srilanka1998
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- 26. Juli 2005
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Sri Lanka amid war
[ UPI ] [ 03:01 GMT, Mar. 14, 2006 ]
Development efforts in Sri Lanka continue to suffer from a litany of complications, chiefly due to civil war between ethnic groups. Systemic corruption, failed social programs, a militarized youth population, and a polarized political climate contribute to hopelessness that in turn fuels more conflict. Sri Lanka, a small island state just southeast of the Indian subcontinent, received independence from England in 1948, created democratic rule, and experienced years of progress before spiraling downward. Now regarded as a failed state, Sri Lanka's 20 million people comprise two major ethnic groups. The Sinhalese, mostly Buddhists, form 74 percent of the country, while the minority Tamils, religious Hindus, represent another 15 percent. Sri Lanka also has a significant Muslim community.
Rights of the Child - IED
[ UN Economic & Social Council ] [ 12:06 GMT, Mar. 14, 2006 ]
The US and NGO focus on child soldiers in the LTTE is also distressing as neither the US nor the NGOs have mentioned the far larger numbers of Sinhala child soldiers and the active recruitment of Sinhala children under the age of 17 by the Sri Lanka armed forces. As we indicated at the 61st session of the Commission, former Prime Minister Ranil Wickramasinghe stated in the Sri Lanka Parliament that the government was actively recruiting 15 year old children, and had started one recruitment campaign at the very time the Secretary General’s Special Representative for Children and Armed Conflict, Mr. Olara A. Otunnu, was in Sri Lanka. Apparently only Mr. Wickramasinghe and our organization are concerned about Sinhala child soldiers or the government’s under-age recruitment campaigns.The focus of certain governments and NGOs on LTTE child soldiers is also distressing given the huge problem of sexual slavery, child pornography and child prostitution in Sri Lanka, almost exclusively in the Sinhala community, which warrants the attention of all.
Tamil Nadu heading for coalition government?
[ UNI ] [ 12:45 GMT, Mar. 14, 2006 ]
Is Tamil Nadu heading for coalition government for the first time after a gap of 55 years? The question looks relevant considering the seat sharing pacts inked by the two major Dravidian parties in Tamil Nadu - the ruling All India Anna Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam and the Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam - with their alliance partners in the run up to the May 8 assembly elections. With the DMK contesting the lowest number of seats in the last 25 years, the emergence of a coalition in the event of a hung assembly looks possible. After allocating 105 seats to its allies, the DMK is left with 129 seats and faces the huge task of registering a 91.5 per cent success rate to win at least 118 seats to form the government on its own.
Sri Lanka rebels say peace talks in danger
[ Reuters ] [ 12:48 GMT, Mar. 14, 2006 ]
Sri Lanka's Tamil Tigers have said a second round of talks to avert a slide back to civil war are in grave danger unless the government makes good on a pledge to disarm groups they say the army is helping attack them. Chief rebel negotiator Anton Balasingham, who is due to spearhead the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE) delegation at talks in Geneva from April 19-21, said the group would review its decision to attend unless it sees disarmament. In particular, the Tigers want the military to rein in a breakaway former top rebel commander named Karuna, who split with the Tigers in 2004 and has admitted responsibility for attacks on the mainstream group in the island's east.
RedR-IHE provides security training to NGOs in Sri Lanka
[ Reuters ] [ 21:33 GMT, Mar. 14, 2006 ]
In response to the deteriorating security situation in Sri Lanka RedR-IHE is currently running a series of security training courses for local, national and international NGOs. The organisation has already held a series of short training courses in ‘Personal Safety and Human Security’ (funded by ECHO) with more courses planned in security management. Oxfam GB Country Director, Phil Esmonde commented that RedR-IHE has an important role due to their ’capacity to offer high quality security training.’ The security training aims to equip NGO staff with the knowledge and skills to assess and understand risks and localised threats as well as develop appropriate policies and procedures to mitigate these risks.
JVP rejects Indian federalism
[ The Hindustan Times ] [ 21:39 GMT, Mar. 14, 2006 ]
The Janatha Vimukthi Peramuna (JVP), a key ally of the Mahinda Rajapaksa government in Sri Lanka, has categorically rejected the Indian model of federalism, which the moderate Tamil leader, V Anandasangaree, had proposed as a solution to the ethnic conflict in the island. In a letter to Daily Mirror the JVP said that the news report that the JVP was willing to consider the Indian model of federalism was "false and invented". "Our politburo has not considered a federal solution, only a unitary one," the Marxist-Sinhala nationalist party said. The Rajapaksa government rests heavily on the JVP, which has 39 members in parliament.
The Right of Peoples to Self-Determination
[ UN Economic and Social Council ] [ 22:03 GMT, Mar. 14, 2006 ]
It is important at the time when the parties resume dialog that the international community takes a hard look at the causes of this conflict, and carefully reviews the reasons other rounds of peace talks have failed. In this light we draw attention to geopolitical interests from outside Sri Lanka that have played a significant role in prolonging this war. Some of the States that have a role in prolonging the war have done so openly. For example, the government of India entered into the conflict with its own military. Other States’ involvements have been less open, such as those that have supplied the government of Sri Lanka with weapons and a wide array of military materiel.Legal scholars and non-governmental organizations have been very vocal in their support for the right of the Tamil people to self-determination. In this regard, there have been hundreds of conferences, symposia, oral and written statements at the Commission as well as in many countries.
SLMM rejects Mangala’s claim on armed groups
[ Daily Mirror ] [ 22:37 GMT, Mar. 14, 2006 ]
Contradicting government claims that armed groups were not operating in government-controlled areas, the Sri Lanka Monitoring Mission yesterday insisted that such groups were active in government-controlled areas although there was no proof if they had the assistance of the military.Foreign Minister Mangala Samaraweera - who is in London, in an interview with BBC Television on Monday, claimed an SLMM report had proved there were no armed groups operating in government-controlled areas and said the government would not go behind the Karuna faction, as it was “an internal problem of the LTTE”. SLMM spokeswoman Helen Olfsdottir strongly rejected the Foreign Minister’s claim saying the ceasefire monitors had always maintained armed groups were operating in government-controlled areas.“I’m not sure what report he is referring to. We have always maintained armed groups are operating in government-controlled areas. However, we said there was no proof to say the armed groups had the backing of the government security forces,” she said.
[ UPI ] [ 03:01 GMT, Mar. 14, 2006 ]
Development efforts in Sri Lanka continue to suffer from a litany of complications, chiefly due to civil war between ethnic groups. Systemic corruption, failed social programs, a militarized youth population, and a polarized political climate contribute to hopelessness that in turn fuels more conflict. Sri Lanka, a small island state just southeast of the Indian subcontinent, received independence from England in 1948, created democratic rule, and experienced years of progress before spiraling downward. Now regarded as a failed state, Sri Lanka's 20 million people comprise two major ethnic groups. The Sinhalese, mostly Buddhists, form 74 percent of the country, while the minority Tamils, religious Hindus, represent another 15 percent. Sri Lanka also has a significant Muslim community.
Rights of the Child - IED
[ UN Economic & Social Council ] [ 12:06 GMT, Mar. 14, 2006 ]
The US and NGO focus on child soldiers in the LTTE is also distressing as neither the US nor the NGOs have mentioned the far larger numbers of Sinhala child soldiers and the active recruitment of Sinhala children under the age of 17 by the Sri Lanka armed forces. As we indicated at the 61st session of the Commission, former Prime Minister Ranil Wickramasinghe stated in the Sri Lanka Parliament that the government was actively recruiting 15 year old children, and had started one recruitment campaign at the very time the Secretary General’s Special Representative for Children and Armed Conflict, Mr. Olara A. Otunnu, was in Sri Lanka. Apparently only Mr. Wickramasinghe and our organization are concerned about Sinhala child soldiers or the government’s under-age recruitment campaigns.The focus of certain governments and NGOs on LTTE child soldiers is also distressing given the huge problem of sexual slavery, child pornography and child prostitution in Sri Lanka, almost exclusively in the Sinhala community, which warrants the attention of all.
Tamil Nadu heading for coalition government?
[ UNI ] [ 12:45 GMT, Mar. 14, 2006 ]
Is Tamil Nadu heading for coalition government for the first time after a gap of 55 years? The question looks relevant considering the seat sharing pacts inked by the two major Dravidian parties in Tamil Nadu - the ruling All India Anna Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam and the Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam - with their alliance partners in the run up to the May 8 assembly elections. With the DMK contesting the lowest number of seats in the last 25 years, the emergence of a coalition in the event of a hung assembly looks possible. After allocating 105 seats to its allies, the DMK is left with 129 seats and faces the huge task of registering a 91.5 per cent success rate to win at least 118 seats to form the government on its own.
Sri Lanka rebels say peace talks in danger
[ Reuters ] [ 12:48 GMT, Mar. 14, 2006 ]
Sri Lanka's Tamil Tigers have said a second round of talks to avert a slide back to civil war are in grave danger unless the government makes good on a pledge to disarm groups they say the army is helping attack them. Chief rebel negotiator Anton Balasingham, who is due to spearhead the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE) delegation at talks in Geneva from April 19-21, said the group would review its decision to attend unless it sees disarmament. In particular, the Tigers want the military to rein in a breakaway former top rebel commander named Karuna, who split with the Tigers in 2004 and has admitted responsibility for attacks on the mainstream group in the island's east.
RedR-IHE provides security training to NGOs in Sri Lanka
[ Reuters ] [ 21:33 GMT, Mar. 14, 2006 ]
In response to the deteriorating security situation in Sri Lanka RedR-IHE is currently running a series of security training courses for local, national and international NGOs. The organisation has already held a series of short training courses in ‘Personal Safety and Human Security’ (funded by ECHO) with more courses planned in security management. Oxfam GB Country Director, Phil Esmonde commented that RedR-IHE has an important role due to their ’capacity to offer high quality security training.’ The security training aims to equip NGO staff with the knowledge and skills to assess and understand risks and localised threats as well as develop appropriate policies and procedures to mitigate these risks.
JVP rejects Indian federalism
[ The Hindustan Times ] [ 21:39 GMT, Mar. 14, 2006 ]
The Janatha Vimukthi Peramuna (JVP), a key ally of the Mahinda Rajapaksa government in Sri Lanka, has categorically rejected the Indian model of federalism, which the moderate Tamil leader, V Anandasangaree, had proposed as a solution to the ethnic conflict in the island. In a letter to Daily Mirror the JVP said that the news report that the JVP was willing to consider the Indian model of federalism was "false and invented". "Our politburo has not considered a federal solution, only a unitary one," the Marxist-Sinhala nationalist party said. The Rajapaksa government rests heavily on the JVP, which has 39 members in parliament.
The Right of Peoples to Self-Determination
[ UN Economic and Social Council ] [ 22:03 GMT, Mar. 14, 2006 ]
It is important at the time when the parties resume dialog that the international community takes a hard look at the causes of this conflict, and carefully reviews the reasons other rounds of peace talks have failed. In this light we draw attention to geopolitical interests from outside Sri Lanka that have played a significant role in prolonging this war. Some of the States that have a role in prolonging the war have done so openly. For example, the government of India entered into the conflict with its own military. Other States’ involvements have been less open, such as those that have supplied the government of Sri Lanka with weapons and a wide array of military materiel.Legal scholars and non-governmental organizations have been very vocal in their support for the right of the Tamil people to self-determination. In this regard, there have been hundreds of conferences, symposia, oral and written statements at the Commission as well as in many countries.
SLMM rejects Mangala’s claim on armed groups
[ Daily Mirror ] [ 22:37 GMT, Mar. 14, 2006 ]
Contradicting government claims that armed groups were not operating in government-controlled areas, the Sri Lanka Monitoring Mission yesterday insisted that such groups were active in government-controlled areas although there was no proof if they had the assistance of the military.Foreign Minister Mangala Samaraweera - who is in London, in an interview with BBC Television on Monday, claimed an SLMM report had proved there were no armed groups operating in government-controlled areas and said the government would not go behind the Karuna faction, as it was “an internal problem of the LTTE”. SLMM spokeswoman Helen Olfsdottir strongly rejected the Foreign Minister’s claim saying the ceasefire monitors had always maintained armed groups were operating in government-controlled areas.“I’m not sure what report he is referring to. We have always maintained armed groups are operating in government-controlled areas. However, we said there was no proof to say the armed groups had the backing of the government security forces,” she said.