M.I.A. Lashes Out, Via Twitter, at NY Times
January 12 2010 – Spinner UK
On Monday, the same day that the media widely reported that M.I.A.’s upcoming album would be her most “honest,” the 34-year-old rapper took to Twitter to tell her fans how she really feels… about the New York Times. A Sri Lankan refugee with personal experience of that country’s horrifying civil war, M.I.A. took offense at an article that ran in the New York Times listing Sri Lanka as the number one (out of 31) place to visit this year.
After giving the publication a verbal middle finger, via Twitter, M.I.A. asked, “Do you think you need to go here on vacation?” with a graphic photo from Sri Lanka attached that would make anybody wince. She tweeted several additional, brutal images of war casualties, one of which came with the caption, “Here is the lush coastline they are talking about.” The photo is not for the faint of heart.
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SRI LANKA: Concern grows over IDP voting rights
January 11 2010 – IRIN
Tens of thousands of internally displaced people (IDPs) and new returnees in Sri Lanka may miss out on voting in this month’s presidential election on 26 January.
More than 170,000 of the 280,000 who fled the last bout of fighting between government forces and the now defeated Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE) have returned to their homes in the former conflict zone known as the Vanni.
And while the government maintains those still in the IDP camps and the returnees will be able to vote, questions remain.
Rohana Hettiarchchi, the chief executive officer at the People’s Action for Free and Fair Elections (PAFFREL), the island’s foremost election monitoring body, said: “The key factor is whether those who have returned recently can vote.”
Most of the returnees had not registered with government authorities to be included in the voting lists, he told IRIN, and only about 35,000 of the displaced had registered to obtain polling cards.
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Sri Lanka: A Bitter Peace
January 11 2010 – International Crisis Group
No matter which of the two main Sinhalese candidates wins Sri Lanka’s 26 January presidential election, the international community must take steps to ensure he addresses the marginalisation of Tamils and other minorities in the interest of peace and stability.
Sri Lanka: A Bitter Peace,* the latest briefing from the International Crisis Group, examines how eight months after the military victory over the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE), the post-war policies of President Mahinda Rajapaksa have deepened rather than resolved the grievances that generated and sustained militancy. Though the election campaign between Rajapaksa and retired General Sarath Fonseka has now opened up some new political space, Sri Lanka has yet to make significant progress in reconstructing its battered democratic institutions or establishing conditions for a stable peace.
“The victory over the LTTE will remain fragile unless Sinhalese-dominated political parties make strong moves towards a more inclusive and democratic state”, says Donald Steinberg, Crisis Group’s Deputy President for Policy. “Donor governments and international financial institutions should strengthen voices for reform by collectively pressing for democratisation and demilitarisation throughout Sri Lanka, but especially in the north and east”.
The return to their home districts of most of the quarter million Tamils displaced from the Northern Province, and the increased freedom of movement for the nearly 100,000 still in military-run camps, are important steps forward. The resettlement process has failed to meet international standards for safe and dignified returns, however, and the damage from the government’s humiliating internment will require much work to repair.
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On War Crimes, UN’s Ban Listens to Sri Lanka President over Alston’s Views
January 11 2010 – Inner City Press
Days after video footage depicting Sri Lankan soldiers murdering naked and blindfolded prisoners was authenticated by UN Special Rapporteur Philip Alston, Inner City Press asked Secretary General Ban Ki-moon to comment on Alston’s urging him to establish a commission of inquiry on war crimes, as Mr. Ban did in Guinea. Video here, from Minute 16:38.
Mr. Ban’s answer, surprising to some, distanced Mr. Alston from the UN, giving weight to the Sri Lankan government’s out of hand rejection of the video and Mr. Alston’s requests.
Ban said of Alston, “he is the Special Rapporteur of the Human Rights Council. He is acting independently. You might have heard statements made by the Sri Lankan Government and his own personal one. We will review all these situations.”
The “statements made by the Sri Lankan government” since Alston’s report have consisted of claiming Alston violated UN protocol by releasing his experts’ report authenticating the video.
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Sri Lanka’s Tamil Tiger suspects ‘won’t be freed soon’
January 10 2010 – BBC
Thousands of Tamil Tiger suspects in government custody will not be released soon, a Sri Lankan minister has said.
Power and Energy Minister WDJ Seneviratne said there were a “considerable number of suicide bombers” among the 14,000 detainees.
A military spokesman said there were fewer than 12,000 suspects in custody.
In May, Sri Lanka’s army defeated Tamil Tiger rebels who had been fighting for a separate homeland for the country’s Tamil minority for 26 years.
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