Sri Lanka Watch, News and Discussions

[RPK]

Britain turned down Lankan request to supply ammunitions - South Asia - World - NEWS - The Times of India

COLOMBO: Sri Lanka's request for supply of ammunitions during its war against Tamil Tigers was turned down by Britain, according to officials here.


"Britain had even declined to supply ammunition for 30 mm guns mounted on Sri Lankan Navy's Fast Attack Craft," an official said here quoting sources.

Sri Lanka took delivery of ten 30 mm guns from Britain in 1996 along with 6,000 rounds of ammunitions. Although the UK had delivered 2,000 more rounds of ammunition later, it turned down subsequent requests for the same, sources said.

Sri Lankan Army also rejected claims in the UK press reports that weapons of British origin had been used against the LTTE in the Eelam War IV, that culminated in the killing of Tiger Supremo Velupillai Prabhakaran early this year.

Sri Lankan Army chief Lt Gen Jagath Jayasuriya said the army had not acquired armaments from the UK during the fourth phase of the conflict. He said Sri Lanka did not buy "anything" (arms) from the UK.

Jayasuriya said the West was not inclined to supply ammunition needed even for sniper weapons.

A cross-party Committee of MPs on Arms Export Control in Britain has called for a probe into whether British arms were used in the Lankan military campaign against the LTTE.

The Sri Lankan Air Force and Navy yesterday dismissed claims that they had received a 'wide variety of weapons' from the UK to defeat the LTTE.

 

[I-G]

Rebels killed in clash with Sri Lanka police
2009-08-26 03:57:23 GMT2009-08-26 11:57:23 (Beijing Time) xinhuanet

COLOMBO, Aug. 26 (Xinhua) -- At least two former Tamil Tiger rebels were killed in a clash with police, officials said Wednesday.

The police spokesman senior deputy inspector general Nimal Madiwaka told reporters that police's special task force killed the two rebels Tuesday evening in the eastern province location of Kalmunai.

The STF raided the area around Thirumunai lagoon and confrontedthe rebels, one of them Kandapody was an eastern leader for the former Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE) rebels.

The two rebels were responsible for the April murder of a senior police officer in the district, Madiwaka told reporters.

The LTTE rebels were evicted from the eastern province by the government troops in mid 2007 before their total defeat from the entire north and east regions last May.

Rebels killed in clash with Sri Lanka police - World News - SINA English

 

[Sridhar]

Is this evidence of Sri Lankan 'war crimes'?

Updated on 25 August 2009
By Jonathan Miller
Channel 4 News shows footage claimed to show Sri Lankan forces executing Tamils earlier this year. Jonathan Miller reports.

Just three months after the Sri Lankan government declared the country liberated from the Tamil Tigers, video footage has emerged apparently showing government troops summarily executing Tamils.
Journalists for Democracy in Sri Lanka, which obtained the material, said it was filmed in January - when the international media were prevented by the Sri Lankan government from covering the conflict zone.
Tonight, the Sri Lankan High Commission denied the government had carried out atrocities against the Tamil community.
The Sri Lankan government launched a large scale military offensive in January capturing the Tamil Tiger held town of Kilinochchi. The army then steadily pushed the rebels into an small area of the north-east.
Be warned - there are extremely disturbing scenes in this report from our foreign affairs correspondent Jonathan Miller.
Sri Lanka High Commission response
"The High Commission of Sri Lanka categorically deny that the Sri Lankan armed forces engaged in atrocities against Sri Lankan Tamil community. They were only engaged in a military offensive against the LTTE.
"The High Commission has noted that in many instances in the past, various media institutions used doctored videos, photographs and documents to defame the Sri Lankan government and armed forces. Therefore, we request you to verify the authenticity of the video footage before the telecast".

Is this evidence of Sri Lankan 'war crimes'? - Channel 4 News

The video is here : Warning-Extremely Disturbing

Default Viral Title Player

 

[RPK]

AFP: Sri Lanka frees priests from war camps

COLOMBO — Sri Lanka on Wednesday freed nearly 600 Hindu and Catholic priests who were held in internment camps with ethnic Tamils displaced by fighting between troops and separatist rebels, officials said.

The clergy were allowed to leave the camps in the northern district of Vavuniya, where 300,000 inmates are detained under tight security to be screened for remaining Tamil Tiger rebels.

"We are taking measures to free the remaining members of the clergy at the earliest," said P.S. Charles, the senior civil servant in the area.

A total of 571 Hindu priests, six Catholic priests and two nuns were allowed out, she said, adding another 220 were still in the camps.

International and local rights groups have expressed concern about the welfare of the civilians held in the cramped internment centres, which are officially described as "welfare villages."

Recent rains have overwhelmed the sewerage systems and contaminated wells, raising fears of disease outbreaks.

Monsoon rains expected in October are likely to worsen conditions.

The United States, which led criticism of civilian casualties in the final phase of Colombo's offensive against the Tamil Tiger rebels, has also been vocal in its concern for the displaced survivors.

The United Nations said more than 7,000 civilians may have perished in the five months before the war ended in May with the Tigers' defeat.

Rains earlier this month destroyed nearly 2,000 makeshift shelters at the Manik Farm resettlement complex in Vavuniya district.

Independent media and foreign monitors have been barred from the camps.

The government promised UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon, who visited the island in May, that 80 percent of the refugees would be returned home before the end of this year.

 

[RPK]

BBC NEWS | South Asia | S Lanka video prompts probe calls

Sri Lanka is facing fresh calls for an international human rights inquiry after video emerged apparently showing extra-judicial killings by troops.

The footage was allegedly filmed in January during the final stages of the bloody conflict with the Tamil Tigers.

It shows a man dressed as a soldier shooting a naked man in the head. Eight other bodies are seen on the ground.

It is impossible to verify the video's authenticity. Sri Lanka's government says the footage was fabricated.

Call for access

It is not clear where the film was shot or when.


The government of Sri Lanka must allow immediate access to the conflict area

Shaista Aziz
Amnesty International
The footage was provided to the BBC and other media organisations by a group called Journalists for Democracy in Sri Lanka, which said it showed "the reality of the behaviour of the government forces during the war".

Government troops finally declared victory over the Tamil Tigers (LTTE) in May after months of fierce fighting.

Journalists for Democracy in Sri Lanka said the video had been taken in January 2009.

The group is based in Europe and was recently formed by Sri Lankan journalists, both Sinhalese and Tamil, who have fled the country.



Heavy fighting between troops and rebels went on for months
Nearly 50 journalists have done so in recent months because of fears of persecution by the government.

Independent media were banned by the government from travelling to the conflict zone in northern Sri Lanka.

Human rights group Amnesty International responded to the release of the video by repeating its call for "an international, independent and credible investigation into what took place during the final days of the conflict".

"Amnesty International has received consistent reports that violations of the laws of war, as well as international human rights law, were committed by both sides in the conflict," a statement said.

"The government of Sri Lanka must allow immediate access to the conflict area so that evidence and documents, as well as testimony from survivors, can be gathered."

'Terrorists'

Sri Lanka's military said the video was aimed at discrediting the armed forces and said the rebels were known to dress in military uniforms.



Sri Lanka denies the execution claim
The government categorically denied that troops had carried out atrocities and suggested the footage had been fabricated by pro-rebel groups.

"The Sri Lankan army never engaged with Tamil civilians. Our fight was with the LTTE terrorists," High Commissioner to Britain Nihal Jayasinghe told the BBC.

He said "well-documented evidence" of human rights violations was needed before there could be any United Nations inquiry.

Both sides in Sri Lanka's conflict have been accused of numerous atrocities and human rights violations over the years.

Many killings have also been blamed on proxy militias said to be working for one side or the other.

The UN estimates that more than 80,000 people were killed in the decades-long ethnic conflict.

The rebels were fighting for a separate state for Tamils in Sri Lanka's north and east.

They argued that Tamils had been discriminated against by successive majority Sinhalese governments.

 

[RPK]

Non-combatants should be free to go, says court @ The Hindu

The Sri Lankan Supreme Court has said that war-displaced persons in government-run camps should be allowed to go if they are non-combatants and have a place to go.

The Daily Mirror reported on Thursday that the apex court made the observation when a petition filed on behalf of five Internally Displaced Persons (IDPs) was taken up recently.

The court observed that if 13-year-old Sopika Surendranathan and her parents, who were confined in the IDP camps, had a place to go and if their next-of-kin were prepared to take them, there was no reason for them to be kept in the camps any longer. The senior state counsel stated that the family were not combatants.

The court also granted leave to proceed with the rights petition for alleged infringement of their fundamental right to equality and equal protection of the law as well as their right to the freedom of movement and of choosing their residence within Sri Lanka. The matter was listed for hearing on November 12.

The petition contended that the detainees had three houses owned by them at Karaveddy, in the Wanni and in Jaffna and had many relatives in Jaffna as well as in Colombo and, if allowed to leave, could obtain accommodation.

Separately, the government released 107 Hindu priests and their families housed in the war-displaced camps. Several Catholic priests were also released. However, Internews reported that two nuns would continue to stay in the camps and serve orphaned children.

Meanwhile, Sri Lanka Muslim Congress chief Rauf Hakeem welcomed President Mahinda Rajapaksa’s recent statement on the resettlement process and said that it should be put into practice without any delay

At a news conference here, he charged that 70 Muslim families who were resettled in Verugal in the East had been chased away while 450 Muslim persons in Musali in the North had not been allowed to get on with their livelihood.

“The government is carrying out showpieces just to show the world that it is resettling the displaced people but the essential thing should be a proper programme of resettlement,” he said.

 

[I-G]

Sri Lanka police swoops on roadside bombs
2009-08-30 05:37:18 GMT2009-08-30 13:37:18 (Beijing Time) xinhuanet
COLOMBO, Aug. 30 (Xinhua) -- Sri Lankan Police have recovered a dozen of claymore mines or the road side bombs.

Police spokesman senior deputy inspector general Nimal Mediwaka said Sunday the bombs were found on Saturday in the northern districts of Mannar and Vavuniya.

Mediwaka said the police's Terrorism Investigation Division had made the discovery of the 12 bombs in Mannar's Silawatura area while another, 50 kg bomb, was found in Vavuniya along with C4 explosives and other equipment.

Sri Lankan troops are currently engaged in operations to dig out large arsenals of the former Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE) rebels since they were crushed in May.

The LTTE extensively used road side bombs targeting the military and politicians during their over three decade old campaign.

Sri Lanka police swoops on roadside bombs - World News - SINA English

 

[slugger]

Apologies if it has been posted [did a Google search first though - no result]

SL Blogger writes about SL Army's Recon Unit and its involvement in the fight against LTTE

The Eight Man Team

Flickr Stream
Flickr: phoenix_750504's Photostream

 

[I-G]

Journalist sentenced to 20 years for ‘supporting terrorism’

A prominent Tamil reporter was, on Monday, sentenced to 20 years in prison for having links with the LTTE and for writing against the Government.

Jayaprakash Sittampalam Tissainayagam, 45, who contributes to the local Sunday Times and also ran a website that focused on the country’s Tamil population, was found guilty of spreading ‘racial hatred’ and ‘supporting terrorism,’ an official at Colombo’s High Court said.

The scribe, detained for over 400 days now, was charged under the Prevention of Terrorism Act for an article he had written in the pro-LTTE magazine North Eastern Herald, which has since been closed.

Tissainayagam was arrested on March 7, 2008 and later charged under the anti-terrorism legislation. His family has decided to appeal against the ruling.

The state-owned Daily News had claimed in May this year that Tissanayagam in an admissible confession had admitted his links with the LTTE.

“The confession was admitted in evidence at the court trial. There was material that showed his close links to Sivaram alias Tharaki one time editor of the pro-LTTE website Tamilnet,” the newspaper said. “Tissanayagam was associated with several opinion making publications of the LTTE organisation and was part of their propaganda outfit and was instrumental in securing funding for LTTE publication. He has also links with prominent personalities of the LTTE,” the paper claimed.

Tissanayagam was indicted by the Attorney General on August 11, 2008 and the High Court trial commenced on September 9, 2008.

A political science graduate with a post-graduate degree in International Relations, Tissainayagam had worked as a columnist for The Sunday Times since 2007.

The US President, Barack Obama had said in May this year that he was concerned over threats to media the world over and mentioned Tissainayagam, who has been detained for over a year.

“Emblematic examples of this distressing reality are figures like J S Tissainayagam in Sri Lanka, or Shi Tao and Hu Jia in China,” Mr. Obama said in a statement marking World Press Freedom Day on May 3.

The arrest and detention of Tissainayagam came amid fears of persecution among journalists in this country.

Journalist sentenced to 20 years for ‘supporting terrorism’ @ The Hindu

 

[vijaytripoli]

Sri Lankan Army Murdering Unarmed Prisoners, Very graphic...
Sri lanka Goverment Killing Tamils! ???????? ???????? ???????? ??????????? ?... Vakthaa TV
chau

 

[I-G]

Sri Lankan police arrest former woman rebel
2009-09-01 07:27:36 GMT2009-09-01 15:27:36 (Beijing Time) xinhuanet

COLOMBO, Sept. 1 (Xinhua) -- Sri Lanka's police have arrested atop woman member of the defeated Tamil Tiger rebels, a local radio station reported on Tuesday.

The Sri FM radio quoted police sources as saying that the woman who had worked in the political division of the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE) was arrested in a Colombo suburb while making plans to leave the island.

Her husband was a deceased member of the LTTE's mortar squad, said the police.

The Sri Lankan government is on the lookout for remnants of the rebel outfit while investigating on the around 10,000 LTTE members among the nearly 300,000 internally displaced people living in government welfare camps in the north.

The LTTE's three-decade-old campaign to set up a separate homeland for the minority Tamils in the north and east ended in May with the government troops annihilating the rebel outfit.

Sri Lankan police arrest former woman rebel - World News - SINA English

 

[RPK]

Sri Lanka plans to open up Colombo port | Reuters

COLOMBO, Sept 2 (Reuters) - Sri Lanka plans to open a second gate in the island nation's main Colombo port for the first time in a decade, aiming to boost traffic after the end of a 25-year war, a top port official said on Thursday.
"We will be opening the north gate in a couple of days," Sri Lanka Ports Authority Chairman Priyath B. Wickrama told Reuters. "This will help to improve our vessel turnaround time and we can accommodate more ships."

The port handled a record 3.68 million TEUs (Twenty-foot equivalents) last year. Wickrama said he expected vessel turnaround time to improve by 6-7 hours because of the change.

Port officials said the north gate had been shut for 10 years due to security threats from the Tamil Tigers rebels, who were wiped out in May.

Sri Lanka since the end of the war has been vying for hub status in the Asian maritime industry supported by its strategic location on the world map between the east and the west. (Reporting by Shihar Aneez; Editing by Bryson Hull)

 

[I-G]

Japan helped build channel for LTTE underwater craft

Updated on Friday, September 04, 2009, 20:15 IST Tags:japan, ltte, underwater craft

Colombo: The LTTE had built submersible vessels and a long secret channel for launching underwater craft with the help of some Japanese experts who came to Sri Lanka for tsunami relief work, a media report claimed today.


"A group of Japanese experts, who had been given access to the LTTE-held area shortly after tsunami in December 2004, had helped the rebels to build a channel to launch underwater craft," the Island newspaper claimed citing confession of a detained Tamil Tiger.

It said the Japanese team had also helped the rebels develop submersibles, though the first trial of the craft was not successful.

The foreigners had worked on the tunnel project for some time in a high-security zone in the Puthukudirippu area in the north, the newspaper quoted "well-informed sources" as saying.

Though the 58 Division of the Army had found a 360-ft long and 25-ft wide tunnel and a 300-ft long and 30-ft deep dock in early May, "the involvement of Japanese experts in this project had not come to light until recently," it said.

Sources said the troops had captured the tunnel in the Irattavaikkal three weeks before the army finished off the LTTE leadership on the banks of Nanthikadal lagoon on May 19.

The LTTE planned to float the submersible from the dock to the sea through the camouflaged tunnel, the newspaper said. The sources said the LTTE could have used the same technique to take in a submersible.

Bureau Report

Japan helped build channel for LTTE underwater craft

 

[I-G]

Former LTTE child soldiers given overseas visas in Sri Lanka

Updated on Friday, September 04, 2009, 16:10 IST Tags:LTTE child soldiers, Overseas visas, Sri Lanka

Colombo: A group of former LTTE child soldiers, who have undergone rehabilitation and vocational training after laying down arms, were presented with overseas work visas by Sri Lankan authorities at a ceremony held at a temple here.


Amidst chanting of religious hymns, seven young ex-LTTE cadres, in their late teens or early 20's, accepted the work permits and documents for Malaysia and received blessings from the temple priest ahead of a new beginning in their lives.

Attired in jeans and sporting neat hair-cuts, the former rebels were watched by the other devotees with interest at the Vinayagar Tamil temple yesterday.

The teenagers, who had handed themselves over to the security forces along with hundreds others during the last stages of the war, were rehabilitated at Ambepussa, Welikada near Colombo and Jaffna rehabilitation centres.

Seven of these children have been granted employment in Malaysia through the intervention of the Sri Lankan Ministry of Justice and Law Reforms and the Foreign Employment Bureau.

These groups of former child soldiers were awarded jobs on construction sites in Malaysia after undergoing training.

"This is the first batch of former child soldiers for whom jobs have been found in Malaysia," Cyril Jayawardene, a senior executive of the rehabilitation bureau, said.

The former fighters were made to undergo year-long vocational training jobs like plumbing, masonry, carpentry and electrical work at state-run welfare centres.

Bureau Report


Former LTTE child soldiers given overseas visas in Sri Lanka

 

[RPK]

Sri Lanka expels UNICEF official, says he promoted LTTE

Colombo: The Sri Lankan government has ordered a UNICEF official to leave the country, accusing him of spreading propaganda supporting Tamil rebels, the agency--the United Nations Children's Fund--has told CNN.


UNICEF denies the allegations against its spokesman in Sri Lanka, James Elder, an Australian citizen, and officials with the agency are scheduled to meet with government officials on Monday in hopes of keeping Elder inside the country, said Sarah Crowe, UNICEF spokeswoman for South Asia.


There were no details about Elder's status from the government.


Crowe said Elder has often spoken to the media about the agency's concerns about children caught up in the country's civil war and the conditions they endure at camps for the displaced.


"James has been our voice and impartial advocate of the most vulnerable women and children. We want him to remain in the country and continue his work," she said.


UNICEF will appeal the expulsion to the "highest level" if it stands, Crowe added.


The Sri Lankan military defeated Tamil rebels this year. The rebels--formally known as the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE)--waged war for an independent state for minority Tamils in Sri Lanka since July 1983. As many as 70,000 people were killed in the conflict.


In February, Elder told CNN that children as young as 4 months old were being treated in hospitals for shrapnel injuries and other wounds of war. The fighting created a "nightmarish" situation for civilians in the conflict zone, Elder had said at the time.


"There is just intense fighting in a small area where children and other civilians are," Elder said. "The space (where conflict is taking place) is shrinking and the fighting is augmenting."

 

[Sridhar]

India gets work offer for Jaffna port





Sutirtho Patranobis, Hindustan Times
Email Author
Colombo, September 22, 2009
First Published: 01:02 IST(22/9/2009)
Last Updated: 01:03 IST(22/9/2009)



Sri Lanka has submitted a proposal to India on renovating and rehabilitating parts of the strategically important Kankasanthurai (KKS) harbour in Jaffna in north of the country.
The Sri Lankan Ports Authority (SPLA) recently submitted a list of “what the Lankan government expects at KKS port” to the Indian high commission officials. SLPA chairperson P. Wickrama attended the meeting.
The port is located at the northern tip of the island nation in Jaffna, a high security zone.
The Lankan army captured it from the separatist Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam in 1995 and the armed forces continue to have a heavy presence there.
A toehold in KKS is important to India because of the port’s proximity to its southern coast. India is also entrenched in the Trincomalee harbour in eastern Sri Lanka.
In the south, China has got ahead and is building the ambitious Hambantota port project in President Mahinda Rajapaksa’s home district.
India can also help SLPA in pulling out wrecks of several ships that sank off the KKS coast.
The breakwater at the KKS port — currently only used by the Lankan navy and government ships — was severely damaged during the tsunami. But the government had postponed the repair because of the security situation.
“Besides repairing the breakwater, Indian expertise could also help in dredging the sea bed off the KKS port and rehabilitating the jetties," Agil Hewageegana, senior SLPA engineer, told HT. He said India could also help build shipyards and roads.


India gets work offer for Jaffna port- Hindustan Times

 

[RPK]

India gets work offer for Jaffna port

thanks God No more string of pearls:Laie_60A::Laie_60A:

 

[NSG_Blackcats]

SriLankan War Crimes

Channel 4 News shows footage claimed to show Sri Lankan forces executing Tamils earlier this year. Jonathan Miller reports.


Journalists for Democracy in Sri Lanka, which obtained the material, said it was filmed in January - when the international media were prevented by the Sri Lankan government from covering the conflict zone. The images in Jonathan Miller's report contain extremely disturbing images. Tonight, the Sri Lankan High Commission denied the government had carried out atrocities against the Tamil community. A Sri Lankan army spokesman also called the video a "fake".

Read the response here.

For Sri Lanka's Sinhalese majority, the end of 26 years of war was something to celebrate. The rebel Tamil Tiger army vanquished. It had been a brutal war - upwards of 80,000 dead. Soldiers, civilians, Sinhalese and Tamil traumatised and brutalised by what they has been through. By January this year, government forces were closing in on a shrinking conflict zone with unknown thousands of Tamil civilians being killed.

But independent journalists and observers were prevented from getting anywhere near the combat. There were rumours terrible things were happening, but this was a war without witnesses. However one soldier we now know had a mobile phone. And eight months on, his footage of a callous execution has emerged. There is no indication of the ethnicity of the dead men, but the group which obtained the pictures claim the victims are Tamils.

280,000 Tamils remain incarcerated in camps for displaced people. The government says it needs to screen the civilian population for suspected Tamil Tiger militants. Three months ago Sri Lanka's victorious president Mahinda Rajapaksa promised equal rights for Tamil and said they would be protected. If the killing field footage is authenticated, it will do little to reassure Tamil civilians.

Link

 

[NSG_Blackcats]

YouTube - Sri-Lanka shoots Tamil civilians

 

[K Factor]

I don't know what the matter is. Don't they have internet in Sri Lanka, or is nobody interested in Defence? We have Bangladeshi, Chinese, Pakistani and Singaporean members here from S-Asian countries but none so far from Sri Lanka to give the Sri Lankan - Sinhalese POV to this.