• Douglas attempts to fight Indian arrest warrant

    Sep 11

    The infamous paramilitary leader Douglas Devananda has requested the IVth Additional Sessions court in Chennai to recall the arrest warrant issued against him, reports the Express News Service.

    The warrant, which is without bail, was issued in 1990, for his alleged part in a shootout and murder case in Chennai during 1986. He has also been accused of kidnapping a boy in 1988. In 1989, he was arrested and released later on bail.

    He was previously unable to fight the warrant, due to the risk of arrest if he were to land in India. Indeed, during a visit to India last year, a writ petition was filed against him seeking to arrest and prosecute him in relation to the previous and pending criminal case. However, the Indian External Affairs Ministry reportedly informed the Madras High Court that as a cabinet minister of Sri Lanka, Devananda enjoys diplomatic immunity.

    According to the Express News Service, Devananda maybe permitted to appear before the High Commissioner of India in Sri Lanka, and pursue the case via video conferencing.

    See more of Douglas' escapades: 

    The shame of being honoured by Douglas (11 Sep 2012)

  • Fear and loathing in the Eastern elections
    The results from the recently held Eastern provincial council elections have been brandished by Sri Lanka as a sign of wavering Tamil demand for self rule, and more perversely, that Tamils are now content with Sri Lanka’s rule. However, rather than signal a weakening of Tamil aspirations, the elections clearly revealed the true nature of the Sinhala state’s governance in the Tamil homeland; a mixture of violence, threats, intimidation and colonisation.
     
    The elections were a far cry from the free and fair expression of Tamil sentiments that they were trumped up to be. Instead, as became clear through the campaign, they were marked by ongoing incidents of violence against candidates and voters with hundreds of government thugs dispatched to the Tamil homeland for the purpose. The well documented and choking colonisation of the East also served its purpose – providing a reliable Sinhala vote base for Rajapakse’s UPFA.
     
    The brazenness of the intimidation during the campaign even prompted R. Sampanthan, the infamously timid leader of the TNA, to appeal to President Rajapaksa for “free and fair” elections to be allowed to take place. The appeal predictably failed and Sampanthan has recently released a statement slamming the “UPFA campaign of terror” and stating that it "violated all norms of democracy and good governance".
     
    The purpose of the Sinhala state’s violent electoral campaign was very clear. Tamil voters were warned of “unpleasant consequences” if they opposed the UPFA and told in no uncertain terms that they voted for the TNA at their own risk.
  • More transparency needed over OCHRC funding – Sri Lanka

    The Permanent Representative of Sri Lanka at the UN Human Rights Council a said that there is a need for increased transparency in the funding and staffing of the Office of the High Comissioner for Human Rights.

    Speaking on the opening day of the 21st session of the UNHRC in Geneva, Ravinatha Aryasinha said that most of the funding should come from the OCHRC’s own budget.

  • South Africa calls for “concrete effort” from Sri Lanka
    The South African government has called on Sri Lanka to address the issue of accountability following the end of armed hostilities in May 2009, stating “that there should be demonstrable and concrete effort and movement in that regard”.

    In a press release issued on Monday, South Africa stated that,

    “Since the end of the war in May 2009 and the release of the United Nations (UN) Secretary General's Report of the Panel of Experts in April 2011, as well as the Sri Lankan government's own Lessons Learnt and Reconciliation Commission (LLRC) Report in December 2011, there has been a heightened demand and urgency in the international community for the Sri Lankan government to implement the outcomes of these Reports and other decisions of the UN Human Rights Council, with specific emphasis on the need to address the accountability issues following the events of May 2009.”

  • TNA on Eastern PC elections

    Condemning the ruling UPFA for having "violated all norms of democracy and good governance" in the lead up to the Eastern Provincial Council elections, the ITAK (Ilankai Thamil Arasu Katchi) President, Sampanthan, and General Secretary Mavai Senathirajah, issued a statement on Sunday as follows:

    The elections to the Eastern Provincial Council have concluded and the results have been announced.

    The ruling UPFA violated all norms of democracy and good governance in a polls campaign that was marked by a well documented pattern of gross abuse of the state apparatus and resources. The UPFA utilized all governmental resources to influence the result. It also intimidated opposition parties’ candidates, bribing, unduly influencing voters and even spreading false propaganda to the effect that the TNA leader had announced the withdrawal of the ITAK from the contest. 

    Despite this UPFA campaign of terror the people of the Eastern province have reiterated their support and confidence in the TNA (ITAK) and we are pleased that we won two of the three districts securing the majority vote in both the Trincomalee and Batticaloa Districts and a substantial vote in the Ampara District.

     The elections took place in an environment where a large number of Tamils yet continue to be displaced and a larger number of Tamils have fled and continue to flee the country due to the policies of the Rajapakse Administration.  We sincerely thank the Tamil speaking people for the support and solidarity that they have demonstrated at this election, despite the ruling UPFA violence and intimidation. The ruling UPFA barely secured 6,200 votes more than TNA in the whole Eastern Province, largely on account of its abuse of state resources.

  • The shame of being honoured by Douglas

    The prominent South Indian Carnatic and Kollywood singer P Unni Krishnan has apologised to his Tamil fans, for being honoured by Douglas Devananda in Jaffna during a music concert last month, reports Uthayan.

    Unni Krishnan said he was deeply ashamed of the incident, in which Devananda marked the singer with the traditional honour of being draped in a silk cloth or ‘ponnaadai’ during a performance at Nallur Kanthasamy temple in Jaffna on 18th August 2012.

    Describing the incident as a "black mark" in his musical journey, the singer apologised for hurting Tamil sentiments worldwide.

    Speaking in an interview, Unni Krishnan said (translated text follows):

    “I was invited to perform at a musical concert during the Nallur Kanthasamy Temple Festival (Thiruvizha) in Jaffna. Having earned a place in the hearts of Eelam Tamils through songs on liberation, I agreed to go to Jaffna to meet and perform for them.”

  • Sri Lanka gives itself a pat on the back

    Having submitted to its National Report for the upcoming Universal Periodic Review (UPR) at the UN Human Rights Council, the new ambassador Ravinatha Aryasinha, told the 21st session that Sri Lanka was looking forward to the process.

    Claiming that the government the military was "no longer involved in civil administration in the Northern and the Eastern provinces", and "the Security Forces presence in the Jaffna peninsula has been reduced from 50,000 at the height of the conflict, to 15,000 at present", Aryasinha also claimed that "Sri Lanka's democratic credentials were yet again re-asserted 2 days ago with the successful conduct of Provincial Council elections, including in the previously conflict affected Eastern Province."

    Civil society groups and rights groups on the island, within the Tamil diaspora and internationally, sumitted rather different reports however.

  • Prime Minister praises 'answer to international conspiracies'
    Sri Lanka's Prime Minister D M Jayaratna has praised the government's recent victory at the Eastern Provincial Council elections, stating that the government had now negated "hostile attempts... against the motherland".
  • Army camp construction jeopardises basic needs of locals
    The locals of Karainagar have expressed concern of the inconveniences they will face due to the construction of an expansive army camp in Sambalodai area.

    Sambalodai holds the most fresh water resources in the Karainagar area as well as being a significant location for carrying out funeral rites.
  • US wants to boost trade with SL

    The American Chamber of Commerce in Colombo has said it is keen to boost investment and trade in Sri Lanka.

  • South Africa to make US $122 million investment

    The South African High Commissioner to Colombo, Geoff Doidge has announced that his country will make an initial investment of US$ 122 million, whilst speaking at a dinner hosted by the Export Development Board of the Ministry of Industry and Commerce for a Sout

  • UPFA wins most seats in controversial Eastern Provincial Council elections
    Sri Lanka’s ruling UPFA coalition has won 14 seats in the Eastern Provincial Council elections to the TNA’s 11, in an election mired with controversy.

    The margin and manner of victory has been hotly contested, with the loss of a seat for the Tamil National Alliance during a reported “power cut”, whilst votes were being counted in Batticaloa (See report from TamilNet here).

    The UPFA also managed to gain two ‘bonus seats’ through the Provincial Councils Elections Act (see here) despite having an overall winning margin of less than 7,000, according to government figures. If the TNA had won the ‘bonus seats’, they would have come first in the elections.

    Furthermore, low voter turnout and reports of threats and intimidation along with a massive Army and Police presence, marred the elections.

    Nonetheless, the Tamil National Alliance emerged as the single largest party in both Trincomalee and Batticaloa, only losing to the UPFA in the Amparai district.

    The TNA also saw a marked increase in votes from the 2010 Parliamentary elections in both Trincomalee and Batticaloa. In 2010, the TNA gained 33,268 and 66,235 votes in both districts respectively, but now obtained 44,396 and 104,682 votes in the district.

    The Eastern province has seen a flurry of colonisation and Sinhalisation, with the ICG reporting earlier this year that this was part of a strategy to ""change the facts of the ground", as has already happened in the east, and make it impossible to claim the north as a Tamil-majority area deserving of self-governance."

    Almost 100 civil society leaders earlier wrote to the Tamil National Alliance urging them to reject the provincial council system and the demerging of the North and East, as they prepare to contest in the upcoming Eastern Provincial Council Elections. See here.

    The Tamil National Alliance boycotted provincial council elections in the east in 2008, claiming the environment was not safe to operate in due to the activity of paramilitary groups.
  • Mannar Church attacked with stones
    Kappalenthi Mary’s Church in Karusal, Mannar was attacked by a group throwing stones, reports Uthayan.

    Stones were thrown into the Church during evening prayers on Friday and fire crackers were reportedly lit in an attempt to further disrupt worship. The bishop delivering mass is believed to have sustained minor injuries from the attack.
  • Elections over but security forces remain
    Despite the end of the Eastern Provincial Council elections, Sri Lanka’s police force have declared that they will remain out in full force in five areas across the province.

    Colombo Page reported that the police will remain in Akkaraipattu, Pothuvil, Thirukkovil, Sammanthurai and Kalmunai where there were reportedly high levels of election violence.
  • Low turnout at Provincial council polls in the east

    The Eastern Province elections saw low turnout by Muslims reported TamilNet.

    The polls, held on Saturday, saw around 60% of registered voters casting their vote.

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