Norway, Italy, Switzerland, France and Australia.
“Among organizations proscribed are the Transnational Government of Tamil Eelam (TGTE) headed by New York lawyer Visuvanathan Ruthirakumaran,Global Tamil Forum headed by Catholic Priest Fr.SJ Emmanuel,the LTTE group led by Perinbanayagam Sivaparan alias Nediyavan and the tiger group led by Sekarampillai Vinayagamoorthy alias Vinayagam.
It is expected that External Affairs minister Prof.Gamini Lakshman Peiris will announce details of the proscription imposed on such foreign terrorist entities later this week.
The proscribed entities listed in the Gazette consist of the main LTTE and 15 other alleged front organizations of the tigers.The proscribed organizations are as follows-
01. Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam a.k.a LTTE a.k.a Tamil Tigers.
02. Tamil Rehabilitation Organization a.k.a TRO.
03. Tamil Coordinating Committee a.k.a TCC
04. British Tamil Forum a.k.a BTF
05. World Tamil Movement a.k.a WTM
06. Canadian Tamil Congress a.k.a CTC
07. Australian Tamil Congress a.k.a ATC
08. Global Tamil Forum a.k.a GTF
09. National Council Of Canadian Tamils a.k.a NCCT a.k.a Makkal Avai
10. Tamil National Council a.k.a TNC
11.Tamil Youth Organization a.k.a TYO
12. World Tamil Coordinating Committee a.k.a WTCC.
13. Transnational Government Of Tamil Eelam a.k.a TGTE
14. Tamil Eelam Peoples Assembly a.k.a TEPA
15 .World Tamil Relief Fund a.k.a WTRF
16. Headquarters Group a.k.a HQ Group
According to authoritative sources the organizations listed as suspected terrorist entities functioning on foreign soil fall under four broad categories reportedly under the overall control of four key individuals.
They are the organization/s under-
1. Perinbanayagam Sivaparan alias “Nediyavan”;
2. Rev.Fr. SJ Emmanuel
3. Visuvanathan Ruthirakumaran
4. Sekarampillai Vinayakamoorthy alias Vinayagam
Explaing further the rationale behind such proscription at this juncture, informed sources stated that the fundamental objective was to appraise foreign countries, particularly Western nations of how LTTE fronts existing amidst members of the Tamil Diaspora resident on their soil were now financing the revival of LTTE activity in Sri Lanka.
The Government is concerned about the recent attempt to revive the LTTE in Sri Lanka. All evidence unearthed so far indicate that funds, support and assistance from LTTE front organizations are primarily responsible for the attempted tiger renaissance in Sri Lanka.
Since the UN resolution 1373 expects countries to assist one another to combat terrorism, Sri Lanka will request the host countries to investigate the activities of such organizations and key members on their soil and take appropriate action.
Sri Lanka will provide particulars about such key activists as authorities in Sri Lanka are in possession of the entire data base of former LTTE senior leader Veerakathy Manivannan alias Castro who was in charge of the LTTE international secretariat which directed and coordinated overseas LTTE activity until early 2009.
Castro simply abandoned his office in Pudukudiyiruppu and escaped when the Sri Lankan armed forces advanced thereby letting the data base with particulars of overseas LTTE activity fall easily into the lap of the security forces.
The Government is also likely to obtain cooperation from these Western countries to proclaim LTTE activists abroad as offenders” listed as Wanted or to be watched through related INTERPOL notices.
Speaking further authoritative sources said that as a result of the proscription coming into force Sri Lankan nationals in the Island will be forbidden to maintain contact or links with members of the proscribed organizations. This would prevent Sri Lankan political parties and leaders from obtaining funds from such entities for undertakings in Sri Lanka. This move is likely to affect several members of Tamil political parties in Sri Lanka.
This would also forbid Sri Lankan politicians and Non –Governmental Organization (NGO) activists being in contact with representatives of such entities either in Sri Lanka or during trips abroad.
Sections of the media in Sri Lanka giving wide coverage to statements and interviews given by officials of such organizations will also be restricted from doing so.
Furthermore, the proscription will also render members of these proscribed entities liable for arrest under the Prevention of Terrorism Act(PTA) if and when apprehended while visiting Sri Lanka.
It is learnt that extensive dossiers of key individuals from these proscribed organizations and their activities abroad would be provided to the respective countries concerned in due course.
Sri Lankan authorities are expected to strictly enforce provisions of the proscription under UN resolution 1373 after the Sinhala –Tamil New Year in April this year.
March 31st, 2014 at 5:35 pm
Fran,
FINALLY … the GOSL has done the needful in banning these Tamil Terrorist organizations.
Now, let US, UK, and other supporters of the Tamil Eelamist cause can be easily identified as such.
THIS is the “Reconciliation” we needed to “Reconcile” terrorists with their actions.
March 31st, 2014 at 5:35 pm
Fran,
That is EXCELLENT!
Fantastic COUNTER ATTACK.
BUT what about TESO?
What about Tamils for Obama (TFO)?
What about Tamils Against Genocide (TAG)?
What about World Tamil Congress (WTC) Canada?
What about Sydney Tamil Forum (STF) Australia?
What about NZ Tamil Congress?
TESO is a TN based Tamil terrorist group created by Karunanidhi.
Others are TERRORIST organisations.
They are NOT banned!!
So overall although I’m happy for this EXCELLENT move, I’m DISAPPOINTED for NOT banning the 6 terrorist organisations I listed.
March 31st, 2014 at 5:56 pm
Please read.
Prosecuting the LTTE / TNA & the LTTE Tamil Diaspora for war crimes
Shenali Waduge
March 02, 2012
Good move. BUT NOT ENOUGH.
Already Tamil terrorist supporters here in Canada are shitting in their pants. I got 4 calls so far after some Tamilians read the Daily Mirror article. They have BUSINESSES, LAND, etc. in SL and they do terrorism here against SL.
But they say they can get some of those transferred BEFORE April 15 and nothing will happen until then.
Not sure about this? May be a rumor?
Some Tamilians say govt. will NOT actually take any action and it is just for show. Time will tell.
March 31st, 2014 at 5:59 pm
Next, the GOSL should investigate ALL ACTIVITIES of Tamil Politicians of the TNA during the LAST 35 years, and INDICT, ARREST, PROSECUTE, CONVICT and SEVERELY PUNISH them for all TREASONOUS activities including plotting and conniving with foreign governments to UNDERMINE, DESTABILIZE and DISMEMBER SRi Lanka.
DO IT FAST, DO IT NOW!
These people don’t understand kindness and forgiveness for the MURDER and MAYHEM they inflicted upon ALL Sri Lankan citizens.
They view that kind of RECONCILIATION as an ADMISSION of Weakness and Culpability of Criminal Actions aganst them. They view the RETRIBUTION they earned through their own crimes as DISCRIMINATION.
Let us now change the approach we deal with these UNREPENTANT CRIMINALS and tar and feather them, and pursue them from pillar to post.
This should be the New Approach to RECONCILIATION that we SORELY need: THEY REPENT and THEY PAY FOR THEIR CRIMES. That is ALL!
There is NO PLACE in Sri Lanka for TREACHEROUS CITIZENS! Either become law-abiding peaceful citizens, satified with equal rights and not demanding special rights unavailable to other citiens, or PERMANENTLY LEAVE Sri Lanka for whatever country that is willing to accommodate such Racist Separatist Aparthied Aspirations.
March 31st, 2014 at 9:21 pm
Lorenzo. Why is Russia’s actions unacceptable? You just wrote the biggest load of rubbish I have ever heard. Please do your research on the history of Ukraine before commenting on it. Nothing what Russia did was unacceptable. Ukraine was a country created during the first world war by the German Imperial Army General Staff in particular by Field Marshal Hindenberg and General Luddendorf. Before that Ukraine didn’t exist and was simply a a landmass which was vied over between Russian Empire and Polish Empire. Also stop linking what Russia did in Ukraine to Sri Lanka. ABSOLUTELY NO RELATION IN THE HISTORY OF THE TWO COUNTRIES PERIOD? GOT THAT????
You must think we are all uneducated fools when you make silly statements. Russia was well within its rights
what it did So stop talking rubbish and stick to Sri Lankan issues.
This is what happens Lorenzo when you think you know the History of Russia better than the Russians LOL!!!!
April 1st, 2014 at 1:03 am
Here is how India punishes the US for humiliating an Indian Diplomat!
What else could be behind this move?
Perhaps Congress Party is DISPLEASED with the United States for INTERFERING in India’s regional election politics (eg. Hillary Clinton orchestrating Tamil Nadu opposition to Sri Lanka) on the eve of the Lok Sabha Elections? The net result of Hillary Clinton’s interference in Tamil Nadu was that the DMK led by Karunanidhi recently abandoned the Congress Party in the Lok Sabha elections to be held a week from now!
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U.S. Ambassador to India Nancy Powell quits after rift over diplomat
NEW DELHI – The American ambassador to India said she has resigned and will retire before the end of May, ending a two-year tenure after the strip-search of an Indian diplomat in New York City badly damaged U.S.-India ties.
In a posting on the U.S. Embassy website Monday, Ambassador Nancy Powell gave no reason for her decision but said she had planned it for some time.
The resignation comes at an awkward time, with India’s national elections just one week away. It also comes as the two countries are attempting to mend ties following the diplomatic spat over the arrest of diplomat Devyani Khobragade in New York.
In Washington, State Department deputy spokeswoman Marie Harf denied Powell’s decision had anything to do with tensions between the two countries.
“It is in no way related to any tension, any recent situations,” Harf said.
India and the United States have become close allies over the past decade, following many years of Cold War distrust. But the ties unraveled in December, when Khobragade, India’s deputy consul general in New York, was arrested in Manhattan and strip-searched.
Khobragade was accused of lying on visa forms so that she could bring her maid to the U.S., paying her a pittance while forcing her to work long hours. Khobragade has denied any wrongdoing and has since returned to India.
The affair laid bare a string of cultural taboos in India, where strip-searching a member of the educated elite would be unthinkable.
The U.S. Marshals said Khobragade was treated no differently than others who are arrested. But the case caused an international furor, with Indian officials calling her treatment barbaric. India unleashed a steady stream of retaliatory measures against U.S. diplomats, such as removing concrete barriers around the U.S. Embassy, saying they obstructed traffic, and revoking diplomats’ ID cards.
Powell took up her posting in New Delhi two years ago. Prior to President Barack Obama nominating her as ambassador to India, she was director-general of the foreign service and director of human resources.
She is ending a 37-year career that has included postings as U.S. ambassador to Uganda, Ghana, Pakistan, Nepal and India.
Her stint in Pakistan between 2002 and 2004 came as the United States was first seeking Islamabad’s cooperation in fighting al-Qaida and the Taliban after the Sept. 11, 2001, attacks.
April 1st, 2014 at 12:54 pm
Now NORTH ENDIANS doing CULTURAL GENOCIDE in Jaffna. GOOD!
Tamil racists look at other cultures as bad. Too bad everyone drills Tamil losers. SLMC losers can join them if they wish.
“What was the ‘New Delhi imperialism’ or ‘Hindi/ Hindutva imperialism’ part, conspicuous in the show of India in Jaffna, was its press release explaining the festival, which was totally ignorant of the pluralism of its own cultural heritage.
New Delhi’s Consulate General in Jaffna seems to be having no idea at all on the pluralistic ways in which the day is celebrated.
The press release said that as “the liveliest of all Hindu festivals” it is observed all over North India, and added, “celebrations in Mathura and the small towns of Braj Bhoomi, the land of Sri Krishna, are spectacular.”
Smearing colour on all those who were present and all those who were passing by, the Consulate General said, “Sri Lankan students who had joined the “India Corner” at the Consulate also participated in this event and witnessed this colourful festival.”
Boxes of Heineken cans were seen at the celebration venue.”
– tamilnet