“Sri Lanka presidential candidate would free soldiers, rebels” The Washington Post

COLOMBO, Sri Lanka — The front-runner in Sri Lanka’s presidential campaign promised that he will rehabilitate and release all military personnel accused of abuses in the country’s civil war, according to a campaign manifesto released Friday.

via: https://www.washingtonpost.com/gdpr-consent/?destination=%2fworld%2fasia_pacific%2fsri-lanka-presidential-candidate-would-free-soldiers-rebels%2f2019%2f10%2f25%2fdb3c438a-f78c-11e9-b2d2-1f37c9d82dbb_story.html%3ffbclid%3dIwAR0M-gB2X3VBfI6MnSoNNwQJegY8mdlTIKIFy8W_koCGaaSruGtpQD-o7vw&fbclid=IwAR0M-gB2X3VBfI6MnSoNNwQJegY8mdlTIKIFy8W_koCGaaSruGtpQD-o7vw

“Sri Lanka presidential frontrunner loses bid to get corruption case dismissed” reuters

COLOMBO (Reuters) – Sri Lanka’s top court on Wednesday rejected an appeal by presidential candidate Gotabaya Rajapaksa to dismiss corruption charges against him, in a possible blow to the frontrunnner’s candidacy.

via:https://www.reuters.com/article/us-sri-lanka-politics-rajapaksa/sri-lanka-presidential-frontrunner-loses-bid-to-get-corruption-case-dismissed-idUSKCN1VW1UF?fbclid=IwAR3kdKy8gJZmUMsbFBLKhdI99vSNfeUdnA3IdLiUOLq_m5rQ8biv5ApotsY

“Sri Lanka: awaiting justice for a decade” The Hindu

Given a choice between living in a camp for displaced persons and in a home of his own, Dinesh Kumar would have chosen the latter any day. But nothing prepared him for the daily battle at his new house.

“I go to the sea to fish, but the catch has fallen drastically in the years we were displaced. I do some home gardening with my wife, we barely manage,” said the 30-year-old, standing in front of his small, Army-built house in Tellippalai, in Jaffna peninsula. Authorities have named the colony ‘Nallinakkapuram’ (colony of reconciliation). But for residents here, concerns over finding livelihood and drinking water have trumped the relief of being back on their land.

via: https://www.thehindu.com/news/international/sri-lanka-awaiting-justice-for-a-decade/article27165855.ece?fbclid=IwAR1fWR9I23DqWcJtvJz3-W8hm3w1oAT6ugs6zTR5S-4EY4P4hhBxJYJDQPQ

“Sri Lanka’s Special Task Force” report by International Truth and Justice Project

International Truth and Justice Project released in April 2018 a report on Sri Lanka’s Special Task Force.

The report can be download here

Please find below the presentation of the report by International Truth and Justice Project team

“This report on the Special Task Force (STF) is based primarily on the testimony of Sinhalese insiders who worked for the unit in the past and former Tamil paramilitaries.  

“This work in the white vanning unit had been like being a horror film. This lifestyle had become part of my normal life. We were surrounded by violence, corruption, fear, anger and hatred. Life was very cheap.”

In the East of Sri Lanka, witnesses describe some STF officers ordering summary executions of prisoners, conducting false flag operations and condoning sexual violations.

The report makes the case that the STF should not be deployed as UN peacekeepers without stringent vetting and screening. The ITJP has prepared a confidential list of more than fifty STF officers whom it believes should be barred from serving in UN peacekeeping missions.

This report on the Special Task Force (STF) is based primarily on the testimony of Sinhalese insiders who worked for the unit in the past and former Tamil paramilitaries.  

“This work in the white vanning unit had been like being a horror film. This lifestyle had become part of my normal life. We were surrounded by violence, corruption, fear, anger and hatred. Life was very cheap.”

In the East of Sri Lanka, witnesses describe some STF officers ordering summary executions of prisoners, conducting false flag operations and condoning sexual violations.

The report makes the case that the STF should not be deployed as UN peacekeepers without stringent vetting and screening. The ITJP has prepared a confidential list of more than fifty STF officers whom it believes should be barred from serving in UN peacekeeping missions.

This report on the Special Task Force (STF) is based primarily on the testimony of Sinhalese insiders who worked for the unit in the past and former Tamil paramilitaries.  

“This work in the white vanning unit had been like being a horror film. This lifestyle had become part of my normal life. We were surrounded by violence, corruption, fear, anger and hatred. Life was very cheap.”

In the East of Sri Lanka, witnesses describe some STF officers ordering summary executions of prisoners, conducting false flag operations and condoning sexual violations.

The report makes the case that the STF should not be deployed as UN peacekeepers without stringent vetting and screening. The ITJP has prepared a confidential list of more than fifty STF officers whom it believes should be barred from serving in UN peacekeeping missions.”

சாட்சியங்களை சேகரித்தல்

விசேட அதிரடிப்படை

விசேட அதிரடிப்படை பற்றிய இந்த அறிக்கையானது கடந்த காலத்தில் இந்த அணியில் பணியாற்றிய உள்ளக சிங்களவர்களின் சாட்சியங்களையும் முன்னாள் தமிழ் ஒட்டுக்குழுவினர்களின் சாட்சியங்களையும் அடிப்படையாக கொண்டது.

‘வெள்ளைவான் கடத்தல் அணியின் வேலையானது ஒரு பயங்கரமான படம் போல இருந்தது. இது சாதாரண வாழ்க்கைமுறைபோல் மாறியிருந்தது. வன்முறை, ஊழல், பயம், கோபம் மற்றும் வெறுப்பு என்பன எங்களைச் சூழவும் இருந்தது. உயிர் என்பது மிகவும் மலிவானதாக இருந்தது.’

இலங்கையின் கிழக்கில் தடுத்து வைக்கப்பட்டுள்ளவர்களை கண்மூடித்தனமாக கொல்லுதல், மறைமுகக் கொலைகள் மற்றும் பாலியல் வன்முறைகளை அனுமதித்தல் போன்ற நடவடிக்கைகள் இடம்பெறுவதற்கான கட்டளைகளை சில விசேட அதிரடிப்படை அதிகாரிகளே  மேற்கொள்வதாக சாட்சியாளர்கள் தெரிவிக்கின்றனர்.

விசேட அதிரடிப்படையினர் ஐநாவின் இறுக்கமாக மீளாய்வு மற்றும் சோதனை இல்லாமல் அமைதிகாக்கும் படையினராக ஈடுபடுத்தக்கூடாது என்பதை இந்த அறிக்கை சுட்டிக்காட்டுகின்றது. ITJP ஆனது ஐநா அமைதிகாக்கும் நடவடிக்கைகளில் பணியாற்றுவதில் இருந்து தடைசெய்யப்படவேண்டும் என நம்பப்பபடும் 50 மேற்பட்ட விசேட அதிரடிப்படையினரினரின் பெயர்களைக் கொண்ட இலகசிய பட்டியல் ஒன்றைத் தயாரித்துள்ளது.

 

සාක්ෂි ගොනු කිරීම

පොලිස් විශේෂ කාර්ය සාධක බලකාය

පොලිස් විශේෂ කාර්ය සාධක බලකාය (STF) ගැන මේ වාර්තාව ප්‍රධාන වශයෙන් පදනම් වී ඇත්තේ එම ඒකකයේ අතීතයේ සේවය කළ සිංහලයන් සහ හිටපු දෙමළ අතුරු සන්නද්ධ කල්ලි සාමාජිකයන් ගේ සාක්ෂි වාචක පදනම් කරගෙනය.

සුදු වෑන් කණ්ඩායමේ වැඩ හරියට ත්‍රාසජනක චිත්‍රපටියක වගේ. ඒ ජීවන රටාව මගේ සාමාන්‍ය ජීවිතය බවට පත්වෙලා තිබුනා. අපි වටේම තිබුනේ ප්‍රචණ්ඩ ක්‍රියා, දූෂණ වංචා,බය, තරහ සහ වෛරය. ජීවිතය හරිම සිල්ලර දෙයක් වෙලා තිබුනා.”

නැගෙනහිර ශ්‍රී ලංකාවේ දී  ඇතැම් STF නිලධාරීන් නඩු නොඅසා සිරකරුවන් ඝාතනය කිරීමට අණදීමත්, වෙනත් කණ්ඩායමකට වරද පැටවෙන සේ ප්‍රහාර දියත් කිරීමත්, ලිංගික ප්‍රචණ්ඩතා සඳහා අනුබල දීමත් සිදුකළ ආකාරය සාක්ෂිකරුවන් විසින් විස්තර කර තිබේ.

දැඩි පූර්ව පරීක්ෂාවකට හා නිශ්කාෂණයට යටත් නොකොට පොලිස් විශේෂ කාර්ය සාධක බලකාය එක්සත් ජාතීන්ගේ සාමසාධක කටයුතු සඳහා නොයැවීම සඳහා මෙම වාර්තාව කරුණු දක්වයි. එක්සත් ජාතීන්ගේ සාමසාධක රාජකාරි වල යෙදීම තහනම් කළ යුතුයැයි තමන් විශ්වාස කරන පනස් දෙනකුට වැඩි  STF නිලධාරීන් පිරිසකගේ රහස්‍ය නාම ලේඛනයක් ITJP විසින් සම්පාදනය කොට තිබේ.

source: http://www.itjpsl.com/reports/special-task-force#english

Table ronde sur Sri Lanka à Edimbourg

Une table ronde consacrée à la situation politique et sociale actuelle de Sri Lanka est organisée à Edimbourg le 26 et 27 mai 2016 par Jonathan Spencer, professeur d’anthropologie à l’Université.
Nous reproduisons ci-dessous le programme provisoire de ces journées d’étude:

Sri Lanka Roundtable (DRAFT PROGRAMME)
Edinburgh 26-27 May, 2016

Thursday 26 May, Techcube, Summerhall (t.b.c)
9.00-9.15 Introduction and welcome
9.15-11.00 Youth and war Isabelle Clark-Decès (Princeton), Youth in the cultural politics of contemporary Jaffna
Dhana Hughes (Durham), Sinhala Youth and Military Enlistment
Giacomo Mantovan (CEIAS/CRH, EHESS) “They were kings…” The farewell to arms of former Tamil Tiger fighters in exile in France
Giyani Venya De Silva (Oxford) Living with continuity, waiting for change: commentaries from students in Colombo
11.00-11.15 Coffee
11.15-12.45 Gender Asha Abeysekera (Colombo) Balancing Modernity and Morality in the Sinhala-Buddhist Family Exploring the Rhetoric of Sinhala-Buddhist Nationalism
Kristine Hoglund (Uppsalla) Gender and the Pursuit of Justice in Sri Lanka: Testimonies of Peace and Conflict
Jayanthi Lingam (SOAS) Gendered working lives in the post-war transition in Jaffna district, 2009-14
12.45-1.30 Lunch
1.30-3.00 Justice and Security Georg Frerks (Utrecht), Rajapakse’s Peace’: The President’s discourse on the post-war situation in Sri Lanka (2009-2015)
Ali Brown (Amsterdam), Human Security in the Era of Sirasena
Gerrit Kurtz (KCL), The evolution of post-war transitional justice in Sri Lanka
3.00-3.15 Tea
3.15-5.00 Transitional Justice and Constitutional Reform: State of Play and Future Prospects Harini Amarasuriya (Open University and Public Representations Committee on Constitutional reform), Alan Keenan (international Crisis Group), Asanga Welikala (CPA and University of Edinburgh), with Christine Bell (University of Edinburgh)
6.00-7.00
7.30 Dinner, Mother India, Infirmary Street

Friday 27 May, Seminar Rooms 1 and 2, Chrystal Macmillan Building
Please note, in the morning we will split the space to run parallel panels in the two rooms. In the afternoon, we will open up the two rooms for our final plenary sessions.

9.00-9.15 Introduction and welcome
9.15-10.45 Work and Livelihoods (Seminar Room 1) Urs Geiser (Zurich)The making of control over land in Wattamadu – local organisations, engaging the state, changing conjunctures
Charles Wilkinson and Maura van den Kommer
(Amsterdam) Living the Uncertainty: Exploring the Effects of the EU Ban on Sri Lankan Fisheries
Joeri Scholtens and Maarten Bavinck (Amsterdam) Facilitating change from the bottom-up? Reflections on civil society efforts to empower marginalized fishers in post-war Sri Lanka
Religion and transition (Seminar Room 2) Mahinda Deegalle (Bath Spa) The Vision and Leadership of the Architect of Yahapālanaya: Venerable Māduluwāwe Sobhita’s Exemplary Role in the Political Transition of Sri Lanka in 2015
Neena Mahadev (Max Planck) Notes on contemporary religio-economic linkages between Sri Lankan & Singapore
Dominic Esler (UCL) Northern Tamil society after the war: the revival of Catholic kūttu in Mannar
10.45-11.15 Coffee
11.15-12.45 Work and Politics (Seminar Room 1) Sandya Hewamanne (Essex) Neoliberalism’s New Recruits: Tamil Workers, Human Rights Thrashings and ‘Mundane’ Politics in Post-War Sri Lanka
Mythri Jegathesan (Santa Clara) Is a progressive politics possible? Examining the contemporary intersections of industrial sustainability and political shifts in Sri Lanka’s plantation sector
Darshi Thoradeniya (Heidelberg/Colombo) Women Citizens in Welfare State of Sri Lanka
Past and present (Seminar Room 2) Deborah Winslow (NSF) Contexts of Caste
Alessandra Radicati (LSE) Precarious Patriots: Reflections on Past, Present and Future in a Coastal Community
Carolina Holgersson Ivarsson (Gothenburg), Religious identity, nationalism and social media among Sinhala-Buddhist youth
12.45-1.30 Lunch
1.30-3.30 Borders and Margins Vagisha Gunasekara,
Prashanthi Rasadhari Jayasekara,
Gayathri Hiroshani, Hallinne Lokuge,
Aftab Lall (Centre for Poverty Analysis, Colombo), Production of Marginality: Findings from a six-year research programme on basic services, social protection and livelihoods in the North and East
Jonathan Goodhand (SOAS/Melbourne), Vagisha Gunasekera (CEPA), Alice Kern (Zurich) and Thiruni Kelegama (Zurich), with Rajesh Venugopal (LSE), discussant, Sri Lanka’s borderlands and frontiers
3.30-3.45 Tea
3.45-5.30 Writing War and After Sunila Galappatti will read from her new book, A Long Watch: War, Captivity and Return in Sri Lanka, and V.V. (Sugi) Ganeshananthanan will read from her work in progress, The Missing are Considered Dead.

Also in attendance (participating but not presenting): Ashwini Vasanthakumar
(York), Dennis McGilvray (Colorado), Anne Blackburn (Cornell), Rose Fernando (Utrecht), Niels Terpstra (Utrecht), Eric Meyer (INALGO, Paris), Oivind Fuglerud (Oslo), R.L. (Jock) Stirrat (Sussex), Kanchana Ruwanpura (Edinburgh), Anthony Good (Edinburgh), Jonathan Spencer (Edinburgh), Sidharthan Maunaguru (NUS), Tanya Ekanayaka (Edinburgh), Deborah Menezes (Edinburgh)

“Sri Lanka’s Minority Outreach Holds Risks Before Vote” by Uditha Jayasinghe

Sri Lanka’s government has been reaching out to the country’s influential Tamil diaspora with the aim of building minority support and boosting its international standing. But the contentious strategy holds risks for the government’s survival ahead of parliamentary elections next week.

see: http://www.wsj.com/articles/sri-lankas-minority-outreach-holds-risks-before-vote-1439436855

“Transitional Justice in Sri Lanka and Ways Forward” by Centre for Policy Alternatives

With the end of the war in 2009, the need to address the widespread death, destruction, and displacement was overwhelming. Allegations against all sides of potential war crimes and crimes against humanity demands an independent investigation and the prosecution within a credible court of law of those responsible for international crimes committed during the final stages of the war and during its aftermath. The Centre for Policy Alternatives (CPA) has consistently called for such independent investigations and other accountability measures to address truth, justice, reparations and non-recurrence of violence in Sri Lanka. This appeal continues six years after the end of the war. In this report, CPA sets out a range of processes and mechanisms available to the Sri Lankan government to ensure accountability for serious human rights violations and alleged crimes committed during the war. While many stakeholders are identified in the report, the ultimate responsibility for truth and justice in Sri Lanka lies with its citizens; accordingly they must play the central role in the design and implementation of future processes and mechanisms. CPA hopes that the options provided in this report enrich the discussions and debates about the design and implementation of a credible domestic process with the long term goal of achieving truth and justice in Sri Lanka.

“Sri Lankan Tamils push for autonomy and justice” by Amal Jayasinghe

“The road blocks and military checkpoints are gone, and the restrictions on foreign tourists and journalists visiting the area have been lifted.

But the mostly Tamil residents of Sri Lanka’s northern Jaffna peninsula say much more still needs to be done to heal the wounds of a long civil war — and they are pinning their hopes on an upcoming general election.

Jaffna voted overwhelmingly in January’s presidential election to oust the strongman incumbent Mahinda Rajapakse, who maintained de facto martial law in the region.”

see: http://news.yahoo.com/sri-lankan-tamils-push-autonomy-justice-110918536.html

“The ‘Unfinished War’ Against Sri Lanka’s Tamils” by Taylor Dibbert

This is a well-written, timely document which underscores the grave and comprehensive challenges that ethnic Tamils continue to face in post-war Sri Lanka. The detailed accounts of torture and rape are difficult to read, but – aside from the horrific violations recounted – what really stands out is the comprehensive, wide-ranging and pernicious nature of Sri Lanka’s state security apparatus, which continues to operate with impunity.

see: http://thediplomat.com/2015/07/the-unfinished-war-against-sri-lankas-tamils/

“Sri Lanka: New report names torture camps and perpetrators” by Athula Vithanage

“A security force insider has told ITJP researchers that military intelligence officials operating from JOSEF camp ‘were actively looking for any Tamils returning home from abroad in order to interrogate them’, since President Maithripala Sirisena was elected to office in 2015. ITJP has recorded eight accounts of torture and abuse that happened after January 8, 2015, the most recent in July 2015.”

see: http://www.jdslanka.org/index.php/news-features/human-rights/543-sri-lanka-new-report-names-torture-camps-and-perpetrators

“Sri Lanka justice: leaked UN document casts doubts” by Channel 4

A leaked UN document raises concerns over the prospects for genuine justice for the Sri Lankan victims of alleged war crimes.

Channel 4 News has been supplied with the leaked document which critics claim could pre-empt and undermine September’s Human Rights Council discussion on a UN’s long-awaited investigation into crimes committed at the end of Sri Lanka’s 26-year civil war.

According to the UN tens of thousands of Tamil civilians died in the closing stages of the Sri Lankan military’s war against the LTTE, also known as the Tamil Tigers.

The UN says most of those civilians died in government shelling as they were crammed into ever-diminishing “No Fire Zones” – though the Tamil Tigers are also alleged to have committed grave abuses including suicide bombings and the use of human shields.

see: http://www.channel4.com/news/sri-lanka-united-nations-justice-war-crimes-inquiry

“Sri Lanka’s War Is Long Over, But Reconciliation Remains Elusive” by Julie McCarthy

Sri Lanka, a palm-fringed island in the Indian Ocean, is in the sixth year of peace. But as the country prepares for elections in August, the legacy of its long civil war still casts a shadow.

The intervening years have been especially painful for the families of the thousands who disappeared in three decades of conflict and remain unaccounted for.

The trauma endures in the fishing village of Mannar in the Northern Province, where most of the fighting unfolded between the Tamil rebels and the government forces. Residents say men were snatched off the streets “in broad daylight,” bundled into vans, and never seen again.

via: http://www.npr.org/sections/parallels/2015/06/29/418518510/sri-lankas-war-is-long-over-but-reconciliation-remains-elusive

“Justice in Sri Lanka: With just 273 political prisoners in custody, how many have disappeared?” by JS Tissainayagam

New questions about wartime and post-war disappearances in Sri Lanka emerged following a bombshell revelation that the Government hs only 273 political detainees in its custody. Families of the disappeared believed the numbers are much higher. This announcement also hardens doubts if a Sri Lankan-led judicial process into mass atrocities, such as disappearances, will bring justice to the victims.

via: http://asiancorrespondent.com/133600/sri-lanka-political-detainees/

“Internal Political Power Bashing in the Name of Justice for War Victims” by Rajan Hoole, N. Sivapalan, Ahilan Kadirgamar and K. Sritharan

“The UN Human Rights Commission’s decision to investigate violations and the huge loss of life during the last months of the war concluded in 2009 was a significant victory for the victims. The dignity of the victims required that the truth must be told without fear or favour, and processes of justice and restoration set in motion. And the wrong was not all on one side. Dignity also demands that we await the verdict of the judges with restraint and reverence for the name of justice.”

via: http://www.island.lk/index.php?page_cat=article-details&page=article-details&code_title=120781

“Sri Lanka’s Duty on War Crimes” by The New York Times

“However noble its motives, the Sirisena government must deal with the legacy of the past. Any delay in the release of the United Nations report must be brief. And the United Nations must remain involved. This is not a rebuke to Mr. Sirisena’s welcome intentions. It is simply the best way to guarantee that the inquiry is swift and independent, that witnesses are adequately protected and that perpetrators are finally punished.”

via: http://www.nytimes.com/2015/02/11/opinion/sri-lankas-duty-on-war-crimes.html?smid=fb-share&_r=0