India backs Lanka in UN human rights review

India fully backed Sri Lanka in the just-concluded UN human rights review in Geneva, enabling its troubled neighbour to get a “balanced” appraisal from the world body on Tuesday.

The appraisal has raised hopes in Sri Lanka that it will be re-elected to the UN Human Rights Council by the General Assembly in New York on Wednesday.

While most of the Western countries attacked Sri Lanka on its rights record, citing arbitrary arrests, abductions, involuntary disappearances, mass displacement and even complicity in child recruitment by a pro-government militia, India mentioned only the positive aspects of the Sri Lankan situation.

The Indian delegate, Rajiv Kumar Chander, described Sri Lanka as a “close and friendly neighbour,” which maintained its sovereignty and territorial integrity, and played an “active role” in the Human Rights Council.

Ignoring Sri Lanka’s running battle with many UN agencies that it accused of being pro-LTTE, the Indian delegate said Sri Lanka’s cooperation with the UN system had been “noteworthy.”

India found Sri Lanka’s argument that its laws were compatible with international conventions in human and labour rights, “useful,” Chander said. He praised Colombo for appointing a steering group to draft a bill of rights, but wanted to know more about what was being done to build bridges across ethnic groups through language teaching.

India was silent on the issue of implementing the devolution package envisaged in the 13th amendment of Sri Lanka’s constitution to solve the Tamil-Sinhalese political problem even though it was enacted under Indian pressure in 1987. Interestingly, Pakistan, which is viewed in Sri Lanka as a closer friend, wanted to know whether there was any progress in its implementation.

A report from Sri Lanka’s Permanent Mission in Geneva said that over half the 56 delegations that participated in the review praised Colombo for protecting human rights while fighting terrorism. They were impressed with Sri Lanka’s frankness about its inadequacies and appreciated its desire to build capacity with UN help.

Sri Lanka was even able to justify its rejection of a UN proposal to set up a monitoring station on the island to report to the Office of the UN High Commissioner of Human Rights. The Sri Lankan Minister for Human Rights, Mahinda Samarasinghe, said the need of the hour was not UN monitoring but indigenous capacity-building with international help.

Samarasinghe also said that the membership of the UN Human Rights Council should not be restricted to those countries with a clean record.

Source: newindpress

27 killed in Lanka clashes

At least 22 LTTE cadres and four soldiers were among 27 people killed in intense clashes in the embattled Northern Sri Lanka, officials said on Tuesday.

One civilian was shot dead by suspected LTTE cadre yesterday in Vavuniya, the Media Centre for National Security (MCNS) said.

While two tiger rebels were shot dead in Kasawalpuliyankulam area in Vavuniya on Monday, two more militants were killed in Palamipiddi in the region, it said.

In a separate incident, unidentified gunmen shot dead a civilian at Badulu junction in Eastern Batticaloa on Monday, it added.

Fierce clashes between army and the LTTE in several areas of North-eastern Welioya also left five tiger militants dead on Monday, according to the MCNS.

Meanwhile, the defence ministry said at least 12 LTTE cadres were killed and 21 others injured in counter-terrorist operations against LTTE in Periyamadu, Mullikulam and Palampiddi in Vavuniya on Monday.

Three soldiers also lost their lives during these clashes, it said, adding, one security force personnel was killed during clashes in Kiribbanwewa area of Welioya on Monday.

Source: Hindu

Lanka lauds Pak help in fight against terrorism

Sri Lankan Prime Minister Ratnasiri Wicramanayake has lauded Pakistan for its support to the fight against terrorism in the island nation which is dealing with the "brutal" LTTE outfit.
"We are grateful to Pakistan who have helped us in our times of need and we haven't forgotten it," Wicramanayake said at a function organised by the Pakistan High Commission here recently.

"The friendship between our two countries is of particular importance today because we are both victims of scourge of terrorism." The Sri Lankan Prime Minister remarks came during the launch of two books of the world heritage site of Taxila in Pakistan that were translated into Sinhala language.

"Sri Lanka is fighting with the world's brutal terrorist outfit, the LTTE, and Pakistan is fighting terrorism on their own soil," he said, adding "terrorism is a sickness that is spreading in this part of the world and both our countries are suffering." Wicramanayake also had a dig at some western countries which he said were demanding Colombo to talk to terrorists even though they were not willing to lay down their arms.

Source: chennaionline

10 soldiers and 40 rebels killed in north-western Sri Lanka

Ten soldiers and 40 Tamil rebels were killed and three more soldiers were reported missing during weekend clashes between the two sides in north-western Sri Lanka, the defence ministry said Monday. The deaths were reported in three separate incidents in the Mannar area, 320 kilometres north of the capital, where government troops are trying to push forward into rebel controlled areas.

Five of the soldiers were killed in the Nadunkandal where the Tamil rebels made an attempt to capture the forward defence lines of the army and lost 21 of their cadres, military spokesman Brigadier Udaya Nanayakkarasaid.

Twelve rebels and three soldiers were also injured in the incident in the fighting that lasted more than one hour.

Four soldiers and eight rebels were killed in a separate clash in the Karukkandal area on Sunday morning. Three soldiers were reported missing after the clash.

Rebels also had launched a mortar attack, killing one soldier, and troops retaliated killing 11 rebels.

Fighting in the north has claimed over 4,000 lives during the past four months, according to the military.

Source: earthtimes

Sri Lanka accuses rebels of sinking navy ship

Sri Lanka accused Tamil Tiger rebels of sinking a naval ship in the eastern port of Trincomalee on Saturday but said no casualties had been reported.

"The logistic vessel called Invisible ... sank due to an underwater explosion," said navy spokesman Commander D.K.P Dassanayake.

The sinking occurred as Sri Lanka prepared to stage the first local elections in its eastern region in two decades on Saturday.

On Friday, a bomb exploded in a cafe in the eastern town of Ampara, killing at least 11 people, said the military.

It blamed the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE) for the blast.

Source: Reuters

..Navy spokesman Cmdr. D.K.P. Dassanayake says the rebels attacked the cargo ship with an underwater explosion at about 2:15 a.m. He says the 213-foot (65-meter) vessel was empty.

Source: IHT

UK transfers renegade Tamil Tiger

A former leader of Sri Lanka's Tamil Tiger rebels who was jailed in the UK in January has been transferred to an immigration detention centre.
Col Karuna was sent to jail in January for identity fraud after being arrested in London late last year.He was carrying an apparently genuine Sri Lankan diplomatic passport issued under a false name.It is not clear if he will be deported. Human rights groups want him charged with war crimes.The British Home Office refused to give details of Col Karuna's case.A spokeswoman would only tell the BBC that he "remains detained under immigration powers".He had served half of a nine-month sentence after being found guilty of identity fraud.Col Karuna's lawyer, David Phillips, says he has not claimed asylum so far and although he could apply from the detention centre his chances would not be very high because he failed to declare his intention to seek asylum immediately upon arrival in the UK.

British 'concern'

During his UK court case, Col Karuna said he had received the false diplomatic passport from the Sri Lankan government.He said the defence secretary in Colombo, who is also the brother of President Mahinda Rajapaksa, had arranged the documents for him.Col Karuna, whose real name is V Muralitharan, was arrested on 2 November at a flat in the London district of Kensington.The British Foreign Office said in December that it had told the Sri Lankan government of its "concern" at how Col Karuna had acquired a diplomatic passport under a false name.Sri Lanka's government denies it has any links to Col Karuna.

Fighting intensified

Col Karuna is one of the most controversial figures in Sri Lanka's prolonged civil war.He was the commander of the Tamil Tiger rebels in eastern Sri Lanka until 2004, when he changed sides and started fighting alongside government forces.Troops under his command - both before and after he changed sides - are accused of torture, murder and the recruitment of child soldiers.Human rights groups have urged the British government to try him for war crimes. But they say witnesses have been unwilling to come forward to testify against him.Both the Tiger rebels and the Sri Lankan military have faced repeated accusations of gross human rights abuses.Fighting in the north of the island this year has intensified after the army drove the rebels out of their eastern strongholds last year.

In January the government formally withdrew from a ceasefire which both sides were supposed to be observing, even though fighting grew steadily worse last year.

Source: BBC

Heavy fighting claims 66 lives in Sri Lanka: military

At least 64 Tamil Tiger rebels and two Sri Lankan soldiers have been killed in the latest battles in the island's north, according to the defence ministry on Thursday.

It said the two days of fighting on Tuesday and Wednesday occurred in the Vavuniya, Mannar and Weli Oya areas, from where government forces are trying to push into the guerrillas' northern mini-state.

There was no immediate comment from the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE).

The latest casualties raise to 3,471 the number of LTTE cadres the defence ministry says have been killed since the start of the year. It has admitted losing 261 soldiers in the same period.

Information from the front line cannot be independently verified since Colombo prevents media and rights groups from visiting the embattled areas.

Source: AFP

UN watchdog groups denounce 5 nations (including Sri lanka) vying to join rights council

Five countries trying to win seats on the UN Human Rights Council - Pakistan, Sri Lanka, Bahrain, Gabon and Zambia - fail to protect human rights and should be disqualified from membership, two watchdog groups said in a report.

But the groups, Freedom House and UN Watch, said Tuesday that Gabon and Zambia are virtually guaranteed seats because candidates are chosen by regional groups and Africa has an uncontested slate in the election, scheduled for May 21.

Hillel Neuer, executive director of UN Watch, which is based in Geneva, criticized democratic countries in Africa and elsewhere for failing to compete for seats on the council, where they could become advocates for human rights.

"Instead, they lend international credibility to repressive governments that routinely violate the rights of their own citizens," Neuer said in a statement.

Freedom House, based in New York, promotes human rights worldwide, while UN Watch monitors the international body's performance based on its charter. Both evaluated the 20 candidates for council seats on their records of promoting human rights at home and at the United Nations.

Their report gave "questionable" ratings to three candidates with mixed human rights records - Brazil, East Timor and Burkina Faso.

"Qualified" ratings were given to Ghana, Japan, South Korea, the Czech Republic, Serbia, Slovakia, Ukraine, Argentina, Chile, France, Spain and Britain.

The Human Rights Council was created in March 2006 to replace the widely discredited and highly politicized Human Rights Commission, and one aim was to keep some of the worst human rights offenders out of its membership. But the council has been widely criticized for failing to change many of the commission's practices, including putting much more emphasis on Israel than on any other country.

The United States was virtually alone in voting against the establishment of the council, and Washington has chosen to remain off the council.

The Geneva-based council is composed of regional groups that give dominance to Africa and Asia, each with 13 countries.

The council's current membership includes Cuba, Saudi Arabia, China and Russia, whose human rights records have been widely criticized. Pakistan, Sri Lanka, Gabon and Zambia, whose rights records were called "dismal" on Tuesday, are also members.

Source: IHT

43 killed in Sri Lanka clashes

At least 41 LTTE cadres and two civilians were killed as fierce clashes broke out between the Tiger rebels and security forces in the volatile northern Sri Lanka, official said here on wednesday. At least two LTTE cadres were killed in Sittaru in northern Sri Lanka during clashes with the army on Tuesday, officials said.

The Media Centre for National Security (MCNS) denied reports that LTTE has overrun an army camp at Sittaru in Ellakantale.

Meanwhile, two civilians were killed when a claymore bomb planted by suspected rebel tigers exploded near the Vavuniya Municipal grounds on Tuesday, the MCNS said. As many as five LTTE cadres were killed in Matottam in Mannar during clashes with the security forces on Tuesday, the defence ministry said.

Separately, troops said it had killed six Tiger rebels who were travelling in a tractor in Periyamadu in North-east of Vavuniya on Tuesday.

At least seven rebels were shot dead in clashes with security forces in Palampiddy in Vavuniya on Tuesday, the ministry said. In another confrontation, the security forces gunned down seven LTTE rebels during an offensive in Alankulam in Mannar on Tuesday, the MCNS said, adding in another clash they shot dead one Tamil tiger at Palampiddi in the region Mannar on Tuesday.

Source: Hindu

More time to question Tamil three

DETECTIVES were yesterday granted another eight days to question three men suspected of raising funds for a banned terrorist group.

City of Westminster magistrates gave police permission to hold the three men, aged 33, 39 and 46, until next Tuesday. Two of them were arrested in Powys.

They are suspected of raising funds for the Tamil Tigers, who have waged three decades of guerrilla fighting in Sri Lanka.

Police staged a series of early morning raids in Wales and London last Tuesday.

Government officials and senior police officers believe large sums of money are collected in Britain to fund Tamil Tiger attacks.

Members of the group are suspected of credit card fraud and extortion.

The two aged 39 and 46 were arrested at separate addresses in Newtown, and the third man, aged 33, was held in Mitcham, London.

Source: icwales