Monthly Archives: June 2011

International groups examine Sri Lanka war crimes allegations

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It’s been just two years since some resemblance of peace returned to the island nation of Sri Lanka, with its 25-year civil war drawing to a close. But now, Britain’s Independent Television News charges that government forces herded thousands of Tamil civilians into a “no-fire zone” and […]

By Staff Correspondent | Published on June 16, 2011 at 1:53 pm

UK calls for War Crimes probe

David Cameron calls for an investigation into Sri Lanka allegations as the FCO says “convincing evidence of violations of human rights” were aired in the Channel 4 documentary Killing Fields.
The film Sri Lanka’s Killing Fields documents the final bloody weeks of the Sri Lankan civil war, in which at least 40,000 Tamil civilians were killed. […]

By Staff Correspondent | Published on June 15, 2011 at 3:53 pm

Sri Lanka’s War – two years on

By Banyan
MAY 19TH is the second anniversary of the Sri Lankan government’s announcement that its forces had killed Velupillai Prabhakaran, leader of the rebel Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam. It marked the government’s definitive victory in a bloody 26-year civil war—one, moreover, that analysts, including this newspaper, had for years argued could never be won. Yet […]

By Staff Correspondent | Published on June 15, 2011 at 3:06 pm

UN Screens Sri Lanka war crimes film

A special investigation by Channel 4 featuring devastating new evidence of alleged war crimes in Sri Lanka was screened at the UN Human Rights Council in Geneva, Friday (June 3) as pressure mounts for action.
The documentary is an hour-long investigation into the final weeks of the bloody Sri Lankan civil war and features damning […]

By Staff Correspondent | Published on June 15, 2011 at 3:06 am

A Human Rights lawyer’s personal battle with war and disaster

In moments of reflection during the silences that briefly emerge between the noises of my work? between the crackle and fire of guns and bombs in a war zone and the torrents and thunder of rains and winds in a disaster zone, I try and get moments of meditation going so I can re-balance myself […]

By Jasteena Dhillon | Published on June 14, 2011 at 3:07 pm

Why the media sometimes has to shock

If there is one absolute justification for the media to publish or air horrific images of war, of inhumanity, of senseless killing it would be in the hope of urging to moral action a jaded society. The images of war can often serve as a catalyst for moral action. They can help disclose the […]

By Staff Correspondent | Published on June 12, 2011 at 1:43 am

Grapevine

June 9, 2011
The Pride of Kolonnawa
At the recently concluded military festival on May 27 to mark the two-year anniversary of the defeat of the Tigers it was not the top brass and military hardware that caught the eye. No siree bob! It was the pride of Colombo Doomin-duh Silver on whom the spotlight shone. For […]

By Staff Correspondent | Published on June 11, 2011 at 3:07 pm

SRI LANKA: Is it Bosnia all over again for the women of the war?

An article from the Golden Peace Support Group forwarded by the Asian Human Rights Commission
During the war in Bosnia, the world was horrified by stories of war babies as women were the prime target of marauding soldiers who were out to change the demography of the land. A similar undercurrent with the aid of […]

By Paul Newman | Published on June 11, 2011 at 12:35 pm

Murdered with Impunity

Murdered with impunity
In “Murdered With Impunity,” Sri Lankan journalist Sonali Samarasinghe describes the unsolved murder of her husband, the editor Lasantha Wickramatunga. Although Wickramatunga was beaten to death on a busy street in broad daylight, the government has failed to apprehend his attackers.
Read our accompanying special report, “Getting Way With Murder” at http://cpj.org.
(video)

By Staff Correspondent | Published on June 11, 2011 at 3:07 am

Roshen killing – Who ordered the police to shoot?

The remains of the slain Free Trade Zone(FTZ) Worker Roshen Chanaka was buried last week. Now, on the surface, everything looks calm, quiet and tranquil. It appears the turmoil is over. But will this ‘peace’ last. That is the burning question.
This we know. The young factory worker Roshen Chanaka was shot dead by the Police. But […]

By Upali Tennakoon | Published on June 10, 2011 at 2:50 am