Sri Lanka Brief- 25 June 2012
IN THIS ISSUE:
- Tamil Rights: Militarisation and Sinhalaisation of the North
- Right to dissent: Academies under threat, protests banned
- Rehabilitation of Militants: A Brainwash?
- Rule of Law: Political thugs having a field day
Tamil Rights: Militarisation and Sinhalaisation of the North
People of Vali. North to go back to their Lands grabbed by the forces; Holding white flags
he people of Vali North say that they intend resettling in the land grabbed by the forces, with holding white flags. The displaced people expressed their intention to the TNA parliamentarian Vinayagamoorththy and have demanded co-operation from the TNA parliamentarian as people’s representative Read more »
Colombo deploys riot police, blocks protest against land grab in Jaffna
Riot control commandos of the Sri Lankan Police were deployed in large numbers Tuesday morning confronting hundreds of peaceful protesters, who objected the land grab being undertaken by the occupying SL military inside the so-called High Security Zone. Read more
SL military goes amok on uprooted civilians in Vanni, 2 injured, 1 suffers heart attack
Children were thrown into vehicles and the occupying Sinhala Army assaulted uprooted Tamil families using gun butts and batons Monday evening at Thiru-mu’rika’ndi HinduTamil Viththiyaalayam in Ki’linochchi. A section of the uprooted families who had been brought from Menik Farm by the SL military a few weeks ago had declined to accept what they called an ‘enslavement’ offer of ‘resettlement’ by the SL military. Read more »
Minister threatens Tamils with ‘hundred more massacres’
A Sri Lankan cabinet minister has threatened with ‘hundred more massacres’ unless the island’s Tamil population avoid following the politics of the main Tamil parliamentary group. The warning came during a news conference on the 8 June inColombo.
People in the North Should Have the Same Rights
by Dr Laksiri Fernando
The discriminatory application of rights of the people in the North and the South came into sharp focus, when the police prohibited peaceful protests to be launched in front of the Jaffnabus stand on 19th Tuesday, as the police hurriedly obtained a court order the previous day. Read more »
Right to dissent: Academies under threat, Protests banned
White vans behind President FUTA
The area opposite the residence of Dr. Nirmal Ranjith Devasiri, the President of Federation of University Teachers Associations (FUTA), has become a favourite place for white vans to be parked say reports. At times the white vans with several individuals inside them have been parked there for hours. Read more
A threat to the safety of University Teachers Union president – AHRC
The Asian Human Rights Commission says it has received information that two days ago, a group of people who have identified themselves as members of the Ministry of Defense, visited the neighbourhood in which Dr. Nirmal Raanjith Devasiri, the President of the University Teachers Union and the Secretary of the Arts Faculty Teachers’ Association of the University of Colombo resides, and made inquiries about him and his family, in what appears to be an attempt to intimidate them.
Colombo stands exposed after attack on democratic protesters: Tamil politicians
The General Secretary of Democratic Peoples Front (DPF), Kumaraguruparan, who participated in both the protests in the city and in Thellppazhai in Jaffna this week told media that the way the Sri Lankan legal system and the police were deployed, and the way the peaceful protesters were attacked while they were returning home, raised questions whether the SL State wants the people to opt for an armed struggle again.
Government obstructions for white flags
The decorations put up for the funeral of the two persons killed in Katuwana attack are being destroyed by the police and thugs say reports. All decorations put up at Thissamaharama and Kudawalla have been destroyed by the police while decorations at Beliatta have been destroyed by thugs. Read more »
Rehabilitation of Militants: A Brainwash?
Post-war Sri Lanka’s Thought Police: The Rehabilitation of Ex-Combatants and the Denigration of Tamil Identity Part one
The defeat of the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE) in May of 2009 brought a new dimension to the ethnic conflict that has engulfed Sri Lankasince its independence in 1948. During the final phase of the war, thousands of LTTE combatants surrendered to the military and were held in high security holding places. Read more »
Post-war Sri Lanka’s Thought Police: The Rehabilitation of Ex-Combatants and the Denigration of Tamil Identity: Part Two
by The Social Architects
As mentioned by TSA,[1]the government has prepared a lengthy, heading-less, and inappropriate questionnaire[2] (in poorly written and, at times, incoherent Tamil) which has been used to obtain information about ex-combatants before they leave Protective Accommodation and Rehabilitation Centres (PARCs). Read more
Rule of Law: Political thugs having a field day
Judge makes shocking disclosure on Julampitiye Amare
Tangalle High Court Judge Chandrasena Rajapaksa in a disclosure in court said he had come to know that Geeganagamage Amarasiri alias Julampitiye Amare who had more than a 100 arrest warrants against him had visited an inmate at the Tangalle prison last week. Read more »
Witnesses to Katuwana murders threatened against giving evidence
Some persons who witnessed the Katuwana double murder last week have been threatened with death if they proceed to give evidence against Gigana Gamage Amarasiri alias Julampitiye Amare. Read more
A veritable epidemic of government goons
by Kishali Pinto Jayawardane
Is this Government comprised solely of underworld characters and law breaking Ministers? We may be forgiven for answering this far from rhetorical question in the positive for a multitude of persuasive reasons. Read more »
A political chess game? ( re Katuwana double murder) Editorial, The Island
Julampitiye Amare (JA), the suspected mastermind of last Friday’s attack on a JVP meeting in Katuwana, where two persons were gunned down, has given himself up. His surrender may be considered a sign of the government buckling under pressure.
New form of terrorism threatens Lanka .- Editorial, DM
The shocking disclosure by Tangalle High Court Judge Chandrasena Rajapaksa that the underworld gangster in the most wanted list had visited an inmate at the Tangalle Prison last week is an indictment, which reflects terribly on the entire law enforcement machinery of this country. Read more »
The role of the Defence Secretary in paralyzing the criminal investigation system
A Statement by the Asian Human Rights Commission
On 19th June 2012 Sri Lanka’s United National Party (UNP) published a statement demanding the resignation of the Secretary of Defence. The UNP claimed that the resignation was warranted in light of the recent deaths of two people at the JVP meeting at Katuwana, Hambantota. Read more »
A new social contract between government and people – Friday Forum
The Friday Forum comprises a group of concerned citizens who have come together to consider current issues of public interest with a view to making meaningful contributions towards peace, democracy, good governance and social justice in Sri Lanka. Read more »
