From The Frying Pan Into The Fire?
November 08 2009 – The Sunday leader
The word on the street is that the dark horse of the island’srumour mill — Gen.Sarath Fonseka will indeed serve as the joint opposition’s candidate in the imminent but unannounced presidential election.
Rumours of his candidacy seem to congeal out of the very ether of Colombo’s tropical nights and seep out the rain that has recently been soaking our capital. His travel plans are splashed on the front pages of every newspaper, and his nameis whispered in supermarket queues, mentioned in hushed tones on the back seats of buses, and declared loudly by the drinks tables at buzzing parties.
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France asks Sri Lanka to end emergency, probe war crimes
November 07 2009 – EU Business
(COLOMBO) – A top French envoy Saturday asked Sri Lanka to end its state of emergency and probe war crimes ahead of a key European Union ruling on trade concessions to the troubled island.
Ambassador for Human Rights, Francois Zimeray, said he hoped Colombo will signal the ending of its war with Tamil rebels in May by withdrawing emergency laws which allowed the detention of suspects for long periods without trial.
“Ending of the emergency (in force since 1983) should have been the first consequence of ending the war (in May),” he said at the end of three-days of talks with key Sri Lankan leaders on the island’s human rights situation.
“The fact that the conflict is over should be an opportunity to put an end to emergency laws,” he said referring to the draconian legislation which was also used in August to jail an editor for 20 years.
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The plot thickens; dual roles and double games
November 5 2009 – Daily Mirror
My dear Mahinda Aiya,
Ayubowan, vanakkam, assalamu alaikkum, and best wishes as we enter a crucial period on the political and economic fronts in this post war era amid an unprecedented diplomatic crisis with the superpower United States. Sri Lanka’s relationship with the US and powerful member states of the European Union has been on the decline during the past few years, largely due to alleged human rights violations here, and it reached crisis point in recent months.
Last month, the US State Department submitted to Congress a report complied by special ambassador Stephen Rapp, on alleged war crimes and crimes against humanity during the last three weeks of the war against the LTTE. The report gave details of some 170 attacks by both the security forces and the LTTE, alleging that thousands of Tamil civilians were killed in those atrocities.
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The killing of bala varnam sivakumar
November 5 2009 – Daily Mirror
Perhaps the most sickening TV news item seen by Sri Lankans in recent times was the cold-blooded murder of the mentally ill Balavarnam Sivakumar of Ratmalana. It is understood that a police constable named Dimuthu Somnas has been remanded in connection wth this attack. A few of his fellow constables are also said to be likely to be taken into custody. These arrests will predictably divert attention away from those criminals who started the whole thing by beating and chasing Sivakumar into the sea initially, and the other policemen who helped Somnas and his accomplices finish off the job by looking on, doing nothing. It has also been reported that the Bambapilitiya Police had been informed but had taken no action to stop the unrelenting assault. Most of the citizens who were witness to this monstrous exhibition of brutality would undoubtedly have been fearful of the consequences of interfering with its vicious’ participants. In these circumstances, the action taken by a few concerned citizens to alert the Bamb
alapitiya Police and the TNL TV Station tells us that there were at least a few decent persons there who had the conscience to try to do something to stop this inhuman killing. Considering the sad fate of many media institutions and personnel during the past few years, TNL TV and its personnel deserve our thanks and praise for their courageous exposure of this terrible episode.
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Gota was questioned while in the US for UN conference
November 2 2009 – Daily Mirror
Defence Secretary Gotabhaya Rajapaksa was questioned by US immigration authorities on his arrival in the US as a member of the Sri Lankan delegation attending the UN General Assembly this year, National Freedom Front (NFF) leader Wimal Weerawansa told reporters today.
“This was not revealed to the media at that time. However, our Defence Secretary has been questioned for one hour by some US immigration officials on his arrival in the country. Nevertheless, they have no right to question him on human rights issues. Now, these foreign forces appear to have renewed their conspiracy to hound the political and military leaders who led this war to a successful completion. They are trying to use Gen. Fonseka for this purpose,” NFF President MP Wimal Weerawansa said. (KB)
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