News vom 07.02.2006

[srilanka1998]

It's a hard knock life in Sri Lanka's children's homes
[ AP ] [ 11:23 GMT, Feb. 7, 2006 ]

Some orphans and other children living in Sri Lankan children's homes are forced to sleep on floors, have no place to play, suffer physical abuse, and receive no proper counseling, an international children's agency said in a damning report released on Tuesday."Save the Children is gravely concerned about the negative impact of institutionalising on children's development and growth," the agency said in its research report, Home Truths -- Children's Rights in Institutional Care in Sri Lanka.For the report, Save the Children spoke to about 2 000 children from 329 state-run or volunteer-run homes to find out their problems.In the northeast, where a protracted civil war between the Tamil Tiger rebels and the Sri Lankan government has affected lives for decades, 34% of the institutions "had no beds for the children; there was no playing area in around 40% of the homes depriving children of their right to leisure," the agency said."We sleep like dogs," one child told the agency. Save the Children did not fully identify any of the children quoted in its report.


Sri Lanka envoys take crash course ahead of peace talks
[ Reuters ] [ 11:26 GMT, Feb. 7, 2006 ]

Sri Lankan government officials took a crash course in negotiating tactics and the core issues of the island's peace process on Tuesday to prepare for talks in Geneva with Tamil rebels to avert a slide back to war. Tuesday's workshop, the first day of four, comes just hours after the government and the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE) agreed overnight to meet in Geneva on Feb. 22-23 for the first high-level talks since the peace bid stalled in 2003. "We are going to have discussions with some experts about the issues to prepare for the talks," said government spokesman and Health Minister Nimal Siripala de Silva, who will lead the government delegation at the talks. "It has changed the picture dramatically in terms of preventing a slide into an all-out war," said Kethesh Loganathan of the Centre for Policy Alternatives. "But while the venue and the dates have been finalised, now the issue is what is going to be on the agenda ... what are the areas of the ceasefire agreement that they will be looking at as a priority," he added.


Police warns University Vice Chancellor
[ LTTE Peace Secretariat ] [ 11:36 GMT, Feb. 7, 2006 ]

'If any attack takes place near Jaffna University premises, the SLA will launch counter attack', warns Assistant Police Commissioner of the Northern Province in a letter to the Vice Chancellor of Jaffna University. This letter was sent regarding the attack on SLA and SL police at Parameswara junction. The excerpt from the letter is as follows: 'You have requested to remove the security forces from the campus premises. As you requested we moved the SLA from that area and replaced them with SL police. If any attack takes place near Jaffna University premises, the SLA will launch counter attack'.


Why donors failed to bring peace to Sri Lanka
[ Hindustan Times ] [ 12:50 GMT, Feb. 7, 2006 ]

In the past four years, the international donor community has pledged billions of dollars to Sri Lanka with the aim of promoting peace and economic reform. And a lot of it has already gone into the country's kitty. Yet, aid has not met its objectives. The necessary preconditions of peace still do not exist and Sri Lanka continues to be perched precariously on the edge of war. According to studies sponsored by The Asia Foundation, the reason for this failure is that the donors have not addressed the political issues. The issues, which underlie the conflict are poor governance, an un-accommodative state and political structure, and perceived ethnic and regional grievances.


Sri Lanka warring parties gear for Swiss talks after breakthrough
[ AFP ] [ 12:53 GMT, Feb. 7, 2006 ]

Sri Lanka's government and Tiger rebels were gearing up for face-to-face talks in Geneva later this month after breaking a three-year deadlock in their faltering peace process. Peace broker Norway finalised the two day talks starting on February 22 after discussions with the top Tamil Tiger negotiator Anton Balasingham in London on Monday, diplomats said. They said Swiss, Norwegian and Sri Lankan diplomats began making final preparations Tuesday to host the talks and make travel arrangements for the Tiger rebels to leave their northern stronghold and travel to Europe. Switzerland in a statement received here Tuesday welcomed the talks decision and said it would do its utmost to ensure that the negotiations take place in an "environment that is conducive to reaching a mutually acceptable solution."


Tamil Tiger rebels confirm participation of six-member delegation at Geneva talks
Updated:2006-02-07 06:40:37
By DILIP GANGULY
AP

COLOMBO, Sri Lanka (AP) - The Tamil Tiger rebels said Tuesday they will send six delegates to this month's peace talks in Geneva aimed at enforcing a 2002 cease-fire between the government and guerrillas.

Daya Master, spokesman for the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam, said the rebel delegation will be led by the group's London-based chief negotiator Anton Balasingham and assisted by S. P. Thamilselvan, the LTTE's political head.

Representatives from the Sri Lankan government and separatist rebels are scheduled to meet in Geneva Feb. 22-23 to discuss how to improve the implementation of the 2002 cease-fire that was intended to end nearly two decades of war.

Peace talks broke down in April 2003 over the rebels' demands for greater autonomy in the north and east, and sporadic violence has continued across the island ever since. A spike in unrest leading to the deaths of at least 150 people in the past two months has put the truce under yet more strain.

The Geneva talks will focus on LTTE demands that the government disarm other rebel factions whom the Tamil Tigers blame for the latest unrest.

The other members of the delegation include Jeyam, a battle-hardened rebel officer; B. Nadesan, the chief of the LTTE police force; and Ilanthirayan, a former political head in the restive eastern Batticaloa region. Some rebels use only one name.

Balasingham's Australian wife, Adele, will be the secretary. She held the same a role at earlier peace talks.

The government has already named Nimal Siripala de Silva, a senior minister and lawyer, to head its delegation, but other members of the team have yet to be named.

"It is very positive that the parties have agreed to meet at a high level to discuss how to improve the serious security situation," Eric Solheim, a Norwegian peace envoy, said in a statement Tuesday.

Solheim will lead a Norwegian delegation at the talks, and will be aided by Norway's Ambassador in Colombo, Hans Brattskar, and former Norwegian Deputy Foreign Minister Vidar Helgesen.

The rebels began fighting in 1983 for a separate homeland for the country's Tamil minority, claiming discrimination by the majority Sinhalese. More than 65,000 people died in the war before Norway brokered the 2002 cease-fire.


Switzerland welcomes talks, Swiss Ambassador to visit Kilinochchi
[TamilNet, February 07, 2006 11:16 GMT]

Government of Switzerland in a press release issued from Berne Monday welcomed the decision by the Government of Sri Lanka and the Liberation Tigers to hold talks on February 22-23 and called on "the parties to the conflict to do all within their powers to ensure that the talks can start in a constructive atmosphere." Mr. Hans Brattskar, Norwegian Ambassador to Sri Lanka and Mr. Bernadino Regazzoni, Switzerland Ambassador to Sri Lanka, will travel to Kilinochchi on Thursday to discuss preparatory arrangements for talks in Geneva with the LTTE Political Head Mr. S. P. Thamilchelvan, LTTE Peace Secretariat sources in Kilinochchi said.

Full text of the press release follows:

The Government of Sri Lanka and the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE) have agreed to meet on 22 and 23 February 2006 in Switzerland for talks on the implementation of the ceasefire agreement. Switzerland welcomes this decision.

On 25 January 2006, the Government of Sri Lanka and the LTTE with the facilitation of Norway agreed to hold talks in Switzerland on the implementation of the ceasefire agreement. The talks are expected to take place on 22 and 23 February 2006 in the region of Geneva.

Switzerland welcomes this decision and will do its utmost to ensure that the talks take place in an environment that is conducive to reaching a mutually acceptable solution.

Switzerland also welcomes the reduction in the number of ceasefire violations since 25 January 2006. In view of the events of the last few days, Switzerland calls on the parties to the conflict to do all within their powers to ensure that the talks can start in a constructive atmosphere.

 

[srilanka1998]

Security News vom 07.02.2006

Some kids suffering in Sri Lankan children's homes, international agency says
Updated:2006-02-07 05:43:09
By DILIP GANGULY
AP

COLOMBO, Sri Lanka (AP) - Some orphans and other children living in Sri Lankan children's homes are forced to sleep on floors, have no place to play, suffer physical abuse, and receive no proper counseling, an international children's agency said in a damning report released Tuesday.

"Save the Children is gravely concerned about the negative impact of institutionalizing on children's development and growth," the agency said in its research report, "Home Truths - Children's Rights in Institutional Care in Sri Lanka."

For the report, Save the Children spoke to about 2,000 children from 329 state-run or volunteer-run homes to find out their problems.

In the northeast, where a protracted civil war between the Tamil Tiger rebels and the Sri Lankan government has affected lives for decades, 34 percent of the institutions "had no beds for the children; there was no playing area in around 40 percent of the homes depriving children of their right to leisure," the agency said.

"We sleep like dogs," one child told the agency. Save the Children did not fully identify any of the children quoted in its report.

The agency said 15,068 children live in homes in Sri Lanka. Many are sent to the institutions because they have been abused; have got into trouble with the police; their parents are no longer able to care for them; or they are orphaned.

Save the Children said counseling services are provided in only 16 percent of state-run homes and about 50 percent of all the homes included in the report.

Some children are physically abused while in the homes, the agency found.

In one case, 11 children at one home were beaten for three hours by adults in charge because the cook's wallet had gone missing. Unable to bear the beating any longer, 11-year-old Suthan said he had taken the purse even though he had only found it near his bed.

Suthan was then forced to eat five very hot chilies as punishment, the agency said.

"The strongest testament about the quality of care in the institutions came from children themselves, who spoke out against the lack of privacy, dignity and individuality," the report said.

Some homes insist that their children wear a uniform so they can be clearly identified.

"When we go out ... we are made to wear the same dress. Then everybody who sees us know that we are from a children's home and look at us as if we are destitute children," one of the children was quoted as saying.

The agency recommended that sending children to childcare homes should be avoided as much as possible.

Where there is no other alternative, each child should have an individual care plan and physical punishment should not be allowed, the group said.

It also said children in care should be allowed to mix with children in the local community.

There was no immediate government comment available. Calls to the Ministry of Children's Development rang unanswered Tuesday.


Colombo-LTTE talks Feb 22-23 will be 'tough'
By M.R. Narayan Swamy, New Delhi:

Sri Lanka and Tamil Tiger guerrillas will meet for the first time in almost three years in Geneva Feb 22-23, but Norway has warned that the negotiations will be "tough".

IANS had reported Jan 30 that the talks would most likely take place Feb 21-22, marking the fourth anniversary of the Norway-brokered peace pact between the two sides.

Norwegian peace facilitator Erik Solheim made the announcement about the fresh talks after meeting Anton Balasingham, the ideologue of the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE), in London and after talking to Sri Lankan leaders.

This would be the first high-level contact between the Tigers and Colombo since the LTTE walked away from the dialogue process in April 2003 and comes after the recent bloodletting that almost took Sri Lanka to renewed war.

"The parties are taking a small but very significant step towards putting the peace process back on a positive track. And we expect the negotiations to be tough," a Norwegian foreign ministry statement quoted Solheim as saying.

The agenda on the negotiating table will be the ceasefire agreement (CFA), increasing violations of which have cast a long shadow on peace prospects. A dramatic outbreak of violence in December and January left about 100 people dead, most of them Sri Lankan soldiers, raising fears of an outbreak of war.

Amid grave uncertainty, Solheim, also the Norwegian development minister, flew to Sri Lanka in the third week of January and met government leaders and LTTE chief Velupillai Prabhakaran and announced the two sides would meet in the Swiss city of Geneva.

Solheim's statement said: "The parties will discuss how they can improve the implementation of the CFA that was signed on Feb 22, 2002... Norway, in its role as facilitator, will do its best to help the parties find a practical solution to relieve the pressure the ceasefire has come under."

Separately, Switzerland urged the LTTE and Sri Lanka to talk in a "constructive atmosphere" and promised to do "its utmost to ensure that the talks take place in an environment that is conducive to reaching a mutually acceptable solution".

The LTTE accuses Colombo of violating the ceasefire by arming what it says are "paramilitaries", its euphemism for Tamil outfits opposed to the Tigers, and of setting up high security zones in Tamil areas that has displaced civilian life.

The government accuses the LTTE of carrying out targeted killings.

Sri Lankan leaders have demanded that the 2002 CFA should be modified to meet Colombo's security concerns, but the LTTE has rejected the demand. The Tigers have also declined to discuss for now a final solution to the ethnic conflict that has claimed thousands of lives since 1983.

An editorial in the LTTE's latest official monthly "Viduthalaippulikal" (Liberation Tigers) warned that "Sinhalese leaders" had always used peace talks "to fool the international community and drag time to prepare for war".

"It is only by implementing (CFA) properly (that) the moves can be made towards political solution," said the magazine, quoted by the LTTE's Peace Secretariat website.

"At Geneva, LTTE is only prepared to discuss the full and speedy implementation of CFA... LTTE is not prepared to discuss modifications to CFA or to push CFA aside and waste time talking about political solution."

It warned that if the Sri Lankan government dragged its feet on vital issues, "LTTE has no other alternative but to intensify the struggle in order to win the freedom for the Tamil speaking people".


TRINCOMALEE

Situation Report as at UTC 0715(1315) 07
February 2006
[Web updated at UTC 0806 on 07 February 2006]

Armed Female LTTE Cadres Observed
PRESENCE OF A GROUP OF NINETEEN ARMED WOMEN TAMIL TIGERS (LTTE) at the NORWAY POINT in TRINCOMALEE has been observed by naval troops on duty in the area on 06 February 2006 around 10.00 a.m.
Those LTTE female cadres carrying small arms after arriving at the point from SAMPOOR Bay area in small dinghies began to withdraw into the jungles when naval troops sighted them.
Naval troops kept the Sri Lanka Monitoring Mission (SLMM) informed of their observation.
The TRINCOMALEE Police have also been intimated.


Tigers say they will only talk truce at Geneva talks
(AFP)
7 February 2006

COLOMBO -Tamil Tiger rebels on Tuesday ruled out discussing a political solution to Sri Lanka's ethnic conflict during talks in Geneva later this month and said only their faltering truce would be on the agenda.

The Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE) said two days of talks starting February 22 would only focus on strengthening a ceasefire arranged and put in place by Norway from February 23, 2002.

'The LTTE is not prepared to discuss modifications to the ceasefire or to push the ceasefire aside and waste time talking about a political solution (to the conflict),' the Tigers said in an editorial in their official organ 'Vuduthalaippulikal.'

President Mahinda Rajapakse came to power in November promising to drastically change the peace process and re-negotiate the truce.

However, the Tigers made it clear that they would not accept any amendments to the ceasefire agreement or any move to replace it and would only discuss the full implementation of the existing truce agreement.

'The only way to avoid war and create peaceful environment in the Tamil homeland is to implement the ceasefire agreement in full,' the LTTE said. 'The key to peace talks in the present context is the full implementation of the ceasefire.

'Confidence to proceed with peace talks will be created only if the Mahinda government accepts this ground reality.'

The Tigers accused the government of supporting a breakaway faction of the rebels to carry out attacks against the mainstream guerrillas.

At least 153 people were killed in a new wave of fighting after Rajapakse came to power and many of the killings have been blamed on the Tigers who in turn accuse 'paramilitary units' of stirring up trouble.

The Tigers repeated a warning that they would resume their struggle for full independence unless the government stopped backing 'paramilitary groups.'

The LTTE pulled out of peace talks in April 2003 and the Geneva meeting will be their first face-to-face contact with the Sri Lankan government at a high level since their last round of negotiations in Japan in March 2003.


Sri Lanka warring parties gear for Swiss talks after breakthrough
Time is GMT + 8 hours
Posted: 07 February 2006 1738 hrs

COLOMBO : Sri Lanka's government and Tiger rebels were gearing up for face-to-face talks in Geneva later this month after breaking a three-year deadlock in their faltering peace process.

Peace broker Norway finalised the two-day talks starting on February 22 after discussions with the top Tamil Tiger negotiator Anton Balasingham in London on Monday, diplomats said.

They said Swiss, Norwegian and Sri Lankan diplomats began making final preparations on Tuesday to host the talks and make travel arrangements for the Tiger rebels to leave their northern stronghold and head to Europe.

Switzerland in a statement received here Tuesday welcomed the talks decision and said it would do its utmost to ensure that the negotiations take place in an "environment that is conducive to reaching a mutually acceptable solution."

"Switzerland calls on the parties to the conflict to do all within their powers to ensure that the talks can start in a constructive atmosphere," the Swiss statement said.

The announcement of talks initially saw a spurt at the Colombo Stock Exchange with share prices rising about one percent but easing by mid-day due to profit-taking, brokers said.

"There is a lot of profit-taking by those who bought at rock-bottom prices when there was a lot of violence in the past two months," broker Elton Ebert said. "The market should be positive in the short term."

Norway made the talks announcement on Monday night.

"The parties to the conflict in Sri Lanka, the government of Sri Lanka and the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE), have asked Norway to facilitate talks in Geneva from February 22 to 23," the Norwegian government said.

The talks will coincide with the third anniversary of the truce arranged by Norway.

The talks are initially aimed at strengthening a ceasefire that went into effect on February 23, 2002 but has not been fully implemented by either the military or the Tamil Tigers.

More than 60,000 people were killed in three decades of ethnic bloodshed until the truce started, but a new wave of violence erupted in December, putting pressure on the ceasefire.

"The parties will discuss how they can improve the implementation of the ceasefire agreement," the Norwegian statement said. "This is the first time in three years that the parties meet face-to-face at such a high level."

Solheim said he would lead Norway's own team at the talks while his former boss, Vidar Helgesen, would also be in the Oslo team.

The four-member Tiger delegation would be led by Balasingham and Sri Lanka's team would be headed by Health Minister Nimal Siripala de Silva.

Government officials said the Sri Lankan delegation had already begun its preparatory work and would have military and legal experts advising it.

Diplomats close to the peace process said the Tigers were ready with their team but logistics of ferrying them to Geneva were being worked out.

"The parties are taking a small, but very significant step towards putting the peace process back on a positive track," Solheim said. "We expect the negotiations to be tough."

The two sides had their last face-to-face meeting in Japan in March 2003 but the Tigers pulled out of what would have been the seventh round of negotiations scheduled in Thailand in April 2003.

Four previous peace attempts have ended in failure and led to more bloodshed. - AFP/de

 

[Biggi]

betreffend *childrens home*

ich habe diesen bericht vorhin gefunden.
er ist ganz aktuell vom 7.2....
bisher kannte ich auch dieses waisenhaus in sl nicht namentlich.
aber wir wissen, dass z.t. gerade waisenhäuser in sl mehrfach unterstützt werden. manchmal weiss ein sponsor nichts vom anderen.

aber leider bezieht sich das nur auf childrens homes an den küsten sl!
trotzdem natürlich absolut klasse, dass es den kids nun hoffentlich besser geht!

aber, es gibt auch im inland genug waisenhäuser, die hilfe bräuchten!!!
diese werden leider nicht beachtet, da sie ja nicht tsunamibetroffen sind....

ps: hat jemand vielleicht eine übersicht über waisenhäuser in sl???


naja, nun zum eigentlichen bericht, den ich gefunden hab...und klasse, dass dort geholfen wird!


Für Kinderheim auf Sri Lanka
"Staatstheater Wallhausen" spendet 2500 Euro




Einen Scheck in Höhe von 2500 Euro überreichten die Theatermacher für ein Kinderheim in Sri Lanka.
Foto: Peter Jörg
Vom 07.02.2006

dal. WALLHAUSEN Das "Staatstheater Wallhausen" hat den Erlös in Höhe von 2500 Euro aus zwei Theateraufführungen im November vergangenen Jahres an Harald Schlarb und Prasad Kiontke aus Kirschroth überreicht. Noch ehe sich der Vorhang in der Gräfenbachtalhalle öffnete, war klar, wer das Geld bekommt: Das Geld geht an das neue Kinderheim auf Sri Lanka für dessen Innenausstattung, das später unter der Regie des Vereins "Sanhinda Childrens Homes" steht. Förderer Karl-Heinz Jörg aus Wallhausen hatte um die Spende beim Organisator des Staatstheaters, Markus Süß, geworben.
"Wir wollten ein Kinderheim für Straßenkinder in Meegoda in Sri Lanka schaffen und nicht nur zuschauen. Deshalb waren wir froh und erleichtert, dass die Finanzierung des Neubaues für Straßenkinder gesichert wurde. Dank einer Spende von Kindern der Grund- und Hauptschule Wallhausen in Höhe von 1000 Euro wurde es möglich, das Gebäude durch einen Anbau zu vergrößern", stellte Harald Schlarb in Übereinstimmung mit Prasad Kiontke fest. Ohne die beiden Kirschrother wäre das Projekt Kinderheim-Neubau wahrscheinlich nicht zu Stande gekommen, denn sie haben das Grundstück kostenlos zur Verfügung gestellt.

Solidarisch zeigten sich auch Karl-Heinz Jörg (Wallhausen) und Manfred May aus Bad Kreuznach. Sie wollten in Sri Lanka Urlaub machen, halfen aber lieber beim Neubau des Kinderheims mit. Die Förderer fliegen am 18. Februar wieder nach Sri Lanka, um beim Innenausbau mitzuhelfen

http://www.az-badkreuznach.de/region/objekt.php3?artikel_id=2251249

 

[srilanka1998]

'Abuse' in Lanka children's homes
[ BBC ] [ 18:55 GMT, Feb. 7, 2006 ]

An international charity has strongly criticised the conditions in children's care homes in Sri Lanka. The organisation, Save the Children, says orphans and other children in care homes suffer physical abuse and are deprived of privacy and dignity. The report is based on interviews with nearly 2,000 children in more than 300 institutions across Sri Lanka. The children's charity says that corporal punishment in care homes should be prohibited. The report also recommends that children in care homes should be allowed ac


Colombo in search of friends
[ The Pioneer ] [ 19:48 GMT, Feb. 7, 2006 ]

Until a few years ago, the Sri Lankan military was mainly ceremonial. It received its baptism by fire against the LTTE in Jaffna and other places in the northeast.It was almost entirely an armed forces parade showcasing the military power of the country and reflecting the will of the new hardline President Mahinda Rajapakse who, in spite of losing a 100 soldiers since he took office two months ago, has been asserting that he will not be cowed down by the LTTE. During his independence day speech, Mr Rajapakse spoke about a new state structure to achieve genuine and sustainable peace which was possible only through a southern consensus. This is not a new profoundity. With India in a grid lock it is the international community which, in the words of Mr Rajapakse, will need to help Sri Lanka to keep freedom and democracy.