Colombo to block Fonseka attending Nairobi conference

[TamilNet, Monday, 21 June 2010, 03:24 GMT]
The Democratic National Alliance (DNA) led by Janatha Vimukthi Peramuna (JVP) has decided to inform the Secretary General of the Commonwealth Parliamentary Union (CPU) about the alleged attempt by the government to prevent General Sarath Fonseka from attending the CPU conference to be held in Kenya in September this year, according to DNA general secretary and JVP parliamentarian Vijitha Hearat.
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Intoxicating hubris

[TamilNet, Monday, 21 June 2010, 00:01 GMT]
Sri Lanka's Defense Secretary, Gotabhaya Rajapakse, who is widely believed to be the key Sri Lanka official responsible for instituting procedures and issuing commands that allegedly violated international norms in the conduct of war, has provided enlightening clues to inner workings of his mind in several interviews recorded on film by reputable international media. "His unchecked power, authorized by his brother and Sri Lanka's President Mahinda Rajapakse, appears to have blunted his reasoning faculty, triggering him to compulsively express open threats against journalists and unwittingly admit to abject disregard for civilian casualties while issuing military commands. Many of his statements border on self-incrimination," said a spokesperson for Tamils Against Genocide (TAG), a US-based activist group. A collection of Gotabhaya interviews are compiled in this feature.
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US says Sri Lanka Commission does not meet [International] standards

[TamilNet, Sunday, 20 June 2010, 16:51 GMT]
Stephen Rapp, Ambassador-at-Large for War Crimes Issues appointed by President Obama, said, "what's been announced to date has not met the standard. They're [Sri Lanka is] telling use it does have that capacity, to investigate these cases, to follow up and call witnesses. We're hearing it, but we're not seeing it." Rapp's statement came as a response to a question from Inner City Press which asked Rapp if "Lessons Learned" [Commission] was adequate to carry out investigations, ICP reported.
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Alston assails Sri Lanka's "Reconciliation" commission

[TamilNet, Sunday, 20 June 2010, 16:25 GMT]
United Nation's Special Rapporteur on Extra-judicial Executions, Philip Alston, in an interview Colombo weekly dismisses Sri Lanka's local commission as ineffective without a mandate to probe war crimes, questions the independence of the same commission pointing to the past dismal performance of its Chairman, Chitta Ranjan de Silva, and cautions that "detailed and deeply troubling allegations won’t magically disappear." He adds, "the very idea that any Sri Lankan could acknowledge that war crimes might have been committed, despite the fact that they have been reported by a wide range of other sources, is treated as a hanging offence," means that this "approach does not bode well for the prospect of a genuine national inquiry into war crimes any time soon."
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‘Biggest betrayal and greatest tamasha’

[TamilNet, Friday, 18 June 2010, 11:53 GMT]
Sri Lankan President Mahinda Rajapaksa who presided over 'Victory Day' celebrations in Colombo on Friday, marking one-year of the victory by the Sri Lankan forces in their war against the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam, described the attempts to bring disrepute to the armed forces by saying that they shot at ‘terrorist leaders who came carrying white flags,’ as biggest betrayal. Mr. Mahinda Rajapaksa, who is also the Commander-in-Chief of the Sri Lankan armed forces, came with the greatest tamasha of his career so far by saying that his troops went to battle carrying a gun in one hand and the Declaration of Human Rights in the other. The Sri Lankan President also came with a warning aiming at diaspora Tamils: “What those from abroad who seek to strengthen separatism are really doing is, to once again corral the people of the north into camps.”
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JVP: Gotabhaya insulted Fonseka in BBC interview

[TamilNet, Wednesday, 09 June 2010, 07:37 GMT]
The Sinhala nationalist Janatha Vimukthi Peramuna (JVP) Tuesday condemned the comment made by Sri Lankan Defence Secretary Gotabhaya Rajapakse to BBC Hard Talk interview where he claimed General (retired) Sarath Fonseka, former commander of the Sri Lanka Army would be treated as a traitor and hanged if he gives evidence in the war crime probe.
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Court orders Sunday Leader Editor to produce note book regarding Fonseka’s interview

[TamilNet, Tuesday, 08 June 2010, 03:51 GMT]
Colombo Chief Magistrate Champa Janaki Rajaratne Monday ordered the Chief Editor of the Sunday Leader, a weekly newspaper published from Colombo. to produce her note book in court on the next date of inquiry on June 21. Her note book is said to have contained the original transcript of the controversial interview with the former Commander of the Sri Lanka Army General (retired) Sarath Fonseka.
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JVP to step up opposition against Indian involvement in Sri Lanka

[TamilNet, Monday, 07 June 2010, 18:32 GMT]
General Secretary of the Janatha Vimukthi Peramuna (JVP) Tilvin Silva Monday blamed India for meddling with affairs of the Sri Lankan state as if it was a federal unit of India. The JVP reaction has come as the Tamil National Alliance was scheduled to meet Rajapaksa Monday evening before his visit to India on Tuesday. Recently, the Government of India, while gazetting a declaration designating LTTE as an unlawful association in India, linked 'Tamil Eelam' as a separate homeland amounting to 'cession and secession of a part of the territory of India.'
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Rajapaksa reschedules 'victory day' parade for June 18

[TamilNet, Monday, 07 June 2010, 08:14 GMT]
Colombo's 'victory parade' postponed due to bad weather in May is re-scheduled to be held on June 18 at Colombo Galle Face Green, according to government sources in Colombo. The three armed forces, police, and Civil Defence Force are to participate in the parade to be held by Sri Lankan President Mahinda Rajapaksa. Meanwhile, Democratic National Alliance (DNA) led by Janatha Vimukthi Peramuna (JVP) would mark 'Victory Day' on June 8 with Adishtana Pooja at the Viharamahadevi Open Air Theatre, said Mrs. Anoma Fonseka, wife of General (retired) Sarath Fonseka, former Commander of the Sri Lanka Army who led the Sri Lankan forces in the war against Tamils.
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Sri Lanka's politicization of judiciary complete, says AHRC

[TamilNet, Wednesday, 02 June 2010, 10:12 GMT]
Asian Human Rights Commission (AHRC), a Hongkong-based rights watchdog, condemned Sri Lanka's president Rajapakse's "move to bring the Attorney General's Department, which is the department with the power of prosecution of all serious crimes, as well as the power of providing legal advice to the government, under the control of the president," and added that the "direct interference with the prosecution will "politicize" the function.
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Treaty discussion, reminder for appointing Sri Lanka War Crimes panel, says Boyle

[TamilNet, Saturday, 29 May 2010, 21:53 GMT]
While Secretary General Ban Ki Moon extolled the contributions of the UN's International Criminal Court (ICC) as an effective instrument to uphold peace, justice and human rights, in a Washington Post article, as UN's member nations convene Monday in Kampala to formally review the Rome Treaty, Professor Francis A. Boyle criticized Ban for delaying action on establishing accountability for Sri Lanka's "massacre of about 50,000 Tamils" and urged Ban to "immediately appoint the International War Crimes Committee for Sri Lanka that he had already promised to do several weeks ago."
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US awaits Sri Lanka action, despite rights groups’ warning

[TamilNet, Saturday, 29 May 2010, 12:26 GMT]
The United States will be “watching closely” Sri Lankan President Mahinda Rajapakse’s newly established ‘reconciliation commission’ to see if it lives up to Colombo’s claims, the State Department’s Assistant Secretary for South and Central Asian Affairs, Robert Blake, said Friday. Shortly after US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton described as holding “promise” the body Sri Lanka has set up to investigate war crimes – and which international human rights groups have dismissed as a sham - Mr. Blake said “they’ve now just begun this process … It’s up to them now to prove that they will be able to take on all of these responsibilities.”
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Sri Lankan CID to record statement from UN representative over Fonseka interview

[TamilNet, Wednesday, 26 May 2010, 12:01 GMT]
The Colombo Chief Magistrate Champa Janaki Seneviratne Wednesday allowed an application by the Sri Lankan Criminal Investigations Department (CID) to record a statement from Keshunaka Seneviratne, Sri Lanka’s Permanent Representative in United Nations in Geneva regarding the comment by United Nations Special Rapporteur on extra-judicial, summary or arbitrary executions Philip Alston on an alleged interview made by former Commander of the Sri Lanka Army General (retd.) Sarath Fonseka in a letter to her. Sarath Fonseka in an interview with the Sunday Leader, English weekly on the eve of presidential election alleging that the SL Defence Secretary Gotabhaya Rajapakse in the final leg of war with the LTTE had ordered Brigadier Shavendra Silva to shoot the LTTE officials carrying white flags.
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Fonseka files writ application challenging the composition of second Court Martial

[TamilNet, Tuesday, 25 May 2010, 16:58 GMT]
Retired General Sarath Fonseka Monday filed a Writ Application in the Court of Appeal challenging the composition of the second Court Martial. He has leveled serious allegations against the three Major Generals of the Sri Lanka Army appointed to the Court Martial. He sought the Court of Appeal to quash the hearings of the Court Martial stating that one of the Major Generals was in the pay of the LTTE and the other tried by the SLA for giving false evidence at an inquiry.
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UNP, DNA appeal to Rajapakse to release Fonseka immediately

[TamilNet, Tuesday, 25 May 2010, 16:46 GMT]
The main opposition United National Party (UNP) and the Democratic National Alliance (DNA) led by Janatha Vimukthi Peramuna (JVP) have appealed to President Mahinda Rajapakse, head of ruling United Peoples Freedom Alliance (UPFA) government, to release General (retired) Sarath Fonseka from military custody immediately. Fifty parliamentarians from the UNP and DNA including the Leader of the Opposition Ranil Wickremesinghe signed the appeal.
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Sky banners display Tamil genocide message during cricket game

[TamilNet, Sunday, 23 May 2010, 23:48 GMT]
Banners flown by single engine aircraft displaying "Stop Tamil Genocide; Boycott Sri Lanka" circled the cricket grounds several times during a 20-over cricket tournament held in Fort Lauderdale, Florida during this weekend, attendees to the games said. Indian, Pakistani, English, South African, Sri Lankan and Caribbean supporters dominated the attendees at the stadium. In the meantime Sinhalese dissidents opposed to the Rajapaksa regime flew their own message on another plane which said: Sri Lanka - Free Gen Fonseka - Restore Democracy."
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Fonseka to face 3rd court martial

[TamilNet, Friday, 07 May 2010, 15:18 GMT]
Third court martial is likely to be appointed against former Sri Lanka Army Commander (retd.) General Sarath Fonseka, six Colonels and a Brigadier of the SLA over alleged arms deals committed by them when Fonseka was serving as the Commander of the SLA, Colombo media reported quoting Sri Lankan Defence ministry sources.
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No court martial inquiry against Fonseka when parliament meets

[TamilNet, Thursday, 06 May 2010, 16:20 GMT]
The Speaker Chamal Rajapakse Thursday directed that the Court Martial inquiry against Sarath Fonseka, parliamentarian from the Colombo district, should not be held on dates when parliament meets. Former Commander of the Sri Lanka Army Sarath Fonseka has been facing two court martial inquiries by the Sri Lanka Army. He is under detention in the Navy Headquarters since his defeat in the presidential election held on January 26.
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EU demands release of Fonseka, Colombo told

[TamilNet, Thursday, 06 May 2010, 12:40 GMT]
Ranil Wickremesinghe, leader of the opposition and the United National Party (UNP) Thursday informed Sri Lanka' parliament that the European Commission has demanded the release of Sarath Fonseka from detention as a condition for granting GSP+ preferential trade status, parliamentary sources in Colombo said. Meanwhile, Fonseka has told AFP that he would "expose" any war crimes committed during the end of the country's civil war last year and said he would go "out of his way" to assist with a probe, AFP reported.
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Emergency extended for another month in Sri Lanka

[TamilNet, Wednesday, 05 May 2010, 15:33 GMT]
Sri Lanka parliament Wednesday after a two day debate adopted a motion moved by the government to extend the State of Emergency for another month by a majority of 118 votes. 132 parliamentarians from the ruling United Peoples Freedom Alliance (UPFA) and a rebel MP of the main opposition United National Party (UNP) voted for the motion. Two parliamentarians of the UNP who were present in the House at the time of voting and 12 MPs of the Tamil National Alliance (TNA) voted against. The State of Emergency is in force since 12th August 2005 and being extended every month with the approval of the parliament.
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