Sunday, 29 December 2013
Saturday, 28 December 2013
Friday, 27 December 2013
Mizher: Resistance must unite
Mizher: Resistance must unite to confront crimes like killing of child Hala Abu Sbeikha
Dec 26 2013
Mizher said that the killing of Abu Sbeikha, 3 years old, and the injury of a number of Palestinian civilians demonstrates the brutality of the criminal occupation who continues its aggression also against the Palestinian people in the West Bank through settlement construction, the Judaization of Jerusalem, the imposition
of facts on the ground and the assassination of the resistance.
He said that in light of this situation, Palestinian resistance forces must conduct a comprehensive review to develop a national strategic framework to confront the occupation and respond to its ongoing crimes perpetrated against the Palestinian people. Mizher said that resistance is the right of our people
guaranteed by all international norms and conventions and that our people have the right to defend themselves in the face of this criminal aggression. He pointed out that the occupation seeks to maintain the situation and preserve the truce.
Mizher added that the Zionist occupation has noted the developing potential of deterrence of the Palestinian resistance during the recent war on Gaza, and hesitates to expand its operations in anticipation of the reaction of the Palestinian resistance, which previously has hit the heart of the Zionist entity with rockets. He noted that the occupation practiced killing and bombing operations from time to time in order to keeep the Strip and the resistance under the pressure of Zionist military operations, but that it seeks to maintain a calm that serves its interests in the present time in light of the situation in the Arab world and internationally.
Mizher noted that the Zionist occupation’s aggressive racist policies including the targeting of children and the elderly is consistent, in light of the ongoing and continuous breaches of the so-called truce through its targeting of farmers in the border areas, fishers in the sea, and others, as well as continuing the siege on
Gaza and turning it into a prison for over 1 million people. All of this is happening, he said, under the eyes of the international community which does not act to condemn or counteract the aggression, killings, siege and closure imposed on Palestinians in Gaza.
The Front always rejects truce with the occupation as a wrong policy exploited by the Zionist occupation to continue its aggression and tyranny against our people, said Mizher. He criticized Hamas’ acceptance of an agreement for calm, because it serves to maintain its authority and presence in Gaza.
In another context, Mizher warned of the serious danger of the so-called Kerry Plan by the US Secretary of State that threatens the national rights of the Palestinian people, ignores the right of refugees to return and attempts to legitimate the ongoing occupation of the Jordan Valley, saying all must confront this
dangerous project and pressure the Palestinian leadership to reject any such projects and immediately end the negotiations, which are rejected across the Palestinian political and social spectrum.
aburahmaComrade Emad Abu Rahma, a member of the Central Committee of the PFLP, also called for the formation of a unified resistance front of all Palestinian factions to confront aggression against the Palestinian people in an interview with Voice of the People radio. Abu Rahma said that the program of resistance
is the realistic and practical alternative to the futile negotiations which achieved nothing for the Palestinian people and are a mechanism to impose the US-Israeli project upon the Palestinian people.
The Kerry proposals include the adoption of the full vision of Zionist “security” to perpetuate the occupation and settlements, with no recognition of the rights of the Palestinian people to return and self-determination, said Abu Rahma.
Speaking to the siege on Gaza and the occupation authorities’ closing of Kerem Shalom crossing, Abu Rahma noted that this is an ongoing method used as a means of pressure against Palestinians in Gaza. He called on Egyptian authorities to open the Rafah crossing for the free movement of goods and people, in
order to support the steadfastness of the Palestinian people facing occupation and siege.
Dec 26 2013
Zionist aggressions continually target the Palestinian people in different forms, bombing Palestinians, targeting innocent civilians in the border areas, and today targeting innocent children through indiscriminate shelling of homes, noting the murder of Hala Abu Sbeikha, said Comrade Jamil
Mizher said that the killing of Abu Sbeikha, 3 years old, and the injury of a number of Palestinian civilians demonstrates the brutality of the criminal occupation who continues its aggression also against the Palestinian people in the West Bank through settlement construction, the Judaization of Jerusalem, the imposition
of facts on the ground and the assassination of the resistance.
He said that in light of this situation, Palestinian resistance forces must conduct a comprehensive review to develop a national strategic framework to confront the occupation and respond to its ongoing crimes perpetrated against the Palestinian people. Mizher said that resistance is the right of our people
guaranteed by all international norms and conventions and that our people have the right to defend themselves in the face of this criminal aggression. He pointed out that the occupation seeks to maintain the situation and preserve the truce.
Mizher added that the Zionist occupation has noted the developing potential of deterrence of the Palestinian resistance during the recent war on Gaza, and hesitates to expand its operations in anticipation of the reaction of the Palestinian resistance, which previously has hit the heart of the Zionist entity with rockets. He noted that the occupation practiced killing and bombing operations from time to time in order to keeep the Strip and the resistance under the pressure of Zionist military operations, but that it seeks to maintain a calm that serves its interests in the present time in light of the situation in the Arab world and internationally.
Mizher noted that the Zionist occupation’s aggressive racist policies including the targeting of children and the elderly is consistent, in light of the ongoing and continuous breaches of the so-called truce through its targeting of farmers in the border areas, fishers in the sea, and others, as well as continuing the siege on
Gaza and turning it into a prison for over 1 million people. All of this is happening, he said, under the eyes of the international community which does not act to condemn or counteract the aggression, killings, siege and closure imposed on Palestinians in Gaza.
The Front always rejects truce with the occupation as a wrong policy exploited by the Zionist occupation to continue its aggression and tyranny against our people, said Mizher. He criticized Hamas’ acceptance of an agreement for calm, because it serves to maintain its authority and presence in Gaza.
In another context, Mizher warned of the serious danger of the so-called Kerry Plan by the US Secretary of State that threatens the national rights of the Palestinian people, ignores the right of refugees to return and attempts to legitimate the ongoing occupation of the Jordan Valley, saying all must confront this
dangerous project and pressure the Palestinian leadership to reject any such projects and immediately end the negotiations, which are rejected across the Palestinian political and social spectrum.
aburahmaComrade Emad Abu Rahma, a member of the Central Committee of the PFLP, also called for the formation of a unified resistance front of all Palestinian factions to confront aggression against the Palestinian people in an interview with Voice of the People radio. Abu Rahma said that the program of resistance
is the realistic and practical alternative to the futile negotiations which achieved nothing for the Palestinian people and are a mechanism to impose the US-Israeli project upon the Palestinian people.
The Kerry proposals include the adoption of the full vision of Zionist “security” to perpetuate the occupation and settlements, with no recognition of the rights of the Palestinian people to return and self-determination, said Abu Rahma.
Speaking to the siege on Gaza and the occupation authorities’ closing of Kerem Shalom crossing, Abu Rahma noted that this is an ongoing method used as a means of pressure against Palestinians in Gaza. He called on Egyptian authorities to open the Rafah crossing for the free movement of goods and people, in
order to support the steadfastness of the Palestinian people facing occupation and siege.
U.S. judge says NSA phone surveillance is lawful
U.S. judge says NSA phone surveillance is lawful
BY JONATHAN STEMPEL
NEW YORK Fri Dec 27, 2013
CREDIT: REUTERS/JIM URQUHART
(Reuters) - A federal judge ruled that a National Security Agency program that collects records of millions of Americans' phone calls is lawful, calling it a "counter-punch" to terrorism that does not violate Americans' privacy rights.
Friday's decision by U.S. District Judge William Pauley in Manhattan diverged from a ruling by another judge this month that questioned the program's constitutionality, raising the prospect that the Supreme Court will need to resolve the issue.
In a 54-page decision, Pauley dismissed an American Civil Liberties Union lawsuit contending that the NSA collection of "bulk telephony metadata" violated the bar against warrantless searches under the Fourth Amendment of the U.S. Constitution.
The judge also referred often to the September 11, 2001 attacks, in which nearly 3,000 people died, and said broad counter-terrorism programs such as the NSA's could help avoid a "horrific" repeat of those events.
"This blunt tool only works because it collects everything," Pauley wrote. "Technology allowed al Qaeda to operate decentralized and plot international terrorist attacks remotely. The bulk telephony metadata collection program represents the government's counter-punch."
The program's existence was first disclosed by former NSA contractor Edward Snowden, who is now in Russia under temporary asylum. His leaks have sparked a debate over how much leeway to give the government in protecting Americans from terrorism.
ACLU PLANS APPEAL
Pauley ruled 11 days after U.S. District Judge Richard Leon in Washington, D.C. said the "almost Orwellian" NSA program amounted to an "indiscriminate and arbitrary invasion" that was likely unconstitutional.
Leon also ordered the government to stop collecting call data on the two plaintiffs in that case, but suspended that portion of his decision so the government could appeal.
The ACLU has argued before Pauley that the NSA program was an unwarranted "dramatic expansion" of the government's investigative powers over Americans' day-to-day lives.
Jameel Jaffer, deputy legal director of the ACLU, on Friday said the group was "extremely disappointed" with Pauley's decision, saying it does away with "core constitutional protections. He said the ACLU will appeal to the 2nd U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals in New York.
White House spokesman Josh Earnest declined to comment. U.S. Department of Justice spokesman Peter Carr said the department is pleased with the decision.
Stephen Vladeck, an American University law professor who specializes in national security, said if federal appeals courts in New York or Washington, D.C. ultimately accept Leon's analysis, "then it seems likely, if not certain, that this case will get to the (Supreme Court) by the end of next year."
President Barack Obama has defended the surveillance program but has indicated a willingness to consider constraints, including whether to give control of metadata to phone companies or other third parties. Intelligence officials have said this could prove costly and slow investigations.
On December 18, a White House-appointed panel proposed curbs on some NSA surveillance operations.
It said that because intelligence agencies could not point to specific cases where telephony metadata collection led to a major counter-terrorism success, the intrusiveness of such intelligence gathering might outweigh the public benefit.
Obama is expected next month to set forth his own proposals for possible surveillance reforms.
RUBBER STAMP, OR VITAL WEAPON?
In rejecting the ACLU motion for a preliminary injunction to block the NSA program, Pauley said the public interest tilted "firmly" toward the government, for which combating terrorism "is an urgent objective of the highest order."
While acknowledging that the program "vacuums up information about virtually every telephone call to, from, or within the United States," he said its constitutionality "is ultimately a question of reasonableness."
Pauley added that he found no evidence that the government had used bulk telephony metadata for any reason other than to investigate and disrupt terrorist attacks.
The program also faces a legal challenge by the Electronic Frontier Foundation, a data privacy group. In a statement, the group said it was "obviously disappointed" with Pauley's decision, but that it would continue pursuing its own cases.
Larry Klayman, a conservative legal activist who brought the case before Judge Leon, called Pauley's ruling "an outrageous decision that ignores the legitimate fears of the American people and in effect rubber stamps a police state."
Pauley was appointed to the bench by President Bill Clinton. Leon was appointed by President George W. Bush.
Both cases interpreted a 1979 Supreme Court decision, Smith v. Maryland, that said people have no "legitimate expectation of privacy" regarding phone numbers they dial because they knowingly give that information to phone companies.
While Leon said Smith's relevance had been "eclipsed" by technological advances and the advent of cell phones, Pauley said this did not undermine the finding that people have "no subjective expectation of privacy in telephony metadata."
Rep. Peter King, a New York Republican and chairman of the House Homeland Security Subcommittee on Counterintelligence & Terrorism, in a statement said Pauley's decision "preserves a vital weapon for the United States in our war against international terrorism."
The case is American Civil Liberties Union et al v. Clapper et al, U.S. District Court, Southern District of New York, No. 13-03994.
(Reporting by Jonathan Stempel in New York; Additional reporting by Mark Hosenball, Ros Krasny and Nate Raymond; Editing by Leslie Gevirtz and Dan Grebler)
BY JONATHAN STEMPEL
NEW YORK Fri Dec 27, 2013
 |
A National Security Agency (NSA) data gathering facility is seen in Bluffdale, about 25 miles (40 kms) south of Salt Lake City, Utah, December 17, 2013. |
CREDIT: REUTERS/JIM URQUHART
(Reuters) - A federal judge ruled that a National Security Agency program that collects records of millions of Americans' phone calls is lawful, calling it a "counter-punch" to terrorism that does not violate Americans' privacy rights.
Friday's decision by U.S. District Judge William Pauley in Manhattan diverged from a ruling by another judge this month that questioned the program's constitutionality, raising the prospect that the Supreme Court will need to resolve the issue.
In a 54-page decision, Pauley dismissed an American Civil Liberties Union lawsuit contending that the NSA collection of "bulk telephony metadata" violated the bar against warrantless searches under the Fourth Amendment of the U.S. Constitution.
The judge also referred often to the September 11, 2001 attacks, in which nearly 3,000 people died, and said broad counter-terrorism programs such as the NSA's could help avoid a "horrific" repeat of those events.
"This blunt tool only works because it collects everything," Pauley wrote. "Technology allowed al Qaeda to operate decentralized and plot international terrorist attacks remotely. The bulk telephony metadata collection program represents the government's counter-punch."
The program's existence was first disclosed by former NSA contractor Edward Snowden, who is now in Russia under temporary asylum. His leaks have sparked a debate over how much leeway to give the government in protecting Americans from terrorism.
ACLU PLANS APPEAL
Pauley ruled 11 days after U.S. District Judge Richard Leon in Washington, D.C. said the "almost Orwellian" NSA program amounted to an "indiscriminate and arbitrary invasion" that was likely unconstitutional.
Leon also ordered the government to stop collecting call data on the two plaintiffs in that case, but suspended that portion of his decision so the government could appeal.
The ACLU has argued before Pauley that the NSA program was an unwarranted "dramatic expansion" of the government's investigative powers over Americans' day-to-day lives.
Jameel Jaffer, deputy legal director of the ACLU, on Friday said the group was "extremely disappointed" with Pauley's decision, saying it does away with "core constitutional protections. He said the ACLU will appeal to the 2nd U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals in New York.
White House spokesman Josh Earnest declined to comment. U.S. Department of Justice spokesman Peter Carr said the department is pleased with the decision.
Stephen Vladeck, an American University law professor who specializes in national security, said if federal appeals courts in New York or Washington, D.C. ultimately accept Leon's analysis, "then it seems likely, if not certain, that this case will get to the (Supreme Court) by the end of next year."
President Barack Obama has defended the surveillance program but has indicated a willingness to consider constraints, including whether to give control of metadata to phone companies or other third parties. Intelligence officials have said this could prove costly and slow investigations.
On December 18, a White House-appointed panel proposed curbs on some NSA surveillance operations.
It said that because intelligence agencies could not point to specific cases where telephony metadata collection led to a major counter-terrorism success, the intrusiveness of such intelligence gathering might outweigh the public benefit.
Obama is expected next month to set forth his own proposals for possible surveillance reforms.
RUBBER STAMP, OR VITAL WEAPON?
In rejecting the ACLU motion for a preliminary injunction to block the NSA program, Pauley said the public interest tilted "firmly" toward the government, for which combating terrorism "is an urgent objective of the highest order."
While acknowledging that the program "vacuums up information about virtually every telephone call to, from, or within the United States," he said its constitutionality "is ultimately a question of reasonableness."
Pauley added that he found no evidence that the government had used bulk telephony metadata for any reason other than to investigate and disrupt terrorist attacks.
The program also faces a legal challenge by the Electronic Frontier Foundation, a data privacy group. In a statement, the group said it was "obviously disappointed" with Pauley's decision, but that it would continue pursuing its own cases.
Larry Klayman, a conservative legal activist who brought the case before Judge Leon, called Pauley's ruling "an outrageous decision that ignores the legitimate fears of the American people and in effect rubber stamps a police state."
Pauley was appointed to the bench by President Bill Clinton. Leon was appointed by President George W. Bush.
Both cases interpreted a 1979 Supreme Court decision, Smith v. Maryland, that said people have no "legitimate expectation of privacy" regarding phone numbers they dial because they knowingly give that information to phone companies.
While Leon said Smith's relevance had been "eclipsed" by technological advances and the advent of cell phones, Pauley said this did not undermine the finding that people have "no subjective expectation of privacy in telephony metadata."
Rep. Peter King, a New York Republican and chairman of the House Homeland Security Subcommittee on Counterintelligence & Terrorism, in a statement said Pauley's decision "preserves a vital weapon for the United States in our war against international terrorism."
The case is American Civil Liberties Union et al v. Clapper et al, U.S. District Court, Southern District of New York, No. 13-03994.
(Reporting by Jonathan Stempel in New York; Additional reporting by Mark Hosenball, Ros Krasny and Nate Raymond; Editing by Leslie Gevirtz and Dan Grebler)
President undertakes visit to Israel, Palestine!
''Israel and Sri Lanka renewed diplomatic ties in 2000, and reportedly have a robust military relationship. Israeli weaponry, including Kfir fighter jets and Dvora fast attack boats helped Sri Lanka to defeat the Tigers terrorists in 2009.'' The Island December 26, 2013, 8:59 pm
President undertakes visit to Israel, Palestine
December 26, 2013, 8:59 pm
The Island By Ifham Nizam
President Mahinda Rajapaksa accompanied by a top delegation, would shortly visit Israel and Palestine, a Presidential Secretariat official said.He said the four day tour in January would involve a number of discussions with a special focus on strengthening economic ties with the two countries. President Rajapaksa would spend two days in Israel and the other two days in Palestine.
Top agenda for President Rajapaksa would be his meetings with Israeli President Shimon Peres and Palestine President Mahmoud Abbas, the official said.
President Rajapaksa will discuss ways and means of promoting bilateral relations and opportunities for further cooperation in various fields such as agriculture, tourism, trade and employment.
The Island learns that President Rajapaksa led delegation will discuss holding annual consultations which they believe will provide a solid platform to further strengthen multifaceted relations and promote closer economic cooperation for mutual benefit between Sri Lanka and these two nations.
Sri Lanka and Israel held their first bilateral consultation on enhancing trade ties last year. This came immediately after Palestinian President Muhammad Abbas toured Sri Lanka and signed several agreements.
Recently discussions were held between External Affairs Secretary Karunatilaka Amunugama and Ruth Kahanoff, head of Asia and the Pacific department of the Israeli foreign ministry. Both were heading their respective delegation at bilateral consultations.
Israel recently also agreed to offer more employment opportunities for Sri Lankans.
Israel and Sri Lanka renewed diplomatic ties in 2000, and reportedly have a robust military relationship. Israeli weaponry, including Kfir fighter jets and Dvora fast attack boats helped Sri Lanka to defeat the Tigers terrorists in 2009.
http://www.island.lk/index.php?page_cat=article-details&page=article-details&code_title=94791
Thursday, 26 December 2013
பேரறிவாளனின் தூக்கு மேடைக் குறிப்பு!
சிறையிலிருந்து ஒரு குரல்
[ வியாழக்கிழமை, 19 டிசெம்பர் 2013, 09:26 GMT ] [ அ.எழிலரசன் ]
நன்றி: டி.அருள் எழிலன் - ஆனந்த விகடன் [25 Dec. 2013]
“நான் களைத்துப் போகவில்லை. உற்சாகம் அடைந்திருக்கிறேன். எந்த ஒப்புதல் வாக்குமூலத்தின் அடிப்படையில் எனக்கு தூக்குத் தண்டனை விதித்தார்களோ, அந்த வாக்குமூலமே பொய் என்று நிரூபிக்கப்பட்டுவிட்டது. 'சதிகாரன்’, 'கொலைகாரன்’ என்று என் மீது சுமத்தப்பட்ட களங்கம் கழுவப்பட்டுவிட்டது. நீதிக்கான இந்தப் போராட்டத்தில் நான் இறுதிப் பகுதியில் நிற்கிறேன். இந்த ஒளி, இந்தியாவின் அனைத்து மரண தண்டனை கைதிகளின் கழுத்தின் மீதும் தொங்கிக்கொண்டிருக்கும் தூக்குக் கயிற்றை
அறுத்தெறியட்டும்'' என்ற பேரறிவாளனுக்கு இப்போது வயது 42. தன் வழக்கில் இறுதித் தீர்ப்புக்காகக் காத்திருக்கும் பேரறிவாளனிடம் அவரது வழக்கறிஞர்கள் மூலம் பேசினேன்.
''உங்களின் கருணை மனு நிராகரிக்கப்பட்ட இரவில், உங்கள் மனநிலை எப்படி இருந்தது?''
''ஒவ்வொரு முறை தூக்கு உறுதிப்படுத்தப்படும்போதும் எனது தாயாரை நினைத்து மிகவும் கவலைகொள்வேன். கடந்த 1991-ம் ஆண்டு நான் கைதுசெய்யப்பட்டதில் இருந்து இன்று வரை ஒரு தாய்க்கும் மகனுக்குமான தனிப்பட்ட சந்திப்பாக மட்டும் இருக்கவில்லை எங்கள் அன்பு. சென்னைக்கும் வேலூருக்கும் அலைந்தே, அவரது வாழ்நாளில் பெரும்பகுதி கழிந்துவிட்டது. மகன் எனும் உரிமைக்கு அப்பால், இரக்கமே இல்லாமல் அவரது உழைப்பை நான் உறிஞ்சியிருக்கிறேன். ஆனால், சட்டத்தின் எல்லா சாத்தியங்களையும்
பயன்படுத்தி நீதிக்காகப் போராடுவது என்ற முடிவையும், கருணை மனு நிராகரிக்கப்பட்ட அந்த இரவில்தான் எடுத்தேன்!''
''சிறை உங்களுக்குப் பழகிப்போனதா, சிறையில் உங்கள் நண்பர்கள் யார்?''
''வேலூரில் நான் தனிமைச் சிறையில் அடைக்கப்பட்டுள்ளேன். பலவிதமான கைதிகள் சுமார் 1,000 பேர் உள்ளனர். இவர்களில் விசாரணை, தடுப்புக்காவல் சிறைவாசிகளுடன் பழகும் வாய்ப்பு இயல்பாகவே எனக்கு அமையவில்லை. மற்றபடி ஏராளமான தண்டனைச்
சிறைவாசிகள் நண்பர்களாக உள்ளனர். உயரமான நான்கு மதில் சுவர்களுக்குள் அடைக்கப்பட்டுள்ள எங்களுக்கு சிறைக்குள்ளேயே வேறு பணிகள் ஒதுக்கப்படுகின்றன. என்னை மேம்படுத்திக் கொள்ள கலை, இலக்கிய நிகழ்வுகளை எவ்வளவு பயன்படுத்திக்கொள்ள முடியுமோ... அவ்வளவு பயன்படுத்திக்கொள்கிறேன்.''
''சிறையில் இருந்தபடியே வழக்குகளை நடத்துவது, கான்ஃபெரன்ஸிங் மூலம் ஆஜராவது... என இந்த அனுபவம் புதியதா?''
''19 வயதில் நான் கைது செய்யப்பட்டபோது, சட்டம் பற்றிய அறிவு எனக்குத் துளியும் கிடையாது. தடா போன்ற கறுப்புச் சட்டங்கள் பற்றி எதுவும் அறியாதவனாக இருந்தேன். கைது செய்யப்பட்டு சிறையில் கழித்த இந்த 22 ஆண்டுகளில், என் வழக்கை நானே எதிர்கொள்ளும் அளவுக்கு சட்டரீதியான அறிவோடு என்னைத் தயார்படுத்திக்கொண்டேன். வழக்கறிஞர்கள் பிரபுவும் பாரியும் பல்வேறு தீர்ப்புகளை எனக்கு வாசிக்கக் கொடுத்து என் சட்ட அறிவை வளர்த்தார்கள். 2011-ல் புல்லர், மகேந்திரநாத் இருவரின் கருணை மனுக்களும் நிராகரிக்கப்பட்டபோது, எனக்கும் அதுபோன்ற முடிவுதான் என்பதை முன்கூட்டியே உணர்ந்த நான், உச்ச நீதிமன்ற வழக்கறிஞர் காலின் கன்சால்வேஸுக்குக் கடிதம் எழுதி, 'எனக்காக உயர் நீதிமன்றத்தில் வாதாட முடியுமா?’ என்று கேட்டு அவரது ஒப்புதலைப் பெற்றேன். அவரும் வாதாடி, உயர் நீதிமன்றத்தில் தடை கிடைத்தது. அம்மாவும் தங்கையும் அவருக்கு பணம் கொடுத்தபோது பெருந்தன்மையோடு அதை வாங்க மறுத்துவிட்டார். பல்வேறு சட்ட வழக்குகளை நானே கையாண்டபோது காணொளி
விசாரணையிலும் பங்கு பெற்றேன். அது சிறை வரலாற்றிலேயே புதிய அனுபவம். எல்லாக் கதவுகளையும் தட்டிவிட்டேன். இனி நான் சொல்ல ஏதும் இல்லை. முடிவை உங்கள் கைகளுக்கே விட்டுவிடுகிறேன்.''
''19 வயதில் நீங்கள் கைதானபோது, உங்களின் அரசியல் நண்பர்கள் உங்களைக் கைவிட்டுவிட்டார்கள் இல்லையா?''
''என்னைக் கைவிட்டுவிட்டார்கள் என்பதைவிட, என் பெற்றோரைக் கைவிட்டார்கள். என்னை அறிந்தவர்கள், அன்பு பாராட்டியவர்கள் விலகிச் சென்றார்கள். எங்கள் குடும்பத்தினரிடம் இருந்து அவர்களை மீட்டுக்கொள்ள பரிதாபகரமான முயற்சிகளில் ஈடுபட்டனர்.
ஆனால், என்னை நம்பிய என் உறவுகளும் நண்பர்களும் என்னோடு இருக்கிறார்கள். முன்னர் என்னைச் சந்தேகப்பட்டவர்கள் இப்போது நெருங்கி வருகிறார்கள். இது நிரபராதிகளின் காலம் போலும்.''
''உங்களின் வாக்குமூலத்தை முழுமையாகப் பதியவில்லை என்று சி.பி.ஐ. முன்னாள் எஸ்.பி., தியாகராஜன் சொன்னபோது எப்படி இருந்தது?''
''ஒப்புதல் வாக்குமூலத்தின் நம்பகத்தன்மை குறித்து, நானும் அவரும் மட்டுமே கூற முடியும் என்ற நிலையில் தண்டிக்கப்பட்டவன், குற்றம் இழைத்தவன் என முத்திரை குத்தப்பட்டதால், எனது கருத்து இத்தனை ஆண்டுகளில் அங்கீகாரம் இன்றி புறந்தள்ளப்பட்டது.
தற்போது வாக்குமூலம் பெற்ற தியாகராஜனே 'வாக்குமூலத்தை முழுமையாகப் பதியவில்லை’ என்று கூறியிருப்பதன் மூலம், என் கருத்துகள் உண்மை என்பது நிரூபிக்கப்பட்டுள்ளது. என் தாயாரின் இத்தனை ஆண்டுகால உழைப்புக்குக் கிடைத்த அங்கீகாரம் இது!''
''உங்கள் வாக்குமூலத்தை முழுமையாகப் பதியவில்லை என்ற தியாகராஜன், 'ராஜீவ் காந்தியைக் கொல்லத்தான் பேட்டரி வாங்கினார்’ என்று எழுதாமல், 'வாக்குமூலத்தில் ஒரு வெற்றிடத்தை, வேண்டுமென்றே உங்களுக்குச் சார்பாக விட்டுச்சென்றேன்’ என்கிறாரே... அதை நீங்கள் கவனிக்கவில்லையா?''
''தியாகராஜன் அவர்கள் சாமானிய மனிதர் அல்ல. அவர் காவல் துறையின் உயர் பதவியை அலங்கரித்து ஓய்வுபெற்றவர். இத்தனை ஆண்டுகால நீதிக்கான என் போராட்டத்தில் அவரை நான் மிகக் கடுமையாக விமர்சனம் செய்து வந்திருக்கிறேன். அவரின் நீதிமன்ற சாட்சியத்தை ஏற்கக் கூடாது என அழுத்தமாகப் போராடி வந்திருக்கிறேன். அவரது இந்தக் கூற்றை நான் முழுமையாக ஏற்கவில்லை. மொழிமயக்கம் தரும் ஒரு வெற்றிடத்தை அவர் விட்டுச்சென்றார் என்பது உண்மையே. அதே நேரம் அதுகுறித்து சாட்சியம்
அளித்தபோது, அவரிடம் நேரடியாக ஏதும் கேள்வி எழுப்பப்பட்டிருந்தால், காவல் அதிகாரியா, மனச்சாட்சியா என்ற போராட்டத்தில் காவல் அதிகாரியாகத்தான் அன்றைய நாளில் சாட்சியம் அளித்திருப்பார். அது மிக ஆபத்தான முடிவாக இருந்திருக்கும். அதேநேரம் இதுகுறித்து உச்ச நீதிமன்றத்தில் என் வழக்கறிஞர் சுட்டிக்காட்டி வாதிட்டபோது, அது உச்ச நீதிமன்றத்தால் கருத்தில் கொள்ளப்படவில்லை.''
'' 'தவறு செய்துவிட்டேன்’ என்று சொல்லும் காவல் அதிகாரி தியாகராஜனை, நீங்கள் மன்னிக்கத் தயாரா?''
''உறுதியாக! ஆனால், ஒரு மனிதன் எதை எல்லாம் இழக்கக் கூடாதோ, அதை எல்லாம் கடந்த 22 ஆண்டுகளில் இழந்திருக்கிறேன். நான் மீண்டு வந்தாலும்கூட இழந்தவற்றை எவரும் திருப்பித்தர முடியாது. இத்தனை இழப்புகளுக்கும் எனது தண்டனைக்கும் காரணம் அந்த ஒப்புதல் வாக்குமூலம்தான். அந்த ஒற்றை ஆவணத்தை நீக்கிவிட்டு இந்த வழக்கை எடைபோட்டால் இந்த வழக்கின் உண்மை நிலை தெரிந்துவிடும். அன்றைய காலச்சூழலில் தடா சட்டத்தின் கொடூரமான ஒரு சட்டப்பிரிவின் ஆபத்து அறியாதவராக தியாகராஜன் இருந்திருக்கலாம். ஒரு வகையில் தடா எனும் சட்டப்பிரிவுக்கு நாங்கள் மட்டும் பலியாகவில்லை... தியாகராஜனே பலியாகியிருக்கிறார்.''
''உங்களின் அம்மா இந்த வயதிலும் உங்களுக்காக அலைந்து கொண்டிருக்கிறார். அவரின் நினைவு உங்களிடம் என்னவாக இருக்கிறது?''
''இது பற்றி யார் கேட்டாலும் நான் பதில் சொல்வது இல்லை. காரணம், என் தாயார் பற்றிய உணர்வுகளை வெளிப்படுத்தினால் எங்களுக்கு இடையிலான இயல்பான உறவுக்கு அது இடையூறாகிவிடும் என்கிற தயக்கம் எனக்கு இருக்கிறது. அதுபோல அவரும் என்னைப் பற்றி என்ன பதிவு செய்கிறார் என்பதைத் தெரிந்துகொள்வதிலும் எனக்கு ஆர்வம் இல்லை. 22 ஆண்டுகளுக்கு முன்னர் என் அம்மாவுக்கு நான் எப்படியோ... இப்போதும் அப்படியே. அப்படி இருந்துவிட்டுப் போகவே விரும்புகிறேன்.''
''தவறிழைத்துவிட்ட ஒரு மனிதனை, மீண்டும் சமூகத்துக்குப் பயனுள்ளவனாக மாற்றுவதுதான் சிறைச்சாலைகளின் நோக்கம் எனும் நிலையில் சிறைச்சாலை மாறியிருக்கிறதா?''
''கடந்த பத்தாண்டுகளில் நிறைய மாறியிருக்கிறது என்பது உண்மையே. மின்விசிறி இருக்கிறது, தேநீர் தருகிறார்கள், கோழி இறைச்சி கிடைக்கிறது என்பது எல்லாம் சரிதான். ஆனால், சிறை சீர்திருத்தங்கள் குறித்த அடிப்படையான கட்டமைப்பு, கருதுகோள் மாறவில்லை. இதற்கு சிறை அதிகாரிகளை மட்டும் குறைசொல்வதில் பயன் இல்லை. 1894-ல் கொண்டுவரப்பட்ட சிறை சட்டங்களையே சில மாற்றங்களுடன் பயன் படுத்தி வருகிறோம். எனவே, வெள்ளையர் காலச் சிறைச் சட்டத்தைத் தூக்கி எறிந்துவிட்டு மாறியுள்ள புதிய உலகச் சூழலுக்கு ஏற்ப முழுமையான சிறைப் பாதுகாப்பை உறுதி செய்யும் அதேநேரம், மனிதநேயமுள்ள கூடங்களாக சிறைகள் உருமாற்றம் அடையும் வகையில், புதிய சட்டங்கள் உருவாக்கப்பட வேண்டும்.''
''புல்லர் வழக்கின் தீர்ப்பு, என் வழக்கில் மோசமான பாதிப்புகளை ஏற்படுத்தும் என்பதை நாங்கள் உணர்ந்த அளவுக்கு, தமிழகத்தில் உள்ள பலர் உணரவில்லை. ஒப்புதல் வாக்குமூலம் தொடர்பாக தியாகராஜன் தெரிவித்திருக்கும் கருத்தும், அவர் எனக்கு சட்டரீதியாக
உதவுவதாகச் சொல்லியிருப்பதையும் வைத்து சட்டரீதியான போராட்டத்தை முன்னெடுப்பதே சரி என நம்புகிறேன்.
1951-ல் தந்தை பெரியாரின் போராட்டத்தால் முதன்முதலாக அரசியல் சாசனம் திருத்தப்பட்ட பின்னர், சுமார் 90 முறைக்கு மேல் திருத்தப்பட்டுள்ளது. என் வழக்கால் மற்றொரு திருத்தம் வரும் என உறுதியாக நம்புகிறேன். உச்ச நீதிமன்றத் தீர்ப்புக்குப் பிறகு நிரபராதி என்பதற்கான புதிய ஆதாரங்கள் கிடைத்தால், வழக்கை மீளாய்வு செய்யும் வகையில் புதிய சட்டங்கள் உருவாக்கப்பட வேண்டும். தற்போதைய நிலையில், என்னை நிரபராதி எனக் கூறி விடுதலை செய்ய வேண்டும் என்பதே எனது போராட்டமாக இருக்கும்.
இதற்காக அனைத்து தரப்பினரின் ஆதரவையும் கோரி நிற்கிறேன்!''
Statement on the work of the Seventh National Conference of the PFLP
Statement on the work of the Seventh National Conference of the PFLP
Dec18 2013
The Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine issued the following statement regarding the Seventh National Conference of the Front, recently convened, as an important station on the road to return and the ongoing revolution until the liberation of the entire Palestinian national soil.
The National Conference was held in three sessions in the homeland and in diaspora to carry out a comprehensive review and evaluation of the Front’s methods, work, overall policies and plans, and the formulation of a political vision and organizational methods for the new phase of struggle. The Conference aimed to form the base for developing the Front’s positions and policies, building the Front’s effectiveness, role, and presence in the struggle to achieving our goals of national and social liberation.
The Front began with a moment of silence in honour of the martyrs of our people and our nation who sacrificed their lives for Palestine and its freedom, and in respect of the prisoners, detainees and the freedom fighters who continue to march on a difficult path to obtain our inalienable, legitimate, and historical national
rights of our Arab Palestinian people.
After the adoption of the agenda, the Conference was presented with a comprehensive statement and letter from imprisoned General Secretary Ahmad Sa’adat, addressing political issues, organizational matters, and theoretical issues, as well as addressing the role of the Seventh National Conference in the future
direction of the Front.
The conference discussed draft reports submitted by the Central Committee, as well as recommendations submitted by the conferences of the Front’s branches, and ended with the election of the members of the General Central Committee and the Central Supervisory Board. The conference’s output reflected
democratic principles on the workings of the internal life of the Front, as well as emphasizing the importance of wider participation in formulating the policies, programs, plans, and basic direction of the Front. The Conference emphasized the importance of strengthening the unity of the organization through the
deepening of democratic systems and structures at all levels.
The Seventh National Conference came at a time of serious political concern and complexity, when continuing U.S. imperialist and Zionist schemes aim at the liquidation of the Palestinian national cause by exploiting the conditions within Arab countries and their internal political, economic and social programs to
exercise additional pressure on the Palestinian Authority to conclude more agreements ignoring international law, UN resolutions, and the inalienable national rights of the Palestinian people.
The conference discussed the international environment around the Palestinian and Arab situation and its effects on our national struggle for liberation, and the struggle of the Arab people. The United States government is hostile to the aspirations and goals of our people for freedom, self-determination and return, a fact that is reflected every day on the ground and in international diplomatic forums, engaged in a security partnership with Zionist aggression. The Conference also noted the historical impact of international and regional events on the Arab scene.
The rise of the role of Russia, China, and regional powers has shifted on some level the equations of international conflict. The Conference discussed the Arab political, economic and security situation, in its international context, as well as the structural disorder of Arab regimes and the failure of Arab states to safeguard national sovereignty, political independence, or economic security.
The Front noted the large mobilizations witnessed in a number of Arab countries which aimed to confront injustice, poverty, and tyranny, and build modern democratic societies. It further noted the high level of imperialist interventions hostile to the aspirations of the Arab nation in an attempt to steal and co-opt the goals and objectives of Arab popular movements through external military interventions and political efforts to spur sectarian and ethnic conflict in order to control the destiny of the Arab peoples while protecting the Zionist entity.
The Conference also discussed at length the Palestinian reality and the numerous developments in the over a decade that has passed since the Sixth Conference in 2000, reviewing the most important events in the Palestinian scene. At the center of this review are the ongoing and disastrous effects of the turning point
in the Palestinian struggle in 1993, marked by the signing of the Oslo agreement. The Conference emphasized multiple issues, particularly the centrality of rejecting the negotiations, which do not serve the Palestinian people’s interests, and the need to fully reject the entire process of negotiations and “solutions” that have failed for over twenty years.
The importance of rehabilitating the Palestinian national liberation movement and building a new Palestinian strategy based on achieving the full rights of our people was viewed as critical by the Conference. In particular, this will mean drawing lessons from this last stage and entirely ending the absurd negotiations for
which our people have paid dearly.
Further, the Conference discussed the Front’s organizational report, looking at the objective and subjective factors that have affected the structure of the Popular Front. This included engaging in a criticism of the organizational state of the PFLP, and learning lessons from past experience in order to tighten and develop
the Front’s organizational structure and theoretical and political vision as a way out of crisis for the Front.
The Conference also discussed amendments to the rules of procedure and agreed upon a number of amendments to the Front’s internal structural documents.
The Conference addressed the political program, emphasizing the continuation of the struggle of our people to achieve their strategic objective, and that the goal of the struggle of the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine is to liberate every inch of Palestinian land from colonial occupation and establish a
democratic state on the entire Palestinian national soil.
The Conference confirmed political tasks in the revolutionary struggle, including the following: the utmost importance to rebuild the institutions of the PLO on new democratic and inclusive foundations, rehabilitating the PLO’s original program and charter working to develop and strengthen the unity of the Palestinian people as the sharpest weapon of the national liberation movement to achieve its goals and break the cycle of division armed struggle is fundamental to the confrontation of the occupation, as imposed by the nature of the occupation and its violence, and is central and a primary component of overall resistance against occupation.
resistance to all plans and projects of political liquidationism proposed by imperialism and Zionism to bury the Palestinian cause the struggle for the right of return of Palestinian refugees to their lands and homes from which they were expelled in 1948 must be at the center of work, rejecting all plans and projects aimed to liquidate this right the issue of prisoners and the necessity to free them from Israeli jails is a central issue that must be taken up by all political means, through international bodies, and through the national struggle by all means the central importance of the struggle for identity and liberation of the Palestinian people in 1948 occupied areas and their resistance to all attempts to displace them and Judaize the Palestinian cities and villages the need for unwavering struggle against all forms of political discourse that attempt to legitimize the “Jewish nature” of the racist state, to expose the objectives of these attempts and their effects on the future of the national struggle and the Palestinian people emphasize the importance of the role of the steadfastness of the Palestinian people in all locations and in exile, including exposure to difficult and complex conditions.
Our people in diaspora have played a key role in the march of the contemporary Palestinian revolution and it is critical to focus on the issues of our people in exile and diaspora.
The Conference stressed the need to continue efforts to develop the democratic trend in the broad Palestinian arena. At the conclusion of the Conference, the delegates elected the General Central Committee and Central Supervisory Board in an atmosphere of democracy and transparency, with a significant number of new members elected to the leading bodies.
The Conference also expressed its constructive criticisms in a spirit of camaraderie and national responsibility, and sent warm greetings to the General Secretary Ahmad Sa’adat and all prisoners in Israeli jails, as well as paying tribute to the comrades who retired from their leadership positions to support the
advancement of young leaders and the renewal of the Front. The Conference also expressed its vow to the martyrs and the prisoners to continue their struggle and march on the same long road to liberation, saluting the Front’s founder, Dr. George Habash, the martyred General Secretary Abu Ali Mustafa, the martyr
leader Abu Maher al-Yamani and tall of the martyrs of the Front and the Palestinian revolution.
The Conference saluted the Palestinian people, struggling everywhere, and all factions and forces of the Palestinian revolution, the Arab liberation movement, and popular forces of the Arab homeland; and greeted all of the forces of progress, freedom and socialism around the world who oppose and confront
injustice, oppression and imperialism, the enemy of the people and the enemy of humanity. Glory to the martyrs and victory to our great people.
Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine
General Central Committee
Dec18 2013
The Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine issued the following statement regarding the Seventh National Conference of the Front, recently convened, as an important station on the road to return and the ongoing revolution until the liberation of the entire Palestinian national soil.
The National Conference was held in three sessions in the homeland and in diaspora to carry out a comprehensive review and evaluation of the Front’s methods, work, overall policies and plans, and the formulation of a political vision and organizational methods for the new phase of struggle. The Conference aimed to form the base for developing the Front’s positions and policies, building the Front’s effectiveness, role, and presence in the struggle to achieving our goals of national and social liberation.
The Front began with a moment of silence in honour of the martyrs of our people and our nation who sacrificed their lives for Palestine and its freedom, and in respect of the prisoners, detainees and the freedom fighters who continue to march on a difficult path to obtain our inalienable, legitimate, and historical national
rights of our Arab Palestinian people.
After the adoption of the agenda, the Conference was presented with a comprehensive statement and letter from imprisoned General Secretary Ahmad Sa’adat, addressing political issues, organizational matters, and theoretical issues, as well as addressing the role of the Seventh National Conference in the future
direction of the Front.
The conference discussed draft reports submitted by the Central Committee, as well as recommendations submitted by the conferences of the Front’s branches, and ended with the election of the members of the General Central Committee and the Central Supervisory Board. The conference’s output reflected
democratic principles on the workings of the internal life of the Front, as well as emphasizing the importance of wider participation in formulating the policies, programs, plans, and basic direction of the Front. The Conference emphasized the importance of strengthening the unity of the organization through the
deepening of democratic systems and structures at all levels.
The Seventh National Conference came at a time of serious political concern and complexity, when continuing U.S. imperialist and Zionist schemes aim at the liquidation of the Palestinian national cause by exploiting the conditions within Arab countries and their internal political, economic and social programs to
exercise additional pressure on the Palestinian Authority to conclude more agreements ignoring international law, UN resolutions, and the inalienable national rights of the Palestinian people.
The conference discussed the international environment around the Palestinian and Arab situation and its effects on our national struggle for liberation, and the struggle of the Arab people. The United States government is hostile to the aspirations and goals of our people for freedom, self-determination and return, a fact that is reflected every day on the ground and in international diplomatic forums, engaged in a security partnership with Zionist aggression. The Conference also noted the historical impact of international and regional events on the Arab scene.
The rise of the role of Russia, China, and regional powers has shifted on some level the equations of international conflict. The Conference discussed the Arab political, economic and security situation, in its international context, as well as the structural disorder of Arab regimes and the failure of Arab states to safeguard national sovereignty, political independence, or economic security.
The Front noted the large mobilizations witnessed in a number of Arab countries which aimed to confront injustice, poverty, and tyranny, and build modern democratic societies. It further noted the high level of imperialist interventions hostile to the aspirations of the Arab nation in an attempt to steal and co-opt the goals and objectives of Arab popular movements through external military interventions and political efforts to spur sectarian and ethnic conflict in order to control the destiny of the Arab peoples while protecting the Zionist entity.
The Conference also discussed at length the Palestinian reality and the numerous developments in the over a decade that has passed since the Sixth Conference in 2000, reviewing the most important events in the Palestinian scene. At the center of this review are the ongoing and disastrous effects of the turning point
in the Palestinian struggle in 1993, marked by the signing of the Oslo agreement. The Conference emphasized multiple issues, particularly the centrality of rejecting the negotiations, which do not serve the Palestinian people’s interests, and the need to fully reject the entire process of negotiations and “solutions” that have failed for over twenty years.
The importance of rehabilitating the Palestinian national liberation movement and building a new Palestinian strategy based on achieving the full rights of our people was viewed as critical by the Conference. In particular, this will mean drawing lessons from this last stage and entirely ending the absurd negotiations for
which our people have paid dearly.
Further, the Conference discussed the Front’s organizational report, looking at the objective and subjective factors that have affected the structure of the Popular Front. This included engaging in a criticism of the organizational state of the PFLP, and learning lessons from past experience in order to tighten and develop
the Front’s organizational structure and theoretical and political vision as a way out of crisis for the Front.
The Conference also discussed amendments to the rules of procedure and agreed upon a number of amendments to the Front’s internal structural documents.
The Conference addressed the political program, emphasizing the continuation of the struggle of our people to achieve their strategic objective, and that the goal of the struggle of the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine is to liberate every inch of Palestinian land from colonial occupation and establish a
democratic state on the entire Palestinian national soil.
The Conference confirmed political tasks in the revolutionary struggle, including the following: the utmost importance to rebuild the institutions of the PLO on new democratic and inclusive foundations, rehabilitating the PLO’s original program and charter working to develop and strengthen the unity of the Palestinian people as the sharpest weapon of the national liberation movement to achieve its goals and break the cycle of division armed struggle is fundamental to the confrontation of the occupation, as imposed by the nature of the occupation and its violence, and is central and a primary component of overall resistance against occupation.
resistance to all plans and projects of political liquidationism proposed by imperialism and Zionism to bury the Palestinian cause the struggle for the right of return of Palestinian refugees to their lands and homes from which they were expelled in 1948 must be at the center of work, rejecting all plans and projects aimed to liquidate this right the issue of prisoners and the necessity to free them from Israeli jails is a central issue that must be taken up by all political means, through international bodies, and through the national struggle by all means the central importance of the struggle for identity and liberation of the Palestinian people in 1948 occupied areas and their resistance to all attempts to displace them and Judaize the Palestinian cities and villages the need for unwavering struggle against all forms of political discourse that attempt to legitimize the “Jewish nature” of the racist state, to expose the objectives of these attempts and their effects on the future of the national struggle and the Palestinian people emphasize the importance of the role of the steadfastness of the Palestinian people in all locations and in exile, including exposure to difficult and complex conditions.
Our people in diaspora have played a key role in the march of the contemporary Palestinian revolution and it is critical to focus on the issues of our people in exile and diaspora.
The Conference stressed the need to continue efforts to develop the democratic trend in the broad Palestinian arena. At the conclusion of the Conference, the delegates elected the General Central Committee and Central Supervisory Board in an atmosphere of democracy and transparency, with a significant number of new members elected to the leading bodies.
The Conference also expressed its constructive criticisms in a spirit of camaraderie and national responsibility, and sent warm greetings to the General Secretary Ahmad Sa’adat and all prisoners in Israeli jails, as well as paying tribute to the comrades who retired from their leadership positions to support the
advancement of young leaders and the renewal of the Front. The Conference also expressed its vow to the martyrs and the prisoners to continue their struggle and march on the same long road to liberation, saluting the Front’s founder, Dr. George Habash, the martyred General Secretary Abu Ali Mustafa, the martyr
leader Abu Maher al-Yamani and tall of the martyrs of the Front and the Palestinian revolution.
The Conference saluted the Palestinian people, struggling everywhere, and all factions and forces of the Palestinian revolution, the Arab liberation movement, and popular forces of the Arab homeland; and greeted all of the forces of progress, freedom and socialism around the world who oppose and confront
injustice, oppression and imperialism, the enemy of the people and the enemy of humanity. Glory to the martyrs and victory to our great people.
Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine
General Central Committee
57 ஆண்டுகள் தீராத மொழிப்பிரச்சனை!
1956-2013
வடக்கில் தமிழ் மொழியை புறக்கணிக்கும் பொலிஸார்; இன்னும் தனிச் சிங்களத்தில் கடிதங்கள், முறைப்பாடுகள்.
"வடக்கில் பொலிஸார் தொடர்ந்தும் தமிழ் மொழியைப் புறக்கணிக்கும் நடவடிக்கைகளில் ஈடுபட்டு வருகின்றனர். சில பொலிஸ் நிலையங்களில் இன்னும் தமிழில் முறைப்பாடு செய்ய முடியாத நிலை காணப்படுகிறது. பொலிஸாரினால் அனுப்பப்படும் கடிதங்கள் கூடத் தனிச் சிங்களத்திலேயே உள்ளன.
இவ்வாறு யாழ்.மாவட்டத்தில் உள்ள பிரதேச செயலர்கள் நேற்று பகிரங்கமாகச் சுட்டிக்காட்டினர்.
யாழ்.மாவட்ட செயலகத்தில் நேற்று இடம்பெற்ற சிவில் பாதுகாப்புக் குழுக் கூட்டத்தின் போதே இந்த விடயம் சுட்டிக் காட்டப்பட்டது. இதனால் பொலிஸ் அதிகாரிகளுக்கும் பிரதேச செயலர்களுக்கும் இடையே கடும் வாய்த்தர்க்கம் ஏற்பட்டது.
யாழ். மாவட்டத்தில் உள்ள மக்களின் பிரச்சினைகள் குறித்து ஆராயும் சிவில் பாதுகாப்புக் குழுக்கூட்டம் நேற்று மாவட்ட செயலகத்தில் நடைபெற்றது.
இதில் அமைச்சர் டக்ளஸ் தேவானந்தா, யாழ்.மாவட்ட அரச அதிபர் சுந்தரம் அருமைநாயகம், மேலதிக அரச அதிபர் திருமதி ரூபினி வரதலிங்கம், யாழ்.மாவட்டப் பிரதிப் பொலிஸ்மா அதிபர் றொஹான் டயஸ், உதவிப் பொலிஸ் அத்தியட்சகர்கள், பொலிஸ் நிலையங்களின் பொறுப்பதிகாரிகள், பிரதேச செயலர்கள் எனப் பலர் கலந்து கொண்டனர்.
இதன்போது வடக்கில் உள்ள சகல பொலிஸ் நிலையங்களிலும் நூறு வீதம் தமிழில் முறைப்பாடு செய்யப்படுகிறது என்று பொலிஸார் தெரிவித்தனர்.
இதன்போது பிரதேச செயலர்கள் பொலிஸாரின் கூற்றை முற்றாக மறுத்ததுடன் தமிழில் முறைப்பாடு பதிவு செய்யப்படுவதில்லை என்பதற்கான ஆதாரங்களையும் அங்கு அம்பலப்படுத்தினர்.
பிரச்சினைகள் குறித்து தெரிவிக்க பொலிஸ் நிலையங்களுடன் தொலைபேசியில் தொடர்பு கொண்டால் அங்கு தமிழில் பேசுவதற்கு எவரும் இருக்கமாட்டார்கள் பின்னர் தொடர்பு கொள்ளுமாறு பொலிஸாரால் கூறப்படுகிறது. இங்கு அநேகமான பொலிஸ் நிலையங்களில் இந்தப் பிரச்சினை தொடர்கிறது.
சாவகச்சேரி பொலிஸ் நிலையம் நுணாவிலில் அமைந்துள்ளது. பொலிஸ் நிலையத்திலிருந்து சுமார் ஒரு கிலோ மீற்றர் தூரத்தில் இருக்கும் வீடு ஒன்றில் கடந்த நவம்பர் மாதம் 22 ஆம் திகதி இரவு 9.30 மணியளவில் திருட்டுச் சம்பவம் இடம்பெற்றது.
அது தொடர்பில் சாவகச்சேரி பொலிஸாருக்கு உடனடியாகத் தொடர்பு கொண்டு தகவல் தெரிவிக்கப்பட்டது. ஆனால் பொலிஸார் அன்று வரவேயில்லை. மறுநாள் காலை 8.30 மணியளவிலேயே சம்பவ இடத்துக்குச் பொலிஸார் சென்றுள்ளனர் என்று கூட்டத்தில் பிரதேச செயலர்களால் சுட்டிக்காட்ட்பபட்டது.
இது தவிர பொலிஸாரினால் அனுபபி வைக்கப்படும் கடிதங்கள் கூடத் தனிச் சிங்களத்திலேயே அனுப்பப்படுகின்றன. வவுனியா பொலிஸாரால் அண்மையில் அவ்வாறு தனிச் சிங்கள மொழியில் கடிதம் அனுப்பப்பட்ட விடயமும் அங்கு எடுத்துக் காட்டப்பட்டது.
இதன் பின்னர் கருத்துத் தெரிவித்த பொலிஸ் அதிகாரிகள், தவறுதலாகச் சில சம்பவங்கள் அவ்வாறு இடம்பெறுகின்றன. அதனைத் திருத்துகிறோம். வவுனியா சம்பவம் தொடர்பில் வவுனியா பிரதிப் பொலிஸ்மா அதிபருக்குத் தெரியப்படுத்துகிறோம் - என்று கூறினர்.
அமைச்சர் டக்ளஸ் தேவானந்தா பொலிஸாரின் செயற்பாட்டை நியாயப்படுத்தும் வகையில், முறைப்பாடுகள் எங்கும் இருக்கத்தான் செய்யும் அதனைத் தீர்த்துக் கொள்ள வேண்டும் என்று கூறினார்.
நன்றி: யாழ் உதயன் 27/12/2013
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விவசாய திணைக்களத்தின் நீர்ப்பாசன ஆய்வுகூட உதவியாளர் பதவி நேர்முகத்தேர்வுக்கு அழைக்கப்பட்டவர்களுக்கு
தனிச்சிங்கள மொழியிலேயே கடிதங்கள்
தனிச்சிங்கள மொழி கடிதங்களுக்கு மனித உரிமைகள் ஆணைக்குழுவால் தீர்வு
விவசாய திணைக்களத்தின் நீர்ப்பாசன ஆய்வுகூட உதவியாளர் பதவிக்கு நேர்முகத்தேர்வுக்கு அழைக்கப்பட்டவர்களுக்கு தனிச்சிங்கள மொழியிலேயே கடிதங்கள் அனுப்பி வைக்கப்பட்டிருந்த நிலையில், குறித்த நேர்முகத் தேர்வை இடைநிறுத்தி வைக்குமாறு இலங்கை மனித உரிமைகள் ஆணைக்குழு அறிவித்துள்ளது.
தனிச்சிங்களத்தில் அனுப்பி வைக்கப்பட்டமை தொடர்பில் மனித உரிமைகள் ஆணைக்குழுவில் முறைப்பாடு செய்யப்பட்ட நிலையிலேயே குறித்த இடைநிறுத்தம் அறிவிக்கப்பட்டுள்ளது.
இதன்படி குறித்த நேர்முகத் தெரிவுக்கான விண்ணப்பதாரிகளுக்கான கடிதங்களை தமிழ் மொழியில் அனுப்பி வைக்குமாறும் மனித உரிமைகள் ஆணைக்குழு வலியுறுத்தியுள்ளது.
மேலும், அரச நிறுவனம் ஒன்றில் மும்மொழி கொள்கையை நடைமுறைப்படுத்தப்படாமைக்கான காரணம் தொடர்பில் விசாரணை நடத்துமாறும் மனித உரிமைகள் ஆணைக்குழுவால் உத்தரவிட்டிருப்பதாக தெரிவிக்கப்படுகிறது.
இதேவேளை, எதிர்வரும் காலத்தில் இவ்வாறான சிக்கல் ஏற்படாத வண்ணம் மீண்டும் இதற்கான நேர்முகத் தேர்வை நடத்துவதற்கான ஒழுங்கு செய்யப்படும் என நீர்பாசன திணைக்களத்தின் பணிப்பாளர் பத்ரா கமலதாசன தெரிவித்தார்
மன்னாரில் இராணுவம் மரக்கறி வியாபாரம்!
மன்னாரில் இராணுவத்தினர் மரக்கறி வியாபாரம்!
அதிர்ச்சியில் வியாபாரிகள்!
[ வியாழக்கிழமை, 26 டிசெம்பர் 2013, 10:23.07 AM GMT ]
மன்னார் நுழைவாயிலில் படையினர் கடந்த சனிக்கிழமை மரக்கறி வியாபார நிலையம் ஒன்றை திறந்து வியாபாரம் செய்து வருவதால் தாம் பெரும் பாதிப்புக்கு உள்ளாகியுள்ளதாக அப்பகுதி வியாபாரிகள் கவலை வெளியிட்டுள்ளனர்.
மன்னாரிலுள்ள வர்த்தகர்கள் தம்புள்ள உள்ளிட்ட இடங்களில் மரக்கறிகளை கொள்வனவு செய்தே மன்னாரில் விற்பனை செய்து வருகின்றனர்.
குறிப்பாக இட வாடகை, வரி, செலவுகள் என்பவற்றை கருத்தில் கொண்டே விலைகளை தீர்மானித்து விற்பனை செய்து வருகின்றனர்.
ஆனால் படையினர் திறந்துள்ள மரக்கறி நிலையத்தில் மிகவும் மலிவான விலையில் மரக்கறிகள் விற்பனை செய்யப்படுவதால் தமது வியாபார நடவடிக்கைகள் பாதிக்கப்படுவதுடன் தமது வாழ்வாதாரமும் பாதிக்கப்படுவதாக வியாபாரிகள் குற்றஞ்சாட்டியுள்ளனர்.
பர்மாவிலும் எகிப்திலும் நாட்டின் ஒட்டுமொத்தப் பொருளாதாரத்தின் -மொத்தத் தேசிய உற்பத்தியின் GDP-பெரும் பகுதியை தன் கட்டுப்பாட்டில் கொண்டுவந்து விட்ட இராணுவ வர்க்கம் எவ்வாறு அரசதிகாரத்தைக் கைப்பற்றி பாசிச ஆட்சிமுறையைக் கட்டவிழ்த்து வருகின்றதோ, அவற்றை அந்நிய நிதிமூலதன நலன் எவ்வாறு பாதுகாத்து பயன் அடைந்து வருகின்றதோ அதுவே சிங்களத்தின் கதையுமாகும்!
அடுத்த ஈழத் தலைமுறையை கருவறுக்கும் இனப்படுகொலைச் சிங்களம்!
Family Planning In Kilinochchi Under Scrutiny
By Megara Tegal
A controversial report titled ‘Coercive Population Control in Kilinochchi’ by an anonymous group known as The Social Architects (TSA) has incited public uproar not only in Sri Lanka but in the international arena as well. Last week, the President of Pasumai Tayagam and former Health Minister of India, Dr. Anbumani
Ramadoss, termed the incident ‘genocide’ and urged the UN to carry out an investigation, while speaking at the UN 68th Annual General Meeting in New York.
The Sunday Leader travelled to Kilinochchi to investigate the claims that women in three villages in Kilinochchi viz Veravil, Valaipaddu and Keranchi, were gathered at clinics and schools, where a Progesterone-only-subdermal implant (POSDI) was inserted into their upper-arms.
The TSA reportAccording to the report many of the women claim to have been taken to these clinics under false claims that the clinics were to conduct nutrition check-ups for their children. Once they arrived at the clinic they were informed about the contraception and told that they needed it as it is in their medical interest to not have more children. The women felt coerced into it as they did not have time to think it through or consult their husbands.
When the women expressed that they did not want the contraception, the medical staff, comprising doctors and midwives, had responded menacingly that their husbands would have to undergo the procedure instead. The women then felt compelled to give in.
The TSA report quotes a few of the women, one of whom is a 36 year old mother: “my youngest child is eight months old and my older child is three years old. The health volunteers asked me to come with the clinic card to weigh my children. They also said specialists are coming from the Kilinochchi district hospital.
I was excited to see big doctors who are knowledgeable. I went to the hospital and they weighed my children, but then they made us wait. When my turn came they spoke to me about the pros of not having any more children and told me that I am better off with only two children. I was of two minds and they sent me to the doctor.
The doctor spoke to me nicely and told me that rich and educated people in Sri Lanka and America use this method. This way my two children will be better off. How can I argue with such educated people? I hesitantly went ahead. But a few days later, I developed this pain and I went to the hospital. They treated me but I wanted to see the doctor who did this to me, but he wasn’t there, and the other doctor told me that he doesn’t know anything about this. The other doctor told me that I will be okay, but now I am not okay. How can these educated people do this to us? I wish they gave me time to think about this. They forced us to
make a decision on the spot. I couldn’t speak to my husband or anyone that I knew. These doctors are not nice people. They cheated me”.
The report further stated that some women said they informed their husbands about it once they returned home; and their husbands reacted furiously, accusing their women of infidelity. Others complained about feeling ill during the days following the insertion of the POSDI.
What is POSDI
POSDI is a relatively new form of reversible contraception. The implant is a small rod that is inserted under the skin of the upper-arm of the woman, and it prevents ovulation for 3 to 5 years. The particular POSDI given to the women in Kilinochchi is expected to function up to 5 years, according to the medical staff that
administered the contraception.
The WHO states: “Subdermal implantable contraceptives are highly effective, easy to use and carry a low risk of side-effects. These features make them a good option for women in under-resourced settings. However, data are lacking on the performance of contraceptive implants compared with other contraceptive
methods”.
POSDI is also said to be an extremely costly form on contraception as well. The medical staff in Kilinochchi estimated that it would cost roughly Rs 5,000 to Rs 8,000, making it inaccessible to those who live in the fishing villages of Kilinochchi as they are low income earners.
The side-effects of using POSDI include hypertension, weight gain, irregular periods, and hormonal imbalance, which the TSA report charges were not explained to the women by the medical professionals in Kilinochchi. It goes on to say that after-insertion care information provided by the doctors and nurses was false and misleading.
Side-effects rare but low chance of removal Sources close to the medical staff that conducted the contraception insertion, told The Sunday Leader side-effects are rare, but they include spotting. “Spotting is when a few spots of blood appear when it isn’t expected in the cycle. Most women find this irritating as in our community women usually cannot enter temples during their period and right after their period they need to have a (ritualistic) bath. So the women find this troublesome.”
However, when asked about the high cost of POSDI and whether the removal of the rod will be carried out, the source responded that removal is not something they take lightly because of the high cost and unavailability of the contraception. “It’s the best form of contraception for the women who want contraception here in Kilinochchi. We’ve come across many husbands who find all sort of problems with the more common forms of contraception – from the condom to the loop- and the women don’t take the pill regularly.
In fact if they forget to take the pill on one day, the next day they take two pills. This method of contraception will function naturally for five years. It is also very expensive so and the government will not be purchasing anymore POSDIs in future. Once it’s been inserted it cannot be used again and must be discarded,” he added suggesting it would be wasteful to extract the rod.
Medical staff speak
The Sunday Leader spoke to women in Veravil in groups, outside their houses and at small clinics located in the village. Within these groups of women some admitted to having heard about the contraception that was carried out, a few women oddly said they did not know about it. One of the women who admitted to
having heard about it said that she too had been called to the clinic for a nutrition check-up for her child.
“My child was weighed and they told me how to feed him properly, but I wasn’t asked to take any form of contraception,” she recalled. This corresponds with explanations given by medical staff sources who said that only women with two or more children, both of whom (as well as the mother) were undernourished,
were administered the POSDIs.
Menaka is a local from Veravil who has been volunteering at the Kilinochchi hospital. She told The Sunday Leader, that she identified large families who suffered from acute malnutrition.
“While visiting the women, I’ve noticed that they usually have one child on the hip, another at the breast and another crawling behind them. With so many young children to take care of, the mother becomes under-nourished, and then her children become under-nourished. It becomes difficult to feed the children on the
husband’s salary. The women themselves found it difficult and asked me to help them find a good form of contraception,” she said. “I then brought it to the attention of the Ministry of Health (MoH) in the area”.
She explained that people in rural villages do use protection such as the condom or the pill, since acquiring them requires travelling for four hours, on a bus on dirt roads.
“There were one or two women who grumbled after the insertion of the POSDI because their husbands were against it. But apart from those few cases, most of the women are fine,” Menaka said.
She went on to explain that women in the village are not new to using contraception. Many take the pill or use condoms. One of the women in the village who is a mother of four young children revealed, “On the day of the nutrition check up, I was told about the contraception but I didn’t want it and I told them that. I’ve
told my husband to use condoms and I felt there was no need for this new form of contraception. They didn’t press on it and let me go with no issues”.
Small families are better nourished
One of the key problems identified by the doctors in Kilinochchi is that the families are undernourished. Typically, these were families with four or five children who could not be fed regularly on their father’s income.
The mothers were also severely undernourished as well.
Without the use of contraception, or the use of pills which were not taken regularly, many of the women who got pregnant, who already had more children than they can could for, or who are in their 40s or older, would seek to have a septic abortion as they could not provide for another child. The septic method often
leads to infections and the mothers do not come to the hospital until they are in the terminal stage, and even the doctors are unable to save them.
In their research, which was carried out prior to the administration of the POSDI, the MoH determined that 30.7% of the Veravil population had unmet needs (in this case contraception). The population of Veravil is 1779, and the MoH identified 289 families that were eligible for contraception (malnourished children and
mothers, and more than three children in a family were some of the criteria). Out of the 289 families 89 were in need of contraception. Keranchi has a population of 1608, of which 257 families were found to be eligible for contraception. Out of the 257, eleven (4.2%) were identified as families in need of contraception.
According to the sources, these were the families that received the contraception from the MoH.
However, POSDI were not the only form of contraception that was distributed. Overall, 50 families were administered Jadelle (POSDI), two were opposed to the POSDI and were instead given the loop, and one Oral Contraceptive Pill.
Maternal mortality rate records of the Family Health Bureau show that in 2006 the percentage was at 102.8% in Kilinochchi, while it was 39.3% islandwide. In 2008, the maternal mortality rate in Kilinochchi dropped to 24.9%, and 33.5% islandwide. In 2009 and 2010, the maternal mortality rate in Kilinochchi was found to be 0%.
The doctors expressed that they hoped to maintain the 0% maternal mortality rate.
Sources close to the team that carried out the contraception clinics, stated that the head midwife who oversaw distribution of contraception has been a midwife in North since 1982, and has delivered children during the war, they also stated that the doctors were all Tamil and from the North, refuting claims that
programme was a deliberate attempt at population control in Kilinochchi.
The Sunday Leader emailed TSA to find out more details. The team refused to be interviewed over email, understandably stating, “I would like to help you, unfortunately I can’t reveal my sources but please go to these three areas and ask around. Everyone knows.
The nuns know it, the priest know it and you can contact them. I hope you understand our plight, as we have to be anonymous.”
TSA word against MoH
The Sunday Leader was informed by an activist based in Kilinochchi, that one of the women who voluntarily had the POSDI inserted into her arm, later complained of irregular periods, and feeling ill and uncomfortable. She was aware that the POSDI was a reversible form of contraception, and sought to have it removed
at the hospital.
The hospital staff had refused to extract the rod from her arm. She then went to a private hospital that quoted more that Rs 20,000 – a sum she could not afford – to have it removed.
When The Sunday Leader spoke to the military’s Civil Society Camp in Veravil, the officer said that while they make a record of all that occurs in the village, there were unable to make a report on the contraception controversy as they were busy attending to matters regarding the elections.
However, during the investigation conducted by The Sunday Leader on the 22 and 23 of September, none of the women who were interviewed complained about the contraception that was distributed during the nutritional programme (an annual programme that is held in July in Kilinochchi for those who cannot afford
medical care).
From cries of coerced population control to genocide, the incident has now reached the international community. If, as the Regional District Health Services of Kilinochchi states, the incident has been blown out of proportion then a timely explanation is required from the government.
http://www.thesundayleader.lk/2013/09/29/family-planning-in-kilinochchi-under-scrutiny/
By Megara Tegal
A controversial report titled ‘Coercive Population Control in Kilinochchi’ by an anonymous group known as The Social Architects (TSA) has incited public uproar not only in Sri Lanka but in the international arena as well. Last week, the President of Pasumai Tayagam and former Health Minister of India, Dr. Anbumani
Ramadoss, termed the incident ‘genocide’ and urged the UN to carry out an investigation, while speaking at the UN 68th Annual General Meeting in New York.
The Sunday Leader travelled to Kilinochchi to investigate the claims that women in three villages in Kilinochchi viz Veravil, Valaipaddu and Keranchi, were gathered at clinics and schools, where a Progesterone-only-subdermal implant (POSDI) was inserted into their upper-arms.
The TSA reportAccording to the report many of the women claim to have been taken to these clinics under false claims that the clinics were to conduct nutrition check-ups for their children. Once they arrived at the clinic they were informed about the contraception and told that they needed it as it is in their medical interest to not have more children. The women felt coerced into it as they did not have time to think it through or consult their husbands.
When the women expressed that they did not want the contraception, the medical staff, comprising doctors and midwives, had responded menacingly that their husbands would have to undergo the procedure instead. The women then felt compelled to give in.
The TSA report quotes a few of the women, one of whom is a 36 year old mother: “my youngest child is eight months old and my older child is three years old. The health volunteers asked me to come with the clinic card to weigh my children. They also said specialists are coming from the Kilinochchi district hospital.
I was excited to see big doctors who are knowledgeable. I went to the hospital and they weighed my children, but then they made us wait. When my turn came they spoke to me about the pros of not having any more children and told me that I am better off with only two children. I was of two minds and they sent me to the doctor.
The doctor spoke to me nicely and told me that rich and educated people in Sri Lanka and America use this method. This way my two children will be better off. How can I argue with such educated people? I hesitantly went ahead. But a few days later, I developed this pain and I went to the hospital. They treated me but I wanted to see the doctor who did this to me, but he wasn’t there, and the other doctor told me that he doesn’t know anything about this. The other doctor told me that I will be okay, but now I am not okay. How can these educated people do this to us? I wish they gave me time to think about this. They forced us to
make a decision on the spot. I couldn’t speak to my husband or anyone that I knew. These doctors are not nice people. They cheated me”.
The report further stated that some women said they informed their husbands about it once they returned home; and their husbands reacted furiously, accusing their women of infidelity. Others complained about feeling ill during the days following the insertion of the POSDI.
What is POSDI
POSDI is a relatively new form of reversible contraception. The implant is a small rod that is inserted under the skin of the upper-arm of the woman, and it prevents ovulation for 3 to 5 years. The particular POSDI given to the women in Kilinochchi is expected to function up to 5 years, according to the medical staff that
administered the contraception.
The WHO states: “Subdermal implantable contraceptives are highly effective, easy to use and carry a low risk of side-effects. These features make them a good option for women in under-resourced settings. However, data are lacking on the performance of contraceptive implants compared with other contraceptive
methods”.
POSDI is also said to be an extremely costly form on contraception as well. The medical staff in Kilinochchi estimated that it would cost roughly Rs 5,000 to Rs 8,000, making it inaccessible to those who live in the fishing villages of Kilinochchi as they are low income earners.
The side-effects of using POSDI include hypertension, weight gain, irregular periods, and hormonal imbalance, which the TSA report charges were not explained to the women by the medical professionals in Kilinochchi. It goes on to say that after-insertion care information provided by the doctors and nurses was false and misleading.
Side-effects rare but low chance of removal Sources close to the medical staff that conducted the contraception insertion, told The Sunday Leader side-effects are rare, but they include spotting. “Spotting is when a few spots of blood appear when it isn’t expected in the cycle. Most women find this irritating as in our community women usually cannot enter temples during their period and right after their period they need to have a (ritualistic) bath. So the women find this troublesome.”
However, when asked about the high cost of POSDI and whether the removal of the rod will be carried out, the source responded that removal is not something they take lightly because of the high cost and unavailability of the contraception. “It’s the best form of contraception for the women who want contraception here in Kilinochchi. We’ve come across many husbands who find all sort of problems with the more common forms of contraception – from the condom to the loop- and the women don’t take the pill regularly.
In fact if they forget to take the pill on one day, the next day they take two pills. This method of contraception will function naturally for five years. It is also very expensive so and the government will not be purchasing anymore POSDIs in future. Once it’s been inserted it cannot be used again and must be discarded,” he added suggesting it would be wasteful to extract the rod.
Medical staff speak
The Sunday Leader spoke to women in Veravil in groups, outside their houses and at small clinics located in the village. Within these groups of women some admitted to having heard about the contraception that was carried out, a few women oddly said they did not know about it. One of the women who admitted to
having heard about it said that she too had been called to the clinic for a nutrition check-up for her child.
“My child was weighed and they told me how to feed him properly, but I wasn’t asked to take any form of contraception,” she recalled. This corresponds with explanations given by medical staff sources who said that only women with two or more children, both of whom (as well as the mother) were undernourished,
were administered the POSDIs.
Menaka is a local from Veravil who has been volunteering at the Kilinochchi hospital. She told The Sunday Leader, that she identified large families who suffered from acute malnutrition.
“While visiting the women, I’ve noticed that they usually have one child on the hip, another at the breast and another crawling behind them. With so many young children to take care of, the mother becomes under-nourished, and then her children become under-nourished. It becomes difficult to feed the children on the
husband’s salary. The women themselves found it difficult and asked me to help them find a good form of contraception,” she said. “I then brought it to the attention of the Ministry of Health (MoH) in the area”.
She explained that people in rural villages do use protection such as the condom or the pill, since acquiring them requires travelling for four hours, on a bus on dirt roads.
“There were one or two women who grumbled after the insertion of the POSDI because their husbands were against it. But apart from those few cases, most of the women are fine,” Menaka said.
She went on to explain that women in the village are not new to using contraception. Many take the pill or use condoms. One of the women in the village who is a mother of four young children revealed, “On the day of the nutrition check up, I was told about the contraception but I didn’t want it and I told them that. I’ve
told my husband to use condoms and I felt there was no need for this new form of contraception. They didn’t press on it and let me go with no issues”.
Small families are better nourished
One of the key problems identified by the doctors in Kilinochchi is that the families are undernourished. Typically, these were families with four or five children who could not be fed regularly on their father’s income.
The mothers were also severely undernourished as well.
Without the use of contraception, or the use of pills which were not taken regularly, many of the women who got pregnant, who already had more children than they can could for, or who are in their 40s or older, would seek to have a septic abortion as they could not provide for another child. The septic method often
leads to infections and the mothers do not come to the hospital until they are in the terminal stage, and even the doctors are unable to save them.
In their research, which was carried out prior to the administration of the POSDI, the MoH determined that 30.7% of the Veravil population had unmet needs (in this case contraception). The population of Veravil is 1779, and the MoH identified 289 families that were eligible for contraception (malnourished children and
mothers, and more than three children in a family were some of the criteria). Out of the 289 families 89 were in need of contraception. Keranchi has a population of 1608, of which 257 families were found to be eligible for contraception. Out of the 257, eleven (4.2%) were identified as families in need of contraception.
According to the sources, these were the families that received the contraception from the MoH.
However, POSDI were not the only form of contraception that was distributed. Overall, 50 families were administered Jadelle (POSDI), two were opposed to the POSDI and were instead given the loop, and one Oral Contraceptive Pill.
Maternal mortality rate records of the Family Health Bureau show that in 2006 the percentage was at 102.8% in Kilinochchi, while it was 39.3% islandwide. In 2008, the maternal mortality rate in Kilinochchi dropped to 24.9%, and 33.5% islandwide. In 2009 and 2010, the maternal mortality rate in Kilinochchi was found to be 0%.
The doctors expressed that they hoped to maintain the 0% maternal mortality rate.
Sources close to the team that carried out the contraception clinics, stated that the head midwife who oversaw distribution of contraception has been a midwife in North since 1982, and has delivered children during the war, they also stated that the doctors were all Tamil and from the North, refuting claims that
programme was a deliberate attempt at population control in Kilinochchi.
The Sunday Leader emailed TSA to find out more details. The team refused to be interviewed over email, understandably stating, “I would like to help you, unfortunately I can’t reveal my sources but please go to these three areas and ask around. Everyone knows.
The nuns know it, the priest know it and you can contact them. I hope you understand our plight, as we have to be anonymous.”
TSA word against MoH
The Sunday Leader was informed by an activist based in Kilinochchi, that one of the women who voluntarily had the POSDI inserted into her arm, later complained of irregular periods, and feeling ill and uncomfortable. She was aware that the POSDI was a reversible form of contraception, and sought to have it removed
at the hospital.
The hospital staff had refused to extract the rod from her arm. She then went to a private hospital that quoted more that Rs 20,000 – a sum she could not afford – to have it removed.
When The Sunday Leader spoke to the military’s Civil Society Camp in Veravil, the officer said that while they make a record of all that occurs in the village, there were unable to make a report on the contraception controversy as they were busy attending to matters regarding the elections.
However, during the investigation conducted by The Sunday Leader on the 22 and 23 of September, none of the women who were interviewed complained about the contraception that was distributed during the nutritional programme (an annual programme that is held in July in Kilinochchi for those who cannot afford
medical care).
From cries of coerced population control to genocide, the incident has now reached the international community. If, as the Regional District Health Services of Kilinochchi states, the incident has been blown out of proportion then a timely explanation is required from the government.
http://www.thesundayleader.lk/2013/09/29/family-planning-in-kilinochchi-under-scrutiny/
Tuesday, 17 December 2013
3 பள்ளிவாசல்களில் தொழுகைகளை இடைநிறுத்த பொலிஸார் உத்தரவு
இந்த அச்சுறுத்தலின் பின்னணியில் பெரும்பான்மை இனத்தை சேர்ந்த மதகுருவே-சிங்கள இனவெறிப் பிக்கு- இருப்பதாக பிரதேச மக்கள் கருதுகின்றனர்.
3 பள்ளிவாசல்களில் தொழுகைகளை இடைநிறுத்த பொலிஸார் உத்தரவு
செவ்வாய்க்கிழமை, 17 டிசெம்பர் 2013 11:10
தமிழ் மிரர்
கொழும்பிலுள்ள மூன்று பள்ளிவாசல்களில் தொழுகைகளை இடைநிறுத்துமாறு பொலிஸார் உத்தரவிட்டுள்ளனர்.
தெஹிவளை, அத்திடிய மஸ்ஜிதுல் ஹிபா, களுபோவில மஸ்ஸிதுல் தாருல் சாபீய், தெஹிவளை தாருல் அர்க்கம் ஆகிய பள்ளிவாசல்களுக்கு இந்த உத்தரவு பிறப்பிக்கப்பட்டுள்ளது.
கடந்த இரண்டு தினங்களுக்கு முன்னர் குறித்த பள்ளிவாசல்களுக்கு சென்ற பொலிஸார் தொழுகைகளை நடத்த வேண்டாம் என உத்தரவு பிறப்பித்துள்ளனர்.
இந்த உத்தரவு தொடர்பில் பொலிஸ் மா அதிபர், பிரதி பொலிஸ் மா அதிபர் மற்றும் கொழும்பு பிரதேச சிரேஷ்ட பொலிஸ் அத்தியட்சகர் ஆகியோரின் கவனத்திற்கு அகில இலங்கை முஸ்லிம் காங்கிரஸின் தலைவரும் அமைச்சருமான றிசாத் பதியுதீன் கொண்டுவந்துள்ளார்.
இது தொடர்பாக அமைச்சர் றிசாத் பதியுதீன் வெளியிட்டுள்ள அறிக்கையிலேயே மேற்கண்டவாறு குறிப்பிடப்பட்டுள்ளது. குறித்த அறிக்கையில் மேலும் தெரிவிக்கப்பட்டுள்ளதாவது,
"கடந்த இரு தினங்களுக்கு முன்னர் குறித்த மூன்று பள்ளிவாசல்களுக்கு சென்ற பொலிஸார் தொழுகை நடத்தக்கூடாது என்று பள்ளி பாரிபாலன சபையினரிடம் தெரிவித்துள்ளனர். இதனையடுத்து பள்ளிவாசல் நிர்வாகத்தினர் எனது கவனத்திற்கு கொண்டுவந்தனர். இந்த சம்பவம் தொடர்பில் இன்று செவ்வாய்க்கிழமை அதிகாலை பொலிஸ் உயர் அதிகாரிகளுடன் தொடர்புகொண்ட அவர்களின் கவனத்திற்கு கொண்டுவந்துள்ளேன்".
"மதத் தலங்கள் மீது மீண்டும் ஆரம்பிக்கப்படும் இவ்வாறான செயற்பாடுகளால் மக்கள் அச்சம் கொண்டுள்ளனர். இவ்வாறான மத விடயங்கள் தொடர்பில் தலையீடு செய்வதானது சட்டத்திற்கு முரணானதாகும். பள்ளிவாசல்கள் தொடர்பில் அவற்றை நிர்வாகம்
செய்வது வக்பு சபையாகும். நாடாளுன்றத்தில் நிறைவேற்றப்ட்ட சட்டங்களுக்கு அமைய இந்த வக்பு சபை ஸ்தாபிக்கப்பட்டது.
இதனை மீறி பள்ளிவாசல்களை மூடுவதற்கும் அங்கு தொழுகை நடத்துவதற்கும் தடைகளை ஏற்படுத்துவது தொடர்பில் உரிய நடவடிக்கையினையெடுக்க வேண்டும்' என பொலிஸ் மா அதிபரிடம் தெரிவித்துள்ளேன். குறிப்பாக கடந்த சில மாதங்களுக்கு முன்னர்
தெஹிவளை பிரதேசத்திலுள்ள பள்ளிவாசலொன்றின் மீது மேற்கொள்ளப்பட்ட தாக்குதல் மற்றும் நிர்வாகத்திற்கு விடப்பட்ட அச்சுறுத்தல் தொடர்பில் பாதுகாப்பு தரப்பின் கவனத்திற்கு கொண்டுவரப்பட்டிருந்தது.
இந்த அச்சுறுத்தல் சம்பவத்துடன் தொடர்புபட்ட பெரும்பான்மை இனத்தை சேர்ந்த மதகுருவே பின்னணியில் இருப்பது குறித்து பிரதேச மக்கள் கருதுவதாகவும் அமைச்சர் றிசாத் பதியுதீன் தெரிவித்துள்ளார். இதேவேளை இன்று செவ்வாய்க்கிழமை அதிகாலை மஸ்ஜீது தாருஸ் சாபி பள்ளிவாசலுக்கு விஜயம் செய்த அமைச்சர் றிசாத் பதியுதீன், தற்பேதைய நிலை தொடர்பில் நிர்வாகத்துடன் கலந்துரையாடியுள்ளார்.
Monday, 16 December 2013
Judge Questions Legality of N.S.A. Phone Records
Judge Questions Legality of N.S.A. Phone Records
By CHARLIE SAVAGE NYT
Published: December 16, 2013
The judge, Richard J. Leon of Federal District Court for the District of Columbia, ordered the government to stop collecting data on the personal calls of the two plaintiffs in the case and to destroy the records of their calling history. But Judge Leon, appointed to the bench in 2002 by President George W. Bush, stayed his injunction “in light of the significant national security interests at stake in this case and the novelty of the constitutional issues,” allowing the government time to appeal it, which he said could take at least six months.
“I cannot imagine a more ‘indiscriminate’ and ‘arbitrary’ invasion than this systematic and high-tech collection and retention of personal data on virtually every single citizen for purposes of querying and analyzing it without prior judicial approval,” Judge Leon wrote in a 68-page ruling. “Surely, such a program infringes on ‘that degree of privacy’ that the founders enshrined in the Fourth Amendment,” which prohibits unreasonable searches and seizures.
Andrew Ames, a Justice Department spokesman, said government lawyers were studying the decision, but he added: “We believe the program is constitutional as previous judges have found.”
The case is the first in which a federal judge who is not on the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Court, which authorized the once-secret program, has examined the bulk data collection on behalf of someone who is not a criminal defendant. The Justice Department has said that 15 separate judges on the surveillance court have held on 35 occasions that the calling data program is legal.
It also marks the first successful legal challenge brought against the program since it was revealed in June after leaks by the former N.S.A. contractor Edward J. Snowden.
In a statement from Moscow, where he has obtained temporary asylum, Mr. Snowden praised the ruling.
“I acted on my belief that the N.S.A.’s mass surveillance programs would not withstand a constitutional challenge, and that the American public deserved a chance to see these issues determined by open courts,” Mr. Snowden said in his statement. It was distributed by Glenn Greenwald, a journalist who received leaked documents from Mr. Snowden and wrote the first article about the bulk data collection. “Today, a secret program authorized by a secret court was, when exposed to the light of day, found to violate Americans’ rights,” the statement said. “It is the first of many.”
The case was brought by several plaintiffs led by Larry Klayman, a conservative legal activist. Mr. Klayman, who represented himself and the other plaintiffs, said in an interview on Monday that he was seeking to turn the case into a class action on behalf of all Americans. “I’m extremely gratified that Judge Leon had the courage to make this ruling,” he said. “He is an American hero.”
Mr. Klayman argued that he had legal standing to challenge the program in part because, he contended, the government had sent inexplicable text messages to his clients on his behalf; at a hearing, he told the judge, “I think they are messing with me.”
The judge portrayed that claim as “unusual” but looked past it, saying Mr. Klayman and his co-plaintiff instead had standing because it was highly likely, based on the government’s own description of the program as a “comprehensive metadata database,” that the N.S.A. collected data about their phone calls along with everyone else’s.
Similar legal challenges to the N.S.A. program, including by the American Civil Liberties Union and the advocacy group Electronic Frontier Foundation, are at earlier stages in the courts. Last month, the Supreme Court declined to hear an unusual challenge to the program by the Electronic Privacy Information Center, which had sought to bypass lower courts.
The ruling on Monday comes as several government panels are developing recommendations on whether to keep, restructure or scrap the bulk data collection program, and as Congress debates competing bills over the program’s future.
Though long and detailed, Judge Leon’s ruling is not a final judgment on the program, but rather a preliminary injunction to stop the collection of data about the plaintiffs while they pursued their case.
He also wrote that he had “serious doubts about the efficacy” of the program, saying that the government had failed to cite “a single instance in which analysis of the N.S.A.’s bulk metadata collection actually stopped an imminent attack, or otherwise aided the government in achieving any objective that was time-sensitive.”
Judge Leon rejected the Obama administration’s argument that a 1979 case, Smith v. Maryland, had established there are no Fourth Amendment protections for call metadata — information like the numbers dialed and the date, time and duration of calls, but not their content. The 1979 case, which involved collecting information about a criminal defendant’s calls, helped establish the principle that people do not have a reasonable expectation of privacy for information they have exposed to a third party, like the phone company, which knows about their calls.
The surveillance court, which issues secret rulings after hearing arguments from only the Justice Department and without opposing lawyers, has maintained that the 1979 decision is a controlling precedent that shields the N.S.A. call data program from Fourth Amendment review. But Judge Leon, citing the scope of the program and the evolving role of phones and technology, distinguished the bulk collection from the 34-year-old case.
Last month, a federal judge declined to grant a new trial to several San Diego men convicted of sending money to a terrorist group in Somalia. Government officials have since acknowledged that investigators became interested in them because of the call records program. Citing Smith v. Maryland, the judge said the defendants had “no legitimate expectation of privacy” over their call data.
David Rivkin, a White House lawyer in the administration of the elder President George Bush, criticized Judge Leon’s reasoning.
“Smith v. Maryland is the law of the land,” Mr. Rivkin said. “It is not for a District Court judge to question the continuing validity of a Supreme Court precedent that is exactly on point.”
Judge Leon also pointed to a landmark privacy case decided by the Supreme Court in 2012 that held it was unconstitutional for the police to use a GPS tracking device to monitor a suspect’s public movements without a warrant.
Although the court decided the case on narrow grounds, five of the nine justices separately questioned whether the 1979 precedent was still valid in an era of modern technology, which enables long-term, automated collection of information.
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Jim Lo Scalzo/European Pressphoto Agency
A city bus in Washington displays a wraparound advertisement sponsored by the Partnership for Civil Justice Fund.
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Published: December 16, 2013
WASHINGTON — A federal district judge ruled on Monday that the National Security Agency program that is systematically keeping records of all Americans’ phone calls most likely violates the Constitution, describing its technology as “almost Orwellian” and suggesting that James Madison would be “aghast” to learn that the government was encroaching on liberty in such a way.
The judge, Richard J. Leon of Federal District Court for the District of Columbia, ordered the government to stop collecting data on the personal calls of the two plaintiffs in the case and to destroy the records of their calling history. But Judge Leon, appointed to the bench in 2002 by President George W. Bush, stayed his injunction “in light of the significant national security interests at stake in this case and the novelty of the constitutional issues,” allowing the government time to appeal it, which he said could take at least six months.
“I cannot imagine a more ‘indiscriminate’ and ‘arbitrary’ invasion than this systematic and high-tech collection and retention of personal data on virtually every single citizen for purposes of querying and analyzing it without prior judicial approval,” Judge Leon wrote in a 68-page ruling. “Surely, such a program infringes on ‘that degree of privacy’ that the founders enshrined in the Fourth Amendment,” which prohibits unreasonable searches and seizures.
Andrew Ames, a Justice Department spokesman, said government lawyers were studying the decision, but he added: “We believe the program is constitutional as previous judges have found.”
The case is the first in which a federal judge who is not on the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Court, which authorized the once-secret program, has examined the bulk data collection on behalf of someone who is not a criminal defendant. The Justice Department has said that 15 separate judges on the surveillance court have held on 35 occasions that the calling data program is legal.
It also marks the first successful legal challenge brought against the program since it was revealed in June after leaks by the former N.S.A. contractor Edward J. Snowden.
In a statement from Moscow, where he has obtained temporary asylum, Mr. Snowden praised the ruling.
“I acted on my belief that the N.S.A.’s mass surveillance programs would not withstand a constitutional challenge, and that the American public deserved a chance to see these issues determined by open courts,” Mr. Snowden said in his statement. It was distributed by Glenn Greenwald, a journalist who received leaked documents from Mr. Snowden and wrote the first article about the bulk data collection. “Today, a secret program authorized by a secret court was, when exposed to the light of day, found to violate Americans’ rights,” the statement said. “It is the first of many.”
The case was brought by several plaintiffs led by Larry Klayman, a conservative legal activist. Mr. Klayman, who represented himself and the other plaintiffs, said in an interview on Monday that he was seeking to turn the case into a class action on behalf of all Americans. “I’m extremely gratified that Judge Leon had the courage to make this ruling,” he said. “He is an American hero.”
Mr. Klayman argued that he had legal standing to challenge the program in part because, he contended, the government had sent inexplicable text messages to his clients on his behalf; at a hearing, he told the judge, “I think they are messing with me.”
The judge portrayed that claim as “unusual” but looked past it, saying Mr. Klayman and his co-plaintiff instead had standing because it was highly likely, based on the government’s own description of the program as a “comprehensive metadata database,” that the N.S.A. collected data about their phone calls along with everyone else’s.
Similar legal challenges to the N.S.A. program, including by the American Civil Liberties Union and the advocacy group Electronic Frontier Foundation, are at earlier stages in the courts. Last month, the Supreme Court declined to hear an unusual challenge to the program by the Electronic Privacy Information Center, which had sought to bypass lower courts.
The ruling on Monday comes as several government panels are developing recommendations on whether to keep, restructure or scrap the bulk data collection program, and as Congress debates competing bills over the program’s future.
Though long and detailed, Judge Leon’s ruling is not a final judgment on the program, but rather a preliminary injunction to stop the collection of data about the plaintiffs while they pursued their case.
He also wrote that he had “serious doubts about the efficacy” of the program, saying that the government had failed to cite “a single instance in which analysis of the N.S.A.’s bulk metadata collection actually stopped an imminent attack, or otherwise aided the government in achieving any objective that was time-sensitive.”
Judge Leon rejected the Obama administration’s argument that a 1979 case, Smith v. Maryland, had established there are no Fourth Amendment protections for call metadata — information like the numbers dialed and the date, time and duration of calls, but not their content. The 1979 case, which involved collecting information about a criminal defendant’s calls, helped establish the principle that people do not have a reasonable expectation of privacy for information they have exposed to a third party, like the phone company, which knows about their calls.
The surveillance court, which issues secret rulings after hearing arguments from only the Justice Department and without opposing lawyers, has maintained that the 1979 decision is a controlling precedent that shields the N.S.A. call data program from Fourth Amendment review. But Judge Leon, citing the scope of the program and the evolving role of phones and technology, distinguished the bulk collection from the 34-year-old case.
Last month, a federal judge declined to grant a new trial to several San Diego men convicted of sending money to a terrorist group in Somalia. Government officials have since acknowledged that investigators became interested in them because of the call records program. Citing Smith v. Maryland, the judge said the defendants had “no legitimate expectation of privacy” over their call data.
David Rivkin, a White House lawyer in the administration of the elder President George Bush, criticized Judge Leon’s reasoning.
“Smith v. Maryland is the law of the land,” Mr. Rivkin said. “It is not for a District Court judge to question the continuing validity of a Supreme Court precedent that is exactly on point.”
Judge Leon also pointed to a landmark privacy case decided by the Supreme Court in 2012 that held it was unconstitutional for the police to use a GPS tracking device to monitor a suspect’s public movements without a warrant.
Although the court decided the case on narrow grounds, five of the nine justices separately questioned whether the 1979 precedent was still valid in an era of modern technology, which enables long-term, automated collection of information.
யுத்தகால மண் அணைகளை அகற்றுமாறு கோரிக்கை!
யுத்தகால மண் அணைகளை அகற்றுமாறு கோரிக்கை
திங்கட்கிழமை, 16 டிசெம்பர் 2013 16:19 Tamil Mirror
-சுப்பிரமணியம் பாஸ்கரன்
முல்லைத்தீவு, புதுக்குடியிருப்பு பிரதேசத்தில் பயிர்ச்செய்கை நிலங்களிலும் குடியிருப்பு பகுதிகளிலும் காணப்படும் மண் அணைகளையும் கைவிடப்பட்ட காவலரண்களையும் அகற்றித் தருமாறு மீள்குடியேறியுள்ள மக்கள் பிரதேச செயலகத்தில் முறைப்பாடு செய்துள்ளனர்.
குறித்த பகுதியில் பொதுமக்கள் குடியிருப்புக்கள் மற்றும் பயிர்ச்செய்கை நிலங்களில் யுத்த காலத்தில் போடப்பட்டிருந்த மண் அணைகள், கைவிடப்பட்ட காவலரண்கள் ஆகியன இன்று வரையும் பல பகுதிகளில் காணப்படுகின்றன.
இவை அகற்றப்படாமையினால் விவசாய நிலங்களில் விவசாய நடவடிக்கைகள் மேற்கொள்ள முடியாத நிலை காணப்படுகின்றது. கைவிடப்பட்ட காவலரண்களில் வெடிபொருட்களின் அச்சம் காணப்படுவதால் அவற்றினை அப்பகுதி மக்கள் அகற்ற முடியாத நிலையில் உள்ளமை குறிப்பிடத்தக்கது.
Sunday, 15 December 2013
“My country is now enjoying rapid economic development, with tourism becoming a major growth sector,” MR
Considerable potential to expand Lanka–Kenya ties
“Sri Lanka has now entered an era of peace, having overcome the threat of terrorism, which plagued the country for over three decades. We stand undivided now, under one flag, committed to achieving sustainable economic prosperity, to be shared by all communities,” the President Of Sri Lanka
President Mahinda Rajapaksa said Sri Lanka has entered an era of peace, having overcome the threat of terrorism, and the country now stands undivided under one flag,
“Sri Lanka has now entered an era of peace, having overcome the threat of terrorism, which plagued the country for over three decades. We stand undivided now, under one flag, committed to achieving sustainable economic prosperity, to be shared by all communities,” the President said in his address at the state banquet hosted by his Kenyan counterpart Uhuru Kenyata at the State House in Nairobi on Friday. President Rajapaksa, who is on a four-day state visit to Kenya, expressed his appreciation to Kenya for the “understanding and unwavering support” extended to Sri Lanka to eliminate the menace of terrorism in the island nation and in overcoming the challenges of the post-terrorism era.
“This, together with Kenya’s solidarity with Sri Lanka in international fora, is a manifestation of the deep understanding and friendship we share,” he said.
President Rajapaksa said Sri Lanka seeks to build a modern, dynamic partnership with Kenya, having identified several areas for focused cooperation.
“To this end, we will, during my visit, sign formal agreements and establish the Kenya - Sri Lanka joint commission, graduating our relationship to greater heights,” he said, adding that he is convinced that there is considerable potential for the expansion of economic relations between the two countries. “It is for this
reason that leading business persons of my country, who are keenly interested in developing partnerships with their Kenyan counterparts, have accompanied me on this visit.
“My country is now enjoying rapid economic development, with tourism becoming a major growth sector,” he said.
He pointed out that the prevalent stable environment for investment provides many opportunities for the business communities.
Saturday, 14 December 2013
Over 100,000 land issues
Over 100,000 land issues
December 14, 2013
Minister of Lands and Land Development Janaka Bandara Tennakoon says over 100,000 land issues remain to be resolved in the North and East.
Speaking in Parliament today, the Minister however said that addressing most land issues however have been hampered owing to ongoing court cases.
He said that some 22,408 land related issues have already been resolved in the North and East but another 125,950 land issues are yet to be resolved.
The Minister insisted that his Ministry had taken steps to resolve the land issue but court cases initiated as a result of political influence had hampered those efforts.
(Colombo Gazette)
December 14, 2013
Minister of Lands and Land Development Janaka Bandara Tennakoon says over 100,000 land issues remain to be resolved in the North and East.
Speaking in Parliament today, the Minister however said that addressing most land issues however have been hampered owing to ongoing court cases.
He said that some 22,408 land related issues have already been resolved in the North and East but another 125,950 land issues are yet to be resolved.
The Minister insisted that his Ministry had taken steps to resolve the land issue but court cases initiated as a result of political influence had hampered those efforts.
(Colombo Gazette)
Friday, 13 December 2013
மண்டேலா வாரிசு ஒபாமாவின் யேமன் ரோன் தாக்குதலில் `திருமண விழாக்கண்ட` பத்துக்கு மேற்பட்ட குடிவாசிகள் படுகொலை!
U.S. drone strike on Yemen wedding party kills 17
YEMEN-UNREST-DRONE
By Zaid Ali and Laura King
December 13, 2013, 12:01 p.m.
SANA, Yemen -- Anger over the American drone campaign against militants in Yemen swelled Friday with word that most of those killed in a strike a day earlier were civilians in a wedding party.
The death toll reached 17 overnight, hospital officials in central Bayda province said Friday. Five of those killed were suspected of involvement with Al Qaeda, but the remainder were unconnected with the militancy, Yemeni security officials said.
U.S. drone strikes have become commonplace in Yemen, where government measures have proven ineffectual against what is considered one of the most virulent Al Qaeda offshoots in the region.
However, civilian deaths like those in Thursday’s strike have inflamed popular sentiment against both the U.S. and the fragile central government.
The Obama administration generally does not publicly disclose individual strikes, though it has acknowledged the existence of the drone campaign. Human rights groups in recent months have called for greater transparency about drone strikes.
The incident is likely to fuel existing concerns in Congress and elsewhere about the White House's stated intention to move most of the drone program under military control. Sen. Dianne Feinstein (D-Calif.), for example, said in May that she believed the military had not been as patient or precise in drone strikes as the
CIA has been.
In Yemen, the stakes are getting higher as violence increases. Al Qaeda-linked militants were suspected in an audacious Dec. 5 attack on the country’s well-fortified defense ministry, in which at least 56 people were killed, including some foreigners. Many of the dead were working at a hospital inside the complex.
Video footage of that attack, aired this week on state television, showed assailants methodically stalking medical personnel, including a wounded nurse. In one chilling scene, an attacker calmly approaches a group of civilians, then hurls a grenade at them, obscuring the camera lens with dust and debris from the
explosion.
The capital, Sana, has been jittery in the aftermath of the attack on the defense ministry, with checkpoints springing up and international organizations on high alert.
Thursday’s drone attack, southeast of Sana, was the second in a week in Yemen. The remoteness of the area precluded precise immediate reports, but by Friday, security sources said most of the dead were traveling in a convoy of wedding guests.
In the gruesome aftermath, scorched vehicles and body parts were left scattered on the road.The incident illustrated the fact that many of the militants have tribal connections that make them likely to take part in village events, such as wedding celebrations.
Yemen’s struggling government has been battling separate insurgencies in the north and south, as well as unrest over domestic issues including a floundering economy.
Thursday, 12 December 2013
Tens of thousands rally in Gaza to mark PFLP 46th anniversary
Tens of thousands rally in Gaza to mark PFLP 46th anniversary
Dec 07 2013 PFLP Web
Comrade Jamil Majdalawi
''There is a decline in the grip of the United States over international affairs, and this weakening of the leader of imperialism and injustice in the world will necessarily mean an increased weakness in the enemy camp that supports and sustains the Zionist aggression on our people, emphasizing that the US is still the primary economic and military power in the world and that there are long years of struggle to come by the people and exploited classes of the world to defeat imperialism and achieve justice and equality.''
The Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine marked the 46th anniversary of its founding with a mass rally in al-Katiba courtyard in Gaza City, with tens of thousands of participants, including leaders, cadres and members of the Front, women’s, student and youth organizations, with the participation of representatives
of the national and Islamic forces.
Banners were draped on the walls, calling for Palestinian national unity, and resistance, and saluting the Front’s history over 46 years. Performers played national Palestinian and PFLP songs and danced dabkeh, traditional Palestinian dance.
Comrades Hani Thawabteh and Shireen Abu Oun chaired the rally, at which Comrade Jamil Majdalawi delivered the keynote address. He saluted the martyrs, the prisoners, and the masses of Palestinians at home and in exile, particularly those in Jordan, Lebanon and Syria facing continued repression and new
displacement, and to our people in the Naqab who are confronting the Prawer plan, the new Zionist scheme to displace Palestinians.
Majdalawi said that over the years, the harvest of the Palestinian national movement has not reached the great sacrifices or the goals of our people, and all of our forms of resistance have been weaker than they should be and can be, which only exacerbates the imbalance of power in favor of the Zionist enemy.
He described internal Palestinian division and lack of national unity as devastating to the Palestinian movement. In addition, the Palestinian Authority’s return to the dangerous and futile negotiations with the Zionist enemy in open rejection of Palestinian national consensus is particularly damaging.
Instead of negotiations, what is needed is resistance in all forms and the implementation of our people’s rights to return, self-determination and national liberation, Majdalawi said.
He saluted the ongoing steadfastness of the Palestinian people, which will be what secures the victory of our people over the criminal enemy. He particularly saluted the steadfastness of our people in Jerusalem, the capital of Palestine, in all of its forms to confront the enemy and its continuous plans. Support for the
struggle of our people is growing inside and outside Palestine; hundreds of international activists confront soldiers and illegal settlers beside the steadfast Palestinian people and various levels of political, cultural and economic struggle are taking place around the world.
Majdalawi highlighted the ongoing siege on Gaza which is denying access to the most basic necessities including food, medicine, building materials and fuel, causing an electricity crisis in the sector, and transforming the area into a massive prison due to the ongoing, prolonged and repeated closure of the Rafah
crossing, the only exit for the Palestinians of Gaza to the outside world. This comes in addition to mass unemployment and the drinking water crisis, attacks on fishers at sea, and the retreat in services by the UNRWA, when refugees are over two-thirds of the population in Gaza.
Majdalawi said that there is a decline in the grip of the United States over international affairs, and this weakening of the leader of imperialism and injustice in the world will necessarily mean an increased weakness in the enemy camp that supports and sustains the Zionist aggression on our people, emphasizing that theUS is still the primary economic and military power in the world and that there are long years of struggle to come by the people and exploited classes of the world to defeat imperialism and achieve justice and equality.
On the Arab level, Majdalawi expressed support for the democratic process in Tunisia and the importance of protecting pluralism in Tunisia, warned of the dangerous exclusivity taking place in Egypt that must be discarded in favor of pluralism and democracy for all, and expressed his standing with the Syrian people in
the struggle for a united Syria, with democratic freedoms and equal rights for all Syrians and their political and social forces without discrimination, in addition to our stand against external interference which aims to destroy the potential of the country’s future and sink the country into the morass of obscurantism, as
supported by the U.S. imperialists and their allies.
Majdalawi announced that the Front has just completed its seventh national conference. Several historic leaders of the Front have stepped down from their positions and did not put their names forward in the elections at the conference, in order to support renewal in the organization and to prevent ossification and
bureaucracy, including comrades Abdel Rahim Mallouh, Younis al-Jalou, Abdelaziz Abu Al-Qaraya and himself, Jamil Majdalawi.
He concluded by calling for progressive and democratic Palestinian forces to come together to build resistance and unity and mobilize the people towards victory.
Wednesday, 11 December 2013
US mulls sanctions against Ukraine
US mulls sanctions against Ukraine
Last updated: 12 Dec 2013 02:23
Ukraine has been gripped by weeks of demonstrations after the government rejected an EU trade deal [Reuters]
The United States may impose sanctions against Ukraine if security forces intensify a crackdown on anti-government demonstrators in the capital's Independence Square.
US lawmakers said on Wednesday they were considering legislation to deny visas to Ukrainian officials or to freeze their American assets if violence escalates at the central protest camp.
White House deputy spokesman Josh Earnest said the US was "appalled" at how the government has handled the political crisis.
"The Ukrainian government's response to peaceful protests over the last two weeks has been completely unacceptable... The right to peaceful protest and assembly must be respected," Earnest said.
Kiev has been gripped by weeks of demonstrations by hundreds of thousands of people against President Viktor Yanukovich's decision to reject a European Union trade pact and steer Ukraine closer to Russia.
If he continues to use bulldozers and batons to break up peaceful demonstrations, there could be consequences.Chris Murphy, Democratic Senator
Several dozen people were injured in the early hours of Wednesday when riot police and Interior Ministry special forces moved against the demonstrators' last stronghold in Independence Square.
Security forces initially tore down makeshift barricades but were eventually forced to retreat amid cheers from the demonstrators, whose ranks swelled through the night.
US Senate and House of Representatives aides cited discussions at the staff level about Congress responding to the unrest in Ukraine with legislation along the lines of the Magnitsky Act, which bars Russian officials believed to be involved in human-rights abuses from entering the United States.
Democratic Senator Chris Murphy, who chairs the Senate's Europe subcommittee, said lawmakers would be closely monitoring Yanukovich's conduct in the days ahead.
"If he continues to use bulldozers and batons to break up peaceful demonstrations, there could be consequences, real consequences, from the Congress," Murphy said.
The US State Department said it was considering all options, including sanctions.
Talks rejected
Ukraine's police have been criticised by the West for heavy-handedness in dealing with protests even before the latest crackdown, with dozens of demonstrators injured in clashes last week.
Yanukovich has vowed that the authorities would never use force against peaceful protests, and urged the opposition to sit down for talks.
"For the sake of achieving compromise I am calling on the opposition not to reject [talks], not to follow the path of confrontation and ultimatums," Yanukovich said in a statement on Wednesday.
But the opposition, which earlier ruled out any negotiations until he dismissed the government and punished riot police for crushing a smaller protest on November 30, vowed to do everything to topple the president.
"With what happened last night, Yanukovich closed off the path to any kind of compromise," opposition leader Vitaly Klitschko told a news conference, adding they "had planned to have talks with Yanukovich. We understand that Yanukovich has no wish to talk to the people and only understands physical force, which he uses against the protesters."
An estimated 5,000 pro-EU demonstrators were camping out in Independence Square on Wednesday night, reinforcing barricades with snow and sand bags.
White House "appalled" by Ukrainian government's crackdown on massive protests at Kiev's Independence Square.
Last updated: 12 Dec 2013 02:23
Ukraine has been gripped by weeks of demonstrations after the government rejected an EU trade deal [Reuters]
The United States may impose sanctions against Ukraine if security forces intensify a crackdown on anti-government demonstrators in the capital's Independence Square.
US lawmakers said on Wednesday they were considering legislation to deny visas to Ukrainian officials or to freeze their American assets if violence escalates at the central protest camp.
White House deputy spokesman Josh Earnest said the US was "appalled" at how the government has handled the political crisis.
"The Ukrainian government's response to peaceful protests over the last two weeks has been completely unacceptable... The right to peaceful protest and assembly must be respected," Earnest said.
Kiev has been gripped by weeks of demonstrations by hundreds of thousands of people against President Viktor Yanukovich's decision to reject a European Union trade pact and steer Ukraine closer to Russia.
If he continues to use bulldozers and batons to break up peaceful demonstrations, there could be consequences.Chris Murphy, Democratic Senator
Several dozen people were injured in the early hours of Wednesday when riot police and Interior Ministry special forces moved against the demonstrators' last stronghold in Independence Square.
Security forces initially tore down makeshift barricades but were eventually forced to retreat amid cheers from the demonstrators, whose ranks swelled through the night.
US Senate and House of Representatives aides cited discussions at the staff level about Congress responding to the unrest in Ukraine with legislation along the lines of the Magnitsky Act, which bars Russian officials believed to be involved in human-rights abuses from entering the United States.
Democratic Senator Chris Murphy, who chairs the Senate's Europe subcommittee, said lawmakers would be closely monitoring Yanukovich's conduct in the days ahead.
"If he continues to use bulldozers and batons to break up peaceful demonstrations, there could be consequences, real consequences, from the Congress," Murphy said.
The US State Department said it was considering all options, including sanctions.
Talks rejected
Ukraine's police have been criticised by the West for heavy-handedness in dealing with protests even before the latest crackdown, with dozens of demonstrators injured in clashes last week.
Yanukovich has vowed that the authorities would never use force against peaceful protests, and urged the opposition to sit down for talks.
"For the sake of achieving compromise I am calling on the opposition not to reject [talks], not to follow the path of confrontation and ultimatums," Yanukovich said in a statement on Wednesday.
But the opposition, which earlier ruled out any negotiations until he dismissed the government and punished riot police for crushing a smaller protest on November 30, vowed to do everything to topple the president.
"With what happened last night, Yanukovich closed off the path to any kind of compromise," opposition leader Vitaly Klitschko told a news conference, adding they "had planned to have talks with Yanukovich. We understand that Yanukovich has no wish to talk to the people and only understands physical force, which he uses against the protesters."
An estimated 5,000 pro-EU demonstrators were camping out in Independence Square on Wednesday night, reinforcing barricades with snow and sand bags.
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