The Island Editorial: Geneva Report

Geneva Report
September 15, 2015, 7:53 pm

The much-awaited UNHRC probe report on alleged war crimes in Sri Lanka is scheduled to be released today in Geneva. UNHRC Chief Zeid Ra'ad Al Hussein has said its findings are of serious nature. One is not surprised. It can’t be different from the Darusman report prepared by a
panel of experts appointed by UNSG Ban Ki-moon on Sri Lanka’s accountability issues.

The delayed release of the report which was scheduled to be presented last March was politically motivated. The UNHRC obviously yielded to pressure from the US-led western countries which thought the report might help the Rajapaksas regain public sympathy ahead of the August 17 general election.

The US has undertaken to move a resolution in Geneva to pave the way for a domestic probe. It will do so because it has to defend those who came forward to effect a regime change here which has helped safeguard its geo-strategic interests. However, the Sirisena-Wickremesinghe government won’t be free from trouble, given the political fallout of the report.

No small country can conduct a domestic probe into a heavily internationalised issue flogged vigorously by influential pressure groups capable of swaying western governments. The Tamil National Alliance (TNA) has already called for foreign judges in case of a domestic war
crimes investigation being conducted. If the government accedes to the TNA’s demand, then it will be a misnomer to call the investigation ‘domestic’; foreigners will be calling the shots! Those who are campaigning for an international war crimes probe know more than one way to shoe a horse!

It is being claimed in some quarters that the war crimes allegations to be probed are against the Rajapaksa government and the LTTE. But, they are against the Sri Lankan troops who fought terrorism, political leaders who prosecuted the country’s war and the LTTE whose military leaders are now long dead.

 Among the politicians who were responsible for the country’s war effort is incumbent President Maithripala Sirisena, who declared before the last presidential election that he had functioned as Acing Defence Minister during the critical stages of the conflict.

Others are former President Mahinda Rajapaksa, former Defence Secretary Gotabhaya Rajapaksa and former Army Commander Field Marshal Sarath Fonseka.

Interestingly, the TNA, which is at the forefront of the on-going campaign for a war crimes probe, threw in its lot with Sirisena and Fonseka at presidential elections in 2010 and 2015 respectively and the people in the former war zone overwhelmingly backed those two candidates.

In a turn of events replete with irony, the TNA, which declared Prabhakaran as the sole representative of the Tamils and acted as his mouthpiece in Parliament during the conflict, strove to have as President cum Commander-in-chief a person who had led the army it accused of having committed
war crimes!

Fonseka became the darling of the western governments all out to have an international war crimes probe against Sri Lanka because he challenged the pro-Chinese Rajapaksa government. Thereafter, they threw their weight behind Sirisena, who had acted as the Defence Minister during the final stages of the war! Would those governments championing human rights have done so if they had been convinced that war crimes had actually been committed? Or, is it that their geo-political interests took precedence over their human rights concerns?

It behoves the government to critically examine the UNHRC report to be issued without rushing to take any action to please the international community.

The Darusman report was riddled with flaws; it was mostly based on information provided by sources who took cover behind a wall of secrecy. The identities of those who testified won’t be revealed until 2031!

Today, we will see whether those who prepared the new report have borrowed from or been influenced by the Darusman report. If so, it will be a case of circular logic.

Note: High Lights ENB

US backs call for credible process in Lanka

US backs call for credible process in Lanka
September 15, 2015 23:55

UNHRC The United States today noted the need for credible justice processes when addressing incidents related to the war.

Responding to comments made at the 30th session of the UN Human Rights Council in Geneva today by the Special Rapporteur on the Promotion of Truth, Justice, Reparation and Guarantees of Non-Recurrence, Pablo de Greiff, the US said that it is in the government’s interest to establish justice processes that have the confidence of the international community.

“We express deep appreciation for Mr. de Greiff’s observations from his visits to Sri Lanka and Burundi. We also welcome the chance to engage the Working Group on Enforced or Involuntary Disappearances. We thank the Special Rapporteur for your comments on Sri Lanka, and agree that that it is in the government’s interest to establish justice processes that have the confidence of the international community and will be credible to all the affected communities in Sri Lanka,”

Michele Roulbet from the US delegation at today’s session said. (Colombo Gazette)

அமெரிக்க பாணிச் சட்டத்தைக் கோரும் Pivithuru Hela Urumaya (PHU)

Gammanpila wants Indemnity Act to protect soldiers from war crimes allegations
Nushka Nafeel

An Act seeking indemnity will be presented in Parliament to protect soldiers if allegations are raised at the United Nations against the soldiers
indicating that war crimes and crimes against humanity were committed, Pivithuru Hela Urumaya (PHU) General Secretary MP Udaya Gammanpila said.

Addressing the media at the party headquarters yesterday, he said it was the soldiers who brought sustainable peace to the country and they should be protected from international threats.

An Act of Indemnity was passed in Sri Lanka on three occasions to retain the peace and harmony. Soldiers need not fear about those allegations imposed, the Act of Indemnity will protect them from being subjected to legal penalties, he added.

Foreign Minister Mangala Samaraweera called for new a Constitution to help resolve the ethnic conflict while Prime Minister Ranil Wickremesinghe earlier expressed that the 13th Amendment will be a solution to end the ethnic conflict involving the Tamil minority. They have produced two contrary opinions, Gammanpila said.

Pivithuru Hela Urumaya (PHU) General Secretary MP Udaya Gammanpila 

Minister Samaraweera should make a special statement in Parliament and the people on the issue faced by Tamils in Sri Lanka which cannot be solved under the present constitution, Gammanpila said.

Sri Lanka has not signed any agreements on devolution of power. The minister’s statement makes the point that power will be devolved by introducing a new constitution. He has taken a domestic issue to the international stage, he said.

Gammanpila said the CEPA agreement is signed between two countries which has equal living standards to exchange the skills and talents.

The economic standards of Sri Lanka and India are different. Ministers Harsha de Silva and Malik Samarawickrama said two different things with regard to the CEPA agreement. If the agreement is signed Sri Lankans will lose many job opportunities, he added.

Responding to a question by a journalist about the status of their alliance, Gammanpila said a decision will be taken after September 22.

The decision depends on the number of SLFP parliamentarians who have decided to remain with the party in the opposition, he added.

Gammanpila said discussions are on to form a new coalition party as well. 

யுத்தக் குற்றச்சவாரி!

இன்று வெளியாகப்போகும் ஐ.நா.அறிக்கையை இங்கு பெறலாம்.

UN Media Release

(தலைப்பில் அழுத்துக)

UNHR Report Sri Lanka 2015

(தலைப்பில் அழுத்துக)

UN Human Rights Office report on Sri Lanka to be published Wednesday ((Today)

GENEVA/COLOMBO (14 September 2015) – The report of the UN Human Rights Council-mandated investigation on Sri Lanka will be made publicly available on Wednesday, 16 September at 10h30 CET time and 14h00 UTC time.

The report will then be posted online on:

http://www.ohchr.org/EN/HRBodies/HRC/Pages/OISL.aspx.

http://www.ohchr.org/EN/HRBodies/HRC/Pages/OISL.aspx. 

A press release accompanying the report will also be posted online and disseminated to the media.

UN High Commissioner for Human Rights Zeid Ra’ad Al Hussein will hold a press conference to discuss the findings of the report, including recommendations for the way forward, at 10h30 CET in Geneva. The press conference will be webcast live on http://webtv.un.org.

The OHCHR* Investigation on Sri Lanka was mandated by the Human Rights Council in Resolution 25/1** in March 2014.

The resolution requested the High Commissioner to

“undertake a comprehensive investigation into alleged serious violations and abuses of human rights and related crimes by both parties in Sri Lanka during the period covered by the Lessons Learnt and Reconciliation Commission (LLRC), and to establish the facts and circumstances of such alleged violations and of the crimes perpetrated with a view to avoiding impunity and ensuring accountability, with assistance from relevant experts and special procedures mandate holders.” 

For more information about how the investigation was conducted, please visit: http://www.ohchr.org/EN/HRBodies/HRC/Pages/OISL.aspx

ENDS

ENB Note: GENEVA Time is 1 hour plus GMT

“We fundamentally believe that you’re going to have a more durable outcome if there is a very strong and credible domestic process'' US

“We fundamentally believe that you’re going to have a more durable outcome if there is a very strong and credible domestic process'' US

UNHRC report: No names but strong indictment

Sri Lanka faces tough international challenge as Geneva sessions begin, Govt. to propose two-year road map

The biggest international challenge for Sri Lanka will unfold in the coming week as the UN Human Rights Council receives the findings of the probe into alleged war crimes by troops and Tiger guerrillas.

A copy of the report, which has already been provided to the Government of Sri Lanka, is being kept a close secret until it is formally placed on the UNHRC’s official website anytime next week. However, diplomatic sources say the probe team has made strong indictments against both the troops and the guerrillas over purported war crimes.

Though no politicians or those who were in combat have been named, these sources said, identification of those involved was not difficult since reference was being made in the findings to the chain of command with the identification of areas where violations occurred.

According to some sources, the previous Government has also been strongly indicted for what they call systematically denying or depriving food and medicine to civilians in war-affected areas. It has taken note of reports by the Government Agent for Wanni that some 350,000 civilians were affected by this move, the sources added.

Even before some of the allegations became the specific subject of a probe titled “OISL” under the Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights, the sponsor of the resolution as well as countries that backed it called for an international investigation. However, the new Government that took office in January succeeded in persuading them to agree to a “credible domestic inquiry” after the OISL findings are made known.

The United States’ position was articulated in Colombo by Nisha Biswa, Assistant Secretary in the Department of State. Addressing an “invitees only” news conference at the American Center — the Sunday Times was not an invitee — Ms. Biswal said, “We fundamentally believe that you’re going to have a more durable outcome if there is a very strong and credible domestic process that actually brings communities together in the country. As Secretary Kerry reiterated during his visit, we fundamentally support efforts to create a credible domestic process for accountability and for reconciliation.”

Tom Malinowski Assistant Secretary of State for Democracy, Human Rights and Labour, who accompanied Ms. Biswal declared, “We have said that we support a domestic mechanism that will be credible to all of the affected communities in Sri Lanka. I would also add that international support for this process has been, and will continue to be important to building trust and confidence….”

Notwithstanding the public statements for Sri Lankans during the Colombo news conference, Mr. Malinowski has been more pointed in the tweets he made on the issue. A sampling: “US will back the Sri Lanka Accountability process if it’s credible, done in consultation with the victims and in co-operation with the United Nations.” – “When UN report comes hope Sri Lanka Government will continue defending the country without being defensive, accepting the need to fully, honestly confront past.”

That the US position has not helped one of the stakeholders in the issue – the Tamil National Alliance (TNA) – became clear yesterday. Its leader Rajavarothayam Sampanthan was busy with the draft of a letter he is sending to the UN Human Rights High Commissioner Zeid Ra’ad Al Hussein, seeking a meeting with him in Geneva.

The TNA wants to impress on him the need for an international investigation. The TNA also has another unenviable issue – different groups, some hardliners who support Chief Minister C.V. Wigneswaran, want to be in Geneva to push their different campaigns.

However, other Tamil sources in Colombo, not aligned to the TNA, held a different view. They claimed that a “credible domestic inquiry” mechanism, which would “satisfy all stakeholders”, would have expert foreign technical assistance, the oversight of the UNHRC and be based on a two-year road map Foreign Minister Mangala Samaraweera would present. Such a road map, these sources said, would mean that Sri Lanka would have to keep the UNHRC briefed at its every session on the progress in the “domestic inquiry”. “All that would make it function much the same as an international inquiry,” a source pointed out.

In June 2014, the High Commissioner for Human Rights appointed three experts — Martti Ahtisaari, a former President of Finland, Silvia Cartwright, a former High Court judge of New Zealand, and Asma Jahangir, former President of the Human Rights Commission of Pakistan, to play a supportive and advisory role, as well as independent verification throughout the investigation.

WORLD

Labor Shortage: Germany Needs More Immigrants

Germany needs to add 400,000 skilled immigrants to its workforce every year to maintain its economic strength.

By Anthony Advincula / New American Media

January 4, 2015

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12 COMMENTS

BERLIN, Germany — Yves Pierre, 34, traveled around the world for over a decade looking for a land of opportunity - a place to live where he could have steady work in order to support his family back in Haiti. When he found a job with a multinational cruise line based in Berlin, he embraced Germany as his new home.

He’s now been here for five years. He has an apartment in a neighborhood he loves, and German friends he hangs out with on weekends.

“I really like it here - the social life, the arts,” says Pierre, who speaks five languages, including German. “I find it [very] international.”

He also sees career opportunities. He just established a small fashion company, and he dreams of expanding to New York and Paris. But wherever his work may take him, he says, he knows that he wants Berlin to remain his home.

Facing an enormous demographic shift, with an aging population and a low birthrate, Germany is taking new measures to open its doors to immigrants like Pierre, with the hope that they’ll bolster the workforce and help maintain Germany’s status as an economic powerhouse within the European Union.

Two years ago, the German government enacted the “blue card” system for non-EU nationals who are willing to stay and live permanently in Germany to replenish its dwindling labor force. Similar to a green card in the United States, an immigrant is eligible to apply for a blue card if he or she has a confirmed job offer or a valid work contract with a sponsoring employer, holds a university degree, and earns an annual salary of at least 35,000 euros.

Pierre holds a blue card and is currently applying for German citizenship.

Der Spiegelrecently reported that over half a million immigrants with college degrees came to Germany in the first half of 2012 - the largest number since the 1990s. But this may not be enough. According to a 2011 study conducted by the Nuremburg-based Institute for Employment Research, given the current shortage of skilled labor and the shrinking German population, the country’s labor force is expected to drop by almost 7 million by 2025.

Click to enlarge.

The study estimated that Germany would need to add about 400,000 skilled immigrants to its workforce every year to maintain its economic strength.

“Some of my friends have asked me, ‘Why do you want to work in Berlin? Why do you want to live in Germany?’“ Pierre says. “[But] my life here has been great. I don’t feel different because of the color of my skin. For me, [Berlin] is a small world of communities where you find a lot of welcoming people.”

Other immigrants, though, haven’t felt as welcome as Pierre has.

More refugees

In the early 1970s, the German economy collapsed and the government froze recruitment for foreign guest workers, known as gasterbeiter, mostly from neighboring European countries. But the effort didn’t quite achieve its aims. Many guest workers who had already entered the country not only maintained their residence permits, but also brought their families into the country to be with them.

So, despite Germany’s resistance to immigration at the time, there was a major influx of immigrants who joined their families that were already in the country. Germany became the world's third largest immigrant country in the 1990s, after the U.S. and Russia, with almost 11 million immigrants.

To date, according to the German Federal Statistical Office, about 15 percent of the German population has a migrant background. A large number of them are second- and third-generation offspring of former guest workers. Of these, 8 million are German citizens.

And, in recent years, the number of refugees who flee wars, famine, and political unrest in their home countries has increased. In 2012 alone, the number of refugee applications rose to over 100,000. The majority are from Syria, though about a fifth come from the Balkan states, such as Serbia and Bosnia.

But as German cities struggle to find housing for these refugees, others look on in horror at what they see as a growing burden on the government that is at the same time fueling the “Islamisation” of their home country.

The ‘outsiders’

With the steady growth of immigrant communities, the question of what constitutes a true German identity has become yet more sensitive and contentious.

“It’s easy to feel like an outsider,” says Gokai Dobak, a 32-year-old German who was born and raised in Berlin but has a Turkish background. He says that while few would openly say it, many Germans don’t consider him to be a fellow German because of his ethnic background.

Dobak drives a taxi five days a week to support his wife and their five-year-old daughter. He says that he got married early and did not finish college.

“Here, they will always think of me as a Turk. It sounds crazy if I say ‘I am German,’” he says. “[But] when my family visits Istanbul, our relatives there do not consider me like one of them.”

Dobak says that he and his wife decided to send their daughter to a school where the students are primarily from migrant backgrounds, hoping that in this way she will feel less isolated. “[But] I am afraid she won’t be able to speak Turkish anymore,” he says.

In Cologne, Tanchanok Blattman, 55, works as a maid for a prestigious hotel that faces the iconic Cologne Cathedral. “It can be difficult here,” she says, almost in a whisper, standing next to a housekeeping cart in a hallway.

After emigrating from Thailand in 1996 to join her younger sister, she studied German in a government-subsidized language school for eight hours a day. She is now married to a German and they have a son who is in college.

“Sometimes I get a different treatment, but Germans are good people,” she says.

An identity - hyphenated

Officials here say that government integration efforts will help alleviate the stigma associated with immigrants, refugees and ethnic Germans.

In recent years, says Honey Deihimi, a federal commissioner for migration, refugees, and integration, millions of euros have been allocated for services like language courses and employment programs.

“The majority of [immigrant] Germans go into labor, they pay taxes, they contribute to the social system,” Deihimi says.

She notes that it’s flawed to assume that refugees are not highly skilled. The majority of Syrian refugees, she says, are highly educated, many of them doctors.

“I am always optimistic,” she says. “If the nation becomes a more welcoming state, we can increase the current positive environment towards integration in this country.”

According to Dr. Ulf Rinne, deputy director of research at the Institute for the Study of Labor, Germany is more than ready to become an ethnically diverse nation “because it is such a nation already.” But, he says, “Discrimination is still relevant. For example, foreign-sounding names matter in access to jobs.”

Yves Pierre, for his part, has found not only material success, but also happiness and acceptance in Berlin.

“This is the city and country where I want my 10-year-old son to grow up,” he says. “I have already started processing his papers so we will be reunited again. I would like him to be a Haitian-German someday.”

This story was produced as part of the RIAS and RTDNA German/American Exchange Fellowship for Journalists in October 2014.

TNA To Send Lawyers’ Team To UNHRC

TNA To Send Lawyers’ Team To UNHRC
By P.K. Balachandran
Published: 12th September 2015 12:34 PM

COLOMBO: The Tamil National Alliance (TNA) will be sending a lawyers’ team to the coming session of the UN Human Rights Council (UNHRC) in Geneva at which the UN Human Rights High Commissioner’s report on war crimes allegedly committed in Sri Lanka is to be presented and acted upon.

TNA leader and Jaffna MP Mavai Senathirajah told Express on Saturday, that the team will be headed by Supreme Court Senior Counsel, M.A.Sumanthiran, who is also a fellow MP from Jaffna.

“A TNA delegation, as such, might be sent after reading the High Commissioner’s report and the Sri Lankan government’s response to it. The task of Sumanthiran and his team of lawyers will be to examine the High Commissioner’s report and the Lankan government’s reply, and chalk out a line on which the TNA leadership will base its final decision,” Senathirajah said.

Meanwhile, speaking to the media on Friday, 

TNA’s chief, R.Sampanthan, said that party’s stand on the UNHRC’s proceedings on Lanka will be based on the Tamils’ sentiments as well as the views of the International Community.
“While we have to go by the peoples’ sentiments, we cannot alienate the international community,” he said.

There is an overwhelming demand from the Tamils that the TNA should reject the US-Lankan agreement to substitute the international investigation by a domestic probe. M.K.Shivajilingam, a TNA member of the Northern Provincial Council is currently leading a march from Kilinochchi to Jaffna seeking an international probe and an international judicial mechanism for the trial of the accused.

But the TNA’s leadership feels diffident about alienating the US and the Western world which also dominate the UNHRC.

Truce Over Wigneswaran

Asked if the anti-party activities of the Northern Province Chief Minister C.V.Wigneswaran was discussed at the TNA’s Executive Committee meeting on Friday, Senathirajah said that the committee decided to let Sampanthan talk to  Wigneswaran to sort out matters.

In the run up to the August 17 parliamentary elections, Wigneswaran had issued a statement saying that he would be “neutral”.  As if this was not enough, he indirectly advised voters to support the radical Tamil National Peoples’ Front (TNPF).

Button holed on this by the Tamil daily Thinakkural, Wigneswaran said that hehoped to resolve the issue during meetings with the TNA’s leadership.“I am not a politician. I had accepted the post of Chief Minister only to see that the war-affected people of the North get their due. I am not interested in anything else,” he declared.

மார்க்சியம் காப்போம்! Face Book இல் ஒரு மோதல்

2015 அப்பு பாலன் தியாகிகள் தினம்

நக்சல்பாரிப் புரட்சியாளர்கள்

அப்பு பாலன் நினைவு நீடூழி வாழ்க!

இந்திய புதிய ஜனநாயக விவசாய தேசியப் புரட்சி ஓங்குக!

இந்திய விஸ்தரிப்புவாதம் ஒழிக!

புதிய தமிழ் ஈழம் மலர்க!

மார்க்சிய லெனினிய மா ஓ சிந்தனை வெல்க!

மக்கள் ஜனநாயக இளைஞர் கழகம் வாழ்க!

புதிய ஈழப் புரட்சியாளார்கள்

செப்டெம்பர் 12 2015

நக்சல்பாரிப் புரட்சி இயக்கத் தோழர் பாலன் தர்மபுரி மாவட்டத்தில் ஜனநாயகப் புரட்சிகரப் போராட்டத்திற்கு மக்களை அணிதிரட்டுவதில் முன்னணித் தோழராக செயல்பட்டார். புரட்சிகர இயக்கத்தை அழிக்கும் நோக்கத்தோடு எம்.ஜி.ஆர். ஆட்சி நடத்திய நர பலி வேட்டையில் 1980 செப்.12ல் தோழர் பாலன் படுகொலை செய்யப்பட்டார். தோழர் பாலனின் நினைவு நாளை நாட்டின் விடுதலைக்கும், ஜனநாயகத்திற்கும் போராடி உயிர்நீத்த அனைத்து  தியாகிகளையும் நினைவுகூரும் நாளாகவும், அவர்களின் இலட்சியங்களை நிறைவேற்ற உறுதி ஏற்கும் நாளாகவும் கழகம் கடைப்பிடித்து வருகிறது.

இதன் பொருட்டு இவ்வாண்டு (2015) இலும் கழகம் பிரச்சார இயக்கத்தை முன்னெடுத்து வருகின்றது.

* அமெரிக்க மேலாதிக்கத்திற்கு சேவை செய்யும்

இந்துத்துவப் பாசிச மோடி, ஜெயா ஆட்சியில்

நாடு ஒட்டாண்டி ஆவதும்,மத, சாதிவெறிக் கலவரங்கள்தலைவிரித்தாடுவதுமான அவலங்கள்;

* அவலங்களை எதிர்த்து காங்கிரஸ் உள்ளிட்ட

தரகு முதலாளித்துவ, நிலப்பிரபுத்துவ

நாடாளுமன்றவாத எதிர்க் கட்சிகள்

மாற்றுத்  திட்டத்துடன்ஒன்றுபட   முடியாத கையாலாகாத்தனம்;

* அவலநிலையைப் போக்கஅந்நிய ஆதிக்கத்தை எதிர்த்தும்,மத, சாதிவாத பாசிசத்தை எதிர்த்தும்

அனைத்து ஜனநாயக சக்திகளும் ஒன்றிணைந்து

மக்கள் ஜனநாயக அரசமைக்க அணிதிரள்வோம்!

மேற்காணும் மூன்று முழக்கங்களின் அடிப்படையில் இப்பிரச்சார இயக்கம் கட்டியமைக்கப்பட்டுள்ளது.

இதனடிப்படையில் துண்டுப்பிரசுர விநியோகமும் , பொதுக்கூட்டங்களும் ஏற்பாடு செய்யப்பட்டுள்ளன.

துண்டுப்பிரசுரம்

(தலைப்பை அழுத்துக)

பொதுக்கூட்டங்கள்

அம்மா ஆட்சி கழகம் வேண்டிய இடங்களில் சிலவற்றுக்கு அநுமதி மறுத்துள்ளது .

அநுமதி பெற்று கழகப் பொதுக்கூட்டம் நடை பெறும் திடல்கள்

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காந்திபுரம்

சேலம் மாவட்ட தியாகிகள் தின பொதுகூட்டம்

நாள் :12/09/2015சனி மாலை6.00 மணி 

இடம் :காந்திபுரம் கோயில் மைதானம் சேந்தமங்கலம் ,நாமக்கல் .

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இண்டூர்

தியாகிகள் தின பிரச்சாரப் பொதுக்கூட்டம்

12-09-2015 சனி மாலை 5.00 மணி

(இண்டூர் பேரூந்து நிறுத்தம் அருகில்)

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உத்திரமேரூர்

தியாகிகள் நினைவு நாள் பொதுக்கூட்டம்

இடம்: உத்தரமேரூர் பேருந்து நிலையம் அருகில் 

நாள்: 12.09.2015, சனிக்கிழமை

நேரம்: மாலை 5 மணி

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