Monthly Archives: May 2013

On the road from the clash of cultures to the meeting of the minds

The mightiest rivers lose their force when split up into several streams -OVID Remedia Amoris (Disunity)
Last Saturday morning while relaxing on my armchair I heard a beautiful song played over the radio titled Kusumalatha Ramalingam written by the veteran lyricist Sunil T.Gamage which spoke about the plight of a young girl born to a Sinhala mother […]

By Lakshman Indranath Keerthisinghe | Published on May 3, 2013 at 5:03 am

The cannibalising impunity epidemic

“We have now sunk to a depth at which the restatement of the obvious is the first duty of intelligent men”: George Orwell (The Adelphi – January 1939)
The murdered five
On January 2nd, 2006, five students were murdered in the Town of Trincomalee. The government initially claimed that these were LTTE cadres who died when the […]

By Tisaranee Gunasekara | Published on May 3, 2013 at 4:53 am

ICTR betrayed Rwanda says Rwandan justice minister

Justice Minister Tharcisse Karugarama has said the International Criminal Tribunal for Rwanda’s refusal to let the
country host records of trial proceedings constitute a betrayal.
Karugarama, who said the trial records are an integral part of Rwanda’s history, told the United Nations General Assembly on Wednesday that ICTR has failed to serve its cause.
The ICTR was established […]

By | Published on May 3, 2013 at 4:33 am

The role of international criminal justice in reconciliation

Mr. President,
I take this opportunity to thank the President of the UN General Assembly for conveying this timely debate on “The Role of international criminal justice in reconciliation”. We hope that today’s discussion will facilitate a critical
examination of the many aspects of the international criminal justice system and its relevance to fostering reconciliation, especially in […]

By Palitha Kohona | Published on May 3, 2013 at 4:27 am

Are the Rajapaksa siblings planning to postpone PC polls in the North? Can they get away with it?

“With or without anticipation, Israeli policies helped shaped the kinds of enemies that pledge to sacrifice their lives to fight the Jewish state…” Saul Landau (IPS – 29.2.2009)
The art of political marketing
The Rajapaksas are masters at the art of political marketing. They have developed an ‘all you need to know’ crash
course in building innocuous facades […]

By Tisaranee Gunasekara | Published on May 3, 2013 at 3:58 am

The government, organised violence in the North and PC elections

HARSH REALITY OF ANTICIPATED NORTHERN ELECTIONS
The Public Relations push
The passage of the second US-sponsored resolution at the March session of the UN Human Rights Council in Geneva
appears to have served as a wake-up call to the government. One aspect of the government’s response has been to hire a new public relations company in the […]

By Dr. Jehan Perera | Published on May 3, 2013 at 1:40 am