Chinese companies are investing into mega projects in Sri Lanka, avoiding tender procedures and hence emerging as the only bidders for contracts, reported The Sunday Times on Sunday. The paper quoted a local agent of an Indian construction company as saying that the Chinese companies pay commissions to its local agents, depending on the value of the project negotiated. The agent is reported as saying commissions, from $120 to $180 million, are paid to middle men each year for all Chinese projects on the island. This assists the Chinese companies to overcome other competition said the agent...
In an interview with BBC Tamil, Sivasubramaniyam Sivadas, the medical doctor who reportedly treated the 15 Tamil women who were admitted to Kilinochchi hospital shortly after being recruited into the Sri Lankan army, dismissed reports of sexual abuse or mental trauma, and claimed that they fifteen had suffered from a case of 'collective hysteria'. See here for full interview in Tamil. See below for a transcript of the interview: Dr Sivadas : There are 15 of them. Out of that 02 are admitted to the wards. The remaining 13 are kept in a room in the upper floor in order to be consulted by me. Many people requested me to see them. I clearly informed them about two matters. I will see them if only you accept my decision after I diagnose them. The other one is that I wanted to meet the patients privately. After that one medical officer from the Army arrived. He contacted higher authorities and said 'that they are ready to accept my recommendations'. After that only I met all 15 girls personally.
U pdated 13 :1 5 GMT Renowned Australian author Thomas Keneally has spoken out against Australia playing cricket with Sri Lanka and called for a break of sporting ties, as calls to boycott Sri Lankan cricket continue to grow. Writing to Keneally, the Tamil Refugee Council stated , “For too long Australia has turned a blind eye to the mounting evidence that the Sri Lankan Government committed war crimes against the poorest of its own people, including the slaughter of more than 40,000 innocent Tamil civilians at the end of the civil war in 2009. " “There will be a stain of injustice that won’t wash out of the cricket whites if the human rights abuses of the ruling Sri Lankan regime pass unremarked.” Keneally, who had previously spoken out after the suicide of an asylum seeker fleeing Sri Lanka, responded, “All the matters your letter raised are issues we can’t pretend about anymore, and if our government keeps up with their present tricks, they may be subject to bans and blacklistings, too.” Keneally, was joined in endorsing the boycott call by Sydney Peace Foundation chair, Stuart Rees; human rights lawyer, Julian Burnside, AO, QC; former deputy Australian High Commissioner to Sri Lanka, Bruce Haigh; Norwegian film-maker Beate Arnestad; Greens MP in NSW Parliament David Shoebridge; independent journalist and author, Anthony Loewenstein; Associate professor and director, Peace and Conflict Studies, University of Sydney, Jake Lynch; Professor and journalist, Wendy Bacon, Journalists for Democracy in Sri Lanka, Tamil Youth Organisation (Sydney), Uniting Church Minister, Rev. Richard Wootton, and 3CR Radio in Melbourne. Also supporting the campaign was the Australasian Federation of Tamil Associations (AFTA), an umbrella body of Tamil organizations in the States and territories of Australia and the two cities of Auckland and Wellington in New Zealand . See their full statement below.
The United Nations High Commission for Refugees (UNHCR) has listed persons suspected of the LTTE links, journalists, opposition politicians, political activists, gays and lesbians, as groups of people in Sri Lanka that are “likely to be in need of international refugee protection.” The updated guidelines also include witnesses and victims of war crimes within the risk profiles, along with diaspora activists and individuals who previously worked in the LTTE’s civil and administrative setup, who did not receive any military training. The report discussed in depth the risks that several groups...
The family of British tourist Khuram Shaikh, who was brutally murdered in Sri Lanka last Christmas, has spoken of their distress over the lack of progress in prosecuting those responsible for his killing. Khuram Shaikh was killed while on holiday in the south of Sri Lanka, after getting into an altercation with a local group. His girlfriend was also attacked and is thought to have been raped by the men. A politician of the ruling party is one of the eight suspects in the attack, however all were recently released on bail . Speaking to The Guardian , Khuram’s brother Nasir said the situation was "disheartening, upsetting" and unacceptable.
The Sri Lankan Army has organised a blood donation event at Thelipalai hospital in Jaffna, reported the defence ministry's website . Army and police personnel were reported to have contributed their blood to the National Blood Bank. "The admitted Patients of the Hospital will be highly benefited by such type of community based initiative organized by the Army." said the report on the website. Extracts from our latest editorial on the militarisation of civilian functions in Tamil areas: "The burgeoning military budget, the grabbing of civilian lands for military housing and establishments, and...
The head of Amnesty International has reiterated calls for an international independent inquiry into human rights violations committed during the armed conflict in Sri Lanka. Secretary General Salil Shetty told IANS news agency that the investigations ordered by the Sri Lankan government were not adequate and abuses on the island are ongoing. "We need a full and independent international inquiry to bring (guilty) people into account,” he said. "And it is not just about 2009. The human rights violations are ongoing (in Sri Lanka), "There is a current problem too" he added. Shetty also noted...
British Tamils in London marched in protest on Saturday against the attacks, intimidation and arrests of Jaffna University students. Carrying placards and shouting out, "Sri Lankan army - get out of Tamil Eelam", "self-determination - for the Tamil nation", and "Let us remember - our heroes", over 100 British Tamils marched from Temple to Downing St, on a very wet winter's day in London.
The Jaffna Army commander, Maj. Gen Hathurusinghe, warned families of detained Jaffna University students, "don't even dream" of getting them released on Friday at a meeting between the army and the university's representatives at Palaali military headquarters. Several reports (see here and here ) have quoted Hathurusinghe as having said, “ If you think that you would restart the academic activities only after the release of these four students, it would never happen. Do not even dream of it ,” “These students continue to remain in our custody because they are repeatedly saying that the LTTE...