USA's unlawful Drone killings in Pakistan could amount to war crimes, Amnesty International

A 68-year-old grandmother killed whilst picking Okra - just one of the incidents we've documented of civilian deaths by drone strikes in Pakistan. The US could be guilty of war crimes and must be held to account. 

Amnesty International 

Drones: Major new report says USA must account for Pakistan killings

Posted: 22 October 2013

The USA has carried out unlawful killings in Pakistan in its drone attacks, some of which could amount to war crimes, Amnesty International said in a major new report released today (Tuesday 22 October).

The report 'Will I be next?’ US drone strikes in Pakistan', one of the most comprehensive studies of the US drones programme from a human rights perspective, documents recent killings in Pakistan’s north-western tribal areas, where most drone strikes have taken place. The report condemns the almost complete absence of transparency around the US drone programme. 

Meanwhile Amnesty is calling on the UK government to refrain from participating in any way in US drone strikes that violate international law, including by the sharing of intelligence or facilities, or the transfer of specialist components.

Amnesty International’s Pakistan Researcher Mustafa Qadri, the author of the report, said:

“Secrecy surrounding the drones programme gives the US administration a license to kill beyond the reach of the courts or basic standards of international law. It’s time for the USA to come clean about the drones programme and hold those responsible for these violations to account.

“What hope for redress can there be for victims of drone attacks and their families when the USA won’t even acknowledge its responsibility for particular strikes?”

International law prohibits arbitrary killing and limits the lawful use of intentional lethal force to exceptional situations. In armed conflict, only combatants and people directly participating in hostilities may be directly targeted. Outside armed conflict, intentional lethal force is lawful only when strictly unavoidable to protect 

against an imminent threat to life. In some circumstances arbitrary killing can amount to a war crime or extrajudicial executions, which are crimes under international law.

The USA continues to rely on a “global war” doctrine to attempt to justify a borderless war with al-Qa’ida, the Taliban or other “enemies” of the USA. The USA’s promise to increase transparency around drone strikes, underscored by a major policy speech by President Barack Obama in May, has yet to become a reality 

and the USA still refuses to divulge even basic factual and legal information. This secrecy has enabled the USA to act with impunity and block victims from receiving justice or compensation. As far as Amnesty is aware, no US official has ever been held to account for unlawful killings by drones in Pakistan.

Amnesty reviewed all 45 known drone strikes that took place in North Waziristan in north-western Pakistan between January 2012 and August this year. Contrary to official claims that those killed were “terrorists”, Amnesty’s research indicates that in a number of cases the victims were not involved in armed activity and 

posed no threat to life. 

In October 2012, 68-year-old grandmother Mamana Bibi was killed in a double strike - apparently by a Hellfire missile - as she picked vegetables in the family’s fields while surrounded by her grandchildren.

In July 2012, 18 labourers, including a 14-year-old boy, were killed in multiple strikes on an impoverished village close to the border with Afghanistan as they were about to eat an evening meal at the end of work.  

Amnesty also documented cases of so-called “rescuer attacks” in which those who ran to the aid of the victims of an initial drone strike were themselves targeted in a rapid follow-on attack. 

In addition to the threat of US drone strikes, people in North Waziristan are frequently caught between attacks by armed groups and Pakistan’s own armed forces. The local population lives in constant fear of violence by all sides, and the US drone programme has added to local suffering, with people in the region now also living in terror of death from US drones hovering in the skies.

Mustafa Qadri, said:

“The authorities of Pakistan, Australia, Germany and the UK must also investigate all officials and institutions suspected of involvement in US drone strikes or other abuses in the tribal areas that may constitute human rights violations.”

The report was released in a joint news conference with Human Rights Watch, which issued its own report on drone and other air strikes in Yemen. Amnesty and Human Rights Watch are jointly calling on the US Congress to fully investigate cases documented by the two organisations, as well as other potentially 

unlawful deaths, and to disclose any evidence of human rights violations to the public.

Amnesty International is calling on:

The US authorities to:

Publicly disclose the facts and legal basis for drone strikes carried out in Pakistan and information about any investigation into killings by US drones.

Ensure prompt, thorough, independent and impartial investigations into all cases where there are reasonable grounds to believe that drone strikes resulted in unlawful killings. 

Bring those responsible for unlawful drone strikes to justice in public and fair trials without recourse to the death penalty. 

Ensure that victims of unlawful drone strikes, including family members of victims of unlawful killings, have effective access to justice, compensation and other remedies. 

The Pakistani authorities to:

Provide adequate access to justice and reparations for victims of US drone strikes and attacks by Pakistan forces, and seek reparations and other remedies for drone strikes from the US authorities.

Bring to justice, in fair trials without recourse to the death penalty, individuals responsible for unlawful killings and other human rights abuses in North Waziristan. This should include US drone strikes, attacks by the Pakistan armed forces, or groups like the Taliban and al-Qa’ida.

Publicly disclose information on all US drone strikes of which the Pakistani authorities are aware, including casualties and all assistance provided to victims.

The UK authorities to:

Lift the veil of secrecy surrounding UK involvement in the use of drones, including by revealing the rules of engagement for drone strikes and declaring what assistance the UK currently offers to the USA.

Immediately stop the transfer of any specialist components for use in the US drone programme where it is likely they might be used for unlawful killings

All governments, including the UK, who use armed drones must give details of casualties resulting from drone use.

The UK should urge the USA and Pakistan to take the measures outlined above and officially protest and pursue remedies under international law, when lethal force is unlawfully used by the USA.

Ref: ''Will I be Next'' ?

US Drone strikes in Pakistan

http://www.amnesty.org/en/library/asset/ASA33/013/2013/en/041c08cb-fb54-47b3-b3fe-a72c9169e487/asa330132013en.pdf

Republicans Back Down, Ending Crisis Over Shutdown and Debt Limit

House votes 285 to 144 to end government shut down, raise debt ceiling
October 16, 2013

Republicans Back Down, Ending Crisis Over Shutdown and Debt Limit

By JONATHAN WEISMAN and ASHLEY PARKER

WASHINGTON — Congressional Republicans conceded defeat on Wednesday in their bitter budget fight with President Obama over the new health care law as the House and Senate approved last-minute legislation ending a disruptive 16-day government shutdown and extending federal borrowing power to avert a financial default with potentially worldwide economic repercussions.

With the Treasury Department warning that it could run out of money to pay national obligations within a day, the Senate voted overwhelmingly on Wednesday evening, 81 to 18, to approve a proposal hammered out by the chamber’s Republican and Democratic leaders after the House on Tuesday was unable to move forward with any resolution. The House followed suit a few hours later, voting 285 to 144 to approve the Senate plan, which would fund the government through Jan. 15 and raise the debt limit through Feb. 7.

Mr. Obama signed the bill about 12:30 a.m. Thursday.

Most House Republicans opposed the bill, but 87 voted to support it. The breakdown showed that Republican leaders were willing to violate their informal rule against advancing bills that do not have majority Republican support in order to end the shutdown. All 198 Democrats voting supported the measure.

Mr. Obama, speaking shortly after the Senate vote, praised Congress, but he said he hoped the damaging standoff would not be repeated.

“We’ve got to get out of the habit of governing by crisis,” said Mr. Obama, who urged Congress to proceed not only with new budget negotiations, but with immigration changes and a farm bill as well. “We could get all these things done even this year, if everybody comes together in a spirit of, how are we going to move this country forward and put the last three weeks behind us?”

After the House vote, officials announced that the federal government would reopen on Thursday and that federal employees should return to work.

The result of the impasse that threatened the nation’s credit rating was a near total defeat for Republican conservatives, who had engineered the budget impasse as a way to strip the new health care law of funding even as registration for benefits opened Oct. 1 or, failing that, to win delays in putting the program into place.

The shutdown sent Republican poll ratings plunging, cost the government billions of dollars and damaged the nation’s international credibility. Mr. Obama refused to compromise, leaving Republican leaders to beg him to talk, and to fulminate when he refused. For all that, Republicans got a slight tightening of income 

verification rules for Americans accessing new health insurance exchanges created by the Affordable Care Act.

“We fought the good fight,” said Speaker John A. Boehner of Ohio, who has struggled to control the conservative faction in the House, in an interview with a Cincinnati radio station. “We just didn’t win.”

In a brief closed session with his Republican rank and file, Mr. Boehner told members to hold their heads high, go home, get some rest and think about how they could work better as a team.

Two weeks of relative cohesion broke down into near chaos on Tuesday when Republican leaders failed twice to unite their troops behind a last-gasp effort to prevent a default on their own terms. By Wednesday, House conservatives were accusing more moderate Republicans of undercutting their position. 

Representative Charlie Dent of Pennsylvania, a leading Republican voice for ending the fight, said Congress should have passed a bill to fund the government without policy strings attached weeks ago.

“That’s essentially what we’re doing now,” Mr. Dent said. “People can blame me all they want, but I was correct in my analysis and I’d say a lot of those folks were not correct in theirs.”

Under the agreement to reopen the government, the House and Senate are directed to hold talks and reach accord by Dec. 13 on a long-term blueprint for tax and spending policies over the next decade. Mr. Obama said consistently through the standoff that he was willing to have a wide-ranging budget negotiation once the government was reopened and the debt limit raised.

Mr. Boehner and his leadership team had long felt that they needed to allow their restive conference to pitch a battle over the president’s health care law, a fight that had been brewing almost since the law was passed in 2010. Now, they hope the fever has broken, and they can negotiate on issues where they think they have the upper hand, like spending cuts and changes to entitlement programs.

But there were no guarantees that Congress would not be at loggerheads again by mid-January, and there is deep skepticism in both parties that Representative Paul D. Ryan of Wisconsin and Senator Patty Murray of Washington, who will lead the budget negotiations, can bridge the chasm between them.

“This moves us into the next phase of the same debate,” said Senator Richard J. Durbin of Illinois, the second-ranking Democrat. “Our hope is now that Speaker Boehner and his caucus have played out their scenario with a tragic outcome, perhaps they’ll be willing to be more constructive.”

As Republican lawmakers left the closed meeting Wednesday, some were already thinking of the next fight.

“I’ll vote against it,” said Representative John C. Fleming, Republican of Louisiana, referring to the Senate plan. “But that will get us into Round 2. See, we’re going to start this all over again.”

Senator Mitch McConnell of Kentucky, the Republican leader who was instrumental in ending the crisis, stressed that under the deal he had negotiated with the majority leader, Senator Harry Reid of Nevada, the across-the-board budget cuts extracted in the 2011 fiscal showdown remained in place over the objections of some Democrats, a slim reed that not even he claimed as a significant victory.

The deal, Mr. McConnell said, “is far less than many of us hoped for, quite frankly, but it’s far better than what some had sought.”

“Now it’s time for Republicans to unite behind other crucial goals,” he added.

Chastened Senate Republicans said they hoped the outcome would be a learning experience for the lawmakers in the House and the Senate who shut down the government in hopes of gutting the health law, Mr. Obama’s signature domestic achievement. Instead of using the twin issues of government funding and borrowing authority to address the drivers of the federal deficit, conservatives focused on a law they could never undo as long as Mr. Obama is president, several lawmakers said.

“Goose egg, nothing, we got nothing,” said Representative Thomas H. Massie, Republican of Kentucky.

Senator Richard Burr of North Carolina took a swipe at his fellow Republican senators Ted Cruz of Texas and Mike Lee of Utah, as well as House members who linked government financing to defunding the health care law, which is financed by its own designated revenues and spending cuts.

“Let’s just say sometimes learning what can’t be accomplished is an important long-term thing,” Mr. Burr said, “and hopefully for some of the members they’ve learned it’s impossible to defund mandatory programs by shutting down the federal government.”

While Mr. Cruz conceded defeat, he did not express contrition.

“Unfortunately, the Washington establishment is failing to listen to the American people,” he said as he emerged from a meeting of Senate Republicans called to ratify the agreement.

For hundreds of thousands of federal workers across the country furloughed from their jobs, the legislative deal meant an abrupt end to their forced vacation as the government comes back to life beginning Thursday.

In a statement late Wednesday, Sylvia Mathews Burwell, the director of the Office of Management and Budget, made the reopening official.

“Employees should expect to return to work in the morning,” she said, adding they should check news reports and the Office of Personnel Management’s Web site for updates.

For Mr. Boehner, who had failed to unite his conference around a workable plan, Wednesday’s decision to take up the Senate bill proved surprisingly free of conflict. Hard-line Republican lawmakers largely rallied around the speaker.

Representative Raúl R. Labrador of Idaho, said he was “really proud” of how Mr. Boehner had handled the situation. “I’m more upset with my Republican conference, to be honest with you,” he said.

Michael D. Shear contributed reporting.

சிங்களத்தின் தமிழீழ ஆக்கிரமிப்பு, தமிழ் நாடாளுமன்ற ஜனநாயகத்தை படுத்தும் பாடு!

``சிறீதரன் எம்.பி`` க்கு நாவற்குழி அத்துமீறல் குடியேற்றக் காரர்கள் விடுத்த சவால்!

அதிகப்பெருவாக்கால் ``வெற்றி பெற்ற`` கூட்டமைப்புக்கு பொதுபல சேன விடுக்கும் சவால்!

வடக்கு, கிழக்கை இணைப்பதற்கு கூட்டமைப்பு முயன்றால் பதிலடி!- பொதுபலசேனா எச்சரிக்கை

[ புதன்கிழமை, 16 ஒக்ரோபர் 2013, 02:01.55 PM GMT ]

தமிழ்த் தேசியக் கூட்­ட­மைப்பின் வெற்­றி­யா­னது வர­வேற்­கத்­தக்­கது. ஆனால் இவ் வெற்­றியை வைத்து பிரி­வி­னை­வாதம் பேசு­வது தவ­று. வடக்­கையும் கிழக்­கையும் ஒன்­றி­ணைக்க முயன்றால் அதற்கான பதி­ல­டியை நாம் கொடுப்போம் என பொது­ப­ல­சேனா அமைப்பு எச்சரிக்கை விடுத்துள்ளது.

நாட்டை சீர­ழிக்கும் விட­யத்தை யார் செய்­தாலும் அதற்கு நாம் எதிர்ப்­பி­னையே தெரி­விப்போம். கசினோ சூதாட்ட விட­யத்தில் அர­சாங்­கத்தை கடு­மை­யாக எச்­ச­ரிக்­கின்றோம்.

தமிழ்த் தேசியக் கூட்­ட­மைப்பு வட­மா­கா­ணத்தில் வர­லாற்று வெற்­றி­யினைப் பெற்­றுள்­ளமை வர­வேற்­கத்­தக்­கது. ஆனால்,தமது வெற்­றி­யினை தவ­றாக பயன்­ப­டுத்­து­கின்­ற­மை­யா­னது ஏற்­றுக்­கொள்ள முடி­யாது.

வடக்கில் ஆட்­சி­ய­மைத்து மக்­க­ளுக்­காக சேவை­யாற்­றாது அவர்­களின் சுய­ந­லத்­திற்­காக மக்­களை கொல்ல நினைப்­பது தமிழ்த் தேசியக் கூட்­ட­மைப்­பி­னதும் சர்­வ­தே­சத்­தி­னதும் சதித்­திட்­ட­மாகும்.

இதைத் தொடர்ந்தும் நடை­மு­றைப்­ப­டுத்­தினால் தற்­போது வடக்கில் வாழும் மக்­களும் இறக்க நேரிடும் என அவர் சுட்டிக்காட்டியுள்ளார்.

தமது சுய விருப்­பிற்­காக மத்­திய அர­சாங்­கத்தை கட்­டுப்­ப­டுத்த முடி­யாது. இலங்­கையைப் பொறுத்­த­வ­ரையில் அனைத்து மாகா­ணங்­க­ளுக்கும் அனைத்து இன மக்­க­ளுக்கும் ஒரே சட்­டமே செயற்­ப­டு­கின்­றது.

இதில் வட மாகா­ணத்­திற்கு ஒரு மாதி­ரியும் ஏனைய மாகா­ணங்­க­ளுக்கு வேறு மாதி­ரியும் சட்­டத்தை பிர­யோ­கித்தால் அது இறுதியில் சட்டச் சிக்­க­லி­னையும் பிரி­வி­னை­யி­னை­யுமே ஏற்­ப­டுத்தும் எனவும் அவர் குறிப்­பிட்டார்.

இது தொடர்­பாக பொது­ப­ல­சேனா அமைப்பின் பொதுச்­செ­ய­லாளர் கல­கொட அத்தே ஞான­சார தேரர் குறிப்­பி­டு­கையில்,

வடக்­கையும் கிழக்­கையும் ஒன்­றி­ணைத்து தனி நாட்டுக் கோரிக்­கை­யினை நடை­மு­றைப்­ப­டுத்த தமிழ்த்­ தே­சி­யக்­ கூட்­ட­மைப்பு நினைத்தால் அதற்­கான தகுந்த பதி­ல­டி­யினை நாம் கொடுப்போம்.

கிழக்கில் முஸ்லிம் தீவி­ர­வாத சக்­தி­களும் வடக்கில் புலித்­தீ­விர வாதி­களும் ஒன்­றி­ணைந்து வடக்­கிலும் கிழக்­கிலும் வாழும் தமிழ், முஸ்லிம் மக்­களை கொன்று குவிக்­கவே திட்டம் தீட்­டு­கின்­றனர். இதை நடை­மு­றைப்­ப­டுத்த விடக்­கூ­டாது.

Senators Restart Talks as Default Looms : “optimistic that an agreement is within reach”

Senators Restart Talks as Default Looms :
NYT Reports

After the failure of the House Republican leadership to find enough support for its latest proposal to end the fiscal crisis, the Senate’s Democratic and Republican leaders immediately restarted negotiations to find a bipartisan path forward.

 A spokesman for Senator Harry Reid of Nevada, the majority leader, said Mr. Reid was
 “optimistic that an agreement is within reach”
with Senator Mitch McConnell of Kentucky, the Republican leader.

With so little time left, chances rose that a resolution would not be approved by Congress and sent to President Obama before Thursday, when the government is left with only its cash on hand to pay the nation’s bills.

“It’s very, very serious,” warned Senator John McCain, Republican of Arizona. “Republicans have to understand we have lost this battle, as I predicted weeks ago, that we would not be able to win because we were demanding something that was not achievable.”

A day that was supposed to bring Washington to the edge of resolving the fiscal showdown instead seemed to bring chaos and retrenching. And a bitter fight that had begun over stripping money from the president’s signature health care law had essentially descended in the House into one over whether lawmakers and their staff members would pay the full cost of their health insurance premiums, unlike most workers at American companies, and how to restrict the administration from using flexibility to extend the debt limit beyond a fixed deadline.

Even so, the House speaker, John A. Boehner, Republican of Ohio, and his leadership team failed in repeated, daylong attempts to bring their troops behind any bill that would reopen the government and extend the Treasury’s debt limit on terms significantly reduced from their original push against funding for the health care law. The House’s hard-core conservatives and some more pragmatic Republicans were nearing open revolt, and the leadership was forced twice to back away from proposals it had floated, the second time sending lawmakers home for the night to await a decision on how to proceed Wednesday.

“We’re trying to find a way through it,” said Representative Greg Walden of Oregon, the chairman of the National Republican Congressional Committee, emerging from Mr. Boehner’s office to announce that no votes would be held Tuesday night.

The House setback returned the focus to the Senate, where the leadership had suspended talks after the Senate Republican leadership opted to give the House a chance to produce an alternative to the Senate measure taking shape.

Under the emerging Senate deal, the government would be funded through Jan. 15 and the debt limit extended until Feb. 7. House and Senate negotiators would be required to reach accord on a detailed tax-and-spending blueprint for the next decade by Dec. 13. A proposal to delay the imposition of a tax on medical devices had been dropped from the deal, as had a complicated tax on self-insured unions and businesses participating in the health care exchanges. All that remained for Republicans was language tightening income verification for people seeking subsidies on the insurance exchanges, but that language was still being negotiated.

It remained unclear if the Senate plan could pass the House or even if Mr. Boehner would bring it forward for a vote. The hopes for a resolution by Thursday also appeared to rest with the senators who had begun the failed movement to tie any further government funding to the gutting of the Affordable Care Act: Ted Cruz, Republican of Texas, and Mike Lee, Republican of Utah.

If Mr. Reid and Mr. McConnell reach a final accord, Senate leaders expect to use a parliamentary maneuver that will allow the majority leader to quickly move the deal to the Senate floor on Wednesday. With unanimous consent, a final vote would come the same day. But if Senate hard-liners object, the Senate would have to wait until Friday, then muster 60 votes to cut off debate. Further obstruction would mean the final vote would happen Saturday, when the bill would go back to the House, where it would pass only if it had overwhelming Democratic support since many Republicans would not vote for it.

Given the progress that had been made in the Senate, Congressional Democrats and officials at the White House criticized Mr. Boehner’s move on Tuesday as an attempt to sabotage the bipartisan Senate talks even as they seemed to be nearing an agreement.

Initially, Mr. Boehner proposed a bill to reopen the government until Jan. 15, extend the debt ceiling until Feb. 7, delay a tax on medical devices two years and deny members of Congress, the president, the vice president and White House political appointees taxpayer subsidies to help buy insurance on President Obama’s health insurance exchanges.

“We’re trying to find a way forward in a bipartisan way that would continue to provide fairness to the American people under Obamacare,” Mr. Boehner said as he acknowledged “there are a lot of opinions” among his rambunctious members.

By Tuesday afternoon, House Republican leaders were back with a new proposal to fund the government through Dec. 15, extend the debt ceiling into February and deprive not only lawmakers but all their staff members of employer assistance to buy their health care. By extending that provision to staff members, Republican leaders hoped to appeal to its far-right flank, but it angered more moderate Republicans and was not enough for the conservative hard core.

Complicating the speaker’s task, Heritage Action, the conservative Heritage Foundation’s political arm, which wields great influence with the most conservative elements of the Republican Party, opposed the plan.

“I think there’s always hope there can be a final package I can vote on, but this is not the one,” said Representative Ted Yoho, Republican of Florida, as he and two other Tea Party conservatives left the speaker’s office.

Republican leaders had initially hoped the loss of members like Mr. Yoho could be made up with support from Democrats. But Democratic leaders made it clear they would offer no assistance. Democrats latched on to a provision in the House proposals that would have forbidden the Treasury to juggle government accounts — so-called extraordinary measures — to meet obligations beyond a debt-ceiling deadline.

In the midst of the turmoil, the credit rating agency Fitch put the United States on a “negative ratings watch,” warning that Congressional intransigence has put the full faith and credit of the government at risk.

The news came as the Treasury Department said it had only about $35 billion in cash on hand. It expects to run out of “extraordinary measures” to keep on paying all of the government’s bills on Thursday, at which point outgoing payments might exceed that cash, plus any revenues, on any day going forward.

As the United States nears default, investors have demanded more compensation for lending to the government, with yields on short-term debt spiking to their highest levels in years.

Fitch warned that Congress has not “raised the federal debt ceiling in a timely manner.” It said that it “continues to believe that the debt ceiling will be raised soon,” but that “political brinkmanship and reduced financing flexibility could increase the risk of a U.S. default.”

Annie Lowrey and Ashley Parker contributed reporting.
This article has been revised to reflect the following correction:

Correction: October 15, 2013

An earlier version of this article misspelled, on second reference, the surname of a representative. He is Charlie Dent, not Debt.
====================

`வெற்றி அல்லது வீரச்சாவு` உண்ணாவிரதத்தை கைவிட்டார் தோழர் தியாகு

`வெற்றி அல்லது வீரச்சாவு` உண்ணாவிரதத்தை கைவிட்டார் தியாகு

உண்ணாவிரதத்தை கைவிட்டார் தியாகு பதிவு செய்த நாள் - அக்டோபர் 15, 2013, 5:05:04 PM மாற்றம் செய்த நாள்- அக்டோபர் 15, 2013, 9:37:24 PM

இலங்கையில் நடைபெறும் காமன்வெல்த் மாநாட்டை இந்தியா புறக்கணிக்க வேண்டும் என்பன உள்ளிட்ட கோரிக்களை வலியுறுத்தி மேற்கொண்டிருந்த உண்ணாவிரதத்தை தமிழ் தேசிய விடுதலை இயக்கத்தின் தலைவர் தியாகு முடித்து கொண்டுள்ளார்.

காமன்வெல்த் மாநாடு தொடர்பாக தமிழக மக்களின் உணர்வுகளை புரிந்து முடிவு எடுக்கப்படும் என திமுக தலைவர் கருணாநிதி எழுதிய கடிதத்திற்கு பிரதமர் மன்மோகன்சிங் பதில் அளித்துள்ளதை தொடர்ந்து இந்த முடிவுக்கு அவர் வந்துள்ளார்.

ராஜீவ் காந்தி அரசு மருத்துவமனையில் தாய் தமிழ் பள்ளி மாணவர்கள் பழரசம் கொடுத்து தியாகுவின் உண்ணாவிரதத்தை முடித்துவைத்தனர்.

இலங்கையில் நடைபெறும் காமன்வெல்த் மாநாட்டில் இந்தியா பங்கேற்க கூடாது என்பதை வலியுறுத்தி தியாகு கடந்த 15 நாட்களாக சென்னையில் உண்ணாவிரதம் இருந்து வந்தார்.

Charter of the commonwelth

Reaffirming the core values and principles of the Commonwealth as declared by this Charter:

1. Democracy

2. Human rights

3. International peace and security

4. Tolerance, respect and understanding

5. Freedom of Expression

6. Separation of Powers

7. Rule of Law

8. Good Governance

9. Sustainable Development

10. Protecting the Environment

11. Access to Health, Education, Food and Shelter

12. Gender Equality

13. Importance of Young People in the Commonwealth

14. Recognition of the Needs of Small States

15. Recognition of the Needs of Vulnerable States

16. The Role of Civil Society

We are committed to ensuring that the Commonwealth is an effective association, responsive to members’ needs, and capable of addressing the significant global challenges of the future.

We aspire to a Commonwealth that is a strong and respected voice in the world, speaking out on major issues; that strengthens and enlarges its networks; that has a global relevance and profile; and that is devoted to improving the lives of all peoples of the Commonwealth.

http://thecommonwealth.org/sites/default/files/page/documents/CharteroftheCommonwealth.pdf

வட-கிழக்கு தமிழ் முஸ்லிம் மக்களின் தாயகம் இதனை யாரும் மறுக்க முடியாது : ஸ்ரீலங்கா முஸ்லிம் காங்கிரஸின் செயலாளரும் பா.உவுமான எம்.ரி.ஹஸன் அலி

விடுதலைப்புலிகள் இல்லாத நிலையில் தமிழ் - முஸ்லிம் மக்களுக்கு இன்று ஏற்பட்டுள்ள ஆபத்துக்கள் குறித்து லங்காசிறி வானொலியின் வாராந்த அரசியல் களம் வட்ட மேசை நிகழ்வில் ஸ்ரீலங்கா முஸ்லிம் காங்கிரஸின் செயலாளரும் பா.உவுமான எம்.ரி.ஹஸன் அலி அவர்கள் பகிர்ந்த பயனுள்ள கருத்துக்கள். 

தோழர் தியாகு போராட்டக்குழுவின் ஊடக அறிவிப்பு, போராட்டம் பரவலாக்கப்படும்.

Manmohan assures DMK on CHOGM

October 15, 2013

Breaking his silence over India’s participation in the Commonwealth Heads of Government meeting scheduled to be held in Colombo next month, Indian Prime Minister Manmohan Singh said a decision would be taken only after considering all relevant factors, including sentiments of Tamil people, the Press Trust of India reported.

‘“I wish to inform you that a decision on the issue of my participation in the CHOGM conference will be taken only after considering all relevant factors, including the sentiments of your party and the Tamil people,” Singh said in a letter to DMK chief M Karunanidhi yesterday.

Senior DMK leader and party’s leader in Parliament T R Baalu called on Singh last evening and informed him about the deteriorating health of pro-Tamil activist K Thiagarajan, on an indefinite fast in Chennai since Oct 1.

Thiagarajan is demanding that India boycott CHOGM, alleging that Sri Lanka was guilty of genocide of Tamils in the island nation. He is general secretary of the Tamil Desiya Viduthalai Iyakkam.

In his meeting with the Prime Minister, Baalu also put forth DMK chief M Karunanidhi’s demand that India should not participate in CHOGM.

The Prime Minister urged the DMK chief to persuade the activist to break his fast.

Political parties in Tamil Nadu, including DMK, have been demanding that the Centre stay away from  CHOGM.  On October 1, the Madras High Court had directed Chennai Police to grant permission to Thiagarajan to observe the indefinite fast after he moved the court on being denied permission to go on fast by the Police Commissioner.

வரைபடம்: வடக்குத் தேர்தலின் சாராம்சம்

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The Island Cartoon 08-10-2013

தோழர் தியாகுவின் 9 அம்ச ஜனநாயகப் பிரச்சார இயக்கத்தை முறியடிக்க ஜெயா அரசு,முயற்சி!

தோழர் தியாகு கைது செய்யப்பட்டு மருத்துவ மனையில் தடுத்து வைப்பு! 

போராட்டத்தை தொடர தோழர் கோரிக்கை!

Tamil Nadu Police detains fast-unto-death activist Thiyagu

[TamilNet, Monday, 07 October 2013, 13:12 GMT]

Hundreds of Tamil Nadu Police personnel were deployed at Va'l'luvar-koaddam in Chennai Monday around 2:00 p.m. where Thoazhar Thiyagu was conducting fast-unto-death campaign with 9 demands addressed to the Central Government of India. After carrying out a medical check-up, the Police has relocated the fast-unto-death activist from the venue of Va'l'lvuvar-koaddam and admitted him at Royapettah General Hospital around 2:30 p.m. However, Mr Thiyagu has vowed to continue his fast-unto-death under police detention and urged the Tamil activists and students to step up the struggle against India's participation in the CHOGM meet scheduled to take place in Colombo. Following the relocation of the activist, Nandanam Arts College students launched a sit-in protest with the 9-points demand put forward by Thoazhar Thiyagu, the latest reports from Chennai said. 

In the meantime, activist groups have been urged by the organisers to discuss the ways of taking forward the struggle at Thiruvallik-kea'ni Monday evening, news sources in Tamil Nadu said. 

The genocidal Sri Lankan State should be suspended from the Commonwealth, the venue for the upcoming CHOGM meet should be shifted away from Sri Lanka and the Indian leaders should not take part if Colombo is to host the meet, are among the top demands of the 9-point list put forward by Thoazhar Thiyagu.

Prominent activists and leaders of movements and parties have been expressing solidarity with Thoazhar Thiyagu and are accompanying him in observing the fasting campaign.