tagged w/ Sri Lanka
-
Just when the capsule lift carrying the Chile Miners made its way from the mine, who was watching the Chile Miners rescue operation live from her house located in Sri LankaJust when the capsule lift carrying the Chile Miners made its way from the mine, who... more
-
-
Vanguard correspondent Mariana van Zeller travels to Sri Lanka during the final days of the country's civil war to see how one of the world's most powerful insurgencies, the Tamil Tigers, was finally defeated.
In this clip, Mariana digs deeper into the Tigers' use of suicide bombers and their designation as a terrorist group by the United States.
"Vanguard," airing weekly on Current TV Wednesdays at 10/9c, is a no-limits documentary series whose award-winning correspondents put themselves in extraordinary situations to immerse viewers in global issues that have a large social significance. Unlike sound-bite driven reporting, the show's correspondents, Adam Yamaguchi, Kaj Larsen, Christof Putzel and Mariana van Zeller, serve as trusted guides who take viewers on in-depth real life adventures in pursuit of some of the world's most important stories.
For more, go to http://current.com/vanguard.Vanguard correspondent Mariana van Zeller travels to Sri Lanka during the final days... more
-
-
Vanguard correspondent Mariana van Zeller travels to Sri Lanka during the final days of the country's civil war to see how one of the world's most powerful insurgencies, the Tamil Tigers, was finally defeated.
In this clip, Mariana struggles to report a story from which independent media had been banned. But at a market filled with pro-military merchandise, she's able to speak directly to locals about the widespread support for the Sri Lankan army.
"Vanguard," airing weekly on Current TV Wednesdays at 10/9c, is a no-limits documentary series whose award-winning correspondents put themselves in extraordinary situations to immerse viewers in global issues that have a large social significance. Unlike sound-bite driven reporting, the show's correspondents, Adam Yamaguchi, Kaj Larsen, Christof Putzel and Mariana van Zeller, serve as trusted guides who take viewers on in-depth real life adventures in pursuit of some of the world's most important stories.
For more, go to http://current.com/vanguard.Vanguard correspondent Mariana van Zeller travels to Sri Lanka during the final days... more
-
-
Vanguard correspondent Mariana van Zeller travels to Sri Lanka during the final days of the country's civil war to see how one of the world's most powerful insurgencies, the Tamil Tigers, was finally defeated.
In this clip, Mariana meets former child soldiers conscripted into the Tamil Tigers.
"Vanguard," airing weekly on Current TV Wednesdays at 10/9c, is a no-limits documentary series whose award-winning correspondents put themselves in extraordinary situations to immerse viewers in global issues that have a large social significance. Unlike sound-bite driven reporting, the show's correspondents, Adam Yamaguchi, Kaj Larsen, Christof Putzel and Mariana van Zeller, serve as trusted guides who take viewers on in-depth real life adventures in pursuit of some of the world's most important stories.
For more, go to http://current.com/vanguard.Vanguard correspondent Mariana van Zeller travels to Sri Lanka during the final days... more
-
-
Vanguard correspondent Mariana van Zeller travels to Sri Lanka during the final days of the country's civil war to see how one of the world's most powerful insurgencies, the Tamil Tigers, was finally defeated.
In this clip, Mariana examines their most enduring legacy -- the invention of the suicide bomber vest, which the Tamil Tigers used to execute more suicide attacks Hamas and Hezbollah combined.
"Vanguard," airing weekly on Current TV Wednesdays at 10/9c, is a no-limits documentary series whose award-winning correspondents put themselves in extraordinary situations to immerse viewers in global issues that have a large social significance. Unlike sound-bite driven reporting, the show's correspondents, Adam Yamaguchi, Kaj Larsen, Christof Putzel and Mariana van Zeller, serve as trusted guides who take viewers on in-depth real life adventures in pursuit of some of the world's most important stories.
For more, go to http://current.com/vanguard.Vanguard correspondent Mariana van Zeller travels to Sri Lanka during the final days... more
-
-
-
Doctors remove nails allegedly hammered into maid by employers
By Iqbal Athas, For CNN
August 27, 2010 9:43 a.m. EDT
Photo: An X-ray shows nails hammered into the body of a Sri Lankan maid.
STORY HIGHLIGHTS
* NEW: Doctors remove nails from the maid's body
* She was attacked after complaining of being overworked
* Sri Lankan officials are urging the Saudis to conduct an investigation
* The victim is among thousands of Sri Lankan migrant workers
Colombo, Sri Lanka (CNN) -- Doctors at a Sri Lankan hospital operated for three hours Friday to remove 18 nails and metal particles allegedly hammered into the arms, legs and forehead of a maid by her Saudi employer.
Dr. Kamal Weeratunga said the surgical team in the southern town of Kamburupitiya pulled nails ranging from about one to three inches from Lahadapurage Daneris Ariyawathie's body. He said doctors have not yet removed four small metal particles embedded in her muscles.
"She is under heavy antibiotics but in a stable condition," Weeratunga said.
Sri Lankan officials, meanwhile, met with Saudi diplomats in Colombo to urge an investigation into the incident.
"It was cruel treatment which should be roundly condemned," said L.K. Ruhunuge of the Sri Lanka Bureau of Foreign Employment.
He said the Sri Lanka government has forwarded to Saudi authorities a detailed report on the incident including statements from Ariyawathie.
Ariyawathie left Sri Lanka on March 25 to work as a housemaid in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia after the bureau registered her as a person obtaining a job from an officially recognized job agency.
She was held down by her employer's wife while the employer hammered the heated nails, Ruhunuge told CNN. She apparently had complained to the couple that she was being overworked, Ruhunuge said.
The nails were hammered into her arms and legs while one was on her forehead, he said.
"Most of the wounds are superficial but five to 10 are somewhat deep," said Dr. Prabath Gajadeera of the Base Hospital. "Luckily, none of the organs is affected. Only nerves and blood vessels are affected."
Ariyawathie, 49, is a mother of two children who were opposed to their mother's journey to Saudi Arabia for work.
Several countries across the Middle East and Asia host significant numbers of migrant domestic workers, ranging from 196,000 in Singapore to about 1.5 million in Saudi Arabia, according to a report published earlier this year by Human Rights Watch.
Many of the domestic workers are poor Asian women from Sri Lanka, Indonesia, India, Bangladesh, the Philippines and Nepal. Widespread abuse has been documented by global human rights groups.
Common complaints include unpaid wages, long working hours with no time for rest, and heavy debt burdens from exorbitant recruitment fees, said the Human Rights Watch report.
Isolation and forced confinement contribute to psychological and physical abuse, sexual violence, forced labor, and trafficking, the report said. The abuse often goes unchecked because of a lack of government regulation and protective laws.
Ruhunuge said the registration of the local job agency that placed Ariyawathie has been cancelled.
"We have also asked [them] to pay compensation to the victim," he added. "We want to bring those responsible for justice. We are doing our best in this regard," he said.
He said his office was ready to accompany Ariyawathie to Saudi Arabia to testify if a case is brought against her former employers.
Ariyawathie's dream was to one day return to Sri Lanka and build a house with the money she saved.
"We are looking at the possibility of helping her to do this," Ruhunuge said.
Karu Jayasuriya, deputy leader of the main opposition United National Party, visited Ariyawathie in the hospital and said he was appalled.
"We want the government to raise this issue at the highest levels with the Saudi government. We cannot imagine that such crude and uncivilized things are happening to our workers," he said.
Saudi officials were not immediately available for comment.Doctors remove nails allegedly hammered into maid by employers
By Iqbal Athas, For... more
-
-
Doctors have removed 13 nails and five needles from a Sri Lankan housemaid who said her employer in Saudi Arabia hammered them into her body.
LP Ariyawathie, 49, told staff at Kamburupitiya Hospital her employer inflicted the injuries as a punishment.
X-rays showed that there were 24 nails and needles in her body. Doctors said those remaining inside her body posed no immediate threat to her life.
The nails were up to 2in (5cm) long, a hospital official said.
"The surgery is successful and she is recovering now," Dr Satharasinghe said, according to news agency Associated Press.
Ms Ariyawathie, a mother of three, underwent a three-hour procedure.
Doctors said they would carry out further surgery later to remove the remaining nails.
'Deeply traumatised'
Ms Ariyawathie travelled to Saudi Arabia in March to become a housemaid.
Detail of an X-ray film showing nails in hand of Sri Lankan housemaid Doctors say this X-ray shows nails embedded in the housemaid's hand
Last week, she flew back to Sri Lanka and was admitted to hospital in the south of the island, where she told doctors she had undergone abuse for more than a month.
The doctors found 24 metal pieces in her legs and hands.
She could not sit down or walk properly, doctors said.
They said Ms Ariyawathie was deeply traumatised and unable to give full details of her experience.
Meanwhile, Sri Lankan authorities have launched an investigation.
"We have launched a strong protest with the Saudi government through the external affairs minister, but there has been no response yet," Kingsley Ranawaka, chairman of Bureau for Foreign Employment, told the BBC.
Around 1.8 million Sri Lankans are employed abroad, 70% of whom are women.
Most work as housemaids in the Middle East, while smaller numbers work in Singapore and Hong Kong.Doctors have removed 13 nails and five needles from a Sri Lankan housemaid who said... more
-
-
Their site: http://store.mrelliepooh.com/grca.html
Use 25% off coupon code: ecobold
Our site: http://www.ecobold.com/elephant-dung-paper/
This cool elephant dung paper will make your day. I found this company, Mr Ellie Pooh, a while ago while browsing the Green Festival and found out that they have all kinds of recycled elephant dung paper products, from greeting cards to note pads to stationary products, note boxes, notebooks, scrapbooks, photo albums, photo frames and even elephant poo pins and poo magnets. They have all kinds of paper products that's not only helping elephant conservation in Sri Lanka, but that's also green and eco-friendly because their dung is completely natural, biodegradable, compostable and recyclable. On top of that the end result is an acid-free paper. Another really neat thing they make is recycled business cards, made on an eco-friendly printing environment and, yes, also made out of elephant dung. And for those of you wondering: does elephant dung paper smell? I've the answer for you: absolutely not!
Highlights:
- Natural
- Acid-free
- Toxic-free
- Compostable
- Biodegradable
- 75% Elephant dung paper
- 25% post consumer paper
- Helps elephant conservation in Sri Lanka
Here's some more in depth info from their site:
Sri Lanka is home to about a tenth of the estimated global total of 40,000 Asian elephants in the wild. Elephants are not being killed in Sri Lanka for their tusks, as tuskers are rare; they are not being killed for meat, since no one eats elephant meat; they are not being killed for their hides, since there is no market for elephant hides in the leather industry. Instead, elephants are being killed simply because they interfere with agriculture. Since 1950, it is likely that more than 4,000 elephants have been destroyed as a direct consequence of the conflict between man and elephant.
The elephant is running out of space in Sri Lanka. Most of the protected areas inhabited by elephants are small, less than 1000 sq. Km in size (900 sq. Miles). Nevertheless, elephants, especially the bulls, may range over hundreds of square kilometers in the course of a season. Their sheer size and gargantuan appetite mean that elephants and people cannot live together where agriculture is the dominant form of land use, unless the damage they cause to farmers can be compensated. There are no easy solutions for resolving the human-elephant conflict in Sri Lanka. Much will depend on how rural people perceive the worth of the elephant. to stop the wanton killing of elephants requires changing the perceptions of the farmers who suffer constant depredations from the animals. Many are now convinced that the only way elephants and human beings can exist successfully in the same environment is through finding ways to use the elephant as a sustainable economic resource.
Elephant dung may be that resource. It is a commodity that is freely available. On average, an adult elephant produces about 180-200 kg (500 lbs) of it per day. Moreover, it provides a way of converting a liability into an asset in conflict areas.
Until now, no one had any use for it. However, project Maximus, designed to manufacture paper from it, may help change the perception of the farmers of the economic value of the elephant in conflict areas.
Since an elephant’s diet is all vegetarian, the waste produced is basically raw cellulose. Thoroughly cleaned and processed, the cellulose is converted into a uniquely beautiful textured product, marketed as “Ellie Pooh Paper”. This acid free, linen-like papyrus-type paper can be formed into art and construction projects, notebooks, cards and assorted gift items where the only limitation is ones imagination. These products have proved extremely popular among many in the local population and among foreign tourists.
Although this paper may not completely resolve the ongoing human-elephant conflict in Sri Lanka, its use for the benefit of the farmers who suffer from elephant depredations will certainly go some way in raising the tolerance of the farmers towards the elephant. If the elephant is used as an economic asset that contributes meaningfully to the welfare of the people, then the people themselves will not want to see it disappear from their area. In the final analysis, all of our conservation efforts will be futile if we do not have the support of the local communities. "Pachyderm Paper" can plan an important role in the conservation of its provider.Their site: http://store.mrelliepooh.com/grca.html
Use 25% off coupon code: ecobold... more
-
-
Reclusive primate caught on camera for first time
July 19, 2010 10:15 a.m. EDT
Photo: The Horton Plains slender loris has never been photographed before -- and only seen four times since 1937.
__________
(CNN) -- Wildlife researchers in Sri Lanka have photographed one of the world's most reclusive primates for the first time.
Sightings of the Horton Plains slender loris -- a small nocturnal primate with extremely thin arms and legs and huge round eyes -- are so rare that the creature has only been seen four times since 1937.
Conservationists feared the species had become extinct during a 63-year gap between sightings from 1939 to 2002.
Populations of all types of slender loris, which are native to the rainforests of Sri Lanka and southern India, have been in decline in recent years because of destruction of their forest habitat by logging, agriculture and development.
That prompted an 18-month study of the creatures led by researchers working for the Zoological Society of London's Edge project -- a conservation initiative dedicated to raising awareness about the plight of animals on the brink of extinction. Researchers from the University of Colombo and the Open University of Sri Lanka also took part.
Research leader Saman Gamage said more than 1,000 nocturnal studies in 120 different forest areas had been conducted as part of the study.
"This discovery is a great reward for the ongoing field research we undertake across much of south-western Sri Lanka," Gamage said.
ZSL Conservation biologist Dr. Craig Turner said the study was the first close examination of a Horton Plains slender loris ever conducted.
The pictures show a 20-centimeter long male adult sitting on a forest branch forest. Conservationists have discovered it appears to have shorter and sturdier limbs than other loris; a possible adaptation for the cooler, high-altitude montane -- or cloud -- forest in which it lives.
That could mean the Horton Plains slender loris is a distinct species in its own right, said Gamage. Results of the study are published in the latest edition of the journal Primate Conservation.
"We are thrilled to have captured the first ever photographs and prove its continued existence -- especially after its 65 year disappearing act," said Turner.
"The discovery improves our knowledge of this species, but we need to focus our efforts on the conservation and restoration of the remaining montane forest where this species still exists. Currently this accounts for less than one percent of the land area of Sri Lanka."Reclusive primate caught on camera for first time
July 19, 2010 10:15 a.m. EDT... more
-
-
"A Sri Lankan minister says he has begun a hunger strike outside the UN's Colombo offices demanding that it stop its probe into alleged war crimes. Housing Minister Wimal Weerawansa's announcement follows two days of demonstrations outside the office by protesters angry over the inquiry."
. . . reports the BBC . . .
"The BBC's Charles Haviland in Colombo says Mr Weerawansa is lying alone on a mattress on a bed near the main gate of the UN office. ...
"Several Buddhist monks are also there and have given blessings to the demonstration."
Maybe, but Gandhi would be rolling over in his grave to see satyagraha* used as an instrument of the state.
*Satyagraha, of course, is Gandhi's nonviolent resistance.
http://www.fpif.org/blog/sri_lankan_ministers_sad_parody_of_satyagraha"A Sri Lankan minister says he has begun a hunger strike outside the UN's... more
-
-
P Chidambaram seems to have repeated the same blunder that was committed by Rajiv Gandhi in trying to get V Prabhakaran shot dead at the behest of some foolish trigger-happy top Indian military brass. It’s true that the human rights activist Swami Agnivesh has put up a brave face by saying that the Azad’s death shall not be allowed to derail the peace process initiated by Swami Agnivesh in trying to bring a truce between the Indian Government and the CPI [Maoist]. But, the unpalatable truth is that the Congress/UPA has proved once again that the majority of the Indian politicians are really immature morons who cannot handle and resolve internal Indian political problems peacefully. Yes, the majority of the Indian politicians are excellently superb in taking care of their own personal interests even if these interests meant derailing the supreme Indian national interests.
The major chunk of the Indian politicians [whether those in ruling government or in opposition] wants the Indian democracy to function only for the exclusive benefit of the select political-bureaucratic-antisocial elements' network in India. Sushma Swaraj has called for Army action against the Maoists. But, she forgets that not long back there were posters/material in New Delhi that had suggested of Sushma’s links with Dawood Ibrahim Kaskar, the notorious Indian smuggler’s underworld.
The Congress/UPA had earlier used the shoulders of P Chidambaram to try to silence the voice of the civil society and human rights workers in India in terms of P Chidambaram having threatened to put all people [who expressed their candid and frank views on Maoist-Indian Government issue] by putting them into jails under various Indian laws. Well, if these Indian laws were to be applied sincerely, P Chidambaram himself would turn out to be the first person to be dubbed a goonda and put behind bars for having threatened, civil society, like a goon!
Also, the Congress/UPA shall have to put Digvijay Singh, the AICC general secretary, into jail for having challenged P Chidambaram on the vexing Naxal-Maoist issue. Then, the Congress/UPA shall have to put the management/correspondents of all the Indian newspapers like The Times Of India, etcetra for the later having published articles/views on this issue…P Chidambaram shall have to die and go to heaven if he [P Chidambaram] wished to bring back VP Singh, the former Indian Prime Minister to be put into the Indian Jail for VP Singh having commented some time before his death [comments were published in the Times Of India] during the meet at a slum that he [VP Singh] was so annoyed with the corruption in the system [Indian Government] that he [VP Singh] would pick up a gun and become a naxalite if he [VP Singh] were still young in age!
As regards the Maoist-Naxal issue in India, it’s a political problem and not a simple law and order issue. The Congress/UPA and opportunist opposition Indian political leaders have tried to wrongly project it as a law and order problem. The real problem is the majority of the Indian politicians themselves who seem to be considering their excellent political fortune as a divine right for ever to trample upon the rights of the ordinary citizenry/tribals. Why will your own citizen in general pick up a gun against you if you take care of your citizen’s genuine needs, desires and aspirations?
Well, this lesson seems to have been lost upon most of the Indian politicians. That’s why we see that the Indian nation-State has been at war against its own people since Indian independence in 1947. It’s true that most Indian politicians would love to see that you don’t see this true picture of the Indian polity.
The Indian government has waged wars and is still continuing wars against its own Indian people. Examples are numerous – Kashmir, Goa, Hyderabad, Nagaland, Mizoram, Assam, Punjab, West Bengal, Jharkhand, Bihar, Chhattisgarh, Andhra Pradesh, Orissa. Although the Indian Government and state governments of Bihar, Jharkhand, Orissa, Chhattisgarh and West Bengal would like you to believe and even I myself would have liked to believe that Maoist issue were a law and order problem yet it were not so. The Factual reality is that it is an armed conflict in the aforesaid 5 states – irrespective of whether the majority of the Indian politicians would like to admit publically this factual reality or not. So, the United Nations Organization seems to have fully correctly designated the Indian government-Maoist conflict as the Armed Conflict and has wisely refused to accept it as a law and order problem.P Chidambaram seems to have repeated the same blunder that was committed by Rajiv... more
-
-
The recent cold-blooded murder of AZAD and his colleague Hem Pandey, both belonging to CPI [MAOIST], in a blatantly cold-blooded fake encounter in Adilabad Forests bordering Andhra-Maharashtra by the Andhra Pradesh police, in all possibility under instructions from P Chidambaram, the home minister of India, has only confirmed further the deep suspicions raised earlier by Ms Mayawati, the UP CM, regarding the ruling Indian National Congress’ intentions about dealing with the Naxalites-Maoist issue in India.
As per the Maoist statement, “on June 1 [2010], the Andhra Pradesh Special Branch Police…arrested Com Azad, politburo member and spokesperson of CPI [Maoist] and Com Hem Pandey, a zonal committee level comrade, in Nagpur city around 11 am when they went to meet a comrade who was supposed to receive them from Dandakarnya zone. Azad reached Nagpur around 10 am on the fateful day along with Hem Pandey, after travelling a long distance…with specific information, the APSIB [Andhra Pradesh State Intelligence Bureau] abducted them, perhaps flew them in a helicopter, to Adilabad jungle near Maharashtra border and killed them.”
Going by the media reports in the mainstream Indian newspapers, it’s fully clear that the politburo member and spokesperson of the CPI [Maoist], Shri Cherukuri Rajkumar alias Azad was planning to discuss truce dates. A statement by the CPI [Maoist] said, “Azad was going to discuss with our comrades, concrete proposals of well-meaning people like Swami Agnivesh about particular dates for the mutual ceasefire.”
The statement added, “Will Chidambaram expect CPI (Maoist) to sit for talks with blood on his hands, of Com Azad and Com Hem Pandey?”
Does the Congress/UPA combine really wish for a truce with the Maoists-Naxals? The brazen unwanted killing of Azad, the key Truce-mediator, at the behest of the Centre seems unfortunately to indicate otherwise. It’s a time-honoured/pragmatic standard practice not to kill the DUUTA [MESSENGER] who generally acts as a go-between two warring parties. The DUUTA is often a soft target. In this case, Azad was treated probably to be a soft target by P Chidambaram who got him killed as a revenge for the heat unleashed by the Maoist attacks on the paramilitary forces like the CRPF in revenge for crimes perpetrated on the innocent tribals by the Indian security forces.
Well, P Chidambaram has foolishly lost an opportunity to deal peacefully with the Maoists by having Azad killed. It is something akin to the Maoist killing P Chidambaram to avenge the killing and torture of the tribals at the hands of the security forces in which case the Centre might refuse talks with the Maoists. OR IS IT THAT THE CONGRESS/UPA COMBINE DOESN’T WANT TO HAVE A NEGOTIATED PEACE SETTLEMENT WITH THE MAOISTS? The killing of Azad seems to suggest so.
It seems to be an old foolish-policy-blunder-mechanism that the Congress always has used.
Remember the recent TV interview in which one retired Indian army general had boasted as to how he had convinced Rajiv Gandhi, the then Indian PM, to get V Prabhakaran, the LTTE chief wiped out, a strategy based on which only, V Prabhakaran was shot at by the Indian snipers when V Prabhakaran had come to meet the Indian high commissioner to Sri Lanka prior to the outbreak of a full-fledged hostility between the LTTE and the IPKF?
Luckily for V Prabhakaran, the Indian snipers failed to kill him. But, this treacherous act by Indian politicians made V Prabhakaran a sworn enemy of Rajiv Gandhi that culminated in the revenge-death of Rajiv Gandhi by the LTTE operatives. Also, that very treacherous act deprived the suffering Lankan Tamils of any Indian help in terms of the Indian National Congress having harboured animosity towards V Prabhakaran after Rajiv Gandhi’s death. This chain of events probably made the ruling Congress-led UPA to give silent approval to Mahinda Rajpaksa, the Sri Lankan President who ruthlessly got his military then kill more than 20,000 innocent Lankan Tamils to overcome the resistance by the LTTE, a little prior to the 2009 Indian General elections.
Although, the Congress/UPA would not like to admit it yet the fact seems to be that the Congress/UPA feared that the NDA-led coalition might win 2009 elections and as such Congress/UPA would lose a golden chance to get V Prabhakaran wiped out, even if the wiping out of the later meant human rights violation for more than 20,000 innocent Lankan Tamils who were then going to be butchered by the Lankan military within a time of few weeks.The recent cold-blooded murder of AZAD and his colleague Hem Pandey, both belonging to... more
-
-
A global justice gap is being made worse by power politics despite a landmark year for international justice, said Amnesty International today in its annual assessment of human rights worldwide.
Launching Amnesty International Report 2010: State of the World's Human Rights, which documents abuses in 159 countries, the organization said that powerful governments are blocking advances in international justice by standing above the law on human rights, shielding allies from criticism and acting only when politically convenient.
"Repression and injustice are flourishing in the global justice gap, condemning millions of people to abuse, oppression and poverty," said Claudio Cordone, interim Secretary General of Amnesty International.A global justice gap is being made worse by power politics despite a landmark year for... more
-
-
Exclusive: a senior Sri Lankan army commander and frontline soldier tell Channel 4 News that point-blank executions of Tamils at the end of the Sri Lankan civil war were carried out under orders.
In August 2009 Channel 4 News obtained video evidence, later authenticated by the United Nations, purporting to show point-blank executions of Tamils by uniformed Sri Lankan soldiers.
Now a senior army commander and a frontline soldier have told Channel 4 News that such killings were indeed ordered from the top.
One frontline soldier said: "Yes, our commander ordered us to kill everyone. We killed everyone."
And a senior Sri Lankan army commander said: "Definitely, the order would have been to kill everybody and finish them off.
"I don't think we wanted to keep any hardcore elements, so they were done away with. It is clear that such orders were, in fact, received from the top."
Despite allegations of war crimes, Sri Lanka's government has managed to avoid an independent inquiry. But the evidence continues to mount.
'Body blows to humanitarian law'
So decisive was Sri Lanka's victory over the Tamil Tigers last year that other nations facing violent insurgencies are now citing the "Sri Lanka option" as a model for crushing rebellion, writes Channel 4 News foreign reporter Jonathan Miller.
http://therealnews.com/t2/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=31&Itemid=74&jumival=5128Exclusive: a senior Sri Lankan army commander and frontline soldier tell Channel 4... more
-
-
An opinion piece in today's Wall Street Journal serves up Sri Lanka as an example of the importance of getting the Afghanistan surge strategy right. The editorial concludes that with the defeat of the Tamil Tigers, a designated terrorist organization, Sri Lanka "is closer to resolving its problems than at any time since the Tigers started fighting in 1983. Sri Lanka isn't exactly analogous to Afghanistan. But the island does demonstrate the benefits of defeating terrorists on the battlefield."
The one benefit – “the green shoot” -- the WSJ highlights is that Sri Lanka's president, Mahinda Rajapaksa, who called early elections to capitalize on his popularity after defeating the Tigers after 26-years of fighting, is now facing a surprise challenge in a race that he must have assumed was already in the bag. The challenge comes from none other than General Sarath Fonseka, the military commander who also takes much credit for winning the war. The two candidates will likely split the vote among the country's Sinhalese majority, which means they will have to reach out to Sri Lanka's Tamil minority, many of whom were on the shit end of Sri Lanka's military “surge”.
We examined the end of Sri Lanka's war in the Vanguard piece "Notes from a War on Terror", including the argument that some security analysts have made that the country provides a case study in how to defeat an insurgency. The Journal is right that "Sri Lanka isn't exactly analogous to Afghanistan". But the differences are perhaps more important than any similarities.
First, Sri Lanka is an island. The Tamil Tigers didn't have a Pakistan to retreat to. Unlike Bin Laden, Mullah Omar or other key Taliban commanders, who are apparently able to slip across an international border, the elusive and charismatic leader of the Tigers, Velupillai Prabhakaran, eventually ran out of real estate. In a scene that a US administration has thus far only been able to dream about, Prabakharan’s body was displayed on national television after he was reportedly killed in a last ditch battle.
Second, the Tamil Tigers didn't have heroin. When the US and Europe began enforcing anti-terror finance laws after 9/11, the Tigers found much of their funding cut off. With access to 90-percent of the world's heroin supply, the Taliban probably aren’t too concerned with having their assets frozen by some bank.
Third, and most important, the Sri Lankan military didn't care about winning hearts and minds. While no one would argue that there aren’t benefits to “defeating terrorists on the battlefield”, the Journal glosses over how the war in Sri Lanka was prosecuted. While "hearts and minds" is central to US counter-insurgency strategy, I never once heard the words uttered while reporting in Sri Lanka. In fact, the Sri Lankan military seemed to employ the opposite strategy, showing not only wanton disregard for Tamil hearts and minds, but also lives and limbs.
With the defeat of a brutal terror organization like the Tamil Tigers its easy to say the end justified the means. But if we’re looking for examples on how to "get it right" in Afghanistan, you can probably forget about Sri Lanka. I don’t think the US or citizens of our NATO allies could ever stomach the brutal and draconian measures that Sri Lanka resorted to in the final weeks and months of the Sri Lankan surge.
And for those few who think that winning “hearts and minds” isn’t important, just ask President Rajapaksa and General Fonseka who’s presidential ambitions now ultimately depend on it.
An opinion piece in today's Wall Street Journal serves up Sri Lanka as an example... more
-
-
There’s a lot of soul searching going on in the field of journalism these days. It’s been a tough year. And I don’t just mean for the declining newspaper industry.
It’s a little early to be doing end-of-year accounting, but it relates to Vanguard’s story this week, so bear with me.
Looking back, 2009 was a year that saw perhaps more high profile cases of journalists in jeopardy than in a long while: freelance reporter Roxana Saberi, New York Times reporters David Rohde and Stephen Farrell, Newsweek’s Maziar Bahari and of course our colleagues Laura Ling and Euna Lee, just to name a few.
Reporting, especially in conflict zones and repressive environments, has always been and will always be a risky endeavor. Our president of programming likes to quote “The Godfather” when we talk here about the risks that reporters often assume: “This is the business that we have chosen.”
And while it’s true that many of us often choose to parachute in and out of risky places in order to tell stories that we believe need to be told, there is also the understanding that we have a safe place to retreat when things get too dodgy.
Unfortunately, that’s not the case for local reporters.
While reporting this week’s episode of Vanguard, "Sri Lanka: Notes from A War on Terror", Mariana van Zeller and I encountered one of the toughest media crackdowns we’ve ever experienced. Like all independent reporters, we were shut out of the war zone, refused entry into hospitals where the sick and wounded were being taken, and banned from refugee camps. But worst of all, in Sri Lanka’s War on Terror the government had drawn an eerily familiar line: “You're either with us or against us in the fight against terror.” And few people felt comfortable speaking openly or challenging the government’s prosecution of the war out of fear that they would be labeled a traitor or worse, a supporter of terrorism.
Much of the risk reporters take on is when trying to navigate around the barriers that are put up to block them from getting information, information that is often vital to drawing a true picture of events. Needless to say, Sri Lanka’s media crackdown was frustrating for us. But the struggles we faced were put into perspective when we visited the office of The Sunday Leader newspaper. There we found the empty office of Lasantha Wickramatunge, a prominent Sri Lankan journalist and editor of the Sunday Leader. Lasantha was a dogged reporter who spent his career exposing corruption and misdeeds in government. He was also a vocal critic of Sri Lanka’s War on Terror. It was a stance that would cost him his life.
In January, just months before the war officially came to an end, Lasantha was shot in the head and killed by unknown gunmen while on his way to work. But knowing that he was a target, just days before he was killed, Lasantha wrote an editorial that on his instructions was only to be published upon his death.
“When finally I am killed,” he wrote. “It will be the government that kills me.“
Lasantha’s letter from the grave received worldwide attention. But he was not alone. According to Amnesty International, at least 14 Sri Lankan journalists and media workers have been killed since 2006. And many others have been assaulted, arrested or fled the country. Unfortunately, Sri Lanka is also not alone. All over the world, there are journalists who daily suffer repression and intimidation, risk imprisonment and sometimes their lives in pursuit of truth.
This is the business we have chosen.
***
Within the journalism community there is a healthy debate now taking place about how we can better look after ourselves and members of our community, and still cover important stories. A few weeks ago, Mariana van Zeller and I were invited to New York by PBS’s FRONTLINE/World to participate in a small gathering of journalists and media representatives to discuss the challenges of covering conflicts and working in repressive environments.
The participants ranged from New York Times reporters to freelancers, established media organizations to fairly new upstarts like ourselves.
The idea is to eventually create a resource for journalists of all stripes when it comes to covering difficult stories. For more info go here.
Recently on the Vanguard Blog:
- Sometimes that which seemed impossible actually comes to pass - Mitch Koss
- Doctors Wanted: no experience necessary! - Cerissa Tanner
- All you ever needed to know about Vanguard, and then some. - Mariana van Zeller
- Kentucky Targets “The OxyContin Express” - Mariana van Zeller
- A Shout-Out to Interns Everywhere - Tracey ChangThere’s a lot of soul searching going on in the field of journalism these days.... more
-
