Sri Lanka needs silver, not scrutiny, is what the Ambassador is talking about in his "round-about" answer when responding to a question at the GSU about access by non governmental organizations.
Viva the questioners; “The Ambassador of Tamil Genocide” is responding in Sri Lanka’s Sinhala-Buddhist supremacy style, as if he is speaking at the Sri Lanka Parliament in Kotte.
Sunday, June 21, 2009
Wednesday, June 17, 2009
Channel 4 UK: Fresh claims over Tamil casualties
A new report today by UK's channel 4 reveals more of the atrocities of the Sri Lankan 'totalitarian' state; may be GSU could have screened this prior to the 'talk' by Sri Lankan ambassador:
Eyewitnesses interviewed during a week-long undercover investigation for Channel 4 News, told of thousands of civilian deaths as government forces advanced on the Tigers' final stronghold.
The deaths, they said, were the result of government shelling. [Read more on Channel 4 UK]
Eyewitnesses interviewed during a week-long undercover investigation for Channel 4 News, told of thousands of civilian deaths as government forces advanced on the Tigers' final stronghold.
The deaths, they said, were the result of government shelling. [Read more on Channel 4 UK]
"Dr. Unil Perera arranged the discussion"
Ambassador Jaliya Wickramasuriya has thanked Dr. Unil Perera, of GSU's Department of Physics and Astronomy for arranging his appearance at The Center for Human Rights and Democracy.
And Dr. Perera's webpage at GSU is flying the sword wielding lion flag of the “totalitarian” Sri Lankan state.
Did the Center for Human Rights, hosted the talk on behalf of a GSU collegue Dr. Unil Perera-just wanting to showcase Sri Lanka as “Asia’s oldest democracy?”
The leader of the triumphalistic “Asia’s oldest democracy” accepted the guard of honor of a neighboring dictator just few days ago. First visit to a foreign country since the victorious massacre of 20,000 plus Tamils, internment of 300,000, enforced disappearances and continuation of ethnic cleansing and genocide took Sri Lanka’s President Mahinda Rajapakse to Myanmar this week.
Sri Lanka President has a thing or two to “learn” on continuing to hamper democracy and human rights. And needless to say Sri Lanka president is all for the continued harassment of Burmese pro-democracy leader Aung San Suu Kyi.
It is a shame that the Center at GSU was made the podium for this ambassador to claim Sri Lanka is a "democracy".
And Dr. Perera's webpage at GSU is flying the sword wielding lion flag of the “totalitarian” Sri Lankan state.
Did the Center for Human Rights, hosted the talk on behalf of a GSU collegue Dr. Unil Perera-just wanting to showcase Sri Lanka as “Asia’s oldest democracy?”
The leader of the triumphalistic “Asia’s oldest democracy” accepted the guard of honor of a neighboring dictator just few days ago. First visit to a foreign country since the victorious massacre of 20,000 plus Tamils, internment of 300,000, enforced disappearances and continuation of ethnic cleansing and genocide took Sri Lanka’s President Mahinda Rajapakse to Myanmar this week.
Sri Lanka President has a thing or two to “learn” on continuing to hamper democracy and human rights. And needless to say Sri Lanka president is all for the continued harassment of Burmese pro-democracy leader Aung San Suu Kyi.
It is a shame that the Center at GSU was made the podium for this ambassador to claim Sri Lanka is a "democracy".
Tuesday, June 16, 2009
Sri Lanka Asia's "oldest democracy" or a "totalitarian regime?"
Jaliya Wickramasuriya, Sri Lanka’s Ambassador to the U.S., noted in the unfettered propaganda opportunity accorded by the GSU Center for Human Rights Center that Sri Lanka is “Asia’s Oldest Democracy."
Meanwhile John Dowd, President of the Australian section of the International Commission of Jurists during an interview with Radio Australia on June 17th, described Sri Lanka as a "totalitarian regime".
Meanwhile John Dowd, President of the Australian section of the International Commission of Jurists during an interview with Radio Australia on June 17th, described Sri Lanka as a "totalitarian regime".
US Ambassador nominee for Sri Lanka urges "unfettered" access to the camps
Sri Lanka needs to reach out to its Tamil minority and improve conditions for hundreds of thousands of displaced, the nominee to be the next US ambassador in Colombo said today, according to a report by AFP.
Patricia Butenis, testifying in a Senate confirmation hearing, said she would also press Sri Lanka to bring to justice those responsible for extrajudicial killings and attacks on the media.
Butenis said she would press Sri Lanka to allow "unfettered" access by humanitarian workers to the camps.
Patricia Butenis, testifying in a Senate confirmation hearing, said she would also press Sri Lanka to bring to justice those responsible for extrajudicial killings and attacks on the media.
Butenis said she would press Sri Lanka to allow "unfettered" access by humanitarian workers to the camps.
Monday, June 15, 2009
Ambassador Jaliya Wickramasuriya contradicts BBC reports from Sri Lanka at GSU
Dionne Walker has written for the Associated Press on the appearance of Sri Lankan Ambassador today at GSU, titled, "Ambassador: Sri Lanka working to resettle Tamils.":
Ambassador Jaliya Wickramasuriya, speaking to an audience in a police-guarded library at Georgia State University, denied allegations that ethnic Tamils are being held in welfare camps against their will and insisted that "the truth of Sri Lanka is not always the news stories you see." He said the government is working to get the Tamils back into their homes within six months.
According to a BBC report filed from Colombo on June 11th:
UN concern over Sri Lanka camps
The UN expressed concern about the permanent nature of the shelters being put up in these camps.
The official, Mark Cutts, said that nothing less than a new city had been created at Manik Farm, the massive complex of camps where he worked for the past month as a senior co-ordinator.
He said bulldozers were working constantly to clear jungle and that phone lines, schools, banks and even a cash machine had been built. He said this was "phenomenal" but described government plans to replace tents with more permanent structures as a "big worry".
According to AP, at the GSU Ambassador also said:
However, releasing them to return to their homes isn't simple, he said, because rebels have peppered the countryside with explosives.
"It would be criminal to send people back to villages and land riddled with mines," said Wickramasuriya, adding the threat is also why journalists haven't been welcomed to the conflict area.
But BBC reported from Colombo on Jun 1st:
Sri Lanka Tamils 'facing misery'
"The theory that the area is heavily landmined cannot be accepted because I am in touch with a number of people. So, when I ask them they tell me where the landmines are placed. They are local people. According to them, 75% per cent of the area is not at all landmined,"
Ambassador Jaliya Wickramasuriya, speaking to an audience in a police-guarded library at Georgia State University, denied allegations that ethnic Tamils are being held in welfare camps against their will and insisted that "the truth of Sri Lanka is not always the news stories you see." He said the government is working to get the Tamils back into their homes within six months.
According to a BBC report filed from Colombo on June 11th:
UN concern over Sri Lanka camps
The UN expressed concern about the permanent nature of the shelters being put up in these camps.
The official, Mark Cutts, said that nothing less than a new city had been created at Manik Farm, the massive complex of camps where he worked for the past month as a senior co-ordinator.
He said bulldozers were working constantly to clear jungle and that phone lines, schools, banks and even a cash machine had been built. He said this was "phenomenal" but described government plans to replace tents with more permanent structures as a "big worry".
According to AP, at the GSU Ambassador also said:
However, releasing them to return to their homes isn't simple, he said, because rebels have peppered the countryside with explosives.
"It would be criminal to send people back to villages and land riddled with mines," said Wickramasuriya, adding the threat is also why journalists haven't been welcomed to the conflict area.
But BBC reported from Colombo on Jun 1st:
Sri Lanka Tamils 'facing misery'
"The theory that the area is heavily landmined cannot be accepted because I am in touch with a number of people. So, when I ask them they tell me where the landmines are placed. They are local people. According to them, 75% per cent of the area is not at all landmined,"
"GSU will get used"
"He just got used," said Tom Malinowski, Washington director of Human Rights Watch, regarding the Army guided tour Ambassador Jaliya Wickramasuriya arranged for North Carolina Congressman Heath Shuler(D)in Sri Lanka, few weeks ago.
The Daily Kos described the trip as, "Heath Shuler (D-Dupe) Goes on Junket, Flaks for Sri Lanka."
Now GSU too will be "used" to stage an unfettered propaganda by the Government of Sri Lanka, as there is no podium for Tamil viewpoint at GSU.
The Daily Kos described the trip as, "Heath Shuler (D-Dupe) Goes on Junket, Flaks for Sri Lanka."
Now GSU too will be "used" to stage an unfettered propaganda by the Government of Sri Lanka, as there is no podium for Tamil viewpoint at GSU.
Saturday, June 13, 2009
Dear faculty, staff and students at the Center for Human Rights and Democracy at Georgia State University:
We are deeply appalled to hear the Center for Human Rights and Democracy at Georgia State University has invited Sri Lanka’s Ambassador to the United States, Jaliya Wickramasuriya, to talk on "Sri Lanka: Bringing an End to A Quarter Century of Civil War."
The Government of Sri Lanka has proclaimed victory and says the "civil war is over".
But the genocide and ethnic cleansing of Tamil minorities is continuing under various guises.
Ambassador Jaliya Wickramasuriya's mission in the United States is to spearhead a misinformation campaign and hide the truth in the largely "war without witnesses" that is taking place in Sri Lanka.
Independent media is not allowed and only embeded guided tours with the military are possible to pre selected "show-case" camps and "war zones."
In the efforts to keep any independent witnesses out, Sri Lanka recently briefly detained and turned away prominent Canadian legislator Bob Rae MP at the Sri Lanka Airport, even though he was issued a visa by the Sri Lankan High Commission in Ottawa days before.
In the recent genocidal onslaught carried out by majority mono ethnic Sinhala Army of Sri Lanka, minority Tamil civilians were massacred under the fig leaf of "war on terror" and at times as "humanitarian rescue operation".
The "human costs" are never an option for Sri Lanka government, as the people they massacre are all minority Tamils.
It is reported that over 20,000 Tamil civilians were massacred and surrendering Tamil "rebel" officials and fighters were gunned down by Sri Lanka Army.
And now the Tamil civilians are being subjected to "screening", "rehabilitation" and detained in "welfare centers" amidst Tamil families facing an enforced separation by the Sri Lankan government.
Human Rights Watch has repeatedly urged for international monitoring, but scores of innocent children and youth may have been killed already, without no witnesses.
Hundreds of thousands of people are being herded into tents within these "welfare centers" that have no adequate headroom, situated in recently cleared jungle areas and their freedom of movement is curtailed.
The government has come with several guises to detain Tamils in the internment camps which the Ambassador Jaliya Wickramasuriya will certainly call "welfare centers", but the fact remains the motive of the Sri Lankan Government is:
1) uprooting and eviction Tamils from their habitats
2) a scorched earth policy on Tamils' homeland and properties
3) enforced colonization to change demographics
4) prolong/prevent resettling by claiming demining is needed and/or setting up of "high security zones" to bar resettlement.
The first act on uprooting Tamils from the island since Great Britain left in 1948 was to disenfranchise and remove citizenship of hundreds of thousands of Tamils and evicting them to India.
Ambassador Jaliya Wickramasuriya represents a government that has conned and hoodwinked the world towards this "final solution" since 1948 and death knell Tamil minorities' quest for self determination.
The President of Sri Lanka is seen as the "King of Sri Lanka" in the footsteps of Adolf Hitler's proclamation as "King of Aryan Nation". Amnesty International and Human Rights Watch have condemned Government of Sri Lanka's war and post measures.
Sri Lanka's path to militaristic triumphalism is financed and equipped by vast human rights abusers- tyrants China and Russia. These tyrants and Chauvinistic Sri Lanka, are a deadly combination that spells death for freedom aspiring Tamils of Sri Lanka, and harmful to the geo-political standing of nations that uphold humanitarian norms and dignity in the region.
Protesters in Sri Lanka recently attacked embassies of Norway, United Kingdom and Canada with stones, rotten eggs and tomatoes with impunity, for expressing concern for violation of human rights in the country. The protesters calling them "patriotic Sri Lankans" destroyed the security cameras and visa counters but no one was arrested.
While pelting these other western embassies with stones, Government of Sri lanka nevertheless strongly believes that the "public relations war" ultimately has to be "won" in the United States of America.
The Center for Human Rights and Democracy at Georgia University may hope to hear from the war’s “apparent end” from the government side and prospects of “peaceful and lasting solution”.
But the Government of Sri Lanka will reap forward every benefit in appearing among academia that stands for human rights and propagate further Sinhala supremacist omission and commission to continue the ethnic cleansing and genocide that is hidden from the world’s humanitarian community.
We kindly appeal the Center for Human Rights and Democracy to reconsider giving Ambassador Jaliya Wickramasuriya a sole platform for a talk at GSU, which the Government of Sri Lanka will turn it into an unfettered propaganda.
- Citizens united for humanity -
The Government of Sri Lanka has proclaimed victory and says the "civil war is over".
But the genocide and ethnic cleansing of Tamil minorities is continuing under various guises.
Ambassador Jaliya Wickramasuriya's mission in the United States is to spearhead a misinformation campaign and hide the truth in the largely "war without witnesses" that is taking place in Sri Lanka.
Independent media is not allowed and only embeded guided tours with the military are possible to pre selected "show-case" camps and "war zones."
In the efforts to keep any independent witnesses out, Sri Lanka recently briefly detained and turned away prominent Canadian legislator Bob Rae MP at the Sri Lanka Airport, even though he was issued a visa by the Sri Lankan High Commission in Ottawa days before.
In the recent genocidal onslaught carried out by majority mono ethnic Sinhala Army of Sri Lanka, minority Tamil civilians were massacred under the fig leaf of "war on terror" and at times as "humanitarian rescue operation".
The "human costs" are never an option for Sri Lanka government, as the people they massacre are all minority Tamils.
It is reported that over 20,000 Tamil civilians were massacred and surrendering Tamil "rebel" officials and fighters were gunned down by Sri Lanka Army.
And now the Tamil civilians are being subjected to "screening", "rehabilitation" and detained in "welfare centers" amidst Tamil families facing an enforced separation by the Sri Lankan government.
Human Rights Watch has repeatedly urged for international monitoring, but scores of innocent children and youth may have been killed already, without no witnesses.
Hundreds of thousands of people are being herded into tents within these "welfare centers" that have no adequate headroom, situated in recently cleared jungle areas and their freedom of movement is curtailed.
The government has come with several guises to detain Tamils in the internment camps which the Ambassador Jaliya Wickramasuriya will certainly call "welfare centers", but the fact remains the motive of the Sri Lankan Government is:
1) uprooting and eviction Tamils from their habitats
2) a scorched earth policy on Tamils' homeland and properties
3) enforced colonization to change demographics
4) prolong/prevent resettling by claiming demining is needed and/or setting up of "high security zones" to bar resettlement.
The first act on uprooting Tamils from the island since Great Britain left in 1948 was to disenfranchise and remove citizenship of hundreds of thousands of Tamils and evicting them to India.
Ambassador Jaliya Wickramasuriya represents a government that has conned and hoodwinked the world towards this "final solution" since 1948 and death knell Tamil minorities' quest for self determination.
The President of Sri Lanka is seen as the "King of Sri Lanka" in the footsteps of Adolf Hitler's proclamation as "King of Aryan Nation". Amnesty International and Human Rights Watch have condemned Government of Sri Lanka's war and post measures.
Sri Lanka's path to militaristic triumphalism is financed and equipped by vast human rights abusers- tyrants China and Russia. These tyrants and Chauvinistic Sri Lanka, are a deadly combination that spells death for freedom aspiring Tamils of Sri Lanka, and harmful to the geo-political standing of nations that uphold humanitarian norms and dignity in the region.
Protesters in Sri Lanka recently attacked embassies of Norway, United Kingdom and Canada with stones, rotten eggs and tomatoes with impunity, for expressing concern for violation of human rights in the country. The protesters calling them "patriotic Sri Lankans" destroyed the security cameras and visa counters but no one was arrested.
While pelting these other western embassies with stones, Government of Sri lanka nevertheless strongly believes that the "public relations war" ultimately has to be "won" in the United States of America.
The Center for Human Rights and Democracy at Georgia University may hope to hear from the war’s “apparent end” from the government side and prospects of “peaceful and lasting solution”.
But the Government of Sri Lanka will reap forward every benefit in appearing among academia that stands for human rights and propagate further Sinhala supremacist omission and commission to continue the ethnic cleansing and genocide that is hidden from the world’s humanitarian community.
We kindly appeal the Center for Human Rights and Democracy to reconsider giving Ambassador Jaliya Wickramasuriya a sole platform for a talk at GSU, which the Government of Sri Lanka will turn it into an unfettered propaganda.
- Citizens united for humanity -
Wednesday, June 10, 2009
The disappearing act in Sri Lanka
Sharmini Peries speaks to Sunila Abeysekera award-winning human rights defender and the Executive Director of INFORM, an organization working to spread the word on Sri Lankan human rights violations.
They speak about the history of the ongoing torture allegations in Sri Lanka and the so-called "internment camps" where roughly 300,000 refugees of the recent conflict linger.
Abeysekera says, "Forget the torture; just overcrowding, lack of access to medical attention, and then including on top of that the beatings and the waterboarding. You know, you name it, we hear stories about it."
Sunila Abeysekera is the Executive Director of INFORM, an organization working to inform the world about human rights violations in Sri Lanka. The major themes of Sunila Abeysekera's work include issues of equality and difference in understanding women's human rights, problems of re-conceptualising the nation-state and principles of good governance from a feminist perspective; problems of representation of women in art and culture; and feminist film criticism. In 1998, Abeysekera was honoured by the United Nations for her contribution to the protection and promotion of human rights along with Jimmy Carter.
They speak about the history of the ongoing torture allegations in Sri Lanka and the so-called "internment camps" where roughly 300,000 refugees of the recent conflict linger.
Abeysekera says, "Forget the torture; just overcrowding, lack of access to medical attention, and then including on top of that the beatings and the waterboarding. You know, you name it, we hear stories about it."
Sunila Abeysekera is the Executive Director of INFORM, an organization working to inform the world about human rights violations in Sri Lanka. The major themes of Sunila Abeysekera's work include issues of equality and difference in understanding women's human rights, problems of re-conceptualising the nation-state and principles of good governance from a feminist perspective; problems of representation of women in art and culture; and feminist film criticism. In 1998, Abeysekera was honoured by the United Nations for her contribution to the protection and promotion of human rights along with Jimmy Carter.
Injustice fuels Sri Lanka's cycle of abuse and impunity-Amnesty International
Amnesty International has accused the Sri Lankan government of trapping the country in a vicious cycle of abuse and impunity. A new report published on Thursday by the organization details the Sri Lankan government’s failure to deliver justice for serious human rights violations over the past twenty years. [Continued-on Amnesty International]
Avoid a Postwar Witch Hunt - HRW
Government Threats, ‘Disappearances’ After Past Military Victories Are Cause for Concern
The Sri Lankan government should ensure that military defeat of the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam does not result in new "disappearances," unlawful killings or the jailing of government critics, Human Rights Watch said today. [Continued on HRW]
The Sri Lankan government should ensure that military defeat of the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam does not result in new "disappearances," unlawful killings or the jailing of government critics, Human Rights Watch said today. [Continued on HRW]
End Illegal Detention of Displaced Population - HRW
For more than a year, the Sri Lankan government has detained virtually everyone - including entire families - displaced by the fighting in the north in military-run camps, in violation of international law. While the government has said that most would be able to return home by the end of the year, past government practice and the absence of any concrete plans for their release raises serious concerns about indefinite confinement, said Human Rights Watch. [Continued-HRW]
M.I.A Calls for help in Sri Lanka
Sky News has been told women are being raped in Sri Lankan camps set up for Tamils who have fled the country's war zone. [Sky News]
Besieged, Displaced, and Detained
The Plight of Civilians in Sri Lanka’s Vanni Region
This 49-page report documents the Sri Lankan government's responsibility for the plight of the 230,000 to 300,000 displaced persons trapped in the Vanni conflict zone. They face severe shortages of food and other essentials because of government restrictions on humanitarian assistance. Individuals and families who have managed to flee areas controlled by the separatist Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE) have been detained in poor conditions in army-controlled camps.
This 49-page report documents the Sri Lankan government's responsibility for the plight of the 230,000 to 300,000 displaced persons trapped in the Vanni conflict zone. They face severe shortages of food and other essentials because of government restrictions on humanitarian assistance. Individuals and families who have managed to flee areas controlled by the separatist Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE) have been detained in poor conditions in army-controlled camps.
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