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/

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.

பிரச்சார வடிவம் -பேரூந்து

Judge Questions Legality of N.S.A. Phone Records

Judge Questions Legality of N.S.A. Phone Records

Jim Lo Scalzo/European Pressphoto Agency

A city bus in Washington displays a wraparound advertisement sponsored by the Partnership for Civil Justice Fund.

By CHARLIE SAVAGE NYT
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.

“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.

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)

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.

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

''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.''

Comrade Jamil Majdalawi

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.

 Large images of the General Secretaries of the Front – the founder, George Habash (Al-Hakim), Abu Ali Mustafa, and imprisoned General Secretary Ahmad Sa’adat – adorned the banner at the front of the stage, as well as the image of national martyrs and leaders Yasser Arafat, Fathi Shikaki and Sheikh Ahmad Yassin.

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.

US mulls sanctions against Ukraine

US mulls sanctions against Ukraine

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.