tamilweek.com

British Tamils conduct midnight vigil to commemorate Black July 83 and inaugurate London – Geneva Walk for Justice

British Tamils once again embarked on a rally through London on Friday, 23rd July 2010 calling for justice for victims of war crimes in Sri Lanka. In a symbolic yet solemn show of unity and hope, a “midnight vigil” was held from 9pm commencing from opposite Westminster Abbey to Downing Street.

The first of its kind to be held by a minority group in London, thousands of Tamils and non-Tamils gathered carrying candles, placards, banners and hoisting flags appealing to the UK establishment and the UN to investigate war crimes and crimes against humanity in Sri Lanka. Westminster Council, the Mayor’s Office and the Metropolitan Police offered tremendous support to enable this momentous vigil to take place.

The commemorative vigil marks the 27th anniversary of Sri Lankan state sponsored anti-Tamil pogroms in which thousands were slaughtered and serves to remind us that the injustice continues today.

The midnight vigil inaugurated a “Walk for Justice” from the heart of British Parliament, through France and Switzerland to the UN Human Rights Council offices in Geneva. Mr. Sivanthan, a British Tamil youth, will be joined by supporters and well-wishers on a two-week walk to raise awareness and amalgamate support for calls to the:

1. UN to initiate an independent international probe into war crimes committed in Sri Lanka

2. Allow access to Prisoners Of War

3. For all internally displaced persons to be resettled into their own homes. A memorandum is to be handed to the UN in Geneva on 6th August 2010

4. Boycott of Sri Lanka until it respects international laws

The walk for justice to the UN coincides with the recent appointment of a UN advisory panel by Secretary General Ban Ki-Moon. The Sri Lankan government has shown clear opposition to any prospect of independent monitors investigating war crimes in Sri Lanka.

Government backed blockade outside UN office in Sri Lanka, threats to UN staff and possible denial of visas to the appointed UN advisory panel reflect a hostile reaction to a body that only has an advisory role. Sri Lanka must be reminded it is a democratic country which has subscribed to UN covenants and Geneva Conventions and is obliged to comply with the obligations to which it has signed up to.

Community leaders and well-wishers signed the war crimes book to pledge their support for the calls to the UN. The two-week walk to the UN aims to unite Tamils across Europe hope and the wider community to join calls to highlight the need for UN to uphold international laws to ensure that justice is universal and to set precedents for other rogue states.

British Tamils reiterated calls for boycott of Sri Lanka until it respects international laws. An international day of boycott is taking place on Saturday 31st July 2010 across US, UK, Canada, Australia and Europe to take forward this campaign.

The event concluded at 11:30pm with speeches from representatives of Tamil organisations and other community leaders. A memorandum containing the 4 basic and fundamental humane and humanitarian demands to the UK Prime Minister will be handed at 10 Downing Street on Monday 26th July.

Statement read out in front of 10 downing street London

Dear friends, fellow Tamils, well wishers and supporters of Tamil’s freedom in the island of Sri Lanka, on behalf of British Tamils Forum, I thank you all, for this historic event. I would also like to give a special welcome to our Sinhala Brothers and Sisters including Exile Journalists who have joined us here today – these Sinhala Brothers and Sisters had no choice other than to simply leave the country to escape the murderous Rajapakshe regime run by Mr Rajapakshe and his Brothers.

Today, you have gathered in thousands and in doing so, you are sending a clear message of resilience to President Rajapakshe and his cronies! This also sends a message of hope to our Tamil Brothers and Sisters that we will not rest until they are free from the oppressive State.

Tamils want justice from an independent international war crimes investigation in Sri Lanka but our voices have been silenced by the murderous Rajapakshe regime that will join the list of Rwanda, Srebrenitsa and many others. It is events like these that keep the memory of many innocent people who perished in the hands of the murderous Rajapakshe regime. This is why the Sri Lankan Government does not want to see us Tamils to be united in the call for freedom. It is our duty to ensure that the true face of the Terror State of Sri Lanka is exposed – First to the international community and eventually at the international war crimes tribunal in the Hague.

Friends, a year is gone, since the war ended, but the conflict hasn’t ended! I repeat the conflict hasn’t ended!

It is clear that the Sri Lankan Government is taking all the steps to wipe out all the evidence of crimes against humanity they committed. They are killing those who they think can be witnesses for war crimes. If the Government of Sri Lanka has got nothing to fear, why are they shying away from international Governments, Agencies and Journalists? Why have they refused access to the UN Panel? This more than a year after the war has ended. Why is the Sri Lankan Government refusing to even publish the list of the prisoners of war that they illegally hold without access? Why? Why? Why?

Friends, we must tell the international community that trying to get concessions from Sri Lanka, which is not just a Failed State but also a Racist State, will not work! It didn’t work with Hitler, it didn’t work with the Khmer Rouge, it didn’t work with the then leaders of Rwanda, it didn’t work with Milosevic, it didn’t work with the apartheid regime in South Africa – It doesn’t work with regimes like these – FULL STOP!

It is our duty to demand no words but action from the coalition Government in our adopted home and from the rest of the world if they care for humanity.

Today, it also marks the 27th anniversary of the Black July massacre of thousands of innocent Tamils that showed the true face of Sri Lanka to the world. Many years have gone and we have lost many more during that time. No where in the world over 40,000 innocent people got murdered in cold blood in broad day light in such short space of time, like what happened in the Northeast of Sri Lanka, last year!

Let’s remember them with a minute’s silence.

Ladies and Gentlemen with tears rolling down our cheeks we, the British Tamils Forum, with the support of the Tamil Diaspora and international community, will work as hard as it takes to ensure that

One – An Independent International Investigation into War Crimes in Sri Lanka takes place and the perpetrators get punished

Two – we gain access to the Prisoners of War

Three – we Boycott Sri Lanka until it respects human rights

I ask you, all of you, to join us in this long march for freedom and justice!

The detained former military commander General Sarath Fonseka says he is prepared to meet the special panel appointed to advice the UN chief on alleged human rights violations in Sri Lanka, according to a report by BBC Sandeshaya. He also stressed that any country should take steps to resolve issues with the international community if there are any question marks over the conduct of the said country.

Speaking to BBC Sandeshaya General Fonseka further said, “We should not try to get involved in a conflict with the UN” and “As a citizen of Sri Lanka, if I get an opportunity to support such an inquiry, I think we shouldn’t hesitate to do that.”

The former military commander who is facing two military trials said that the conditions imposed by the European Union to extend the GSP+ facility are fair. “I don’t think it is an intervention in internal affairs,” he said. “The EU has demanded the release of political prisoners which includes me,” Gen Fonseka added.

“Freedom when?” was what many in the “wedding ceremony” asked according to BBC Sandeshaya and tweets remarked the military marriage of militants “hugely oversteps ethical boundaries”.

The ceremony attracted widespread media coverage. Reports say the mass wedding was held under heavy military presence and future for the newly-weds remains uncertain:

from TweetsTrove:

- the ‘happy couples’ sure look like they’re enjoying the ceremony. rehabilitation rendered a publicity stunt.

- #srilanka state-arranged #marriage of captured militants still in detention hugely oversteps ethical boundaries

And Reuters put out a video:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XUQQw4Hg3hA

Report by Sandeshaya:

The Sri Lankan military has organised a mass wedding of more than fifty couples suspected to be from the Tamil Tiger rebel group at a ceremony in Vavunia.

Suspected former rebels are being held at a military-run camp following their defeat by government forces in May last year.

Sri Lankan army says many of the couples had been unable to marry earlier because they were fighting in the civil war.

“Freedom when?”

A BBC correspondent who attended the event says many now want to know when they will be freed from military custody.

The mass wedding was held under heavy military presence.

The director general in charge of rehabilitation, Brigadier Sudantha Ranasinghe said that the newly weds will be housed in a designated village.

“Arrangements have been made for their relatives to visit them,” added Brigadier Ranasinghe.

More than ten-thousand Tamil Tiger rebels, who surrendered following the defeat of Tamil Tigers in May last year, are under military custody in northern Sri Lanka.

Excerpts from the report by Guardian UK:

Ravichandra Rasikeshara, 26, married another former fighter, 22-year-old Thaksarani.

“We don’t want an Eelam [a separate state]. We want freedom and a happy family life,” Ravichandra, who worked as a paramedic for the LTTE, said.

The witness for the marriages was Indian film star Vivek Oberoi who had come came to Sri Lanka for an Indian film awards ceremony earlier this month and visited the camp at the government’s invitation.

The future for the newly-weds remains uncertain. Sivapathasundaram Kavithas, 29, had been a fighter for nine years and had met his wife Bhavani, 28, a fighter for 12 years, when they went for weapons training together.

Kavithas said he was pleasantly surprised that his marriage was formalised but said he still longed for freedom from the camp to look after his sister who lives alone. Their parents and two brothers were killed in the last stages of the fighting, he said.

“We will live the same restricted life, the difference is we will be living together again,” said Bhavani.

The couples will be provided with separate tents . Few will be going on honeymoon in the near future. Nearly 3,000 of the 11,000 former Tigers detained at the war’s end have now been released but Brigadier Ranasinghe said “a little bit more rehabilitation work” was needed before those married yesterday could go free.

Daily Mirror.lk video of the event

Bollywood star Vivek Oberoi at the event

According to a press release by International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies (IFRC), upto 93,000 displaced people still remain in camps in Sri Lanka North.

As the houses of the war affected destroyed and livelihoods lost, IFRC has launched for 3.4 million US dollars (or 2.5 million euros) emergency appeal to support as many as 25,000 internally displaced people.

Destruction of public infrastructure and lack of medical facilities too are making the situation difficult, according to IFRC.

Full Text of the IFRC Press Release:

Sri Lanka: Red Cross Red Crescent launches appeal to support displaced people

The Sri Lanka Red Cross Society and the International Federation of the Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies (IFRC) have launched an emergency appeal for 3.6 million Swiss francs (3.4 million US dollars or 2.5 million euros) to support as many as 25,000 internally displaced people following decades of conflict in the north of Sri Lanka.

Many of the communities and displaced people were also affected by the Indian Ocean Tsunami of 2004. The appeal is part of a broader 5.8 million Swiss francs (5.4 million US dollars or 4 million euros) effort to assist the reconstruction of communities and to help the displaced rebuild their lives and livelihoods.

The IFRC appeal will focus on families returning to north-eastern Sri Lanka. The money will be used to help them construct 200 houses and repair 950 damaged houses. In addition, health and care services will be supported. The funds will also help to restart livelihoods and to build community resilience over the next two years.

It has been observed that most of the houses where IDPs are to be resettled are damaged, with about 75 per cent of houses needing repair works and 25 per cent of permanent houses needing reconstruction. “We at the Red Cross highly value an owner driven housing construction concept which gives people the opportunity to rebuild their lives in the places they lived before,” said Jagath Abeysighe, the chairman of the Sri Lanka Red Cross Society, recognizing the need to provide urgent support for the returning people.

During the conflict in Sri Lanka, the Sri Lanka Red Cross was at the forefront of humanitarian action, providing services to survivors and assisting vulnerable people in a coordinated operation led by the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC). The activities were supported by the IFRC and Red Cross Red Crescent partners around the world.

“There is a long way to go. This is the time for all of us to get together and support people who have been battered by several decades of war and conflict,” says Dr. Mahesh Gunasekara, health coordinator for the IFRC in South Asia.

“Schools have started functioning, but it is sad to see kids sitting on the floor of classrooms without roofs; no chairs to sit on or tables to keep their books on and write. Most of the local houses are damaged or destroyed. People who have returned home have started to repair their houses, but in the meantime most people are living in sheds.”

As of March 2010, nearly 93,000 people remain in temporary camps in several parts of the North. It is estimated that another 185,000 people have made their way home. A combination of destroyed public infrastructure, the lack of adequate medical services, and limited livelihoods, shelter and access to basic services is making this situation very difficult.

By D.B.S. Jeyaraj

News about President Rajapaksa shouting at Tamils who hooted at him for speaking in Tamil in Jaffna is not true. What really happened?

Mahinda was speaking at UPFA rally in Vavuniya and Wanni district candidate Sumathipala had transported large numbers of Sinhala supporters. When Mahinda spoke in Tamil some of these Sinhalese started hooting and shouted this is a Sinhala country, We are Sinhalese, Speak in Sinhala.

But Mahinda refused and replied-This is Sinhala country and you and I are Sinhalese but there are Tamil people here who want to hear me talk. Mahinda advised the hecklers not to be smart “Pandithayas”&asked them to leave the venue if they did not want to listen to his Tamil speech.

When these elements continued jeering Mahinda said – since you are trying to stop me speaking in Tamil I will continue to talk in Tamil. When the jeering went on Mahinda said in Tamil the more you make noise the more I will speak in Tamil& continued with his speech in Tamil.

Realising what was happening at that time the Tamils in the audience shouted and cheered Mahinda for his stand & drowned out the Sinhala hoots. Some reports about the incident said that Mahinda had shouted in Jaffna at Tamils who were hooting him for mispronouncing some Tamil words.

These “controversial” reports led to news spreading that Mahinda had uttered racist remarks at Tamils jeering him for speaking “faulty” Tamil. This was false & Mahinda deserves praise for chiding the Sinhala hecklers & for trying to speak in some Tamil at least when addressing Tamils.

Reports say that Mahinda reprimanded Wanni UPFA candidate Sumathipala for not preventing his “Sinhala”supporters from heckling the president. The troubling fact is that some Sinhala UPFA supporters in Vavuniya could erupt into jeers&hoots against the President for talking in Tamil.

by D.B.S. Jeyaraj

“Lakbima News” editor Rajpal Abeynayake asks President Rajapakse a serious question “What is the message you give Tamil speaking people”?.

Here is Mahinda’s Insolent answer – “For those who speak Tamil ..(I say..) , now I too speak Tamil. So there is no problem at all”- [http://twitter.com/dbsjeyaraj]

Sri Lanka President Mahinda Rajapaksa speaks at a final political rally for his presidential campaign in Piliyandala January 23, 2010.-Reuters pic.