When the Chinese government looks back on its handling of the unrest in Urumqi and East Turkestan this week, it will most likely tell the world that it acted in the interests of maintaining stability. It will most likely forget to explain why thousands of Uighurs risked everything to speak out against injustice, or why hundreds of Uighurs are now dead for exercising their right to protest. On Sunday, students organized a protest in the Döng Körük (Erdaoqiao) area of Urumqi. They wished to express discontent with the Chinese authorities' inaction on the mob killing and beating of Uighurs at a toy factory in Shaoguan in China's southern Guangdong province and to express sympathy with the families of those killed and injured.

A peaceful assembly turned violent as some elements of the crowd reacted to heavy-handed policing. I unequivocally condemn the use of violence by Uighurs during the demonstration as much as I do China's use of excessive force against protestors.

Wang Lequan, party secretary of the Xinjiang Uighur Autonomous Region, has blamed me for the unrest. However, it is years of Chinese repression of Uighurs -- topped by further confirmation that Chinese officials have no interest in observing the rule of law -- that is the cause of the current Uighur discontent.

China's brutal reaction to Sunday's protest will only reinforce these views. Uighur sources within East Turkestan say 400 Uighurs in Urumqi have died as a result of police shootings and beatings. There is no accurate figure for the number of injured.

A curfew has been imposed, telephone lines are down, and the city remains tense. Uighurs have contacted me to report that the Chinese authorities are conducting a house-to-house search of Uighur homes and are arresting male Uighurs. They say that Uighurs are afraid to walk the streets in the capital of their homeland.

The unrest is spreading. The cities of Kashgar, Yarkand, Aksu, Khotan and Karamay may have also seen unrest, though it's hard to tell, given China's state-run propaganda. Kashgar has been the worst effected of these cities and unconfirmed reports state that over 100 Uighurs have been killed there. Troops have entered Kashgar, and sources in the city say that two Chinese soldiers have been posted to each Uighur house.

The recent Uighur repression has taken on a racial tone. The Chinese government is known for encouraging a nationalistic streak among Han Chinese as it seeks to replace the bankrupt communist ideology it used to promote. This nationalism was in evidence as the Han Chinese mob attacked Uighur workers in Shaoguan.

This official encouragement of reactionary nationalism among Han Chinese makes the path forward very difficult. The World Uighur Congress that I head, much like the Dalai Lama and the Tibetan movement, advocates peaceful establishment of self-determination with genuine respect for human rights and democracy. Han Chinese and Uighurs need to achieve a dialogue based on trust, mutual respect and equality. Under present Chinese government policies, this is not possible.

To rectify the deteriorating situation in East Turkestan, the Chinese government must first properly investigate the Shaoguan killings and bring those responsible for the killing of Uighurs to justice. An independent and open inquiry into the Urumqi unrest also needs to be conducted so that Han Chinese and Uighurs can understand the reasons for Sunday's events and seek ways to establish understanding.

The United States has a key role to play in this process. It has always spoken out on behalf of the oppressed; this is why it has been been a leader in presenting the Uighur case to the Chinese government. At this critical juncture, the U.S. must condemn the violence in Urumqi and establish a consulate in Urumqi. A consulate can act as a beacon of freedom in an environment of fierce repression and monitor the daily human-rights abuses perpetrated against the Uighurs.

As I write this piece, reports are reaching our office in Washington that 4,000 Han Chinese took to the streets in Urumqi on Monday seeking revenge by carrying out acts of violence against Uighurs. On Tuesday, more Han Chinese took to the streets. As the violence escalates, so does the pain I feel for the loss of all innocent lives. I fear the Chinese government will not experience this pain as it reports on its version of events in Urumqi. It is this lack of self-examination that further divides Han Chinese and Uighurs.

Ms. Kadeer is the president of the World Uighur Congress and author of "Dragon Fighter: One Woman's Epic Struggle for Peace with China" (Kales Press, 2009).

source - The Wall Street Journal

(New York) - The United Nations Security Council should make sure that its existing commitments to protect civilians during armed conflict are actually carried out, Human Rights Watch said today in a letter to council member states.

On June 26, 2009, the Security Council will hold a debate to discuss its work on civilian protection, in which all UN members can participate. The Security Council has made numerous commitments to protect civilians in armed conflict, especially women and children, but often has failed to follow through and engage effectively, or sometimes at all, Human Rights Watch said. As a result, its efforts to end civilian suffering during armed conflict have been grossly inadequate.

"It's not enough for the Security Council to say something should be done about the appalling damage wars cause to civilians across the world," said Steve Crawshaw, UN advocacy director at Human Rights Watch. "The council needs to do something about it."

In its letter, Human Rights Watch identified the Democratic Republic of Congo, Sudan, Chad, and Sri Lanka as examples of nations in which the Security Council has failed to take meaningful action to address and prevent civilian suffering during armed conflict.

In this letter about Sri Lanka :

Sri Lanka

The Security Council's indifference to the plight of the Sri Lankan civilians caught up in the fighting between government forces and the separatist Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE) in the final months of the armed conflict this year represents a failure of historic proportions. According to UN estimates, more than 7,000 civilians - and perhaps as many as 20,000 - died from January through May 2009 in the midst of serious violations of international humanitarian law by both the Sri Lankan army and the LTTE. And yet, the Security Council failed even to discuss the issue, except in the context of an "informal interactive dialog," which precluded in advance the possibility of any council action.

The Secretary-General's seventh report on the protection of civilians emphasizes the suffering of Sri Lankan civilians both during the recent conflict and continuing today. Both sides in the conflict showed wanton disregard for human life in violation of international humanitarian law. The LTTE used civilians as human shields and forcibly prevented civilians from escaping the conflict zone. The Sri Lankan government also committed grave violations, none of which are excused by its claims of fighting terrorism. Despite denying the use of heavy weapons to council members, government forces repeatedly shelled densely populated areas, including hospitals.

It is now too late for the Security Council to act to protect the civilians killed and wounded in the government's erroneously named "no-fire zone." There is still a need, however, for the council to urgently address the continuing humanitarian and human rights crisis and help undo some of the damage that its previous inaction helped foster.

Nearly 300,000 ethnic Tamil civilians are now detained in the government's closed "welfare camps," including entire families who are prevented from leaving either for work or to move in with relatives or other families. The council should act to protect them by pressing for the rights to liberty and freedom of movement of civilians placed in government camps and basic human rights protections for persons the government suspects of being LTTE members; ensuring access to humanitarian organizations, the media, and human rights organizations to internally displaced persons and former conflict zones; and creating an international commission of inquiry to investigate alleged violations of international human rights and humanitarian law by both sides during the recent fighting.

Conclusion

As the Secretary-General says in his latest report on civilian protection in armed conflict, the debate on June 26 provides an opportunity for "determined action" and "reinvigorated commitment by the Security Council, Member States, and the United Nations to the protection of civilians." We urge the council to use the debate to urgently remedy existing shortfalls in civilian protection.

The Council should act more robustly and strategically to confront the appalling conditions suffered by civilians in armed conflict in these four countries and worldwide. Protection of civilians needs to be made a priority in reality, not just in words.

Sincerely,

Steve Crawshaw
United Nations Advocacy Director

Weight loss is one of the most important concerns in the modern times. Most people are obese and need some kind of weight loss guidance to have a healthier life. It is not just a personal cause of concern anymore but has become an acute medical condition that needs attention.

There are some basic weight loss guidelines that one must follow which will ensure that you lose weight the right way without exerting yourself.

One must set a goal weight for one's body that is not unrealistic. Instead of setting a specific number as your goal weight, you must give yourself a range within five pounds minimum of your healthy weight. For losing a considerable amount of weight, you must consider making mini goals of losing 5-10 pounds every six weeks to two months rather than focusing on the end weight. You must weigh yourself once every week, preferably at the same time to read the consistency level.

If you have a high metabolism rate, then you will burn calories a a faster rate while if metabolism is slow, the you will burn less calories and at a slow pace. Therefore, for those whose metabolism is slow, must indulge in exercise and strength training while aerobics too helps in yielding a high metabolism.

For those who need to diet have the following instructions:

* Need structure and discipline in the meal plans
* They may be willing to eliminate certain foods permanently or for some time
* They may research diets until they find what suits them best
* Stick to the diet for the weight loss and then adapt it according to your suitability.

On the other hand, there are those who wish to independently follow a 'do it yourself' diet where one can follow what one may think is apt for one's body.
The 'do it yourself' dieters, must do the following:

* Must have a good knowledge of basic nutrition
* Are honest about their food intake
* Are careful about their consumption of portions
* Eat a variety of foods

source - Headlines India

STATEMENT BY PRESIDENT OBAMA ON THE SITUATION IN SRI LANKA

May 13,

THE PRESIDENT: Hello, everybody. Sorry to keep you guys waiting. Good to see you. I want to take a few moments at the top to talk about something that, with all the big issues going on, hasn't received much attention, but I think is worth talking about briefly.

As some of you know, we have a humanitarian crisis that's taking place in Sri Lanka, and I've been increasingly saddened by the desperate news in recent days. Tens of thousands of innocent civilians are trapped between the warring government forces and the Tamil Tigers in Sri Lanka with no means of escape, little access to food, water, shelter and medicine. This has led to widespread suffering and the loss of hundreds if not thousands of lives.

Without urgent action, this humanitarian crisis could turn into a catastrophe. Now is the time, I believe, to put aside some of the political issues that are involved and to put the lives of the men and women and children who are innocently caught in the crossfire, to put them first.

So I urge the Tamil Tigers to lay down their arms and let civilians go. Their forced recruitment of civilians and their use of civilians as human shields is deplorable. These tactics will only serve to alienate all those who carry them out.

I'm also calling on the Sri Lankan government to take several steps to alleviate this humanitarian crisis. First, the government should stop the indiscriminate shelling that has taken hundreds of innocent lives, including several hospitals, and the government should live up to its commitment to not use heavy weapons in the conflict zone.

Second, the government should give United Nations humanitarian teams access to the civilians who are trapped between the warring parties so that they can receive the immediate assistance necessary to save lives.

Third, the government should also allow the United Nations and the International Committee of the Red Cross access to nearly 190,000 displaced people within Sri Lanka so that they can receive additional support that they need.

The United States stands ready to work with the international community to support the people of Sri Lanka in this time of suffering. I don't believe that we can delay. Now is the time for all of us to work together to avert further humanitarian suffering.

Going forward, Sri Lanka must seek a peace that is secure and lasting, and grounded in respect for all of its citizens. More civilian casualties and inadequate care for those caught in resettlement camps will only make it more difficult to achieve the peace that the people of Sri Lanka deserve.

Tuesday, 5 May 2009, 12:11 pm
Press Release: Asian Human Rights Commission Sri Lanka: Non-Violent Action Needed To Crush Criminal Gangs

Satheeskumar Thinuska, who was abducted, was found dead last weekend in Batticaloa. The little girl, according to the police, was a victim of a suspected ransom bid by unidentified persons. According to reports the abductors had demanded Rs. 3 million from the victim's family. While no one has been arrested the former para-military cadres, who still possess firearms and who are suspected to be behind many criminal activities in the eastern province, are among those suspected of this crime.

The little girl's father also disappeared without trace two years ago after he was abducted by an armed group for questioning.
Meanwhile in the south in Ambalangoda town a ten-year-old girl, Pumi Dhanawathie, was abducted but was later found unharmed. She was abducted from an international school in Ambalangoda.

All three abductions are a result of the failure of the state to ensure law and order which has resulted in criminal gangs operating freely in all parts of the country.

In the capital of Colombo itself the underworld virtually controls the city. The Olcott gang in Borella, the Karate Dhammika gang in Kaduwela and the Faji gang in Maligawatta are reported to be the most prominent gangs that engage in crime without fear of consequence. According to reports the police attribute the rising of the criminal gangs to the political patronage they receive from powerful politicians associated with the government. The police also fear the further spread of these gangs.

The spread of criminal gangs in all parts of Sri Lanka is a direct result of the political style of the ruling regime.

• In the east the government has failed to take any steps to control the armed gangs which have supported it in its struggle against the LTTE. “The liberation of the East” has not brought about any liberation from these armed gangs. The political patronage that these gangs have is being used to exploit the residents of the area through various crimes including abductions for ransom. When the ransom bids fail the abductees, who are often little girls, are killed and dumped. Such killings create a fear psychosis which these armed gangs manipulate for their criminal ends. As the government's political strategy is to control these areas with the help of these armed gangs it is in no position to rein them in. As long as the government wants to prevent free and fair elections it will extend its patronage to these gangs. As long as such patronage remains the residents of the area will live in a state of fear and insecurity. The only action that the government takes through the police, as in the aftermath of the abduction and killing of Varsha Jude Regi, is to arrest a few alleged suspects and to have them killed in police custody under various pretexts. Such killings by the police does not create any confidence in law and order but rather enhances the feeling of living in a territory where there is no law and where the courts have no real jurisdiction.

• The operation of the gangs in other parts of the country, including the capital, is also the result of political patronage where the ruling party politicians and other political associates of the regime seek the support of criminal gangs in order to ensure that an atmosphere conducive to normal living is not allowed to exist. An environment where fear prevails is necessary to suppress all political and civil society activities that allow people to raise critical voices about the conditions prevailing in the country. All such criticism and freedom of expression and organisation is perceived as a threat that may lead to the rising of the opposition against the regime. Denying any possibility or action of leading to free and fair elections is a top priority within the government's political strategy.

• Corruption is more rampant than ever in Sri Lanka. Corruption can prevail only within an environment of lawlessness. All possible actions for investigations into crime and prosecution of crimes are an obstruction to an environment of lawlessness. Therefore all such police actions are severely discouraged and no officer is bold enough to go against criminal gangs, not because of the fear of these gangs, but because of repercussions from the government itself. When the criminal gangs are confident that genuine and credible criminal investigations into their crimes will not take place they feel free to carry out whatever actions they wish to. The failure on the part of the state of Sri Lanka to create fear in the minds of the criminals of the consequences that they would face if they breach the law is a primary failure of governance in the country.

• The power of the criminal gangs results in a section of the police supporting these gangs for their own profit. The criminal-police link that has developed in this way in Sri Lanka has been noted for a long time and even some senior police officers have pointed out this problem. However, in the overall framework where the elimination of crime is seen as politically disadvantageous it is not possible to take any serious action against the police criminal link. The killing of complainants who have reported police corruption and torture demonstrates the extent to which this problem has spread. All possibilities of enforcing command responsibility and enforcing discipline has been deteriorating for years now.

While the president of Sri Lanka, Mahindra Rajapakse is seen on television, morning, noon and night daily, he has failed to make a single announcement expressing the will of the government to crush the criminal gangs. While the Ministry of Defense and the intelligence services are busier in the country than ever before, none of these are involved in any strategy or plan of action to eliminate the criminal gangs.

As long as the political strategy of denying free and fair elections remains the primary political objective of the government it is unlikely that the government will take any steps in order to crush the criminal gangs and allow normal life to return. In the attempt to alter and to close the electoral map of Sri Lanka the entire country is now becoming a victim of criminal gangs.

It is above all the duty of the opposition and the civil society organisations to rise up against the criminal gangs and to engage in non-violent actions to crush these gangs. The example given by the parents of Batticaloa in boycotting the schools for one week needs to be supported island wide. Island wide non-violent action to defeat the criminal gangs and to return to the rule of law is essential, not only for the wellbeing of the people but also for the country to return to democracy.

Tamil Tiger rebels in Sri Lanka have released footage of what they say is the aftermath of shelling by the army of a makeshift hospital.

The military is accused of bombing the area which is part of a civilian safe zone. Rebels say 64 people were killed yesterday and 87 wounded.

The zone is mostly off-limits to outsiders so it is hard to verify the claims and those of the government.

Rohita Bogollagama, Sri Lankan Foreign Minister:
“We’ve maintained throughout that there has been no shelling of the safe zone and that’s the position of the government. We have given our word to the international community because that is what the position is in Sri Lanka. So there is absolutely no truth in these reports.”

The Tamil Tiger guerrillas are holding onto a tiny piece of land in the north east of the country vowing to not surrender in their fight for a separate state for the Tamil minority.

A video released by Sri Lanka’s government shows soldiers giving aid to refugees.

But tens of thousands of civilians are still trapped in the rebel territory. The governement has refused to halt fighting as it says it is on the verge of crushing the 25 year insurgency.

Sri Lankan foreign minister Mr. Palitha Koganna has reported that U.N has no rights to eye on safety zone in Sri Lanka to the media focus on yesterday.It has been noticed many contradictions from various political leaders on their media attention from government since the release of satellite images confirming haevy artilary bombings (which killed thousands of tamil lives in only 3 months) on safety zone by pentagon.

Mr.Palitha Koganna on his report repeatedly said that U.N has spied government activities and it should be explained.

On the other hand the U.N branch in Sri Lanka stated that they never released any documents about Sri Lanka to the world and the issue government made on the leak of death toll is reasonless yet many organizations have requeasted it.

There are few assumptions made for these reasons that relation between Sri Lanka and U.N is little unstable. therefore a critical situation has arised on the vision of Sri Lanka's supported countries under its current political acts.

Even though the govenment has reported that it never come close to apoligize tigers or wont let them surrender through the third party and give rights to the north as requested by western countries. the government has also said these were foolish solutions and those human rights councils in homeland are supporting LTTE.

Sri Lanka Army is on a scorching battle to break in to the no fire zone through Irradaivaikal and fierce fighting is going on in the Iraddaivaaikal front lines. Tamil National Reporter said he could hear continuous explosions and gunfire in that area.

Meanwhile Sri Lanka Army is continuously and indiscriminately firing in to the safe zone using heavy targeted with cluster bombs, mortars, artillery shells and multi barrel rockets. More than 600 are feared killed and maimed in the carnage. Only the information on wounded and dead brought to hospital are coming out, whereas many are being buried then and there and seriously injured are left to die. The carnage is going on while Chief of Staff Nambiar is in Sri Lanka.

Speaking from Vanni at 4.00 PM, Tamil National Reporter said, “heavy rain has started here, the bunkers are flooding and people have come out and staying in the open. Amid rain, shells are raining in to the civilian areas, we fear of more casualties since all are staying in the open.”

While the Sri Lankan Government is blocking all means of free reporting, in recent times, international media have started to write about Sri Lankan battle.

Here is an article on 'slaughters inside no fire zone' by Gethin Chamberlain from Pulmoddai, Sri Lanka; first published today in the Guardian, UK. The writer was refused access to the Putumattalan field hospital by the military.

Then and there hundreds of civilians are being killed or seriously injured in artillery and gun attacks as the Sri Lankan army attempts to finish off the last Tamil Tiger rebels trapped in a shrinking pocket of land.

Injured civilians lucky enough to get out have told of carnage in this so-called "no-fire zone" - a 17 sq km strip of coast where the Tigers are penned in with their backs to the sea.

Horrific stories of limbs ripped off by shellfire and bodies buried where they fell are emerging, despite the government's efforts to hide the scale of the killing by confining the injured to hospitals in a military area around the government-declared no-fire zone, from which the media are strictly excluded.

The casualties' graphic accounts of a fierce onslaught on the no-fire zone, supported by the evidence of their severe wounds, have been reported by doctors who have treated them at a field hospital at Pulmoddai, inside the military area, where thousands of evacuees have been taken by ship. According to the senior doctor handling the casualties for the Sri Lankan government as they arrive at Pulmoddai, shells are falling among the tightly packed tents and shelters that are home to tens of thousands of civilians, killing and wounding dozens every day.

"Most of the people have shell blast injuries and gunshot injuries. Some people have lost their limbs, other people have lost other parts of the body, some people have wounds in the abdomen, some in the chest," said Gnana Gunalan, a doctor who treats the flood of casualties as they arrive by Red Cross ship.

Gunalan, chairman of the local Sri Lankan Red Cross, said: "All these people are very badly traumatised. Some have lost all their loved ones and come here alone, one boy losing both legs. One girl came who had lost her husband and children and everybody."

The doctor said the accounts of the evacuees appeared to support previous claims from doctors in the no-fire zone that the shelling had not come from Tamil Tiger positions in the zone. The Sri Lankan government has vehemently denied firing into the zone, but it is not possible to verify the claims.

Gunalan - who is based in the town of Trincomalee, surrounded by heavy Sri Lankan army security - said that the field hospital at Pulmoddai had treated 1,468 casualties among the 5,456 people evacuated by sea from the no-fire zone in the last month. Doctors say most of those killed have been buried near where they died and there has been no attempt to bring out the bodies.

Determined to resist international pressure to stop the fighting before it has finished off the hardcore rump of the Tamil Tigers cornered by the military, the Sri Lankan government has kept casualties away from the eyes of the world. This weekend the government rejected an appeal by the UN to give civilians more time to leave the no-fire zone.

And last night the Sri Lankan military sources said 2,857 civilians had broken through Tamil Tiger lines and made their way to safety during the day. They added that 5,000 people had tried to escape and had come under fire from the rebels. But it was not possible to verify the reports because the military has denied access to the area surrounding the no fire zone.

Until last month the government allowed civilians injured in the no-fire zone to be taken to the larger hospital in Trincomalee, but then decreed that they must be kept inside the military area.

At Pulmoddai the most serious injuries are stabilised by a team of Indian doctors working in temporary metal huts. By Friday, 26 had died at the Pulmoddai field hospital. It is not possible to verify the doctors' accounts, because neither side will allow access to the no-fire zone. The military has permitted international media access on occasional day trips to the surrounding military area only. The Observer was refused entry to the hospital, turned back at a checkpoint on the edge of Pulmoddai, and refused access to the camps where those who have escaped the fighting are being held.

Pulmoddai is two and a half hours' drive north of Trincomalee, a journey involving countless military checkpoints. Soldiers are everywhere, in bunkers or standing beneath trees watching the road. No one can move without permission from the Defence Ministry.

However, reports continue to get through. Two regional health directors, defying government instructions, have described at length the extent of the unfolding humanitarian disaster.

One, Thangamutha Sathiyamorthy, told the Observer on Friday that civilians were still being killed and injured by shelling inside the zone. He also said there had been a number of attacks by helicopters. He said the previous day, five people had died in the hospital from their wounds and a child of 13 had perished from the effects of diarrhoea.

He said many people had dug shelters in the sand to try to escape the shelling. "The fighting is continuing. Shells are falling. But these people have no alternative. They cannot move. Most of the injuries we are treating are from shells and bullets. Today we received 58 injured civilians, including 16 children."

Most of the Tamil Tiger fighters were on the front line, he said, but some were moving among the civilians, visiting family members or moving casualties. He said Tamil Tiger police were still operating, attempting to control the crowds.

The Sri Lankan health secretary, Athula Kahandaliyanage, last week accused Sathiyamorthy and another doctor of spreading "malicious propaganda", claiming their accounts "cannot be credible, since these officials are operating under duress and the dictates" of the Tamil Tigers.

The Health Ministry says both doctors will face disciplinary action. But Sathiyamorthy denied he was under pressure from the LTTE. "We are telling the truth. The government has strongly asked us not to tell the truth, but we must."

Source:TamilNational.Com

While the Sri Lankan army claims to be close to wiping out the LTTE, Prabakaran may already have an able successor in his son. PC VINOJ KUMAR reports

ONE DAY in July 1987, in a plush room of a New Delhi hotel, an Indian diplomat was beginning to lose his temper at an intransigent young man. JN Dixit, then Indian High Commissioner in Colombo, wanted Velupillai Praba - karan, the dapper chief of the rebel Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE), to accept a proposed accord between the governments of India and Sri Lanka that aimed to bring an elusive peace to the strife-torn island nation.

The Sri Lankan army links Prabakaran’s son to many LTTE attacks since 2007

The accord stipulated that the Tigers, as the LTTE is popularly known, would lay down arms in return for a great degree of autonomy in governance of the Tamil-majority areas of Sri Lanka. Dixit wanted the LTTE to also drop its campaign for a separate Tamil Eelam, or nation. Prabakaran, of course, would have none of it.

“If you defy us,” said Dixit puffing angrily at his pipe, “We can finish you before I put out this smoke.” Four months later, the Indian army was locked in a disastrous conflict with the LTTE that was expected to finish in under a week but went on to last nearly three years, claiming the lives of 1,155 Indian soldiers.

Twenty-two years later, the Sri Lankan army claims that it is on the verge of wiping out the LTTE and capturing Prabakaran, dead or alive. On April 5, it announced the fall of the last LTTE stronghold, the town of Puthukudiyiruppu in northeast Sri Lanka. The army claims it recovered the bodies of 420 rebel Tigers from the town. Sri Lankan military spokesperson Brigadier Udaya Nanayakkara says top LTTE leaders, including Prabakaran, his son, Charles Antony, and the intelligence chief, Pottu Amman are holed up in a 20 sq km area known as the ‘no-fire zone’, ironically a region where the most civilian deaths have taken place in the last two months.

“There is no way they can escape from here,” Nanayakkara told TEHELKA from Colombo in a telephonic interview. “We have surrounded them.” He refused to set a timeframe for their capture, saying that the army’s priority was to rescue the civilians trapped there.

This is not the first time in the last two decades that the Sri Lankan army has claimed it has cornered Prabakaran. Talking to TEHELKA, B Nadesan, the chief of the LTTE’S political wing, scoffed at these claims (see box). Last January, Sri Lankan Army Chief, Lieutenant General Sarath Fonseka, had told journalists that Prabakaran may have fled the country by the sea route.

On April 1, the army claimed that Prabakaran’s eldest son, Charles Antony, 24, had been wounded in the fighting, which, too, the LTTE denies. The army now claims it is keeping a close watch on Antony, who is believed to have led from the front in recent battles. The Sri Lankan army claims Antony had “produced two powerful bombs”, but gives no more details on its website. The Sri Lankans also link Antony to a number of LTTE air attacks since 2007. The technosavvy Antony is widely tipped to succeed Prabakaran’s mantle.
It is expected that Antony will take over the leadership of the LTTE from his father

With the loss of the town of Puthukudiyiruppu, the LTTE is in the midst of one of its severest setbacks ever. Not long ago, the LTTE under Prabakaran ran a de facto state within Sri Lanka called Eelam. Controlling an area about 150km by 100km in size in northern Sri Lanka, Eelam had its own civil administration, courts, army, navy and even a fledgling air force. All this started to unravel when Sri Lankan President Mahinda Rajapaksa scrapped the government’s six-year-old ceasefire with the LTTE and started an all-out war against it in January 2008.

THEY STARTED rolling up their mini-state bit by bit,” says Colombo journalist Kusal Perera about the LTTE. “The last town to go from them was Puthukudiyiruppu.” Perera, who has widely reported on the conflict as editor of the news website, lankadissent, believes that the Tigers are preparing for a guerrilla war from Sri Lanka’s eastern provinces, from where they were forced out a couple years ago. (Perera shut down his website in January following the assassination in Colombo of journalist Lasantha Wickramatunga, who was critical of the Sri Lanka government’s policies.)

Perera says the LTTE cadres have infiltrated the eastern districts of Batticaloa, Trincomalee and Amparai. They are exploding landmines and carrying out attacks on the police, the army, and a progovernment milita group led by Karuna, a former Tiger turned ally of Rajapaksa.

Suspected LTTE cadres shot dead HL Jamaldeen, a police officer, in Amparai on April 5. Two days earlier, the army had said it had ambushed 13 Tigers in the area. On April 1, a soldier was killed and another injured in a LTTE grenade attack in Batticaloa. A couple days earlier, six special task force (STF) personnel were killed in three separate incidents in the same district. On March 26, two ‘Karuna group’ members were gunned down in Amparai. A week earlier, the LTTE had attacked an STF camp in Batticaloa killing about three soldiers.

According to estimates, nearly 3,000 civilians may have been killed since last January.

The Sri Lankan Army’s casualties are never publicly disclosed. “About 10,000 Sri Lankan soldiers may have died in the last two years,” says Sirithunga Jayasuriya, a leader of Sri Lanka’s opposition United Socialist Party. Siritunga was a candidate in the 2005 Presidential elections that Rajapaksa won, and is a critic of the present regime’s policies.

Says the Army’s website: “Pockets of Tiger terrorists since of recent times after their entry into Trincomalee, Batticaloa, and Ampara provinces have been carrying out a new wave of killings to provoke civilians and security forces.”

Many LTTE cadres are said to have entered the thick Mullaithivu jungles, an area where several Indian soldiers died during battles against the LTTE in the 1980s. This is truly the lair of the Tigers. India’s Major General Harkirat Singh, who headed the Indian Army operations against the rebels in 1987, had later noted that the LTTE “always managed” to smuggle in weapons despite the heavy blockade of the Indian navy.

Observers such as N Srikantha, the MP from Jaffna in north Sri Lanka, once a stronghold of the LTTE, echo such views. “It is a fact that thousands of LTTE cadres have melted into the jungles,” Srikantha told TEHELKA. Observers now expect that Prabakaran’s son, Antony, will lead the coming guerilla attacks on the Sri Lankans in uniform.

Indian journalist Anita Pratap, who shot to fame after interviewing the elusive Prabakaran, believes that Antony will eventually take over the leadership of the LTTE from his father some day.

“It is easy to inherit the title,” she says, “but hard to inherit the mandate.” Whether Antony can live up to the expectations remains to be seen.

From Tehelka Magazine, Vol 6, Issue 15, Dated Apr 18, 2009

Statement from M.I.A


mia300I just had a baby last month, that’s why I can’t be there today, but I want to give my support and thanks to the launch of the chartered humanitarian ship Mercy Mission launching March 31, 2009

I made it out in the late 80’s and so my baby is going to grow up with hospitals, healthcare, food, free education, freedom of speech and religion, a life expectancy of 80-90 years and many of the liberties that we in democratic world take for granted.

A baby born in the Vanni Region today is getting no access to hospitals (they bombed the last one and it’s run out of supplies.) There is limited food because the government banned the aid agencies and there is no education because the trapped civilians only have one option and that is to make it to the government-run internment camps where they only enforce the language and ideas of the government. The Tamils have less rights then the animals in Sri Lanka.

The Mercy Mission will carry dry food and medicines for Tamil civilians in Vanni within the Sri Lankan Government’s “safe zone.” Many have already perished from starvation and preventable disease. We can not ignore these genocidal conditions , and if the aim of the SL Government is to protect the lives of the civilians, then this ship will reach its destination and lives will be saved.

Thank you very much,

Maya Arulpragasam (M.I.A.)

source:http://vannimission.org/

John Holmes says ‘civilians are trapped’; But they are not trapped, struggling to get their life in their own land with dignity Informal comments to the Media by John Holmes, UN Under-Secretary-General for Humanitarian Affairs and Emergency Relief Coordinator, on the situation in Sri Lanka. - Source:UN



Civilians are not trapped, but struggling to get their life in their own land with dignity’ - B.Nadesan

Main office of the Uthayan Tamil daily in Jaffna came under grenade attack Tuesday night around 11:10 p.m., the administration of the paper told media in Colombo. Tamil media circles said the attack had come after verbal instructions by the top officials of Rajapaksa government not to publish stories related to civilian casualties in Vanni or reproduce the contents of interviews given by the LTTE officials to news agencies and media outside Sri Lanka. Uthayan and Valampuri papers had recently printed photos of children being killed in Sri Lankan attacks in Vanni.

A police guard deployed to provide duty at Uthayan paper office was wounded in the explosion caused by the grenade lobbed in the lowest floor. The two editors of the paper have been living in this floor without leaving the office premises since May 2006 when two of their employees were killed by alleged paramilitary gunmen.

One of the editorial staff of the paper told media that it was an attempt to stop the paper office from functioning. However, the grenade explosion didn't stop the printing of Wednesday's issue of the paper.

The attack comes 27 days after prominent Tamil editor of the paper, N. Vithyatharan, was abducted and later claimed arrested by the Sri Lankan police in Colombo.

"Mentioning the editor's name provoked a surprising response from Gotabaya Rajapksa, the Sri Lankan defence secretary and the brother of the SL president, said Amos Roberts, reporter for Australia's Special Broadcasting Service (SBS), who produced a documentary on media freedom in Sri Lanka for SBS Dateline program recently.

Gotabaya's response was: "He is involved in recent air attacks. I am telling you: If you are trying to give a cover-up for that person, you have the blood in your hands."

Source:http:tamilnet.com

High Commissioner for UNHRC is in India on an official visit; Ms Navanetham Pillai raised the Sri Lankan issue during her discussion today with the Indian external affairs minister Pranab Mukherjee. Commenting on Sri Lanka to the reporters, she said ‘I have asked the Sri Lankan government to allow human rights monitors there. I have not got any response. I am going to press for that.’

She further said, ‘our view is that you can never succeed through military solution, the problem can be solved politically. UN wants Sri Lankan government to ensure safety of the civilians.’

More to this, today Human Rights Council concluded the general debates on human rights situations that require the council’s attention. At the debate, it listened from a series of non-governmental organizations about violations of human rights in countries around the world.

Karen Parker, of International Educational Development, said the lack of attention given to the situation in Zimbabwe left the international community to help prevent mass starvation. In Sri Lanka, the Tamils had been suffering in the country since 1948. In February 2009 at the invitation of the United States Senate, the speaker had made a statement on Sri Lanka. There was now support by Senators to address the need for humanitarian assistance for the Tamils, and that they not be driven by Sri Lankan authorities into concentration camps. The Council could not afford to abate genocide. The Council was urged to hold a special session in this regard.

Gotzon Onandia-Zarrabe, of Franciscans International, in a joint statement with Pax Romana, said the situation in Sri Lanka continued to deteriorate, and the number of victims was increasing. According to local sources, the condition of civilians in Vanni was desperate. The Human Rights Council should hold a special session on Sri Lanka.

Yasantha Kodagoda, Representative of Sri Lanka, speaking in a right of reply, said the speaker for International Educational Development had continued to utter complete falsehoods regarding the prevailing situation in Sri Lanka - this organization only supported the LTTE, which was now going through its final round of terrorism. The LTTE lobbying was not uncommon at the Council. The situation in Sri Lanka, as clearly observed by the United Nations coordinator on humanitarian affairs, was an exceptional one. There was no genocidal situation - the Government was engaged in a legitimate humanitarian and military operation aimed at liberating its own people from LTTE terrorists, who did not even spare the people they falsely claimed to represent, and were abusing the humanitarian gestures of the Government. It had positioned itself inside the no-fire zone that was observed by the Government of Sri Lanka and was attacking the security forces who were fast approaching the shrinking territory. The LTTE was using people as a human shield. Sir John Holmes had personally visited the villages being administered by the Government, in which persons were being sheltered and ensured decent conditions of living. It was a complete falsehood to refer to these shelters as detention camps.

Tanks:Tamil National

The Tamils entrapped in Vanni have undergone many displacements, now they are herded into a 14 sq miles barren land with extreme difficult living conditions. Amidst all the troubles they want to live where they belong to rather than living in detention camps. Especially the elderly prefer freedom than facility, they say they want to live on their native place and earn for their living until death

When speaking to the reporter, an elderly man said whatever food India said they have sent did not reach them. It is better for those sending food and medicine to arrange to send it direct to reach people.

Suffering Wanni civilians in Vavuniya - Sunday Leader 22nd Mar 2009

The tragic plight of displaced civilians from territory controlled by the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE) in the Northern Province worsens with each passing day. Entrapped civilians in the rapidly dwindling Tiger dominated space face displacement, death, destruction and despair on an almost daily basis.

Despite a proliferation of media reports inspired by defence-related sources about the northern fighting, relatively very little is revealed about the tragic predicament of these displaced Wanni civilians in Vavuniya.

In the latter part of February a group of concerned civil society representatives undertook a fact-finding mission to Vavuniya to obtain first-hand knowledge of the situation there. Interacting with some of the civil society members and reading extracts of a report being compiled, provided a great deal of insight into the prevailing situation in Vavuniya.

Children of a lesser god

Some relevant excerpts of the report coupled with pertinent viewpoints expressed are combined here in the hope that some light at least may be shed on the fate of these people in Vavuniya who are indeed children of a lesser god under the existing circumstances.

Vavuniya currently has an estimated population of 183,046. In April 2006, UNICEF estimated that there were 36,908 internally displaced persons (IDPs) in Vavuniya. According to the Ministry of Resettlement and Disaster Relief Services, the movement of IDPs into the Vavuniya District from April 2006 to August 2008 was 12,250. It is estimated that by February 25, there were 32,125 IDPs in the Vavuniya DS Division. There were a further 5,324 in the Chettikulam DS Division.

The current influx of IDPs from the Wanni therefore adds to Vavuniya's displaced and will place a severe burden on the infrastructure and services available in the district for both the host population and the displaced.

According to Doctors Without Borders/Mdecins Sans Frontires (MSF), their surgeon together with two local surgeons of the Vavuniya Hospital have operated on 144 patients. Some 107 of these patients needed surgery as a result of injuries sustained during the violence.

MSF is looking to support the Ministry of Health with an anaesthesiologist and other medical staff, and has also provided the hospital with 100 mattresses and bed linen, anticipating a new influx of patients.

Injuries direct result of fighting

MSF notes that "ninety percent of the injuries seen are a direct result of the fighting. People are being brought to hospitals with gunshot and shrapnel wounds. In the past two weeks, MSF has performed over 300 operations on patients."

According to figures from the Vavuniya Hospital, the total number of beds is 335 and the total number of patients has reached 653. Therefore, Vavuniya Hospital is now operating nearly 100% over capacity. IDP surgical casualties have increased to over 300 and 90% of the injuries seen are a direct result of the fighting. It seems that this number is just the tip of the iceberg.

The number of patients coming from Trincomalee now stands at 131 and patients transferred to Mannar Hospital is 184. There is also a serious shortage of medical staff: only two surgeons (one permanent and one temporary), one anesthetist, 90 nurses and 12 operating theatre nurses.

It is apparent that there will be a further influx of casualties to the Vavuniya Hospital as the fighting continues unabated. The hospital staff and resources are heavily overstretched. The hospital in Vavuniya received 131 patients from Trincomalee Hospital.

Struggling to cope

This indicates that despite all efforts at the Vavuniya Hospital to provide medical attention, it is now working well over capacity. Despite reaching full capacity, the hospital transferred only 184 patients to the Mannar Hospital and is still struggling to cope with the workload.

To compound matters further, most patients who need post-operative care and psychosocial assistance cannot be moved to transit welfare centres, which are already overcrowded, under-resourced and under-staffed. Decisions to move patients to transit welfare centres or seek alternative places are recommended by the Ministry of Health, but the overall authority and decision taken is by the Ministry of Defence.

Security imperatives determined that the IDPs from the Wanni should be located in transit or in temporary shelters in Vavuniya and therefore the Vavuniya Hospital had to take on much of the burden of caring for the injured and the sick as well as pregnant mothers and new born infants severely overstretching its capacity.

The post natal ward at the Vavuniya Hospital was caring for about 20 young women with newborn infants. Many of them were separated from family members who had no option but to remain in the Wanni. Some of them had family already located in welfare centres. However, the welfare centres with large populations of IDPs are not at all suitable to accommodate newborn infants due to overcrowded wards.

Mothers with day old infants

Shockingly, mothers and newborn infants were being released to transit welfare centres one or two days after delivery. Many of the women who had no close family members in Vavuniya were anxious about the welfare of their babies and worried about the safety and security of loved ones forced to stay behind in the Wanni.

There were about 50 women, a few with young children in the pre-natal section of the ward. While the women and children had been provided with clean clothes, the ward staff were concerned that adequate surgical garments were not available to meet demands since none of these women were able to bring their own linen to hospital as required of all pregnant women.

The staff were also short of sanitary napkins: another constant need of internally displaced women that must be provided through a well-coordinated mechanism of assistance, both to women in medical facilities as well as to women living in welfare centres.

A number of women who were brought to Vavuniya due to complications during childbirth were in the hospital but had no information on the whereabouts of family members.

It was obvious, that in the first instance priority is being given to the evacuation of the injured and the sick. Heavily pregnant mothers were moved out of danger and evacuated while husbands and family members had to stay behind;an injured father would be taken out while his wife and children were forced to remain in the war zone; women fled across battle lines with children in the hope that they would be spared.

Injured badly

A woman with injuries to her right thigh, recalled how she left the bunker she was sheltering in at the Sudanthirapuram camp (in the safe zone) because one of her children wanted water. She got caught in the shelling and injured her thigh badly; she was subsequently evacuated to Vavuniya.

She believes her children are in a welfare centre but does not know what happened to her husband who was left behind.She has relations in Vavuniya and she appealed to have the children sent to them.

Civilians were often put into groups and evacuated by the military as a matter of expediency and family members were inevitably separated from each other. The first separations occurred at this point.

The military then follow a screening process beginning from the first point of contact till the government agent allocates welfare centres to those arriving in Vavuniya.We were informed that screening takes place in Killinochchi and Omanthai by the military. At the time of our visit no independent monitoring of the screening process was yet in place.

No evacuations from Omanthai

According to Minister of Human Rights and Disaster Management, Mahinda Samarasinghe, UNHCR and ICRC have now been granted access to the Omanthai checkpoint, but not to Killinochchi Town. However, according to UNHCR there have been no evacuations from Omanthai checkpoint since this new development (March 1). Speaking at the Consultation on the National Human Rights Action Plan, the Minister also said that approximately 250 LTTE cadres have been identified at the screening points.

A further separation occurs when the injured are warded in hospitals and others are taken to welfare centres. Those evacuated by the ICRC accompanied ships from the beach at Puthumathalan, are screened at the Trincomalee General Hospital by the military.

IDPs are not aware of this process and are fearful and anxious at any separation. Many of them have never travelled out of the Wanni and are now fleeing a brutal war. They need to be reassured about the whereabouts of loved ones. We saw no indication that the simple procedure of issuing receipts indicating where each person is moved to - whether a hospital, welfare centre, rehabilitation centre, etc. - is being followed at any of the screening points.

There is no such process in place and information about the IDPs is kept classified by the Ministry of Defence. There needs to be an effective process in place to track the movement of IDPs at every point of screening and this process has to be monitored by independent observers.

We were informed by aid workers in Vavuniya and Colombo that UNHCR and ICRC are in the process of negotiating a reunification process with the government to bring families together but when and how this will be implemented has not been confirmed.

As noted earlier, at the time of our visit we were informed that there were 13 welfare centres in Vavuniya. These were considered transit centres and were located in school premises, community halls, existing IDP facilities and so on.

Housed in schools

As of February 25, 26,801 IDPs were divided between the Nelukkulam School, Pampaimadu Campus, Gamini MV, Poonthottam MV, College of Education, Technical College, Kovilkulam Hindu Vidyalaya, Vavuniya MMV and the Saivapragasa School. The above buildings were not constructed with the present use in mind and do not provide the necessary facilities to shelter this number of IDPs. Nor are they able to provide for the specific needs of people displaced by conflict.

Given the large influx of people, it now appears that the earlier belief that IDPs would be moved from transit centres within three months to semi permanent welfare centres will now take close to six months.

Their next destination will be the welfare villages which are now under construction. We were informed that resettlement in the Wanni would be possible only after two to three years. However, no one had definitive information.

In the short term, it should be noted that the weather in Vavuniya reaches high temperatures of 38 to 42 degrees during the months of April to August, which could exacerbate disease and give more discomfort to the IDPs. We were told that most IDPs are to be settled in semi-permanent shelters in a 500 acre area within Chettikulam.

Shelters are being built and whole families and communities are to be settled there. Schools, hospitals and other amenities are to be provided by the government. We were informed that the government would utilise its own resources as well as depend on international donor agencies and INGOs to fund this enterprise.

No freedom of mobility

Since there will be no freedom of mobility and the people settled here will not have access to traditional livelihoods, everyone will have to depend on free government or I/NGO provided rations and provisions, creating a new set of socio cultural and economic problems and challenges.

This also risks creating tension between the IDP population and the host community, as the host community may feel hard done by that they have to work in difficult conditions to earn their living while the IDPs get 'free handouts' and will not be expected to work for a living.

We also found that the IDPs from the Wanni had suffered multiple displacements in the course of the past year as they moved in search of safer locations as the fighting engulfed all civilian habitats.

There were people who had fled from the Mannar District into the Wanni to escape the fighting in February last year. They had first moved to Madhu and then to Killinochchi and finally to Mullaithivu and from there to Vavuniya.

On the move

Many of the Wanni residents had been on the move every two weeks since the fighting intensified.They are afraid, tired and traumatised.They have no idea of what is going to happen to them next.We were informed that one of the camps had a Sinhalese family - who had lived in Killinochchi for 30 years, doing business - in the IDP Centres with no possibility of leaving.

No Wanni IDPs are allowed visits from family members in Vavuniya or elsewhere in Sri Lanka. According to aid workers in Vavuniya, government servants from the Wanni are at the IDP transit centres, including an assistant government agent and a zonal director of education.

There are also university students at the IDP welfare centres, including from the University of Jaffna. These students need to resume their education in institutions situated outside Vavuniya and need to have safe passage and support to recommence their courses. According to the Minister for Human Rights, only men and women over the age of 60 will be allowed to leave the camps to live with friends and family whether in Vavuniya or outside.

The transit welfare centres are temporary in nature: some are brick and concrete structures; some cadjan roofed shelters; some were of makeshift plastic, canvass or tin structures. Most are inadequately equipped to meet the water and sanitation needs of the population of IDPs and also offer limited shelter and privacy. It was reported to us during the visit that the limited bathing facilities for women and the scarcity of water meant that women were bathing only once in three days.

Facilities inadequate

Although certainly better than the open air spaces and hastily dug bunkers in which the IDPs were forced to seek shelter in the Wanni, it appears that the facilities in Vavuniya remain inadequate to receive the large influx of IDPs, despite the expectation since September that the civilian population in LTTE controlled areas of the Wanni would flee to government controlled territory.

Government frontline workers from the lowest level of the Grama Seva Niladhari (GN) to the highest civilian authority of the Government Agent (GA) are working to their optimum capacity to deal with the emergency but are sorely under resourced and overwhelmed.

There is also increasing pressure to vacate the schools commandeered for IDP shelter since this is creating another problem - depriving the children of the host community a right to their schools and education.

During our visit, access to welfare centres was severely restricted to civil society organisations.However I/NGOs were called upon to assist in the meeting of basic needs via the Government Agent, Vavuniya.

We were informed that they assisted with the provision of cooked meals and some non-food items. Since our visit we have been informed that I/NGOs have secured more direct access to the welfare centres which has to be negotiated through the Ministry of Defence.

Heavily guarded

The welfare centres are heavily guarded. No unauthorised entry is permitted and those living in the centres are not allowed any freedom of movement. While some centres had brick walls around them - schools, social service centres and so on, other more open structures, in public spaces were heavily ringed with razor wire: very sharp, inflexible roles of steel wire used commonly to barricade and secure military installations. The centres are also guarded round the clock by armed forces personnel.

While the government's fear of LTTE infiltration and potential suicide attacks is well founded and understandable, it is imperative that thousands and thousands of Tamil civilians are not made to pay the penalty and held in incarceration-like conditions. The civilian aspects of welfare centres must be quickly put into place.

There is no guarantee yet that civilians may be allowed out of the welfare centres and will be able to move freely in the town of Vavuniya or leave the area at all. We were informed that the Wanni IDPs will be issued identity cards.

Since every citizen of Sri Lanka is issued with a National Identity Card this additional means of identification may only serve to further mark the Wanni IDPs and may in fact prove to be another barrier to their freedom of movement rather than an asset.

Inalienable rights

It is understood and accepted that the government must be security conscious in handling this influx of displaced persons from Tiger-controlled territory. At the same time the government must also ensure the inalienable human rights of these unfortunate victims of war.

The guiding principles enunciated by the UN on treatment of internally displaced persons are being flagrantly flouted. Being a democratically elected government it is imperative that these UN principles are adhered to strictly by the Rajapakse regime.

More importantly, the government is surely aware that much anti-Sri Lanka propaganda is being generated by interested parties citing the way in which Wanni civilians are being allegedly treated by the authorities in Vavuniya. If the government was to address the very genuine difficulties faced by the displaced Wanni civilians much of this propaganda will be rendered irrelevant.

The Rajapakse government is on the verge of a military victory against the LTTE. But territorial conquest is not everything. Of paramount importance is winning the hearts and minds of the long enslaved captive Tamil population in what was once Tiger controlled territory.

If the government fails to rectify the difficulties faced by the displaced Wanni civilians in Vavuniya and remedy the situation, it may once again be a classic re-play of the saying about winning the war and losing the peace.

Courtesy: Sunday Leader,Sri Lanka